Before I resume posting after a now ~5 month hiatus, I want to thank all of those who helped write the quest to the point where we left off, and to all of those who are here to return.

Life came at me very very hard as I put the quest on hiatus. Not only was there the issue of being laid off because of my previous employer's financial cutbacks, but I faced litigation in response to trying to getting compensated for the unpaid overtime I had worked for several months. I won't go into any more detail about that, in caution not to identify who I really am.

But suffice it to say, I was both mentally and financially not in any position to manage a quest during that time. Since then, I've moved across the country, and have now found a more stable and less demanding job. Anyway, let's resume the quest shall we?

We'll be taking it slow these first few days as I get back into the swing of things. But if you have any questions along the way or need a refresher, I'd be more than happy to oblige!

______________________________________________________________________________________

With all that lies riding on these questions, you hesitate to dive into them to hastily lest you somehow squander or underutilize the precious time you have. Yet you can’t tarry forever, as Cyrene and Alys both warned. You must continue; you must discover what lies at the heart of the Sanctuary’s plans.

You gently clasp Alys’ hand. “I understand. You’ve endured much to permit us to have this meeting. With the time we have left, you must tell me what’s getting stronger, Alys? What is this ‘it’ that you refer to?”

The young Elin enthusiastically nods in assent before pulling you to sit with her on the fleshy ground. Without hesitation, she carefully rests her free hand on surface of the meat. “It is everything that’s here, everything that you saw in the tower, everything that’s inside their refinery, and everything that hides under their maturation pit. That means three huge pieces of a single creature linked by this…dream? Even I don’t know what to call it after all this time, but when its body is separate, this dream is what connects all the pieces.”

How you’ve heard the Sanctuary refer to each separate piece, and how each location that houses them is integrated into their grander plan confirms this piece of information. But what purpose would separation serve?

Her pensive gaze fixes on a distant plane of meat. “But… it wasn’t always like this.” She motions to the expanse of fleshscape in front of her. “Back then, ten years ago, it was a little pile of meat.” She smiles wistfully. “Bout’ the size of a kitten and even more delicate cause it didn’t have a real body other than its…organs. But it grew quickly.”

“The Sanctuary worked zealously to nurture it to its current size.” You muse aloud as you ignore the gnawing pain along the surface of your body. “But I must ask for what purpose did it come to be separated into those three pieces?”

Alys rests a finger on her chin in thought. “I don’t know… It was always kind of… disorganized? It’s hard to say, but it’s not like how regular creatures are with their body parts needing to be close together to survive. But after it got to be bigger, the parts started wanting to come closer together, like they wanted to put together a regular body. But, I guess they didn’t want it to come together…”

>>5401293

The Sanctuary isn’t permitting it to form its body by separating its major organs? Wouldn’t that be counter to their stated goals of reformation?

“This doesn’t make sense.” You state aloud. “Why go through the trouble of severing this creature’s form and nurturing them separately? Why go through the lengths of housing these pieces in three separate locations that need to be kept of sight?”

“Hmmm...” Alys looks upward in thought as she considers your question. “They didn’t do anything special to keep its parts separate until it started to eat more and more. Like, after they finally figured out how to get it to eat.”

“There was a time it wouldn’t eat?” You ask, pursuing this potential lead.

She quickly nods her head in response to your question. “Mmm-hmm!. They tried for a very long time to figure out what it liked to eat.” She more roughly pats the surface of the fleshscape, as if playfully scolding it. “Meat, vegetables, milk, and even things that normal animals wouldn’t even eat, they tried it all. Turns out, it really likes things that have been in pain, but not any kind. It will hardly notice a regular piece of meat even if it was killed roughly, but if you kill something slowly, really make it suffer, that’s its favorite kind of meal."

You sigh upon coming to a conclusion. “Which is why the Sanctuary eventually resolved on slowly torturing humanoids… A greater awareness of suffering would make for a better meal. The isolated town of Impel made for the ideal staging ground for its continued nourishment. But to keep its organs separate…”

The Sanctuary must want to control its growth and refine it to suit a certain purpose.

“Wow! That’s exactly right, Elewyn.” She smiles sweetly at you before resting her head idly on her own knees. “You really have been hard at work here… But after all this time, I don’t really know much more than that. I don’t know where it came from or what everyone wants to do with me… I mean it! It's organs, that is... You saw the bowels within the tower, but there's also it's brain underneath the Maturation Pit, and its other body organs like its heart and stomach in the Refinery.”

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>>5401302

Knowing which organs are housed where, perhaps you glean more of a reason as to their separation of it's body. Something to think about when there's more time, but for now, you want to know what role Alys has played with this being and the Sanctuary.

You smile gently in return, choosing not to press her slip of the tongue just yet. “Your knowledge about this creature is extensive and very helpful, Alys.” You look upon the young Elin, trying to glean some difference between what you see before you and your memory of her. “How did you come to be so intimately aware of it?”

The entire fleshscape quivers in agitation as her eyes darken upon hearing your question. Her fingers nervously trace the tips of her toes.

She rests her other hand upon her chest. “That night, whoever captured me put it right here. That’s the first thing I remember after leaving the guild hall. Then, I remember a dark and bloody place. I remember screaming because I thought they put guts on me. I remember trying to so hard escape, calling for you, calling for Rynna. So many horrible thoughts went through my mind, and I really just wanted to live.” She closes her vacant eyes and pauses to steady her wavering speech. “But then… it moved. It pulled itself toward my face, wriggling over me, and then it wrapped itself around my head and it stayed there. They were so happy to see it move, and then didn’t listen to anything I said to them.”

You fear that she might start crying from the trauma of the memory, but Alys continues with only tightly shut eyes. “Then they said to each other, ‘It must want what’s inside.’” She opens her eyes and stares deeply within your own. “They… they didn’t finish cutting before it started crawling inside me.”

The trembling of the fleshscape causes a thin rupture in the tissue nearby, as if this realm were tearing apart under some unseen strain.

She continues without much hesitation. “That was it for me, now I’m in its mind…Or maybe I am its mind? Or, part of it. I don’t know...”

You sigh deeply upon her confirmation of what you already feared. But how is it that she was so perfectly incorporated into the being, while so many others it consumed were not? How incorporated was she incorporated to be part of it, and remain herself?

“You’re still here.” You repeat gently while resting your hand on her back. “You can feel me touch you, right? Because I can feel you, Alys. I can hear you too.”

Her expression darkens before she responds. “I’m only here because of it, Elewyn. I died back then in that dark room.” She shakes her head vigorously. “No, that’s not what’s important here! I want to help you, while I still can.”

>>5401312

To die, but still linger on… Linger on in this new form of hers, as a nascent god.

“I don’t care if this is the only way I can speak to you, Alys.” You rest your hand on the surface of the fleshscape. “I don’t care if this is who you are now. We only ever had our forms because Elinu desired it, the other races only had their forms because their gods desired it. But what we chose to do with those forms...”

Wait…

Her hand upon your back snaps you back to the present. “I first knew you were here that time you were sleeping. I knew you were here to fix things, like you always do.” She grins confidently. “When you were in the tower close to us, I sensed you even more clearly. That’s when but it sensed you as well. I sensed it wanting to consume you. I know that it desires a complete body. I know that doesn’t feel any sadness about what happened to make its body. It doesn’t care about the humans, Devan, or Elin that all died to shape it. It doesn’t feel those things, but I do…”

The fleshy fabric of this realm slowly furls into thick knots, drawing streams of blood from the twisted tissue which collect within the sunken crevasse. This realm won’t hold for much longer.

“Let me help you while I still can, Elewyn. While I can still control its body.” She stands and pulls you up with her. “I don’t want the Sanctuary and this creature to cause any more suffering than it already has. I can use my control of its body to help you, Elewyn." She rests her hands upon your shoulders and gazes deeply into your eyes. "I-I made up my mind a long time ago, but I know if I do something to hurt their plans, to hurt it, they will get rid of me. Enais will get rid of me." Her voice raises as the sound of the fleshscape around you roars fiercely. "You need help, Elewyn. They're too strong here, so you need to come back and stop this all when you're more ready."

You're not going to let her sacrifice herself for your own mistakes.

"But you're the reason I started all of this in the first place." You shout back emphatically. "Let me save you. Let me bring you back to Rynna!"

"Elewyn, please!" She grips your shoulders tightly. "Let me do this for her! For you! Just tell me how I can help you."

You grimace as her resolve to help doesn't waver. "She's gotten stronger, you know... You have too."

Alys smiles with bleary eyes. "Please." She mouths one last time.

__________________________________________________________

You sensed yourself that the scale of this whole nightmare was beyond what you could defeat at this time, but damned if you can't pull those suffering from this place. Those you refuse to leave behind....

>Refuse her offer. You'll find a way without her sacrificing herself.

>Write in. (Which group of people would you want to save the most?)

Welcome back, welcome back! I'm sorry to hear you were screwed over, and I'm glad to hear you're in a better situation. I was hoping to see this quest return, and so it has.
>>5401344
>>Refuse her offer. You'll find a way without her sacrificing herself.
We are here to save other Elin. Her Elin body may have died, but she remains, in some form, an Elin still...probably?
I don't think Elewyn would take the offer. She is selfish in that way. Then again, she is also accustomed to the harder calculus of sacrifice. But perhaps it is due to that exposure that she couldn't bear it?

>>5401369
It's good to be back, and good to see a fellow anon back as well! During all that crap, I was thinking about this quest and its potential directions, so finally getting to write again is pretty exciting!

I'm looking forward to wrapping up this arc, and seeing where the quest will head to next.

>>5401344
>Refuse her offer. You'll find a way without her sacrificing herself.

Welcome back, hope things continue working out better for you dude. I ended up falling behind on this quest back when you were running before, so this is a good excuse for me to get caught up on the parts I missed.

>>5401463
Thanks, anon! The new living and working situation has made things like night and day for the better.

Also glad to hear you might be getting caught up, so feel free to pop any question in thread along the way.

Glad to see this return, never participated myself but I was catching up with this through the archives before I read it was going on hiatus and stopped. Maybe one day I'll catch up.

>>5401545

Glad to see you pop in as well, anon! Please feel free to catch up at your leisure.
It's great to see that we've had enough votes coming in already to settle on a choice. I'll leave the vote open for about 4 more hours before tallying in case there's anyone else that'd like to jump in.

>>5401344
>Refuse her offer. You'll find a way without her sacrificing herself.
That option is what I was arguing for. She's still an Elin, and that makes her a priority.

Hello again, QM! qtg anon and old player here, it's great to see you back and doing better! I'm also glad your new schedule seems to be a tad more in sinc with mine on most days. Which is good since I'd rather not miss votes and my phone ate an IP rangeban a few months ago.
Unfortunately, my plan isn't going to cut it, as I've reread the threads this past few days. I thought we had a good fix on the Elins who weren't in the pits, that being in a boat offshore instead of that and a random warehouse. More importantly, I misremembered the river situation, and had for some reason thought that Sanctuary had just built a dam upstream to keep healthy river fish from reaching the river near the town. Turns out it's a pollution station. Doesn't mean my plan of inciting a villager mob and leading them there is good for scrapping. The polluting station itself is a good target, and there's still fresh fish in the town since deliveries to merchants have still been happening, it just won't be two or three birds with one stone that being getting the villagers against Sanctuary, giving them food and helping Cyrenne. Also, Sanctuary is a lot closer to their goal than I remember, meaning that the villagers that remain uncorrupted will soon face trouble. On that note, there looks to be a lot more than I thought, so we have that going for us, at least! I'll have to think on it some more.
Also, did we get all our questions answered from the last thread? Since the roll had been good, I expected a bit more, I guess.

>>5401887

Great to see you too, anon! The move across the country will probably have me posting a bit earlier than I once did, so I'm glad that it worked out for you. I'd rather not opine on whether any plan is worth scrapping/keeping at this point as things are still very much developing, but I will say that the landscape is constantly changing as a result of both your actions, and the reactions to you actions...Hope that's not too vague! Anyway, you brought up a good point about the roll we left off on, and one that I forgot to address as I framed this last update several days ago. That was my bad, so I apologize for that! But, please be assured that those questions will be addressed, I just felt that it would be counter the ongoing time-constraint of this scene to ask all six of the additional questions, and the update was rather lengthy as it was. My plan was to incorporate the answers/Alys' perspective to those questions in a similar memory share that Elewyn experienced upon initially falling into this latest delve into the fleshscape, as she "awakened".

>>5401369
>>5401463
>>5401887
Refusing Alys' offer, and committing to finding a way without her sacrificing herself.

>Writing!

(I'll be writing updates at a more leisurely pace compared to before to hopefully prioritize quality/my own comfort of the schedule. Updates will come either the day of the vote tally around 8pm PST (if time permits, and the writing is flowing) or the day immediately following the vote tally at that same time. Thanks for your understanding!

>>5402010
Well, I’m stoked to see this back again.
I admit, I wish we took her offer, sometimes we just need to settle for the lesser evil of losing another Elin.
So…..I need to reread, do we have enough time to get out of the village, round up another posse of stronger Elin and former adventurers, and then return to put down this cult, or are does that risk being too late?

I know there’s that vampire we ran into, she’d have at least some motivation to help.

>>5402342
Your enthusiasm is really appreciated, anon, and I'm glad to be back! To give as much of an answer to your question as I can at this point, it really depends on what you want to accomplish. There have been desired goals stated in past threads that could potentially wait for a return, and there are certainly others that can't wait.

But, I think it's very good that you recalled Sayazade.


(Update will be coming tomorrow btw.)

OP here, phone posting

I’ve been trying to post the update, but apparently I’m range banned now….

Looking into solutions

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Common “fixes” didn’t work, so testing image posting from here.

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The strained structure of space within this fleshscape forcibly twists upon itself in
dimensions of bizarre excess. The swirling bowels of flesh are perceived to a
precipitous red horizon, but beyond the limiting distance of physicality, liminality
is asymmetrically sutured to offer perception into the fetid snow fields of Impel and
the burning numbness of oppressive cold. Fat separated from organs, snow separated
from the unfrozen lake, but still the same body.

Sayazade was right, this isn’t a dream at all.

Formless in your world as it may be,
this is part of the being’s true form. This is part of Alys’ form. In this place
something real of Alys still exists. Something that can be talked to; something that
can be touched; something that has the same clumsy desire to help as it did ten years
ago.

That’s more than enough for you. That’s more than enough to refuse her offer, and not
give up on her. If she still yet had her memories, that would be more than enough for
Ruby. If there are still memories yet to be had, it would be more than enough to find
them.

The look in your eyes must betray your intentions, as she opens her mouth in
preemptive defiance, but your firm words come first. “I know it hurts, Alys! To be
away from her, to not be able to protect her, and worst of all...” Your eyes drift down
to your bare feet swirling into indistinguishable shapes as the realm falls apart
around you. Proprioception blurs as your extremities are smeared into an infinite red
oblivion, which is thankfully unaccompanied by any pain other than the reflection of
what you feel in that frozen plain.
“The fear that she will no longer recognize who you are anymore!” Your gaze hurriedly
snaps back to the tear-filled eyes of frustration across from you.

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She shakes her head vigorously. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to control
it, Elewyn! The more it grows...the more it wants. It wants to be complete. I don’t know
why, but it wants that little human girl, and it pulls her into this place. It wants you, Elewyn! I don’t know where any of this will end, and I really don’t want be this thing anymore!”

“You are still you, Alys. Just because you can control it now, I’m not letting you
sacrifice yourself. I’m not going to let you be lost again!” You blink hard as your eyes have trouble perceiving the last visages of her tear-soaked face. “Trust that I’m capable of saving you, Alys.”

Who are you talking to?

“There’s more than me here!” Her voice cracks from sheer frustration as the sight of
her sinks into swirling scarlets and snowdrifts borne from the vacuum filling the tears of the fleshscape.

The mixture darkens with her emotions dripping in like blood into milk, but its beyond her ability to keep together anymore. “You can’t save
everyone...”

“I won’t let you do as you like. Not like that night...” You quietly murmur as your mind
finally merges into the swirling mass of colors, and then fades into quiet, cold nothingness.

~

From the frigid void, a great and umbral ocean swallows your consciousness, and you
sink into the fathomless deep, alone. In this timeless place, there is nothing to be
perceived here other than volumes of fluid pressing into your mind, howling inside
your head. The turbulent depths offer only solitude in abundance equal to its size.

test

finally, goddamn. The site was telling me that my phone was regular banned upon trying to post. This site…I might just be annoyed right now, but it’s got me thinking of other places. Anyway, hopefully I can finish now

You’re in the water. Real water... Here you float, and float, and float. Until all at once, the blinding sun inverts the darkness and the howling that was inside you, now
roars rhythmically behind you.

The ceaseless tides lap the unseen land over and over, and infinitely over again.
The sun leaves you, to return, to leave, and return lapping the surface of your form with its warmth day after day.

“What manner of creature are you?” The confident voice of a young man finally breaks the melody of the tides.

You can’t answer, nor can you resist as he pries you from the shore of the sea.

“Unbelievable...” The word is barely uttered as his voice loses all its breath. “You...
Even I haven’t the slightest idea what you are!”

You hunger.

~

Your eyes open from the shock and are greeted by a familiar form of all-encompassing white. The tightness of your whole torso makes it impossible to take anything more than the shallowest of breaths. You lie there for a while, steeped in pain and
numbness, unable to yet will your stiff arms to push yourself out of the damp pile of snow. Stabbing pain punctuates every breath as if your skin was pulled taut to the
breaking point.

Your hair is frozen to your stiff skin, and you lack the dexterity in your digits to weakly pat at your staff other than with tightly clenched fists. During the entirety of your delve into the fleshscape, your healing magic has fought hard to keep the skin on your chest and other parts on the front of your body from being irrevocably damaged.

Your small frame breathes the burning cold air again in silence. Any moisture quickly freezes at the corner of your eyes, as you finally lift your chin out of the snow.

In the stillness of that cold night and above your battered body a small mote of light descends from the dark skies. An eldritch illuminated spore hovers almost playfully in front of your eyes slowly before settling weightily on your back.

Ah. It’s not snowing.

You detect no aura of hostility from whatever rests upon you, in fact, it’s rather warm. However, your mind is quick to recall those small creatures overrun by the dark fungus...

>Remain calm and allow your body to regain movement before immediately removing the spore.

>Invoke a gale in whatever direction your staff is pointed to escape the spore.

>Write in

>>5403824
>Remain calm and allow your body to regain movement before immediately removing the spore
We can’t spare the mana. It should recognize that we aren’t dead yet, hopefully it only devours the dead like most regular fungi

>>5403824
>>Remain calm and allow your body to regain movement before immediately removing the spore.
>Run some of our mana through it?
>If it survives, consider keeping it?
Well, a good opportunity to learn more. We already got munched on by the meat, let's see if the fungi is different. Also do the same mana experiment. I want to know what that thing's relation with the meat is, really. Because so far it doesn't look like an expected byproduct. Besides, we can just get somewhere less cold and let our regeneration do the work if it settles in before we pull it off.
Frankly I'm just glad we didn't freeze to death during the night, this was a risky play last time. Got us a big piece of info that changes our approach, but I'm also waiting on the other answers since those could be quite useful as well.

Hey all, OP here. Thanks for your well reasoned posts this far!

I think I’m going to try to establish a more consistent vote tally schedule that coincides with an update schedule. My initial thought was to tally at ~5pm PST the day after the update, which works well for my work schedule, and would still give me the opportunity to write a same day update if the writing is going quickly. I’ll go ahead and tally this vote at that time for today, but please let me know if you have any thoughts against this idea!

>>5404043
>>5404052
>Remaining still, and if it permits, carefully studying the spore with a light application of mana to ascertain its relation to the other unique organic matter we’ve encountered.

Writing! Update tomorrow as I’m out and about for a while longer and don’t think I would have enough time for an update.

>>5404117
Welcome back! It's been a while.
Also
>>5403824
>>Remain calm and allow your body to regain movement before immediately removing the spore.

>>5401278
gimme a moment to catch up, I've been out of the country myself

>>5404561
I need to review what our battered main character can do.

No ice powers, so can't encase the spore in snow.
Magic is either going to heal or split apart these fleshy stuff.
Letting it invade Elewyn's body then healing it might even be a net benefit, given the freezing temperatures. At the very least, it seems like she's not against a little changing of her form so it isn't so daunting to save everyone.

Looking a few steps forward, I think we should consider where exactly we're targeting. The maturation Pit has the prisoners AND the brain, but if we take out anything resembling a consciousness, things are going to get wild fast.

If we extract only Alys from that, the meat stuff is going to wake up. That's not necessarily bad, though I assume it'll be grumpy from the brain surgery. If we extract Alys and DESTROY(or Sever) the brain, then the rest of the body might just go bonkers. Noone will be safe, all the cultists will feel it, but the spreading chaos might warm up the whole town for the day as everything scatters everywhere.

>>5405128
I’m of the opinion we right now don’t have the firepower to take on the whole cult, so we need to stall their plan, then return with more people to metaphorically or literally burn the whole town down.

I know I brought this up before, but I’m thinking assassination of whatever higher leadership we can get our hands on, and getting away with the sacrifices hopefully would buy enough time.

This probably involves writing off the town, but I think we’re already at that point.

>>5405154
I was of that opinion, but I'm afraid extracting Alys, or whatever may be left of her, is going to take a while.
Honestly, I'd written off the town as expendable losses, but re-reading, it seems a large portion are still unturned by the meat. We can use them as a blunt object, but we need a good way. I say our best bet if locating the fish reserves Sanctuary has kept for trading and bring back proof. The dad will be key since he's a local leader of sort. They're most likely going to get butchered by flesh beasts, sure, but between them, and the Devans maybe taking advantage of that for a little revolt of their own, we have a good clusterfuck on our hands. Maybe not enough to crumble Sanctuary, but probably enough to secure all the Elins but Alys, or have a shot at their leadership.
As for the vampire, she could be a good help, but we'd need to contact her again, and who knows what the fleshscape will look like by the time this day is over. She's agreed to help us, but we don't know if she's sending over minions or just running espionage/interference for us, or not doing anything until asked.

