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>>5321981
A recap….

Our first target was Pike, a scammer that sold lackluster healing food and potions to people at a marked up price. This resulted in the death of a friend of Jess, a loyal customer of yours. He decided to invest in Pine’s other business…

Pine switched his actual high quality potions with his own mediocre ones before kicking him down the stairs and stabbing him in the thigh. She finishes him off by repeatedly slamming a door against his head and tearing his throat out with her misericorde daggers. (stiff blade dagger designed for thrusting)

One curious thing he had was a viscous, transparent potion. With the help of Lightbearer Jess and Noi the Mage, she discovers that this is a especially strong sleeping aid and memory loss inducing liquid, perfect for kidnapping and rape.

With Noi’s guidance, Pine arrives at Silverport, city of serpent scholars, a coty with one of the most prestigious potion making academy in the country.
This is the only city close enough to Cinderpath capable of manufacturing such a high quality concoction.

She heard rumors of “Zeal”, a goblin who was a skilled potion maker in training of the academy, and allegedly mutilated men’s genitals and made women disappear for several days, then returning without any memory of what happened.

Pine, with the funding of the three students that she overheard, hunted Zeal to prevent anyone else from being hurt.

While investigating the building he could be in, she overheard his reasons for doing these actions. He, and his associate, "Cris," manufactures a concoction that acts as a sleeping aid, abortifacient and a memory loss inducer.

With their lightbending cloaks, allowing them to briefly turn invisible, they became vigilantes, exacting vengeance on men that got women unintentionally pregnant and administering their concoction on women, whether they wish it or not.

Their latest target is Zeal’s childhood friend, "Fha", who is opposed to abortion despite Zeal’s insistence.
[Picture of Zeal]
(Cont.)

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>>5321985
Behind her back, Zeal and Cris devise a plan to drug her at a restaurant and exact revenge on the friends of the guy that got Fha unintentionally pregnant but did not care about her.

With this information in hand, she relays their plan to the three clients, and rallies them to the building before he could exact his plan.

Pine confront Zeal alone, and defeated him with the help of Noi’s strength enhancing potion. He fought without his lightbending cloak.

She emerged victorious with a vertical cut on her wrist, while Zeal was stabbed in the shoulder, chunks of his nose bitten off, and a concussion from being slammed into stairs.

Pine and the other three students interrogate him and ask where Cris is. During the interrogation, he reaffirms his belief of trading lives once more.

He put her life above the unborn child.
He put his life beneath hers, which is why he gave her the invisibility cloak and told her to run away.

Fha appears next to the group
with a greatsword and expresses
disappointment towards him.
She was the one that taught him swordfighting, and she would rather defend her friend than escape alone.

She wanted to stop the students and Pine when they interrogated him, but the things he said betrayed her trust.
[Picture of Fha]
(Cont.)

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>>5321986
She doesn’t want people unaware of her boyfriend’s actions to get hurt, nor does she want her choices and other women in the very same position to be invalidated by someone else.

She instructs the three students and Pine to give him healing potions for his injury and leave.

While the three leaves, Pine eavesdropped on their conversation. Fha cut ties with Zeal and will leave the academy in a week.

Moved by Cris and Zeal’s actions, Pine asked to join them in their vigilantism. Their plans shifted from drugging her food at the restaurant to drugging her water bottle when she went to say goodbyes to her friends at the dueling club.

Pine’s role was to search Fha’s room and destroy any evidence of what transpired that day, since she might’ve written things down.

While searching her drawers, she come across Fha’s notes on a cult in Cinderpath and Cinderfall, a city where she currently lives and a city near hers respectively.
It is called ‘Cult of The Father’ is spreading quickly, selling fake cures and fake healing practices.

After accomplishing her objective, she meets back at Zeal’s room and talk about the reason she came here: the viscous transparent liquid.

Zeal remembers it as a early prototype of his concoction, and proposes that investigating the potion processing plant might yield answers. It’s an old plant where potions gets neutralized and destroyed.
[Picture of Cris]
(Cont.)

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>>5321990
Being students of the academy, they will have time for the investigation in two days.

On the first day, she bought a blue brigandine and saw Makari, a human child she once took babysat. He was a flamebearer, a person capable of shaping flame, but when the government funded other forms of magic studies and left the elemental arts behind, he became a cook’s assistant on the Lucidity ship.

Pine took interest in the boy, as having a mage in her group would be useful. She then offered a proposal to his caretaker, ‘Fern’, his maternal uncle who was a cook in the ship.

Take Makari to Cinderpath to work for her, during the months when they are on land. (and are not employed by the ship)

He promises that she’ll get the answer on the second day.

On the second day, one day before the adventure into the processing plant, Pine decides to….

[YOU HAVE 4 TIME]
[Each activity costs 1 time, and you could do the activity multiple times for stronger bonuses]

>>Learn about the plant
I could spend time learning about the processing plant, finding what I should be aware of and what I could expect from such a place. It might tell me something useful when we’re in the plant.

>>Practice fighting
I could spend time practicing in the dueling club, honing my skills in combat against different weapons and enemies of varying sizes. Should I need to fight, I’ll be more prepared than ever.

>>Rest
I could spend time relaxing both my mind and my body. I’ve been through quite a few dangerous situations lately, and taking some time off to check out the city and having some fun might be what I need to face what’s in the future.

>>Buy
I could spend time buying things that might come in handy. Magical items, trinkets, potions, and the likes. Since I have more time than ever, I could look for the stores with a good quality and price ratio.

>>Talk with the locals
I could spend time talking with the scholars and locals of Silverport. Perhaps they could yield more updated information compared to books?

>>Write in
[Picture of Makari]

>>5321991
>>Learn about the plant
>>Practice fighting
>>Rest
>>Talk with the locals

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>>5321991
PINE’s possessions
(1) Gravity reduction potion [light purple]
(1) Blood clot potion
(3) Misericorde daggers
Gamberson dress + several cloaks
6 High quality healing potions, capable of healing near fatal wounds (4 in waterskin)
Jewelry and silvery accessories
Blue brigandine
-armor made from small steel plates riveted to leather. Protects the torso from cuts, thrusts, and bludgeoning strikes.
Gamberson
-cloth armor that can stop knives and sword cuts.

[Silverport, city of serpent scholars map]
One of the best academy for potion makers, where they are taught by sea serpents, large serpents with intelligence and skill in venoms.

>>5321981
Previous thread

>>5290674

>>5321981
A bit of advice: you should archive the first thread and link it here so new readers aren't lost

>>5321991
>Learn about the plant x1
>Practice fighting x1
>Rest x1
>Get to know Zeal and Cris better x1
Moving over my vote from last thread!

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Picture of Fern, maternal uncle of Makari

*Noi and Makari are player created characters. Some details of their characters were changed to fit the setting, but I try to make them as close to as what was suggested as possible.

>>5322000
Gotcha. Gonna do it tomorrow.

>>5321991
>Rest
>Practice fighting
>Learn about the plant
>Cook something nice

>>5321991
>>5322003
>Learn about the plant x1
>Practice fighting x1
>Rest x1
>Get to know Zeal and Cris better x1
Supporting this

>>5321999
I'm reading the first thread. You keep alternating between "you" and "pine" and "I". It's a bit confusing. Maybe try to stick to one?

>>5322038
Got it. Gonna try to be more consistent this time.

