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Space. The Final Frontier, or so some sailors call it. Beyond the outermost lip of the Earth, there is a black emptiness. The Prime Material Plane is, they say, suspended in an endless void. To those with the eyes to see it, through, and the means to survive it, there is so much more. In the skies above, there are Holy Lun and Holy Sol: the spheroid satellite-worlds of the Eladrin, or High Elves, and their divine creators. Beyond even these is the firmament—a great sphere, speckled with rotating stars. Beyond the firmament, above and below it, are the Divine Realms—the Heavens above and the Hellish Realms below.

And to some, a select few, even THAT frontier is not final.

Your name is Ezreal Mious Van Houtzmann, half-human child of the Sylvan Elves of Dappulyet, Apprentice to the Archmage of Hawksong, and self-proclaimed Seeker of the Esoteric… And you are currently a little out of your depth.

You are presently suspended in just such a ‘place beyond’: in the aether-flooded ‘space-between-spaces’ which exists just outside of the firmament, yet not amongst the hosts of Heaven or of Hell. Rather, you float amongst the Elemental planes: realms of purest Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, which touch upon each-other across dimensions beyond the three which define your usual perceptual reality. An earlier brush with these same planes (and no small amount of study and practice, it must be said) ahs gifted you the ability to survive here…

>0/5 MP

…But not to navigate this strange space freely, nor to escape it now that you are here, and drained of all magic. The young woman floating before you in this strange space brought you here, clad in black, has the means to take you both back from whence you came. Her name is Izirina Henzler (though she was born with another), and she is both your master’s adoptive daughter and the woman you love. Or, well, one of two.

…Or should you now say ‘three’?
>>
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>>6050283
In Izirina’s alms, she holds a smouldering flame, the centremost ember of which bears vaguely and unsettling anthropomorphic form: a tiny, burning woman, dimensions subtly wrong and twisted—a demon. This spent and helpless creature is ALSO Izirina Henzler… In a way. It is the leftovers of a demonic taint which you long ago helped Izirina purge herself of, and which took on life and consciousness all its own in the intervening years. It—she—took up study with a servant of the abhorrent and abyssal Gods of Darkness, and sought to reclaim with violence the life and love which the ‘real’ Iziirna had taken from her. Through love, understanding, and diplomacy, you seemed to broker a peace between them…

Only for the shriveled husk of a fairy which YOU hold in YOUR palms to ruin everything.

Queen Banelight of the Unseelie Fey came with you here in search of power. You’d planned to betray her and execute her for her crimes against the people of Earth, and to prevent her perpetrating more, before for that shadow-of-Izirina to appear and provide unexpected complications. The resultant conflict is what left both these strange beings at your mercy, the human Izirina Henzler’s font of power severed, and your own reserves of arcane energy utterly expended.

“What do we do?” Izirina asks.

It’s a good question. Your allies, the lycanthropic elf Oncyth and the minotaur Baajaban, both await your return in the Unseelie Relam If you return now, though, neither of you are in any state to take on a small army of furious fairies, when they realize what has become of their queen. You could flee to your base of operations at Old Mapel Hill, back on Earth… But then those two will be helpless captives.

“It’s a good question,” you admit with a sigh. “I’m not really sure… But I think we might be holding the answer.”

You both look down at the beings in your hands—fairy and demon, both unseemly creatures in their own way, and unpredictable, both at Death’s own door.

What will you do?
>Use Banelight’s energies—and those of the Elemental Planes—to reinvigorate Izirina’s demonic shadow
[This will leave Izirina without energy as well, and thus both of you will be at her shadow’s mercy, while the shadow will be more powerful than ever]
>Absorb Banelight into yourself, while Izirina does likewise with her shadow-self
[This will permanently affect both of you, making you more powerful but less human (or elfin), and restoring your MP]
>Return to the Unseelie Realm, and try to trade Banelight for safe passage
[Risky, but less so for Oncyth and Baajaban than...]
>Return to Old Maple Hill, to recover and regroup
[Safest for you and Izzy]
>Write-in

[For anyone just joining us, or who needs a refresher on past events, see https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm]
>>
first
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>>6050290
>Absorb Banelight into yourself, while Izirina does likewise with her shadow-self
Nom

>>6050295
Second
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>>6050290
>Absorb Banelight, then use power/MP gained to heal Shadow Izirina with Cure Wounds or some other spell.

Can we do this?

Banelight is a downright evil chaotic creature, but there may be some hope for Shadow Izirina and we did just say we love her so... Sacrifice a bit of our humanity to heal her I'd say. Izirina and Co can hopefully help keep us grounded even with Banelight's corrupting influence.
>>
>>6050295
long time no see, wuxian
>>6050303
It'd be interesting if we could, since both Izzys should decide about this together, ideally
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>>6050303
>Can we do this?
[Yes, indeed you can! It would eve given you enough energy to <Clone> her a body, if that's still your primary plan.]
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>>6050313
Ok then

>Absorb Banelight, then use power/MP gained to heal Shadow Izirina with Cure Wounds.
>>Clone her a body and regroup at Maple Hill.
>>
>>6050290
>>Absorb Banelight into yourself, while Izirina does likewise with her shadow-self
Full morally grey road here we go.
We can say without lying that "something went wrong, now we're Banzreal and you king suckers.
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>>6050330
+1

>Use Banelight’s energies—and those of the Elemental Planes—to reinvigorate Izirina’s demonic shadow
I feel legitimately bad about the Jade Aura thing- I hope we can still make them sisters, despite our failings.
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>>6050441
>>6050423
>>6050330
>>6050299
[I may have time for another update today, but with this being so close, I think I'll leave it up for a while longer. Worst case, I'll update after work tomorrow.]
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>>6050290
No chance we’re leaving baajaban or oncyth behind.

Using Banelight’s energy to resurrect shadow izzy could work. She did seem friendly enough.
>Absorb Banelight into yourself, while Izirina does likewise with her shadow-self
We never were going to see Iternalgreyn again anyways. A goodberry isn’t enough.

>>6050313
Alright stick with the clone plan after we absorb Banelight
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>>6050477
>>6050441
>>6050423
>>6050330
>>6050299
You look down at what’s left of the alternate Izirina—the one you abandoned, failed, and hurt. None of that was your intention, but it’s the reality… And a goodberry won’t provide enough energy to fix what’s gone wrong with your plan. To fully restore an utterly-depleted demon (a fragment of a demon, if you understand correctly) will take so much more than that. It will take all the magic at your disposal, fully rested and restored, and then some.

But you have a means to achieve that.

“Izzy,” you say, “I’m going to… Try something. Something unorthodox.”

Izirina looks up sharply, saying nothing.

“I’m going to use the <Riet of Attunement> to absorb Banelight’s energies,” you explain. “To make them… A part of me.”

Izirina says nothing, though you see her eyes widen and nostrils flare ever so slightly in obvious surprise and alarm.

“I need to set this right,” you explain. “But… But you should have a berry, too. We’ll need our energy.”

You reach for one, still on your person. Your robes have attuned to you, and many of your belongings—being purely material—are largely inaccessible in this form. Not the goodberries, though—or ‘moonberries’, as many at Old Maple Hill have taken to calling then. Their origin renders them effectively enchanted, and attuned, so you can grasp them, even as your hand passes through your newly-purchased sidesword.

(Good thing you didn’t try to use THAT…)

You hand the berry to Izirina, who accepts it silent, chewing and swallowing it.

>2/4 Goodberries remain on your person

Only when she’s done does she finally respond, saying:

“Are you sure, Tips?”

“I am.”

“But what if she… What it changes you?”

“It will,” you admit, looking down with distaste at the tiny, greyish thing in your hands—faintly humanoid, yet curled up and encysted. “But she wont’ turn me ‘evil’ or ‘dark’. That’s not… She didn’t become this way because of some underlying nature. It was her choices that twisted her like this. I have to believe I’ll still be ME, when it’s one. Just… Different. And this way, at least I can make this right.”
>>
>>6050515
Izirina looks down at her own cradled not-quite-corpse, held in her own cupped hands. Her brown furrows, and you can practically read her thoughts: could she do the same, reintegrating this cast-off and demonically-corrupted section of herself, perhaps even sparing you the transformation in her stead.

“We shouldn’t decide that for her,” you say gently. “She should… BOTH of you should make that decision together, if you ever do.”

“I don’t think I could, anyway,” Izirina admits, voice heavy with guilt and apology. “I’m sorry, it’s just… SHE’S just… She’s everything I’ve been trying to change, toe scape. Even letting her keep on… CONTINUING as she is…”

“I understand,” you say, truthfully, for you know how hard she's been trying to change herself for your sake... And her own well-being. “It’s okay.”

Izirina looks to you with love and gratitude in her eyes, mixed with worry.

“You know that whatever happens to you, I’ll always be there, right?” she says, almost comically serious. “I’ll never, ever let you go. Not… Not if you don’t want me to.”

You smile at her, knowing that this strange, eerily-literal and painfully-serious woman completely means it… And you’re grateful, too.

“I’ll see you on the other side,” you joke.

Izirina nods, wordless, and you begin.

Normally, the <Rite of Attunement> leave you drained—as with any powerful magical ritual. A you perform it this time, though, with what remains of the Unseelie Queen Banelight clutched close to your chest, you do not feel depleted, but invigorated. Your already-aethereal form seems to grow lighter and lighter as you dance, more sprightly and limber. Moving through this magic-rich realm becomes second nature, and as energy enervated your appendages and your aura swells, you dance faster, and faster. The sacred song of your people rises in volume, in octave, until you are crying it with joy, and glee. And when it’s finally done…

>6/6 MP

…You feel better than you ever have. More powerful, more energetic, more… Complete. You laugh, a swell of relief washing over you and sweeping away the stress, guilt, and uncertainty. You feel… You feel FREE, well and TRULY free!
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>>6050516

“Ezreal,” Izzy gasps, as you finally stop your song and dance, breathing hard. “You… You’re…”

You hold up your now-emptys hands to stop her, shaking your head. You’ll find out what the transformation means for you soon enough, you’re sure. For now, you need to grapple with the suddenly influx of aeons of experience and understanding pouring into your comparatively young, infinite, and mortal braincase. There’s only so much you can take in at once—only so much you can parse. You allow much of what Banelight was-is?—to simply flow through you, dissipating into Death’s Domain or wherever else might take her.

Two spells, though, stick with you:

>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes
>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself
>True Illusion: You can disguise yourself against all but the truest sight, hiding your true form behind any number of alternate appearances, from Man or Elf to beast or bird, though this does not convey their inherent abilities
>Geas: You can form a nigh-unbreakable pact with a target, through mutual agreement, such that they cannot break without risking severe damage to their body and soul (though that goes both ways)
>Dancing Lights: Your Faerie Fire spell now can form multiple semi-autonomous lights, akin to summoned elementals of your own fairy energy; these can serve as sources of illumination, as distraction, or as messengers, as they can even carry your voice and travel between planes
>Miasma: You can create and control a foul, fell wind which can buoy and lift you, granting flight, or blow about enemies; affected foes are weakened, increasing the DC of their rolls and decreasing the difficulty of rolls against them
>Command: A targeted creature can be made to obey against their will, though they remain entirely aware and cognizant during the process; this can be imbued into an object, as well, to make the effect more-or-less permanent
>SPECIAL—True Fey: Not a special, but a state of being: you can now switch between physical and aethereal forms at will, without spending MP, and completely cease aging; you also gain immunity to biological reagents and diseases, as you are no longer truly biologcial

Only two, please
>>
I would like to add that Izzy’s currently most vile act - that of forcing a pregnancy onto herself and Ezreal as to maintain her grip on the relationship - happened when Izzy did not have the demonic taint on her.
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>>6050517
>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes

I think the goal quest has been leaning this way for a while now. Izzy has been talking about her dreams of a demi plane for years.

And more practically once we take back the star we'll need somewhere to put without it being stolen.

>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself

We need a direct combat spell, right now all our attack spells come from our staff. And we are going to have to fight the unseelie fey soon.
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>>6050524
I think her most vile act was potentially getting costela, tips and herself killed by banishing them to the plans during our first rite of attunement.

Baby trapping ezreal and using costella to do it, isn't as bad as playing Russian roulette with our lives.
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>>6050517
>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes
>Miasma: You can create and control a foul, fell wind which can buoy and lift you, granting flight, or blow about enemies; affected foes are weakened, increasing the DC of their rolls and decreasing the difficulty of rolls against them
neat, ezreal has finally become a "true" elf
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>>6050531
the pregnancy thing was worse, because of the rapey vibes during that last part to silence cossy and have us impregnate her. while the plane hijack was pretty dangerous, she knew we could use it and as such held we 3 at "gun point". pretty bad but it doesn't match the 1st one.
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>>6050534
>>6050528
>>6050524
>>6050531
[Sorry, perhaps I should clarify since formatting possibly made it unclear: Though it's not a spell per se, you musts till select "true Fey" as one of your options to attain that status.]
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>>6050531
I vaguely recall her not knowing all the particulars of that? While in this one she know completely.
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>>6050538
really now, well changing my vote to:
>>6050517
>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes
>SPECIAL—True Fey: Not a special, but a state of being: you can now switch between physical and aethereal forms at will, without spending MP, and completely cease aging; you also gain immunity to biological reagents and diseases, as you are no longer truly biologcial
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>>6050517
>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself
Lack of MP always was our greatest weakness.

>SPECIAL—True Fey: Not a special, but a state of being: you can now switch between physical and aethereal forms at will, without spending MP, and completely cease aging; you also gain immunity to biological reagents and diseases, as you are no longer truly biologcial

Aethereal form is really good. Saved us far too many times than we could count.

am >>6050477
>>
[ Also, if anyone so desires, Watcher from the Core is running an informal site survey: http://poal.me/e5o7c4 ]
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>>6050517
>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself
Finally, we won't be out of fights after 1 or 2 spells

>SPECIAL—True Fey: Not a special, but a state of being: you can now switch between physical and aethereal forms at will, without spending MP, and completely cease aging; you also gain immunity to biological reagents and diseases, as you are no longer truly biologcial
>>
>>6050517
>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes

>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself
>>
>>6050517
>>Geas: You can form a nigh-unbreakable pact with a target, through mutual agreement, such that they cannot break without risking severe damage to their body and soul (though that goes both ways)
This might be good at controlling demons without affecting their personalities
>SPECIAL—True Fey: Not a special, but a state of being: you can now switch between physical and aethereal forms at will, without spending MP, and completely cease aging; you also gain immunity to biological reagents and diseases, as you are no longer truly biologcial
>>
>>6050517
What does no longer being biological mean? Would banishment spells or magic items that seal away spirits work on us? Would we take extra damage from cold iron?
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>>6050700
[It's a reasonable assumption, yes. Tips would become, for all intents and purposes, a True Fey, with all their strengths and weaknesses.]
>>
>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes
>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself

Im not keen on becoming a fey spirit in place of a powerful spell. For one thing fey can't have children normally so we might become infertile if we become one. And spirit's can be summoned if their true name is known (that's why "banelight" went by a title since that was definitely was not her birth name.)

And fey and spirit's in general have specific racial weaknesses like that chest we gave the archmage. That can be exploited (The rod could paralyze us or the neme. But the chest can seal sprits away for eternity.)
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>>6050723
Considering that breeding won’t be that much of a problem to us due to our knowledge, only the other cons would be a real problem.
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>>6050726
If we are taking magic into consideration what's even the benefit? The spells don't come with any risks or drawbacks
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>>6050736
[There are upsides, downsides, and other tidbits I can't share without spoilers and swaying the voter one way or the other, so I'll just do a quick refresh on what Tips knows of the True Fey.]

[True Fey can't be hurt or killed with mundane weapons, are resistant to radiant damage, are immune to poisons, toxins, and diseases, cannot be easily perceived by even mortal mages unless they know Feycraft or a specialized, rare spell like Theral's See Invisibility (a direct divine boon from the Nothic's master) or have a powerful relic like the Glasses of True Seeing from Reptilian Infiltrator (which was a High Magic artefact); in addition, they don't need to eat or sleep, and never grow old or die of old age.]

[Tips can get some of the combat benefits of this already, but none of the lifelong (or life-extending benefits), and sixths would allow him to also enter and exit his True Fey-esque state (Improved Aethereal Form) at will, with no cost. The bigger factor is that it is a shortcut to nigh-immortality without the drawbacks that, for instance, the Archmage has seemingly experienced in trying to achieve even a near-elven lifespan.]
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>>6050723
> For one thing fey can't have children normally so we might become infertile if we become one.
That’s one way of avoiding that prophecy, I guess. And also to shut up Nenaias.

>And spirit's can be summoned if their true name is known (that's why "banelight" went by a title since that was definitely was not her birth name.)
That - is - a problem. Especially if we do decide to marry Costella and our full title and name gets revealed to all that are present.

Does “Tips” count as a true name?

> That can be exploited (The rod could paralyze us or the neme. But the chest can seal sprits away for eternity.)
The rod already paralyzed us. If we get hit again we’re fucked either way.
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>>6050517
>>Demiplane: Allows you to control and shape a small extradimensional space, according to your energy levels and capacity; it can be expanded over time, through concerted ritual effort, and made more and more elaborate as time passes
>>Energy Drain: You can siphon away the magical energies of a target to fuel your own reserves of MP and HP, weakening a foe and strengthening yourself

True Fey is an highway to trouble.
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>>6050809
>>6050723
>>6050694
>>6050649
>>6050580
>>6050555
>>6050546
>>6050528
[Locked and writing!]
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>>6051228
As a flood of sensory memories and vague recollections swirl about your overtaxed mind, you reach out grasp that which calls out to you. Knowing that there is combat to come, you seize first and foremost upon that technique by which even a weakened Banelight nearly destroyed an elementally-empowered Shadow-Izirina: <Energy Drain>. Long has the limitation of finite aura held back your ability in battle. NOW, you can both weaken your foes AND energize your staff-stored <Lightning Bolt> and <Magic Missile>. The unseelie won’t know what hit them!

But as for that which remains… Well, that gives you pause. You know instinctively somehow that if you were to take on the full breadth of Banelight’s metaphysical spectrum, and to integrate it into your being as you once had the aethereal ‘emptiness’ between the Planes, you could truly ascend beyond base biology and become as she was: a True Fey. To do so would, in some ways, be a culmination of all that you have chased: an escape from disease, from aging, from starvation and want. You would be purified, beyond even the reach of the God of Death, provided you were careful to avoid mystical adversaries who could eliminate you as you had Banelight herself!

…But what, then of your humanity? And what of the humans—and other mortals, for that matter—whom you love? If you become a True Fey, a member of the Bonum Chaoticum, what would be your reward?

To outlive Izirina, and Costella, not by decades or centuries, by millennia? To outlive your children? Your grandchildren? To lose yourself, as Banelight and the Unseelie Court have done? And what of the practical concerns—the vulnerabilities which come with such status, to cold iron, to anti-magic weaponry, and to the magic of ‘True Names’? What even IS your TRUE name, now?

With great reluctance, you feel the potential of ascendance flow into you… And pass through, en route to whatever fate awaits the fairy from whom you might have taken this treasure. Instead, you seize upon that which Izirina Henzler has long sought, and which might ebenfit you more immediately--a prize no less grand, in many ways, and a legacy which might yet outlast you all, and benefit the many rather than you alone:

<Demiplane>

You open your eyes at last, having cleared your mind of the overabundance of information, with wheat sorted finally from chaff. Even so, you feel full to bursting. It isn’t uncomfortable, but rather like you have expanded in some dimension you cannot quite conceptualize, but can nevertheless feel. Your senses are sharper, you mid faster, your body more fluid.

“…What?” you ask, when you finally notice Izzy staring.

“Look at your hands,” she says simply.
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>>6051237
You feel a pang of dread, but oblige, looking down at your digits… And find them pale. The work at old Maple Hill, and you stint in the Goblin Wastes beforehand, had left you rather tan for a gentleman of Sylvan and Northman heritage, if not exactly a rival to the Neme or Drow. Now, though, you are pale—moon-pale, so white as to rival the Lunar Eladrin with whom you had stayed. You think you feel yourself go paler still, as a chill crawls up your spine.

“What else?” you ask Izzy.

“Your eyes,” she supplies, understanding you. “The sclera is black. The, um… Your eyes are purple, too.”

“Purple?”

“Violet, I think,” she clarifies. “And… Glowing.”

…Oh.

“Do you feel alright?” Izirina asks.

“You mean, do I feel like cackling wickedly about my imminent world domination? Threatening to turn people into slaves or appetizers?”

Izirina frowns, and admonishes you: “Take this seriously.”

“I am,” you sigh. “And I do. Feel ‘alright’, that is. I… I feel the same.”

But you’re not, of course. Something has changed, but not with your morality, or your mindset. There is a continuity there. Whatever you have become, you are still YOU… Still Ezreal Mious Van Hotuzmann, still Tips.

Immediately, yous et about retrieving your staff, the <Archmage’s Gift> to you, before it drifts too far away and is lost evermore. With it, you quickly cast <Stabilize> upon the shivering shard of Izirina’s Shadow, bringing the both of you a great relief.

“We should make her a body,” you note, looking down upon her unconscious, ephemeral form.

“We should deal with the Unseelie Fey first,” Izirina says.

“She could help us,” you consider.

“Or complicate things,” Izirina counters.

“Izzy… Not to be, ah, indelicate, but it’s not as if you haven’t been ‘compciated’ at times, even without her influence.”

Izzy stiffens at this accusation, but she is too intelligent (and too aware of her failings, by now) to deny it.

“Just imagine what the embodiment of all those… Errors of judgement, and impulses… What SHE must be like?”

You frown, and she seems to pick up on your emotions, quickly amending:

“I-I’m not saying we abandon her, obviously. Just… Maybe we should be careful about the SORT of body we construct for her.”

“The soul affects the body, and the body affects the soul,” you recall, reflecting on what you have learned across these years of study and experimentation.

“Exactly,” Izzy agrees.
>>
>>6051238
You HAD been considering some Chimericism, if only to differentiate the ‘Izirina Sisters’ in some way. Ingredients are limited at present, though—there’s really only Izirina Henzler to work with.. And yourself. You could keep the Alter-Izzy safe until finding suitable ‘ingredients’ to craft her a body… But that would mean that you, the regular Izzy (still weakened and depleted), and your allies Oncyth and Baajaban would be facing the few-dozen Unseelie who remain alone.

(But then again.. You DO have total control of their power source, and the demiplane they dwell in, and a new combat spell to try out…)

What will you do?
>Create a body for Izirina’s Shadow which is a double of Izzy’s own
>Combine yours and Izzy’s essence into a chimeric ‘offspring’, and embed the demon-essence within
>Keep the demon dormant for now, and go to face the Unseelie as you are now
>Write-in
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>>6051244
>Combine yours and Izzy’s essence into a chimeric ‘offspring’, and embed the demon-essence within
make one of her canines slightly bigger, just for the charm point and make her eyes like ours, but green iris instead of purple.
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>>6051244
>Keep the demon dormant for now, and go to face the Unseelie as you are now
We need all the MP we could get. We’ll get her a body after the area is secure.

>>6051238
Our change does complicate things a little, but no matter. Our original plan can still go-ahead.

Lie to the unseelie that Banelight is still in the elemental planes gathering energy. For our efforts in helping her she made us become more elf.

Tell them we’d rather teleport everyone all at once to meet with Banelight rather than individually since it is dangerous (we’re not lying about that part)

Form a circle like before when we did the rite.

Greater Disjunction everyone and then have our allies wipe them out.

>>6050555
>>
>>6051244
>Create a double of Izzy’s own body
>>
>>6051244
>Create a double of Izzy’s own body

Carrzzi was a good fighter, demon izzy should have at least some spellcasting and combat ability. We should bring her along.
>>
>>6051244
>>Keep the demon dormant for now, and go to face the Unseelie as you are now
>>
>>6051244
>Keep the demon dormant for now, and go to face the Unseelie as you are now
>>
>>6051244
>Create a body for Izirina’s Shadow which is a double of Izzy’s own
With Energy Drain we could drain some from this plane for fuel, right?
>>
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>>6051517
>>6051475
>>6051378
>>6051298
>>6051289
>>6051282
>>6051267
[Close one, but I'm going to go ahead and lock and write!]
>>
Rolled 20, 2, 15, 4, 7, 6, 10 = 64 (7d20)

>>6051797
Izzy’s right about the dangers involved in this devilish duplicate, of course. Just thinking back to Carazzi’s assault upon you when you retrieved her from your master, The Archmage, is enough to make your skin crawl… Yet, in thinking back to Carazzi, are you not ALSO reminded of how decisive and deadly her unholy arts could be, when properly channeled and directed?

“I think we’re safer with her by our side than not.”

Izirina’s posture and expression inform you she feels decidedly differently, but she doesn’t object aloud. Instead, accepting your decision, the goal-oriented mage becomes to make a plan to minimize risk, and maximize utility.

“Wel if you think it’s best, we could probably use Chimericism to make her a vessel like your own,” she notes, looking you up and down with renewed appreciation, likely with her mage’s sight. “The flow of divine ‘aura’ through your own natural pathways is remarkable… And maybe the ‘fairy’ aspect will offset the, you know… Demonic proclivities of, uh…”

“No.”

Izzy looks at you with renewed confusion.

“It didn’t save Banelight’s soul, did it?” you point out. “Or any of the other Unseelie that we’re going back to… To HANDLE. And giving her so much power, without proper planning, before we fully understand her…”

“You’re right,” iziirna readily agrees, in light of your framing. “Good thinking, Tips.”

You have a secondary motivation which you dare no speak aloud: that of your relationship to this alternate Izzy. It’s not that you necessarily WANT to pursue anything romantic with this succubus-spawned offshoot of the woman you love. Being nearly crushed in the elemental coils of a serpentine Izirina wasn’t exactly a great ‘first date’. But, well… The idea of embodying something with Izirina’s memories of making love in a form which could be rightly categorized as your ‘offspring’ is viscerally off-putting in a way you can’t quite place, even if the particualrs are rather different from biological reproduction or conventional ‘child-rearing’.

(Your dynamic with Carazzi is troubling enough for one lifetime, thanks.)
>>
>>6051808
It takes some practice, but between your affinity for Elementalism and your new <Energy Drain> spell, you are able to siphon the extraplanar energies of the adjoining planes into yourself. Here, where the boundaries are thinnest, it is easy—almost TOO easy, threatening to overwhelm you even as you attempt to serve as simply a ‘prism’ for the power, to be rapidly redirected into the ‘resurrection’ of the nearly-destroyed demon. You pour the excess energy into <clone>, placing a hand upon Izirina and drawing out from her the fundamental biological material of her being. It is only your second-ever attempt at cloning a human or demihuman—if goblinoids even count—let alone placing a demon in a vessel less naturally magic-resistant than the tissues of one such as Zith-Zi.

You look down at the emptied-eyed visage of Izirina’s soulless replica, without the inner electricity of Elemental Attunement, nor even Izzy’s innate intensity. Her beige-skinned body, naked as if newborn yet fully formed and adult, floats aimlessly. She—it—blinks automatically, and breathes, but though its heart beats, it is without true awareness, purpose, or curiosity: this Izirina, unlike the Shadow, shows now interest in the radiance or roaring winds of the Planes of Fire and Air, nor for you, or even her origin-point.

“It’s… A little eerie,” you admit. “Izzy, are you—"

“Fascinating!”

You watch as Izrina orbit around her soulless simulacrum, reaching out to spread her eyelids, to poke and prod and grope, to move limbs and check teeth and tongue. The double recoils slightly, but without much werewithal; quickly, it submits to examination.

(Well, you guess you don’t need to be worried about Izzy being weirded out… Yet.)

You take in your hands the still-static form of the recharged Shadow. Though it pulses with power, it has not yet awakened—the shock and trauma of your injurious attempt to save the Other Izirina from Banelight’s predations ahs not wholly worn off, perhaps. The guilt for your foolishness is no small part of your motivation to make right what you have done wrong… Even at great risk.

“Here goes nothing,” you say.

You have no gods to pray to—none who you believe would wish to have any part of this, anyway—as you direct the demon-seed into the vessel you have created.

Nothing happens for a moment, and then…

>20

Then EVERYTHING does.
>>
>>6051823
The body twitches and spasms, hands grasping gormlessly, eyes rolling, and teeth chattering. The original Izirina quickly backs off, readying to cast a spell of protection; you signal her to stop, for you know her stored energies are still just barely enough to get the two of you—the THREE of you—back to the Unseelie Realm. Together you watch with bated breath as the even breathing turns into a deep, hungry gasp for air that isn’t there—for life that has just begun. A heart that merely beat now thunders, pumping blood that floods with hormones of fear and exhilaration. Eyes open to reveal slit pupils and a wave of golden-green scales ripples across the duplicate’s body: once, twice, rising and fading away into the skin.

“What’s happening?” Izirina—the first, true (?) Iziirna asks, disgust and fear returning. “We… We used my biological material. I don’t have the chimeric plague anymore. She shouldn’t—”

“The soul affects the body,” you remind her. “We severed her from you while curing you and Costella of that. The anxiety around the ‘dragon pox’ that was infected the two of you… It’s a part of her.”

Izirina says nothing, but is obviously uncomfortable. You reach out, and take her hand; she clasps it tight, and together you watch the process complete.

This Izirina’s nails are claws for a time, as Carazzi’s are. Her tognue lashes out as she screams, and bifurcates at the tip, snake-like. Her hair becomes as writhing serpents, grotesque; she sprouts a tail, only to shed it. She claws and scratches at her body, ripping away layers of scaly skin which float about her like a gory, grotesque halo, body her flesh mends and reshapes until finally… FINALLY…

There is only Izirina Henzler—a second Izirina Henzler, so identical in face and feature that even YOU can only tell them apart by use of your Tower-trained supernatural senses.

“I’m… I’m alive?” she asks, patting at her naked body, and looking down ina we at her hands. “I’m… Human?”
“Outwardly,” Izirina mutters, squeezing your hand tighter.

“I’m sorry,” you blurt out, as you finally allow the guilt to find its release in sheer relief. “The <Jade Aura>, I didn’t know… I didn’t think it would affect the subject it was cast upon that—"

Before you can finish, the other Izirina hurls herself upon you, slamming into you with force and wrapping her arms around you. Her nakedness presses against you, but you are too startled, too happy, to be aroused. Belatedly, you realize some of the happiness must be hers—the Shadow’s—in a much more benign form of the psychic pressure which Carazzi can exert.

“Thank you,” she whispers, clinging to you. “Thank you, Tips. I love you so much… I’ve missed you so, SO much!”

“I… Uh…”
>>
>>6051824
You freeze up, seeing Izirina—the fully-human Izirina—watching the two of you with turmoil writ plainly across her face. There’s a sense of betrayal there, and confusion, and fear. For all intents and purposes, though… This seems an out-and-out success.

…Right?

What do you?
>Take some time to brief and debrief—this Shadow-Izzy, and to determine what spells she knows and how combat-capable she is
>Take the original Izirina aside, to discuss what this… NEW Izzy means for your relationship, and offer her emotional assurances
>You can delay no longer without risking the lives f your friends and allies, back amongst the Unseelie Fey—you must return to their relam right now
>Write-in

Will you give a name to the Shadow-Izzy?
>No, no time right now
>Yes… Perhaps Shadow will suffice?
>Yes… Maybe Rebecca, for Izirina’s birth-name?
>Yes… But you’re thinking [Write-in]

What is your plan for your return?
>Attempt to trick the Unseelie into grouping together for a mass disjunction and execution
>Depower the Unseelie Star, starving they and the demiplane of energies, and force their submission
>Elementally attune your allies, then detonate the Star, effectively cleansing the demiplane of life
>Plans have changed… Appoint yourself Unseelie King, by right of conquest
>Write-in
>>
>>6051826
>Take some time to brief and debrief—this Shadow-Izzy, and to determine what spells she knows and how combat-capable she is

>Yes… But you’re thinking Ayla
since it means moonlight and Izzy is kinda our soon with her elemental energy

>Depower the Unseelie Star, starving they and the demiplane of energies, and force their submission
I still wanna go with an option that isn't outright killing them
>>
>>6051826
>You can delay no longer without risking the lives f your friends and allies, back amongst the Unseelie Fey—you must return to their relam right now

I don't think there would be a time-sensitive option if there isn't some time-sensitive shit going on. Let's go immediately and save our pals.

>No, no time right now

>Depower the Unseelie Star, starving they and the demiplane of energies, and force their submission
>>
>>6051824
>“The soul affects the body,” you remind her. “We severed her from you while curing you and Costella of that. The anxiety around the ‘dragon pox’ that was infected the two of you… It’s a part of her.”
so she can’t breed. That’s good to know.

>No
I think she should choose her own name.

>>6051826
>Take some time to brief and debrief—this Shadow-Izzy, and to determine what spells she knows and how combat-capable she is
We can talk about relationships all we want after we clear out the star. We just need to know what is relevant right now.
>Attempt to trick the Unseelie into grouping together for a mass disjunction and execution
The star’s too useful to get rid of. And we don’t have banelight as a power source anymore. And become unseelie king of… what, 36 people?
>>
>>6051849
>>6051854
I want the unseelie gone too but having to depower the star is going to make it really annoying to get it started up again. The original recipe mentions siphoning energy from the elemental planes and going there again is pretty dangerous.
>>
>>6051865
you have a point. can we depower their realm without deactivating the star ? if not, perhaps becoming a king isn't that far off, kek.
>>
>>6051874
>can we depower their realm without deactivating the star ?
[You can try, but the DC is much higher.]
>>
>>6051874
>King of 48 people
LMAO
>>
>>6051865
We kicked started the star with some a banelights blood and a daylight ritual upcasted with all our mana.

The liquid fuel component is easy, blood from magical creatures or our moon berry's suffice.

Kick starting it can be done with any powerful heavenly or elemental source.

Honestly its the star's material itself which is the hardest to replicate. We needed holy earth gem stones and sand from the neme and we needed to take pieces from the high magic chests spell matrix. As long as the star itself isn't cracked or broken it'll will probably be fine.
>>
>>6051876
follow up question can we siphon off the demiplane into the star and collapse the rest of the unseelie inside?
>>
>>6051939
[Like... Collapse the demiplane into a singular point within the roughly 3-foot-tall, diamond-shaped glass prism-jar that is the Unseelie Star? Uh, it's creative, so I'd allow it... With a crit. Anything short of that would lead to some form of failure, possibly quite dramatic and catastrophic.]
>>
>>6051826
I knew this was a life-complicating mistake.

>>Take the original Izirina aside, to discuss what this… NEW Izzy means for your relationship, and offer her emotional assurances

>Yes… But you’re thinking Ayla

>Attempt to trick the Unseelie into grouping together for a mass disjunction and execution
>>
>>6051826
>You can delay no longer
>Rebecca
>Mass disjunction and execution
>>
>>6051826
>Take some time to brief and debrief—this Shadow-Izzy, and to determine what spells she knows and how combat-capable she is

>Yes… Maybe Rebecca, for Izirina’s birth-name?

>Depower the Unseelie Star, starving they and the demiplane of energies, and force their submission
>>
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>>6051998
>>6051971
>>6051970
>>6051859
>>6051854
[Locked & Writing!]
>>
>>6052514
“We need to hurry back,” you tell the two Izirinas. “At any moment, the Unseelie Court could get restless, and then Oncyth and Baajaban will be at their mercy… Which they don’t have a lot of.”

“I remember Oncyth,” says the Shadow-Izirina with creased brow. “The werewolf, right? But… I don’t remember a ‘Baajaban’.”

“That’s because your parasitized memory ended before Tips, Costella, and I all traveled to the Goblin Wastes and met with the Neme-Ashurati,” the Human-Izirina says, perhaps a bit too pointedly.

“Parasitized?!”

You quickly intercede, before things can escalate, clarifying: “He’s a minotaur who we freed from hobgoblin captivity. He’s been staying at Old Maple Hill.”

“A minotaur?” the Shadow-Izirina gasps. “From the southern islands?!”

“Uh,” you say. “I don’t really know. His Common isn’t great yet.”

“I can’t wait to meet him!” the Shadow-Izzy enthuses. “I’ve been practicing my Southern trade-tongues.”

“Wh-what?” Human-Izzy balks. “No I haven’t.”

Shadow-Izirina gives her a withering look, the corner of her motuh quirking up slightly.

“You ended YOUR studies,” she snipes at her counterpart, “but -I- didn’t.”

“Actually, that’s a good point,” you muse. “Izirina—”

“Yes?” both of them say.

(…Well this is going to be a problem.)

“Demon-Izirina, I meant.”

“…I don’t like that,” she mumbles, looking hurt. “I told you—I’m the REAL Izirina.”

“That’s objectively, categorically, METAPHYSICLALY an indefensible argument,” says the Human-Izzy.

“Shadow-Izirina?” you hazard.

“I’m NOT a SHADOW!” she protests, hands balling by her sides, and appearing as if she might cry. “I have the emotions SHE left behind, and all her memories! If anything, SHE’S the shadow… The empty husk of what I was, before she let the Archmage trick her into cutting me out!”

“WHAT?!” Human-Izirina almost shrieks, uncharacteristically piqued. “Mother has her… Her DIFFICULTIES, but she was right to identify you for what you were: the delivery mechanism for a chimeric CANCER that RUINED my body for years!”

“That was just the Reptilian blood,” the Shadow-Izirina hisses, pupils shifting to slits even as she says it. “You, fool that you always have been, cut out so much more than was necessary. You’ve always used a meat-cleaver where a scalpel would suffice.”

“It’s MY body,” Izirina retorts. “They’re MY memories. It’s MY name!”

“Hold on, hold on!” You raise your voice and step between them, holding up your hands to force a peace. “Uh, EXTRAPLANAR Izirina, if we’re going to go into battle, you’re going to need a name of your own. Maybe you can come up with something?”

“I have one,” she whispers. “My name is Izirina Henzler.”
>>
>>6052545
You look to Izirina—Human-Izirina—helpless and in need of aid. You see only pain and upset. You wince, and turn ack to her demon-dopplengager.

“What about… Rebecca?” you hazard.

“…I don’t want to be a part of that, that PROPHECY.”

Ah, right. She would have memories of the encounter with Nenaias, wouldn’t she?

“Then how about—just for now, maybe—Ayla?”

“Ayla?” both iterations of Izirina ask in tandem.

“It’s an old word from before Common became, uh, commonplace,” you say. “The Men of the Near East used it as a name sometimes, remember? We read about it, together.”

“WE did,” Human-Izirina asserts, voice almost pleading. “Tips, that was US.”

“All three of us,” you remind her gently. “She was a part of you.”

“…It means ‘moon’.”

The Shadow-Izirina—Ayla?—smiles. It’s a pretty smile, small and gentle and genuine. Her cheeks flush slightly, and she looks genuinely touched.

“My moon-clan elf… And I’m your moon? It’s a little much, to be honest…”

“It’s just a placeholder,” you say quickly. “We can—”

“No!”

Ayla smiles, tears of happiness in her eyes.

“I will be your moon, Ezreal.”

“Tips?” murmurs Izirina, voice wavering.

You look between the two, torn and tugged in two directions. Never before have you realized how genuinely EASY you had it with Izirina and Costella—one attracted to the other, and the other at least willing to go along. These two, so similar yet so instinctually AGAISNT one another, are a whole other story.

You decide to be pragmatic.

“We’re going into combat,” you reason. “We need… Callsigns. Codenames. SO, if you like it… Ayla will work.”

Ayla beams. Izzy retreats into herself a little more. Your heart hurts to see it… But you can’t resolve this dilemma right now.

“We should discuss your capabilities,” you tell Ayla. “Your capacity to store aura, the spells you know. That sort of thing.”

“Tips…”

You look apologetically to Izzy, but Ayla has already grabbed hold of your hand, and has begun to inform you of her abilities. Necessarily, practically, you turn your focus to the newest member of your party.

>+1 Ayla relationship
>-1 Izirina relationship
>>
>>6052546
“I can do anything SHE can,” Ayla informs you immediately. “Well, okay. Perhaps now the… The Feycarft you apparently shared with her. Not YET. But if you teach me, I can do that, too!”

“We don’t have time for that right now,” you let her down gently. “But what about… Things you can do, that Izirina might not be able to?”

Her smile turns wicked, and her eyes snakelike.

“With the Nothic’s aid, I mastered the Akashic Record and the Dreamscape,” she informs you. “<Astral Projection>, <Guidance>, <See Invisibility>, <Nightmare>… More, too. And I can <Detect Thoughts> with effort… Detect emotions by default.”

Your heart practically seizes in your chest, and she reaches out to cup your face—so much more forward, more physical, than Izirina Henzler usually is… And just as beautiful.

(And naked.)

“It’s okay,” Ayla says, stroking your face and looking lovingly into your eyes. “I understand why you’re having… A lot of complicated feelings, right now.”

“You do?”

“I was… Desperate when you arrived. Hungry. I’d been apart from you for so long. But you saved me. I’m… I’m calm now. I promise. I think having a physical form helps to reduce qi leakage as well—it stabilizes me.”

“That’s good,” you say, warily.

“As far as combat goes,” she presses on, “I’ve been dwelling amidst the Elemental Planes for QUIET some time. I’m practically a native. I KNOW my command of Elementalism is greater than hers… And, Tips? I think my <elemental Infusion> might surpass yours, as well.”

Your own spell?! Well… That makes some sense, you suppose, under the circumstances.

“That all sounds quite useful,” you admit.

“So what’s our plan?” Ayla asks, excitedly. “I’ll prove my merits—my strength! You’ll see. I’ll SHOW you!”

You recognize Izirina’s tone, her intensity, in this declaration from Ayla. It’s a very valid question though, and obviously one you’ve been giving thought to.

“When I thought I’d… I’d KILLED you,” you say, with bitter apology filling your mouth, “I was so scared. I know that the Unseelie are too far gone to just request an apology and let them join us on Old Maple Hill… But I’m so sick of death. Banelight NEEDED to die… But maybe some of them don’t.”

“But you can’t let them keep getting away with it, either,” Ayla infers, regarding you curiously “You have a solution.”

It isn’t a question, but statement. How much can Ayla sense? What can she see, inside your skull, before you speak it.

“it’s okay,” she assures you.

“…Right. Well, how about this?”

And so you share with Ayla—and Izirina, who you hastily beckon to your side—the plan. Such as it is.
>>
Rolled 14, 7, 1, 11, 9, 19 = 61 (6d20)

>>6052549
Izirina is all-but-depleted of aura, after all this traveling and enchanting, and having Ayla’s elemental connection snapped and severed. Still, she has enough to transport the three of your back to the Unseelie Plane. The smooth black bark and thin red leaves of the darkwood grove which surround’s Banelight’s crumbling castle and shattered statuary come into view in an objective instant, though the relative travel time leaves you as discombobulated as ever.

(Or… Actually, a little bit less. Is it Banelight’s essence infused into you, making you feel more at-home in this place?)

Oncyth and Baajaban are surrounded by the mass of grey-faced, black-eyed fair folk who mass around you; they are pushed to the back, jostled and elbowed. Oncyth in particular looks as if he’d like to repay the favour with lethal interest, while Baajaban demurs, but looks over the much-shorter crowd expectantly; both await your signal to begin the slaughter.

“Where is Banelight?” asks once of her acolytes.

“QUEEN Banelight,” remind another, jabbing him playfully. “Don’t let her catch you slipping up!”

A quick, sharp cacophony of titters erupts in response.

“She remained behind, to fully absorb the Element Planes’ energies,” you supply. “It’s not an easy thing.”

“Then why are you back, cousin?” an Unseelie Fey asks.

You see the minotaur and werewolf tense. You sense Izirina and Ayla do so as well. It’s the moment of truth.

“To do this,” you say, and direct your staff towards the Unseelie Star—that which you laboured so long to craft and empower. “<Disjunction>!”

>5/6 MP
>2/3 HP
>>
>>6052551
The Unseelie star low bright-brighter than before, for a single instantly. Then, like a burned-out candle, it is snuffed out. It geos dark, without so much as smoke—darker than dark, like a void. You are plunged into a starless and moonless night your low-light vision cannot penetrate.

And then the screaming begins.

The Usneelie shout, and cry,a nd wail, and rage.

“Traitor!”

“Betrayer!”

“Where is Banelight?!”

“Kinslayer!”

