Of course, he was referring to the point where he’d nearly smashed the controls to a machine he had no idea how it worked. Anything could have happened but thankfully, you were able to talk him out of it. Still, his temper and then subsequent apologies were beginning to wear on your nerves a bit.

Your group fell silent again, and while on one hand you wanted to say something, anything, to lighten the mood, you knew that such was not going to happen. Aside from Vrand, everyone had a heavy heart, right now, and a mind full of too much information that you weren’t supposed to know or see. Even Astaris had said he wasn’t supposed to tell you these things…but he had.

The gate guards hailed you as you approach, and you all gave a half-hearted wave in response as you passed through the gates. It was late afternoon now, nearly evening, which left your options quite open, at the moment.

“Well,” you begin, looking at the others,

>”Let’s turn in the Crest, and we can decide how to tell them about what we’ve learned later.”
>”Let’s turn in the Crest and talk to them about what we’ve learned. Someone has to know.”
>”Let’s just…relax tonight. We’ll turn in the Crest and tell them tomorrow.”
>Other (Write-in)

>>34322890
Forgot the other info. Got too jumpy.

Quest Info: https://rise-of-crimson.obsidianportal.com/
QM Info: @tgWhiteFog on Twitter | ask.fm/tgWhitefog

>>34322903
>”Let’s just…relax tonight. We’ll turn in the Crest and tell them tomorrow.”

Yeah, after what happened being able to relax sounds like a good idea.

Also, welcome back!

>>34322903
>>”Let’s turn in the Crest, and we can decide how to tell them about what we’ve learned later.”

>>34322903
>”Let’s turn in the Crest, and we can decide how to tell them about what we’ve learned later.”

>>34322958
>>34323015
Looks like majority. Writing it up.

>>34322957
Thankya. Hopefully I can start these earlier than 9pm EST from here on out.

You briefly consider just…calling it a night. You’re exhausted. They’re exhausted. You don’t doubt that the first thing on everyone’s mind is getting a night full of rest. But by that same token…

”Let’s turn in the Crest, and we can decide how to tell them about what we’ve learned later,” you say, glancing at the others. Amelia and Trelthar agree almost immediately, though Vrand gives a small frown.

“This kind of information may be quite valuable, Alyara. Shouldn’t we tell them as soon as possible?”

You give a small shrug. “We’ve been this way for like eight-thousand years, Vrand. What’s another day? Besides, if we go in there now, we’re all going to be telling the same or different parts and it’ll just be confusing to both us and them. I figure we can rest a bit tonight and then work out just…what to say, y’know?”

The Spiritual mage pauses a moment, considering your words. “Yeah,” he says after a few seconds, before nodding. “Our thoughts are rather scattered right now. Getting some time to think on things would be good.”

You nod, before glancing to Amelia. “Did…you want to take the horses and Emerald back to your uncle?” you ask, not sure how up to doing anything the girl was, having the most harrowing journey of all of you.

The girl shakes her head. “I think not, Alyara,” she says, her indignant tone returning. “I am just as much a part of this company as you are.” You smirk and nod, with you and the others beginning to dismount, leading them onward.

“So we just going to…hand them the Crest and call it a day?” Trel asks as you make your way to the command center.

You shrug. “I figure so. Get it to Giller and head on out after that. Then come back tomorrow for the real talk.”

“I’m just…uncertain how they’ll respond to us withholding that information for a day,” Vrand speaks up from behind, causing you to glance back.

[1/2]

“It’ll be fine. We’ll just tell them the truth about it.”

His face turns into something of a frown but he nods. He still doesn’t seem convinced, however. “Just promise me you won’t say anything to them here. Let’s wait til tomorrow.”

He gives a small sigh, but nods. “I promise,” he agrees, and you feel much better about it already.

You reach the Command center then, and pause as a familiar crew approaches from the opposite side. You and Aphellis both pause in your tracks, blinking as you look at one another, as if not entirely sure what you’re seeing.

“Alyara…” he speaks, his words slow, careful. “I trust there are no hard feelings?” he asks.

Zelin pops up nearby, grinning widely. “It’s not like we meant to kick all of your asses. Just kinda happened that way.”

You blink, throwing a confused look over your shoulder at the others in your crew, who are all wearing similar looks.

>Remind Aphellis that it was you, in fact, that won that little encounter for the Crest
>Ask for a bit more clarification on just what he’s talking about
>Go along with the “loss” and play it by ear
>Other (Write-in)

>>34323427
>Remind Aphellis that it was you, in fact, that won that little encounter for the Crest
Not playing along with this shit

>Remind Aphellis that it was you, in fact, that won that little encounter for the Crest

>>34323511
>>34323539
Writing it up. Let's put Aphellis and Zelin in their places.

>Remind Aphellis that it was you, in fact, that won that little encounter for the Crest

“I mean,” you say, before glancing once more back at your companions to make sure that you’re not the one in the wrong, “I think you’re confused, Aph.” You reach into the satchel at your waist, pulling out the Crest you’d taken from the cavern. “We were the ones that got the Crest.”

Trelthar smirks then, stepping forward. “It was sure kind of you all to trip all the traps on the way through, though.”

You can see the expressions on their faces change from cautious amusement to confusion as Aphellis too, reaches into his cloak before withdrawing his own Crest. “I am certain that it is you who is confused, Alyara. You had tripped the traps for us.”

All eight of you now suddenly appear all-the-more confused, trying to figure out what the hell had happened, before Zelin gives a small snarl. “Damned Doronar,” he hisses.

