All of his foul cretins will meet the same fate. There is shouting, a short moment after people’s senses returned to them, and you roar, a torrent of fire illuminating the deck before you buckle down and leap to the next one, your sword forgotten as your powerful arms and sharp hands let you plunge yourself into the next pirate’s belly, before you rip the side out. Guts and blood spill on deck as you lift up the poor fool, using him as a horrific shield, blocking the next few pistol shots…

Two of them did hit you. Those bullets failed to pierce the scales, and the pain from the blow just makes you angrier. You inhale, then add deed to your earlier threat. The men are engulfed in blue fire. Despite the heat, the wood of the ship fails to catch fire.
This ship contains your treasure. You will not permit it to be damaged.
A little charred, perhaps. That is acceptable.

You feel more bullets striking your backside, and your kobolts have also begun fighting. William has surprised one with a dagger, while Chad is in the midst of disembowing one with his own sword. The pirates, not expecting much of a fight, are clearly thrown off guard, and many of them have started to hop over the decks.
You do not suffer the thief to live.

You feel a hand on your shoulder, just a moment, and when you turn you see it is your mate…
Horrified about something… But you don’t know what it could be?
You’ll think of it after you’re done.

You hop over the deck, and finally remember your sword, only after killing six others with your inherent strength. A silly mistake, but now that you have your sword, the three men that try to jump you find out that the blade is sharp and they are weak.
More bullets impact you. Blunderbusses, firing many pellets. It hurts, but you intend to make them hurt more. Inhaling, you breathe fire as you run forward, sending the deck of pirates screaming. Some leap overboard, in a desperate, futile attempt to douse the fire. Though some do it to get away from their just punishment.

You catch them closing the hatch to the lower decks, but you just grab the ring and rip the lock apart as you crawl down.

Above the ship, Paracelsus and others watch on. Not seeing, but *hearing* what you do below the ship. A little later, you step out, your Brigandine a mess, and your plates bent. You are exhausted, and covered head to toe in blood. You spit out more chunks of flesh. You find a barrel as the ringing in your ears is starting to subside, and you start to realize how hard your heart is beating.
You sit down on aforementioned barrel, clutching your stomach.

…You…
You think you’re going to hurl.

You look across the deck, exhausted, and while your Kobolts are cheering your victory… Paracelsus is staring at you. Her mask off, and she looks worried. The other sailors, meanwhile, just look… impressed? Scared?
Probably just glad you’re on their side.
You cough.
Those bullets that impacted you are seriously starting to hurt. Even if they don’t pierce the skin, the impact of them would have killed you without your armor. Not immediately, but the internal bleeding would have caught you.

You clutch your head…
Exhaustion? Disgust? You don’t know what it is, exactly, but you feel awful all the same.

What do you even say?

>I think… we can take the cargo back.
Send your kobolts to start carrying things over, to help the sailors.

>Elect to pass out.
You’re so tired it wouldn’t be hard.

>Walk to Paracelsus and ask her what in the hell just happened.

>Ask if anybody else was hurt.

>Ask if Pink and Esme are alright.

>>5589828
>Ask if anyone else was hurt and then pass out.
Also, good to have you back Spinejuice. Was wondering where the quest went.

>>5589828
>Ask if everyone is okay
>Vomit
>Pass out

>>5589828
>Ask if anybody else was hurt.
>I think… we can take the cargo back
>Walk to Paracelsus and ask her what in the hell just happened.

>>5589828
>Ask if everyone is okay
>Vomit
>Pass out
Supporting >>5590059
Also, welcome back! And holy shit! What an opening. I guess Dreygaun is dead, but Dragon-Reynauld is not of completely human mind after all... Maybe we WILL need a cure?

>>5590059
support

>>5589828
>>Ask if anybody else was hurt.
>>Ask if Pink and Esme are alright
We need to make sure everyone is alright.

Also we should apologize to Para for losing our temper. We don't really need to ask what happened, that part's obvious.

>>5590692
We didn't "lose our temper", we entered a mildly-dissociative fugue state wherein we couldn't recognize what was happening or control ourselves, and we committed a cannibalistic massacre. She isn't mad at us -- she's our doctor, she shares our condition, and she is no doubt scared for us both.

>>5590700
I mean I think that falls under the umbrella of "losing our temper."
We should also apologize for making her worry.

>>5590758
Sure, we can apologize. I bet Reynauld WOULD. He's a stand-up guy who takes on a lot of burdens. But again: she's not mad or upset with us, she has valid medical and psychological concerns for Reynauld AND for herself because she's a few months away from doing the same shit if this sort of behavior is inevitable.

We didn't get a little ornery. We had a psychotic break. This is a big deal, and we need her help.

>>5590760
Yeah but she's also our GF so we're apologizing also just to recognize and validate her concerns and show her that we're still Reynauld and we care about her and we care about her feelings. The details can come after the apology.

>>5590700
Clearly doesn't share to the same extent since she didn't do the same thing. Either way...

>>5589828
>Ask if everyone is okay
>Vomit
>Pass out

You stare at the faces of everybody else, out of breath, and after some time, you force yourself to stand up straight and walk to the edge of the ship.
"Is... anybody else hurt?"
Paracelsus looks as though she's about to start yelling... but stops herself. Instead, she takes a deep breath, and starts explaining. Its rapid fire, neutral... Full on "doctor" mode.
"I... Hmm. Chad took a hit, and one of the twins got kicked in the ribs. Among the sailors, there's one man with a broken arm, he was pushed out of the way. One man was tossed overboard, but we've recovered him already."
"Oh, good." You say, before you lean forward, to the space between the two ships which is really quite small, and then you dry heave once.
The second time was considerably less dry. Whatever it is that spills out of you, you wish it wasn't predominantly red. You wish you couldn't rememer much of it, but you remember every bit of it. You also note that most of the red slurry is practically already digested, and bits of almost liquid fire stick to it.

You feel a hand pat you on the back, and Paracelsus is trying to comfort you. She must have hopped the railing.
"There, there... get it all out."
You spit. You didn't need much.
"Okay.... So we need to look into what happened just now. Can you tell me what you were... feeling?"
You can. It's really not that hard to figure out why you were so upset.
"I... see the Klan as my treasure. My, uh... hoard. So I got pretty upset when they wanted to take that from me."

It's almost as if you're talking about the thoughts of something else, but you know damn well this is all on you.
"Well... I suppose even if your "inner dragon" is dead, you're still stuck with some of the instincts. To be fair, I think you would have killed them anyway with the way they were going on. The main thing to worry about is how... feral you were."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. This is just part of your condition, albeit one that is not entirely expected. We'll... have to look into it. Either way, you seem to have repressed any outright greed, so being very attached to your kobolts isn't exactly bad."

Pink then quickly says:
"If anything, this is *extremely* flattering. Dragon, we're... really honored!"
You look up, tired, and see all the kobolts are staring at you with big smiles on their faces. Except William.
William just looks concerned. Anna, as well, is staring at you with downright suspicion, and when your eyes meet, she makes it clear:
"You bit a man's throat out... That's pretty extreme."
She looks away, in thought, and then adds:
"But at least you're on our side." She even forces a short smile, but soon looks away again.

Hmm.

"Would you people mind if I decided to pass out now? The world's been spinning for the last five minutes."
"You just slaughtered an entire ship and got shot about a dozen times." Paracelsus says. "I'd honestly hope you could take a nap, but could you hop the railing, first?"

You do so, and upon landing, you just sit down on your rear, and slump forward... fast asleep.

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

You come to at... some point. Looks like you've been dragged inside the ship, with Paracelsus next to you. You're also naked, so that's great.
"Ive been pulling lead out of your scales for the past half hour, before you ask." Your darling says. "They don't penetrate, but some of them really get in there. Besides that, I'm going to have to ask that you eat some rations. Fortunately, we've taken the pirate's rations, so there's not about to be a shortage anytime soon... Hells, we took the whole ship."
You blink twice, somewhat confused, and Paracelsus elaborates:
"While the ship was in bad shape, it's still seaworthy enough even after your rampage. Considering this is a valuable ship they stole, the captain elected to set up a crew for it, so they can bring it back to port. It's a lot of extra work, so the kobolts have been asked to help out."

Then, she yanks out another piece of metal from your scales. It doesn't hurt, it feels more like some tension was released that you didn't know was there.
"You got shot with a blunderbuss too, so we're stuck here for a while. So... Now's a good time to talk."

>It is, but you have nothing to say.

>Indeed.
Be sure to mention what you want to talk about.

>>5590854
First:

>Hug Paraceleus.
Thank you. For all of this and staying by me.

Next:

>While we probably would've killed them all regardless, I still don't like losing control like that. Anna's wary of me now and I'm sure people think I'm a bad day from losing it. I refuse to let this control me in ANY fashion, but...the question is how to control IT?

Also:

>How is SHE feeling? This isn't all about us, you know.

>>5590854
>Indeed.
So... this is concerning. Even though the magical construct is gone, our draconic instincts are growing stronger. We're still at risk of ego death, if those instincts grow strong enough to overtake us completely. We need to avoid speeding up the curse's progress by any means necessary.

And Sarah is in the same boat as Reynauld, figuratively speaking. How is she doing? Is she feeling those instincts as well?

Also, this is not something that needs to be discussed right now, but as soon as we have the time to do so, we should probably try meditating again to get in touch with our dragon self. Even if there is o separate consciousness to talk to, we need to get that part of us under control.

