>>5043113
>>Pursue this angle further. What else can she sense?

>>5043113
>Pursue this angle further. What else can she sense?

>>5043113
>Pursue this angle further. What else can she sense?

>>5043113
>>Pursue this angle further. What else can she sense?

>>5043113
“So what else?”

Zara doesn’t seem to immediately understand, and simply repeats your question back at you. “What else?”

“That’s right,” you nod. “What else can you sense?”

She furrows her brow in concentration. “I can sense... w-well, I can sense your yōki and whether it’s agitated, I can get a vague sense of how it flows... you were classified as a defender, right?”

“That’s technically right,” you admit, “though I was a bit of an exception to the usual rules – a ‘defender’ with a skill that has high offensive potential.”

“I-I can sense traces of your yōki in your blade?” she continues.

“What else?” you continue to press. “Don’t limit yourself to yōki – that may be a special sense only we warriors have, but it’s not the only thing we can sense better than others. Try focusing on other things, what you can hear, what you can smell, what you can see.”

“The breeze,” Zara eventually muses. “I smell something baking?”

Aurora glances at her in surprise. “What?”

“Definitely something baking,” she insists. “Upwind... pies?”

>Let’s ground-truth that. Whatever settlement is in that direction is a good place to start.
>Impressive. Have you ever managed to extend your senses to that degree before now?
>Tempting as that sounds, we should head for the largest settlement in this part of Sakia.
>Other?

>>5043802
>Let’s ground-truth that. Whatever settlement is in that direction is a good place to start.
>Impressive. Have you ever managed to extend your senses to that degree before now?

>>5043802
>Let’s ground-truth that. Whatever settlement is in that direction is a good place to start.
>Impressive. Have you ever managed to extend your senses to that degree before now?

>>5043802
>>Let’s ground-truth that. Whatever settlement is in that direction is a good place to start.
>>Impressive. Have you ever managed to extend your senses to that degree before now?

>>5043802
>>Let’s ground-truth that. Whatever settlement is in that direction is a good place to start.
>>Impressive. Have you ever managed to extend your senses to that degree before now?

>>5043802
Maybe talk to Reika on the way, this can't be easy for her

>>5043802
“Then let’s go see,” you muse, gesturing upwind. “It would be as good a place to start our task as any – and better than any without pies. Have you ever extended your senses like that before?”

She shakes her head. “N-no, never. Only ever with yōki, I mean.”

“It can be strange sometimes,” you confess. “Some sensor-types are like this, with senses other than the yōki sense we all share to some degree being altered. Even my own senses work a little differently I’ve learned.”

“How so?” she asks curiously, before backing off. “I-I mean, if it’s okay to ask?”

“Most silver-eyed warriors lose their precision sensing when they utilize yōki,” you explain. “I’ve found that the range and precision of my senses actually improve with yōki usage over one-tenth my maximum.”

“Though it also draws attention to you,” Aurora muses. “Not so much a problem anymore it seems.”

You nod in agreement. “It probably has to do with my unique physiology. Being half abyssal one by birth means nothing necessarily works the way you might expect.”

“Zara, I’d like you to work on honing your ‘normal’ senses as much as possible over the next few days. See how precisely and over what range you can smell, for example. Understood?”

“Of course, miss Noel!”

…

After about ten minutes of walking you manage to isolate Reika a little bit from the rest of the group. “You do seem agitated, Zara wasn’t mistaken. Is there something I can do?”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 7, 7 = 23 (3d10)

>>5044831

Rolled 5, 4, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>5044831

Rolled 10, 10, 1 = 21 (3d10)

>>5044831

File: 48496748_p0.jpg (789 KB, 1060x1500)

789 KB JPG

>>5044831
“No,” she refuses you politely. “Thank you for offering, but this is something inherent to the situation… it’s been a long time since I last hunted with a group of silver-eyed warriors, but I remember it in every detail.”

“Just like you remember everything that came after.”

After a moment of silence, Reika nods. “My last group mission was with Olivia.”

“And you were there when Serana was mutilated as well?” you press calmly.

Another nod. “I remember she fought like she was possessed by a devil. She had to, it was her survival on the line. Even after her throat was torn open and her arm was ripped off she kept fighting as though she didn’t notice it at all.”

“You’ve killed or maimed our fellow warriors in the past,” you frown. “Regardless of your present circumstances, that’s going to take a while to live down. And it shouldn’t be simple.”

“No, you’re right,” she agrees. “Not like your mother, who left the hunters who came after her wounded but alive.”

You rest your hand for a moment on her shoulder. “You’ll get there.”

…

The town you find is a small one, and you swiftly track down the bakery that Zara sniffed out. That’s where you start, after tossing a few coins the baker’s way and getting a few freshly-baked, hand-sized apple pies. No information is immediately forthcoming on any topic, but you do secure lodging for the night where you can prepare the scrolls of paper that you intend to make your proclamations on.

After night falls you go to work.

>Your message should focus on defining the shared threat of the Organization and its backers, seeking to rally the local people.
>Your message should emphasize Hazaran’s recent victories and present the potential benefits to cooperating with your efforts.
>Your message should speak to the humanitarian and social values of Hazari society, contrasted against the Organization’s inhumanity.
>Other?

>>5045851
>Your message should speak to the humanitarian and social values of Hazari society, contrasted against the Organization’s inhumanity.

>>5045851
>Your message should focus on defining the shared threat of the Organization and its backers, seeking to rally the local people.

>>5045851
>>Your message should focus on defining the shared threat of the Organization and its backers, seeking to rally the local people.

>>5045851
>Your message should focus on defining the shared threat of the Organization and its backers, seeking to rally the local people.

>>5045851
>>Your message should speak to the humanitarian and social values of Hazari society, contrasted against the Organization’s inhumanity.

>>5045851
>Your message should speak to the humanitarian and social values of Hazari society, contrasted against the Organization’s inhumanity.

>>5045851
>>Your message should speak to the humanitarian and social values of Hazari society, contrasted against the Organization’s inhumanity.

>>5045851
You make several copies of the message you intend to leave –

It introduces you as the daughter of the former king, a former warrior of the Organization, and the current rightful Queen of Hazaran. Then you tell them something your father taught you that most of them probably don’t know – that Hazaran and Sakia actually share a legal tradition, drawing from the same old sources. Many of your hospitality practices mirror one another, many of the things that are illegal in one nation are illegal in the other. Your nations have faced many of the same threats over the long years, including the yōma, adapting to each one in many of the same ways.

The Organization force currently in Sakia, you argue, is just another shared threat. You carefully explain their cruelty towards their warriors, many having been drawn from both Sakia and Hazaran alike, which led to your rebellion and to the Organization’s collapse on Lavinia. What you spare them are the details of the ‘outside world’ and the evidence implicating the Organization in creating the yōma in the first place, which would be far too complicated to adequately explain.

You explain to them that under your leadership Hazaran has chosen to face the Organization and drive them off, and that you’ve succeeded in every action against them without staining your swords with their blood. You’ve taken in refugees, and given amnesty to your former enemies when they’ve surrendered, showing again your beliefs in hospitality and legal protocol. Where the Organization flouts local laws and laughs at the notion of human decency you respect these things wherever possible.

What you ask of the people of Sakia is not that they match Hazaran blow for blow. No, what you ask is that they do – something. Anything. Whatever they can to make some small difference in the struggle. What you say to the soldiers of the Organization – that they have been lied to. That their masters are not the servants of human interest they purport themselves to be, that if they truly wished to serve humanity they would aid your cause.

You place four of these in the middle of the night. One on the church-doors, one on the door to the local public house, and two in the little town square.

>Stick around and see what happens the next morning.
>Slink out as subtly as possible just before dawn.
>Make a short appearance in the morning.
>Other?

>>5046915
>>Stick around and see what happens the next morning.

>>5046915
>>Stick around and see what happens the next morning.

>>5046915
>Stick around and see what happens the next morning.

>>5046915
>>Stick around and see what happens the next morning.