“An illusion?” Vrand asks, his own certainty masked by the confusion that was marring the whole conversation. “But you were injured. All four of you.”

“Man the lot of you really are numbskulls.”

Both groups look to the side where an auburn-haired girl stands, at the head of her own group of four. “It was a test. Teamwork and all that shit. Did you even offer to help your fellow allies?” Exchanged glances between both groups led way to her chuckling softly. “Man. I thought that was obvious.”

“Laviana, perhaps you might have found it easier to provide support, but other worries were on our minds,” Vrand spoke up, the boy watching her.

Laviana Draggarde was one of the most promising cadets. She had a fair mastery of her family glaive, and was decently adept with Elemental magic, giving her quite the offense.

[1/2]

File: Alyara.png (675 B, 32x48)

675 B PNG

“Vrandimus, how about you chill out. I’m sure you’ll all be fine. You’re making up now, right?” she asked, giving a wide grin as she gestured for the rest of her team forward. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. And totally not something that you’ll all get in trouble for,” she spoke as she followed her team inside.

“Shit,” Zelin spoke as he watched the girl enter, before glancing back to Aphellis and then to your crew. “You think we screwed up?”

Trel gave a small grunt. “Doubt it,” he growled, but the worry was already starting to gnaw at him, you could tell.

“It was probably just a test to see how we’d react. If we offered help, then we’d have your support to get the Crest,” you offer, and the others gave a few nods, though looked mostly unconvinced. “We didn’t, so we had to power through on our own, which it seems like we did.”

Aphellis nodded, before extending his right hand, toward you. “Regardless, Alyara, I offer my sincerest apologies for not offering assistance when you were wounded. In hindsight it was dastardly of me to do.”

Zelin and Trel both rolled their eyes at nearly the same time at Aphellis’ mannerisms.

>Shake his hand, fully accepting and returning the apology
>Shake his hand, accepting his but brushing it off
>Ignore the hand, explaining neither of you knew
>Other (write-in)

>>34323905
>Shake his hand, fully accepting and returning the apology

>>34323905
>Shake his hand, fully accepting and returning the apology

>>34323951
>>34324049
Consensus.

Writing it up

>Shake his hand, fully accepting and returning the apology

Despite being taken somewhat aback by the forwardness of the apology, you don’t hesitate to reach forward, firmly grasping his hand. “No, no. It’s fine. We were both in the same boat and just did what we felt was right. No hard feelings all around, right?” you ask, looking back at your team, who give a round of nods or agreeable sounds.

“Though I am uncertain how Doronar would have gathered such power for such a thing,” Amelia speaks, glancing skyward, thinking.

“Spiritual magic,” Vrand says with a small smile, causing Amelia to glance up. “There’s not a lot of power behind it, of course, but it can be used to create illusions. As soon as you have reason to disbelieve they’re pretty much gone. But the situation was setup quite handily.”

Zelin grunts, before crossing his arms. “So we both got duped, eh? That’s some kinda bullshit, I tell you,” he says, before he turns to the side, spitting on the ground. Aphellis fixes him with a dark look, but the rogue merely shrugs.

“Regardless. You may follow Laviana in and turn in your Crest first,” Aphellis says, gesturing you forward. Knowing full-well that he will not accept you trying to get him to go first, you move onward, the others shortly behind.

The command center is well-furnished, but despite the fact that you’ve been in here dozens of times, you can’t help but to feel that it just seems different. Smaller, on some scale. You shrug it off as you move, actually catching sight of Laviana as she turns around the far corner at the end, towards Giller’s chambers.

You follow along in some quiet, just wanting all of this to be done and over with. You have too much weighing on you right now to deal with this kind of thing, but it needs to get done and out of the way.

[1/2]

File: Theresnar.png (284 B, 36x52)

284 B PNG

You enter Theresnar’s quarters a moment later, with not only Laviana’s group, but also Erasmir’s here.

“Seems we have more than a few that have finished at the same time,” Giller speaks, the aging knight surveying the lot of you. “Come in,” he continues, waving both groups inside.

You and Erasmir glare at one another for a moment, having forgotten just how much you hated his smug face until you’d seen it again.

“With you four groups, it was only Laviana’s group that offered assistance to her fallen comrades. The rest of you blazed right through, without giving a second look to your fellow injured cadets.” The girl looked rather proud of herself, while the other two, and yourself, glanced at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, pretty much anywhere else. “What I want to know is…why?”

Erasmir spoke up first. “Our injured allies were in no shape to fight. Our Spirit Mage was tapped out of energy, and we sought to secure victory as quickly as possible,” he spoke, glancing over to you for a moment before looking back forward. “We succeeded and made sure they weren’t sincerely hurt before departing.”

Giller nodded, before glancing at Aphellis. Seems he’s saving you for last. “There is only my own fault here, sir. Upon seeing our injured comrades, I thought only of victory. The blame is entirely mine for my orders.” Once more, the lord-knight nodded, before he looked to you.

You knew full well the reason why you didn’t was due to the fact that all the other things that had happened pushed all those thoughts from your mind. But that wasn’t something that you wanted to get into right now. Especially with all these others here.

>”What Aphellis said. I saw it and my mind blanked and we went for the victory.”
>”What Erasmir said. Vrand’s magic wasn’t working well so we just went for it.”
>Break down and tell the full story anyway.
>Other (Write-in)

>mind control
>illusions that are 100% realistic
Really, really not a fan of either.