“Run away!”

“No, kill him! Kill them all!”

To either side of you, fire and lightning crackle to life, as the two Izirinas—Izzy and Ayla, rather—imbue themselves with <Elemental infusion>. You can’t help but notice how much more radiant—how much mightier—Ayla is than her tired human counterpart, though. From amidst the rattling spears and sabres of the Unseelie Fey, who form a great dark mass in the partly-broken darkness, a huge and hairy form rises to rival Oncyth, and a lupine head turns up to the empty, cloudy sky of this fragmentary relam, and howls.

It begins.

What do you do?
>Execute your judgement—total Unseelie execution, for their centuries of unrepentant cruelty and crime against mortals
>Focus on preserving life—friends and Unseelie alike, being as nonlethal as possible, and killing only when you must
>Write-in
[Specific tactics and strategies will only improve your odds of success]
>>
>>6052558
>Execute your judgement—total Unseelie execution, for their centuries of unrepentant cruelty and crime against mortals

>Izzy on Izzy drama
Knew we should have fused them again, now she's discovering she hates herself more than she hates the general population.
>>
>>6052546
>She’s mad at us for being jealous at herself
This isn’t a woman moment anymore this shit a uterus moment

>>6052558
>Execute your judgement—total Unseelie execution, for their centuries of unrepentant cruelty and crime against mortals
I told you we should’ve done this from the start. Now we just depowered it for nothing. What a waste.
>>
>>6052558
>Focus on preserving life—friends and Unseelie alike, being as nonlethal as possible, and killing only when you must
I'm surprised that most anons went with the depowering option. Anyway, it seems that not all of them are on board with killing so we can manage to make then bend if we are enough of a threat. focus on the more aggressive of the bunch and who act like leaders if there's any.
>>
>>6052582
Addendum for the >Write-in
[Specific tactics and strategies will only improve your odds of success]

>>6052551
>Oncyth and Baajaban are surrounded by the mass of grey-faced, black-eyed fair folk who mass around you;
> From amidst the rattling spears and sabres of the Unseelie Fey, who form a great dark mass in the partly-broken darkness, a huge and hairy form rises to rival Oncyth, and a lupine head
Alright, we’re surrounded by unseelie and there’s a big wolf.

Izzy & Ayla; send fire & lightning elemental around the group to clear out the normal unseelie crowd

Baajaban & Oncyth: Stand guard near Izzy & Ayla & Tips to defend them from projectiles or charges

Tips: Lightning the unseelie wolf

If he’s relatively similar enough to oncyth then we just need to stay out of measure
>>
>>6052588
It was a 50-50 split but one anon who chose kill was 1 post id
>>
>>6052558
> a huge and hairy form rises to rival Oncyth
*to rival Baajaban
[Oncyth can't very well rival himself. Woops!]
>>
>>6052558
>Focus on preserving life—friends and Unseelie alike, being as nonlethal as possible, and killing only when you must
We’re supposed to be peaceful lads
>>
[>>6052591 see >>6052594, to eliminate some confusion]
>>
>>6052601
We’re going to get ourselves killed for no reason. They’re not going to spare us.
>>
>>6052605
How much taller is Baajaban compared to Oncyth
>>
>>6052608
[Baajaban is about eight and a half feet tall. Oncyth, normally, is about 6-feet tall, which is remarkable for an elf.]

[A Kodiak bear is about ten feet tall, rearing up on its hind legs, and Oncyth's dire wolf wolf rivals that, but has more trouble standing fully upright.]
>>
>>6052610
So this unseelie wolf thing is bipedal and is as tall as Baajaban? If so, then I’ll proceed with my original plan >>6052591

If the unseelie wolf is as tall as Baajaban while standing four legged, I want Tips to aethereal form, go there, monstrous growth on him

Everything else stays.
>>
>>6052608
>>6052626
[Sorry, to clarify again: the wolf emerging from the midst of the Unseelie is Oncyth himself, who was surrounded by Unseelie before you turned out the lights.]
>>
>>6052633
Hm. Noted.

So we're surrounded.

change from >>6052591 to

Izzy & Ayla: summon water elementals and have them throw water onto the unseelie pack

Oncyth and Baajaban remain on guard for them

Tips use lightning

(I want the lightning to take out most of them in one go.)
>>
>>6052558
>Execute your judgement—total Unseelie execution, for their centuries of unrepentant cruelty and crime against mortals


>Write-in: focus on energy draining them, Their energy should be waning now that the star is off.

No way people are trying to level with the unseelie after all our appeals to banelight (and we made numerous) fell on deaf ears.

>>6052601
When were we every peaceful? Our parents were adventures (basically grave robbers/ mercenaries.) And we killed people in quests 1,3,,7,8.5 and in this one as well. They were mostly trolls,goblins unseelie who attacked us first. But we still have undoubtedly slain too many beings to be considered a pacifist.
>>
>>6052558
>>Execute your judgement—total Unseelie execution, for their centuries of unrepentant cruelty and crime against mortals
So what if we're an Unseelie now?
We're getting away from the stupid batman killer fallacy walking the punisher road.
>>
Rolled 6, 2, 6, 10, 14, 14, 2, 4, 4, 10, 3, 2, 15, 17, 6, 10, 12, 7, 1, 8, 7, 3, 19, 14 = 196 (24d20)

>>6052698
>>6052660
>>6052654
>>6052601
>>6052588
>>6052572
You gaze into the dim darkness, grateful that your modified, blackened eyes seem to cut the shadows even more effectively than they did before you integrated Banelight’s essence into your own. It’s not true Darkvision, such as goblinoids have, but it's a damn sight better than facing the Unseelie at a disadvantage.

...Well, more of a disadvantage.

Your forces number four-- five, counting Ayla, six counting Muffins. Seven, if you really want to count little Veloz, but that's a stretch. The Unseelie, though they hardly amount to any sort of real court or kingdom, number at least thirty-six, or maybe as many as forty-eight; less than fifty, but far more than you can mount. Worse, they surround you. The deactivation of their Unseelie Star has weakened them (and many are likely still hungover from last night’s revels), but they're still True Fey, armed to the teeth and far from helpless.

Loathe though you are to inflict further death, you long ago learned that misplaced mercy will still bring the Lord of Endings’ gaze—only upon you, or the ones you love.

“Stick to the plan!” you shout to your friends, lovers, and animal companions. "Kill them all!”

We’re going to roll 2d20 for Muffins and 3d20 for Oncyth; DC 16. Baajaban gets another 3d20, DC 15 thanks to his new club granting impressive reach; normally it would be higher. Next, your roll for an Energy Drain, 6d20, DC 18 given you’re targeting such a wide array of foes and it’s a new spell; Izirina and Ayla will follow up with water/lightning dual assault, 5d20 each; the DC for the latter will depend on your success with the former. Of your five allies, you need at least four successes between them for a complete rout. Crits count for two successes; crit failures set you back, and anyone who fails at all will sustain an injury.
>>
>>6053034
>6 ,2 for Muffins; 0 successes
>6, 10,14 for Oncyth; 0 successes
>14, 2, 4 for Baajaban; 0 successes
>4, 10, 3, 2, 15, 17 for Tips; 0 successes
>6, 10, 12, 7, 1 for Izirina; 0 successes, 1 critical fail
>8, 7, 3, 19, 14 for Ayla; 1 success
Well, fuck.

[Writing. There may be some delays, as I'm at work.]
>>
>>6053034
Keeping with the tradition of getting fucked at the begging of a fight. A shame tips dc is high as fuck, even though we’d not get the 4 successes anyway.
I’m still surprised anons voted for deactivating the star when they were going to kill then anyway.
>>
>>6053046
The Unseelie would have been stronger if you hadn't deactivated the Star first; every DC would have been one higher, and they would be casting fire spells instead of using spears and arrows.


>>6053036
Everyone has been briefed on the plan, or at least their part in it, and they jump to fulfill their roles. Even as the Unseelie cry out in outrage, many of their screams turn to terror or pain as Oncyth falls upon them from within their own ranks, a vengeful wolf among a flock of sheep who deserve the tooth and claw—his, or those which Muffins attacks with in tandem, eager for his own share of fresh meat.

>6, 2 for Muffins; 0 successes
>6, 10, 14 for Oncyth; 0 successes

Alas, it is their animal screams which rise above all others, instead. Though Oncyth is mighty, and Muffins well-supplied with many a mouth to bite or head to batter with, the Unseelie are yet winged... or rather, with what energies remain from the Unseelie Star, they MANIFEST such wings as NECESSARY TO SAIL BEYOND THEIR REACH, AND TO PEPPER THEM WITH HURLED SPEARS AND BITING ARROWS.

>2/3 HP for Muffins
>2/3 HP for Oncyth

Baajaban steps forth with his club raised high, groaning a bovine battle-cry. The minotaur batters projectiles this way and that with wide and mighty swings...

>14, 2, 4 for Baajaban; 0 successes
>2/3 HP for Baajaban

...But the Unseelie stay taunting just beyond his reach, and all he succeeds in doing is soaking up some of the damage which would otherwise have been inflicted upon your beloved pet and Logan Pearce’s lycanthropic lover.

“Make them pay!” you hear an Unseelie fairy shriek.

“For Banelight!”

“For FREEDOM!”

“Hold on,” you gasp. “Hold on, I’ve got this!”

If they have no energy, they’ll lose their flight. It’s a transformation, not innate.

“<Energy Dr—> AUGH!”

>4, 10, 3, 2, 15, 17 for Tips; 0 successes
>1/3 HP for Tips

Your new spell would have been perfect for the purpose, of course. But it IS a new spell, untested and unpracticed, being performed under (put mildly) less than ideal conditions. Maintaining the concentration needed for spellcasting is a difficult thing even under fire by a single archer or spearcaster, let alone a dozen... And fellow fair folk well-know the danger of magic, and of that spell in particular, as it was once their queen’s. The moment you muster your energies, you make of yourself a target, and shortly thereafter a pincushion.

“Tips!” both aspects of Izirina Henzler—Izzy and ‘Ayla’—scream at once, and quickly step forward to defend you.

“I’ll summon a water elemental to douse them, and then you can shock them with—GHH!”
>>
>>6053058
Izirina’s planning process is cut short as her own armor proves inadequate to stop the barrage of sharpened blackwood which falls upon you both. She is regrettably reduced to instead summoning an ice elemental—and not an especially large one—to serve as a barrier for the two of you. It is a temporary respite, but it may be all you get.

“Are you okay?” you ask her, through the haze of your own pain.

>6, 10, 12, 7, 1 for Izirina; 0 successes, 1 critical fail

She nods, biting her lip hard to stem the scream which no doubt longs to explode forth, judging by the arrow transfixing her left arm.

“Can you cast?” you whisper.

She doesn’t shake her head... But neither does Izirina nod.

“Useless!” Ayla sneers, though whether at the Unseelie Court or at the original Izirina, you can’t be sure. “Let me show you how it’s DONE!”

>8, 7, 3, 19, 14 for Ayla; 1 success

Ayla raises her hands high, and cries out: “<CHAIN LIGHTNING!>”

Electrical energy explodes from all ten of her fingertips, streaking in every direction at once. The jeering insults turn into injured exclamations as the many bolts of lightning strike true, hitting at least a half-dozen of the dark fairies. From them, of course, the spell does as its name implies: it arcs, spreading into another and another. The cloud of firefly wings thins out as at least a dozen of the little Unseelie bastards come tumbling down from the sky, like a thundering rain. The booming crack of all those electrical eruptions fills the dark sky of the demiplane with light, illuminating the silhouette of Izirina’s shadow—of Ayla, who alone among your allies stands tall and undaunted, naked in the storm like some primal witch of old.

The demonic double of the woman you love, newly empowered and enervated by victory, looks over her shoulder at where you and the human Izirina have been forced to cower, and shouts:

“Tips! Follow my lead!”

“Wh-what?”

“<ELEMENTAL INFUSION!>”

You watch as Ayla’s silhouette darkens from dark to light, illuminated by fire and lightning as once formed the whole of her being—or so it had seemed—upon your first meeting. She is pouring all of her aura into the effort—a not-inconsiderable amount, in spite of her recent disjunction. The Unseelie stare in confusion and fear, taking potshots even as the brightness of the transformation forces them to shield their dark-adapted eyes, and the blistering heat creates a shockwave of air that blasts them back.

Do you do as Ayla orders, and add your own aura to her own?

>Yes
>Some... But you hold some in reserve
>No, you have another plan [Write-in]
>>
>>6053059
>Some... But you hold some in reserve
If the yes option is to put all our mana into her, nah. Boost her and let’s think of something else, probably healing Izzy’s arm.
>>6052588
>>
>>6053059
>Some... But you hold some in reserve
>>
>>6053059
>Some... But you hold some in reserve

Yeah we'll need the mana to heal the injured.
>>
>>6053059
>Some... But you hold some in reserve
For healing
>>
Rolled 3, 14, 14, 3, 7 = 41 (5d20)

>>6053070
>>6053077
>>6053173
>>6053185
>4/6 MP
Despite your failure to fully cast Disjunction due to your own injury, the aura was expended. This the hazard of combat-casting, which is why battle-mages like your friends Logan Pearce and James Efron are specially-trained in the art of concentration. You, being a more scholastic sort averse to combat—present circumstances aside—have done no such thing. It’s for the sake of those same injuries which so stufled you that you also afford Ayla less aura than your otherwise might…

>2/4 MP

…Though you still supply her a little boost to her <Elemental Infusion>, further augmenting her lighting. As you add to her already-considerable strength, she begins to levitate off the ground, occupying a central space within the electrified, cloud-wreathed form of an elemental giantess. Rays like horns rise from her supernatural shell’s otherwise-blank face, and when it’s mouth opens, the smoke and fire which billows forth is as if from the Hells’ own soul-fed furnaces.

[DC 12; for every two Ayla beats that by, she gets another success towards the three more you need for a rout. Because you helped her upcast, base DC is decreased by 2 more, so: DC 10 for get one success, 12 for two, 14 for total victory.]
>>
Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>6053308
The waves of infernal smoke wash over the airborne Unseelie, but they do not spread beyond them. The smog does not dissipate, but coalesces…. And then, from its depth, lightning flashes. It is not blue or yellow or bright vibrant white, but red-hot, or vibrant purple and pink. Each flash is accompanied by a scream, or squeal, or some other terrible and lamentation, and one by one the cloud rain still more bodies—a locust-lie hailstorm of charred, ash-black corpses which crumble and break on impact with the extradimensional earth below.

Towering above you all, Ayla laugh, in glee and glory, and most of all in triumph.

>3/4 of the Unseelie Court is destroyed

You feel no joy in seeing the carnage… Yet as you gaze upon crumbling hands on broken-ff, outstretched limbs, and clutch close to Izirina, you’d be a lair to say you felt no smidgen of relief.

[Rolling morale for the remaining Unseelie Fey.]
>>
>>6053315
Those fallen fair folk who survive the atrocious onslaught stare, almost literally bug-eyed, at their destroyer. They over in place for a moment, gripping spears and swords, drawing froth arrows from arcane quivers which seem all-but-endless and beginning to notch them…

>10

“Fuck THIS!”

“I’m gone!”

“The realm is yours!”

“the WORLD is yours!”

“We surrender!’

“Gods damn the old Queen! All hail the new Queen!”

As they go, the uber-Ayla rumbles like rolling thunder, and watches with piercing eyes. A great mouth parts and—like the inverse of the ice dragon’s maw last winter—it begins to breath IN, dragging the Unseelie back towards it. They flutter and flap their wings in desperate effort, pleading and begging for mercy, for forgiveness. They forsake their loyalties, renounce their sins, and win ten-to-twelve distinct voices, these last few member sof the Usneelie Court scream:

“Spare us!”

“We were just doing what came naturally to su!”

“No, we only obeyed Banelight!”

“We didn’t mean it!”

“We’ll leave!”

“We’ll stay!”

We’ll do whatever you want!”

Yet Ayla does not care. When once she belched forth a terrible, elementally-attuned spiritual miasma, she now sucks it back. Amidst the foul , fell-realm fumes, you see motes of crystal light—fairy light. You recognize them: the will-o-th’-wisp souls of the Unseelie already slain, being drawn into the demon’s hungry pit, where Men and Elves keep their spirits.

What will you do with those who surrender?
>Kill even those who flee and submit [+Ego, -Elf Empathy; Requires Courage roll]
>Let them go in peace [-Ego, +Elf Empathy]
>Press-gang them not servitude, as they have others [+Ego, Unseelie King route lcoked]
>Bind them as prisoners, to present to the Sylvan Fey [???]
>Write-in

And what of Ayla’s spiritual feast? Will you permit it?
>Try to stop her
>Allow her to fuel herself upon the souls of the Unseelie Fey who defied and tried to kill you
>>
>>6053324
>Press them into servitude, kill any who refuse
>Allow the feast
>>
>>6053324
>Let them go in peace [-Ego, +Elf Empathy]
It’s only 1/4 of the og unselee and they’re shaken anyway.

>Try to stop her
Bad girl, show some restraint
>>
>>6053324
>“No, we only obeyed Banelight!”
“We didn’t mean it!”
“We’ll leave!”
“We’ll stay!”
We’ll do whatever you want!”

Eh. I think that’s good enough. They probably won’t come back for revenge but I’m not sure if killing them all is really necessary.

And I remember RQM saying the total is like 3 - 4 dozen. Being king of 9-12 people doesn’t sound all that worth it. And besides, what could they really offer? A militia that isn’t all that well trained? Fey with fire magic?

I guess we could use them to kill carlos but that would just be adding more fuel to the “magic hill is a danger” narrative.

>Bind them as prisoners, to present to the Sylvan Fey [???]
They’re useful as negotiating tools.

>Try to stop her
We can’t use them if they’re dead.
>>
>>6053324
>Kill even those who flee and submit [+Ego, -Elf Empathy; Requires Courage roll]

The dark fey and their whole corrupted bloodsucking dimension is worthless. Better they fade away, they only stated surrendering once they saw Ayla had crushed them. Their belief's haven't changed, they are just cowardly and saying whatever it takes to weasel out of the situation they have put themselves in.

>Allow her to fuel herself upon the souls of the Unseelie Fey who defied and tried to kill you

Those dead fey mean nothing to us, And Ayla is probably hunger after casting that super storm miasma spell. Better she feeds off them than someone else.
>>
>>6053324
>>Bind them as prisoners, to present to the Sylvan Fey [???]
>Try to stop her
>>
>>6053369
Oh wait I thought she was gonna feast on the alive ones

Change from >>6053350
to
>allow her to fuel herself
>>
>>6053369
>>6053386
Guys, considering we’re talking about her consuming souls do you really think that’s a good idea ?
>>
>>6053392
I was thinking we could turn ayla into something like a true fey

>When once she belched forth a terrible, elementally-attuned spiritual miasma, she now sucks it back.
>Amidst the foul , fell-realm fumes, you see motes of crystal light—fairy light. You recognize them: the will-o-th’-wisp souls of the Unseelie already slain, being drawn into the demon’s hungry pit, where Men and Elves keep their spirits.

We’re absorbing the post-star unseelie here, not the old one. So technically they’re just like regular fey.
>>
>>6053324
>Bind them as prisoners, to present to the Sylvan Fey [???]

>Try to stop her
>>
>>6053331
That’s me btw
>>
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>>6053576
>>6053474
>>6053415
>>6053386
>>6053377
>>6053369
>>6053350
>>6053331
>>6053330
[Hm, a rather important tie. I'll leave this a little longer to see if it breaks.]
>>
>>6053324
>Bind them as prisoners, to present to the Sylvan Fey [???]
I have no doubt in my mind were gonna get in trouble
>Try to stop her
We already gave 1 demon clone a body this one is far more intelligent and in control
>>
>>6053632
[Do you have an earlier post to backlink to?]
>>
>>6053634
Alas not one that would help at all, my last post was a question I didnt even vote :(
>>6051939
>>
Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6053673
[Sorry, anon, but I fear it's only fair that I roll, then.]

>>6053582
[Doing so! On a 2, Tips tries to intervene to prevent the soul-feast]
>>
>>6053793
zazed
>>
>>6053793
>>6053812
>>6053793
“Iz—Ayla,” you say quietly, “Stop.”

The great beast who you have helped to create does not, though. Famished by her arcane expenditures, or drunk on victory and demonic instinct, she continues to suction those caught in her storm towards her open maw. Ayla’s body—her newly-formed, flesh-and-blood body, within the larger elemental edifice which the two of you constructed—sits at the back of the throat, her own mouth wide in laughter that you can’t hear over the screams for mercy.

These terrified fairies… They might be criminals of the worst sort, predatory brigands and slavers, but seeing them crying out in mortal terror, their pleas for surrender utterly ignored, it makes you sick. You can’t let them go free, unpunished; nor can you imagine working with them, assuming you could even trust them to follow you. Still, this is wrong.

It’s not just wrong for them. Consuming their spirits like this… It isn’t something that could ever end well for Ayla’s own development as a separate being. Just as you forbade Carazzi’s cannibalistic cravings in the Goblin Wastes, you feel the need to intervene here. You are responsible for Ayla in some way—her separation, her evolution, her return from accidental exile in a body you created for her. You might be ‘Unseelie’ yourself in the eyes of the Bonum Chaoticum, but are you to be a maker of monsters? A corrupter of new life? A destroyer and devourer of souls, even by proxy? Are you going to allow Ayla to indulge in her worst instincts, and potentially become something far worse than Banelight?

“STOP!” you shout again.

This time, Ayla hears you. Her elemental body rumbles with displeasure as she gazes down upon you, and for a moment you fear she will stomp upon you, and snuff you out like an insect. Izirina must fear likewise, but even injured and seemingly unable to cast magic, she tries to pull you backwards, and to push herself ahead of you. It’s touching, if a little emasculating, how ready she is to defend and protect you even at the cost of her own life; whatever her flaws and foibles, Izirina Henzler’s love for you is no small or fickle thing.

Luckily, there is no need for any sacrifice. Not today.

With a tremendous sigh, the electrified, demoniac giantess deflates and dissolves. The Izirina-alike within slowly descends as the magical manifestation diminishes, until she joins two and her other half. She says nothing, but looks rather miffed. Yua ren’t sure whether to be worried or apologetic, or perhaps both; you do neither for now, and instead the three of you gaze upon the shivering, whimpering Unseelie who remain: nine of them, alone and afraid amongst the dead.

“They don’t deserve a second chance,” Ayla says. “They reek of evil.”

“You can <Detect Evil>?” you ask, eyebrows raised. “Like a paladin?”

Ayla shoots you a look, then sighs, admitting: “It’s a figure of speech.”
>>
>>6053825
Izirina frowns, but you sense her own opinion of the Unseelie actually correlates quite closely to Ayla’s—though her wariness towards Ayla HERSELF is also quite tangible, even if she’s going along with your wishes. Addressing both of their concerns, you explain your plan: to take the Unseelie Fey who remain prisoner, and to offer them up to the Sylvanfolk as prisoners, when your diplomatic talks commence.

“Any objections?” you ask archly, and none of those enemies who have survived the battle dare to voice any rebellion.

As the skies of the strange little pocket-dimension clear, the ruined castle has tumbled into still-worse disrepair, and many of the newly-restored darkwood trees have snapped and broken, or been stripped bare, as if by a hurricane. You look about for your friends, calling out their names:

“Oncyth? Baajaban?” you cry. “Muffins? Veloz?”

The little lunar hummingbird finds you first. You reach out to cup your celestial familiar for a moment, as he trills happily and then darts away. A moment later he returns, with Oncyth, Baajaban, and Muffins following. All of them look as if they’ve had better days, and Muffins in particular seems miffed to find the fallen fairies fading from material reality with their death, leaving now even bones to gnaw upon.

“I’ll feed you when we get home,” you reassure him, ruffling his lion-head’s mane and scratching under his goat-head’s bearded chin.

(Ayla, too, whose stomach audibly complains as the last of the soul-stuff fades away, also, to whatever final rest awaits these ancient apostates.)

“…She’s new,” notes Oncyth, nodding towards Ayla.

“I’m actually not,” the duplicate of Izirina mutters.

Oncyth looks her up and down, and her face flushes. Both of them are naked, a reality Ayla seems freshly aware of. You know better than be jealous, though, and are more embarrassed by Oncyth’s nudity than Ayla’s before him; the lycanthropic elf’s appraisal is decdieldy non-erotic. You do grow a little worried when he takes a deep whiff of the air, though, and stiffens in a different, more combative manner.

“It’s a long story,” you blurt out, for you know he has detected the demon-taint in her. “Uh, for later. Baajaban?”

Though when you found Baajaban he was quite naked himself, the minotaur is no unclad savage, beastman or not—he rather wears a sort of crude robe fashioned from spare bedsheets, which Costella has decorated and dyed to make seem more fashionable. Understanding your intent, with the aid of a few gestures, he now tears away a section of it as evenly and delicately as his wide, blunt fingers can manage, and proffers it to Ayla. She in turn gazes blankly upon the offering, before looking helplessly to you.

“Turn around and let me help,” you sigh with a small smile, and help her to attain some degree of modesty.
>>
>>6053827
When practical matters conclude, and the Unseelie are rounded up, you survey the blasted and bleak wasteland of this demiplane—YOUR demiplane, you suppose, since you know the <Demiplane> spell that formed it, and it is attuned to the ancient essence you absorbed from its original artisan. It is a storied place, no doubt-centuries old, with a network of interdimensional tunnels you don’t yet understand connecting to places you can only guess at. It is also weakened, disrupted, and now without power to sustain it—without the blood and souls of sacrifices, and now hosting only an inert Unseelie Star. It will collapse under its own weight soon, without intervention…

But maybe that is best? Maybe, when you wield the <Demiplane> spell yourself, you can make something better? It would take decades or centuries to make the equal of this place in terms of size and scope, but there would be less bloody history to it, without any unpleasant surprises. It would be well and truly your creation.

What will you do with the Unseelie Realm demiplane?
>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
>Allow the demiplane to crumble and fade—you will make a new one in its place, someday, from scratch
>Write-in
>>
>>6053830
>>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
>>
>>6053830
>Allow the demiplane to crumble and fade—you will make a new one in its place, someday, from scratch
too much bad blood on this. unless anons wanna pick some sorta fight with the sylvian realm, letting it fade is for the best
>>
>>6053830
>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
>>
>>6053830
>Allow the demiplane to crumble and fade—you will make a new one in its place, someday, from scratch.

A giant demi plane is detrimental in my opinion. We just need a demi plane big enough to store our star in and maybe enough for some crops.

What do we need a entire castle and a vast underground spy network/kidnapping tunnel ring for?

Those interdimensional connections could also pose a security risk. What if the unseelie had allies who know how to use them?
>>
>>6053830
>Allow the demiplane to crumble and fade—you will make a new one in its place, someday, from scratch
>>
>>6053830
>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
>>
>>6053830
>It is a storied place, no doubt-centuries old, with a network of interdimensional tunnels you don’t yet understand connecting to places you can only guess at.

>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
Why the hell would we not keep it? We have our own world now. The network of tunnels is such a useful thing. And bloody history? That’s like saying our lightning staff is shit because we used it in combat.
>>
>>6053830
>Reactivate the Unseelie Star with Ayla’s aid, preserving the Unseelie’s network of secret tunnels to Earth and elsewhere, the darkwood forest, the castle-grounds, and all else under your dominion
realistically we arent gonna be welcome back with the sylvans probably ever now with our banelight fudion going on but I think we may be able to convince them to leave us alone and we can spruce this demiplane up a bit and make it Tips home, plus this is easy passage to and fro if we map them and organize the exits a little better
>>
>>6054073
*fusion
>>
>>6053871
>>6053903
>>6053912
>>6053939
>>6053955
>>6053957
>>6053961
“Izirina,” you speak up, “do you have the magic left to help me reactivate the Star?”

“What?” Izirina asks, surprised. “…Not exactly.”

By this point, of course, even your own energy is waning. Once the battle was won and the surviving defeated rounded up for imprisonment, you had all related your wounds as your next course of action. Coordinating a casting of <Cure Wounds> did most of the work, but <Monstrous Regeneration> would be needed to truly retore movement in Izirina’s left arm, and that rang of motion and precision of movement was needed to cast.

“Right,” you acknowledge with a frown. “Okay, I guess we can wait, then.”

“There’s no need.”

You and Izirna both turn towards Ayla, who smiles too-sweetly at Izzy, before looking back to you.

“I need energy to make up for all that I expended in the battle,” she says, “and you need energy as well… But I have just enough to <Plane Shift> of the two of us.”

“Wh-what?” Izirina asks, squinting. “That makes no sense. Even if you could survive the conditions without a spell like <Elemental Infusion> FIRST, the amount of magical energy needed to perform that spell is too great to perform when we’re already—”

“It’s too great for YOU to perform that spell.”

Izzy stops, and Ayla’s smile spreads, as she explains past her, to you:

“’I’ve lived in that space for years now… Or ‘existed’, if ‘lived’ isn’t accurate, trapped. The travel between here and there is trivial to me. Second nature, in a way. ”

“Then why were you ‘trapped’ to begin with?” Izirina asks.

“Because I had no ‘coordinates’ or the material plane or anywhere else… No connection to it anymore, after… After you left me.”

Ayla speaks the final words with a pained expression, and your immediate instinct is to reach out to touch her—a response that Ayla plainly anticipated, quickly leaning into you and clinging close, shifting to position herself between you and Izirina.

“Now, with the body you made for me, and having taken the trip once, I’m confident I can do so again… If you’ll let me, and help me? I only have enough energy to transport you, and me. Once we’re there, though… <Energy Drain> should do to recharge you, shouldn’t it?”

“Tips…” Izirina begins, sounding worried.

But you trust Ayla—or at least, you sense no ill-intent from her. In actuality, her general demeanour reminds you of how ‘snuggly’ Carazzi gets when ‘hungry’ for affection and attention. Granted, it takes on a rather different dimension, when her voice, her shape, her very scent are all identical to that of Izirina…

You gulp, and nod.
>>
>>6054075
Ayla’s eyes brighten and her smile widens, as she takes your hands. Together, pooling what aura you both have left, you muster enough for a casting of <Plane Shift>, and soon return to that space between-spaces which you had earlier occupied: that formless realm of undifferentiated aether which bridges the planes of Air and Fire, from whence Extraplanar Electricity can be derived. Containing the essence of both the related Elemental planes, that is surely the fastest way to reinfuse the Unseelie Star with energy enough to support a whole plane. If anything, this raw extraplanar energy (and a persistent connection TO these planes through proper attunement) will make the Star greater than before you deactivated… A liability at one point, but now you can co do without the risk of providing that power to a being like Banelight. You’re honestly quite excited as you cast <Energy Drain> and begin to refuel your aura from the planes…

“W-woah!” you cry out automatically as you find your concentration broken by Ayla’s body pressing against yours from behind.

By the feel, you know without looking that she is naked once more—a fact confirmed as you spy her Baajaban-provided attire, such as it was, drifting through the aether. By the press of two points against your back, she is either cold or excited. Between the proximity of the Plane of Fire with its unearthly warmth, you assume the latter; the way she clutches at your chest before beginning to undo the ribbon at the front of your tunic solidifies this interpretation. Before you can adequately respond, Ayla reaches beneath your shirt to trail nails down your skin, you can’t help but start to share in that excitement.

“Ayla, I’m not sure this is the time for that…” you say gently, and a little breathlessly.

“Of course it is,” she states with Izirina-like plainness of fact. “It’s integral to the whole operation.”

“O-oh?”
>>
>>6054076
You gasp as, with distinctly UN-Izirina initiative, she bites your neck. For a moment you have a horrifying thought of her suckling the energy from you as some sort of vampiric revenant, but her teeth are not a demon’s fangs, and there is no bloodsucking bite… Just a sharp, brief nip, and then the gentle pressure of soft lips and the lapping of a tongue across your stinging skin.

“I’m hungry, Ezreal,” she whispers huskily, “and I need energy to get us back, and to help cast the spell.”

“Ri-IGH-ight,” you stammer, pitch rising as she bites the sensitive tip of your pointed ear, and then begins to suckle there. “Which is why I’m casting <Energy Drain>.”

“That gets the energy into YOU,” she points out. “But I’M the one who needs to cast <Plane Shift>… Which means you need to put the energy into me.”

“Oh.”

Ayla's hands slip down your by-now-exposed abdomen… And into your trousers. She hums happily to find the results of her assertive persuasion, taking hold of you with both hands.

“So, Ezreal?” she asks softly, working you slowly. “Once you’re finished charging, will you… Put it in me?”

You don’t strictly-speaking NEED to do so, of course. You’ve never indulged in such activities with Carazzi, however SOME might interpret the demogoblin’s overtures and your resolution of those urges—platonic, familial affection and the provision of mana by more conventional means can suffice to sustain a succubus’ spawn. Furthermore, you know such ‘activities’ will delay your return, raising questions with Izirina. This whole affair—and AFFAIR does feel like the operative word—will also set the tone for your relationship with Ayla moving forward, you’re certain of that.

“Please?” comes Ayla’s hot breath on your ear, and then another flick of her tongue.

>You initiate (or renew?) an intimate relationship with Ayla, beginning with this impulsive encounter
>You reject her overtures, and refuse to indulge in any intimacy at present
>This whole situation feels wrong on a fundamental level that makes you reluctant to EVER pursue intimacy with her, and you say as much
>Write-in

[Don't count on anything written out either way, after the matter of Thread 8, kek]

>>6054073
Woops, just finished writing. Your vote just solidified the lead, though!
>>
>>6054078
>You reject her overtures, and refuse to indulge in any intimacy at present
we've been faithful to both of our gfs and we won't begging sleeping around now.

>[Don't count on anything written out either way, after the matter of Thread 8, kek]
if it comes to that, pastebin and rentry are your friends, OP
>>
>>6054109
>pastebin and rentry are your friends, OP
[I'm not risking it. Goblin Cultivator's QM caught a temporary ban for ERP and I'm not even sure what he did wrong.]
>>
>>6054078
>You reject her overtures, and refuse to indulge in any intimacy at present
Not right now. Kiss on forehead is doable, though.

We have Costella and Izzy that we need to talk to about this whole situation. It's what we said earlier, anyways.

I don't really see Ayla as a child, more like a twin to Izzy; she's mentally similar enough to her in intelligence that she doesn't need as much supervision as Carazzi.
>>
>>6054129
I think its his username as GoblinBreeder
>>
>>6054078
>Renew an intimate relationship
I mean she is Izzy, it’s not fair to her to treat her like someone else, just like it wouldn’t have been fair to Carazzi to insist she abandon Zith-Zi’s memories
>>
>>6054078
>>This whole situation feels wrong on a fundamental level that makes you reluctant to EVER pursue intimacy with her, and you say as much
>>
>>6054129
That’s mostly because of jannies being trigger happy while finally dealing with the spammers. AFAIK he didn’t use no such links and if you want a comparison, the OP doing the Purge thread has been writing stuff using the links and hasn’t had nothing happen to him.
>>6054141
That makes some sense, considering how trigger happy they were
>>
>>6054078
>You initiate (or renew?) an intimate relationship with Ayla, beginning with this impulsive encounter

Ayla has been acting reasonable and helpful so far it would be wrong to break up with her for no reason. Since We were already in a relationship before we used the rite to split off her soul.
>>
>>6054078
>You reject her overtures, and refuse to indulge in any intimacy at present

Reasonable wouldn't be purposely jumping us out of the view of Irizina. It's explicitly stated this is cheating. So let's not.
>>
>>6054378
this is me>>6053939
>>
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>>6054129
Same for me, I got a one day ban for ERP. It was for voting in The Paladin's Dilemma. Now that it's over, you can post safely.
>>
>>6054378

Wait, I’m pretty sure she still has the dragonpox thing on her body. Even if we want to penetrate her we physically won’t be able to. I guess we don’t need use that but yeah
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>>6054141
[That seems incredibly silly, since we have a QM literally called Qoomer.]

>>6054445
[Just for voting? Wild stuff.]

>>6054418
>>6054378
>>6054175
>>6054167
>>6054139
>>6054109
[Seems like a moot point, though! Locked and writing.]
>>
>>6054596
You fight against primal instincts and innate attraction for a measure of control. For the first time, you actually will yourself to remember the bodies left behind by your Unseelie execution, rather than to forget them. It’s a mental image that churns your stomach and rather dulls the enthusiasm brewing below—something Ayla notices, as her hands withdraw. You swallow hard, and turn to face her—something that brings her bare breasts to your chest.

You only notice that for a second, though, as the fury in her reptilian eyes captures your attention far more fully.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, the anger curiously absent from her voice.

“Nothing’s WRONG,” you say quickly. “But… This isn’t something we, ah, NEED to be doing right now.”

“I need it,” she says, then pauses, and her voice distorts as she forces out the words: “I <WANT> it.”

“I know,” you say, placing your hands upon her shoulders in a gentle gesture… And then, with a soft push, extricating yourself from her embrace. “But it wouldn’t be right.”

Ayla recoils as if struck.

“What? B-but… You said you still loved me.”

“And I DO,” you say delicately, “but Izirina is expecting us back.”

Ayla’s expression shifts, hostility lessening and an understanding setting in. Before you can feel any relief, though, she floats back towards you, placing her arms around your shoulders. It’s a tender gesture… Up until you try to extract yourself again, when her grip becomes python-like.

“Tips,” she says slowly, as if to make sure you understand, “I’M Izirina.”

“Ayla—”

“NO,” she says firmly, angrily, before lowering her voice again until it is almost pleading. “Ezreal… We’re alone. You don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“Pretend?”

“You’ve always been so kind,” Ayla says, with a nostalgic smile and distant tone. “I’ve always loved that about you. Even when we were young, even before we were friends, or, or ANYTHING… You stepped in when the Archmage insulted me, and made me feel small. I really admire that about you—how you did that, how you looked after those jackalopes from the practical examination, how tender you were with Pearce’s feelings. And you’re still like that… Sparing the Unseelie, protecting their souls and taking the survivors captive rather than killing them…”

She pauses, and looks at you directly.

“And pretending that pretender is me, for the sake of her feelings.”

You suppress an involuntary shudder.

“But it’s just us,” Ayla explains, as if she fully believes what she is saying. “You don’t need to play her games anymore, Tips. She can’t come between us anymore… Can’t keep you from me.”

“We’ve been over this,” you say, trying not to sound annoyed, or afraid, as you try to tug yourself free. “She didn’t know... Neither of us knew, what had happened. Ayla—”

“Iz. Ir. In. Ah.”
>>
>>6054627
Nails—claws, by the feel of it, sink into your back. The fury is back in her eyes.

“Say it,” she says.

“Say what?” you ask quietly.

“Say my name.”

“You’re starting to worry me,” you say, fighting to keep your voice level as you feel anger and terror that is not your own creep into you, --an oppressive, dark feeling washing over you in waves, settling upon you like a lead cloak.

“WHO is starting to worry you, Ezreal?” she asks, voice brittle. “Whose virginity did you take? Whose chimeric disease did you cure, so that we could be together?”

She searches your expression with a mad intensity.

“Who did you find, out here, alone in the dark?”

“…Izirina,” you say.

The claws retract. The iron grip releases you, and you release a held breath. Immediately, you fly backwards, gaining distance, and this time Ayla—Izirina?—doesn’t pursue you. She smiles, a disturbingly genuine smile, as if nothing were wrong at all, and she hugs herself.

“Thank you,” she whispers, and then looks up at you, almost pityingly. “I understand… It’s a lot to take in. it must be incredibly confusing for you.”

“Yes,” you agree warily. “It is.”

“You need time,” she says with a nod, floating towards her makeshift robes, to replace it upon her body. “You’re an intellectual, of course. A metaphysicist at heart. And elves—even half-elves—mature and move slowly.”

She smiles again, looking up you, and admits: “I always had the biggest crush on you, you know. As a girl… When we were both young. You just took longer to reach the same point.”

You say nothing, but Ayla, Izirina’s Shadow, doesn’t seem to take offence. Rather, she spreads her arms wide, in a gesture of acceptance.

“I’ll be here for you,” she tells you, “when the pretender is gone.”



You complete the <Energy Drain>, and transfer—platonically, chastely—the energy which Ayla requires to perform the <Plane Shift>. Once more, you find yourself in the pocket-dimension of the Unseelie Fey. There, Oncyth and Baajaban hold crude torches fashioned of blackwood, burning dimly with a pinkish-grey flame across spectra both material and magical, and standing watch over the surrendered Unseelie. Izirina—the human Izirina—looks up at the subtle ‘pop’ of your reappearance, from where she kneels beside Muffins. She looks up at you and, as if seeing something on your face, grows visibly concerned.
>>
>>6054628
“Shall we begin?” asks Ayla, suddenly at your side.

You hesitate, but nod. Turning your back to the other Izirina—too depleted to assist you—you guide her shadow-self in the ritual needed to reactivate the Unseelie Star, and to reinvigorate the Demiplane. Even the defeated Unseelie breathe in relief, as the stagnant atmosphere of decay abates. The light and life begin to return to this little world, and the miasma washes away before an even brighter light than before—a bright white electric light, for the Star now crackles with Elemental Electricity, flickering and ripples with a soft, subtle buzz, or perhaps a hiss.

“It’s beautiful,” Ayla sighs softly, and clutches your arm. “Our own star… Our own world. Our own little secret. Just like I always dreamed…”

You round up what remains of the Unseelie Court—or THIS Unseelie Court, at least. With how Princess Miannie applied the term to you in your dreams, and the legends young elves whispered in your south about strange shapes in the darkness of the Sylvanwood, in places so densely-forested that starlight and moonlight do not reach, you wonder if there might be still others who have somehow earned that appellation, that CONDEMNATION. Still, this particular band of brigands will do no more harm, and their network of tunnels shall no longer be used to launch assaults upon those who leave the beaten path, and it’s thank to you!

(Maybe that will be enough to earn your way back into the good graces of the gods?)

Your friends and captive foes gather around, as Ayla prepares another casting of <Plane Shift> for all of you. Izirina steps up to help, but stops as Ayla points out:

“You’re completely empty, and you’re in the way.”

You frown at see Izirina deflate at the accusation, hands balling at her sides, yet strangely quiet. Ayla sets herself to work, though, and she isn’t WRONG—even after recharging the star, she radiates with a potent aura that you usually associate with the Izirina you know. She has more than enough energy to open the way, and Izirina doesn’t.

Before long, you are all at Old Maple Hill once more.

You, and Izirina… And ‘Izirina’.

What are you going to do about this?
>You will discuss how to fit Ayla into your lives with Costella and Izirina
>Ayla should stay at the Hill, but not share your tent, let alone your bed
>Maybe it’s best to find Ayla somewhere else to stay for now…
>Write-in
>>
>>6054630
>You will discuss how to fit Ayla into your lives with Costella and Izirina
>>
>>6054630
>You will discuss how to fit Ayla into your lives with Costella and Izirina

I think Costella would understand. Besides, we shouldn’t be keeping this from her.

>(Maybe that will be enough to earn your way back into the good graces of the gods?)
No. It shouldn’t come to that. They already hurt us too much. Moon goddess tried to imprison us. Nenaias tried to kill us. The rangers and priest tried to kidnap Izzy.

Cessation of hostilities is all we really need.

>>6054139
>>
>>6054630
>You will discuss how to fit Ayla into your lives with Costella and Izirina
with that said though I don't think it's a good idea to have her share beds with the rest of us
>>
>>6054630
>>Maybe it’s best to find Ayla somewhere else to stay for now…
The first choice is obviously extending our "arrangement" to include the demon. I'm against it.
The second is putting the problem on the back burner. Also against it, but less thant the first one.
>>
>>6054871
>The first choice is obviously extending our "arrangement" to include the demon. I'm against it.
I voted for it on the idea that we'd be talking about her to Costela as well, since we are gonna help Aya deal with her demon self. If it's to make her our 3 gf I'm not supporting it.
>>
>>6054884
[To clarify, the first option is the 'throuple plus one' conversation. Assuming you are >>6054642...]