There are problems with that plan of course, namely the fact that if Sanctuary is still standing after that, we'll be fresh out of friends in the village and the sole target of a very pissed off cult with no need for subtlety. That, and the fact that Cyrenne will probably need to be kept out of Sanctuary's clutches. I think there's a way for that. Convince the dad that Sanctuary is about to crack down on the non-cooperating, offer to have Cyrenne stay with the old lady who's a less obvious target, then either keep hr there with the rescued Elins so we don't have to split our focus or evacuate her alongside us to deny her to Sanctuary.

A lot of that will depend on the state of the village today. And I believe we still have a prison break scheduled. Might be worth keeping an eye on the port to see where the replacement Elins, if Sanctuary thinks they still need some for the refinement, will come from.

Obviously, the best outcome is rallying the villagers and driving off the cult, using our team as a hit squad against their leaderships and nastier beasties, then help the village recuperate while we study Alys and figure out how to best handle her case. We can still make it.

Heyo everyone, great to see even more readers coming back on board. It’s also cool to see you already had the chance to catch up and begin discussing strategies among yourselves.

A piece of advice toward that end; be sure to consider all the players on this stage.

Anyway, update at ~8pm PST!

>>5405154
>>5405302
We've got a lot to secure:
>The captured Elin
>Alys
>A crate of fish
>Firemaking supplies
>Townspeople
>Devan

And we are short on time. We can't even give up on that many of these, due to the logistics of escorting whoever we rescue.

Lemme look at this in the other direction: how willing are we to experiment with making more people like Cyrenne? If we exploit the dream connection for the warmth it provides, and use it as storage to keep people alive while we kill the cultists, we can deal with the meat amalgam as an individual entity with no intelligent backup.

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The tight aching of your stomach is a painful echo of your previous encounter with the meat parasite. Paired with your rigor-racked frame stiffly mimicking those smallcreatures who met their demise in the same indiscernible snow; your caution is certainly raised.

However, battered and sapped by the elements as your body may be, you would never
allow yourself to succumb to the same ill fate as those tiny hosts.

Instead of invoking mana into your staff, you agonize to break your body’s torpor and
place raw hands flush against cold, wet ground. Beyond gritted teeth, your legs pull
closer to your body to brace your deadened knees. Finally free its frozen prison, your
long hair hangs beyond your face, capped off with two pairs of throbbing ears.

A patient observer this whole time, the spore pulses warmly upon your back.

“If you wanted to attack me, you certainly missed your chance.” Breathless, you finally manage to lift your long snowbound upper body.

The amorphous netting of the countless spindly trees and their conspiring branches are
elucidated as the frail figures they are in the spore’s light. An outward corona of
otherworldly bioluminescence with your soft features lurking within its umbra.

You reach to pluck the small guest off your back, with resistance shoring against your
muscles like shards of ice against the nearby shoreline. “At least you’re a far better
sight than the parasite that I pulled off yesterday.”

The gills of its loosely packed combs pulse noticeably brighter in your hand.

Was this some form of rudimentary response? It warrants a test...

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>>5405578

“Not that it’s much of an accomplishment to be more pleasant to the eye than a rotting slab of meat.” You lightly squeeze the warm spore, and it gives way slightly under your fingers.

Its pulsing light clearly dims in response.

You shut your eyes tightly for a moment to ensure that the rudimentary communication you’re engaging in isn’t merely borne from cold delirium. Upon opening your eyes once again, the spore has returned to its default state, pulsing steadily.

“If you’ve come here to tell me something, then this won’t get us very far at all.”

You eye the horizon and keep your animal ears poised for any possible intruders.

If your magic elicited a strong response from the fetid meat, perhaps the same can be applied to this bright hand-warmer... Although, you’d rather not decompose the thing before you know its intention. “I’ll be gentle.” You announce as you match the pulsing light with small amounts of your healing mana. This silent resonance continues until the light crescendos within your mind.

“Y-you’re just as stubborn as Rynna!” An upset voice rings out in your mind like a
faraway call. “And I heard what you said!”

A faint image of the young Elin appears in your mind, an imprint of the sight of her
that she presented just a short while ago.

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>>5405583

“It was you...” You eye Alys’ form in bewilderment. “This isn’t the being’s nascent mind... Then what is this exactly?”

“Uhhh...” She bashfully rubs the back of her head, quick to forget her anger upon
hearing your question. “You might have breathed in some spore dust...Like maybe a lot. But it will let us talk!.”

You cross your arms tightly. “Superb, then how do I know for certain that this isn’t simply my mind hallucinating?”

“I... I don’t know.” Her brow furrows in thought.

“Hmm.” You uncross your arms. “An unsatisfying answer to myself isn’t like me at all.” You smile lightly at Alys.

Her face flashes confusion at your answer before she shakes her head vigorously. “No, you have to listen this time. This isn’t going to last long!” Her gaze locks onto your own for only long enough to gain your confirmation. “I won’t be able to talk to you again unless I take over its dream or a spore like this, but those things aren’t in my control...” She shuffles her feet uneasily. “Since you won’t take my help, you have to
find the lady with the horns. Before its dream fell apart, she said... ‘travelling
against the current is hard work, Elewyn better have an appropriate reward for her
when she gets here tomorrow night.’ I don’t know what that means, but-”

“She aims to come here by boat?!” You interject, taking a step closer to the fading
visage of Alys.

“No, you have to listen!...” She pouts before carefully checking that you’re finished speaking.

“It’s important that you know, all the Sanctuary cares about is finishing growing that thing’s body, and they’re almost done! Once that happens... they won’t have to hide any more.
That’s what they said.” Her hands clench in front of her chest. “There’s too many of
them to fight, you have to run.”

>>5405596

You’ll come to that decision when the time is right. First of all you need to confirm your suspicions.

“Where are you, Alys? Where are you in the normal world?” You ask gently, as you
already have an idea based upon what her and Enais have said about the being.

Her lips tighten against each other before she looks away shamefully. “I’m... my body became part of its brain... That’s why I know what it feels.”

The question remains if she can be separated in any way, but you strongly doubt that she would be aware of that sort of possibility. You’ll need to reference your collection among other investigations to know for certain...

“Its... he calls it Thera-Yuugoth. He calls me that... The human that found it.” She
announces with finality in her fading voice. “If I find out anything else...I’ll let you know when I can. Please take care of yourself, Elewyn...”

“You are Alys...” You announce to the fading white oblivion. “I’m not going to give up on you.”

~

This time, you greet the icy wasteland of Impel flat on your back. The spore is long
gone, but given the residual heat in your hands, it wasn’t long that you were
conversing. You’re able to rise with effort to your feet.

Given the stars in the sky, you’d say it’s approximately halfway midnight and the sun
rising.

…Thera-Yuugoth. The lost star. He’s well read, whoever he is.

In light of the information that Alys has provided you, you think on your next
move, and the precious little time you have. You know of the vulnerabilities of the sewers, what motivations the Sanctuary has and how that could be potentially used against them, and of a means of escape among many other things.

You continue on what could be your final plan.

___________________________________

[Note that due to prolonged exposure to the cold, Elewyn will face a temporary -4
penalty to her Evasion stat.]

>Continue back to the hideout and confer with your human companions about their
concerns, the relevant information you’ve learned, and the mission to save the trapped Elin.

>Head back to town to investigate the sewer passages that Hraska informed you about.
It would give you time to see if visiting Grygas and Cyrene is an option.

>Head to the southeastern shore and investigate the sewer passage leading to the maturation pit and potential areas Sayazade may dock.

>Write in.

(Phone posting as a QM is special kind of hell. Hopefully this range ban ends soon, otherwise I’ll have to take some action.)

>>5405605
Also, I believe that I’ve finally addressed all of the questions posted before the start of the hiatus, directly or more indirectly. But please feel free to ask for clarification if that will affect your planning/strategies!

>>5405604
>>Continue back to the hideout and confer with your human companions about their
>concerns, the relevant information you’ve learned, and the mission to save the trapped Elin.
If I'm understanding right, that means there's a ship on the way. Excising the brain right now is our best bet, then.

We can evacuate whoever lives to the boat, and they won't be able to rally the meat creatures properly if we literally cut off the brain. Primary issue is how to contact the devan to make their way and sync up the timing.

>>5405629
this is still me

>>5405604
Need to Verify, there's no Devan in the docks who can run messages to the Devan camp, right? We might have to turn right around and inform them that if they plan to revolt and leave, today's the time.

>>5405716
>Need to Verify, there's no Devan in the docks who can run messages to the Devan camp, right?
I would say that you don’t know of any Devan that would be willing or if you’d be able to easily have access to talk to a Devan at the docks, but that doesn’t make it an impossibility. Doubling back to the barrack wouldn’t be too much of a time demand as you haven’t ventured far from it, or someone could potentially be sent in your place.

Hope this was of help!

>>5405740
Well I'll raise this up for the rest of the anons:

Since we're obviously attacking SOMETHING today, we need to make the decision on whether to involve the Devan in it. Less for the help, more so that they're closer to help when it arrives. We can potentially barricade the docks as a mini-fort and staging ground for human evacuees and fish raiding. If things really are about to heat up, now's the last chance to do it.

>>5405604
>Continue back to the hideout and confer with your human companions
We can then split, send them to find the in-town sewers while we pass word to Hraska and the bartender that the evac boat is coming tonight, and you should really be on it or die trying to get there

>>5405604
>Pass by the barrack and inform Hraska and maybe the boy and the one who's hand we amputated about Sayazade.
Something like watching out for a friend of our coming in by boat. Try and meet her discreetly, tell her you're with Elewyn. If she asks for proof, maybe tell them to say "Holy Light" since that's how she called us. Or maybe an anecdote only Elewyn and a Vampyr would know, maybe about her Manor since it looks like we've been around there once? Maybe inform them about Sanctuary being distracted away from the docks today?

>>Continue back to the hideout and confer with your human companions about their
>concerns, the relevant information you’ve learned, and the mission to save the trapped Elin.
I've been thinking about your comment about the pieces on the board. We've yet to talk with an awake Izurin. Does she have something important for us? I've been going through our list of groups and characters trying to figure out who I've overlooked.


>>5405744
I'm not sure we need the Devans now. Maybe just tell them on the way that stuff's going down today and that they may be able to pull some stuff off, like finding the fish stocks or the other place with Elins, since a lot of guards are going to be distracted?
As for your plan, well, most humans won't evacuate, they've got people under Sanctuary's control, much like we do. Other simply won't want to leave their village and homes. That is if we can even persuade them that they need to leave. Then what? Docks aren't a defensible location and we've already had a prior discussion about the lack of sea-worthy boats at the docks. There's no way we can fit an entire village.
For using the human population, I'll stick to my plan of giving them a carrot, be it evidence of Sanctuary's crimes against the village, passing the captured Elins as abused young girls, or showing proof that Sanctuary has been withholding fish and where to find it. Get them into a mob, tell them to pack fire, have one of our human teammates make a speech, and let them loose, maybe while we go do something else or with us sicking with them to amplify their effect. There's a lot of them left in fact, though we maybe don't have a solid number estimate.

>>5406004
Fish is still important, true. My doubts of there being many humans left is exactly why I think they'll fit in the docks, but alright.

>>5405629
>>5405859
>>5406004
We'll return to the hideout to debrief our human companions and check on Izurin's condition. Afterward, Elewyn intends to head back to the barrack to inform the Devan about the inbound boat.

(Enjoying the ongoing discussion!

Writing, update to be posted tomorrow!)

>>5406140
>>5406140

Closing your eyes in thought, you rely upon the heightened sense of your Elin ears to hold vigil. Vigil over only the cold that has seeped into ground, the trees, and the very air. It’s only a muted whisper, sending shivers into tree limbs, and forcing leaden droplets from leaden limbs. The stillness of this frozen corpse of a land belies the fomenting parasites writhing unseen to eventually burst forth unexpectedly from too many possible sites. Once the membrane has been ruptured, there is no returning.

With too many sites to cover on your own, it’s wise to utilize the help that you have at hand. But where to wield it?…

Your thoughts turn to the barracks a ways behind you to leverage the information of
potential rescue into action from the Devan. Among their lot, the initial rumblings of disobedience are coming forth, but at this rate, your current cultivation of those feelings may not bear fruit in time for the harsh winter.

Your eyes reopen.

The image of unripe fruit turns your thoughts toward the immature humans freezing within the dilapidated hideout without knowledge of potential escape... The warmth of hope can make weathering any hardship easier, and with hope action can be spurred.

After a deep sigh, you commit to returning to the hideout first, the Devan can wait for afterward. Now there’s only the matter of getting from here to there…

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>>5407303
>>5407303

~

You drift uneasily and uncomfortably between waking and sleep. With every
crackling shift of the wood in the hearth, every clinking piece of metal that Misha
fiddles with, every intrusive memory of those horrid fiends you killed today, and
every blow from a small limb draws you back from the waters of sleep on
this undersized, stinking cot.

In your earlier frustration, you put aside maintaining appearances to your friends and moved into the cot with the small Elin as it seemed to calm her a great deal having you close at hand. She often
clumsily checks from her unconsciousness if you’re still within reach, seeming more afraid of you being lost rather than losing you.

Needless to say, you can’t catch a damned wink of sleep. Ah, if only you could be pulled from this frigid waking hell of a backwater into the mercy of sleep, or better yet, into your own damned bed.

It will be an arduous journey back there, but far preferable to this truest depiction
of hell you ever stumbled into in the real world or fiction. It’s no wonder that
damned family made the trip through the...

Your eyes clamp shut and guilt once again seeps into your stomach like hot acid.

It’s that damned little witch’s fault! Her and that fucking old man. Both of them
overstaying their welcome in this world, and with that causing you and your friends no end of suffering. Enough. There’s nothing to had here except the extension of that suffering, and you’re not going to be goaded into subjecting yourself any further to this infuriating and now utterly pointless torment.

Izurin stirs from your heaving breaths. To your surprise, her small hand reaches to
rub her eyes instead of jutting into your body again. As she proceeds through the
movements of waking up, your chest locks tightly as you almost wish to stop her in case she somehow hurts herself. It takes you too long a moment to realize that she’s quite past that risk.

The small Elin finishes rubbing the sleep from her eyes, sits up, and fixes her deep blue irises first upon you. “You don’t need to breathe?” She asks with a slight smile.
The vibrancy of her complexion and the unblemished softness of her form are entirely at odds with the sickly and weakened girl that you’ve come to know these past nightmarish days.

>>5407320
>>5407320

An odd gasp of surprise, relief, and annoyance pulls desperately needed air into your body. “You’re...You look much better.”

The layers of blankets slide from the front of her body, exposing her bare chest without a reaction from the oblivious Elin. “I’m glad that you’re breathing.”

“I should be the one saying that.” You sigh deeply, trying to push the covers against her skin to preserve her modesty “You were the one a breath away from dying.” The tone in your voice is noticeably harsh, so you take a moment to calm yourself. “But that doesn’t matter l anymore. You’re fine now, so we’ll get out of here just like I promised. We need not get caught into the horrible plans of these cultists...and for what?! So that we need to see unspeakable things for noth-”

“Can we fish here?” Her animal ears wiggle, as she seemingly ignores your words just as she always has. “I think I can hear the ocean, that means there’s fish. Right, Luca?”

You hand drops the blankets as the fleeting elation you felt is pushed aside by confusion and irritation frothing hot in your core.

“What are you even asking? There’s hardly a damned fish to be had in these waters, and even if there were, it’d be idiotic to stay here and freeze, be murdered, or worse just for fish!” You whisper harshly at the naïve creature.

“No fish?” Izurin frowns and fixates on a small portion of your words. “Is this ocean different from the others?”

“Yes.” You reply flatly. “I don’t care to learn more than I have on why it’s so, nor to speak on it anymore while we’re here...” You rethink your words to try to communicate with the confounding creature. “...The fish here are bad to eat, but if we go back to my home...if we leave soon and go back there, I promise, I promise there will be fish to be had and I will take you personally to get them.”

She silently holds your gaze while the reflection of the hearth shines brightly in her blue eyes. “But what will the people here do for food? They must be hungry like us.”

Your teeth dig into cheek. You don’t have time for this.

>Lie. Explain that they’re working on finding another source of food. Well, surely they must be...

>Tell the truth. You don’t know what they will do, but you must take care of yourselves first in this dangerous situation. Perhaps there’s some authority you can petition to investigate this land in Velika. But how would you explain everything without appearing some madman?...

>Write in.

>>5407354
>Tell the truth. You don’t know what they will do, but you must take care of yourselves first in this dangerous situation. Perhaps there’s some authority you can petition to investigate this land in Velika. But how would you explain everything without appearing some madman?...
my god Luca, how many Will saves have you failed already?

>>5407354
>Tell the truth. You don’t know what they will do, but you must take care of yourselves first in this dangerous situation. Perhaps there’s some authority you can petition to investigate this land in Velika. But how would you explain everything without appearing some madman?...

>>5407376
It depends what kind of Will saves you're talking about. Even if it's just trying not to get angry at Izurin, it's still at least three or four in as many days!

>>5407354
>>Lie. Explain that they’re working on finding another source of food. Well, surely they must be...
Luca is at the point where he's looking for the most expedient route, the easiest path through the conversation, I think. I doubt he wants to face the truth.

>>5407354
>Lie. Explain that they’re working on finding another source of food. Well, surely they must be...
Luca wants OUT. Hopefully we’ll grant that wish.

Though he’s definitely getting bitter at Elewyn

Heyo everyone, I hope that your weekends have been relaxing!

So, we’re at a tie at the moment about what to tell Izurin(and ourselves?) about the situation in town.

I’ll leave the vote open another 2 hours, or until we get a tiebreak vote. If not, we’ll go to roll off. Be back soon!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Let's see how Luca will respond to this ill-received question with a roll.

>>5407376
>>5407726

Telling the truth to Izurin about the villagers = 1

>>5407755
>>5407866

Lie to her and assure her they are working on finding another source of food. = 2

>Writing outcome, and update to be posted tomorrow around the usual time!

>>5408481
>>5408481

Reflected within the patient blue pools of Izurin’s eyes, you see your dark shape silhouetted with amorphous flickering edges. Nebulous as it may be, it’s enough to evoke the image of you lying to those naïve blue irises, and for fear that figure may take to something even more unseemly, you give pause.

No, this little one would be inclined to take your words at precisely face value, and if the light of the truth came across her... How would those eyes look upon you then?

You finally release the piece of flesh in your mouth and taste the metallic streak of your blood. “They are.” Your voice made low by solemness. “They are far hungrier than we are, and I don’t know at all what options they would have to properly feed themselves...”

Voiceless and with an unperturbed affect, she listens carefully.

Your words spill out with little restraint. “Given what I’ve seen...Given what I’ve been told about this place, I don’t have the slightest idea how they may fill their stomachs. But, I, I know that being here any longer than we must will put us within unreasonable and unfathomable danger.

“We may not be able to do anything to help the villagers here, but if we were to turn back to the road and return to Velika, then...”

But who would you even tell about the things that are happening here? The unspeakable horrors that even the most deranged beggars in the streets of Velika could scarcely imagine; who would believe the things you’ve witnessed? Your grandfather would turn you out, and you couldn’t pull Misha and Seo into your claims... What standing would you have if you even tried?

The touch of her small fingers against your cheek forces you back into cold reality. She lightly squeezes the stubbled skin between her thin digits as she looks up at you with the same light smile as before. “Velika is your home? I’d like to see it...”

A strange shudder comes over your chest as your body is overwhelmed by the gentleness of her actions. There is a yearning, buried deep within to abandon the pretense of nobility and lean into her embrace...

>>5409422
>>5409422

Seo suddenly clears her throat brusquely and quickly rises from the cot where you thought her sleeping. In quiet irritation, she crosses the room to the spot in which Misha dozes with tools in hand.

Damn it. Of course she wasn’t asleep this whole time. You pull yourself away from the Elin and pull yourself to sit at the edge of the cot.

She sighs and then gives Misha’s boot a slight tap with her own. “I’ve slept as much as I could hope for under the present circumstances... Take the cot, Mishenne.”

Misha jolts awake upon hearing her voice, and stares upward at her in groggy panic.

However, something within Seo’s expression quickly communicates some likely irritable message to the young lord, and he moves without any protest. After securing his tools, removing his boots, and nestling further within his coat, Misha is quick to drift off to sleep, oblivious to the quiet tension that has arisen.

A few minutes of silent brooding pass with only the central hearth speaking its thoughts before Seo turns to you unprompted and gazes fiercely at your form with unforgiving eyes. “We need to speak.” Her stare turns briefly toward Izurin before returning to you. "In private."

You suspected that she would have words with you in the morning, but something of your actions spurred this move of hers. Well, no matter... She’ll be pleased enough to learn that you’ve changed your mind.

“Go back to sleep.” You lightly turn to the Elin behind you on the cot before sighing and rising to your feet. You follow Seo across the room where you witnessed her speaking with... her earlier in the night. Your shadows hang several lengths longer than your bodies upon the wall.

Once she’s reached her target, she doesn’t bother to settle to the ground, instead only opting to cross her arms tightly. “This was a terrible idea.”

Her words cause a bemused scoff to escape your lips. “I don’t disagree with you. It doesn’t take a well-educated noble to come to that conclusion.”

>>5409434

“This was *your* terrible idea.” She expounds without acknowledging the humor of your words or you opening your mouth in response. “I certainly hope that you hadn’t thought to refute that idea just now, Luca. Because it is with the utmost certainty that you’re the reason we’re in this nightmare, and it is because of your obsession with acquiring magic of your own.”