>>34324698

Mm. I may have shot myself in the foot with all that, then.

Attempted redux of this particular quest is possible, though not sure if anyone might be interested in such.

>First Quest harsh lessons

>>34324512
>Other (Write-in)
To be honest, there were other events that took place earlier that were weighing heavily on our minds. But if you don't mind, we would like to discuss these in private and at length later. I trust you'll understand when you hear our story.

>>34324819
Will run with this.

You considered just sort of following on Erasmir or Aphellis’ coattails, but decided instead to at least give your full, honest answer as to what happened…at least as far as you could.

“Knight-Lord Giller, there were a few things that had happened to us prior to that were…pretty important. They had distracted us from doing what we should have. Tomorrow after we’ve gotten some rest, we’d like to talk to you about them in private. You’ll see why, then,” you speak, your tone a bit more formal than usual, given who you were dealing with.

“Things happened?” Erasmir spoke up suddenly, always quick to denounce you or Vrand. “What? Did you get attacked by barbarians?” he asked, arching a brow.

You wanted to lash at him but instead held your tongue a bit. “Yes, but that was not all,” you respond, causing a few of them to blink, looking at one another. Apparently you were the only ones who fought off some of the barbarians.

Erasmir shakes his head, about to say more before Giller cuts him off. “I see. I’ll expect your full report tomorrow, then. Despite your willingness to simply abandon your comrades, you have all gathered your Crests. In a week’s time, we’ll hold another meeting then to go over your advanced training. Dismissed.” Laviana looked a little upset that he had passed the other groups, but said nothing, the sixteen people moving to leave the slightly-cramped office.

“Alyara.” The voice was Giller’s, and you pause on your way out, turning back to look at him as the others move around you to leave. “I trust that your reasons are sound?”

You hesitate, but nod. “Yes sir. We mostly just need time to be able to present it. I would also suggest Magister Doronar be here as well. It’s…a doozy,” you admit.

He frowns, but nods. “I see. Carry on. We’ll meet with you in the morning, then.” He gives a salute.

[1/2]

You return the salute, and move out into the hallway. The other groups have departed, just leaving you and yours. “It took everything I had to not say something,” Vrand speaks up as soon as you shut the door.

You chuckle, shaking your head. “Don’t worry about it, Vrand. I nearly spilled the beans too. But now we need to figure out what to do. I’m tired,” you admit.

Trel gives a small laugh. “Yeah. Me too. But we’ve got to get that report ready. And I still want to talk with you a bit about…well, everything.”

Vrand looks between Amelia and you. “I’d like to do some reading at the library at some point. I’d appreciate you joining Amelia and myself to split the work.”

“We want to see what we can find on any information about the world outside,” Amelia speaks, after making sure no one was around to eavesdrop.

You scratch your head. “Well that leaves us a lot of options. On top of that, though, what was Giller talking about with that Advanced Training?”

Trelthar shrugs. “Dunno. Probably more classes. While we’re doing things.”

“Why didn’t we know about any of this?” you ask aloud, frowning. “You’d think we would.”

Amelia gives a shrug. “Noses buried too far into our own concerns I suppose. Plus the older cadets don’t really interact with us much. I just always assumed they were off killing barbarians.” You grunt.

All right. Things to do…

>Get the report ironed out first
>Have the talk with Trelthar and then help Vrand and Amelia search for information
>Talk with another (Specify)
>Other (Write-in)

Also apologies for aforementioned things. Hindsight is 20/20, per usual

>>34325291
>Have the talk with Trelthar and then work on the report. Help Vrand and Amelia if you have time remaining.

>>34325291
Apologies or no, I can already see this going completely to shit at some point, and I'm getting out while the getting's good.

>>34325377
No hard feelings anon. Appreciate you hanging out for when you did.
>>34325326
You may be the last voter. I've got no qualms about continuing if you'd like, or we can put RoC down and I'll reflect and try again with something new in the future.

>>34325291
>Have the talk with Trelthar and then help Vrand and Amelia search for information

>>34325496
I'm all against quitting this entirely, but waiting for a different time slot might be wise. I don't think there is anything wrong with the quest itself.

>>34325535
See look, theres at least another guy.

>>34325496
He's wounded from Evoker quest's brilliant usage of mind control and illusions

>>34325547
Hah. And here I thought starting earlier than my norm might be helpful. I'm horrendously limited in my choice of time, which is the main issue, I feel.
>>34325550
Ah-ha. While mind control never really made an appearance here, I suppose I can see some measure of understanding in that.

Regardless, if interested, let us continue.

>Side note: When would be a better time to run? I can try to make accommodations, but life makes such things difficult.

>>34325639
Man I dunno, its a bit slow right now but it seems like enough people to keep going.

Just keep on keeping on.

>>34325761
Will do- Alien Ant Farm style.
-
Glancing to Trelthar, your fingers move to the bridge of your nose, rubbing it gently. You know that the talk needs to happen with him. He’d been flying off the handle even more than he did normally, which was causing all manner of issue. This was something that you’d have to deal with. And as tired as you were, it had to be talked about. “Okay. Trel, let’s you and I head to my place and talk. Vrand, Amelia, if you want to head to the library, I’ll probably bring Trel and the report along once we’re done and go from there.”

The two mages nodded, before heading off, leaving just you and Trel alone. It was interesting to note how this felt a little odd, now. Since he’d been acting out, he felt more like a loose cannon liability than he did your best friend. Still, this was Trel- as both friend and de facto leader of your group, you needed to talk with him. “All right. Come on,” you murmur, the two heading back to the small building that you called home.

