You need to take stock again of what you have to work with.

You don't know for sure where you are in the world. Having climbed one huge overgrown boulder you were able to survey the surroundings, you are in a vast forested valley that runs east to west, it's shape suggests it was formed by a glacier eons ago. But you don't recognize the shapes of any mountains. And the sun traverses from right to left, therefore you're on one of the the southern continents.

You don't know how to fight in human form. You had never needed to learn something like that. And on top of that, this body is weak. But, while it lacks strength, you were able to move fast, or at least fast enough to catch a rabbit. And you have a weapon, a bronze dagger. So while you should probably avoid fights for now, you would be able to defend yourself somewhat.

With the bronze dagger, you also found some other items. Among them, flint and steel, a tool that pitiful humans use to create fire. While it hurts your draconic pride, you will now also have to use it.

The corpse that so kindly donated the backpack with said items, was still leaning on a small boulder, with the backpack right next to it. Some part in the back of your mind called out to you that you should give it a proper burial, but you quickly dismiss the thought. You didn't know them and you could care less about who they were.

What was more interesting was the circumstances of their death. But since the remains lay in a relaxed position with it's load taken off. Poisoned berries or starvation, maybe succumbing to an infection on a wound. Humans are so fragile. All these things that you need to be wary about as well. But you doubt they found their death in the midst of battle, neither against a large predator or another human. However, this also doesn't confirm that there were no large predators about either. You have to keep your guard up.

With flint and steel now in your possession you could go about making a fire and cooking the rabbit you caught and killed. From your climb of the huge boulder you know there was a village in the distance, and if you could see the smoke that rose from their fires, they will likely be able to see the one from yours.

You need to eat to not lose what little strength you had.

You also have other things that you need to put into consideration:
Water, but locating the river in this valley will be easy.
Clothes, you're still naked, and you don't know how cold the night will be.
The bedroll you scavenged from the corpse is still filthy and if you were to wash it, you'd need to dry it by a fire. You can't run around with a wet blanket, nor sleep on the ground. They would drain your body heat.

You weigh your options:
>Prepare the rabbit and make a quick fire now. In the time that someone spots the smoke and comes to investigate you'll be gone.
>Go to the river and wash the bedroll, then set up a fire in a secure location to dry it and cook. With some luck nobody will come to investigate the fire. And even if someone comes, you can prepare for it. (specify)
>Put more distance in between you and the village before starting a fire.
>Wait for night, and do something else in the meantime (specify). The smoke wouldn't be as easily visible from a distance, but the fire itself will be much more visible to people close by.
>Approach the village (You are naked, but you have some coins)


This quest was hijacked from another where QM flaked after a few posts.

>>6174249
>Prepare the rabbit and make a quick fire now. In the time that someone spots the smoke and comes to investigate you'll be gone.
Food is priority right now, better to save up what strength we have.

>Spoiler
A tale as old as time

>>6174249
>>Prepare the rabbit and make a quick fire now. In the time that someone spots the smoke and comes to investigate you'll be gone.
Cut up the blanket use some of it as fuel, it will save us the time and energy to find enough sticks

>>6174244
Good to see this revived, I'd have used a different OP image but that's just me

>>6174264
+1

>>6174263
>>6174264
>>6174281
alright, writing...

>>6174249
You're going to have to take the risk of the fire being noticed, but will only have it being lit for the shortest amount of time, just enough for it to be edible to a human stomach.

After you cleared a bit of distance from the remains – and picking up some dry twigs from the ground as kindling on the way – you find a spot with a downed tree. Its rather thin and likely broke due to a storm, with no signs of it having been felled with an axe. The horizontal trunk gives a only a bit of way from your weight and was at a fitting height to sit on.

For a moment you collect yourself. How will you go about it? How do you make a fire? You collected dry twigs as kindling, something that will keep the fire fed, but you've never actually done it. Your dragon soul screams in frustration, and while you wanted to do so in actuality, you are wiser than making a loud sound.