“That’s-“ You interject feeling your pulse quicken in anger.

Her hand shoots up and she speaks firmly. “And it was our terrible idea to follow you.” Her clenching hand squeezes the leather of her glove audibly. “But here we are. For our own foolish reasons and now...” She rubs the space between her eyes.

“Circumstance, misfortune, or whatever macabre forces are at work here would have it that we are stuck here. There isn’t a going back now-”

You grab Seo’s wrist, forcibly pulling her hand away from her face. “You can’t
mean!... If we made it here together, then we can find a way to leave together.” She
forces her hand free, but you don’t relent. “I admit that I was wrong. I was wrong.
There was nothing to be had here except what dreadful things we’ve had to face. You can blame me until your voice grows hoarse, you can even fucking blame the whole way home, but that’s where we need to go.”

>>5409450

Anger brews in her chest as you see her breathing quicken. “I’ll say it plainly so that you may get the idea through your thick skull. The path backward isn’t an option for survival any longer. Putting aside the dozens of lawless fiends that want our heads now, we haven’t the food nor any horses to take us back even to that inn.” She points to the cot to the resting Elin. “Now that creature may coddle you into freezing to death, but I will certainly not. It’s not at all pleasant or easy, but there’s only one way to keep that from happening and that’s with Elewyn.” Her finger returns to jab solidly into her own chest. “I’ve found a reason to see this mission through to the end, and so has he.” She motions toward Mishenne with an irritated wave of the hand before hitting it against your chest repeatedly. “Not that you have cared to ask, but we chose to because that is what a noble would do. That’s what you would do for us if you weren’t so foully selfish!”

Her hand tightens into a fist at the height of her words before she stops and regains her composure. “Give me your reason, Luca. Find one and give it to me, so that I know you haven’t been lost in this horrid place.”

Your gazes meet in heated anger as they had countless times before, but this time, this is different. You see notes of sadness within her eyes as she beckons you to answer her, as if a simple set of words would make the difference. What reason could you possibly have to want to endure this place any longer now that the hope of attaining magic is gone...

Your eyes drift between your two friends, and the resting Elin huddled within the cot. Goddamn it.

>Write in.

Need to roll that around in my head first. We've got:
>Keeping his friends safe because he got them into this and he fucking owes them.
>Accomplishing or gaining something to not look like an absolute fool at the end of this.
>Doubling down on whatever research the Sanctuary has because Elewyn didn't actually say what they're doing is failing.
>Getting Elewyn's favor to buy a ticket into the Elin hometown
>Nutting down and becoming a fighter for Elin rights
There's definitely more, but what to choose for this boi...

>>5409453
Possibly something like
>Seeing something terrible and making sure it ends
but Luca is not really that resolved at this point.
>Keeping his friends safe because he got them into this and he fucking owes them.
feels like the only real option Luca has left to care about. he is selfish, he is small, but that's okay. not many people are Elewyn-sized heroes

>>5409697
caveat: I can only see him including Izurin within 'his friends'. I find this caveat necessary to say because the narrative separates 'two friends' and 'the resting Elin' quite clearly.
Elin are
not just nonhuman, but blatantly inhuman. they really don't ever react the way a human would, it seems. but he's seen that now in a way he couldn't while lounging in human society. and what worth does that sight have if it's snuffed out here? if you must go into the worst of the world then you must report it and ensure it doesn't stay so darkened

>>5409658
I’m in for
>Keeping his friends safe because he got them into this and he fucking owes them.
He got them into this mess, and it’s time to get out.

>>5409697
To be honest I don’t think Elewyn is feeling like a very Large hero these days. Maybe in the past, but now I think she’s in it for rescuing her people, and that’s it these days.
If Sanctuary wants to run a train over the countryside AFTER we get whatever Elin lives out of the way? Sure, the humans will repopulate in another century or so.

>>5409453
>>Keeping his friends safe because he got them into this and he fucking owes them.
>>Accomplishing or gaining something to not look like an absolute fool at the end of this.
I'm going to go with a combination of these two.

Not the wisest of motivations, but Luca has not been a very forward thinking guy.

>>5409658
>>5409697
>>5409698
>>5409715
>>5409738

I really appreciate you guys working with the write-in and coming up with options that are in line with Luca and his current mental state. It's not easy to run with a pure write in
vote, but I wanted to leave a good deal of agency in this choice as this is a formative decision for Luca in the face of trauma, and will affect any potential characterization in the future.

The vote will be open for another ~4 hours, so please feel free to add anything in that time.

>>5409715
I agree, Elewyn doesn't feel like a hero. She probably hasn't in centuries. I'm thinking the whole not getting any sort of thanks after everything she had done for the Federation, plus the new anti-nonhuman sentiment have done a number on her willingness to help people out of the goodness of her heart or a belief that her good deeds will be rewarded.
The people who died so that humans and every other species on this world could live. Every person Elewyn has ever fought alongside. They're dead. All of them. And no one even remembers them but her. If anything I'm surprised she isn't more bitter, especially against humans. She certainly has a few reasons to be. I may have a theory why, in fact, but now's not the time.

>>5409453
What drives Luca.
Fine question.
What makes a man?
What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets. And wants, and hopes, and dreams, strung together by meat and a soul.
What moves this one?
Guilt will only carry him so far, there must be something more. Something to cling onto when the darkness comes again.
He has shown no real belief or desire besides one childish fascination, now doused, snuffed out in the snow.
He has no goals, short or long term. A noblet who cares not for his station, an orphan with no quest for truth or vengeance, a grandchild with no love lost for the one who trained him harshly. What does he have, really? Almost all he cared about in Velika, and all he has come to care about during this trip is now here, in Impel.
Threatened.
Yes. Yes, this will do.
Threatened by things that roam in the dark. There has always been things, lurking in shadows, threatening to destroy all of what the sapient races of the world have built. There has been those who have seen the threat and who rose to the occasion. Once more, the shadows move, encircling the light. Once more, there is need for those who recognize this threat to rise up and unite against it. For the world's sake, and the sake of all those who inhabit it. Human, Devan, Elin, and others.

>Why will you fight?
>Because I dragged you all here, and so I will get you all out. (counts as >Keeping his friends safe because he got them into this and he fucking owes them.)
>Because there are things out there that are poised to destroy all that the god's creations have built. Because if I do not rise against them, who will?

I could see Luca using this to finally find his role. No more noble games, the rotten lesions of the world have been laid bare for him to see, and Luca has seen his own calling to rise and fight back. To not sit idly, but to stand up, if only to stand in their way. To uphold the old ways, the old alliance against the dark. As it was, so again. Because if he does not, who else? Who else has less than him to lose? Who else has the skills? Who else has so much of what little they care for hanging in the balance on this occasion? Who else is in the right place at the right time to make a difference?

Fitting that one who spent so much time dreaming about the powers of the past would be the one to pick up their burden. And who knows? Some of their power might find its way to him, should he prove worthy...

Probably did a bit of a Souvarine there sorry, that's what I get for writing stuff while sick and tired. Anyway, I'm essentially voting for guilt-fueled Luca transitioning into Federation-inheritor/ Crusader Luca, because the nasties aren't going to purge themselves, and no one else seems to care or want to do the job. And because frankly, what else is he going to do if he just leaves after that? What does he have to look forward to? How will he forget what he has seen within the shadows? He kind of feels like a lovecraftian protagonist.

>>5409697
>>5409715
>>5409738
>>5410040
Luca will firmly respond that his reason for staying is because of his friends, and that he owes them for getting them into this mess and more.

>>5409738
There will be an element of wanting something to show for all of this effort and for coming out here, and not to look like an absolute fool at whatever end this will have.

>>5410040
A small part of him will recognize that he is capable of fighting back against the horrors that are taking place here, and more so he's capable of defending those he cares about who cannot defend themselves.

Perhaps these actions will set him on the long course of some higher virtue, simply a selfish way out of the horrible situation and argument at hand, or perhaps both? For now they are a step forward. To where, we shall see!

>Writing, update to be posted tomorrow at the usual time. Thanks again for all your input!

Heyo everyone, just wanted to let you anyone around know that the update will be delayed by 1-2 hours. I got roped into an after work outing today, which I just got back from.

Thanks for your understanding!

>>5411342
>>5410207
The absurdity of her wanting you to give a reason to act as the willing participant in this hell still manages to catch you off guard in this place devoid of any sense of natural order. The blame, the admonishment, even the vitriol, especially the vitriol, all were to be expected, but now that you’re offering the chance to go back home and escape this unspeakable nightmare, she demands for you to find a reason to stay?

Unbelievable... Would it be easier to simply leave with Izurin?

“What’s come over you?” You push her words back with your rising frustration. “Would you not rather be back in Velika, back in your home, back where you have more than enough food to eat, warmth, and a proper bed to sleep within?”

“Naturally, I would.” Her words flat with cold, repressed anger. “But it’s precisely that sort of short-sighted and wishful thinking that brought us to this result. Until now, you only ever focused on the means to fulfill your foolish dreams of magic, and always refusing to see how you trap yourself, Luca.” She shakes her head ruefully. “Even when we were children, we would’ve drowned in that cave you thought had magical relics within it if it weren't for me threatening to tell your grandfather. Countless times you’ve deluded yourself into the same mess and for what?...” Her eyes turn away from your own. “Nothing will bring them back. Just as nothing will bring my or Mishenne’s mother back-“

A log of firewood snaps suddenly in the hearth.

“Do not.” You warn her and you glimpse Izurin worriedly watching.

“I won’t.” She announces quietly after a defeated sigh. “I’ll only remind you that Mishenne and I yet remain.”

“I never said-“ Your shout causes Misha to stir in his heavy sleep and widen Izurin’s watchful gaze. Your fist clenches to suppress your emotions.

She doesn’t understand what you lost here. She never has...

>>5411481

“You never said that you were going to stay with us.” Seo fierce eyes find yours again.

This whole time she’s known you, so many years the two of them have known you, they never understood why this was so important to you the whole time they were standing right by your side...

The futility of your argument washes over you like a violent and all encompassing wave. The room spins with the rapidity of your heaving breaths. You falter in your stance before Seo catches you with a firm hand.

By your side, even through this terrible ordeal... They’ve seen the same horrors you have been brought to witness, they’ve felt the same gnawing cold that you have felt, and they never thought to leave you behind... They even helped save you.

Ah, you’re an idiot.

Your words come out with the rawness of unfocused thought. “I’m not going to leave you or him behind.” Your eyes clench shut as Seo holds you steady.

In the profound darkness of this place, they are all you have. Beyond this nightmare, they’re part of what little you have left since... And just as importantly, you’re part of what little they have left since...

Elewyn’s words come like lightning over the turbulent sea of your mind.

“Do you know what it means to truly protect someone?... You choose that. You always choose that.”

Over your own desires, over your own feelings...

You don’t want to lose any more than you have. As weary as you are of witnessing the appalling things that lurk here, as much as you’d rather turn away from seeing any more, you don’t want to leave your friends to face them alone. You can stand against these atrocious creatures with them.

Your eyes remain shut from the low light of the room as you continue to speak. “I’ll protect you, all of you... Because I can.” You let out a small sigh. “Because I fucking owe you for getting you into this mess.” Your eyes open and immediately see Seo’s hopeful gaze. “Because I’m a fucking noble and I’m sure as hell not going to look like a fool at the end of all of this.”

You’ve already acted the fool this whole time haven’t you? At least at the end of it all...

“Who’s going to protect whom? Hmm Also..” Her mouth widens into a grin as she releases her grasp on you before suddenly punching you hard in the arm “What took you so long?

You rub your tender limb. “I’ve always liked giving you a hard time.”

Seo lets out the laugh of disbelief only you could ever get from her.

Mishenne stirs from his sleep and looks at the two of you beyond clouded, and tired eyes. “What did I miss?”

~

>>5411486

~

The raw tissue in your throat cracks from the many heavy and cold breaths of exertion.

Thin filaments of crimson fluid pool slowly in your dried airway with every step you carve through the depriving powder. The unforgiving hand of the elements is felt more keenly after having lingered in the fetid snow for so long. Perhaps it’s also the sum of your toil from these past few days making itself known. Indeed, this return trip exacts far more from your body than it did previously.

Your reasons to not falter are numerous and you push yourself to wearily trudge up an unventured hill for a vantage point.

You estimate that you’re more than halfway back to the hideout as you reach the summit.

Ah.

Much of the southern woods comes into view as you gaze from the fatty white protrusion of land, and certainly your perspective widens from the sight before you.

Dotting the length of trees in front of you are several pairs of dark-robed figures, herding rotund copusculant beasts like misshapen cysts on the skin of land.

They are spaced to cast a net between your position and the town, and you suspect that you would find more of them if you ventured more west or eastward.

The sense of the action comes into focus as you spy the very tip of the tower from your lookout.

The corpusculants are meant for Enais to track your movement from her own vantage. Meaning that your earlier encounter pinned your location down in the area between the hideout and the Devan barracks. An area of significant size, but without much in the way of notable locations...

Enais would have suspicion in hand, but the erasing gusts of unforgiving wind would give her nothing from yourself to know your path for certain. That is, unless you happen to set off any more of these beasts into imploding once again. From this height you could use your magic to sail above them all, and save yourself a deal of travel, but you would have to land far beyond them and far beyond what you can spy currently...

Otherwise you could rely upon the lightness of your step and your keen senses to sneak you beyond the wall of rotund flesh beasts.

With the options of maneuvering
considered, perhaps there might be an alternative way to use her strategy against her?
________________________________________________________________
Elewyn
HP: 10
LP: 15
Stamina: 8
MP: 20

Numerous corpusculants and their Sanctuary handlers are positioned linearly in the immediate treeline between you and the hideout. If you want to return to your human companions, you will have to find a way around them.

>Use a gale to soar far above them, but land into an unseen area.

>Carefully sneak past them on foot.

>Write in.

I've got three plans that I'll, heh, flesh out later.

I assume we haven't figured an invisible means of sending a beam of magical energy.

Plan 1
>Sacrifice some blood and maybe even flesh(LP) to leave bits around the forest.
>We can lead them to chase in opposite directions and open up a path through.

Plan 2
>Alternatively, we bunch up the corpulants together and burst them all

Plan 3
>Guerilla tactics. Slowly bind each member of the search parties and let them freeze in the cold. Take the time to bleed out their manpower, even if it takes sunrise.

A few plans have definitely been proposed, but we haven’t quite settled on anything. While the vote is scheduled to end in about 5 or so hours, that can definitely be extended if needed. I’ll check in around that time and tally what we have. Be back later today!

>>5412001
Extending the vote window for a couple hours more as we haven’t received any definitive options quite yet

I think it’s alright if we extend the vote window until the morning PST. I’ll have to do some thinking on what I might do if there hasn’t been any change.

>>5411520
okay, where was I?

If we don't have a more efficient or stealthy way to bind, I guess plan 3 isn't going to cut it.

I don't like the sound of plan 1 potentially having us encircled, so I'd rather at least drag out a big force and get in from a different direction.

>Cut out and heal a sizable chunk of flesh and hang it in the trees. Sprinkle a little snow so they have to get closer to identify it.
>Hang it up a tree, and give yourself enough distance to head around the side before the corpusculents start smelling it or you.
>Break through on foot, timing dependent on whether they look like they're going to explode
Then we'll just have to gale it up if they kept some people surrounding the walls.

>>5412440
I’d be wary of going higher than the trees, on account of the church tower watching where we go.
>So, trying to bounce tree to tree and just try to shake off our pursuers with speed is my vote

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5412440
>>5412725
I considered whether I could synthesize these two options, but I figured it'd be
better to follow to the letter of the post, especially as we're nearing the end of
this arc.

With that said, let's roll first to see which option we run with:

>>5412440
=1
>>5412725
=2

>Rolling!

Rolled 10, 9 = 19 (2d10)

>>5412872

Up and over, but staying within the high canopy for additional cover. Let's first see
if we're detected or not...

>Casting Stellar Gale to boost into the tree line, hopefully undetected.
MP Cost: 2

Rolling 2d10 to check for detection. (CR 10, increased from cold related fatigue and affliction)

>>5412882
Like a snowflake in the wind with that roll!

We’ll sneak past this group, and the line of corpusculants will remain in place.

>Writing!

>>5412890
Well I missed the vote, but I wasn't going to vote anyway. Still, I'll copy what I couldn't post 10 hours ago due to the rangeban because it needs to be said, despite being largely irrelevant by now.


Sorry for not contributing much, but I'm still sick, still tired, and phoneposting on the way to work, assuming I don't get rangebanned again.

So we're trying to sneak through a minefield, except the mines are sentient, homing, and setting one off will have us drowning in cultist QRF or compromise the hideout. They could smell us from the trees, so sneaking by on foot is a bad idea. I trust Sanctuary knows the precise tracking range of these things better than we do. I'm just glad that's what the deal was with the corpusculant last night. I was worried about action on the town but Enais is squandering her manpower here. Two man team on each beast, apparently. At least 10, maybe 20 teams or more? If we can sneak past, that's a lot of goons that won't be in our way for the time being. Flying could land us on someone who could ring the alarm, and cause the teams to fall back in, closing an appetizing window of opportunity.

So obviously a clever write-in is the answer.

As for no one else answering, I like to think it's you dangling a hidden write-in as the "good" answer and none of us being able to figure it out.

So yeah, I don't know, I'm not voting for a "bad" basic option, and I'm not in favor of carving ourselves up. Besides, if we trigger the net at all, it's a failure. Unless we carve out a chunk of flesh, which we can hardly regen in this weather, then Gale it onto a team a ways away and see what happens. I don't like those odds or the thought of crippling ourselves further for the day. Is it even dawn yet?

So anyway, hope your day is going better than mine, QM!.

>>5412901
>>5412901
No worries at all about the amount you've been contributing. Focus on your health and your own enjoyment, and that goes for everyone.

During the vote extension time, my main concern was how to handle moving the quest along. Assuredly I wouldn't let a single lull keep the quest from continuing, I had a plan to simply roll between the options I presented. But, the lull sorted itself out, so that was good!

On the topic of the basic options, I promise I wouldn't give you a "bad" option, just as I wouldn't give you any fantastic options. Basic options are often a balance of what you (the players) are willing to risk in that moment, whether it be a possible enemy encounter or the expenditure of resources such as mana or items or favor/disfavor with an NPC. This mission in particular is one where there is hardly any opportunity to recharge or restock, so in this case this more natural opportunities to give options where priorities previously stated by players are put at stake. (Whenever the story allows it to happen organically, of course.) Not all votes follow this in this quest will follow this exact format, but this arc certainly lends to it. I'd also steer
away from any options that would be too out of character as well.

Time wise in the story, it is a little past halfway between midnight and dawn. So
around the 3 am mark, factoring in that it is within the cold seasons.

My day is going rather well overall, thank you. (I realize that I've stopped giving my
usual updates, that I did before the hiatus.) However, the rangeban has caused me a good deal of grief these past few days as I've likewise been phone posting ever since
I first mentioned it. If that can be resolved (without me having to pay...) it would
make my week.

I hope that things improve with your day/health soon!

__________________________________
Update to be posted tomorrow given the delay. Thanks for your understanding!

>>5412890

As you gaze upon the net of Sanctuary cultists in front of you, the scale of their grotesque cabal is further laid bare like saturated gauze slipping away from festering wound. Numerous cloaked forms, both ordinary and misshapen guide the bestial corpusculants as herders of the giant swine haphazardly reconstructed from loose body parts. Your eyes may have seen such sights countless times before, but a young human would have no experience with such horror.

At the behest of the Archon and their Fleshepherd they conspicuously monitor the southern woods, despite their desire to keep their true face hidden from this town’s denizens. The boldness of the action gives support to Alys’ warning that the Sanctuary nears completing the Refinement of their flesh god.

That begs the question as to what aspect changed to allow them to act in such a hasty way? Were your actions within the clinic truly disruptive to the point to warrant this response? One of their enforcers and seemingly one among of their leadership were slain, but did this have an affect on their ultimate goal of Refinement? If not, then a threat would not exist to tip the scale in this blatant way. Then did Enais act out of emotion as you had overheard from the slain cultist earlier tonight?...

The cord of doubt yet remains firmly knotted. The speed of your thoughts increases.

Those in front of you, perhaps they once numbered among the inhabitants of the town of Impel. Perhaps the sight that they would need to sever themselves from to see once was as terrifying as it should be to humans of this era. But they were changed, no longer human…

File: id5.png (6.65 MB, 1631x1670)

6.65 MB PNG

>>5414906


Much wrought into the form of the being called Thera-Yuugoth derived from this ill-fortuned town, and those misshapes that haunt the shadows of this town are wrought from the form of that same being. The transformation of the crimsons, the yellows, the greens, and all colors of tissue between the two; the being and blessed.

That individual you heard in the memory of this being, what is his aim with this Reformation?

The brutally cold wind buffets your solitary form.

You sigh a thin stream of mist into the night. Your mind finally settles on those innocents that would be cruelly incorporated into this cycle. You must keep moving.

Your conviction spurs your aching body into action, and upon the appearance of concealing gust of wind, you direct a controlled blast of air to propel yourself toward the canopy of the trees. Your animal ears tuck down from the rushing wind, and you set your sights for a sturdy branch, luckily free from any snow. With the benefit of extensive practice, your feet touch down almost imperceptibly upon the wooden limb.

You continue through the densely packed canopy with those unknown cloaked figures below you unaware of your steady process of finding the right branch, aiming, and then carefully leaping to minimize any noise.

Their vigilant net falls short to their detriment, and soon you’ve progressed far enough that the concern of silence wanes along with the sight of the cultists. With soft grunts of exertion, you increase your pace until the edge of the thinning canopy appears before you. The sight of the battered town of Impel unravels with the disappearing branches. From your height, the misshapen and stained buildings appear huddled together to sleep through the harsh cold night, but on far side of this herd of weathered stone and wood, something catches your eye.