Arriving, you removed your hat, setting it on the dresser (mostly so you could find it later). The male followed you in, shutting the door behind him. “Take a seat,” you offer to one of the chairs or boxes lying around the room.

He moves to one of the chairs, spinning it around as he had before, taking a seat while resting his arms on the back of the chair.

You watch him for a few seconds, and he doesn’t seem keen on talking, causing you to give a small sigh. “Well?” you ask him, gesturing with your hand as you take a seat on the bed. “What’s on your mind, Trel?” you continue, trying to get him to say something.

He exhales slowly, scratching his chin. “There’s a lot, Aly. All this business with The Fog and the Barbarians, and Elves and magic and Crystals and-“ he begins, before you raise a hand, cutting him off.

“You freaked out earlier over the barbarian before any of this was a worry.”

[1/2]

Trel gives a small grunt. “You know I’ve always been like that, though.”

“Yeah, I know. And seeing you rage out against Erasmir or Aphellis is one thing. A barbarian? Elvish magic, Trel? What if you ended up dead or worse?” you ask, shaking your head.

The warrior’s hands tighten a bit on the back of the chair, and you’re worried for a brief second that he might break it. “I can’t just…not get angry though, Aly,” he responds, watching you. “My granddad does it, my dad does it, I do it. It’s in the family.”

You exhale slowly. “I know. I’ve heard the story about your granddad and the barbarians probably a hundred times between everyone,” you say, giving him a small smile to try and keep the conversation from getting too serious, like your last fight. “But your granddad also had the whole regiment behind him.”

Trelthar gives another noise of discontent. Trel was always hard to reason with- he was so emotionally driven that it made logic fall on deaf ears with him most of the time. “So you’re saying that you guys aren’t with me?”

You nearly roll your eyes at that. He was acting worse than Amelia. Still, you needed to try and figure out a way to get through to him.

>Be aggressive, as tact seems to be something he doesn’t quite get.
>Be cold and detached, forcing the logic until he gets it.
>Try and be amicable and reach some sort of agreement (what you’ve tried before to little success)
>Be agreeable and allow this sort of behavior to continue.
>Other (Write-in)

>>34325639
Third person here. I lurk a lot and won't always be present for all of a thread (I just now showed up), but I am interested in this quest and will post when input is needed.

>>34325975
>Be aggressive, as tact seems to be something he doesn’t quite get.

>>34325975
>Be cold and detached, forcing the logic until he gets it.

>>34325550
Nope, never touched that. It's just that the number 1 killer of quests (after QMs just fuckign VANISHING) is shitstorms caused by players mistrusting the QM, and the presence of 'perfect' illusions and mindcontrol in the narrative encourage that like nothing else.
>>34325639
>mind control never really made an appearance here
The shit with the crystal?

>>34326101
I don't think that counts as mind control

>Be cold and detached, forcing the logic until he gets it.

>>34325984
Noted. Didn't mean to have a defeatist attitude, I've just heard very little except for 'first quests always fail' so I've just been prepared for that.
>>34326101
Was meant to be more dream-like and out-of-body experience than mind control. Not sure how it came across as different than that, as it wasn't the intent.
>>34326036
>>34326134
Writing it up.

>>34326271
Came across to me the way you intended, basically. Hard to tell how much influence lingers, though.

>Be cold and detached, forcing the logic until he gets it.

“Trel. Are you being serious right now? I’ve always had your back. Always. Since day one,” you say, your tone giving absolutely no room for doubt. “So where did you get it in your head that we don’t have yours all of a sudden?” You kept from getting too angry or emotional with him. His attitude tended to bring that out in others, and you were doing your best to keep your cool.

“You just said it,” Trel argued back, frowning. “That-“

“No,” you interject, cutting him off. “I never said that we didn’t. You need to take a breath for a moment and think, Trel. Not act, but think. Let’s say you chased down that barbarian and finished him off. What if it had led you to its other allies? If they were more of a scouting party?”

He frowned. “But that didn’t happen.”

“No, we stopped you before we found out what would have happened. You just act before you think, Trel. Sometimes you don’t even think after the fact,” you continue, keeping an even, icy tone. Trel was always there for you, thick and thin, but twice in the last day he might have killed the lot of you with his anger.

“So just pussy foot around? Keep to the opposite end and never do what feels right?” he asked in return, his eyes narrowing as he was already getting heated.

“I didn’t say that either,” you respond, forcing your breathing steady. “We mostly just need to help you focus. If you got killed by barbarians earlier, where would that have left the rest of us? Or if smashing that station did the same? Are you always willing to put your, and our, necks on the line for a possibility?”

The warrior gave another sound of discontent, rubbing a hand over his face as he stood, unable to keep sitting. “You guys should be willing to back me on stuff like that.”

[1/2]

“Trel, I’m always going to do what’s in your best interest,” you respond, watching him, trying to calm him down a bit. “But you need to realize that your actions affect us too. Can you bear that responsibility, if something happens to Vrand, or Amelia, as a result of your actions? Or me?”

He paused mid-stride then, looking over at you. The look lingered for a few seconds before his gaze moved away, and you watched him in return, as he began to pace again. “It’s not like I want to put you all in danger, Aly.”

“I know,” you respond, not letting him get onto a tirade. “But you have been. And that’s what worries me. If this gets even more out of hand, who knows what else could occur? You can’t just do things because you think they feel right to you, without consulting us if it’s going to affect us, somehow.”