>>5590883
>>5590897
Broadly supporting these

>>5590854
>Check in on Sarah, see if she's been experiencing any new instincts
>Ask if she has any idea how we can slow or reverse the mental degradation, or at least manage them; maybe meditation?
>Hug

>>5590883
Second

>>5591022
Meditation would probably be helpful. Namely, making sure we think of the bolts as people and remind ourselves that we belong to them as much as they belong to us.
Of course the fundamental problem here is that we were within our rights to be upset over having our family kidnapped, and there's literally nothing wrong with killing pirates, but it's how we got from point a to point b that's just a little bit worrisome.

>>5591054
Yeah, it's not what we did that concerns me, we WANTED the general result. It's just the how.

>>5591173
Well one of the challenges that creates is that we can't go cold turkey or divorce ourselves completely from the cause. It means we have to learn to control it. But overall, this isn't a challenge we can't overcome.
Though i reckon this will make things very interesting when the locals find out who the dragonkin lady in the bird mask is. Because the sailors are definitely going to talk.

>>5591225
I agree. This is far from insurmountable, I believe, and we shouldn't panic about it until/unless something particularly out of our desires comes of it. Meditation sounds like a good first step.

Obviously I'm not saying 'ignore it', in case some people take it to mean such. That'd be stupid. It just means let's make sure to not ram the train all the way to the end of the track at Mach 10.

>>5590883
Supporting

Hey Spine I have a question. Looking at the whole Underrail part and how we seen Tchort, killed Six, talked to Dude and all that. Im wondering, is the protag from that game still live and kicking as one of those Oculus jannies?

>>5591416
No, six and them couldn't get along so they just called the whole organisation cringe and left. They're long dead.

>>5590854
>Hug Paraceleus.
Thank you. For all of this and staying by me.


>While we probably would've killed them all regardless, I still don't like losing control like that. Anna's wary of me now and I'm sure people think I'm a bad day from losing it. I refuse to let this control me in ANY fashion, but...the question is how to control IT?

>How is SHE feeling? This isn't all about us, you know.

As another anon said, this doesn't seem insurmountable, the why we lost control was good, if not how we did it. Let's start some meditation with paracelus with reminding ourselves that the klan is as much ours as we are theirs.

>>5591493
So our guy/gal was dominating till the end.

>>5590883
>>5590897
support

so we still need to find that wizard and ensure we can stop the progression of the physical curse so that we can remain as we are now a mix of human and dragon best of both worlds. we also should work on emotional control through meditation, or and we need to figure out what annas trigger for the feral state is as well so that if/when it is tripped we can help guide her back from the edge.

man I still feel bad about Kevin, I wish we had been able to trust him.

>>5592332
You mean Sara's trigger. Anna is a goblin wearing a mask to hide some burn scars.

>>5591550
Damn right.
=================================

"I'd like to hug you right now, but something tells me that's not a good idea."
"Not while I'm digging shrapnel out of your back, no. Save it for after I'm done."
You sigh, but you consider her being cool with it to be a good sign. She isn't usually too touchy-feely with anybody, but things are certainly different when it comes to you.
Considering what you've been doing together already... heh...

"So... Thank you for staying by me, of course. And all that you do."
"You're my patient and my lover... Of course I'll be there for you. "
Another smile from you, but you need to focus on the less pleasant aspects of this situation, of course.
"I don't regret what I did, though I certainly don't like how I did it... Or why I did it. I just went feral, there, even though Dreygaun is long dead."
"Instincts is my best guess; You won't be forced to think like a dragon, but inevitably, you'll be rather... jealous of your belongings. I suppose I will experience very similar issues... once I find out what it is my mind interprets as something I wouldn't want to share with anybody. Of course, my transformation, sped up as it is, isn't as far along as yours."
You sniffs as she pulls out a particularly large chunk of metal.
"I think this one has been in there since before the fight. Must have missed a spot, way back when." Paracelsus adds.

"Sarah... How are we going to prevent this? Meditation?"
"I'd say that's one way to do it... alternatively, I could keep sedatives around and inject you if you feel as though you're going to have a... moment. You could feel it coming on, I hope?"
"It was an almost seamless switch, I'm afraid."
"Ahhh... instincts are hard to quell."
Suddenly, she raises her head and adds:
"Come to think of it, that's probably why we started... hm. Consummating our relationship so fast after we said we'd take it slow. My libido isn't usually very high, but..."
She coughs, more to stop herself from talking... Though her hand begins to stroke your chest.
"I think I'll be done quite soon."

You decide to direct her elsewhere:
"The sailors will talk."
"Let them. Sailors tell tall tales. If they happen to tell a truthful one, people won't notice."
You bring up something more important, however:
"And what if people figure out that the half-dragon doctor is a noble scion?"

She freezes up a moment... and her expression turns dour.
"They don't need to know that. And if it does happen... We'll deal with it as it comes."
She yanks out another piece of metal, with considerably less care. It's a touchy subject, you suppose, and you don't want to get into it if she's going to react like that.
"And Anna? She... clearly had misgivings about what happened."
"True... true. She'll get over it. She's a clever girl, she'll get over it... and, if nothing else, I'm sure she's as much part of the Klan as anybody else. Nothing to fear, there. As long as she has access to that Kobold Co-"
"Still!" You say, interrupting her. "I suppose we should find an archmage as soon as possible. To cure this."
"Hmm... Perhaps. But, I'm sure we have time to think about it. Honestly, Gold suits me."

She casually pulls at the side of her collar, her thumb quickly undoing a button, and revealing quite a bit of shoulder... and more.
"I thought lizards wouldn't have-"
"Everything gets bigger, my glorious scaled lord... Don't you like it? I know I do."

...
You tilt your head, wondering if this is perhaps a red flag of some sorts. But, then again...
You didn't swear an oath of chastity.

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

As you dress yourself again, you stretch for a bit. You decide to let Sarah sleep where she fell, after making sure she's covered. When you head on deck, many sailors look at you in fear... Though one of them raises a mug.
"HEY HEY! IT'S THE DRAGON KNIGHT! HAHAAA!!" He yells, clearly sloshed on the pirate's stash. Nobody seems to mind his revelry, so you assume the man is just on break. You also see Anna sitting across from him, also raising a mug:
"H-he's my FRIEND! I like him. He's gonna... g-gonna... Gonna turn me into something that doesn't look like, they, uh,... Like they lost a kissing match against s-sandpaper!" She belches, and is clearly pretty drunk. Chad is sitting next to them, not having had a drop, and he just gives you a look that seems to say he's going through it.
He's here to keep them in line.

You see that the twins, William and Dismas hard at work scrubbing the deck, while other kobolts are also working high in the masts. Everybody has ropes around their middle, of course, so they wouldn't fall to their death. They seem to be replacing crew, while the main sailors are working on the warship you liberated.
Guessing from the shanty they're singing, they're not upset about the upcoming payday they'll get from it.

The captain is behind the wheel, likely having sent his helmsman to the other ship. He gives you a nod when you look at him.

Alright... It's still a long journey before you reach Oileana. You should try to converse with people a bit.

>Join the grog table, see how Anna is doing.
And maybe help save Chad.

>Talk to the captain.
You kind of made a mess of his ship, considering all the blood that's being scrubbed.

>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
It's just an excuse to talk to them, but you made most of the mess they're cleaning up, after all.

>Loiter around.
Is... that a glass box with the pirate captain's head in it?

>>5592427
>Talk to the captain.
You kind of made a mess of his ship, considering all the blood that's being scrubbed.

>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
It's just an excuse to talk to them, but you made most of the mess they're cleaning up, after all.

>>5592424
Well, we know what Celsie's treasure is. Even if she doesn't realize it yet.
>>5592427
>>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
I think helping out will be a good idea. maybe try to get some of the blood off the deck.
(also bear in mind swabbing the deck is a constant and necessary process on wooden ships to prevent fires)
We can chat with the captain and Anna as we approach them in the course of our duties.
no need to worry about the captain's head, it's just proof of the deed.

>>5592427
>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
We made this mess, it's only fair that we help clean it up. We can always talk later.

>>5592434
>Well, we know what Celsie's treasure is. Even if she doesn't realize it yet.
Oh I'm sure she does, she just doesn't want to admit it.

>>5592431
support

I love how this has become a story that evolved from simply I will not fall to the monster within, to I will fight to my dying breath to protect the family I have found and made.

>>5592427
>>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
A good knight cleans up his messes

>>5592427
>Grab a scrubber, help out the people cleaning.
It might also make the crew less afraid of us. Hopefully.

>>5592427
>Talk to the captain
>Grab a scrubber
Kek at Anna.
(Little worried about Sarah. She's getting SUPER into this sexy deagon lady bit. Is her personality ALREADY being affected, maybe, even more than ours?)

>>5592853
Reynauld inhabits a typically masculine mindset and identity where his body is basically just a vessel to carry him through life. How he looks like, towards the absolute maximum, is a minor inconvenience compared to what his body can do or how his instincts affect his thoughts.
Celsie is a woman, and a princess at that. Her identity is basically defined for her by her body (and how other people perceive her body) Baseline Princess Sara is basically a prison for Paracelsus the Alchemist. Transforming into a dragon is absolutely a way for Paracelsus the Alchemist to assert herself over Princess Sara and sculpt her own masterpiece from the marble of her flesh.
There's no sure way to "fix" Paracelsus (if we're even trying to fix her, more like ensuring her inevitable transformation happens in our terms and she retains a broadly humanistic outlook) but any method that might work includes making sure she knows we'll love her regardless of how she looks and also making sure she knows we'd prefer if she tended towards staying human in several significant respects.
Is that a contradiction in terms? Absolutely, yes.