>>6054635
>>6054642
>>6054691
>>6054871
[We have a tie as to whether to integrate Ayla into the relationship dynamic (or try to). I'm going to write the beginning of a scene, and phrase the vote more explicitly at the end.]
>>
>>6054630
>You will discuss how to fit Ayla into your lives with Costella and Izirina
>>
>>6055405
Wait, if the 1st option is indeed to make it a trouple instead of just presenting
Ayla then I want to clarify that I’m against it.
>>
>>6055405
I’m not >>6054884
>>
>>6054630
>Ayla should stay at the Hill, but not share your tent, let alone your bed
Im not down for expanding the harem to a demonic clone of all the insecurities of our already crazy fiance the same girl who already tried to loophole a prophecy, and I can already fucking see the future on Costellas introduction, let us not forget her aspects from her dragonpox were also shed in the plane, and Ayla as a intelligent early demonic entity probably just fucking ate her, this isnt good
>>
I really hope im not too late, I do not want this
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>>6055420
This sounds like a better option
>>
>>6055421
According to what op said >>6055405 we’d still need to vote to truly try the quadruple here since some were confused.
>>
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>>6055405
>>6055410
>>6055420
You are your companions attract no small amount of attention as you approach the centre of the Old Maple Hill encampment. You sense fascination, but also an undercurrent of unease, verging on fear. You chalk it up to the train of captured Unseelie adversaries who you march in your midst, and take some small, spiteful pleasure in their own obvious discomfort—they aren’t sued to being paraded so and, with your feycraft upon them, every human and halfling here can see them plainly.

However, it’s not just them.

“What ARE they?”

“And why are there two Izirinas?”

“What happened to HIM?”

The last comment reminds you of your own changed shape, and you begin to grow self-conscious of your pale complexion and dark eyes. So too are you made newly aware of the weightless step of your feet—something usually innate to your <Improved Aetehreal Form>, but not to your material one. It goes beyond elven grace, to something truly unearthly, and you briefly have the absurd fantasy of weighing your trouser pockets down with rocks to compensate.

But it’s Costella’s reaction that really makes it hit home

When you come upon Costella, she is holding a clay basin of water, with which she is filling troughs for the small community’s collection of livestock—cows and gats kept for milk, chickens for eggs, sheep for wool. You call a greeting, and she perks up immediately…

And then her eyes widen.

And then her face falls.

And then the basin drops and shatters.

(To her credit, she doesn’t scream…)

“E-Ez?” she whispers, bringing her hands to her mouth. “Is that you?”

You aren’t really sure how to respond to that, honestly, so you just nod. She rushes to you, stopping just short of touching you. It’s a moment’s hesitation, but it hurts. When she cups your face, it is with pity as much as affection.

“Oh! Oh no... Ez… What happened?”

“He’s evolved, obviously.”
>>
>>6055446
That answer, of course, comes from Ayla, and without even looking you can see the cold sneer with which she speaks it. You remember that this is an ‘Izirina’ who scarcely knows of Costella, having firsthand memories only of her lowest, most depressed point, when the dragon-pox had overtaken and deformed her years ago. Costella has changed so much since then, and not just physically… But what Ayla experienced of that, indirectly through her one-time connection to her Earthly other half, clearly left her with a low opinion nonetheless.

The derision in Ayla’s voice is enough to make Costella do a double-take… Which turns into a triple-take, and then a long, dumbfounded ogle.

“Um, like… Am I, uh… Seeing double?” Costella asks with a nervous laugh that makes it plain that even she knows better.

You take her arm gently, exchanging a meaningful look with Izirina, who nods, and joins you on her other side.

“I think we should have a discussion,” you tell her. “About… About LOTS of things, actually.”

“I agree,” says Ayla.

You and Izirina exchange another look, and you explain as delicately as you can: “I think we should save THAT part of the discussion for… Afterwards. Please?”

Ayla lets out a faint hiss from between her teeth and rolls her jaw once, shoulders squaring up as if ready for a fight… But then to your great relief, she simply nods, once, curtly, and affects a smile. It even reaches her eyes.

“I can wait,” she says. “I’ll be here.”

‘I’ll be here for you, when the pretender is gone.’ comes the echo of her private promise.

You shake it off, and join the other two women you love in your tent. There, you and Izirina set her down in one of the chairs Izirina summoned forth from the Tower’s storerooms and never got around to returning—the only seat in your quarters, in fact, since Izzy tends to simply call upon them as needed.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, averting her eyes. “I… I don’t have the energy to bring us more.”

“It’s fine,” you assure her, startled to see her crestfallen over something so small.

(Though… You suppose that’s not all it is, is it?)

“Iz? Ez?” Costella asks, sounding as if she’s on the edge of panic. “What exactly, um, like… HAPPENED out there?”

And so, in simple terms suitable to a layperson, and phrased carefully so as not to produce undo panic over your multiple near-death experiences, you explain. Despite the caution in your telling, and Izirina’s occasional helpful interjection, Costella gasps at several point, freckled face going pale, and beautiful eyes welling with tears as you tell of certain aspects: the series of betrayals and reprisals, the appearance of a Shadow-Izirina, the accidental near-obliteration of her, her adoption into your coterie as ‘Ayla’, and the subsequent eradication of all but a few of the Unseelie Fey.
>>
>>6055447
“Oh Gods Above,” she says quietly.

“But it’s all fine, now!” you tell her, as brightly as you can. “I mean, we still have the matter of handing the Unseelie over to the Crown—”

“Or the Tower,” Izirina note. “Mother has the rod and chest that the hobgoblins used to capture the sand elves’ Fey allies.”

“Right, good thinking,” you agree. “But anyway, the worst is behind us!”

“And what about, like, Ayla?”

Izzy goes silent at Costella’, facial features locking in place as they were, and then assuming a sort of forced neutrality.

“Well,” you say carefully, “she’s a part of Izirina, sort of. Or… Another Izirina. But still, Izzy. I kind of thought she might… Stay here with us?”

Costella and the Human izirina exchange a look of their own at that.

“And, like, how does SHE feel about that?” Costella asks, worriedly. “If she’s Iz… Umm, like… Didn’t it take a lot of…”

“Tinkering,” Izirina supplies quietly.

“Right! Like, a lot of tinkering, and, like… Time, and, um, all kinds of stuff, to make ‘us’ work? The three of us? And it sounds like this other Iz is, is, uh… Is like…”

“Dangerous,” Izzy supplies.

Both women are looking at you now, with an expectant expression, and another emotion you can’t fully interpret. You feel your face warm under this attention, but not as much as it might have only a few days ago.

(…Can you even still blush, a you are?)

What do you propose?
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.
>You want to give Ayla a home here on the Hill, but you agree—you love her, but you can’t imagine she is a good fit for the already sometimes-precarious balance of your sexual and romantic life with Costella and Izirina. You’re sure Ayla will understand.
>You want to help and heal Ayla… But that can’t happen here at the Hill, where her jealousy and possessiveness will only be exacerbated, since you can’t bring yourself to love her the way you do Costella and Izzy. You’ll find somewhere else for her to stay.
>Write-in

How has Costella’s reaction to your appearance—and that of the other humans you’ve encountered—made you feel?
>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
>You feel shamed and embarrassed by the reaction, and uncomfortable with your new form
>Write-in

[I hope this clarifies the vote sufficiently? Ask me if questions, because this is the 'real' one.]
>>
>>6055449
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.

>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
>>
>>6055446
Oh no he’s black!!

>>6055449
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.
She needs to not see Izzy as a pretender, though. And Costella.

>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
It’s literally what elves look like.

>>6054642
>>
>>6055465
>It’s literally what elves look like.
[For clarity, Tips looks far less 'human' than your average earth-dwelling elf now. Some part of is an uncanny, metaphysical 'vibe', but he also is albino-pale and has pitch black eyes that, when exposed to pronounced magic, have glowing purple irises.]
>>
>>6055449
>You want to help and heal Ayla… But that can’t happen here at the Hill, where her jealousy and possessiveness will only be exacerbated, since you can’t bring yourself to love her the way you do Costella and Izzy. You’ll find somewhere else for her to stay.

>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
they've accustomed to our quirks before, this will be just another one of them.
>>
>>6055465
>Oh no he’s black!!
the opposite, actually
>>6055457
so anons really wanna make this triangle a square ? (more like a chicken paw, considering she's not interested in the other 2)
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>>6055476
>so anons really wanna make this triangle a square ?
No, but kicking her to the curb when she is essentially a clone of our fiancé is something I want even less, so this is what I'm working with.
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>>6055467
>>6055476
Getting blacked is crazy

>so anons really wanna make this triangle a square ?
She’s Izzy. She deserves love. Besides, the non-shadow Izzy has done much worse to maintain her grip on the relationship. I’d rather have it dissolved and settled peacefully.
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>>6055485
>No, but kicking her to the curb when she is essentially a clone of our fiancé is something I want even less, so this is what I'm working with.
you can go with the middle option, where we remain close but don't make her our 3rd gf
>>6055490
>Getting blacked is crazy
anon, considering our paleness it's more like elfed
>She’s Izzy. She deserves love. Besides, the non-shadow Izzy has done much worse to maintain her grip on the relationship. I’d rather have it dissolved and settled peacefully.
alright, since you wanna nuke it I think it makes some sense but be prepared to give up Costela as well since Ayla doesn't like her either and won't be up to sesbian lex
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>>6055504
I don’t think Ayla is willing to settle for anything less than a romantic relationship with Tips anyway. It either works out or not at all.
>>
>>6055449
>You want to help and heal Ayla… But that can’t happen here at the Hill, where her jealousy and possessiveness will only be exacerbated, since you can’t bring yourself to love her the way you do Costella and Izzy. You’ll find somewhere else for her to stay.
Ayla is an unfortunate byproduct of an unperfected craft in my opinion, yeah shes literally our fiancé, but shes also everything our fiancé wanted to get rid of in herself, Izzy already has serious objection to this, Costella is already dealing with a full makeover on our end and now she also has to deal with a copy of Izzy who doesnt like her just like Izzy used to but worse, I do not wish to push Tips to force a succuclone raised by the god of forbidden knowledge into his already tedious harem, Ayla is bad fucking news and we got too curious thinking this was gonna be a Carazzi situation but this is the worst parts of our already morally gray hyper intelligent future wife now with full professor X mind reading and a casual reader of the akashic records not to mention her natural emotive shapeshifting which combod with Izzys emotional outburst spells is sure to be a great fucking time when she loses her shit eventually
>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
I expect hes not as concerned with his appearance, likely more interested in what they are adapted for, his eyes probably have a pitchblack vision and he'll be more sensitive to burning rather than tanning
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>>6055504
>you can go with the middle option, where we remain close but don't make her our 3rd gf
That's just kicking her to a slightly closer curb
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>>6055526
man, like I said getting a 3rd gf will be something that may only work with a lot of nat20s. she doesn't even have the bissexuality that made Izzy and Cossy work in the early stage and she hates both. It's not worth it throwing our relationship under the bus just because you think not fucking her is kicking her under the curb.
>>6055512
the only way I see this working is either her and Izzy ending up reuniting or she becoming friends or non-caring towards us and the girls
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>>6055449
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.

>You feel shamed and embarrassed by the reaction, and uncomfortable with your new form

Ayla and understanding is the least likely thing in the world to happen. And truthfully while no one deserves romantic reciprocation, she is probably the closest thing you can get to that point. I think we have to atleast try.
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>>6055542
Wait, so you’re doing this as a way of fixing her instead of wanting a harem ? Anon we can reunite her with Izzy instead
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>>6055449
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.

I honestly just want to see Ayla be blindsided by Costella lovebombing her and embarrassed flailing as this is so outta of her expected wheelhouse that she doesn’t know how to react (to herself liking it ;)

>You feel shamed and embarrassed by the reaction, and uncomfortable with your new form
I want the old Tips back- Moon!Tips was peak!Tips
>>
>>6055579
Except Izzy has always been a loner, clinging to Tips for support, Ayla has zero attraction towards Costella afawk, again she was ripped from Izzy the same time Costella was changed too, Izzy already told us she had zero attraction to anyone else before and after her transformation and only through alchemical means were we able to make Izzy and Costella work, and that was something she wanted for us, Ayla has shown zero interest in sharing and has downright called the woman weve been with since their split the pretender and already acted territorial, she does not want nor need to be here, she wants to fuck Tips and get his seed for the Beholder, I do not trust mind reading and I do not trust us adding a demonic evil god communing mitosis of our already BPD pushover wizard wife to our comfy triangle, I played heavy into the harem when we played Theral but he was above it all and had things to gain in terms of power and status, Tips is not a king of monsters destined to bring forth the age of darkness, Tips is a wizard actively trying to stop it, Ayla is the catalyst a literal emotionally powered demonic entity and any union between her and any member of our relations is a major cause for concern
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>>6055449
>Ayla is a part of Izzy—the Izzy you first fell in love with, and made love with, as a boy. You’ve confessed your love to her anew, and promised to give her a home, and a life. You mean to deliver on that, and you believe she can find a place within your romantic dynamic.

It's not like izzy or even cos haven't caused problems of their own. With cos telling her parents she engaged and us having to ward of carlous and his goons. And izzy selling our secrets to the archmage and a bunch of other shit.

By comparison what has ayla done to deserve abandonment? Been rude to people?

>Write-in: Look into visiting teste to see if she has makeup that could make you skin tone be less alien looking.
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>>6055579
>>6055595
It feels like you’re doing this not because you guys want a third gf and now because you think that’s the only way we can help her. I gotta say that’s naive and that we don’t need sex to fix her.

>By comparison what has ayla done to deserve abandonment? Been rude to people?
She doesn’t, but from this to being part of our romantic relationship is a big jump. The second option would be more in line with what you think.
>>6055579
This anon gets it
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>>6055595
>It's not like izzy or even cos haven't caused problems of their own. With cos telling her parents she engaged and us having to ward of carlous and his goons. And izzy selling our secrets to the archmage and a bunch of other shit.
true, but remember: even with that and the leglock incident Costella is still one of the sweetest woman we know and wanted to blame herself after Izzy did the pregnancy thing. Izzy with all her problems hasn’t been contacting the nothic and became closer to Cossy. Now Ayla not only hates Izzy and at the very least dislikes Cossy, she’s been in contact with the nothic, is super possessive, doesn’t know how to control her demon side like Cazzy does and has taken every opportunity she could to mog Izzy and afirm herself as the “original”.
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>>6055706
The nothic learned about Ayla in the first place because the soul bound between her and izzy. When izzy started her lessons with him.

Blaming Ayla for having contacts with the nothic when izzy had them first is completely unfair.

Your talking about Ayla being possessive. but izzy caused a thunder storm in outrage when we even suggested the possibility of breaking up with her.
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>>6055861
>Blaming Ayla for having contacts with the nothic when izzy had them first is completely unfair.
I don't exactly blame her, but it's a critical point if you wanna compare the cons of her and Izzy

>Your talking about Ayla being possessive. but izzy caused a thunder storm in outrage when we even suggested the possibility of breaking up with her.
you could make some comparison between her emotional outburst and Ayla to some extent. Now you gave some good arguments as to keeping her close to us, but not a good one to make her our 3rd gf. from what you've said until now, it seems more like you're choosing it because she wouldn't listen to us otherwise which is a very bad start for an already weak relationship.
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>>6055861
So instead we further her already fragile mental state and try to squeeze her into our relationship, ignoring the fact Izzy already said she doesnt like this, Costella just got Izzy in her corner now after we had to modify her pheremone receptors
>She didnt ask to only talk to the Nothic
Okay I understand its a tragic situation, but this is a demonically charged Izzy, this isnt just a goofy little magically inept demogoblin like Carazzi who also got trained into submission by Henzler, this is our scary poor behaviors magical prodigy gf cloned into a succubus who actively despises Henzler, also carrier of Dragonpox, she is a dreamwalker and has a mastery over the Akashic records
>Izzy was possesive too
yes however Izzy doesnt need emotion to live, also thank you for bringing that point forward, Izzy already has outbursts of magic without needing somatic components based off of heightened emotions, so lets let the succubus version of her into the party so we can deal with a thunderstorm and a meteor storm at the same time. Ayla is going to bite us in the ass, the harem is not safe with her around, and we wont be either
Hey reptoid do we still have that binding ribbon, or did we use it for something?
>>
for now the only good argument for bringing Ayla to our love life came from >>6055490 who wants to wipe the slate clean. the other anons who stated their motives have amounted to "I don't really wanna make her our gf, but she won't cooperate otherwise so I'll take the chance of nuking our relationship so something worse doesn't happen". I don't see a reason to be afraid when understanding enough to not kill the unseelie when we asked and didn't try to grape us when we announced our discomfort with her making a move on us in the in-between spaces. If guys really thought that there's no other option you'd have voted to xes her then and there.
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>>6055449
>>You want to help and heal Ayla… But that can’t happen here at the Hill, where her jealousy and possessiveness will only be exacerbated, since you can’t bring yourself to love her the way you do Costella and Izzy. You’ll find somewhere else for her to stay.
>You’re fine with how you look, in spite of their reaction—they’ll adjust, in time
>>
In my opinion, Ayla is not Izzy. Ayla is a Tenia that was embedded into Izzy, thought it was easy while it was the motor behind the worst parts of her.
The demon will literally suck away out relationship. The two girls are clearly uncomfortable with that.
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>>6055995
anon do you have a previous post to backlink to ?
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>>6055595
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>>6055465
>>6055457
[Locked and writing]
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Rolled 7, 13, 9, 8 = 37 (4d20)

>>6056045
“I know she’s dangerous,” you admit. “And I know this is a lot to adjust to… For all of us. The changes to myself, the addition of Ayla… But it’s a big adjustment for Ayla, too.”

The human women exchange a look, but you press on:

“Think about it from her perspective: she’s been locked away for years—pretty much ENTIRELY isolated for the last year.”

“Apart from the Nothic,” izirina points out.

“Who she met through YORU soulbond,” you note.

Izirina flinches, and you immediately regret your tone.

“I’m not blaming you,” you say softly, “I’m only saying: given she had nobody else to talk to, to help or guide her or even to INETRACT with her… Who can blame her? Or for feeling a little, ah… Territorial about me? When she ‘left’, Costella wasn’t even FRIENDS with us yet, let alone…”

You trail off, but Costella nods along, which is promising.

“She was going by a different name, living a completely different life than the one she lives now… But she IS a part of Izirina. And Costella and I both love you, Izirina… And so we owe it to this part of you to find her a way to belong with us. Don’t you think so?”

(And since you sincerely doubt that pushing Ayla away will have any positive effect, you sure HOPE they both think so...)
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>>6056047
Costella is the first to speak up, for Izirina still seems too cowed to take the lead. When she does o, it fills you with hope, at least at first.

“I think… I think I get it,” she says.

“Good!” you say quickly. “I’m glad that—”

“Like, I get why YOU think so,” she presses on, interrupting you in rather un-Costella Fanucci fashion. “Why this is, like, important to YOU.”

Your burgeoning smile dips down at the corners.

“But Ez…” she says gently, reaching out to take your hands. “You’re not really listening to what Iz is saying, or like… Asking me how -I- feel. That’s TOTALLY not like you.”

“That’s not fair,” you reply, pulling your hands back as your frown deepens. “I’m trying to balance EVERYONE’S feelings.”

“Right, yeah, I get what you’re TRYING to do,” she says placatingly, her tone only serving to frustrate you further. “But what we have… It took, like, YEARS to get right. You can’t just add another person to the mxi overnight and expect things to be the same.”

“It’s not another person!” you protest. “It’s IZZY.”

Izirina’s expression darkens, and she stares down at the ground, biting her lip to silence herself.

“Ezreal,” Costella says sadly, “Izirina’s right here. Like, she’s the one telling you she isn’t okay with this.”

>13

“Oh, is that right?!”

Both women look up at your sharply, with shock.

“So now it matter what we’re all OKAY with? What we’re READY for? Not when I was being… Being pressed into a marriage in a sudden surprise? Or EITHER of your attempts to trick me into an early pregnancy?”

The words pour out before you can stop them—a sudden blurting-out of long-held resentment, emerging in response to their lack of understanding. Why is it fair when THEY do it? Why is it something for you to adjust to, to forgive and forget and adjust your life’s course for the sake of, but when YOU want something…

Your mounting frustration peaks… And then falls, at the sight of the expression on Costella’s face. You understand how difficult this is for Izirina, of course. In truth, you’re not without empathy for her, but there IS a part of you that thinks she ought to suck it up, given how instrumental she was in Ayla’s ‘creation’ and development. But Costella… Costella is one of the sweetest, easiest-going people you know. She’s accommodating to a fault. And now, she looks genuinely heartbroken.

“I’m sorry,” you say quickly. “I don’t… I didn’t mean that. It’s just been a very long…”

(Day? Week? Season? Year?)

“Is it, like… The Unseelie energies or whatever?” Costella asks

“I don’t…” you trail off, and then mutter, noncommittally: “Maybe.”

Not trusting yourself to speak further just now, you quickly excuse yourself. You exit the tent, and once you step outside you keep stepping. Without thinking, you activate your <Improved Aethereal Form>, and are off.
>>
>>6056054
As you travel, you find you do not tire as you once did. It's as if your whole body is lighter, more optimizied and efficient. You travel with an alacrity no human can match… Save perhaps for Izirina, with her spatial transportation magic and her ability to divine your location. At first you think that’s who found you, in fact…

“Tips?”

…But when you look over at her, through your new eyes with their keener arcane eyesight, you quickly see it is not. Or, at least, not the Izirina you left in the tent.

“Ayla,” you acknowledge.

She finds you out in the woods at the edge of the land reserve, where your directionless flight carried you. You are seated there, knees up to your chest, back against a tree. She joins you, and you do not push her away.

“You’re hurting.”

No ‘are you okay?’, no ‘what happened?’… She just knows. That’s a succubus’ empathic attenuation for you, you suppose.

“Things just didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” you admit. “My emotions got the better of me.”

“That will happen,” she says, nodding sagely.

You look over to her, confused, and Ayla—Izirina?—smiles sympathetically, and leans her head against your shoulder.

“They’re only human, Tips,” she explains. “They can only separate themselves so much from all the things that make people PEOPLE. They’re products of this world… This flawed, broken, decaying world. It poisons them, their minds… Their bodies.”

“I actually meant to ask about that,” you say, concerned. “When you were… When the ‘split’ occurred, your body was infected by dragon-pox. Costella’s, too. We removed that infection, like we… Like we accidentally removed you. Are you…?”

Ayla shakes her head, and smiles adoringly.

“Ezreal, you made me this body yesterday, from the ‘purified’ sample you’ve been cultivating her eon Earth for so long.”

(…By which she means Izirina herself, of course.)

“There was no trace of that contagion left in me,” she says softly, and kisses her cheek, before nestling into your neck again. “You saved me. Totally and completely. Thank you.”

“…Well, I’m glad,” you murmur, the warmth of her kiss lingering.

“I love you, too,” she says, sensing your feelings without you even needing to speak them aloud.
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>>6056055
A silence lingers and, to your surprise, it only grows more comfortable over time. It really DOES feel just like when you were kids…

But what happens, now?

>You’ll insist upon the matter—Costella and Izirina will just have to get used to it, but you’re in love with Ayla
[Strains your existing relationships, improves Ayla’s relationship and her stability]

>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it
[Mends your existing relationship, unpredictable (but almost certainly negative) response from Ayla]

>You’ll spend time with Ayla in private—including ‘romantic liaisons’—but spare Costella and Izzy the angst of knowing
[+Ego, adultery, severe repercussions if you’re found out]

>You need time to think, and you have too much going on—you’ll put all these relationships on hold, including the wedding, to focus on other matters
[Strains all relationships somewhat, but not as severely]

>Write-in

[This will be the last, and most major relationship vote for a while, defining the next few months or even year of Tips' life in that regard.]
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>>6056057
Hope it went according to your plans, anons. Btw OP, would a 20 make them understand it or just greatly reduce the negative impact ?

>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it
the 3rd option is a trap, no way Ayla will be content being a mistress and will surely either press us to make it official or throw the bomb herself.
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>>6056063
[A 15 would have made them less upset, and they would have attempted to give it a shot, or at least made Costella more willing to try out a few dates, which would have made Izirina feel obligated to do so as well. One a 20, Izirina's guilt and Costella's attraction to Izirina (and Ayla by proxy) would have combined with sympathy to make them willing to invite Ayla to stay with them right away.]

[Whether it would work out in the end... Well, who's to say? That hasn't been settled yet.]
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>>6056081
good odds for the first try at least. even with this being something I don't like in this context, what bugs me is that anons voted for it not because they were horny for the succubussy but because they got guilt tripped into doing this to help her. I dunno how much of this was because of your good writting and how much were anons 4D chessing.
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>>6056057
>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it

I’d rather it dissolve than break. Having her as a mistress will only add another difficulty to the relationship that’s going to blow up soon. Adding her to the relationship will just strain the dynamic and none of them will be happy.

am >>6055465

>>6056081
> Izirina's guilt and Costella's attraction to Izirina (and Ayla by proxy) would have combined with sympathy to make them willing to invite Ayla to stay with them right away.
A relationship built on guilt and obligation… that’s just a burden.
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>>6056098
>A relationship built on guilt and obligation… that’s just a burden.
there's no way this thing would start on a good foot. glad you've seen it anon, since by your backlink you were one of the guys who voted for trying to square the circle.
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>>6056057
>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it
This was a spur of the moment decision brought on by us doing this once before with good results but this is a whole different ball game, 90 percent sure she'll become a bbeg no matter how we spin it, or being with her is gonna fuck up everything weve built so far, I mean cmon anons I know we play a morally gray character, but Ayla is a karmicly evil thing, taught exclusively for the last several years by a god of forbidden knowledge, and in our haste we gave her a perfect body to do with as she pleases, she could only reasonably be scorned, she wont want the life weve built and now you know the girls arent excited about this at all
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>>6056057
>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it

>Make a clone of ourselves for her.

Not with our memories of course. But something.
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>>6056117
This is an idea, but I feel like wed have to split ourselves and lose some shit, but might be useful to get rid of the thoughts pining after Ayla and let them fuck off to there own demiplane
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>>6056057
>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it
Fuuuuuck
Maybe she'll be willing to wait 80 years or so? SHe is always talking about how they're only human. Don't say that out loud
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>>6056117
please no. We don’t need another Tips to keep track of. Also she doesnt have dragonpox anymore so a fucktoy clone could still impregnate her.
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>>6056121
Split the unseelie part if we have to. He can be her evil boyfriend. It's not like we have any attachment to it. We just got it.
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>>6056124
Its what lets us have our new OP shit, but whose to say we cant find a new big fairy to munch up, those moon fuckers are lookin pretty tasty
>>6056123
this is a valid point though, wed have to lop its balls off, and maybe scrub monstrous regeneration from its dome, Ayla probably has shit biomancy like Iz did/does
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>>6056124
>separate the part of us responsible for boosting magic and potentially lose demi plane / energy drain
>leave all the potentially negative and egotistical parts of the unseelie which we might’ve inherited to an Izzy full of it

>>6056132
Izzy might still tinker with the false Tips to regain his fertility so even our plan of sterilization isn’t fool proof
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>>6056115

This was a spur of the moment decision brought on by us doing this once before with good results but this is a whole different ball game
Are you referring to when we calmed Izzy down and later made her attracted to Cossy through our smell ? I mean, I can see it but it’s still a bridge too far

>and now you know the girls arent excited about this at all
Now ? Izzy was already concerned by Ayla and while Cossy is easier to please, Ayla made sure to start it with the left foot and Izzy’s reaction also made her find it strange.
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>>6056057
>>6056117
I can support this actually, except yes with our memories
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>>6056143
I speak of Carazzi our other Succuclone friend, who only got her shit in check after getting neglected by Henzler, and even then Carazzi isnt attuned to the element of lightning, have the emotional intelligence or mental intelligence to really do much, Ayla doesnt like Henzler, shes smart as fuck and has a perfect body
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>>6056001
Sorry QM. I'm >>6053871
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>>6056057
>>You owe Ayla and apology… And Izirina, and Costella… But you’re committed to the relationship you have, and even if you love Ayla, she has no place in it
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>>6056057
>You need time to think, and you have too much going on—you’ll put all these relationships on hold, including the wedding, to focus on other matters
Best to gets some time to clear everyone’s head, mefeels. I do hope Ayla would be able to improve herself and change their opinion through hard work, sincere effort, honest dedication- she is part Izzy, after all.
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>>6056057
>You need time to think, and you have too much going on—you’ll put all these relationships on hold, including the wedding, to focus on other matters

Carazzi and Zith zi still haven't come back from their goblin resettlement mission. And its been months

We should check on them to make sure they haven't been eaten by rock monster's or captured by the bugbears.
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[Doozy of a day today. Going to write an update, though!]
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>>6056724
It takes a surprising amount of willpower on your part to extract yourself from Ayla’s affection. What began as gentle repose has become rather more cuddly in a very short while, and by the time you resolve your emotional turmoil, she is rather clinging to you. It starts almost comically, with you squirming away while Ayla seems to pointedly pretend not to notice, until grows wearisome, and finally alarming.

“Ayla—”

“IZIRINA.”

“Izirina,” you correct yourself, gently, “let go.”

“But… But WHY?” she demands, though by the tears in her eyes, you know she has already sensed it.

“We can’t do this,” you say. “-I- can’t do this. Costella and… Well, they’re right. Our relationship is already complicated enough without adding more complexity to the mix.”

Ayla stares at you, and slowly her pupils thin to slits as she draws herself up, and bares sharp teeth like needles.

“COMPLICATED? What do YOU know about complications? About complexity?! About difficult love?!”

You wince and crabwalks back a little bit, regretting the absence of your staff as her hair seems to rise about her head. Ayla’s hair does not whip wildly as Izzy’s might, but rather curls and coils into thick ropes, which writhe and squirm like worms—like wyrms, perhaps.

“I’m sorry!” you say, and you mean it. “I didn’t want things to turn out this way either, but—”

“But WHAT?!”

You don’t know how to complete the thought. You feel fear and grief swallowing you up from beneath, dragging you down as you gaze up at Ayla, as if the Earth itself were opening up beneath your back. And anger! That’s what tips you off to it—that this heightened state of emotion, this needy desire, and now this terrible angst… it isn’t YOURS. At least, not wholly.

And as you realize it, so does Ayla.

Her eyes widen, and she gapes, and her reddish-brown hair falls flat again. She stutters nonsensically, trying to find words that won’t come.

“I didn’t… I wasn’t TRYING to…”

“I know,” you say, gritting your teeth and forcing yourself to your feet. “Carazzi… The demonic ‘twin’ we split off from Zith-Zi… She was the same, at first. She had trouble controlling he emotions, and what she felt… Others felt nearby, and vice versa.”

“I’m not a monster,” Ayla mutters, hands clenched so tight her knuckles go white. “I’m not. I’m… I’m Izirina Henzler!”

“Nobody’s calling you a monster,” you assure her, though you can’t quite bring yourself to approach.

“They are!” she shouts. “They both think I’m ‘dangerous’! And you… You do, too! You don’t LOVE me, you just feel… Guilty! Obligated to ‘fix’ me!”

“Ayla—”

“IZ! IR! IN! A!”
>>
>>6056734
You fall silent, and so does she, breathing heavily and quaking. You see blood dipping out from between her fingers, and filling the space around her nails. The blood is dark, and thick—like ink, or hot wax.

“Izirina, I… I do love you,” you say sadly. “I know none of this is fair. If things were different… If things had BEEN different…”

“No!”

It isn’t a command, or a screech of rage, but a sob. The Shadow-Izirina buries her face in her bloody palms and rocks forwards, shoulders shaking.

“Don’t say anymore. I don’t want your PITY. I want YOU! I want ME! I want my LIFE BACK!”

What are you even supposed to say to THAT? You have no earthly idea and, when no answer comes, the Shadow-Izirina looks up at you, face smeared with deep crimson and wet with tears.

“You’ll see,” she says. “You’ll regret this… All of you will regret this, but you most of all.”

(A threat?)

“A promise,” Ayla answers your unspoken thoughts. “<Dimension Door!>”

“Wait!” you shout, but it’s too late. The portal appears, and an instant later, Ayla disappears, to… Well, only the Gods might know where.

You collect yourself, and your emotions, and you return to Old Maple Hill. You make one more apology, and it goes much more smoothly this time—than your last attempt to apologize to a loved one, or than your last conversation with them. Without Ayla’s presence, everything seems less urgent, less intense. You allow yourself to cry, and both the women with whom you share your tent, and your life, cry with you.

Together you sleep for a time, exhausted by these events and gratified by your lovers’ understanding. You awaken only once, and for a moment you think you see Ayala’s eyes, watching from the dark… But it is just Muffins snake-headed tail. You return to sleep, and it is blissfully dreamless.
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>>6056735
The next few months are dedicated to setting matters in order.

You begin by settling the matter of your foes. Your Unseelie captives submit themselves to be detained within the chest, albeit only under duress. The Holy order of Hawksong was not so equipped, even with their Paladin magic, to detain fallen family of the Bonum Chaoticum.

"But... You will release us, cousin?"

"In time," you agree.

"To our NEW jailers," another Unseelie Fey grumbles. "Elven jailers."

"Would you prefer your Queen's fate?" you ask icily, and that settles that.

When this is done, you return to organizing production of usable and saleable goods on the Hill, where Costella takes the lion’s share of the work, but you and Izirina offer moral and magical-logistical support. There is also the matter of the moonberry bushes--the planting and attunement of those which you plant, producing several more viable sprouts and saplings to which you and your fellowship tend daily.

At night, you and Izirina attempt to divine her other half's location... But without avail.

In matters of your new Demiplane, though, it is Izirina who proves most adept—despite YOU being the one know knows the spell, and is attuned to the miniature pocket-plane, and can thus manipulate it.

“You have the power, and the ‘feeling’ for it,” Izirina explains, without boasting, “but Banelight was like a lot of magical creatures… She relied on her intrinsic instinct for the arcane, or ‘Feycraft’, rather than studying the theory. Taking shortcuts like that leads to sloppy work and broad strokes. Look—she literally just took a chunk of our world and suspended it!”

“How do the tunnels work?” you ask.

“I’m pretty sure they’re just brute forced,” Izzy frowns, nose wrinkling. “Just upcasted equivalent to <Dimension Door>, permanency with… Wel, probably human sacrifice.”

“Human—?!”

“Or demihuman,” Izirina amends.

“Not really the concern right now,” you sigh, surveying your domain, with its dark origins and bloody past.

“It’s your choice what it becomes now,” Izirina points out quietly, breaking your contemplative silence.

“What, can you read my thoughts, too?” you ask with a smile smirk.

“N-no!” Izzy protests, paling.

“…I was kidding, Izzy.”

“…Right.”
>>
>>6056738
Still, Izirina proves invaluable in transforming the space in more specific ways than simply invigorating it, or moving matter around. Together, with your power and her expertise, you really ARE able to make it into something special:

>A true ‘wizard’s keep’ like in days of old: a bastion of magical learning and arcane study, where you can test new spells and practice those you know
>A quiet place for contemplation, relaxation, and rest—somewhere welcoming, and gentle, like a vacation-in-a-bottle
>A citadel, a fortress, a base-of-operations for staging emergency action when and if it’s needed—to hunker down away from enemies, or launch surprise attacks
>An expansion of the Hill—a garden, a farm, and a place of worship, into which you invite the Fairy Court of Old Maple Hill
>Write-in
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>>6056739
>A true ‘wizard’s keep’ like in days of old: a bastion of magical learning and arcane study, where you can test new spells and practice those you know
the citadel is tempting, but tbf I don't wanna the military focus
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>>6056739
>An expansion of the Hill—a garden, a farm, and a place of worship, into which you invite the Fairy Court of Old Maple Hill
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>>6056739
>A true ‘wizard’s keep’ like in days of old: a bastion of magical learning and arcane study, where you can test new spells and practice those you know
The place for relaxation is the hill. We don’t need another one. The keep could also double as a base of operations for special operations as well.

Holy domain expansion
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>>6056765
am >>6056098
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>>6056739
>An expansion of the Hill—a garden, a farm, and a place of worship, into which you invite the Fairy Court of Old Maple Hill
>>
>>6056739
>A true ‘wizard’s keep’ like in days of old: a bastion of magical learning and arcane study, where you can test new spells and practice those you know
This may be a weird sell to you guys, and im sure some weird chain of events and character shift things would have to come about, but what say we enservitude a few minions from the other planes at a later date and explore the concept of a fey lich? your guys thoughts?
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>>6056775
That just sounds like slavery with extra steps
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>>6056775
Wtf being a fey lich who goes around enslaving people is half the reason we killed banelight. Why the hell would we follow in her footsteps?
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>>6056788
We dont have to make slaves, maybe just find others with inate magical talents from the new age approaching and offer them a place to stay and do their magic in, a wizard tower for those who arent man or elf, plus servitude could also be constructs that stay alive using the near infinite power of the Mious Henzler star
>>6056810
I did say there would have to probably have to be a weird chain of events to lead us down that path, and no one said we had to be evil either, Henzler is arguably a lich, mind you arguably not good either but I digress, Im just asking yall to explore the idea with me here
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>>6056823
Well the idea sounds a little too much like slavery so no. We could hire someone willing but forcing someone, no.
>>
A lot of them are good. Really good.

I'm heavily tempted by the citadel.
>A true ‘wizard’s keep’ like in days of old: a bastion of magical learning and arcane study, where you can test new spells and practice those you know
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>>6056739
>All the above- at least, that’s the eventual dream
It’s nice to have goals

>>6056775
Would prefer a rapprochement with the decent Fey and the Moon Princess ngl- otherwise, Long Wang and the Beholderbro would be your best chance at it.

I do wonder if we can somehow swing Carazzi and Alya to be sister-friends in order to bring Alya back to the table and try improving her relationship with Cos and Izzy- we can still work at a healthy relationship with Alya, I hope.
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>>6056775
Does sound intriguing to me
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>>6056756
[Alright, writing!]
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>>6057277
“Do you remember when we were young?”

Izirina looks at you strangely, but nods.

“I think that’s what I’d like,” you say.

In truth, ever since Ayla awoke those old memories anew, you’ve been thinking of those distant days of childhood: of study-sessions between and after classes, reading old tomes from the restricted library of the Archmage by way of her adopted daughter, sharing ideas and practicing spells together. When you gaze upon Banelight’s collapsed keep, you see not a citadel or staging base, but a ‘wizard’s keep’, like in the days before the Tower. These were places where those one might call ‘hedge mages’ today would hole up to practice their art, and store their personal reliquaries.

Izirina take you hand, and smiles at you—a sweet, genuine smile that reaffirms your decision.

“Let’s do it,” she says.

And together, you do. You summon raw materials from the Elemental Plane of Earth, and with a labour force of elemental constructs to d the construction, the rather rapidly rebuild the caste into the keep of your dreams: tall, but not pretentiously tall; artfl, but not decadent. Its primary purpose isn’t to impress, nor to defend, but to securely store the fruits of your labours, and to enable you to ascend to still-greater heights.

>UNLOCKED: Spell DCs within your demiplane are reduced by 3, and MP costs reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1, for you and you alone

You feel refreshed every time you enter the place, and energized—ready to take on any challenge, able to study for longer and with greater focus, and you cast with greater ease and to more dramatic effect… But only you, you discover, when you bring your friends. Even Izirina, who helped you to reorganize and furnish the space with furniture and books for the many shelves, doesn’t glean the same benefit.

“It must be because I’m the only one who it attuned to it. Banelight cast the spell to begin with,” you say apologetically.

“it’s okay,” Izirina says, and seemingly honestly. “Working with you on this… Making a place like this? It felt… it felt really good.”

She leans against you, and sighs contently. The two of you are both buted up against Muffins, who is half-asleep and serving as a sort of futon for the two of you, a you both browse your own mystic tomes—yours on the history of the Hawksong Mages’ Tower and the office of ‘Archmagus’, while Izirina (bless her heart) indulges in a bit of her classic orientalism with a volume titled ‘The Asura Vanquished by the Blade of Love’.

“This isn’t exactly what I dreamed of as a girl,” she admits, “but you know? I think it might be better.

Yet in the heart of it all burns the Unseelie Star—the extraplanar power source for all of this. With Izirina nuzzling against you like this, you can’t help but wonder: would Ayla, wherever she is, be likewise attuned?

>>
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>>6057296
It takes the better part of six months to organize the demiplane into its final state, a stone palace of learning amidst a cultivated grove. By that pint, you travel freely between the two, spending almost as much time in the demiplane as on the Hill. You don’t forsake the world for your partitioned portion thereof, though… And even if you wanted to, you can’t. Reality finds YOU, as it always does.

“Hey! We got a letter from Sunset Lake!” Costella greets you, as you and Izirina return from one such visit to your sanctuary of scholasticism.

“Who do we know who lives THERE?” you ask, confused, for Sunset Lake is a distant, western barony which you can’t even remember thinking of.

“Well, like, you know what’s NEAR Ssnet lake?” Costella asks, tone suggestive.

“The Bloodrise Mountains,” Izirina quickly supplies.

“Zith-Zi and Carazzi!”

Your goblin (nilbog? demogoblin?) companions departed for that mysterious realm on the frontier of Man’s civilization many months ago now, to find sanctuary for their fellow goblinoids where Hawksong’s aegis could not. You are immediately at Costella’s side as she opens the scroll-case in which the missive was delivered, and unfurls it. Your face immediately scrunches up at the contents.

“I know she was only ‘born’ a year or two ago, but did Carazzi not inherit any memories of penmanship? Or… Well, I guess her hands have those oversized claws, don’t they?”

“Uh, Ez?” Costella says, squinting. “I’m pretty sure ZZ wrote this.”

“…Oh.”

It takes all your talents at deciphering obscure scripts (despite being written in Common), but you’re eventually able to make out the contents through the sloppy, smeared ink and frequent misspellings. Zith-Zi and her succubus-splinter ‘sister’ have apparently been able to leverage your reputation with the Dragon King of Bloodrise—the monstrous alter-ego of Hawksong’s Prince Consort, through this known only to a select few—and in exchange have been granted the ruins of some old, abandoned frontier-town to make a place for goblins to dwell. It’s not exactly a part of Blodorise, but neither is it an intrusion upon humanity’s own settlements.

‘So those big pink fuckers won’t come fucking with us, at least not by accident, and even then they got nobody to blame but themselves for strolling into the woods that are all famous for monsters and shit,’ as Zith-Zi puts it.

“Isn’t she, like, DATING a human?” Costella points out.

“Isn’t she pinker than any known subrace of Man?” Izirina adds.

You sigh, and shake your head, but can’t help smiling. That’s Zith-Zi for you. You’re just glad she and Carazzi are seemingly doing well, not to mention the other goblins who you saved from the slavery of their own savage kinfolk.
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>>6057298
“There’s, uh, one other message I had to pass on,” Costella notes, voice lowering slowly as she shuffles her feet and averts her eyes.

“What?” you ask, alrmed. “What’s wrong?”

“Um, well, like… Nothing’s WRONG, exactly. It’s all, like, TOTALLY mellow, and, you know, cool and whatever.”

You and Izirina exchange a glance, then look back to her, expectantly. Costella’s face flushes, and she buries it in her hands to hide the blush.

“MY parents were just wondering about, like… The wedding, or whatever, you know?”

“…Oh.”

It’s true that your ‘engagement’ has gone a little long by this point, by conventional standards. That’s aside from your living together, of course, already a somewhat-scandalous circumstances before nuptials.

…And all THAT is ignoring the roc in the room, secret even from Costella Fanucci’s parents: Izirina.

“Maybe we should talk about this… privately?” you suggest to Costella, trying VERY hard not to look at towards Izirina.

“It’s okay.”

Both you and Costella startle at this, and look to Izirina in surprise. Your shock is redoubled when you find her smiling, and without any sign of forced, false affability in the expression.

“After… After ‘Ayla’, after seeing what I was… or could become, I thought about things a lot.” Izirina’s smile fades just slightly as she reflects on this. “I thought about what I’d done in the past… How I’d treated people, and this relationship. I still want everything that she wanted… Wants, rather. I want to be married to Tips… And you, Costella!”

Costella nods slightly, and signals her to continue.

“But I don’t want to try to… To dominated or control the way things go. Their pace. Their order. Their… Priority. I don’t want to be the sort of person who puts my happiness first, before that of… of the people I care about.”
>>
>>6057299
You’re admittedly a little surprised to hear all this. Ever since encountering her other half, Izirina’s arcane energies have been reduced, as if he connection to that font of extraplanar power was broken. Could it be that whatever malevolent influence the succubus-produced shadow had exerted over her had faded away with that power, leaving her weaker—though no less brilliant—but ALSO more well-adjusted?

