>>5290674
Name: Pine
Age: 30
Marital status: Not married
Hobby: Cooking
Current target: Pike, the false healer.

Pike, a human that sells low quality healing ingredients and food at a steep price. His medicine’s lackluster performance caused a customer of yours to invest in an assassination.

>>5290674
Name: M.A.N
age: 18
Marital status :what ever you want sugar
Hoppy: acting like a depressed 14 year old girl
Current target: getting throw high school I don't want to do an extra year

>>5290692
Supporting this one.

>>5290674

>>5290692
+1

>>5290674
>>5290692 +1

>>5290692
+1
>Marital status: N/M
kek

File: pike.jpg (78 KB, 900x900)

78 KB JPG

Name: Pine
Age: 30
Marital status: Not married
Hobby: Cooking
Current target: Pike, the false healer.

========================

Your name is Pine. You're a 30 year old goblin woman and you aren't married. Your hobby is cooking but you don't have a family or anyone to share a meal with.

A. you've always been alone
B. you had a family once but monster hunters put an end to that
C. you had a boyfriend once he died when you stabbed him full of holes

========================

Your current target is Pike, a human that sells low quality healing ingredients and food at a steep price. His medicine’s lackluster performance caused a customer of yours to invest in an assassination.

A. stab him full of holes
B. bake him a poison cake
C. poison blow dart

>>5290758
>you had a boyfriend once he died when you stabbed him full of holes
he was just a part of our plan to seduce that one dryad, didn't work out
>poison blow dart
fitting

>>5290758

>A. you've always been alone

>C. poison blow dart
Goblins are at a disadvantage in terms of physical strength

>>5290758
>C. you had a boyfriend once he died when you stabbed him full of holes
You had a human bf, but he couldn't shut about "thicc shortstack goblin gf" and constantly tried to fat you up, even tho you told him it goes against your profession.

>D secretly switch the good health potion he keeps around self with a trash one of his own making, then stab him and watch as he tries to drink it up only to get even worse
poetic death

>>5290767
>You had a human bf, but he couldn't shut about "thicc shortstack goblin gf" and constantly tried to fat you up, even tho you told him it goes against your profession.

Kek

>>5290767
+1, he had a good thing but he fucking ruined it.

>>5290767

This but with a poison cake that is supposedly from a happy customer.

>>5290758
>C. you had a boyfriend once he died when you stabbed him full of holes
>D. secretly switch the good health potion he keeps around self with a trash one of his own making, then stab him and watch as he tries to drink it up only to get even worse (as per >>5290767)

>>5290758
A.
You do not want a tiny dicked goblin as a mate, and humans would never want a repulsive greenskin

File: mfw you believe that.jpg (70 KB, 958x826)

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>>5293483

This was a wild ride, but all good things must come to an end.

well, that was quick.

>>5293542
>>5293582
Nah fellas, I aint giving up on this quest. I will be the new QM.

Fyi i was this guy>>5290765
>>5290692

>>5294186
If you post, I'll vote.

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>>5293495
>>5293542
>>5293582
>>5294195
I’m not giving up on you.

C. you had a boyfriend once he died when you stabbed him full of holes (3)

>Write in (secretly switch the health potion then stab him and watch as he tries to drink it up only to get even worse) (3)

Pine wasn’t always an unmarried woman.
She had a husband, once. It’s rather unclear of what happened to him. Some say her husband, a human, became unbearable over time due to his standards of what a goblin woman should look like.

Some say that they never loved each other. They merely became associates because of a certain dryad’s… tastes.

Some even says she couldn’t get a willing (human) man in the first place.

Some propose that she wanted a child but due to genetic differences between a goblin and human, her dream was an impossibility.

Regardless of the tales that constantly drift over time and words that easily become unreliable, one thing is for sure. She is no longer with her husband.

She runs the small restaurant alone.

It’s time to serve a customer.

(Cont.)

File: FF66EFEB-B474-4D62-B0AC-4(...).jpg (72 KB, 450x600)

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>>5294224
Gamberson

>>5294227
Pine adorns herself in several layers of cloaks and dresses. Underneath it all is a gamberson dress she crafted by herself.

It’s a type of cloth armor made by stacking multiple layers of fabrics together. Good enough to stop a sword’s cut or a thrust, but a crossbow’s bolt or polearm will punch through such a thing. Also, an arquebus will definitely demolish you.

She arms herself with a few misericorde(‘Mercy’) daggers. They have a long, stiff, narrow blade designed to thrust into gaps of armored soldiers to finish them off, mercy killing them.

Surplus weapons from the many mercenary groups she managed to acquire.

Pine possesses no magical ability nor talent, but teachers of the arts and magical objects are not uncommon in her area.

With her blade and armor readied, she sets off the Pike’s Medicinal Store.

[Pike’s Medicinal Store]
Large two story building made from wood painted grey and black, similar to his clothing. It’s a store that sells potions and food supposedly containing regenerative properties. It is both is house and his store. The second floor is where his personal belongings are.

You decide to sneak into his house during…

>>Late morning, when the store is most populated. Keeping track of one customer will be hard.
>>Late afternoon, when it is least populated. He will be bored, and easily distracted.
>>Late evening, when he is about to close the store. He will be distracted with checking his inventory.

>>5294230
>Late evening, when he is about to close the store. He will be distracted with checking his inventory.

>>5294230
>Late evening, when he is about to close the store. He will be distracted with checking his inventory.
This way, we can clear out his inventory of actual healing potions while he's distracted, and leave the poison potions instead.

>>5294230
>>>Late afternoon, when it is least populated. He will be bored, and easily distracted.

>>5294230
>>Late morning, when the store is most populated. Keeping track of one customer will be hard.

>>5294234
>>5294237
Alright, there’s 4 votes already.
>>Late at evening (2) wins

Writing….

>>5294350
Pine decides to infiltrate the store in the evening. He’s probably too distracted checking his inventory, anyways.

The sun soon reaches the horizon. After all the customers have left, he began locking the doors before checking his remaining items. While he was preoccupied with the front door, you walked in the back door and hide yourself among the shelves of food.

His food shelves consist of bread and dried meat that were cooked with supposedly regenerative sauces and ingredients. It’s more convenient to store, but the dosage of such is somewhat less than a normal healing bottle.

While he is checking the amount of money he made, you sneak upstairs and enter his bedroom. It has a large messy bed, a large table and chairs, a closet, and several boxes next to the walls.

The table has quite a few books, notes, and bottles of something. It looks clear as water, but the texture is weird.

Anyway, you search his boxes and find genuine high quality healing potions, concoctions of those mages…

Bloodbearers, was it? You don’t really interact with the arcane much. The mages that study in anatomy to heal wounds. It’s a rather uncommon school due to the intricate nature of bodies.

The box contains 16 bottles of them in total. Seems like some of them are opened, and used slightly. Diluting them to create less powerful ones, probably.

Pine measures how much liquid there is, and pours it out into her own waterskin. She replaces them with one of his own, lackluster potions.

(Cont.)

>>5294388
You wait for him to come up to his bedroom after he is done with his business related duties.

Eventually, he comes to his room. You hide underneath his bed, with your dagger drawn.

He sits on the chair momentarily before looking at the bottle on his desk. That water like liquid. He begins packing some nice looking clothes and towels on the table, his back turned to the bed (and you). Probably going to a bathhouse.

>>Attack him now.
>>Attack him when he is walking downstairs. Gravity will do the trick.
>>Follow him for now.
>>Cause a noise near the bed. He might look down and become an easy target.
>>Write in

>>5294391
If you decide to attack, each person roll a
dice+1d100

First 3 rolls will be considered. Highest roll will be used.

Since this is an ambush, you’ll get a bonus to the roll (I’ll be adding it after the rolls)

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>5294391
>>>Attack him when he is walking downstairs. Gravity will do the trick.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>5294436
This but just push him out of stairs in a way that it will feel to him like an accident. Then hide again to remain undetected. Hopeful he will go after the healthpotions in the bedroom after his accident.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>5294391
>>Push him when he is walking downstairs. Gravity will do the trick.
Agreed with 69 anon. But if we get detected, act panicked and scared. Pretend to fetch him the potion so he doesn't get extra angry.

Rolling for broken bones.

>>5294549
>>5294532
>>5294436

71+20=91

You decide to wait for him to carrying his things and walk downstairs. Trip him, and let his forehead smash against the wooden stairs. It will be a mere accident.

After he closes his door, you wait until you hear his loud footsteps on the stairs before silently opening it.

Both of his hands are preoccupied.

You strike him behind his right kneecap with the guard of your dagger. His leg bends from the hit, and he tumbles down.

His hands attempt to latch on to the railings after throwing those clothes in the air, but his arm get stuck inbetween the many railing’s pillars and he breaks his arm.

Eventually, he falls to the end of the stairs and the back of his head gets struck by a corner of the stairs.

He howls as he attempts to get back up the stairs, he leans against the wall with his left (unbroken) arm.

Opening his bedroom’s door right now would be too risky. You fade back into the shadows near the stairway instead.

That idiot’s stumbling took longer than expected. Nevertheless, he eventually reached the door.

He pushes the door open and try to open the fancy health potions with one hand. Corks aren’t the easiest to open, even with two.

(Cont.)

>>5294583
As he raises his bottle up to drink, you thrust at his thigh and pull the dagger down.

The near deafening scream is produced, and he drops the bottle on the floor, shattering it. Bright pink decorates his wooden floor.

You pull the blade out and run outside the room. The pain of such injury is so severe he is unable to retaliate.

Hiding behind a wall, you hear him fall to the ground. Sounds of repeated licking paint a clear picture of what he is doing.
Beneath that visage of a honest shopkeeper is nothing but a stray dog, after all.

After a few moments of licking, you hear a faint sob. Oh well, time to put a stray down.

You kick open the door. The wood strikes against his head and fractures his nose.

You see him lying on all four limbs, his face nearly unrecognizable through the blood. The once regal brown and greys of his clothing now tainted with blood and shattered glass.

You lift his head up and slams it against the glass filled ground. His begging for mercy means nothing to you.

You drag him by his hair and aligns his head with the door. His tears are the only thing he could make.

You keep slamming the door against his head until you hear nothing. The crushed object of what used to be his skull isn’t enough to convince you. Half a dozen thrusts to his neck later, you are now satisfied.

(Cont.)

>>5294585
A stray dog, culled.

Pine could spend some time to mess up his room and steal his things, shrouding it as a brutal robbery instead of a planned kill. That clear, viscous liquid is something you’ve never seen before.

She could alternatively burn his documents, making it seem like he knew something he shouldn’t.

Or she could leave right now. She isn’t prepared to fight town security. Someone might’ve heard those noises.

>>Steal his stuff and mess up his room.
>>Burn his documents.
>>Leave right now
>>Write in

>>5294587
Hell yeah, based Schizo QM picking up a second shift.

>>5294587
>>>Burn his documents.

>>5294587
>Steal his stuff and mess up his room.
Goblinmode.

>>5294587
>>Steal his stuff and mess up his room.