You don't say a word as you head over to the cleaners, and you reach into the bucket to find another scrubber, ready and waiting. Then, you get on your knees, and join your kobolts.
"D-DRAGON!? Y-you shouldn't-"
"I should help out with this, Sapphire. I made most of this mess." You explain, and the Twins still don't seem to agree. Ruby quickly says:
"But we're your kobolts! We're the ones that do this kind of work, while you keep us safe! I-it's-"
"A nice sentiment. If you can't accept me keeping myself busy, then consider that this makes sure we don't get tossed off the boat for my... feral display. It wasn't a good look."

William coughs.
"That's one way to put it. Don't worry about us, though, all the kobolts and me thought it was really cool. Pink, especially. She was downright delighted to see you... uhh, as she put it "Ascend"."
William doesn't sound so sure about it, and you have to agree.
"I don't like how much she likes the idea of me being a full-on, even feral, dragon. I must admit it worries me from time to time. I thought clearing out Dreygaun was enough to stop me from turning completely inhuman, but... it seems things can't just be that easy."
Dismas scrapes his throat, to catch your attention.
"It's instincts, my lord. As your body changes, so will your natural instincts. You do not fear fire anymore, do you, but... if your mind was wholly human, you would still flinch away from it. Some things aren't really... possible to change. Not without magic, or years of practice."
...

You look at Dismas a little more. You rarely hear the old kobolt speak, and this time he has some important information to share, clearly.
He notices your look, and smiles.
"I'm crippled, but no fool. I know instincts, and I've served enough dragons to recognize it in you. A dragon's hoard is... it's akin to the instincts a mother has towards its eggs."
You nod. You know why that would be, even. Gold was once needed for dragons to even lay eggs at all, so gathering gold was just part of the mating ritual. Now, their inherent magic has made gold unneeded, but... greed remains.
And magic has a bad sense of humor.

"Well... I suppose they were protective instincts. I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt. Ever."
The twins squeal a little bit:
"Being a dragon's hoard is... the BIGGEST honor!"
"Thank you, dragon! Thank you!"
You don't want to look them in the eye. You consider it shameful... and you decide to tell that to them, as well.
"You're not my property. You're all your own people. I love you like family, of course. More than I love my old family. But... I belong to you just as much as you belong to me, understand?"
"HARD disagree!" Sapphire says.
"NO!" Ruby adds
"Absolutely not." Dismas warbles.
"My instincts are telling me to start screaming." William mutters.

...

>Insist that they aren't your property.
This needs to be made clear.

>Leave it be.
This is a kobolt thing, you suppose.

>Change the subject.
Oh dear, you're going to NEED a subject, too.

>>5593772
>Change the subject.
Ask them what are they thinking about our destination. Are they apprehensive? Excited? Wishing to see a specific thing?

>>5593772
>Change the subject.
Ask the twins about their latest sewing work. That should keep them going for a while.

>>5593885
I support this.

>>5593815
>>5593885
Supprting both. Also ask William how he's feeling when we get a private moment.

>>5593772
>Leave it be.
This is a kobolt thing, you suppose. So let’s

>Change the subject.
>>5593815
>>5593885

>>5593815
Support

"I get it, I get it. So... different question: How are you feeling about heading to Oileana?"
The twins are very excited, and they wear it on their sleeves:
"SUPER FUN! I didn't even know there were lands beyond the sea!"
"Yeah! And miss Paracelsus even told us stuff about it while you were climbing down the mountain. There's so much magic there, dragon!"
"And no other dragons! They hunted them to extinction over there... So you'll be the strongest by default!"

Huh... They killed all their dragons? They must have some impressive warriors.
Then again.
"If I'm not mistaken, they also have a lot more magic than what we're used to back in Rosaria. Fae folk and the likes. We'd best remain on our guard."
"Ohhhh, true! Trueeee.... Hmmm. One thing I hope that we see is... uhhhh... OH! I wanna see what their nobility is like!" Ruby says, and Sapphire agrees:
"Their clothes must be SO COOL! Maybe we'll be able to make some clothes for them! Our sewing's getting better, you know!"
"YEAH YEAH! The boat's sooooo boring, so we had plenty of time to work on that!"
"We embroidered a bird on a shirt!!" Ruby yells.
"A bird? I thought we were making a fish?" Sapphire says.
"Uhhh... No offence. But I thought it was a tree." William interjects.

...

"It doesn't look like anything, does it?" You ask, carefully, and... they don't deny it.
"Okay, so maybe embroidery isn't our best stuff yet."
"BUT THE ACTUAL SHIRT IS GOOD!"
William nods:
"It actually is pretty comfortable."
"Ya-huh! Anything for our cute hunk..."

William grins at the compliment, and you can't help but smile at him.
"Getting along great with them, aren't you?"
"I mean, I'll be real, we're basically in a relationship at this point, so..."
"What do you mean, 'basically'?" Ruby says, nudging William on his right side. Sapphire mirrors the action.
"We sleep together, you know... Once you're eachother's blankie, you're in a relationship."
"I... I don't...uhh."

The twins giggle, wrapping their tails together as they squeeze against William.
You keep scrubbing, in the meantime, and Dismas is just staring at it... wistfully.

Hm.
From here, you just keep scrubbing the deck, and when you reach the far end, it's almost sundown. Your back aches from the work, but you just lean back, hand against your back, and groan as you feel several things pop back into place. Another stretch, and you feel fine again... and notice the captain hailing you. Considering he's the owner of the ship...

You head to meet him, and he gets right to the point.
"You made us some very rich sailors, m'lord."
"Reynauld will do fine, sir."
"Aye."
The captain takes a moment to reveal a pipe out of a little chest pocket, and he lights it after stuffing some kind of plants in there;
"Hrm. To get to the point, the men don't trust you. Call you a demon in a man's skin. I don't care about that, but they do. With that in mind... What part of the loot would ye like to keep? You did all the work, after all."

>I cant keep a ship on my person. Keep the whole thing.

>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.

>...So, what's on offer, here?
There could be a *lot* of treasure, here...

>>5595182
>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.
Let us neither be greedy, nor so foolish as to make paupers of our hoard/horde/family.

>>5595182
>...So, what's on offer, here? Take a small but useful item if there are any.
>Make sure to take SOME gold or sellables. Need to keep our klan fed, and feed our big boy chester.

>>5595182
>>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.

this option will give us enough resources to ensure our klan can safely make it through the land without fear of hunger, anything more is greedy and I am not interested in feeding the dragon as it were.

>>5595182
>...So, what's on offer, here?
While I'd normally argue for taking just enough to carry us over, we're on our way to see an arch-mage, and they'll probably ask for a payment for their services. Ogg did. We shouldn't pass up an opportunity to snag whatever valuables there might be on the pirate ship.

>>5595182

>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.

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14 KB JPG

>>5595182
What's your offer?

>>5595182
>>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.
a bit of liquidity couldn't hurt. plus it could be handy for bumping uglies with it is time to get snikt a little sister (we should check on snikt)

>>5595182
>...So, what's on offer, here?

Not interested in taking TOO much, but we'd probably appreciate enough to have some necessities plus a cushion for emergencies.

>>5595182
>Just the gold for some necessities when we land.
Let's not be greedy. Remember that Reynauld is fighting against his draconic instincts, after all. Taking more than we need is a quick way to losing ourselves.

>>5595182
>>...So, what's on offer, here?
>There could be a *lot* of treasure, here...
If we're going to do the vow of poverty thing, we should just make him owe us three favors. Two favors will basically be use of his vessels to get us out of Port on short notice (going wherever is convenient at the time) and the third favor is the use of his ships to go on a longer expedition to an as yet undecided destination.
Not that we're planning to call in these favors right away, but they would be more useful to us than material treasure.

>>5595897
I'd be okay with favors, though I doubt he's just going to hang around here and so we may not be able to cash them in on our own schedule, with short notice.

>>5595905
oh I don't mean that he has to wait around for us, I mean that if we show up in port looking for passage out, he's taking us and he's taking us RIGHT NOW if we have a good reason not to want to stick around.
getting to use his ship on a potential expedition would be a longer term thing but also with more planning involved before we embark.

You tilt your head slightly, and then you carefully ask:
"So... what's on offer here, exactly?"
The captain clenches his teeth a bit at your question, but doesn't hesitate.
"They have a lot of gold on offer. Actual, literal gold, used to back the currency of both Oileana and Rosaria. As for coins, they have a selection of both. More than likely, they have preferred port in both towns that'll accept their stolen money and goods. As for goods, they have arms, weapons, whatever they could steal from the other naval vessels. The most expensive bit being... a full suit of ornate plate armor, likely intended for some hoity-toity knight in Oileana."

...Hmm!

"How ornate?"
"It's got gold trimmings, but it really is intended for combat. Oileana commanders are expected to lead at the front of the pack, but they're insistent on looking more important than others, so..."
Sounds like that's right up your alley... But, fortunately, some of your reason brings you back to earth.
"As... Interesting as it sounds, it would have political consequences if somebody were to just sell it, no?"
The captain shrugs, and says:
"Hard to say. If it was stolen at sea, then it's likely they simply ordered another one. Money isn't much of an object to some of those people... but on the other hand, they probably still want it back."
The captain is still staring at you rather intently... trying to see what you'll do.

You still REALLY want that armor. It sounds so good. To be dressed into something that's both heavily plated AND beautiful? It'd be perfect... But, you need to be reasonable.
"So, pure gold, coins, food, plated armor... Anything else?"
"Their weaponry, of course. Plenty of guns among them as well. More than likely, things they gathered from the military ship they were using. They used to be regular sailors, but something must have driven them to mutiny and turn to piracy. Hard to say what it is, oftentimes."
Interesting, interesting...

Well.
The captain still looks uneasy, and he has a few more things.
"They also just have a selection of artifacts amongst them. Trade goods, really. High-quality linen, outfits... What you'd expect from naval trading ships."
Indirect cash. Could be useful as well, or just plain fun to have on you.
You swallow.