He stops in his pacing again, staring at the floor. “What if I can’t control it, Aly? A lot of times it’s like you say, I don’t really think before it happens. Like with that thing with the elf. I just…” he gives a frustrated sigh.

>”Trel, you’re the biggest bonehead I know. You can control it by being stubborn if nothing else.”
>”I believe in you, Trel. You can keep it under control.”
>”If you can’t, we’ll stop you from doing something stupid.”
>”Then you’ll just have to live with the results.”
>Other (Write-in)

>”Then you’ll just have to live with the results.”

>>34326565
Hmm...
>"Trel, it probably won't help to tell you just not to have those impulses or ignore them. But you need to learn to work as part of a team. Express what you feel but defer to the lead of others. Learn to wait for and take orders. Turn that stubbornness into self control. It'll just take practice, Trel. You can do it."

>>34326824
>>34326843
Anyone for a tie-breaker? If not, we'll roll to determine.

>>34326565
>>”Trel, you’re the biggest bonehead I know. You can control it by being stubborn if nothing else.”

He "is" the biggest bonehead we know.

>>34326843
>>34326971
Okay. These two I can work with. Writing it up

“Trel, you’re the biggest bonehead I know,” you say with a small smile, causing him to give a small chuckle despite himself. He rather was the biggest bonehead anyone knew. “But you can use that stubbornness. I’m not going to tell you to just…not have those feelings, or to ignore them. That’s not you.

“But you need to know that you’re a part of a team. You’re part of our team, and you, Vrand and Amelia kinda handed leadership to me. So if you want to smash something, say it. We’ve been friends long enough that I’m not going to judge you for that. But just…wait before you start swinging your axe around. It’ll take practice to turn your stubbornness into self-control, but you can do it.”

He gives a low grunt, running a hand through his hair. “Aly, you make sense. But when I get pissed off like that, it’s really hard to ‘make’ sense, you know?”

You give a small half-frown, before giving a noise of thought. “All right. Let’s practice,” you say, and before he can respond, you shoot a small dart of flame at his feet.

“Argh!” he hisses as the flame hits, and he looks to you, the muscles in his jaw standing out. He’s glaring at you and your impish smile. “I want to deck you,” he growls, his hands clenched into fists, knuckles white.

“Hah! Progress!” you say, your smile widening into a grin as you stand, making your way over to him, both to test him and to show support as you set a hand on his shoulder. “But really. You can do it. Just practice.”

“…Are we going to practice with you lighting me on fire?” he grumbles, a dark expression on his face.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” you said, the impish smile remaining as you pat him on the shoulder once more, before turning away. “Your dad was able to handle it though, right? Enough to get an officer position. Could talk with him about it too.”

[1/2]

He sighs, but gives a nod. “Yeah. I’ll do my best, Aly,” he says. “I don’t want to cause you guys any more difficulty because of me.”

You shake your head. “We don’t want any more trouble because of you either,” you respond, giving him a small smirk. “So let’s work together to stop it before it starts. And I’m gonna hold you to that,” you finish, pointing a finger at him.

He grunts, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah okay. Okay,” he breathes, before nodding at you.

>+10 Trel relationship. Trel is a bit easier to control.

“All right. You good?” you ask, making sure, and Trel hesitates, but nods. You get the feeling there’s something more on his mind, but he’s not ready to talk about that. You also have a pretty good idea that it involves you, but that’s not something you want to deal with right now. There’s too many other things on your plate. “All right. Let’s head over to the library then. We’ll see if we can’t work this report out.”
--
A few minutes later, you and Trel arrive in the library, heading to the side room that you’d found Vrand and Amelia in last time.

However, upon entering, you can’t help but sigh, given that your life can never be easy. Laviana and Erasmir are here as well. The latter of which is currently arguing with Vrand, with Laviana trying to play mediator. Upon seeing you, she gestures you over. “Can you help, here?”

Erasmir notices you at Laviana’s words. “Oh look, the glorious leader has arrived. Care to regale me with the mastery of which you dispatched barbarians and dealt with even larger crises? Your friend here won’t answer.”

>Tell Erasmir and Laviana about what happened
>Deck him. (Or let Trel do it)
>Make up a story on the spot
>Take Vrand and Amelia elsewhere to work on the report
>Other (Write-in)

>>34327462
>Take Vrand and Amelia elsewhere to work on the report
Don't even respond to him.

>>34327462
>"I don't mind talking about the barbarians, but the rest of it will have to wait until after we make our report. Sorry but you aren't that important. Now will you let us work in peace or do we have to go elsewhere?"

>>34327462
>>Take Vrand and Amelia elsewhere to work on the report

>>34327519
>>34327650
Writing it up!

>>34327590
>>34327650
>>Take Vrand and Amelia elsewhere to work on the report

But adding in a bit of >>34327590 for the "If we can talk about it later we'll tell you.

>>34327822
Tried to work it in as best I could while retaining the flavor of voted-in option.
---
As soon as Erasmir begins to address you, you already know where he’s going with this and as soon as his arrogant little speech ends, you begin talking. “It’s a little stuffy in here with all of this hot air,” you say, before glancing back out toward the main library. “I think we should work on it elsewhere.”

Erasmir’s eyes narrow, but Vrand and Amelia are already moving to come with you. Vrand looks a bit shellshocked, but Amelia looks just as pissed off as you feel. “Yes, yes,” he says as they move towards you. “Retreat with your tails between your legs. Won’t you tell me how the dead weight’s boots taste, later?” he asks, snidely.