>>5046915
>3d10, best of three

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

>>5047677

Rolled 1, 7, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>5047677

Rolled 4, 4, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>5047677

>>5047677
You elect to hang around for a while after putting your messages to the local people up all around town, at least into the morning. There are a few reasons for doing so, first being that you want to see how what you’ve said is received by its intended audience. Also important however is the reaction from local leaders and officials – you want to be able to gauge that response and get an idea what to expect in other settlements. This far from the Organization’s bases of operations at the coast you could possibly expect a more lax response, so this is almost a best-case scenario. If it doesn’t work out here, then it may not be worth continuing elsewhere.

By breakfast word has spread of your messages, and so far as you can tell none of them have come down from where you posted them. By noon the messages are still there, and you’ve begun to listen in as the townsfolk start to talking. An unexpected event has loosened many of their lips, and there are rumors to be heard about the disappeared silver-eyed warriors. Many are about you and the faction in Hazaran, that much is clear, but there are other rumors as well. Never anything definitive, but it seems that a town well to the west had an incident where a woman with pale skin, hair, and eyes saved a small child.

Evidently there was a storm a few weeks back, and the woman in the story caught a huge piece of roof that had come free and was about to fall onto the street where a child was sheltering from the wind. That all sounds consistent – the descriptions of the woman and her reckless disregard for her own safety and well-being all fit. But most telling is that the woman had only recently arrived in the town and started to settle in, and after the event left town without saying goodbye to a single soul. Just left her new job and left an apartment devoid of any furniture or personal possessions.

“I think it’s worth investigating,” Aurora declares.

“I agree,” you nod once. “If these rumors are based on anything and the warrior they’re about is as decent as the stories paint her it could be a huge boon.”

“And if she’s not as kind as the stories paint her?” Alexandra asks you with a frown.

“Makes no difference,” you admit. “Sabrina and I don’t like each other very much but that’s okay. All we need to do is work together.”

...

By the next morning there are rumors that the signs you left up for more than a full day now are going to be taken down, though it’s noon before anyone makes good on that threat. By now everyone with a pulse (and likely a few without) has read it and is talking about it – seemingly to your favor. There could be some tweaks applied, but generally people are buying into the idea that the Organization are the ones who are the outsiders, who are creating risks and suffering for the people of Sakia to bear, and that any act of rebellion would contribute to driving the Organization away for good.
>1/2

>>5047741

>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.
>Move on, but prioritize spreading your message through Sakia.
>A major public appearance could draw the warrior out into the open.
>Other?

>>5047742
>>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.

>>5047742
>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.

>>5047741
>>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.

>>5047741
>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.

>>5047742
>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.
I forgot who Sabrina was. All the warriors are blending together in my head.

>>5047742
>>Move on, but prioritize spreading your message through Sakia.

>>5047742
>>Move on, chase after that rumor you heard about a warrior.

>>5047742You decide that the best use of your time now is to chase down the rumors of a sole warrior to the west in Sakia, stopping along the way to put up messages to the local towns and villages. Essentially, each day will need to be a repeat as you do your best to narrow down which settlement this story took place in – assuming this story was ever based on something that actually happened.

It’s easy enough to work your way back through Daria, towards the next major village along the Sakian border beyond the edge of Hazaran’s territory – Shahardia.
>3d10, it’s been a long week
>best of three and I’ll start back first thing in the morning

Rolled 1, 5, 6 = 12 (3d10)

>>5048673

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

>>5048673

Rolled 1, 1, 9 = 11 (3d10)

>>5048673

File: __flora_claymore_drawn_by(...).jpg (135 KB, 1024x1097)

135 KB JPG

>>5048673
Shahardia is a vibrant community, thankfully well outside the Organization’s direct control. Most likely this is due to its distance from the borders with Hazaran and from the coastline where the Organization has been amassing its forces and securing the local end of its supply lines – there’s no threat to deal with here, nor is there any strategic value to taking and holding it, so it’s been left alone. That can’t have always been the case, as the whole town has been built up within the footprint of a mud-brick fortress. The crenelated walls, the square guard towers, and the fortified double-gates are all still clearly visible at the feet of the buildings that have been added within. But the latter now soar over the remaining defenses, some as high as eight floors, finished in a mix of whitewashes at the top ends and around windows with pastels near the ground, while all through the middle the muddy brown of the bricks has been left unfinished.

Between these sky-scraping buildings you find little irregular courtyards and winding streets, lined with shops selling goods and services, with cafes and kitchens catering mostly to locals as they flit to and from work. Children play ball in the streets, and around public wells where women shout at them to be careful, and old men play games on tables in odd corners shaded either by the buildings or by small trees planted in ceramic pots.

Travelers seem to congregate in a public house off one of the larger courtyards, and it’s here that you seek your information.

…

“So do the rumors ever give a real location?” you eventually end up asking a fellow traveler after two previous leads turn out to be dead ends.

“That depends,” the man you’re speaking to, a middle-aged purveyor of traded goods with chin stubble shrugs.

“On?” you ask.

“On who’s the one doing the asking,” he replies. “And how the one doing the asking can make it worth my while.”

“We’re talking about rumors,” you frown. “Usually you can’t stop those from spreading, pay or no. So why should anyone pay for them?”

“Because nobody chases down rumors the way you’ve been doing unless they’ve got an interest,” the man replies cannily. “And folks with an interest better be willing to pay.”

>Those making demands of royalty had best be prepared to pay as well.
>I can pay you a small sum. You need only choose to take it or leave it.
>Take a good look at my eyes and my ‘interest’ should become obvious.
>Other?

>>5049216
>>I can pay you a small sum. You need only choose to take it or leave it.

>>5049216
>>Take a good look at my eyes and my ‘interest’ should become obvious.

>>5049216
>>I can pay you a small sum. You need only choose to take it or leave it.

>>5049216
>Take a good look at my eyes and my ‘interest’ should become obvious.

>>5049216
>>I can pay you a small sum. You need only choose to take it or leave it.

>>5049216
>>I can pay you a small sum. You need only choose to take it or leave it.

>>5049216
“I know you’re shaking me down,” you insist curtly. “I’ve made an allowance for something like this based on my own needs. So you can either take that allowance, or I’ll find someone else who will.”

After a moment – “Do you have the coin with you?”

You pull a small pouch out of your pocket and drop it on the table with a light clunk and a clink. “Here. You can count it and decide whether it’s enough.”

He takes the bag and riffles through it, keeping the bag visible above the table but its contents safely hidden within the pouch. Eventually, he nods. “The town you’re looking for is further to the northwest, Cebu. It would’ve been last season. And no, I don’t know where she went after that.”

...

“I have our next destination,” you inform your hunting party. “Cebu. The warrior we’re looking for was there last season.”

“Then we’re heading for Cebu?” Valentina presses you eagerly. “About time we had something more concrete to go on.”

“I agree completely,” you nod back. “But we have one more thing to do here.”

“The papers,” Alexandra agrees. “Okay, let’s get this done.”
>3d10, best of three

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

>>5050374

Rolled 15 (1d103)

>>5050374

Rolled 6, 4, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>5050374

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>5050374

>>5050374
Just like before, you wait until the small hours of the morning to post your messages to the locals so that they’ll be found around first light. But this time, you and your hunting party have more pressing business to pursue in Cebu, so you leave well before dawn.

Cebu is in a unique position – the largest settlement this close to the absolute western terminus of your home island, from which you can feel the sea breeze and smell the salt in the air on a clear day. There are many of those of course, and the houses are all whitewashed to fight the oppressive sun and the withering heat. Your cloaks aren’t designed for this sort of weather, and so your first goal once you reach the town a hard day and a half later is to find a shop to make a few new purchases, lighter-weight and sandy-colored cloaks that will keep the sun off your skin without heating up your bodies too much.

“This sun is murder on my skin,” Aurora complains as you rest near a fountain. “You know what I miss? Fog.”

“Easterners,” Valentina sighs. “You’re all so delicate.”

Aurora snorts. “I don’t see you embracing the change in weather.”

“I’m amazed the Organization never thought to make us resistant to heat as well as cold,” you confess. “Pretty big oversight.”