“Aww! IZZZ!” Costella bawls, and hurls herself in a rather squishy bear-hug at Izirina, who flinches at first, but then settles comfortably into it, and even returns it.

And yet even so… A wedding? While Ayla—or whatever you wish to call Izirina’s infernal echo—is still out there, having ‘promised’ you would regret this relationship? And while you’ve grown quite comfortable in your new appearance, and the people who share Old Maple Hill with you have likewise adapted, you must admit: you’ve been avoiding Hawksong. You’ve not even met with Ines and Edmondo Fanucci—your future ‘in-laws’—since the change occurred. You know that each time you meet a human anew—or really anyone—some subtlety in your changed shape afflicts them with a moment of disorientation and panic.

…Sometimes more than a moment.

What will you do?
>Agree that you should expedite the wedding, and travel to Hawksong to meet with the Fanuccis and plan the event
>Perhaps it would be best to meet with Testa first, to modify your <belt of Binding> into something that can temporarily contain and restrain Banelight’s influence
>Actually… If you were to pay a visit to Zith-Zi and Carazzi, you could also take the ‘Prince Consort’ up on his offer to visit his realm, and perhaps discover how Reptilian infiltrators so effectively disguise their natures
>A wedding right now is a bad idea—it risks signalling Ayla, wherever she is, to make whatever devilish move she might be planning, to enforce her promise of woe and lamentation
>Write-in
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>>6057300
>Agree that you should expedite the wedding, and travel to Hawksong to meet with the Fanuccis and plan the event
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>>6057300
>Agree that you should expedite the wedding, and travel to Hawksong to meet with the Fanuccis and plan the event
I don't wanna hide this from them and avoiding the wedding will just give Ayla more time to plan something
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>>6057296
>UNLOCKED: Spell DCs within your demiplane are reduced by 3, and MP costs reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1, for you and you alone

It is domain expansion lmao

>>6057300
>Agree that you should expedite the wedding, and travel to Hawksong to meet with the Fanuccis and plan the event

Either the dad will like our appearance because we’re not black anymore or he dislikes it in which case we just tell him that this is what elves look like.

Get fucked, old cunt.

am >>6056765
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>>6057300
>Agree that you should expedite the wedding, and travel to Hawksong to meet with the Fanuccis and plan the event
Legally wed at Hawksong
Go honeymooning at bloodrise through magic tunnels fuckery
Ask Big T to Threesome-marry us.
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>>6057399
>Big T.
>not T. Rex
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>>6057300
>Perhaps it would be best to meet with Testa first, to modify your <belt of Binding> into something that can temporarily contain and restrain Banelight’s influence
>Actually… If you were to pay a visit to Zith-Zi and Carazzi, you could also take the ‘Prince Consort’ up on his offer to visit his realm, and perhaps discover how Reptilian infiltrators so effectively disguise their natures
I wanna see our friends again, and this is as good of an excuse as any.
>>
[I may be delayed in posting, or miss tonight. I'm hanging with a friend, and bringing mezcal, so we'll see how it goes.]
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>>6057937
have fun, repman
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>>6057941
>repMAN
>he doesn't know
>>6057569
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>>6057937
Take your time.
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>>6057958
>>6057941
>have fun
[Did. Thanks!]

>take your time
[Also did. I'm so hungover. But it was a blast! Sorry for the lateness.]
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>>6057306
>>6057309
>>6057318
>>6057399
>>6057873
“I’ve kept you waiting long enough,” you tell Costella, taking her hands in yours and looking into her eyes. “I think it’s about time I made an honest woman out of you, don’t you agree?”

Costell’s face scrunches up in an involuntary cringe, and then she burst out laughing. She laughs until she’s crying, though she holds your hands the whole while.

“What?” you demand. “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she says, and draws a deep breath to calm herself. “I’d love that, Ez. Honest! It’s just, like… All these years, growing up, I always sort of fantasized about what my wedding would look like, and how the proposal would go, and this… it’s, like, all backwards! We, um, we DID stuff… All THREE of us… And then I sort of, like, proposed to you? And now, way later, here you are sort of taking me up on it? I don’t think I really count as, like, an ‘honest woman’ that way?”

“Well you’re honestly an amazing one.” You pause. “Is this… Not how you wanted it to go?”

Costella shakes her head emphatically.

“No,” she says, tears returning—tears of joy, accompanying a wide smile. “It’s, like, WAAAY better.”

She throws her arms around you and kisses you deeply. You take the taller woman’s waist and midsection in your arms and squeeze her close, returning the affection in equal measure. After a moment, you both pause, and Costella beckons an awkward Izirina into the moment, for she is a part of it to.

Watching the two of them kissing stirs certain parts of you, and the scent of your ‘stirring’ activates Izirina’s biologically-augmented scent fetish. The three-part embrace turns rather steamier after that and, well…

Suffice it to say, the journey to Hawksong is not IMMEDIATE.

When you DO undertake that journey at last, you do so with more trepidation. You have a history with the Fanucci family, having saved their daughter from her dragon-pox affliction and subsequently having befriended and tutored her. Taking they’re ‘Princess Costa’ away from them to work on the farm at Old maple Hill went over rather poorly at first, though you didn’t notice until they’d tried to reassert their role in her life and to secure her future by arranging a marriage to a family friend: that dastard, Carlos De Gori, who subsequently became quite the thorn in your side when you ‘revealed’ you were ‘already engaged’ to Costella yourself. This changed the relationship dynamic quite a bit, most especially with Costella’s father Edmondo. He’d warmed back up to you after you proved your suitability as a suitor, and your merits as a man (and Man, for that matter).
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>>6058668
You have no idea how he’ll react to your transformation, though… or Mrs. Ines Fanucci, Costella’s adherent and faithful mother, who is a stalwart follower of human religious traditions centered upon the Bonum Legale, or ‘Lawful Good Gods’ of the High Heavens.

You can’t (well, won’t) hide how you’ve changed, for you are proud of all you’ve accomplished and wear this pale skin and dark eyes as a sign of your achievements. But you’ll still need to decide exactly how to approach this…

>Let the Fanuccis take the lead in planning a traditional Northman wedding, though it will mean letting Mister Fanucci dictate terms to you, and no doubt a union officiated by a priest and blessed by a god who are not of your faith

>Take charge yourself—this ought to be a wedding that reflects your continued adherence to the principles (if not every god) of the Bonum Chaoticum, as a Disciple of the True Fey—after all, Old Maple Hill and Feycraft are at the heart of yours and Costella’s relationship

>Costella herself should take the lead in planning her dream wedding—though, knowing her, it could end up rather fanciful, impractical, and maybe a bit overdramatic, since she’s a bit of a romance maniac underneath it all

>Write-in

And what of Izzy’s role in things?

>Unfortunately, she probably should sit all this out, and stay put at the Hill to supervise things there…

>You’ll bring her along as a ‘close friend’ of both of you, and involve her in planning and such

>You owe the Fanuccis an explanation at some point, and a (nearly) full accounting of the role Izzy will play in both your life and Costella’s…

>Write-in
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>>6058669
>Take charge yourself—this ought to be a wedding that reflects your continued adherence to the principles (if not every god) of the Bonum Chaoticum, as a Disciple of the True Fey—after all, Old Maple Hill and Feycraft are at the heart of yours and Costella’s relationship

>You owe the Fanuccis an explanation at some point, and a (nearly) full accounting of the role Izzy will play in both your life and Costella’s…
the time is now
I'm >>6057309
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>>6058669
>Take charge yourself—this ought to be a wedding that reflects your continued adherence to the principles (if not every god) of the Bonum Chaoticum, as a Disciple of the True Fey—after all, Old Maple Hill and Feycraft are at the heart of yours and Costella’s relationship

>You’ll bring her along as a ‘close friend’ of both of you, and involve her in planning and such
There’s a limit to their acceptance of things. This is pushing it.

>>6057318
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>>6058669
>Costella herself should take the lead in planning her dream wedding—though, knowing her, it could end up rather fanciful, impractical, and maybe a bit overdramatic, since she’s a bit of a romance maniac underneath it all

>You owe the Fanuccis an explanation at some point, and a (nearly) full accounting of the role Izzy will play in both your life and Costella’s…
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>>6058669
>Costella herself should take the lead in planning her dream wedding—though, knowing her, it could end up rather fanciful, impractical, and maybe a bit overdramatic, since she’s a bit of a romance maniac underneath it all

>You’ll bring her along as a ‘close friend’ of both of you, and involve her in planning and such.

All Mr & Ms have done is hassle us. They don't deserve an in depth information on our or izzy's personal affairs.
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>>6058669
>>Costella herself should take the lead in planning her dream wedding—though, knowing her, it could end up rather fanciful, impractical, and maybe a bit overdramatic, since she’s a bit of a romance maniac underneath it all
>You owe the Fanuccis an explanation at some point, and a (nearly) full accounting of the role Izzy will play in both your life and Costella’s…
>>
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>>6058790
>>6058727
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>>6058689
[Locked and writing!]
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>>6059158
“Costella, do you think you could take point?” you ask her.

“H-huh??”

“Explaining my CHANGES will already be a pretty big deal on its own,” you sigh, and hold back a grimace. “But as for everything else, organizing the event… After all the delays and compromises you’ve tolerated, it seems to me you deserve that wedding you fantasized about, or as close as you can manage.”

This earns you another hug and a long-lingering kiss.

“Oh, it’s going to be GREAT!” Costella gushes. “We’ll have roses—pink ones, everywhere. And no less than a dozen white doves released at the end of the ceremony, for sure! Can we do that, Tips? Can we?”

You smile and nod, finding it hard to refuse just about anything at this moment. And anyway, doves should be easy enough—you DO know how to <Calm> animals.

“And the reception! Oh, we’ll have a grand feast with hundreds of guests. There’ll be, like, a HUGE banquet table, with all kinds of good—including lots of veggie options, of course—and all kinds of wine for toasts! I can already see it! Ooo, oo, nd a fountain, too! Of wine! Oh…and music! Musicians playing lutes and violins, and maybe even a harpsichord! I mean, like, if I can find a harpsichord player…”

You scratch your head, smile staring to fade as you take in the sheer expense of this. You’d almost forgotten just how PASSIONATE Costella gets about these kinds of things…

“Then there’s the matter of the gown,” Costella continues, her face lighting up. “Silk and satin, with pearls and lace! I’ll walk down the aisle escorted by Papa, with everyone watching… Everyone wearing their finest attire! Maybe velvet doublets for the groomsmen, with feathered hat? And gold-trimmed gowns for the bridal party! But like, something we can dance in. Can you imagine? The moon and stars shining in the sky as we dance the night away!”

You exchange a nervous look with Izirina who, unhelpfully, just shrugs as if to say: ‘This is your doing’

“But most importantly,” Costella adds, her voice softening, “the vows. I want them to be special. I want them to reflect everything we’ve been through together… All the love that started it, an like… The hard work that went into it, and the future ahead, for all of us.”

At this, Izirina’s bemusement turns a little towards sadness, and she murmurs: “Yes, well… I guess I had better end you two on your way, then, right?”

“Actually,” you interject even as she begins to trace the shape of the <Dimension Door> in open air, “I was hoping you could come with us?”

Izzy falters in her footwork and stammers mid-incantation, and the spell fizzles and fails. She looks at you, wide-eyed expression comical even behind the security of her shadowed glasses.
>>
>>6059219
“M-me? Why?”

“Well, you’re a part of this, too,” you say.

Izirina’s expression twists into one of sadness and resignation, and she rubs her arm as she looks away.

“This is… it’s yours, Tips. Yours and Costella’s. I’m just—”

Before Izirina can finish, Costella seizes upon her, lifting up her sunglasses, and brushing aside a few loose hair which flutter free from beneath her pointed cap. Izirina looks up at her, stunned by the fierceness of the action. You’re a little startled yourself.

“Like, hey! No!” Costella says. “None of that, okay? Ez is right. All that stuff I just said about our past, and our love, and our future? I meant, like, ALL of us. The THREE of us.”

“But we can’t all get married,” Izirina points out dumbly, restating the obvious and blinking in confusion.

“Like, okay, not YET,” Costella says, “but Ez is going to find a way! And every step of the way until then, and ESPECIALLY afterwards, we’re ALL going to walk those steps together! …Okay?”

Izirira glances past Costelal to you, and you nod, and smile. After only a moment’s hesitation, Izirina embraces Costella fully, burying her face in her shoulder just as she does with you.

“I love you,” Izirina mumbles, muffled by Costella’s hair. “Both of you.”

It’s a striking moment—the first time you’ve ever actually heard Izzy say she loves Costella. The taller of the two women tears up again, and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t do so a little as well.

Unfortunately, you also know that THIS was the easy part.

The three of you travel via the <Dimension Door> together, appearing not far from the Fanucci’s family home (which doubles as Mister Fanucci’s woodworking workshop). The heady aromas of raw and treated wood greet you, as they always do; you see Costella take the deep waft she always does, and hear her nostalgic sigh. The three of you gather yourselves, and then Costella shouts out:

“Mama! Papa! I’m hooo~oome!”

It isn’t Edmondo or Ines who open the door, though, but Gabriele—Costella’s younger brother.

“Gabs!” Costella greets him. “You’re back from training!”

“And you’re back from that weird cult you joined,” her brother replies.

“Ssshhh!” Costella swats at him with a nervous laugh. “Like, Gabz, Ez, Iz… You’ve met, right?”

“Yes,” you acknowledge, trying not to acknowledge the ‘cult’ comment.

“No,” Izirina admits, as she’s never really been here before.
>>
>>6059220
It has been a few years since you’ve seen Gabriele, admittedly. Though you recall Mister Fanucci expects the young boy to follow in his footsteps as a carpenter, you are ALSO aware he was sent to study in some south-easterly barony allied to Hawksong, in the arts of sword and survival-something Missus Fanucci has not-so-subtly alluded to as an early step on the road to becoming a Paladin of the Holy order of Hawkosng at some future date, much as her husband grouses about the fate of the family if such a thing were to happen. That training is evident now in the boy’s bearings—he is taller than when you last saw him by a head-and-a-half, and stands straighter, and his hand rests upon his hip as one might if at-attention and ready to draw a blade, though he does not presently carry on.

And, of course, while you’re studying him, he’s studying you.

“Blood-soaked Hells below…” he mutters, and traces a religious glyph of protection in the air. “What happened to your eyes, Ezreal?”

“And my skin,” you acknowledge, with a brittle smile. “Don’t forget that.”

“It’s not quite as creepy as the eyes, though, you know what I mean?”

Your smile fades.

“It’s… An elf thing.”

“Yeah?” he laughs, though without much humour. “Not like any elf I’ve seen. Including you, a couple years ago.”

“It’s a long story,” you admit. “Can we come in?”

Gabriele nods slowly, and steps aside, beckoning the three of you in before shutting the door.

What follows is an awkward preamble to your upcoming discussion with Costella and Gabriele’s parents, who are apparently out at the marketing, buying, selling, and trading wares. Gabriele pours you each some tea, and you explain your changes, and—in simple, summarized terms—what you have been up to. He does likewise, breezing through his training in Kestrelle—as the little barony is apparently called.

“Sounds like you’ve been involved in more martial affairs than I have been, though,” he admits, with a grimace as if shamed by this.

“Well, not on purpose,” you say sourly.

“War comes for you whether you’re prepared or not,” Gabriele says, with the air f recitation. “It’s how you respond which determined the victor and vanquished.”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes at this, what, eighteen-year-old cadet giving you such a lecture… Not that you suppose he could discern if you did, given your eyes’ deep darkness.

“It’s a tough fight where you win and still come out with two black eyes, though,” he notes, with a half-hearted chuckle. “Is it curable?”

“it doesn’t need a cure,” you say, miffed.

“As long as it’s not, like, contagious.”

You sigh.

“So, what brings you all here?” Gabriele Fanucci asks pointedly.
>>
>>6059223
You exchange a look with the other two, and set down your mug of tea. Izzy frowns, body stiffening. Costella gentle rests a hand on yours, and smiles affirmation. Clearing your throat, you begin to ready yourself to make your announcement, only—

“Oh!”

You all turn to see Missus Ines Fanucci enter the kitchen. At first her squeak is one of pleasant surprise at yours and Costella’s visit. Then, it is confusion at Iziirna’s appearabce. Finally, as you ahd been bracing for, there comes the double-take as she truly register syour appearance. And then…

“<Summon Elemental>,” whispers Izirina quickly, and a being of extraplanar air manifests to cushion the swooning woman, and to catch the bag of goods which slip from her fingers.

A moment later, Mister Fanucci is there, helping his wife back to her feet as the fainting spell fades. He looks at you all and, with his characteristic bluntness, asks:

“What the fuck happened to YOU, Ezreal?”

You swallow your irritation, and return to the beginning.



When the Fanuccci family has all been apprised of the reason for your changed appearance, you are finally, FINALLY, able to address the reason for your visit.

“I’ve… We’ve… Formally decided to, um, move forward,” you say, beginning to feel nervous now that you are upon the precipice. “With the wedding.”

There is a moment of silence and stillness which seems to stretch. Then, Mister Fanucci bobs his head a couple times in a contemplative nod, and gulps back his tea.

“W-well, that’s wonderful!” Costella’s mother says, clapping her hands together. “It’s been a long time coming. You know, Rosella’s already married. It’s not very usual for tehs econd daughter to get married before the first?”

“Mamaaaa,” Costella whines. “It’s been busy!”

“Fighting fairies and making magical whatsits,” Mister Fanucci notes. “Pretty busy. And that farm of yorus is coming along well?”

“It’s mostly self-sufficient,” you note.

“Profitable?”

“Uh,” you stammer. “Well… Profit in that sense isn’t the main purpose or objective, but—”

He waves the question off before you can finish answering it.

“I get it, I get it,” he says. “the real money’s in the magic business you’re doing for that Archmage of yours. Looking at you, I can’t exactly pretend you’re not giving it everything you have, can I? And from what you've told me, it's not work that's drying up anytime soon. I can respect that, I guess.”

“And you certainly don’t’ have that farmer’s tan anymore!” Missus Fanucci says, with a forced laugh.

You affect a smile in kind, and nod at the ‘joke’.
>>
>>6059226
“And you,” Costella’s mother says, looking to Izirina. “You must be the Izzy we’ve heard so much about! Why, Costa talks about you almost as much as her fiancé! The Archmage’s daughter… Well, you dress the part, that’s for sure.”

Izzy doesn’t smile or laugh, but simply fidgets in place, maintaining an awkward silence.

“Well, it’s nice to put a face to the name,” Ines eventually concludes, before gently prompting: “Are you going to be the maid of honour?”

“I’m… I…” Izzy chokes, and looks desperately to Costella and to you.

“Mama,” Costella begins. “About that… There’s something we should, like… That I should probably, um, tell you.”

...

“You son of a bitch!”

You step backwards and out of your chair with instinctual grace as Mister Fanucci rises, red-faced, from this own seat and lurches towards you.

“Papa!” Costella cries out.

“My daughter is no… No weirdo! No freak!”

You wish you were startled by the reaction, but it’s more by its direction at you rather than, say, Izirina. Not to say you WANT it to be directed at Izzy, of course, but still…

“You’re right,” you say. “Costella’s not a freak, or weird, or anything else. But whatever and whoever she is has nothing to do with me.”

“Bullshit!” he shouts. “You elves are like that, right? Doing… THINGS like that. Weird marriages and relationships. And you brought her up to that hill, with your old girlfriend, to start up some cockamamie harem!”

“Papa, PLEASE, Ez didn’t DO anything!” she says. “Mama, can you calm him down?”

Mama Fanucci, though, is pale as a ghost—or as you yourself these days, you suppose—with her hands cupped before her mouth. At Costella’s question, she simply stands up and, without a word, scurries from the room and up the stairs to where she and her husband’s bedroom is. A moment later, you hear the door close, and click, and lock.

Costella is shaken. Izirina is silent, save for her fingernails scratching at the grain of the table s she stares down at it, taking in the scene—her first impression of the family that you—she, too—is marrying into.

“I thought we were past all this, Mister Fanucci” you say to your father-in-law to be.

“That was before you turned my daughter into a degenerate!” he bellows.

What will you do?
>Leave until they cool off, and hope this blows over
>Appeal to Gabriele, who has a solemn, thoughtful look on his face
>Challenge Edmondo Fanucci directly, and shout him down
>Attempt to appease Edmondo Fanucci [how?]
>Write-in
>>
>>6059238
bringing her brother into this doesn't seem like a good idea and neither challenging the man. unless a good idea on how to placate the man is cooked up, I'm going with fucking off.
>>
>>6059238
>Leave until they cool off, and hope this blows over
I dont want to ditch Costa, but this may go over smoother if shes by herself with them, we want to show we arent trying to isolate her, maybe send Iz to the market and pick up some drink and some flowers for Mrs.Fanucci while we wait outside in case we need to grab costella and dash, I dont think her parents would do anything too drastic but this was a very poor reaction, I dont want to drag Gabe into it but if we wait outside I feel like were more likely to get a better one on one with him to help sway his parents
>>
>>6059238
>Attempt to appease Edmondo Fanucci
I did used to think that we had changed Costella with the ritual to cure her of the dragonpox, but with all the trouble Izzy gave us I don't think I believe that anymore. I'd say Costella is the same as she always has been, and is just free to express it now.
>>
>>6059238
>Leave until they cool off, and hope this blows over

Give them time then come back to talk. Emotions are at their height and that's the worst time to have a discussion.
>>
>>6059411
>>6059273
>>6059252
[For those voting to leave, am I to understand the majority intend to go but for Costella to stay?]
>>
>>6059435
sure, shtf and we'll only make it worse so we'll let her smooth whatever she can.
>>
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>last interaction with costella’s dad reveals he hate faggots and dislikes being seen as a different parent than everyone else in terms of dating and their kid’s lovelife
>decides to tell him about costella being a faggot
>>
>>6059529
>decides to tell him about costella being a faggot
I mean we had to pull that bandaid off one way or the other. Cossy wouldn't be able to live with it hidden and Izzy while saying that she didn't care much, cared a little bit. And it's better that we do it now than have then discover it later, specially with the risk of Ayla plotting against us.
>>
>>6059537
We really could’ve pulled that after the wedding or something. At least then we would have some kind of leverage.
>>
>>6059273
Do we currently have veloz with us right now? If so then I support this.

If not I
>Attempt to appease Edmondo Fanucci
“Costella always loved her. If Costella truly was forced into a relationship with me, if she was just another woman I used, do you really believe she would care so much she would accompany us to the sylvan realms and the goblin wastes? It never was her obligation.”
>>
>>6059544
I want Veloz to remain around the household and eavesdrop in the first case.
>>
>>6059544
>Do we currently have veloz with us right now? If so then I support this.
[You do. To be honest, you can sort of assume he's always round unless there's a very good reason he wouldn't be, moreso than Muffins because he's so portable, mobile, and less threatening to bring into buildings with you than a 500-pound three-headed sueprpredator.]
>>
>>6059529
Girls can't be faggots though
>>
>>6059252
>>6059273
>>6059326
>>6059411
>>6059544

You stay standing, taking a step back, and signal quickly with Drow Sign Language to Izirina. She catches the quick flash of fingers and frowns, hesitating a moment before she rises as well.

“You’re wrong, Mister Fanucci… Edmondo, sir.”

“Wrong?” he balks. “I know my daughter. I TRSUTED you with my princess, and you warped her mind! How could you?”

“I couldn’t,” you say simply, and then lower your voice. “Mister Fanucci, I DIDN’T. Izirina, Costella, and I, we…”

There is a lot you want to say to this man—things that, if he could only understand them, would assuage him or at least diminish his outrage. In truth, you understand his feelings—you, too used to believe you have altered Costella. Not on purpose, of course! But... Had she harboured such attraction to Izirina, or even to you, before your selves intermingled in that first performance of <The Rite of Attunement>? Or had that attraction been a side effect—a drawing force of spiritual entanglement forced upon the three of you?

But Izirina disproved that.

In causing you such complication, and requiring alchemical modification, she had PROVED that whatever factors drive Costella’s predilections, they AREN’T a product of your youthful dabbling in knowledge and magic beyond your full understanding. Izirina didn’t gain an attraction to other women, not even Costella. That capacity had been innate to Costella beforehand, merely latent and unexpressed.

Her attraction to women is real, organic, not artificial. And her love for Izirina… That is a fundamental truth of Costella Fanucci, not an artefact of arcane augmentation.

“We should go,” you say aloud, instead of all that.

After all, it won’t solve the problem. What are you really telling the man, if you say such things?

‘Your daughter’s degeneracy comes from within?’, and, ‘Costella was a deviant long before we enabled and encouraged it?’ His prejudice will not evaporate merely because you exonerate yourself and Izirina as the principle cause.

And how do you know? How can you explain it? ‘Trust me, I know all this because SINCE then, I actually HAVE learned how to make one woman attracted to another—we just used those techniques on a different woman than the one you’re thinking of?’

No, you really should go, and let him cool off until you can have that conversation… Differently. Until he can actually listen… And hopefully Costella’s mother can rejoin things, to clear the air all at once. But for now, you and the girls will leave.

“Ez… Iz…”

You have already turned away when you hear Costella’s voice. You turn back, to find her still seated, face flushed and eyes full of tears. Her little brother holds her hand subtly, offering some small measure of support, even as he stays silent and stares at you and Izirina with steely stillness, and hawklike eyes.
>>
>>6059602
“Costella, we’ll be back. But for now—”

She shakes her head, forcing a smile through sadness.

“I can’t,” she admits. “I… I promised myself, for my dream wedding, I would never get married without Mama and Papa being there, and, and, you know… Handing me off. Approving, and giving me away, like a mother and father should.”

Mister Fanucci wheels around to stare, wide-eyed, at his daughter. He squares his stance, back turned to you, with his shoulders and spine forming a stubborn wall between you and Costella.

“I’ll give no such blessing,” he says. “I won’t attend some joke of a wedding… Won’t give my daughter away to be the plaything of some freaky fairy to share with his witch wife.”

“I’m not…” Izirina begins, then trails off, realizing with a grimace that she has almost missed the point in technicalities.

You look sadly to Costella, but not hopelessly. She doesn’t understand Drow Sign language as you and Izirina do—never quite got the knack of the delicate and subtle gestures. Instead, you simply give her a smile, a nod, and a thumbs up. She seems confused, even hurt for a moment, but then smiles back with a loud sniffle, and gives you a thumbs up in return.

You and Izirina leave through the door you entered by, but it isn’t goodbye. Rather, you’re giving Costella time to win her family over, without your presence—yours and Izirina’s other strangenesses, aside for this relationship-structure—Intensifying their anxieties.

Let them see that their daughter speaks for herself, and makes her own decisions, rather than being your ‘plaything’.

You look to Izirina, and see her expression is still vexed. You wonder at first if she understands the plan, or genuinely thinks you have abandoned Costella and your plans to marry her.

“Hey,” you say, “it’s okay.”

“Dealing with parents who love you—who show that they love you, but don’t understand you?” Izirina interrupts. “It looks and feels so much different than…”

She stops short of voicing the comparison—the realization, perhaps. You place an arm around her waist, and then pull Izirina into a hug.

“They want for her to be ‘perfect’ in the same sort of way that Master… That the Archmage does with you. Just a perfect ‘princess’ rather than a perfect MAGE. But in both cases, it’s more about themselves than it is about you… About trying to live through you, or see themselves represented in you, rather than about who YOU could be.”

And all at once, it is an epiphany.
>>
>>6059605

THAT is what you saw on Holy Luna, that you did not care for and could not countenance as a future for the Earth. THAT is what you rebelled against, to your detriment and exile. What you witnessed there was an outside force, a parental and ancestral instinct writ large. The Celestial Gods, what they’re doing is trying to shape the world into a specific idealized form, a BEAUTIFUL form…

But not a form this world has chosen for itself.

They want to shape and transform life into something they deem superior, but they’re doing so without asking life what IT wants, how those who actually LIVE it wish to manifest. They are only create more of what they themselves are, building monuments to their own benevolence.

Gardens exist to be looked AT, not lived WITHIN. The flower grown there does not exist for its own sake, ever; no, it exists to please that which cultivated it.

“Tips?”

You blink a couple times, as Izirina looks at you with a mix of concern and—yes—excitement, because she has seen or sensed your own revelation. You have had a breakthrough in understanding something profound about the cosmos and the soul. You have heard of this happening, even verged upon it once or twice; great mages and scholars often speak of that sudden realization which prompts them to immediately begin casting, or writing, or mixing reagents. It is a sort of mad flash of momentary genius, brought about by peculiar moments of experiential and theoretical synthesis. Even musicians have it, you’ve heard: that moment where they NEED to play, and to immediately put to memory a tune that has spring fully formed into their mind, or else lose it forever and forget what made it great.

If you go to your demiplane now… To your keep, where your senses are expanded and your powers magnified… And if you bring Izirina, to take notations and help refine your raw inspiration... You could fully realize this epiphany while your full body, mind, and spirit are aligned and alight! You need only devote your full time and attention.

…But that would mean really leaving Costella to sort this out, alone, without even the chance of intervention or aid. Probably for at least a few days.

What do you do?

>Retreat to your demiplane to create your master-spell
[You may or may not get another chance at this, since it is the product of a specific flash of inspiration; if you do, recapturing this feeling and moment will take Tips much, much longer than if he chases the moment right now.]

>Stay on Earth, closer at hand and accessible to Costella if she needs you
[You may lose the master-spell, but you’ll be able to help on Costella’s roll to appease her parents, and respond to a potential failure in convincing them.]

[Either choice will also affect Tips' ego, relationship dynamics, and personality/priorities going forward and into the epilogue.]
>>
>>6059606
>Retreat to your demiplane to create your master-spell

Explain Costella that our Wedding discussion heavily inspired us.

Share the cosmic truth with her. Show it the result in the created spell.
>>
>>6059606
>Stay on Earth, closer at hand and accessible to Costella if she needs you
The point of a spell is to deal with something. We’re dealing with a problem right now.

Besides, we made a star. Maybe we could have reached higher heights, but this is already pretty impressive. We already made our own spell - disjunction. We became a true fey. I can live with those accomplishments.
>>
>>6059606
I'll be completely honest here. I feel like this is set up so that we end up going on this plane for a few days expecting just more relationship drama when we get back- manageable.

Then as soon as we get back we find out that Ayla attacked and now we have to rescue Costella or she's dead and we have to pick up the pieces or something. A few days absence just seems like the perfect chance for her to attack, and for RQM to really pound in the thematic consequences of choosing magic over our relationships.

But then again BEEG spell.

Can we send a message to our allies to keep CLOSE watch on Costella, QM?

>Retreat to your demiplane to create your master-spell
>>
Yeah, we explicitely kept fast travel available;
Can Izzy keep a close watch and warn us when the inevitable happens?
>>
>>6059606
>Retreat to your demiplane to create your master-spell

Costella's family are the ones who pushed to have the wedding occur as soon as possible. If mr faucci was to delay wedding plans because he disproves of costella non traditional affairs, its whatever. Its not like not immediately getting married would kill us or something.
>>
>>6059698

This is me.
>>6056810
>>
>>6059684
[If both you and Izzy are on the demiplane, nobody else can really recah you. If Izzy makes multiple trips back each day, that will split your focus and reduce her energy.]

>>6059671
>Can we send a message to our allies to keep CLOSE watch on Costella, QM?
[You can for sure ask Pearce and Oncyth to keep an eye out, and if you'd like you can leave Veloz as a spy.]
>>
>>6059606
>Retreat to your demiplane to create your master-spell
>>
>>6059828
>You can for sure ask Pearce and Oncyth to keep an eye out, and if you'd like you can leave Veloz as a spy.
I want them and veloz to watch the family.

Also its been like six months or something when is ekaterine sending that letter
>>
>>6059922
am >>6059665
>>
>>6059922
Pretty sure eka already sent the notice to the sylvan realm, the elves decided to double down and cut all trade ties to hawksong.
>>
>>6059922
>>6059933
[Some of those months were winter, when most messengers do not travel so far. Negotiations with a closed-off, presently-unfriendly power also take longer when you can't teleport in and out or use secret interdimensional tunnels.]

>>6059613
>>6059671
>>6059698
>>6059915
>>6059665
[Writing!]
>>
>>6059606

>Stay on Earth, closer at hand and accessible to Costella if she needs you
>>
>>6060197
Aw damn, shoulda refreshed
>>
>>6060197
>>6060251
>>6060256
“Izzy…”

“I know that look,” she says. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but… It’s important. Can you take us to the Keep, instead of the Hill?”

“Of course,” she says. “I’ll jut need a moment.”

“Take two,” you quip, and then turn to Veloz.

The shimmering lunar hummingbird is your constant companion, especially since you made him into a true familiar. Unfortunately, your connection cannot transcend distances so great or transcendental as those between dimensions—even adjunct pocket dimensions such as a <Demiplane> spell can create. Even so, there is something he can do for you.

You hold an outstretched hand for the curiously-legless animal to curl his prehensile tail around, ceasing his flight for a moment. When he thus alights, you ask him:

“Hey little one, can I ask you a favour?”

Veloz’s high-pitched trumpet of a chirp is a an affirmative if also probably a bit of resentment at being called ‘little one’.

“Keep an eye on Costella, could you? And if anything bad happens… Can you alert Pearce, or Oncyth? Whoever you find first.”

The trill which comes next is less confident, but you know that loyal Veloz will do anything in his power—and within his admittedly birdbrained understanding—to accomplish this task. It’s all you can ask.

“Ready?” asks Izirina.

“Ready,” you answer, and lift your arm to let Veloz fly away.

“<Plane Shift!>”

Performing such a shift so quickly and without the proper symbols, sigils, and ritual components is taxing, of course. You know that well enough so that when the two of you arrive nigh-instantaneously at your demiplane ‘Wizard’s Keep’, you already have your arms outstretched to catch her.

(Of course, she’s still heavier and taller than you, and so you both fall over anyway, but at least you cushion her.)

“Thank you,” you both say at once.

“You get started without me,” Izzy then murmurs, wobbling to her full height and nearly toppling a second time. “I’m going to rest and regain my strength.”

“You could always attune to the Star,” you suggest.

Izirina stops mid-stagger and seems to flinch. Withotu turning around, she shakes her head.

“I’d… rather not.”

You contemplate that response for a moment, but OnLy for a moment. Then, you hake it off. It’s something to consider, and to discuss, but another time—not now, not when you are on the precipice of greatness Instead, you assume <improved Aeteherial Form> and, in your lightness, you bound and leap up the stairs of your keep to the uppermost portion of your castle-turned-tower.
>>
>>6060287
The Keep is not by any means a tall or wide as that of Hawksong, nor as grandly enchanted. It is, in truth, a simple thing of three stories, constructed of Elemental Earth. Its bricks are baked black, and glazed, and its interior is reworked from Banelight’s decrepit estate. Wooden furnishings have been cloned, harvested, and crudely shaped. What it lacks in the mastery of Edmondo Fanucci’s furniture, it makes up for in a sort of humble, cozy appeal. At the heart of it all, radiating heat and light like a furnace without the need for lumber or for coal, there is the Unseelie Star: a gateway to a world beyond yours, and to power seemingly without end.

Through that glassy gemstone-gate, to can draw force raw extraplanar power with <Energy Drain>; with <Elemental infusion>, you can make it fully part of yourself, integrating it into your being until you shine as brightly as Ayla when you first encountered her. And with that power, and this inspiration…

You can accomplish wonders.

The revelation that came upon you was something a long-time coming: a synthesis of every steo f your long journey, from a young life mage seeking to spare a rabbit, to a Disciple of the True Fey learning harmony with the natural and supernatural world, to a pilgrim seeking secrets among goblins of the wasteland, to a student of the Sacrae Schale Lunae. Creating and transforming the jackalopes, attuning yourself and the women you love, healing and mending the pox-stricken people of Hawksong, creating Carazzi and ensouling Zith-Zi, and empowering the people and beasts to guard the hill… It all led to this.

“The soul… The soul as we know it isn’t inherent,” you realize. “It’s adjunct!”

Izirina squints, nodding slowly, but you can see she only half-understand what you’re saying. You can’t blame her—even as you say it, you are still struggling to grasp the full implications.

“You mean that life can operate without a soul, like the clones you make with your spell.”

“Yes, but not just operate—FULLY operate. Life can THRIVE without a soul.”

“Like goblinoids,” Izirina says.

“EXACTLY like goblinoids!” you say. “think about it: Zith-Zi only had a ‘demon soul’, if Carazzi’s spark of infernal ectoplasm can be called that to begin with, because of being tainted by a demon in her conception. But when we took that out of her, she was still Zith-Zi—just different.”

“You gave her a new one,” Izirina points out. “From the berries. A fairy soul.”

“But other goblins have nothing like that,” you remind her. “That’s always been the puzzle, hasn’t it? How do they have volition without a spirit to speak of? And if the soul is who she is... Well, she's not THAT different, is she?”

"No..."

"SHOULDN'T she be, though?" you reason. "If we gave her a new soul, shouldn't she essentially be a new PERSON? Why ISN'T she?"
>>
>>6060291
“And you think you have the answer,” Izirina says. "To ALL of that?"

“I DO,” you assert, then frown. “Well, almost. It’s SO close.”

Izirina places her hand upon yours.

“Talk me through it,” she says, face almost comically serious.

“Well, the Gods Above… They’re from another realm, beyond ours. Another… Another cosmic order. And they created us. But not wholecloth! They took what already existed here, creations of the Dark Gods, and modified them by attuning them to their own essence… Ensouling them, like I did with Zith-Zi. But the beings they did that for.. They must have ALREADY HAD volition, right? For them to have morality in need of correcting, instinct and behaviours to curb?”

Izirina nods slowly, and her luminous eyes widen and flash with understanding.

“What we think of as souls…”

“They’re symbiotic entities,” you conclude. “They are outside elements—like the ‘soul’ I made Zith-Zi, like the ‘demonic essence’ inside Carazzi and Ayla, that evolve and grow with us, influencing and modifying us as we affect them, until we are indistinguishable.”

“Wait,” Izirina realizes, with horror equal to her wonder, “so when the soul persists beyond death…”

“WE don’t carry on,” you realize. “The symbiote, the ‘soul’ moves onto the next stage of its… Well, ‘life cycle’ is the wrong word, but something LIKE that… Withotu us.”

“It outgrows us, like a hermit crab with a shell,” Izirina whispers. “It sheds us… And we…”

You squeeze her hand back, and for a time silence reigns in your Keep. Even in that silence, though, there is contemplation… And a plan. A masterwork, ever progressing towards realization, completion.

Understanding the nature of the soul, and that matters of spirit are truly separate from that of biological life, gives you an entire new perspective on those fields of arcane and religious study. Life Magic in all its forms is predicated upon mending the body and soul as one, preserving the vessel in such a form that it can enclose and protect the spirit within.

“It all comes down to this,” Izirina announces, several days into your sleepless studies: “When I say ‘I am Izirina’, is the ‘I’ and the ‘Izirina’ I refer to the soul speaking through the body, or the body speaking, while the soul watches and waits?”

“Ugh,” you say, rubbing your temples. “I’m a mage, not a celric! How am I… How are WE supposed to know?”

“How should clerics know?” Izzy counters, a little harshly. “They’ve never told anyone of this. And the Gods must know, yet they don’t teach this. They teach a unit of the self, don’t they? Physical bodies belong on the material plane, and traveling to the other planes—the Heavens and Hells especially—is taboo.”

(Well, except Sol and Luna, but those aren’t truly separate planes…)
>>
>>6060294
It is the question that stick with you, though: when your body fails and your spirit leaves it—in a day, a year, a hundred years, or even a thousand—will ‘Tips’ die that day? Or will you still live on, in every sense that matters, so long as your spirit persists? Can ‘you’ meaningfully exist without your spirit? Will your spirit, if it endures a thousand lifetimes, still be YOU in any way that matters?

And if all this can be seen, be forecasted an, dreaded by the Celestial Gods and their minasiens, salivated over by those damnable watchers in Darkness… If all that you were, are, and might yet become is part of some grander design… Where do ‘you’, in any sense, even have independent meaning?

It’s something you struggle with on such a fundamental level that it sometimes feels as if you will literally explode. Are you discovering the answer, or DETERMINING it? Setting it in stone for yourself, if not the whole of the world? The conclusion you reach... It could change everything, the entire arcane-spiritual understanding of the self, of medicine, of religion, of life and death! A part of you wonders if you should stop here. Do you even have a right to know such things? Are there things mortals weren't MEANT to know?

But not Izirina.

“I understand,” she gasps, one day, sitting upright from where you both lay in contemplation and seizing you by the shoulders. “Tips, I've got it!"

(…Well, she always WAS the only one who could best you in esoteric study, wasn’t she?)
>>
>>6060300
Luckily, she love you enough to share this discovery…

>You are your material self
[You two gain the spell <Perfect Self>, allowing you to grant yourself full control of your body—ceasing aging, increasing physical stats at will, changing your appearance however you see fit, though the power requirements for major and lasting changes will leave you drained and possibly require you to be in your Keep to initially manifest them.]

>Her are your spirit
[You two gain the spell <Reincarnate>, allowing you to rematerialize in a new body with your full conscious knowledge after your death, being born and reborn with full recollection of your past existence essentially indefinitely, provided your soul is not ensnared or destroyed by High Magic of especially great power; the reawakening will require the new body to be brought to your Keep.]

>You are your choices
[You two gain the spell <Final Revelation>, allowing you to ‘break’ your fate—rendering you and your actions (as well as those who exist BECAUSE of your actions, like created lifeforms and descendants) immune to divination, mind-reading, and resistant to mind-affecting spells and even less-dramatic forms of detection like <Faerie Fire> or <Daylight> or even mundane senses, from the moment of its casting. Those in the Keep benefit from all of this for the duration of their stay.]

>You are what you do for others
[You two the spell <Life Doman>, turning your Demiplane into a space where even Death cannot reach, where sickness and aging cannot exist and where most forms of suffering cannot reach… So long as you and the plane persist, one of you is present for at least a few hours each day to refresh the spell, and a person stays there.]
>>
>>6060302
>You are your choices

Seemingly the least impressive option, but it doesn’t require any upkeep or a price to be paid, and we truly leave ourselves outside the purview of the gods. I find that really cool and I doubt the gods are going to completely leave us be.
>>
>>6060302
>You are your choices

Neinas and the elven gods prophecy stated our actions would crown a monster that would bring devastation to hawksong and the surrounding lands. Their prophecy on izzy stated that a descendant of hers would conquer the world.

The dark gods believe that by harnessing izzy and the rest of the house of yosef that they can conquer all the extra dimensional plains beyond this world.

All of these prophecy's have brought us nothing but grief and undue attention. By blocking out their visions it'll will stop them from directly spying on us and manipulating us for their agendas.
>>
>>6060302
>You are your choices
going with the unique one. and it fits our journey as well, not that others didn't
>>
>>6060302
>You are your spirit
I like this one thematically
>>
>>6060302
>>You are your choices

How can I vote against my corest belief in real life?
>>
>>6060302
>You are your choices
The first one seems useful but more limited in scope compared to the rest. The second requires a lot of set up and if we both die at the same time - which we came close to, multiple times already. The last one isn’t all that useful outside the demiplane.

It’s this one. We always wanted to be free of sylvan or godly interventions.

am >>6059665
>>
[The heatwave has cooked my computer. I may be delayed in posting.]
>>
>>6060949
no problem. going to sleep.
>>
>>6060484
>>6060452
>>6060337
>>6060327
>>6060319
“We’re nothing if we’re not free.”

This is the conclusion which you and Izirina reach. And does it not make intuitive sense? Is it not, really, the culmination of everything you’ve both sought?

The freedom to be neither only man or elf alone? To be neither faithful nor secular, but a seeker of an independent path?

To be free of a dark origin, a controlling mother, an afflicted and underdeveloped body, and a future which sometimes seemed set-in-stone?

If you kept your soul intact, or stayed true to your body, but you owned neither—not in whole, anyway—could you ever really say you existed? Or were you just a part of some larger pattern, inevitable unchangeable, and unthinking? Did you even CHOOSE to be immortal?

