The world is changing. Nobody denies it, nor would they. How COULD they? Anyone, scholar or simpleton, can see it. An era of peace prosperity, and stability is at an end—that’s what they say. Of course, ‘they’ is a variable, nebulous term. Not everyone says that. Some… Some see opportunity.The Paladin King is dead, and his shining city mourns for him. The WORLD mourns for him, it sometimes seems… Even his rivals. His great peace is fragile, weakened by his passing. His eldest and most obvious heir is missing, presumed dead after all this time; his second son seems to have cracked under the pressure of leadership, retiring to a countryside estate with his wife and daughter His youngest child—his daughter—reigns in his stead, unsteadily.Dragons have returned. THAT was a shocker. REAL dragons, just like in the legends, razing farmlands and eating cows and cowherds. They say that the Queen’s foreign-born Prince-Consort—some Easterling—drove them away… But nobody really trusts that they won’t return. In the city, in the plains and barrows, across field and fief, fear presides and rumours run rampant. A kingdom of monsters arises, some say—an Empire of Evil, simmering and scheming in volcano-lairs amidst the Bloodrise mountains; there is talk of dark-eyed dwarves, black-skinned elves, and shapeshifting lizardmen lurking in alleys, rat-monsters in the sewers. Goblin bandits have been emboldened to attack merchants on the road, orc chieftains beat tom-toms and bellow blood-oaths. The men of the East retreat and wall their cities; to the South, squabbling factions rally together and prepare for a trade-war, or worse.But to you… Well, this is just the world. You are young, or at least youngISH. Everyone always speaks of the ‘good old days’, but you never knew them. Instability, and all the dangerous and exciting possibilities which come with it, this is all you have ever known. This is an Age of Uncertainty, and you are but one of its countless children. Perhaps some people could accept that…But not everyone. To one person in particular, it was impossible. She was merely a neophyte Mage Apprentice of the Hawksong Mages’ Tower, sheltered and untraveled, but unwilling to accept and live with the uncertainty everyone else accepted—the vagueness, the secrecy, the half-understanding. Where all others were satisfied to accept the curriculum, and to make a graduating thesis of some incremental improvement in the scope of knowledge, she wanted it ALL. Hers would be the research that finally got to the core of why the world was this way… To understand it and, maybe, to change it.But to do that, she would need some help.
>>5776263Who are you?>The Mage ApprenticeIzirina Henzler, foundling and adopted daughter of Archmage Theresa Henzler, top of her class and skilled beyond her years, hungry for esoteric knowledge. [Human (mostly), female (sterile), wealthy, weak in physical ability but academically and magically gifted. Has a familiar. She’s going t appear either way, but (you) can play her! Or…]>Her hired helpPerhaps a friend, an acquaintance, or just a hired adventurer; regardless, you and Mage Apprentice Henzler were bound by threads of fate and her quest would soon become YOUR quest[The create-a-character option, which will lead to a subsequent votes on who and what you are, and your relation to Miss Henzler. You will get to select a race, gender, background and skillset, have a wider variety of possible motivations][Note: This quest shares a setting with Reptilian Infiltrator Quest and Dragonborn Antipaladin Quest, which you can check out at https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm, but these quests are NOT required reading and any characters or concepts which crop up will be properly explained insofar as relevant. Jump right in, and enjoy the ride!][The character art is a modified sketch by Roinujw on Fiverr]
>>5776266>Her hired help
>>5776266>The Mage ApprenticeOh! I’d love to play as Izirina!
>>5776266>>The Mage Apprentice
>>5776266>The Mage Apprentice
>>5776263>>The Mage Apprentice
>>5776266Also wouldn’t mind playing as the hired help desu
>>5776266>The Mage ApprenticeA different Izzy it is!
>>5776266>Her hired helpI want to sex the apprentice
>>5776263>>The Mage ApprenticeWho the fuck would want to play second fiddle?
>>5776266>Her hired helpThis will give us a reliable way to fill in any missing gaps from the get go, and we might not get another opportunity to make another character with this level of control to suit our interests and needs. It's also a bit more interesting from a narrative perspective.>>5776333Who says we're second fiddle? That's what an apprentice is anyway.
>>5776333>>5776336[You're the main character either way, ultimately. Don't worry about that. Following advice in the /qtg/, the second choice simply sets up two main characters, with you being the viewpoint one either way][It's a close so far, so I'll leave the vote open a bit longer. Now's a good time to establish a few rules and norms of the quest for people who haven't played my last two, anyway.][Firstly: after the first few votes in a thread, I don't allow 1post IDs on contentious votes. Use a trip or backlink if you have a dynamic IP or otherwise expect it to change, and that will usually do the trick.][Second: I do the rolling in these quests, rather than using a Bo3 or anything. I roll 1d20 for any given task, and additional d20 for every extra rank you gain in a related skill, with a bonus die or two if you have other related skills. The usual DC is 15, which you pass if one d20 beats it, though the DC may be modified up or down based on difficulty or circumstances. If you roll even one 20, it's a crit; if you roll a 1, and no OTHER die beats the DC, it's a crit fail.]
>>5776337In that case let me post again so I can remember what ID I was.
>>5776337Let me trip just in case
>>5776266>female (sterile)is this due to old age or something else ?
>>5776389[We'll elaborate upon that when/if it comes up! She's only in her late twenties, though.]
>>5776393Late twenties but still an apprentice?
>>5776405[She's a prodigy.]
>>5776263>Her hired help
>The Mage Apprentice
>>5776429>>5776428>>5776421>>5776419>>5776388>>5776349>>5776336>>5776333>>5776329>>5776327>>5776321>>5776318>>5776302>>5776301>>5776299>>5776297>>5776296>>5776278>>5776273[Locked for the help! Writing!][A note: I'm between jobs until next week I got one! and so probably will be updating two-to-four time a day over the next few days, then dropping down to one or two updates a day thereafter.]
>>5776436Congrats QM, I hope you enjoy your new job.
>>5776446[Thank you!]>>5776448[Bit late, anon.]>>5776436This is the story of Izirina Henzler—at least, that’s how it’s usually told. Foundling daughter of the famed and feared Archmage Theresa Henzler, premier chimericist and greatest magical mind of a generation—that’s what they say. Izirina followed in her adoptive mother’s footsteps (though admittedly she probably benefitted a little from the access to her mother’s knowledge and resources to do so). It is a foolhardy Mages’ Tower that allows their students to begin practicing spellcraft before their late teens or early twenties, and a truly reckless one that turns them loose to practice it openly and without supervision without ten years of theory under their belt… yet there she was, in her mid-to-late-twenties, top of her class and ready to make her name and ascend to greatness! If she was an intimidating name in her academic career BEFORE, well, she was about to rise to become a towering figure in just about every field of magical study there was: arcana, theosophy, alchemy, natural philosophy, cosmology, and more!Of course, she ended up being more than just an ever-present name in a hundred textbooks and treatises to YOU. And this isn’t JUST her story, though. It’s also yours. You were there every step of the way. Oh, to many a human mage you are remembered as merely ‘the hired help’, the ‘hanger on’, a ‘member of her party’… But you both know the truth of it. To those who know fo you, you are a legend in your own right.But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?
>>5776457I asked you once, but I’ll ask you again: WHO ARE YOU?>A young human mage-in-training from the Mages Tower, second only to Izirina[Bonus to arcana and to two others field of study, notable wealth and resources, can cast more advanced magic]>A half-orc guardsman and aspiring applicant of the Holy Order of Paladins, given the task of protecting Izirina[Bonus to combat, athleticism, and religion, can perhaps eventually cast divine spells but not yet, extra HP; social disadvantages almost everywhere]>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through Hawksong[Bonus to magic, natural philosophy, illusion, and music; everyone thinks you're beautiful and elegant]>A goblin pickpocket (by necessity, mind you!), outcast from polite society and forced to make ends meet by robbing folks—especially wealthy brats[Bonuses to stealth, intimidation, athleticism, combat; less HP; can NEVER cast spells, but are resistant to magic as well]>A dark elf diplomat from the world below, tasked by your king with making a travelogue of the surface-world, understanding its workings and its people[Bonus to diplomacy, athleticism, and arcana; you are uncommonly graceful and beauteous, but people are wary of you]>Write-in[If creating your own character, feel free to pitch pretty much race, class, profession, or character concept! If it REALLY doesn’t fit the setting or I have no idea how I’d write it, I’ll let you know and veto it, but this is largely a ‘kitchen sink’ kind of fantasy setting and I can probably fit it in somehow. keep it broad for now -- no sex/gender, no name, not yet.]
>>5776458>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through Hawksong
>>5776458>A half-orc guardsman and aspiring applicant of the Holy Order of Paladins, given the task of protecting Izirina
>>5776458>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through HawksongThe Jez option is very tempting too
>>5776458>Write in>A grizzled human smith from a sect of divine craftsmanship within the Holy Order of Paladins, sent to offer Izirina prudence, knowledge, and fine equipment only well-lived experience can provide[Bonus to religion, craftsmanship, arcana, and combat; you are capable of channeling divine magic with tools and preparation, but age and brushes with death in service of your order have caught up with you]
>>5776458>Write-InA Reptilian Steeltalon Infiltrator, rescaped from the greater cataclysm and taken under the care of the Archimagus, dreaming of a mysterious toothed black swords hidden in the depth
Izzy>>5776296>>5776297>>5776299>>5776301>>5776302>>5776321>>5776333>>5776388>>5776421Help>>5776273>>5776278>>5776327>>5776329>>5776336>>5776349>>5776419>>5776428>>5776429Am I smoking something here?>>5776458>A young human mage-in-training from the Mages Tower, second only to IzirinaEdwin ;_;
>>5776458>>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through Hawksong
>>5776458>Write-in: A half giant aspiring shaman, from the savage far north. Sent to hawksong to gain formal education to help aid his clan in the future. [Bonus to combat, athleticism, intimidation and magic, social disadvantages and people are fearful of you.]
>>5776458>A dark elf diplomat from the world below, tasked by your king with making a travelogue of the surface-world, understanding its workings and its people
>>5776458>Write-in>A Human Paladin, sworn to the Gods of Light, native of the capital city of HawksongWanna play as the other side this time
>>5776501This anon said he wouldn't mind being a helper, so I think QM took it as a tie breaker>>5776318
>>5776501[It was a tie with one person expressing willingness to play either, so I made a judgement call since we were about at the four hour mark and I wanted to write. I figured the very option you picked would allow those who wanted to be a human mage but didn't care about being THAT human mage to make their case as well, but at a certain point I had to call it.][Speaking of tallying...]>Elven mystic:>>5776462>>5776477>>5776502>Half-orc guard:>>5776475>Grizzled smith:>>5776487>Reptilian infiltrator:>>5776493>Human mage:>>5776501>Dark-elf diplomat:>>5776507>Human paladin:>>5776509[We have a diversity of options! Keep in mind this is first-past-the-post, though -- character creation can't last forever! In a little under four hours, I'll tally votes. Multipost IDs/trips and back-linked posts will be given priority in the event of a close call. A runoff vote will only be held if I really feel I can't judge, and even then only if one of the leading options doesn't have way more appeal to me personally.]
>>5776503[Oops, you too..]>half-giant shamanSee >>5776525
>>5776458>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through HawksongI wanted to play Izirina but I'll settle for the next best thing big titty elf
>>5776458>A runaway easterling female monk with big booba, on her journey to achieve mental, spiritual and physical perfection...at least that was the plan, until you ran away from the monastery seeking adventure and something new.
>>5776525Switch my vote to this. >>A dark elf diplomat from the world below, tasked by your king with making a travelogue of the surface-world, understanding its workings and its peopleSince half gaint defo won't be able to win.
>>5776458>A human paladin
>>5776553I like it as an option, I would be willing to switch if more people do.
>>5776555I meant I liked the half-giant by the way, not the dark elf
>>5776545[Interesting, interesting. Seems like a lot of you folks who want to play a warrior rather than a mage may wish to find a unifying character to rally around though of course an elven mystic could still learn some combat prowess down the line]
>>5776547[Oh, and remember: no choosing sex or gender yet. Sorry, was gonna' tell this to both you and >>5776545, as a reminder]
>>5776561Fuck it. I don't want to play as another caster. I will support the giant shaman option.>>5776503Switching from monk>>5776547
>>5776563[Anon, the shaman pick is a warrior AND a caster by the way it's described.]
>>5776559What does the different colors mean?
>>5776569Well yeah QM but it's better than being some pansy ass elf who can't walk into melee...but to be fair I'd go for either the goblin or the half-orc too
>>5776570[Red votes are non-backlinked 1post IDs. Orange votes are IDS who weren't in the first vote or backlinked to the first voter, but have since been used for multiple responses more than a few minutes apart. In my quests, I usually keep track of the vote percentage of: all votes; votes where the ID has never cast a vote before but has supporting evidence it's legit; votes where the ID has only voted once and has no such evidence. This early in, it doesn't tell me much, but as a thread goes on it helps to get ahead of fears about vote-rigging.]>>5776573[Noted and adjusted accordingly.]
>>5776458I am >>5776501 and >>5776296, >>5776318Don’t mind switching off protagonists or trying a dual protagonist quest, but I definitely prefer playing Izzy over Newbody McFreshfaceJust wanted to add>Kitsune TricksterSince it’s been awhile since one appeared.Also considering me supporting >>5776475, >>5776487, >>5776493, >>5776545, >>5776547- they generally interest me some for hidden lore reasons =P>>5776477Ditto- but the culture repulses me. Would support if it was Jaz’s sister or something.>>5776553Already played a huge shaman- don’t mind huge, but I prefer to play around as a mage or sword autist>>5776563But I liked the monk… ;_;
>>5776627(I'm the original monkposter >>5776547 - switched to mobile).I mean anon if you are willing to support the monk I'd be ok with switching back. I just wanted to give one of the disparate martial options my vote so there can be some momentum going. Plus I think the whole easterling lore is unexplored and want to see some of it here.
>>5776641>>5776627[Please choose one main option, anons. Take pity on your poor, weary QM and his smooth, lizardlike brain. This is why we lizardpeople put fluoride in your water, you know: to make it easier to tally votes on /qst/ by simplifying your thought processes. Literally the entire reason.]
>>5776641I can support monk too>>5776652I think we are just discussion our and potentially other anon's willingness to change votes before making the move, to not make counting a mess
>>5776652Alright fine QM. I'm going to commit. >>5776641>>5776563>>5776547These are me. I'm switching back to monk and committing to monk. Vote monk in the hopes that one day, you can suplex a reptilian/paladin off a cliff.
>>5776656You know what, I'll commit as well>>5776462>Switching to Monk
>>5776458>A young human mage-in-training from the Mages Tower, second only to Izirina
>>5776509>>5776652I'll switch to monk as well. I prefer it to the elf.
>>5776458>Goblin>SpellcasterOoga booga goblin shaman much more entertaining than gay elf duelist or tree-hugger mage
>>5776677Oh yeah since no support for goblin let's go>>Human instead. Much better than gay nature tree hugging magic stupid fucking elves
>>5776458>An elven mystic and follower of the True Fey and the Gods of Nature, on a religious pilgrimage abroad which brought you through HawksongEmbrace the knife ears
>>5776458>A goblin pickpocket (by necessity, mind you!), outcast from polite society and forced to make ends meet by robbing folks—especially wealthy brats
>A young human mage-in-training from the Mages Tower, second only to Izirina
>>5776503+1
>>5776458>A goblin pickpocket (by necessity, mind you!), outcast from polite society and forced to make ends meet by robbing folks—especially wealthy bratsJust because it's funny to imagine this goblin pickpocket close to the prodigal mage.
>>5776717>>5776705>>5776701>>5776689>>5776679>>5776678>>5776676>>5776674>>5776666>>5776663>>5776659>>5776656>>5776554>>5776553>>5776551>>5776545>>5776507>>5776502>>5776501>>5776493>>5776487>>5776477>>5776475[Locked and writing ASAP!]
>>5776641Exactly- it’s why I brought up the Kitsune Trickster>>5776652Can’t- busy at work, don’t know when I’ll get the chance to input or clarify my opinion before the vote gets locked, like with >>5776723 or the duel between Izzy and McFreshface.I will say- the water does taste delicious though, ngl.
>>5776723The race and origin votes were sperate? Or are we going to play a half elf mage/mystic combo?
>>5776739[Not QUITE, but I was keeping an aggregate tally of both given the VERY split nature of the vote, so you and I did arrive at the same composite solution...]>>5776727>>5776723Well, for one thing, you’re an elf… or at least, you’re half of one. Half a human, too! More importantly than either, though, you are a MAGE. In your youth, you were trained among the elven mystics of the Iternagreyn Mage’s Tower—really more of a modest spire among a grove of immodestly-towering evergreen trees, though perhaps you are simply remembering them larger than they were, in the manner children are wont to do. One thing that WAS towering, undeniably so, was the history of the place! Hawksong may tout itself as ‘shining city on the hill’, the pinnacle of human(oid) civilization, but the Living library of the elven capital DWARFS (not offence meant to the Stout Folk) anything at humanity’s disposal.The problem was that, before long, you began to dwarf you fellow initiates.The longer you lived and studied among your fullblooded fellows, the more your human ancestry began to make itself known. You hit puberty half a decade earlier than the others and sprouted up like a beanpole relative to their fine frames. Even as you outpaced them in some fields of magic, you fell rapidly behind them in mastery of natural magics such animal friendship and plant-shaping , and in the Subtle Arts of the fey—music, dance, illusion, and other fine things which come naturally to the ‘true’ Children of the Fair Folk.And so you chose—‘chose’—to make your way to Hawksong.The elves of your homeland were not cruel, of course: they gave you gold, such as men and the other races covet, to buy your way safely to the de facto capitol of the northwestern world, and to cover your ‘tuition’ (what a concept!) and living expenses (you need to BUY food here! imagine!). And here, among children technically half a decade your junior (but at roughly the same height and stage of intellectual and physical, ahem, development) you found your niche: the big fish in the small pond, the world traveller, the most popular and attractive student of your peer-group…Until you met Izirina Henzler.
>>5776774Okay, well, maybe you were still the best-LOOKING, and maybe even the most popular… But that didn’t stop people from treating Henzler like SHE was number one. She was frumpy, dark-skinned and hazel-eyed, constantly tugging at her ruddy-brown bangs, hiding herself in an overlarge robe that fit her more like a tent, mumbling and unable to hold eye-contact for the life of her, and yet they all sucked up to her—the teacher’s pet, the Archmage’s daughter. And, damnit, you’re not too proud to admit it to YORUSELF at least: she was the smarter of the two of you—almost always faster with the answer or, Gods Above forbid, slower than you but RIGHTER than you, correcting your own hastily-shouted solution with a better or more complete equivalent.Cast out by your mother’s race, you’d finally started to build up your confidence here among your father’s folk—even to excel—only for this… This HUMAN GIRL to make you look second-rate, second-best, just ‘that wacky foreigner’ instead of the BEST of them. ‘Oh, the half-elf is better at natural philosophy, though!’ someone might say. ‘Well, of course,’ someone would surely answer, ‘it’s in the bloody EARS!’Then, FINALLY, you found the subject in which you could excel—a HUMAN field, or at least one not stereotypically Fey. One in which Izirina struggled—even better! Even now, all these years later, it’s the one area of expertise where you dominate, and where your childhood rival flounders…>Elementalism & Extraplanar Studies>Medical Magic & Living Alchemy>Hexes, Curses, & Their Cures>Global Magic Studies>Ancient Arcana>Write-in
>>5776775>Gender Studies
>>5776780[As wizards have no sense of right and wrong, they do not offer progressive social curricula. Try again, please.]
>>5776775>Reproductive Health
>>5776775 almost voted gender studies for the memes >write in: conjuration and summoningIf we can't be the martial, I want to summon in martials
>>5776775>Medical Magic & Living Alchemy
>>5776775>Ancient ArcanaMakes sense, we probably have a head start in this field after learning with the long lived elves.
>>5776775>Write in>Chronological Graviturgy, a comparatively recent study of the forces generated by manipulating space-time
>>5776775>>Reproductive Health
>>5776784>ID hoping againI am these posts>>5776547>>5776641
>>5776783>>5776790[I'll allow it, but if this or something similar wins, I'm treating it as 'Magical Bloodlines & Heredity", a high-level elective of Medical Magic & Living Alchemy.]
>>5776775>>Medical Magic & Living AlchemyIs this the one for making love potions?
>The coomers arrivedIt was fun while it lasted.
>>5776827[Were that your objective, this WOULD be the best of the listed fields to focus on.]
>>5776775>Write-in: Living Alchemy, Transmutation, & Chimerical studies.Lets make some flesh horror body guards.
>>5776775>Magical Bloodlines & HeredityThose who govern birth - govern life itself.Seriously, this is strong. Really strong. We could make a killing selling contraceptives and abortifacients. Such a thing will always be in demand.
>>5776843>>5776689Oh hey SQM
>>5776845things might come full circle.
>>5776842+1Dabble into biomancy.
>>5776775>Ancient Arcana
>>5776775>Magical Bloodlines & Heredity
>>5776839I could see how you’d come to that conclusion, but I actually meant it as a cosmic irony sorta a thing, and a dig at something our rival would never have.
>>5776839RQM quests have always been coomer friendly, so I'm not sure what you expected.
>>5776775>>5776842+1
>>5776902[I'm sure I have no idea what you mean.] cough cough>>5776839[In all seriousness, though, I don't come to /qst/ to write pornography. This quest will not be some quest for dick and/or vag, but for esoteric knowledge. Sex will be implied or glossed over with an emphasis on character dynamics and emotional fallout at most, or skipped over with brief allusion if there's no plot relevance to a given romp. This is not Fuck Quest, and current board rules and norms would never allow it to be. Hell, it's not even Elf Maiden. This is a place for ADVENTURE, and romance is just one element of such.]
>>5776913That's good to know. I'm looking forward to it. Watch out for shitters though, there have been a lot of them appearing on the board over the past month or two.
Romance and SFW smut has been an important part of pulp and fantasy fiction since Robert E. Howard you uncultured plebs.
>>5776913You could write the nsfw part in a google docs and put a link there If you want to, of course.
>>5776930There's romance. Then there's cooming.
>>5776930>>5776943[Well-said, both.]>>5776935[Don't count on it, anon.]>>5776926[Shitters have to work pretty hard to derail on my quests between my vote-counting system and my writing style. Don't worry -- I have a good track record. Been writing pretty continuously on here for over two years.]>>5776924>>5776908>>5776891>>5776874>>5776871>>5776843>>5776842>>5776827>>5776790>>5776789>>5776787>>5776785>>5776784>>5776783[Closing the vote in thriteen minutes and writing one more update before bed! I'll normally try to leave at least a four hour window, but barring a sudden surge of votes, we seem to have a clear favourite.]
>>5776775>Ancient ArcanaTELL US ABOUT OUR EARS. HOW POINTY ARE THEY?
>>5776775>Hexes, Curses, & Their Cures>Global Magic Studies>Ancient ArcanaCan we get interesting knowledge instead of being a healslut?