>Think carefully – where would the warrior you’re chasing have fled to from here?
>Check out the locals’ accounts, see if you can determine anything from those.
>Look around town. There may be some sign that the warrior left while she was here.
>Other?

>>5050471
>>Check out the locals’ accounts, see if you can determine anything from those.
>>Look around town. There may be some sign that the warrior left while she was here.

>>5050471
>Think carefully – where would the warrior you’re chasing have fled to from here?
>Check out the locals’ accounts, see if you can determine anything from those.

>>5050471
>Check out the locals’ accounts, see if you can determine anything from those.
>Look around town. There may be some sign that the warrior left while she was here.

>>5050471
>>Think carefully – where would the warrior you’re chasing have fled to from here?

>>5050471
>>Think carefully – where would the warrior you’re chasing have fled to from here?
>Check out the locals’ accounts, see if you can determine anything from those.

>>5050471
You decide that the next logical step is to examine the locals’ accounts carefully and determine as best you can where your warrior has gone since she was living here. And as always, the best place to do that is in a free house, where the talk flows as freely as the ale.

What you can gather from multiple sources is more or less a confirmation of the key details of the story as you heard them, along with a few extras. At first it seems like she booked passage on a small ship, with multiple witnesses...
>3d10 best of three

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

>>5051324

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

>>5051324

Rolled 10, 5, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>5051324

>>5051324
That’s not what she did at all. She left a little too clear a paper trail for someone who’s trying to avoid being followed or noticed, so it makes little sense that she’d leave such a clear sign the was taking a ship unless she actually had other plans.

You share your considerations with your party who quickly agree with your lines of reasoning. “So where do we look first?” Aurora muses aloud.

>Here. I suspect our friend simply blended in better here somehow.
>Probably one of the closest nearby settlements.
>Other?

>>5052155
>Here. I suspect our friend simply blended in better here somehow.

>>5052155
>Probably one of the closest nearby settlements.

>>5052155
>>Here. I suspect our friend simply blended in better here somehow.

>>5052155
>Here. I suspect our friend simply blended in better here somehow.

>>5052155
>>Here. I suspect our friend simply blended in better here somehow.

>>5052155
>3d10, best of four

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

>>5052811

Rolled 9, 4, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>5052811

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

>>5052811

>>5052811
Due to an upcoming project I'll be delaying the update until tomorrow night.

Rolled 5, 7, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>5052811
best of 4 might as well

>>5052811
“She must have come here for a specific purpose,” you reason quietly. “This particular part of the island. And whatever that purpose was, I doubt she’d simply give up and leave. I think she may have simply found a better way to hide herself here.”

“Then we should try to figure out whether she got on the ship,” Aurora suggests.

Valentina is quick to agree. “Two of us can head to the docks and ask around.”

“Take Alexa,” you tell her. “Aurora, stick with Reika near the middle of town. Zara, come with me.”

Zara follows you awkwardly to the town’s church, which has a single tall spire. She then follows you awkwardly up the stairs to the landing where the church’s bell is housed, where you can look out over the rooftops.

“Tell me,” you muse, “can you sense any yōki here that isn’t one of us?”

After a moment she shakes her head. “No.”

“Me neither,” you agree. “Look around at the horizon, in all directions. Other than the sea, what can you see just outside of town?”

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes. “I’m not as developed a sensor as miss Vanessa is…”

“I’m not asking you to use any special sense,” you interrupt. “Just tell me what you see, and if anything – in your own view and experience – could be used to help hide from the locals.”

After a moment Zara grows a little more certain of herself, and stands up a little straighter. “There are barrow-tombs just outside of the town. Old ones too.”

“Barrows?” you frown. “Are you sure?”

She nods. “I grew up in a town that had some too. My… my mother used to tell me not to go near them, said they were haunted. And miss Zoe once told me a story about a yōma that used it to hide from another warrior for two days. The stone made it harder to sense its aura.”

“So if the warrior we’re looking for can suppress her yōki with any real skill,” you reason, “a barrow would make a perfect hiding place. No one would go near, and no one looking for her would have an easy time finding her.”

Zara nods in agreement. “With how little we usually eat she may not even have had to enter the town since she departed.”

>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.
>I will go to the barrows alone. Perhaps less threatening that way.
>We should take all six of us, make sure we don’t miss anything.
>We should have a local take a message and leave it outside the tombs.
>Other?

>>5053678
>>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.
make sure the others know where we go

>>5053678
>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.

>>5053678
>>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.

>>5053678
>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.

>>5053678
>>Then you and I should go search the barrows together.

>>5053870
“We’ll tell the others where we’re about to go,” you decide. “But I think we should both go to the barrows together and search. Put our senses together and watch out for each other.”

“Are you...”

“I’m sure,” you insist curtly. “I don’t make decisions lightly Zara, and in this case I have already decided. So there’s no arguing the point.”

...

After backtracking to inform Aurora and Reika of your decision, you and Zara leave town to walk the short distance to the first barrow outside of town. It rises up from the low, rolling hills like some strange, not-quite-natural growth, standing out only by its unusual positioning in the landscape and certain key details. Too small, too round, and with boundaries that are too clear to see, but at the same time too prominent. It rises almost like an overturned serving bowl covered in a dense layer of grasses and wildflowers.

“Here,” Zara insists curtly, leading you swiftly to a stone slab fitted tightly to a small formation of stones that seem to go into the hillside – a sealed entry tunnel. “This one hasn’t been opened in a long time.”

You nod in agreement – you already suspected that moving the slab covering the entrance would leave some sign, even just a bent blade of grass, and there is no such evidence visible here.

“It seems we’ll need to keep looking,” you muse.

...

It’s the seventh barrow outside of town that you check when you start to feel something faint – an aura, or the traces of one, hidden deep under the soil.

“This may be it,” you muse. “Can you tell anything more, Zara?”

She shakes her head. “I agree with you that something is in there, but I cannot determine who or what.”

>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.
>Move the stone slab and call inside the entryway.
>Wait outside for them to make a move.
>Flare your aura, make sure they know you’re here.
>Other?

>>5054416
>Flare your aura, make sure they know you’re here.

>>5054416
>Flare your aura, make sure they know you’re here.

>>5054416
>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.

>>5054416
>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.

>>5054416
>>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.

>>5054416
>>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.

>>5054416
>>Knock. See if you can get them to come out willingly.

>>5054416
You decide to at least try to handle this in a calm, reasoned manner like a rational woman. So you decide to start with a knock on the slab covering the entrance tunnel. Three heavy pounds that you can sense reverberating through the first chamber... nobody inside could mistake it for anything but a deliberate entreaty.

After a few moments you do it again.

A minute or two after that, you hear three knocks from the other side of the slab. You respond with a few quick knocks again.

“She’s in there?” Zara asks nervously. “Okay, that’s... good, right?”

“Help me move this slab,” you insist, wedging your sword into the narrow gap behind the covering slab. “On three.”

...

When the slab falls away you wave Zara back. “Give it some space, Zara.”

A young woman with silvery-blonde hair cropped short around her ears, with silver eyes and a slim build, appears from within the tomb, quickly raising her sword and taking a few steps to the side. In her eyes you see not the eyes of a predator on the hunt, but one who knows it’s wounded and cornered. Desperation is behind that look.

“Easy,” you hold out your left hand, your right hovering near your shoulder where your hilt is. “Easy. We’re not here to hurt you. What’s your name?”

The warrior glances at Zara, then back at you. “Ariel.”

“I’m Noel,” you reply, before gesturing subtly towards Zara. “This is Zara.”

“Hi,” Zara greets Ariel awkwardly. “Are you... okay?”

Ariel’s eyes are fixed on you. “Noel you said? The former number seven?”

“In the flesh,” you confirm. “Is that a problem?”

Ariel lowers her sword. “I prefer you to that psychopath Clarice.”

“I take it you had a run-in?”

She nods. “There were four of us out in Sakia. She killed Bernice, Lucette, and Katja, and left me for dead. I haven’t seen a handler or another warrior ever since.”

“The Organization is gone,” you reply carefully.