You don't strictly *need* anything on offer here, other than the basic coin needed to get started in Oileana. Food and supplies. Something tells you that the travel towards the king and his archmage is not going to be a simple one.
It never is.

...So, do you ask something?

>The armor. Good god, the armor. Imagine the good you could do with it!
Gold trimmings!

>Just enough coin to get started, once you land.
It's as close to nothing as you can *reasonably* get.

>Enough coin to be *comfortable* once you reach land once more.
It's a strange land. You should have some insurance.

>Coin to be comfortable with... AND the armor.
It's yours by conquest. They got to have a military ship, if anything... they owe you more.

>>5597295
>Enough coin to be *comfortable* once you reach land once more.
The armor is a hard no. Impersonating an officer, especially when we can't even speak the local language, could land us in serious trouble.

>>5597295
>Enough coin to be *comfortable* once you reach land once more.
An emergency fund for our friends. A vow of piveety is ncie, but let's not make the others suffer for our moral whateveritis. The armor could ALSO be nice... To offer up as a token to the nobility who commissioned it, not to wear... But the way Reynauld's inner monologue ia reacting to it is giving me Dreygaun flashbacks.

>5597295
>Enough coin to be *comfortable* once you reach land once more.
It's a strange land. You should have some insurance.
Enough to comfortably get to our destination, AND to order some durable, heavy, NON ORNATE, Plate!

>>5597295
>>The armor. Good god, the armor. Imagine the good you could do with it!
Knowing Reynauld we'll trash it pretty quickly but it'll be nice while it lasts. Remember we might have died in the last fight without the armor we ruined.
We can also deface it and scour the gold from it to hide the provenance and maintain our vow of poverty

>>5597435
...Or just use our gold to buy normal armour. Will that ornate suit even fit a fuck fuckoff dragon-man with wings?

>>5597518
*big fuckoff

>>5597295
>Enough coin to be *comfortable* once you reach land once more.

As said before, just want what's reasonable+emergency funds just in case. We tend to get in trouble a lot.

>>5597518
>>5597583
Fair point
Also it's probably good to bear in mind the little detail about the nobility being warriors here

>>5597295
>>Just enough coin to get started, once you land.


I am going for this as I do not like the ** around comfortable, it gives me over indulgence vibes and I do not like that.

>>5597295
>Just enough coin to get started, once you land.

"I'd like to be comfortable when we reach land. Not just enough to make it to my destination, but to have a bit of a cushion. How much would that be?"
The captain sighs, and starts counting on his fingers for a moment... and then, he goes over it bit by bit.
"Rations for a visit to the king's court will set you back 300 bills. You've exchanged your old cart for a new one, with that voucher... But"
He keeps counting for a moment, though you can't help yourself when ask:
"Bills?"
"Ah, they use paper money over there; Coins are for small amounts, but once you hit the double digits, they go into bills. The average village will still work on coin, more than likely, but the pirates mostly have bills. They were raiding merchant ships, after all."
...Paper money? That doesn't seem safe. You say as much to the captain, who quickly clarifies:
"It's a unique type of paper they can only make at King's Rest. Not the capital, to be clear, but where the king resides. Currently, those places are the same, but sometimes, that's not the case. It's waterproof, hard to copy, easy to verify. Gold-backed, just like your Rosarians, but they conserve a lot of money on transport by using bills."
You shake your head.
"But... look, a Rosarian is worth its own weight in precious metals. How do you keep value in some paper?"

The captain shrugs.
"Fiat currency, I suppose. The nobility controls the land, and the nobility says the paper is worth something."
...You don't like it. And not just because it's something new, but because...
Well.
Where's the weight!? It can't be satisfying to just... wave a bundle of paper around, can it!? You couldn't sleep on it... wait, no, intrusive thought. But... all the same, it's going to take some getting used to.
"Alright, alright. Enough of that. So... Bills, right?"
"Yeah. If you want to be sitting really pretty... I guess you could take 1000 Favors. That's three times what you need."
You open your mouth to ask, but the captain is faster than you:
"Favors is the actual name of the currency. A "King's Favor", so to speak."
Alright, alright... with the rations included, you still have 700 left over! That does sound pretty nice, if the prices are similar to your home country. But...
"How much did the pirates have?"
"1300 favors, total."

...You have to make an active effort not to ask for all of it. The captain is, factually speaking, kind of screwing you on this, as he takes almost all of the money... But it's not like you have the time or patience to get paid for all the stolen goods. Matter of fact, even the money isn't technically yours, but...
Actually, with that in mind, you suppose 1000 actually *is* kind of generous.
You'll leave it at that... but the captain has more to say.

"With that done, I still have one more issue. The men... they're going to talk. You can't rip a man's throat out with your teeth, especially not while looking like that, and not end up being talked about. If it comes out, people are liable to come after you. You'd be called a fae... or at least faetouched. Looking the way you do, you'll already find trouble. But if the tale spreads, then it moves up from the occasional opportunist to the local militia's. Y'understand? People will want you dead before you could start trouble, or in the case of opportunists, they'd wanna find out if your wings can be used to make boner pills. "
Your wings, unconsciously, twitch a bit. The captain's face flinches in kind.
...You squint, and lean forward.
"And what should I do, then?"
"Either get out of the harbor within the day... or bribe the men."

... They're already *very* well-paid from this ship. So you are wondering whether you're being extorted right now.
"I know what you're thinkin', but consider this a warnin' from me to you. Nothin' more. Honestly... the bride is unlikely to work, either. They might take the money to get drunk, and they'll spill the beans that way."
You pinch the bridge of your nose... And sigh.
"I'll figure it out when we reach land."

That's only a few days away...
Is there anything you'd like to do on the ship during that time?

>No point. Better skip to reaching Oileana.

>What if we just sail on this ship for like seven IRL years. I'm sure we can find a nice sea monster to fight.

>There's some things to do on this ship, including stuff to prepare for the land.
Talk to some people, have a cute scene, go nuts.

>>5599892
>>No point. Better skip to reaching Oileana.
>>talk with your mate to work out the specifics of how you will get out of the port as fast as possible. with everything you need

still not happy about taking more than we need but whatever, let's hit land and gtfo

>>5599892
>talk with your mate to work out the specifics of how you will get out of the port as fast as possible. with everything you need
>talk to William, and see how he's holding up mentally, and whether he still wants to change back
I mean, based on the non-canon smut entry and recent developments, he's getting enthusiastic double-blowjobs from a pair of hot twins. Hot LIZARD twins, but that's clearly not bothering him, and they even seem to be getting serious. Becoming human might put an end to that.

>>5599892
I have a different plan. It's risky, but if it works, it would be better than roaming foreign lands alone with targets on our back:
>Change your mind, claim the armor
>Once you arrive, go directly to the town guard and hand it in
>Explain that you got it from pirates - that story is bound to known all throughout the port by nightfall
>Explain your predicament, that you're cursed and that you need to see the arch-mage to be cured
>Request assistance with safe passage
Hopefully doing things by the book will help convince people we deserve help.

>>5599899
Backing this. Let's just get going and we'll make our own way sooner than later. If we want to improve our own stock we'll find ways to be proper knightly in due time.

>>5599899
backing
this is fairly simple, just make sure everything is ready to go before we disembark.
>>5599907
supporting this as well. but after we drop off the armor, we leave immediately if it looks like they're hemming and hawing about giving us anything more than a letter of recommendation.

>>5599922
also once we approach shore, see about having the captain give us some old sailcloth to potentially use as a spare cloak. we don't have to make the cloaks right away but it could be helpful in the future.

>>5599922
Why would, by your plan, we reneg on what we agreed upon?

>>5600117
Agreed, doesn't seem very chivalrous of us... And a bit too dragonly.

>>5600123
>>5600117
that's fair. on the bright side paper currrency shouldn't have the same effect on us. but I still support seeing if the captain will part with some of the old sails (they have to be replaced relatively often anyway, so it's not like we'd be trapping him in the port or something.)

It would probably be best to GTFO as soon as we load the cart.

I will say this- out of pure fascination and academic curiosity, I DO want to have one moment of Reynald just going full dragon 'Nope mine mine mine mine'- but only if it's something that we as humans probably would've salivated over anyway. Like if we find an old King's tomb worth of gold and jewels that no one else is claiming or something like that.

Bad idea? Probably psychologically, but I DO just want to see it happen if only to know how bad it'd get.

>>5600135
>paper currrency shouldn't have the same effect on us
Maybe not QUITE the same as the gold-hoarding instinct, but dragons have evolved/acculturated to hoard all sorts of things. After all, we consider the Kobold Klan our hoard at present, right?

>>5599892
>There's some things to do on this ship, including stuff to prepare for the land.

Story time from our golden mate
Give us the deets about her home
Gotta know about al her childhood bullies we need to torch, wait no, bad dragon thoughts

>>5599892
>>5599917
>>5600163
Oh, I do like that.

You decide to talk to Sarah about Oileana, just a moment before you arrive. Unfortunately, however, she doesn't seem willing to speak of it very much... though not because she doesn't want to, per se. After a bit of silence and... clear frustration, guessing from the way she was tapping her fingers, she admits that she doesn't know nearly as much about Oileana at the "ground floor" as she'd like. She grew up among the nobility, which is practically another country with how different it is. She spent the occasional vacation, sure, and she was a doctor among the rabble, but even as a doctor it still permitted her a considerable amount of respect and privilege.