An unusually thick plume of dark smoke, suggestive of a burning building, rises from somewhere within the northern side of town. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact source from your southern advance, but you would put it within the vicinity of tavern.

Possibly from the tavern itself.

Concern rises within the core of your chest, as you don’t know for certain the source of the flame, and whether it affects Cyrene and Grygas. Although, it could easily something that doesn't warrant your precious time. The hideout is only a short distance from your current location, but the northern side of town would take some time to reach.

There's only one of you, and far too many places...
_________________________________________________


>Keep to your plan and head to the hideout to brief your human companions on the new information you have.

>Head to the hideout and convince your human companions to accompany you to investigate the source of the flames.

>Detour to the source of the flames first before returning to the hideout.

>Write in.

>>5414920
>Head to the hideout and convince your human companions to accompany you to investigate the source of the flames.
Less chance of keeping those two alive, but better chance of everyone forming a coherent group if they do survive. Not like there's much manual labor elewyn can do.

>>5414920
>Head to the hideout and convince your human companions to accompany you to investigate the source of the flames.
Alright, time to party up again. Even if the fire isn't at the tavern, a would be a good place to hit if we want to start putting the word out that the evac ship is coming soon.

If we've still got a Warming potion, might be good to take to try and take the edge off of our frostbite. Wouldn't heal it, but would at least let us regenerate our mana a bit better in these chilly conditions.

Also, knowing that Enais has much of her manpower probably in the field right now, hunting with the sniffers for us, it might be a good time to either decapitate the leadership, or go after the prisoners.

>>5414920
Shit.
>Detour to the source of the flames first before returning to the hideout.
They're stepping up their plans, as Elewyn deduced. The godling needs a womb. They're going after Cyrene, and Grygas obviously made a fight out of it. If we go fetch the team, we can maybe intercept the group sent to abduct Cyrene. If we go in now, we may find a wounded Grygas and stabilize him, but have to either let them take Cyrene further away or risk a smash and grab rescue with just Elewyn.
I have plans for Grygas. He's got a lot of sway with the least infected portion of the town. Having him backing up our narrative might just be what we need to get that mob started. And with him desperate to save his daughter, he'd make for a formidable asset by himself. We /are/ low on frontliners after all~

>>5414946
Prison break was scheduled for today if I remember from last thread. Let's see how things go though. If we nab Cyrene, maybe their ritual can't go through, and they won't kill them just yet. Maybe.

>>5415093
>The godling needs a womb
Oh. Oh shit. We only have 1 sundowning in the tank though, I still think we need some muscle to realistically save her.

>>5415096
She's a child. If we can Gale around with Ruby during the slaver arc, we can Sundown the escort, Gale in, grab Cyrene, Gale out.
Still, if we go now we can at least see where they're going from the track/Grygas, and the man himself could probably tell us about their group composition.
Besides, spending a few minutes next to a raging fire might do us some good, as insensitive as it sounds if it is the tavern currently going up in flames! Enough to get rid of our maluses, maybe even enough to grab a few points of mana for an extra Gale or two.
What do you think, anon? Because I want to at least try and save the old man.
Also, if the worst comes to pass, being able to say to Cyrene that her dad isn't dead might come back to help us, though that may be something that happens in the fleshscape. Just a thought.

>>5415106
Too many unknowns for me to be sure. If he's buried under burning rubble, we're stuck prolonging his suffering. If he's just sitting there or bleeding on the ground, then it's better to slap some heals on and get a direction.

I can't REALLY be sure, but my very cynical gut says that if we're too late, at least it'll get our human partymates to nut up and kill cultists with a bit more fervor.

>>5415115
Grygas being buried might happen if we wait and come back. Right now it may yet be early enough that the building hasn't collapsed and is simply starting to burn up, with him knocked out inside or at the door. And you underestimate our heals. Some healing would fix the damage from the rubble falling onto him and give him enough energy to either help push it off him or prevent himself from being crushed until the fire draws in villagers to the rescue. It isn't just us in this village.

Since I really think this option could help us, I guess I'll try one more argument. With the reduced Sanctuary presence and the fact that it's still night, couldn't we move in towards the fire, assess the situation, and then use Gale to quickly get to the hideout and party up with little extra risk of detection since all eyes are on the net right now? It would save some time at the cost of mana.

>>5415122
I could say the same about getting the party to move towards the tavern and Gale-ing ahead of them.

>>5415136
Fair point, but it would still leave the amount of time needed to get to the hideout, deal with whatever recriminations they may have picked up during the night, instill the proper sense of emergency, then Gale ahead of them, before we can get eyes on what is happening. I say it's better to get the info now and go from there. We're talking maybe 30 minutes extra with our exhaustion, their lack of organization and decisiveness, and the snow. By that time I fear Cyrene will be long gone and Grygas in no state to provide information, or much of anything going forward.
Except maybe a nice martyr figure, but I'd prefer him alive, and his death would still leave us with the burden of proving Sanctuary was behind the attack.

>>5415141
the hideout is closer, so I think spending 2 minutes to say a few words and not bothering to wait for them to get dressed is enough.

>>5415149
Had glossed over the "short distance" bit, so I'll concede the debate and amend my vote.
Those minutes may cost us, but if there's a plume of smoke already maybe it won't matter overmuch...

>>5415093
Changing vote to a write-in.

>Head to the hideout, inform your companions that a building is burning and that it may be the tavern. Advise them that you are moving there to provide help, that Sanctuary may be at fault and that they should follow quickly. Then head to the tavern, using Gale to move quickly through snowed in streets. Time is of the essence.

Heyo everyone, I hope that all your weekends have been relaxing.

There was a lot of great discussion centered around this choice, and it was a pleasure to read through it all and learn your strategies/thoughts in response. Lots of unknowns to be figured out, let's see where we're at!

>>5414935
>>5414946
>>5415152
Unanimous vote to head to the hideout first and convince our human companions to join us to investigate the source of the fire.

I want to get this update out tonight. It might be an hour or so later than the usual time, but I think the story lends itself to a more rapid update...

>Writing! Update to posted around 9pm PST

>>5415686

The still and boundless winter engulfs all there is to be seen here from highest mountain peak to the lowliest pit. The prevalence of its presence evokes an image of permanence, much like the ocean to the east. But in due course this will change. The sun will find its desired angle to gain purchase on the land, and no longer will it be suffocated in cold. Heat and life will return and will leave once again. All in nature is transient, and the flame that burns brightest will extinguish all the sooner for it.

The lives of humans especially. In practically a moment they change from a small child, vulnerable and naïve, to towering adults industrious, but no less naïve. The delicacy of that flame often needs to be protected, much as it needs to be shown how fleeting, but dangerous it truly is.

You sigh as you hastily clamber down the length of your lookout.

Not to mention that these flames get heavy rather quickly, and your arms can only manage them so well.

The instant your weary feet crunch into the powder once again you take off for the hideout.

~

>>5415906

~

“Well…” You look up from honing your blade with a set of whetstones as best as can be hope for under present circumstance. “Care to actually share what caused you to have a change of heart about our employer?”

“Change of heart?” Seo's eyes settle upon you from beyond the flame she’s tending. “My dear Luca, the only change of heart that we have here regards you and that non-magical creature you have sitting behind you.”

You feel Izurin move on the cot, her unsure of Seo’s meaning. You roll your eyes. “My, how steadfast of you and your heart. Fine, I’ll change my words… What was the reason you found for staying?”

Once satisfied that the flame has been fed, Seo drops back on her cushion with legs spread wide, lacking any sort of delicacy. “Other than keeping you and Mishenne from losing your heads?...” The light mirth in her words fades as she thinks on your question. An unusual silence falls upon her for moment before she continues. “There are innumerable abominable individuals and plots here, here within the shadow of the capital. The acts that I alone have witnessed are beyond reproach, but if we take Elewyn at her word…” Her hand instinctively settles on the pommel of the mace. “Then the scale of what’s been permitted to take place is here is terrifying to even consider. But more terrifying to leave alone within the shadow of your own home.”

You wipe your blade clean and sheathe it carefully. “Surely you don’t think the kingdom would permit for one moment for such a cabal to establish themselves within the capital. The royal guard alone could expunge these heathens without hardly breaking a sweat, not to mention that the army is always ready to be mobilized. This madness will reach its limit, soon enough.”

“Would you have thought this possible in any town belonging to the kingdom?” Seo counters as she leans forward, almost eyeing the hearth with hostility. “Admittedly, I wouldn’t have. I’d have thought this madness as you describe it to be isolated to an individual or perhaps a handful at most. But the malignancy is far beyond that, and it took root within the most opportune of places to remain undetected.” She gives a piece of wood a hard jab with her mace to correct its position and give the flame an injection of fervor. “Madness is insufficient for what’s happening here. This isn’t the product of a maddened mind.”

The implication of her words settles upon your body heavily.

“Strategy then?” Misha looks up from his tools and the caltrop that he’s currently shaping and sharpening. “I mean, what the two of you are talking about sounds like someone carefully planned for everything to take place here as it did.”

File: ele9.png (3.6 MB, 2271x1727)

3.6 MB PNG

>>5415911

You briefly turn back as Izurin’s fidgets, and you catch her animal ears perk up. As she remains silent, you turn your attention back to your friends. “And with a strange abundance of resources to help to that end…” You think aloud considering the Sanctuary’s number and control of this town. “All that they’ve managed to do here orchestrated by calculation and with backing.”

“It wouldn’t be so farfetched a possibility for this to spread to the capital if our speculation is correct.” Seo’s gaze turns downward from the two of you. “Far less so if a certain piece of information I heard from our employer isn’t the impossible coincidence I hope it to be.”

Before you have the chance to question Seo's meaning, the door to the hideout opens without the three of you hearing any sign of someone approaching. You and Seo quickly draw your weapons to face the figure lightly slipping through the door.

As the cold washes over you, your eyes first settle upon the pair of animal ears peaking from the locks of slightly disheveled hair. A note of anger rises from within you as you recall those same ears as they denied you all that you had initially hoped from coming out here. A darker part of you wants to tug on them hard as you've seen so many city guards do to their like. But your eyes follow them down to the rest of her, and twinges of sadness and pity briefly overtake anger.

Her eyes are wearier than you remember, and upon her face are rough scratches and scuffs made all more severe juxtaposed on such delicate features. Elewyn pants tiredly as she carefully shuts the door, and you catch the new tears in her already battered clothing. Her tattered tights are saturated with frigid meltwater of the unforgiving outside, and the red rawness of her fingers demonstrate that she was not warming herself by the fire as you all had been these past few hours.

The weight of it all on a figure that’s somehow even smaller and thinner than Izurin.

>>5415915

You catch the quiet conviction in her eyes before your overcome by the urge to turn away from their sight. Not wanting to betray your pity, your cross your arms tightly. All of you wait quietly for her to speak.

“I sense you’ve at the very least put aside your earlier disappointment.” Her soft voice speaking firm words. “Helpful, as we must hurry, and return to the north of town.” She pauses for a fleeting moment in time as she watches your reaction. “I spotted a smoke that only a burning building is the likely cause, and the location of it would put it into the vicinity of the tavern.”

“Tavern?” You ask incredulously with harshness in your voice.

Seo puts up a hand to stop you. “The locals there allowed us to make use of their home as we planned for your rescue…” She steps toward Elewyn. “Repercussions?”

“Very possibly.” She answers immediately. “They’ve taken action to disrupt the Sanctuary plans in the past and have been threatened for it.”

Seo sighs deeply. “A father and young daughter. Far more amiable than you would expect for these conditions, and we’re lacking in allies.”

“I wasn’t under the impression that you were here to save humans.” You voice your hesitation as you feel there may be something she is hiding.

“I put my kin first, as no one else will. But I have no reason not to help those I can.” Elewyn sighs. “And help is coming. We’ll have a ship arriving here in less than a day.”

“That would’ve been helpful information to have learned earlier.” Seo shoots back.

“I agree.” Elewyn responds calmly and quickly. “I had only learned it myself in this outing. But we have no time for this. Which of you three are coming?”

You, Misha, and Seo turn to each other in silent deliberation. You understand from a simple gaze that Seo intends to accompany the Elin. Misha shows some hesitation, and Izurin patiently waits for your answer. You suppose that more hands would help for such a case, but would it be better for Misha to remain here and watch over Izurin? Part of you is even fearful to leave her alone, but taking her along would be risky.

______________________________________________________________________

Of Luca, Misha, and Izurin, decide who will remain in the hideout, and who will accompany Seo and Elewyn to investigate the fire in the north part of town.

>Write in.

>>5415921
I think everyone should go. Better to fortify the tavern, burning or not, than to squeeze in everyone into a tiny home and hope it still isn't found after all the people we're planning to bring in.

>>5415921
>Luca, Seo, Elewyn go in to investigate
>Misha hangs out with Izurin and sees if he can tinker anything new up
Leave the noncombatants out of the line of fire. We'll need Misha for later, and we want to be tied down protecting people who can't defend themselves as little as possible.

Next time, Misha should bring a crossbow if he wants to contribute.

>>5415921
Yeah, Misha's on Izurin and tinkering duty. His contributions benefit from time and thought, his presence at everything is less important. The other two are very immediately useful but don't advance our goals if they're not doing something immediate

>>5415915
While I wouldn't mind bringing everyone, it's not because I want to turn the quite possibly burned-down tavern into our next hideout, it's because I'm worried about Sanctuary having somehow tracked our location and sending another team in, which would face no (real) opposition. Since taking everyone isn't going to win, I'll argue to at least tell Misha and Izurin to clean up after everyone and be wary of approaching groups, so they can bail and Sanctuary doesn't find obvious proof of our passing, so maybe they don't beat an old lady to death.
I hope Grygas is okay, but let's look on the bright side: Elewyn has some experience getting people out of burning buildings, and I'm fairly certain a point blank Gale could do very interesting things physics-wise!
>Luca, Seo, Elewyn go in to investigate
>Misha and Izurin clean up signs of their presence and make ready to bug out if Sanctuary comes knocking. Maybe do the tinkering on a piece of cloth they can just tie off and grab while they leave?
>Use Gale to get Elewyn there ahead of the other two.

>>5415933
>>5415975
>>5416586
We'll move ahead to investigate the fire with Luca and Seo in tow. Misha and Izurin will remain behind, cover our presence within the hideout, and keep vigilant and ready to escape in the case of any approaching hostiles.

With MP being limited at this point, I'll have to hold off on using Gale to maneuver around the town as it would likely take at least a few.

>Writing! Update to be posted tomorrow around 8pm PST

>>5416879

You’ve committed to protecting Seo, Misha, and Izurin, on that, your mind has been settled. Meaning you’ll grit your teeth and bear working for this creature if that’s what this choice entails, and indeed, this timely report of a rescue ship meant to cajole you into cooperation is straining your jaw.

So be it.

But the options of either abandoning Izurin to fend for herself or forcing her back into the heart of that cursed and frozen place both jolt chords of wavering discord inside your head. The only idea that gives a slight note of peace in the cacophony of thought is when you gaze upon the sheathed dagger sitting at the foot of nearby cot.

Without yet voicing your decision, you walk directly to the small blade and lift it from the ground. Its weight is practically nothing in your hands as you take grasp of the sheathe and handle.

The length of the unsoiled steel glimmers in the flicker of flame as you partially unsheathe it to examine the potent sharpness. You catch the reflection of your own eye, far wearier than you’ve ever seen it before. But there is not time to dwell upon the sight. You instead focus upon the form of your friend. The shine of the metal is extinguished as the you bring your hands together with a solid impact.

Your arm extends to present the dagger to Misha. “No hesitation this time... I’m counting on you.” As you look between him and Izurin you feel your cheeks draw into a weak smile.

His eyes shut close but for a moment before shaking his head, as if to clear away an unpleasant thought. His now resolved gaze reopens to meet yours. “I’ll give my utmost. I promise” He returns a calm smile before reaching out to receive the blade.

Those words are so unlike him, but the genuine conviction they carry settles your beating heart. But only for a moment, as when you turn away a pang of guilt for your earlier selfishness resonates through your stomach. You focus instead on preparing for your departure alongside Seo.

“Cover our presence here and remain ever ready to escape in case this place is discovered. And when I return…” Your employer warns him with unusual gentleness as she already turns for the door she only appeared from a moment ago. “I’ll be expecting to see your craftsmanship.”

Her words are concluded by the chilling cold wind assaulting your skin and already wicking away the strength of the hearth.

“You’re first.” She looks at you impatiently from her diminutive height.

~

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335 KB JPG

>>5418214

~

The brutal night is taking its toll on your human companions as they wheeze painfully, trudging through the discolored snow with you in between them and the growing orange light in the distance as your target. You quickly weave your group through the dilapidated and lifeless structures with few flues indicating there yet remains someone within to stoke vital hearths. In your haste, you spot only a few disruptive footprints in the powder-clogged arteries of the withering town, as none of the remaining natives would be foolish enough to traverse their lengths, let alone sprint.

It's difficult to estimate the Sanctuary’s number, but there is still some level of patrol here, even with so many of their forces within the woods. For the time being, it seems that they are yet monitoring this place carefully.

You give a hard tug on the right side of Luca’s coat as you hear approaching footsteps far ahead of you. The three of you rush in a perpendicular direction to the tavern and the light of the growing flame filters between the gaps of buildings along the street ahead of you.

Another firm tug directs Luca to turn on the first lit alleyway, and you nearly crash into him as he stops suddenly. His gaze is locked upon the source of the strong orange light, and you immediately maneuver around him to get a proper look.

The sudden sensation of intense heat upon your face is felt even more keenly with the cold encroaching from every other direction. The source is exactly as you feared. The tall tavern in which Cyrene and Grygas make their home is kindling for the voracious flame that laps mostly at the upper part of the structure. Noxious black smoke and light pours from the upper windows as the snapping and collapsing of wood joins the panicked shouts of nearby residents.

File: ID9.png (4.47 MB, 1780x1680)

4.47 MB PNG

Many pairs of frightened eyes gawk upon the burning structure as they lament the impending loss of their neighbor’s home and worry about the spread to their own homes.

“I think I see people inside!”

“What can we do?! The poor child is in there!”

“Worry about your own damned homes now!”

The transfixed humans don’t notice the three cloaked and hunched figures hurriedly hobbling away from the scene as the round a set of nearby buildings. Carried in between two of them is a bundle the size of a small human. Affixed to their waists, sheathed weapons slap against the leg as the attempt to disappear with their cargo.

You ensure the cloth is still tightly wrapped around your animal ears, and ready yourself.

_______________________________________________________________________

The building is set to be lost to the flames in what could be several minutes at the most. Grygas is nowhere to be seen among the nearby humans, and could very well be trapped inside. You're certain that bundle the armed cloaked figures carry between them is Cyrene.

(The -4 Evasion debuff for Elewyn has been reduced to -3.)

Elewyn
HP: 10
LP: 15
Stamina: 11
MP: 18

Seo
HP: 19
LP: 6
Stamina: 23
MP: 0

Luca
HP: 28
LP: 8
Stamina: 19
MP: 0

>Write in movements/actions for Elewyn, Seo, and Luca.

>>5418253

I forgot to place the townspeople on the map, but they would be placed entirely in the vicinity between your group and the burning building.

>>5418253
Seo and Luca go for Cyrene, Elewyn is on rescue duty.
>Luca's got a decent angle to knife them all in the legs

Elewyn
>Try to get a read on where Grygas is. Ask the townsfolk to quiet down if necessary.
>If we need muscle, burn yourself trying to lift debris to guilt them into helping.
>If we need a quick dousing, get them to shovel snow into a huge pile, then Gale it into the building.

>>5418253
Finally, something simple to do!

>>5418281
I agree with where you're sending everyone, but I'd do it a bit differently.
I'd like to
>Have Luca and Seo try and draw the crowd's attention towards the cultist by loudly asking them why they aren't helping and what it is they're carrying off. Maybe accuse them of stealing from the tavern?
Remember, we need only get one or two out of their cloaks for the villagers to turn very hostile. For once, human xenophobia is working with us!
This ruckus would also allow Elewyn to move into the building without raising much fuss.
If it doesn't get attention, I agree we should knife them and close the distance.
They can't count on the mob's support so this would be a fight in our favor. There's now way they'd threaten Cyrene. Too important.

I'm torn on whether we should go into the ground floor or the first floor. It really depends on where he is. Did they attack him at the door, or did he retreat upwards to Cyrene's room? The first floor will soon be inaccessible, but going there first means we risk being buried if he ends up being on the ground floor.
I don't think Grygas is conscious. He would have never let them take his daughter if he could still stand.
I like the dousing idea, but it'd ruin our cover something fierce.
We don't need much muscle, I think. We have the staff and wind magic, so we can definitely use that to either move him or move rubble off him.

Ii'll go check the other threads for the tavern's description, to see if Cyrene's room is on the first floor. I think so. Most likely they disabled Grygas, bagged Cyrene and set fire to the top floor before retreating. Maybe the fire got started in the fight and they didn't put it out because it was convenient. At which point it becomes a further argument for Grygas being upstairs. But I don't see him letting them upstairs for any reason, and I'm not sure they would have pushed him up the stairs in the fight. They would probably have cornered him. But maybe he tried to run upstairs to tell Cyrene to run, and they caught up to him there?

>>5418462
So Cyrene sleeps upstairs, but rereading things, notably the part where they prayed in her room, kinda made me realize we're maybe looking at an old system with the shopkeeper sleeping above his shop. So they broke the door and Grygas was stuck fighting them on the first floor, right out of bed. I think that would explain everything in a nice way, so I'll be voting for starting our search on the first floor, possibly by using a Gale. I'd appreciate doing this while the crowd is distracted by Luca, Seo and the cultists, but I don't mind taking risks in this specific situation. I've already made my case for Grygas being a great asset.