>>5776971>>5776979[Bit late, buds, and the vote stayed where it was anyway. Also...]>three votes[Come now, anon, don't get greedy. Also: Life Magic offers up paths to MANY interesting avenues besides just healing.]>>5776924>>5776908>>5776891>>5776874>>5776871>>5776843>>5776842>>5776827>>5776790>>5776789>>5776787>>5776785>>5776784>>5776783>>5776950How ironic—the Great Henzler, daughter of the former Head Chimericist herself, and her weakness was LIFE MAGIC! Yes, for all her mastery of elemental forces, she failed to muster a simple illness-mitigation spell to help fight off something as simple as a common cold. Oh, she might be able to tell you the history, uses, and dangers of yokai and asura to the East, an aziza to the South, as well as the best practices to summon and bind any spirit of the elemental planes, but ask her to patch a booboo and Izirina Henzler was practically helpless. She could remove a hex, but not remove a blister; list every great mage and the dates of their births and deaths going back a thousand years, but not so much as IDENTIFY skeletal simialrities or analogous organs between different organisms, let ALONE modify them!“Wow,” she’s said one day, watching you work over your still-alive, pain-numbed newt with forceps in one hand and a cutting-wand in the other. “You’re really good at this sort of stuff, huh? With animals, and their bodies and life-force and stuff?”“Yes,” you’d confirmed, feeling a little smug.“Is it because you’re an—”“It is NOT,” you’d snapped, wheeling on her, “because I am an ELF.”“O-oh,” she’d replied, paling a little and falling silent as you quickly turned back about and began resuscitating the now-twitching amphibian, and began piecing it back together.“It’s BECAUSE,” you’d said, feeling your face burn with embarrassment and (perhaps slightly misdirected) irritation, “I am BETTER than you.”(At this, at least…)
>>5777007Which spell did you first find yourself mastering? >Cure Wounds[Restores HP, heals physical wounds, but can’t restore a lopped off limb or resurrect the dead]>Purify[Makes food and water potable, eliminating consumed poisons; can even cure a poisoned or envenomed person, if you act fast and cast well]>Calm[Works best on animals, but it can soothe a sentient with a bit more effort; useful for numbing pain]>Stabilize[Can stop bleeding, stymie shock, and keep a dying individual alive long enough to receive more serious medical attention; easier to cast than most healing spells]>Contagion[You can INFLICT an illness with life magic, too… It’s as easy as a machinist flipping a switch in reverse, if you understand the mechanism…]>Bull’s Strength[With some effort, you can invigorate the muscles and stimulate the body’s hormonal output to allow a person to access strength usually only available when in a life-or-death scenario… But overuse risks serious damage to the subject.]>Write-in[Keep it reasonable.][Note: with a Life Magic roll you can attempt all sorts of things, but spells you KNOW will always have a lower DC and come more easily, and can be ‘up-cast’ with addition effort or mana.]Don't vote yet, though, there's more!
>>5777013Classes in this subject continued to come easily to you. You were, for WHATEVER reason, a natural at 'Medical Magic & Living Alchemy’, the much-coveted magic of great healers, useful when the Gods’ chosen priests and paladins were otherwise occupied. All that year, and the next, you excelled while in this ONE specific area, your rival fell behind. While you were being offered you pick between advanced electives like ‘Magical Bloodlines & Heredity’ and ‘Transmutation, & Chimerical Studies’, HENZLER was held back after class, assigned special tutors (must be nice!), and she STILL looked set to be held back a year in this particular field. Well, she was three years younger than anyone ELSE in the class anyway, let alone YOU, so it served her right!But then came the day when you forgot your notes in class, busy chatting with your classmates. When you returned, you found Henzler in the room … or, rather, you found HenzlerS, plural.“I cannot believe this,” sighed Henzler the Elder—ARCHMAGE Henzler! You’d never actually seen the woman in person, but EVERYONE knew the Archmage by reputation. There was no mistaking her. She had icy-blonde hair beneath her tall, pointed hat with its gleaming star-emblem of office. Her piercing blue eyes shone out of a curiously stiff but undeniably beautiful, pale face, so unlike her (well, adopted, so duh) daughter’s. According to rumours, the Archmage was at LEAST a hundred years old, but so skilled in Chimericism—in LIFE MAGIC and LIVING ALCHEMY, you best subjects!—that she still had the face and body of a twenty-year-old. Her voice certainly had a bit of the rumbling fry of the aged to it, though… And in truth, it seemed the overlarge, frumpy outfits ran in the family, since you couldn’t speak to the Elder Henzler’s BODY at all beneath her robes of office.“I’m sorry mu—”A chill silence fell between the two.“I’m sorry, Madame Archmage,” whispered Henzler the Younger—Izirina Henzler, the one you were used to calling ‘Henzler’.“It’s just pathetic,” the Archmage remarked, without obvious invective but nevertheless with all the feeling of a judge’s sentence. “You are SUPPOSED to be my daughter, you know.”“I’m trying, but I just… It’s difficult for me.”“Which is why you have the tutors,” Archmage Henzler snapped at Baby Henzler, voice not raising but pace increasing like a salvo of upcast <Magic Missiles>, “and the remedial lessons, and the access to rare books NOBODY else has access to, and the exercises, and—”“Maybe it’s because of… Of what’s wrong with me?” asked Little (well, slightly shorter than you) Henzler.
>>5777015The Archmage’s eyes narrowed slightly.“Did you just interrupt me?”“S-sorry, Madame Archamge.”Another chilly silence, and then the Elder Henzler turned on heel with eerie fluidity, without so much as a rise and fall or the sound fo a shoe-sole scuffing. Was she… Was she LEVITATING under those layers??“You ARE a sorry thing,” the Archmage had noted, “and there is more ‘wrogn with you’ than I suspect EITHER of us can begin to comprehend.”Izirina Henzler pulled down her round-tipped, unbanded student’s cap to cover her eyes and mumbled: “Yes, Madame Archmage.”Peeking from the corner of the doorway with unavoidable voyeuristic curiosity, you realized with a start that the Archmage—THE FREAKING ARCHMAGE—was headed your way! This entire scene—seeing the ‘golden girl’ get torn a new one by maybe the WORLD’S GREATEST SORCERESS—was so surreal that you almost forgot that you probably weren’t supposed to see or hear all this…What did you do?>Confront the Archmage about her treatment of Izirina—you two might not be FRIENDS, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that!>Duck and cover—find somewhere to hide! The Archmage is scary—scarier than the rumours, and the rumours say she experiments on troublesome young initiates!>Approach her and make a good first impression—after all, if she values LIFE MAGES, well, you’re top of your gods-damned CLASS! Maybe she’d like to talk shop…?>Write-in
>>5777013>bull's strengthWhat could go wrong with giving a wizard magical steroids.>>5777016>Confront the Archmage about her treatment of Izirina—you two might not be FRIENDS, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that!Give the Archmage a taste of the bull
>>5777017>IP mutated againBacklinking >>5776784>>5776547>>5776641
>>5777013>Bull’s Strength>>5777016>Confront the Archmage about her treatment of Izirina—you two might not be FRIENDS, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that!
>>5777013>Cure WoundsMost useful, if we are going to fight and experiment on the fly.>>5777016>Approach her and make a good first impression—after all, if she values LIFE MAGES, well, you’re top of your gods-damned CLASS! Maybe she’d like to talk shop…?Tutoring, yea?
>>5777013>Cure Wounds
>>5777026[The vote has two parts, anon...]
>>5777026>>5777029>>Confront the Archmage about her treatment of Izirina—you two might not be FRIENDS, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that!I want to go "Cure Wound" and then Contagion-like to become something like an Hemomancer. Well, as an elf, an Emo-Hemomancer.Graze ennemi. Pull blood out until he's dry. Use bloody missils. Get more blood.
>>5777013>Cure WoundsHeal slut time>>5777016>Approach her and make a good first impression—after all, if she values LIFE MAGES, well, you’re top of your gods-damned CLASS! Maybe she’d like to talk shop…?
>>5777013>Cure Wounds>>5777016>Approach her and make a good first impression—after all, if she values LIFE MAGES, well, you’re top of your gods-damned CLASS! Maybe she’d like to talk shop…?
>>5777016>Cure Wounds>Duck and cover—find somewhere to hide! The Archmage is scary—scarier than the rumours, and the rumours say she experiments on troublesome young initiates!Her treatment of her daughter is absolutely disgusting, but let's not be the one to tell her that until we master combat magic and curse defence.
>>5777079Oh, and this is me: >>5776475
>>5777016>bull's strength>Approach her and make a good first impression—after all, if she values LIFE MAGES, well, you’re top of your gods-damned CLASS! Maybe she’d like to talk shop…?Those rare magic books Izirina has been getting has me chomping at the bit. If we are going to become the next generations greatest fleshweaver we need some of that sauce.
>>5777013>Disguise, by turning someone's face into something else, changing hair color etc>>5777016>Duck and cover—find somewhere to hide! The Archmage is scary—scarier than the rumours, and the rumours say she experiments on troublesome young initiates!
>>5777184My ID got reset for some reason. This is me >>5776971
>>5777184>Disguise, temporary transformation of features[Possible, but at your currently level rather impractical and dangerous, especially when as an elf you could do this more easily with illusion WITHOUT risking looking like a bad botox job or the kid from Mask at the end.]
>>5777016>Cure Woundsthe classic>Confront the Archmage about her treatment of Izirina—you two might not be FRIENDS, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that!oh man, I forgot about the other surviving Yosef
>>5777349>>5777184>>5777111>>5777079>>5777076>>5777073>>5777033>>5777026>>5777024>>5777021>>5777017[Locked and writing!]
>>5777359You felt your heartbeat quicken, and start to move to hide. You shouldn’t have been there, obviously! Or, well… You actually SHOULD have, to get your notes, but you shouldn’t have just listened in like that, surely? And yet… You didn’t move. You can’t. And so you came face-to-face with Archmage Theresa Henzler for the first time.“Hm? What’s this?”She peered down at you, past a pair of glasses that, from a quick survey with your mage’s Second Sight, you could tell are neither for correcting her eyes nor purely decorative—they were enchanted, a magical item.“Ah,” she says, when you didn’t speak up, “the half-elf. Yes, I’d heard about you.”“Y-you have?” you asked, unable to help yourself from fawning a little bit, even blushing. The Archmage of Hawksong’s Mages Tower has HEARD of you? PERSONALLY?“Well, if I hadn’t, the ears would still be a dead giveaway,” she noted. “And anyway, my… DAUGHTER… has spoken of you. A reasonable student, I’m told, and gifted in the Artes Vitae—biology, living alchemy, medical magic. That sort of thing. A worthy discipline. She says you can even cast a <Cure> spell of some potency and reliability, despite your age.”“I can,” you saaid proudly.“Well,” the Archmage corrected herself, tutting, “I say ‘despite your age, but I guess I ought to refer to your stage of development, in your hybrid lifecycle. You are in fact… What was it? Twenty years old, in a class of sixteen-year-old humans, and among the shortest and least mature among them. Hm. Still, respectable enough.”Your words dried up in your throat.“Now, move.”You didn’t, and so Archmage Henzler raises an eyebrow. For a moment, you feared that her gaze would strike you dead—like a <Power Word>, but silent; like a <Chill Touch>, with just a glance. You trembled, slightly, and yet:“You’re wrong about your daughter, Madame Archmage."
>>5777401You saw Izirina Henzler jump slightly at this direct acknowledgement, out of the corner of your eye—though only the corner, because you cannot bring yourself to look away from her mother’s terrible, beautiful visage.“Oh?” she asked. “I don’t recall asking your opinion, CHILD.”You bristled slightly at her tone—and at the way she’s treating your rival—no, your classmate, her own DAUGHTER. It disgusted you, even as you could not help but fear and admire the Archmage as a scholar of the arcane. That slight offence, that dawning disgust, they metastasized into something dangerous: defiance.“She’s one of the best students in EVERY other class,” you retorted. “No—THE best! And she’s the youngest while I’m… Like you said, I have advantages, and she’s STILL beating me in every field. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this when she’s doing so well.”“She ought to be doing better than ‘well’,” the Archmage replied coolly, unflustered. “She has my name, and she’d do well to live up to it. That doesn’t mean ‘doing well’. It means EXCELLING. I do not breed nor rear weaklings. I REPROCESS them into perfect specimens. That’s why I’M the Archmage…”She raised a sleeve-hidden hand and, allowing the fabric to fall away, gestured but slightly with her slim, almost bloodless fingers. You felt your world tip sideways as a spectral wind lifts you off your feet and hurl you sidelong, crashing into a decorative display representing a gryphon—one of those which the Paladins of the Holy order of Hawksong ride, produced by this very Tower’s chimera breeding program.“…And why you are nothing.”You could not respond, dazed and (if you are any judge) lightly concussed. The Archmage drifted by, not looking at you once as she departed… But Little Henzler, Izirina, rushed to you. She held her hands to her mouth, staring with eyes wide and watery… And then she, too, scurried off, without a word. Ungrateful! Or… Well, maybe just embarrassed, and scared. You sighed, breathing out some of your spite and envy, and breathing in understanding and compassion, just as the druids of the Iternagreyn Tower taught you to do. All living things develop in the shape of their environments, after all… And BY THE GODS what an environment Izirina Henzler had found herself to grow within!
>>5777406The next week of classes, the ‘golden child’ of the Tower was quieter than usual, withdrawn. It didn’t stop her from beating your exam scores in every damn class, of course (ugh), but in the practical demonstrations and in-class lectures, yours were once more the loudest, most confident, and most often and most wholly CORRECT. You felt like the star again and, for all her ill-earned popularity, Izirina Henzler’s hangers-on did not come to comfort her, but take their lunch and study breaks with you in her emotional absence.And then, of course, came Living Alchemy. Your mousy, fussy-moustached proctor organized the qualifying students into teams of two, for a partner is necessary to quickly organize and add the ingredients for the healing potions you are making—special herbs and alchemical compounds of rare and distilled metals, passed over runes and into a pot maintained at a careful temperature, so that a <Cure> spell can be retained in a solution, its magical effects preserved to be used later. Any error in timing, in temperature, in quantity or quality in ingredients, in the words or motions and magical application will weaken the potion or render it otherwise inferior.You were the undisputed master of this class, of course, and you were thus the favourite pick for a partner. Every boy and girl was quick to cozy up to you… Except Izirina Henzler, who fussed with her disorganized ingredients in a corner, looking helpless.What did you do?>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life Magic[Learn a second spell in the field, gain acclaim and respect]>Picked Izirina Henzler as your partner, hampering your own performance slightly but beginning a relationship of tutelage and (eventually) friendship[Henzler learns <Cure> as well, and you improve your relationship with her][Either choice will also affect your options moving forward, how other characters view them, and how I characterize the MC in dialogue and internal monologue.]
>>5777410>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life Magic.We already stuck up for her instead of trying for the opportunity to gain special lessons. No reason to gimp our in class education as well, considered she beats us in all other fields.
>>5777410>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life MagicNormally I can head correct the typos but I don't know what cement is supposed to be here.
>>5777410>Picked Izirina Henzler as your partner, hampering your own performance slightly but beginning a relationship of tutelage and (eventually) friendshipWhat a bitch
>>5777410>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life Magic
>>5777433>>5777410>*the most competent and capable student[Autocorrect, WHAT?? Are you day-drinking again, computer?]
>>5777410>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life MagicLETSSSSS GOOO FUCK YOU BITCH WE WIIIIIIIN
>>5777410>>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life Magic
>>5777410>Chose the most cement and capable student (next to yourself) and made a potion worthy of a true Mage Apprentice, earning you the fast track to advanced classes in Life MagicSUCK IT
>>5777446It's clearly drinking wet cement
>>5777410>when the second most capable student in your field is a rocklol>Picked Izirina Henzler as your partner, hampering your own performance slightly but beginning a relationship of tutelage and (eventually) friendshipI prefer Izzy over someone’s pet rock- like, just imagine us getting more knowledge in another interesting field from this.
>>5777410>Picked Izirina Henzler as your partner, hampering your own performance slightly but beginning a relationship of tutelage and (eventually) friendshipWe can learn from her just as she can us
>>5777523Rather than turning both of us into hodgepodges I'd want us to each excel in our separate fields.Also she didn't say thank you after we stood up to her mom. Hell, she didn't even ask if we were ok after her mom flung us across a hall. She can survive the cold shoulder for a bit.
>>5777410>Picked Izirina Henzler as your partner, hampering your own performance slightly but beginning a relationship of tutelage and (eventually) friendship
>>5777566She's Hermione without Harry and Ron- no friends and social skills. Give her some slack bro.
>>5777426>>5777433>>5777434>>5777439>>5777454>>5777460>>5777469>>5777473>>5777502>>5777523>>5777625>>5777666>>5777685>>5777733“Pearce, you’re with me!”Logan Pearce, a dirty-blonde and stalwart young lad with a knack for cooking, cutting, stirring and cleaning, stood tall and gave you a mock salute, before adjusting his hat. He was no slouch with a healing spell, either, and had a certain exactitude in his measurements and movements which is very useful in a practical exam like that one. He’d have probably acquitted himself quite well without you but TOGETHER, you were practically a dream-team—you knowledge combined, your complementary abilities and shared aptitude for the ‘Artes Vitae’. You breezed through that exam, creating a potion worthy of an actual GRADUATE of the program, let alone teenage (or teenage-equivalent, in adjusted elf-years) students!It wasn’t just this exam, either—you took to partnering with him in this field and in many others, and even to spending time with him between classes. Pearce was quiet by nature, but listened well, and retained what he was told. He was also, solidly-built, like a cement brick… And, of course, fully human. Over the next year, while you grew scarcely an inch, he rose to nearly an adult height, and no SMALL adult either! It was handy to have someone like that about, and he only SOMETIMES teased you for needing him to fetch tools and ingredients from the shelves above as you toiled together in every advanced elective in the field of Life Magic and Living Alchemy that you could, building a reputation beyond the novelty of your Fey ancestry as the rising star of your field—the BEST student in all the Tower in your particular area of expertise.For your part, your specialty was…>Cauldroncraft[Gain an aptitude for potions and poisons, and the spell Purify]>Surgery[Gain an aptitude for non-magical healing, and the spell Stabilize]>Plaguelore[Gain an aptitude for understanding disease, and the spell Contagion]>Combat Support[Gain an aptitude for melee combat, and the spell Bull’s Strength]>Chimericism[Gain an aptitude for animal handling, and the spell Calm]>Write-in[Be gentle, anons]But wait! There's more!
>>5777757Meanwhile, you and your one-time rival drifted apart. It wasn’t that you’d ever been close, obviously, and never FRIENDS, but as you spent more time focused on the pursuit of that magical discipline which most captured your passions—a subject where she continued to flounder, and never took any electives in—the whole childish ‘rivalry’ seemed less and less relevant. The more time with Pearce and your other friends, the less any of that MATTERED to you. Henzler was hardly a SOCIAL rival anymore, that much was certain. That seed of early confidence and extroversion which you’d seen in the young Izirina Henzler seemed to dim and die as she withdrew into herself and away from her peers. While you socialized and fraternized between study sessions, classes, and extracurriculars, you’d sometimes spy her with her face buried in this book or that—textbooks, strange tomes of Dwarven runes or Southeastern scrawl, or old-looking scrolls that she’d go so far as to roll up and stuff hastily back in their tubular cases if she caught you staring. Sometimes it was fiction, or near-fiction—travelogues of distant places, written in olden days, or juvenile ‘portal fantasies’ of fictitious, hypothetical realms. Her every elective and pastime seemed to be obsessed with being anywhere but HERE…Well, not that it was YOUR problem, right?Then, one day, she made it such. One day, you returned to your student housing in the Initiates’ Village—that winding and haphazardly-plotted maze of houses, hovels, and tilting over-tall apartments held together with glue and amateur spellcraft, festooned and made bright and gay by the application of iridescent and effervescent magical paints, and lively by all means of street-magic. There, in your own rented residence, you found a note slipped under the door in an unmistakably-official school envelope. You opened it urgently, expecting accolades or—more worryingly—reprimand. You received neither, but the daintily-written but altogether UNOFFICIAL summons of the Archmage’s heir.‘Come and meet me this weekend at the Mirror Maze. Please.’That was what it said. The ‘Please’ was hastily appended, you could tell, darker than the rest as if Henzler had let the rest dry and then, realizing how curt and potentially threatening the note was without the interjection, had appended it.What do you do?>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinks>Attend the mysterious meeting>Ignore the letter, and go about your preexisting plans: shopping!>Confront the little weirdo about this bizarre invitation in class tomorrow>Write-in
>>5777757>ChimericismPlot twist our emphasis on breeding was for breeding animals and not coomer reasons! Wow! I do think it would be really fun to make wacky creatures, that are y'know not scaly and slimy like the other quests.
>>5777758>Attend the mysterious meetingForgot this. Let's go see what this is about, we don't know our brutish friend to go everywhere with us, do we?
>>5777758>Combat SupportUltimately, a dexterous Half-Elf with self-enhancement is gonna be difficult to deal with.>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777757>CauldroncraftOverspecialization ahoy!>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777757>Chimericism>Confront the little weirdo about this bizarre invitation in class tomorrow
>>5777758>Chimericism>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinks>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777757>Chimericism>>5777758>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinks
>>5777757>Chimericism.We can just get or make a modified beast to fight for us, eventually.>Attend the mysterious meeting.This meeting is likly plot important, i wonder if Izirina is trying to rope us into going on a quest somewhere.
>>5777757>Combat Support>Attend the mysterious meetingshe did include a please
>>5777789>This meeting is likly plot important[Don't feel obligated. This is all still past-tense/backstory stuff. At this point she's 14 or 15, and you're 21 or 22 (roughly 16-ish adjusted for your slower-than-human aging and growth). The main thrust of the story--when 'shit gets real'--will come along either way in about 10-to-12 'in universe' years (by the end of Thread 1 at latest). I'd never make the amateur mistake of making a necessary plot-hook an option you could vote to ignore and avoid the quest altogether!]However, the nature of your relationship to Izirina Henzler, the specific esoteric knowledge she's seeking, how she goes about it and what she wants it for, how you get pulled into her vortex are all being determined by your choices, so don't think these votes are irrelevant, either...
>>5777757>CauldroncraftSnape>>5777758>Ignore the letter, and go about your preexisting plans: shopping!>Confront the little weirdo about this bizarre invitation in class tomorrowBacklink>>5777502>>5777805Tbh, I already don’t like Newbody, and I feel sad that Izzy’s becoming a friendless Hermione.
>>5777757>>5777758>Surgery>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777824While I don't wish to steer our vote, the way to make the MC more likeable or to make Izirina happier and more sociable is probably not to publicly confront her and then blow her off to go shopping
>>5777832I agree, but I feel that it’s more IC for Newbody to do so rather than entertain an irrelevant childhood rival- seems to me more like a Draco Malfoy/Snape sorta character with how he’s characterized.
>>5777832I think it'd be really funny if we had a jerkass MC who later seethes at being this stuck-up bitch's assistant. Simple as.
>>5777757>Cauldroncraft>>5777758>Ignore the letter, and go about your preexisting plans: shopping!
>>5777841>>5777851[You're all still characterizing the MC as we go. I started them with a bit of chip on their shoulder, but only as a starting point. Izirina Henzler could be your Lilly Potter; 'Newbody' could grow beyond this initial grievance, starting with that fateful confrontation with the Archmage, or return to it with a vengeance. You're not bound to anything concrete yet, amusing 'cement' typo aside.][No spoilers for this one because I want the freedom here to be clear to everyone. So far, your only defined traits on my list are: you are a half-elf with a slight complex about it; you are brave and defiant, but also seek excellence and are not overly compassionate if it comes at your own expense; you enjoy life magic. I haven't even got a gender or sexual preference set for you, let alone anything else.]
>>5777757>Chimericism>>5777758>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777856There is no way this elf isn't female lol
>>5777757>Cauldroncraft>>5777758>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777757>Plaguelore>>5777758>>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinks>>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777757>Surgery>>5777758>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777758>Cauldroncraft>PlagueloreEither of these would be my preference, though Plaguelore is dead in the water. Plaguelore I can see being a field of study about communication, which sounds fitting for this story with its two main actors. More than the other fields it fits with the titlecard's closing sentences about understanding the world and changing it.>>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinksRe: likability or their relationship, there's bound to be stumbling points in any relationship that lasts from early puberty until the prime of adulthood, and those points don't necessarily define the relationship either. Generally the MC seems a good foil to Izrina. It's easy to see a world where they 'fit' together. The MC seems to be much more focused on people than the titular Mage Apprentice, so I feel they'd ask other people about what they're puzzled with, rather than approaching it alone.