Laviana watches as you pass, looking to you. “A lot of people are curious, you know. Word spreads quickly.”

“If it was just the barbarians, we’d talk,” you respond quietly, only to her. “The rest of it, we can’t say. Not until the report is given.”

She eyes you curiously, and looks like she’s about to speak when she moves, putting her palm against Erasmir’s chest, pushing him back. “Head on out, Alyara. Teamwork, right?” she asks, throwing a smirk over her shoulder at you.

You give a small chuckle. “Yeah. Appreciate it,” you call as you lead the group out of there. Once outside, you glance to Amelia. “Did he just follow you in?”

She gives a huff, her face slightly red. “Yes, that ingrate. He just came in and started harassing Vrand and me about what happened. Laviana came in a few minutes before you did, thankfully.” She sighs, then, moving some hair out of her face. “What happened between Erasmir and Vrand, anyway?” she asks, looking at you, knowing that Vrand isn’t planning to talk about it.

[1/2]

Glancing at Vrand, he merely shrugs, giving silent permission to discuss it, but he’s too reserved right now to add in. “Let’s head to my place I guess,” you say, not wanting to stand here for too long.

“You all can come to my home!” Amelia announces, excited at the prospect. “It’s close and…no offense, but nicer than your place. Bigger too.”

Bigger would be nice. Granted, her parents might be around, but you might be able to keep quiet enough to not let anything on. Plus she probably had some food there…but it might come at the expense of privacy.

>Go to her house with benefits and risks
>Politely decline, go to Alyara’s safer, more mundane home
>Other (Write-in)

and

>Talk about Vrand and Erasmir
>Focus on getting the report done first. Gossip can come later
>Other (Write-in)

>>34328039
>Politely decline, go to Alyara’s safer, more mundane home
>Promise to visit her place at the next opportunity.
>Talk about Vrand and Erasmir

>>34328039
>Go to her house with benefits and risks
>Focus on getting the report done first. Gossip can come later

Going to give another 5 for a tie-breaker.

If not, we'll roll since the two votes are opposite.

>>34328440
Well I'm the first vote so I can't tie break myself. I should say though if you're going to roll off, do each point separately

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>34328509
Yes. Hindsight should have done the two as separate votes, but again, live and learn.

First roll is for location, second is for plot proceeding. 1 for Alyara's home, 2 for Amelia's.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>34328560
1 for Vrand/Erasmir
2 for The report

>>34328587
Dice gods have spoken. Writing it up.

>>34328509
I don't mind changing to the gossip option.

>>34328625
Well it won anyway, so it's all good.

You look at Trel and Vrand, the former of which puts a hand on his stomach, knowing that you have very little in the way of food. “Sure, Amelia. We’d be glad to come over for a bit.” In truth, you were a little uncertain that her parents might be a little…chatty, given that they had given her some information about the supposed test. Still, the smile on her face and her sudden change of mood made it worth it, in your mind.

“Wonderful! Come along now, it’s not far!” she says, smiling merrily as she leads you toward her home.

“You sure you’re okay with letting her know?” You ask Vrand as you follow the girl. He nods mutely, clamming up as he tended to do when Erasmir confronted him.

You arrive at the girl’s house in a moment or two. It was right outside the command center, and while you’re not sure it was any closer than your place, you couldn’t deny that it was definitely more spacious. The living room was larger than your entire living area, and you couldn’t help but to let out a low whistle as you look around. “Not too bad, Amelia,” you admit.

“Please take off your shoes, and make yourselves at home,” she announces, quite chipper even as you struggle to remove your boots. Trel and Vrand do without complaint, moving ahead of you into the living area as you finish.

The wooden bench was padded with what felt like feathers of some kind, probably chocobo, and you nod to yourself as you take a seat, unable to suppress a small sigh of comfort- this beat out your splinter-ridden chair by a mile.

Vrand had taken a seat on the floor, and Trel sat down near you, with Amelia taking the large chair. “Okay. If you’re my teammates, I’d like to know this nonsense with Erasmir, if you would please,” Amelia says, looking between Vrand and you.

[1/3]

You give a small cough, indicating that you’d be the speaker, given Vrand’s current discomfort. “It goes back aways. We were what, Trel, thirteen?” you ask for confirmation, the male providing it. “Yeah. I’d gotten here a few years ago, and Trel was my only real friend, then. I knew Vrand, kind of, and Erasmir too. Trel told me that they just never liked each other.”

“That Erasmir didn’t like Vrand. Pretty sure Vrand didn’t dislike anyone, back then,” he says, glancing over to the boy, who doesn’t respond.

“Yeah okay. That sounds right. Erasmir’s an Elemental Mage, and he had it out for Spiritual Mages. Problem was, most of them were girls, or like Aphellis and had some muscle to back them up if things got bad. And Giller only really punishes the guys that pick on girls. He thinks the guys should just ‘man up’,” you said with a small shake of your head.

“I felt bad for Vrand, but…I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure about sticking my neck out. Until that day came,” you murmur, and the three of you get a little more somber.

“That day?” Amelia asks, the girl unable to contain herself.

“Well, neither Vrand nor Erasmir had come to class that day. Everyone suspected something, but no one could really…do anything. Later, Trel and I were getting lunch, I think. We were outside when we heard a quick call for help. We went, figuring already who it might be.” Your eyes narrow then, and your hands tighten to fists, much like Trel’s. Vrand merely looks away.