>>5418462
They can just keep running, and will get well out of view for anyone to really care quite quickly. Even outright claiming they kidnapped Cyrene won't be fast enough imo.

I'll support your strategy on where to look, sounds good to me.

>>5418490
Fair enough, and we can still keep it in mind if the fight draws a crowd. We'll maybe need to devise a way for Elewyn to Gale to a window unseen if we still care about that.

Rolled 8, 6, 4, 3 = 21 (4d10)

Oof, sorry about the delay in vote tally. I got caught up in an after work outing, but now we're ready to see what sort of action will take place...

>>5418281
>>5418462
>>5418481
>>5418490
>>5418496

>First Luca to move forward and open with fanned blades the two closer cloaked figures in their legs then pursue.

Stamina Cost: 3
Rolling 4d10, CR 6 for both targets, First two dice correspond to one enemy, and the last two correspond to the other.

I had to think about the timing of Elewyn warning Luca and Seo about the cloaked figures and the potential of collateral damage. To aim for all three would put the bundle at risk as well, which isn't something that I think our characters would do at this point, and Luca would need to move to ensure the angle of attack.

>Seo moves in to cut off their approach.
No need to roll for this action. She'll move further than Luca as she isn't attacking.

>Elewyn to quickly try to get a read on where Grygas is located and then enter the building from the closest accessible location.

These particular actions will draw split attention from the crowd and will be witnessed.

>>5419112

The knives connect on both targets! No other rolls to factor, this round...

>Writing! Update to be posted tomorrow around the usual 8pm PST as I'm beat today

>>5419112

Three armed enemies with Cyrene as a hostage, the burning tavern with Grygas potentially trapped within, and only three of you to utilize for your tactics. Diverging concerns and hardly a moment to decide who will try to save who, let alone ponder what purpose there is behind the brazen attack. With the wick of time burning before your very eyes, you decide to play to your human companions’ strengths and keep them together.

Barely a second after you pull your tattered hood over your hair, your plan begins. Your sprinting legs carry you through the rapidly melting slush. As you pass, you give a hard tug on Luca’s elbow to direct his transfixed gaze in the direction of the fleeing figures.

“Stop them.” You firmly command as you rush behind his turned body, already studying the ablaze structure for a possible point of entry.

The insatiable all-consuming flame has already taken the heavy wooden entrance as its prey, and laps the air greedily from the nearby windows, but as the assailants were able to make their escape, there must yet be an option… It couldn’t be from the upper level as its faring far worse than the base of tavern, so that leaves the rear passage.

“What? What are you?...” The young human suddenly goes silent as he finally spots the cloaked figures making off with their true target.

“I’ll cut them off.” Seo announces as you hear her rapid footfalls crunch into the snow. “You attack from behind!”

“These damned fiends…” You briefly hear Luca’s voice before the feverish shouts of warning from the other humans drowns it.

“Stop her!”

“You idiot, get back here!”

“One of you lot go and get her!”

For all the vigor their voices yet carry, you hear not a soul come after you as you run alongside the house shaped inferno toward the familiar back entrance.

~

File: ID10.png (3.22 MB, 1596x1356)

3.22 MB PNG

>>5420066

The foolish creature disappeared toward flames in an instant, and Seo is already dashing to block the escape the cloaked marauders…

The lot of them, in their familiar shrouds and awkwardly shuffling like depraved animals sets your blood running hot. In your growing anger, you take notice of the bundle hauled between the two of them, very much in a familiar shape to the bundle you painstakingly carried into this town…

You let out a primal growl of disgust and stomp forward as your hand reaches for the thin frigid blades affixed to your leg. The panicked shrieks and caterwauling of the locals near you spurs your rage as you take aim at the legs of the two closest to your hateful steel. The force with which you launch your opening assault nearly causes you to slip on the meltwater, but you catch your footing and use it as the first step toward the targets of your ire.

The drumming crunch of your footfalls upon the snow, the chorus of shouts behind you, and even the guttural notes of pain as your blades sink into the meat of cloaked legs all build into the final ringing note as you rip your longsword from its sheath and charge forward.

Hard shadows lengthen and the cold grows as you march with weapon in hand into the grim predawn.

The wrapped bundle drops heavily to the ground as the concealed assailants recoil from pain and desperately search for the source of the attack. They spot your lone figure and instinctively draw their weapons with dark and knurled arms as they clumsily move down the dark empty street with the lone uninjured abductor hastily scooping the bundle back into his large arms.

A blur boldly sprints in front of the escaping group with mace at the ready.

“You’re not getting by me so easily…” Seo threatens in a low voice as she taps her weighty mace against her palm. “Put down the girl and we may let you live.”

You know it’s far past the point of letting them simply escape, but Seo tries to remove the hostage from their grasp.

“Stay back.” The cloaked figure closest to Seo deeply threatens with each word heavily enunciated with bestial undertones. He extends his blade outward with a poor stance.

With blood slowly pooling between them, the three kidnappers press in closely with their attention affixed on Seo primarily and swords tensely ready to strike at any instant.

___________________________________________________________________________

Two of the marauders stand ready to fight but lightly injured, and the last has his blade in hand but his arms filled with the wrapped hostage. Luca is not yet close enough to attack in synchronization with Seo, and will have to move to close in the gap first.

Luca
HP: 28
LP: 8
Stamina: 16
MP: 0

Seo
HP: 19
LP: 6
Stamina: 21
MP: 0

>Write in movements/actions for Luca and Seo

>>5420078

(Character sheets)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o_UUxh62Gj5_fMjlaRr5cn1BHBB3P8uLpnMy15XcJak/edit?usp=sharing

(Combat Rules)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1peKn2-vZzeDmAXhy_ZlifFA9nOMlaEs3PK7hgKSel3M/edit?usp=sharing

Linking these here as a reminder!

>>5420078
Luca
>knife them all in the legs
>keep advancing
we could keep our distance, but they have an alley right behind them.


Seo
>Head bash the one carrying Cyrene
we don't have time to limb smash them all, and the high strike will dissuade them from tossing her between them.

>>5420081
Wait. I think there's a small issue.
>The wrapped bundle drops heavily to the ground as the concealed assailants recoil from pain and desperately search for the source of the attack
>the last has his blade in hand but his arms filled with the wrapped hostage
Where's the Cyrene bundle, then? Did the last guy pick her up?

Also.
>The lot of them, in their familiar shrouds and awkwardly shuffling like depraved animals sets your blood running hot. In your growing anger, you take notice of the bundle hauled between the two of them, very much in a familiar shape to the bundle you painstakingly carried into this town…
>You let out a primal growl of disgust and stomp forward as your hand reaches for the thin frigid blades affixed to your leg

That's it, boy! We may make something useful of this one yet! Now how did the proverb go? "My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred. In the *whatever*'s name, let none survive!"? Keep it up, Luca, you're going somewhere with this!

Anyway. I agree with >>5420081 for the knives. We should get the full 12 flat damage in this time, especially if Cyrene isn't in the way (I really hope it's her in there, by the way, not some random piece of loot), which is great value for Stamina. If one of them does have Cyrene, it means they can't attack as well, and I say we should focus on the other two. They can't disengage easily, and if they try, either we catch up with them due to their wounds and added weight, or Luca minces them with knives.
>Luca to Fanned Blade all 3 and keep advancing to pincer the enemy.
>Seo Head Bash on the closest cultist hat isn't carrying Cyrenne.
We'll have to be careful, the two bleed Stamina with every attack. We only have a few turns of real effectiveness, and I don' imagine the cold is helping their regen, if they have any. I can't remember.

>>5420479
>Where's the Cyrene bundle, then? Did the last guy pick her up?
Sorry if this wasn’t clear. The uninjured one closest to the alleyway has the small-human sized bundle in his arms, sort of in a hugging position in front of his body, but also with sword in hand.

>>5420479
>Where's the Cyrene bundle, then? Did the last guy pick her up?
Yes:
>as they clumsily move down the dark empty street with the lone uninjured abductor hastily scooping the bundle back into his large arms.
>>5420078
>>5420081
I'll second this; Seo can fight more aggressively here to keep them from running or pulling funny business with Cyrene. Luca has to get into play in a more definite way than only harrying

>>5420495
>>5420516
Ah, my bad then.

>>5420531
No problem at all!

Hey everyone, thanks for all the battle input. This is just to let you guys know that I’ll be postponing the tally by about 2 hours, as I won’t be home for a bit. Please feel free to add you tactics until then, if you’d like!

File: Radiant Luca.png (273 KB, 500x500)

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Don't have much to contribute for tactics, close in and break their legs before they slip out of the public eye.

Rolled 8, 8 = 16 (2d10)

>>5420081
>>5420479
>>5420516

A strong advance overall from all these posts. I would've brought up the same issue as before with aiming at all three of them with Fanned Blades, but as you have Seo attacking the cloaked figure with the hostage, this definitely present the opportunity for an opening if she connects.

>So, we'll do just that and have Seo open with a refined head crush.

Stamina Cost: 6
CR: 6+3(from skill use)-2(from carrying the bundle.) = 7 (roll 2d10)
Physical Amplification if connected: (18)*1.2=22 (rounded up)
Stun Chance of 20% if connected

>>5421005
Just caught this right before I posted. Nice Luca icon! I'm saving it. Perhaps one day I'll have the chance to use it. And, don't worry, their legs will definitely be taking some abuse if Luca connects again with his Fanned Blades..

Rolled 2 (1d5)

>>5421008
Head crush connected!
Rolling 1d5 for the stun chance. (1=stunned enemy)

Rolled 8, 2, 9, 6, 2, 1 = 28 (6d10)

>>5421009
>No stun, but now it's Luca's turn to move in with a Fanned Blades to the legs of all three targets.
Stamina Cost: 3
4 Flat Damage if connected to each target.
Rolling 6d10, CR 6 for all targets (normalized as the bundle has been dropped to the ground again from Seo's attack.), First two dice correspond to one of the closer targets, middle two the other close target, the last two correspond to the one that was just attacked by Seo.

Rolled 6, 6, 7, 10, 1, 8 = 38 (6d10)

>>5421011

Darn, we missed one, but he'll definitely be injured from Seo's attack. The other two will take an addition 4 damage each.

Okay...
Now it's their turns.

Rolling 6d10 for sword attacks all on Seo. All cloaked figures are roughly the same strength and have highly similar weapons, so no difference in their attacks if connected. i.e. no need to differentiate which dice correspond to who, but first two dice correspond to one target, middle two to another, and last two to the remaining cloaked figure. (CR 8)

>>5421019
Ouch, Seo

>>5421019
All attacks connect.

>Writing outcome. Update to be posted at the usual time (8pm PST) tomorrow!

>>5421022
It's only now I realize the fault in my plan. We don't have the luxury of keeping Luca back to get some chip damage in. Seo getting into a 1v3 is very bad. Luca's the one with riposte. Seo doesn't have good block, and worse, she has nothing at range. Her getting focused down like that means she's got to stick to exploiting openings in melee, always at risk of a counter attack. Except she's our debuffer/dps, she's the one who should be creating them and stunning the enemy and reducing their evasion!
We may have screwed ourselves a bit there. Best bet I guess is to play for time like we did in the infirmary. Stick Luca on defensive parry and find a way to focus them. A taunt ability would really help, but maybe we can write-in something?
I know we're not dealing with Elins, so Seo shouldn't get completely slaughtered, but still.
Actually, it could be worth trying to just snatch away Cyrene, because with the mob, that's our win condition. Just grab her and retreat towards the people, and the cultists are screwed.
Maybe a stun and grab?
Also, just noticed from the sheets we're missing some stamina all around from what I assume is the bad weather conditions. Nice note.


Man, for some reason I feel like this fight is a reversal of others we've had. They're on the defensive with their win condition being killing or routing us, and our win condition being taking something from them and running. We're doing chip damage while they're being efficient and focusing our debuffer instead of our tank.

>>5421624
I disagree. Doing the tank play would buy us more time, but gives them more chances to cut and run without us actually being able to kill any 1 of them. Now their estimated health is closer to kill range, so sacrificing themselves to stall for time won't be so effective.

Seo can lose an LP, she'll be fine. Probably.

>>5421022

Their hunched shoulders crest their stiff forms, with frozen limbs brandishing their weapons like objects stuck within the branches of trees. Even with you pressing in with deadly longsword drawn, their amateurish attention is affixed upon Seo.

It’s as if the cold has infected their bodies and dulled their senses to be more akin to a startled woodland creature. No matter. A cornered animal may be dangerous, but it will still react in its nature. Now, to carefully remove their quarry from their grasp…

A reverberating snarl drums from the depths of your enraged chest and resonates deeply into the frigid night as you feint a direct charge.

Upon the battle cry reaching the ears of your targets, they instinctively turn in unison at the new threatening stimulus. Seo immediately takes advantage of your opening to advance with sudden speed into the core of the tightening pack. As she sprints forward, her left shoulder roughly shoves aside the unexpecting figure closest as she readies her weighty mace in both hands.

You catch the fleeting moment of time as the mace first wraps behind her head, and using her fierce momentum, she twists her body to swing with full force at the head of the one holding the girl hostage.

The next moment her target is sent reeling into the wall of nearby house, with blood and dark shards dropping from his head, as Seo slides unsteadily through the bloodstained snow. The two flashes of time are equally paired with two sounds. One, quite strange, the brutal knock of Seo’s mace hitting her target like an anvil dropping onto wood. The other, a dull thud as the wrapped bundle falls to the ground once again.

File: ID11.png (2.46 MB, 1396x1204)

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>>5422126

With the girl out of the way, you halt your charge to unleash a full volley of thin blades at your three targets. Two easily find their way into the legs of the those figures closest to you, but the last scrapes against an uneven protrusion of the wall and ricochets unseen into the dark night.

The pain of your second attack finally spurs a counterattack from the cloaked group. With guttural cries, they turn their impotent anger to the one within their reach, Seo.

Seo finds her footing immediately near the dropped girl and resolves not to be moved in case they turn their weapons against the girl.

The first two savage slashes come like the panicked lunge of a perturbed snake at the leg and arm of Seo. She can’t find a way to dodge the attack and not give up her position, so the vital crimson fluid of her body spills out to join the growing puddle underfoot.

The third attack comes quite unexpectedly for her. The figure that took the blow to the head recovers more quickly than she anticipated, and lunges with desperate fervor. His sword finds its way between her armor and slices a deep wound over her ribs.

A shout of pain leaves her lips as she falters a single step but beats him back with a hard punch to stomach as he unsteadily passes by her.

The steam rising off her injured body causes your own blood to run cold. No more will the knives satisfy this gnawing feeling inside of you. You move in with your longsword at the ready. Your eyes pick apart your increasingly desperate targets. If they run, you will easily be able to catch them with their injuries, but your greater concern is how they eye both Seo and the bundle at her feet. Should you have her fall back while you finish off these creatures?...

_______________________________________________________________________________________

[Combat Status has been changed to: Elevated Risk (-1 for all rolls against CR)]

The three cloaked figures overall suffer from a heavy amount of injuries, and escape on their own is extremely unlikely. Specifically, the one who took Seo's attack is a hair away from being defeated, while the other two still have a bit within them to keep fighting, but their legs won't take them far. Seo's body has suffered from the attacks, but her resolve is firm. Luca is now within distance for close range attacks and actions.

Luca
HP: 28
LP: 8
Stamina: 13
MP: 0

Seo
HP: 4
LP: 6
Stamina: 14
MP: 0


>Write in movements/actions for Luca and Seo

>>5422154
Luca can body block for Seo, right?

Luca
>get between Seo and the two less injured figures
>Offensive Parry

Seo
>Disengage
She's done enough
>Finish off the weakened one in passing, but prioritize getting through the alley to block from that direction.
She could also go for a significantly less elegant mace throw to buy time, Luca can already get in position on top of Cyrene.

>>5422170
>Luca can body block for Seo, right?

If Seo makes an effort to move away from the enemies, then yes, this type of body block would definitely be possible.

>>5422154
First off, damage estimate:
19-(3*x)= 4, so 3x=15, and x equals 5 damage per cultist. Seo cannot take another hit like that. She could normally, but the weather dropped her starting HP too much.
She could take out the last guy, but it would be a risk, especially since head crush raises enemy evasion if I remember right.
Honestly, I want Luca to do some quick thinking. Cyrene isn't in danger. If they had wanted her dead, they wouldn't have taken her alive. So they won't hurt her. He's also on the money with that animal metaphor. Maybe having Seo clear the way would goad them into taking the opportunity for escape? They're probably too fanatical to retreat, but they could try a rearguard while one of the least damage one take off with Cyrene. We should have Seo leave the way to the large street to the right open. It leaves Luca with little to do. Honestly, with 5 damage attacks, it's worth going for the offensive parry. He can take several turns of attacks at 50% block, and a longsword riposte gives him a 70% power strike, which should finish the injured one. Then the other should eat an Underhander and be dead or dying, or bleeding to death.

I have two questions regarding combat, QM. Luca's char sheet, right under the Parry and Riposte, says regarding the percentages that "non-integer values will be rounded". Is that up or down? Because if we're blocking 50% of a 5-damage attack, it's going to matter quite a bit.
Second questin is on the Elevated Risk mechanic. Does it make everyone more likely to hit or am I misreading it?

Seo
>Retreat further into the alleyway to block it, and maybe encourage a retreat through the main street to the right.
>Only go for a bash if a cultist tries to attack or push past.

Luca
>Offensive parry, Underhander at the ready.
>Maneuver to goad the enemy into focusing on him, maybe improvise a taunt or take Seo's place near Cyrene?

They're cultists, so insulting their god and cult by calling them an abomination and an affront to the good would work. "Your mangled bodies are an insult to true divinity", "let me show you a true god's power" and all that. Make stuff up, but basically play up the paladin/crusader aspect to enrage them and because I'll take every opportunity to push that, and Luca seems to be taking to that mindset quite well!

Caption: WWWVNW Thank you 4chan, I feel validated in my strategy!

>>5422445

>I have two questions regarding combat, QM. Luca's char sheet, right under the Parry and Riposte, says regarding the percentages that "non-integer values will be rounded". Is that up or down? Because if we're blocking 50% of a 5-damage attack, it's going to matter quite a bit. Second questin is on the Elevated Risk mechanic. Does it make everyone more likely to hit or am I misreading it?

Rounding, if not specified up or down, will use standard math conventions of .0-.4 = rounded down, and .5-.9 rounded up. So, a 2.5 damage reduction would be rounded up to 3.

My bad on the wording of this one! Elevated risk works against character rolls so their own actions will suffer roll penalties, but actions against them will remain the same.

Thank you for the questions, and I hope this clarified things!

>>5422170
Support this. Although maybe skip throwing the weapon.

>>5422445
Look, a crusader needs to have a clear god/cause to fight for, which Luca kinda doesn't have.....yet.

Rolled 1, 7, 4, 7 = 19 (4d10)

>>5422170
>>5422445
>>5422574

The tactics put forth here are pretty cohesive so we'll go with the following

>Seo to disengaging from combat and block an alleyway retreat, only attacking if someone pushes toward her.

>Luca to push forward to replace Seo's position, do his best to attract attention, and ready his weapon for offensive parries
Stamina Cost: 6
Physical Amplification if struck: 0.7(18) = 13
50% Damage Reduction if Struck

(Now here's an interesting question. What to do with the stamina costs of potentially multiple parry and ripostes... I think requiring a 6 stamina cost is a rather steep price to pay for each, but what I will do is require that each underhander cost 2 stamina for each individual instance. I'll need to think about it further, but at the very least I think this is a pretty okay balance for now.)


So, now let's see how the cloaked figures react to this set of tactics...

Two will attack Luca directly with their swords.
>Rolling 4d10 for each attack. The first two die for one figure, the last two for the other.

Rolled 4 (1d5)

>>5422980
Whoops, forgot to list Luca's evasion is 4, so each attack roll in this case will connect.

Therefore, total stamina cost will be 6+2+2(for each underhander) = 10
Rolling 1d5 for bleed chance for the first underhander... (1 and 2 are bleed)

Rolled 1 (1d5)

>>5422983
No bleed on the first.
>Rolling 1d5 for bleed chance on the second. (1 and 2 are bleed)

The third target (the one that suffered Seo's attack) will be doing something other than attacking this round...

>Writing outcome! Update to be posted at the usual time tomorrow at 8pm PST.

>>5422985

The violent fall of these beasts is at hand, but their hands yet have the strength to hold their chipped talons of sharpened steel. The captured child was your original focus for protection, but Seo has taken far too many lashes of theirs to hold out for much longer.

She’s done plenty, and you’ve seen enough of their ill-practiced attacks to know that wading into the thick of the crimson won’t swash forth anything you can’t counter. Counter, and return the sum of your wrath…

Catching Seo’s eye as you push forth is enough to communicate your plan, and she knows well enough that she wouldn’t be able to endure another attack.

With her offhand pressed firmly against the oozing wound on her torso, she feints a wide swing to get the cloaked to jump back on their heels and then dashes for the open alley.

Once your targets finally realize her intent, it’s too late. You use your mass to forcefully push past the two injured figures in front of you and position yourself firmly over the girl.

Their attacks, purely reactionary at this point, come quickly after you’ve replaced Seo atop the blood-caked earth. You eagerly turn with dirk drawn to face the attack you hear the injured fool straining to lash at your body. Immediately upon laying eyes on the two assailants your dirk deflects the blade directed at your chest to instead scrape against the outside of your left forearm. Connected to the motion of your offhand being driven back, you fervently thrust your longsword into the shoulder of your attacker. With momentum afoot, you again ready your dirk for a devious slash, but are forced to redirect your attack to parry a gratuitous overhead slash. The attack scrapes against your leg as once again you hungrily drive your longsword into the exposed hip of the second attacker.