>>5777920technically, thanks to the character creation choices, they're BOTH the titular Mage Apprentice, depending on your point of view
>>5777758>Combat Support>Attend the mysterious meeting
>>5777856No offense, but our relationship with Izzy has been one of petty antagonism and indifference- I don’t see teenage McFreshface even entertaining her request to meet in a private setting without more of a reason beyond curiosity and her last name, when he likely has social plans. I do see him using it to score social points with his friends.>>5777920I empathize more with Izzy than this spoiled brat, and I ain’t giving NoName the benefit of the doubt.
>>5777949Anon, you and the other players ARE NoName McFreshface, and the last time anyone in any quest saw Izirina, she was a toddler who could barely speak
>>5777757>PlagueloreDont wanna metagame too much but there is a plague currently affecting Hawksong in the sewer systems>>5777758>Tell Logan Pearce about it, and see what he thinks >Attend the mysterious meeting Logan can be a lookout for us to make sure this girl isnt trying to start trouble, from what we could tell in the note Mama Henzler was overseeing the writing of the note up until that last please, we have notions of rivalry between us, but clearly Izi isnt interested in rivalry just progress and that could go either direction, while I highly doubt shes gonna try to cripple our own progression as I dont think Henzler doesnt want us strong, she just wants Izi the strongest
>>5777949>This is your brain on drugs
>>5777953Can’t help my feelings on the matter, friend.>>5777960>clearly Izi isnt interested in rivalryI’d argue Newbody is the one that isn’t interested in the rivalry desu>>5777962https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXxnJgeTd8
>>5777960>>5777947>>5777946>>5777920>>5777917>>5777899>>5777874>>5777863>>5777855>>5777831>>5777824>>5777795>>5777789>>5777778>>5777773>>5777768>>5777767>>5777766>>5777764>>5777762[Locked!]
>>5778001You stared at the note for a while. The Mirror Maze… One of the Initiates’ Village tourist traps. Elves and fairy creatures, like the Beastmen more common to the East and South or the fabled True Fey of the deep and hidden places, were skilled illusionists in their own ways. But the Race of Man… Well, not so much. The Mirror Maze was really more of a little tent, propped up with plywood walls and filled with mundane mirrors given only the slimmest coating of baffling enchantment; the rest was all distortion of the material itself. It could make a person appear slim and tall, squat and fat, green as a goblin or black as a Southman, or even blue with spots!It had also been a popular meeting place for students, primarily for two reasons… But neither seemed right, not where you and Henzler were concerned. And why THEN? You had scarcely spoken to the girl for a year. What did she WANT?Well, there was only one way to find out. You WOULD find out, too. You were no coward, and you were curious, and that’s all it took to make up your mind. You tucked the letter in its envelope, the envelope in your robe’s pocket, and headed to class.The final day of the school-week went by slowly. You shared a few classes with Henzler, as usual, though fewer than in years prior. You could not help but continually glance her way, as if you could catch a glimpse of her intentions by peering into the back of her head. Once or twice you caught her doing much the same, in your direction. The exchange did not go unnoticed.“So,” Pearce asked after a time, “what's going on with you and Henzler?”“What?” you asked.He stared you down, and you broke eye contact first. You did not even drag it out; steady, reliable Logan Pearce did NOT lose staring contests. You contemplated whether to tell him—ask his advice, maybe even bring him to be a lookout or spotter, but…“Nothing,” you said. “It was nothing. But I may have to skip on shopping that weekend.”“On a totally unrelated note, of course,” he said, deadpan, then shrugged when you made no reply.“Fine then, keep your secrets,” he said. “Just don’t forget we’re doing that cat-to-rat impulse transplant next week. Make sure you’re good and ready—I’ve heard how feisty the bloody rat gets after you stick it with the spitting-mad cat-blood. Though, I guess I would be too, if someone had mixed me up with some big fellow I hated, and also I was going to die in a few hours.”“I’ll make sure to have <Calm> prepared,” you murmured.You were still a little perturbed even after all this time at how casually the humans disposed of their urban animal experimentees, but such (you were told) was the cost of medical advancement, and necessary to prevent contamination of wild and feral genepools with unstable chimeras. At any rate, all the while, your eyes and your focus were still on Izirina Henzler.
>>5778003That weekend, the note still in your pocket, you made for the Mirror Maze. The latter specified only ‘morning’, but you supposed you knew what that meant: first thing, when the school-day would start. You were both sort of sticklers for attendance, after all—Henzler no doubt because her mother all-but-owned the place that set your schedules, and you because… Well, elves woke at dawn, and so did you, almost invariably.You made your way to the meeting place and, sure enough, there she was—Izirina Henzler. You had donned your robe because, being late spring, Hawksong was breezy and prone to rainshowers; beneath it, you wore the casual tunic and pants you would on a day off. Izirina, though, seemed to be wearing the whole school uniform—still overlarge on her, but at least pressed and ironed to neatness that day. She quickly stood straight as you approached, though she did not wave or speak… Or do much else. Feeling a little awkward as a result, you came to a stop a few paces from her, and cleared your throat.“Well, the Mirror Maze…” you began. “Students generally call each other here for one of two things… And since I don't think you're the sort to call me out here for some mage’s duel, and I REALLY don't think this was a date…”Henzler’s eyes widened and her face went red. In a mirror of the last time you saw the girl vulnerable, over a year ago in that classroom, she pulled her wide-brimmed mages’ cap down over her face, tilted her head down, and squirmed slightly.“O-of course not,” she said quickly and quietly, and maybe a titch sharply. “Don’t be silly. Why would you even say a thing like that?!”“Right,” you agreed. “Then why?”Henzler gestured to the maze.“…Can we talk about this inside?” she asked, glancing nervously at the foot traffic moving about the place. “Nobody ever really goes inside until afternoon, usually, after the other attractions start to open up.”What did you do?>Go inside with Henzler (who is acting PRETTY peculiar), alone,away from witnesses...>Demand that she tell you what is going on right here before you go to some second location>Forget this -- you're out of here, this is getting weird and creepy>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]
>>5778005[Oh, and write-ins are allowed; that's generally the case unless I say explicitly that it's not.]
>>5778005>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]It would be funny succeeding or failinng
>>5778005>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]If we can't get in the good books of the mother we should try for the daughter.
>>5778005>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]HohohoBacklink >>5777502
>>5778005>>Demand that she tell you what is going on right here before you go to some second location
>>5778005>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]Im down for some wizard romance, especially if its Sapphic in nature
>>5778005>Demand that she tell you what is going on right here before you go to some second location
>>5778005>Go inside with Henzler (who is acting PRETTY peculiar), alone,away from witnesses...Tell her you told all your friends and family you're meeting her this morning and they'll ask questions if you don't come out.
>>5778005>>Go inside with Henzler (who is acting PRETTY peculiar), alone,away from witnesses...
>>5778005>Ask if this IS a date, then...? [Flirtation roll will follow to determine result if this is chosen; 1d20, but as a half-elf you have reduced DCs with humans]
>>5778138[Are you changing you vote from >>5778071, then?]
>>5778139Yes I guess. I don't want to FLIRT.... yet
>>5778005>Go inside with Henzler (who is acting PRETTY peculiar), alone,away from witnesses...
>>5778142[Well, never fear, for I am aware of the major dichotomy between 'romance' and 'no romance' choices in such events, and also tally an AGGREGATE 'no romance' vote!]
>>5778164I take >>5778011’s view- it’s the funny option no matter what is rolled
>>5778174>>5778167>>5778157>>5778154>>5778138>>5778137>>5778130>>5778102>>5778082>>5778078>>5778017>>5778016>>5778011[Locking and writing!]
>>5778186“See, when you are all WEIRD about stuff like this, it starts to make me think it IS a date.”Henzler’s mouth snapped shut at that, forming a thin line.“Though I have to warn you,” you continued, struggling to keep a straight face, “I’ve told all my friend and family where we’re meeting, so if I go missing—or come back with any hickeys—they’ll know what happened to me.”You didn’t think it was possible for her to go any redder and, yet, here you both were—and she, with her brownish skin, had purpled up like a beet.“THIS IS NOT,” she reiterated, hands balled in fists at her side, “A DATE!”You raised your hands defensively, but before you could explain that you were only joking, she added: “And anyway, you don’t HAVE any family.”You shut your mouth, narrowing your eyes a little. To her credit, the unsociable Henzler seemed at least self aware to realize the faux pas. Unfortunately, she was about as graceful at backpedalinga s she was at deflecting.“I-I didn’t mean… I just meant you have no family HERE, in Hawksong. I know that, for instance, you have a family GENERALLY. Everyone does. You have to come from somewhere.”“Yeah,” you said, with a forced smile, “even strange, adopted little girls.”You were both quiet for a moment until, finally, the groggy, tea-nursing halfling fellow at the entrance kiosk broke the awkward silence:“You two lovebirds going in, or not.”“Yes,” you both answered at once, then looked at each other, then hastily looked away once more.Side-by-side, you entered. It was, you had to admit, an almost hilariously-surreal experience to be walking by so many wackily-warped and amusingly-enchanted effigies of yourself—stretched, warped, distorted, discoloured, upside down, backwards-walking, funny-faced, and everything in between—in solemn silence.“…Like the Yokai Parade.”You looked over at Henzler beside you, utterly confounded.“Like WHAT now?”“In the Eastlands,” she said, not looking back at you but rather still staring into her own transfigured reflections. “They say the yokai—fairies, incarnate demons, beastmen in disguise, undead even—parade through the streets at certain times of year, demanding tribute or bewitching those who fail to provide it. It must look a lot like this, don’t you think?”Ugh. This GIRL. ALWAYS showing off! You huffed, and shrugged.“I guess it’s a bit like a fairy court,” you countered, which proved a mistake.“You’ve SEEN a fairy court?!” she asked, looking at you starry-eyed now, reaching out as if to grip your robe’s hem. You backed up, only your innate elven grace sparing you the embarrassment of bumping into the mirror behind you.“Uh,” you fumbled, “not… PERSONALLY, but, you know… The pointy ears pick up stories.”
>>5778197Henzler frowned a little at that.“I thought you didn’t like that,” she said. “People pointing out that you were half-elf.”Suddenly, her fixed, unmoving eye-contact was unnerving, and you had to look away. You reflected that you had finally found someone who might beat Pearce in a staring contest, at least if they awarded points for intensity.“I guess I… Got over it a little,” you admit, starting to walk again.“But not over disliking me,” she replied, following you.You glanced her way, just briefly, then continued on looking ahead, not sure what to say.“Why did you bring me here?” you asked, eventually, because it was really the main question to ask, and you could avoid it no longer—not after a blunt statement like that.“Because of what you did,” Henzler answered, “a year ago, with my mother and me.”“What, got a concussion and ended up on the Archmage’s private shit-list?” you asked.“You know what I mean,” Henzler said, quietly. “I wanted to know… Why you did that, even though you hate me. I don’t understand. Other people only do nice things for me because they think they can copy my notes, or borrow my books, or impress my m—the Archmage. Then they realize I’m a lousy teacher, and my notes don’t make sense to anyone but me because I write them weird, and that Mother doesn’t even LIKE me, and they… They stop.”…Eesh. “But you never liked me,” she continued, stopping suddenly and staring at you again, “and you never did anything nice for me except when it was to STAND UP to m—to the Archmage. And you didn’t ask for anything after, or even really talk to me for a whole year, and… I just don’t understand.”You take a deep breath, considering your answer. Why DID you do that?>It really is a matter of fairness and justice—plain and simple, you don’t like seeing someone treated like that for no good reason>You know what it’s like to feel weird, like an outsider, like there’s something wrong with you, and you know it doesn’t feel good>When the Archmage was talking to Izirina like that, the Henzler family suddenly reminded you of YOUR family—of your MOTHER—and you just snapped>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lie>Write-inBut, for the record…>You DO hate her guts and think she’s a weirdo>You don’t HATE her… And you’re sorry if you gave her that impression>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakesnon-flirterers, don't read too much into the attached image -- I'm only memeing
>>5778198>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lie>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakes
>>5778198>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lie+ >Write-in: Your my academic rival, how am I'm supposed to fairly outperform you if I let you get demoralized and torn down?for the lie.>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakes
>>5778198>You know what it’s like to feel weird, like an outsider, like there’s something wrong with you, and you know it doesn’t feel good>You DO hate her guts and think she’s a weirdo
>>5778198>When the Archmage was talking to Izirina like that, the Henzler family suddenly reminded you of YOUR family—of your MOTHER—and you just snapped>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lieThe best lies are the ones with a mix of truth in it.>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakes
>>5778198>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lie>+ >Write-in: Your my academic rival, how am I'm supposed to fairly outperform you if I let you get demoralized and torn down?>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakes
>>5778198>When the Archmage was talking to Izirina like that, the Henzler family suddenly reminded you of YOUR family—of your MOTHER—and you just snapped>You DO hate her guts and think she’s a weirdo
>>5778214It me >>5777874
>>5778211+1
>>5778216https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r_E3uyC0XCk
>>5778198>You know what it’s like to feel weird, like an outsider, like there’s something wrong with you, and you know it doesn’t feel good>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lieSince we're not gonna say it altright, I'm giving a reason that is also true>You don’t HATE her… And you’re sorry if you gave her that impression
>>5778198>>It really is a matter of fairness and justice—plain and simple, you don’t like seeing someone treated like that for no good reason>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakesBackstory romance isn't very fun to read about, if it's going to be a romantic story then do it during the plot
>>5778198>It really is a matter of fairness and justice—plain and simple, you don’t like seeing someone treated like that for no good reason>You only hated her until you became better than her in a subject.
>>5778258IP changed again>>5776475
>>5778198>When the Archmage was talking to Izirina like that, the Henzler family suddenly reminded you of YOUR family—of your MOTHER—and you just snapped>You DO hate her guts and think she’s a weirdoRivals to friends is more fun
>>5778198>When the Archmage was talking to Izirina like that, the Henzler family suddenly reminded you of YOUR family—of your MOTHER—and you just snappedProjection i choose you!>You DO hate her guts and think she’s a weirdoN-not that im j-jealous of your talent or anything like that b-baka
>>5778198The truth>You secretly had a crush on Izirina—though you’re not about to admit that to her face, so you hastily cobble together a lieThe lie>It really is a matter of fairness and justice—plain and simple, you don’t like seeing someone treated like that for no good reason>She owes you one—she never even said THANK YOU, for gods’ sakesTsundere elf
>>5778198>You know what it’s like to feel weird, like an outsider, like there’s something wrong with you, and you know it doesn’t feel good>You don’t HATE her… And you’re sorry if you gave her that impression
>>5778198>fairness and justice >don’t hate, sorry if she felt we did>not cool that she didn’t even ask if we were ok tho
>>5778198>It really is a matter of fairness and justice—plain and simple, you don’t like seeing someone treated like that for no good reasonI did it for me.>You don’t HATE her… But we’re not going to apologize, either. We don’t owe her anything.>>5776436Ay nice! Hope it has a decent salary.>>5776843
>>5778239>Backstory romance[While we're a this stage, the backstory IS the plot! Think of this less as 'backstory' and more as the first act. Still, if you'd rather fall in love in the midst of a hunt for secret knowledge which demihumans were not meant to know... Yeah, fair.]>>5778426>tsundere elf[It's pronounced 'tsunderelf', I believe.]>>5778527>Ay nice! Hope it has a decent salary.[Thanks, ann.]Much lower than my last job, but a necessary sacrifice for my wellbeing>>5778527>>5778511>>5778501>>5778426>>5778409>>5778405>>5778400>>5778304>>5778262>>5778258>>5778239>>5778236>>5778221>>5778214>>5778211>>5778206>>5778205>>5778204>>5778201[Good morning! I'm putting off caching up on Path of the Exorcist and voting in that quest to write in THIS one, so you know I'm serious. Locked, writing, go check out PotE if you haven't yet!]
>>5778563You’d taken a lot of time after the… INCIDENT with the Archmage, to reflect on why there’s BEEN an incident at all. Why DID you feel the need to step in? You know what Pearce would say, albeit in jest, if he was here: that your obsession with Henzler was some sort of crush. Well.. Maybe it was, but if so it was also merely a phase, and an subconscious phase at that. Just like your sense of ‘rivalry’ with Izirina Henzler had began to fade as you made your own mark and stepped out of her shadow and onto a distinct path, you had grown beyond that juvenile fixation!(Even if. Physically, you had hardly grown at all…)No, in truth it was not romance that moved your feet, nor altruism, but the contempt which only familiarity could breed. You had seen the way Henler’s mother had acted, heard those words—that something was ‘wrong with’ your young rival—and it had taken you back, right back to Iternagreyn and even before then, to the little grove of Nitrea where you were born and brought up before your magical gifts proved worthy of the elven capitol…Or, rather, before your mother could not longer stand the sight of you.“I know what it’s like,” you’d finally choked out, the words like rising bile on your tongue, your stomach churning as if you’d truly vomited them forth. “Your mother and mine… I think they’d have a lot to talk about. About disappointing children.”Henzler stared at you for a moment, confused, and then her face fell.“You think I’m a disappointment, too…?”Ugh.“That’s not what I—look, I’m saying that… I know what it’s like. To have a mother who… Who doesn’t LIKE you, the way mothers are meant to do, alright? When I heard your mother speaking to you like that… Well, I didn’t think. I just reacted. Maybe I… PROJECTED a little bit, and said to her what… What I wish I’d been able to say to mine.”Of course, you’d been only ten when you were FIRST banished from a place, albeit not from the Fair Folk as whole—the human equivalent of a five or six year-old, at a time when most elflings are still toddlers. Maybe that was why she’d done it—sent you away, never written you. How surreal must it be, you wonder, to see your child growing, aging, approaching DEATH at twice the rate one would expect? To turn one’s back for a moment, then look back and see your child has grown taller and older in a relative instant?…To know that you will outlive your own baby?“There’s no excuse for it,” you said sternly, to yourself as much as to Henzler.
>>5778588Your ‘date’ looked at you strangely, then, with something you weren’t used to—with understanding, of a sort, and sympathy, and with something that MIGHT have been pity. You weren’t about to stand for THAT, though.“And anyway, you know what? YES, I actually AM disappointed in you.”“W-what?” Henzler gawped, taking a step back and bringing her hands to her chest.“I stood up for you and took a silent-spelled <Gust of Wind> or whatever to the face, and what did YOU do?” you demanded. “Nothing! Didn’t even say thank you. What is your PROBLEM?”“I—I was.. I didn’t mean to…”You pointed a finger at her, advancing a little, and she backed up a step.“You owe me one, Henzler,” you’d told her then.Her face fell at that, the light of understanding dimming a little.“O-oh,” she’d murmured. “I… I get it. Yeah.”Hm. Well, good.“What do you want?” she’d asked you.…Oh. Hm. You hadn’t actually thought that far advance… Had you?>You want to see the Archmage’s private chimera laboratories, where the gryphons and owlbears and fancy draconewts who knows what ELSE gets made!>You want her to tutor you in one of your weaker subjects—even if she’s a bad teacher, even if her notes are weird or whatever, you’re smart enough to figure it out>You want her lunch money—well, her allowance, anyway, spend on the shopping trip you’re skipping for this silly meet-up>You want her to be your handmaiden for the rest of this school year AND the next one—in PUBLIC! Having the Archmage’s daughter as a personal assistant could be fun AND boost your reputation>You want something else… [Write-in]>You… Don’t know what you want, actually. You’ll think on it. It might be fun to see her squirm for a while, anyway!
>>5778593>You want something else… [Write-in]"Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you. You will help me."
>>5778593>You want something else… [Write-in]>"Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you. You will help me."
>>5778604
>>5778593Tutoring maybe
>>5778593>You… Don’t know what you want, actually. You’ll think on it. It might be fun to see her squirm for a while, anyway
>>5778593>You want her to be your handmaiden for the rest of this school year AND the next one—in PUBLIC! Having the Archmage’s daughter as a personal assistant could be fun AND boost your reputationI’d also be fine with tutoring or the laboratories. I mainly see this as the way to help socialize her, even if her social awkwardness is cute.
>>5778593>You want something else… [Write-in]>Access those rare books the archmage mentioned! So that you can rise even further ahead of your peers.Or/+>You want her to tutor you in one of your weaker subjects—even if she’s a bad teacher, even if her notes are weird or whatever, you’re smart enough to figure it out.Maybe we can read those rare books together like proper nerds.
>>5778593>You want her to tutor you in one of your weaker subjects—even if she’s a bad teacher, even if her notes are weird or whatever, you’re smart enough to figure it out
>>5778593>>5778657Brings up a good point, those rare books are desirable. Throw them in with the tutoring maybe?
>>5778593>>You… Don’t know what you want, actually. You’ll think on it. It might be fun to see her squirm for a while, anyway!>"Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you. You will help me."Essentially the same
>>5778593>You… Don’t know what you want, actually. You’ll think on it. It might be fun to see her squirm for a while, anyway!
>>5778593>You want something else… [Write-in]>Access to those rare books the archmage mentioned! So that you can rise even further ahead of your peers.Izirina seems very literally minded. A vague future debt held over her, seems to be something she would dislike.Those books on the other hand may be able to improve our grades or even teach us a spell.
>>5778593>You want her to tutor you in one of your weaker subjects—even if she’s a bad teacher, even if her notes are weird or whatever, you’re smart enough to figure it outsince anons went with the debt option, I'll go with something that gets us closer to her
>>5778787To be blunt, I thought it was more of a figurative Owe Us rather than literal- she never asked for our help, we stood up for her on our own volition. I don’t see where she incurred a literal debt.It’s why the Dunno option is probably the best IC option- we never thought of it as literal.
>>5778593>>You want to see the Archmage’s private chimera laboratories, where the gryphons and owlbears and fancy draconewts who knows what ELSE gets made!
>>5778805>>5778797>>5778787>>5778779>>5778735>>5778728>>5778673>>5778657>>5778641>>5778635>>5778613>>5778604>>5778600[Alright, locked and writing!]
>>5778864what do the colors mean ?
>>5778890He explained here when I asked>>5776575
>>5778864“…Huh?”“I owe you,” Henzler repeated you words back to you. “What do you want, to repay the debt?”You’re a little taken aback, actually. You were thinking an apology, or a ‘thank you’, or… Maybe you’d just spoken up to get her on her back-foot and embarrass her? Tod distract her from your own personal revelation? You didn’t expect the weirdo to be so freaking LITERAL about it. After all, you’d stepped on for YOURSELF, on your OWN initiative, not because Izirina Henzler had asked you to do so. You’re not so sure she actually OWES you anything, in truth…But you weren’t averse to using this. A small smile played upon your lips as you considered the possibilities. Rare books? Private tutelage and access to the notes—however strange or byzantine those notes might be—of the Tower’s best student?“Well, you’re rather putting me on the spot, don’t you think?” you’d asked, to buy time.“But you were the one who—”“Now now, is that any way to show gratitude?” you’d interrupted Henzler protest, shutting her up. “I’m going to need to think on this… But make no mistake, Henzler: the day wil come when I call upon you, and you WILL help me.”“That’s not…”You arched an eyebrow. Izirina Henzler withered under your questioning gaze, and nodded, pulling her hat down.“Now, was that all?” you asked, feeling admittedly a little smug as you watched her squirm, an experimental animal in your own personal lab.She nodded after a moment’s delay. You got the sense that maybe there was more—more to this meeting, more she’d wanted to talk about, but that—for better or worse—you had made her rethink the matter.“Right,” you said, continuing on your way towards the hall’s exit. “Then I’ll see you in class, Henzler.”She watched you go—you could feel her eyes on you, prickling the fine hairs on the back of your neck, but you did not turn around. You hurried and, having avoided any more of strangeness with the Archmage’s daughter, you managed to catch up with your friends in time for lightning-roasted drake-kabobs and to pick out some new attire for the one week study-and-decompression break between this year and next.