I used “I” in moments when Pine is thinking about stuff internally

Also, archived the first thread https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5290674/

Writing…

>>5322598
>I used “I” in moments when Pine is thinking about stuff internally
You have to do more to distinguish this. Either append it with "you think" or something like that (blah blah blah, you think/wonder/muse/etc.), or put it in italics or parentheses or something like that. Or just stop doing it entirely and convey the MC's thoughts through second person narration.

>>5322598
Use italics for internal thought like other anon said.

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>>5321994
>>5322003
>>5322012
>>5322020
She begins the day by learning about this processing plant in books found in libraries and other school facilities.

Fortunately, she has an old school uniform to blend in with other students. She received it from those three students to help with infiltrating the building Zeal could be in.

Silverport is close to the sea, and can be rather hot.

Outside of the classrooms, the school uniform, a blue dress, is worn open faced. Most people wear shorts and an undershirt or chest covering when doing this, although how much skin they show largely depends on the person.

A large number of students here are young adults, in her early 20s. Some are muscular and some are quite skinny.

When Pine first came here, she visited a recreational potion store. A store for people to just potions recreationally,
a temporary escape from the stressful academic life.

After spending the morning hours reading several books, the gist of it is…

The Serpent Scholars Potion Processing Plant (often called ‘processing plant’)

Built during the 1200-1300s, it is located in a cave that used to be an underground town of pale goblins called “Sunless” , goblins born with a medical skin condition that is extremely weak to sunlight. Few minutes of exposure will result in the skin being burnt and blisters forming.

During this period, there were only sea serpents living in Silverport. In an attempt to help them, they gave them a formula and ingredients for creating healing and blood clotting potions.

Because of their medical condition, exposure to lights is painful for them, and this results in boiling ingredients improperly and creating a particularly concentrated version of the healing potions. This concoction is effective at quickly curing burns wounds, but slowly created tumors within their bodies.

By the time tumors could be seen on their bodies, it was already too late. With the risk of these potions contaminating nearby cities and their water sources, the sea serpents hired mercenaries to hunt down any pale goblins that tried to leave the underground town and sealed it off.

(Cont.)

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>>5322744
During the late 1200s or early 1300s, the sea serpents sent goblin mercenaries to explore the cave once more, and gathered samples of the waters inside the cave.
It still contains the highly concentrated dosages of the healing potions.

This prompted the sea serpents to dedicate time and funding into researching potions and any possible side effects of improperly made potions.
To find funding for these projects, they began contacting and trading with bipedals.

With more contact between goblins and humans, and a strategic location for ships, Silverport was created and became a city for both serpents and bipedals to trade and learn potion making.

During the late 1400s, plate armor automatons were created and sent to Sunless and transformed it into a processing plant for neutralizing potions.

Today, it is manned by mostly automatons and only a few dozen giants and goblins.

[Knowledge gained - highly concentrated healing liquid could cause tumors in the processing plant]

[Knowledge gained - plate armor automatons are present]

[picture of plate armor automaton]

(Cont.)

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>>5322746
During the late morning and noon, she spends time at the dueling club.

It is a small facility where a few dozen students show up to practice mainly unarmored fighting with swords and daggers, the sidearms of civilians. A few also practices polearms and armored fighting, especially among those training to became a camp follower or a part of security forces.

Before dueling, it is important that the practitioners study the manuals of accomplished masters. Pine spends some time learning techniques of unarmed and knife fighting through old books before she could begin sparring.

When the practitioners sparred, they wear thick cloth armor and the weapon themselves are blunted. Still, most refrain from putting all their force into a strike, as it could be too dangerous for the opponent.

After sparring for an hour or so, she gained more insight about knife fighting and fighting opponents of bigger size, which areas to target and predicting potential telegraphs of attacks.

Pine also asked about Fha. The people close to her says that they don’t remember what she said to them last night, but vaguely remembers her being sad. They asked Fha and even she doesn’t remember what she said last night.
Seems like Zeal took care of any loose ends as well.

[Knowledge gained - boosted combat bonus for rolls]

(Cont.)

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>>5322750
Pine decides to rest in the afternoon after a morning of learning and exercise.

She spent the afternoon in a bathhouse. Apparently they got a few flamebearers to manipulate the heat in the pools, allowing her and many others to bathe in cold water regardless of season.

She spent some time talking to female giants and serpents about random stuff.
Among the personal life stories, she learns more about the new arts the government is funding.

**Fleshbearing and bloodbearing.**

Each school of magical arts require the bearers to sacrifice themselves, and these schools ask the most. Muscule atrophy and blood loss will be present in every student that wish to pursue them.
To be a skilled bearer, these subjects demands good understanding of human anatomy, physical fitness, and money.

The government favors these due to the healing potential of them, and their specialization in producing high quality healing potions.

There’s also gravitybearing, another school given more prominence due to their ability to improve transportation and projectile weapons. Noi, a witch Pine knows is one of them, and her body and skin can barely hold itself together without assistance.

Pine (and many others) has yet to seen them actually deliver on the promises of better civilian transportation, though.
[Picture of Fleshbearer shaping someone’s facial structure]
(Cont.)

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>>5322752
The evening soon arrives. Before they go to the plant together, she might as well talk to Zeal and Cris, getting to know them more.

They all meet up at the beach, watching the sunset at north of Silverport.

Zeal is still wearing his hat, but both of them dress similarly apart from that. They wear their dress open faced, with undershirts and shorts that exposes much of their thighs.

As for Pine, she dresses similarly although
her shorts are nearly knee length.

She could talk about…

>>Their first days of vigilantism
How it came to be, and the reasons on what pushes each person to do it.

>>Their relationships
How Zeal and Cris met each other, how Pine’s relationship went, and perhaps giving them advice.

>>Makari and Fern
Talk about him, and Pine’s past experience with Makari. Maybe all of us could share our knowledge about them.

>>Their previous jobs and schools
Pine remembered a picture of Zeal and Fha being in the same school together when they were young. Maybe they could talk about their childhood? Pine could also share stories of her experience as a camp follower before she became a restaurant owner.

>>Write in

Regardless of choice, you will learn a thing or two about each other.

>>5322757
>>>Their relationships

>>5322757
>Their previous jobs and schools
"So, how'd you crazy kids meet?"

>Their relationships
"You know, I was in a human-goblin relationship once. They can be... Challenging."

>>5322757
>>Makari and Fern

>>5322757
>Their first days of vigilantism
>Their relationships

>>5322775
+1

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>>5322775
>>5322765
>>5323027
>>5323073
>>5323205
Pine ask about the relationship between Zeal and Cris and how it happened.

Both of them used to live in Shadowfall,
a town that is three hours away from Silverport, known for it’s clothing industry.

Zeal was talented at making sleeping aid potions ever since he was a kid due to his enrollment in a prestigious potion making school in Shadowfall. His family sent him there to follow in their grandparents’ footsteps as potion store owners.

After he graduated from that school, Zeal negotiated which academy to enroll in, he chose Silverport due to the proximity of the city and the serpents’ knowledge in venom and acid.

To achieve his dream, he needed a tutor on making other types of potions for the entrance exam.

His family found Cris, someone who was accepted into Silverport, and offered to privately teaching people that wanted to get into the academy during her summer and winter breaks.

She says she does it because she doesn’t want to bother her parents with money if possible and to fund her interest in Lightbending.

Back then, Zeal was.. 19 years old or so. Cris was about 21.

At the start, Zeal says Cris was particularly stern about statistics and exam patterns.

By learning which part to focus on during the test, and common pitfalls of exam takers, they could spend more time practicing as opposed to learning things they won’t be using that much.
That’s the reasoning behind her actions.