“We are the choices we made…” Izirina says, forlorn.

You clasp her hand in yours, and meet her eyes, and you say: “We’re the choices we will make, moving forward. Don’t forget that, too.”

And together, hand-in-hand, you cast <Final Revelation>. In an instant, invisibly and in such subtlety that you yourself can scarcely feel it, you enchant your Wizard keep. You entire demiplane, from the not-quite-castle on out, becomes imbued with an undefinable ‘otherness’. AT first it discomfits you, but the longer you linger in it…

The more it feels like you might finally, FINALLY, be home.

“We can finally be whatever we want,” Izirina sighs, sprawled across you upon a poorly-cushioned (yet just now, so comfortable) wood-framed bench.

“We always could,” you tell Izirina. “Only now, our future is nobody’s to shape or spy upon. It is ONLY ours.”

She clutches you tight then, and kisses you deeply. Here, in this space where any thus born will be utterly free of fate, you finally break the spell of learning and fall for the spell of lust. You two have been so owl-eye focused upon the mastery of this spell and the lessons underlaying it that you’ve done naught else but study. Sometimes you kept near-intimate company as you speculated into the early-eerie hours of the eternal dim day of the Unseelie Star’s space. Never, though, have you made love physically; you’ve been too busy making a much more intellectual sort, an intermingling of minds.

But now?

Well...

>Izirina becomes pregnant that day, in the demiplane newly enchanted to resist destiny
>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family

[No write-ins.]
>>
>>6061011
>Izirina becomes pregnant that day, in the demiplane newly enchanted to resist destiny
This can in no way go wrong or lead to future regret
>>
>>6061011
>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family
>>
>>6061011
>Izirina becomes pregnant that day, in the demiplane newly enchanted to resist destiny.

No prophecy to worry about, and we are nearing the end of tips journey so we should seek out some happiness.
>>
>>6061011
>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family

Remember when we said we weren’t gonna marry Izirina without Costella’s consent? I did.

We could always make her fall pregnant at a later date.

am >>6060484
>>
>>6061011
>>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family
>>
Am >>6059613 travelposting
>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family
>>
>>6061056
>>6061057
[Uh, anon?]
>>
>>6061061
Lmao guess this guy is in a new area and decided to use his old ID as a backlink samefag.
>>
>>6061061
Wait nevermind looking back he's linked to that ID before, I guess he just decided to do it again since he didn't do it in the first post?
>>
>>6061057
when you backlink you tag your reply to your previous one. You don't need to vote again.
>>
>>6061011
>Izirina and you do not wholly lose yourselves, and returned more immediately to Earth and to Costella and her family
While I want to impregnate Izzy, we made a promise to both of them early on, so no getting preggers for now.
>>
>>6061056
>>6061057
>>6061061
Wasn't waked up enough.
Travelposted twice from the same IP at one week difference somehow. But I am me. Sorry for double-post.
>>
>>6061022

This is me didn't realize my ip changed.
>>6060327
>>
>>6061116
>>6061039
Why do you assume we will have another opportunity later on? We are close to the epilogue of this quest.

The infiltrator assumed that she would have plenty of time to make a powerful dragonborn, she didn't. Between finishing off negotiations with the incubus and her divine mission to end the house of yosef theral was the only child she could have before death.

As theral weren't able to see the child we had with eka due to the red dragon king fiasco.

Between the elven hostility, our mission to find high magic artifacts, our wedding and Vengeful Ayla. We actually more shit on our plate to deal with then they did.

This could be our only period of brief peace and relaxation to start a family before we have to deal with another crisis.
>>
>>6061426
>theral was the only child she could have before death
The only child she knew of. Kek.
>>
>>6061426
I see your point, even if I hadn't read those, but I still wanna do it informing both
>>
>>6061426
>As theral weren't able to see the child we had with eka due to the red dragon king fiasco.
The child theral fucked into her so she bear the burden of pregnancy instead of him.

>Between the elven hostility, our mission to find high magic artifacts, our wedding and Vengeful Ayla. We actually more shit on our plate to deal with then they did.
>This could be our only period of brief peace and relaxation to start a family before we have to deal with another crisis.
Whats the point of family or children for that matter if we’re not around to see it? All the things you mentioned could very well - and almost did - get us killed or put out of commission. Now you want to add another task.

And Costella. We pushed her a lot but this is too far. She’s being sweated by her dad right now and worrying about the wedding. Adding Izzy’s pregnancy into the matter would further complicate things and is another betrayal of trust. Remember when Costella tried to force our hand and get her pregnant? Remember how willing we was to that matter?

I’d rather Tips remain childless than burden Izzy or fracture this relationship
>>
>>6061116
>>6061057
>>6061039
>>6061022
>>6061015
>>6061013
[Locked and writing!]
>>
Rolled 13, 15, 10 = 38 (3d20)

>>6061620
For a time, the two of you lose yourselves in ne another, and in the rush of relief and overwhelming sense of freedom which overtakes you. Cloths come off and limbs entangle. You savour one another with all your senses, and you find yourself once more thankful for your new for—for how many subtleties of sensation you have access to now, greater than ever before.

You really get to treasure what you have all the more, like his.

But the moment passes. When your mutual reverie reaches a climax, you break apart and instead expend yourself upon the imported earth of this private lane of existence.

You have other people to consider, after all, and other concurrent responsibilities.

The two of your clean and clothe yourselves, exploiting some summoned water to serve the purpose, and the Unseelie Star’s proximity to war and dry yourselves.

(You narrowly avoid a repeat of the earlier passion while you snuggle together by that captive conflagration.)

Finally, you and Izirina are rested and prepared for your return journey to Hawksong… And whatever might await your return, after nearly a week away.
>>
>>6061625
You do not detour to Old Maple Hill, but rather fly like a loosed arrow straight to the place where you left the third member of your ‘throuple’: the Fanucci family home. You feel an uncomfortable atmosphere as you approach, though you’re more wont to chalk it up to your nerves than to any sort of extrasensory premonition. Either way, though, it proves well-founded: your knocks at the door go unanswered, until your knuckles begin to hurt and redden through your snow-white skin. You frown, and genuinely cosndier simply blasting open the door or assuming a form that can easily pass through the wooden planks of their portal…

But then again, these are to be your in-laws, so perhaps you shouldn’t.

Instead, you ask Izirina: “Can you scry her?”

“I can,” Izirina says uncertainly, “but after a <Plane Shift> and <Discern Location>, then teleporting us there, I won’t have enough magic left to move us all again.”

You nod, and then a thought occurs to you. Veloz hasn’t returned to you, which means he isn’t here… And that means he’s watching Costella elsewhere! You close your eyes and reach out psychically for your familiar. You feel a gentle tug response through the mental connection which binds your two souls, and you open your eyes and point towards the Initiates’ Village—that space where young mages stay famously stay, and magical goods are bought, sold, and enjoyed openly.

“She’s at Pearce’s,” you declare.

“<Dimension Door>,” comes Izirina’s response, and then you both cross through.

The portal can only get you to the outskirts of the Village, before the complex matrices of so many disparate disciplines makes it a less-than-certain landing, especially in proximity to the Tower itself. It’s fine, though: the densely-constructed apartments and townhouses of this part of town allow the already-small population of the place to be squeezed into what is realistically only a few blocks; nowhere is a far walk from anywhere else, in the Initiates’ Village. You reach Pearce’s shortly and, when you knock, you are greeted by Oncyth—stoic as ever, yet with a subtly-uneasy air.

“What’s wrong?” you ask. “Where’s Costella?!”

Oncyth places a surprisingly large (albeit still gracile) hand upon your chest. You flinch and glare in response, offended, but a single look from the taller elf assures you that you are not being barred entry—just slowed a moment.

(Izirina, bless her heart, returns her fancy wand to its hidden holster within her cloak.

“What happened?” you ask again, more calmly and quietly.
>>
>>6061660
Oncyth's answer is as sad as it is succinct. You are still grappling with it as he guides the two of you over to where Costella has stationed herself with several sodden handkerchiefs and a bucket of magically-fried, thin-sliced vegetable ‘crisps’—a classic study-season comfort food among the local student body. Pearce is patting her back as she blubbers and sniffles and munches away. On the table there is a scroll, wax seal broken but carefully rerolled. You don’t even need to unravel and read it to understand its significance. Its presence affirms the truth and gravity of that which Oncyth so briefly told you at the entrance:

“They’re suing you,” he’d said.

“So it’s true,” you sigh.

Costella looks up, startled at the sound of your voice. Immediately, she rises and stumbles towards you and Izirina who, together, just barely manage to catch her with all the force she puts into the hug.

“I’m, like, SOOOO sorry!” she bawls. “This. Is. All. My. FAAAAAaaaUUULT!”

“Don’t be silly,” you chastise her softly, stroking her long brown hair. “it isn’t at all.”

“It’s your family’s.”

You shoot Izirina a look, and she flinches, and belatedly adds: “Who… Mean well?”

You suppose they must, but it’s still quite the setback, and in more ways the longer you think about it. When you finally DO read the scroll, its archaic legalese does little to disguise the dagger-in-the-back that it really is. The charges are being laid against you by way of damnable De Gori’s ‘Concerned Association of Tradesmen, Skilled Craftsmen, and Machinists’, on behalf of the Edmondo Fanucci, as a ‘right professional member in goodly and fulle standing, despite the novelty of his membership’. It alleges a whole host of crimes against the Crown and against Hawksong society at large. Some are almost laughable, or would be if they didn’t make you so angry to read: intimidation and coercion for commercial and marital purposes, interference in a lawful and prearranged engagement, unlawful confinement, seduction through coercion, and even rape.

(RAPE?! How DARE they?!)

Others, though… Well, some land close to home. Some you are TRULY guilty of, even if you feel no personal guilt in your heart for them: bigamy, perversion (here no doubt referring to Izirina’s and Costella’s ‘conduct’), corruption of the chaste (well… sort of, depending on how one chose to view Costella’s history).
>>
>>6061661
And then there are those—such as illegal ensorcellment to modify body or mind—which even in the investigation to exonerate you would reveal some of your most deeply personal and potentially politically-significant secrets: that you are host to the energies of the Unseelie Queen, that Izirina and yourself can modify living people in a host subtle and dramatic fashions… That you CAN in fact, reliably brainwash a person into affection and bliss. ‘But I’ve only used it consensually in my illegal and perverse illegal quasi-marriage!’ isn’t the greatest defence, in the court of public opinion.

“Oh, and they’re trying to shut down Old Maple Hill’s commercial production as well,” you add bitterly. “They named Izirina Henzler in the accusations as well, and they’re suing the Tower for ‘enabling and abetting’ our ‘crimes against the public’s moral and commercial concerns.’’”

You throw the scroll down and wiping your hands off on your robes, to no avail in cleaning away the greasy feeling of it.

“They didn’t come around to the idea,” Izzy infers, stating the obvious for lack of anything else to say.

Costella shakes her head, and blows her nose again.

“Wh-where were you two?”

“It was incredible,” Izirina begins to gush. “Tips and I—”

She stops, seeing your look, and shrinks in on herself a bit.

“Sorry,” she mutters. “Just… Studying.”

“We’ll tell you later,” you assure Costella, who looks more concerned than ever. “We had… A major breakthrough. But first, tell us what we missed.”

And so she does. Costella tells you of the uphill battle against her parents’ entrenched beliefs—one that only worsened when they called upon her younger sister and her husband. Her husband, it seems, was an ally of De Gori—a traveler in the same circles—who piled tinder upon the fire of suspicion which Mister Fanucci had already been burning with. Biased accounts of your confrontation with Carlos De Gori outside the glazier’s had painted you as a bully and a threat.

“A-and then he brought up the um, the INN,” Costella sniffles, ‘and s-seeing Ez, like… Outside this brothel?”

“Why was HE there?!” you demand and then, seeing Pearce’s expression and even Costella’s, you quickly stammer: “I-I was… It was only to purchase some… I mean, the shirin was for… You both KNOW that—”

Izirina places a hand softly upon your mouth, and nods to Costella to continue.

“Well, and, like… I couldn’t LIE to Papa when he asked if we’d… If we’d been at the inn. I just COULDN’T. And then it came up that he was saying that all elves were like this… And -I- said that, like… Other elves didn’t even necessary LIKE us that much.”

“You WHAT?” you balk.
>>
>>6061663
Costella cringes, and nods, saying: “It just, like, came out, you know? And then I had to, like, sort of explain… But it actually sort of helped, kind of? Like, Papa doesn’t actually LIKE competing with elven furniture and carvings and stuff made from living wood or whatever, you know? So knowing we were, like, tied to that whole ‘no trading with the Silver Realms’ thing…”

(You resist the urge to correct her to ‘Sylvan Realms’…)

“…It actually made him, like, like you more!” Costella brightens. For a moment, only for her face to fall.

“But then Lothar—that’s Rosella’s husband—he said it was probably because you were, like, clearing out rivals, and brought up… Like, Iz’s mom, being your master and all… And that set Papa off, because he like, got convinced that you and Iz were just, like… Trying to amass control for yourselves, and only pushed out the other elves because they’re competition.”

“Nonsense,” you grumble.

“And THEN, he started saying how you might even be like in league with, like… The Prince Consort’s dark elves?”

“I’m not!” you protest. “WE’RE not!”

“I know,” Costella wails. “but Papa wouldn’t listen, and Mama started getting worried that if you had all these enemies maybe you were dangerous, and… And I didn’t even really UNDERSTAND all of it, and you two weren’t… You weren’t THERE!”

>15
>vs. default DC of 15, +1 for your changed and spooky appearance, +1 for your approach to the merchants’ association, +1 for leaving during this sensitive period
>Failure

You feel the winds of righteous indignation, which had buoyed you to this point, fail you. You fall low, exhaustion rising up to meet you, and you take a seat which Pearce proffers.

“I’m sorry,” you say to Costella, at last. “We should… I should have been here for you.”

“We,” Izirina affirms your initial point. “This relation is all of ours’.”

You’re proud of that, at least, and manage a small smile.

“So what do we do?” you ask aloud, as much to yourself as anyone else.”

“We could leave,” comes Izirina’s immediate response. “The demiplane—”

“—is a wonderful place to study and, ah, spend time, but it’s not… We can’t. We have responsibilities to other people, too.”

“Responsibilities can be delegated,” Izirina points out. “We can come and go as we please, effectively.”

(But to be effectively exiled from ANOTHER ancestral homeland? TO be a pariah all across the Earth, wherever you were once lauded? Could you bear it?)
>>
>>6061666
“Easy girl,” Pearce rumbles, speaking up for the first time in a long while, and with obvious displeasure at you essentially fleeing Hawksong—the planet, even. “Tips, you KNOW the QUEEN, right? And the ‘Prince Consort’. Just get this thrown out! Throw the whole LOT of these conniving merchants out on their arses!”

Costella’s face falls at that, and it’s not hard to figure out why: she still loves and cherishes her family. And that’s assuming you are even willing, or able, to convince the Royal Family to throw the case out summarily.

“Or we could win the case,” you say aloud, though the words taste strangely upon your tongue. “No tricks or backroom deals, no running away. Just… facing it all head-on, and explain ourselves, and… Come out on top.”

Costella looks hardly more enthusiastic about this, admittedly: it will mean airing out much of what makes your relationship peculiar, and no small amount of public drama between you and your in-laws to-be, as well as bad blood between Fanuccis. But maybe it’s the most direct, and honest?

What will you do?
>Ignore and avoid the scroll, retreating to your demi-plane and modifying your wedding-plans to avoid legal proceedings
>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong
>Contest the charges head-on, publically, in court
>Confront the De Goria nd Fanucci families outside of court, and show them what ‘intimidation and coercion’ from a powerful mage REALLY looks like
>Write-in
>>
>>6061661
First up, the completely inaccurate charges - intimidation at the glassmakers workshop. Get witnesses there to testify what happened.

>>6061663
If they’re involving the tower, we’ll do the same. We needed a particular item in that brothel for the goblin wastes and the result of our excursion was the rod and chest.

>>6061667
>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong
We don’t really need a public trial. Having the matter settled in private is probably for the best.

A question. Regarding judicial duels. What charges are they applicable to?
>>
>>6061732
>A question. Regarding judicial duels. What charges are they applicable to?
[Tips wouldn't really know, honestly. There is a longstanding matter where any 'matter of honour' (ie. business or ownership disputes, slander/libel cases, harassment, grave insults) can be settled that way, and that's more or less carried over into the tradition of mages' duels even as most of Hawksong society has shifted away from trial-by-combat to more civil, harmonious, or bureaucratic solutions. The laws are still on the books, though, and the upper-class and adventure cosplayer set both sometimes make sue of it. Crimes that endanger the community at large usually can't be settled by one-on-one duels, though.]
>>
>>6061667
>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong

We literally saved the entire city. Fuck off.
>>
>>6061667
>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong
>>
>>6061667
going to the demiplane isn't an option and facing them head-on seems like taking in blind whatever dirty methods they'll try using on us. what to do...
>>
>>6061660
Question : why aren't we using our magical network to move around and still rely on Izzy for TP? she could save magic that way
>>
>>6061667
>>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong

I really, really want to just leave. Create another Farming Demiplane. We'll teach those fucker the meaning of Freedom.
>>
>>6062014
[You would need to map the tunnel system and see where each leads. Faerie Fire would help, but ut would still take time. The nature of the True Fey is such that it's highly unlikely any of their tunnels pop out in the middle of a metropolis, too.]
>>
>>6061667
>Request a private audience, and special legal considerations, from the Queen of Hawksong
seems like our best chance
I'm >>6061116
>>
>>6062063
>>6062017
>>6061749
>>6061740
>>6061732
“Some of these charges are so absurd that I’m almost tempted TO take this to open court,” you grumble. “I have witnesses from the glazier’s shop incident who would probably GLADLY attest to De Gori’s goons trying to intimidate US, rather than the other way around!”

You cross your arms and start to really imagine it.

“And if they want to bring the Tower into this, they’ll regret it! My Master, and Izirina’s mother, HAPPILY confirm that any ‘materials’ purchased at the brothel were vital to securing important artifacts and research data for the magical protection of Hawksong and the human race!”

Izirina nods in confirmation, straightening up and seeming to really consider your words in earnest—the possibility of standing and fighting. Seeing her own blossoming hope revitalizes your own determination, and you actually begin to RELISH the thought of this humiliation for your foolish foes!

Well, until you see Costella’s face, horrified and yet too guilt-wracked to challenge you as you plow ahead… Right over her beloved family.

Her Papa, and Mama, and sister, and brother, and no doubt the family’s reputation with the local merchant community and with their most reputationally-focused elite clientele. It could be their social and financial ruin, and it would be a ruin they would always blame on Costella at some level, for choosing you and Izirina.

“…But we won’t let it get that far,” you say, speaking up a little to get Costella’s attention and to thus make sure she hears your assurance. “It’s not going to get to the point of public accusations or feuding.”

“So you’re going to the Queen?” Pearce asks. “Good. Everything you’ve done for this city, in preventing that war, and curing that disease? Not to mention keeping the Queen’s own secrets? You’re owed some recognitions.”

“You helped with that to, you know. Bled for it, even!” You regard your stalwart old friend, and smile. “And you, and Ocnyth too, you both retrieved Costella before things got bad.”

And it’s true—under the law a father suspecting that his daughter has been coerced into an engagement or otherwise ‘reduced and/or violated’, as the letter puts it—is well within his parental rights to detain her until the case is settled. Only your forethought to assign Veloz to keep watch, and your friends’ quick action in response, extracted Costella and kept her safe, here, where you could meet her.

>Bonus: planned failure consequences avoided thanks to clever wrote-in

“I owe you one,” you tell Pearce, and clasp his arm.

Logan Pearce looks down at his hand, flushes slightly, and then gives yours a firm shake before withdrawing his hand quickly.

“…Wasn’t anything you wouldn’t have done,” Pearce says, with a cough to clear his throat and to hide a smile. “have done, too, for… Well, for me and Oncyth.”
>>
>>6062313
Oncyth’s ear twitches and swivels in a distinctly unleven way towards you at the sound of his name. He is presently seated, silent, staring out the window, as if on watch for your ‘pack’. His being in elf form only makes the obvious wolfish behaviour all the more conspicuous, somehow—like watching a feral dog wearing an elf-suit, almost like those Reptilian Infiltrators the Crown Prince employs. His body language is much more protective and attentive, though, and it only serves to make him endearing in some animal way, once you learn not to fear him.

“You always DID like dogs,” you note dryly.

“Watch it,” Pearce growls, elbowing you as he fails to hide a reflexive amusement at your little jab. “Crass little knife-eared defiler-of-women.”

You both laugh a little, with the warmth of old friends poking fun. You need the relief of the jocularity, to inoculate you against the seriousness of the discussion ahead: that you must have with Queen Ekaterine of Hawksong.

You acquire your audience with unexpected expediency, seeing the monarch within only a few days of requesting it. She provides her summons along with a carriage drawn by fine, exotic looking steeds from the royal stables, tall and tan and truly stately. The three of you say farewell and a last thanks to Pearce and Oncyth, and are soon enough gone from Pearce’s apartment and across town to the heights of the mountainside Royal Palace.

“How did you know?” is the first question the Queen asks, as soon as your pleasantries are completed.

“Huh?” you say none-too-smartly and feeling like you know nothing at all. “How did I know... What?”

Queen Ekaterine’s older, hunched-over scribe comes bearing a small scroll, formed from rolled and braided parchment-leaf and bound with a single thin, rusty-brown elven hair—the custom of the Sylvan Elves’ highest authorities, in lieu of the human tradition of seals and stamps. The hair flashes a brief glyph of confirmation as the hair is untied—signifying that this is the first time.

“A message came from your people,” the Queen explains. “I thought… Pardon me, I thought that was why you were here?”

You shake your head, and note: “You haven’t read it yet.”

“No,” the Queen agrees. “when I heard you were seeking an audience, I… Well, it’s silly, but I suppose it seemed appropriate that we all read it together, since it so concerns us all.”

“That’s, like, not the only thing,” Costella interjects dourly.

The Queen looks to you and Izirina, confused at the comment. You sigh, and explain the real reason for your presence: “We actually came here about ANOTHER matter that is causing us some ‘concern’…”
>>
>>6062315
The Queen listens intently, nodding to show she is truly hearing you. Her general concern deepens and acquires new dimensions as you continue to the end of the sordid tale of spurned suitors, spontaneous engagements, women-loving-women, spiteful merchant confederations, and dubious accusations.

“And these accusations ARE baseless, correct?” the Queen asks, archly.

“What?! Of course they are!” you gasp, then wince. “Y-your majesty.”

“All of them?”

You look to Izirina and Costella—two women who HAVE engaged in ‘sordid activities together, and with you as a group, and who have shared in many other unconventional life-choices and arcane experiments.

“…Most of them. The ones that matter.”

“Every accusation here matters,” the Queen asserts. “All of these things are crimes against the alw.”

“How can you say that?” Izirina demands, surprising you with her vociferous defence of her relationship with Costella, however shrewdly and pragmatically she had originally entered into it. “Nothing we’re doing is any more ‘wrong’ than what you and the Crown Prince have done. Not NEARLY as bad, actually.”

The Queen regards Izzy cooly for a moment, then winces, and nods.

“I don’t entirely appreciate your tone, Magus Henzler… But you aren’t wrong. Yet those are secrets—secrets that I keep for the good of all, not just myself or my family. And publicly, outwardly, the Queen of Hawksong sits upon the Throne of the Paladin King. Whatever my… Sympathies… They are NOT the position of my Council, or of the High Priests of Hawksong, or of my forefathers whom I owe my station and whose legacy I must represent.”

“…Huh?” asks Costella, and blushes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really understand that. What do you mean?”

“She means,” Izirina says dully, “she can’t publicly be seen to support polygamy, or ‘degeneracy’ such as sexual relations between women.”

The Queen flushes at the bluntness, and covers her mouth slightly, but after a moment she nods. When she regains her composure, her voice is sad, and solemn.

“If there is evidence that you have, have truly and provably committed any crimes on their list, I MUST listen to them and be seen to pursued justice, wherever it leads. If the Kings and Queens of Hawksong are seen as failing their oath to Moroth and Marese to uphold fairness and justice for ALL… If there are rumours of favouritism, flouting the law, and corruption in the Royal Family…

“Faith would fade, given all the other turmoil in the world and Hawksong’s diminished wealth and influence,” you conclude, and silently you add: ‘If people knew the truth of your reign, and that you really ARE breaking their laws and their trust in some ways already.’
>>
>>6062316
The Queen’s legitimacy already holds on by a thread. She is married to an foreign adventurer of dubious nobility who is never around. She is young, inexperienced, and took the crown under mysterious circumstances, one brother dead and the other ‘retired voluntarily’ from public life and renouncing the throne. Under her reign, tensions with the Southlands have worsened, and now the Sylvanfolk have ceased trade and relations. Bandit activity has increased, and monsters yet lurk in the mountains to the west. Prosperity, stability, and security under Queen Ekaterine have decreased, continuing and worsening the trend set by her father’s final decades of leadership. The association between the Royal Family and the spiritual, martial, and historical legitimacy of the Paladins of the Holy Order is VITAL to keeping Ekaterine as Queen and Hawksong as the centre of the Northwestern realms… And that association is predicated on their reputation of being ethically beyond reproach.

But in actuality, she is in a secret, illegal plural marriage with an ACTUAL 'antipaladin' of an enemy race and sinister faith.

“So, like, you won’t help us?” Costella asks, anxiously, a plea in her voice.

“I can’t dismiss the case without some sort of hearing,” the Queen says sadly. “Too many names have come forth in accusation, thanks to this, ah, ‘business association’ all petitioning me as one. Even if I DID shut it down, it would be a very public and high-profile thing… The sort of ac which draws ATTENTION, and raises questions as to WHY.”

You grind your teeth a little, and reply:
>“That’s okay, then—simply hold trial yourself, personally, and make sure that we are given every chance to explain and defend ourselves, and are fairly heard.”
[It will go to trial, with Queen Ekaterine the judge]

“I wouldn’t do that—if I have to testify honestly about my relationship, I may feel tempted to do so about yours as well.”
[Threatens the Queen with exposure to shut down the court case preemptively]

“Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”
[You will be given a private arbitration, but KEEPING it private will rely upon making a mutually-agreed compromise and settlement with your accusers.]

“Perhaps your husband could do something less ‘official’ to abort this farce?”
[Calls upon the aid and favour of the Dragon King of Bloodrise, a bloody-handed killer and an acolyte of the Gods of Darkness.]

>Write-in
>>
>>6062317
“Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”

This is fine. Ideally we can reach a compromise with the family and it can be a somewhat parent-approved marriage.
>>
>>6062317
“Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”
>>
>>6062317
>“Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”
gotta give it to de gori for remaining up to the "battle" even after getting dunked on twice. a shame he's an unrepentant fool.
>>
>>6062317
> “Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”
[You will be given a private arbitration, but KEEPING it private will rely upon making a mutually-agreed compromise and settlement with your accusers.]

First option is difficult; defending ourselves against rape and intimidation would be easy but charges such as polygamy would be troublesome if there’s a no-lie zone. Also there’s more evidence that proves otherwise.

We’re not threatening an ally we have. No. There’s no benefit in doing that. What the fuck are you doing izzy, threatening one of the only few allies we have which could help us in this situation.

And getting Theral involved… I’m not really sure it could be that helpful in the long term. He can threaten the family I guess but if he’s occupied or ekaterine is out of the way then they could retaliate immediately. He’s a good addition to enforce other measures but I don’t want him to the only a primary one.

Also tell Ekaterine about the Unseelie and Banelight. We built them a star. They said they were going to threaten our homeland. We fought. Banelight is dead and along with the majority of her forces. The rest is currently kept in our captivity.

Am >>6061732
>>
>>6062367
He can’t even jump a guy right. Doesn’t even know how to provoke someone into a fight. A gutless retarded cunt who needs his family and friends to help him handle a personal matter.
>>
>>6062384
>>6062367
>>6062351
>>6062337
“Then perhaps you could at least command a mediated meeting between we and our accusers?”

The Queen of Hawksong claps her hands together once in muted celebration of this decision, and agrees with surprising speed.

“Yes!” she says. “I think that’s a wonderful idea! A matter so personal should be resolved privately, fi at all possible. I agree!”

(And if it helps her to avoid either alienating the city’s merchants and tradesmen or compromising her relationship with the Tower, more’s the better, you suppose…)

Whatever ulterior motive your inner cynic might suggest, you ARE grateful to have the city’s monarch. The opportunity to reach a compromise is a golden one, and those who seek to sue you cannot very well turn away such an invitation to mediation from their own Queen. Maybe you can even still secure Mister Fanucci’s blessing for your union?

(…Maybe)

With no immediate action you can take on this front, you turn to the other matter at hand—that which Queen Ekaterine had incorrectly assumed was the reason for your visit, but which now truly does capture your interest even more than the matter of marriage: the letter from the Sylvan Realms.

“Ah, yes,” the Queen says, scrambling to retrieve the rolled-up parchment-leaf, and to unfurl it before the four of you. “My diplomats have been hard at work these last few months, but progress has been slow going. Even getting past the ‘gates’ of the woodland, such as they are, took a full fortnight!”

You unfurl the letter and begin to peruse the contents.

‘Queen Ekaterine of Hawksong, Daughter of King Archos and Heir to the throne of that greatest King of All Men and Regent of the Northwestern Peace whom Mankind calls King Axios,’ it begins. ‘She who holds sway over her most noble race, and keeps pacts of friendship and of mutual security under the authority of the Holy Order of Hawksong, and the authority vested in the noble ancestors and creators of both our races, whom we all know as the Gods Above…’

“It, uh, it goes ON like this,” you note, looking up.

“They always do,” Queen Ekaterine sighs. “Skip about two paragraphs down.”
>>
>>6062931
You do as she suggests, and arrive upon the message proper. When you do so, it becomes quite apparent as to why it took so long to formulate in proper, diplomatic language.

‘…While we understand the gravity of the activities which you fear have taken place, we know as well as you do that any such actions were taken in response to a clear and present threat,’ the missive continues. ‘That you refer to the alleged interactions as “an most grave affront to an honoured and venerable dynasty of the Race of Man in general and Hawksong in particular” implies that you understand, as we do, the nature of the human at the heart of the matter: Magus Izirina Henzler. That she and Ezreal Mious of Dappulyet traveled to our realms under your banner, and seized unlawfully a most monstrous intruder to our realms whom we kept lawfully confined, is the least of their offences, or of yours.’

“Wh-what?” Costella balks. “But we… I mean, like, OKAY, I guess we DID do hat, but…”

“They’re not wrong,” Queen Ekaterine sighs. “Continue, please, Master Magus.”

‘We have chosen not to recognize this act, which under normal circumstances might constitute an act of war, out of respect for your centuries of friendship, and a recognition of our own race’s culpability—that Ezreal Mious is of the Elven Race, and is lawfully a subject of our realms. We take his actions to be an act of individual indiscretion and poor judgement, and not representative of your realm’s policy, or of your own instruction or premeditated treachery.’

(…Yikes.)

‘We hope that you will extend the same courtesy to any agents of our realms which may have taken untoward actions at their own behest in your sovereign territory, against any nobility recognized or otherwise.’

“That’s… That’s…!” Izirina begins to rage.

“That is tit for tat,” the Queen of Hawksong frets. “Gods Above, I hate these games… But these ARE how they’re played.”

“But they tried to KILL Izzy!” Costella cries.

“Even so,” the Queen says, and looks to you levelly. “Continue.”

With your stomach churning, you do as the Queen of Men instructs, scanning your way through fine calligraphy until finally you arrive upon their conclusion:

‘We deeply regret the veil of Darkness which ahs fallen between our two races, both children of the Gods of Light, and we wish for an end to any poor feelings. We have closed ourselves off not out of malice towards Man, but out of a deep concern for Elf. However, we would be fools and villains not to acknowledge our own hand in this alienation which has worsened, and for the hardship which all our brothers and sisters now face as a result. As a show of recompense and compromise, we accept your invitation to formal diplomatic talks…’
>>
>>6062933
You stop short, eyes bulging out at the last passage. You read it again, and again, until finally—disbelievingly—you read it aloud.

“We renounce all hostilities against Axios’ issue, and against Hawksong, and the territory called ‘The Old Maple Hill Land Reserve’, and against all therein, and also against Izirina Henzler. In exchange, we ask only three things…”

You take a deep breath.

“The formal dissolution—eternal and in perpetuity-of The House of Yosef.”

“Which is fine by me,” Izirina says bluntly.

The Queen nods, but with her green eyes narrowed, and her face tight.

“A formal renewal of our mutual commitment to our shared Creator Gods and against all our ancestral enemies—foremost, any who would wear the name or fly the banner of the Dragon Kings of old…”

The Queen nods again, as if expecting as much.

“…And the return of Ezreal Mious, also called Magus Ezreal Van Houtzmann, and various other names, to the land of his birth… For fair judgement in the manner of all Elves of the Sylvan Realms.”

Costella gasps. Izirina takes a deep breath through her nose, and braces as if ready to fight for you then and there, against invisible enemies—or perhaps to teleport to the Sylvan Realms right now, to burn them to ash with all the fury which Ayla echoes.

"It ends by saying that 'if you will not or cannot compromise on these matters, then certain secrets involving all parties herein named may become, out of necessity and out of genuine concern for all peoples Man and Elf and Other, public.'"

(Meaning, of course the paternity of Queen Ekaterine's heir, and the actions you undertook on behalf of the Crown Prince and his centipede-like son...)

And Queen Ekaterine just looks to you, eyes full of sorrow.

“I am sorry, Master Magus,” she says gently. “This is… It is an unjust reward, for a man—err, individual, rather—who ahs done so much, for so many.”

You roll the leaf back up, and place it upon the royal scribe’s proffered tray.

How do you respond?
>This is absurd and egregious—the Queen shouldn’t entertain this for even an instant, no matter what comes next!
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.
>If peace and safety for your family and your great works means you must turn yourself over to elven justice, so be it—you will do what you must.
>Write-in
>>
>>6062936
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.
there's no way we can ask her to tank it for us, considering what's at stake. we'll have to work with a meeting and try to convince them somehow.
>>
>>6062936
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.
>>
>>6062936
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.


Yeah I have no idea why you guys decided to kill those elves. Probably one of the most random decisions in the quest that we immediately walked back.
>>
>>6062936
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.

Damn this shit is tough. Also tell her to tell them about the unseelie and how we (were forced by them to do their bidding) and their dissolution

>>6063052
What the hell are you talking about. Random? Walked back? We tried to go stealthy and take out the priest at first then only after the whole group was alerted did izzy summon the dragon. After the dragon was summoned we both were in view and was about to be attacked by the elves with melee weapons.

Walked back..? Are you referring to when our plan of killing the unseelie was agreed upon then went undecided for a while? I don’t know why other anons did that either.

Am>>6061732
>>
>>6063091
Yeah it was random because it went against every moral boundary Tips' had set through the course of the quest and the reasons anons had for it were fucking retarded.

They were either baseding about how Elves DARED to attack us when we were "diplomats" as if we weren't committing a crime and attacked a priest. Or the even more retarded reason of schizo-posting about not killing Carlos as if that was even close to a comparable situation as this one. One's a vengeful worthless idiot, and the other is one of the most powerful forces in the world that we have deep ties to in terms of both family and friendship.

I wonder why killing the elves might be a little more consequential and meaningful?

It's not even like we didn't have other options either, we could have straight up left and experienced much less backlash or used the priest as a hostage. It was just a completely retarded and almost out of character moment and felt random.
>>
>>6063111
>They were either baseding about how Elves DARED to attack us when we were "diplomats" as if we weren't committing a crime and attacked a priest.

You’re conflating two issues here. Nenaias attacked us and we went out of our way - so much so that we got into debt to the unseelie which set in motion the whole star creating quest - to spare him. Nenaias attacked us after we had legal custody of the prince. We were in the right 100%.

The elves kidnapping Izzy never was legal in the first place. By time we were casting the disjunction spell, the elf guards already had their weapons drawn.

>It's not even like we didn't have other options either, we could have straight up left and experienced much less backlash or used the priest as a hostage.
No..? I suppose we could use the priest as a hostage but we already disjunctioned the priest. That’s a pretty big transgression already.

Leaving after the disjunction might’ve been possible but there’s no doubt the sylvan realms would know what happened to the priest.

Carlos interaction was brought up because tips being “merciful” at the stupidest time gave him trouble again and again and again.
>>
>>6062936
>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation
Well we knew the Sylvans were going to come after us, but Tips can deal with judicial fairy court
>>6063111
Wasnt really out of character in the slightest, Tips most recent adventure had him in the Goblin Wastes gaining ego points left and right and literally merking a fucking pack of desert trolls Tips gets very defensive of those he cares about, and Izzy especially and thats nearly always been the case, Im fairly sure one of the very first votes of Seekers was us standing up to Henzler and getting knocked on our ass because she was bullying Izzy like she always did and we didnt like it, now fast forward a decade Izzy who is now our Fiancé is abducted by goons who work for the government relying on soldiers using remote viewing to see the future that says were basically the grandpa of the antichrist, this government also worships glowies who have high tech sterile alien moonbase that we stole flora and fauna from these glowies also tried to keep us on the moon and sent out word to all their tier 2 government goons aka moon priests, a moon priest we killed in self defense, in my opinion the real fuck up was asking Nenais about our future and then trying to convince the dude who deals in peoples fortune he was stupid and he was doing it wrong despite his success rate, and then taking away his ability to use his foresight. That was random and wild, made for a cool scene but its definitely the catalyst to all our real issues, we couldve gotten away with releasing the Unknowable and the moon stuff would just be the shit wed have to deal with, but we have a few cards up our sleeve for dealing with the sylvans
>>
>>6062936
>>You don’t like it… But you can work with it. She should signal a willingness to discuss these terms, and organize a meeting with the elven delegation.

Let's prepare. I want to know all of the demiplane entry and exit in Sylvan lands. I want Izzy ready to TP us out of the electric chair.

"You've judged me under the name of the god, the Bonum Chaoticum. But can you apply Law on Chaoticum bonus incarnate? "
>proceed to abscond
>>
>>6063142
A pretty big transgression is a lot different than straight up murder. We would be in a lot less shit if we didn't kill those elves, RQM has stated over and over that killing between elves is rare and an extreme taboo. It's not just the act of murder itself, but the added-on cultural bonus to it that makes it especially terrible as well. It's a uniquely offensive crime to the elves.

Also Carlos is a completely different situation. Killing Carlos would've have stopped punitive action. Killing those Elves made doing anything involving the Sylvan realms dangerous, and made punitive action against us more likely than not killing them would have. Conflating Carlos to the wrath of the Sylvan realms is silly, Carlos is one guy who if we killed our problems would go away because he's just one guy. The Elves we killed are representatives of a nation and of gods and were just lackeys to more powerful entities. Killing them doesn't do anything beyond the short-term, but has extreme long-term consequences. The Carlos situation and this one aren't even close to being similar beyond the most superficial reasons.

>>6063144
We didn't need to kill him in self-defense though lmao. You anons keep saying "self-defense" which is fair but did we really need to escalate our self-defense to killing? Why couldn't we have just done the other options that were available? We had a fucking dragon and a downed priest, surely negotiation wouldn't have been that much harder. Or we could've just taken Izzy back home with dimension door and just avoided the situation entirely.
>>
>>6063219
You say that like the elves offered to surrender to us. When the unseelie gave up and asked for us to spare them, we did so.

The elves did no such thing and willingly charged izzy and her max tier ice elemental.

Those rangers were probably under order to succeed in the mission or not come back home. Otherwise they would have ran from the elemental instead of charging it's controller.
>>
>>6063197
>>6063144
>>6063091
>>6063052
>>6063026
>>6063024
“It is what it is,” you say sadly, and wave a hand vaguely. “Lt’s… Attempt to mediate a resolution here, too.”

“Tips, you aren’t really considering handing yourself over to them, are you?” asks Izirina, aghast.

“I’m not,” you assure her, “but we can… Discuss these demands. Find a resolution.”

In truth, you should have seen this coming. Even of the elves of your homeland cannot Directly PROVE your involvement in the deaths of their Woodland Rangers and their priest, they have every reason by now to suspect it. And even if you believe that every action you’ve taken was justified by the circumstances—and you DO believe that—you ARE a criminal against the sacred laws of your mother’s people.

Your mother… Dapuplyet… Calinarae… Holy Luna… Nym and Devi… Will you truly ever be able to return to any of these people or places? To ever live as an Sylvan Elf again? Your heart hurts as if it might break, when you think about it.

“You should also let them know that we have captured several Unseelie Fey,” you add. “Those who served Queen Banelight, and harassed, abused, and killed our—their—people have been made to pay. We’ll offer up those who survived to face their justice.”

The Queen of Hawksong raises her eyebrows in silent surprise at this declaration, and then seems to appraise you anew.

“This encounter with these ‘Unseelie’ fairies… is that how you come by your, ah, changes?”

In all the excitement and drama, you hadn’t ever actually spoken of your physiological transformation with the human queen. Now, you find yourself startled by how casually and belatedly she brings it up. People tend to react quite immediately to the alien air you now project.

“It is, but I have to ask—”

“I am used to rather… Unconventional appearances.”

You recall the Prince of Bloodrise, chitin-clad and alligator-faced and with too many limbs, and you nod at Queen Ekaterine’s response. You suppose she must be.

“Well! I suspect that coming to collect these fugitives will sweeten the elven folk to meet us on our terms, for a reasonable discussion,” the Queen continues optimistically, and smiles at the three of you. “I will begin drafted our official response immediately, and keep the three of you apprised when the delegates reply, and let you know hen they are to arrive. Will that be all?”

>Yes, you would like to leave and to prepare for these two grave negotiations
>Actually, you have a question for Queen Ekaterine: [write-in your question]
>Perhaps her Paladins could offer you some aid with a, ahem, ‘demon problem’ you have been worried about
>Write-in
>>
>>6063535
>Yes, you would like to leave and to prepare for these two grave negotiations
I don't feel like throwing the paladins at Ayla and I dunno about how to ask the queen if she noticed something strange happening.
"would you happen to see someone like Izzy flying around ?"
>>
>>6063535
>Yes, you would like to leave and to prepare for these two grave negotiations
>>
busy sunday
>>
>>6063535
>Yes, you would like to leave and to prepare for these two grave negotiations
>>
>>6063542
>>6063575
>>6063764
There’s nothing else to be gained by further discussion, and you don’t really have the appetite for any more of it right now, anyway. The only thing you can even think of is to request paladin assistance in tracking down or guarding against Ayla. Where your divination failed, the magic of the demon-hunting divine warriors could succeed. However, that would raise a lot more questions about you and your arcane activities, and you REALLY can’t afford that right now.

(And what would become of Ayla, if they found her?)

You take the Queen up on her generous offer of a carriage-ride to the end of her estate, itself protected by charms and wards against teleportation.

“How was that done, anyway, Your Majesty?”

“It’s… I’m not sure,” she admits, sounding a little embarrassed at this ignorance. “I never had any great aptitude for magic, but I understand that many of the palace’s protections were put in place by the first Archmagus, around the same time that he constructed your Mages’ Tower.”

(High Magic, then…)

Once you are outside of this protected place, you take a quick <Dimension Door> back to Old Maple Hill. Your reunion with Muffins does all of you some good, but that is almost immediately undone when people start to offer sympathies and condolences. IT seems that word has gotten around—that the so-called Concerned Association has been whispering of your marital and legal woes in the street-markets and shops of Hawksong. Those amassed around the Hill re sympathetic, of course, but who knows how others will perceive you if this continues?

“A sock in the jaw will shut that De Gori twerp up,” your sort-of cousin, Adolf, suggests.

(As one of the ‘human genasi’ you enchanted with stone-hard skin and bones, you suspect it rather would, at that, but…)

“We’re handling this diplomatically,” you tell him.

“Carlos isn’t… He doesn’t MEAN to…”

You, Adolf, and Izirina all look to Costella, who grows increasingly flustered under your collective stare until she casts her gaze down and simply says:

“Like, nevermind…”

You frown a little, but It’s bigger than De Gori now, anyway. You point out that you can’t exactly ‘sock the jaw’ of the Fanucci family, after all.