>>5778897The little liaison with the unusual girl had given you a lot to think about, though, and not just the nebulous promise of a future favour. Your family… Your status in this school.. Your FUTURE. It was all a little up-in-the-air, but these weren’t subjects you could ignore forever. Even if you were aging and growing more slowly than your human contemporaries in Hawksong, you wouldn’t be a kid forever. Time marches onward—ever onward—and if its pace is subjective, its advancement is implacable and merciless. You went about your studies, your exams practical and written, as your break—and the next year—fast approached. In your heart and mind, you resolved to…>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself[Nets more backstory, can acquire an additional skill outside of magical study]>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest[Has the opportunity to net a free spell, potentially]>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudes[Arcana roll needed if chosen; if successful, can gain a rank in another magical discipline and/or learn a spell; more Henzler interactions]>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you[Increases relationship with Pearce, gives you the opportunity to add another NPC to your party]>Write-in[Effects TBD, I’ll make sure to get you Something if it’s a good one][Choose two. This will define the focus of your middle adolescence -- time marches on, after all!]
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest
>>5778901[Choose TWO, please.]
>>5778898>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudes
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forestGotta accept our talents if we wanna be the best like no one ever was
>>5778914You have to to choose two anon
>>5778898>>5778903>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself
>>5778898>>5778915thanks bro, I blame >>5778901that bastard>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudeswe won't owe her for this because as she trains us in magic we'll train her in talking to people and other basic skills
>>5778898>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudesSome of the other fields are way more interesting desu>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you- along with status and popularityHoping to help socialize Henzler and get her friends rather than focus on NPCs- I’d rather not steal her quest for ourselves.
Backlinking >>5778930 to >>5778641 btw
>>5778898>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself
>>5778930>I’d rather not steal her quest for ourselves[Anon... You are playing the main character. She is going to be your duteragonist, rival, love interest, best friend, antagonist, or some mix of these things, but this not HER quest, or not ONLY her quest. That was the point of the first vote. She is destined for some measure of fame or infamy, but this is YOUR story, first and foremost.]
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you
>>5778898>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudes>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest.>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudesWe need to focus on using our magical education to its fullest. So we can graduate with renown & accolades. And that means getting good grades and learning branches of magic.
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudes
>>5778898>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you
>>5778944I’m giving Newbody a chance to win me over, but again, I can’t help my feelings over the matter.Anyway, I’m curious- if we chosen anything but the debt option, would Izzy have opened up more about what she wanted from us? Cause I assume the subject will come up later, my just curious why not when we were in the Maze?
>>5778898>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest>Start working on one of your weaker subjects—with Henzler’s help is ABSOLUTELY necessary—and round out your aptitudesMe: >>5776475
>>5778898>>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest>Make more friends, where family ahs failed you
>>5779003>would Izzy have opened up more about what she wanted from us?[Probably. The MC followed up...>Other people only do nice things for me because they think they can copy my notes, or borrow my books, or impress my m—the Archmage. Then they realize I’m a lousy teacher, and my notes don’t make sense to anyone but me because I write them weird, and that Mother doesn’t even LIKE me, and they… They stop.>And you didn’t ask for anything afterwith>You owe me one, HenzlerSo she shut down a little and lost steam. It also shifted her formative opinions of the MC and objectives for obtaining secret knowledge further in one direction, and away from others]>I’m giving Newbody a chance to win me over, but again, I can’t help my feelings over the matter.[Your approach to the main character is quite strange to me, but if you're enjoying yourself this way, more power to you.]
>>5779015>spoiler;_; I’m sorry to hear that- sorta wished I went with my gut ‘I don’t hate you’, but I figured it wouldn’t win, so I jumped on the next best thing.>Your approach to the main character is quite strange to meHeart wants what the heart wants- I’m just riding the elephant here. I could probably explain it more in depth, but I don’t want to bore anyone with the details rn
>>5778898>Learn more about your human family—your father’s family—and the man himself>Finally let go of your hangups around your fey heritage, and to devote more study to natural philosophy and the ‘wild magics’ of fur, feather, and forest
>>5779068>>5779013>>5779011>>5778996>>5778989>>5778983>>5778959>>5778959>>5778950>>5778948>>5778938>>5778930>>5778921>>5778916>>5778914>>5778906[Alright, writing!]
>>5779203‘You have to come from somewhere.’ That was what Izirina Henzler had said, and it stuck with you. She’d meant it more in a literal, biological sense, but there was a mystical sentiment to it which rang true as well. Biologically, magically, you were an elf—well, half an elf—from the tradition of the elven seers and mystics, the druids and ‘Ath Tel Syol’, or what the humans called ‘Wild Mages’. You had spent years no burying yourself in books, slaving over stir-sticks and potion-cauldrons, dissecting animals and chopping up herbs without really understanding the heart or root of them… Human magic, or at least the magic of the northwest.Maybe it was time to get back to YOUR heart, to YOUR roots, and to that philosophy of nature which underpinned your interest in biology to begin with. When your mother had sent you away, and then again and more finally when the mystics of Iternagreyn’s Tower had ‘suggested’ you study among the humans, you had done so almost unthinkingly, running away and turning your back on the source of your pain and alienation… But it was your birthright, too, wasn’t it?“You’ll have to excuse me from that hike,” Logan Pearce had said, brow high and crunched together as you explained this to him, as you packed your bag on the last day of the school-year. “You’re sure you don’t want to come join us? We were able to synthesize some pretty potent alcohol with alchemy and the trimmings from that last herbalism class.“You want me to forsake my educational future, my mastery of magic, for MOONSHINE?” you’d asked.“No need to get so grandiose about it,” he’d said, slapping you playfully on the shoulder. “I’m asking you to come get drunk with friends to celebrate changing the bands on our hats. How about it?”You smiled back at him, and shook your head, saying: “Save some for me when I get back.”“Not a chance,” he’d laughed, and wished you luck thereafter.
>>5779265There was precious little unspoiled nature—true WILDERNESS –to be found in Hawksong, or even outside its high, white borderwalls. Everything that wasn’t paved with cobblestones or flattened and packed for dirt trade-roads was manicured and made palatable to human tastes (well, and to those of the races of Halfling and Dwarf, also). In the Silver Realms (more properly SYLVAN Realms) of your mother’s people, the paths were less obvious, bounded with bushes and trees from centuries hence. These, the elves would bend to fair compromise, rather than break apart or uproot, creating latices of woven, living roots that served just as well as any quarried-stone street, while dense boughs of trees were like a sun-speckled roof for all the realm. There was little need for agriculture, for the learned elders of the Ath Tel Syol knew the language and lore of plants and could intuit where crops seeds or nuts grew, and encourage them by subtle art to be yet more abundant and rich. When the seasons denied such simple pleasures of the earth, the season of the hunt would come—when all the animals who normally were as pets to the elves would know their hunger, and lead them in chase, and give their lives and blood in that deadliest and most violent harvest… But never be penned in, never held hostage for meat, milk, egg, or wool in cages, barns, or corrals.Then again, elves reproduced more slowly than did men, and grew more slowly, and ate and drank less, and live din fewer numbers. Elves were in decline, while MEN ruled the world. Maybe there was wisdom in both traditions… But there was only one way to find out.You traveled for days on foot, by yourself, finding that your natural poise and grace did not equate to a natural endurance or athleticism. Scholastic life had done little to prepare you for the arduous physical activity you now faced, and elven heredity was not the great equalizer you’d hoped. Still, you were determined, and so you did what you needed to do in order to find the distant, wooded hill where the great old tree—a maple, far older than the typical age of its kin—was said to grow tall and wide. You found it there, pitted and rotted but still sprouting new growth, gnarled roots wrapped tight around a heart heart-stone which faintly radiated a natural magic to your mage’s second-sight.“It’ll do,” you said to yourself, and made camp there.It took the better part of your week’s vacation—well beyond the patience of even dear Pearce to save you any liquor, you were sure—but you sat there, burning incense and murmuring hymns in the Silver Tongue of the elf-folk, remembered from your childhood and your early days in the ancient tradition. You reflected on what it was you’d come here to find: peace, commonality, unity, wholeness.
>>5779266 If you were going to be a Chimericist, you needed to find where rat and cat were not in conflict, but where they were both part of one greater whole—a whole that included Man and Elf, as well, both parts of you, and which could finally settle that turmoil which (from time to time) made you act a bit of a prat.It took some time, but eventually you glimpsed it: the heart of yourself, the root of yourself, the connection between you and your history—between you and the world. It was only a brief vision, a half-remembered and fragmentary revelation, but you found yourself changed by it.You returned to Hawksong…>A Keeper of the Primeval Garden[Gain the spell <Goodberry>, allowing you to bring any plant to blossom and to fruit at will and to imbue the fruits with magical properties; also gain an affinity for plant magic]>A Beast-Friend[Gain the spell <Nature’s Ally>, allowing you to communicate and even control an animal or small group of birds and mammals]>An Earthchild[Gain the spell <Stoneskin>, and a natural cunning for soils and stones, as well as an understanding of how to mix matter organic and inorganic]>A Disciple of the True Fey[Gain the spell <Faerie Fire>, allowing you to reveal hidden things and illuminate the way to secret places, and an understanding of distant times and places known only to primordial gods of your kind… But this will draw the attention of the True Fey to you, as well]
>>5779270>A Disciple of the True FeyHad I know there was Moonshine involved, I would’ve advocated harder for the More Friends option.Fine with Plants and Beasts btwBacklink >>5778930
>>5779270>>A Disciple of the True FeyGIVE ME THE FORBIDDEN LORE.Is it saying that Faerie Fire is the thing that reveals hidden things or is that a separate ability?If that doesn't win because people are afraid of the True Fey (or some other reason), count it as a vote for:>An EarthchildBecause making living stone golems (or turning ourselves into a mage-borg) sounds rad.
>>5779270>A Beast-FriendSince we are going for chimeras, then this would be the best one, right?
>>5779276>Had I know there was Moonshine involved, I would’ve advocated harder for the More Friends option[Real friends know that dry grad is just a prelude]>>5779277>Is it saying that Faerie Fire is the thing that reveals hidden things or is that a separate ability?[Faerie Fire makes the hidden visible, and can lead you places. Not always places you want to go, though...]
>>5779270>A Disciple of the True FeyAccept the danger, it’ll be fun
>>5779281It has great synergy, yes. Though Goodberry means better Moonshine and Wine bros- great for making friends and influencing people :V>>5779282Oh? Please do tell- I’ve had no experience with this bonding ritual.
>>5779293I can't vote for Goodberry, it always makes me think of Teehee Macaroni.
>>5779281>>5779293[There exist synergies for all of these with Chimercism... But Beast-Friend is most immediately applicable.]>>5779276>>5779277[Also, for simplicity's sake I'm going to count only your main vote unless you want each option you vote for to be co-equal. I'm not doing instant-runoff voting or weighted voting. Would you prefer me to count each vote as 1 on my tally, or just True Fey for now?]>>5779293>dry grad[Canadian schools have a 'dry grad' for Grade 12, and often for other grades as well, where non-alcoholic drinks are served and dancing happens under adult supervision. The name itself gives away the truth, though: every dry grad is, by implication, followed by a 'wet' grad which has unsupervised dancing (and often sex) and alcohol.]
>>5779296Yes, please, counting it as a vote for both would be great.
>>5779296>Would you prefer me to count each vote as 1 on my tally, or just True Fey for now?Aye, why not? It’s at least make it consistent with the first vote. >>5779276 me btw.Alcohol bros, assemble!>>5779296>dry gradDamn, that sound like a fun time ngl
>>5779270>A Beast-Friend
>>5779270>A Beast-Friend.Like the novice once said, the best survival strategy for a noncombatant mage. Is to make sure your beat stick is between you and danger.
>>5779270This is the fun option >>A Disciple of the True Fey
>>5779270>A Keeper of the Primeval Garden
>>5779270>A Beast-FriendYou just know
>>5779270>>A Disciple of the True Fey
>>5779440Me >>5778938Is it okay to start tripping if your ID changes almost every time?
>>5779270>A Disciple of the True FeyLmao we’re going to make fey abominations with our chimericism and piss off all our gods aren’t we?
>>5779449Except for Beholderbro :V
>>5779270>A Disciple of the True Feyhell yeah, great party potential here
>>5779451[A reminder to players of previous quests: at present, both duteragonists are implicitly followers of Gods of Light, not the Dark Gods. Level of religiosity hasn't come up, and they may or may not be especially devout... Though choosing 'Disciple of the True Fey' will imply a certain level of devotion to the elven gods.][Chances are that, unless he cropped up in some of Izirina's rare tomes, neither character has even HEARD of the Baleful Beholder.]
>>5779457>Though choosing 'Disciple of the True Fey' will imply a certain level of devotion to the elven gods.A bit burnt out on religion I’m afraid- I’d rather not jump into another religious fueled mess, and focus moonshine and chimeras.
>>5779484[They're very different sorts of deities than the Dark Gods, in fairness. I'd recommend a different vote this go around, though, if you want to maintain a distinctly secular mindset. I don't believe you've voted yet, have you? 'Fey' is winning, but not by much, and the vote is open another hour or so.]
>>5779270>A Disciple of the True FeyInterested in this but not the religion aspect backstory wise, im chill with more down the line but like other anon pointed at, im religioned out, and frankly the Mages Tower with Henzler at the helm doesnt feel godly in either direction so having an agnostic attitude doesnt feel wrong in character imo, obviously its a fantasy world and people cant really deny the gods existence as they do provide noticeable boons when you do what they ask of you, but wizards have always been pretty anti authority
>>5779270>A Keeper of the Primeval GardenIs the ability to grow food and shelter almost everywhere not good enough for you?
>>5779494like we can obviously acknowledge we have a unique connection to these deities and what they provide, but the wizarding way feels like finding loopholes is the game, especially in the case of like fey dieties, im sure they have strict pacts but probably less serious about loopholes depending on what we channel our fairy fire through obviously, but whimsy and the sentiment of nature finds a way feel like something fey gods would be down with
>>5779488>A Beast-FriendKay, though I don’t expect it to amount to much>>5779494>>5779505Agreed, the ability is the most interesting, but the baggage isn’t >>5779504Guess not, as cool as it would be
>>5779521>>5779506>>5779504>>5779494>>5779484>>5779478>>5779454>>5779449>>5779440>>5779435>>5779409>>5779328>>5779310>>5779309>>5779304>>5779301>>5779298>>5779291>>5779281>>5779277>>5779276When you returned to Hawksong, to the Tower, you were still alive with excitement, exhilarated in spite of the exhaustion of your long walk home. And, of course, you had to inform Logan Pearce immediately—even though by then it was nighttime, and it meant waking him up.“Easy there, Tips,” he said holding up both hands.‘Tips’. Your nickname—not often used anymore or even then, but an early one from years prior, and one Pearce had clung to for just such occasions as that. Your ears—pointed at their TIPS—twitched slightly as if in recognition. You scrunched your nose, then shrugged it off, and that gae HIM pause.“Damn, you ARE in a rare mood,” he laughs. “okay, okay, tell me slowly, like I’m some dumb human or something.”“You are,” you said with a grin, “but I like you well enough anyway. But here, enough, LISTEN…”Up on the hilltop, leaned against the old maple and breathing in an incense made of sacred herbs, trimming taken from around the area, and the bark of the maple itself, you had slept, woken, and slept again, eating and drinking little. The only words you spoke were the sacred ones—the old ones, elven ones, at dawn and at dusk. Giving into your natural circadian rhythms, you had woken with the sun, fallen asleep with the sun, and gradually become one with the world—“Boooring,” Pearce remarked, with a genuine yawn. “You’ll put me back to bed with this elven mumbo-jumbo, you know that?”You glared, and he grinned apologetically, though he didn’t say sorry. You thumped his arm one, and the sturdy boy feigned pain for your benefit, You continued.“Well what happened next was NOT boring,” you told him. “See, it was on the very last day before I was ready to give up and head back that I saw it—at dusk!”What you’d seen had, at first, seemed like a trick of the light. The shadows had moved queerly, seeming to shift in odd angles, different than what the cast light of the rising sun should have elicited. The hue had been wrong, too, and the shadow of that old maple had draped over you—despite being BEHIND you, on the OPPOSITE side of the sun, so that it should have been impossible. And in those shadows you had seen them…“Spriggans!” you whispered excitedly.“Yeah?” asked Logan Pearce, uncertainly. “Is that… Good!”You had spied them in silhouette, in implication, as voids in the thin, rising smoke of your incense, where the uncanny shadow of the maple tree intersected with sun and with that smoke. And the incense, it was dying! You’d hurried to replenish it, but in your haste, you’d knocked it over, breaking whatever spellcraft had wreathed the place. When you looked up, the world was as it had been-normal, material, mundane.
>>5779537“And that was that?” Pearce asked.You glowered fearsomely, and he’d just smirked, and both of you had broken into sniggers.“Stop it,” you’d chided him, and continued the tale.After that you’d spent all day preparing, waiting. When dusk came, you were ready. Moving slowly, precisely, you went through the motions of the ritual. You spoke the words. You lit the incense. You circled the tree. You closed your eyes. You opened them.And opened them again.There, in that tiny grove, you beheld a fairy court—a group of True Fey, albeit tiny ones, only distant cousins to the Fairy King and Queen, Titania and Oberon, who your mothers people descended from and worshiped still as gods. Spriggans, mostly—little tree-spirits, small-but-mighty, and known to be 'mischievous' in dark ways when displeased.“But I knew how to please them!”“That so?” asked Pearce, waggling his eyebrows.“You’re the worst,” you sighed.In actuality, candy had been the trick—small candies, but lightly-enchanted to crackle and pop in a person’s mouth. An offering like this drew them close, closer to the veil between spiritual and physical realms, between dreaming and waking. There, where you could see them closely, they accepted your gift… And invited you to dance, and to sing, and to while away the night, between places.“Then dusk turned dark, and they started to fade,” you trailed off. “But since I’d given them a gift, they gave ME a gift, too!”You held up a hand and, with a flourish and a word taught to you by the Spriggan—older even than the Elven language as it is spoken today—you produced a smokeless fire, transparent and ephemeral, like a <Mage’s Torch> but blue and hardly giving off light at all. <Faerie Fire!>“When they handed me this, I could see them all—at least a little, no matter the time of day. And that wasn’t all I could see. There’s so much hidden in this world—beyond, JUST beyond, or… Where things cross over, you know?”Pearce had nodded sagely, and said: “Like in creepy backrooms of shops, when nobody else is around and a broom falls over.”“No,” you’d sighed. “Not like that at all, Logan.”You’d looked up at that moment, though, and seen it in the window—peering eyes, gleaming in the window. As Logan Pearce’s rom was well above the ground, that was reason enough for you to hastily snuff the fire and to change topics to something else—like the missed graduation party, or how sick your mutual friend Francis Blanchette had become from the moonshine. You did not speak of the eyes, for fear of holding their attention unduly. Not all fairies are friendly, even to half-elves…And when you can notice the unnoticeable, the unnoticeable sometimes takes a special notice of YOU.
>>5779538School began not a day later. You’d fallen asleep in Pearce’s room—not afraid to face what had espied you through his window, of course, just tired. Depleted of the initial energies of discovery, you were STILL tired that next morning, sleepwalking through your first day. Not a few of your classmates were hungover from their last hurrahs, of course, so you were at least in good company.You’d seen Izirina Henzler once, and she’d seen you, but the two of you had quickly looked away. You had been in no mood for THAT situation just now.However, for all your progress in your areas of expertise—animal magic, anatomy, woundcare and natural philosophy, and of COURSE chimerical recombination—you found that the experience on the hill had changed you in other ways. Some were, arguably, good: you found your mood much improved, for one thing. Your patience and tolerance grew, such that as all your classmates began to grow and, ahem, BLOSSOM rom youths into true young adults and you decidedly did NOT, you were able to take it mostly in stride. However, other changes were less ideal: your thinking had become more lateral, less direct, and you found yourself coming up with solutions to problems which textbooks and professors deemed incorrect, even as you KNEW you were really quite right in practice.Anyway, long story short, your grades were suffering in several disciplines. Disciplines that HENZLER was still excelling in. The next time the two of you exchanged a look, bumping into each other by chance in the hallways, she was several inched taller than you recalled, and—outrage!—more shapely besides. She was also, you realized, your best hope of rectifying your academic record.“Henzler, a word?”She’d said nothing, but gingerly stepped closer, like a deer fawn but with twice the awkwardness.“I need something,” you said. “Help, with one of my classes.”It was a testament to your growing maturity of SPIRIT, if not yet of body, that you didn’t even feel a twinge of shame or embarrassment. Or, well, hardly any.“…The favour,” she whispered, and nodded.You mulled that over before responding, telling her…>Yes, this is the favour—might as well get it out of the way, yeah?>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Introducing her to your friends, so she actually HAS some>>Helping her with HER worst subject, since it IS your best and all>>Telling her about the actual, real fairy court you danced with during break>Write-in
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Introducing her to your friends, so she actually HAS some>>Helping her with HER worst subject, since it IS your best and all>>Telling her about the actual, real fairy court you danced with during breakI want these all, and I am unashamed of it
>>5779543>>Yes, this is the favour—might as well get it out of the way, yeah?
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Telling her about the actual, real fairy court you danced with during break
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Introducing her to your friends, so she actually HAS some>>Telling her about the actual, real fairy court you danced with during breakShe might be mediocre at actually helping us via tutoring. We don't know what lvl of arcana dc we would need to beat to understand her studying.So we should save to favor, for help getting rare books or maybe help raiding the chimera labs for a pet in the future.
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Introducing her to your friends, so she actually HAS some
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>>Helping her with HER worst subject, since it IS your best and all>>Telling her about the actual, real fairy court you danced with during break
>>5779543>Actually, you’re saving that, but you’d be willing to trade her something else for lessons, such as…>Introducing her to your friends, so she actually HAS some>Helping her with HER worst subject, since it IS your best and all
>>5779543>Yes, this is the favour—might as well get it out of the way, yeah?
>>5779659>>5779598>>5779573>>5779570>>5779569>>5779567>>5779558>>5779545[Well I'm awake early, so we're getting an earlier-than-usual update! Locked, writing.]
>>5779690“This isn’t that,” you said. “The favour is for something else.”“For what?” Henzler had asked, cofnsued.“I haven’t decided,” you admitted.It was curious: the favour wasn’t something you’d even consciously intended to accrue. Afterward, having done so, you were wary to expend it.“Oh, well, I mean… I guess I could…”“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to do this for nothing,” you interrupted, silencing the girl. “What do you want? Maybe I could help you make some friends? I know a few people, who’d let you hang out with us if I vouched for you. You know, popular kids.”She’d cringed at that a little. The reaction surprised you a little, given how she’d seemingly lamented a lack of friends a little over a year ago, in the Mirror Maze.“More expectations,” she mumbled, shuffling her feet and looking down. “More debts and obligations…”Ah.“Well,” you said after a moment, “you’d said you were interested in fairy courts, yeah?”THAT got Henzler’s attention. You hid a grin.“I saw one,” you said. “During break, between last year and this one. Danced in it, too. I share that with you, you help me out, deal? Tit for tat?”“D-deal!” she’d said excitedly staring at you with the echo of that same excitement from a year ago, hands balled to fists and held tremulously, near her chin.Of course, you got the better end of this bargain in many ways. You only explained the events on the hill the Henzler once, briefly demonstrating the subtle, heatless flame of the <Faerie Fire> once as evidence, and a couple more times when asked (and to show off).“Curious,” she’d whispered, running her fingers through the fire, distorting and scattering it before it coalesced around your digits once again. “It’s fire, yes?”“Well, yes,” you’d said, confused. “What else would it be?”“But it produces no smoke,” she’d noted. “No alchemical reaction. Nothing BURNS.”“Well, no,” you’d admitted.“And no heat?”“Right again,” you’d said. “Look, about my grades in—”“And no light?”“What?” you’d asked. “Henzler, look, it’s making light right now.”“That’s not visible-spectrum light,” she’d corrected. “We’re seeing it with our second sight.”