Then, she moves on to making Zeal do as many mock exams as possible and honing the aspects he found difficult.

Near the end, they look at potential scores and try to form strategies on dropping or focusing on certain parts of the exams for more scores.

(Cont.)

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>>5323956
Now, that’s pretty standard stuff when it comes to tutoring, but what really made them close was what happened after class.

They stay at his parents’ house for tutoring, and have lunch or dinner there as well. On the weekends, they visit the markets to buy ingredients for the next lessons.

Zeal and Cris took these opportunities to talk about their personal lives and find some snacks. She also talks a lot about the life in Silverport, her friends, what he should expect in the academy and her personal hobby of learning about Lightbending.

One day, she talks about another student under her tutelage was unable to be taught because of scheduling and money issues. Turns out her parents got sick and she had to work as a servant to earn some money for their treatment.

Unfortunately, her master was rather abusive to his servants, berating them whenever they mess up and some times even hit them for not doing things perfectly.

He was an tailor of a clothing store that is highly regarded in Shadowfall, known for the high quality and intricate craftsmanship. His perfectionist attitude made him an adored figure by wealthy clients, but also an excessively cruel master to his servants behind closed doors. The wages are especially low on people that are non humans.

The reason that girl hasn’t left was due to the potential career ruining power he holds over her if she leaves.

(Cont.)

>>5323958
After talking to Zeal about it, he proposed that he could pull some strings and commission someone to forge the guy’s handwriting, adding a section where he expresses support for romantic relationships between different races in letters that thank his clients for their patronage.

Then, those falsified letters will be given to the girl Cris tutored so she could send them to the clients. It would completely discredit him as a citizen and destroy his career.

In Shadowfall, romantic relationships between different races are viewed in a negative light.

Zeal has heard more than a few conversations from the wealthy people about how these people are considered ‘evil’ or ‘perverse’ for not having children and ‘only think about sex’.

This mainly comes down to their biology. Goblins, humans, giants, and others are unable to have children if they have sex with a person who is a different race.

Cris thinks that would be interesting, but it could risk the lives of servants if he figures that trick out. Instead, she figures that spreading gossip and accusing the tailor of supporting mixed race relationships would be the safer option for the servants.

And so, whenever Zeal and Cris had free time, they used their connections and friends to spread misinformation about this tailor.

It didn’t really matter what the truth was. As long as the people believed it, that’s enough.

Soon, his profits begin to fall and his reputation sunk low enough that his store was being vandalized. His once loyal wealthy customers no long frequent the place.

He was getting less sane every day, his clothing became less perfect than before.
The servants left one by one, without telling. They managed to steal a few things before living that could be sold for a decent amount of money. Cris was the one that gave them information about trustworthy buyers for jewelry and other valuable items.

He went to the police about it, but
"No one is going to care when a race mixer gets what he deserves." Cris remembers those words said by the law enforcement entities well.

(Cont.)

>>5323959
That was the first time Zeal and Cris became vigilantes, and when Zeal fell for her. The lengths she would go to achieve a task, and her determination captivated him.

When it was near the end of the tutelage, he gave a love confession after class.
By then, the tailor’s reputation has been ruined and the girl Cris used to teach got out safely, with a decent chunk of money.

She was.. taken back by all of this, but accepted it anyway, but on the condition that he would focus on his studies and treat her as nothing more than an instructor in class.

For the next lessons, he was able to achieve good results with the simulated tests.

It was a monday when she noticed Zeal was more gloomy than usual. After the class, she asked him if he was feeling okay.

He wasn’t. He cried and talked about overhearing his parents talk about the different races.

It’s one thing to hear strangers talk about races. It’s another to hear your parents voicing their disgust for 'traitors of their own race' and their regret for hiring someone like Cris.

The reasons why Cris was chosen as his tutor was because she was the only tutor they could find who was accepted by Silverport. They talked about her crescent moon earrings, and how that was 'proof' of deviant behavior and that she was part of a gang or a whore that their son shouldn’t associate with.

Cris hugs him and told him that, even if she can’t tutor him anymore, she’ll try to find time to be with him.

As for his parents…
"Yeah, some people are assholes. Some minds can’t be changed. Sometimes we have to put up with shit like that and pretend like it’s nothing."

"But right now, their thoughts mean nothing. Only yours matter, alright?"
Cris gave him a kiss on the forehead after saying that.

(Cont.)

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>>5323968
Eventually, the tutelage comes to an end. On the last class, Cris gave him a Misericorde dagger. In Silverport, openly carrying weapons is a common practice, and she hopes that he could wear it proudly in the academy. As for Zeal, he gave her a whetstone and some oil for her falchion.

After Zeal got into the academy, they dated properly once more.

He still has that dagger (in fact, it was the one he pulled out during Pine’s fight with him)

Zeal thinks that the environment of Silverport is a lot different than Shadowfall. People are more open (literally, they show more skin) and are a lot more forward when it comes to relationships.

Of course, there’s always the nasty side of things. The stress of the studies can break people, as seen with people in the recreational potion store, spending as much time as possible to avoid facing reality. Seeing complete strangers fuck each other and take memory loss inducing potions afterwards was quite sad to say the least.

Pine was quite shocked to learn the stigma between mixed race relationships. When she traveled with mercenaries as a camp follower, it was encouraged. Because they can’t breed, they could cut down on money being spent on contraceptives or having to worry about taking care of pregnant women.

She also talks about her own relationship. She used to date a human a few years ago. Pine didn’t grow up with much wealth, and spent most of her time as a cook and doing odd jobs to get money.

One of those jobs was babysitting a child named Makari, but she wasn’t able to say her goodbyes. At the time she didn’t know that Fern became Makari’s guardian and worked on a ship, only now did she found him again.

Zeal remembers hearing a thing or two from Fern when he mentions about a goblin babysitting Makari.
He found it quite strange, considering Silverport doesn’t have the same stigma between different races.

(Cont.)

>>5323971
Pine doesn’t really want to elaborate much on her relationship with a human. He was an arquebusier that cared for her a lot. He was compassionate, and liked to bring her things he found on the battlefield.

However, as time passes, he talked more and more about what the ‘ideal’ goblin woman should look like, and she was ‘too thin’.

Pine tried to talk to him about this topic multiple times, but he still continues to believe in this… ‘ideal’.

It got to the point of him putting more food in her plate and trying to guilt trip her into finishing more than what she usually eats so they won’t ‘waste it’.

When she confronted him about this, he was trying to spin the situation into him helping her be a ‘better’, and a ‘healthier’ person. He says that he has helped plenty other women achieve this goal, but only Pine seems to be resistant to improving herself.

How many women would have suffered under his manipulation if I let him go free? I can’t let that happen.
Pine thinks to herself.

She finally had enough and executed him when he visited a town nearby the camp.

She took his money and used that to fund her restaurant in Cinderpath, leaving the camp follower life behind.

Both Zeal and Cris offer sympathy for what happened. They said that they would probably do the same thing if they were in such a position.

Pine tries to give them advice on dating, mainly boundaries, and how you must maintain the integrity of such.
Even close ones, if they do not respect the defined rules in your life, don’t deserve to be close to you.

Aside from that…. she can’t really come up with anything to teach them at the moment.

It’s getting dark, anyways.
They say their goodbyes and leave the beach.

Inside an inn, Pine sleeps and dreams about…

(Cont.)