A deep warmth of satisfaction spreads throughout your body as your feel meat and bone give away to the force of your blade.

>>5423960

His pain blinds him from your follow up attack as you rake your dirk against his chops, exposing bloodied teeth as skin is messily peeled away. He collapses onto the ground with his vital fluid pooling rapidly. His darkened arms struggle against the soaked ground to push his battered body back on its feet.

More…

As you gulp the air, your eyes avidly scan your faltering targets, all barely clinging to life by the thinning thread of marrow begging to be severed.

“Kill you…human.” One of your targets queerly spites you as he wearily falls backs on his haunches with hood falling back to expose his malformed face.

Whatever strange malady the Sanctuary has provided him with has turned his skin to the texture of reddened leather and cleanly shaven horns protrude beyond the surface of his temples.

The last dizzily attempts to flee by crawling low against the snow. Your jaw clicks from the release of tension as you push forth with blade dipped into the pooling blood.

Before you have the chance to cut their feeble clinging to this world short, a pair of figures rushes from the scene of the flame, one with a large shovel in hand, and the other a rusted pitchfork. One townsperson brings the blade of the tool heavily down upon back of the creature’s neck, bringing his escape to its end. The other rushes to the seated figure and awkwardly skewers his unsuspecting body with the pointed tool.

After they take satisfaction in downing the heavily injured creatures, you watch with some satisfaction as the turn to you for a look of approval.

“Fucking Devan pieces of shit, should’ve known they were behind this.” He spits as he gasps for air.

Devan?… These are Devan?

~

File: ID12.png (6.06 MB, 2489x1545)

6.06 MB PNG

>>5423962

Now you have all the heat you’ve been lacking these past few days and more. You carefully advance into the structure with choking air thick with smoke and fire hungrily flowing upon the roof overhead.

The rear passageway leading from the kitchen is certainly how those cloaked figures made their escape, as the wooden walkway is largely untouched from the surrounding flame. This won’t be the case forever, as thick motes of flame precarious drip from the ceiling around your form. Your eyes continue to search through the opaque orange-lit haze for any sign of Grygas.

As you reach the end of the kitchen, you’ve confirmed that he isn’t within this temporary haven against the flames, which means…

Your eyes fall upon the collapsed rubble of the door that once separated this room from the tavern. A door that Cyrene and her father pushed through countless times before, but never again. The house, their home, will soon be thoroughly consumed.

But there can always be a chance to rebuild if they yet live. There’s only the hell beyond this passage for you to search through…

You sigh a burning breath of heated air, and know that time, air, and safety are all in vanishing supply. As you listen for any signs of life, your mind recalls the all-encompassing heat of a long forgotten dragon, and long forgotten heroes.

There's only you now.

Your animal ears can't pick up any sign of Grygas beyond the roar of crackling flame, and the burning rubble of the door and its frame block sight of the tavern. If he's beyond you're going to need to reach the main room to confirm it. Flames block the way before you, but you suspect if you’re able to make it past, there will be at least some room for you to occupy given that there’s no immediate fuel source beyond.

Now, how to handle this inferno... You could endure the heat, and leap through, but that would put your clothes, and disguise at risk. You could also suppress the flames immediately in front of you with a blast of wind, but flushing air through the building would certainly lessen the amount of time it has left standing.

In the end, you must ask yourself; how much are you willing to put at risk here?

_______________________________________________________________________________

The upper floor of the tavern is thoroughly ablaze, and will soon spread its flames to the rest of the structure. Grygas is could possibly be trapped within, but to confirm, you need to access the main room of the tavern.

Elewyn
HP: 10
LP: 15
Stamina: 10
MP: 18


>Endure the heat and jump through the flame.

>Use a Stellar Gale (MP Cost: 2) to suppress the flames in front of you, at the cost of feeding the flames elsewhere in the building.

>Write in movements/actions for Elewyn

>>5423975
Blowing vast amounts of air in a burning building strikes me as an incredibly dumb move.
>Endure the heat and jump through the flame.
Get behind whatever cloak you have, then push on through the flames to the next room.
The time might be coming for losing the disguise, anyways, and if we do get Grygas out, then there's seldom a better selfless act to present to the townsfolk than literally saving someone from a burning building.

Course, if he's already dead, then we just need to figure out how to escape. Probably by going out a window.

>>5423962
A wise move on their part, but there's not much to do about it.

>>5423975
>Endure the heat and jump through the flame.
rip nurse outfit, I guess

So they've preserved their forces by sending Devan. If we had swapped parties it would've been possible to talk no jutsu, but at a huge risk of being discovered before our Devan friends can back Elewyn up. Now we deal with the Devan being a little less likely to cooperate when it comes to it, but we have much needed time provided we can wake Cyrene up.

>>5423975
Finally back. Got to love it when a long day becomes a long and depressing/mood-killing day.

>Endure the heat and jump through the flame.
Well we have a cloak for a reason. Now I wish we'd thought of briefly dropping it in the snow for the extra added protection.
Wait, is that two water containers I spy next to us? At the top right of the room and right to our left? We can at least drop our cloak in it to soak in with fresh water, it should buy us time and protection.
Depending on if there's a wall right under the water container next to Elewyn, it could also be worth tipping it over so it spill near the doorway. I doubt we'll need to use it again, and there's another one not far, and it might help make sure the fire doesn't cut us off from that doorway?
I'd consider Gale-ing some water into the main room, but I fear the concerns about the stability of the tavern would stay the same.
>Dip cloak/outfit/hood in water next to us/ at the back of the room.
>Tip water container next to us in doorway to main room to buy time?
>Stick low when breathing to lessen healing mana drain. I have a feeling we'll need it soon enough.

>>5424017
>Blowing vast amounts of air in a burning building strikes me as an incredibly dumb move.
It does seem very counterintuitive at first, but there's been studies(see attached NIST publication) and firefighting units sometimes employ forced air ventilation into a burning structure for certain scenarios. Of course, it's not apples to apples, so I wanted the pluses and minuses I gave to reflect that.

(https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=861403)

>>5424136
>rip nurse outfit, I guess
We'll see, but it's rather beat up already!

>>5424546
>Wait, is that two water containers I spy next to us? At the top right of the room and right to our left? We can at least drop our cloak in it to soak in with fresh water, it should buy us time and protection.
>I'd consider Gale-ing some water into the main room, but I fear the concerns about the stability of the tavern would stay the same.
That's certainly a sink basin that could have enough water to soak clothing (i.e. like a basin for laundry or doing dishes) but it wouldn't be enough for any extinguishing purposes in this intensity of fire.

>Finally back. Got to love it when a long day becomes a long and depressing/mood-killing day.
I've always been a fan of the saying "When it rains, it pours." for these types of unfortunate days. I do hope that things have gotten better!
>>5424017
>>5424136
>>5424546
We'll proceed ahead utilizing our clothing, soaked in the nearby water sources, to endure the heat and jump through the flame. We'll stick low to the ground once through to main room of the tavern.

>Writing! Update to be posted tomorrow around 8pm PST.

>>5424696

The walls beyond this barrier swim, teeming with ephemeral, infernal life. Potency is imbued into the shape of the tavern as its every detail is outlined amid this metamorphosis, graceful in its scorching sinew and strength. This transformation fueled by indelible moments, indelible intimacy, indelible life…

What will be borne from such a hateful end?

You move back to the small wash basin near within the kitchen. The two of them likely had their baths within it only a few hours ago. Without hesitation, you drop into the water to saturate your clothing in one of their last memories here. It won’t do much if you’re caught within the depths of a fire, but if it means protecting your clothing from combustion, then it means protecting your identity. As quickly as you submerged, you pull yourself back to the burning portal.

Lingering here would mean burning with all that is lost here. It would only add to suffering...

You leap forth. You pass through the blinding hot visage of all-consuming shades of red and orange as lashes of intense heat leave their mark upon your clothing, steaming and painful.

At the landing point inside ignoble destruction, your feet find unsteady purchase atop rubble, and you slam hard into the ash-covered floors that you helped cleaned only the other day.

Your lungs cough in the hateful black haze, but it’s a significant improvement over the heated gas you leapt through.

A great movement of broken wood clatters through the crackling tumult. “W-who’s there?” A voice, burnt to a hoarse roar comes from the direction of the tavern counter. “Ya bastards still hanging onto life?” The voice coughs bitterly as his words barely carry to you.

“Grygas.” You shout back as you crawl with staff in hand through the blackened orange aurora in the direction of voice. “Keep speaking, I’m coming to help you.”

Is he pinned down or injured?

“Why… You?” He winces with pain and confusion. His dry coughs rack his body and allow you to pinpoint his location amid the chaos. His voice finds its vigor once again. “Cyrene! Where is she?”

“I sent my companions to rescue her.” You flinch in pain as a stack of burning rubble plummets from the upstairs, burning your arm deeply. “They’re capable of saving her, trust me...”

>>5425896

Your voice is cut short as your hand unintentionally grasps the darkly cloaked body of large man, camouflaged in the blackness. The embers have burnt away the hood of the figure to reveal the battered and partially caved-in face of an unfamiliar Devan, with horns shorn short.

The realization of what’s happening here heavily dawns upon you as you stare at his deceased body.

“It was those fucking animals. They took her.” The pain in his voice only outstripped by his fury. "Our house!" He bellows in agony.

Clever… You’re all a convenient scapegoat, too easily wielded. You need to get him and yourself back outside as quickly as possible.

You push yourself to crawl faster, over this dead body and another fallen Devan until you’ve at last reached the base of the tavern counter.

The ends of the solid wood counter burn like the wicks of a double-ended candle, but where you find Grygas is largely untouched by the flames for now.

He lies flat on his stomach, affixed to the sturdy piece of wood. At first glance, you would think him largely uninjured save for the burns he's endured on his back and head. But, soon the turbid orange darkness reveals several thick nails that gruesomely pierce through his hand and foot. He’s bound to the counter as much as his hand and foot are bound to him.

“K-kiddo.” He desperately gasps the little air there is left as he looks between you and his pierced hand. “You need to get the hell out of h-“ His voice shrivels like a snuffed ember to be replaced by a dry wheeze.

“A prybar. Do you have one?” You begin to cough as you hastily try to assess any way that you might be able to free him from this fiery tomb.

He coughs and shakes his head as he weakly motions upstairs to signify its seclusion. “Cyren… Get her…Tell her”

“Tell her yourself!” You shout him down as you press your hand against the thick slab of wood. “Anything that can break this?”

“Take…too long.” He sighs as he recovers from speaking those few words. “Dad and I…built it too damn good.” He gazes sorrowfully at all that he will lose. "Cyrene..."

Behind you, the flame engulfed altar you witnessed the father and daughter praying to crashes thunderously into the ground, scattering seeds of destruction like shrapnel.

You sigh as you turn back to Grygas. "A knife." You state more than ask.

His eyes widen as he soon grasps your true meaning. His chest heaves in fear of what might come, but soon, he firmly slaps his free hand against the opposite side of the counter. He opens his mouth, but can no longer catch his breath to speak.

You quickly climb onto the counter and over his sizable form to find the sharp knife untouched by the ruin surrounding it. You take hold of the blade and gaze at what's left of the tavern. You have a few minutes at the most, but so many different outcomes may arise from how these precious minutes are spent.

>>5425903

Cutting his hand and foot free from the nails will cause significant damage, but you can be quick about it. As you were able to locate him without feeding the flames, there's enough left in this building that you could take the time to heal his wounds afterward. But, this would almost certainly come at the cost of revealing that you are not the human he thinks you are.

Otherwise, you will have to make due with staunching the bleeding through mundane means and hoping he has the strength to make it out on his own. Regardless of your choice, it's up to you, and you alone.
_______________________________________________________________________________

The entirety of the tavern will soon be consumed, and Grygas along with it unless you act to free him.

Elewyn
HP: 9
LP: 15
Stamina: 8
MP: 18


>Write in movements/actions for Elewyn

>>5425907
The disguise is NOT as important as a life.
I am, however, still considering some kind of cloth leverage. Get a long piece of cloth under the hand and foot and pull with a much better angle than Grygas can.

I am also open to grabbing a piece of debris as a shield and blasting the pair of them with Gale through one side of the building to get out.

If those are out of the picture
>Get the knife and the healing out.

>>5425907
I'm unfortunately reminded of our beginnings in Impel, of a mother and child dead because we couldn't risk a disguise and failed a roll. Not doing that again, thank you very much!

The situation with the Devan will complicate our reveal, much like it just torpedoed my hopes of having the villagers and the Devan fighting Sanctuary in cooperation. Still, we can salvage this well enough, I reckon.

We're not forced to reveal ourselves to him just yet. Let's just say we know magic and leave it at that. The fact that we're an Elin will probably have to come in later, but the past few days and the fact we'll have saved him and, almost more importantly for Grygas, his daughter should buy us a little window to explain ourselves while he's busy suffering from cognitive dissonance or something.
>>5426040
So you want us to us the knife to widen the wounds a bit and pull the hand and foot away instead of the nail? I could see that working and causing relatively minor damage, to be repaired by a heal or two. Unfortunately, the knife probably can't cut through the nail, and I don't think bolt-cutters are commonly found in taverns. I don't even think bolt-cutters are a thing yet!
Thankfully, our last action affords us all the time we should need to help him out and heal him away from any more prying eyes.


Now for some more theoretical planning!
The Devans being used for hostile action has turned the population against them, but perhaps it can be salvaged. It could be hard, but we could liken the hostile Devans to those villagers who mysteriously started supporting Sanctuary, once again pointing the villagers to them as the source of everything.
We may not even need to do that, as we could exploit this new hostility. Directing a human mob against the Devan towards the harbor could perhaps serve our designs and allow us to discover the secondary holding location Hraska told us about. (if that was the name of the one who's hand we had to cut off due to gangrene.)
Of course, this newly found human hostility could perhaps be used by our Devan allies to convince their stronger brethren to stop associating with Sanctuary. This one is more of a long shot, but could prove possible if things go a certain way.

>>5426072
Hey, I'm not the one who pulled out the knife, Elewyn's already got the idea.

>>5426040
>>5426072
Thank you for your votes! I think the following synthesis will work to combine your tactics:

Unfortunately, we'll have to initiate our rescue of Grygas with some cutting his hand and foot but then use cloth leverage to pull free the limbs and minimize the overall knife work we'll need. Firm support to follow this with healing (creative write-in will lead only to one Healing Light being needed: MP Cost: 6, no need to roll.)

With the use of magic out of the way, we'll definitely use whatever we must to make sure we get out of here, and quickly. Nice!

The result of this party split soon to come.

>Writing! Update at the usual time tomorrow, 8pm PST

>>5426479

A far better tool than you had at your disposal when you were cutting favor with the injured Devan, but remarkably, wielded under more drastic circumstances.

It’s decided then. Or rather, your hand has been forced. With your thoughts settled, you leap back over Grygas’ immobilized bulk and turn to face your first target.

There’s disbelief in his eyes as you confidently maintain the sizable knife between your body and his hand. His speechless gaze begs many questions that there’s hardly the air to voice even if there were the time. The disbelief fades from his eyes. He fails to hold your gaze and panicked anticipation flickers in his eyes as strongly as the surrounding hellfire. His body shakes, but again, he voices nothing of his dread.

Although he understands the necessity of the suffering to come, his body begs him to retreat from it.

You take but a moment to cut several messy pieces of cloth from the cloak of one of the Devan that Grygas slayed. One, upon folding it to an appropriate size, you firmly position between his receptive teeth. The other you cinch tightly around his wrist to restrict the flow of blood into the fine vessels.

Once your preparation is finished, you rest the tip of the blade between ruptured skin and the iron of thick nail. “I’ll be quick. Scream if you need, but don’t let go of that cloth.”
Grygas gives a single nod before pounding his free fist upon the counter once to signal you to begin.

A tendinous crunch and thick dribble of blood falling on your own hand briefly precede the agonized and muffled shout. His large torso heaves with rapid breaths as you break open the hard palate of the back of his hand.

While you’re cutting, a cache of liquor bottles ruptures violently as if in sympathetic response of their owner. Glass shards and a blue cloud of intense flame fan out. You protect most of your body by ducking behind the counter but leave a hand to cover the eyes and nose of the human.

The burning wave of glass shrapnel dig like heated needle in the back of your own hand, a reminder to refocus on your current task. Your blood messily mixes with his own as you cut, separate, and widen the wounded flesh of his mighty hand. Finally, you begin to see give.

With side burnt and embedded with glass, Grygas woozily grinds his free knuckles against the hard wood while you wearily pull yourself onto the counter. Using the force of your whole body with yet another cloth leveraged over his mangled hand, you abruptly pull his free with a dull squelch. You fall back onto your rear as his great limb slams back onto the counter.

>>5427488

“Pull yourself together…” Coughing, you watch as the pain and asphyxiation takes its toll on his body. His heads rests flat, drooling against counter and once violent waves in his chest have subsided to faint ripples.

Passing through choking black haze to repeat the procedure, a slab of burning rubble slams onto your shoulder, painfully knocking your down, and dispersing flames across the room like oil droplets on water. Your body shakes with heavy coughs as streaks of polluted tears and mucus leak forth. A futile effort by your body to remove the soot from your eyes and nose.

As your limbs falter in their attempt to push you from the ground, the pale shadow envelops your staff once more.

“No.” You whisper. “That will only make things worse…again.”

You rise unsteadily, suppressing the shadow, and half blinded turn to finish the task. The cutting is easier through the soft underside of his foot, but bleeds more heavily than its counterpart. After another straining pull, you’re able to free the entirety of his body.

Sensing his freedom, Grygas weakly raises his hand to his face as if suddenly disrupted from a deep sleep. His eyes dizzily look upon the punctures and slices in his meaty palm, almost incapable of registering the gory sight in front of him. His uninjured hand presses against the counter to lift his newly freed body upward.

If he’s struggling to simply rise, there’s no chance that you’ll be able to get him out of this inferno. With little other choice, you grasp his mangled hand and focus your magic into his body.

The bright white light of your healing cuts easily through the smoke and reflects in his bloodshot and aghast eyes. Ignoring his shock, you move your grasp to his injured foot while still channeling your magic and largely repair the damage done to him tonight.

There will assuredly still be pain, but he will have the chance to be alive to experience that pain.

File: imp177.jpg (381 KB, 1920x1080)

381 KB JPG

>>5427500

“Get up, you huge oaf. Your voice reflecting the hoarse whisper that his carried when you first found him. With considerable effort from your weakening body, you pull his heavy body onto the floor with a large, abrupt thud. Following it to the ground, you kneel close to his ear, knowing that your voice won't carry anymore. "It's only a few feet now. You must get up!"

The healing has restored some of his vigor as he's now able to sit up, but he still can't find the strength to rise to his feet.

"And what of your promise?!" You angrily chide him as he huffs in the air hanging low to the ground. "Who's going to protect Cyrene if you allow yourself to die here??"

Harsh words, but you feel vindicated as sudden realization proceeds a wave of adrenaline surging into his body. With a pained and coarse shout of resistance, he rises to his feet with trickles of blood and spittle dripping from his body.

The evolved spiteful beast that his house has become responds to his revival and resounding cracks warn of the structural pieces of thick wood soon to be consumed.

"The entrance is directly ahead!" After rising as well, you guide him through the blinding layer of blackness with only caustic flames to light your way, and at the cost of the burns they inflict. "We need to get past the burning rubble."

Without needing any prompt from you, Grygas takes hold of a one of his heavy tables in his arms and wields it.

"RHAHHHHH!" With a desperate battle cry, he blindly charges forth with the table as a battering ram and crashes through the flaming barrier with you at his heels and staff firmly in hand.

You're not sure when you lost your footing, but the forgotten and biting cold greets you once again as you and Grygas hack forth dark lungfuls of ash onto the muddied ground.

"Cyrene!!" His wracked voice echoes as you turn onto your back to stare up to the blackened and corrupted sky.

Your hand reaches up to the top of your head as you hear footsteps approaching. Fortunately, the band of cloth yet remains around your animal ears.

The face of one of the townspeople appears in between your view of the sullied dawn. "Little girl...how did you save him?"

You feel your cracked lips push together before you take in a bitter lungful of winter air as more figures come to surround you.

_____________________________________________________________________

>Rely on Grygas to corroborate your story, and tell them that you only awoke Grygas, and that he's the one that saved you both.

>Tell the townspeople a vague truth that he was trapped and once freed he was able to save you both. Rely on Grygas to corroborate this story.

>Write in.

>>5427514
>Deflect and demand to see Cyrene
>Later on, let Grygas tell the story however he wants
Revealing the non-human bits might help with the whole Devan issue, we need to prioritize the urgency of showing everyone that the Sanctuary is not playing nice anymore.

>>5427514
>>5427517
Support deflecting and putting this off until later, though we should coordinate a story with Grygas beforehand. Hopefully that discussion about what just happened goes somewhat well...

Also, I'm not sure how revealing our non-human aspect, if that's what you mean, will help with the Devan problem. If anything, it makes us more suspicious. You've seen how aggressive the villagers were against the Devan. There's plenty of anti non-human xenophobia to go around. Our nature getting out would cause people to regard us as untrustworthy, not look favorably at the Devan. Not the other way around.
We can maybe make the argument that some Devans were convinced to join Sanctuary just like some villagers were, and paint it as mind control. Right now I'm worried about the villager mob forming and heading towards the barracks. That is pretty much the worst case scenario, because Sanctuary just gets to stand back and watch us wipe each other out. We must avoid that at all costs, so let's hope Grygas can tell they were acting with Sanctuary backing.
I'm confident he's got a lot of pull within the "non-infected" villager faction, those that ate at the tavern and knew Sanctuary was acting weird trying to shut him down. Let's see how this all pans out...

>>5427891
Okay, I've had a bit more time to think.