>>5779705“Henzler, I don’t know if YOU walk around with your second sight ‘on’ all the time like some crazy person, but MOST of us turn it off from time to time,” you’d joked.“Not ALL the time,” she said defensively, with a pout and downcast eyes that implied you’d accidentally struck closer to truth than intended. “But that’s not what’s happening. <Faerie Fire> isn’t Elementalism, like <Fireball> or <Lightning Bolt>. It’s not <Illusion> either, like <Dazzle> or <Mage’s Torch>. It’s not matter being released, or energy. Its ‘light’… It’s something else.”“Soul-stuff, I guess,” you’d hazarded, Elven soul-stuff, passed down from the True Fey.”.“But ‘elf’ is a material condition of biology, of the body,” Henzler had pressed. “The soul… I mean, the soul of an elf and of a man are the same, fundamentally, aren’t they? And what IS ‘soul-stuff’, spirit, REALLY? Isn’t it just life-force—mystical energy, mana, what we ALL cast with?”“How should I know?” you’d protested, backing away as she drew uncomfortably close to you in her enthusiasm. “Look, when do we get to the part where I learn from YOU? I’m not YOUR tutor, you know!”(Or her experimental animal, for that matter…)“R-right,” she’d said, shuffling back and averting her eyes, rummaging in her bag for her notes on…>Elemental Principles[Even with your subtle flame, it’s an embarrassing thing for a wizard to not be able to cast <Fireball>, isn’t it?]>Curses & Cures[Soul-stuff and life-force can be infected and afflicted just as the body can, but <Restoration> of such afflictions isn’t something you’d ever had the knack for…]>Divination & Farsight[This was generally considered an elven art, ironically, but not one you’d ever studied at either Tower, and the ability to construct and set a remote <Arcane Eye> was a useful tool…]>Global Magical Studies[Speaking of weird and unique ‘soul-stuff’, you were still struggling with Easterling history and calligraphy, while HENZLER was reading their scrolls at such a high level of fluency as to form a <Jade Aura>…]>Write-in[I’ll veto if I can’t justify it to myself within the setting, but I'll let you know why.][Regardless of your pick, I'll roll Arcana. DC is 10 to gain a rank in the field, but 15 to learn the spell; this is further modified by similarity or dissimilarity to your existing aptitudes, but I'll let you fine folsk puzzle out how.]
[Oh, and this is your current statblock, for reference.]
>>5779708>Divination & Farsight“Know thyself”
>>5779708>Global Magical StudiesEmbrace the Easterling
>>5779708>Elemental Principles>>5776475
>>5779708>Write-in: Summoning and binding extraplanar spirit's.Only thing better than have a fleshwoven beast as a battle pet. Is having one that is a vessel for magic spirit.Being able to bind spirit should also help us with dealing with the trickster fey, who we have the attention of.
>>5779708>>Global Magical Studies
>>5779759[Valid write-in]
>>5779708>Curses & Cures
>>5779708>Curses and cures
>>5779708>Global Magical Studies
>>5779708>Elemental PrinciplesBlasting shit is a must for a wizard.Or>Write-in: Summoning and binding extraplanar spirit's.To prevent true fey from trying to screw us over in negotiations.>>5778657This is me.
>>5779708>>Curses & Cures
>>5779759+1
Rolled 7, 8 = 15 (2d20)>>5779936>>5779833>>5779831>>5779815>>5779813>>5779784>>5779763>>5779759>>5779753>>5779745>>5779726[Alright, locked! Will roll, and write ASAP!]
>>5779989
>>5779989damn she is a bad teacher kek
>>5780016I don’t think she’s the bad one here lol
>>5779989>>5780015>>5780016>>5780029“Global Magical Studies,” she said, producing one book, then another, then a scroll, then another, then another, then another tome…“Woah, woah!”Henzler stopped, looking up at you in the little adjunct classroom which you two have commandeered for the purpose—not in use now anyway, except as storage for stacks of excess desks and chairs, for unusual but largely-uninteresting apparatuses of uncertain age, and SEEMIGNLY the better part of the Tower’s collection of dust.“It’s really just the fear Eastern stuff which gives me difficulty,” you admitted. “You know, magical theory from Goldenriver, or The Hidden City Amidst the Mountains, or Red-Dawn?”Henzler glanced down at the books and scrolls, placing a few of them away and taking out a few more.“How do you FIT all that in there?” you balked. “How do you CARRY it all?”“It’s a Handy Haversack,” she explained. “An extradimensional storage space bund to a—”“I know what it is.”(A lie, but you can infer.)“And you just… HAVE that?” you asked, unable to help yourself.“My mother is the Archmage,” she answered, simply.Must be nice… Or not, not always. You reminded yourself of the latter, tamped down your adolescent angsts, and took a seat beside Izirina. She smelled, of lavender and honeysuckle, faintly—a soap or perfume of some sort. She opened a book and unrolled a scroll at once, and then produced a third book. You looked between them, fixing your gaze finally upon the ONLY one which seemed to have any symbols or letters you recognized from your daily life, written in the tidy printing of Henzler herself.“Uh…?” you said.“This,” Henzler told you, tapping the big book, “ is a treatise on the fundamentals of what the Easterlings call, depending upon the tradition, chi, or ki, or qi, or chakra, or prana. What we call ‘lifeforce’ or, what the Southmen of the furthest coast sometimes call ‘mana’. It is written in the script of The Hidden City, because that is where it was written. Their monastic class is really the BEST at properly communicating all the intricacies in a way that allows a person to put the teachings into practice in a way akin to our mages here in the Westlands.”“Northlands, you mean?” you asked.Henzler shook her head, and said: “That’s not what THEY call us, no. You must get used to thinking like an Easterling to understand Easterling magical tradition.”
>>5780053You’d only just reminded yourself how to think like an ELF, on top of thinking like a Northern human, and now she wanted you to think like some third sort of person which you weren’t even related to? But… No. ‘All things are one thing,’ as the elven mystics say—all one Tree of Life.“That’s right!” Henzler had said, more animated and confident when speaking on this subject than you’d seen her in years now. “That IS a lot like what many Easterlings believe about the flow of lifeforce through the cosmos—they compare it to a single, big organism.”“And the scroll?” you asked warily. “Where does that fit in?”“Well,” Henzler had explained and returning to her scholarly lecture-voice, “we do not actually find examples of SPELLS in our available Hidden City texts, sadly. Principles of magical theory, ways to focus and channel magic which differ from ours in some ways, but not SPELLS per se.”“Like your <Jade Aura> that you summoned up in class?” you interjected.“Correct!” she’d said. “Yes, the <Jade Aura> can stave off curses, hexes, miasmas, and repel attempts to enter the mind. Entities of an immaterial or extradimensional nature have trouble penetrating it or remaining within it. It’s VERY useful, and we really haven’t got its equivalent in the Western tradition.”You remembered the eyes at the window, and nodded. VERY useful.“So… What do I do, to learn that?”“Read,” she’s suggested, looking a little confused.“I’m bilingual,” you’d replied sourly, “but not OMNIlingual.”“There’s a spell for that, you know,” Henzler had said.“Do you know it?” you’d asked.“…No.”“Wonderful,” you’d sighed.“Oh! But the third book here is my translation key!” she’d said, moving it closer to you.Your heart rose… Then fell just as quickly, and fell still further as you flipped through the book.“There’s hardly any Common in this,” you’d said, setting ti down and staring at her.“Well, it’s mostly for translating from Hidden Temple script to that of the Valley of the Golden River—where the Spellbook I translated the <Jade Aura> from was found,” she admits."And your notes…”She nodded, confirming: “Also in Golden River script.”“WHY?”She looked confused at that, slowly elucidating: “Well, you lose all the nuance and meaning when you take the concepts and mystical language out of its original cultural and linguistic context, and it really compromises the mindset of—”Uuuugh. This GIRL.“Fine, just TEACH me,” you’d said, impatient. “Directly. Explain it as PLAINLY as you can, and show me the somatic components, and… Ugh, okay, yeah, the verbal ones, and I’ll do my best.”
>>5780056And so it went… For days, then weeks, then months. Not EVERY day, obviously, but at least one or two days each week, after classes, you would tuck yourselves away in some corner or other of the school and discuss the Easterlings and their strange, foreign magic. You understood at last what Logan Pearce must have felt like, hearing you talk about elven mysticism and the True Fey, when Izirina Henzler spoke. The motion came naturally to you—elven grace and poise, don’t forget—but the magical words of power and careful concentration on individual body parts in special sequence to direct power from one place to another… That did not.“It’s a TONAL language,” Henzler reminded you one day, for what must have been the dozenth time.“I know,” you growled.“Are you bringing the qi up from the sacral locus to the throat and then letting the energies fall back into the heart, or are they STAYING in the throat?”“Ass to mouth and back to chest,” you’d grumbled. “Yes. I get it.”>7, 8>You gain a rank in Linguistics for the effort, but no Arcana and no new spell…But you did not get it. You had sharpened your linguistics somewhat, enough to pass the classes, but forming a <Jade Aura> or any other oriental spell remained utterly beyond you. Hel, even after all this, Global Magical Studies remained your single worst subject. What a waste of time!“I guess I’m still not a very good teacher,” Henzler admitted, as the school year neared its end once more, seated beside you in that room.“Or I’m not as good a student as you need for all this… High-level stuff,” you admitted.“Don’t say that!” she said, looking almost afraid for you. “You’re a very good student! One of the best in our year!”Behind her, of course, but at least she didn’t say it. Maybe some of your capacity for tact was rubbing off on her?“Thanks,” you said, brusquely, because you still KNEW who was number one. “I guess we all have strengths and weaknesses. Like you, with Life Magic.”She fell silent at that, and you regretted saying it aloud almost immediately. So much for your tact, huh?How did you part company?>You left, dissatisfied, and reminded her that you still had a debt to call in>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You asked her what her mother and her had been discussing, about something ‘wrong with’ Izirina>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understanding>Write-in[You can choose more than one]
>>5780058>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understandingLet’s see if we have the chops for teaching
>>5780058>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understanding
>>5780058>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understandingweeb shit confirmed trashmagic nuke the east
>>5780058>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understanding>>5776475
>>5780058>You left, dissatisfied, and reminded her that you still had a debt to call in>You asked her what her mother and her had been discussing, about something ‘wrong with’ Izirina
>>5780058>>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends
>>5780058>You thanked her, and parted as something closer to friends>You reciprocate the lesson by beginning to teach her elven magic—Feycraft—to the best of your own understandingStudy frens
Rolled 5, 7, 4 = 16 (3d20)>>5780350>>5780343>>5780287>>5780214>>5780207>>5780110>>5780075>>5780073>>5780063You took a deep breath, and then look at Izirina Henzler again, staring down at the floor with her hands gripping the seat to either side of her as if to avid falling out of the chair—maybe out of the Tower, the world itself.“Thank you,” you said again. “You didn’t need to do all this… You know, since this wasn’t me calling in the debt or anything..”“You told me about the fairy court, though,” she said with a small smile at the memory.“Yeah, briefly, about a YEAR ago,” you said. “In exchange you spent all your free time after classes with me.”“Not ALL of it.”“Enough of it,” you reiterated. “It wasn’t a fair exchange, when you think about it, right?”She looked up at you, vexed.“You want… Something else?”You stared at her, dumfounded.“No, you—Ugh, what I’m saying is that it’s MY turn to be the lousy teacher, and YOUR turn to be the lousy student, alright? And if for SOME reason Life Magic is just BEYOND you… Well, then at least I know you’re good at learning about other cultures and their magic, don’t I?”You’d led up your hand and, with a flourish, produced a hovering ball of <Faerie Fire> above your palm. Henzler’s eyes lit up, reflecting the flame.“Next year, same time, same… Variety of places?”She nodded, exuberantly, and beamed back at you. You both stood up and, feeling awkward and still too distant for hugs, you’d given her an awkward wave.“Sensei,” she said, bowing.“Oh gods, stop it,” you’d groaned. “You’re making me cringe, Henzler.”In actuality, you smiled to yourself as you watched her go. When she had turned the corner, you pivoted on foot and headed off—to your last day of class and then, as fairy-manners dictated, back to that hill—the hill with the old maple—to visit the court. There was no waiting this time, at least. You marked the season and honoured the date. You brought them their tribute (strange confections of rice, sesame seeds, and sugary bean-paste this time, which Henzler had brought to your study sessions). You danced, and sang, and in the morning you asked them for permission to teach another your ways.“She’s the one who made the treats,” you’d noted hopefully.[Rolling Feycraft]
>>5780368;_;Really depressing
>>5780368h8 2 studi
>>5780368>>5780373>>5780376>7The treats, while appreciated, did little to mollify the fairy court. They’d mocked you—in friendly fashion, but not with much mercy—for thinking yourself masterful enough in their craft to begin teaching. They’d asked after her race and. Learning her to be a human, they’d cackled loudly.“Teach her wrong,” one of the local True Fey had suggested, “as a joke!”“Oh, she won’t understand it anyway,” another said. “Let the half-an-elf try.”“Teach her anything more than the basics, and don’t bother asking us for favours again,” had warned the oldest, most gnarled spriggan-spirit—the one who could rightly be called the spirit of the maple, its guardian. "Why?!" you'd demanded."Look around you," the Spirit of the Old Maple had said. "All of this was forested, child-of-the-children. The humans ripped it all apart, patted it flat, and filled it with dumb wheat and dead stone. They know we exist, at least some of them do, but do any of THEM come bearing gifts? Your new pet human is no different.""You know I'M half-human, right?" you'd pointed out, impulsively."I won't hold it against you," the Old Maple Spirit had said benevolently, "if you come back next year, with more of these cakes."You’d left, not invigorated but disheartened. At least without all the waiting, you’d been able to wrap the trip up in time for the after-party with the others, though you hadn’t been able to shake the melancholy. Pearce, of course, had noticed.You looked down at the potion-bottle full of strong spirits and herbal snippings, and gave it a sniff.“You wash these before you use them for drinking, right?” you asked.“Shut up,” he’d laughed, as you took a swig and grimaced at the bitterness.It took the edge off, but there was still the year ahead to face now—and Izirina Henzler, to share in your disappointment.The days off passed quickly—too quickly—and you returned to your studies at the Tower. Having passed Global Magical Studies by the skin of your teeth, you were now free to specialize in those fields which were your passion (and which, by your proctors’ estimation, you qualified for). For your part, you focused your efforts primarily on…>Advanced Chimerical Studies[Learn to care for, mend, bond with, and even CREATE chimeras; plays to your strengths]>Extraplanar Binding & Summoning[The only demonology offered by the school, useful for understanding pact magic and the binding of spirits… Maybe even True Fey]>Global Magical Studies—Southern Curricula[Where you failed to find purchase in the East, maybe you can instead find answers to the South…?]>Combat Casting[Anyone considering a career as a Tower Guardian, an Inquisitor, or a Field Researcher is encouraged to take this class, though not everyone does…]>Write-in[Pitch an idea, and I'll let you know if it won't work.]
>>5780393>>Global Magical Studies—Southern Curricula
>>5780393>Extra planar Binding and Summoning Well easterlingbros we tried. Now let's summon irri 2.0 - this time with more psychosis
>>5780393>Write-in>Curses & Curesfrom >>5779708
>>5780393>Advanced Chimerical Studies
>>5780393>>Curses & Cures
>>5780393>Extraplanar Binding & SummoningTo help with the Fey shit.I’m also fine with Combat Casting- Inquisitor shenanigans may be fun.>Help Tutor Henzler in Life Magic, and maybe see about getting her to present a gift to the Fey personallyI don’t want to go too deep into religion, but I do think giving Izzy the opportunity to interact and study a Fey Court would be something she’d appreciate.Backlink >>5780063
>>5780393>Combat CastingHenzler does NOT seem like the frontliner type.
>>5780393>Global Magical Studies—Southern Curricula
>>5780393>Extraplanar Binding & SummoningLearning how to manipulate the spiritual beings might also aid us in flesh weaving in time. Demons like the gluttony ring, the incubus, and irr seem to posses natural skill in the flesh weaving arts. Being able to alter a creatures nature from the inside out.And maybe we could even infuse a creature with an elemental or nature spirit.
>>5780393Also, are we speedrunning? Because multiple years went by and we’re still on Page 1- and seems like a long stretch of time in-universe for these meager gains.
>>5780478Ditto- this and beast/plant magic would probably produce some groundbreaking results.
>>5780487>pacing[We're on page 1 because, since I don't start my new job until Tuesday, I've been pumping out updates 2-to-4 times faster than I usually do. Starting October 3, expect one or two updates a day, generally. [Also, we're going fast at this point because the real 'seeking of the esoteric' will take place after you and Henzler have both graduated to become Mage Apprentices, as alluded to in the first few posts. This backstory establishes your characterization, your relationship(s), and a few of your skills and spells. It isn't unimportant by any means, but it's 'backstory' to subsequent threads, or like a really longform character creation.]
>>5780491I understand that the first thread is dedicated to backstory, but it honestly feels like we’re going to graduate by page 3- unless I’m just not understanding how many years we got left. It also feels like we aren’t exploring magic secondary school or what’s life like for an initiate- unless that’s intentional.
>>5780393>Extraplanar Binding & Summoning
>>5780510>pacing[You'll be graduating SOMETIME before the end of Thread 1, but I couldn't honestly tell you when -- just that it'll wrap up before the second thread. That said, Izirina is presently 18, and (as noted) became a Mage Apprentice around 25, so you have a good seven or eight year to go.]>exploring magic secondary school[We'll touch on it a bit more, but I'm not even gonna' TRY to ape the far better slice-of-life angle captured in Disappearing Hogwarts go check it out if you haven't!, so I'm intentionally focusing more on personal aptitudes and the exploration of the inner lives and relationships of the main cast.]
>>5780517I will, but still, it would add context and flavor to something that was the goal and focus of the first quest and Edwin’s infatuation with the Mage’s Tower. I’d even bet some character art that you can do a better than decent job of it.
>>5780393>Extraplanar Binding & SummoningThis will give us a much better understanding of how to win over the fairy courts, and will help with future endeavors along the future ancient knowledge route if we gotta go into any deep woods and meet some real wild fey shitBacklink,>>5779494 this should be my main IP for awhile, but I do have work tommorow so I might be under something different as I just got back from a trip
>>5780393>>Combat Casting
>>5780552>>5780542>>5780514>>5780478>>5780489>>5780458>>5780437>>5780434>>5780413>>5780408>>5780406>>5780403>>5780394"Extraplanar Binding and Summoning," began the Mage Proctor, a stern-faced and middle-aged woman with the beginnings of liver-spots, but fierce grey eyes and a rod-straight spine to match her tall hat. "Or, as I'm sure some of you have heard it called, Beginner's Demonology."Some of your classmates in the course whispered excitedly, but she clicked her tongue loudly and all faces turned once more to her."It is not," she corrected them, "a demonological course. The Hawksong mages' Tower does NOT offer demonology of the sort some of you were envisioning—the naming calling up, binding, and commanding of Hellish entities. Such activities are FORBIDDEN, by order of Paladin King Archos."You had heard about that, of course. Most had, but there was always a sense of autonomy in the Tower—of intellectual transgressiveness which lent some bolder or edgier students false hope. It was a relatively recent edict, after all, born out of some attack by a Southern terrorist group which had (so rumors went) claimed the life of the last Archmage and exploded the Endless Fountain which had been a gift from the elves to the Men of the North at the end of the War of Elves and Dragons. Southmen were always more open to demon-dealing—some even said devil-worship—but given the alleged presence of possible cultists from Hawksong within the ranks of the Tower Guardians who had helped enable the plot, demonology and demonism had become offenses punishable by the stiffest means in years since."If you are skilled in Elementalism, you may have already had some inkling of the summoning which we WILL be doing: the calling up of elemental energies from planes of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, and their formation into constructs. You may have even created a few 'elementals' of this sort in your previous years, albeit weak ones and without autonomy. Our objective here is to be able to create more LASTING and POWERFUL elementals... And to CONTROL them, even when we cannot directly supervise them."This was exciting enough to most students, of course, though a few lamented the inability to summon a hellhound ("so badass!") or a succubus (for obvious reasons). It was the next part of Mage Proctor Klein's introduction which caught YOUR attention, though:"Where demons and other named spirits are concerned, CONTROL is the operation I will be teaching you. You will learn to BIND them, and to BANISH them. This is the proper course of action when faced with a demon, and it could save your life if some dark magician from some OTHER discipline sees fit to summon one... Or one of your randy classmates forgets that succubi were more likely to possess and devour a summoner than to bring them cookies between classes and nestle under their desks during long lessons."
>>5780590The Proctor's glare cut through a few of the more actively-pubescent initiates' conversations, withering them to silence like a <Scorching Ray>. You smiled though, grimly, because you knew the same mechanisms could be applied to angels of the Gods Above... or True Fey, the close cousins of the Gods of Nature, like your own fairy friends.It was not that you wished them ill will, of course. You were a disciple of the True Fey! They were Children of the Light, as you were, and cousins to the elven race. It’s just that some of them were unpredictable, scary. Human theosophists called their own pantheon, and that of dwarves and halflings by and large, the Bonum Legale—the Lawful Good. The elven gods—the ancestors of your mother’s race and of the True Fey, were sometimes called by contrast the ‘Bonum Choaticum’—the CHAOTIC Good. Still BENEVOLENT, by and large, but their lesser legions were freer in their comings and goings, given loose leash to make their own judgements…Like denying your request, to teach Izirina Henzler in the arts of Feycraft.Okay, so maybe you were a LITTLE bitter, and maybe it had SOMETHING to do with you choosing this elective.“Bit of a deviation from Chimericism, isn’t it?”“Imagine it, though!” you’d said to Logan Pearce, at lunch between classes after the first week. “Imagine if you could infuse the materials of a fairy-beast into a chimera familiar! You could create a beast with the magic of, say, a unicorn, into a draft-horse, so it could be put to practical work or used in war, and nonvirgins could ride it!”“Nonvirgins?” he’d laughed. “What’s the benefit to you, then?”“Hey now,” you’d growled.“I’m only joking of course,” he’d said, and nodded his chin as his gaze ventured past you. “There’s Henzler, after all.”You followed his gaze and, with a pang of guilt, saw Izirina Henzer—eating alone, as always, but occasionally glancing your way. Catching your eye, she immediately set her gaze down and began devouring her food in earnest, not looking up again until you turned away.