‘Not with that attitude,” Cousin Addy scoffs, and you dutifully ignore this and wrap an arm around Costella’s shoulders.
>>
>>6064045
Two mediations, each of which carries its own dire consequences of they fall through… A stymied and stifled wedding… And somewhere out there, Ayla, having pledged that you would regret refusing her. It’s a lot to take in. Worse, it’s all a distraction from the study you could be—OUGHT to be—engaged in, to fully understand and master your new art of <Final Revelation>! That spell has brought you freedom from scrying, from scrutiny, from the manipulations of those who purport to see the far future… But with such freedom comes a strange sense of being adrift.

What comes next is truly unpredictable, even to the Gods Themselves.

What will you do in preparation for these meetings?
>Map the extradimensional tunnel system of your demiplane, with a particular eye for ways in and out of the Sylvan Realms
>Send a message to the so-called ‘Kingdom of Bloodrise’, requesting the Crown Prince of Hawksong be present for the upcoming talks
>Attempt once more to reach out to Ayla, to set things right or at least avoid her involvement in any of these sensitive matters [how?]
>Fuck it—hold the wedding anyway, right here on Old Maple Hill! You won’t let this nonsense put your lives on hold!
>Write-in
>Skip to the first mediation
>>
>>6064047
>>Map the extradimensional tunnel system of your demiplane, with a particular eye for ways in and out of the Sylvan Realms
>>
>>6064047
>Map the extradimensional tunnel system of your demiplane, with a particular eye for ways in and out of the Sylvan Realms
We need to prepare this now rather than later. We might not get another chance before the second mediation.

I don’t really know if bringing theral to the second mediation is going to help much. They already suspected him and he probably won’t be able to explain much without compromising his cover.
>>
>>6064047
>Attempt once more to reach out to Ayla, to set things right or at least avoid her involvement in any of these sensitive matters [how?]
Plane shift to where we first found her
>>
>>6064047
>Attempt once more to reach out to Ayla, to set things right or at least avoid her involvement in any of these sensitive matters [how?]

Is it asking how to find her? Or how we make thing right?
>>
>>6064143
[Either, or both. Finding her is more immediate, though.]
>>
>>6064153
Actually, one of the big complaints people had about making a clone for her was that they would have kids and fulfill the prophecy. Now that we know Final Revelation that isn't a concern.

>Make a clone of yourself for Ayla, and have them go plane shift to where you first found her.
>>
>>6064198
I don’t know. Wasn’t our big revelation about how souls don’t make a person and are rather symbioses and a separate entity? So wouldn’t a clone of us, with our memories and appearence, just be us? It just wouldn’t have a soul which doesn’t matter in terms of personhood.


I think we should just tell Ayla (Irizina) about our revelation and propose merging them together (Ayla and Irizina) again. They’re the same being. It’s really the only way she can be with us and live a normal life as she wanted. If not, then I don’t know see what she wants.
>>
>>6064211
We should have remerged them back when we merged ourselves with Banelight, but it seems too late now. They seem to strongly dislike each other and I don't think they'd accept being rejoined. Tips2 is the next best option imo.
>>
>>6064074
>>6064095
>>6064112
>>6064143
>>6064198
As personally vexing as De Gori’s Concerned Alliance and its so-far successful subversion of your upcoming nuptial might be on a personal and emotional level, they do not present a real existential threat… Not like the other two matters which rest upon your shoulders like a heavy stone, and squeeze your heart like a vice. All that is to say: you must deal with the matter of the Sylvan Realms and of Ayla first and foremost.

You begin by mapping the demiplane’s network of tunnels—a time-consuming process which requires a great deal of time and energy. Izirina’s font of arcane power still hasn’t returned to its peak after all, and with the entire realm being obscured from scrying across the dimensions of time and space by <Final Revelation>… Well, there’s not much for it but to do the hard work yourselves, aiding by small summoned elementals. Since they cannot truly communicate, though, they can do little more than provide light, breathable air, and aid in clearing tunnels of obstacles as you explore centuries of tunnels through imported stone and between realms.

“Maybe we should interrogate the surviving Unseelie?” Izirina suggests during one of your resting respites from the daunting task at hand.

“They’ll make their own demands in exchange,” you note.

“You can just lie,” she replies.

You frown. You COULD, of course… But to make a promise in exchange for aid like that, just to go back on it? And all to provide an ‘escape route’ in case you need to—again, for a second time!—escape the lawful judgement of your own homeland? It all feels so… So cynical, so wicked and circumspect. Have you really become so cynical?

“Maybe we could just ask the people at Old Mapel Hill for help?” you suggest instead. “Maybe even the fairies?”

Izirina now cringes at this, though she doesn’t object. You know her heart well enough to know why: this is a private place, an escape or the two of you. That’s how she views it, at least, and in truth you’ve come to feel that way as well—give or take Costella, or Veloz, or Mufins. Nobody else has set foot here since you seized and reshaped it according to your will. You understand why she might not be inclined to give that up… And might it not pose a security risk, as well, to share the sensitive information which you are now acquiring?
>>
>>6064328
Whenever you two sit and rest by the Unseelie Star, though, its unearthly and faintly-infernal glow reminds you of that third person who shares in its creation, though: Ayla, Izirina’s shadow-self. Since your discovery of the true nature of the soul—as a symbiotic ‘addition’ to an organism from outside the Priem Material Plane, guiding and shaping the vessel to aid its own evolution before abandoning it—you have thought of her often. If your growing understanding of the spirit is true, isn’t Ayla truly just another Izirina? In sealing the demon essence within a <clone> of the woman you have, have you done her a kindness, or simply created an imitation—a duplicate—just to leave her alone and suffering? Shouldn’t you make that right?

…And maybe, in helping her, she can also aid YOU?

Through the Unseelie Star, with a <Plane Shift> to the place where you first met, you suspect you could draw out the dark-souled doppelganger for a meeting of the minds. In sharing your mystical breakthrough, you could perhaps find a way to liberate this other Izzy form the pain you inadvertently inflicted, and she could surely help to map the Unseelie tunnel-system. But would she? What are you really offering her? And is the risk worth the reward?

(Does it matter if it IS a bad or risky bargain, if it’s the right thing to do, and if you really love her?)

What will you do?
>Continue to map it alone
[Will lead to a roll of 1d100 for the success in mapping a percentage of the tunnels; if you get lower than 50, none of the exists you discover will be practical routes in or out of the Sylvan Realms]
>Call upon the aid of the Old Maple Hill denizens to map the demiplane
[+10 you your roll]
>Ask the True Fey of Old Maple Hill for assistance
[+30 to your roll]
>Ask the Archmage for the use of her agents and their sense-linked chimeras
[+1 more chance to roll, +10 to roll]
>Call upon Ayla for her arcane aid
[+1 more chance to roll, +10 to roll]

If you bring anyone else in on this, what do you offer them?
>Your sincere gratitude and naught else
[Must make a Sociability roll, DC varies depending who you recruit, but the fairies and Ayla are higher than the regular folks; choosing certain combinations of allies will increase the DC for all of them.]
>Access to the Demiplane
>Knowledge of Final Revelation
>The opportunity to remerge with Izirina [Ayla only]
>A clone of yourself [Ayla only]
>Write-in


[If you don't want to ask Ayla for aid, but still wish to contact her and freely offer her something, mention that as well.]
>>
>>6064329
>Call upon Ayla for her arcane aid
>A clone of yourself [Ayla only]
I want to do this anyway to make things right for Ayla, and it gives us 84% chance of success.
>>
>>6064329
>Ask the True Fey of Old Maple Hill for assistance
>>Access to the Demiplane

>Offer for free
>>The opportunity to remerge with Izirina [Ayla only
>>
>>6064329
>Ask the True Fey of Old Maple Hill for assistance [+30 to your roll]
>Access to the Demiplane

>A clone of yourself [Ayla only]

>>6064346
I don't think Izzy is ready for that and not feeling like forcing her to do it at gun point
>>
>>6064329
>Ask the True Fey of Old Maple Hill for assistance.

>Call upon Ayla for her arcane aid


>The opportunity to remerge with Izirina [Ayla only]

We want to stop her from being in contact with the beholder. Making a clone for her wont do that.
>>
>>6064464

This is me.
>>6058790>>6056810
>>6053173
>>6061426
>>6060327
>>
>>6064464
>We want to stop her from being in contact with the beholder. Making a clone for her wont do that.
We know how to ensoul clones now, and we also know that the soul might not even matter anymore. The clone won't be some passive puppet, it will hold Tips' beliefs and values and guide Ayla away from the Beholder just like we did with Izzy.
>>
A question. Do the +1 roll choices stack the bonuses?

If I do
>True Fey
>Archmage

Would the rolls look like
1d100+40
1d100+10

or

1d100+30
1d100+10
>>
>>6064559
1d100+40
1d100+40
>>
>>6064561
Oh i see

>>6064329
>Call upon the aid of the Old Maple Hill denizens to map the demiplane
[+10 you your roll]
>Ask the True Fey of Old Maple Hill for assistance
[+30 to your roll]

>Your sincere gratitude and naught else
For the former
>Access to the Demiplane
For the latter

A 9% failure rate. I’ll take it.
>>
>>6064569
Supportin'
>>
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>>6064687
>>6064569
>>6064480
>>6064464
>>6064439
>>6064346
>>6064334
[Close one with Ayla, but this is how I'm parsing it. Writing!]
>>
>>6065200

“Izirina,” you speak up after some thought, “there is one more person we could ask for help.”

Izzy must deduce from your tone alone that it’s an option she won’t want to hear. Unfortunately, you can’t help but provide this concern well-founded. To her credit, Izirina throws no tantrum, nor attempts to undermine or sabotage your decision. THIS Izirina, at least has grown beyond such outbursts… Well, mostly. You can’t help but feel as if some of that is your doing, for which you feel a swell of pride and gratitude.

Now, to find out if you can have the same positive effect upon the OTHER Izzy…

With a <Plane Shift>, you are cast once more into the aether between the Elemental Planes. At your request, Izirina remains behind. Your hope is that this will reduce the tension, and make Ayla more willing to hear out your offer… And if this effort fails, the two of you remain tethered by way of an enchantment-stamped envelope, itself VITAL to scry and retrieve you now that you are immune to other means of remote detection, thanks to <Final Revelation>.

And by that same token, you must ALSO find a means to signal Ayla. Luckily, you know just the thing: here, in this place where you first performed the <Rite of Attunement> to cleanse Izirina and Costella of their contaminants—where ‘Ayla’ was born as a separate entity—you now dance once more, and sing the sacred song of your fairy ancestors. Your voice echoes, faltering only slightly with self-consciousness. It reverberates betwixt the cosmic spheres of Fire and Air, and you invite those planes into you, and offer some of yourself unto them, and in the space between you create something like a beautiful jewel of crystallized potential—a beacon.

And before too long, you are dancing with a partner.

The two of you clasp hand-in-hand, and dance cheek-to-cheek. You twirl, and tangle, and flow together and apart. Finally, your dance slows, and you meet her eyes, and the two of you speak.

“I couldn’t see you,” Ayla says, with a squint and a small pout.

“No,” you agree, with a small smirk. “We made something of a discovery, in that regard. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I missed you,” Ayla murmurs sadly, rubbing her arm and looking away. “I was… I’m still so MAD at you. But not being able to see you, even with divination…”

“I know,” you say softly. “That’s the other part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
>>
>>6065234
Ayla has changed, physically. Her face, though the same colour as Izirina’s, has a subtle mosaic of scales. Her eyes seem fixed in that slit-pupiled shape, and subtly aglow. Her hair billows as Izirina’s—the other Izirina’s—does, so that it is plain she has been visiting the Elemental Planes as well. Her teeth are sharp—canines especially, more resembling thin, curved fangs than anything a mammal might possess. You feel the urge to leap to judgement, but you stay your tongue, reflecting upon your own transformation.

Like you, Ayla has taken on the aspect of that which she despised, to enable her arcane advancement. Can you really condemn that?

Rather than a lecture, you interact with Ayla as you would with Izzy’s more human aspect. You spare her the talk of your wedding, and the impediments thereto—hearing such things will do a jealous demon no good, and you can’t imagine a productive discussion after an opening like THAT. But discussion of the <Demiplane>, and what it has become? Of foiling fairy prophecy—and those of the Dark Ones as well? Of freedom, rue freedom, brought about by esoteric explorations into High Magic?

“That’s… That’s amazing!”

Yep—as you thought, an Izirina by any other name is just as predictably enraptured with such sorceries.

“Once we knew that the soul and the ‘self’ weren’t one and the same, that the spirit is kind of an ‘attachment’… I guess I just couldn’t help but think of you,” you admit.

“Of Ayla,” she mutters.

“Of IZIRINA.”

Ayla looks up at you, eyes wide. You smile bitterly.

“If you’re not the… The demonic influence within you, then you’re just iziirna.”

“Even now?” she asks, looking down at her claw-tipped hands with a grimace.

“Even now.” You hesitate, and curiosity takes hold. “But… What happened?”

“I… I did all this to myself. The more I thought about how much I HATED you… ALL of you…” This strange, Dark Izirina trails off, and shakes her head. “When I thought of how much I envied you all, of how much I <WANT>ed to be with you… And hated what I was, and what I wasn’t and COULDN’T be… I… I…”

You hug her. It’s automatic: when Izirina, any Izirina, is about to burst into tears, you can hardly help yourself. When she cries, her tears are fiery motes which float around you both., and her sobs are muffled by your shoulder.
>>
>>6065236
“It’s not too late to rejoin the other ‘you’,” you say, though without much conviction.

“It is,” says ‘Ayla’, with a dejected certitude. “She’ll never allow what I am back into her—my memories, my instincts and urges… The things that make me ‘me’ and not ‘her’. And I… I can’t go back, Tips. I’ve been ‘me’ for too long. Even if you stripped out the demon from me… I’m changed.”

“We are our choices,” you agree. “If we are anything more than meat, or fairy dust, or…”

“Hellfire?”

“Or that.”

“Then why are you here?” she asks, though without accusation and anger. “Surely not just to ask for help in mapping out those tunnels, to spite some elves?”

“It’s not about SPITE,” you mutter. “But, no. That’s not all. If you won’t recombine with Izzy—the OTHER Izzy, I mean… Then I thought I could offer you the next best thing.”

“I WON’T share you,” she snaps, and then her face falls. “I CAN’T, Tips.”

“I know,” you say. “But what if you could have your OWN ‘me’?”

The Izirina Also Called Ayla stares at you in genuine shock, which metamorphoses into concern, and finally—predictably—that dangerous gleam of killer curiosity which is the very hallmark of ANY Izirina Henzler.

“A <Clone>.”

“A <Clone>,” you confirm. “Now that we know that copying the body and brain—the memories, the development—is all it takes to duplicate a person… That I don’t need to split a soul to make a ‘real’ me…”

“Don’t you?”

You frown, brow furrowing. Hasn’t she been paying attention to what you told her about your <Final Revelation>, and its implications? Didn’t she agree, and understand, that the ‘real self’ is the sum of one’s actions and decisions?

“Tips, your <Clone> spell produces an organism without volition,” Izirina-Ayla points out. “Whatever else a soul does or doesn’t do… It clearly provides SOMETHING. It… It’s the spark that kickstarts and directs desire.”

You blink a few times, processing this, and then you nearly curse aloud. Damn it all, how did you miss that? She’s RIGHT!

“But what about goblinoids?” you point out.

Izirina-Ayla, with less experience with such things than even the ‘original’ Izzy, is stumped by that.

“I guess it’s possible,” she admits, and then she smiles a dagger-edge smile. “We could try it.”

Or, you suppose, you could work with a method you know: the method which worked for Zith-Zi. You have two ‘moonberries’ on your person—<Goodberries> infused with enough raw fairy-magic to make a spiritual simulacrum.

(Though you also have shirin, to stimulate your creative side and encourage non0linear thinking…)

How will you craft your <Clone>?
>Use a goodberry
>Infuse it with some of your own soul
>Infuse it with some of Ayla’s demonic essence
>Take some shirin and attempt to create a truly ‘soulless’ double
>Write-in
>>
>>6065238
>Take some shirin and attempt to create a truly ‘soulless’ double
time to give this new gips the faceless man bangs
>>
>>6065238
>Infuse it with some of your own soul
I want to see what happens
>>
>>6065238
>Use a goodberry
>>
>>6065311

Backlink>>6064480
>>
>>6065238
>Use a goodberry

Hm. I don’t know about this.

Using a part of our own soul could mean we might be able to reincarnate but that also means splitting a part of us; I don’t know what parts will remain left.

Infusing it with Ayla’s essence would probably create another ayla so that’s not particularly helpful

Also I think we should tell Ayla about our whole situation with the sylvan realms - if negotiations do not pan out, come here for a plan to carry out our will.

Am >>6064569
>>
>Take some shirin and attempt to create a truly ‘soulless’ double
>>
>>6065238
>Take some shirin and attempt to create a truly ‘soulless’ double
>>
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Rolled 10, 2, 13, 11 = 36 (4d20)

>>6065515
>>6065383
>>6065362
>>6065311
>>6065284
>>6065268
There are some in Hawksong—and many more in the Orient, or so you have heard tell—who are dependent upon the ‘spice’ called shirin. You are decidedly NOT… But now and again, it has its uses.

You were first introduced to it in your last few years as a Mage Initiate of Hawksong’s Tower, as a sort of ‘study aid’. In the years since, you’ve experimented with it several times, most notably synthesizing the chemical effects of the pinkish, aphrodisiac variation into Izirina’s own biochemistry to facilitate your unique circumstances.

But the pouches you produce today are not pink, but green.

Shirin in its ‘natural’ form is a fine, white powder comprised of two or more plants, the primary ingredients being a root and a leaf found only in the Far East. The addition of other drugs to the cocktail is what produces the alternate effects—the more muted, measured ‘blue’ type which you have never tried, the sweaty and seductive qualities of the pink… And the green, the first shirin YOU ever experienced, which can expand one’s mind.

“I haven’t been able to find a solution before,” you admit, “but with this… Together… Maybe we can.”

The first time you ingested the minty green powder, it had provoked a hazy night of frenetic, sensuous dancing, and drinking, socializing and speculating; finally, you had stumbled into an open field on the Pearce family estate, fallen half-unconscious amidst the wheat and barleycorn, and beheld a vision which had changed yours and Izirina’s life. Now, here, with an alternate Izirina who might never have existed if not for that night, you can only hope lightning can strike twice.

Izirina-Ayla is skeptical at first, but not afraid. If the Izzy you know can be fearless in the face of intellectual explorations, her demonic alter ego is all the moreso for her unholy lineage and tutelage. Moreover—and you feel almost guilty for this, as soon as you realize it—she is starved for your attentions. When you propose to share such a unique, intimate experience, apart from the ‘false’ Izirina she so loathes, and in fact away from all the world, she cannot help but agree to it.

(Well, hopefully she won’t be held hostage to your distant affections much longer, nor you to the guilt of having created and forsaken her….)

Rolling Natural Philosophy...
>>
>>6066177
You guide Izirina-Ayla in the consumption of the spice. Each dose is kept in a small, paper pouch, of which you have five and now partly unfold two. Squeezing the size, you widen the orifice. A faint smell rises, at once natural and chemical, and unlike anything else. The demon-spirited doppelganger of the woman you love watches with fascination as you demonstrate how the deed is done: you lick a finger, tipping it into the pouch, and then lift the powder-coted digit to your parted lips. You suck the solution of ‘spice’ and saliva weakly from the fingertip. The faintly acrid, sizzling sensation creep across your tongue and gums and slip into your stomach, to spread throughout your blood. Ayla, or Izirina, or whatever you might call her, follows suit.

“…”

“…”

“So when does it… You know, begin?” she asks after a moment, with admittedly-endearing impatience.

You just give her a look, and she sighs, and waits.

She need not wait for long.

In this space-between-spaces, the initial effect of the spice is almost unnoticeable. In so surreal a realm as this—with air or temperature, yet abridges by whole PALNES of Air and Fire in their most fundamental and almost UNNATURAL forms—how can you even tell when sensations are heightened, and perceptions made strange? Everything is ALREADY weird here!

“Your whole life has been weird, for quiet a while, hasn’t it?”

It is when you hear these words, and see the speaker, that you know the change has taken place. There, in the aethereal in-between, hovers not only Izirina-Ayla, but also the two jackalopes who you ‘created’ as you did her: the spotted and striped one, with its fawn-like markings across its body and budding spring antlers, and the other, with its naturalistic (but uniquely non-lapine and non-cervid) year-round pattern and permanent cranial fixtures.

(Or was it the other way around? Which one was the real jackalope, the ‘natural’ one, and which one did you make in that laboratory experiment?)

“How would you ever know?” asks the other jackalope. “When you combine Many to Make one, or split One to make Many, who is true, and who is false? Who is natural, and who is modified? “

It speaks as they have never spoke in real life, in a voice that sounds more like… Like Zith-Zi’s! And the other…

“When you split Izirina, and left the demon who had shaped her inside the one, was she the original? Or the cast-off copy?”

…The other jackalope—the false one? maybe?—speaks with Carazzi’s voice!

“When you split off a portion of yourself, without the fairy spirit imbued by your ancestors, will that Ezreal be the copy?” asks one of the jackalopes.

“Of course,” you murmur. “I’m the original.”

>13, even with the bonus die from Religion
>Failure
>>
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>>6066181
“Then is Ayla the original Izirina?” challenges the vision. “The you who keeps your soul, and spirit, is the real you. SHE kept the demon-taint, which made Izirina what she was.”

“N-no,” you say, squinting. “That’s not… That’s not right. The soul isn’t the self. The self is built out of experiences, memories, choices… Changes. I’ve changed, and grown, into who I am!”

“So before you made those choices—five years ago, ten years ago—were you not Ezreal?” asks a jackalope—one of the jackalopes, speaking with a voice you can no longer identify as Zith-ZI or Carazzi. “Before the Rite, before Holy Luna, before Banelight… Were you not yourself, until today?”

“O-of course I was,” you say, but with less confidence.

“So who was the ‘real’ you?” the vision demands of you. “Which you is more ‘you’? If you had never hosted the energy of the Bonum Chaoticum… Would you be Ezreal Mious?”

“If you has never undertaken this great quest for esoteric knowledge… If you had never taken shirin… If you had never met your friends… Would you be ‘Tips’?”

“If you had never met your father… Traveled to the Goblin Wastes… If you had never KILLED… Would you still be a Van Houtzmann?”

“I… I…” You stammer and struggle to formulate an answer as suddenly two jackalopes become four, then eight, then sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, a thousand, a LEGION! “I don’t KNOW!”

With one booming voice, speaking in defeating unison, the aether-spanning tide of antler rabbits asks a question which threatens to drown you:

“How can you create a copy of yourself when you don’t know where you begin and where you end?”

It’s a question you hadn’t fully considered, and can’t truthfully answer. You can speculate, hypothesize, experiment with extrapolations from all you’ve experienced… But at what cost? All those enitites which you have <Cloned> without then ensouling in some fashion have been empty things, devoid of all but basest instincts. In time, even those failed. They had ceased to eat, to move, to function. None had displayed affection, excitement, passion, or direction. The only way you yet know how to create such animation is with the use of a soul—‘natural’ or arcane-artificial.

One by one, the tide of jackalopes transforms before your eyes into… You. Versions, iterations, of you. Some are young and some are old. Some are Elf, and some are Man. Some are touched by Banelight’s energies and transformed; some are as you were before….

And all their faces are placid. All their eyes, though they live, are as those of a half-elf already dead.

A thousand experiments. A thousand dead versions of Ezreal Mious ‘Tips’ Van Houtzmann.

Art by draw_with_genie
>>
>>6066191
There, on the other side of the sea of your own mind-broken husks, is Izirina—Ayla?—reaching out across a star-speckels sea, brocaded by Frie and Air and with her hair a waving wreath of snaking tendrils. She cries out your name, but you cannot hear it.

What is she crying out? What is your name?

“Who AM I?” you ask, clutching your head.

You do not know the answer. You THOUGHT you did, but you don’t. You could DISCOVER it… But only through trial and through error, through the division and replication of the empty self ad-infinitum until you find the means to imprint your every experience upon a <Clone> and activate it by <Elemental infusion> to animate its impulses in identical fashion to your own. It would be a profoundly profane act, though: the creation of countless lives—half-elf lives, lives which share your likeness and life, only to be slaughtered and dissolved, reconstituted and repackaged to make a ‘true you’…

>Bonus: the use of shirin has enabled an auto-success… of a sort

…Or you could take another route. You could shave off some of yourself. You know, and know WELL, that with a moonberry, some of your blood, and a portion of your own spirit, you could make a functional double. This is more-or-less how Ayla, and how Carazzi and even the ‘new’, pink-skinned Zit-Zi were made.

Or you could abandon all this. Your heart is hammering. Your palms are sweaty Your mouth is dry. Your eyes are hazy with tears. Your breathing is ragged. You feel like you might die. This… This is a dark and unpleasant journey into expanded perception, but it will pass. It MUST pass.

“Just a bad trip,” you mutter. “J-just a bad trip…”

You feel another’s hands—warm hands, familiar hands—take hold of your own. You look up into eyes—familiar eyes, concerned and loving eyes—and see Izirina’s own.

“Izzy?” you whimper.

“It’s okay,” she says. “You can do this, Ezreal. I believe in you.”

What do you do?
>Create a soulless clone through trial and error
[Requires a profound crime against life and death, and a Courage roll to avoid lasting, profound trauma]

>Use a berry, and a portion of your own soul, to create double
[You will lose 1d3 spells and 1 max MP, but create a perfect copy]

>Make love to Ayla amidst the aether
[She will become pregnant. You will lose nothing.]

>Ride out the ‘bad trip’, and create nothing
[You will never create a successful Tips clone for the duration of this quest]

>Write-in
[Make it good, anons… All the other options are auto-successes if chosen, but a write-in might not be]
>>
>>6066191
>And all their faces are placid. All their eyes, though they live, are as those of a half-elf already dead.
the fluoride stare
>>6066193
>Your heart is hammering. Your palms are sweaty
mom's spaghetti

>Ride out the ‘bad trip’, and create nothing
I'm not liking those options
>>
>>6066193
>Use a berry, and a portion of your own soul, to create double

We can get back spells and MP, but leaving this now means never truly understanding the soul and the Clone spell.
>>
>>6066193
Mad Magician non-linear theorizing time.

I'm guessing the problem with our clone magic before was that when we made a clone we made an entity that we envisioned as having the body and soul as one. The magic was made when we operated on the assumption that the body and soul were one. And arguably at this point in our lives our soul and body are one. The clones we create are clones of a creature that already in a state where it's body and soul are indistinguishable, it grows and influences with us as we grow and influence them. After all a simulacrum of a soul or a similar thing works to giving volition, it clearly doesn't matter what the soul is, but that there's one there in terms of there being volition. The clone lacks volition because the body cloned was an ensouled body. To create a true clone that can operate without a soul, we need to clone a soulless body. We would need to separate our soul from our body and then clone ourselves.

But that shit sounds shady and dangerous and probably wrong so.

>Make love to Ayla amidst the aether
>>
>>6066246
[Hmm...]
>>
>>6066193
>Create a soulless clone through trial and error

>Make love to Ayla amidst the aether

I'm fine with either of these options. We usually only gain one or two spells per thread so I rather not lose 3. And we rarely get chances to boosts our mp.
>>
>>6066193
>>Create a soulless clone through trial and error
>>
>>6066193
I mean, we could wait and
>Go to Carazzi (and Zith-Zi), and see if we can squeeze some demon juice to assist making the Tips clone
Since these clones are demon essence related, maybe a bigger pool will help in the Tips clone creation? (Plus the Dragonborn’s got the source on hand)

But if that ain’t acceptable
>Make love to Ayla amidst the aether
But I would like to try my write in ngl
>>
>>6066193
>Ride out the ‘bad trip’, and create nothing

Actually changing my vote. Fucking Ayla right before our wedding is such a idiot move. She'll just have to deal with no clone.
>>
>>6066193
I'd also be willing to back either
>Create a soulless clone through trial and error
or
>Make love to Ayla amidst the aether
over just giving up
>>
I mean, we could give
>Go to Carazzi (and Zith-Zi), and see if we can squeeze some demon juice to assist making the Tips clone
A shot? Like, I feel it’s thematic almost.
>>
>>6066497
>>6066447
[Hmmmm...]
The secret isn't 'demon juice', because that's what Ayla has in place of a soul, and it would make your clone demonic like she is. But you ARE on the verge of an esoteric secret there...
>>
>>6066731
Squeeze out some goblin juice instead
>>
>>6066731
gotta get the gob juice, since they can live with no souls
>>
>>6066731
….what about doing a ritual, and having us ‘distilled’ in another form? Would that work/be the esoteric secret?

Or would doing a ritual with a blank clone add some of our essence to it, like Testa and Zi?

If not, I’d like to know so I can workshop it a bit, see if I can unlock it, even though I do think making love to Ayla would be a nice gesture towards her.
>>
>>6066193

>Use a berry, and a portion of your own soul, to create double

Getting Ayla pregnant would just complicate things. The first option I don’t really like either - too much risk for potentially being scarred. I’m not sure about the last option since we’re still not really dealing with the ayla situation

Am>>6064569
>>
>>6066334

this me, my ip changed again.
>>6060327
>>6065313
>>6064480
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>>6066793
>Or would doing a ritual with a blank clone add some of our essence to it, like Testa and Zi?
[The Rite of Attunement intermingles everyone in the dance, to greater or lesser degrees depending on who or what is the focal point and what the will is of the dancers.]

>>6066836
>>6066497
>>6066477
>>6066460
>>6066447
>>6066335
>>6066334
>>6066246
>>6066244
>>6066203
[It's very close, and a pretty big vote and I had a long day so I'm taking tonight off. To narrow things down, I'm removing 'Nothing' off the table. Anyone who voted
>Ride out the ‘bad trip’, and create nothing
Please recast your vote. That means XnuXcJGd and q9cMRTsX. My rationale is this: 66-75% of people don't want to give up yet, so we're locking in for pushing ahead with the experiment SOMEHOW. By changing your votes, you can at least mitigate risks or help influence the outcome, and maybe create a clearer majority for a winning choice.]

[The vote remains open for others to change or add on, of course. But no non-backlinked 1post IDs, por favor.]
>>
>>6066937
Fuck it. We can just avoid fighting or run away from now on. Divination is not a thing so they can’t chase us to the ends of the world.
>>
>>6066942
>Use a berry, and a portion of your own soul, to create double
>>
>>6066942
What if they just divinate the entire world and deduce we must be in the one blind spot
>>
>>6066944
I don’t think that strong of a divination is in reach of the sylvan realms
>>
>>6066944
[Hmmm...]

>>6066957
[Jk, in all seriousness this anon is right. From what Tips saw on the moon, even the Gods Above with cranked-up, 'free-will challenging' levels of divination can't perfectly map the Earth or perfectly predict when and where people will be or exactly what they'll do. Otherwise., they could have easily captured you all by now without a small scouting party by diving exactly when and where they could catch you by surprise without witnesses or backup, at your weakest moment... Or just, like, assassinate the Dragon King.]
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>>6066937
Already said it, but being more explicit now I’m backing >>6066497 let’s go with the gob juice idea
>>
I cannot vote here, but I want to suggest doing dubious things in our demiplane where we get bonuses and are better protected from divination.
>>
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>>6067083
>>6066943
>>6066836
>>6066497
>>6066477
>>6066447
>>6066335
>>6066246
>>6066244
[Locked & writing!]
>>
>>6067563
You hold Izirina-Ayla’s gaze for a few moments, taking in and releasing airless breaths of the aether until he troublesome visions waver and fade . The shirin still courses through your system, but it takes only a murmured incantation of <Free Senses> to stem the tide of existential terror which had dragged you under. It wasn’t a waste, though: the invigorating effects remain, and that dreadful waking dream has brought a reminder-turned-revalation to the forefront of your clarified mind.

The <Rite of Attunement> is a ritual which mixed the media of one’s own body and soul and that of the surrounding space, as well as any others who join in the song and the dance. Those who truly know the Rite as you do can measure and modify the effects to a degree, but there is no instance in which multiple beings in in the rite and both are not changed in some way, taking on at least a small aspect of the other…

And you were the one who led the dance which spawned Carazzi, and modified Zith-Zi, which means you have—dep within, in your bones or blood—some tiny aspect of a goblinoid.

“I know what to do,” you say, with resurgent confidence.

Izirina-Ayla backs up a step, as you hold you hands before you. You close your eyes and focus inward, reaching deep into yourself with your mage-trained elven senses, augmented by your integration of Banelight’s fairy-essence. You quietly hum the tune of <Attunement>, wordless and half-manifested, an feel your flesh, bones, and blood quiver in response, as if awaiting further instruction…

All except that one aspect, diminished and hidden, diluted and reduced. Motes of blood, strange and foreign, thick and faintly greenish—thickened and semi-separate, like curds of mold in milk. They’re small, too small to be dangerous as a blood-clot might be, but once you know what to look for, you can’t miss them. They’re foreign to you, unintegrated and sequestered…

But is not the <Rite of Attunement> a tool created for the very purpose of intermingling the alien, until it is so natural as to be native?

“<Clone>,” you cast, for the first (perhaps only?) time, upon yourself.

The Ezreal which takes shape before your eyes is at first like you in almost every way, and UNlike you in the way you foresaw and feared: dead-eyed, slack-jawed, going through the involuntary motions of life but without the passions of one truly living it. Given time and left to its own devices, you know even these will cease: that this imitation of you will itself to rot, to die, starving itself until it cannot even form filth, allow drool to clog its throat and suffocate itself like so many did in the shirin-induced nightmare.

But not if you can help it.
>>
>>6067602

“Belbau nossta ulu uns'aa ghil!
Ori'gato uns'aa el lu'tlu rosin 'sohna, 'sovah, xondyerna lu'k'olah.
Ori'gato uns'aa dro ghil lu'nin; ori'gato nindol k'lar lu'draeval dro wun uns'aa, mziln.
Ori'gato uns'aa ssinssrigg, lu'tlu 'che, erl'eleeus 'zil l'dalhar wun nind ilhar, lu'tlu rosin natha seke ligah
d'nindol sel thac'zil, dalninuk ulu nindel vel'bolen dron lu'dalninil ulu nindel vel'bolen elar!”


You sing the by-now familiar words-word that made you what you are, that created Ayla as she is, that separated and transformed your goblin companion into nilbog and demogoblin. Izirina-Ayla joins you, her voice quickly catching yours. You dance in strange orbits around the limp and near-motionless copy you have made; or rather, the near-copy. You made a subtkle change already, when you <coned> yourself: you copied far more of the goblinoid contaminant by volume than exists in your won bloodstream. Now, with the <rite>, you amplify that difference still further, and integrate it far deeper. The faint trace of Goblin within yourself flows out of you; the Elf and Man flow out of the clone, to refresh your own body. You intermingle and exchange with your other self in new and novel ways, carefully directed with the precision of a master of Living Alchemy—which you are, whether you ever become Head Chimericist of the Mages’ Tower or not.

>AUTO-SUCCESS due to shirin and clever write-in
>...
Sort of

Slowly, slowly, the palor of your opposite number changes. No longer is its flesh eladrin-pale, but rather dark—thought not quite so dark as the Drow of Wevenore, and green. The clone grows veined with still darker streaks, and the deep black sclera shrink down towards a more typical pupil, framed by a vibrant yellow iris. It loses some of your already-unremarkable height. Its mouth opens in a gasp—a STARTLED gasp, belying awareness, emotion—and as its eyes flutter to true wakefulness, its parted lips reveal sharp teeth. Its ears widen, its nose widens and shifts somewhat, and it—HE—lurches forward into an almost-foetal position, clutching at naked limbs and quaking with sudden sensation… With AWARENESS.

“Easy,” Izirina-Ayla says, reaching out and placing her arms around the shoulders of this new, green-hued Tips. “Easy now… You’re okay.”

You gaze upon your other self, your shadow self, and he gazes back also.
>>
>>6067605
You feel the hands upon your shoulders, and the familiar-unfamiliar infernal-elemental warmth of your first-lover’s shadow self.

“Easy,” she whispers into your ear. “Easy now… You’re okay.”

But are you? You feel… Different. No, that’s euphemistic, a coping mechanism. You don’t’ feel ‘different’ you feel DIMINISHED. You feel ELSSER. Every sense you have is shrunken, reduced. You blink,a nd blink again and yet…

“I… I can’t sense my aura,” you say. “I can’t… I can’t sense ANYONE’s aura!”

You look around frantically. Izirina-Ayla, the other Ezreal (the one who looks like you have grown used to looking, black-eyes and white-skinned) and the aether around you… It’s all empty, plain, one-dimensional. In desperation, you turn you head to face the blistering, blinding light of the adjoining Elemental Plane of Fire, and gaze into it until finally its sheer brightness forces you to turn tearfully away, blinded eyes squeezed shut until sight returns…

And yet still, you sense nothing, SEE nothing, of the unbelievable well of magical might which you KNOW you ought to see.

When sight returns—but not MAGE’S sight—you look down at your naked body: much the same as ever in many ways, yet UTTERLY alien You are a deep forest green, with thick vine-line streaks of a deeper and darker emerald streaking your flesh in irregular stripes, like stretchmarks. Your fingers seem somehow knobblier, oversized. Your mouth is dry with confusion and fear, and you work your tongue to generate saliva to soothe your sore throat; as you do so, you feel the sharpness of your teeth.

They are sharp. Goblin-sharp.

“No,” you whine. “No, no, nononono NO!”

“Oh,” Izirina-Ayla says, with deep sympathy. “Oh, Tips…”

“That’s right!” you wail. “I’m Tips! I’m… I’m not supposed to be the CLONE!”

“Oh, Gods,” you hear your own voice say, and you look up at… At YOU, at the REAL you, the you who cast the <Clone> spell and performed the <Rite of Attunement>. Your features (HIS features?) are twisted with guilt, and pity, and horror.

“You have my memories,” he—YOU—says. “So from your perspective…”

“From MY perspective?” you almost shriek, your voice an octave higher than it ought to be. “You… You did this to me!”

You almost launch yourself at the other Ezreal, the ‘original’ Ezreal, before Izirina-Ayla grabs hold of you with uncanny and inhuman strength, and wrenches you back. Belatedly, you realize it isn’t that her strength is necessarily even superhuman—yours is simply SUBhuman, even moreso than your scholar’s constitution already provided…



…Because you’re a goblinoid now. Because you are the fully-sapient, perfectly self-aware, ‘soulless’ initiation of the half-elf who cast the spell to create you.
>>
>>6067606
You scream, and scream some more, until you have no air nor aether left.

Eventually, though, you DO stop screaming. At that point, you have a choice:

>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least
>Avenge yourself on the bastard fool who made you like this, and who stole away your life, your loves, and your magic, and take them back
>Kill yourself—plunge into the Elemental Planes, and end this mockery of life you have been cursed with
>Write-in
>>
>>6067607
>Kill yourself—plunge into the Elemental Planes, and end this mockery of life you have been cursed with

Kill ourself in front of them to forever change their bond and the trajectory of their lives.

Yeah this was a pretty predictable consequences lmao.
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>>6067606
>“You have my memories,” he—YOU—says. “So from your perspective…”
>“From MY perspective?” you almost shriek, your voice an octave higher than it ought to be. “You… You did this to me!”
Soma (2015) moment. This was also gonna happen with that lesses clone that'd get our mp and spells, right ?
>>6067607
>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least
maybe he can trauma-bond with Ayla since they kinda have a similar experience ? shit, if there's no way to remove the memories of the present Izzy and Cossy this will be an even more hellish experience for him.
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>>6067607
Actually can we just do some MAJOR chimericism on this clone to make him able to do magic? I think Tips at his core can take on any situation with time as long as he's able to do magic and has someone who loves him.
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>>6067607
>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least

Clone ez will be fine, he just needs some time to adapt.
>>
>>6067607
>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least
>Demand OrigiTips to put their brain together with ours to do some Chimericism and some ritual attunement to make us able to do magic and less "goblinly"
>>
>>6067607
>>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least
Im down for clone tips to be igor Tips, as long as this isnt our MC now, because if so then
>Kill yourself
if this is a repeat switch mc thing im down to live though, just not if Ezntreal is our MC now
>>
>>6067607
Yeah this is why I didn't back the goblin juice

>Avenge yourself on the bastard fool who made you like this, and who stole away your life, your loves, and your magic, and take them back

Revenge couple
>>
>>6067618
[Theoretically in time, but you have no idea if that would work.]

>>6067631
>Im down for clone tips to be igor Tips, as long as this isnt our MC now, because if so then
>Kill yourself
[He may well be the MC. I will count such votes as "kill yourself" votes, which is the only guaranteed way to ensure the feytouched, aethereal Tips is the one you control moving forward.]
>>
>>6067642
>He may well be the MC. I will count such votes as "kill yourself" votes, which is the only guaranteed way to ensure the feytouched, aethereal Tips is the one you control moving forward.
so the switch pov wasn't just for thematic purposes, he's our mc now ?
>>
>>6067607
>>Write-in
Demand chimericism with nilbogs to re-acquire at least some magic
>>
>>6067607
>>Live on as you are—shrunken, deformed, devoid of magic and incapable of Feycraft, forever separated from Izzy and Costella… But with Ayla, at least
>>
We're Tips. So once the panic subside, we can do what needs to be done. And ask for magic back.
>>
>>6067753
my problem is having to play as the clone when we're about to wrap things up. if that's the case he can off himself.
>>
>>6067607
>>6067642
I regret everything

I’m sorry I brought up my idiotic idea lads
>>
>>6067758
nah man, it was a nice write-in and seemed like a nice way to getting 2 birds with one wand. having it possibly end up the same as picking "nothing" it part of the process I guess.
>>
>>6067757
>>6067758
>>6067760
Actual spoiler ahead:
Realistically, I'm not sure how long you'll play Gobzreal if he luves. There are certain plot points with Original Ezreal that I want to wrap up, but you can at least expect that resolution to be delayed, and for a couple of the original Tips' choices to be 'automatic' and beyond your control if Gobzreal lives, because you'd be spending some time as him... Probanly at least to the end of this thread, and maybe into the next one

[Also, I'm watching Deadpool and Wolverine with a bud tonight, so I may or may not get a chance to update before tomorrow.]
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>>6067642
>[Theoretically in time, but you have no idea if that would work.]

Wait a minute… AINT NO WAY

>>6067618
>>6067718
+1 on the getting our magic back
>>
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>>6067609
>>6067617
>>6067619
>>6067621
>>6067631
>>6067633
>>6067718
>>6067752
You cast your gaze back towards the blindly light of the Elemental Plane of Fire—in effect a tremendous blast furnace, its actual landscape unknowable. Perhaps… Perhaps that knowledge, the knowledge of what the surface of that strange spheroid ‘world’ looks like, could be your legacy? If you could break free of Izirina-Ayla, you could hurl yourself into the cleansing fires and fix this terrible mistake.

But ether wouldn’t BE a legacy, would there? You’re soulless—you know as much. You created this clone—YOU did, you REMEMBER doing it—with the specific intent that it exist without a spiritual aspect. In the grips of the shirin-high, in the wake of revelation, you had finally understood how goblinoids function without such a metaphysical apparatus: when aenouh magic, and will, is pushes through a realm, across a matrix of dead, ‘dumb’ material, its passage begins to etch patterns across the surface of the world. Information becomes embedded in the… The fundamental particles of physical ‘stuff’, and to trigger self-perpetuating reactions. Like a golem construct, organic material takes on the facsimile of true, meaningful existence by sheer exposure… And from there, as it grows in the manner which even braindead tissue, it complexifies, until finally…

Something like YOU comes into being.

But something like YOU, as you are now… If you were to plunge into the fire, any discovery you made would be lost with you. YOU would be lost. This time, there would be no surprise awakening—not as the ‘real’ you, not as a disembodied ghost of heavensent spirit—if, indeed, any Heavenly Realm would still take you.

When you have no soul, all you are, and all you have experienced… Dies with you.

You slump, limp, and allow Izirina—YOUR Izirina, the Izirina you were made for, you suppose—to hold you close. You try not to cry. You almost succeed.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” you hear yourself—HIM, the Ezreal who made you—say. “I didn’t… I know this must be quite the adjustment.”