“But Clarice said she was ordered to kill us?” Ariel’s brow furrows. “Why would she lie?”
>1/2

>>5055297
The full scope of the truth may be a lot to ask this particular warrior to accept right now.

>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.
>Ease her into it. Just tell her that the Organization had powerful backers.
>Promise to explain and PROVE everything if she’ll follow you to safety first.
>Other?

>>5055354
Ease her into it

>>5055354
>>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.

>>5055354
>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.

>>5055297
>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.
>Ease her into it. Just tell her that the Organization had powerful backers.
>Other?
It doesn't matter if she would lie or not, she enjoys killing for fun, even other claymores if only to steal their combat techniques. We already suspect she's annihilated and raised a village to the ground.

>>5055354
>Ease her into it. Just tell her that the Organization had powerful backers.

>>5055519
>>5055297
I'm good with this.

>>5055354
>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.

>>5055354
>Give her the full truth anyway. She’ll learn it all from you sooner or later.

>>5055354
“The Organization as we knew it had powerful backers,” you explain carefully. “On a different continent, on the other side of the world. They were using us and our home as an experiment, to develop living weapons for their own private war. Those backers are the ones we’ve been seeing in Sakia, who are probably giving Clarice her orders.”

“But why target us now?” Ariel demands, her tone exasperated by her experience. “Why did my friends...”

There it is.

After a moment, you shake your head. “That’s how this has always worked. We give everything, until the Organization decides it’s time for us to die. Then they send us on suicide missions, or put us in positions to awaken, or have us hunted down. With Clarice it’s just more honest.”

Ariel looks at you with a strange mix of sadness and curiosity. “You walked away – how?”

“We survived,” you explain. “The first few of us were all sent on a mission together – the others were supposed to die, and that was supposed to trigger my awakening. But that didn’t happen, obviously.”

“And that gave us the one thing we needed most to fight back against them.”

“What is that?”

You offer her a little smile. “Hope.”

After a few moments, Ariel returns her sword to its holster across her back. “Wherever it is you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

...

“So that’s the good news,” you tell the rest of your team. “The bad news is it sounds like there won’t be many more survivors, if Clarice has been hunting them down.”

“Then does that mean you want to return to Hazaran?” Aurora wonders.

>For the time being, yes. We’ll continue spreading information along the way.
>Not just yet. We can search for survivors a little more.
>Yes. Immediately.
>No. I still want to identify where Clarice has been hiding.
>Other?

>>5056051
>>Not just yet. We can search for survivors a little more.

>>5056051
>>No. I still want to identify where Clarice has been hiding.

>>5056051
>Not just yet. We can search for survivors a little more.
>No. I still want to identify where Clarice has been hiding.
We find survivors we find Clarice, we find Clarice we find survivors (might be a little dead).

>Other?

If Clarice is still reciving orders ,she probably gets the from the forces invading or from handlers traveling to and from the Island, we follow the handlers and the orders we can end up finding Clarice?

>>5056051
>Not just yet. We can search for survivors a little more.

>>5056051
>Not just yet. We can search for survivors a little more.
>I still want to identify where Clarice has been hiding.

>>5056051
“I still haven’t given up on searching for survivors,” you decide. “It would be most helpful to spread more propaganda throughout the region, but at the same time I don’t think Sakia is where we’d find anyone like us left alive. Not with Clarice and the Organization’s forces searching here.”

“So how do you think we should balance those goals?” Aurora wonders aloud.

“It’s most dangerous for us to be separated into little groups,” Valentina observes. “So let’s be careful if we go that route, right?”

“Agreed,” you nod. “And I think it’d be wrong to ask Ariel to stay here.”

“Someone should stay with me,” Reika sighs. “That’s how this is supposed to work, right?”

“I can escort our friend here back to Hazaran,” Aurora offers. “I’ll take Reika as well. We can avoid the border with Sakia.”

“That leaves myself, Zara, and Alexandra,” Valentina counts you off. “Splitting into twos, myself with Zara and yourself with Alexandra, seems best for maintaining our ability to sense each other.”

“We could stick together,” Alexandra comments. “Safer that way.”

“Either way it leaves us with a small dilemma,” you frown. “Clarice is most likely in Sakia, other survivors are more likely to the southwest of Hazaran. Two opposite directions, and I have no intention of sending two people after Clarice.”

“Our comrades take priority,” you decide. “We now know Clarice is taking orders from the Organization’s backers, so it’s best to beat her to her objective as much as we can.”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 7, 1 = 17 (3d10)

>>5057616

Rolled 6, 7, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>5057616

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

>>5057616

>>5057616
Over the next few days you hear little more than whispers, many of which you can confirm were about Ariel in the first place or else one of her now-dead friends. At very least you can now say for certain that there are no living warriors remaining in Sakia aside from Clarice, who is definitely taking orders from the Organization’s invading force. It seems that wherever there might still be survivors, you will have to look for them elsewhere.

You do manage to spread rumors and propaganda of your own, and you even overhear some talk in a village you haven’t previously visited that shows clearly that your previous rumors have been spreading on their own from community to community.

To accelerate this you target crossroads, places where you know travelers will frequent, skipping areas in the hopes that rumor will spread along the major roads and diffuse across the gaps between them until everyone has had a chance to hear some version of the truth as you know it.

>Call it quits with Sakia for now, return to Scaithness, regroup, and decide on a next course of action.
>Try to proceed southward a little, take an indirect route home while searching for other survivors in hiding.
>Cut northward, deeper into Sakia, spreading rumor and the seeds of civil unrest in the region as best you can.
>Other?

>>5059111
>>Try to proceed southward a little, take an indirect route home while searching for other survivors in hiding.

>>5059111
>>Try to proceed southward a little, take an indirect route home while searching for other survivors in hiding.

>>5059111
>>Try to proceed southward a little, take an indirect route home while searching for other survivors in hiding.

>>5059111
>Try to proceed southward a little, take an indirect route home while searching for other survivors in hiding.

>>5059111
>3d10, best of three

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

>>5060939

>>5059111
>20 hits it anyway
You’re just about ready to write Sakia off, at very least for the short term. You suggest swinging wide to the south along your route back to the western Hazari border, hooking through Petraea and into Tarsus.

...

It’s outside of a small town in Petraea, from which you can see the border region shared with Tarsus, that you track down another one of your fellow warriors by the rumors. At a crossroads you find a grave, marked with a familiar two-handed blade with a red hilt.

“It seems we were too late,” Alexandra frowns, kneeling next to the grave. “If only we had known she was here.”

Something about the stories bothers you though. “I’ve buried my fair share of people, both our own comrades and bystanders.”

As Alexandra watches you dig up the grave, finding nothing by the sword marking it but loosened earth.

“What does this mean?” she stares at the empty grave.

“I suspect this warrior, whoever she was, faked her own death,” you explain, filling the hole back in. “The rumors she was killed in a brawl with some yōma would probably be enough to satisfy our enemy. It’d be a good way to keep them off her back. So she simply played dead, allowed her body to be buried, and crawled out of her own grave once nobody was paying attention.”

Pick One
>Take the sword – erase evidence of the grave so the truth can’t be learned.
>Leave the sword, don’t raise any questions with the local inhabitants.
>Other?

Pick One
>Continue trying to track this warrior
>Call this off for now, but ask some trustworthy locals to keep their ears open
>Other?

>>5060971
>Leave the sword, don’t raise any questions with the local inhabitants.
We can pick it up if we find her, if we don't then better to leave it here.

>Continue trying to track this warrior
If we don't find her she'll likely be killed..

>>5060980
>>5060971
^

>>5060971
>>5060980

>>5060971
>>5060980

>>5060980
>>5060971
This guy has the shape of it.

>>5060971
>Leave the sword, don’t raise any questions with the local inhabitants.


>Continue trying to track this warrior

>>5060971
>3d10, best of two

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

>>5061805

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

>>5061805

>>5061805
You decide not to let this lead go cold, or at least any colder than it already is, and so you backtrack into the town to ask questions about the warrior buried with the sword. And after assuring the locals you just want to know what became of your comrade so that you can pay the proper respects, you start to get some explanations here and there from eyewitnesses.