>>5294587
>>Steal his stuff and mess up his room.
He was a fraud, nobody's gonna cry.
Hell,
>>Search the place for money, take a cut and dump the rest in front of his house
>>Leave the legit healing potion bottles in the front as well (after securing as much of the contents as we can)
Nobody will bat an eye at a vigilante.

>>5294587
I think we could have staged it as a normal accident if we would let him just drink the poisoned healthpoition. But that's already out of the table so:
>Steal his stuff and mess up his room.
It's already brutal murder, plus extra loot

>>5294648
I based my situation based on

>D. secretly switch the good health potion he keeps around self with a trash one of his own making, then stab him and watch as he tries to drink it up only to get even worse

So thats why Pine killed him that way.

Writing…

>>5294639
>>5294642
>>5294645
>>5294655
Steal his stuff (4)

Pine decides the best course of option is to pretend a burglar broke in and a brutal confrontation happened.

She pockets the strange water like liquid in that bottle, and grab all of his things. Money, notes, whatever. It’s hers.

She pulls out the drawers and tosses the mattresses on the floor. The candles also gets thrown to the ground. Such a tiny flame was extinguished immediately.

Before she leaves the building, she pours some of the collected high quality healing potions into a few empty bottles and places it in a crate. Leaving from the front door is too risky, so she places the high quality potions on the counter.

You carve a message on the counter.
“Liar”

Pine leaves through the back door and fades away into the shadows. Before coming home, she takes off the bloodied clothing and stores it inside her bag.

The town remains rowdy. Mercenaries spending their wealth in bars and brothels. Guards pretending to be observant. The usual.

You rest soundly that night.
Ah, I wonder what Jess will say about it.

The customer who requested for Pike’s assassination is a loyal customer of yours. He requested it after one of his friends died due to the healing food not working as advertised.

The Novice Lightbearer, Jess.

He is a human who studied in the arts of manipulating light. He is currently studying under more experienced bearers who are blacksmiths. Whenever he feels tired, he visits your restaurant to eat your fish stew.

He is a young man with pale skin and small muscles. You once asked about it, and he says that is the result of being a Lightbearer.

(Cont.)

>>5294719
“All bearers must sacrifice a part of themselves to attain their powers.”

By being bestowed with the power to redirect light, his body absorbs very little of it. Without sunlight, the body suffers… somehow. His skin turn pale, his muscles occasionally cramp, and he feels fatigued at times.

He says that certain food can mitigate it somewhat. Fish, eggs and milk in particular are extremely effective.

You’ve never had talent in the arts anyway, let alone the vitality to endure such things. Even humans and giants typically bear one school of art.

Maybe you’ll find an enchanted object, some day.

Your body wakes up in the morning. You take a bath and prepare the ingredients for today’s customers. You recheck the broth, bread, meat, and vegetables. You refill the spice boxes and cleaned the tables. You bake the next batch of bread while waiting for customers to show up.

(Cont.)

>>5294720
Jess visits you in the early morning.

“Is the stew done?”
“The meat has been cut.”

His grin is filled with excitement but you catch a glimpse of tears on his eyes.
Wordlessly, he hands you a bag of money.

Combined with Pike’s… payout, you have a pretty large amount of money. Good enough to buy armor, weapons, new restaurant equipment and other stuff.

Since no one beside you two is here right now, you decide to…

>>Ask him about the high arts and magic things.
>>Talk to him about the strange liquid you found.
>>Ask for tips about buying arms and armor.
>>Ask him about any other customers willing to invest in your ‘side business’
>>[Flirt] I enjoy talking to you, Jess.
>>Write in

>>5294723
>>>Talk to him about the strange liquid you found.

>>5294723
>Talk to him about the strange liquid you found.
>[Honest] I enjoy talking to you, Jess.
Let's start off slow. No need to go full coomlin yet.

>>5294723
>Talk to him about the strange liquid you found.
>Ask him about any other customers willing to invest in your ‘side business’

>>5294723
>>Ask for tips about buying arms and armor.

>>5294723
I'll also support:
>[Honest] I enjoy talking to you, Jess.
So long as it isn't yet a flirt.

>>5294747
>[Honest] I enjoy talking to you, Jess.
+1

>>5294736
>>5294747
>>5294749
>>5294759
>>5294800
>Talk to him about the strange liquid you found. (3)
>[Honest] I enjoy talking to you, Jess. (3)

You ask him about a strange liquid you found yesterday. It looks transparent as water, but a bit more viscous.

He thinks someone enchanted this liquid with light bending properties, making it transparent. He might be able to ask the more knowledgeable bearers about this.
You give him a vial containing a sample of this liquid.

You also talk about how he looked at it before preparing his clothes and presumably going to the bathhouse.
He didn’t take it, he just looked at it.
What the hell is that thing? Both of you think about the possible uses.

Oh, right. You’ve been wanting to talk about one other thing.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Be cool.

“Also, Jess. One more thing.”
“I like talking to you.”

“I.. uh.. thanks.”
“Thank you.”
“It is nice talking to you, too.”
“…..”
“I’m gonna go now. Go talk to them about the liquid.”
“Goodbye.”
“Bye.”

Objective… accomplished? You did deliver a message to him, technically.

Ugh. There’s more stuff to do. Can’t fixate on it now.

The rest of the day is spent serving customers their food, making food and cleaning up the restaurant.

Evening falls once again. Jess comes back, distressed. He says this is a concoction that could make someone unconscious for several hours and causes temporary memory loss.

It’s the perfect weapon for a kidnapping.

Strangest of all, it was not enchanted with light bending. This liquid is almost like water, by itself.

You need to find out who is manufacturing this thing. To do that, you must call upon someone knowledgeable.

CREATE A CHARACTER
Name:
Title:
Description/Experiences:

(Gotta sleep now. See you in 8 hours or so.)

>>5294803
>Name: Kazzik
Title: Wild Goblin Alchemist
Description/Experiences: A mix of a chemist and a traditional healer, and a new immigrant to this city, having grown up among the 'wild' goblins of the woods and wastes

>>5294803
Name: Flordel ulo Magnifico (stage name, real name unknown)
Title: Poison and drug dealer and your friendly local bard in one person
Description/Experiences: Flordel appears like your typical poor carefree silly bard who flits with every woman and some man. However beyond this facade he's an expert in poisons and drugs and makes a living out of selling this stuff. If someone will know about new illegal substance on the street, it will be him.
Usual he plays in the inn in the downtown or on the street in the same region.
He claims he's a half-elf, but you suspect it's a lie to appear more attractive and exotic.
You buy poisons from him regularly. Weirdly he never flirts with you... not that it bother you, I mean, you prefer to keep the contact professional and he isn't your type anyway.

>>5294655
Yeah, I could mention it earlier.

>>5294803
Name: Bae B.(ickey) Bibobu
Title: Professor
Description/Experiences: A teutonic man formerly teaching at an all-girls school, he now spends his retirement answering peoples questions when not busy.

File: 1628345518074.png (1.87 MB, 2160x3840)

1.87 MB PNG

>>5294803
Niunoi
Goblin Mage/Alchemist, has some previous experience as a wizard's assistant/potion disposal.
A goblin who was sold by her parents to a mad wizard for a haunch of venison. Got her magic powers from being forced to drink her master's failed potion concoctions. Got her revenge when she pushed him into a planar rift beyond reality, now currently lives in his dilapidated wizard's tower mixing potions and identifying magic items for a living.

This image was the closest I could get to a relatively attractive non-coomer goblin mage.

>>5294865
>non-coomer
I dunno, anon. Long haired goth shortie with a hip-hugging, pelvis-highlighting sheer black dress with a window for her freckled boobs seems like it fits a few fetishes.

>>5294865
>wants non-coomer
>must be attractive
what?

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>>5294803
Name: Makari
Title: Child prodigy
Description/Experiences: A 12 year old human boy. He learned magic from his (now dead) grandfather. You had promised his (also dead) mother that you would watch over him. He's like a son to you even though he is taller than you now

>>5294917
I know. As I said, she's the closest in my shortstack folder.

>>5295017
Well, I'll support yours if only to get a goblin NPC, since everyone is apparently just voting for their own NPC.

>>5294803
Changing from >>5294805 to support >>5294865

>>5295023
>>5294865
Everyone else (1)
Niunoi (2)

This was a lot closer than I expected.
I’ll be rolling a 1d4 for another character that will show up in the future.
1=Kazzik
2=Flordel
3=Bibobu
4=Makari

You call upon
Niunoi, the goblin.

She is a potion maker, living in an abandoned gravity mage tower. Most of the time you see her in a black dress that clings to her skin.

She has long black hair that it extends past her body, leaving a slight trail behind her.

Niunoi’s tower is located north of town, just a few minutes walk from your restaurant. In fact, she was the one who told you what time customers are most likely to enter restaurants.

One day, you ask about her unusual attire.
Her normally mischievous demeanor evaporated.

Before Pine came here, she was slave to a gravity mage who experimented with concoctions that could strengthen body against the gravitational force. She didn’t have much of a choice and was forced to ingest multiple failed attempts of such things.

Fortunately, she managed to kill him by tampering with his experimental portals and redirected the location to somewhere in space.

The concoctions didn’t fully work. While her heart and lungs are more efficient than most people’s, her skin developed rashes and severe itching. Should she remove the black dress, you would see extensive damage on her skin from all the scratching.

The black dress is an flesh enchanted clothing that is bounded to her, allowing it to be loose or tight fitting as she wanted.

(Cont.)

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>>5295413
Since she is a potion maker you trust, you decide to visit her.

You reach the top of her tower and see that she’s smiling while looking into the town. News of Pike’s death has reached most people’s ears.

People think of it as a vicious attack by someone who has a personal grudge. It doesn’t really narrow down the perpetrators.

She asks about whether Pine had fun last night.

You should’ve seen it. He was on all fours before I slammed the door against his head.

She giggles before asking what is the reason you decide to visit. You tell her about Jess’ discovery and asks for her opinion on it.

She confirms that this is indeed a concoction that could knock people out.
However, this is an altered version of a sleeping drug. Typically they are not this concentrated, and the color is a dark blue shade. [Picture the is sleeping drug]

To create this version, you need precise machinery to mix the ingredients together.

(Cont.)

>>5295416
Few places have access to those equipment, but it is most likely Silverport.

Silverport is a city next to the sea, where the sea serpents live. It is one of the few places that connects non bipedal beings to bipedal ones.

The sea serpents are masters of venom and acid. Studying under them is a dream of most potion makers (although most don’t get to achieve it)

Being one of the highly respected places of potion making, it has specialized tools to perfect concoctions.

Most other places do have instruments for potion crafting, but they are not as perfect. Of course, sometimes perfection isn’t desirable. Higher quality means higher price.

From Cinderpath (this town) to Silverport, it would take 5-6 hours to get there on carriage.

You have enough money to afford the ride, but before you go there, does Pine want to do something first?

(Supplies won’t be a problem for her.)

>>Visit a weapons and armor shop
>>Buy some potions from Noi
>>Buy magical objects
>>Spend time learning about Silverport
>>Write in

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>5295413
1=Kazzik
2=Flordel
3=Bibobu
4=Makari

>>5295420
>Spend time learning about Silverport
Intel is useful

>Buy some potions from Noi
What's she got?