>>5780591“It’s not like that,” you insisted.“Oh?” Pearce teased, flicking your ear. “Good to hear it, Tips.”“Well what’s THAT mean?” you shot back, and he just shrugged.“Make of it what you will,” he’d said levelly. “But what IS it like, then?”It was a fair question. You’d promised the girl lessons in your elven ways, as fair compensation for her own (mostly failed) efforts to tutor you. More than that, well, you’d actually started to warm up to her a little—how could you not, spending so much time together for a whole year? Honestly, she was kind of cute, in her own sort-of-frumpy, painfully-antisocial way.…But the Spirit of the Old Maple, your own tutor in the ways of Feycraft, had been clear: if you taught her more than the bare basics, let alone gifted her an actual SPELL like the <Faerie Fire> which could lead her to the True Fey and expose their secrets, they would cut you off from the font of that secret knowledge.What did you do?>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology>Risk it anyway—you made a promise, and damnit, you’re going to teach this girl to summon <Faerie Fire>, and by means of your new elective deal with what consequences come>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Tutoring her in Life Magic>>Joining her in her passion for works of escapist fiction>>Inviting her along on shopping excursions and drinking nights with friends>No-show—this is too awkward and you can’t be dealing with these distractions from your intellectual pursuits… She’d understand that, surely?>Write-in[Pick one, please]“Anyway,” Pearce interrupted your private thoughts with his increasingly-baritone voice. “Combat casting’s going well. I’m kicking may an ass, I’ll have you know.”“Of course you chose that,” you scoff.“A good thing, too,” he said a titch defensively. “What, you think Henzler’s going to cover your ass if you ever go out in the field, or Southmen come calling again to explode the bloody Tower?”“I could protect myself, maybe?” you suggest blithely.He stares at you for a second, then just laughs.“With those twig arms? Tips, you’re killing me.”You pouted slightly. In spite of his teasing, you well knew how you planned to progetct yourself. Your own elective was a defensive one, after all!What spell do you focus on mastering in Extraplanar Summoning & Binding?><Hold Monster>><Banish>><Circle of Protection>><Protection from the Elements>><Summon Elemental I>>Write-in
>>5780593>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology><Hold Monster>
>>5780593>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology><Summon Elemental I>
>>5780593>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Joining her in her passion for works of escapist fiction>>Inviting her along on shopping excursions and drinking nights with friends><Protection from the Elements>
Yeah actually you know what fuck this study bullshit. Hireling-chan/kun is a student, time to party.Changing vote from >>5780606to>>5780607
>>5780593>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Inviting her along on shopping excursions and drinking nights with friendsSocialize damnit! That, or Life Magic.Though I wouldn’t be opposed to risking it all and teaching her fully, come what may.><Hold Monster>
>>5780593>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Joining her in her passion for works of escapist fiction><Circle of Protection>
>>5780593>Risk it anyway—you made a promise, and damnit, you’re going to teach this girl to summon <Faerie Fire>, and by means of your new elective deal with what consequences come><Summon Elemental I>Am I the only one with balls here? Teach her something at least
>>5780593>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology><Summon Elemental I>She'll understand that the treants are racist towards humans. And who knows maybe once she has the foundation down she'll be able to make her own unique spell.
>>5780593>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>Tutoring her in Life Magic><Circle of Protection>
>>5780593>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theologyShe already said she doesn't want friends><Summon Elemental I>
>>5780718https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVMib1T4T4>“More expectations,” she mumbled, shuffling her feet and looking down. “More debts and obligations…”What she considers friendship isn’t friendship, it’s indentured servitude. I want her to have real friends who actually care about her wellbeing.
>>5780593>>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>>Inviting her along on shopping excursions and drinking nights with friends><Circle of Protection>
>>5780593>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology><Summon Elemental I>Our dude's skillset feel like it's all over the place
>>5780593>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Joining her in her passion for works of escapist fiction><Banish>Back post >>5779833
>>5780904>>5780826>>5780738>>5780718>>5780704>>5780684>>5780630>>5780629>>5780622>>5780621>>5780619>>5780618>>5780607>>5780606>>5780602[Alright! Writing.]
>>5780983Ater the remainder of the day’s classes had concluded, your mind turned to Henzler again. Well, that’s a lie: your mind had BEEN on Henzler all through the day, in truth. You just knew you can put he uncomfortable discussion off no longer.“Hey, you joining us for the Night Market?” asked Pearce, as he flagged you down with Blanchette, Efron, and Testa standing near to him—your other mutual friends.You were about to refuse, regretfully, when something stops you. The kernel of an idea began to germinate, and a small smile crept across your lips.“You know, I think we will,” you said.“We?” asked Pearce, eyebrow arching.“Nevermind,” you waved him off. “Go o ahead. I’ll be there in a little bit.”You made your way to that same classroom-turned-storage-closet where you and Henzler had first met. Her peculiar form of mental organization would work that way, you reckoned—the first place you’d met up for tutelage last year would be the first place she would wait for you this year. You’d… Never formally arranged a specific spot, you realized. Luckily, it seemed as if you knew Izirina Henzler well enough, for your educated guess was spot-on: there she was, legs crossed at the ankles, hands in her lap, waiting expectantly.You sighed as she noticed your arrived and smiled wide, with those hazel eyes bright and sparkling as they always were when you brought up the Fair Folk. You pulled up a seat and sat across from her, and Henzler’s smile faded a bit to see your face.“Listen,” you said, “there’s been a change of plans… Not of MY choosing, mind you, but… Ah, my FRIENDS. They aren’t happy with the idea of me teaching their ways—our ways, that is—to a, uh…”Henzler’s face fell further. You winced.“But… What you said, about this being to settle up a.. A score… That’s still the case, isn’t it?” she’d asked, taking you off-guard.“Well… I mean, I was mostly being nice, since you already thought the score was settled,” you admitted.“But you said it wasn’t,” Henzler pushed, with surprising ferocity, scooting her chair closer in an incongruously-comical fashion to face you down with a glare. “You… You made a deal! Aren’t fairies bound by deals, as demons are?”You leaned back a little, overwhelmed by her proximity and intensity, and held up a hand to count the reasons THAT didn’t make sense:“Well, one, I’m not a fairy. I’m an elf. A half-elf. Two, just like demons, it has to be formal with them—off-the-cuff statements aren’t binding, usually. Three, I don’t speak for them—sorry, I wish I did. Four, if I teach you… They stop teaching me.”“If they find out,” she murmured, looking down.“What was that?” you asked.Henzler’s face flushed, and she shook her head, saying: “Nevermind.”
>>5781018You sighed, and reached out uncertainly to place your hand on hers. She flinched, but didn’t pull away, turning to look at you with surprise and confusion.“I really am sorry, Henzler,” you’d told her, and meant it. “Look, if you’d like… I still want to be your friend, and to spend time together. Me and my other friends—”“Logan Pearce, James Efron, Tina Testa, Francis Blachette,” Henzler quickly rattled off, as if it were an exam.“Uh… Yes, them,” you’d fumbled. “We’re going to the Night Market tonight. You could come along as well, if you’d like?”Henzler had hesitated, a half-dozen expressions passing across her face like a strobe, before she settled on a small pout and a half-hearted nod.“Not exactly the enthusiasm I was hoping for,” you said with a lopsided smile, and guided her up to her feet. “Don’t worry, we’ll change that. They’re great!”Everyone had been surprised when you arrived, Archmage’s daughter in tow. Well, everyone except Pearce, whose expression was carefully neutral, but not exactly one of shock. The initial introduction was awkward—Henzler had even bowed, and begun to make a pledge to be a good guest before you’d stopped her.“We don’t… Do that. Just follow along.”(Jeez, how cooped up WAS this girl??)You and the other three fell into your usual conversation as you strode out from the Tower, with the predominant subject—aside from the Night Market itself—being your first week of classes.“So what spell’s everyone working towards?” Blonde, bespectacled Blanchette had asked. “I’m working on <Greater Restoration>, personally.”“Don’t you need to know the regular kind of <restoration> first?” Efron had asked with faux-innocence.“I’ll have you know that I had a real breakthrough during the ah, break,” he sniffed, adjusting his glasses with a finger to the bridge, tilting his chin out with a proud jut that made you all (well, except Henzler) laugh.“It’s got to be <Dazzle> for me,” Testa had chimed in.“That’s a basic bitch spell,” Efron had noted.“Appropriate,” Pearce had rumbled, drawing a swat from Testa.“I’m working my way up to <Prismatic Spray>, okay?” she laughed. “I started with Elementalism as a focus, not Illusion.”“Elementalism’s better anyway,” Efron had stated plainly. “<Chain Lightning> is where it’s at!”“Well, maybe if you still have delusions of being an Inquisitor,” Blanchette had chimed in, sourly. “You know they have the city guard doing all that work these days… Or the Paladins.”There were exaggerated gagging and vomiting sounds from all your companions—again, except Henzler, confused and alarmed as she was by it. You patted her arm reassuringly.
>>5781022“Well, it’s good for Field Researchers, too,” you’d noted. “Maybe even a Tower Guardian if we had, like, a BUNCH of intruders or something. It’s why I’m working on <Summon Elemental>--versatility.”“Your studies are so random,” Testa had giggled. “What, no new fairy-magic from over the break?”Your eyes darted to Henzler, whose own face was downcast.“Ah, no,” you’d said simply.“What about tall, strong, and silent?” asked Testa, running a hand in teasing facsimile of seduction down Pearce’s arm. He didn’t react, except to say: “<Chill Touch>.”“Of course,” you all groaned as one.“W-what?” Henzler had whispered, lost again.“<Bull’s Strength>. <Mage Armour>. <Chill Touch>.” You smirked at Pearce. “Combat Casting. I’m surprised you don’t just plan to cast FIST and pummel the bloody terrorists into submission, oh Future Guardian of the Tower.”“I just might,” he said with a smirk, “if you keep that shit-eating grin on your face, Tips. Besides, at least I HAVE a goal.”“I do, too,” you’d muttered, suddenly on the defensive… And then, cleverly, decided to deflect. “What about you, Henzler?”“Oh!” she’d stopped walking abruptly, causing you all tot turn and look at her as she mulled it over. “I… Ah, I hadn’t decided yet. I was thinking <Dimension Door>…”“Ha!” Blanchette had laughed. “Like those books of yours, right? That’s way too high-level for someone our age, anyway.”Henzler’s face had gone crimson at that, and she’d begun to protest: “It doesn’t actually cross into other planes, let alone dimen—”“Hey!” Testa had chirped, “we’re here!”The Night Market was a tradition of the Initiates’ Village, during the first week of classes each year. As the name implied, it took place after dark. An impromptu pavilion of tents and carts filled the largest thoroughfare each evening for a week, taken down by morning, boasting rare ingredients, and magical items and foreign charms of varying potency and veracity. A foolish first-year and their money were soon parted in such a place, but you and your lot were seasoned travelers of this brief bazaar by now.“Come on!” you’d beckoned Henzler, following after your excited friends as they dispersed.Where did you take Izirina Henzler?>The food carts, where all the best snacks always are! She likes treats from distant lands, right?>The beer garden—technically, you were of-age, and had been since before you showed up in Hawksong, and they never asked anyway.>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD here>Ditch her for a little while with your friends—it will be good for her to get some actual socialization in, and maybe kind of funny>Write-in
>>5781026>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD here
>>5781026>The food carts, where all the best snacks always are! She likes treats from distant lands, right?
>>5781026>>Ditch her for a little while with your friends—it will be good for her to get some actual socialization in, and maybe kind of funny
>>5781026>The beer garden—technically, you were of-age, and had been since before you showed up in Hawksong, and they never asked anyway.
>>5781026>>The beer garden—technically, you were of-age, and had been since before you showed up in Hawksong, and they never asked anyway
>>5781026>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD heremaybe Henzler will find something new and interesting and forget about the fairies
>>5781026>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD here.Hetzel know foreign magic well, determining trash from treasure might be an activity she shines at.
>>5781158>Hetzel[I meant to ask last quest, but is this an autocorrect thing, or what?]
>>5781200Hetzer's her name isn't it?
>>5781231[Henzler.]
>>5781232Pretzeler?
>>5781234Only if the food carts win.
>>5781026>>The food carts, where all the best snacks always are! She likes treats from distant lands, right?>>5781236you got it boss
>>5781026>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD hereMostly just don’t want to ditch her, that seems mean-spirited and unwise
>>5776266>You will get to select a race, gender, background and skillset, have a wider variety of possible motivationsDid I miss it in my reading or did we never get a chance to pick a gender? Seems like a long time to wait for that choice.
>>5781243[You're right -- you haven't picked a gender yet! I'm trying something out. Thanks for bearing with me.]
>>5781200It is, my my android recognizes Hetzel as a correct word/name. But it considers Henzler to be wrong.
>>5781026>>To peruse the foreign tchotchkes, semi-magical items, and peculiar potions—sometimes you spy something actually GOOD here
>>5781285>>5781243>>5781238>>5781237>>5781158>>5781109>>5781107>>5781106>>5781105>>5781076>>5781054>>5781050>>5781037[Locked!]
>>5781301>No pretzelsA a sad moment
Rolled 23, 93, 80, 90, 5, 52 = 343 (6d100)>>5781301>>5781321The choice wasn’t exactly obvious as to where to go, because the Night Market was full of all SORTS of wonders. There were the <Lightning Bolt> cooked kebabs to the magical candies which the fairy court of the old maple so loved, and the beer gardens (with so many strange and exotic beers, and you uniquely ‘of age’ thanks to your slower-than-human development), and of course you looked forward to socializing with all your friends as well… But you reminded yourself that this PARTICUALR visit was as much about Izirina Henzler as it was about you. Well, okay, maybe not QUITE as much, but you felt bad for disappointing her. You knew just what would make it up to her, though, and so you grabbed her sleeve and pulled her along after Blanchette, towards the rows of tents and stalls festooned with all things foreign and fanciful.“Most of the stuff here is borderline-fraudulent,” you warned her cheerfully, “but I suspect YOU can tell the difference, can’t you Henzler?”She blinked a few times, but nodded, narrowing her eyes in concentration—and, you suspected, activating her second-sight. Together, the two of you caught up with Blanchette, who was standing before one particular, beige-skinned and wide-faced fellow wearing some sort of head-wrapping and rubbing his hands together as he grinned obsequiously.“Classic,” you laughed. “Checking for cursed items, Blanchette?”The merchant’s face fell a little at your words, as he quickly hastened to assure everyone nearby: “My friends, my friends, I sell no cursed things—only blessed ones, enchanted and wonderful ones!”“Naturally,” Blanchette replied, adjusting his glasses and closely scrutinizing each strange implement and weapon, every jar and vase on display. “If there’s a hex or a curse, you can haggle a better price…”“…And then, when Blanchette finally learns how to properly remove all the curses in his junk-chest, he figures he’ll come out ahead,” you explained, for Henzler’s benefit.“But won’t holding onto them in the meantime run the risk of, um… Being cursed?” she’d asked.“Why do you think Blanchette goes through so many classes, or twists his ankle so often, or gets sick all the time?” you laughed, incurring your friend’s glower.“Trust in the process,” he admonished you. “or don’t. See if I care. More money and magic for me, that way.”
>>5781350You laughed, and moved onto the next merchant—better to avoid throwing off Blanchette’s ‘process’. Henzler lingered a little, watching him, and eventually stepped tentatively closer to whispered something to Blanchette. The bespectacled boy’s eyes went wider than usual as he looked at her, then he quickly nodded and began to bicker with the turbaned foreigner, who cringed and began the process of haggling for a particularly gaudy enchanted (and no-doubt lightly hexed) necklace.Each and every stall you visited held special interest… Though you noticed there were fewer than in years previous. In particular, you saw virtually no Southmen, and few Beastmen… But with Prince Rufos’ new trade and admission policies, perhaps that was no surprise. It seemed he tightened these matters up more and more each year. Eventually, though, one particular vendor—and one especial item—caught your wandering eye. It was three, surveying this possible acquisition, that Henzler found you.She found you fascinated by…>A fellow from the southeast with a bushy beard, offering up an elemental weapon he said would strike ‘hard as diamond, fast as lightning’>A local tinkerer of the small and hairy folk—a gnome—selling a variety of unusual potions… Including one said to render a person temporarily invisible to ALL forms of sight, and one to make them ESPECIALLY visible>A scar-faced woman who was keeper of rare and exotic beasts, keeping in a cage what she insisted to be the cub of a ‘true and natural chimera’>A skinny fellow in a titled bycocket hat, overseen by a stone-faced and angry-eyed old crone, offering up a bag of what he insisted to be magical beans>A collection of artistic scrolls, bound together into a book, claiming to be a record of ancient organisms and spirits from ancient days, sold by a half-elf like yourself>A catman—one of the only Beastmen present—tucked in between two buildings, selling elixir, tonics, and powders, including some form of ‘mind-enhancing invigorant’…
>>5781353>A fellow from the southeast with a bushy beard, offering up an elemental weapon he said would strike ‘hard as diamond, fast as lightning’
>>5781353>A scar-faced woman who was keeper of rare and exotic beasts, keeping in a cage what she insisted to be the cub of a ‘true and natural chimera’
>>5781353>A skinny fellow in a titled bycocket hat, overseen by a stone-faced and angry-eyed old crone, offering up a bag of what he insisted to be magical beansour name is now jacklet's go fuck up some giants
>>5781353>A catman—one of the only Beastmen present—tucked in between two buildings, selling elixir, tonics, and powders, including some form of ‘mind-enhancing invigorant’…Fuck, what a callback- I wonder what Mina and the girls are up to nowadays. Especially that cute herbal elf that helped make it possible.
>>5781350Blanchette the min maxer>>5781353>A scar-faced woman who was keeper of rare and exotic beasts, keeping in a cage what she insisted to be the cub of a ‘true and natural chimera’.>A collection of artistic scrolls, bound together into a book, claiming to be a record of ancient organisms and spirits from ancient days, sold by a half-elf like yourselfEither the spirit book or the chimera cub would be good for us assuming they aren't fakes.
>>5781350>*goes through so many glasses
>>5781353>>A skinny fellow in a titled bycocket hat, overseen by a stone-faced and angry-eyed old crone, offering up a bag of what he insisted to be magical beans
>>5781353>A skinny fellow in a titled bycocket hat, overseen by a stone-faced and angry-eyed old crone, offering up a bag of what he insisted to be magical beans
>>5781353>A skinny fellow in a titled bycocket hat, overseen by a stone-faced and angry-eyed old crone, offering up a bag of what he insisted to be magical beansToo good to pass
No offense lads, but I do consider the beans as the nat 5 option, while the high rolls are the books, chimera, and the potions (which specifically relate to the sight of our mysterious Eyes guest, I imagine), while the sword and mind enhancing elixir are the mid-tier rolls.>>5781353You can also put me down for the>A scar-faced woman who was keeper of rare and exotic beasts, keeping in a cage what she insisted to be the cub of a ‘true and natural chimera’Mainly because because Henzler Junior is too good to pass up.
>>5781355Changing to>A scar-faced woman who was keeper of rare and exotic beasts, keeping in a cage what she insisted to be the cub of a ‘true and natural chimera’It was my second option, and no one wants the weapon
>>5781353>A collection of artistic scrolls, bound together into a book, claiming to be a record of ancient organisms and spirits from ancient days, sold by a half-elf like yourself
>>5781514>>5781504>>5781498>>5781410>>5781405>>5781402>>5781396>>5781395>>5781386>>5781384>>5781374>>5781360>>5781357>>5781355[Alright, calling it!]
>>5781519“Found you—OH!”Henzler was frozen at first by the same sight you had been—that of the large, rather burly and heavyset woman, puffing upon her massive cigar. Her arms were tattooed with all manner of creature and with curious, almost orcish patterns; you’d have almost thought her to be of mixed-blood, like yourself but with the savage folk of the Orcwilds or Goblin Wastes, but her skin as was a pink as any local human, with nary a tusk or fang in sight, and no more hair than typical of a human (which, admitetdly,w as still more than an elf). The terrible scar down her face, exposing the teeth on one side and running up to a pale and milky eye, made her just as fearsome as any half-orc, however.Your own attention, though, had eventually drifted from the human specimen and to that which she was selling: what she advertised as a ‘true, natural chimera’. You’d never heard of such a thing, despite being a STUDENT of Chimericism, but the story the scarred woman spun of her adventuring party slaying the creature’s parent and finding it nestled amongst a rocky outcropping to the southwest… Well, it was compelling, and the creature itself give truth to this tale.“The lioness’ head was fierce, aye,” the woman had told you, “but the goat’s head was the worst of them, lashing to and fro, smashing stone with impact when it wasn’t smashing up our shields or shattering our spears and swords. And whenever you drew close, the snake would lash out to bite. We lost a good man to that.”In the cage, the cub—or kid, or perhaps ‘hatchling’ was the right word, but the seller did not know if it was birthed live or came from an egg—was its massive parent in miniature: it bore a goat head upon one neck, and a lion’s head adjoining, though right now really more like a lamb and kitten, both mewling and sad; from its tail came the scaly visage of a snake, wakeful and watching, hissing at you and occasionally doing false-charges at the cage when you placed a finger inside to etst it.“That… Shouldn’t be possible, surely?” Henzler asked, staring at it fixedly.“No,” you agreed, and you looked shrewdly at the seller. “How do we know you didn’t make this thing yourself, or have a hedge-mage do so?”The woman had just shrugged, admitting: “Maybe some mad mage made it. I’d have no inkling. I just know that we found a biggun, we smote it dead, and then we found this. No mage in sight, neither.”“But… A chimera cannot breed,” Henzler had pointed out, still unable to look away from the tripartite denizen of the cage. “They are… There’s too many issues, with development. They need constant magical attention, for new offspring to be made, except in the most masterful and stable lineages.”“Right,” you agreed, “like owlbears and griffins… And even then, a few generations without special care and the problems start emerging, and they usually go sterile.”
>>5781530The woman had just shrugged again. She had no answers... But this tiny, mysterious creature DID.“Say, if this is so dangerous, how are you allowed to sell it?” you’d asked warily.“I can’t,” the scarred woman had admitted, “at least, not to anyone who isn’t a mage. And it’ll cost ya’, even so, both to buy and to keep the damnable thing alive. Each head eats different, we learned, and all eat plenty.”You and Henzler exchanged a look. Of course, it was never a question of whether you would buy it, not in the least. What red-blooded young mage could resist such a creature? The only question was who would have the privilege, the responsibility, and the financial burden? You both had gold aplenty, of course—Henzler from her adoptive mother, you from your mother’s family., but she had more space… her mother’s space, the Archmage’s space, which meant sharing ownership with the Tower if the frightening old woman was so inclined.Who purchased the ‘natural chimera’?>You did>Henzler didWhere did you keep it?>With you>With Henzler (hidden)>With the Archmage’s other chimeras>With the fairy court on Old Maple Hill>Write-inWhat did you name it?>Write-in only
[ This isn't the end of the quest, or even the thread, -- not by a longshot. However, it IS the end of these rapid-fire updates. I'll probably be updating one a day from now on, MAYBE two or three items on weekends. I hope you've all been enjoying it so far, and please do feel free to give me some input, positive or negative. I'm most interested in...>1) Are you liking the pace? Even if you'd gone for Izirina as your MC, I wanted to have SOME establishing characterization set in her youth, but with a brand new, less-defiend character I opted to do more. Do you wish to speed along to graduation, slow down to do more slice-of-life stuff like the Night Market, or keep plugging along at a year or two every few updates?>2) Are you liking 'Tips', the MC so far? I didn't want them to be bland, so I injected a few initial character traits, but since you folks started voting to be nicer I tried to start pivoting the character towards maturity and beneficence. Did I go to far? Not far enough? Do you PREFER the character to be a little shit?>3) How about Izirina Henzler? Do you find her compelling or interesting at all? I know most people have voted not to romance her, but do you at least get a sense of a sort of bond with her, hopefully without her feeling like an albatross?>4) Are there any other characters, setting elements, or lore details you'd especially like to see explored before 'graduation' to the main quest-line?Thank you all for playing!]Bonus question: what gender do you tend to feel the MC is when you read the updates, or have I done a good job of keeping our little half-elf nebulously androgynous so far?
>>5781531>You didWe have the animal handling and Calm, it would make more sense for us to have the chimera.>With youFor optimal chimera bonding.>What did you name it?>Muffins>>5781396this is me>>5781534>1) Are you liking the pace?Yes. I'd like to either keep the current pace of slow down a little bit. It's a little scary seeing us progress through all these years and only learn a few spells / skills. It makes me wonder how much we'll be able to learn / improve when things slow down for the "proper" plot.>2) Are you liking 'Tips', the MC so far?Yes. I enjoy Tips starting to mature and grow less "tsun" over time. I think Tips being warm to people close to them would be nice.>3) How about Izirina Henzler? Do you find her compelling or interesting at all?Yes, but not as much as Tips. We haven't had a ton of opportunity to interact with her yet I don't think, and I expect her to grow more compelling as we do.Also, I imagine people would be more willing to romance her once we get out of "backstory" mode. I certainly would be, and I hope the opportunity arises.>4) Are there any other characters, setting elements, or lore details you'd especially like to see explored before 'graduation' to the main quest-line?No clue, not very familiar with the world. Though I do wonder what's the deal with Tips' father. Is he living with mom with the elves? Is he dead? Is he exiled / left to the human lands? If so, why haven't we seen him?>Bonus questionI find myself thinking of Tips as a girl, even though I myself would rather Tips be a boy for this story.