>>5323974
[Choose what dream Pine will have]

>>The path
Pine finds herself walking across a path made from stone

>>The mountain
Pine finds herself walking up a mountain

>>The forest
Pine finds herself in a forest

>>The surface of an ocean
Pine finds herself standing on the surface of an ocean

Regardless of which dream is chosen, they will reveal something important.

>>5323975
>>The path

>>5323975
>>>The forest

>>5323975
>The surface of an ocean

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>5324011
>>5324085
>>5324256
Tiebreaker
1= path
2= forest
3= ocean’s surface

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>>5324431
Pine wakes up in a forest, devoid of color.
Only shades of black and grey exists, and the sun is reduced to a white sphere in the sky.

As she wanders aimlessly through a forest, Pine sees a tall entity with long limbs and a tiny mouth with a diameter no larger than the hole of a needle.

The ghoul tears the leaves off the trees and tries to eat it. No matter how many leaves it amassed, the hunger could never be satiated.

Time passes quickly. The white orbs that could be considered the sun and moon dash across the sky in a blink.

The forest become nothing more than a collection of sticks of wood,
the dirt is covered in layers of leaves. Before the layer could reach her head, she wakes up.

Pine remembers an old memory.
These ghouls are souls that are unable to pass on, and cursed with hunger. Sometimes people would offer them a meal in an attempt to help them pass on.

During the early days of her life, when she was still a camp follower, she used to make batches of food whenever the temples have a religious ceremony in cities the mercenaries visit. It was a decent source of income.

She can barely remember those temples and monks anymore. Their religious influences seems to have fade away nowadays. The government concerns itself funding more important projects to the military, and the livelihood heavily is dependent on local powers.

(Cont.)

>>5325367
The morning comes at last. Pine dons her gamberson dress and the blue brigandine over it. Two daggers rest by her right side, and a pouch of potions and waterskin on her left.

One gravity reduction potion. One bloodclotting potion. Six doses of healing potions.

Before she leaves the inn, the staff informs her of a letter sent by Fern.

It’s a letter containing his signature, and expresses approval of her offer to take Makari to Cinderpath as her assistant under the condition that they write a letter informing him of their situations each week, totaling to eight letters. After two months, Makari will be asked to join the Lucidity’s crew once more for another voyage.

He apologizes for not informing her in person, as he was needed by the ship yesterday to instruct a crewmate who recently became a cook.

She meets up with Cris and Zeal at the south of Silverport, where the main entrance to the city is. Both of them wear their Lightbending cloaks over a dress that reaches to their knees. Cris even wears a similar hat to Zeal.

The carriages arrive at the gates of Silverport in the early morning, when the sun barely leaves the horizon.

The people traveling with them are mostly students of the academy, traveling to other towns to buy things or to visit relatives.

Our destination, the plant, is much closer to Silverport than other towns. A few hours is only needed.

Usually students will deliver the potions to the monthly potion carriages, but sometimes the student missed both and need to deliver it by themselves.

When they first got in, a few other students recognized Zeal. A simple nod and greeting was all they ever said to each other.

As the hours pass, tiredness begins to overtake some of the students. Some leaned against the wooden walls of the carriages, while others rest their head against their partners.

Quite a difference compared to the more subtle display of affection in Cinderpath.

The yelling of the drivers alerting the passengers to the processing plant wakes them up temporarily.

The plant is a cave that is surrounded by walls of wooden fences and ditches. Seems like the original structures of Sunless remains in tact.

Only Zeal, Cris and Pine leaves the carriage.

(Cont.)

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>>5325368
They descend underground.

The caves contain several types of machinery that are operates by those automatons, moving large crates of potions without caring about living creatures.

The designated areas for placing potions that need to neutralized are marked clearly with bright red text and large amount of lanterns surrounding them.

The group decides to follow where the potions get moved to, and follow the automatons.

After the designated crates are full, the automatons carry them to a crane which lowers it further down until they reach a large collective of buildings. They caught up to it by using elevators meant for the goblin workers here.

The group can see shadows move in those rooms and automatons leaving the them while moving wheelbarrows that contain several waterskins and pouches filled with liquid.

The group decides to eavesdrop on the workers…

‘… batch is full.’
They hear a few goblins speaking.

"Alright. That’s good. You guys are a little behind schedule, but this should be alright. Get this batch done by tomorrow."
The group hears an old female human talking to then goblins.

‘Tomorrow? We.. we can’t. It will take about three or four days.’

"I know you could pull this off with all five stations working."
"Dump the pervious batches of the 4th and 5th station into the lake. Get those stations working immediately."

‘That’s.. possible, but we still won’t have time to completely clean the residue of those machines. The people ingesting the potions could make extreme changes in personalities and mood control.’

"That’s the plan."

"We’ve already paid for your work. Do it."
"Their lives are worth less than ours. Unfortunate? Yes. I don’t want to see their crime rates rise, but it’s a matter of our nation against some other one. We need the west to support us. Without their support, nothing’s stopping them from taking our land."

"My men will come pick them up by tomorrow’s noon."

The old human leaves the building and takes the elevator upwards.
She has long grey hair that reaches her collar bone. She wears a black cloak with orange trinkets over a green shirt and pants. She seems quite old, around her 60s or so.

Based on her words, she’s likely associated with the government.

Her actions still haven’t answered the question of how Zeal’s failed potion got into the hands of some guy in Cinderpath. Maybe he bought it from a black market peddler that was in our neighboring country?

The group decides to..
>>Scout ahead and sabotage the 4th and 5th stations.
>>Confront the workers and try to convince them to not perform this action.
>>Observe.
>>Confront the old lady.
>>Write in

(Sorry for writing this late. Had a few college projects due this week.)

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>>5325370
Picture of old lady

>>5325370
>>>Scout ahead and sabotage the 4th and 5th stations.

>>5325370
>Scout ahead and sabotage the 4th and 5th stations.

>>5325370
>>Scout ahead and sabotage the 4th and 5th stations

>>5325370
>>>Confront the old lady.

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>>5325395
>>5325651
>>5326159
>>5326293
The group decides to go deeper, trying to find the fourth and fifth stations and sabotage them.

As they descend, the group finds an old map of the place on a wall that gives more information about the stations.

Each station is indicated by the presence of lights and a collective of buildings, so the group only had to look for bright dots.

While the first three stations are connected to each other with bridges and elevators, and sit high above the water, the last two stations sit near the water level and requires a boat to travel there.

After leaving the first and second stations, they group sees the lake beneath the buildings and stones of this cave. It looks rather normal at a distance, being nothing more than murky water.

As they get closer, they realize that the contaminated water moves like any other, it’s only difference is the color: a dark green shade that glistens under the beam of light, reminiscent of blackened steel.

The group covers as much of their bodies as possible with spare clothing before they board a ship next to the edges of water. Ingesting those waters will definitely lethal, but the effects of touching those waters are unknown. Better off not risking it.
Only eyes remain uncovered.

The ship resembles a small fishing ship, with a single sail and operated by six plate armor automatons. Right now the automatons are dropping off crates and bags into elevators, waiting to be operated. It’s the perfect time to sneak onboard.

Unlike the automatons working at the first three stations, the ones on the deck are covered in pink spiky balls, and most of their plates have been warped by countless dents.

(Cont.)

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>>5326644
Those pink objects could be a few things. Even Zeal and Cris don’t know what it really is, but they offer some ideas.

Zeal proposes that these are the crystalized version of the contaminated waters while Cris thinks that they are stones that accumulated inside the bodies of those pale goblins.