“Erasmir had used his magic to bury Vrand up to his neck in the ground. He’d singed off his eyebrows, most of his hair…caked his nose shut so he couldn’t breathe except with opening his mouth, fed him insects…” you pause, having to cool your head a moment.

Amelia’s hand had slowly risen to her mouth, in this time. “That’s awful…”

[2/3]

“As soon as we saw it, Trel started beating the hell out of him. I got Vrand out of the ground, and Erasmir tried to fight back with magic. That’s when I learned I could use elemental magic, too. I had no control so I nearly set a few houses on fire, but…” you finish, closing your eyes and shaking your head.

“What happened? Wouldn’t he get expelled for that?” Amelia asks.

“He should’ve. But Doronar kept him on because he was one of the most skilled Elementalists he’d seen in awhile. He didn’t want to make an enemy out of him,” Trel grunted. “But Vrand became our friend, then. He and Aly hit it off right away,” he said, giving Vrand a smirk. “He’s saved our hide a few times in return now.”

Vrand coughs, drawing attention to himself. “I think that’s enough about that,” he says softly. “I relive it anytime he and I are alone. I’d rather not in the company of friends, too.”

“No, no, of course!” Amelia says, standing abruptly. “I…I’ll go get snacks,” she says, before heading to the food storage, as if needing a reason to get out of the heavy atmosphere.

“Don’t worry man. We’ll deck him good here eventually,” Trel says, patting Vrand on the back, who nods.
-
Over the next hour, conversation drifts, becoming more light-hearted as the edge is taken off of your hunger. “All right,” you say, stretching a bit. “We need to get this report figured out. Amelia, are your parents…here?” you ask, glancing around.

She shakes her head. “They’re at the monthly meeting for the Elemental Mages. It’s just us.”

You nod. “Okay, good. Let’s talk about what happened, and see if we can’t figure out a way to present it.”

You want to include everything in this report, but you need a focus. Is it…

>The Crystal and your ‘dream’
>The Elf and the other races
>The Fog and the world beyond

>>34329311
>>The Fog and the world beyond

>>34329311
>The Fog and the world beyond
It's what we have the best handle on.

>>34329311
>>The Fog and the world beyond

>>34329353
>>34329369
Sounds good. Writing!

“Okay. A lot of stuff happened…but really what we know the most about is The Fog and then the world beyond it, right?” you ask.

“What about…what about the dream?” Amelia asks, hesitantly.

You give a small shrug. “Honestly…I don’t know. And I’d rather not attach a lot of unknowns to this, if we can help it,” you say. She frowns, but nods, understanding.

“Okay. So according to the elf, Astaris, the Fog is generated by the machines and the Crystals. It removes the connection we have with our spirit, which causes us to turn into those…Barbarians. The fog was put into place by the other races, because eight thousand or so years ago, there were a lot of impending wars between humans and the other races. We were probably going to be wiped out, so they hid us in the Fog.”

You glance up, having been scribbling on the parchment Amelia had gotten for you. “Everything sound right so far?” you ask, looking to the others.

“Were you two able to get anything from the library before Erasmir came in?” Trel asks, looking to the mages.

Vrand shakes his head. “There’s not a lot of information on it. We only looked for a few minutes, but the books I thought had information don’t. Or it contradicted what we were told.” Trel curses, then nods at you for the go-ahead.

“We’ll mention the Crystal too…because Astaris kind of implied that there were others. I-“ you pause, looking at Vrand. “How many different tribes of barbarians are there?”

“Four…I see where you’re going with this. That shouldn’t be in the report, but mentioned at least.” You nod, making a mental note.

“Anyway, so we’ll assume there are four crystals, one of each element. The water one is where we went, to the North West. So the others are…probably at the other directions.”

“More conjecture, but important notes, nonetheless,” Vrand says. You’ve switched from mental notes to a separate piece of parchment.

[1/2]

“All right. So I’ve got the cave mentioned, the crystal, the machine-“ you say, reading off the list of things, caught mid-word when the front door opened, revealing Amelia’s parents.

“Crystal and machine?” her father, a rather rugged-looking fellow with the same scarlet hair as his daughter, asks.

“It’s nothing, dad,” Amelia responds, without missing a beat. “Some people have just talked about some ways to artificially increase elemental magic. We’re just kind of listing it all and planning to show Magister Doronar why it’s not feasible,” she spoke, a smile on her face the whole time.

“Huh. I haven’t heard of anything about either of those. I don’t know that I’d waste the Magister’s time with that, Amelia,” he continues.

You can tell Amelia’s trying her best to come up with something, but you’ve got the outline down with everyone’s help, so far. “You’re right, Mister Zynidal,” you say as you stand, folding the paper and putting it into your satchel. Having met a few times before, you knew him somewhat. He and his wife weren’t overly fond of you as you didn’t exactly have a lot of skill as an Elementalist, but you were polite and well-behaved at least. “But if you’re home, I suppose I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“Yeah,” Trel added as he stood, and left it at that, the silence more than a little awkward.

Vrand stood as well, then, giving the parents a smile. “We’re sorry for being in the way. Amelia, we’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, giving the girl a smile and a wave.

Both parents watched as the three of you moved across the living room, beginning to get ready to leave. They could tell that something seemed…off, but didn’t really seem to know ‘what’ it was.

“I’ll be by to pick you up early tomorrow,” Vrand offered, and Amelia nodded, before the three of you left, exhaling a huge breath once you were outside.