“Happened bout two seasons ago,” one of the local farmers, a purveyor of pig-related products, informs you. “Silver eyed witch, eyes just like yours. Yup, I’m sure. Seen ‘em myself. Never gonna forget ‘em.”

“She was very polite,” says the wife of a local baker. “Stopped to buy one of the left-over rolls from the day before. She seemed… distracted, I’d say.”

“Heyeah, I saw ‘er,” a man whose profession you can’t immediately discern, but who smells of tobacco, drawls. “Her an’ that huge sword of hers. Saw her talkin’ to some folk, don’t know what about. Figured I’d keep my distance, let her business stay hers you know?”

“She said she was here tracking an especially dangerous yōma,” one of the ‘some folk’ the last man mentioned adds. “She wanted to know if we had noticed anything unusual, and the baker told her which of the town gossips might have the best information like that.”

“And what did you tell her?” Alexandra presses.

“That there were some strange travelers a few days before, and some sheep went missing about the same time.”

“Did she leave you any instructions?”

One of the women, a hatmaker, nods in confirmation. “She told us… well… she told us how you all bury your own kind. She asked that if she died on her mission, we could bury her properly.”

“We’ve already seen that you must have agreed,” you nod thoughtfully. “Thank you for that. But can you tell us more about what happened?”

“No, it wasn’t any of us that found her. But I can tell you who did…”

…

Eventually you find yourself speaking with an older gentleman, the father of a sheep rancher who owns a large plot of land outside of town, who found the warrior’s body.

“It was awful,” he shudders. “Wounds all over her body, covered in blood – hers and the monster’s. I… I never really gave your kind much thought, I know I’ve been rude in the past, years ago when my path crossed one of yours. But thinking of how much pain she must have been in, blind in both eyes, staggering through the mud… I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
>1/2

>>5061848
“Blind in both eyes,” Alexandra repeats to you in private a short time after you bid the old man good evening. “You think she may have left herself blind on purpose?”

“It would hide her eye color,” you admit with a frown. “If she were capable of keeping her yōki suppressed to a minimum, or else knew the formula for suppression pills, then it’s entirely possible she could fool even a huntress trained in our skills. There’d be nothing visible to judge unless you stripped her.”

“I’d certainly hope Clarice doesn’t go around making anyone who seems suspicious undress,” Alexa sighs. “Though from what I’ve heard she certainly is enough of a freak that nothing should surprise us.”

>We can have our own contacts abroad search neighboring nations for a woman matching that description.
>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.
>I think she may actually be safer hiding as she has. She’s definitely found a strategy that would fool me.
>Other?

>>5061850
>“I’d certainly hope Clarice doesn’t go around making anyone who seems suspicious undress,”
snerk
>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.

>>5061850
>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.
How would she hide her hair, I wonder?

>>5061850
>I think she may actually be safer hiding as she has. She’s definitely found a strategy that would fool me.

>>5061850
>>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.
I at least want to talk with her

>>5061850
>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.


>>5061877
Blonde isn’t unheard of unlike silver eyes. The bigger issue would be hiding her strength and almost nonexistent appetite.

>>5061850
>We could try local convents. Depending on the sect, those sometimes shelter battered or poor women.

>>5061850
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 5, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>5062583

Rolled 6, 7, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>5062583

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

>>5062583

>>5062583
“We can try the local convents,” you suggest. “That seems a likely place for a badly-maimed young woman to hide herself away from the world.”

...

Sure enough, you find that two days’ walk from the town where your mark went missing there’s an abbey, which has a convent as a part of its grounds where women can find shelter. And in that shelter, sure enough, you find a young woman with long blonde hair and a blindfold, who wears a modest outfit that covers her whole body from the neck down.

“Can I help you?” she asks, turning her face and her blind eyes towards you.

“Not as things are,” you admit, “but we may be in a position to help you.”

“I cannot fathom what you mean.”

“You did a good job covering your tracks,” Alexa muses, “but it was far from perfect. Miss Noel figured out the truth quite swiftly.”

After a pause, the young woman nods. “Who are you?”

“Alexandra, formerly a rookie,” your companion introduces herself first.

“Noel Tiberius di Hazaran, formerly number seven,” you add.

“And are you here to kill me?”

“Of course not,” you insist curtly. “We’re here to make sure Clarice doesn’t manage to do that to any more of our comrades than she already has.”

“May we have your name?”

After a moment – “Trina, though you won’t find me very useful like this.”

>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.
>Laura and Serana were both badly crippled and they’re still valuable allies and dear friends.
>If that’s what you feel, then I won’t disagree. But there must be something we can do to help you.
>Other?

>>5062700
>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.

>>5062700
>>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.
>>Laura and Serana were both badly crippled and they’re still valuable allies and dear friends.
>>If that’s what you feel, then I won’t disagree. But there must be something we can do to help you.
I don't see why we can't say all three.
Ask her to come with us, give an example of others that are crippled but still useful, if she refuses, then maybe we can help her some other way.

>>5062700
>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.
>Laura and Serana were both badly crippled and they’re still valuable allies and dear friends.
What happened to Laura?

>>5062761
Lost her arm. We didn't want to cut off our arm to give her a replacement.

>>5062700
>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.

>>5062700
>>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.
>>Laura and Serana were both badly crippled and they’re still valuable allies and dear friends.

>>5062700
>So what? Even if you just came to Hazaran to be a nun you’d be safer, and that’s what matters.

>>5062761
She had to regrow some limbs and as an offensive type her new legs are noticeably weaker than her original ones. Most offensive types are stuffed unless they can reattach the old limb, and lower-level/rookie offensive types might struggle to even manage that much.

>>5062700
“Laura lost her legs and can’t move as fast as she used to,” you inform Trina calmly, trying to let your tone convey what your expression usually would. “Serana too, she lost one arm and her voice. We speak now entirely through hand signals. Several of the others have limbs from their fallen comrades grafted to their own stumps, out of brutal necessity.”

“I don’t think any of us would consider your ‘usefulness’ before deciding to help you. That’s not important.”

“Agreed,” Alexa weighs in. “It was a pain to learn the hand signs but we all do it, not just because it’s worth it – but because Serana’s one of us, and she’d do the same if our positions were reversed.”

“Even if you didn’t feel like you could continue as a warrior,” you conclude, “I’m sure we could find you a place within Hazari society where you could excel. What is it you do here?”

Trina pauses for a moment. “Mostly menial tasks. Cleaning, washing. Learning to navigate myself through a world intended to be seen has proven challenging.”

“I’ll bet,” Alexa sighs. “Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Trina assures her. “What do you see me doing in Hazaran that I could not do here? Or are you thinking mostly of my ‘safety’ in the long term, against the actions of our former number one?”
>1/2

>>5063289
“I’m the queen of Hazaran,” you point out with a frown, “so whatever you feel is within your ability to do I can find a way to make happen. But I do know we have orphanages and services for the poor, and plenty of churches that always need various kinds of help. So you can consider those options for starters.”

“Orphanages?” Trina repeats, puzzled. “Tell me more about that, what do you see the connection being?”

“There are a few regional ones,” you admit, “an unfortunate need. The largest is in the capital.”

“The monks over in Daria may also have ways to help the blind and those around them communicate,” Alexa offers.

You nod in agreement, mostly for her benefit. “I hadn’t thought of that but yes, there may be a similar solution to the one we use with Serana. It’s also possible that with some practice you could compensate for your lost vision, Trina.”

“So I’d prefer it if you’d stop telling yourself there are so many things you can’t do anymore, because I know there are definitely still things you can do.”

After a few moments, Trina nods in agreement before offering you her hand. “Okay, I’ll take your advice. Would you do me a favor and lead me back to where I left my sword?”
>2/3

>>5064024
This time, you have no choice but to do the thing properly and escort Trina all the way back across the Hazari border. You notice she moves carefully every day, though she also clearly is trying to avoid holding you back too much. It goes unspoken that she simply can’t keep pace with you, and you wouldn’t make a big deal out of it even if it were a big problem. But you also quietly ‘talk’ to Alexa about it and agree not to even offer carrying her – she may have discarded the life of a warrior, but she still has a sense of pride to respect.