Both agree that they shouldn’t try to touch them.

They hide in the ship’s bridge until the warped automatons finish unloading their objects. As the ship begins moving, the group looks outside.

The automatons on the deck are splashing water discriminately with their extreme paddling. It gives the ship exceptional speed unmatched even against giants, with non of the possibility to get contaminated by the water.

The silent rocks and soft light almost gives this place a tranquil state.
Pine is entranced by it until they reach the spot where the light touches the water.

Pine looks up and hears a storm of crows diving towards the ship, trying to attack the automatons.

The crow themselves have excessively large head and beaks, with bumps of flesh and malformed protruding from their bodies. Seems like even animals aren’t safe from the concentrated doses of healing liquids.

The automatons do not bother defending themselves, only continuing to paddle away at their usual breakneck pace.

What should the group do?

>>Hide in the bridge. The automatons could probably handle it.
>>[Use gravity reduction potion] Throw the potion at the swarm.
>>Abandon ship. Swim to the remaining stations.
>>Throw some food at the crows.
>>Write in

[Picture of pink spiky ball]

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>>5326645
Picture of crow

>>5326645
>>>Throw some food at the crows.

>>5326645
>>Throw some food at the crows.

>>5326645
>Hide in the bridge

>>5326645
>>Hide in the bridge. The automatons could probably handle it.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5326654
>>5326804
>>5326819
>>5327046
Tiebreaker
1=food
2=hide

>>5327345
The group stays in the bridge.
The automatons can probably handle those attacks, but we can’t.

Clangs of metal can be heard even through the bridge’s walls, mirroring a heavy downpour of rain.

Wood creaks and shatters as the weight of a hoard of mutated crows crash into the small ship. Even with the shakiness, the group can feel that the ship is still being propelled forward.

As the flapping of wings and clicking of beaks dissipate from the ears of the group, the ship begins to stabilize once more.

Zeal peaks outside and confirms that the birds have left the ship. They have moved past the spots where the light touches the water, and the stations are close by.

The automatons are more dented, but those spiky balls that once stuck to their bodies are now cracked open, revealing that they are actually sea urchins, mutated by the waters that warp their spikes into a blunter, stone like version.

From the numerous stone spikes that is lying on the deck, the crows must’ve pecked the sea urchin’s spines out and pried the shell to eat them.

Had the group gave the crows food, they might’ve obtained the roe of such a mutated creature. It would be quite the rare thing, but actually eating them could result in tumors or mutations.

Then again, they could’ve gotten hurt during that. It’s unclear how dangerous a bite from those crows could be.

The fourth and fifth station sits near the water, with another large spot where light shines at the water behind them.

(Cont.)

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>>5327859
Red cloth drifts in the wind, and lights guide the group towards the fourth station.

As soon as the ship reaches it’s shores, the automatons unload the cargo into the elevators and machinery once again.

A few workers, mostly goblins, look at the ship and thinks it’s suspicious. They look around and call out names of their colleagues.

After hearing nothing in return, they grab a few metal tools and deactivate the automatons.

When they are hauling those machines back to their workshops, Zeal, Cris and Pine fade away from the ship under their lightbending cloaks.

Cris covers Pine with her cloak as they hide from the workers. Pine ends up walking behind her legs and occasionally hanging on to it to keep up. A goblin hugging a human’s leg like a child would feel rather comical in most other situations.

After some time spent wandering, they managed to locate where the liquid storage of the fourth station is.

Smoke and heat of machines guides the way upwards, to a large room with dozens of large crates and several tanks of strange liquid with various labels on them.

"Healing - Waste"
"SS Venoms - Waste"
"Mind altering - Waste"
"Complete"

Zeal and Cris looks at the crates. They recognize that they hold completed potions that students hand in and copies of instruction on making them.

They tend proceed to look at the “complete” tank. It’s full of a viscous, transparent liquid, exactly like the one Pine found in that scammer’s room. Imperfect, but decent enough as a sleeping aid and memory loss inducer.

Seems like they’ve been doing this for a long time judging by how tattered the instruction paper looks.

(Cont.)

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>>5327860
There’s a few ways the group could sabotage these tanks.

Pushing those tanks down onto the heat and smoke producing machines could disable the process for a long time, but it would be quite obvious that someone sabotaged it. Getting out is going to be even harder now.

Altering the instructions to add too little or too much of an ingredient could work, effectively disabling the next batches but they will realize the formula is wrong after a while. By then, we’ll be gone.

Maybe we could take those workers hostage and force them to disable the machines. The workers at the first three stations are going to figure out there’s no one they work with boarding that ship, so might as well reveal ourselves.

Or instead of forcing them, we could convince them that they shouldn’t do this?
From what that old lady said, it seems like the workers are willing to produce these concoctions, but not if they have mental side effects.

Of course, we could just do something else. While those workers are busy trying to fix those automatons, their treasure could be left vulnerable.

The group will…
>>Destroy the machines and tanks
>>Rewrite the instructions
>>Take 4th station workers hostage and force them to disable the potion making process
>>Convince 4th station workers to not do what the old lady asks
>>Leave the tanks and go steal stuff
>>Write in

>>5327861
>Destroy the mqchines and tanks
Seems more our modus operandi. Besides... Involving the other goblins risks their non-compliance or endangering them. Messing with the recipe could end up hurting people in unexpected ways, and isn't a permanent fix.

>>5327861
>>Destroy the machines and tanks

>>5327861
>>>Destroy the machines and tanks

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>>5327905
>>5328492
>>5328536
After gruelingly long pushes, the tanks tumbles down, causing a flood of liquids of varying viscosity to saturate the machines and floor.

The once warm machines are stomped by the tanks, bursting open metal parts and rope. The surface of such things no longer produce the heat, and smoke soon fades away.

The group don’t stay there for long. The loud crash of those tanks will bring the workers there soon, and handling them and the automatons would be difficult.

Only way is up. The fifth station sits just above the fourth, slightly above the water level. The last station is indicated by those red cloth that the wind blows.

Actually… as the group climbs up the wooden platforms and buildings towards the fifth station, they notice that those red cloth are windsocks.

Having a guide where the wind blows certainly make sense when you’re dealing with chemicals.

With their experience from the other stations, they quickly locate the tanks and
let those tumble down towards the machines as well. It’s a batch of hallucinogenics that is a lot more viscous and less transparent than the imperfect batch than before. No wonder that old lady wants it removed and replaced.

Apparently the machines were designed to extract impurities from the liquids by boiling them, hence the heat and smoke. Even before they were destroyed, the ones here barely produced any heat. Perhaps these are the faults of engineering?

With the tanks emptied and machines of purging impurities severely damaged, the group has accomplished their mission. It’s going to take a good while before they could get these working again.

When Zeal, Cris and Pine were descending down the steps of the fifth stations, they heard the sound of a gong being repeatedly rang.

The workers are no where to be found, and heavy footsteps shake the ground,
it seems that the security systems are now unbound.

Footsteps of two dozen automatons makes the wooden floorboards tremble. They carry with them a handgonne and a Crow’s beak, one is a type of firearm, nothing more than a small cannon, and another is a polearm with a large curved spike akin to a crow’s beak (hence the name).

One dozen are handgonners, holding their firearms with the polearm strapped to the back. Another dozen is the polearm users, with their firearm resting on their hip while the polearm remain on their hands.

The army of automatons sprint through the many rooms of the stations, and will eventually make their way up to the fifth station.