>>5295420
>>Visit a weapons and armor shop

>>5295420
>>Buy some potions from Noi

>>5295420
>>Buy some potions from Noi
>>Buy magical objects
one and/or the other

>>5295730
>>5295422
Pine decides to spend some time learning about Silverport before buying potions from Noi.

Silverport, city of serpent scholars.

Before it was a city for skilled potion makers, people used to come here to ask for blessings of water from the serpents, who are considered to be minor gods of the water.

If the serpents feel like it, they will organize a group to deliver water to farms during summer time.

Take great care when being near them. Most are unable to talk, but can understand spoken and written words.
Only elder serpents, who are usually adorned in gold accessories, can talk.

One crucial thing you should always beware of is

THEY ARE HOSTILE TO BIRDMEN AND ALL BIRDS

Objects depicting birds are frowned upon, as the birdmen are mortal enemies of the sea serpents. Any trinkets of them should be hidden from sight lest you be despised.

While Noi didn’t study under them, she has talked to potion makers that did.

(Cont.)

>>5295948
Sliverport is a lot bigger than our town, Cinderpath. Openly carrying swords and knives are the norm there, and you’ll see a lot more mages there as well.

The crime rate is naturally higher, and fights do break out occasionally. Maybe you could find a client.

You thank Noi for her sharing knowledge. Supplies won’t be a problem for you. You have leftover ingredients and food for the journey.

Since you’re already here, you might as well buy a few potions from her. Could be useful if you get into a dangerous situation unprepared.

Pine could spend a week or two in Silverport. Any longer and she’ll see a big drop in her customers’ numbers.

(Cont.)

>>5295950
[Noi’s potions]

Pine has 4 FUNDS.

[Gravity potions]
Gravity reduction potion [1 fund]
Light purple liquid.
Reduces the effect of gravity when ingested. Jumping height will be increased, and damage from falls will be reduced.

Gravity boosting potion [1 fund]
Violet liquid.
Boosts the strength of gravity when ingested. Most humans will be unable to stand up from the force being applied.

[Serpent scholar potions]
Acid mitigation potion [1 fund]
Bright green liquid.
When applied to acid burnt wounds, can substantially reduce damage done to flesh. Sea serpents and their scholars are fond of acid usage.

Blood clot potion [1 fund]
Dark green liquid.
Quickly stops blood loss when applied to wound. Main ingredient is sea serpent’s venom, being able to induce blood clot.

[Lightbearer potions]
Light bending potion [1 fund]
Bright yellow liquid.
Makes surface transparent when applied to it.

Light blaring potion [1 fund]
White liquid.
When shaken repeatedly, produces a bright light.

(Cont.)

>>5295952
[Mercenaries’ potions]
Body strength potion [2 funds]
Orange liquid.
Massively improves strength, speed, endurance and pain threshold of person ingested.

Mind soothing potion [2 funds]
Grey liquid.
Slows your heart rate and breathing.
Used by hunters and spies to reduce their noises. Can also be used to fake a death.

All potions with lingering effects last for a 3-5 minutes.

Pine’s waterskin is already filled with an equivalence of 4 flasks of high quality healing potions. That’s probably enough.

>>5295952
>>5295954
>Body strength potion [2 funds]
>Gravity reduction potion [1 fund]
>Blood clot potion [1 fund]

>>5295952
Does Light bending potion make surface transparent from both side or only the side from which it was applied?

Man, I still would like to take Light bending potion, but I feel like this set of potions >>5296016 is the right call.

>>5296044
Depends on how thick the material is.

Thin clothing? The fabric will absorb the potion and all sides with be transparent

Thicker ones require it to be painted on all sides

>>5295952
>[Gravity potion]
Great for escape

>Body strength potion
Great for a pinch

>Keep 1 FUND
We may find we need something later.

>>5296101
>>5296016
(2 votes) Pine decides to buy
Body strength potion [orange]
Gravity reduction potion [light purple]
Blood clot potion [green]

She leaves the tower and goes to home pack her bags for a trip to Silverport.

Jess couldn’t come, but you did tell him to alert people if you don’t come back after two weeks.

Pine’s bag consists of
A few days worth of food
Two weeks worth of clothing
Notebooks and writing instruments
Medicine and bandages
A few cooking knives

Her waterskin and misericorde daggers are kept on her at all times.

Going there tonight is too dangerous.
She decides to wait for tomorrow’s convoy instead.

Dawn finally arrives. Before she heads for the convoy, she hangs up a sign in front of her store.

CLOSED. OWNER ON BUSINESS TRIP.
WILL BE BACK IN ONE OR TWO WEEKS.
LEFT ON 15TH OF 1ST MONTH.

(Cont.)

>>5296674
Since it is a seaside town, Pine decides to wear slightly less clothing. As opposed to a long sleeved dress, she wears knee length pants.

For her upper body, she covers her chest and back with dark cloth, and wears an open faced long sleeved shirt over it.

It’s relatively modest compared to the people there. Women usually wear cloths that cover the chest and leave the midriff and arms bare.

Men usually wear short sleeved shirts. Some don’t wear shirts entirely. Their pants are relatively similar, being knee length or shorter.

That being said, this is a matter of practicality. Large, loose fitting clothing can easily get snagged on objects.

Sun is beginning to hover over the horizon. Time to leave. You get on one of the carriages on the outskirts of town.
A dozen or so people join you, mostly merchants.

The cold wind blows against you as the horses move. You’ve been through worse.

Occasionally you look back to Cinderpath. The town becomes smaller until it is merely a dot. Hopefully this next town will be better than the ones you’ve traveled to before.

You decide to rest. It’s a five hour drive, after all.

Bright sunlight graze your eyes. Ugh.
The driver announced that we will arrive at Silverport in half an hour.

(Cont.)

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>>5296676
As you move past the forests, you see a large sea side town fortified with large white walls. Above those walls are cannons which point in every direction, manned by soldiers in burgonet helmets and cuirasses.

The guards here are equipped with more sophisticated polearms and sidearms. Their langmessers (long knife) in particular catches your attention.

Langmesser is a single handed, single edged sword with a ‘nail’ along side a typical crossguard. The ‘nail’ is a slab of metal protruding on the right side of the sword, designed to protect the hand.

They are a lot more well funded compared to your town’s guards, and western powers have more influence here, judging from their armaments.

[Picture of langmesser]
(Cont.)

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>>5296678
Picture of burgonet helmet

>>5296679
You reach the town proper after half an hour. The guards check your documents and symbols of Cinderpath.

The large tower at the center of town is mistakable. The Serpent Scholars tower, where qualified potion makers are taught by the sea serpents.

North west of the town is a market, and beyond those gates are the ship ports. That’s where most merchants are coming here for.

North east of town, past the gate, is an island for student potion makers and sea serpents staff members to stay at.
Not open for visitors.

West of town is a collective of facilities. Dueling clubs, bars, recreational potion stores, bathhouses and restaurants.

East of town is where people outside of the academy live, and usually consists of hunters, farmers, fishers, and storeowners. There’s a few hostels and inns here.

(Cont.)

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>>5296680
Alright, It is almost noon. Where to?

>>Visit north west of town (Market)
>>Go north west (Ship port)
>>Visit Serpent Scholars tower
>>Visit west side of town (Facilities)
>>Visit east side of town (Inns)
>>Write in

[Picture of Silverport]

>>5296683
>>Write in
Look for work, someone needs killing

>>5296683
I think first thing we should start gathering intel and the good staring point would be cheeking on local rumors and eavesdropping on conversations. West side of the town should be better for that, since people there will be more casual and relaxed, and therefore more willing to chat about private matters and opinions. Maybe we could even find someone in need of our skills like the previous anon said. Plus it probably would be nice to eat something and clean self after the long journey. Tho I don't know how we stand with funds.

>>5296968
>>5296698
(When it comes to money, unless I state specific amounts like in Noi’s store, it doesn’t really matter that much)

You decide to visit west side of the town. That’s where most people come to relieve stress, and where someone could disclose something they wouldn’t in a more professional location.

Most people here are Serpent Scholars, skilled potion makers in training. Young adults in their early 20s.

Their uniform consists of a robe that reaches the knees, but most people prefer to wear it open faced, likely an intentional choice in terms of aesthetics, or a lack of care.

The women here wear cloth wrapping around their chest just like Pine. The main difference from your clothes are how both genders wear shorts that show the thighs. How much it shows largely depends on the person.

She also sees a few serpents here occasionally. The elder serpents usually hang around the bathhouses while the younger ones visit restaurants and recreational potion stores.

Pine is unfamiliar with this place, but she knows a few things about people.
The recreational potion stores and bars are where people are most likely to say things.

For lunch, she eats her own bread and dried meat. Good enough.

She spends the afternoon at the potion store. It’s a place where people relieve their stresses in their own way.

For some, it’s taking potions to be in a dream like state for a few hours. Some vent their problems towards each other.

Some stare into nothingness after taking a few concoctions. Some take it just to fall asleep. Some get to an orgy and take it to forget what happens.

And some, share very interesting stories.

(Cont.)

>>5297914
You hear a few people talk about someone called Zeal.

He’s a goblin who is suspected to kidnap women for unknown reasons. They usually reappear after a few days with no memory of what took place.

He has unkempt hair that nearly covers his right eye, and has a floral tattoo on his shoulders. His irises are red.

Some say they have seen him beat up multiple people on his own and mutilate penises.

You approach the group and introduces yourself as an private security that happens to visit Silverport on a business trip.

Your cilent was unable to come last minute and now you’re stuck here with nothing to do.

The serpent scholars are surprised by your presence and is still not convinced that you are here to help them. You could’ve been hired by Zeal to eliminate anyone with leads by pretending to be helpful.

How do you convince them?

The logical approach. All three of you would be dead when they were discussing what he looked like.

The emotional approach. He is a disgrace to goblins and we don’t associate ourselves with an asshole like that.

The ruthless approach. Ditch your cover as private security. I just love hurting people. Do you want me to expel it towards you, or someone like him?

The desperate approach. I need money. I don’t care for what needs to be done.

Fuck it. I’ll just find someone else who’s not a retard.

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>>5297916
Your approach?
>>Logical.
>>Emotional.
>>Ruthless.
>>Desperate.
>>Don’t bother convincing. Find someone else.
>>Write in.

[Picture of Zeal based on the description]

>>5297918
>>Logical.

>>5297918
>Logical

>>5297918
>>>Logical

>>5297918
Another one for logical.
They already said too much, but they have a one in a lifetime chance to get rid of the guy once and for all.

>>5297918
>Emotional.

>>5297930
>>5298079
>>5298084
>>5298088
Logical (4) wins

Gotta sleep for now. Gonna write in about 8 hrs or so.

>>5298144
All three of you would be dead when you described what he looked like, or when you talked about his rumors. You’d look just like those dreamers at first glance.

I mean, if I really wanted to, I could’ve just waited for all three to leave this place and kill you one by one in a remote location.

Hell, I could’ve swapped your potions and stole your stuff while you were distracted.

People don’t look down a lot, especially when they’re looking at friends.