You also don't know how to prepare the rabbit. The fur will burn badly. It wouldn't be edible. The organs likely aren't either. Some are, but you have no idea. Liver? You heard humans eat liver, but it's the organ that filters toxins, it could be full of it. You're only sure that the muscle tissue is something you can eat. But you also don't know how much a human even needs to eat a day! Your own ignorance infuriates you. You've kept humans and they were allowed to prepare and eat part of the tribute that was brought to you as a dragon, yet you never bothered to learn how much they actually needed. The amount they took was negligible to your own share.

The part with most muscle on a rabbit were its legs. You cut into it and sever them. Then you carve a little more around the rabbits hips and abdomen, only to then realize that you don't know where to put the meat that you've liberated. You can't just place it on the floor, can you? Nothing here is clean, and you have to worry about disease.

You release another groan of frustration, the only sounds you have allowed yourself to make so far. Looking up into the sky, “I hope you're happy!”, you forcefully say, addressing that elven goddess. While you can't know, you believe she was watching you, delighting in your struggles.

The words which came out of your mouth were in a language you don't know. Well, you appear to completely know how to speak it, but not how it is called. You would have spoken in draconic, but humans, and pretty much all sentient races, can't speak it. They simply have different lungs, voice boxes and mouth shapes to make the correct sounds. What you wanted to say was simply was perfectly mapped onto this unknown language.

Your mind was in too many places at once. Shaking your head you attempt to peel the skin off the rabbit. It wasn't pretty, but it's own inedible flesh will serve as a tray for you to put on any other cuts of meat you make.

It's tedious work, so you let your mind wander back to that language and begin to recite a poem to gauge its limitations.

“Beneath my wings, the shadows sprawl,
A realm subdued, my power's thrall.
Each golden thread, each gem-stewn crest,
sings homage to boundless zest.”

“Behold the faces trapped in light,
their beauty stolen, sealed from flight.
They sing for me in silent screams,
adorned as trophies in my dreams.”

“No mortal king, no fleeting lord,
shall ever claim my sacred-”

You stop. Not because you found a limitation, but because another realization just hit you.

Your hoard!

What will happen to your hoard?

There were enough women who will have seen your altercation with the goddess. They have likely already fled. While they can't carry your gold by themselves, the news will surely spread. And you're on a different continent, not being able to do anything about it.

“Raaaaaah!”, you scream for real this time. Anger overwhelms you, rendering you unable to think about anything else. You even punch a tree several times, hurting your hand in the process.

No small amount of time passes before you force yourself back on track again. You need to get your revenge, you need to inform the dragon god as soon as possible. But first you need to survive. First you must do this mundane task of preparing food.

You rend and tear as if the rabbit itself was responsible. Cutting it into tiny pieces. Your reasoning is still that the smaller the pieces are, the easier the heat will spread into them and cook them faster, as time is your limiting factor.

Soon you move on to making a fire, which you also manage to do once you've properly put your mind to it. Shaven wood from dry branches and strips of the soiled woolen bedroll quickly start a few flames. Cutting another tree branch into a skewer, you were also able to hold the meat over the fire to cook.

You need to think about a long term plan. Sooner or later you will have to interact with humans. A teleportation rune large enough to allow a person to traverse continents will be difficult to find. Something like that can only in the capitals of the richest kingdoms. And even if you can locate one, gaining access to it will not be easy either.

You could also go by water. Ships large and sturdy enough to traverse oceans are not as rare as large teleportation runes. But it would take a considerable amount of time. There was also the option of finding another dragon and asking it to fly you as a passenger... as any would ever agree to such a thing.

Right now you will need to think about your immediate actions. You extinguish the fire, shoulder the backpack and take a bite of the meat. Bland food that's still too hot. An insult to a dragons pride. ..

>Go to the river for something to drink, the river will be more exposed, which will allow others to spot you easier, but you still need water.
>Make your way near the village and wait for nightfall. You might be able to steal some clothes there.
>Go to the village and hope for them helping you. (You are naked, but you have some coins)
>write-in

>>6174332
>>Go to the river for something to drink, the river will be more exposed, which will allow others to spot you easier, but you still need water.
We need clean water, plus it'll be a chance to finally see what we look like now

>>6174332
>Go to the river for something to drink, the river will be more exposed, which will allow others to spot you easier, but you still need water.

Much as it may hurt a dragon's pride, if we do meet someone we have no choice but to play damsel in distress. Just pray we don't meet bandits or bad people.

