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> "I will work to unravel the mystery behind the vineyard."

Even though the wizard was the one to nudge you onto your course of action, he now seems a bit worried about sending you off alone. He has always been the do it yourself type, and you can see that it is causing him stress to leave an important matter in someone else's hands without his supervision. But you are resolute on your course of action, its better to have a clear goal then chase around some ghost. A task in which you failed ion, which gives you more reason to succeed this time. The Wizard does provide you with some help in the form of a potion. He warns you that it is very dangerous, and that it should NEVER be exposed to open air when you are in its vicinity. Instead, he instructs you to throw it and run if you ever find yourself in true peril. Yet urges you to make sure you have a place to retreat too if the time does come.

You: “Don't worry, this is probably going to be more of a scouting mission then anything else”

> What do?
> Indirect: The town guard seem to be keeping a lid on this case, lets find out why
> Indirect: The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know
> Direct: The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance
> Indirect: Maybe I can talk to the locals, see what they know about the matter
> INSIGHT (2/3)
> write in

>>4372469
> Indirect: The town guard seem to be keeping a lid on this case, lets find out why

>>4372469
> Indirect: The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know

>>4372469
> Indirect: The town guard seem to be keeping a lid on this case, lets find out why

>>4372469
> Indirect: The town guard seem to be keeping a lid on this case, lets find out why

>>4372469
>Insight

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You thank the wizard, wish him luck, then head out the room. You move quickly to get out of the mayors house before anyone notices you leaving. The door guard tries to stop you and ascertain where you are going. But you keep that information to yourself and leave before he can assemble an escort for you. Now that you are associated with the wizard, its no surprise that they wouldn’t want you running around unsupervised. Thats not something you have time for, an escort would just make your job harder...

... Its still pretty early in the morning, so there are not too many people out and about. So you find a wall to lean on and wait for a suitable target. Not just anyone will do for this, a veteran guardsmen wouldn’t spill any information. You need someone young, inexperienced, and more importantly: alone. Just your luck, you find the type.

The guard is easy to drill for information. But, unfortunately, he has only a little useful insight for you. You ascertain the location of their head quarters and a little bit of information about the head of the guard. Apparently, he was a small time guard, much like himself, that came up through the ranks until eventually became the top dog. The guard boasts about this as if one day too he could also become someone. You find two things odd about the story. One: As nice as the dream of meritocratic is, it sure doesn’t sound true. You know, through first hand experience, that these kinds of jobs are usually not given to men who deserve the spot but instead are installed figureheads who serve at the call of some political entity. Second, his appointment to his post coincides to the time of the walls construction.

Satisfied, that there is not much more you can learn here, you decide to go fishing and see what he knows about disappearing villagers. You saved it for last in case the question would raise his guard. But his reaction is not one that you expected, he genuinely doesn’t seem to know anything about it. He also reassures you that if people were disappearing, he would know about it.

>What do? (Reminder: its now known that you are the wizards associate)

>> Go the the Guard HQ and tell the Captain everything you know about the vineyard and disappearances. Sometimes it best to leave things in the hands of the authorities.
>> Try and secretly infiltrate the HQ
>> Try to find the Captains home, and infiltrate it while he is at work.
>> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information
> Indirect: The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know
> Direct: The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance
> Indirect: Maybe I can talk to the locals, see what they know about the matter
> INSIGHT (2/3)
> write in

>>4373921
>>> Try to find the Captains home, and infiltrate it while he is at work.

>>4373921
>> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information

>>4373921
> Indirect: Maybe I can talk to the locals, see what they know about the matter
If we are to assume the guard captain is in on this plot, grilling him for info might make him aware we are snooping around.
Id say we collect more info as covertly as possible, and return to the wizard. The more we know, the more he can assist us

>>4373921
> Indirect: Maybe I can talk to the locals, see what they know about the matter
Getting more info first sounds good to me.

>>4373921
>indirect: talk to the locals

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>indirect: talk to the locals
forgive me for todays update quality, I was on a hike.

You decide that spending some time asking the locals about the disappearances is a good idea. Now that you know the specific bait to use, you may get more bites. Most of the people you talk to don't know what you’re talking about, so much so that you start to wonder if the wizard was mistaken. But you eventually meet others who seem to know “about it”, but only consider the disappearances to be a rumour. This validates the wizard, and you now know you’re on the right track. Eventually you do come across a few select individuals who seem to know the disappeared parties personally. They seem very distraught that no one has given them any answers, and they are surprised to learn that others have gone missing as well. This just seems to animate the whole community into hostility against you. They start to wonder who you are exactly, and the lie that you work for the city guard doesn’t help. As you soon find yourself the target of their frustration. Eventually you have to simply make a run for it before a real mob forms...