...

“Good afternoon,” you greet the headmaster of the capital orphanage, having arranged a meeting while Alexa plays with some of the children outside the office. “It’s been a while.”

“It has,” the headmaster, an older gentleman in plain clothing, agrees with a nod. “I understand though – your father would check in with me here as well once upon a time, but Sigmunt never chose to.”

“He and I share a few things,” you admit. “Certain things bother us, and we can’t help but try doing something about them.”

“You’re busybodies,” the headmaster muses.

“Exactly,” you sigh.

“So, who is your new friend?” he asks, glancing at Trina.

“My name is Trina,” she introduces herself politely. “I was once a silver-eyed warrior as miss Noel was.”

“You cannot see?” he asks for confirmation.

Trina nods once. “I cannot, and I am no longer able to heal the damage.”

“And what brings you here today, other than to check in with how the orphanage is faring?”

“I’d like you to consider what Trina here can do to help out around here,” you explain your thinking.

“I see,” the man nods in understanding. “You want her to have the choice to continue her life of service.”

“That was the general idea,” Trina confirms.

>Anything you can set up would be appreciated.
>I’d also like to train with her a little, if that’s possible.
>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.
>Other?

>>5064425
>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.

>>5064425
>>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.

>>5064425
>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.

>>5064425
>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.

>>5064425
>I’d also like to train with her a little, if that’s possible.
>Even if you know of any similar work, please mention it.

I assume it would be training her to sense and see? Maybe teach her some Yoki Sonar like when we were back in the tunnels?

>>5064425
“Do you know of any similar work to consider?” you muse.

“Already considering alternatives?” Trina asks with a slight frown.

You’re quick to clarify. “It’s not really a choice if you only have one option.”

“Fair.”

“There’s also a public kitchen,” the headmaster offers. “Can you cook?”

Trina shakes her head. “I barely even eat, and I would have to re-learn any ingredients by smell, taste, or feel.”

“I think we can make that work,” the headmaster nods, “though it may take some time.”

“That’s fine,” Trina shrugs. “I won’t be going on many missions from now on.”

A thought occurs to you. “How is your yōki sensing?”

“Decent,” Trina answers, “why?”

“If I were to release yōki in a short pulse, could you sense its movement through the room?”

After a moment, Trina shakes her head. “I can’t tell you. Would you like to try?”

You count down for her, before spiking your yōki utilization to about one-third of your maximum for just part of a second, before suppressing it again. The aura of energy, like an invisible wave of spreading flames, actually reflects around the various furniture of the headmaster’s office, reaching all the little nooks and corners before it dissipates.

“Anything?”

Trina nods. “I think so... but only just. I couldn’t make any sense of it. Have you actually done this before?”

“Once,” you admit.

“And it worked?”

“It did.”

“Then I think I could work on it on my own,” she muses.

>Offer to stay here for a few days, give her a few pointers on the technique.
>It’s up to her – there’s no substitute for trying it herself.
>Offer to come back on a regular basis to check in on her.
>Other?

>>5064792
>>Offer to come back on a regular basis to check in on her.
we should also familiarize her with the AB we have working with us, considering she only has sensing now it would be hella scary to suddenly come across one.

>>5064792
>Offer to come back on a regular basis to check in on her.

>>5064792
>>Offer to come back on a regular basis to check in on her.

>>5064798
>>5064792

>>5064792
>Offer to stay here for a few days, give her a few pointers on the technique.
>Other?
Bring Solaris with us next time and have her bring some flowers.

>>5064792
>>5064798
this

>>5064792
>>5064798
^

>>5064792
“I’ll be back through here from time to time,” you assure her, “to see how you’re doing. But I do have one word of warning – there are a number of awakened beings in Hazaran that are on our side.”

If Trina still had eyes she’d be using them to stare at you blankly. “Come again?”

“My mother, ‘Trueheart’ Sabela and the abyssal one Salem, along with three others – Solaris, Livia, Jess, and Reika.”
>1/2

File: Noel_portrait_colorized.jpg (147 KB, 484x471)

147 KB JPG

>>5065983
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Trina presses, her frown partly obscured by the cloth blindfold covering her ruined eyes. “In fact, I’m not certain that this isn’t a deal-breaker, depending on your answer.”

“We found a dietary supplement for them that they chose to rely on willingly,” you explain, “kind of like how deer and other animals sometimes need salt licks. I’ll have Solaris send you some flowers for your room here if you’d like.”

Trina is still incredulous, though it seems some of her concerns have been allayed. “She grows flowers? What could she possibly grow in such a cold place?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Trina nods once. “So, I neglected to ask you this, but what is your plan from here? This new iteration of the Organization sounds like a problem.”

You motion for the headmaster to leave, which he does dutifully.

“You ordered a man out of his own office?”

“It may be his office,” you muse, “but it’s my country, and as a citizen of it he knows better than to pry into sensitive matters of state by listening in on his queen.”

“Now, to answer your question…”

>We’re in the phase of undermining them, trying to eventually foment a rebellion in Sakia.
>We’re softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.
>This is a stalemate. The only way I can see to break it is to contact the main continent.
>Other?

>>5065985
>>We’re softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.

>>5065985
>This is a stalemate. The only way I can see to break it is to contact the main continent.

>>5065985
>We’re softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.

(Real answer)
>We’re softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.
>This is a stalemate. The only way I can see to break it is to contact the main continent.

>>5065985
>We’re softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.

>>5065985
>As of right now, this is a stalemate. We can break the invading force by softening them up – but I have no delusions of ending this without a major battle.
>And if we want to keep the organization from attempting a second invasion, the only way I can see that is to contact the main continent and sue for peace.

>>5065985
“We’re softening them up,” you admit with a sigh, “but I think there are only two ways this can end – a climactic battle, or contacting the ‘mainland’ continent.”

Trina frowns. “What do you mean ‘mainland’ continent?”

“The world we know is actually just one isolated island,” you explain. “A large island, yes, but one small part of a broader world. And the Organization has only been getting away with what they’ve done here because of our isolation.”

“What business brought them here?” Trina presses.

“There’s a race called the Asharakam,” you continue to explain, “likened to the dragons from the old myths. They’re capable of awakening – there was a war between at least some humans and the asharakam centuries ago, which humanity apparently lost.”

“But humanity clearly didn’t disappear,” Trina observes.

“Correct. But the Organization and their backers must have some gripe with the asharakam even now. As for what that is, you’d have to ask the Organization or their backers.”

“So how do we relate to all this?” Trina demands. “Because it sounds like you believe we were meant to awaken.”

>Tell her about partial-awakening... you have a few new thoughts on that yourself.
>Don’t tell her about partial awakening – all that matters is you were meant as weapons.
>It may be that “Awakened Beings” are actually the intended goal of this project.
>You may honestly be the intended outcome – stable awakening in a human.
>Other?

>>5066899
>>You may honestly be the intended outcome – stable awakening in a human.

>>5066899
>It may be that “Awakened Beings” are actually the intended goal of this project.
>Or maybe
>You may honestly be the intended outcome – stable awakening in a human.

>>5066899
>>It may be that “Awakened Beings” are actually the intended goal of this project.

>>5066899
>>Tell her about partial-awakening... you have a few new thoughts on that yourself.

>>5066899
>>You may honestly be the intended outcome – stable awakening in a human.

>>5066899
>Tell her about partial-awakening... you have a few new thoughts on that yourself.

>>5066899
“I’m not entirely sure how to answer,” you frown. “The Organization was clearly trying to create a warrior who could awaken and return without losing control, and has tried a few different ways to do that. My birth was another approach, this time in hopes that having been born the daughter of an abyssal one I would have a natural aptitude for handling yōki.”

“And did they succeed?” Trina asks you curiously.

You consider your answer for a moment. “Yes, but perhaps not to the degree they hoped. And they definitely failed to keep control over me.”

“How far can you awaken without issue?”

“Four-fifths is as far as I’ve gone,” you tell her. “With my four limbs being fully awakened, physically speaking. Many of the others in Hazaran can control unusually high levels of yōki as well.”