>>6174332
>Go to the river for something to drink, the river will be more exposed, which will allow others to spot you easier, but you still need water.

>>6174332
>Go to the river
Worst case scenario, we get seen by bandits or some unsavoury characters, and end up dead or worse. A lone naked woman in rural country, that's bad stuff. No telling what'll happen if we go to the village soon, but staying out after dark will be far worse, so.

Go to the village after drinking water.

>>6174341
>>6174358
>>6174385
>>6174390
unanimous again

gonna need a 1d100

you can also write-in some character traits you'd wish MC to have more/less of
currently I made them rather prone to rage, but knowing when they need a cooler head. Also cultured (in dragon culture at least, you have centuries to work with, gotta make some poems and philosophy), but still ignorant about a lot of things they think beneath them.

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>6174405

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6174405
Vain and lustful perhaps? We collect beautiful maidens after all

Since we know poetry and philosophy we could technically bullshit our way into claiming to be a poet or bard down on its luck, those coins won't last us forever after all.

Rolled 37 (1d100)

Forgot the roll

>>6174409
>>6174416
>>6174419
writing

>>6174332
Your feet hurt more and more from stepping on the rough terrain. These dainty feet did not have any calluses, so each step on a sharper stone poked into your flesh. In your youth you were roughhousing with other young dragons, so you're no stranger to pain. You haven't felt it in a long while, but you know you do not need to fear it. It's the wound that one needs to fear, and as long are you're not bleeding, or scratch yourself with a poisonous plant, you endure.

The sensation that you were much more uncomfortable with was the cold.

The trek to water was largely uneventful. You've seen a deer-like animal and attempted to get close to it without it noticing you. Not that you would have done anything to it, you don't need such an amount of meat and doubt you could even carry it.

Stalking some prey animal still feels nice, and it put your mind somewhere else for a while. But you still always return to anger. Yes, anger. Fury towards received injustice. A great stimulant to enable one to action. But it also clouds your judgment, won't let you focus on other things. And other things you need to focus on right now you have in abundance.

You're in luck. On your trek to the center of the valley you already encounter a much smaller stream. Even perfectly at a small step in elevation where water flows over. Standing water can have tiny animals within which can cause disease when ingested. But in a free fall of water like this it's much safer to drink.

You clean your hands from the remaining pile of the rabbit in the even colder water, and drinking as much as you're comfortable with. That damn cold. You could almost feel your core temperature sink with each gulp.

Finally you allow yourself to rest a bit, sitting on the backpack to make yourself as comfortable as you could – no, there was something else you want to know first before sitting down. You walk over to the stream again and attempt to angle yourself in such a way that you can see your reflection. In a small sidearm of it where water pools and is much stiller you were able to make out some detail, but not much.

A short straight nose, fierce eyes, a chin maybe on the longer side, and all around symmetrical features. An eye color you can't make out, but dark. You'd like to believe they are black like your scales were and your hair now is. Yes, a beauty, exactly your type, and with exactly the kind of eyes that suggests she'd resist deliciously.

The smile you just had fades as you think about how those with power will have similar feelings towards seeing this body. You need to grow stronger and quick. So once more you take stock of what you're working with.

The valley is teeming with life and you have good access to water. You will neither die from thirst nor hunger. The next thing that will kill you is the cold. And once more you think about that filthy bedroll.

The bedroll was ducked away in the backpack and probably served as a nesting ground for some rodents, probably covered in dried urine too. If you want to use it as anything other than kindling for a fire you'll need to wash it, even if you doubt you can properly wash it in water this shallow and without any soap.

Then there was the point of drying it. You should be able to find a branch to hang it from and then leave it be for a day to return to. Or make another fire. Fire. Oh how you yearn for it's warmth again. But fire will likely attract humans. Which... is not a bad thought either. You could lure them to you, hope it's only a small group or maybe just a single person and... You're still a weak woman with only a dagger as a weapon.

Humans in remote villages are also inherently distrusting of strangers. If one of them were to disappear, and a stranger were to show up in the garments of the one who disappeared? There is no tale you could spin that'd make them trust you.

What should you do?
>write-in

Since the engagement is present I'll give just a write-in this time.