You are about to give up when a drunkard calls out to you, he overheard you conversation with a man about the disappearances and has a few things to say.

Drunk: “I heard you lookin into da missin peoples... Well I saw who did it, yes ser, just no one believes me...”

Deciding that you are at the end of your rope, you take a knee and ask him what he knows. He informs you that one night he was laying in the ditch boozed out as usual when he saw a black carriage pull up in front of a house. Then a group of armed men wearing dark green and black clothing jumped out and entered a house. While they were busy doing their dark deeds, the drunkard took a look inside the back of the waggon and saw cases of wine. Soon enough the men came back out with an entire family, tide up, beaten, and gagged. They threw them in the back and rod off.

You are not sure what to make of his story, but he then produces one of the bottles he nicked from the wagon. Its a empty wine bottle, on it is a symbol of a legless lizard. He reassures you that it was empty when he got it.

>What do? (Reminder: its now known that you are the wizards associate)

> Go the the Guard HQ and tell the Captain everything you know about the vineyard and disappearances. Sometimes it best to leave things in the hands of the authorities.
>> Try and secretly infiltrate the HQ
>> Try to find the Captains home, and infiltrate it while he is at work.
>> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information
> The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know
> The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance
>> Head to the big snake inn, its time to give the place a second look.
> INSIGHT (2/3)
> write in

>>4375480
>> The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know

>>4375480
> The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance

>>4375480
The church knows about the vineyard because you can see it form their tower, lets find out what they know

>>4375480
>> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information

Give the drunk a coin for his info
and also a bottle from his stash

Is the thing in the OP a tranny?
>discord

>>4376233
It's clearly a strong and masculine man.

>>4376272
strong and masculine man in a maid outfit

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You give the beggar a gold piece for his help, this bottle connects the vineyard to the big snake inn. You have enough evidence to make a move on the mercenaries with this, but you still want to put all the pieces in place first. So you turn your attention to the church, but more specificity, the church tower. Yes, it didn’t really come to your mind before, but now that you think about it: Since you saw the vineyard from the tower in the first place, the priests there must have know all about it. You decide that its worth looking into...

... It doesn’t take long to get to the church from where you were standing, but its still getting to be about midday. Upon entering, you find it at about half capacity with many of the members of clergy going about their business, and local people coming and going for spiritual matters. Quickly, you identify the guy with the tallest hat and assess him to be the guy in charge. So you take a seat next to him on the benches.

You: “do you have a moment to speak with me father?”

Priest: “Of course my son, what is it that you require?”

You: “I'm looking into the disappearances that have been plaguing your town, do you have any insight you could offer me?”

Before you realize it, you seem to have been surrounded by a handful of meaty looking monks. Almost as soon as you sat down in fact.

Priest: “And what exactly, does the consort to the wizard know about such things?”

You suddenly feel boxed in. The temple is full of people, so you wonder if they will actually make a move against you. But on the other hand, this is a temple to Sol, and his followers are the “zealous, burn it with fire” type. Rasputin tells you that in the capitol, wizards have too much power for the church to act against them, but out here its more blurry.

>What do?
> Tell the priest everything you know
> Tell the priest you know about the vineyard, but nothing else
> Tell the priest nothing, get out of here as fast as you can
> INSIGHT (2/3)
> Write in

>>4377092
>"Woah hey, first of all I'm not his consort ok? I only swing for sisters if you know what I mean. Heh."

then

> Tell the priest what you know about the vineyard, but nothing else

>>4377092
>> Write in
"Such dealings make the wizard feel less than safe, so, I, as the wizard's guard, am making sure this does not affect him or his dealings."
also sweat nervously

>>4377092
> INSIGHT
This could end badly

>>4377092
do we know which one was the priest from the ship that was glaring at the Mayor's cousin the whole voyage?
Can we determine that with insight?

>>4377406
you never know what you're going to get, as you don't have any experience trying to use it in a controled manner

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You start to sweat, the situation is evolving into something dangerous second by the second. You know well that the church frowns upon magic. Maybe in the inner kingdom things are more relaxed, but here in the frontier the church gets nothing but vindication for their hate from the scores of witches. The Wizard is a walking contradiction to the natural order that has evolved out here. Often you find yourself being hit by the fallout.