Instead, I present myself to you. Remove my element of surprise, showed you my face, and saying all the things I could’ve done if I really was on his side.

The three scholars are unable to say anything for a few seconds.
Heh. Good.

From reading through the books about Sliverport and Noi’s description, you deduce that these adults have a fairly large amount of money. The pay for this could be pretty good.

(Cont.)

>>5298817
Before you ask about the payment, though, you ask about where Zeal normally is.

Most people don’t find Zeal outside of the classroom. They personally haven’t seen him in the canteen or restaurants.

Speaking of the classroom, he is one of the top students there. He is exceptionally skilled at making sleeping aid drugs and muscle relaxants.

Most people just see him as a loner that is good academically. Stories from people who worked with him are usually describe his as efficient, if a bit cold at times.

He doesn’t seem to have any close friends, either. Doesn’t frequent the facilities west of town, but sometimes visit the north west’s market.

People don’t even know what room he stays in at the Serpent Scholars Island north east of town.

No romantic relationships, either. According to people that have talked to him and asked about dating.

(Cont.)

>>5298819
Huh. This is tough.
You ask for payment for the investigation.
You convince them of how many you could save from being kidnapped or mutilated.

After some convincing, you manage to ask for a substantial payment. They will be dividing who will pay among themselves. They also will try to ask people who was supposedly injured by him for financial aid.

They pay you 1/3rd of the total amount right now. They will pay another 1/3rd after you find an important clue or evidence.

To an assassin (or spies), intelligence gathering is one of the cornerstones of a successful mission. A few options come up.

There are a few places that you could gather clues.

The market. You might talk to someone who might know him, or just follow him if he shows up.

The Serpent Scholar Island. It’s not open for visitors, but if you could disguise yourself somehow (or don’t get caught), you might be able to observe where is Zeal’s room.

The classroom. You’re no potion maker. Don’t get caught at all costs. Highest risk, but highest chance of being able to see Zeal.

The ship port north east of main island. That’s where stuff gets sold. Maybe he spends his time there?

(Cont.)

>>5298822
Time to investigate
>>The market.
>>Serpent Island. [Restricted area]
>>Main tower’s classroom. [Restricted area]
>>Ship port.
>>Write in


PINE HAS
(4) High quality healing potions in a waterskin
(1) Body strength potion [orange]
(1) Gravity reduction potion [light purple]
(1) Blood clot potion [green]

>>5298826
>Serpent Island. [Restricted area]
Maybe we can use a disguise and our potions to claim to be some sort of potion investigator and appraiser, or a person with a consumer-complaint?

"This potion gave a young son of a well-placed priapism and diarrhea, at the same time, at his family's gala! It will be a PR disaster if we do not hold the potion-brewer responsible accountable for his shoddy work, which is why (insert name of high muckety-muck, we can get that from someone before we go) called me here!"

Then sneak away while they're fetching the high muckety-muck in question?

>>5298826
>Main tower’s classroom. [Restricted area]
Bribe people to look the other way with our potions or money we got from the 3 guys that paid us

>>5298826
>>>The market

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>5298895
>>5298854
>>5298839
Tiebreaker
1=Serpent island
2=Serpent Tower
3=Market

>>5299168
You decide to visit the Serpent Scholars’ island, in the north east. It’s not open for visitors, and failed attempts could get you removed from Silverport or arrested. You’ve done a lot of illegal things before. This one is just another obstacle.

But it’s probably best to convince people to let you in rather than sneaking inside a building you don’t know about.

Pine could probably pretend to be a concerned parent that complained about how her child got sick from one of these potions, but giving them the potion will only buy time for a few moments.

Before even fetching someone, they’ll likely check the potion first. Might take a decent amount of time, but they might have people accompanying me, especially since they don’t allow visitors.

Alright, this is a good idea, but maybe not perfect. What if I disguise myself as a student? A curious student who wants a potion investigated is going to work much better than a parent in a island where the latter isn’t allowed.

Pine asks the three clients about this plan, about getting her inside the serpent island as a student.

(Cont.)

>>5300289
One of the cilents have a spare uniform in his bag. It’s an crumbled old robe with a few tears. He was going to send this to a tailor yesterday but forgot about it.

After some folding, it looks decent enough.
At a glance, you will look like a student after a rough day. But if staff members or security stops you, you are screwed.

At least the number of goblin students here are decent.

Asking the three students that are your client, they give you a rough estimate of the students’ races.

60% are human
20% are goblin
5% are giants
15% are sea serpents

Move fast and stay cool.

They tell you that to maximize the chances of successful infiltration, it’s best to approach soon. Afternoon classes will be over soon. Plenty of people will be wanting to rest their heads on a pillow or on someone’s chest.

The moment arrives soon enough. A horde of tired students with varied walking speeds march towards the conjoined green buildings on the remote island.


Being a goblin, the size of you doesn’t really stick out and you manage to get past the security and staff members relatively easily.

Although, you almost walked too quickly and had to slow your pace to match a tired young adult instead.

(Cont.)

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>>5300291
The collective of buildings are longer than they are wide. If you were Zeal… a kidnapper that doesn’t want to seen, you’d definitely pick the small building near the front.

It has the most entrances and exits compared to other buildings, and it doesn’t look too out of place compared to something like the spiral tower at the back of the island.

There’s four floors in total….
Each floor has about 12 rooms.
Dammit. This is going to take forever if we just try to kick doors down or lockpick.

The voices in the rooms. The smells of the rooms. The frequency of footsteps. The coldness of the door. The light (or lack of it) underneath the door. The eyes of people when they look at rooms.

Tracking and intel gathering isn’t the most glamorous part of the job, but it has saved you time and your life more than a few occasions.

You eventually come across a conversation between one man and one woman on the 2nd floor. From what you’ve seen, the women are supposed to be on the 1st and 2nd floor while men are supposed to be one the 3rd and 4th.

You press your head against the walls when no one is looking.

(Cont.)

>>5300292
“.. doesn’t matter now. Alright?”

“He literally abandoned you the second he found out. He doesn’t give a shit.”
“Now, right now, I don’t want you to get fucked up, to get derailed from being a potion maker you were MEANT to be.”
“I’ve … I’ve.. seen… a lot of women that gets fucked over by shitty men.
[You hear a male voice]

“I.. I know. I just think this just feels.. wrong. I just feel.. selfish.”
[You hear a female voice]

“Listen to me right now. Financially, you are NOT prepared to take care of a child. Especially if your family does not support your decision. It’s a damn gamble.”

“Mentally.. you don’t.. you aren’t… you didn’t intent on having a kid. I don’t want to see your life gets fucked over because of an asshole. Not to mentioned the shit people talk about when it comes to people like you.”
“You… uhh… what I.. pregnant out of wedlock women. You know what I mean.”

“This is the very opposite of selfish, alright? Think about this way. It’s your life, your family, your future career that can be improved you and your family… against a child that you didn’t want because that cunt lied about being sterilized.”

“Generations of family, you, yourself against one. It takes a single concoction to end this.”

(Cont.)

>>5300294
There is a moment before she responds.
“I just.. I’m not like you, Zeal.”
“I don’t trade lives. Maybe I could… uhh… leave the academy for like a year, then put them for adoption?”

“That’s a lot of time wasted. And you’re diverting your problem elsewhere. Kids adopted by monks of those temples or in an orphanage don’t have the best childhood or future career.”

“How many think the same, giving those places a bigger burden. How much can they handle? How much shit are they going to give until they cannot no more?”

“I don’t want anyone to suffer. You should be free. Be happy. Be successful in life like you are meant to be. Your acid potions passed those tests pretty well.”

“I just… I cannot… go through with such a thing. I’m sorry. I’ve made up my mind.”

Zeal sighs.

“No one could convince you otherwise?”

“No. Not even my parents.”

“Alright. Fine. Pretend this conversation never happened.”

(Cont.)

>>5300297
“Hey. You know what. How about we go out and eat one of those fishes or something. I won’t be seeing you for a long time if that’s the case. I’ll pay.”

“Ok... Where?”
“The port. There’s like.. uh.. it’s a… the fisher guy, Fern… that was his name I think. He sells surplus fish and cook them. His stall opens at the evening.”

“Oh, uhh.. what time are you free?”

“I mean… I suppose we could go tonight.”
“Thanks for all this, Zeal.”

“Yeah. Least I could do for someone that helped me fight.”

“See you.”
“Bye.”

“Oh come on. Use the door, dude.”

Zeal just crawled up the fucking building from the balcony of her room. You can only hear the sounds.

From how long those sounds lasted for, it looks like he climbed up to the balcony.

(Cont.)

>>5300298
Next move?
>>Pursue Zeal to the rooftops on foot.
>>[Use the gravity potion] Jump to the balcony.
>>Stay hidden near the balcony. Observe hum.
>>Disengage. We got the info.
>>Disengage. Alert the clients.
>>Write in.

(Sorry guys, Midterm is coming up so thats why it took so long to respond)

>>5300299
*woops. Miswrote

I meant Zeal climbed to the rooftops

As for the choices
>>[Use gravity potion] jump to the rooftops
>>Stay hidden near the rooftops. Observe him.

>>5300299
>>5300312
Stay hidden near the balcony and observe him juts to make sure his looks match the description. Because it might be some other guy called Zeal. Then we can leave the place since we got the info we wanted: where Zeal will be.
If that's not the right Zeal, we will need to keep searching.

>>5300320
Supporting. Makes a lot of sense. If it's the rught guy, we can take the gravity potion and leap after him.

>>5300299
>what iD+QVuMi said

>>5300312
>>>Stay hidden near the rooftops. Observe him.

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>>5300362
>>5300345
>>5300320
You decide to stay hidden near the rooftops, observing what he will do next.

The rooftops is a flat surface with small walls befitting goblins rather than humans. Perhaps this place was designed for goblins before the academy used it?

Your eyes peek through the darkened stairway to the rooftops.

You see a goblin and a tall human woman talking to each other. The goblin that is called Zeal looks similar to how he is described, unkempt hair, red irises, his hair covers the his right eye. His cloak and shirt covers his shoulders, though.

Being a goblin, you know when clothing for someone your size is too large. His hat and cloak looks fine to most, but it’s rather oversized for him.

The woman he is talking to is a tall human with a long ponytail and silver crescent moon piercings on her ears. She wears the cloak over her uniform, much like Zeal.

As they sit down and talk, Zeal looks distraught and about to cry. The woman hugs him and caresses his hair.

You listen to their conversation…

[Zeal]

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>>5300936
“… fuc.. fucking rejected me dude.”
“The fuck is the point of all this if I can’t even save my friend.”
“I.. I just.. I can’t watch her destroy her own life like this.”

“I know.”
“I’ll go talk to him. I’ll give him the.. abort.. thing….”

“Abortifacient.”

“Yeah. That.”
“Give him that, request him to put it in her drink, and make the dish a bit too spicy.”
“She will have a stomach ache tomorrow. She’ll think she shit.... shitted out her child along with the.. shit.”
“Yeah.”

“You’ll like all sad and shit and apologize about the restaurant. Talk about how he was always a reliable chef and all that.”