>>6174521
First we should shower and clean ourselves. If there's a water pouch in the backpack then clean it too and refill it.

Now comes the hard part. Do we try to attract someone out here or head straight for the village? The first is basically gambling so my vote is for the latter. We can claim to be a bard down on her luck or a victim of bandits, either works for me. Dump the shitty bedroll too since it'd make us look like a looter.

>>6174521
Start a fire that will be seen from afar and hide. We're pretty quick so we can ascertain their intentions safely. If they're bad people run, but if they seem fine then come out.

>>6174545
+1
Gotta hurry before we freeze to death at night

>>6174521
>>6174545
Support. Is the village downstream of the water or do we have to go through another trek?

>>6174598
this isn't the main river, it's a smaller stream that would merge with the river a bit further down

and it wasn't mentioned before, but the village would be upstream of the valleys main river.
MC hasn't seen the river properly from their vantage point, but assumes the village will be next to the river

generally, if you have any questions on things that the MC should already know, you can always ask

lore stuff I will explain when it's needed in prose, but you can ask outright too, albeit it being much more dry

And I will bring up why the MC hasn't yet tried to use magic next update

>>6174545
>>6174567
>>6174598
taking these, but it's getting late, I will only do a smaller update

>>6174623
Any caves around here we could possibly take shelter in?

>>6174649
MC doesn't know, but doubts it. They are more likely further up in the mountains, but not in a valley carved by a glacier.

>>6174521
You try to clean yourself as good as you dare in the cold water. Freezing had never concerned you before, and you don't know what level of coldness a human body can handle. Your ignorance fuels your desire to quickly find warmth. The closest source of warmth remains to be the village.

Just as you discard the filthy bedroll, you discard the idea of luring villagers out with a fire. The only people that would come out into the woods to investigate a fire would be men, and you doubt you can overwhelm a man in your current state. Even if you don't attack them, they could attack you and have their way with you. It's an unnecessary risk.

The weak must fear the strong, and right now you were weak. This is a fact of life, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's just that you are not in your rightful position. You need to gain in power quick. Training this body would take too long, so the best course of actions you can think of is locating a focus. Even a weak one would do.

Unlike dragons, humans have no even one focus in their bodies. They need to slay a creature who has one, or dig it out of the earth. Or have the luck of a meteor falling from the stars in front of them. Or, and this is much more likely, barter for it or have it be passed down in their family.

And unlike any human “casting spells”, enforcing your will upon the world is natural to you. What they call “performing magic”, is something you barely have to think about when you soar. You look up into the sky again. The freedom it gives you, the speed at which you can traverse the land, the sensation of the wind in your wings... You sigh.

The sun is getting low, but luckily the valley is at the correct angle to have it shine directly down its course in the evening. There is maybe two hours left before dusk will settle in, but you will reach the village well before then.

True to your estimation, you find the forest getting thinner and opening up into the meadows soon after. Or rather farmlands. Young wheat stalks rise about to the height of your knees, and you can't help but lean down a little and let your hand run over them as you move a few steps.

You spot a figure in the field, walking methodically in between the plants and presumably checking for insects and weeds. They haven't seen you yet and are not quite within shouting distance. At least not to properly understand what the other person says.

You have had some time to come up with a story. If they expect you to help them with work you would be useless to them. You will claim to be a traveling bard and scribe, collecting songs and tales, and sharing them with people.

There remains the reason as to why you are naked...
>You were assaulted by bandits (how many, where are they now, specify)
>You're an escaped slave (from whom, specify)
>You were banished (by whom, specify)
>You've had a dispute with a powerful person (specify) and they thought it'd be fun to leave you naked and stranded before riding away.
>write-in

last post for today, see you tomorrow

>>6174697
>You've had a dispute with a powerful person (specify) and they thought it'd be fun to leave you naked and stranded before riding away.
We had a bad breakup with our lover/patron. He thought this would be "funny" punishment

What's the general attitude towards magic users in this world?

>>6174697
>You've had a dispute with a powerful person (specify) and they thought it'd be fun to leave you naked and stranded before riding away.
Seconding >>6174705
It's basically the truth, best to stick to that as close as we can.