>>5781531>>Henzler did>With the Archmage’s other chimerasbest space to care for/study it by farcan't imagine archmage will object to pursuits which further our knowledge>NameChompy>1) Are you liking the pace? Even if you'd gone for Izirina as your MC, I wanted to have SOME establishing characterization set in her youth, but with a brand new, less-defiend character I opted to do more. Do you wish to speed along to graduation, slow down to do more slice-of-life stuff like the Night Market, or keep plugging along at a year or two every few updates?I could slow down to get that rich and deep background>2pivot was good, maybe not far enough since we're on the side of light for the first time>3Feel kind of like the albatross to her actually>4what's "wrong" with Izirina huheuheuehuehue>Bonusunquestionably male from those interactions with Pearcethose were bro interactionszero ambiguity therethe date teasing with Henzler Jr didn't help
>>5781531>You did>With the fairy court on Old Maple Hill>Write-in onlyPretzel>>57815341)I like the pace2)I like the MC, I prefer when they aren't an asshole, but tsunderelf was funny.3)She's cool4)I don't know anything about the setting, different from what most of the playerbase seem to know.I would like to know about the city, kingdom and the religion.Our human side too, but not enough people voted for it, so I'll cope with ut.I see tips as a boy, for no other reason that I want him to be one.
>>5781531>You did>With you>What did you name it?>Chimy>1) Are you liking the pace? Even if you'd gone for Izirina as your MC, I wanted to have SOME establishing characterization set in her youth, but with a brand new, less-defiend character I opted to do more. Do you wish to speed along to graduation, slow down to do more slice-of-life stuff like the Night Market, or keep plugging along at a year or two every few updates?Pace is decent. I do not feel like things are moving too fast or slow.>2) Are you liking 'Tips', the MC so far? I didn't want them to be bland, so I injected a few initial character traits, but since you folks started voting to be nicer I tried to start pivoting the character towards maturity and beneficence. Did I go to far? Not far enough? Do you PREFER the character to be a little shit?Tips seems kinda bland and whimsical to me. He/she doesn't seem like s/he has an strong ambitions, goals or any guiding beliefs.Losing our rivalry with Izrina took away some of our character motivation's if you ask me. But we did not really replace them with new motives either.>3) How about Izirina Henzler? Do you find her compelling or interesting at all? I know most people have voted not to romance her, but do you at least get a sense of a sort of bond with her, hopefully without her feeling like an albatross?She felt better during the early part of the quest. When she was the schools alpha Stacy and prodigy. Becoming a wallflower bookworm post archmage bullying, feels lile character regression to me. But maybe that was the point?Also is it just me or isn't she too strong?Judging the the study help options she knows how to cast.>>5779708<Fireball><Restoration><Arcane Eye><Jade Aura>I thought mages were usually limited in the amount of magic types they can specialize in? She is just an initiate, but she seems to have a more advanced repertoire of magic than most adult mages we have seen in this setting.>>5781534>4) Are there any other characters, setting elements, or lore details you'd especially like to see explored before 'graduation' to the main quest-line?Besides us are all the other current initiates to the mage tower humans? I thought hawksong was a some what multicultural from the descriptions of it. But all the other fellow student's we have interacted with have just been plain local humans.
>You did>With the fairy court on Old Maple Hill>>57815342) I find them boring so far. I would prefer them to be a little shit, or at least to have any distinguishing characteristics, since any we had seem to have been snuffed out. The playerbase hasn't really gone in any obvious direction as a whole, and offering such an extended chargen seems to be leading to a muddled result. I also wish we had a gender by now (I have been assuming that the MC is a man, for what that's worth).3) I don't particularly care about her so far. I wonder if it would've been a stronger start to have the MC already grown and in their relationship with Izirina (whatever that may be), but we're far past that point, so I'll take it as it comes. I don't know if she was established in any previous quests, but I didn't read them, so take that as you will.I should note that both of these are "so far," and I'm not in danger of dropping out yet. But I hope we get this establishing stuff over with sooner vs. later.
>>5781549>Tips' father[There was an option to explore that earlier, but if people would still like to see more on that WITHOUT a stat boost necessarily attached, I'd be happy to!]>future romance options[They'll be there... Unless you guys do something super awkward/embarrassing/upsetting that puts that character off long-term, of course.]>>5781551>what's "wrong" with Izirina[Would have to ask her... Which you'll get more chances to do, and she MAY even tell you.]>>5781573>I don't know anything about the setting, different from what most of the playerbase seem to know.I would like to know about the city, kingdom and the religion.[The City is Hawksong, premier emtropolis of teh known world, home to a huge array of people, including humans and demihumans like dwarves, halflings, gnomes, half-elves and half-orcs, and formerly a fair array of beastmen and goblinoids (though they got driven out recently before the quest's starting point, along with humans born in the south).][The Kingdom is... Also Hawksong, but it is sort of the 'capitol' of a larger array of technically-independent kingdoms which all nevertheless owe their peace, security, and wealth to Hawksong's past victories and continued Paladin-enforced world order. This includes an array of white-to-beige people based on Europe and Eurasia, and a good number of common 'Core D&D'-style races. In Hawksong's SPECIFIC sphere of direct ownership are a few farming communities and military-towns around the walls and down their trade-roads.][Most people of Hawksong actively worship at least one of the Gods of Light (which they often call 'The Good Gods'), a loose pantheon largely divided into the Bonus Legale or 'Lords of Order', and the 'Bonus Chaoticum', or Chaotic Good gods such as those of the elves, beastmen, and some 'barbarous' peoples -- especially humans to the far South and East of the continent, whom they call Southmen (or 'southrons', but that's considered pejorative) and Easterlings (also pejorative but they are more isolated and trade less, so who cares?). For non-fey races in Hawksong, and even most half-elves that exist there, it is far more common to worship a Lord of Order, and the DOMINANT pair of deities are Moroth and Marese, a husband-wife duo associated with sword and shield respectively and considered eldest among the human race especially; the Order of Paladins, primary peacekeeping force in the region and the personal army of Hawksong's own Paladin King, are devout priests of Moroth and Marese.]
>>5781588> Becoming a wallflower bookworm post archmage bullying, feels like character regression to me. But maybe that was the point?[If the MC'd committed to befriend or support her earlier, her confidence would have stayed higher, yeah.]>Also is it just me or isn't she too strong?Izirina Henzler IS a prodigy but she can't personally cast, or cast WELL, every spell she knows, and she can't technically cast Restoration AT ALL despite 'knowing' how to on a technical level>Besides us are all the other current initiates to the mage tower humans?The Tower rarely admits non-human students. For all its multiculturalism, Hawksong does not have ANY non-human or half-human noble families, and their magecraft is taught almost exclusively to humans. Likewise, the paladins contain only a couple part-elves and NO other non-human races or half-humans.]>>5781596> I don't know if she was established in any previous quests, but I didn't read them, so take that as you will.[She wasn't, only introduced as a baby and seen briefly as a toddler after a time-skip. The payers of the old quest will have a bit of an early heads up as to part of what's wrong with her, though.]>>5781596>>5781588>>5781551[I hear what you're saying about wanting a bit more characterization and a chance to set a new concrete objective, and will deliver that in the next update or two as they include this especially-memorable night of both their lives.]
>>5781531>You did>With youname: Coboão>>57815341)yup, pace is neat2)mc is fine for me3)i like our neet mage friend4)is there any sport teams or something similar here ? wanted to see a bit of itbonus)well, i read mc as a guy except when in situations where her being a girl is essential, so yes the androgyny thing is doing well
>>5781613>The Tower rarely admits non-human students. For all its multiculturalism, Hawksong does not have ANY non-human or half-human noble families, and their magecraft is taught almost exclusively to humans.Is their some sort of ban on non humans in the mage tower? I assumed as long as you could pay for tuition and had high enough grades and magical skill you could be admitted?
>>5781613>Izirina Henzler IS a prodigy but she can't personally cast, or cast WELL, every spell she knowsis it because she doesn't have an exceptional mana poll, only superior knowledge or is it a case of 'lvl 1 character who knows lvl 10 skill but the lvl difference causes massive drawbacks' ?
>>5781623I assume paying for tuition is the issue for non humans, as there was also this line>Hawksong does not have ANY non-human or half-human noble familiesThey could also require references for admission, and not give them to non humans
>>5781623>Is their some sort of ban on non humans in the mage tower? I assumed as long as you could pay for tuition and had high enough grades and magical skill you could be admitted?[Yes and no. Tuition helps and there's no FORMAL ban, but it's often found (or believed, or sated as fact) that non-humans cannot really do well at human magic or vice-versa,w ith rare exceptions. Half-breeds like your MC here are an exception, but not THAT common, and half-orcs are both more discriminated against and more likely to be poor than humans or half-elves, because orcs are not well-aligned with men as the elves are; they can rarely afford tuition to begin with, and are often convenient not admitted due to 'overcrowding' that year that results in capacity closing JUST before their admission is processed.]>>5781628>They could also require references for admission, and not give them to non humans[Good guess!]>>5781624>is it because she doesn't have an exceptional mana poll, only superior knowledge or is it a case of 'lvl 1 character who knows lvl 10 skill but the lvl difference causes massive drawbacks' ?[Mana pool is PART of it.]
>>5781531>You did>With the Archmage’s other chimeras>Froggy>>57815341) Too fast2) A missed opportunity not to explore more about her background3) She's alright, although I'd prefer that we began as friendly rivals4) Romance. Our character is of marriageable age you know. Bonus) MC is very female coded. At least from my own experience.
>>5781531>Henzler did>With the Archmage’s other chimeras>Pretzel>>5781534>BonusI can't see Tips as anything but female funnily enough. It's probably the Tsun and cattiness.
>>5781531>Henzler did>With Henzler (hidden)Might as well get a second pet- I do hope Izzy’s pet drake is still alive and well.>Henzler Junior, or Tips Junior>>57815341. Feels like we’re rushing, slow down a bit.2. Tips hasn’t won me over yet- definitely had more character and motivation as a rival, and the fact that they lost interest in Henzler and their rivalry is confusing and kinda irksome to be honest. I wouldn’t mind Tips being a little shit to others, and a extreme socialite flirt- playing as someone popular just on their raw charisma would be interesting.3. I like Izzy, and prefer her to be the MC- in many ways, I see this as a redeeming chance to do Izzy Quest justice (even though my hopes were dashed in the first vote)4. Mina and the gals, that elf herbalist, Yosef, Chase and the lads, Roth and the infiltrator dance instructor, Inky, a certain goblina and a certain new half-orc. Paulina makes sense, but I think my heart will break to see Edwin again. Maybe some childhood romance and a bunch of wild parties. Using some Shirin, certainly. Basically, a bunch of callbacks. I’d also like Izirina to have a positive view of OG Izzy, even if it’s a vain hope.Did a good job being androgynous- sometimes acted like a lad, other times a lass. I bet Tips blamed it on his elf-side, much to Tips’ chagrin.
>>5781531>You did>With you>Muffins>>5781534>1: Pace is good, I feel>2: Tips is cool. Just tsun enough without being an asshole, and not immediately hung up on romance>3: I wish Izzy got back some of her early willfulness, so we could engage with her as equals.>4: Maybe it was explored in the previous quests, but I'd like to know more about the Southerners' and the beastpeople's deal.>Bonus: I imagined Tips as a guy all this time. Anon is right, the interactions with Logan read as bro.
>>5781534>PaceA bit fast for me to follow machine gun rhythm updates. In story, I'm a sucker for slice of life.>TipsReally believable and "human".>IzirinaShe's fine. I want Tips to flirt with her, her to fall head over heels on Tips but not showing it, Tips finding a great girl sometime in travel, and drama.>Other charactersEdwin and Paula.Boy. 100%. Since First update. Haven't even realized before you put your finger on non-boyness.
>>5781607>if people would still like to see more on that WITHOUT a stat boost necessarily attached, I'd be happy to!I can't say for the other anons, but I would like thatAnd thanks for the short info dump!
>>5781531>You did>With the Archmage’s other chimeras>Pips>>5781534>It's a little too rushed for me>Pretty bland, not enough character>I still wished that we played as her desu>More fem than male
>>5781531>You did>With the fairy court on Old Maple Hill>ElsweyrI WANT A FEY CHIMERA
>>5781596+1
>>5781638>>5781803>Romance>Marriage[Certainly options will present themselves, though, your character still has all the appearances of a 16 year old still]>With Izirna [We'll see how it goes. It hasn't been the option chosen by the majority yet, but there HAS been a move to friendlier terms...]>>5781768>>5781803>Call for callbacks[Some will arise, as they already have, but this quest is intended to be easy to follow regardless o setting familiarity, not just to appeal to longtime players.]>>5781773[Southmen are black or brown-skinned humans, from a relatively politically-fractious area associated in the Northwestern mind with deserts, plains, jungles, strange spices and strange faith, and an abundance of demonologists and unusual animals. Lately, the Northwest and South have also been moving in the direction of a trade war s well, following the terrorist attack that was earlier mentioned, and subsequent restrictions of trade and travel of Southmen by Hawksong's authorities.][Beastmen are considered a sort of mortal fairy-creature, like elves are. Some are shapshifters or illusionists, magic associated with the fey and with demons and thus often viewed with suspicion by mankind. They are most prevalent in the South and East.]>>5782489>>5782214>>5781928>>5781773>>5781768>>5781717>>5781638>>5781622>>5781596>>5781588>>5781573>>5781551>>5781549[Locked (but with a tie...) and writing!]
>>5782676“I’ll take it!”You stared at Henzler, who stared back at you. She looked a little baffled for a moment, protesting: “But the cost—”“I can pay,” you asserted, a little miffed at her assumption. “The Silver Realms don’t use much gold… but we have it. -I- have it.”You jingled your quite hefty pack for emphasis, gold clinking. “They send more, sometimes, too,” you noted smugly, “before you complain about the feeding and care costs.”Henzler fidgeted, eyes flitting between you and the coveted cub. The scar-faced adventurer-woman eyed you hungrily, and with renewed interest.“But you have nowhere to KEEP it,” she weakly protested.“My room should suffice,” you said with (only somewhat feigned) confidence. “I don’t know if you recall, Henzler, but I’m something of an expert at handling animals. ELF, remember? And I know the <Calm> spell.”As you speoke the word, you ran your fingers along the cage’s edge. The snake head, previously hissing and quick to bite, suddenly seemed to soothe, and watched the faint trail of magical sparks your spell-gesture leaft. The goat-head bleated softly, and the lion-head even began to rub around you through the bars. Henzler had to hold back a squeal—at the cuteness and in frustration at your claiming of the ‘ natural chimera’.“Well, what about when it gets BIG?” she demanded. “You heard, um… You heard this person here!”“Quint,” the scar-faced woman supplied. “T. S. Quint.”“You heard Madame Quint!” Henzler continues. “This creatures parent as large enough to fight a TEAM of adventurers, and to kill one.”You puffed out your chest and gesture in grandiose fashion, and said: “I am a Disciple of the True Fey, MISS Henzler! I have friends on the other side, and the means to invoke their aid if I need it!”Henzler was more flustered or frustrated than you had seen her in a while, and you began to feel a little bad—after all, this night was supposed to help cheer her up after ONE disappointment at your hands. Here you were, though, inflicting another! But, well… Didn’t she already have access to all the chimeras she might want or need, with her mother and all? Why did she have to fight you for THIS one?“Tell you what,” you said, “this chimera is MINE, because I called DIBS, but since I’m such a gracious and compassionate soul, I’ll let you help me name it.”Henzler glowered, but didn’t say anything more as you concluded your business—exchanging many a gold coin to T.S. Quint for your new prize pet—and, for free, a specially-constructed two-collared leash, and a band for the snake mouth as well. You were victorious!
>>5782705It was still no picnic to walk the thing, though, even with multiple uses of <Calm> and all the animal husbandry you can recall from your early education. Watching you struggle—made all the more embarrassing by all the eyes your find had attracted—Henzler stareds to giggle, and seemingly to feel less surly about her defeat in the sphere of commerce.“Shut up and tell me what to call this thing,” you grumbled, hauling back on the leash as the goat-head pulled the whole of the body stubbornly forwards towards the food carts.Henzler looked thoughtful, eventually settling on…>Muffins>Chompy>Pretzel>Chimy>Coboão>Froggy>Izirina, after herself>Tips, after your nickname>Pips>Elsweyr[No more write-ins, vote for a fave]Don't vote yet -- more's coming!
>>5782707When Henzler had selected the name (which you grudgingly accepted, even though it wasn’t your first pick), you sent her to go get some food for the three of you.“And it’s on you,” you told her, with a little gloating left in you as you haul the chimera cub onto your lap. “-I- just got a dependent, after all.”She did as you requested/demanded, returning shortly thereafter with two flour-coated friend meat-skewers of some sort, an apple, and some cooked fish.“Do you think the snake-head will like any of it?” she asked, a little worried.Henzler needn’t have worried: the lion AND snake aspects of your new pet both seemed to take a share of the fish and meat, while the goat was content with the apple and, afterwards, the containers and sticks. You both watched it with the fascination a child tends to regard a cute animal doing anything, multiply modified by the coolness of your particular acquisition.“So is this your goal, then?”You looked up at Izirina Henzler, startled and a little confused by the sudden inquiry. You found her looking at you, thoughtfully, like some sort of puzzle.“What?” you asked. “What are you on about, Henzler?”“You told your friends earlier that you had a goal, like they all have theirs,” she said. “But you never said what it was.”
>>5782709You looked back at her, beginning to feel yourself flush at the intensity of her scrutiny… And because, in truth, you hadn’t given much thought to the matter. Your goal for a LONG while had been to become a skillful mage, and then a popular and well-respected one. That was still the case, obviously, and you were already well on your way to making that happen! But, well… Your main driving force for two or three years now had been surpassing Izirina Henzler HERSELF, and you couldn’t very well just say THAT! Besides, that feeling—that need to prove yourself her better—wasn’t really with you anymore. But in its wake, well… What did you have, pushing you forward?Yes, your so-called ‘friend’ had hit you with that most dreaded question of any directionless and whimsical youth: ‘what are you going to do when you graduate?’>You want to be a Chimericist, working directly with the Archmage to create purpose-built lifeforms for magical and medical purposes, and to one day become a famous name in the field of Life Magic—maybe even Head Chimericist!>You want to travel the world, learning of magical creatures and fairy courts, and to find a place among them beyond the realm of Man—this time at the Tower is just a stopover in a long life on the path to being a true Wild Mage!>You want to be an adventurer—a Field Researcher first, you guess, but the goal is really to make a name for yourself someday as one of those celebrated heroes who the youth worship and dress like, a legendary champion of might and right!>You've heard (and lived) some of the frustrations of the fey in human lands... And you think you'd like to maybe be a sort of, you don't know, 'environmental-ist'? You know—like a peacekeeper or a bridge between the natural, spiritual, and material worlds, and between Men and the True Fey in their spheres>You… Don’t really know. What business is it of hers, anyway? Why does a kid—er, a maturing half-elf—even need to have a goal? Can’t you just enjoy yourself? What is she, the INQUISITION?!>Write-inSheet updated; your excess gold now goes towards feeding and caring for a growing lion-goat-snake
>>5782707>Izirina, after herselfor>Tips, after your nickname>>5782710>You… Don’t really know. What business is it of hers, anyway? Why does a kid—er, a maturing half-elf—even need to have a goal? Can’t you just enjoy yourself? What is she, the INQUISITION?!I honestly just prefer to enjoy ourselves in the moment instead of striving to be famous- mainly as a youthful rebellion thing, against our authority figures.
>>5782707>Tips, after your nicknameFinally our real name will be revealed>You want to travel the world, learning of magical creatures and fairy courts, and to find a place among them beyond the realm of Man—this time at the Tower is just a stopover in a long life on the path to being a true Wild Mage!
>>5782707>Coboão>>5782710>You've heard (and lived) some of the frustrations of the fey in human lands... And you think you'd like to maybe be a sort of, you don't know, 'environmental-ist'? You know—like a peacekeeper or a bridge between the natural, spiritual, and material worlds, and between Men and the True Fey in their spheres
>>5782707>>Tips>Write-in: You want to make a catalog of all the rare magical beast's in the world! And Maybe even build a habitat preserve for the ones with struggling populations.Gotta catch them all.
>>5782707>Muffins>>5782710>>You want to be a Chimericist, working directly with the Archmage to create purpose-built lifeforms for magical and medical purposes, and to one day become a famous name in the field of Life Magic—maybe even Head Chimericist!
>>5782707>>Pretzel>>5782710>You want to be an adventurer—a Field Researcher first, you guess, but the goal is really to make a name for yourself someday as one of those celebrated heroes who the youth worship and dress like, a legendary champion of might and right!
>>5782707>Elsweyr>You've heard (and lived) some of the frustrations of the fey in human lands... And you think you'd like to maybe be a sort of, you don't know, 'environmental-ist'? You know—like a peacekeeper or a bridge between the natural, spiritual, and material worlds, and between Men and the True Fey in their spheresThis is honestly something we’re uniquely suited to as a half-elf
>>5782707>MuffinsCan we please name it *anything* other than Tips or Izirina? That is going to be very needlessly confusing, and any humor from it will dry up quickly.>>5782710>You want to be an adventurer—a Field Researcher first, you guess, but the goal is really to make a name for yourself someday as one of those celebrated heroes who the youth worship and dress like, a legendary champion of might and right!
>>5782759
>>5782707>Pretzel>>5782710>You've heard (and lived) some of the frustrations of the fey in human lands... And you think you'd like to maybe be a sort of, you don't know, 'environmental-ist'? You know—like a peacekeeper or a bridge between the natural, spiritual, and material worlds, and between Men and the True Fey in their spheres
>>5782710I’m supporting >>5782759 and Field Researcher- the last thing I want is to become involved in a religious conflict again ffs
>>5782707>Muffins>You want to travel the world, learning of magical creatures and fairy courts, and to find a place among them beyond the realm of Man—this time at the Tower is just a stopover in a long life on the path to being a true Wild Mage!
>>5782707>Muffins>>5782710>>You… Don’t really know. What business is it of hers, anyway? Why does a kid—er, a maturing half-elf—even need to have a goal? Can’t you just enjoy yourself? What is she, the INQUISITION?!
>>5782759That sounds good. +1>Pretzelme >>5779573>1) Are you liking the pace?I do like it. Having “snapshots” of each year keeps it fast paced but memorable.As for the quest pacing, its pretty damn quick. I didn’t look for two or three days and now we’re nearly at 500 replies. Finally caught up, though.>2) Are you liking 'Tips', the MC so far?Tips is good. I can tell they’re not the most mature at times but not to the point of mental retardation. >3) How about Izirina Henzler? Do you find her compelling or interesting at all? She’s alright. I think you did a good job at portraying a child of someone powerful who is currently in their shadows. >4) Are there any other characters, setting elements, or lore details you'd especially like to see explored before 'graduation' to the main quest-line?Not sure yet. I’ll see where this current vote takes us.>gender?I feel like Tips is female during the mirror hall thing but male during the eating w/ pearce
>>5782724>>5782749>>5782751>>5782759>>5782765>>5782769>>5782774>>5782775>>5782791>>5782812>>5782840>>5782870[Alright, one final update! I have an idea of where to go with this clever write-in, plus the other leading contenders.]