She outright says that being a dragon-human hybrid won't make much of a difference from how much of an "other" she is for all the people here. If the nobility can't recognize her, that'll only be a plus, as she wants to deal with her family as little as possible. With all that in mind, however... she does say this:
"Everybody is wary of the fae. And for good reason. Keep that in mind while we travel. In addition, the language barrier will be an issue, so I'll make sure to give you some basics in the language as we travel. I won't be teaching you how to read it, that's a fool's errand."
Alright... good to keep in mind.

You also make a stop with William, just to make sure you know how he's doing. When you ask him how he's been feeling, he freely admits that he's been feeling... very happy, despite things.
A big part of what makes it easier to live with is, by far, the twins. It's not just for perverted reasons, as he insists, it's just that he's never been so consistently loved as with the klan. Everybody is nicer to him, though he admits it's probably because he doesn't act like he's better than them anymore.
That said...
He figures he still might want to be human again. Though, he adds that he's not going to mind if he DOES end up being a kobolt for life.
Either way is fine, huh?

Easy enough.

Then, finally, you reach the harbor. It's been a rough last few days, but you made it just fine. The first reaction of the harbor was to send out a warship, demanding to know how in the hell one of the fastest ships of the harbor was recaptured by a trading and transport vessel. The captain explains that it was because of you, though he doesn't go into detail. A bit of a back and forth later... both ships are brought into port, and you are brought out. First and foremost, you need to go through processing, which...
wasn't fun.

When your appearance came to light, you were asked, along with everybody else, to strip down and present all... abnormalities.

It was embarrassing, and you discovered something interesting about kobolt biology you didn't bloody NEED to know. Then, everybody was handed an ID card... except for Sarah, who was taken aside for a moment when she declared her identity... and added in that under law such-and-such, she will not be publically outed as such. Your ID cards are also going to be very important, so Paracelsus made sure to keep them in her most secure location... A leather wallet, inside of a box, inside of your mimic.
You only discovered all of this when Paracelsus explained it while you were walking to the local woodworkers to get a new cart for Tom-8-O's, who was first and foremost granted some time out in the local fields to go for a run.
Teensy and Collar were both riding him, so he's in... probably decent hands.

Its strange... the city is nothing like what you're used to. For one, damn near every road seems to be cobblestone. Most houses here are small, but generally speaking built tall. In Rosaria, everything was generally wide. If your building was tall, it mostly indicated higher standing.
It's the opposite here, you suppose... The people are also... oppressively nice. You eventually caught on how to reply whenever somebody gave you a greeting, and you suppose it might be because of your armor... Though the amount of stares you're getting probably shows that people still see you as a bit of a freak. It makes it hard to figure out what people are thinking.

Your money is accepted anyway, though. Sarah buys the supplies for you, and the cart you go is... well it's surprisingly high quality. They even put rubber around the wheels, and it comes with some packs free of charge. It's clearly made to be slept in, though you bring along some tents to be sure. You were also handed a manual on how to quickly deconstruct and reconstruct it, for particularly tough terrain that that cart might not fit through.
It's also waterproofed at the bottom, though they still advise against fording rivers. It's possible, but you might come across a rock or, if you're particularly unlucky, a Kelpie. While they prefer to lure you in... they might take offense to people entering their territory. You don't know what they are, exactly, just... something in the water, you suppose.
Sarah was cagey about it, she claimed that speaking of them is bad luck... and in this particular case, it's better to heed the stories. Fae would rather prefer people remember the stories.

By the time everything is gathered and ready... it's night. You're honestly tired, and... well, you have the coin needed for a good night's rest before the journey begins.
It'll be a long one, and while there is another town just a day's walk from here, you'll be traveling for several days through the highlands. Lots of hills... The town you're headed to isn't very big, either, so this might be your last chance to get a good rest in a good bed.
And drinks.
Perhaps a lot of drinks.

(You have 700 favors remaining. A night here, with drinks for everybody, will set you back 30 favors.)

>Try to enjoy the night. It's a long journey ahead.
Besides... the alcohol here is supposed to rival the stocks of dwarves.

>You'd better start walking early, and set up camp at some point.

>>5602146
>>You'd better start walking early, and set up camp at some point.
Let's get a good night's sleep in a real bed for a change

>>5602146
>Try to enjoy the night. It's a long journey ahead.

Screw it, everything's giving off warning signs that we're in for some rough shit. Let's have one last hurrah before we're pining for Rosaria again because of bullshit fae antics.

Starting to think I should've votes for wrapping things up as they were, we keep getting so many red flags.

>>5602145
>You'd better start walking early, and set up camp at some point
The captain did suggest we getnout of town asap before the crew starts talking and people start thinking we may be Fay touched

>>5602145
>You'd better start walking early, and set up camp at some point.
>Take some extra supplies for a small get together outside of the city.

>>5602443
Supporting.

>>5602146
>You'd better start walking early, and set up camp at some point.
>Take some extra supplies for a small get together outside of the city.

You decide to rush things. The faster you're out of this place, the better, considering people will start to talk. Paracelsus does all the talking, obviously, but you don't need much more than food and directions, now that you have the cart. Then, everything is gathered, your kobolts are prepared to start walking, Tomoooooooo is hooked up to the cart, and you have enough food to last you for a considerable length of time. The first city is only a short journey away, though you won't be reaching it before it becomes too late. More than likely, you'll arrive around noon tomorrow, if nothing goes wrong.
You flash your ID's at the town's exit, and the guards let you through... though not before checking your cart for contraband, and bothering Paracelsus in regard to what the Kobolts even are. Upon confirming that they're not fae and, in fact, just something from Rosaria. Wholesome normal semi-magical creature. It takes a bit of convincing, but the ID's end up being enough after some more convincing.

It was obviously just some guards powertripping. You're annoyed, but you don't have the time to waste your time on it.

Once you're on the roads, though... things are actually a lot more fun. The roads are relatively well-maintained, and the long expanses of grass and greenery are actually rather pleasant. Something about the air here just seems... nice. It's a bit colder than it was back in Rosaria, but not necessarily in an unpleasant way, helped along with how the winds don't feel as biting.
Compared to the mountain you've climbed, of course, everything is pleasant.

The grasslands also mean that nothing can sneak up on you, though you can spot a forest in the distance... Paracelsus even knows about it.
"Fiadhaich Wulver... Not so much a name as a description. Once upon a time it was a peaceful forest, containing the Wulver. Wolf-like people, known to be generally benevolent... Alas, a knight wished to have the women as a trophy, and killed one of the men for it. They struck back... it ended in a massacre. It's been a century, perhaps more, since then, and the wood still hasn't forgotten the innocent blood that was spilled. It's said the wood comes alive, and eats those trespassing upon its sacred groves. I read up on it when I left this country, considered taking a shortcut through it... and I did, coincidentally, do just that."
She smiles, proudly.
"I helped one of the Wulver there. As a woman, I was permitted to pass through, especially when I saved one from an infection. They're fine people... but our party should not approach. The woods would be angered by you."
"I can't help but notice the nobility are involved in damn near everything here."

Paracelsus goes quiet at that.
You suppose stating the obvious wasn't really needed.

Eventually, it becomes too late. You begin to set up camp, and once the tents are set up, you are suddenly tapped on the shoulder by Snikt.

"People have been following us. Don't look now, but they're behind that hill."

>Ah, can't be too careful. Set up a watch.

>Head to them yourself. You don't intend to get robbed today.

>Have a more robust plan.
Perhaps ambushing them would be safer?

>>5605173
>Head to them with your two squires. You don't intend to get robbed today. Be friendly, just in case. Have the others on guard, ready to defend the carr and each other.

>>5605232
>>5605173
Idea: send Chad and William to deal with it themselves, but be ready to assist if anything looks too risky.
Tell them we'd prefer our guests to be left alive and unharmed, but that their top priority is keeping themselves and each other safe. Don't engage if there's more than 3 of them and they look like they're ready for a fight.

>>5605232
>>5605173
>Head to them with your two squires. You don't intend to get robbed today. Be friendly, just in case. Have the others on guard, ready to defend the carr and each other.
I'll back this

Also sorry if I am bothering anyone, but does anyone know if Elf Maiden quest is coming back soon? I can't really think of anywhere else to ask and maybe there's some audience crossover? I don't really want to derail but it's been like 2 weeks

>>5605481
>I can't really think of anywhere else to ask
That QM uses the /qtg/. Ask there.

>>5603637
>>5575250

>>5605508
Ok, thanks.

You gather your squires, and explain the situation to them.
"We're being followed by some people, and I intend to check this out. My plan is that we're going to see how you handle this sort of thing... We'll go there, and you'll go first. If you need help, I'll step in, but we'll see what happens first, yes?"
William and Chad look unsure for a moment... but neither one of them goes against the plan.
"So, don't look now. They're in the south by southwest hill."
Chad nods... William stares.
"I... I don't have a compass?"
You sigh. This is a very common issue you had during the crusades, too. Nobody ever knows how to figure out where the directions are. So. It's the start of the night. Logically...
"Can you see the moon?" You ask, and William... looks up at that celestial body for a moment, before turning back to you.
"Put it on the left, and you're headed south. A little more, not much, and you're south by southwest."

William blinks again... and then seems to understand. You look over to Chad, who just shrugs:
"Directions are important when you serve one who can fly. We learn sun and moon when we are hatchlings." Chad explains, and you don't think you need to know anything else. After a few more minutes, you leave with your squires, moving west at first, to then loop around and head back to the hill. It doesn't take too much more time, but it should keep you out of sight... at least somewhat.
The walk is quiet... and tense. You're all expecting things to get a little bit violent, though you hope that it doesn't happen. After a little bit of time, you reach the hill, and you all crouch down, sneaking closer to the people following you...
...There are five of them, and they have cages and knives set up at their camp. They didn't light a fire, but it's clear they're preparing themselves for something. Guessing from the knives and the five cages, one for each man...
You don't have high hopes that this is going to be peaceful.