“Also, like, beat the shit out of the guy after this.”

“Way ahead of you on that. Already swapped his pain meds for sterilization after I fucked him up.”

“He can barely walk after almost a week. I haven’t dealt with three friends yet, though.”

“That’s alright. Lower priority than him. Pretty sure they hang out at the potion store. We’ll get them soon.”

[Woman Zeal talked to]

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>>5300937
They both rub their cloaks on their palms. Their cloaks begin to turn transparent, making them nearly invisible. Lightbearer enchanted cloaks. From the footsteps, you can determine that they are moving towards the stairs. Likely unaware of you yet.

Uhh… shit. This is something. The woman is armed with a falchion and Zeal is armed with a misericorde dagger.

The falchion is a single handed sword with a wide blade, a single edged weapon specially designed for cutting.

His misericorde dagger is just like your own. Stiff long blade designed for thrusting.

Pine’s move
>>Engage. It will be hard to determine the precise angle to attack, though. [Ambush bonus reduced]
>>Confront. Renounce the clients and join the two.
>>Confront. You two are sloppy. Buy my silence.
>>Disengage. We inform the clients about this ASAP.
>>Write in

[Woman’s Falchion]

>>5300939
>Confront. Renounce the clients and join the two.

They seem... Dodgy, but not in the wrong from the perspective of a righteous contract killer. How is what they're doing different from what we did to the dubious potion-seller?

>>5300939
>Disengage. We inform the clients about this ASAP.
We keep to our contract like professional.

>>5300939
>>Disengage. We inform the clients about this ASAP.

>>5300939
>Confront. Renounce the clients and join the two.

We could just ambush the cilents and take all their money. With that money, buy an invisibility cloak like those two

>>5301137
Oh wait, hold up. Fuck. I forgot I wasn't a player anymore. My bad. Ignore this

>>5301139
Sorry for that. My cousin and I are co writing the plot. Sometimes she uses my laptop to post on it

File: 1654936191936.gif (1.58 MB, 360x202)

1.58 MB GIF

>>5301137
>>5301139
>>5301141

>>5301150

>Disengage. We inform the clients about this ASAP. (2)
Wins
Writing...

(Fuck. Midterms was shit. I think I have more freetime now.)

>>5301236
>>5301097
>>5301125
Oh fuck, this ain’t good. Two threats with light bending cloaks. Pine sits on the stairs and pull out some meat to eat. At this moment, this is the least suspicious thing to so.

Walking away would be too suspicious and take too much time.

Walking towards the rooftops could work, but they might think Pine saw them while becoming invisible.

The footsteps become softer and less frequent. You still bite on the salted meat at the same rate.

They pass by you, unnoticed. You end up finishing it and drinking some water before you leave the stairs.

You immediately head back to the recreational potion store. The three are still there. They are sleeping right now. They talked about being in evening classes instead of afternoon classes because the labs are less busy or something.

You wake them up and alert them to what happened.

They struggle to express words about the situation. Multiple opinions and thoughts seep through the few words they say.

Their friend is a fucking asshole that didn’t give a shit after getting a girl pregnant.
Or is he? Is this information really viable? Did that really happen as they say?

Fha is going to be kidnapped? Drugged? Is this mere abortifacient or is it just a facade for something worse?

Zeal and that other girl are vigilantes, hunting anyone they see fit. They too will be hunted right after Zeal’s and Fha’s dinner.

If his friends could be considered ‘fair’ targets, does that mean he could be hurting people related to him? His parents?

(Cont.)

>>5301273
They spent several minutes talking among themselves. The two needs to be stopped, somehow. Killing them is possible, but that would cause a lot of trouble. Maybe.. removing their light bending cloaks or the producer of the concoctions?

That girl… she has a silver crescent moon piercings. Maybe she knows who makes or distributes the cloaks?

Ugh. I am grasping at the straws now, but trying to take down those two is going to be tough.

The three scholars won’t be available to help me in the evening as well. At least they paid me the second 1/3rd of the payment after I told them about all this.

The afternoon quickly moves past you. It’s an hour or less until it is evening. Pine’s approach will be…

>>Intercept the woman at the ship port, and maybe convince Fern.. somehow.
>>Intercept Zeal and Fha (the girl he talked to) when they go out for dinner.
>>[Call upon all three clients] Kick doors down. We will find Zeal’s or that girl’s room.
>>Go talk to Fha(the girl Zeal talked to) and tell her the truth before the dinner.
>>Write in

>>5301274
>[Call upon all three clients] Kick doors down. We will find Zeal’s or that girl’s room.

>>5304264
(God damn, the quest fell off. Thanks for still sticking with me, man.)

You ask the three clients for help. We are ending this, now. Kick doors down if we must, and stop Zeal and that other girl. We need to surprise them before they can activate their lightbending cloaks.

It’s your neck on the line, dammit. There’s four of us and two, or three of them.

The three have a langemesser by their side. A single handed sword you once saw before, carried by the guards.

You and three others head to the building and begin to knock on doors or kick them down.

If anyone is inside their room, you yell at them about a fire and told them to get the fuck out of this building.

That should buy us some time for now.

While searching through the building, you notice that Fha’s room (the girl Zeal talked to) is empty. There’s no way she left the building that early.

You don’t find Zeal in his room on the third or fourth floor, too.

(Cont.)

>>5305428
It’s the rooftops, then. You scout head of the group while they are breaching the fourth floor doors.

You notice a glint in the darkened stairways to the rooftops. It was a brief, but you could clearly tell it’s light reflecting off a spearhead.

Fha maybe good with at fighting, but she’s probably not that good at hiding. She’s likely waiting to ambush me or the three others. Zeal must’ve seen us coming and talked her into doing this.

Fighting her on the bottom of the stairs will be difficult, even for four people.

Or maybe it’s just Zeal, intentionally trying to be obvious to bait people into fighting him.

(Cont.)

>>5305429
Zeal doesn’t usually carry a polearm. In fact, most people don’t. You only bring it if you expect a fight. Zeal could’ve grabbed it when he saw us, or maybe Fha had one of them in her room. She is experienced at fighting, after all.

Zeal could be with her, and this fight would be rather one sided, or he could be sneaking around, trying to pick off the clients.

Pine decides to..
>>[Use strength potion] Fight them with your enhanced body
>>[Use gravity potion] Jump past the stairways
>>Walk into the stairways, with your hands raised. They wouldn’t kill an unarmed person, right?
>>Disengage and return to the group. Tell them about this situation as well.
>>Write in

>>5305430
>[Use strength potion] Fight them with your enhanced body

>>5305430
>>>[Use strength potion] Fight them with your enhanced body

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>>5305433
>>5305545
(Closing the votes now)

You pull out a bottle of the orange liquid.
The warm liquid singes your throat as you ingest it. In seconds, your heart rate feels faster and your muscles become tense. Your body moves faster and unnecessary noises begin to fade away.

Hah. So this is what it feels to be a warrior.

The stairways is an L shaped one, with no railings. The person is likely at the top of the first set of stairs.

You draw your dagger and approach anyways.

You face…

Zeal.

You both saw each other. His right hand hold a large cutting spear that has a wide spearhead.

He thrusts his left wrist at you. Inside of his sleeve is a small barrel with a squeeze trigger mechanism.

He fires the shot.

Light and thunderous sounds appear before you.

Rolled 78, 85 = 163 (2d100)

>>5305761
(1st) Pine’s roll vs (2nd) Zeal’s.
Pine gets +35 (potion)
Zeal gets +15+10 (ambush bonus+combat proficiency)

>>5305764
113 vs 110

He’s not wearing that cloak.

As soon as Pine saw that black hole in his sleeve, she instinctively ducked and lunges forward with the dagger in front.

The shot misses.
So did her thrust. Because of the elevation, he barely needed to lift up his foot to avoid the attack.

With his shot had, he throws the concealed pistol at you and thrusts towards your neck. You sidestep the thrust and slap the pistol away.

Pine tries to grab the spear shaft. He only had one hand on the polearm, and the weight is working against him. She manages pulls it away from him, but before she could use it, Zeal jumps down and does a dropkick.

She was barely able react, and raised her arms to protect the neck and head instead of dodging.

The kick sends her against the wall, dazing her for long enough for Zeal to regain his footing.

Now we fight on equal ground.

(Cont.)

File: 22CB879C-A1A8-4182-8434-4(...).png (98 KB, 600x600)

98 KB PNG

>>5305791
You throw the spear at him and thrusts forward with your dagger.

He moves his head to the side and avoid the thrown spear, and tries to grab your wrist to stop the movement.

Zeal was a bit too slow and the tip of your dagger is thrust into his shoulder. He lets out a scream and tries to stab you in the neck with his own blade.

The misericorde may be good at stabbing, but the blocky nature of it means cutting is rather difficult.

Pine slaps aside the thrust and grab his wrist. Before she could pull the dagger down on his shoulder, Zeal knees you in the crotch.

The impact was severe enough to cause you to recoil slightly. Your grip on his right wrist remain as tight as ever, and some blood comes out as your fingernails sink under his skin. Normally her nails could only cause some surface level bleeding.

With both of your weapons stuck, Zeal opens his mouth and tries to bite you in the nose. Pine shifts her feet and let the weight be on her left side. With that, she pushes him against the wall as his teeth charges for your nose.

(Cont.)

>>5305794
You grab his hair and slams his head against the wall. As soon as he recovers from that hit, he hits you with a strike from elbow to your chest.

The blow forced move back, and you punch his shoulder wound that was caused by your dagger in return.

With his right wrist free, he thrusts upward towards your lungs. You attempt to intercept the dagger before it gains momentum, but you received a long vertical slash on your left arm instead.
The pain barely bothered you, as by now the potion has taken full effect.

As Zeal struggle to move the dagger, you kick him in the calf and bite his nose. He managed to kick back against your legs, but your bite connects.

Your teeth grips on to the nose. With a twist of your neck, you tear apart skin and flesh on the nose.

(Cont.)

>>5305796
With a shift of the weight, you pull him forward, making him fall to the floor and sidestep his body. His forehead hits the stairways and he falls unconscious. Blood begins to color the wood.

That won’t last long.

Fha probably has the lightbending cloak right now, hiding somewhere. Maybe she could try to search for her right now, without Zeal’s help.

Or maybe she could interrogate Zeal for where she is, maybe she could finish him off right now.

She could also yell for the three clients to come and decide what they should do with him, but they’re likely not going to risk killing him. It’s too much trouble for someone in this academy.

She could also take him hostage, potentially drawing out the girl he talked to.

>>Execute Zeal.
>>Interrogate Zeal.
>>Take Zeal hostage.
>>Alert the three clients.
>>Search for Fha, without him.
>>Write in

>>5305797
>Take Zeal hostage
No loose ends.

>>5305797
>>Alert the three clients.
Let them deal with him

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5305806
>>5306213
Tiebreaker
1=hostage
2=alert

>>5306331
It’s probably best to alert the three clients and let them decide what happens. They’re the ones responsible for your paycheck, after all.

Pine lets out a yell and the three clients soon reach the stairways.

You present to them a barely conscious Zeal. A goblin with some of his nose bitten off and his shoulder bleeding.