>>6174705
Also I'd prefer to avoid the person and head straight for the village so we only need to repeat our story once.

>>6174712
differs, especially on the different religions under different gods.
Generally are magic users much more powerful than regular people and MC would think they are feared. But they can still be tricked and have their focus be taken away, and then they are just regular pitiful humans again

>>6174705
+1
How tall are we compared to an average human?

>>6174697

+1 >>6174713 >>6174719

The more witnesses the better, we might get luck and one of the villagers will feel pity for us, they might interpret our foul mood and scowling to be expected of a spurned lover

>>6174697
>write-in
We're part of an order of bards that goes around nude to be closer to nature.

>>6174545
>If there's a water pouch
a water pouch was there, but ruined

>>6174726
>How tall are we compared to an average human?
so far no real point of comparison but that'll change soon
Simply judging ones own limbs to figure out size was not something MC had

>>6174705
>>6174713
>>6174726
>>6174793
writing

>>6174697
Best not to approach a single person. If you could make them out to be a women you might be more comfortable, but you can't tell at this distance, and by the time you would recognize their features, you'd no longer be able to turn back.

You retreat back into the forest and look for a route that'd take you to the village's center. By your estimation, the village houses about 100 to 150 people, which would mean that everyone will know everyone else. If you appear in front of multiple people they could hold up each others moral behavior. And the chance is higher for someone to take pity on you.

To protect what you could you move the backpack around to carry in front of your chest. You did not at all like the way that it rubs against the more sensitive spots on your skin. Women who are more well endowed will need more specialized undergarments, likely even tailored. But that's not something you should focus on right now. Any clothes at all will already appreciated.

You get closer and closer to the village, and as you do, so increases your doubt. The specific words to say and the act you need to put on. Pretending to be weak and helpless, even if it's mostly true, it doesn't feel right. You're a predator, but you're not preying on peoples pity. Except you are. That's exactly what you are doing right now.

Near the villages entrance, by the main road, was a stable. There was a small commotion about it. A larger man was sitting on a stool with a leather toolbag beside him on the floor, treating a horses hind leg. A much skinnier man and a young lad beside him. A woman by the horses front, calming it down. And a trio of older women a bit further back, gossiping between themselves. Perfect.

It was the elder women who first spot you. One nodding her head towards you, for them all to stop chatting and simply starting at you as you approach. You were about ten steps away from them before even the last person, the large man, noticed you too. He had been absorbed by his work until now.

You let yourself fall down on your knees, and act as if the last bit of strength had left you. “Please...”, you say in between some labored breaths, “Please, you have to help me.”

This was their cue to stop staring at the apparition and know you're real, because the moment you had started speaking, the older women rush towards you. “Ereth, Chamas, look away, give the girl some decency. Orid, find a blanket.”

Good, they speak that same language whose name is still unknown to you. And a better immediate reaction you couldn't have hoped for.

“What happened to you, girl?” “Where do you come from?” Questions where thrown in your direction, but you deliberately don't answer any of them directly.

You still act out of breath, and even somewhat delirious. “He- He left me for dead. I didn't- I- I'm so cold...”

“He who? Who did this to you?”

“Let her catch her breath!”, the stable girl shouted over.

Why is it that the youngest woman present would show the most empathy? Well, you don't fault the older women in their inquisition. Their questions stem from the fear of the unknown. There is someone out there that does this to some woman. They need to know that they and their children are safe. And, well, at least they told the men to look away first.

They have now formed a protective wall before you so the men, “Are you hurt anywhere?”, the seemingly oldest of them asks in a much kinder tone.

You shake your head a bit, “Just... scratches, and- and cold,” your voice still quiet.

“Is she-?”, one of the men asks, not having heard your answer.
“Orid!”, another one of the women calls out, “What's taking that boy- Orid!”
“Not hurt”, the third woman answers the unfinished question of the man, “Funa told you to look away.”
“What's your name, dear?”, the oldest of the women addresses you again. “I'm Anfled.”
“I can help her”, the man retorts to the third woman.
“You can't cure cold, Ereth”, the second woman rebukes him, “a blanket can”, before shouting again “ORID!”