"Five is too many... I'll step in myself. Now..."

>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.

>Step in, sword drawn, and demand to know who they are

>Head back to camp. You'd better get some more people involved.

>something else.

>>5607840
>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.
Maybe we can be aggressively cheerful and confident? Three weird foreign lizard-monsters approaching, one of them huge and armoured, has to be intimidating to people used to contending with deadly and capricious fey.

>>5607840
>>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.

>>5607840
>>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.

>>5607840
>Charge!
The best defense is pre-emptive offense. What could they possibly have to say for themselves, anyway?

>>5607840
>>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.

>>5607840
>Serve as backup. Chad and William can still take the lead.
>>5607845
Supporting this lads idea
Lets be aggresively nice and a bit condescending to these dudes

"Alright. Get in there. I'll be your backup."
Chad and William both seem shocked, albeit for different reasons.
"Are you kidding? We're just two kobolts!" William says, which is understandable.
"A-And I can't take charge! You're my dragon!" Chad complains... which you also understand, though you disagree.
"I'm a knight, not a dragon. Think of me like that... I'll be right with you, if something goes wrong I'm there. So, come on, head in there."

Both of them look uncertain... but Chad clenches his teeth and starts walking, essentially peer pressuring William into doing the same thing. They step out of cover, and stand over the lurkers.
"ATTENTION! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US!?" Chad says, a little awkward as he doesn't quite know how to start this sort of conversation.
You should start by shouting "attention", that's for sure. The men all look back at him and William... and begin to speak amongst eachother, in rapid, angry hisses. It's around here you realize a rather important issue with being in a different country.

You don't speak the same language as these people.

Then, suddenly, William pulls against Chad's shoulder, pulling him to the ground just as you hear gunshots going off. You never even saw them draw from where you were standing, but you consider it enough of a reason to move from potential diplomacy to guaranteed violence. You rush in, quickly, but as soon as you appear, the men start to shout and scatter, clearly not intent on fighting you head-on. They mostly shout something that... well, turns out to be rather similar between languages.
"Dràgon!! DRÀGON!!!"

You resist the urge to roll your eyes when you puff some fire in the air, which makes some of them run a little faster, and one of them to start running a little funny. It's a run you've seen a few times, mostly from the people on the battlefield that neglected to void their bowels before getting terrified.
The pre-battle toilet break is *not* optional during the crusades.
At any rate, they keep running, but...
Do you just let them run?

They did...
try to take what's yours.

>Resist the urge, head back to camp and set up a watch.

>You won't suffer the slavers to live.
Those cages weren't there for nothing.

Goddamnit, I knew diplomacy was a waste of time.

>>5611163
>Try to catch one of them
Going after all of them is a tad too risky, but if we can catch one reasonably alive, Paracelcus can ask him a few questions for us. And after that, how about we stick him in a cage and melt the latch shut?

>>5611212
Supporting.

>>5611163

>>5611212
Supporting. Take mister poopy pants, interrogate him, release him
(Don't go feral)

>>5611163
>>5611212
Supporting
Just kneecap mister shitpants with a pistol shot and drag him back to camp

>>5611163
Slavers can go straight to hell, doesn't really matter who they're taking or why.

>You won't suffer the slavers to live.
if possible. If not, backing
>Try to catch one of them.

>>5611212
>Goddamnit, I knew diplomacy was a waste of time.
Maybe, but attempting to talk before we go berserk is good for OUR sake, and our squires' sake, even when it fails.

>>5611163
>>Resist the urge, head back to camp and set up a watch.

We need to get out instincts and emotions back in check with what happened on the ship and that last line of the update, we need to calm the fuck down and get out shit under control.

You look at the stalkers scatter for a moment, and while you considered just letting them go... You need answers. Who they are, why they would do this, et cetera... You may not speak the language, but your darling sure does. Hell, she's probably the best equipped to extract information from these degenerates too!
You scan through the fleeing rats for a moment, your superior vision making it easy, and you point to the one that had an accident. His uneven and awkward gait should make for easy pickings.

"Capture that one. Try not to harm him... Too much."
Chad rushes off immediately. William took a moment longer to fully react... And then dashed off as well, his comparatively longer legs and ligher gear letting him catch up, and even surpass, Chad's stride. The slavers are fast, but your kobolts are faster, and you see William pass the man by... Before tangling the man up with his tail! His foot lifted and blocked in the dark, the man stumbles... Letting Chad nail him to the ground with a clothesline!

Then, in short order, the man's cage is removed off his back, and he's dragged towards you... Kicking and screaming. He's terrified of you, which is gratifying, if nothing else. You disdainfully grab the man by his arm, dragging him along the ground as you head back to camp... Where Sarah is waiting.

"Well then. A slaver, guessing from the cage?" Paracelsus asks, rhetorically. She's already preparing her gear for enhanced interrogations, which is mostly threats... You think.

She probably could do some nasty things, if pressed.

Paracelsus turns to you, and asks:
"Anything in particular you want to know? I can already tell you he came here to grab magical creatures or, failing that, to slice a piece off to sell as boner pills"
Paracelsus spits on the floor, at that. It glows a faint blue.

Any particular questions?

>No, just ask how many of them there are

>I'm curious about...
Remember to add your question(s)

>>5613010
>Are they affiliated with anyone powerful who we ought to worry about?
Mostly what I'm concerned about.

>>5613010
>>I'm curious about...
Affiliation, what city he's from
Make him tell us his name and where his family lives just to scare him a bit.
Ask him about general intelligence about the next city as well.
If he's so worried about boners, let's cut his balls off before sending him home to his friends. Then he won't have to worry any more.

>>5613015
support

>>5613010
>I'm curious about...
How many of them are there? Is it just the five we saw or are there more?
Who do they work for? Are we going to piss off somebody powerful when we fight back?
Who or what exactly were they after? I know we already have a good idea about that, but I want to hear him admit it.
How much money does he get for doing this? How much did he expect for us?

>Have the kobolts keep watch around the camp during the interrogation
His buddies might come back to save him once they find out he's missing. I don't expect them to be that brave, but better safe than sorry.

"Simple questions, mostly for the future. I think the main thing to ask is his affiliation. See if he's working for anybody that might intend to do something to us." You explain to Paracelsus, who is just taking in the questions for now. You keep going with some less important questions, mostly so you have a bit more context to this man.
"We should also ask how many there are, see if it's just those five or if there's more coming. Also, how much money he's expecting... mostly, just whatever makes sense. The why of it, the how of it.

Paracelsus nods, and does tell you one thing:
"More than likely, they're independent. People that heard there's something new in the region, and thus something that can be sold on the Xenomarkets... Ahh, to be clear? Nobody calls them that, it's sort of a... mostly direct translation of what I mean. A place where people sell exotic parts of magical creatures. Not entirely legal, but not something that the law cares about, either. Too many customers are nobility for that to happen."
Paracelsus disdain colors the last part of her sentence. It's pretty clear by now that the nobility here has... an obscene amount of power. Then again, considering that they're mostly knights... Perhaps it's a threat of violence, too.
You decide to withhold judgement, for now. You don't know enough to be sure. At any rate, Paracelsus moves towards the man, putting her mask as she does so, before kneeling down and speaking in her own language.

You don't need to understand the language to understand just how much hatred is in Paracelsus' voice as she asks. She never physically touches him, and the initial questions go easy enough. At one point, however, the man seems to find his courage, or so you assume. His voice cracked halfway, but you don't understand anything he says. However, guessing from how Paracelsus tilts her head...
It's a dangerous head tilt. You've learned to recognize it. She does it when she finds something interesting but... not interesting enough to keep alive. She usually does it towards your enemies, and you get the feeling that the man understands his predicament as well.
Paracelsus snaps her fingers, and calls to the kobolts.

"Undress him. He's stinking up the place."
Dismas and Collar are the ones on the job, as they forcefully remove his pants. It... should help the smell, if nothing else. His smallclothes are removed as well, and Dismas proposes that he... ahem...
Well, let's say Dismas has a strong stomach, if nothing else. Considering the smell, it's something that's accepted well enough.
Then, the man doesn't get his pants back.
And Paracelsus reveals her surgery kit, and goes over some of the knives with her fingers as she speaks... before stroking the man's chin, getting in his space.

The man groans, and then starts talking again. Seems the threats were enough.
After some time, Paracelsus returns:
"Obviously, take things with a grain of salt. Torture, even if it's just threats, may just lead to them saying whatever they think you'd want to hear." Paracelsus says, before taking out a piece of paper.
"So, for starters... they aren't quite independent. They work with a certain... Malloy. No first name, but evidently the name "Malloy" carries power. Likely a minor crime lord. That said, they're mostly mercenaries, and they chose this job because they assumed the threat of dragons was an exaggeration. The kobolts would be easy, and we could have been sliced in our sleep."
She chuckles to herself at that, taking her mask off again. She really does look radiant in the light of the firepit... Helped by her golden scales. They're shinier than yours, that's for sure.
"They intended to take our tails, your wings... Whatever." She seems almost amused by the planned attempt at both your lives.
"It was just the five of them, besides. They operate out of the city we came from, though this Malloy character is active throughout this entire region."

She takes a moment, breathing in, keeping all the information sorted.
"He expected to gain up to two hundred favors per kobolt captured... with a yet to be decided bonus for our body parts. The kobolts would be sold as plain slave labor, though they figured they'd only be able to take up to five. In the best case scenario... they had collars and ropes. They would have walked out with a king's ransom, essentially, if things had gone to plan."
...People have been killed for far less.