You: “My relationship with the wizard is purely professional, not that its any of your business but I swing in a completely different direction...”

The priest simple exhales at you, your quick refutation of his insinuation seems to be proof enough of foul play for him. You have been found guilty before you even walked through the doors, there is no changing this. The only thing you can do now is survive long enough to syphon the information you need and not give him more ammunition.

You: “As his guard, It is my duty is to see such matters dealt with before they blossom into a problem for the wizard. As my time is not limitless, I would ask if you are willing to help me, and by extension your flock, or not?”

Priest: “Such insolence, the well being of my flock is not the jurisdiction of you or your master. You would do well to keep out of our affairs and begone from this town.”

Time is already running out and you have not learned anything. So you ignore his attempt to rid himself of you, and keep asking questions.

You: “What do you know of the vineyard in the centre of town?”

The priests face doesn’t betray anything, but the nervous shifting of his acolytes tells you they know more then they let on.

Priest: “I'm afraid that I don't know what you are talking about. Why do you believe there to be a mysterious mansion in the centre of town?”

It would be a mistake to tell the Priest that you snuck onto their holy tower to peer over the city.

You: “I have my resources.”

You give the priest a good hard scrutinizing glance, and peer right into his soul...

> What do?
> There is nothing more to learn here, leave
> Tell the priest everything you learned, what he does with the information is up to him
> Attempt to convince the priest that you should work together
> Accuse the priest of being a party to the plot
>write in

>>4378371
> There is nothing more to learn here, leave

church confirmed big gay

>>4378378
We did learn there's a mansion in the vineyard.
>>4378371
>write in
"And who 'lives' in this mansion that doesn't exist?"

>>4378371
Is there a hall of records in town?
We might be able to look for mansions that used to be in the vicinity of the vineyard or old records of fires or something.

>>4378384
Am i an idiot? I guess When I said vineyard I meant that included the house and not just the plants.

> Accuse the priest of being a party to the plot

>>4378394
>Am i an idiot?
...
Most likely I am.

>>4378401
No I just looked over the archives, I never actually stated it's a mansion + vineyard just saw it in my mind

>>4378371
>> Attempt to convince the priest that you should work together
I'd still like to know about the priest from the boat and his behavior towards the cousin

>>4378384
changing minre to
> There is nothing more to learn here, leave

>>4378371
>Leave before this takes a turn for the worse

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no update today guys
im really really really busy
finishing my term project

sorry sorry

>>4380000
Nice numbers yo

>>4380000
WHAT DO YOU MEAN REAL LIFE IS PREVENTING YOU FROM RUNNING A MADE-UP GAME FOR ADULTS WITH NOTHING TO DO ON THE INTERNET?!? GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE

(nice quads BTW)

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There is nothing more to learn here, the priest has a strong biased against the wizard. Your mind wanders to the priest who tailed the mayors cousin. But it may be the window in which you could ask about him has closed. Now that you have been outed as the wizards associate, the clergy wont look on you too favourably. Either way, any more time spend here is wasted. But as you stand up to leave, the acolytes stand up with you. Your hand is on the hilt of your sword and the acolytes look like they want you to draw it.

With the full length of his index finger pressed over his lips, the priest seems to be in deep contemplation about something.

Priest: “Let him go in peace, after all, he has done nothing wrong. Yet”

With a small curtsy bow, you leave the priest and temple behind. You feel like the whole thing was a waste of time in some ways. You got the impression that even though the priest knows about the mystery vineyard, he doesn’t seem to be involved with the abductions.

You wonder what to do next as you stroll through the town streets. It is now well past morning and the streets are alive with the comings and goings of people. Then the idea hits you that maybe if you find the towns archives, you can find some information regarding the walls or vineyards construction. So you head back to the only place you know that could be of use, the mayors house...

... Once there, the guard welcomes you in. He informs you that the Wizard has gone well over an hour ago. You thank him, but inform him that you are actually hoping to find some kind of records library. You're in luck, as the guard tells you that there is such a place only 2 houses down. Also, as you are the Wizards assistant, the mayor has already granted you access. It seems the Wizard took the liberty of telling the mayor last night that you will be doing some research for him today. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting in, as long as you take a guard with you...