They are talking over one another and you find it difficult to follow. But you were asked a question you don't yet quite thought of an answer for. Dragons don't really have names, but you know the humans referred to you with one. Rendeas. You have no way of knowing whether these people have heard of you, but a part of you seems drawn to it, or at least a female version of it.

What's your name?
>Rendeis
>write-in

>>6175173
>Simply judging ones own limbs to figure out size was not something MC had
didn't finish that thought
Simply judging ones own limbs to figure out size was not something MC had not considered.
I don't mind either way, so we can vote on it too, or roll a die

>>6175241
>write-in
Sendrea
Best anagram I could torture. Anyway we shouldn't appear *too* weak, it's not very draconic. Stand up and try to answer their questions as best as we can.

>>6175254
+1

>>6175253
I imagine we're as tall as most men given that our breasts are stacked

>>6175241
>>Rendeis

>>6175241
Supporting >>6175254
I agree we shouldn't appear too desperate and give them the wrong idea. We're not in immediate danger. We're vulnerable but not helpless.

>>6175241
>Rendeis

>>6175241

>>6175254
+1

>>6175254
>>6175258
>>6175273
>>6175362
gonna lock in Sendrea

I was already writing because it didn't really change the next post, but inspiration didn't strike me as much today
I will get one more post out before bed, and will likely not be able to write a lot during the week

>>6175363
Don't worry QM. Once a day is a good pace by the standards of this board.

>>6175371
well... I will promise to at least tell you when I can't post a day.

>>6175241
“Sendrea”, you tell Anfled quietly, just as the boy, Orid, came back with a blanket.

“This was before the heart, it's warm,” he explains, as he hands it over, “I only had to get Aria of it.”

“What's more important, a freezing girl, or a bloody cat?!” Anfled shouts back at him while putting the blanket over your back.

You let out a gasp of pleasure as the sensation. “No palace fine, nor jeweled throne, could match the joy of warmth just sown.” You mutter as you take off the backpack to nuzzle yourself into the blanket tighter. “Thank you,” you say louder, now daring to put more strength into your voice.

“I'm Funa, that's Joane.”, she begins to name the people present. “Ereth is our doctor, Orid's his apprentice. Chamas' the blacksmith. And that girl over there's Elean.” That's too many names at once. “What happened to you?”, she asks again after having introduced everyone. “And you, git!”, she shoos the boy away who had been trying to take a better look at you.

“Orid, be a dear and brew some tea,” Anfled tells him as he backs away again.

“Let's get you inside,” the third older woman announces and moves to help you up.

“Thank you,” you say again before taking another deep breath. “I wasn't-”, you fake a pained laugh. “I wasn't returning his feelings,” as if that'd explain it, “so he drugged me and dumped me dumped me naked in the woods. I- Where am I?”

“A man did this to you!?” Outrage.

“It's the rich and powerful, they can do what they want,” you shrug, before repeating, “where am I?”

“Stibridge,” came as an answer, but you have no idea where this is.

“Why would someone dump you in the middle of the Stee Valley?”, the stable girl called over, “Where are you from?”

You hear the skepticism in her voice, and you can't fault her for it either. With how fertile the valley appears, you wouldn't be surprised if there was another village close by in the other direction, maybe not even a day away. If you really had been dumped here by someone, they must have known you could find help and a settlement soon.

“Originally? Adria in the north. I've been traveling all over the northern continent. But my luck ran dry as soon as I came ashore here.”, you shake your head again “I don't know, maybe that wasn't his original idea. Maybe he grew sick of the effort of whatever he was planning and dumped me then.”

She couldn't ask anything else as you were guided into a building while she remained by the horses side, but you get the distinct feeling that she wasn't done with you.

You need to get more information to solidify your story.

>Ask to be shown on a map where Stibridge is
>Ask when the next trader would come by and from where
>Ask more (specify)

You will also need to further refine your story
>write-in

>>6175379
>Ask when the next trader would come by and from where
>Ask to be shown on a map where Stibridge is
>Ask to be taken to the village square

Don't think random peasants would have a map lying around so we would have to see the village chief. On the way there we could do an impromptu performance in the square just so we can show to everyone that we aren't lying about being a bard.