‘Uhh… is this it? We done?’

“No. We still don’t know where Fha is. And where the other girl he talked to is.”

'Get him up. We need to find out where that other girl is.'

One of the scholars pull out a bottle of healing and some spare cloth. They pour the liquid on the rags and press it against the wounds.

After a few minutes, Zeal regains consciousness and two clients restrain him and one client holds Zeal’s throat. He demands answer for where the girl she talked to, and Fha is.

(Cont.)

>>5306520

“I.. I gave her the.. the fucking cloak. I didn’t tell her where to hide ‘case I.. captured.” Zeal can barely answer.

'Fucking smartass. Now, about the girl you talked to earlier. The one with those moon piercings on her ears. Name. Room. Anything.' The one scholar asks another question.

Zeal takes a deep sigh before answering.

“June.”
“She’s like… some where in the second floor or some shit. We don’t know where each other rooms are to prevent this kind of shit.”

'June? I don’t remember hearing that name. You really sure that’s her actual name?'

“Fuck sake man thats what I know. Alright? Ugh. Fha won’t like this.”

'Fuck off. You’re the ones that is plotting to fuck us up!' The scholar’s voice is raised.

“BECAUSE YOU KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED!” Zeal yells at him.

'HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHATS GOING ON WITH FHA AND HER BOYFRIEND’ He yells back.

Silence follows. Both sides are exhausted.

(Cont.)

File: FDE137AC-D192-4F3F-8F21-7(...).png (95 KB, 600x600)

95 KB PNG

>>5306522
“Maybe if people like you gave more shit, women wouldn’t be forced out of this academy… to… to.. give up on their dreams because some idiot lies before sex.”

'And so beating people who are friends with that guy is the solution? And rejecting her wishes to keep the child?'

“Her life is worth more than an unborn. Worth more than me. That’s why I gave her that cloak. I can’t… let her belief,
… current belief, get in the way of her future. I will do what I must.”

Tap.

That brief sound near us is the sound of someone that shifted their weight just slightly too much.

“Let him go.”
A female voice rings out in front of the scholars and you.

You see a human woman with short hair, holding a greatsword above her head.
She appears just next to the three clients.
A downward cut from that position could strike anyone of the scholars head.

It’s Fha.

[Picture of Fha]
(Cont.)

File: 5235D2D1-DBC3-409F-B823-6(...).jpg (12 KB, 423x725)

12 KB JPG

>>5306523
The scholars stop restraining him and drop their weapons.

"Zeal. I.. I trusted you. I thought you respected me. Now you’re also hurting people not even directly involved. That’s wrong."

“I thought I told you to leave.” Zeal deflects the question.

"I wouldn’t leave my friend alone. I was trying to unsheathe the sword while being invisible."
"You’re ignoring my question."
"How many lies have you told me, just to spin the narrative in your favor?"

Zeal doesn’t respond.

"I can’t let you four go that easily. You’ve broke down people’s doors and hunt down Zeal instead of talking to the teachers about this." Fha refers to the clients and you, assuming you are another friend of them as well.

'And what. They won’t give a shit about us. They will do nothing until we get fucked up. Especially if we accuse Zeal of it. Accusing a teachers’ lapdog isn’t going to be shit.' The clients respond with their frustrated tone.

Zeal tightens his fists after hearing that.
[Picture of Fha’s greatsword]
(Cont.)

>>5306525
"Then get people to believe you! You could’ve told me about his plan, or just told the entire school about it. If you all died today, or lost the fight, your effort meant nothing."

"Now. Give Zeal and that other goblin healing potions or food. Then leave us.
If I see a sword drawn I will kill you."

The clients look at each other and give both you and Zeal a small bottle of healing.

You smear it on the cut on your wrist. It usually stings more but the potion you took earlier numbs the pain somewhat.

As the three clients are leaving, you see Fha give Zeal’s lightbending cloak back.

You could leave along side the clients now, or tell her about the employment, or eavesdrop on them.

Pine will…
>>Leave alongside the clients. Let Zeal and Fha talk.
>>[Betray your clients] tell her why Pine did what she did.
>>Eavesdrop.
>>Write in

>>5306527
>>>Eavesdrop.

>>5306527
>Eavesdrop

>>5306658
>>5306673
Pine decides to eavesdrop on the two. She pretends to walk down the stairs, but she stopped once they don’t have line of sight.
[Zeal speaks with ‘_’ brackets]
[Fhaa speaks with "_" brackets]

[Sigh] "Now. Tell me the plan. What were you going to do." In a stern voice, Fha asks Zeal.

Both of them look at the sunset. Fha rests her grestsword on her shoulders.

‘I…’

"Fucking say it. Now."

‘Fine. Before we have dinner, Cris would go talk to Fern. She would have given him the abortifacient concoction and he would put it in your drink.’

‘She would also ask Fern to intentionally make the food you ordered undercooked and overly spicy. So when the concoction kicked in, it would feel like nothing more than a normal stomach ache. I would act like I was sorry and how Fern usually makes good food.’

‘Then we would track down his friends. The three guys earlier. We would beat them up for being his friends but not stopping him.’

‘That’s the entire plan.’

(Cont.)

>>5306780


Fha frowns and remains silent for a long time.

"Why… why would you even do all this?"
"You’ve undermined my choices, you’ve.. hurt people because they weren’t directly involved, you’ve…"
"How many people did you do this to?"

‘Willingly? I’ve helped about a dozen women this way. Also sterilized more than a dozen men that still acts like an asshole.’

"Willingly. Zeal…"
"How many."

‘Five. Including you.’
‘I made them forget about what happened.’

"How are you any better than those assholes that control women, exactly?"

‘I gave them a choice to be free. To be happy. To not be burdened by something they didn’t even want. I succeeded with a dozen. I can’t let my friend ruin her life.’
Zeal’s tone becomes briefly agitated.

(Cont.)

>>5306781
"I thought we discussed this. I can handle it."

‘Can you? Have you seen the things people say about women like that? How it changes people’s perception of you? How it changes how people treat you?’

‘I’ve seen a lot, Fha. Women abandoning their children in forests, in temples, in the middle of nowhere. I could never forget their screams. Their decaying corpses. Their smell.’

‘Women struggling to survive, barely having enough money to feed herself and her kid. Kids being raised in shitty places and being abused.‘

‘I couldn’t let a possibility like that happen to you. Not to anyone again under my watch. Even if you don’t agree to it.’

"Still.. that’s taking people’s free will away. At the end of the day, isn’t this the mother’s choice?"
"Where does this stop, Zeal? Where will you draw the line and let people live their life? How much are you going to intervene?"

‘I draw the line when people stop benefiting from things I do.’

(Cont.)

>>5306784
Fha lets out a sigh.

"Then you never was my friend to begin with."
"I’ll be leaving in a week or so."
"Don’t pull this shit. Ever again. Tell that to Cris as well."

So the girl with the crescent earrings is called Cris.

You could see Zeal looking at Fha as she leaves.

The conversation is over. You leave the fourth floor and evade Fha as she returns to her room. The other people are also coming back as well, as they didn’t see any actual fire.

Well… your job is done, technically. You could return to the three clients now, and claim your payment.

You could also try to talk to Zeal. Maybe he hasn’t given up yet.

Maybe she could talk to Fha and help her?

You could try to steal people’s stuff. Doors are open. Most haven’t walked up to the fourth floor yet.

Pine decides to..
>>Meet with the clients and collect payment.
>>Talk to Zeal.
>>Talk to Fha.
>>Steal people’s stuff on the fourth floor.
>>Write in

>>5306785
>>Steal people’s stuff on the fourth floor.

>>5306785
>Offer to help Zeal, if he'll work with us
A goblin of respectable morals and impressive drive and ability. Let's recruit.

File: AD5CBF79-D662-49C6-A509-4(...).png (131 KB, 600x600)

131 KB PNG

>>5306938
>>5306901
Pine is thinking of talking to Zeal. Someone this determined and skilled could be a useful ally.

But… since most people haven’t come back yet, you decide to grab some stuff from the fourth floor rooms.

She finds…

A decent amount of money [Bonus to total FUNDS in the next shop]

(2) Flasks of high quality healing potion
[In total, she has 6]

Jewelry and silvery accessories

After she is done stuffing all those objects in her bag, she walks outside the room and.. Zeal’s gone. Uhh…

Pine calls out for Zeal.
She says wants to help him.

‘Why are you stealing people’s stuff?
Also didn’t Fha told you to get out.’
Zeal reappears, leaning against a wall.

(Cont)

>>5307449
Well… they didn’t pay me.

‘They?’

You explain that you’re not actually a friend of those three scholars, and you were hired to find him. You [lie that] they didn’t pay you for it.

‘Wow. That’s an asshole move. So you were the one that found me and led them here. You eavesdropped on us, and you steal from people as well.’

‘Hmph. Fine. What can you do?’

You list your qualities and experiences. Tracking. Fighting. Sneaking. Potions you have. You also say what you think of Zeal. How you admired his determination, skill, and morality.

‘Thanks. Few people understand what we do and why we do it.’

‘Now. Let’s get to the point.’
Zeal walks up to you and whispers his plan in your ears.

(Cont)

>>5307454
Before she leaves this academy, she will likely say spar one last time with the people in the dueling club. I will sneak in, put the concoction in her flask.

When she returns to the second floor, where her room is, Cris will make her fall. She will hit the stairs on the stomach, making her think this is was caused the miscarriage.

Your job is to break in her room and get rid of any evidence she might have written down. She knows about the memory loss effect of Zeal’s concoctions, and likely took steps to document it.

You agree to it, as long as Zeal would be willing to help you in the future, and you get paid for this work.

He agrees.

(Cont.)

>>5307456
Right now, Fha is likely in her room. She’ll leave her room soon, to go eat at a restaurant and go say goodbye to her friends in the dueling club. Not sure what she’ll do first.

Pine will break in during the evening, once Fha leaves, she needs to choose the method of breaching.

Lock picking takes the most time, but silent. She might get spotted by people doing this.

Kicking the door open is quick, but gives her the least time.

Climbing down from the fourth floor to her room’s balcony is somewhat silent, fast, but requires some dexterity and strength.

Pine is skilled in movement, lockpicking, stealth, but not exceptional at manipulating people or combat.

Her method?
>>Lockpick [Harder stealth check, easier room check]
>>Doorkick [No stealth check, harder room check]
>>Climb from fourth floor to second floor balcony [Dexterity check, normal difficulty room check]
>>Write in

>>5307457
>Climb from fourth floor to second floor balcony [Dexterity check, normal difficulty room check]

>>5307457
>>>Climb from fourth floor to second floor balcony [Dexterity check, normal difficulty room check]

>>5307457
>>Climb from fourth floor to second floor balcony [Dexterity check, normal difficulty room check]

>>5307457
>Doorkick [No stealth check, harder room check]

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>5307470
>>5307619
>>5307886
Climbing from the fourth floor to the her balcony seems like the best option.

Zeal points out where her balcony is, and the optimal position to climb down towards…

He also give some tips on which objects to hold on to, and which ones aren reliable.