And like that you gained entrance to the records hall BUT you also now have a guard tailing you and keeping tabs on your activity. The good news is that the record keeping from that time period is meticulous, the bad news is the record keeping is meticulous. You soon find yourself buried under book after book of meaningless records that seem to record everything from the number of carrots picked per day to the number of times a bird flew past the record keepers window. Its not even organized, and the clerk keeps coming in and piling more and more papers on you from the time period you requested. This could take ALL DAY.

>what do? (Please vote for your top 3 things in order, so we can avoid these pesky 5 way ties)

> Go the the Guard HQ and tell the Captain everything you know about the vineyard and disappearances. Sometimes it best to leave things in the hands of the authorities.
> Try and secretly infiltrate the HQ
> Try to find the Captains home, and infiltrate it while he is at work.
> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information
> Infiltrate the church archives and spy on the head priest
> The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance
> Head to the big snake inn, its time to give the place a second look.
> keep looking for useful information in the archives
> INSIGHT (1/3)
> write in

>>4380837
> Get a face to face meeting with the Guard Captain in an attempt to grill him for information

> The mercenaries are going to the vineyard today, all I have to do is follow them to find the entrance

> keep looking for useful information in the archives

>>4380887
supporting

>>4380837
>Narrow down the parameters in archive
With this much information there should be something of interest. But if there is only uninteresting things recorded, we might as well
>Follow mercenaries
or
>Captains home

use the eye on the guard captain

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Nothing to do but waste a few hours sorting all this out. You try and narrow down the parameters, but there is still much to go through. Eventually, your hard work pays off. You manage to find a land deed transaction record, that labels the area that will eventually becomes the mystery vineyard. The sale of some homes is tied into the freeing up of land, for the eventual building of the wall. It seems someone used the walls construction to secretly buy land and convert it into an isolated vineyard. Although you already assumed this, now you have some actual proof. The name on the transaction is a Edward Miller. With that information, you then launch into finding any other papers that concern the same person. You soon come to realize that Edward Miller is the name of the mayors cousin, and he has been doing business in this town for a very long time. Yo wonder how much the actual mayor knows about all this, but Rasputin himself told you he isn’t connected. You pocked much of the evidence for safe keeping, then decide its time to pay the guard master a visit. Your new body guard is very helpful in this matter, as he can lead you right to them and vouch your identity...

... The guard house reminds you of the one back home. Its about the same size, yet this one seems full of too many people. A clear example of housing not meeting the expanding workforce. The same small area seems to be used for drilling, eating, and sleeping. How efficiently such a small place is being run shows that the people at the top are quite competent. But the lack of expansion points to underfunding. The guard leads you through the facility and up to the top floor. The guard enters only after a short knock, and beckons you inside. No one seems to impede your way at all, the guard captains office seems so easily accessible by anyone.

Inside the office, you find a woman looking out a window. She is dressed like a man of high station. at first you assume there is some mix up. Yet the guard calls out to her as captain, although she quickly brings her finger up to her lips in order to silence him. Outside, is a bird, and it seems to have her transfixed. You take a few steps forward and the bird flies away. Only then does she acknowledge you.

C.Guard: “How may I be of service?”

Your bodyguard walks up to the captain and whispers to her something inaudible. She nods her head a few times then quickly locks eyes with you. Her gaze is like a hawk.

C.Guard: “Ah, how many I be of service to the wizards assistant?”

Before you can answer, the booming sound of thunder rattles the window. Both the guard and his captain looks perplexed out the window. But you know it to be the wizards calling card, it sounds like things at the pier have turned violent. Yet you were still feeling confident, that is until you heard the sound of thunder for the second time. “Two lightning bolts? What on earth would need two lightning bolts?” you wonder...

> What do?
> Confess everything to the Guard Captain
> Show the Captain your evidence
> Question the captain about the disappearances
> Bail, the Wizard needs you help, get to pier asap!
> Insight (1/3)
> Write in

>>4382100
>> Write in
"My Wizard seems to have developed some trouble, would you mind coming with me to go investigate? Oh. I also have evidence and questions about the 'non-existent' vineyard."

>>4382100
> Bail, the Wizard needs you help, get to pier asap!

Sputs needs us!

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>the number of times a bird flew past the record keepers window
>Outside, is a bird, and it seems to have her transfixed
Clearly the birds are of PARAMOUNT importance
much like the birbs from oekaki quest that acted as harbingers for the skeleton uprising and were carrying a severed human eye around

>>4382100
>Question about disappearances
We should try to make it quick, Wizard might be in deep trouble

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pls come back OP

>>4392182
when im done my exams

>>4393792
Good luck with the exams!

You still breathing OP?