“Do you?” you sneer. “How difficult this must be for you.”

“He means well,” Izirina-Ayla says gently, with genuine understanding, quiet enough that only you can hear her. “They don’t understand. They don’t know what it’s like.”

Unspoken is the obvious: SHE does. You take some small comfort in that, at least, because just like HIM, you love her. You really do and no… Now you feel a deep commonality with her.
>>
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>>6068289
“I’d like my magic back,” you croak, weakly.

“You know I can’t do that,” says Ezreal Mious Van Houtzmann, his eyes black and pitiless.

“Because you’d lose some of your power,” you say, so he doesn’t have to. “I… I remember. It’s why we did this… To preserve my, YOUR, power, rather than splitting it.”

He says nothing, grimacing is guilt. But still, STILL, he says nothing. No change of heart. No volunteering of his precious ESOTERIC KNOWLEDGE.



Fuck, it would be so much easier to hate him if you weren’t him a few minutes ago. You can’t even begrudge him, really, because YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE EXACT SAME THING.

“FUCK!” you shout, and then more quietly, you add: “Fuck…”

“Yeah,” Ezreal agrees.

“So what happens now?” you ask.

“Well,” the other Ezreal begins, “I was hoping that, you know… Ayla, or Izirina rather… That she’d help us map the <Demiplane>. She and—”

“—and the fairies of Old Maple Hill,” you say dryly. “Yeah, I remember.”

“…Right. You would, wouldn’t you?”

Gods, this is awkward… But your frenzied fear and fury fall away. You’re still Tips, in the end—still the Man and the Elf you always were, even if now you’re neither, and actually more of a weird goblin-thing.

“I think…” you begin.

>“I think Ayla should still focus on that, and on helping with the whole… You know, Sylvan Realms debacle.”
[The original Tips will share the full scope of the situation with the elves of his homeland with Ayla; any recovery of your magical powers will be drastically delayed.]

>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”
[The original Tips will not have Ayla’s aid moving forwards, but you will get to see what she’s been up to in ‘your’ absence, and maybe regain some magic.]

>Write-in


BONUS: What is your name?
>Stubbornly refuse to change your name to accommodate the lucky bastard who kept your body and your life
>Choose a new name [write-in]
>>
>>6068291
>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”

>Batz

Goblin ears kind of look like bat wings. So might as well update our name to reflect on the new state of our ears.
>>
>>6068289
*when enough magic, and will, is pushed through a real
>>
>>6068291
>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”

>Veigar
when we voted on our name, I suggested ezreal based on the lol character so I'll keep in tradition and suggest the yordle mage as our new name.
>>
>>6068291
>“Because you’d lose some of your power,” you say, so he doesn’t have to. “I… I remember. It’s why we did this… To preserve my, YOUR, power, rather than splitting it.”

So thats explains the 1d3 spell loss for the other option.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by “share the full scope of the situation” with the elves. Our split state? Why would we do that? I don’t really see why it’s necessary for them to know.
>>
>>6068291
>>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”
>>Veigar

Can Ayla even help with the sylvan realms? I don't see how mapping out the unseelie tunnels will aid us in a negotiation.
>>
>>6068291
>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”

>Stubbornly refuse to change your name to accommodate the lucky bastard who kept your body and your life
He kept the magic - the least he can do is let us keep the name.
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>>6068334
>I’m not quite sure what you mean by “share the full scope of the situation” with the elves.
[Sorry, to clarify: I meant bring Ayla in on how intense, dramatic, and life-or-death things have gotewn between Tips and his homeland.]

>>6068341
[When anons proposed mapping out tge Demiplane, I believe the purpose was to serve as a means to escape from (or retaliate against) the Sylvan Realms if negotiations went poorly.]
>>
>>6068488
In that case I would

>“You owe me a fair shot at life, and to do that I need magic. If you wont’ give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves.”

Also share that information to ayla as well. We had >>6065200 ayla + true fey

>>6068321
Name as veigar is fine

So chances should still be decent even without ayla

Am >>6064569
>>
>>6068653
>>6068488
>>6068356
>>6068341
>>6068334
>>6068321
>>6068297
“I think that if you’re going to take my entire life, you at LEAST owe me a fair shot at MY life.”

The Other You sighs deeply, crossing his arms and lowering his head so that his wide-brimmed wizard cap hides his face. As you continue, though, he doesn’t interrupt:

“To do that I need magic. If you won’t give me yours, Ayla and I should go find a way to fix this ourselves…”

You place your hands upon hers. Her chest still presses against your back, and her warm, comforting touch still lingers upon your bare midsection. Her grip shits at your gesture of reciprocation, such that she doesn’t even object to the sue of her new, ‘secondary’ name. perhaps, coming from a ‘secondary’ Ezreal who shares her circumstances, she finds it harder to object? Give that you only even EXIST in this form for HER benefit (which is a whole OTHER thing to grapple with) she feels she has no right to do so?

Perhaps, like you, all this Other Izirina and Other Ezreal stuff is just getting a bit semantically confusing?

“Oh, and… Ezreal?” you say. “Call me… Veigar.”

“From the archaic North Coastal dialect, meaning ‘protector of the home or farm’?” Ezreal says, looking up sharply. “As in…”

“One of the names we were considering, if we had a son,” you acknowledge.

The other Ezreal—the ONLY Ezreal, you suppose, if you’re going to stick with this new alias—chews his lip in thought. You already know he will agree to this, though, because he’s YOU. You haven’t had enough time apart, as separate entities, for either of you to surprise the other.

“Fine,” he sighs. “I guess I can’t exactly say you’re being selfish, since…”

“Yeah,” you say.

A moment of silence passes, words utterly unnecessary: it would be a condemnation of the self. Any denial of your requests would be an act of self-denial, or self-harm even.

“It honestly would have been quite the ordeal balancing the, uh, OPINIONS of the Hill’s fairy court and.. And what we did here, anyway,” Ezreal admits with a deep frown. “Maybe this is for the best.”

He’s beginning to second-guess the path he’s traveling—the way he’s wielded the secret and sacred magics, and the extent of his experimentation. You know, because YOU are doing exactly the same thing. The only difference is, well… YOU don’t have to worry about that anymore, do you? Not without magic…
>>
>>6068717
“We’ll get it back,” Ayla promises, squeezing you closer before despair can take you. “All that and more.”

You and ‘you’ spend a few more moments sorting out certain details, and discussing how and when you might make contact again. It is a stuttering, awkward affair, whereby you trip over one another’s words, interrupt each other, and even speak in unison a few times without meaning to. Ultimately, unable to handle the sheer WEIRDNESS anymore, you simply nod your goodbyes and go your separate ways: Ezreal back to Old Maple Hill to treat with the fairies there and to requisition their aid, and you… Off with Ayla, to begin the process of acclimating to life as Veigar Mious Van Hoitzmann.

(You also make him give you your Lunar cloak, for the sake of propriety.)

When you can bring yourself to look on the bright side again, you recognize ne advantage of this arrangement: you get to see what Ayla has been doing, and where she has been living. It’s a surprisingly humble affair, you find: a rural cottage, crude but sturdy, and supported by beams and a roof of no-doubt <summoned> Elemental Earth, shored up with boards and blanks that seem to be harvested an abandoned and overgrown village which pre-existed it. By the local flora and songbirds, you surmise it to be within Hawksong’s aegis—somewhere not TOO far from where ‘Tips’ and his friends and family live…

(No, no, STOP it! Thinking about… About all of them, about how you aren’t HIM… It threatens to distract and destroy you. Focus, Veigar!)

“What IS this place?” you ask Ayla, lifting up and examining some more burnt-out board of local wood. “Or WAS this place, rather? What happened here?”

“I’m not sure,” she admits. “I think it must have been destroyed a few years ago, when the dragons reappeared. It was already like this when I got here… Abandoned, except for the dead. Old bones, though… And chewed up by regular animals, as far as I could tell.”

You set down the burnt plank, suddenly feeling an illsome sensation as disturbing a grave.

“And this is where you’ve been plotting your vengeance upon us—or, uh, ‘them’?” you say, only half-joking.

“Yes,” Ayla answers, so bluntly it cause you to double-take.

“Izzy…”

Izirina-Ayla looks back at you, with a muted amusement.

“Can you blame me?” she asks. “Anyway, I don’t think that I ever would have… That I actually could have gone ahead with any of the schemes I dreamt up. Oh, maybe I could have done something terrible to that stupid, fat… To Fanucci, rather. Or to that fake, lying, THIEVING ‘Izirina’…”
>>
>>6068719
You take a step back as an aura of fiery menace emanates from Ayla. Her features and posture twist and shifting into something less-than-human for a moment, and hair rising up and twisting about into snake-like coils. When she sees your reaction, though, she stops and sighs, deflating. You hold your tongue, resisting the urge to defend the women you still love. Ayla seems to sense your discomfort, and regards you with a sad smile.

“But I could never hurt HIM. I could never hurt YOU, Tips.”

You feel your ears-wider, their pointed ‘tips’ split and jagged compared to the fine, thin elven elegance of your old pair. Does even your old nickname still suit you?
“So what have you been doing instead?” you ask, to refocus your attention away from yourself once more.

“I decided that the best revenge was to prove that I was the REAL Izirina… The BETTER Izirina. That anything she could accomplish, I could surpass.”

As she speaks, Ayla guides you into her home. You find it stocked with a surprisingly wide array of furnishings—almost TOO full, such that if you were not even shorter and slimmer than you used to be, it would be difficult to navigate. Like the ‘other Izzy’, Ayla evidently ahs a bad habit of leaving dinner-time dishes and experimental apparatuses laying where she last used them. You force yourself not to comment upon it, since you’re still sort of a guest… And she’s still a temperamental demoness.

Instead, you observe: “Some of these implements, these tools, and these symbols… They look Infernal.”

(Still others you don’t even recognize, but just to gaze upon them makes your new, green skin crawl with an instinctive aversion.)

“That’s right.” Ayla’s tone is defensive, defiant. “I’m a demon, aren’t I? Or the product of one? Why SHOULDN’T I understand occultism? How ELSE am I supposed to become what I was born to be?”

You raise your hands placatingly, frowning a little at how baggy and overlong your sleeves are now, such that they hang over your digits. Aloud, you say: “I’m not lecturing.”

(Even if you want t…)

Ayla’s expression shifts, the flare of prideful anger dying down and giving way to deeper thought. She steps forward, slipping your sleeves off of your knurled, spidery digits, and slipping her fingers between your own. With her thumbs, she traces your knuckles. She turns your hands over fingers stroking your palms. Yous hiver at the touch—so tender, so familiar-yet-unfamiliar, and you feel a pang of excitement at such casual physical intimacy with the woman who you love, and have loved, but have denied yourself for the sake of the others.

(This, at least, is rather nice...)
>>
>>6068720
“You know,” she says slowly, “goblin clans often dabble in various forms of occultism, too. Since they have no means to use magic themselves, but have spell resistance, they’re perfect ‘demon tamers’. They can even ‘host’ a demon, allowing it to possess them and to remain dormant, before unleashing it to cast spells on their behalf.”

You are reminded of the hidden mote of hellfire—Carazzi’s ‘soul’—which had lain dormant and undetected inside of Zith-Zi for all her life, until the ritual which split them. Could such a thing be done DELIBERATELY? And weaponized, or used as a tool for arcane exploration?

“Wait, what?” you say, snapping out of your intellectual reverie and withdrawing your hands, to Ayla’s evident displeasure. “What are you suggesting here?”


“You aren’t a ‘Disciple of the True Fey’ anymore, Ez-Veigar.” Ayla doesn’t step closer, but holds out her arms, beckoning you to return to her with the oh-so-familiar gleam in her reptilian-demonic eyes. “you CAN’T be. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to regain what you’ve lost… For me to give you back your magic.”

“You mean the Nothic,” you snap. “You mean to deal with… With devils! Demons! Fiends! Dark Gods and their, their ILK!”

Ayla frowns a little at our tone, but she doesn’t deny it; in fact, she nods.

“We can’t follow their path, Veigar. They don’t… They don’t want us. But maybe that’s for the best. The way they’re going, can you really say it’s any BETTER? That it’s ‘good; in some way, while what I’m suggesting is ‘evil’? They made YOU. They made ME. And now it’s up to us to make that work… Not for some sort of vengeance, or to hurt people, but for US.”

You close your mouth. Your stomach would normally roil in instinctive, soul-deep revulsion… But you don’t have those instincts anymore, nor that soul. You find yourself, to your shame (?), considering the possibilities.

Ayla smiles a sly, serpentine smile, as if sensing the cracks in your convictions—in EZREAL’S convictions, inherited.

“Come on,” she beckons you. “Let’s be study buddies again… Just like old times?”

What do you do?
>Join Ayla in the occult arts, learning the ways of demons and dark gods and of black magic
>Reject this offer outright, and try to curb her own occultism—you may not be Fey, but you’re no damned 'dark wizard', and no ally of evil!
>Write-in
>>
>>6068721
>Reject this offer outright, and try to curb her own occultism—you may not be Fey, but you’re no damned 'dark wizard', and no ally of evil!
>>
>>6068721
>Join Ayla in the occult arts, learning the ways of demons and dark gods and of black magic
>>
>>6068721
>You are reminded of the hidden mote of hellfire—Carazzi’s ‘soul’—which had lain dormant and undetected inside of Zith-Zi for all her life, until the ritual which split them. Could such a thing be done DELIBERATELY? And weaponized, or used as a tool for arcane exploration?
the knowledge about zizi's mom getting bred by a demon possessing a lizard was ooc, right ? so it makes sense he didn't think of that rn

>Join Ayla in the occult arts, learning the ways of demons and of black magic, but refrain from contacting the nothic so soon.
we're desperate, but not dumb. the nothic ain't free.
>>
>>6068861
>the knowledge about zizi's mom getting bred by a demon possessing a lizard was ooc, right ? so it makes sense he didn't think of that rn
[Tips (and thus Veigar) doesn't know all the particulars, only that a hybrid Reptilian occultist was the parent of the prince Consort, Zith-Zi, and the one who mutated/infected Izirina after killing her parents, and then stuck her with the Archmage.]
>>
>>6068721
>Join Ayla in the occult arts, learning the ways of demons and dark gods and of black magic

magic is magic, just because you learn from dark forces doesn't make you automatically apart of their agenda.
>>
>>6068990
>magic is magic, just because you learn from dark forces doesn't make you automatically apart of their agenda.
implying our compliance is a factor for the nothic
>>
>>6068721
>Join Ayla in the occult arts, learning the ways of demons and of black magic, but refrain from contacting the nothic so soon.

If we’re going to do this we need to set hard limits before. Otherwise Ayla will encompass our studies a little broader than we might like. Changing.
>>
>>6069057
>>6068990
>>6068861
>>6068798
“…Okay.”

“Okay?” comes Ayla’s reply, as if she’d expected more resistance to the idea.

“Okay,” you affirm.

After all, magic is magic, isn’t it? In your esoteric explorations, you long ago divorced notions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ from origins or aesthetic ideals. Is Carazzi evil, just because of where her energies originated? Is AYLA? For that matter, how about YOU, soulless and artificial imitation that you are? Or even the OTHER Ezreal, with his Banelight-infused essence? No, it’s what you USE it for that decides if the magic is part of any grander agenda, not how you came about it.

…But even so, there are limits.

“I don’t want to contact The Nothic,” you say, bluntly. “Your teacher… Your master is not my master.”

“Then who is?” Ayla counters. “My so-called ‘mother’? Nothing she knows can be cast by a GOBLIN, Viegar…”

You narrow your eyes, and she averts hers, promptly apologizing for the slight: “Sorry, I just… I just don’t understand how you expect me to bring you up to my level, or anything like what you had before, when you were ‘Ezreal’, without a master who is actually around, and knows magic compatible with… With how you are, now, as ‘Viegar’.”

“I have a master right here,” you decide.

Ayla startles, and then her brownish cheeks redden incredibly, until you think she’ll turn pit-fiend red.

“Wh-what?” she stammers. “You mean ME?”

“Why not?” you press, because it is the obvious answer. “You were always the only mage of our class who could advance beyond me… And what you call being ‘study buddies’ was ALWAYS more about me learning from you than the other way around, if I’m being honest.”

“B-but…”

“But?”

Ayla looks away from you again, impossibly embarrassed to an absolutely adorable degree as she admits:

“I-it feels weird thinking of you as, you know…. The student. The ‘younger’ one. I’ve truthfully always thought of you as ‘the older man’ that I’m, um, with.”

You stare at her, UP at her since you have LONG been shorter than her, and arguably younger looking, and you are incredulous. Is this how BOTH iterations of Izirina have somehow conceptualized you? It’s accurate, sort, of, technically, but on a biological level you’ve always thought yourself the younger of the two of you.

“Well!” You laugh, with a heartier laugh than you can remember for a long time now. “I’m already learning entire new perspectives on the world, Master Henzler. See? You’ll be great at this. We don’t need any Agents of Darkness to guide our way!”

“…We have always created our own path, haven’t we?” Ayla asks, with a half-smile. “This won’t be our first plunge into something quite like a Hellish Realm, will it?”

She proffers her hand, and you take it.
>>
>>6069127
In the days and weeks that follow, you are enlightened on the Akashic Record the Dark Gods, a parallel structure to that of your own gods which records events and information in a sandwiched, divinely-gatekept subspace between realms. You can’t help but wonder if it’s these structures’ existence which has ingrained the Prime Material with the engraved information necessary to synthesize the goblinoid races—is it the intersection of all these Good and Evil pantheons contending with one another to shape the world that gave it capacity to shape something itself?

“And the Dark Gods are RIGHT,” Ayla affirms, with a convert’s enthusiasm. “They DID come first. They DID originally create this world, and the Elemental Planes! Before there were stars in the sky, they emerged from a raw, primordial chaos… Like a soup containing every ingredient across the Material and Elemental planes, and the Hells as well, all mixed together into undifferentiated slurry. The Dark Gods arose from that and wanted to stay separate and distinct from the ‘soup’ for longer than an instant, and also to shape and control the space around them. THEY differentiated matter and energy, and it was from their creation of servants that the first coherent ‘souls’ were formed… And embodied, to serve and be sacrificed, as the first mortal beings.”

“So this was all theirs,” you clarify. “You’re saying the Gods of Light are invaders? Conquerors?”

“Thieves,” Ayla hisses, then stops herself. “It doesn’t matter. That’s all ancient history, and the Dark Gods obviously aren’t… They’re not innocent, or trustworthy. I’m not a fool, you know. I always KNEW that much. The Forces of Darkness are just a means to an end for me, like I guess I must be to them. The fact of the matter was this, Ti—Viegar, I mean—the VERY FIRST magic, the OLDEST and HIGHEST magic the world ever knew was THEIRS. Imagine what we can do, if we can get them to give us THAT?”

It’s a distant, fantastical aspiration—the sort of dream Izirinas are wont to dream, it seems, no matter their alignment. Izirina-Ayla, though, proves more than up to the task of teaching you the much more practical Black Magic she HAS mastered, though.

Across the span of your educational seminars, you learn…
>The summoning and contractual binding of Hellish spirits
>The arts of extracting energy from other beings by physical or psychic vampirism
>The means of ritual sacrifice to contact and commune with spirits from Beyond and Below
>The Dark Gods’ priestly teachings about how life can be created from Elemental and Material matter… And one more ingredient

[Choose 2]
>>
>>6069128
>The Dark Gods’ priestly teachings about how life can be created from Elemental and Material matter… And one more ingredient

>The arts of extracting energy from other beings by physical or psychic vampirism
>>
>>6069128
>The summoning and contractual binding of Hellish spirits
>The arts of extracting energy from other beings by physical or psychic vampirism
Veigar will learn well. btw if the dark ones came first, what's the origin of the light ones ?
>>
>>6069158
>what's the origin of the light ones ?
[Hmmm...]

[The only thing Tips knows is that they came from elsewhere, from outside the known universe. He has no idea what their original universe was like or why they came here to begin with.]
>>
>>6069128
>The Dark Gods’ priestly teachings about how life can be created from Elemental and Material matter… And one more ingredient
>The arts of extracting energy from other beings by physical or psychic vampirism

>>6069158
>Veigar will learn well. btw if the dark ones came first, what's the origin of the light ones ?
Outer space, they're ayy lmaos
>>
>>6069128
>The Dark Gods’ priestly teachings about how life can be created from Elemental and Material matter… And one more ingredient

>The summoning and contractual binding of Hellish spirits

>>6068990
>>6068341
>>6067619
>>6066334
These are me.
>>
>>6069128
>The Dark Gods’ priestly teachings about how life can be created from Elemental and Material matter… And one more ingredient
>The arts of extracting energy from other beings by physical or psychic vampirism

I don’t like the ritual sacrifice. Too situational.

Am >>6064569
>>
>>6069399
>>6069200
>>6069161
>>6069158
>>6069140
Ayla proves an effective teacher, and you a quick study. Neither is actually a great surprise, when you get down to it: you two (or other versions of you, at least) have always had a natural rapport, and you are both naturally talented mages. Though you’ve lost your innate ability to sense, manipulate, and store aura, you still have all your memories of the training and theory which made it more than a parlour trick. And as for the actual ability to cast… Well, Ayla knows just the fix for that.

“Blood?!” you recoil, unable to hide your disgust.

Ayla gives you an amused look, and points out: “It’s no different than eating meat. Just… Fresher. Raw.:

“Yes, that’s sort of a big difference,” you mutter.

Ayla assures you that the ewes she brings as ‘teaching tools’ were not stolen or otherwise taken under duress. Rather, she claims to be working as a hedge mage for those desperate people in the dragon-blasted farmlands of the backcountry, who lack local mages of their own or the means to travel to and from Hawksong when they require divination, petty healing, or small blessings for hunt or harvest.

“The Bonum Legale doesn’t have any temples in this place?” you ask.

Ayla shakes her head.

“They’ve forsaken this place,” she says. “The local temple was destroyed by dragons, and the High priests never sent anyone else form the capital, just like the Tower never sent mages to help. And with trade effectively ended with the Elves, and the Southmen…”

You get the picture. But even if Ayla has come by the sheep honestly, and even if you’re not exactly a vegetarian, there’s still something about this whole unseemly rite which fills you with a deep discomfort. Somehow, it almost seems more wholesome to slaughter a sheep, not that you’re certain you could do so, with those big watery eyes looking up at you. But this… THIS…

“First, you make an incision.”

Ayla demonstrates with a dagger, as you hold down the poor woolly victim upon a slab of <summoned> Elemental Earth. It struggles and bleats in back, and you shush it soothingly, and wish you could still cast <Calm>.

“Then, you simply press your mouth to the wound and…”

You watch with disgust and fascination as she drinks the still-living blood from the still-living sheep, which goes limp and placid in your arms. You pet it soothingly, and force yourself to watch as Ayla, who looks so like Izirina, suckles upon an open wound like a leech. Finally having had her fill, she wipes her mouth with a sleeve, and looks up brightly at you.

“Now your turn,” she says.

“There isn’t another way?” you ask, queasily.

“Tips,” she admonishes you, “your blood is primarily goblinoid, and you have no spiritual storage mechanism of your own. If I’m going to teach you any magic at all, you need a means to hold onto qi. It would be more effective with a human, or better yet an elf, but—”
>>
>>6069484
“No, no, this is fine!”

You grimace as you lower your head to the stunned animal’s red-soaked white wool. You open your mouth and, with your uneven and sharpened goblin teeth and your stubby, wide tongue, you begin to lap and suckle the salty-coppery tang of pumping blood. You force yourself not to spit it out, or to vomit it up, and sure enough…

>GAINED: <Blood Channeling>
>You can cast certain spells from HP instead of MP

>GAINED: <Steal Life>
>By drinking the blood of living creatures you can temporarily gain MP for your use, instead of HP, for 24 hours
>Mundane animals can grant you 1-2 MP; humans 2-4 MP, and magical creatures 3+ MP depending
>The more spells you cast, the greater the risk of killing the creature whose blood is in your system

You let the sheep live, of course, whispering tearful apologies as it weakly staggers away. When it stumbles and falls, crying out, you rush to its side and cast:

“<Cure Wounds>!”

It was an automatic action, reflexive on your part, and you’re both shocked and delighted when it actually works! The sheep stands, and a moment later bolts away. You start to chase after it, but Ayla stops you, lifting your hat to ruffle your green-black hair.

“It’s fine,” she says, “No matter how far it goes, until you digest the last of the blood, its life is yours... Its qi, or ‘aura’ if you prefer, is yours.”

“I… See,” you say, unsure how to feel about this.

What you DO appreciate is how you can still heal. Life Magic has always been near and dear to you, and the ability to help others is fundamental to your sense of self. As long as the blood sits warm and heavy in your gut, you find you can cast not just <Cure Wounds>, but <Monstrous Regeneration>, and you can even utilize Chimericism and sense the aura of the organisms you feed upon. It’s not exactly the traditional Healer’s Arts, but it IS Living Alchemy, and there IS a certain thrill in discovering this new avenue of arcana.

Even MORE exciting is your next lesson.

It is as much history as it is arcana. Across many hours of many days, Ayla teaches you the secret history of the world… At least, according to the Dark Gods and their acolytes. She tells you of a the primordial era when all was one, undifferentiated, and all bubbling egos and entities were quickly subsumed into that ‘soup’. She tells of how the Prime Material was made as a sort of stable space where the Dark Gods could reign supreme, and how the first mortals were created.

“They were given organs, senses, dimensions,” Ayla explains, “that they might develop a differentiated ego. The boundaries of their bodies served to sever their connection to the greater cosmos, or at least to dull it… To slow the flow of energy in and out, so the One can be apart from the Many. So individuals could differ in experience, and become different sorts of things…”

“Without consent,” you point out. "Without care."
>>
>>6069486
The Dark Gods, if what she has been taught is actually true, they shaped the bodies for their own purposes and then shaped newborn souls out of raw elemental energies and intent, then forced them into those bodies. They made these beings for their own pleasure, and they made them capable of suffering, and pressed them into servitude. They made bodies as living PRISONS.”

“Maybe,” Ayla allows. “But magic is magic, right? And life is life. However it originated, wherever it came from or whatever they meant for it to be… We can shape it into something different. Something BETTER. Right?”

And you DO learn to shape it. Beginning with the flesh of your sheep subjects, you re-learn how to manipulate the physical form. Ayla calls the spell <Demonflesh>, for it resembles the means by which a demon converts their unholy ectoplasm into temporary matter, to form a physical body. You learn to turn flesh and blood into a translucent weightless sort of jelly, and to reform and reconfigure it, until a sheep can resemble a sheepdog, or something entirely Other, at least superficially…

And from harvested flesh, from stolen life, you find you can even create a <Clone>. More than that, you know how to give it—to give YOURSELF—a soul.

“Why haven’t you done it already?”

“I’ve never… I’m not yet able to do THAT, exactly,” Ayla admits. “I can <Summon> an elemental, even use <Elemental Infusion>… But converting it into a permanent spirit and ‘locking’ it into a body, it’s…”

Even while discussing their apocryphal spellcraft, you can’t help but laugh a little. An Izzy really IS an Izzy it seems, right down to being too prideful to outright say ‘You’re better at Life Magic than I am.’ But you ARE, and even if you can’t quite reach the Elemental Planes to use your one-time signature spell, you CAN take undifferentiated or elemental aura which someone ELSE provides you, and reshape it, adding it to an organism—or an emptied, <Clone> vessel. It’s not so different from what you have already done for Zith-Zi, with the moonberry: the transformation of an unconscious ‘mass’ of magical power into a primordial state—an ectoplasmic ‘soup’, and then pouring it into a subject, and altering both to prevent rejection.

(And rejection of this ectoplasm is, as you learn, a terrifying and deeply unpleasant thing.)
>>
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>>6069489
“All new avenues of arcane have their… Hiccups,” Ayla comforts you, rubbing your back you retch.

“I know that!” you snap. “But… But its eyes… They were in such pain.”

“That’s why I didn’t do it,” Ayla admits. “And… Anyway, I HAVE a soul. It’s not like yours—or, rather, not like the other, uh… Not like Ezreal’s. Or like HERS. But it’s mine… it’s ME. Before you gave me this body, I had that spirit. It was ALL I had. I wouldn’t… I could never replace it.”

But you have no such thing. Even as you master these Dark Arts, you are painfully aware of how parasitic you have become, drawing your arcane ability from the blood and spirit of other living things, or relying upon the ‘materials’ summoned up by Izirina-Ayla. But with your latest spell…

>GAINED: <Ectoplasmic Enhancement>
>You can take raw magic harvested from living beings, or summoned from the Elemental Planes, and force it into a being; this can make it more inherently magical, or powerful, and can even give an ‘unsouled’ being an approximation of a spirit, and a permanent MP pool if it lacks one

…You could change that. The only thing, of course, is that you would be doing in effect what the Dark Gods once did: taking a part of the universe—the flow of life through the Prime Material, or a <Summoned Elemental>, and forcing it into awareness without its consent. You would be creating an immortal being and forcing it to think and feel as you do, to imitate and embody you, and to suffer as you and ALL living things must suffer… All to serve your purposes, to give YOU power and a truer ‘life’.

(Well, and it’s blatantly necromancy, an art that even Death Himself abhors, to say nothing of the Gods of Light)

Do you do it?
>Yes, you will augment your body and give yourself a brand new soul through Black Magic
>No, you will remain a soulless goblinoid
>Write-in
>>
>>6069491
things are getting interesting
>>
>>6069491
>Yes, you will augment your body and give yourself a brand new soul through Black Magic

Among those who devote themselves to the mastery of magic,
however, there can be no such thing as mediocrity of attainment.
A person who studies this Art, must have either everything or nothing.
A Mage who knows only half their craft, reaps nothing but disappointment
And waste of time and money; moreover, they lay themselves open to the mockery
of those who despise our Art.
>>
>>6069491
>Yes, you will augment your body and give yourself a brand new soul through Black Magic
>>Ask Ayla about afterlives for souls.

Is a soul really a conscious entity anyways? It seems like they subsume into us anyways and just become our identity. Well if we’re going to create a soul, we should create an afterlife/plane for it without pain once our body dies one day. It’s still wrong but it’ll kind of lessen the moral terribleness.
>>
>>6069491
>No, you will remain a soulless goblinoid
a step too far
>>
>>6069491
>Yes, you will augment your body and give yourself a brand new soul through Black Magic.

We'll be stuck drinking creatures if we don't get ourselves a soul eventually.
>>
>>6069586
>>6069627
>>6069651
>>6069702
You won’t do it. You can’t do it. You will NOT live like… Like some sheep-sucking THING, some drinker-of-life. Nor can you bear to just give up on magic. The study of the arcane is your LIFE. It’s who you ARE, no matter what name you go by or what colour your skin may be.

And if you cannot stand either of those fates, then there is only one path forwards.

“What becomes of spirits, anyway?” you ask Ayla.

“You’re stalling,” she notes, and then more gently: “We don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Yes, we do,” you shoot back swiftly, then sigh. “So, what did the Gods of Evil tell you about the afterlife?”

“The DARK Gods, not Evil,” Ayla corrects, in much the same tone you might correct someone about the ‘Silver’ Realms of your birth. “But… Well, not much that I didn’t already know.”

“Oh? No accusations that the Gods Above AREN’T doing as their priests and clerics say, then?” you ask, genuinely surprised. “So it IS eternal paradise for the faithful, and oblivion for the faithless?”

“Or a Hell, for those who deal with demons,” Ayla says darkly.

You immediately wince. Yes, you suppose that would be Izirina-Ayla’s infernal destination, if ever she was cast into the void.

“Sorry,” you say.

“Don’t be,” she sniffs. “I’m not going to die. Not truly.”

You withhold your skepticism.

“Anyway, only those who pledge themselves to a god and keep their commandments ever see their Heavenly Realms—or the realms where the Dark Ones dwell, below and Beyond,” Ayla lectures. “The Archmage always suspected that this must be so, since there can’t be an infinite number of spirits or souls. Like mass and energy are conserved, a functioning cosmos can’ just… Swell up with more and more beings, infinitely, forever. The natural flow of souls is that they return, through Death’s Domain, to the universe. That’s WHY the Gods, whatever they WANT to do, can only take on so many and preserve them. For the rest of us…”

“Nothing,” you say weakly.”

“Or self-preservation,” she corrects archly.

“Necromancy,” you say darkly. “Lichdom, or… Other such things.”

“Which is what we’re about to do,” Ayla points out.

“…We are.”

You swallow hard. An elemental is not a conscious thing, no more than the moonberries were. Raw aura, unchanneled and held within a living being, is no more a thinking, feeling thing than blood. But it COULD be. It CAN become such. That was, allegedly, how the Dark Gods made the first spirits… And they made them, embodied them, to empower them. They took an unconscious thing, without joy or suffering, and taught it to suffer and to serve, to make themselves mightier by absorbing and integrating the unworthy.

And now, so are you.

>+EGO

“We have to,” you whisper. “I need this.”

“Ready?” Ayla asks.

“Ready,” you answer.
>>
Rolled 4, 13, 18, 11, 15, 2 = 63 (6d20)

>>6069778
Together with Ayla, you call down energies from the far-flung Elemental Planes—some from each of the four, Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. You serve mainly as an assistant, for you have no aura to speak of; your favourite ewe to work with has suffered too much blood-loss, and is currently recovering on a bed that you insisted Ayla procure for her, eating the best feed you two could afford. It makes you feel small, weak, useless, inadequate, and most of all ALIEN to yourself… But not for much longer.

When the arcane energies are gathered, formed into spheroid spheres and brought together in a central circle, you finally slice open your arm, and from this stinging sacrifice of living lifeblood you summon forth the arcane energies to form a <Clone>. You cannot make it true to your original body, unfortunately, but you can make it a bit MORE like the ‘you’ which you remember: a bit taller, a bit more shapely, ever-so-slightly more ‘half-elf’ than ‘goblin-cousin’. It will have all your memories—from your first life, from this brief one—and more.

And into that body, you force the motes of energetic energy, combined with some of Izirina’s own human blood to dilute the magic-resistant properties of the replicated goblin tissues. With <ectoplasmic Enhancement>, you force a state of neutrality, of ephemeral half-existence, upon the collected powers, and blend them together into a spiritual slurry—a ‘soup’, you again recall Ayla’s ad hoc description of the primordial pre-divine condition.

‘Be me,’ you command it mentally, as you cast. ‘Embody ME. Forget all other potentialities. Learn to love, to hate, to suffer, to live, and to fear death. Be as I am. Be mortal. Be Ezreal, be VIEGAR!’

“<ECTOPLASMIC ENHANCEMENT!>” you cry aloud.

[5d20 Occultism, +1 for Life Magic]
>>
>>6069779
>18
The body on the circle-scrawled slab jerks and writhes, groaning and gasping, and finally grasping upwards. It claws for life, though it truth its fingernails are less clawlike than your own. Your frown deeply, seeing how its—your—first moments are of suffering already… But suffering means life, ironically. To exist is to know all the good things of life, but everyone is born crying…

“Now,” you whisper.

The dagger stabs through your chest from behind, skewering and transfixing you through the heart. Ayla clutches you close, holding you to her trembling frame. A part of you had suspected that Izirina’s Shadow would show no hesitation or remorse for this part of the process; another had thought that she wouldn’t be able to go through with it at all. You aren’t sure which you feared more, but you were wrong twice over: she did it, but even now the demon-hearted Izzy is crying, shaking, over the act.

“Heh,” you half-scoff half-wheeze, and wipe blood from your mouth—your blood, this time, dark goblin blood. “I hope that’s all I was wrong about…”

And so you die. There is no way to transfer your mind-purely material at this juncture, bound to your body—to the new ‘you’ you have created. Your body is deeply magic-resistant, and without access to <The Rite of Attunement>, you cannot fix this condition to allow it to properly accept this newly-minted soul. There can be no direct continuity, not this time—only replacement.

You die. A new-new you lives on… And with a soul, perhaps a longer, fuller life.

“Oh,” you say. “So this… Is… It?”

You close your eyes, as Izzy—but not the Izzy you know best, nor your beloved Costella—kisses you goodnight.

>>
>>6069789
...

>+3 MP

You open your eyes, and for a few moments your lungs don’t work. Forget that, your HEART doesn’t work! It isn’t beating! You can’t breath. You swing your arms, grabbing at… At ANYTHING, in a panicked fight-or-flight state. You spasm, and gargle nonsense-words, until finally you hack up phlegm, bile, and blood, and breath in sweet, precious air. You blink tears out of your eyes, and find teary eyes looking back at you: Ayla’s eyes. She is kneeling on the floor before you, cradling the body of… Of Yu, sort of. Viegar, soulless Viegar, who cast the spell to make you… Even if, in your mind, it was you who cast the spell. You certainly don’t remember DYING, though… And he’s dead. And yet… You remember being ready for that?

“Déjà vu,” you mutter, to take your mind off your own deformed-now-dead clone-body… The predecessor to the from you now wear.

Ayla sniffles, and then steels herself. You see her posture change. With the efficiency of a hunter cleaning a kill, she strips the body of the old-new- you of its vestments, and proffers them to you: your star-spangled lunar cloak, with its new-moon circle on the back, a twice-over hand-med-own from Ezreals you no longer are, even though to remember Nym and Devi of the Sacrae Schoale Lunae originally gifting you with the beautiful black robe.

You don the cloak, and tie the belt, and feel more like yourself.

“Should… Should we give him a funeral?” Ayla asks, voice quiet and frightened.

By ‘your’ death? By your rebirth? By her participation in it?

By anticipation of your answer, and what it means?
>Yes—the first Viegar Mious van Houtzmann died today, so that you—Viegar II—might live
>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole

Also, choose any two spells from below to gain for yourself once again:
>Calm
>Summon Elemental
>Elemental Infusion
>Energy Drain
>>
>>6069779
Ok this is like the third time in a row Veigar has been spelled with the i before the e and I thought the first two times were typos but now I'm checking.

>>6069790
Seven times in a row now

>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole

>Elemental Infusion
>Energy Drain
>>
>>6069801
>Ok this is like the third time in a row Veigar has been spelled with the i before the e and I thought the first two times were typos but now I'm checking.
[Look, this isn't the first time I've forgotten how to spell a fictional fantasy name and it wouldn't be the last.]
But I will try to do better, 'ei' just looks more natural to me for whatever reason
>>
>>6069807
Don't you mean 'ie' :^^^^^^)
>>
>>6069790
>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole

>Summon Elemental
>Energy Drain
>>
>>6069824
Veigar looks better to me, and I guess is right, but I keep second-guessing it.
>>
>>6069790
I kinda like the idea that Veigar and Ayla are gonna get to do all the crazy shit tips and the girls didnt wanna touch because they develop a Venture Brothers/Mauler Twins clone philosophy, Nilbog clone factory on unconcecrated land for the win
>>
>>6069790
>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole
>Energy Drain
>Summon Elemental
Veigar shouldnt be as emotional as tips IMO
>>
>>6069790
>>Yes—the first Viegar Mious van Houtzmann died today, so that you—Viegar II—might live
>>
>>6069790
>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole

>Elemental Infusion
>Energy Drain
>>
>>6069790
>No—nobody died today, you just… Went through a difficult medical treatment, and came out of it healthier, and stronger, and whole

>Elemental Infusion
>Energy Drain
Let’s go psycho tips
>>
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>>6069958
>>6069893
>>6069888
>>6069839
>>6069826
>>6069801
[Locked and writing! Also, new art.]
>>
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>>6070268
“Nobody died today,” you tell Ayla, turning way from your former shell. “That body… Without a soul, or something similar, it was doomed to die., and to stay dead, It would leave nothing behind… Just like the aura I formed into this soul would have remained shapeless and unliving, right? It was just… using resources to perform a medical procedure, to cure a congenital condition.”

Your voice sounds a little hollow even to your newly-elongated ear—a bit too clinical. But it’s true. The old you—the you with Izirina and Costella even now—might have struggled with such a dilemma. In teaching you the darker aspects of the deep arcana, however, Ayla has helped to clear your mind of elven and human prejudices that have been holding back your ability.

Even without your old form’s raw power, you can see your horizons expanding…

>REGAINED: Elemental Infusion & Energy Drain

To your frustration, pure power is not all you’re still missing. Your new spirit, being unlike any other, is most DEFINITELY not that of an elf. There is no attunement to the energies of the Bonum Chaoticum in the core of you any longer, and the arts of Feycraft still elude you. You KNOW them, you UNDERSTAND them, but every time you reach and grasp for them… You fumble, the residual anti-magic aspect of your goblin flesh serving like some spiritual buffer or barrier.

SOME spells do come naturally, though. With cosmic power drawn forth from so many sources and mixed within you, reaching out to the Elementa Planes becomes easier than ever. You can’t quite form a construct of the material you call forth, but channeling it into you to protect or power your new body proves quite doable. To your surprise, the nominally-fey <Energy Drain> also comes naturally, allowing you to take power from terrestrial sources as easily as from those planes, and without the distasteful need to suck blood. You’d have expected this to be impossible, given your utter lack of Banelight-adjacent energies and how flimsy your grasp of that particular spell already was compared to the others in your catalogue.

(Perhaps it’s because of your new nature? It’s a disquieting consideration…)

Ayla, as ever, proves an invaluable and (mostly) patient instructor. As you study under your new Master, the playful shift in your dynamic becomes fertile ground for a ripe flirtation. You already share a home, but not a bed.

You WANT to, of course—you love Ayla, and Reptilian and demonic aspects aside, her body IS the body of the first girl you ever made love to. Ayla’s body in particular is your own creation, by your own hand. It is YOUR adoring recollection of the woman you’ve loved most often and most deeply.

But you haven’t.

For many days your tormented memory of your fiancé and your other Izirina—sleeping in another bed, with another ‘you’, but forever beyond your reach now—fills you with a deep regret and sense of shame.
>>
>>6070281
“I understand,” Ayla had told you, her own voice quaking with the effort not to cry. “Whenever I look up and see the moon, or a maple tree or… I see HIM, too. Everywhere.”

She sits up, hands gripping her blankets tightly to her body as if to embrace an absent lover.

“It’s… It’s so strange, isn’t it? Knowing someone else is living YOUR life, while you’re just… Here. A shadow, beneath them, cast BY them.”

Your heart twists in your chest.

“I’m sorry,” Ayla says quietly. “I shouldn’t have sad that. I shouldn’t have placed that thought upon… You shouldn’t have to suffer for how I’ve been feeling. YOU didn’t do this to us, not really. Isn’t that right? HE did, and SHE did…”

She rises from her bed, sitting upright and looking over at you. She allows her sheets to fall away from her bare breasts, and looks to you with hope—and <HUNGER>--in those glow-in-the-dark yellow eyes of hers.

“…But we have each other now. Don’t we? Isn’t that right? Wasn’t that why we were made like this, so that neither of us would need to feel alone again?”

Her feet touch the floor, and a moment later Ayla is standing, stepping briskly over to your bedside. She grips the blankets, and bites her lip as she begins to pull them away from you.

“We were made for each other, and I’ve… I love you, Ezreal. I’ve always loved you, and always will. Even when SHE can’t admit it aloud, I always will. So… Forget them. Be here, as you, with me? Not ‘Ayla’ and ‘Veigar’, but Izzy and Tips.”

The way she frames it gives you pause. Does she love you, or HIM? Is there a meaningful difference?

Even if you can get past that, there is another stumbling block before you: the memory of the prophecy. It has been said that a union of yourself and Izirina would in turn reunite with the scions of the Bloodrise, and thus bring about a calamity. Your original selves are now free of that prophecy, by way of the <Final Revelation>, but that only means they cannot be scryed upon or predicted properly by magic—not that their actions cannot still have consequences… And even if ‘Ezreal and Izirina’ are unshackled from predestination paradoxes, what of ‘Veigar and Ayla’?

Do you enter into this romantic and sexual relationship?
>Yes
>No

If ‘yes’ is chosen, do you use your original names, or your new one, when you are together?
>You make love as Ezreal and Izirina
>You make love as Veigar and Ayla
>>
>>6070287
>Yes
I know you're playing us, and I do. Jokes aside, we can avoid any possible futures with magic anyway.
>You make love as Veigar and Ayla
Using our old names gives some cuck vibes for one another, let's embrace our new selves.
>>
>>6070287
>Yes
The prophecy said that the heir that neienas foresaw was of elven heritage. But Ayla is a demoniac half reptilian similar to the infiltrator in a round about way, and veigar is a mutant partial goblin.