You watch as Fha leaves her room. After several minutes of checking that she has left the building, she begins to descend…

[+10 Pine’s natural bonus]
[+10 Zeal’s info]

>>5308097
Climbing from the fourth floor to the her balcony seems like the best option.

Zeal points out where her balcony is, and the optimal position to climb down towards…

He also give some tips on which objects to hold on to, and which ones aren reliable.


You watch as Fha leaves her room. After several minutes of checking that she has left the building, she begins to descend…

[+10 Pine’s natural bonus]
[+10 Zeal’s info]


[64 vs 50]

She begins the descend by looking at where the third floor balcony are, then using her spare clothes, tie a rope to descend to that safe position.

With Zeal’s guidance, her makeshift rope remains secure against the sturdy wooden bars of the third floor balcony.

As she reaches the third floor, she accidentally steps on the cloth while trying to walk and trips, nearly falling to the ground.

She managed to hold on to the bars and pulled herself up. Had she didn’t use that strength potion, the pain from the wrist cut would be too unbearable.

After some struggling at landing the rope on Fha’s balcony, she just tied it to the third floor’s balcony and dropped down from there.

Fha’s room is hers.

(Cont.)

File: A2A428E1-A97F-4C26-8935-9(...).png (119 KB, 600x600)

119 KB PNG

>>5308122
It’s a decently sized room. The room directly connected to the balcony is her study. It’s filled with books, documents and drawers.

The table next to the drawers have writing instruments and a notebook which contains her personal summary of important topics to study.

Above the table are a few drawings.

The large horizontal one is a colored painting of her and Zeal when they were much younger, at a school of some sort.

The largest one is a painting of a ship on the ship port. You could even see a man and a child at a food stall. Likely Fern.
He has a kid?

The small one is a doodle of a kriegmesser (war knife) she wanted, a two handed sword with a single cutting edge, similar to the langmesser.

(Cont.)
[Picture of young Zeal]

>>5308125
The room left of the study is a large bedroom. It has large closets, weapon racks and shelves on the sides of the room.

The weapon rack mostly contains different types of cut focused blades but there are a couple polearms as well.

The top of the shelves contain spare clothing and random objects. Probably sentimental. The clutter makes it looks much smaller than it actually is.

The bed itself is well maintained, the blankets folded nicely.

The closet is unremarkable.

One last room remains, right of the study. It’s a room filled with shelves and boxes.

Mostly containing food, but also bottles and potions. The boxes are too many to look through, so she just looks at two for now.

One box contains paintings of her and her family. They seem to live in a large house, and their clothing looks decent. Her family consists her mother, father, and grandfather.

Judging from the clothing, she likely came from the north. Maybe that’s why her skin is so white?

Another box holds important documents. Her acceptance letter to Serpent Scholars, certificates of potion making, knife fighting, sword fighting and spear fighting.
[Picture of young Fha]
(Cont.)

>>5308130
Hmm… If I was Fha, where would I hide documents that tell myself about what happened today?

>>In her study, where the academically related notes and paintings of important memories are?

> >In her bedroom, where she keeps objects of sentimental value?

>>In this room, where she keeps family related things and proof of her old accomplishments?

[Correct answer will get a bonus to room search check]

File: BA513D9E-0A4F-48F5-BC30-A(...).png (107 KB, 600x600)

107 KB PNG

>>5308130
Picture of young Fha

>>5308135
>In her bedroom, where she keeps objects of sentimental value?

It's private and personal in nature.

>>5308135
>>In her bedroom, where she keeps objects of sentimental value?

>>5308097
>>5308122
you can delete your posts if you make a mistake, btw

>>5308271
Can’t really do that when I phonepost im afraid

>>5308333
It just says “Something went wrong”

>>5308334
Tou need to be on the same IP/device as you posted. The window for deletion is between like 30 seconds and 5 minutes.
t. clover phoneposter

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>5308160
>>5308271

[Correct deduction. +49 bonus to roll]

>>5308539
(55 vs 50)
She checks Fha’s bedroom more throughly this time.

She carefully goes through all the clothing in her closets and checks every pockets of them. Still nothing.

She checks the bed and inspect it from nearly every angle imaginable. Still nothing relevant.

Pine decides to check the shelves one more time. After pulling out and reorganizing random objects and trinkets, she realized that there is a hidden compartment at the bottom in one of the wooden panels.

Pulling it out reveals a tattered notebook. It contains information and her personal thoughts, and most importantly, the documentation of Zeal’s (failed) plan.

Because she spent so long searching for the notebook, she doesn’t have that much time to read the entire thing before putting it back before Fha might come back.

Fha’s book does have some interesting details, though.

(Cont.)

>>5309124
[Excerpt from Fha’s tattered notebook]

2nd of 1st month.

rumors of a cult in Cinderpath and Cinderfall selling fake cures, teaching fake healing practices and amassing large amounts of wealth.

Cult of The Father
-unknown members, but likely 100 or so.
-Leader is called ‘The Father’. Old man with grey hair that supposedly cures people. Reportedly has magical powers and has a powerful doctor knife.

LARGE NUMBER
UNKNOWN LETHALITY
HIGH FUNDING

-organize militia if this spreads to Silverport

'Doctor knives'

Practitioners of the black arts all carry one. Brittle weapon that is enchanted by the occult. Depending on the quality of the enchantment, it can reduce the effects of magic or deflect it. All of them are capable of scaring ghosts away.

Highly prized. High failure rate of rituals for enchanting the blade. Many are fake, due to the willingness of the customers to pay highly for it.

[End of excerpt]

2nd of this month? That’s about… a week ago. Cinderpath is where I live, and Cinderfall is a town near us, about one hour away.

(Cont.)

>>5309126
Pine doesn’t remember hearing about this cult at all. Seems like the members haven’t commit crimes yet… or they are very good at concealing them.

After reading, and removing the pages which documented Zeal’s plan, she leaves Fha’s room.

She hears the violent thud of Fha falling to the floor and her pained noises.

Seems like Cris did her job.

You, Zeal and Cris eventually meet back at his room late at night. You present the pages as your proof of a successful work.

Zeal and Cris gives you a moderate amount of money for your work.

Combined with the money you stole, and the three clients’ money, she amassed quite a large amount. Good enough to improve her restaurant somewhat or buy a couple pieces of high quality weapons or potions.

After the payment, you ask Zeal about the viscous, colorless potion you found in Pike’s room.

(Cont.)

>>5309128
Zeal remembers it being an earlier, imperfect design of his concoction. This one only has mild memory loss effects and a more less powerful of his sleeping potion. Theoretically it’s also a weaker abortifacient as well.

Pine explains the reason she found this, and how the person holding it, Pike, was a corrupt false healer that cared more about profit than anything else. You suspect that it was this concoction he would use to potentially kidnap people and more.

Zeal is perplexed. Every few weeks the academy will have a caravan dedicated to removing and neutralizing old unwanted potions. They will transport them to a processing plant near Silverport.

Maybe this one somehow got lost or stolen before reaching the plant?

Cinderpath is about 6 hours away on horseback. It would take a lot of luck for it to end up there.

Zeal thinks about it. Maybe there is a problem with the plant? It has been around for a while, and might have a few problems with it.

We could go visit that place in a few days when Zeal and Cris don’t have class
(Cont.)

>>5309130
With your money earned, Pine decides to..

>>Stay at Silverport, tell Zeal and Cris about Fha’s notes on a cult and ask them for help investigating it
>>[Buy items] Visit the market tomorrow before leaving Silverport
>>[Persuasion check] Meet with the three clients for the final 1/3rd of the payment
>>[Buy items] Spend time preparing for visiting the plant
>>Leave Silverport, investigate cult in your town on your own
>>Write in

>>5309131
>[Persuasion check] Meet with the three clients for the final 1/3rd of the payment

Get money, stock up, THEN see about recruiting Zeal and Cris to help with this cult business. HATE fake healers.

>>5309131
>>>[Persuasion check] Meet with the three clients for the final 1/3rd of the payment

>>5309140
>>5309355
Might as well get that final amount from the three scholars. Tomorrow.

You decide to sleep in Zeal’s room along with Cris. Why risk being seen or heard checking in an inn late at night or paying money for a place to stay?

Zeal stockpiles a lot of pillows and blankets. He (and Cris) have a large amount of clothing, weapons, food, medicine and other objects necessary to survive for several days without a ship coming into Silverport to trade.

The bed was not always a private location, and sleeping in the same (large) bed was a matter of practicality.

Pine rests on the right side of the bed.
She noticed Zeal hugging Cris’ arm as they sleep.

Watching them takes you back a few years. Back when you didn’t live at Cinderpath, when selling stew in a mercenaries’ camp was your main way of making money.

I do miss the physicality of the such a relationship somewhat. If only he shut the fuck up about how goblin women are “supposed to look” and didn’t slip things in my food.

(Cont.)

>>5310210
It is (late) morning once more. Pine woke up a little later than usual because of how late she slept last night.

She reaches the recreational potion store. The three clients are still here, but a bit more jittery than usual.

They ask where you were last night, since they didn’t see you while leaving the building.

You said that you eavesdropped on Zeal and Cris for several hours before spending the night at the stairways to the rooftops.

They seem convinced.

You proceed to ask them for the last amount of money for your investigation.
They seem rather hesitant on giving you it. The three each have their own reasons.

The first one argued that Fha stepped in, and stopped Zeal instead.

The second one thinks that Zeal might continue still his plan after Pine leaves the academy.

The second and third one says he doesn’t believe that Pine wouldn’t betray them to join Zeal’s side, citing that he has potions and magical objects like that light bending cloak.

(Cont.)

>>5310213
Ugh. Fine. I just need to convince them one more fucking time.

Pine could go for the logical approach again.

Why would she ask for their help in finding Zeal, beat the shit out of him, when she could just lie and say that she stopped him, and present some kind of vague evidence?

And while Fha may have stepped in, she was the one that forced Zeal to be in that position in the first place. Without her intervention, Zeal would’ve continued his plan.

As for betraying the clients….
While the lightbending cloak and potions are definitely good bargaining chips, she already has potion makers that are willing to sell to her already. In fact, it was a strength potion of her friend that caused such a severe wound on Zeal’s nose.

Any chances of Zeal continuing his plan is gone, as eavesdropping them talking reveal that she has allies that are symphonic to her here, and willing to stop Zeal should he do anything drastic again.

(Cont.)

>>5310214
Pine could try a more emotional approach.

She asked for all three of them because she was dedicated to following through with stopping Zeal, and trust them enough to not backstab her while she searches for him.

The eavesdropping revealed that Zeal was utterly broken by Fha’s words, and even after she severed relations, Zeal still spent several hours contemplating his actions and wondering if he was a failure. He is a mess, mentally. Barely kept together by Cris. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything like hurting you three.

She wouldn’t betray them because of his methods. Him hurting people that are adjacent to the situation is crossing the line, becoming nothing more than unguided vigilantism. Not to mention, taking away a woman’s free will to make a choice.

Maybe she doesn’t even need to be nice anymore. The ruthless way might be good enough.

I upheld my end of the bargain, and helped Fha stopped Zeal. Without my help, you all would be mutilated.