>>5782876You looked all about you then—everywhere but at Izirina Henzler. You really perceived all these worldly wonders, not as a child out for an evening of fun and mischief, but as someone who would soon be an adult, and a mage, and have to make a choice about what that meant to YOU.And then you looked down at Muffins, you new chimera friend. A ‘natural chimera’… Who even thought such an implausible creature could exist, let alone a stable population of them? “I want to travel the world,” you said, finally. “Hawksong is nice, of course, and there’s a lot of stuff here… But Sometimes I think about how neat and tidy it all is sometimes, you know? Out in the Sylvan—uh, you know, the Silver Realms—there’s all different kinds of stuff. Stags the size of bears with antler spreading ten feet wide! Fairy-winged flying squirrels! And in the South and the East, well… There’s yokai parades or whatever you were telling me about, and all kinds of strange animals and beastmen and things maybe we’ve never even HEARD of!”“So you want to be an adventurer?” Henzler asked, her tone strange, her expression neutral. “Or a Field Researcher?”You remember your fairy friends, on the hill amidst the lowed-flat farms, forsaken. Who in this area would think that some knotted old maple tree was home to a tiny demigod—a member of the True Fey, and a whole court of his fellows? And if they knew—if some DO know--how can they not CARE?“Maybe,” you said, then “No, not… Not quite. Not just someone who goes and kills stuff and brings back its pelt for taxidermists, or to sell and get rich and famous as a monster-hunter. I want to find the weird things in the world and… I don’t know, make sure they’re still there. Keep them safe, maybe. Or at least make sure people don’t just… Forget about them, or stop caring. I'd bring back wonders, and show them off, and MAKE people care!”“People are terrible sometimes,” Henzler said quietly, bitterly, lowering her head and nodding along. “I’d go far away too, if I could. Away from all these 'normal' people, and the abnormal ones too. Somewhere safe.”
>>5782898In a day-and-a-night of seeing Henzler at her lowest since that incident with her mother—from being rejected by the True Fey and denied her lessons, to losing out on Muffins—you had not heard her speak so grimly or look so ashen as you did then, lit by the panoply of bright carnival lights and yet still grey… Save a brilliant, furious greenness in her hazel eyes. The queer light cast her pupils as slits, if just for a moment, but when you blinked they were normal… Save that they were watering.“Hey,” you asked, feeling a little awkward, “it’s not… I mean, they’re not all awful.”Henzler said nothing and, not so comfortable with her as to proffer a hug, or yet wise enough to offer any words of deeper consolation, you’d settled for a gentle pat on the back.“Come on,” you’d offered, “let’s go find the others.”She’d obliged you without enthusiasm and, in truth, there was little more fun to be had. After all, you DID have a rambunctious, fractious little creature to look after, and with fireworks beginning NO amount of <Calm> that you were capable to caste could contain the (admittedly cute) carnage of your little chimera. The rest of your friends stayed out—eager to have drinks (or MORE drinks, perhaps more accurately) and to revel until the wee hours; only Henzler and Pearce accompanied you back to the Tower, and Henzler broke away from the two of you as soon as you arrived.“The Archmage will want to know where I am,” she’d said, still avoiding your eyes and altogether unconvincing in her explanation.“Right,” you said. “Goodnight, then, Henzler.”She was already running up the steps, but she stopped at the top of them, and glanced back at you.“Izirina,” she corrected quietly.“Huh?” you said, blinking. “Um, right. Izirina, then.”Well, she must have SOMEWHAT enjoyed the evening’s excursion, you reason. “Did you want to maybe do this again sometime?”Her eyes flitted to Logan Pearce, who stood awkwardly there in silence, and se did not commit one way or the other, though she did ask: “Can I come see Muffins, sometimes? Like… When we met before?”You shrugged, and nodded. Sure, why not?She was gone a moment later, and then Pearce was whistling a long, keening whistle.“What a weirdo, huh?”You smiled slightly, reflecting on the odd things in the world, and nodded again.“Come on, let’s both get home as well,” Pearce suggested.You nodded again, and followed.
>>5782900The next few weeks and months went by without much special fanfare. Muffins began to grow quite rapidly—far from full lion-size, but quickly dwarfing most dogs with which you were familiar, and FAR more unpredictable in behaviour without your supervision—often stubborn, sometimes violent, and prone to strange periods of fearful isolation. You found Henzler to be much the same, curiously—moodier than she had been, wheeling between bouts of frantic activity and academic achievement during which your times together were characterized by a mania and a tendency towards obsession, only to later fall into quiet periods where she would only respond quietly, sparsely. On all occasions, she and the three-headed chimera seemed to do best together, whether playing with sparks from the tip of her newly-acquired, quite expensive-looking channeling-wand or simply sitting together as she pet the unusual oddity-of-nature.“I asked my—the Archmage, about getting a chimera of my own,” your strange friend admitted one day. “As a familiar, since we’re… Approaching our senior years.”“What did she say?” you asked, dreading the answer as you thought of that stiff-faced, inhumanly-gliding woman who was head of your school and a veritable Grand Mistress of that particular bio-magical art.“She said I’d never be able to keep it alive, with my inability to…”“Right,” you said. “Life Magic.”You reflected on this matter for some time afterwards, and on Muffins, and on the way you yourself hoped to grow, and change—to become, perhaps, weirder, or at least ‘weird’ to the society around you. Then again, that didn’t seem to be doing Henzler any favours, did it?
>>5782903It came to a head in your Advanced Chimerism class, towards the end of the year. The final practical examination which the proctor required was the vivisection of a jackalope, a creature captured and imported from the northeast, towards the Bloodrise mountain range and the less-populated baronies of that cold and hilly, kobold-addled place, and then the reverse-engineering of such a creature through Chimerism of a living deer fawn and rabbit.“Of course, merging of adult and juvenile tissues will produce an unstable product,” the proctor reminded you all, “nothing like the, well… What one could ALMOST, if ignorant, call the ‘natural chimerism’ of the jackalope, though in truth there is nothing of the deer in that horned hare. Just coincidental resemblance! But to be able to see something rare, and make something to match its capabilities—even if it only lives long enough to brief serve its purpose—is the essence of chimerism: the creation of a living tool, weapon, or subject for medicine.”You stared down at the terrified jackalope, a rare beast of the hidden places, bound here by iron loops and shackles to a smooth and lacquered wooden table in the magically-sterilized, lab within your ivory-white, artificial tower. You looked at the cages deer and rabbits, which would soon be processed into facsimiles, to better understand the theory of how to replace the jackalope with human-made imitations—to be used up, and then killed and disposed of when done.“Such techniques are necessary,” your proctor reminded you all, “for the defence of the kingdom and its Pax Argentum—the Paladins’ Silver Peace. They’re necessary for the advancement of magical understanding, and biological understanding, and thus of the noble arts of medicine and magecraft themselves! So still their senses, still your own hearts, and get to work—show me what you can do! Prove that nothing natural nor supernatural is beyond a skilled and determined magus!”What did you do?>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledge[Chimericism ranks up, can henceforth attempt to make chimeras without aid]>Did as your elven-heart commanded, and freed the wild things in this place with elemental aid[Arcana roll to see how successful you are and whether you get found out, ranks up Courage]>Left the class in confusion and disarray, trying to reconcile what it right, with Logan Pearce following after you[Rank up Natural Philosophy]>Write-in
>>5782904>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledgeHesitate and we lose. The path of making chimera will require sacrifice.>>5782870
>>5782904>>Left the class in confusion and disarray, trying to reconcile what it right, with Logan Pearce following after you
>>5782904>Did as your elven-heart commanded, and freed the wild things in this place with elemental aidStand against horror, especially those that come from the human heart.
>>5782904>Did as your elven-heart commanded, and freed the wild things in this place with elemental aidI'm so happy I never had to dissect a frog in school.
>>5782904>Did as your elven-heart commanded, and freed the wild things in this place with elemental aid>>Left the class in confusion and disarray, trying to reconcile what it right, with Logan Pearce following after youEither of these
>>5782904>Did as your elven-heart commanded, and freed the wild things in this place with elemental aid
>>5782904>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledgeDunno what Courage or Natural Philosophy does, but I do know what Chimericism do. Besides, we have to care for our little one now.
>>5782904>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledge
>>5782904>Write-InNon intrusive examination of the Jackalope, merged with our deep examination of our "natural chimere" should let us craft a chimera from fawn and rabbit without killing the Jackalope
>>5782904Also, did we essentially cuck Izzy outta her familiar by cucking her outta Life Magic?
>>5782904>>5782993I only ask cause I miss little Hirschel- that cutie
>>5776338I just noticed my ID changed.I'm this anon
>>5782904>Left the class in confusion and disarray, trying to reconcile what it right, with Logan Pearce following after you
>>5782904>free the wild things
>>5782904>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledge.Where would the jackalope even go if we freed it from captivity? Its outside of it's natural habitat and quite distinct. And deers and rabbits are killed all the time. We can't be messing up class just to save two common prey animal's.
>>5783116Changing to>Did as your proctor instructed
>>5782993>Izzy outta her familiar by cucking her outta Life Magic?We can just build izzy a familiar later, so we can cheer her up. We can try to put a tiny fire elemental inside of baby house cat or something.
>>5782904>Did as your proctor instructed, and set to work for the betterment of your knowledge]>>Take it home and keep it aliveIf we're going to be making chimeras let's at least be responsible for them.
>>5783358Were literally disecting it
>>5782904I’d actually like to know what Courage and Natural Philosophy does before you close the vote RQM>>5783144I assume the Fey hill desu>>5783235I prefer a small drake, like in the header picture.
>>5783478>Courage & natural philosophy[Courage will be rolled when facing mind-affecting spells and effects, especially fear. natural philosophy represents your intuitive understanding of the ways and feelings of plants and animals.]>>5782993>Izzy's familiar[She may yet get one. We'll see.]>>5783358>>5783154>>5783149>>5783144>>5783084>>5783058>>5783006>>5782994>>5782954>>5782941>>5782933>>5782931>>5782927>>5782925>>5782924>>5782915>>5782911[This result is going to take some thinking... Hm.]
>>5783562I'm fine with switching to >Do as your proctor instructedIf that would be helpful.
Rolled 16, 17, 7 = 40 (3d20)>>5783584I appreciate it, but even then the 'don't do it! spare the animals!' aggregate would be the majority.>>5783562You stared down into the eyes of the jackalope, and you tried—you really tried—to do as your instructor said, to still your heart and do what must be done to advance human (and demihuman) knowledge. To hesitate was to fail, and even in NATURE, sacrifice was necessary to survive and to progress. Both rabbits and deer—and presumably jackalopes as well—were prey species. They were born in droves, and had to die in droves, or destroy their ecosystems. To feed a creature like Muffins, prey HAD to be predated upon. It was the order of things!(…And yet. AND YET.)The jackalope shivered, unable to move, to bolt, pinned in place as if paralyzed and yet unable to die. Your eyes drifted to the cutting tools and forceps provided.(…And yet, THIS was not natural. This was a horror born in the human heart, a product of the mage’s mind.)You had planned to make and care for chimeras, hadn't you? It was why you studied those arts… But you had also studied medical magic. Your ambition, fresh and ephemeral as it still was, saw you as a sort of warden for the strange things of nature and of the wilds.(Its eyes reminded you of Muffins’ goat-eyes…)“Hey, are you alright?”[DC 15 Chimercism, normally higher but I appreciate a clever write-in and I'm trying to do a compromise option...]
>>5783597Your mercy was not tender. Your good work was not clean. Blood caked fur, and washed its way up your hands. Bone and tendon were exposed, stretched, warped. Pearce moved with a frantic pace the sedate, unserious mountain of a young man was not usually prone to, facilitating your vain hope.But in the end…>16…It was done. Hypnotized by your magic with nervous systems numb, one jackalope lay beside another. One was patchwork, its antlers outsized, its sharp little nails the beginnings of hooves, while a deer lay sprawled and breathing ardously before you, its own scalp opened up. The other, still split open with beating heart exposed, was the natural one.“Good work,” your proctor said, surveying it. “Excellent, really. You are exceptional at this work.”“Thank you,” Pearce said in your stead, because you were busy trying not to vomit.“Now,” said the Mage Proctor, producing a wand, “we dispose of the materials.”“No.”Both he and Pearce looked at you. Your friend knew this was coming, but he hardly looked any more at ease for the forewarning. Your professor just looked cofnusd.“What?”“They don’t die,” you said, shaking your head, gulping back bile and—once more—steeling yourself.“…I don’t know what you THINK you’re saying, or doing,” your proctor began, adjusting his glasses and again aiming his wand, “but it is not kindness to prolong the suffering of these beasts.”“What about to <Cure> it, then?” you asked.“Impossible!” he scoffed. “The damage already done… The extractions and modifications thus made…”But you were already working your magic and, for all his assertions, the proctor stepped back and returned his wand to its place upon his belt as he watched you work. He’d seemed bemused, in truth—ready with a teachable lesson about accepting sacrifices, a pithy and professorial ‘I told you so’ queued up for deployment.He never got the chance to use it, though.
Rolled 12, 6 = 18 (2d20)>>5783615>17It took everything you had—EVERYTHING—and something from deep down within that you didn’t know was even THERE… But you did it. Already flagging from the magical, physical, and psychological effort of the vivisection and chimericization, you focused your hidden and yet-untapped reserves upon mending the damage you had wrought. You began with long-suffering jackalope, stitching flesh and hide together with sparks of light, still its hammering heart with <Calm>, stroking its fur until the blood was all hat remained of its terrible memory and inevitably-fatal flaying.“That’s… That shouldn’t be possible at your level,” the proctor murmured.“Holy shit,” said Pearce, simple and succinct.Next came the other two—deer and rabbit both. The deer was easy—you’d taken as little material as possible. The little stag-in-waiting might not ever grow antlers, but then again might—with a bit more care, a follow-up procedure or two. The rabbit, who had most been added to and modified, not taken away from… Well, it still was no picnic, but with Pearce at your side once more, lending his magic and offering you vigor and strength, you reconciled its disparate parts and modified it into something workable—something that, at least for a time, could live, and function, just as any other animal.When your work was done, you could hardly stand—hardly even stay away. You think your proctor said something to you, but you were in no state to hear it. Your admonishments could wait, you reasoned. Only logan Pearce’s firm hands and strong arms kept you from toppling over and requiring a <Cure Wounds> of your own, and while the mutterings and murmurings of those in the operating theatre continued to flutter unintelligibly around your dull and unhearing ears, he hauled you—eventually CARRIED you, in fact—to the hall outside…[Courage roll...]
>>5783617>12…Where you finally lost your lunch, and cried, and emptied yourself. Pearce patted your back all the while, saying nothing, just staying with you until you calmed.“What the fuck, Tips?” he finally asked.“I… I don’t know,” you admitted. “I just couldn’t do it.”“What do you MEAN?” he balked. “You DID it. You did it and THEN some. What I want to know is WHY?”“It was wrong,” you said, quietly. “It IS wrong. That… This isn’t the way.”Pearce stared at you, brow furrowed, lips pursed. He looked like eh wanted to lecture you, but like he wasn’t even sure what for.“…You must think I’m a pretty big weirdo, too, huh?” you noted, wiping your mouth off.“Yeah,” you agreed, but then gave your shoulder a squeeze. “But come on, what else is new?”You shared a long silence, and a smile.“Anyway,” he said, producing a rather stunned and confused looking jackalope—or actually, upon closer inspection, the rabbit-deer chimera—from his robes with casual sleight-of-hand you hadn’t thought the big boy capable of, “what do I do with THIS thing?”You stared, and your smiles turned to laughter.What did you do?>Gifted it to Izirina Henzler>Took it to Old Maple Hill, to leave it with the fair folk there>Released it in the wild and hoped for the best>Write-in
[Oh, and your statboost was +1 LIFE MAGIC, which boosts Chimericism but ALSO healing.]
>>5783618>Gifted it to Izirina Henzlervery cool
>>5783618>Took it to Old Maple Hill, to leave it with the fair folk there
>>5783618>>Took it to Old Maple Hill, to leave it with the fair folk there
>>5783618>Gifted it to Izirina HenzlerShe did seem sad last time we talked with her. Maybe she can rub the fact that she ended up with chimera familiar anyway in the archmages face.
>>5783618>Gifted it to Izirina Henzlerheres your chimera bruv>>5783597TIPS SWEEP!!>>5782911
>>5783618>Gifted it to Izirina Henzler
>>5781534I never answered this post, so I might as well now1) I felt the fast pace was a little too blistering, but altogether, a few character defining events a year, three to four, is pretty good. five might be reaching too many, two is too few. 2) I do like Tips, and although they're a little scattered in focus that's pretty common when you're young. I do think it's important that quest characters are little shits SOMETIMES, and at least somewhat consistently. Little shits about specific topics, basically. People have peeves. So Tips should stay at least a little tetchy about some things, even if they get better at not snapping at people. The things that annoy you are still annoying. Tips losing some of the touchiness about their half elvish state is good, since they were pretty oversensitive initially, but I'm half something myself and that never really goes all the way away, I don't think. With humans Tips is 'the elf', with elves Tips is 'the human'. When you're half, even if you think you're both, to each group you're not one of them, you're whatever stands out. 3) I think the slow inching towards each other is a good pace. She herself is rather basic but that's fine. She doesn't need to be anything more than that yet. I don't intend Tips to romance her in the future. 4.) I like Pearce. Especially in the latest chimera update. Being there with Tips at that moment, even if it's for class, has kind of made me start shipping them, instead.Genderwise I see Tips as female. But that's on me, because I always prefer female protagonists. The writing itself is good about keeping them neutral.
[Goddamnit, in piecing out the update I missed a bit meant to go between >>5783597 and >>5783615 The reconstructed update is attached.]You looked up at Logan Pearce—your partner in this class, as in most Life Magic disciplines, for this was still one of his stronger subjects even if he did not fill his list with healing and restoration spells. His expression told you all you needed to know about your own. You took a deep breath, steeled yourself, and nodded.“I’m fine,” you asserted.It was lie. An obvious one, too. Pearce took no comfort in it, and watched you closely. An idea sprung up in your mind, though—something devious, and dangerous, and more than a little desperate. If vivisecting the jackalope—leaving it alive during the analysis itself—then what would prove GREATER mastery of life magic than keeping it alive, actually RESTORING it to life? And if you were to make a chimera of a deer and rabbit… Well, what if you could take JUST ENOUGH material from the one to transform the other, without killing either of them?“Tips, come on,” Pearce pleaded with you in a whisper, as you set to your grisly work, already expending precious mystical energies to keep your primary subject calm through the procedure. “This is just going to blow back on… And it’s not going to save all the other pairs of rabbits and deer.”“If I can prove it can be done,” you said through gritted teeth, focusing upon the difficult work at hand, sweating with the exertion and the pressure and with the precision necessary to pull this stunt off, “no more animals will have to die in experiments, AND I’ll be a legend.”You flashed your best friend a brittle smile, and your eyes filled with tears, but you willed them to stay put. None left your eyes, or spilled down your cheeks.“Have a little faith, huh?”>>5783623>>5783631>>5783632>>5783644>>5783647>>5783652>>5783691>>5783696[Sorry, all.]>>5783710This addendum probably didn't hurt that ship, huh?
>>5783618>Gifted it to Izirina HenzlerShould be easier to care for than the other one at least, and loaded with sweet cure magic
>>5783618>>Gifted it to Izirina Henzler
[Update may be late today -- may grab a brew with a bud.]
>>5783618>Took it to Old Maple Hill, to leave it with the fair folk thereIsn't she shit at life magic? I don't trust her to keep this half-mutated monstrosity alive
>>5783618>>Took it to Old Maple Hill, to leave it with the fair folk there.We can build Izir a Useful chimera later.
>>5784318>>5784299>>5784088>>5783917>>5783859>>5783825>>5783803>>5783782>>5783755>>5783720>>5783696>>5783691>>5783652>>5783647>>5783644>>5783632>>5783631>>5783623[Looks like drinks are tomorrow. Calling it!]
>>5784528Your initial instinct was to present the little chimera to Henzler—Izirina, rather—to make up for having claimed Muffins. But then again… The imitation jackalope seemed pretty fragile in many ways. Izirina Henzler was a nice enough girl, in her special way, but pretty much the ONLY field she didn’t exceed you in was Life Magic and chimera-care. As you lightly stroked the twitching face of your new friend, and first creation, you reflected that it will probably need plenty of both.“We could just let it loose?” suggested Pearce, dangling the rabbit-deer loosely and regarding ti. “Seems sturdy enough.”You quickly took the creature from him, supporting the back legs.“Never dangle a rabbit,” you admonished your burly friend. “Their spines are delicate!”“Well sorry for trusting your craftsmanship,” he muttered. “Why don’t you just make the spine better?”You were tapped for magic, for one thing. For another… Well, calcifying or reinforcing the spine could have other effects, including negative ones on mobility and flexibility. But Logan Pearce was a smart mage, including in the biological fields. He knew that. He was just being grumpy.“Hey,” you said gently, “thanks… You know, for being there for me.”He just shrugged, and then grinned, eyes drifting to the puddle before you,“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” you groaned, following his gaze.He said nothing. You both knew the answer. You sighed.“Well, fair enough,” you told him, “but you’re watching and feeding the jackalope… Chimera… Thing.”“What?!” he asked, startled as you (carefully!) handed it back to him. “Why me?”“You grew up on a farm, didn’t you?” you asked.“Well, yeah, but our only rabbits were for FOOD.”“Don’t,” you commanded him, “eat my friend.”He looked down at the rabbit, meeting it’s eyes with a deep frown. It was Pearce, though, so he did as you ’requested’, and was somewhat mollified when you assured him it was just until your next break. If Izirina Henzler was a poor fit for the poor critter, and Logan Pearce didn’t want it, there was only one other place you could think to leave a one-of-a-kind weirdo like this modified monger-monster: Old Maple Hill, with the fairy folk.
>>5784559Of course, with your grades and your most recent feat of EXCEPTIONAL magecraft, requesting some time off was easy enough—you’d simply explained (not entirely falsely) that your chimericism had left you drained and depleted, and that you needed to recover. A mage must cast from their own lifeforce, after all, so some bedrest actually wouldn’t have gone amiss. That you were hiking out of Hawksong against instead was… Well, not ideal, but it was necessary.You brought one cage for little Whatshisname (what you dubbed the not-quite-a-jackalope) and another for his ‘father’ (the jacakalope he was modeled on, which dear Pearce managed to smuggle out for you). The deer, and the other rabbits… Well, those were a bit beyond his ability to secret out of the classroom, or wherever they were now kept, as well as yours to march through Hawksong without drawing attention. With your internal energies running near empty, you couldn’t have kept that array of skittish prey-species <Calm> the entire time even if you’d wanted to.“I’m surprised you even had enough juice for THAT,” Pearce noted, and nodded to your little elemental helper: an Earth Elemental a little shorter than a halfling, summoned to support the two cages.“Well it’s easier than carrying them myself the whole way!” you’d protested.“Noodle-arms,” Pearce had teased you.“Noodle-BRAIN,” you retorted.You left him watching Muffins—though you regretted to leave your three-headed companion, and Pearce hated to be responsible for cleaning up the natural chimera’s rather eclectic digestive outputs. With your elemental and your two caged creatures, you made your way through the night and day until late afternoon found you once more at the hill. Utterly tapped of all stamina and spellcraft, you dismissed the <Summoned Elemental> and gently laid the cages down. Unable to muster <Faerie Fire>, you waited for dusk, and the appearance of the court.At least, compared to your first two visits, this came easily to you… or perhaps, knowing you now, your friends simply allowed themselves to be seen.
>>5784561“What have you brought us, little half-an-elf?” the fairies tittered, peering at the cages and prodding at the cowed contents within.“Quit it!” you complained. “don’t tease them! It’s been a long trip.”“For you as well,” the Spirit of the Old Maple said, the craggly spriggan detached from the branches and trunk which formed its home and heart and striding towards you and your charges. “You look tuckered, child-of-the-children. Worn-down and weary. And I think… I see your missing energy.”You moved his bra