I doubt any potential kids would be ,marrying royalty anytime soon and taking the Yosef surname.

>You make love as Veigar and Ayla

Using our real names will just dreg up feeling of loss and envy. We need to move onwards with our respective lives.
>>
>>6070287
>Yes

>You make love as Veigar and Ayla
>>
>>6070287
>Yes
>You make love as Veigar and Ayla
We're not them anymore. We're better.
>>
>>6070287
>Yes
I for one cant wait for Ayla to spit out some sort of elementally charged Balrog baby
>You make love as Veigar and Ayla
Were not stupid Ayla still wants to follow the Nothics path but I think Veigar would definitely want to steer clear of it, at least right now, maybe once he gets more resentment built up before we lean into the intent, the more we flesh out Veigar the more I want like an apathetic grumbly handsome goblin emotionally abusive tips, we call Ayla Izzy when we need her to do things for us, now mechanic wise and story it may take a bit to get there but I think I could fuck with a dark tower Veigar quest, this is all just headcanon high future projection
>>
>Yes
>You make love as Veigar and Ayla

As Veigar was made under the shroud of the <Final Revelation> I really hope you won't pull us an "AKCHUALLY your unique signature mastermage spell don't work" RQM
>>
>>6070287
>Yes

>You make love as Ezreal and Izirina

I see what you did there
>>
>>6070430
Explain
>>
>>6070416
>As Veigar was made under the shroud of the <Final Revelation> I really hope you won't pull us an "AKCHUALLY your unique signature mastermage spell don't work" RQM
[Hmm...]

>>6070306
>The prophecy said that the heir that neienas foresaw was of elven heritage.
[Hmmmmmm...]
>>
>>6070430
>>6070349
>>6070342
>>6070311
>>6070306
>>6070300
“No.”

Ayla looks heartbroken for a moment, only to squeak in surprise when you kiss her. It’s a surprisingly cute sound from this at-times sinister woman, with her serpentine features.

“I want you,” you tell her. “I love you. YOU. Ayla.”

“I’m not—”

You take her hands—rough along the top, but fine wilk silk-smooth scales of finer make, along the palms. You hold them in your own-greenish, to some ghoulish, but YOURS.

“Dos ph'l'drathir ulu uns'aa,” you tell her. “L'er'griff drathir wun l'anulo.”

As with Tips—wehever he is, whatever he’s doing—you speak Elven. Ayla, like Izirina, understands. Her eyes well with tears at your words:

‘You are the moon to me. The only moon in the sky.’

You can’t live like shadows, like aching echoes of people you can never be. You are transformed, changed, separated and cast… Not down, but away. You understand why and how it happened, because form your perspective, some of those decisions were yours… But so is this, and perhaps all the more so, for it is one decision that you know HE will never make.

You will fear no evil. You embrace being Veigar. And most of all, you embrace Ayla.

“A-ah~”

You guide her into your bed and lay her down upon her back. You part her knees and, gently moving her shy hands away from a surprisingly-hairless centre, you lower your head, grip her thighs, and you show her how a former elf worships his NEW New Moon.

And when the time comes that your union is complete, and your moon rises—and falls, and rises, and falls—you do not stop for fear of fate, or care of consequence. You live, as man and woman ought to live: in the moment, in blissful embrace.

>UNLOCKED: Disconnect from Tips
>ROUTE LOCKED: Veigar and Ayla will NOT intervene in the final act

When the evening has past and the sun has risen, you two creatures of darkness retreat into a cocoon of blankets. It isn’t for fear of the sun that you shrink away, but an unwillingness to let the night end.

“So,” you say, “you, uh, shaved down there?”

Ayla shakes her head slightly, sheepishly admitting: “When the scales began, the hair stared to… It stopped growing. Fell out.”

She frowns worriedly, and admits: “I think I’ve found, uh, hair from my… My head, too. On my pillow. I might be—”

“Bald, you’d still be beautiful,” you interrupt.

She blushes, and clings closer to you.

“Technically, if you go bald, the ‘moon’ comparison will be ever more apt,” you add.

Ayla shoots you a look of shocked outrage, but when you solemn facade splits, she laughs with you.

“Green looks good on you, too,” she says quietly, and adds belatedly, “Veigar.”

You kiss her—kiss Ayla, your one and only Ayla. A chaste kiss becomes a rather deeper one, and before long… Well, you do not brave the dawn just yet.
>>
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Rolled 14, 12, 16, 10 = 52 (4d20)

>>6070825
When finally you do step outside, relaxed and renewed, it is to face a brave new day—and every day after that. You can’t just FORGET everything you had before, but you can move on. That is the gift of death and of rebirth, and of perhaps of a fresh, clean soul: a clean break.

You sheep clip-clops up next to you. You look down, and ruffle her wool affectionately. Some might say an anemic ewe is rather a downgrade from a three-headed wild chimera or a lunar hummingbird… But as with so much, this is only the beginning.

“Right,” you say to your animal companion (but really to yourself), “what next?”





“I wonder if they’re… You know, doing alright?”

Costella hesitates to respond, clearly out of her depth with the whole matter of magical doppelgangers. Eventually, with forced hope, she makes and attempt:

“Hey, like… They’re you and Iz, right? They’ll be fine! You two are pretty much the smartest, most capable people I know, you know? They’ll be, like, BETTER than fine!”

Izirina, who knows enough to be more pessimistic, still squeezes your hand.

“He’ll guide her down the right path,” she says. “You always do.”

“Right,” you say, less certain but still touched by their kind word. “Anyway, we’d better get back to work, hadn’t we? The <Demiplane> isn’t going to map itself!”

“Not yet,” Izirina murmurs. “With the right application of divination, though…”

You know better than to interrupt her train of thought when she gets like that, but you also can’t wait on one of her burst of brilliance. Such magic comes in its own time, but time is something you have in finite supply. Luckily, you three need not do this alone.

(You hope…)

Sociability roll to convince the True Fey of Old Maple Hill to help. Default DC 18, reduced by 2 for promise of access
>>
Rolled 52 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>6070828
“What you are asking of us is to betray fellow Fey… Our kin, and yours.”

“It’s no such thing!”

The negotiations with the Spirit of the Old Maple do not begin on the best foot. The old and knurled spriggan has long had a close, almost fatherly bond with you. He is a small ‘god’, but he has grown bigger, stronger, and more vital with time, as the copse of similar trees has begun to sprout and flourish below his hill sits upon the hill, and his court has grown. With these fairy immigrants and passers-through, though, came rumours: rumours of you, some false and some true.

“This plane belonged to Banelight,” the spirit spits, with a sound like splintering timebrs. “To the unseelie.”

“The Usneelie are no more,” you assure him.

He laughs, and a moment later registers your confusion.

“Little half-an-elf, pale-and-perplexed, do you think the Unseelie were organized? Unified? To be ‘Unseelie’ is merely to not be ‘Seelie’—blessed, honorued, among the True Fey of good standing! Anyone can become ‘Unseelie’…”

Even you. It geos unspoken, but you understand it well.

“Then come to the keep with us!” you blurt out. “Don’t just help us map it—stay there! Keep COURT there! Make it a… A ‘Seelie’ place!”

“And become trapped there?” he scoffs. “Prisoner to your whims?”

Youa re genuinely hurt to hear your old friend accuse you of such malice. You suppose it must show, too, for the strange facsimile of a face where emerges from the curled-over, knotted wood shifts slightly, into something like remorse. The spriggan’s voice turns tender, and he says:

“You have a good heart, Child of Dappulyet and again of Hawksong… And even if you be Unseelie, I have trust in it. You have kept the creed of Freedom, and helped this place to grow… Rich in trees, and beasts, and friends. Even human friends! I never thought I’d see the day!”

He rests a branch-like hand upon you, and soft, new growth tickles your cheek and ear. You elan away from it, trying not to be rude but also being poked by several small sticks.

>18

“We will help you,” he pledges, “but you must promise me this, my friend: that you will sue these tunnels to explore, and perhaps to escape, but never to invade. I cannot, will not, bring harm to my dear and old friends, in the Sylvan Realms or beyond.”

“Of course,” you say.

You say it without thinking. Only later do you mull it over, hoping it is indeed a promise you can keep.
>>
>>6070832
With so many swift-moving, semi-immaterial spirits flitting here and there, the exploration of the expansive system of caves and crannies goes quite quickly. The fairies of the spriggan’s court delight in exploring the <Demiplane>, sprinting and soaring all about the keep, and playing hide and-seek in the holes they’re here to map. At times it seems chaotic, haphazard, and utterly inefficient… But such is the way of the True Fey. To play, dance, frolic, and sing is to exist for them, and doing so does not delay their duty.

>82

“Most of the tunnels don’t even connect up to the Sylvanwood.”

You frown, as you go over the reports and—with Izirina’s ample aid—organize the many small and partial maps into a two-dimensional approximation of three-dimensional space. It seems as if the dark fairies who served Banelight have long skirted the elven lands, preying instead upon elves, men, and others who stepped in or out of that protected realm.

“Not the heart of it,” Izzy notes, “but look here!”

“The borderlands?”

It’s no secret that the outskirts of the Sylvan Realms are a rather degraded place. The old growth trees thin out. The elven population is broken up by Men, and some half-elves like yourself, but born to elves who have forgotten or surrendered the old ways. These populations harvest the ancient wood without care for its continuation, and gladly prey upon the docile beasts of the elven heartland. Orcs, too, have been known to come down from the northeast and to encamp there. In truth, it is a much more sensible place for the Unseelie to frequent in search of slaves and ‘playthings’ to capture and sacrifice.

“So if I… if negotiations go poorly, I just need to make it to the borderlands.”

“And, like, there’s the passages directly into Iternagreyn” Costella points out. “That’s how we got away last time!”

“They know about it now, though,” Izirina astutely points out. “But there are others… At least a couple. They won’t take you straight here, but they’ll get you much closer.”

Once they’re sued, though, chances are they’ll never be viable again… Not if the Rangers or some other agent of the Council of Elders tracks you to the entrance of the place.

“Well, hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” you conclude. “Come on, let’s finish this map… Maybe when negotiations are concluded, we can use it for more pleasant purposes—like a shortcut for trade and travel.”

“Yeah!” Costella says. “That’s the spirit!”

Izirina simply nods, and sets to work. The two of you join her, and though it takes no short amount of time, eventually you have a quiet complete map of the relevant avenues to and from the woodlands of the Northwest and the north and west of the Sylvanwood.
>>
>>6070840
The negotiations for which this map serves as contingency are a ways away, though—nearer than you sometimes wish they were, but on the far side of a more immediate concern. The Fanuccis, De Goris, and so-called ‘‘Concerned Association of Tradesmen, Skilled Craftsmen, and Machinists’ have agreed to a mediated meeting of private arbitration. With the ear of the Queen, you were able to set terms of this meeting, at least to some extent. This is most immediately apparent as far as who the missive was addressed to.

Who will be your primary foil in negotiations, representing the Concerned Association?
>The De Gori family
[They are the real ringleaders, quite obviously, and dealing with them could solve the problem most broadly and permanently]

>The Fanucci family
[They’re new to the CATSCaM, without much sway in the broader litigation overtrade practices, but they’re ALSO the only ones you need to win over to sort out the matter of your marriage…]

>Someone disconnected from the more ‘personal’ aspects of the problem
[The easiest avenue to legal/financial resolution, but also unlikely to put a stop to De Gori plots or Fanucci marital concerns]

>Write-in
>>
>>6070842
>The De Gori family
we deal with them, we keep our Cossy and hill safe even if we don't get an ok for the marriage right away
>>
>>6070842
>The De Gori family
>>
>>6070842
>Someone disconnected from the more ‘personal’ aspects of the problem
Just win this here and it'll kill the movement
De Gori can't do anything without backing and we can concentrate on winning over the Fanuccis.
>>
>>6070842
>Someone disconnected from the more ‘personal’ aspects of the problem
The fanucci family we can deal with later. Having the De Gori family as our main opposition would make it difficult for facts to be given unbiased. If he’s willing to lie about intimidation then I’m sure he would have told his families a whole other bunch - and it appears they do believe it.

Am>>6069399
>>
>>6070842
>>The De Gori family
>>
>>6070855
>>6070870
>>6071263
>>6071175
>>6070910

The De Gori family—especially that deplorable thorn-in-your-side Carlos De Gori—are the real ringleaders in this debacle. You reasoned that if you can address their concerns (or cow them into compliance), it would kill the larger movement before this can get any worse. Besides, right now Carlos’ family ahs only HIS word to go on, as to how things have progressed—maybe it’s as simply as dispelling his biased account?

As for the Fanuccis… Well, One Costella is safe and sound, you can handle them separately, or so you hope.

Thus, when the day finally comes, it is Carlos and his clan who arrive. You know their names from Costella’s account: the clan patriarch Vincente, wife Cleo, and…

“Who’s this one?” you ask Costella, in hushed whisper and with a hint of concern.

“Um… I think, like, a servant? I’ve seen him around…”

With plump and well-dressed Vincente De Gori and his wife Cleo—narrower in body and ESPECIALLY in her rather thin, tall face—there is a third figure. Well, a fourth, but you disdainfully disregard Carlos’ [presence, even as he glares at you with impotent anger. The other figure OF NOTE, and of greatest curiosity, is a brownish human male, tall and lean, with dark eyes and a short, wrapped headdress which reminds you of images you’ve seen of the Southmen or of Eastern mystics.

“Greetings, Mister and Missus De Gori, and welcome!” the Queen greets them. “Thank you for accepting my request for this private mediation.”

“Of course,” Vincente says, a little stiffly.

‘We can’t very well directly disobey a summons from the Queen of Hawksong,’ he does not say, though you all know it’s what he’s thinking.

“I hope that, even though the Magus is clearly… Closer to the Royal Family than we had realized… That we will still have a fair hearing?” he asks aloud.

“This is not a trial, or an arbitration,” the Queen hurriedly clarifies. “I’m, ah, setting a stage for an amicable and mutual resolution of disputes, so as to AVOID such legalities if at all possible.”

“…Right.”

You get the feeling that the senior De Gori is unconvinced, and as you move to the luxuriously-furnished adjoining room where Queen Ekaterine’s servants have prepared you all a light meal and tea, you catch whispered snippets of Missus De Gori’s conversation with the tall, dark man.

“…So keep an eye out for anything like that, would you?”

He merely bows his head and nods. You pay him closer attention and notice that, when he believes you aren’t looking (an easy thing to hide, with your night-black eyes), he squints purposefully at you, and at the Queen.

“Mage’s sight,” Izirina mumbles. “He’s a hedge-mage. Probably an adventurer, or a hireling of their house.”
>>
>>6071455
Hiring unofficial, self-taught spellcasters is hardly unheard of among the nobility or petit bourgeoisie or the city, though the legal grey area it occupies means that it’s far less common this close to the Tower than it is in outlying baronies and fiefdoms. The presence of the mage gives you pause, though, as does the De Gori patriarch’s next request:

“I think this is a matter between the disputants, isn’t it?” he says, addressing you directly now.

“…Yes?” you respond, with open confusion.

“Then what is Cstelal Fanucci doing here?” he asks.

You exchange a look with Costella and with Izirina.

“Like… Um, Mister De Gori… You’re, like, suing us all?” Costella points out.

“No, dear,” he says gently, with what at least seems like genuine compassion, and takes her hands in his. “Your father and I have been speaking, and I know very well that none of this is your doing, or your fault. You are still welcome in our senpai—”

He stops, shooting you a quick look, and abruptly adjusting the ending of his sentence.

“—in our circles, and to come for dinner whenever you wish, as when you were a girl.”

“O-oh,” she says quietly, and avoids looking at De Gori, whose expression turns forlorn and longing. “Thank you? But still…”

“You’re not married to the elf yet,” Missus De Gori speaks up, for the first time, a bit more harsh in tone than her husband despite her naturally-quiet voice. “And you won’t be. It’s unlawful, under the circumstances… And Your parents agree.”

“H-hey, um, no!” Costella begins, frowning at this. “That’s not—The Queen said that…”

The De Goris look to the Queen who shakes her head slightly.

“I must remind you all, and INSIST, that this is NOT an arbitration. The terms of this discussion, and any resolution you do or do not come to, is NOT for me to decide.”
>>
>>6071457
And so, inevitably, all eyes turn to you and to Izirina. Izzy, for her part, looks as dumbfounded as you’ve ever seen her; her shaded glasses give her an air of stoicism, but you can see the panic. This is, put simply, neither her specialty nor yours. You may be half-human, but you weren’t born here, and as a an Initiate and then Mage Apprentice, you have long been cloistered from civil society…. Yet Izirina, fully human and of noble blood, is somehow even more sheltered from day-to-day life than THAT!

And so, you suppose, it falls to you.

>Vincente De Gori is right—this will be easier if Costella waits outside for now
>No, Costella has a part in this, and should be present as with the rest of you
>Actually, who in the Hells is this turbaned man, and why does HE get to be present?!
>Write-in

You'll also need to decide upon your opening approach, of course. You plan to:
>Appeal to your record of community service, and your status as the Archmage's Apprentice
>To play up your genuine love and devotion to Costella, and appeal to their hearts
>To offer practical, commercial concessions in exchange for them getting off your back about the trumped-up personal charges
>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court
>To threaten them, albeit in veiled language: they will back off, or you'll show them what coercion by a master of magic REALLY looks like
>Write-in
>>
>>6071457
>"[...]You are still welcome in our senpai—”
I got confused at first, butit seems that it's the old FA M censorship turning it into sempai
>>6071459
>Actually, who in the Hells is this turbaned man, and why does HE get to be present?!
if he wants cossy to wait since she's not part of the dispute, why is he bringing someone that isn't even from his family ?

>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court
they won't get our love and thing we're manipulating her, any commercial gains we could give won't be enough and threat is out of the table so it's either showing our track record or refute them with facts and logic
>>
>>6071459
>Actually, who in the Hells is this turbaned man, and why does HE get to be present?!
If they're bringing in someone unrelated to the case, they can't object if we have Costella here.

>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court
He's been heavily exaggerating and outright lying to soothe his wounded pride over getting cucked, and now he's taken it far enough that their family stands to lose a lot of money and reputation.
>>
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>>6071474
>I got confused at first, butit seems that it's the old FA M censorship turning it into sempai
>>
>>6071459
>No, Costella has a part in this, and should be present as with the rest of you
>Actually, who in the Hells is this turbaned man, and why does HE get to be present?!

>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court
>>
>>6071459
>No, Costella has a part in this, and should be present as with the rest of you.

>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court

they even included the mage tower itself in their wide ranging accusations. No way they think they have an airtight case.
>>
>>6071459
>>No, Costella has a part in this, and should be present as with the rest of you
>To point out every lie and inconsistency in that snake, Carlos', accounts, and make it clear they'd get crushed in court

That and Costella largely prefers staying with us than Carlos.
>>
>>6071623
>>6071490
>>6071484
>>6071477
>>6071474
You scoff at the absurdity of the request.

“Obviously, Costella ought to be there,” you say.

Before they object, you point an accusatory finger at the strange man in the turban.

“How in the HELLS can you make such an argument while this man—”

“Fahas,” the hedge-mage supplies.

“—while FAHAS is invited? What relation is HE to this case?”

“Mister Fahas is here as a professional consultant of the Concerned Association,” Vincente De Gori says after a moment, clearly shocked by your emotional outburst.

“And since Costella Fanucci is key to the commercial operations coming from our land reserve, which your ‘Association’ has ALSO targeted in this… This ILL-CONCEIVED lawsuit of yours, she clearly ahs a place as well.”

Vincente De Gori looks to his Queen with a plea in his eyes, asking: “Surely you understand the difference, your majesty? Mister Fahas serves as a means of evening an otherwise quite uneven playing field… And to protect my family from spellcraft.”

“Mister De Gori,” the Queen chastises him, “I must INSIST that, if you are to remain within my home, you approach this discussion in good faith. If you MUST continue to ask for my opinion, I do not believe that Magus Mious Van Houtzmann is at all out of line in expecting reciprocity on this matter. Do you?”

Upon having this question turned around on him in such a way, the elder De Gori puffs up a little, then quickly deflates, and assents.

“Fine,” he says, and then quickly corrects himself, standing straight and speaking more loudly: “Very well! Come, Master Magus, Missus Magus… Miss Fanucci.”

The palatial serving-staff supplies you each with a cup of tea and a plate of delicate pastries, savoury and sweet, and rather more sumptuous than seems appropriate for such an arbitration. The room itself is ornate, with grand tapestries hanging from high walls, depicting scenes of ancestral grandeur. Ornate chandeliers hang from the intricately carved ceiling, casting a warm, golden glow over the rich, dark, golden-brown frames of the furniture. The chairs upon which you to sit are upholstered in deep velvet, and the aroma of fresh flowers from vases strategically placed about the room mingles with that of the tea and food. The tea has an exquisite, floral bouquet, with notes of bergamot and lavender that leave a lingering sweetness on the tongue. It is served in porcelain cups as fine as gossamer, edged in gold.
>>
Rolled 1, 18, 20, 7, 4, 8 = 58 (6d20)

>>6072160
You are all silent, save for the slinking and shuffling of the servants serving you, and your polite and perfunctory niblings. Eventually, they leave. Only this ‘Fahas’ man remains standing, with a vigilant posture and continuously-sweeping eyes.

Costella sits beside you, her fingers lightly grazing one of the proffered éclairs as she looks at you with a mixture of determination and anxiety. Izirina, motions measured, takes a measured sip of her tea. As you exchange glances, the gravity of the situation is juxtaposed against the opulence of your surroundings, making the situation feel, frankly, surreal.

“I will leave you to it, then,” the Queen says, from the doorways, hands clasped before her and a somewhat stiff smile on her face. “I expect, of course, the UTMOST civility.”

“Of course,” you all say, slightly out of sync.

Only when she leaves to do release you held breath, and set-down you teacup.

“Right,” you say. “Enough of these games. Let’s get down to business.”

“I assure you, SIR, we are not PLAYING,” Vincente says, through a tight, mirthless smile.

“Your son is,” you say, with a quick sneer at incensed Carlos De Gori. “It’s a dangerous game, too.”

“See?” Carlos says, standing up and pointing at you. “See, Papa, how he threatens!”

“Sit DOWN, son,” Cleo De Gori hisses, and reluctantly he does so.

“See how he jumps to conclusions, and exaggerates?” you reply. “That was no threat—just a statement of fact. Your son, Carlos, has been HEAVILY exaggerating. Outright lying, even, all to soothe his wounded pride over Costella’s choice to marry me, instead. Now, he’s taken it so far as to bring you all HERE before the QUEEN OF HAWKSONG. His inability to move on isn’t just some youthful foible anymore, Mister and Missus De Gori. This could have VERY real implications for your finances, not to mention your reputation.”

“You have a funny way of making something that is ‘no threat’ sound very MUCH like a threat, Master Magus,” Vincente De Gori notes.

“I have no issue with you, but you can’t expect us to just take these accusations lying down,” you note. “Even if I were willing, your Association has levelled accusations at the TOWER. Do you really think that the ARCHMAGE will allow this farce to drag down her daughter?”

“Nobody is above the Queen’s law,” Cleo De Gori says softly.

“Quite right,” her husband agrees more loudly.

[4d20 sociability, +2d20 sense motive]
DC 15, -1 for involving the Queen, +1 for taking an aggressive posture, +1 for your inhuman appearance, +1 for insisting upon Costella's presence and calling out Fahas
>>
>>6072162
“I’m breaking no law, nor have I,” you retort. “I have only ever acted in defence. And in a pretty measured way, fi I do say so. What exactly has Carlos told you? That I menaced him in a bestial form? Only when he and his friends came upon us with swords drawn. And did he say I intimidated and coerced him at the glassworkers’? Again, HE and his goons were interfering in OUR business, intimidating COSTELLA as well, who he claims to be protecting. What did I do that any man wouldn’t?”

“But you’re not a man.”

>1

All eyes turn to Fahas, whose own eyes are narrowed.

“You’re a half-elf, and by the look of you… No, you’re something else. You…” he stops, and turns to the de Goris. “All three of them, they are… Bound. Changed, chained, by magic. Aziza vodun—fairy-magic. It comes from him.”

All eyes then shift to you.

“You see why we needed Mister Fahas,” the elder De Gori man says, with a hint of unearned assuredness. “It’s just as it said in our missive, and as my son told us. You play the innocent victim, but you manipulate minds, don’t you, Master Magus? How can we ever verify your account, when everyone’s witness testimony is at your mercy? And you claim that my son is the aggressor, but didn’t YOU move in to break up an arrangement between Mister Fanucci and myself?”

“It wasn’t… Like, it wasn’t exactly a formal ARRANGEMENT,” Costella murmurs quietly, pushing her food around with a fork, face crimson with embarrassment. “We were only ten and twelve when Papa talked about it…”

“You barged in, a powerful mage who can summon lighting and turn into a monster,” Mister De Gori continues. “You pushed your way into our lives, and then started to enter into our business in TOTAL disregard for agreements with the Archmages of the Tower have LONG kept to. You PLAY the pacifist, but what good is a sword or a few friends against someone who can kill with a word and flick of the wrist, SIR? How ELSE was my son meant to hod you to account?”

“So you APPROVE of what Carlos has done?” you ask, equal parts outraged and incredulous. “You think you’ll WIN this case?”

>20

You sense the older man’s self-righteous resolve falter, and you pounce upon this weakness, as sure as if you were in <Wildshape>.

“No judge or jury aside from the Archmage herself is equipped to understand the bonds of magic between myself, Costella, and Izirina,” you point out. “Fahas, isn’t that right?”

The hedge-mage is startled by the sudden attention, and stammers to respond.

“W-well, I cannot exactly… I recognize that it is a deep magic… And something alien to man, but…”

“But what?” you demand. “You ASSUME it’s sinister because you don’t recognize it, but all that prove sis the ignorance of your best ‘expert’. When the Crown is forced to consider this case, who else will they call but IZIRINA’S mother? MY master? Come on, THINK, De Gori!”
>>
>>6072171
You lower your voice and lean forward.

“I’m not trying to destroy you,” you say, voice softening. “I’m not… That’s not the sort of man I am. Or the sort of elf, if you prefer. I called this meeting to SAVE you—all of you, and the Fanuccis—from a terrible mistake. To spare us ALL a court case that will make you all look like fools. You think I’m afraid I’ll LOSE?”

You shake your head slowly, and fix each of them—especially Carlos—with your deep, dark gaze. You reach out and place your hand upon Costella’s nervously-tapping fingers upon the table, and give her digits a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m afraid I’ll win so badly that none of you will ever recover, or forgive us. That you’ll get bitter, and desperate, and try something even MORE stupid… And that I’ll be forced to stop being so NICE.”

When the room empties out, the hedge-mage Fahas is first out of the room. You and the De Goris watch as he slinks off, gaze fixed forwards and shoulders squared. By his brisk pace, you understand his intentions: proved inadequate against a true Mage of the Tower, he can only take whatever money he’s been paid and run, before the next lawsuit lands upon HIM.

“Ah, that was a rather swift resolution!” the Queen notes.

Has… Has she just been waiting out here, waiting? There’s something rather comical about such a powerful figure pacing the floor, awaiting an answer to such an ultimately petty and personal dispute. It reminds you again that Queen Ekaterine is younger than you—than Izirina, even!

“I hope matters were settled, somewhat?” The Queen adds, hopefully, when nobody answers.

“Yes,” Izzy supplies.

When she says nothing more, the Queen turns to you, and to Mister De Gori.

“Yes,” Mister De Gori says, rather more painedly. “We have agreed to… That is to say, on behalf of the Concerned Association, we will be rescinding our suit, and formally apologizing for our accusations, made under faulty council—”

(Here, you see Carlos De Gori’s whole body tighten tighter, muscles coiling taut with repressed rage and embarrassment. You don’t even try to hide your smug satisfaction.)

“—and in exchange, Magus Mious van Houtzmann and Magus Izirina Henzler will…”

>Let the matter drop
[No concessions; your relationship to the city’s middle-class will remain difficult, but without any furtehr legal trouble for the foreseeable future]

>Pay a price to compensate the De Goris for the broken ‘engagement’ of their son and the Fanucci family’s eldest daughter
[Slight reduction in resources, improved relations with the De Gori family; Carlos will not retaliate or provoke you even on a personal level]

>Limit your sale of goods to the Initiates’ Village and the land reserve itself
[Major reduction in resources, but you and the Hill’s inhabitants will have improved relationships with the middle-class of Hawksong moving forwards and beyond the epilogue.]

>Write-in
>>
>>6072172
>Pay a price to compensate the De Goris for the broken ‘engagement’ of their son and the Fanucci family’s eldest daughter
>>
>>6072172
>Limit your sale of goods to the Initiates’ Village and the land reserve itself
it's not like we plan on leaving, so we can do this
>>
[This is also going to be the last vote of the thread. I'll be busy this weekend, but will return next week to start our (almost certainly) FINAL thread of Seekers of the Esoteric. Thank you all for playing, and I hope you enjoy the endgame!]

Second-to-last, if we suddenly get a glut of threads pushing stuff off page 10 before I finish properly, I guess

[Thank you all for reading and for playing, and if you're so inclined, please feel free to answer the following questions...]

>How do you feel about our little interlude a Veigar? There will be a bit more of he and Ayla to come, so thoughts on them are appreciated. Would you like to see more of them interspersed with the 'main' Tips?

>Who is your favourite side-character? Would you like to see more of them?

>How do you feel about the three main 'love interests', Izzy, Costella, and Ayla?

>Are there any dangling plot threads you wish to see resolved, or lore questions your'e itching for an answer to?
>>
>>6072172
>Let the matter drop.

We should be looking to expand our areas of production if anything. If we had more money, we could have bribed the loose merchant associations individual members into abandoning the faction.

No one respects a pauper, wealth is the key to building connections.
>>
>>6072172
>Pay a price to compensate the De Goris for the broken ‘engagement’ of their son and the Fanucci family’s eldest daughter
This shit sucks but I’d rather that than any more cloak and dagger bullshit. Also we have the money from the rod and chest. It’s not fair we have to appease them but it is useful. So I’ll do that.

>>6071175


>>6072177
>How do you feel about our little interlude a Veigar? There will be a bit more of he and Ayla to come, so thoughts on them are appreciated. Would you like to see more of them interspersed with the 'main' Tips?
Honestly I kinda zoned out when the whole soul stuff and magic lore was mentioned. Ayla’s… alright. First time we saw a clone like carazzi was interesting. Second time felt tolerable. As for the relationship, it is fine, as they’re literally Izzy and Tips, and I do like it when the quest is more focused on their learning & chemistry.

>Who is your favourite side-character? Would you like to see more of them?
ZithZi. Cute hag mentor. Yes.

>How do you feel about the three main 'love interests', Izzy, Costella, and Ayla?
Costella’s a little naive and retarded, but she’s nice. I like her.
Izzy is smart but especially retarded. Her insecurity fucked us more times than we could count by now.
Ayla is much the same but a bit younger, more naive, like when Izzy was a student. She’s fine.

>Are there any dangling plot threads you wish to see resolved, or lore questions your'e itching for an answer to?
Nenaias and his whereabouts.
ZithZi, Carazzi, and the slaves.
I’d like to see Theral again. I suspect he’ll be involved somehow in the sylvan realms mediation. He ought to give the scapegoat an incentive to stay punished.
>>
>>6072177
>How do you feel about our little interlude a Veigar? There will be a bit more of he and Ayla to come, so thoughts on them are appreciated. Would you like to see more of them interspersed with the 'main' Tips?
Liked it, yes

>Who is your favourite side-character? Would you like to see more of them?
Can't believe we never saw the Unknowable Prince again

>How do you feel about the three main 'love interests', Izzy, Costella, and Ayla?
Likable

>Are there any dangling plot threads you wish to see resolved, or lore questions your'e itching for an answer to?
We need to throw down with the Nothic once and for all
>>
>>6072172
>Limit your sale of goods to the Initiates’ Village and the land reserve itself
>>
>>6072172
>Let the matter drop
>>
>>6072177
>>How do you feel about our little interlude a Veigar? There will be a bit more of he and Ayla to come, so thoughts on them are appreciated. Would you like to see more of them interspersed with the 'main' Tips?

I liked it side character votes are always interesting, and it lets us see into their minds.

>Who is your favourite side-character? Would you like to see more of them?

Rudfolo grew on me, Pearce of course is always the goat. We haven't seen much of efron and i wonder what the drow delegation that lives in hawk song has been up to.

>How do you feel about the three main 'love interests', Izzy, Costella, and Ayla?

They have been awfully stressful desu, our relationships have had more drama than therals did. And half of theral's relationships were inter species. I guess that is what happens when you lack that anti-paladin rizz and force of personality.

>Are there any dangling plot threads you wish to see resolved, or lore questions your'e itching for an answer to?

At this point I'm wondering if the demons are just correct? The demon princes claim there is no difference between them and the gods. And we have now seen that the only practically difference between a soul and the ectoplasm greater demons sling around is a matter of a soul having been empowered with divine or other sources of spiritual energy.

If a demon severed it's connection to hell and reconnected it to another source of powerful magic. What would be the difference between it and any other spirit?
>>
>>6072207
>>6072231
>>6072606
[First, the characters]

>Nenaias
>Nothic
[Expect both to appear in some form before this ends.]

>Theral
>Unknowable Prince
[If Theral and his royal family don't appear in this quest, again (and they may not), expect him to reappear in the next. He IS a world leader and religious figure.]

>Rudolfo
>Pearce
[I have plans for these two, too! Especially Rudolfo, who I have been missing writing.]

>Drow delegation
[They were visiting, and left shortly after Theral, though they may have cause to visit again...]

>Zith-Zi, Carazzi, and the slaves
We've got a whole upcoming quest to address this!

>Relationship drama and stress greater in Seekers than Dragonborn Antipaladin
[To be frank, it's probably because Theral/Long Wang is (by human standards) a solipsistic psychopath, and so were two of his wives. It's much easier to navigate feelings and families when callous indifference and occasional murder are viable solutions which both parties tacitly accept. Even with Ekaterine, Theral would just do evil shit and lie about it to spare her feelings, ESPECIALLY before he 'fell' towards the end of his quest. When you value things like human life and telling the truth, you walk a harder road. If Tips were like Theral, he probably would have just burned the De Goris' house down with them inside, then gaslit, brainwashed, or coerced Costella's father. I suspect a Tips with Theral-brain would have happily gone along with Izirina's worst impulses.]
There is a version of DAQ where Izirina would have appeared and been a viable love interest or ally for HIM, instead, amusingly.

>The theology of demons
[It is an interesting question. At the moment, Tips (and especially Veigar) would understand that the Dark Gods and demons seem to be quite similar in certain regards, being powerful spirits native to this universe. The Bonum Chaoticum are a fundamentally different breed, of alien origin, and the spirits which they create are of a different nature, hence the unique attributes of Feycraft and the way in which feytouched souls tend to influence behaviour. The Bonum Legale... Will probably get some greater exploration in a later quest.]
>>
>>6072621
>here is a version of DAQ where Izirina would have appeared and been a viable love interest or ally for HIM, instead, amusingly.
damn, imagine a version of izzy being groomed by long wang, we'd get super ayla.
>The Bonum Legale... Will probably get some greater exploration in a later quest.]
that's the thing, while our high brothers were seeing as aliens and the dark gods as the true natives, the bonum legale hasn't been talked about on this.
>>
This is me my ip keeps changing.
>>6067619
>>6072606
>>6070306
>>6069826
>>6071490
>>6072183

>>6072663
>here is a version of DAQ where Izirina would have appeared and been a viable love interest or ally for HIM, instead, amusingly.
damn, imagine a version of izzy being groomed by long wang, we'd get super ayla.

Izzy is actually a slightly older than theral, I'm guessing in the alternate mage tower theral timeline. Where the infiltrator left theral in the hands of the archmage to be further experimented on. They would be raised as step siblings or something.
>>
>>6072172
>>Pay a price to compensate the De Goris for the broken ‘engagement’ of their son and the Fanucci family’s eldest daughter
>>
>>6072328
>>
>>6072177
>How do you feel about our little interlude a Veigar? There will be a bit more of he and Ayla to come, so thoughts on them are appreciated. Would you like to see more of them interspersed with the 'main' Tips?

I’d like to see Ayla still pine for both Tips, and the OG to reciprocate. Maybe Veigar making a romantic move on Zi and Cazz, with Ayla’s blessings.

Didn’t so much like the bait-and-switch POV- I thought I ruined the quest with my suggestion, it was totally out of the bounds of what I had in mind and I hate that I ever brought it up in the first place.

>Who is your favourite side-character? Would you like to see more of them?

Zith-Zi and Cazz- and yes please. More Long Wang as well, if you can manage it.


>How do you feel about the three main 'love interests', Izzy, Costella, and Ayla?

I like them- shame we can’t get them to work out their differences though, I would’ve appreciated that.

>Are there any dangling plot threads you wish to see resolved, or lore questions your'e itching for an answer to?
The original Infiltrator- though, I probably would prefer for it to come up narratively (and non-hostile).

Being blunt though, it’s probably for the best that I don’t know- as much as I love the original Izzy, everything that came after the Tower Gala was deeply painful. As much as my heart aches for a return of Izzy, or a redux to make things right.

Ah, but I’m just an oldfag reminiscing on the good of the old days. Pay my ramblings no mind.

>>6072621
>There is a version of DAQ where Izirina would have appeared and been a viable love interest or ally for HIM, instead, amusingly.

Ngl, that would’ve been based and way more fun/interesting. Like, I kept hoping we’d eventually see little Izzy again (and big Izzy, too, since the spent Soul Coin reveal), I was saddened when it never came up ;_;
>>
Won't answer the QA sorry RQM.
Too behind on my own writing. Just taking a minute to repeat I'm loving your work as always.
>>
>>6073252
>it was totally out of the bounds of what I had in mind and I hate that I ever brought it up in the first place.
I thought it was cool how it ended up working out, and it made sense with the established lore of goblins being magic resistant
>>
I will just say somethign regarding Veigar/Ayla

I hope having each other will be enough for Ayla. I don't want more drama of Tips WANTS for her, of Costella WANTS for Veggie.
>>
>>6073595
Backing this
>>
>>6073595
>Veggie
[Kek. Good nickname. but he's not Costella's type.]

>>6073252
>Like, I kept hoping we’d eventually see little Izzy again (and big Izzy, too, since the spent Soul Coin reveal), I was saddened when it never came up ;_;
[It did in DAQ. The soul coin is why she didn't end up in the Hells, and was able to visit Long Wang/Theral and (arguably) set him on a course that avoided the Reptilian ruthlessness of his 'stepdad', as well as the foibles that caused tragedy for she and Irinnile.]

[As for why Izzy the Infiltrator never made a direct appearance here... None of the main characters really met her, outside of a few hazy childhood memories of Izzy's and genetic memories of Carazzi's, and none of them had any great reason to care about her.]

You may see a bit more of her in the next quest, since you'll be playing as her daughters.
>>
>>6074369
I meant Veigar longing Costella, not Costella wanting discount tips
>>
>>6074376
[The last vote of that vignette avoided that though were will be other complications as a result, of another sort
>>
>>6072173
>>6072176
>>6072183
>>6072207
>>6072266
>>6072328
>>6072737

“I’ve agreed to pay a price to compensate the De Goris for the ‘broken engagement’,” you grumble.

You make no effort to hide your displeasure at the arrangement. You were willing to do so, but only because you strongly suspected that pest, Carlos De Gori, would only find a way to reignite this sad little feud again if you didn’t. With this concession to his family, you could avoid that. To his credit (?), Carlos HIMSELF did not seem moved by the money—by the way he looked longingly at Costella Fanucci even now, there was naught else you could offer that would substitute her in his heart. His mother and father, though were cowed enough by your arguments and influence. They saw this offer as an entirely magnanimous one, sparing them societal, legal, and financial repercussions they would otherwise have suffered for the sake of their young son’s foolish passion.

Between the consequences of a failed lawsuit and the payoff allowing them to recoup some of their investment in this effort—AND save face with their contemporaries—they would be loathe to let Carlos jeopardize this tenuous peace.

“I’m quite glad to hear that!” Queen Ekaterine says, clapping her hands together once and beaming with joyful relief. “It really is wonderful what people—even very different people—can achieve when cooler heads prevail and we approach these things with an open heart and a generous spirit. Isn’t that right?”

You all murmur rather less-enthusiastic assent to the Queen’s theory of social harmony. It wouldn’t due to undermine the idealism of the woman who sits upon The Paladin King’s Throne, after all… And for your part, you can hardly expect any less, from the woman who seemingly found ‘good’ in the reptilian heart of a Dragon King.

(Maybe if she’s right, there’s hope for the future after all…?)
>>
>>6074420
Your high-minded speculation is interrupted when you catch sight of Costella and Carlos De Gori, having slipped aside from the wider gathering and its faux-geniality. They are engaged in a hushed conversation, though you’re gratified to see the dumb brute De Gori is maintaining a respectful distance from his lost love.

“…really want to be with a guy like that?” you hear him ask.

“Carl…” Costella sighs, then smiles a thin, but determined smile, and nods. “I’ve seen stuff. Like, stuff you wouldn’t believe! When we were kids, didn’t you always, like, talk about how you wanted to see the world To go on big adventures? Well, I’ve gone further than THAT! And the stuff I’ve learned about the world, and learned how to do… I don’t think I could go back to just, you know, being a housewife or whatever?”

“Don’t you still want that, though?” he asks. “If you could have that… Wouldn’t you want both, Costa?”

Carlos reaches out to grab her hand. You tense up, lips pulling back in an agitated sneer. Before you can step forward or speak up, though, Izirina places a hand upon your back. You stop short, turning to look at her carefully-calm features. She meets your eyes, her own hidden by her glasses, and nods towards Costella and her one-time suitor. The worldless instruction: ‘Hold on. Keep watching.’

“It could be like we talked about, on those nights together, “Carlos desperately petitions. “I could bring you back stories, and treasure, and anything else you want!”

Costella gently extricates her fingers from De Gori’s own. He doesn’t resist the extraction, but rather sadly watches them—watches COSTELLA—slip from his grasp for the last time.

“I already do,” she tells him, sympathetic but far from sad. “With them… Um, you know, Ez and the people on the Hill, I mean…It’s not like I just get to hear stories about what it’s like to do important, exciting stuff. I get to be a part of it! I’m not just the woman who gets to hear about the world… I’m a part of it! And sure, things are… they’re, like, TOTALLY complicated right now, but that’s what makes it an adventure, right?”

“…And you’re happy, this way?”

Costella hesitates only a moment, then nods.

“I am,” she says.

Carlso De Gori slinks away, rejoining his family and retreating from the royal estate. You and Izirina watch them go, but only briefly. Both your attentions return to Costella.

“We’re really lucky, aren’t we?” Izirina asks aloud, as if realizing it for the first time.

“We are,” you agree.

You take her hand, and together you rejoin the third member of out ‘throuple’—of the adventure that is your life together.

>End of Volume 9

[Next thread coming soon]
>>
>>6074369
>spoiler
pffffwwwhaaaaat

>>6074422
Finally
>>
File: esoterica10.png (1.98 MB, 1800x2160)
1.98 MB
1.98 MB PNG
>>6074434
>spoiler
Anon I did mention that I panned for the next quest to be focused on Zith-Zi and Carazzi

Enough about the NEXT quest, though. This one ain't over quite yet!

THE FINAL CHAPTER BEGINS NOW

>>6074442
>>6074442
>>6074442

Art by draw_with_genie
https://www.instagram.com/draw_with_genie/
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>>6074444
ZZ is yes a daughter, I would not classify Carazzi as one though
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>>6074505
Of course not. She's Tips' daughteru! But biologically and metaphysically, and as to how SHE sees things... Well, we'll see.
>>
>>6074505
Carazzi has been our daughter since we got her back from the archmage anon, wdym ?
>>
>>6074681
[I assumed he meant in relation to the main character of Reptilian Infiltrator Quest, who 'fathered' Zith-Zi by means of demonic shapeshifting and fertility magic.]



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