[2/3] underestimated myself

“That was close,” you whisper.

“You have enough to finish it?” Trel asks.

“I should be fine, unless you guys are just dying to help,” you say, giving them a smile.

Vrand shakes his head. “I think we have enough down that you can fill in the blanks. I’m going to head out.”

“That’s fine. Aly, I’ll walk you home then,” Trel offers, and you nod.

“Sure. We’ll see you tomorrow, Vrand.”

The two of you move then, wandering slowly towards where your little place. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, and you were surprised at how late it had gotten so quickly. Still, despite everything…you felt pretty good about the day.

As you arrived at your door, you smiled at Trel, which spread into a grin. “Thanks,” you say, though you’re not entirely sure why.

“For…?” he asks, also having no real idea.

“Just thanks. For being a friend. Even if you have anger issues and like to hit things with your axe.”

He gives a small chuckle, before the mirth falls from his face. “Hey, Aly. About…us, I-“ he begins, pausing a bit, a small flush on his features.

You shake your head. “I don’t know, Trel. Now’s not the best time to be asking about all this anyway…though I imagine your gut is telling you it is,” you continue, giving him a small smile. He doesn’t deny it, though he reddens a bit more. “We’ll…talk later, about it. Promise. Just not right now, with everything else.”

He nods, exhaling. “Yeah. Self-control. I still need it,” he says, giving a small smile. “All right Aly. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” You nod, waving as he departs, before you enter your house, closing the door behind you.

“Hoo boy…” you say, shaking your head. Trel had always been like a brother to you…and then the Crystal and the Fog and…you sigh. “Better finish the report,” you murmur, even as a dozen other thoughts filled your head.

All righty. That's a good stopping point for tonight.

Next time we'll pick up at the delivery of the report, and all the shenanigans that will come along with it!

Appreciate everyone sticking with, even the rough patch, and we'll pick up next week!

I'll be around for another hour or two if anyone has questions, otherwise enjoy your evenings!

>>34330259
Also before anyone asks (or merely doesn't want to), there are no tracks to Trelthar. You will have the choice when it inevitably occurs. Just making it known that he does, in fact, have a thing for Aly.

>>34330259
Our abilities are kind vague, aside from a little bit of spiritual and elemental magic. Can we get a better idea on just what we can do? And our allies too. I know its not terribly important at the moment but I'm curious.

Also, I'm rather hoping we don't get told to keep everything a secret, puts us on an awkward position.

>>34330259
So what sort of things can spiritual magic do?

>>34330341
Trel a shit though.

>>34330353
Oh, I actually meant to ask if you all wanted clarification on that.

>Elemental Magic
Effectively what you'd call 'Black Magic' in an FF game. Generally caters to the four elements (Fire, Ice/Water, Earth and Wind).

It generally deals with offensive-styled magic, though it can be utilital at times as well. If we'd like, we can get possibly something akin to an exp chart with different 'spells' unlocked and that kind of thing. I was trying to keep it more narrative than system-related, but given that it's based loosely on Final Fantasy, that may not exactly...work.

>>34330426
>Spirit Magic
Basically what would be referred to as 'white magic' though it's flavored a little differently as it deals with the human Spirit. Can be used to also increase one's strength, speed, etc. Also can be used to heal or provide a barrier of sorts made of one's Spirit.

It also holds a lot of really unique specialized things, such as illusory magic (Blink, invisibility, etc) and a fair number of the 'status' effects.

Right now, Alyara's stats look like so- (haha red mage)

Melee: 2.2
Ranged: 2
Elemental: 2.1
Spirit: 2.1
Skullduggery: 2.1

Out of a max of 10. But again, narrative vs mechanics. If we would prefer, I can modify it have more concrete abilities, rather than a 'you can kind of control elements but not really.'

>>34330530
Yes. He's that guy that you know that's a bro about 50% of the time, and the other 50% he's flying off the handle about something small that' pissed him off.

He's also dumb as hell.

He's had a thing for Alyara for awhile, but has never been sure if she's into Vrandimus or someone else, so he's kind of left it alone.

Any of the NPCs are viable candidates, but given that Aly has started 'straight' you'll have some work cut out for you if you'd like to woo Amelia or Laviana.

>>34330538
Eh, elemental magic seems pretty straightforward although some examples of how higher levels effect it other than "makes a bigger fireball" might be nice. For spiritual a list of what it can do and what level of spiritual you need would be very good. I don't mind magic being more narrative (I think i probably prefer it that way actually) but i do think that it needs to be set down a bit just to keep it consistent at least.

>>34330891
That's fair. I'll see if I can't compile a list of some things for Spiritual and Elemental magic and how they work at lower and higher levels. Just as sort of a gauge of what you can do.

>unrelated
Would you all prefer something more...episodic, or continuous? Episodic offers the off-screen training, but the pacing might feel odd due to it. Continuous lends to pacing better, but training needs to be done during the plot.

Any thoughts?

>>34331159
Continuous, unless there's a good reason for a timeskip. Of screen training is a good thing to have available, but I wouldn't want to have it be the default.

>>34331159
Training time could be good time for social links with the team and others so continuous.

>>34331159
Team training would be good.

>>34331225
>>34331255
>>34331273

That works for me. I had planned for more team-based training in the 'advanced training' mentioned. So that's good that we're on the same page.

I'm also working on trying to make each prompt a little more...meaningful, which I think is one of my biggest weaknesses.