If I wanted to betray you for Zeal, I would be waiting for when you all sleep, then kill you.

Hell, maybe just kill you in broad daylight if I wanted to. You’ve seen what I could do to a fucking goblin.

I watched Zeal. I watched Zeal with my two eyes. He was nothing more than a dog, longing for an owner that left him.
I watched Cris attempt to help, but it didn’t stop him from crying for an hour.

The reason he did all this was because of his friend. Take it away and he is nothing.

Don’t be surprised when he kill himself or his grades drops.

(Cont.)

>>5310218
[Depending on the answer, you’ll get a different amount of bonuses to the check.]

Pine decides to be…
>>Logical.
>Emotional.
>>Ruthless.
>>Write in (needs to answer for all 3 clients’ arguements)
>>Fuck this. Leave without the last 1/3rd of the payment

>>5310218
>Ruthless.

>>5310214
*[Sympathetic] to her

Autocorrect. My bad.

>>5310220
>>>Logical.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5310220
>>5310371
Tie breaker
1=ruthless
2=logic

Rolled 18, 47, 65 = 130 (3d100)

>>5310521
She decides to go with the logical approach once more.

With the logical approach, the first and second client’s arguments are dissolved. The third one still holds somewhat, as potion making, no matter how strong, is not comparable to an object that can be used repeatedly.

[Needs 150/300 to succeed]
[+49 to first and second roll]

>>5310535
[228 vs 150]

You admit that a lightbending cloak is a tempting proposition, but because how customized his is (in terms of activation) it wouldn’t be particularly useful to her.

Additionally, where the town she came from has lightbenders already, who are willing to sell her objects of similar quality. Why bother betraying three clients for money that one or two people (Zeal and Cris) could produce?

The amount pales in comparison, and the risk of retaliation is much stronger since all three of you know about my status as not-a-student compared to Zeal.

You throughly dissect the third clients’ main argument and any supporting points he might have said.

The clients give you their last payment.

Heh. Perfect.

She is thinking of recruiting Zeal and Cris to Cinderpath, where they could help her locate and destroy this cult that is quickly amassing members. Killing fake healers is protecting people, technically.

(Cont.)

>>5311155
Before she decides to visit them and talk about the cult, Pine checks out the market and ship port, north and north west of Silverport respectively.

The market is mostly filled with academics, buying ingredients and containers for their potions.

The stalls have fixed prices on them, and are manned by the sea serpents. Most seem to be in a large bathtub and covered by shade as they watch over their items.

The sea serpents look pretty wide, from her perspective. Their width is similar to a human’s leg and being several meters in length.

Closely looking reveal that they are adorned in silver accessories. They seem to understand language and speak somewhat, but hasn’t grown to the size of an elder serpent.

The market is likely where Pine will find high quality serpent potions and other serpentine objects.

(Cont.)

File: 1D369973-F6E5-489B-AAA3-C(...).png (127 KB, 600x600)

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>>5311158
Pine visits the port next. The cloudy late morning has suppressed the sun’s heat for now.

There are several docks for ships, and large warehouses around the beaches. More than a few elder serpents are here, buying several crates of meat and organs.

The gold encrusted elder serpents are much larger than the silvery ones in the market, being as wide as a human’s torso.

Pine sees one large ship near the docks.
Countless men carry exotic materials and magical objects to be sold on the market or warehouses, while the Silverport guards watch over them.

Amongst all the grown men in that ship, you spot someone familiar.

A rather light skinned boy, dressed in an apron and using a whetstone to sharpen a knife is Makari.

Pine used to babysit him several years ago, as a side job. After his mother’s death, he moved to lived with his maternal uncle. You never did get a chance to ask where he would go.

(Cont.)
[Picture of Makari]

File: A727FD18-8F7F-4D9C-8C1D-5(...).png (138 KB, 600x600)

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>>5311161
Apparently he was a skilled flamebearer, the art of controlling and shaping flame taught by his grandfather.

Much like any other bearers, his body suffered some damage from it. You remember carefully bathing him and making sure you don’t touch on his burn wounds too hard.

You see an older man with darker skin and unkempt facial hair handing Makari more blades to sharpen. He also wears the apron. That must be his uncle based on what you remembered.

So he and his uncle became a ship’s cooks, huh? That’s nice.

Hmm… while she wants to go talk to him, she also thinks about what she might need to buy in preparation of hunting that cult down. Maybe she’ll go talk to Makari later.

The market offers potions and serpentine objects. Acid, poison, venom, and the likes are their specialty.

The warehouse near the port offers various types of food and normal objects. Common arms and armor are also found here.

The ship is where Makari is, and where they sell exotic goods and magical items.

Pine decides to..
>>Turn back and visit the market
>>Visit the warehouses
>>Visit the ship
>>Write in (ask for what you want to buy)

[Picture of Makari’s uncle]

>>5311165
>Warehouses
A bit of armour, even leather, wouldn't go amiss.. And maybe something stylish, so we leave a good impression when we visit Makari!

>Market
And some contact-poison for our blade, if we can swing it.

>>5311165
>>>Visit the ship

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>>5311204
>>5311334
She decides to visit the ship right after buying some armor. The warehouse is near the ship, anyways.

The warehouse indeed has a section for selling armor and weapons.

When it comes to armor, a balance between weight, comfort and cost is hard to find.

She usually wears a gamberson dress, cloth armor that is designed to protect against cuts and thrusts from knives or swords. Easily to carry, wear and cheap.

Several armor types offer more protection.

Brigandine is armor made from several steel plates riveted to leather or canvas. Because of the segmented plates, it can flex somewhat and can be stored easier than a cuirass.

The plates fully negate a cut or thrust from blades, and stop arrows. Blunt impact from polearms or maces will still hurt.

The brigandine of this warehouse only covers the torso. Wearing cloth armor underneath will protect your limbs, but not necessary.

One benefit is that the plates do not rub against each other, and is quite silent. Pine could wear this and have little trouble moving stealthily.

It also comes in various shades of color. From a rich blue color to a darker scarlet.

[Blue brigandine]
(Cost.)

File: 438F643B-984E-49C9-B756-0(...).jpg (75 KB, 477x643)

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>>5312561
Another type is mail. Metal rings interlinked which completely nullify cuts from blades and greatly stop thrusts. Blunt impact will completely negate this armor. Slightly louder to move in compared to brigandine or a cuirass. You’ll definitely need to wear cloth armor underneath mail for it.

However, it is cheaper than the brigandine, and much more concealable.

Only exists in grey metallic color, unfortunately.

A rarer armor type, but more effective against blunt impact is scale armor. Small scales of metal attached to leather, forming a fishlike scale on the wearer. More expensive than brigandine, but more likely to deflect strikes. However, not silent compared to other types of armor.

Of course, she could always go for the cuirass. A solid metal plate of armor that stops most strikes to your chest and back. Because of it’s curvature at the middle, it has a chance of deflecting strikes.
It could even withstand shot from a musket or pistol. The most expensive by far, and least convenient to carry.

Fortunately, it is silent to move around in, and can be engraved or decorated with colors of your choice.

(Cont.)

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>>5312563
Picture of cuirass

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>>5312563
Picture of scale armor

>>5312563
Pine decides to buy…
>>Mail
-concealable
-cheap [Increases FUNDs in future shops]
-somewhat silent
-nullify cuts, but does not protect against blunt impact

>>Brigandine
-concealable
-moderate price [No effect to FUNDs in future shops]
-silent
-nullify cut, thrusts, arrows and offer moderate protection against blunt impact

>>Scale armor
-somewhat concealable
-high price [Reduced FUNDs in future shops]
-not silent
-nullify cuts, thrusts, arrows and reduces chances of taking damage

>>Cuirass
-not concealable
-highest price [Reduced FUNDs in future shops]
-silent
-nullify cuts, thrusts, all projectiles and heavily reduces chances of taking damage

>>Write in (add advantages & disadvantages!)

>>5312566
>Brigandine

>>5312566
>>>Brigandine

>>5312566
>>Brigandine

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>>5312753
>>5312823
>>5312842
Pine decides to buy the blue brigandine. The leather covered steel plated armor covered her torso and shoulders nicely, and allows enough flexibility to bend her body. The silence of moving in it is also a good bonus.

After spending sometime trying it on, and adjusting the armor, she buys it. The price is a bit high, but with all the money she amassed, it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

The many metal plates inside the armor will chaff against bare skin. Before she puts it on, she ties her open faced coat together. Looks good enough. The rich blue color and dark clothing is a decent contrast.

After the leaving warehouse, she heads for the ship.

The ship has two large wrinkled sails. Apparently they help with sailing somehow.

As you step into the ship, you notice Makari drying the blades and whetstone after use.

You walk up to him and greets the boy. The boy is a lot older than the last time you met him. He has a large cut across on his cheek and some kind of bite on his neck. He’s probably about 15? 16 years old?

He recognizes you as his caretaker, but forgot your name. You don’t fault him too hard for it, as you could barely remember his last name.

He begins talking about what happened during his childhood.

(Cont.)

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>>5313935
After his mom died, his dad was unfit to take care of him financially. He was a flamebearer, just like Makari.

He was an teacher, displaying the art towards people unaware of it. However, the crown was not by his side.

The royalty and higher ups in society put more emphasis on other schools they deemed had more merit. Flesh and bloodbearing became more popular, and so did gravitybearing.

To them, cramming out healers and improving military power is more worthy of funding than anything else.

Elemental schools were left untouched, and beginning to fade away. Their fundings were diminished to make way for a superior form of study. Some fade away faster than others.

His father eventually had to become a meager servant as a result.

So, his maternal uncle, Fern, became his take carer from that moment on.

He had connections to merchants that commanded ships and managed to get a spot in a friend’s ship.

The ship is alright, but the politics is… not the best.
(Cont.)

>>5313937
While you are talking to Makari, Fern comes over and ask him about you.

After learning about your status, he apologizes on behalf of Makari’s father about leaving without giving closure or answers.

He also thanks you for being a part of Makari’s childhood and taking care of him.

“He’s a decent kid. Wasn’t too hard to take care of him.” Pine responds.

He chuckles and thanks you for taking care of him regardless.

After the personal stuff have been cleared up, he welcomes you abroad the Lucidity as a customer.

The ship mainly sells magical objects or ingredients they managed to find across the different lands. For their secondary income, they sell regular spices at the warehouse.

They also have a cooking service during the evening that sells surplus meat at a low price.

Ah. So that’s what Zeal was talking about.

(Cont.)

>>5313938
Pine could browse their inventory as a customer, or she could ask Makari more about the politics and other forbidden topics in this ship. She could also ask about those scars and the bite on his neck.

As for Fern, she could probably ask him about his involvement with Zeal, and gain more insight about their relationship.

Cinderpath and Cinderfall are landlocked, so no point asking him for potential routes.
He might be a customer for your… other business, though.

Pine would..
>>[Buy items] Be a normal customer
>>Ask Makari about the internal politics
>>Ask Makari about his scars and bite wound
>>Ask Fern about Zeal
>>Ask Fern about any.. problems that might need to be dealt with
>>Write in