(Cont.)

>>5328637
Fighting them head on isn’t an option. Not without polearms or firearms of our own, anyway. The group could try to ambush a few of them, and steal their weapons. It will be exceptionally difficult, but if successful, a large amount of armor, polearms and firearms could be acquired.

Another way is to throw food at the spots where the light hits the water and lure those flocks of crows to the stations. They’ll serve as a distraction for the group to steal a ship back towards the first three stations.

Maybe they don’t need to bother with ladders or stairs at all? Pine still has that gravity reduction potion. Have Cris drink the potion, let her hold Zeal and Pine and jump down. The lower gravity will break the fall and make her jump farther than normal.

Perhaps they could just take those goblins hostage. Kick doors down and use those as a bargaining chip to get us out of this cave.

Cris and Zeal’s Lightbending cloaks don’t have that much energy left to hide the group while they head for the ship.

The group will
>>Ambush a few automatons, fight through them [Enter combat]
>>Throw food at the spot where light shines at the water, luring the mutated animals to distract the automatons
>>[Use gravity reduction potion] Jump to the ship directly
>>Take those workers hostage
>>Avoid the conventional routes and parkour down! [Parkour Check]
>>Write in

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>>5328637
Picture of handgonnes

From the design, it’s a rather old weapon. Most 1500s firearms are more intricate in terms of manufacture. Lethal, regardless.

>>5328640
Oh right, forgot the tripcode and name.

>>5328638
>Throw food at the spot where light shines at the water, luring the mutated animals to distract the automatons
>[Use gravity reduction potion] Jump to the ship directly
Both, for maximum effect!

>>5328680
+1

>>5328793
>>5328680
Hey folks im still writing the quest, don’t worry!

Expect it in a few hours.

Was quite busy durinf the last few days

>>5330775
Thanks for sticking it out, and thanks for the update! Doubly impressive since it's not even originally your quest.

>>5328680
>>5328793
Perhaps it’s time to use this purple liquid.
Pine and the two others throw their food at the spot where the light hits the water, bringing the hoard of misshaped crows to swarm the spot. They then throw those food closer and closer to the station, until it lands near the automatons.

While the automatons ignore them at first, when they blocked the way to the fifth station, they try to swat them away.
But they don’t really care. Their wings and head are a lot bigger than normal birds.

They proceed to sprint through the flock, crushing a few of them in the process. With this action, the hoard of crows descend upon the automatons, trying to peck at their helmets and limbs.

Mere dents and grazes befalls the plate armor, not hampering their speed in the slightest. In fact, some of the birds are hurting themselves by accidentally plunging on their polearms.

But having the sky occupied by birds certainly does help in the group’s escape.
Pine asks Cris to drink the gravity reduction potion and carry them with her while she jumps down, bypassing the stairs and dropping towards the ship directly.

After drinking the pale purple liquid, Cris finds it hard to move her limbs. It takes a few moments before she could move her body under a less powerful gravity.

Zeal and Pine grab on to her arms as she prepares to do a running start to the jump.

She glides through the air, with her cloak fully extended behind her. With the movement of her hands, she can somewhat control where she is going.

They soar above the whirlwind of black feathers and uncaring steel that has been dark red.

The wind also assists in their travel, blowing behind them for now.

Before they reach the ground, Pine and Zeal holds on to Cris’ upper body.
When falling from a distance, rolling
is one way to reduce damage from a fall.
They grab on tight as Cris roll forwards and end up on the somewhat soft, waterlogged boards of the docks.

(Cont.)

>>5330929
>>5330959
(Well, I liked the concept anyway, and I didn’t want to let such a premise go unused)

There’s 4 ships in total there.
As soon as they get up, Cris covers Pine with her cloak and activates the invisibility.
Zeal throws an object into the water, creating a large splash before disappearing as well.

"The workers definitely heard us, so the best we could do right now is to make them thing it was a bird that dived into the dock then slide off into the water."
Is what Zeal thought.

The workers indeed poke their heads out from the decks and bridges, holding their large handgonnes, looking for any threat that made such a noise.

During the moments when the workers sent the automatons to investigate the docks, Zeal and the group slipped into one of the ship, using the loud sounds made by the plate armor as cover for their own.

With their invisibility cloaks rapidly draining in power, they hid themselves inside the dark storage rooms, beneath the deck and cabins.

Then, they wait.

Wait for the workers to lose interest and travel back to the earlier stations.

Zeal, Cris and Pine spent hours in the darkness, occasionally overhearing some words.

The lack of sight and noise soon makes it a perfect place to sleep. The goblins are exhausted from the actions they did.

Zellia..
Pine…
Wake up.
Wake up!

The sounds of heavy barrels scraping across the grounds finally make the goblins wake up.

Cris tells them that the workers know that they will need to produce the concoction somehow, and with the stations destroyed, they resort to using a small fragrance of the concoction mixed with the large amount of water instead.

It’s probably not do anything much, but it will probably fool the old lady at a glance.

Pine wakes up and see that they have hid under a bed, in one of the cabins. Cris must’ve carried her and Zeal there while they were asleep.

(Cont.)

>>5330960
Cris says that the ship will reach the shores of the first stations soon, and they should prepare themselves.

Zellia. That’s his first name, huh?
Pine thinks to herself.

They wait until the ship stops and the footsteps are no longer heard from the decks before leaving the cabin.

The first few stations are a mess. Countless objects and people moving like droplets in the rain.

Seems like a part of Cris’ cloak was frayed when she landed on those docks. She takes off her cloak and forms it into a rope to climb upwards.

Taking the elevators and stairs won’t be an option considering how many automatons and workers are trying to move barrels of water. Good thing the security isn’t as tight as the fourth and fifth stations.

After an exhausting climb towards the top, they finally escaped the processing plant.
Upon exiting, there’s only the pale moon that gives off light. They entered at the early morning and spent nearly a day inside the plant.

The carriages aren’t coming. They’ll have to walk back to Silverport.

During the walk, Zeal and Cris talk about a few things.

He thinks that the old lady is giving crooks these concoctions to be spread into Galepeak (Neighboring country) to influence the western powers to not support them instead of us.

She thinks that the old lady is actually spreading the concoction into Galepeak by smuggling it inside the country and letting their people distribute it themselves. The people here getting a fraction of it was because they had connections to Galepeak’s people.

Pine… Pine can barely think of the politics behind all this. She just wants a nap. Or a bath.

(Cont.)

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>>5330961
The path back to Silverport is filled with trees. All three of them are also low on supplies due to using most of them on those crows.

The group hides behind a tree when they hear something moving through the trees and creating a loud thump.

From the direction that birds flee from, Pine sees a tall creature with abnormally long limbs and a tiny mouth. It’s a ghoul.

It is currently bending down to extract leaves from a branch.

They might be able fight it if Zeal gets close and lines up a shot on his head. That thing is made of flesh and blood, after all. Food is exactly what we need right now.

Climbing it could reveal a shorter path to Silverport, though. But with how tired the group is, it might be difficult.

Sneaking is also possible. Less risky than climbing it, but it’s unknown what that ghoul would do if it sees us.

She faintly remember that people used to offer food to the ghoul to help them pass on. She could do that, but they barely have any at the moment. It’s unknown if the ghoul is going to help them at all after that.

Foraging for fruits could be possible, but under the night and exhausted eyes, they might not know which are edible.