Right now, I'm thinking of an.....embellished summary of the Sanctuary to get the villagers to come around.
>Where do you think the rations come from?
>The Devans are being worked to the death or sent on suicide missions like this
>They bring back the corpses and work a little black magic
>Presto, you're eating devan flesh.
>Eat enough of that stuff, and they can control you as easily as the devan
What do you think?

>>5427514
Deflect, and bail to find our comrades.
Find Cyrene, reunite her with Grygas, and then we can take a shot at getting the mob on our side.

Only thing is, I'm afraid that said angry mob is forming right now, in the heat of the moment, and if we don't stick around to point it somewhere else, it's going straight at the Devan barracks.
And if we wait, that gives time to Sanctuary to use whatever influence in the town they have to push their narrative.

First things first, tho, Find Cyrene.
Then, we can try to point the mob somewhere so that Sanctuary gets distracted, while we use them burning someplace important to sanctuary down (the docks, maybe?) to spec ops in and go after the captives.

Will the villagers probably get their faces pounded in by flesh monsters? Probably. But, as long as we get our people to the ship, we're clean away.

>>5427517
>>5427891
>>5428269
We have strong support to deflect the question, and instead demand to see Cyrene, Grygas, (and our companions) first before discussing anything further to the surrounding villagers. A quick moment to regroup and lick our wounds before dealing with any sort of reaction to what happened, which we will soon see what comes of this...

>Writing!

Thank you for the votes and theorizing! I'm excited to get the next update out, so I'm going to take a handful of hours to post it tonight, just FYI. I'm aiming around 10pm PST!

>>5428437

Murmurs grow beyond the looming figure. Their voices number several times those that had gathered when you first approached the tavern, alight in its transformation.

Transfixed they reciprocate to the immolation as you would the last words of a dying friend.

In that moment, what remains of its wooden carapace collapses under its own weight as the two floors bifurcate and reunite with a great torrent of heat, flame, and smoke billowing in all direction. The tavern’s dying breath is followed by a great wailing of outrage. The bystanders respond with their growing lamentation and vehemence.

The metamorphosis is complete. But you must get ahead of whatever spiteful creature will emerge from the cocoon of ashes.

“I…” You take a moment to blink deeply, as if in confusion, and look between the figure and the burning building. “I-I can’t think very well right now. I just want to get away from it…”

You make a point to rise with apprehensive flourishes of your frame between shaking with a fearful rigidity. “C-Cyrene? Where is she? Is she okay?”

The townsperson nods, but solemnly. “She’s there with the youngins’ that saved her.” He then points to the far side of the crowd where several figures encircle a small scene.

Your thoughts race to pull ahead of the Sanctuary’s desired outcome.

If your companions were able to retrieve her, it certainly means that it wasn’t a priority of the Sanctuary to capture her. The act of sending Devan slaves ensures that outrage is fostered regardless of if she was taken or saved. The cost of saving the father and daughter was intended to be that of being forced into carrying out the Sanctuary’s subterfuge. The humans will rally to turn against the Devan, and both will be weaker for it. That was their goal here. Your hand was forced, but nonetheless you’ve learned something important.

If they were willing to let Cyrene leave their grasp so easily, the Sanctuary isn’t aware of Thera-Yuugoth’s desire for a womb.

>>5428779

You nod stiffly and move through the crowd following a frenzied Grygas trying to reunite with his daughter.

“Poor girl. Let her catch her breath.”

“It’s Gryg' I’m worried about. Lost his home and nearly lost his only child.”

“I’ve been saying my whole life that nothing good would ever come from having those putrid demons nearby. Haven’t I been saying it? Haven’t I?!”

“It’s long past time we string ‘em up!”

Your tattered shoes sink into the slurry of mud and meltwater, and you nearly lose one as you the ground pulls your advance back. Eventually, you’re able to catch up with Grygas who already holds his bundled daughter in his arms. Cyrene’s body dangles loosely in his arms, with her brown hair drooping toward the ground as well. Within the hair, you spot a clump of dried blood behind her ear.

“Did they hurt her?” He barks at Luca after receiving the young girl.

“They struck her head at some point, probably so that she wouldn’t fight back.” Luca reports and continues quickly. “There’s also a fair bit of bruising from rough handling, but she’ll assuredly live, if with a bit of pain for a few days.”

Grygas inspects Cyrene’s unconscious body to confirm his words before hugging her tightly to his body. “I never felt fear like when I couldn’t stop them from taking her. I had nothing but anger when I saw the house burning around me. But now…” He tearfully looks down at the pinched face of his child. “I’m just… I won’t ever let it happen again, kiddo.” He presses his forehead against hers.

Both Luca and a clearly injured Seo gaze upon the father and daughter with satisfaction subtly clouded by some deeper emotions.

>>5428783

Grygas coughs briefly and wipes his eyes before turning back to Luca and grabbing his shoulder. “I owe ya, lad. Thank you. I don’t know how I’ll make it up to you, but I swear I will.”

Luca bashfully turns his gaze toward Seo. “It’s nothing, and… I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Seo tenses up in surprise as Grygas approaches. “Like he said, it was nothing…”

“Sena, right?” Grygas stops as he spots the makeshift bandages cover her wounds. “Ah. I owe ya a debt for you putting your life on the line.”

Guilt falls upon Seo's face, but you step forward and interrupt as the growing rancor among the villagers indicate that time is short. “We should get Cyrene out of the cold...” Your gaze moves between the three of them and the townspeople. “It's not good for her to be out here...”

~

A elderly townperson allowed you all to occupy his small hovel as he remains outside with the other villagers to discuss "what must be done." With the excuse of better dressing Seo's heavy wounds, you're able to provide light healing in the privacy of a larder. What remains of her injuries you dress the best you can.

"Did you..." Seo looks over your tattered and burnt clothing before shaking her head. "You really ought to keep in mind how strange it is for young girl to appear as if she's been dropped into a furnace...repeatedly."

"It fits the scene." You whisper flatly. "Most eyes rather stare at that burning husk and grow alight from it..."

Angered shouts can be heard from outside as you finish tending to her wounds.

"It's worse than that." Seo's eyes darken as she replaces her clothing. "Salted fish was found on the bodies of those...things we slayed." She sighs angrily, having put together the plan that the Sanctuary was carrying out here. "We were played as pawns. They're already blaming those creatures for stealing food. ."

Feed animosity by starving its body. A long and careful strategy now bearing yet more fruit, and Seo knows far more about the strategist than she's yet told you.

"Planted on them to be found." You keep your voice low as you keep your eyes affixed on Seo. "Far more than you would expect a group of fanatics to conjure on their own, wouldn't you agree?"

Her eyes stare only ahead as she finishes replacing the last of her armor.. "I suppose... but I haven't the slightest idea what you're implying nor do we have the time for such games."

You sense an unsteady hope within her that the Fleshepherd Enais isn't the Enais that Seo knows. Seo knows that you don't have the liberty of time to linger and carefully probe every detail of their potential connection. So if you decide that there's enough necessity to ask, you'll need to do so without any pretense. But will that be enough to make her speak on the subject?

>Return to the others to discuss what can be done about the villagers.

>Press the question and ask Seo to come clean about what she knows about "Enais."

>Write in.

>>5428815
>Return to the others to discuss what can be done about the villagers.
any other ideas on how else to spin it for the Devan? They're not allowed fire, that's all I got.

>>5428815
>>Return to the others to discuss what can be done about the villagers.
>>5428848
>>5427949
Honestly, that little summary could work, I think. There's a decision to be taken on whether we risk losing control of the mob/ be branded as sympathizers by moving them away from the Devan and onto Sanctuary, or if we stay the course, but maybe try and guide them to someplace we want that isn't the barracks. By that I mean the harbor. It would make sense for the Devan to hide fish there, it's got a Devan presence, and knocking those guys down a peg could cause them to be more receptive to Nento talking about them detaching from Sanctuary.
A successful mob on the port would prevent, at least temporarily, the M.A.D. scenario Sanctuary is counting on, and could clear the area for our Vampyr support ahead of time, provide us with a more tangible link between the Devan and Sanctuary to persuade the mob of the bigger threat, turn up a food stockpile, or even better, allow us to find and lead the mob toward the secondary holding location we've been told about by Hraska.

If that happens, and we can make sure to disguise the scene a little and get there first, we can provide the mob with a narrative group of harmless, traumatized little /human/ girls kidnapped by Sanctuary, and at that point we'll have one hell of a blunt instrument to wield against them, while letting the Devans breathe and reconsider.

It's pretty much all still up in the air, but at this juncture I'm proposing an alternate plan to say that the Devan are working with Sanctuary, making no mention of whether or not it's willing, the direct the crow to the harbor instead of the barracks, hoping this nets us something good and prevents both groups from doing too much damage to each other, which isn't a guarantee considering that the harbor would have the strongest Devans. But it would certainly be something unexpected for Sanctuary, and could do some real damage to them while furthering our cause.


I'll also say, QM, that the way this is going, allowing us to essentially play chess (at least a weird meaty version of it) against Sanctuary, making long term plans and trying to outsmart the opposition has been really fun for me! I hope the official end of this combat section brings back the other anons, though, I think we've lost a couple, and the more people to make suggestions, the better at this point!

>>5429044
Actually, a little modification with the planted fish evidence
>Where do you think the rations come from?
>The Devans are being forced to fish to death. Look at them, do they look like they've eaten the fish?
>They bring back the corpses and work a little black magic
>Presto, you're eating devan flesh.
>Eat enough of that stuff, and they can control you as easily as the devan

Alternatively

>The Sanctuary are raising a pack of monsters in their tower.
>The Devan are forced to fish to death feeding them, or get made into rations to feed to you.
>Eat enough of that stuff, and they can control you as easily as the devan

>>5428848
>>5429044
We'll keep focused on the tense situation with the villagers outside, while developing a plausible narrative that might push the crowd in a direction of our choosing.

I'll pull together the main strategies that that have been discussed over the last few updates and work them into some sort of proposal in the story (suggested by a 3rd party, or otherwise thought by Elewyn.) At the same time, we'll be able to see how the growing mob desires to react to the recent events, and therefore, how much redirection they'll need toward those potential strategies.

Further redirection comes at additional risk, of course.

>>5429044
>I'll also say, QM, that the way this is going, allowing us to essentially play chess (at least a weird meaty version of it) against Sanctuary, making long term plans and trying to outsmart the opposition has been really fun for me! I hope the official end of this combat section brings back the other anons, though, I think we've lost a couple, and the more people to make suggestions, the better at this point!

It makes me very glad to know that you're enjoying this current phase of the story. It's also been very fun to see strategies that I hadn't thought of brought up, and think about the potential impacts that they would have on so many different things (both short term and long term...) Anyway, combat does sometimes create a little bit of a dropoff, or it could be other coincidental reasons. Regardless, I want you guys to enjoy this quest at your own pace, so no hard feelings at all! Thank you and all the others for your votes, theorizing, or plain readership!

>Writing, and you know what, another update coming tonight around 10pm PST!

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>>5429318

Seo is correct in her allusion. Spending precious seconds questioning her further may prevent you from getting some handle of the heated hostility that has been borne from the Sanctuary’s latest actions. However, you simply cannot leave her to think her idle hope will not be without ramification.

“You’re correct. The time to play with such questions has slipped out of my hands.” You shake your head solemnly as you step away from the young human. “Only know there will be consequences for what we do or fail to do here. Consequences for us, consequences for those outside frantically trying to make sense of their suffering, and surely consequences for all beyond this frozen little town.”

There’s no time to permit her any type of quip, so without another word you march into the dusty main room of the cold hovel. Grygas has laid Cyrene onto a pile of blankets strewn quickly over a long wooden table, and watches over her much as Luca did with Izurin. As you pass the younger human, you detect anxious energy coursing through his large frame, clearly thinking of his own ward that he left in Mishenne’s care.

After cleaning the wound that the Devan left on his daughter’s head and ensuring her warmth, Grygas is left with little other than to brood nosily with heavy sighs and anxious tugs of his beard.

You take a moment to gaze out a large crack in the shoddy door and witness the growing unrest manifest in a gathering of makeshift weapons and torches.

There's little time to act. You need to corroborate a story with Grygas, and learn how best the incensed villagers may be handled.

You quickly pull away from the sight and stop at Grygas' side and instead watch the deep breaths the child takes reflected in her rising and sinking stomach. “I’m more than pleased to see you both reunited. That said, to you as her father, the descendant of those that built that home, and for all the memories you made within it, I’m sincerely sorry that you had to lose it.”

His eyes tighten shut as he lets out a low grunt of anger but says nothing to your words.

“I’m certain that you wish you could dole punishment to those responsible.” You turn to face the rotting wooden door and the cacophony of voices beyond. “Those neighbors of yours certainly feel the same.”

“You don’t know.” His quiet words sharp with spite. “There were six of those creatures. Sure as hell tried, but I couldn’t fight them all. Then to be fucking nailed to your own burning home as you have to watch your daughter…” His face twitches as both his fists clench. “You don’t know.”

To helplessly watch those you care about die in front of you… Again, and again, and again. Unfortunately, you know all too well, but there wasn’t anyone to reunite you in the end.

>>5429548

“I don’t.” You falsely assent to not trivialize his pain. “I don’t have a child. I don’t know how it is to have that deep drive to do all that you can to protect them.” You rest the back of your hand against Cyrene’s cheek. “But know that I want to bring ruin to those truly for what she has endured, and stop this sort of suffering they propagate” The young girls nose twitches, much as her father’s did, as her rest is disturbed.You pull away your hand and turn to face Grygas. “All those Devan that carried out the act have been killed. But those responsible for setting them to their tasks yet remain out there, and you know well enough that it wasn’t the Devan that organized this act.”

“I don’t know a whole lot of important things.” He raises his large hand to look upon. “This hand had no less than six nails in it. My foot the same. I felt each one. But now, you look at them, you’d think I’d burnt it at the most.” He rests it near his daughter, pressing forward to push you back. “I don’t know how the hell you did what you did, but I know it wasn’t natural. I know that you’ve been hiding something from both us this whole time, and I can’t risk associating with you any longer.” He tries to hold his gaze against yours, but turns away with a weary sigh. “I, I’m not going to say anything but what happened in there, you don’t have to worry about that. But I ask that you leave us alone and now.”

“Please, hear her out.” Seo approaches from across the small room and stops with arms crossed near Grygas. “We wouldn’t have even thought to approach the tavern had…Elly not asked us to do so.”

Grygas opens his mouth in hasty retort, but the sight of Seo’s visible bandages gives him the chance to pause and reflect upon her words. “Fine, I’ll listen…” He finally relents. “I’ll listen, but I’m not promising anything at all.”

You nod your thanks to your companion before quickly speaking. “The Sanctuary is the responsible party here, but the Devan will be the ones to take the blame.” You motion to the door and the fervent crowd beyond. “Where will they target?”

“The Sanctuary?” Grygas’ eyes widen before he rubs the space between them. “That’s a hell of a claim you got there, but...” He broods upon your words, likely reflecting upon his last encounter with them. He lets out a tense breath before continuing. “Them outside will go after that barrack the Devan are kept within the woods, and probably that place they got by the docks too… Sanctuary.” He mutters the last word under his breath.

>>5429554

“Would they be willing to hear our side of the events?” Luca stops near a large crack in the door to peer outside. “Would they think the Sanctuary responsible for what was done to you?”

Grygas grunts before scratching the back of his head. “Most of them never had problems with them lot like I did. But we’ve sure as hell never liked having the Devan nearby since way before I was even born.” He shakes his head. “I’m still wanting to let them do what they’re going to do. Maybe join them to kick down some doors and see what they’re really up to with that fish they got.”

“Don’t be so dumb!” A new voice joins the conversation from behind Grygas. Cyrene sits up on the table wincing slightly. “Elly already told you it was those cloaked idiots responsible, so why are you trying to blame the Devan?!” Her spirited voice cutting into once solemn room as she looks between the four of you.

“Listen, kiddo.” Grygas tries to take a soothing approach. “You need to take it easy and let us deal with-“

“No!” She shoots back immediately. “Not when you keep going on about blaming the Devan. You should know better! You remember how those Sanctuary people were talking to us. This is a trick. We need to go out there to tell them what they've been up to. We need to tell them that they’re being idiots too and stop them.”

“Hey!” Grygas’ voice reimbued with vigor you thought lost. “That’s no way to speak to me regardless of what you think, and don’t think you can stop a mob just because you feel like you’re right. You're just going to get yourself hurt! They won't give a damn that you're a little girl.”

>>5429582

The two extremes of solution argued by father and daughter. It’s unacceptable to allow the villagers to attack the Devan indiscriminately, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to simply stop them in their tracks by simply pleading for them to stop. So now the question remains on how to redirect that flow of anger to your advantage?

Between the carefully controlled exposure the villagers have with the Sanctuary, and the complete lack of knowledge those in this era have of magic, it's impossible that they will accept the truth about the Sanctuary without concrete proof. But perhaps they can be goaded into searching for that proof? If the mob is given reason to be directed to the tower, then it will counter the Sanctuary's goal with this heinous act.

Yet, anti-human sentiment is deeply rooted and therefore that much more difficult to counter. The sight of them outside is plain evidence for this fact. The Sanctuary was correct in counting on this reaction, so perhaps a complete reversal of their plan is too much of a risk. Add that to the suffering this famine has brought them for the past months, and trying to come completely between the target of their ire could put you instead in their sight.

For those that remain yet trapped and for the sake of all that you hope to accomplish here, you need to formulate the best way to counter this latest move.

You raise your hand to stop their spat. “You both bring up salient arguments, but for the sake of the time we barely have, I'll go ahead and propose what I have in mind for those outside."

With arms crossed, you hastily think of all the factors at play, and settle upon your countermove.

>Write in.

Time for galaxy brain false flag move.
Reveal our ears, claim we were playing the village for a pack of fools on the behalf of Sanctuary, and loudly say we’ll be at their tower, while mocking them relentlessly. Then Gust outta here and while the mob is storming the tower, head for the sewers in the chaos, dragging along Misha and Izurin to bust out the prisoners.

Please note this is not a serious proposition, and is more likely to have us blacklisted by the village.

>>5429588
For sure, inspect the unburned Devan to see how emaciated they are. It'll be a lot easier to sell if they look worse than the villagers.

Here's my third take
>Elewyn had been trying to find where the rations were coming from, which led to the Barracks, where the Devan are dying of cold, hunger, and sickness. The corpses were being carried off to the village, but what I saw was horrible. Devan go in, rations come out. They caught me there.
>It was warm in there. WARM. The Sanctuary aren't cold, they aren't hungry, and they bribed me with fruit to stay quiet. When that didn't work, they broke my arm. I don't know what they would've done if my friends didn't arrive.
>They've gotta be hoarding the fish. I bet it's in [building]. I don't know what they do with all the fish, but it's not going to the Devan. They only get enough to die a cold death.

>>5429588
I'm pretty sure 'you've been eating devan meat this whole time' is the amount of Sanctuary-badmouthing that Elewyn can afford to mouth, since it doesn't require any magic to be going on, but it also doesn't absolve the devan, so that needs its own plan.
so we need to look at what the humans 'know' to modulate what argument to make to them. they 'know':
>there are two devan barracks
there are more devan-related sites but I doubt we can get the townsfolk to raid somewhere that we don't know the location of ourselves
>devan have better food
on some level some of them are just hangry to steal food from the devan. famine does that to people. unless we can convince them Sanctuary also has been holding out on them, I don't think we can do anything about this.
>a group of devan attacked the tavern
>devan are nonhuman and therefore bad
these two points are non-negotiable.
>devan work for the Sanctuary?
this is the point that I think we have to work with to redirect them to the tower. I don't know how to bring it up in an organic way, though.
perhaps claim 'Elly' has seen/heard things about the Sanctuary's plans, including seeing firsthand how inhuman the enforcers are, while doing medical work. we can't exonerate the devan this way, but we can peg the Sanctuary as the responsible party and put them in the shitter if we're lucky.

the previous 'attack on the clinic' is one possible way to go, since that's recent and the scene was full of evidence towards something very nonhuman. if any townsfolk saw that, we have an easy route. if we get lucky and the mob catches an enforcer with visible mutation then the Sanctuary also get pushed into the 'nonhuman' category. perhaps bring up how they, like the devan, refuse to show their faces around town.
altogether this is pretty imperfect, but it's something at least

>>5429685
I’d be for standing up, addressing the mob, and directing them at really any sanctuary target, the clinic is definitely a good idea.

I don’t think it was the goal for Sanctuary to actually kick off a race riot, not yet anyways. If we weren’t there, Barkeep wouldn’t have made it out of the tavern with the ability to point at the devan, and the devan weren’t supposed to get caught with Cyrene, it was more of a case of ‘this is what we have on hand’ for muscle that can blend in decently.

Really, as long as the mob does Something, and doesn’t dissipate, I’d call it useful.

>>5429588
Huh, I didn't realize you said tonight instead of the usual next day.

So we know we're messing with the mob's direction, we're just torn between directing them to the Devans in the harbor or trying to redirect them to a Sanctuary location. More useful result, but riskier to implement.

>>5429596
You know, if we didn't have an unknown number of Elins located somewhere in town, and the whole godling business to care about, I might have actually tried to make something like this work. Painting yourself as the ideal enemy to goad the opposition into doing what you want can be a valid tactic, just not within the current situation. But it's good to keep in mind!

>>5429951
Directing the mob to the clinic could have been nice, but I fear the death of the good doctor has put an end to the more overt fraction of the bad things going on in there. What's left is Sanctuary trying to help the ailing. Not great propaganda material.