“And you haven’t turned this power against these new Organization’s forces?”

You shake your head. “That’s right. Though some of their fancier toys don’t get the same protections that living people do.”

“Okay,” Trina eventually nods. “I believe I have a better feel for you and your faction now – enough to feel confident that it is not a mistake trusting you.”

“I do have one last question,” you admit. “I didn’t want to ask because it could be interpreted as making our helping you conditional, but do you know anything about the forces in Sakia, about our former number One, or about any other survivors that could help our cause?”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 3, 8, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>5067714
DNYND

>>5067718
Haha gg me failing at typing in thXe captcha.

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

>>5067714

Rolled 7, 9, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>5067714

>>5067754
pretty nice.

>>5067714
“I’ve only heard rumors,” Trina admits, “nothing concrete. You’ve probably heard the same.”

“Hazaran is somewhat isolated,” you admit. “Our trade lines are still developing outside the mountains, so what you might have heard may be different from what we may have heard.”

“What I have heard is a rumor from the east,” Trina tells you calmly. “Rumor of a town that has been taken over by a pair of monsters with silver eyes.”

“I think I know who those would be,” you sigh. “So they’ve taken over a town now.”

“Evidently.”

“How did you come by this information?”

“It came through the church actually,” Trina explains. “The priest was one of the few who managed to escape.”

You do have a question – what is their plan now? You have a country, not just a town, so do they have any designs on the rest of the country they’ve found themselves in?

“Is there any indication of whether they intend to expand their influence?” you ask carefully.

“If there is I wouldn’t know,” Trina confesses. “The priest was the only person I knew of who could attest to what happened, and I left him far behind.”

“Okay, I understand,” you nod. “Thanks – I’ll be back at some point, I’ll let you know beforehand.”

...

“So Constanzia and Rafaela have a town now,” Helen sighs wearily. “Though it may be more appropriate to say that Rafaela has a town now and Constanzia gets to live there.”

“Are we going to do anything about that?” Valentina wonders aloud.

[We can’t allow that to continue,] Serana insists curtly, to much agreement from your peers.

Aurora nods once. “I believe the Organization would never let it stand. They could attack from the sea.”

“They may not be able to handle the task,” Helen replies.

“It would be a risk to go ourselves,” Nessa observes.

“I couldn’t ask anyone who faced them once before to do so again,” you admit.

>But we have two abyssal ones – we could put together a small team.
>I could however ask for volunteers to deal with any other awakened beings.
>For now, I think we should leave them be – so long as they only keep one town.
>Having the Organization make a move would work to our benefit.
>Other?

>>5069852
>Having the Organization make a move would work to our benefit.

>>5069852
>For now, I think we should leave them be – so long as they only keep one town.
>Having the Organization make a move would work to our benefit.

>>5069852
>But we have two abyssal ones – we could put together a small team.
The Org freeing a town from a pair of indisputable monsters would be too good for their PR.

>>5069852
>>But we have two abyssal ones – we could put together a small team.
agreed on getting the good PR ourselves, but also another clash of the awakened interests me

>>5069852
>>But we have two abyssal ones – we could put together a small team.

>>5069852
>>Having the Organization make a move would work to our benefit.

>>5069852
>But we have two abyssal ones – we could put together a small team.

Honestly? I don't think we can let the organisation make the first move here.

This is as much a war of opinion against the organisation as it is one of martial strength.
A situation like this is a victory for the organisation that they can use to paint themselves in a good light, whilst making claymores in general look like oppressors. Here's what happened when two silver eyes took over a town, what do you think the ones that took over a country are going to do? Etc etc

If we don't deal with it, if we aren't seen to be self policing, then we'll have more than just the organisation to deal with.

>>5069852
“Our strategic position is as important as all our tactical preparations,” you muse, carefully weighing options in your head. “The narrative is that the Organization’s new forces are an invader – cruel and domineering in intent and inept in execution. If they rescue a community, even if to oppress it later, that undermines our position. And make no mistake, I believe that we must deal with Constanzia and Rafaela somehow, sooner or later.”

“Dealing with them will take everything we have,” Helen sighs. “And I think you’re right, we can’t ask anyone who was nearly killed by them the first time to face them a second.”

[No,] Serana agrees silently. [Though that of course means Sabela and Salem will take a leading role. Should either disagree this may be impossible.]

“It would be Sabela, Salem, and myself at very least,” you decide, raising a hand to silence Valentina. “It’s important that I go and you know it.”

“Right,” Valentina nods after a moment, already giving up her objection to the queen of her homeland putting herself on the front lines again.

“I’ll go,” Aurora offers curtly.

“Same,” Justina adds.

“I think all our half-awakened sisters feel the same,” Helen spares each a glance.

>I’m not sure that’s wise. We may need some people to help deal with other awakened beings.
>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.
>I need to speak with our awakened sisters, particularly Sabela and Salem, about this.
>Other?

>>5071166
>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.

>>5071166
>>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.

>>5071166
>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.
>I need to speak with our awakened sisters, particularly Sabela and Salem, about this.
>Other?
Get some invader heavy weapons first. Raid them like we raided the Inquisition's artillery.

>>5071166
>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.
>I need to speak with our awakened sisters, particularly Sabela and Salem, about this.

>>5071166
This write-in >>5071247 is also good.

>>5071247
>>5071166

>>5071166
>We should get more information before we commit, since we only have one secondhand report.
>I need to speak with our awakened sisters, particularly Sabela and Salem, about this.

>>5071166
“We need to verify the information we have,” you think aloud to yourself, “and we should make plans for the likely contingencies.”

“An opportunistic attack?” Valentina wonders aloud, putting words to what a lot of you are probably thinking.

“If I were in the Organization’s place I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity,” Helen observes. “So three teams.”

“And we could also do with adding a few more tools to our arsenal,” you admit. "That means a preliminary raid."
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 4, 2 = 16 (3d10)

>>5072230

Rolled 10, 4, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>5072230

Rolled 5, 5, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>5072230

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

>>5072230

>>5072230
That “preliminary raid” is set up over the next few days, targeting a small town just north of your newly-expanded borders – a spy working out of Daria identified a buildup of supplies there intended for mountain warfare, including several small mortars and ammunition to go with them. That will be part of your plan when you eventually make your move against Constanzia and Rafaela’s faction.

But first you need to secure them, and bring them back into Hazaran.

Weapons and soldiers move through the Dari pass for this specific goal, eventually positioning below a low rise just outside of Daria. Not in the town of course, you want to do everything within your power to keep any fighting outside of Daria itself to avoid putting civilians in the crossfire. But there is a small fortified house there where you set up several wagons with horses that can pull your stolen materiel away and take it straight through the Dari pass.

At that point, the fortifications within the pass itself should prevent any organized attempt to follow you.

“Okay,” you tell the little team you assembled for the purpose as the sun dips below the horizon. “It’s time to move out. Let’s go.”

With you are Justina, Alexa, Lucia, +2, and a group of cavalrymen. The plan is to steal three mortars and their bases, along with as many rounds for them as possible, withdrawing through a pre-arranged field of fire. The cavalry will then withdraw behind you as a screen, protecting you until you reach the firing range of the defended house outside of Daria.

After leaving the cavalry to your rear you move in silence, relying solely on hand signals to coordinate as you creep closer to the outskirts of the town

[Soldiers in the square,] Alexa signals to you.

Justina gestures towards them. [No problem.]

[Avoid,] Lucia insists.

[Agreed,] Alexa tells you with a nod.

[Agreed,] Justina mimics her signs.

[Objective?] you signal.

After a few moments and some head-shaking, you agree to spread out through the hills surrounding the town. About an hour later the last of you to return, Lucia, slips into place. As you had hoped, your scouting efforts have confirmed that the weapons and ammunition are all being stored in the same place – it’s a small, rough-looking barn inside the arc of the low defensive walls.

[Defenses?] you ask.