Upon seeing the ghoul, the group will
>>Assassinate it
>>Climb it
>>Sneak past it
>>Offer food
>>Bargain with the ghoul
>>Try to forage
>>Write in

>>5330963
>Offer food
>Try to forage

>>5330963
>>>Offer food
>>>Bargain with the ghoul

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5331355
>>5331469
Tiebreaker
1 = forage
2 = bargain

Rolled 54, 16, 10 = 80 (3d100)

>>5332015
Forage

Forage check - 50/100
1st roll Cris +10 bonus
2nd Zeal -10
3rd Pine -10

>>5332046
Oof, Pine, noooo

>>5332053
Expect the next post in ~10 hrs. Gotta sleep soon.

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>>5332273
64 & 6 & 0 vs 50

Under the moonlight, the group tries to find some kind of fruits or nuts for the ghouls.

Cris manages to find some Mangifera, a fruit with mango like shape with green skin and white flesh. Sweet, full of water and found in the wild.

Zeal can only find some kind of mushroom. He tests it by rubbing it against his skin. After a few minutes, he got a rash. Definitely not edible.

Pine tries to catch an animal by taking off her coat and using it as a net. Her constantly closing eyelids and sluggish movement made her too slow to catch anything.

In the end, Zeal and Pine rests against a tree to catch their breath while Cris walks towards the ghoul.

She puts a pile of fruits on a cloth and
beckons the ghoul to eat it.

The tall creature stops tearing the branches and looks at the human briefly. Their skeletal fingers grab some of the fruits and crushes it near their mouth.

The chunks were too big to fit inside the mouth, but the juices managed to flow down the throat.

After a few of the fruits were consumed, Cris asks the ghoul to guide them to the academy. Zeal and Pine catches up with her at last and looks at the entity.

It leans down and carries the three in it’s hands.

High above the forest, they see the serpent scholars island and the academy in the distance. Cris points at the academy main tower and says that place is where they want to be.

As the ghoul walks through the forest, the three’s grasp on reality slowly becomes looser.

The dark midnight sky turns into a bright orange sunset. Large metal pots burst from the ground, containing boiling water torment naked humans and other beings.
No matter how much their skin burns away, their body continues to regenerate the flesh and the sounds of their suffering is unending.

Pine barely remembers the teachings of those monks now, but this appears to a punishment in hell for those that cause death excessively.

The ghoul walk past the pots, heading towards seemingly flat ground.

Large trees sprout from the ground, covered in spikes.

At this moment the group is barely awake, but Pine manages to look downwards.

She sees that the base of the tree is filled with naked humans, forced to climb the trees by birds and hunters tearing apart flesh of those that don’t climb fast enough.

Their bodies become dots in the distance as the ghoul continues to walk forward.

(Cont.)

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>>5332951
Walking past the forest of spiked trees, the ghoul reaches a valley of other similar looking entities. Their skeletal faces turn to look at the thing holding three humans in it’s hands.

It seems the ghoul has reached their destination, at last.

The screams fade away from Pine’s ears.
Bright orange and red sunset now revert back to the dark blue midnight sky.

Pine, Zeal and Cris wakes up on the shores of the serpent scholars island.

Cris still has that cloth and the pieces of crushed fruit, but her clothes don’t look wet. Did the ghoul carry us all over here? Why didn’t anyone see it if that thing did?
Did he teleport or something?
Pine thinks about the ghoul after she wakes up.

The group ends up at Cris’ room. Zeal is too tired to walk to the fourth floor anyways, and Pine is definitely not going to have the energy to visit the inn this late.

The three of them collapses on her bed when they did reach the second floor.

The late morning arrives.

There’s no news of a break in of the processing plant, nor is there any changes to the schedule of carriages.
The group made it out without being caught.

While Cris and Zeal doesn’t have class today, going to Cinderpath will take around 6 hours. It’s not worth the effort.
Pine also promised Fern to take Makari to Cinderpath.

It seems this is the end of her stay in Silverport, for now, anyway.

It’s going to be a few months before the summer break for students of the academy, so Cris and Zeal can only visit her town for a couple days during weekends.

If Pine needs their assistance, and if their schedule line up, they might be able to visit. All it takes is a letter.

Before she leaves Silverport with Makari, the two has a few parting gifts for her.

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>>5332952
[CHOOSE TWO]

>>Ring of the Serpent
Can be used to test potions - if it corrodes the ring, it is an acidic material that is dangerous to ingest.

Ring made with green colored stone, designed to look like a serpent with red eyes.

>>Shiny Stone
Absorbs heat well - if left in a hot or cold place, it can keep the person warm or cool for a few hours. Can serve as a tray for cooking food if placed above a fire.

Oval shaped stone, able to reflect light at an angle. Both a tool and a weapon.

>>Special Ink Bottle
Ink that disappears after writing - can be seen with intense heat

Turquoise ink bottle that Zeal and Cris once used to secretly write information to each other.

>>Button of Old Times
Boosts ALL roll bonuses - effects of failed rolls will be more severe

Gold button from a tailor Cris and Zeal took down. His perfectionist attitude is still faintly felt even in his clothes, even after all these years.

>>Bloodied Owl Statue
Grants strength and speed - wounds and damage on both and objects becomes more severe

Statue depicting a dead owl. Birdmen and other avians are enemies of sea serpents, and this statue was made to commemorate their deaths. Glimpses of hatred still remain.

(Cont.)

>>5332955
Pine says her goodbyes to the students and Fern before leaving Silverport with Makari.

By the time they returned to Cinderpath, it’s already the afternoon.

Pine introduces Makari to her house and spends a few hours to teach him about helping her in the restaurant and the town’s people.

That evening went smoothly. Makari is quite skilled at taking orders and preparing large batches of food already.
A few people enjoyed talking to the kid.

During the closing hours, Noi visits the restaurant and they talk for a while.

Pine talks about the cult and Noi thinks of someone that could be connected to this cult based on the things she heard while Pine left town.

>>CREATE A CHARACTER:

Name:
Title:
Description:

>>5332955
Correction:
*Grants strength and speed - wounds and damage on both body and clothing or objects the person holds becomes more severe

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>>5332955
>Ring of the Serpent
>Special Ink Bottle

The others are neat, but very swingy in their effects. I'm down for more mundane items with less chance to backfire.

>>5332958
>>CREATE A CHARACTER:

Name: Xamzir
Title: Apostate Priest
Description: A human from a distant land who claims to be a priest in search of a god; said to be a miracle worker of sorts, able to cure (or alleviate) conditions with no known remedy through touch and prayer

>>5333225
Gotta sleep. Writing a response in ~10 hrs.

>>5332273
Pine asks for the invisible ink bottle and the serpent ring, as they are mundane objects and do not have any negative side effects.

The ink bottle is equally inconspicuous. Reed pen, brush, and quill can all use this ink. Decent bludgeoning weapon if needed.

The serpent ring is worn on Pine’s left hand, on her middle finger.

From a glance, it would look like an ordinary ring made from green stone. However, her punch’s lethality is greatly enhanced by this. It won’t do much damage against a giant or human, but it could come in handy when fighting goblins. Had Pine fought Zeal with this, the fight could’ve ended earlier.

Perhaps she could wear it on her ring finger someday?

Her dream soon fade away as she wakes up when the drivers announce their arrival at Cinderpath.

It is late evening.
Noi informs her of someone called Xamzir.
Dark brown skin, orange-brownish hair, blue eyes, and wears a bright orange scarf.