I guess it's worth going with "the Devans are working with Sanctuary to take all your fish and feed you corpse meat"? Have Luca or Seo talk about the merchants trading with people from here for fish. There's no way a merchant wouldn't recognize a Devan, after all, so they must have human allies! And who more suspicious than the group of outsiders who seems so adamant about people not eating anything but their weird meat? No need to make up something about controlling the villagers, I'm sure they'll come up with plenty of reasons as to why this is a bad thing. Let their fears work for us, let their mind do the work. I still say our best bet is to lead them to the harbor. Even better would be to forewarn the Devans there so they can get away, hopefully leading a mob still thirsty for a fight to find the fish and some Sanctuary meddling. Then we redirect them to the tower.

There's also the fact that it's still early, and that the mob isn't as big as it could be since, it's just those that came to see the fire. A trip through the village and to the harbor could see our mob grow in size and confidence. All the better to strike a big hit against Sanctuary while a large chunk of their manpower is away.

>>5429968
>Huh, I didn't realize you said tonight instead of the usual next day.
Sorry about that! I would normally be able to highlight such messages with bold text, but the whole fiasco with the range ban means that I can't utilize OP text edits.

Wow, there's a lot of creative ideas here to sort through and synthesize a concrete plan from where they overlap.

>>5429596
Creative move to sacrifice our own (false) image to create a tangible avatar for the townspeople's suffering/hatred and associate with the Sanctuary. (But noted that it's "not a serious proposition.")
>>5429683
Establishing the facts of the Devan's shared suffering/starvation to instill doubt about their guilt which can be potentially redirected toward the Sanctuary with careful narrative.
>>5429685
Build upon the most tangible thoughts that the townspeople will carry in their agitated state and lean into it by pointing out the connection that exists between the Devan and the Sanctuary, and potentially any further more damning actions witnessed by townspeople.
>>5429951
Further support for directing the mob at a Sanctuary target, potentially at the Clinic.
>>5429968
Establishing doubt through concrete items such as the strange rations and testimony from Luca/Seo about their encounter with the fish merchant on the road and what he said who he traded with. Taking care not to delve too deep in the true nature of the Sanctuary, and instead allow the townspeople's fear to run its course. Direct them to the harbor.


Alright! Of those serious propositions, there is plenty to synthesize into one cohesive plan. Using the reasons outlined above as our rhetoric, we will attempt to steer the mob primarily to the harbor barracks, and those that still wish to attack the forest barracks, we will attempt to divert to clinic first to investigate there first, and allow us the opportunity to give warning to those Devan.

We'll see how the crowd develops as the tainted dawn breaks...

>Writing! Update to be posted tomorrow around the usual 8pm PST.

So, one thing I’ve been thinking about which is not terribly relevant to the immediate problem, but something for the future, is how to pay our companions back.

Money or gold is kinda right out, as they’re all nobles of one stripe or another, and that’s also a little beyond our means.

I was thinking a choice of a favor, a physical gift, or knowledge.

Favor could be Healing or some task suited for us. Obviously some limits, like no assassinations or things that conflict with our own interests, but at the same time this could be handed down to whatever descendants they might have, or not. Just note you can’t call in the favor if Elewyn is dead, but she’s been alive a while.

A Gift would need to be something valuable, but there’s probably no end of magical artifacts stashed in the city of Por Elinu, whose owners are dead or gone. Obviously would be a bit of a mystery box, because we aren’t taking them with us to pick out exactly what they want, but they can trust us to get something suited for them.

Knowledge can be a lot of things, but this could be anything from Elewyn’s abbreviated history of the human kingdoms, to some of the more interesting books on alchemy from the library, to the locations of a few of the more hidden tombs or sunken cities that have valuable stuff in which we don’t care about someone else looting.

Anyone else got some ideas about it?

>>5430771
Healing is already quite plenty. Reattaching limbs is probably not something that can be done after a few days, but there's probably a lot she can do to make scars less visible and defects more functional. That's very valuable for politics for even a single job.

As for knowledge, there's definitely a lot Luca will want to know, and probably a lot Misha will ask about. Now that the reality of magic is in front of her, even Seo might take an interest in old history.

>>5430771
>>5430782
>So, one thing I’ve been thinking about which is not terribly relevant to the immediate problem, but something for the future, is how to pay our companions back.

>I was thinking a choice of a favor, a physical gift, or knowledge.

>As for knowledge, there's definitely a lot Luca will want to know, and probably a lot Misha will ask about. Now that the reality of magic is in front of her, even Seo might take an interest in old history.

I've always been a proponent of including lighter elements to balance (and contextualize) the heavy, and Elewyn taking the time, for her own reasons, to provide a token of appreciation/assistance to her companions sounds very much in line with this. There has already been some explicitly stated precedent of this with Philia and Yuna, so it's not out of Elewyn's character to do so, ultimately if the recipient is both willing and able.

There will be time to think on the specifics of gifts, but keeping to Elewyn's assets (not coin!) is always a good idea. It might also be good to include the responsibilities/concerns that might await certain companions after all this is said and done.

>>5430212

Some things came up in the last few hours, so the post will be delayed by a full hour. Thanks for your understanding!

>>5430212

“Much the same as a coursing river…” You carefully draw ash-coated strands of hair in front your face as you disrupt the silent anticipation. “You cannot reverse the will of such a mob without being consumed by it. Therefore…” You open your eyes to the four humans.

All present carefully hang on your next words. In their eyes, in their fleeting gazes, they all carry a distinct aspect of how they’ve come to view you after only a few short days. Objectively only the sight of a young girl, small for her supposed age, tattered, burnt, and bruised all the same for the viewing. But the unassuming is uniquely transformed. Magnified, distorted, twisted perspectives reflect clearly for you to witness, and yet… They all wait on your words. Your words.

They’ve learned not to be so easily deceived by appearances, but their lessons have only begun. Others aren't so lucky.

“I’ll redirect them.” You finish simply and begin unrolling the singed sleeves of your blouse. “As many as I can, anyway…” You carefully position what remains of your coat on your body as to not tear what remains of it.

“T-that’s easier said than done!” Luca, the first to speak steps toward you. “I was more than willing to save this girl, but I don’t want my actions to be merely part of the Sanctuary’s plan.” His hands heavily punctuate his words. “How are you alone going to change their minds posing as a little girl or… anything else?”

You allow the air to remain silent for a moment to remind them the crowd is reaching their tipping point. “I’ll allow them to make up their own minds. Just as you have before to help me.” You watch the irritation grow in him before continuing. “Yet don’t blame yourself for what’s happening. If we had not done what we did, the outcome would likely be the same. Horns don’t burn so easily.” You place a finger at each temple. “Worry instead about the things we still can change.”

“There’s no way that I would’ve gone down without a fight.” Grygas mutters to confirm your claim. “Not with what they did.” He rocks anxiously on his feet.

“Nor should you have.” You smile gently at the troubled father and at his daughter. “He’s endured a lot and in spite of it all, he didn’t stop worrying about you over himself…Take care of him.” You mouth the last words to Cyrene.

Before returning to the bitter cold, you stop in front of Seo with arms stretched to the side. “How do I look?”

The young human lets out a mixture of a sigh and a short laugh. “Terrible.” She pulls the shoulder of your coat off, adjusts more hair to fall in front of your face, and positions your hands to rest meekly together in front of your chest. “Even worse now.”

“Perfect. Don’t be too far behind now.”

~

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>>5431638

The dawn crowns the eastern horizon in sickening flourish of overlapping hues of bile and stained fat. The fervent voices of the jostling figures surrounding you blend into one another into an indistinct chorus of frenzy. The throng has grown upon itself. A few dozen tramping figures kick thick beads of mud into your face as you proceed toward the lone adult standing upon a set of crates, the main provocateur. The air is stifling despite the winter breeze.

“We’ve dealt with their kind for too long, taking!” The provocateur calls out to the crowd. “Enough is enough!”

Those many figures paying attention to him shout their approval above the crowd. It’s difficult to push closer, but upon one finally noticing your presence agitation wanes, if only for a moment.

“For generations, it’s been the same. Our fathers had to deal with those creatures taking the lumber work, our grandfathers had to give up their jobs in the mines.” He points among the men in the crowd. “How many of you lost good work working the ships to those fucking pests?”

The eyes upon him grow as they catch their neighbor rallying to agree with his words.

“Now we have to endure a trial like never before. We’re hungry. Our wives are hungry. Our children are hungry. The fish have been poisoned and so many of our friends’ bodies suffer because of it… You all know of someone lost to the hunger, to the sickness, and now we know the Devan have had our food this whole time? What are we waiting for?!”

“Enough is enough!” The mobs’ weapons raise to the air as the repeat his chant. Elbows carelessly smack into your body as you proceed through the last of the crowd blocking your target.

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>>5431666

“To those of you who might say that violence will bring us nothing, that it isn’t necessary. I don’t need to say anything other than to point to burning pile of Gryg’s home.” His hand open to the thick plume of dark smoke. “A good man and his daughter deviously attacked by no less than six of those demons in the middle of the night and they tried to burn him alive for some craven plan…” He shakes his head ruefully while watching the now silent crowd with smoldering eyes. “A man’s work is his worth. Our food is meant to fill the bellies of our families. And our lives are not meant to be at the mercy of subhuman trash. Before they take it all, kill ‘em. Kill every last one of ‘em!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!” The mantra has settled upon its final form as you approach the makeshift platform.

Meekly and with arms kept close to yourself, you move in between the crowd and provocateur.

“Look what they did this wretched girl!” The voice above you calls out as he uses the sight of you as more fuel for their anger. “Come here.” He forcefully extends a hand. “Tell them about what happened to Gryg’s home.”

Better than you had expected…

You take his hand and shakily allow yourself to be lifted onto the crates to stand above the crowd, which the provocateur hushes to hear your words. The sun behind you peeks beyond the stained horizon, a burning blood red iris to bear witness.

>>5431683

“The fire…” You start quietly at first before appearing to find your strength. “The fire took Grygas’ home, but it took more than that. It took… It took…” The human standing next to you rests his hand on your shoulder to encourage you to continue what he assumes will support his cause. “It took away the chance for him to his daughter in the home he was raised in, It took away his peace of mind, and it took away the place were so many memories are kept…” You gaze settles upon his towering frame among the crowd. “I’m so sorry that it happened.” You turn with misted eyes to the charred and still burning rubble of the tavern. “When I came here, I stayed the night there. He let me, and it was warm, it was welcoming… But now it’s all gone!” You shake your head in mock distress.

“Enough is enough!” The town caustically repeats with growing unison before settling once again.

“Enough is enough.” You confirm with a stiff nod and continue emphatically with hand pressed on your chest. “After I heard of your pain, I came here to Impel to help. Too long you’ve all suffered with this brutal and sickening winter with nothing but fetid and disgusting rations to feed you!”

“Yeah!” Many from the crowd jump on the chance to decry the poor state of the rations.

Your voice now cries out to the crowd as you clutch the front of your blouse. “Too long have you’ve endured those in charge giving away your precious jobs to subhuman slaves! Too long have those in charge have thrown your lives into the dirt to save a handful of coin!”

“Y-yeah!” While several more join the voices, but you can sense you risk losing their hearts if you don’t provide a concrete enemy target to hate soon.

You hold your free hand up to refocus the mob “I can’t keep it a secret any longer… What I learned when I came to work for the clinic… When I came to work for the Sanctuary, hoping to help you... I must tell you all that those that it’s them who’s been responsible for every single one of your sufferings!” Your eyes settle upon Luca and Seo now. "Tell them of their greed!"

“O-on the road here!” Luca shouts boldly. “We passed a merchant with your fish, full in belly and pocket! He claimed to have made secret deals with humans and not Devan.”

“Think on it!” You quickly follow, not allowing any time for your momentum to be interrupted. “What sort of lowly subhuman would have the presence of mind to take your hard-earned catch to sell let alone organize a kidnapping under the cover of darkness? The bodies of those brainless creatures were starved, and never once have they lifted themselves out of their miserable barracks. You mean to tell me that they are the ones behind all of this? I think not!”

>>5431695

You feel yourself being taken away by your own fervor.

You point to the looming building further east. “It’s them! It’s the Sanctuary in that miserable tower. It’s the Sanctuary running the harbor leaving you to starve and die. It’s the Sanctuary who tells the Devan to kill your friends and burn their houses and memories. And it’s the Sanctuary feeding you with the scraps of those very same Devan!”

“Oh gods!” A voice shrieks upon your revelation.

'I'm going to be sick..."

“Those…Those bastards! I knew it! I knew they couldn’t be trusted.”

“Enough is enough!” You shout with all your effort, aching your chest in the process. “For your ancestors that carved this town out of the brutal wilderness, for the loved ones that you have painfully lost because the Sanctuary’s actions, for your own damned selves…” Your chest heaves as the weary and starved wait on your final words.

For Alys, for Ruby, for those of your kin still stuck in that pit, and for those you failed to save in time...

“Kill them all.”

>>5431698

Your ears ring lightly and your chest heaves from your desperate shouts. The hand of the provocateur has been long lost. All around you the mob has reached its breaking point and heads for the clinic, the tower, and the harbor to carry out your will. Amidst the chaos, you spot for a brief moment a pale figure and thin with her piercing blue eyes gazing back into your own. In the distance, she gives you a single nod and respectfully claps in front of her chest before disappearing among the frenzied crowd.

It's Enais' turn now to respond to your countermove, and now time for you to press this hard-earned advantage.

Seo, Luca, and Grygas carrying Cyrene hurriedly approach you as you descend from your platform.

"What on earth was that?" Grygas shouts above the crowd.

"That was so cool, Elly!." Cyrene jumps out of her father's arms, then runs and practically slams into you with a hug.

Seo sighs and shouts to be heard. "Well, you certainly have drummed them into a frenzy, but what now?"

This countermove of yours will certainly preoccupy the Sanctuary and their resources, so your mind immediately moves to returning to the maturation pit and finally enacting your rescue. Although, you imagine with you acting as a strategist, you could press and lead this attack to do even greater damage. You hurriedly think on those options and any other possibilities.

>Regroup with Mishenne and rally together for a rescue in the Maturation Pit.

>Act as lead saboteur for the mob in order to potentially get the most use out of their bloodthirst.

>Write in.

>>5431709
>Regroup with Mishenne and rally together for a rescue in the Maturation Pit.
No way we're letting them go in without connection severing magic.

There could be a point to be made for keeping the villagers alive, but that's just not gonna fly with how many baddies we'll be chunking through. Maybe hand Grygas a potion?

The real question is where we position Cyrene. She's not critical to their plot, but she might be a potential key to breaking it. When all hell breaks loose, they may consider assassinating her when the connection becomes more obvious.

>>5431709
>Regroup with Mishenne and rally together for a rescue in the Maturation Pit.

Now is our time, head in through the sewers while the mob distracts them up above.

I’d also like to add on
>Tell Grygas that there’s a ship coming by tonight at the docks. We’re leaving on it, and I’d recommend you and Cyrene be on it.

The Archon isn’t going to stand for his HQ being mobbed, and I’d expect him to deal with it personally, flesh monsters and all going out on the streets. He’s not going to ever let this happen again, and that means obvious control of the town. I expect property prices to take a steep dive very shortly.

Next time someone is sent to take Cyrene and leave you for dead, we’re not going to be around.

Either way, I can’t stick around to argue. Thanks for the hospitality while I’ve been here.

>>5431709
>>Act as lead saboteur for the mob in order to potentially get the most use out of their bloodthirst.
Kinda have to support my earlier plan to use the distraction on the harbor to really get the mob going, and maybe finding the Sanctuary holding facility. To be absolutely sure, we did get info from Hraska that there is another group of Elins being held somewhere on the docks, and I'm not imagining that from my latest re-reading, right QM?

I agree Sanctuary will react, but they have spread themselves thin, and weren't expecting the Devans to get caught, that much seems to have become obvious. So we have time to help them do some real damage. i'm not sure about their odds in an all-out fight, but I wouldn't count the villagers out yet, especially with some discrete support from us.
And really amping up the mob-related destruction will keep a lot of eyes and manpower away from the pits, so long as we can obfuscate the eventual Elin rescue on the harbor long enough to maneuver across and out of town.

>>5432149
> To be absolutely sure, we did get info from Hraska that there is another group of Elins being held somewhere on the docks, and I'm not imagining that from my latest re-reading, right QM?

Phone posting from work, but I’m almost certain that in Hraska’s retelling of the prisoners he witnessed in the harbor area, he made reference to human captures. Although, that was that single instance, and under duress, so there’s always a possibility for others, but no confirmation.

>>5431709
>>Regroup with Mishenne and rally together for a rescue in the Maturation Pit.
I don't see a better timing. When else will the Sanctuary be so thinly spread? There will be plenty of meat for them to process after this. Hammer them.

Finally back home! Thank you all for your votes this round, let's see where we stand:

>>5431798
>>5432074
>>5432418

Now that the Sanctuary will be forced to react and spread themselves thin, we will regroup with the left behind companions and rally to rescue the Elin in the Maturation pit. We'll also inform Grygas of the ship arriving tonight, and advise him to position himself and Cyrene out of the way of a potential Sanctuary response.

>Writing! Update to be posted around 8pm tomorrow!

>>5432452

Sorry guys, I'm going to delay posting for a day on this one. Feeling a bit distracted tonight and it's making it's been making it a challenge to write. It's nothing major at all, just don't want to force it.

Thanks everyone for your understanding!

>>5433361

The obscured sun gains purchase to illuminate the frenzied dispersion of humans. Like a toppled container of fluid, they rush out to fill all the spaces the stained snowy streets of theirs supply them. Like an agitated swarm of insects, they burgeon against one another to fan out in between the crevices of their homes in search of invaders. In the dawn’s corrupted iridescence, they march forth on your word, kicking up a slurry of mud and meltwater in search of blood.

Impel’s purpose is set. You’ll leave any further refinement in the response of the Sanctuary.

“We’ll regroup.” Your eyes set upon the straggling mob members, urgently intent on accosting those who linger in their homes and have yet to join their cause. You then turn to the south. “Then set ourselves upon lending our aid those who’ve needed it most this whole time and head to that horrid Maturation Pit of theirs.”

“So we’ll be returning to the hideout first?” Luca asks quietly with eager tone.

You give a nod in response to his question, but without speaking a word to the others, Seo leads you a few steps away from the group and speaks in a hushed tone nearly drowned by the collective noises of the town. “Then the Devan and the humans will be completely left on their own to contend with the Sanctuary, and now one another? We can lead them and do far more to sabotage the Sanctuary’s plans by making the most of the bloodthirst that we’re responsible for instilling in them.”

“They’ve dealt with each other and the woes the Sanctuary has sown long before you or I arrived here.” You reply firmly, addressing her discontent with your plan. “The frenzy you’re witnessing is a result of those woes long suffered.” You direct your open hand toward the tower. “We’ve now guided them toward the source and given them the opportunity to see the Sanctuary as the cancer it truly has been upon this town. As I said before, a complete reversal of course would've been a fruitless task, so reconcile that this was likely the best we could've hoped for from the mob." You watch her for moment before continuing. "Now it is time for us to save those who yet suffer alone and in darkness.” Your whispered words are sharp to remind her of what you’ve told her of your kin’s plight.

She sighs under her breath, brooding in conflict as she eyes the tower. “I need to think on it. For now, let’s regroup with Mishenne before Luca runs off on his own back to that creature…” A wince of pain flashes on her face, but instead of reaching for one of her dressed wounds, she reaches subtly for her stomach. “Let’s go already…”

As quickly as she led you away, she returns to the other humans with you a few steps behind.

“It’s on southern edge of town.” You explain quietly to Grygas and Cyrene. “But I suggest that you remain well hidden here until our ship arrives tonight.”

>>5434208

“You mean… We’re going to leave?” Grygas asks with furrowed brow.

“You intend to stay here?” You place your hands on your hips. “While it’s not my ship, the one bringing it here will listen if I say to bring others.”

Although there might be a thirst to satisfy as recompence…

Grygas’ gaze solemnly returns to the smoldering pile that remains of his family’s home. “This place has taken too much from me a long time ago. I ain’t going to let it take any more.”

“We’re leaving? You mean it?” Looks up at her father as if she never expected him to utter those words.

“Yeah… We got family outside of this place, remember?” Grygas does his best not to show his own sadness about the prospect.

Cyrene nods agreeably before giving a quick hug and then turning back to you. She smiles knowingly at your animal ears concealed by the cloth. “You’ll come back.” She states far more than she asks.

“I don’t know how not to.” You allow your animal ear to raise the cloth a fraction of an inch before smiling in return.

With those words, your group divides and are the last of many to disperse from the fallout of the burning tavern and home.

~

>>5434210

You think it should be morning by now, but it's still kinda dark out. Maybe you should take a look outside?

“Okay… Everything’s packed right? Yeah, yeah. You checked maybe at least half a dozen times already, but you do it again anyway as an excuse not to step outside.

It’s also kind of awkward if you're not doing something cause the Elin is just looking at you with that same smile.

Your hand fiddles with a few locks of your hair. “Y-you cold?” You finally think to ask as you’ve long since quenched the flame and have only the lingering heat left. At least you have the coat that Luca bought you… You have to remember to pay him back when you all get home.

If you get home… No, stop thinking like that!

“Cold?” The Elin responds with a slight head tilt. “Are you cold?”

“K-kinda.” You respond honestly. “More hungry than anything.”

“Do you like... What sorts of food do you like?” She asks with a strangely quick follow-up.

“I would kill for something grilled right about now.” You try to shake the image of food from your thoughts and instead inspect the caltrops once more.

There was enough material lying around to craft fifteen of the little devils. It was a little dull crafting so many, but they certainly are elegant in their harmful simplicity. You carefully touch the points that you’ve fashioned with your own personal touches. Shaped to cut easily and leave a wound that doesn’t close, and with devious barbs to ensure that they can’t be removed so easily. Given the limitations of their crafting, you’d be surprised if you got more than one or two uses out of them, but those uses will be harmful enough, you suppose. Crafting such items for Elewyn has certainly given you a number of great ideas for the future that you’ve already jotted down. You wonder when might be a good chance to show her?