[Extensive,] Justina informs you.
>1/2

>>5074179
There are a few ways you could avoid the guards around your objective – the cover of darkness, your superior maneuverability, and a distraction. The former will rely on precision timing and complete silence, and may require you to raise a hand to the human defenders in order to knock them out. The second will rely on traversing rooftops, which as you get closer to the barn in question may not be high enough to prevent people from below hearing your movements or catching glimpses of you as you pass.

Then there’s the third option – tossing special charges into their lookout fires. These will send of massive sparks and bursts of color before essentially smothering the fires they’ve been tossed into. That creates two conditions likely to work in your favor, the distraction of the smaller fireworks charges packed into each little bundle, and the fact that when they’re done the fires will have been choked out to glowing embers.

>Traverse the rooftops to get closer to your target, then swoop in from above.
>Sneak in quietly – ideally, none of the guards will ever notice you’re there.
>Go in with a riot, take advantage of the confusion to get in and out fast.
>Other?

>>5074188
>Traverse the rooftops to get closer to your target, then swoop in from above.

>>5074188
>Sneak in quietly – ideally, none of the guards will ever notice you’re there.

We should make sure all the girls know what the most amount of force one should apply to a human before it becomes potentially lethal, demonstrate on some of the cavalrymen?

>>5074188
>Sneak in quietly – ideally, none of the guards will ever notice you’re there.

>>5074188
>Sneak in quietly – ideally, none of the guards will ever notice you’re there.

>>5074188
>>Sneak in quietly – ideally, none of the guards will ever notice you’re there.
>>5074253
This is something to keep in mind.

Just noticed this thread isn't archived at /suptg/ -- should it be? Not sure what to title it.

>>5074738
Its archived since the end of last month
Are you sure you looked for the right name?

>>5074738
Try looking by title keyword. I'll sometimes be so tired that I accidentally tag it like it's my other quest.

>>5074179
>+2
jfc why the fuck did that stay in
Gimme a few, I'll review my notes and let you know who else I decided is with the team at the moment.

>>5075324
Sofia and Zara are the other two - one of the last generation of 'Captains' after the Organization gave up on maintaining numeric rankings, and a sensor from that same generation.

>>5074188
You decide that quiet is the best plan, at least at first, avoiding contact as much as possible in preparation for a wild dash to get out of town. Then, if need be, you can use your special charges to cause a distraction on your way out.

It’s important that you show each of your comrades in arms exactly how much force will knock a normal human unconscious, since several of them will have never raised their hand to a human before and may not even realize the depths of their own strength. Zara and Sofia are both clearly surprised at how little force you apply with the insistence “this is enough”, but that’s entirely the point. Sofia may be one of the best in her generation but she shares a general lack of experience with Zara and many of the other younger warriors.

So you carefully reinforce to her how important it is to never exceed the amount of force you demonstrated to her – because the further past that point she or any of you goes, the more likely it is to accidentally kill a human.

[I understand,] she signs back to you silently. [Thank you for showing me this.]
>3d10, best of four

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

>>5075350

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

>>5075350

Rolled 9, 4, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>5075350

Rolled 8, 4, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>5075350

>>5075350
Currently on mobile, will see if I can update from the job site.

>>5075350
>m
You creep quietly into the town along with your teammates, slipping from shadow to shadow, moving slowly and carefully, considering each step. Even crunching on a stray leaf or dislodging a small stone with your toe could give you away. Thankfully that doesn’t happen, and you make it the length of several streets before coming to your first decision – two men, their backs turned towards you, carrying rifles.

>Take them down silently and hide the bodies.
>Wait for them to move on, then proceed.
>Evade by heading to the nearest rooftop.
>Other?

>>5076543
>Wait for them to move on, then proceed.

>>5076543
>Wait for them to move on, then proceed.

>>5076543
>Wait for them to move on, then proceed.

>>5076543
>Wait for them to move on, then proceed.

>>5076543
You signal silently for your team to hold in place, and so you end up waiting for several long minutes. Breathless, motionless, as though one with the very shadows themselves. Eventually, the hapless guards move on through what must be a patrol route.

[Continue,] you signal to them in the starlight, and you creep the last few dozen yards to reach the barn.

After slowly lifting yourselves one at a time through an opening just above your heads, you quickly gather the items you came here to take with you. The bases, as you quickly learn, won’t be hard to produce for yourselves. But the mortars and their fused shells would be much more difficult, so these are what you focus your attention on. Out of the four that are present you select three, and identify several crates of ammunition to go along with them.

[Only three?} Justina gestures towards the fourth mortar.

You nod. [Prioritize ammunition.]

[Understood.]

...

After securing your haul with ropes, you’re left with a choice.

[How do we leave?] Zara wonders silently.

>With a distraction – use these explosive charges in some of their watch fires.
>Back out the way we came – silently, and ideally unseen as long as possible.
>If we start a fire in this building, that would account for some loss of equipment.
>Other?

>>5077545
>With a distraction – use these explosive charges in some of their watch fires.

>>5077545
>Other?
Do a second run, and grab more loot.

If discovered we knock out the guards, create distraction, then set fire to the barn and run.

>>5077545
>Back out the way we came – silently, and ideally unseen as long as possible.

>>5077545
>If we start a fire in this building, that would account for some loss of equipment.

>>5077545
>>If we start a fire in this building, that would account for some loss of equipment.

>>5077545
Set fire to the barn

>>5077545
>Back out the way we came – silently, and ideally unseen as long as possible.

>>5077545
>>If we start a fire in this building, that would account for some loss of equipment.

>>5077545
“A fire would take care of the rest,” you muse in a low voice, before returning to hand signals. [Options.]

[Wise?] Justina asks silently.

You shake your head. [We’ll have to call it out.]

[Losing the element of surprise,] Sofia observes.

[It’s a distraction that covers our tracks,] you counter. [In that sense, a perfect strategy.]

[Can we not announce it?] Zara asks you.

You shake your head again. [Already a risk. No warning would be irresponsible.]

[Agreed,] Justina nods curtly, before glancing at Sofia. [Right or not at all.]

After a few moments, Sofia seems to relent. [We’ll do it.]
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 5, 2 = 17 (3d10)

>>5078952

Rolled 10, 4, 1 = 15 (3d10)

>>5078952

Rolled 8, 4, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>5078952

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

>>5078952

Rolled 10, 8, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>5078952

>>5079100
:(

>>5078952
By disassembling one of the charges you brought along, you manage to get the necessary materials to set off a fire. Arranging the remaining flammable items inside also allows you to control the pace of the fire, at least in theory, and removal of the larger ammunition ensures that the whole place isn’t likely to explode.

[Go now,] you insist silently, sending your companions out with the ammunition first and foremost.

Once the ammunition has moved you set the fire, and flee with a mortar under your arm.

You wait for a few minutes for the fire to catch, and then you shout.

“Fire! There’s a fire here! Get the buckets ready! Fire, fire!”

You continue to shout until others pick up the alarm, and the bucket brigade breaks out into the street. By now the flames are engulfing the whole building, and the fire-fighting efforts focus on keeping the flames from spreading through any of the surrounding area. A few small bags of powder go off now and then as the fire consumes rifle ammunition in boxes, which you spread thin throughout the barn so that they wouldn’t go off in one single chain, but aside from that the fire is surprisingly tame.

...

Having fled the town, you run hard to catch up with your companions. In the commotion it seems that Zara was shot in the arm and lost the crate of ammunition she was carrying.

“You’ll be fine,” you insist, ushering the whole team along. “Just concentrate on healing.”

“I lost the ammunition!” she insists with a wince.

“Where?” you ask.

“In a ditch,” she tells you.

>Go back for it. Leave no evidence that could indicate something unusual happened.
>It’s not worth the risk to go back. The lack of large explosions is already a giveaway.
>Drop all the ammunition - make it seem deliberate, and hope you can produce more in Hazaran.
>Other?

>>5080129
>>It’s not worth the risk to go back. The lack of large explosions is already a giveaway.

>>5080129
>Go back for it. Leave no evidence that could indicate something unusual happened.

>>5080129
>>Go back for it. Leave no evidence that could indicate something unusual happened.

>>5080129
>Go back for it. Leave no evidence that could indicate something unusual happened.