Much like cultists of The Father, he promises cures to illnesses at a small price. He says he is a traveller, and he uses the money to fund his travel expenses, a pilgrimage to another country, north of Sablestream. (the country Pine and many others lives in right now)

He says he will be in Cinderpath for a few more weeks before he heads off to a different town.

Noi found that excuse odd. Cinderpath is quite south of Sablestream. Surely he would’ve travelled by sea and just skipped the southern part of Sablestream entirely.

So, she stalked a few people after they received the "treatment" from Xamzir.

There seem to have mixed results. Some people’s conditions got better, some people felt better, and some felt the same.

From Noi’s investigation, she discovers that he gives them some kind of substance he produces in his tent, using the furnace inside it.

While he does seem to charge people less and help people more than those cultists, his presence here is an enigma.

If he has enough money, why not go past this area by a ship, if he doesn’t, then why would he stop at a town this small?

(Cont.)

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>>5335475
What Xamzir might look like based on the description


(Ah damn, I overestimated how much time I had to write for quest today)

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>>5335477
He has a tent set up at the outskirts of town, at a flat area far away from any trees. It’s a green tent with a smoke producing chimney.

It’s nearing midnight right now. Barely anyone visits him.

The town is still very much alive, of course.
Mercenaries and people with money to throw away entertain themselves with alcohol, gambling or prostitutes.

Pine has a few ideas to deal with him..

>>Ask people nearby
Pine could ask people in places that operate at night about this ‘Xamzir’ and get several perspectives on him.

>>Visit him
Pine could pretend to be a client and take his concoction to Noi and so she could maybe determine what ingredients he uses.

>>Trespass
Pine could try to stalk him and search his tent when he leaves it. This will take quite a long time, however.

>>Threaten, with violence
>>Threaten, with blackmail
Pine could try to take him hostage, either with blackmail or with violence. She has been around this town for much longer than him, and her influence and words means a lot.

>>Talk to the authorities
How the hell is this guy allowed to practice medicine on people? Any certification or credentials? Is it ignorance, or are they being stuffed with money to keep guards away from arresting him?

>>Give him a meal (containing Zeal’s concoction) as a gift for helping people

Perhaps Makari could help in her investigation?

>>[Ask Makari for assistance] Pretend to be a client, while Pine eavesdrop on him and Xamzir

>>[Ask Makari for assistance] Make it look like an accident happened. Burn his tent down.

>>Write in

>>5335478
>Ask people about him
Then, once better informed
>Visit him

>>5335496
next post will release in 8-10 hrs.

>>5336392
Pine visits the places during the night and ask about their opinions on this drifter.

The mercenaries at the taverns think that he presents himself as better than he really is. “A slightly more competent Pike” is what most people thought.

Speaking of Pike, some people mention that they didn’t like his personality from the start. Dude couldn’t shut the fuck about package deals when they wanted just a few flasks. He’s one of the most annoying salesman they’ve seen.

The gamblers think he is suspicious. Pine manages to ask them to elaborate on that.

Some of the gamblers have recently heard of people being manipulated into donating money and using alternative medicine from strange sources in Cinderpath and Cinderfall.

People like him…. ‘false prophets’, are controlling people somehow. If they truly are men of medicine, how come they don’t explain their process of making medicine?
At best, they are uninformed men with droplets of knowledge potentially hurting people with their actions. At worst, they’re an active threat to civilians.

They just don’t have any hard evidence yet.

Pine makes note of that before leaving the tavern.

As for the people inside the whorehouses, they don’t really care. Their customers rarely overlap, anyways.

Some think he is unusual. His choice of words and dialect doesn’t match southerner of Sablestream at all.

From all the people she talked to, most seem to not care much if he doesn’t continue operating here.

Assassination or intimidation is possible.

After gathering the information, Pine decides to visit his tent.

The chimney no longer produces smoke. Odd.

She walks around the tent and sees or hears no one inside. Poking her head inside briefly, she doesn’t see anyone.


Pine could search his tent for things that could give her more insight about this lerson… however,

Pine did spot a trail moving from the tent into the town. It seems to end at an old house near the outskirts of town. Seems abandoned.

>>Search his tent
>>Follow the trail into the house
>>[Rally mercenaries] investigate the tent
>>[Rally mercenaries] follow the trail into the house
>>Hide inside his tent
>>[Plant evidence] plant the concoction Pike had in this tent
>>Wait outside the tent, for Xamzir to return to it
>>Write in

>>5336937
>Search his tent
>If time, sneak back outside afterwards and wait to visit him and form your own opinion

Rolled 69, 84, 52 = 205 (3d100)

>>5338108
searching tent rolls (best of three)

>>5338451
oh btw its actually forgot to use tripcode

>>5338451
Gotta sleep post coming up in 10 hrs

>>5338451
>>5338108
84/100

Pine carefully unpacks his bags and boxes, searching through every container she could find.

Her thoroughness pays off:
Several hidden packets and notes are found.

There is a few letters that remains hidden from most people’s eyes.


The first letter she uncovers is written with fine handwriting on smooth, barely touched paper.

[Request from the organization]

The organization acknowledges your skills in selling cures and ability to persuade people. You are recognized as a faithful follower to the father.
However, we request that you increase your prices for the services and medicine.
Currently, we are expanding our following into the central parts of Sablestream.
If we can get followers in the capital, our organization would become massively profitable.
Such a goal cannot be reached with a large sum of money, so that the eager ones do not inconvenience us.
We recommend increasing the price to an additional 20 or 30% of your current prices as soon as possible.

Seems like this note was received a few weeks ago.

The second letter is crumbled and hastily written. The letter itself is so small that it can easily fit in Pine’s hands.

[Do it.]

The group getting inside Unblood would also benefit you. We could arrange a deal and get your relatives there.
Pull your weight, Xamzir. We need money more than ever. Cinderpath is filled with competition.
Raise those prices now.

Seems like this one was received a day or two ago.

The last letter seems to be half finished, written on rough paper.

[Changes]
I am trying to increase these prices.
My progress is slow because there are
too many skeptics in Cinderpath.
Recent violence against another merchant has made people more willing than ever to suppress someone like me.
I will not fail the organization.
I also don’t need reminders of the state of my relatives in their hometown. Don’t ment….

Looks like this one was written today during the morning or noon.

(Cont.)

>>5339630
Ah, Unblood?
Pine remembers it as the capital of Sablestream. That’s where the monarch and his loyal followers are. Getting some deals with the nobles could guarantee a cushy place or job.

It seems that Xamzir is affiliated with the Cult of The Father, although the power of his position in the cult is unknown.

Before Pine could think about the situation more, she hears several cracks of wood and footsteps outside the tent.

Someone is outside and holding a few sticks. Likely kindling for the furnace.

Pine could probably slip away. Even if she makes too much noise, they won’t be able to tell who she is exactly.

Then again, their hands are preoccupied, so attacking them right now is advantageous.

Hiding in the tent is possible, but if things go wrong, she’s going need to fight.
At least those letters and bags were put back before she heard the noise.

Pine decides to..
>>Hide in the tent
>>Attack the person outside the tent
>>Slip away
>>Imitate animal noise
>>Write in

(Also, I feel like this quest is running out of steam. How would you feel if I archive this and start a #3 one? Maybe make the storyline shorter or try to wrap out things before players give up?)

>>5339631
*wrap things up

>>5339631
>Slip away

Archiving here makes sense, yeah. Hopefully some more players join/return for next thread! Thanks for running it, QM.

>>5339773
I’ll definitely be archiving this one, but I don’t know when I’ll bring the third one back.