Paracelsus then finishes up.
"As for the next town over, they weren't going to go there. Apparently, the constabulary there are too harsh on crime for their plans to go through, something about their Protector having personal issues with Malloy."

You do raise your hand, questioning something:
"Protector?"
"It's... sort of the same as a captain of the guard. Usually people that distinguished themselves somewhere, and were promoted. They have the right to be the representative of the crown's might, and some other legal benefits. I won't get into it, I don't know enough, to be frank. Ah, and one more thing... his friends will likely assume that he's dead already. He's asking to be let go."


You just need to decide what to do with the pantsless wonder.

>Let him go, with pants, so he can tell the others to stay the hell away.

>Let him go, sans clothes, and tell the others to stay the hell away.

>Leave him with a burn mark. As a permanent reminder of what he did... then turn him loose.
You could even give him an interesting design. Make it some tavern talk... Or make him think he's been cursed.

>Decapitate him.
It's likely better than he deserves.

>Burn him.
Let there be no doubt that you are quite dangerous, and not worth pursuing.

>>5615771
>Decapitate him
Quick, clean, well-deserved.

>>5615771
If that cage is big enough for him, do what I suggested earlier - stuff him in, weld it shut and leave him beside the road. If not, just tie him up and give him a burn mark. No clothes allowed, burn them in front of him.

>>5615771
>>Let him go, sans clothes, and tell the others to stay the hell away.

>>5615771
>>Leave him with a burn mark. As a permanent reminder of what he did... then turn him loose.
Nothing too serious just enough that he can serve as a warning not to fuck with us. like we don't want to outright terrorize his neighbors and the fact that we showed him mercy should not be overshadowed by the punishment we inflict on him.
Still, we want to make sure that we use him as a means of making sure that the slavers stay the hell away from us.

Idea: burn away the hair on his head. some or all of it, but make it somewhat unsightly without being outright harmful to his long term health.

Also, we should tell him that the only reason we are letting him live is so that he can let the others know to leave us alone, and that we're not going to go around burning villages down with dragonfire ripping peoples throats out with our teeth just because they piss us off, but WE VERY WELL COULD IF WE FELT LIKE IT.

>>5615771
>Decapitate him.

He's a slaver. Slavers should die, full stop, no excuses, no forgiveness.

>>5615771
>>Decapitate him.
he is an evil man and destroyer of the innocent, and we are a knight this is a clean-cut and dry choice.

You look at the slaver for a moment... and look a bit longer at the would-be slaves. Your decision making process is not a quick one, as you really try to think of all the pros and cons to each.
However, it wasn't that hard. You take your sword, and begin to drag it towards the man, who is already screaming in terror.
Paracelsus steps away, and you can tell that the slaver is screaming some very hurtful things towards her. Most likely, he expected to be let go after giving all that information, which is a common mistake these kinds of scumbags make. Everybody is far more merciful than they would be, after all. Not this time, though.
This time, you want to both make a point and clean up a problem.

You swing, and the head goes flying after just one mighty swing. It takes sill to do it that cleanly, and you look at the head on the ground for a few moments as his consciousness leaves him. Shock mercifully saves him from fully knowing what's going on, and then it's done. Cleaning the body up is something you do yourself, lifting him over your shoulders and tossing him a fair distance from the camp. You don't want to deal with the miasma of the freshly deceased, it tends to make your evenings very uncomfortable. It's another thing that you kind of wish you didn't know, actually, but the crusades, as per usual, were a pretty big learning opportunity.

With the slaver dead, and nothing else bothering you, it's a comfortable night after that trouble is done and dealt with.
In the morning, things are packed, and the journey continues. Sure enough, with the headstart you gave yourself, you see the town just a bit before noon. It's a sleepy-looking town, set up near a river that supplies much of the village's food if you had to guess. You see a fisherman on the water in the distance there. The people here don't even seem to look at you for longer than strictly needed, and you permit your party, and yourself, to head into the local tavern and get a drink.
While the village doesn't have that many people in it, it's still along a fairly major road, so it inevitably attracts plenty of people.
Enough to keep a tavern running, at any rate.

Once inside, you sit down at a big table, mostly to rest your legs and lean back.
Snikt sits down next to you, after that, and holds your arm.
"...Dragon?" She asks.

You look to her, smiling.
"What is it, Snikt?"

She seems to need some time to build up the courage, but after a little bit, she asks:
"Snikt is... Older, than before. More... uhh. Like humans. And... Could I have... one of the drinks here?"

...

>Of course!
It costs one favor for a drink. You can also treat the rest of the party to a good drink, while you're at it.

>Why do you want to?
Seems strange for her to ask, though you're not against it.

>...You're still my little girl. You'd better hold off on the alcohol.
The stuff here is strong, besides.

>>5618516
>Of course!
>But why do you want to?
We should check on how the changes are affecting our little ragamuffin, too. She might ALSO start feeling the urge to hoard, dominate, and destroy soon.

>>5618516
>>Of course!
Just one, though, and hold her to it.
As for the "Why" it seems pretty normal for someone her age but maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask.

>>5618540
support

>>5618516
>Of course!
But you have to drink with us, no wandering off and drinking with strange dwarves, >_> side-eyes Pink

>>5618516
>Of course!
One, no more than that. It'll be a good opportunity to have a heart to heart with the girl. Why she wants to have this drink. What else she wants. How is her change affecting her. How she doesn't need to keep calling Reynauld 'Dragon'. There's a lot to talk about.

The group can have some fun, too, but no getting shitfaced while we're being hunted for parts. Put Chad in charge of keeping them under control.

"Of course. It's an understandable desire... but I'd like to ask, what brought this on?"
She shuffles awkwardly for a moment, before scooting a little bit closer to whisper:
"Snikt... is not the same girl she was. And I'd like to... Hrmm."
She sniffs once, and then starts her sentence over again;
"I am not the same girl. I feel... Very different, in a lot of ways. I had a lot of time to mull things over and... I really like them. But now I want to do more things. More than just be a kobolt, and..."
Her eyes suddenly grow wide, as if she just said something horrible. She clasps her clawed hands over her mouth, and starts to tremble, slightly.
"S-SORRY! SORRY SORRY SORRY!"
You start to shush her, quickly, worriedly asking her what the issue even is, and she quickly goes quiet as you pat her on the back, cooing softly.
"I-I... I didn't mean... Y-you are still my dragon, I am... I shouldn't have said that. That was... Terrible. Terrible, terrible thing to say."

You look at her, lovingly.
"Come on... Are you worried I'd be mad? I've told you before, the Klan is more than just a klan to me. You're family, all of you... Perhaps especially you." You say, rubbing the adorable not-so-little-anymore lizard on the head. She squeaks in a mix of amusement and trying to make you stop out of embarrassment. With a smile, you order two drinks, and you're a bit surprised when you see the sheer size of the mugs here.
They knock them back with a lot more volume, too.
"So, here's your first grown-up drink. I think you're more than ready for it."
Snikt looks at it the same way one would look at an enemy. A big enemy. The type that eats cities or something like that. She uses both hands to grab the mug, and carefully begins to tilt it back, having a careful sip, at first.

Her eyes widen a moment... and she keeps going, turning the sip into a proper drink. You actually end up stopping her before she chugs the whole thing down! You tell her to slow down, and she does so, quickly slamming the now half-emptied cup on the table... and giving out a cute burp.
She giggles to herself, likely enjoying the way the alcohol is heading down her system... and then she turns to you, takes in a breath...
This this time she belches up a stream of green fire in your face. The fire isn't actually that hot to you, and you don't even flinch from sudden increase in temperature. There is a general scream in the tavern, though, and when Snikt stops her fiery post-carbonisation celebration....
You just cough once, reaching for a cloth to wipe some of the soot off your face.
Snikt is just staring, confused, and then you take in a calm breath.
"That's new, I think."

She blinks. Unevenly. One eye after the other. You look at the rest of the tavern, your klan staring in horror... apart from Teensy and Collar, who are both too busy laughing to really stare. Paracelsus sighs, and quickly stands up to the rest of the people in the tavern, telling them that everying is under control.
You take a drink of your own, and then look back to Snikt.
She hiccups once, clearly a bit out of it, and after some time, she speaks. Her voice cracks, and you think she's about to start crying.
"...I will leave, and find a way to pay you back, great dragon. I love you and klan a lot. I didn't mean to, but-"
You put a hand on her shoulder before she can finish her farewell:
"You're not going anywhere, it was an accident. Hell, I'll take this over a baby burp, this just looked silly. Also, green fire? I like it."

She looks at you again, and then back at the mug. She takes another drink of it, considerably more nervous, and you turn to the rest of the klan.
"You can have a drink too, but don't get too rowdy. Chad, Anna, can you play-"
Anna cuts you off, stating plainly what she intends:
"I am getting drunk tonight. My boyfriend can take care of all of us, though, I'm sure of it."

Aforementioned boyfriend gives a quick, tired-looking salute, and you suppose it'll be fine. You're here to help too, after all, but you should focus on your little firespitting ragamuffin.
Seems she got firebreathing without horking out her lungs. Good for her!

>Spend some time with Snikt
But what are you going to talk about? Or are you stepping outside a moment, to make it more of a private moment.

>Spend time looking over the whole Klan.
Snikt might need a little time to think. You'll be right here for her, but you won't pry.

>Something else

>>5621237
>>Spend some time with Snikt

>>5621237
>Spend some time with Snikt
Teach her how a Proper Knught burps
Talk to her about how her marksmanship has been coming along, gotta provide proper guidance as a fellow gunman and dragon dad!
Bond over the shared hybrid dragon changes

>>5621237
>Spend some time with Snikt

>>5621237
>>Spend some time with Snikt
She still needs supervision

>>5621237
>Spend some time with Snikt
>"Do you remember back in... back when I asked you guys what you want to do? Remember what you said? What everybody else said?"
We need to make it clear that it's okay for her to pursue other dreams. Chad is a squire, and a damn good one at that. Esme is working on her book. The twins make their clothes. All of that is okay, and whatever Snikt decides to do, she'll have our full support.

You look out at your klan... and figure they'll be able to have a decent night without you looking over them like a mother hen. Instead, you turn over to Snikt, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Snikt... I really don't want you to be upset about this, okay? It was an accident, and a funny one at that."
She just keeps staring at the table, looking miserable. You roll your eyes, and move on to part two of your master plan. You adjust your grip on her shoulder, putting it a little lower... and then pull her in for a sideways hug.
"Come on... Let's see a smile, okay? We all love you, you know that."
She sighs, and then finally looks to you... forcing herself to smile, though it doesn't really reach her eyes. When she looks at you, though, you can tell that she's softening up, at least a little.
"Ahhhh, there it is! You can't stay upset forever."

She can't stop herself from smiling a little more genuinely at that, and then she adds:
"It's... hard to feel upset with you, dragon. You... make me feel loved." She says, looking away and into her mug as she says it. She thinks it's a little embarrassing, all the same.
"Well, that's because you are." You say, your smile colouring your speech. "Anyway! Was this the first time you managed to breathe fire, or were you finding out about it earlier?"
"...My lungs kinda tingled a lot when we were at sea, but I thought it was just sea sickness." She says, wringing her little clawed hands a little bit. "That... was probably a little stupid. I didn't do the same thing as other people, I just felt a tingle. It went away, so I... didn't think it mattered."
You shake your head a little bit, and you suppose it makes sense. You've seen the occasional eager-to-please soldier die in the crusades, thinking that a little burn from their wounds was nothing to worry about... up until they turned in the middle of the night, snarling and screaming as their teeth fell out, replaced by-
You quickly take a bigger drink than you initially planned. The experiences with Converters was one you had managed to repress, so it wasn't a good thing to suddenly remember again. Anyway, the drink hits hard, hard enough to get the thought out of your head.
"Okay.... Snikt? You should tell us these sorts of things. We really care about you, and you're going through some very special changes. It might be important."

Snikt nods, and then looks at her own mug again.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's an honest assumption. It didn't hurt, after all. Anyway, lets talk about some better things... Do you remember when I asked around with the klan, asking what they'd like to do? Dreams and the likes?"
Snikt nods, and then says:
"I wanna be with you. And the others. I'm not really... I know I'm really different, now, and I really wanna collect stuff too... But staying with Dragon is more important."

Hmm. Some instincts, then.
"Well, I'm very glad to hear it. But are you sure you don't want to do something for yourself, too? Chad's a damned fine squire, you know, and William's come a long way."

Snikt giggles a little bit, and then says:
"Snikt is- I mean... I am not really... squire material. I don't know how to use a big sword."
You chuckle to yourself, and grin as you look at her:
"You realize a squire isn't just about swordplay, right? Many knights use blades to be prepared, but if you're better off with daggers, then you use those. It's about what works, not about what looks fancy. Besides, you're a good shot, aren't you?"
She smiles as you say it, and she takes a self-satisfied breath when you ask about her ability to take shots.
"Ya-huh! I'm really good. But... I think I don't... I want to be with you, but I don't feel like I want to be your squire. I... It doesn't fit me. I think."
"That's more than fair. You want to do your own thing, don't you?"

She clasps her hands together, and then quietly whispers this next part.
"I... I want to dance, sometimes... But this body is... Esmeralda said I attract weird human attention with it, because I'm...uhhh. Because I'm "exotic" and because I have things they like."

You blink.

You blink again.

"What?" You ask, genuinely confused. Snikt swallows, taking a careful sip of the mug before she speaks.
"S-something about my hips? I didn't get it, but... A lot of people stare, and I feel... I don't like being looked at."
Ahh. Of course.

It's the fact that she's rather attractive for a five-foot eight lizard lady. To... each their own, you suppose? Nono, actually, no. She's yours. They're not going to touch her if she doesn't want to, and anybody that tries is somebody you may or may not fold like an omelette. That's nt dragon greed talking, that's just you being protective.

"Well... I suppose it's a shame nobody in the klan can make much music. I'd have liked seeing you dance, considering how agile I know you are. You've gotten used to your new proportions, haven't you?"
Snikt nods energetically:
"Ya-huh! One thing I like is how much more flexible the tail is. And sitting down is more comfy... I'm also stronger, bigger... I don't really... I think I'll miss being a kobolt, but I won't miss being small."
She giggles a bit to herself, and then takes another drink. This time, she puts a hand in front of her mouth as she... releases another bit of fire. It leaks through her fingers a little bit, but there are no victims this time.
She giggles again.

"This is... pretty fun. I'll try not to do it around people or buildings, though." Snikt says, and you are quick to encourage that mindset.
"For the best." You say.

Hmmm...
"Tell you what, Snikt. We should do a little more together on the road. It's been a busy few days, and you deserve a little more attention, after all that's happened."
You release her, finally realizing you've had her squeezed into a hug the whole time.
"...I almost lost you." You say, and she has the biggest, silliest grin as she says:
"But you didn't!"

She then hugs you, and you lean back...
Things are right in the world.

>Talk about something else.

>Pay attention to somebody else in the Klan
Who to look at, though....

>End the evening, after making sure everybody gets to bed


why is it so hard to just post daily i swear to god

>>5627681
>>Talk about something else.
>>ponder the future with her and realize that once all is said and done you wouldn't mind putting down roots and forming a village and collecting more kobolds for the klan

>>5627681
>Pay attention to somebody else in the Klan
Check in on Chad. He's been looking a little hardied lately, playing "responsible one" while we (especially Anna) revel. How's he doing?

>>5627886
Also, seconded. I love these guys.

>>5627913
Seconded

>>5627681
>Check in on Chad and Anna

You wink to your surrogate daughter, and then turn around.
"Hey, Snikt? I'm going to check in on Chad and Anna... mostly Chad. The poor lad has his hands full." You say, laughing a little bit as you look over to Chad, who is in the middle of stopping Collar from eating her own mug. Snikt nods, and says she'll just keep an eye out. You move over to Chad, just after her managed to save the mug, and ask:
"Tough night?"
"Yes, dragon. But nothing I cannot handle!" He says, proud, before he quickly stops Anna from falling over. Guessing from how she's raising her leg in the air and giggling, you suspect it was intentional. Very trusting of her, you must say.
"My hero~!" Anna says, giggling, as Chad pushes her upright once more.
You chuckle, and Chad sighs as he finally finds enough of a quiet moment to sit down.
"I'll help you out for a bit. I've been meaning to ask how you're doing right now, really. Even outside of your task of keeping people alive."

Chad takes a moment to drink from his mug before he talks.
"...It's been good. I didn't enjoy the ship very much, though, even though we... found out you consider us your treasure. This is... the nicest thing any dragon has ever done for a kobolt, I think."
You cough, awkwardly, trying to think on how to tell him that you don't really like the implications of it, but... It's really hard to try and go against such earnest joy at being considered valuable.
"You know that you're not... objects to me, right? I love you like family." You say, and Chad just gives a simple little nod.
"We know. And we love you too."

It's heartwarming. Anyway, you look over to Anna, as well.
"Having a good time?" You ask, and the goblin grins as she raises her mug:
"Booze here's GREAT! And the company's good tooooooo!"
She looks over to Chad, and then to Pink.
"D-didya ever try talkin' to the pink one a lot? Cuz she knoooows a lot. and how to make booze. She made me thirsty the whole trip, aaaand it helped me kinda forget you ate a man alive in front o' me. That was kinda messed up, Rennie... Ahhh, but it's alright. You're nice. You're allll nice." She hiccups, and then finishes her mug in one go.
"Mhhhh... I feel warm in my tummy... Maaan, I only needed one mug! I love bein' small, i'm a ssssuper cheap date!"

Then, she hits her head face first on the table, and starts snoring. Chad actually seems a little relieved.
"I love her, dragon... But for tonight? I'm glad I don't have to keep looking after her."

You end up helping Chad wrangle the Klan while you talk, though it's not so bad. The more that they drink, the more they pass out, and before long, you've started carrying people upstairs... until, finally, the only people still awake are Paracelsus and Chad.
Paracelsus is a little bit drunk, but not by much. She nursed her drink carefully.

>Talk to Chad & Paracelsus a little more.
About what, though?

>Time to head to bed.
Plenty more ground to cover before you hit the capital.

>>5632837
>Time to head to bed.

>>5632866
Did my trip change

>>5632928
Ok guess not. I was going to vote the same thing but i think i refreshed before i submitted and lost my post
>>5632837
>>5632837
>>Time to head to bed.

>>5632837
>>Time to head to bed.
Time for Some less than sober dragon pre-bed wrestling

>>5632837
>Time to head to bed
btw we're on page 9

>>5632837
>>Time to head to bed.

I've just gone ahead an archived this thread.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2023/5589826/

I might take a little bit of time off from this quest to just write ahead of time what you're going to come across, in the hopes I can finally get off my ass to get back to more regular updates. Expect a new thread in a week or so.
Sorry.

>>5635424
No need to apologize, QM. This quest has been one of the most fun, sweet, and reliably well-written ones on the board for, like, a year. Take a break if you need it. Start a new quest if need be, even. We've had a couple solid "endpoints" already, and while I would love to continue the adventure, you've given more than enough. Don't feel obligated.

>>5635424
I have been in this quest since thread one and it is one of my favorites. Good job, and let us know when you're ready to pick it up again