You will also need to further refine your story
>write-in
Our patron was a wealthy merchant. After some embarrassment, admit that we slept with him and he dumped us when he caught us in bed with one of his retainers.

This is the least harmful story I can think of that doesn't get us involved in a crime.

>>6175433
Seconding + ask who rules this land
Our dragon seems to be poor with geography despite being literally hundreds of years old

>>6175433
+1

>>6175444
It does track with our dragon being vain and too powerful to care about geographic matters (should have done less arts and more natural sciences)

>>6175433
One more thing
>Tell the women politely that you can handle the men here yourself. You are quite capable and not ashamed.

Women are too inquisitive. Men drop their brains when they see a scantily covered beauty. Now that we're inside, we must work our charms on the weak.

>>6175433
>>6175511
Supporting

my apologies, I stayed way too long at work. Will probably only manage one update before I'll head to bed


>>6175433
>>6175444
>>6175459
>>6175511
>Telling the backwater people that you slept with a guy out of wedlock for personal gain, that he got mad at you because you slept with yet another guy
locking in

>>6175444
>>6175459
>poor with geography
to be fair, do you know the names of of remote valleys in Asia?

I'll need a d100 for the presence of a map

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>6175996
>to be fair, do you know the names of of remote valleys in Asia?
I do, but then I'm an autist

>>6175997

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6175996

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>6175997

>>6175379
The four of you enter the house attached to the stable, and you immediately head towards the burning hearth and make yourself comfortable before it. These women ask too much, you need to take control of the conversation.

“I will try not to impose on you for too long. Do you know when the next trader will come by?”

“You want to leave already?”

“Rumors will spread about me soon”, you give them a weak smile, “that boy ate me up with his eyes-”, you move a hand towards the fire and gesture as if calling it to you, “as would it warm a freezing soul.”

They made some gestures between themselves, not able to deny the prediction. Before they could say anything else though you reiterate. “A trader, do you know?”

“We always have people coming through, but mostly only visiting family members of neighboring villages.”
“What was the new salt traders name? The one who took over from Omgee?”
“Giles? Gileon, maybe. I liked Omgee, always so soft spoken.”

Salt. That might be good news. If it was sea salt, you could reach the coast like that.

“Do you know his route?”, you inquire further. “Well... I'm not sure if I want to go back to the coast or further away from it.”

“I think he's going back and forth between Hallein and Caburh.”

Caburh. You recognize that name. They trade in faceted gemstones, you're had some in your hoard...

“Thinking about that man again?”, Anfeld asks, having read your emotions off your face.

“I-” You need to think. Where is Caburh? You can't properly focus on the conversation and think at the same time. But you need to keep control of it. “He traded in gemstones”, you further construct the story. The only thing you know for certain were... “emeralds, specifically.”

“Oh,” they let out a rather ominous sound, and thought for a moment. “Was he with the syndicate?”

Could you be any less specific?

“An emerald trader? What do you think?”, you say sarcastically, “He was good to me... until he wasn't.”

“And you broke his heart?”, Funa dug further, but in the direction you guided them to.

“I don't know”, you say with a sigh. “I never pretended that it was about feelings. He was a good patron and sponsored me.”

You can't quite read their faces, but you continued. “I'm a traveling scribe, maybe more of a bard-”

“You're a prostitute?”

The atmosphere in the room had soured in an instant. Gone was the kindness and worry on their faces. Now replaced by disgust and anger.

“I'm a traveling scribe. I collect stories, poems, songs, and other knowledge, and I share it in kind.”

“But you were selling your body to that syndicalist?”

>“Technically, yes. But I'm not selling it to any random person on the street.”
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”
>“Rented it, at best.”

I should mention that things that got voted on but didn't make it into the next update are still things that MC would plan to do, or at least they are his/her intentions not the outcome, they can obviously can still get interrupted
and I have ADHD, sometimes the story just flows in one direction more naturally, and I'm unable to steer against it.

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”
This syndicate thing sounds bad. We should assure them that we are categorically not involved in any shady trade.

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”
Quick, think of a song to lighten up the situation!

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”
We say anything else and these women will throw us out

>>6176016
>“Rented it, at best.”

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”
Now it's time for us to be offended

>>6176016
>“My appearance is part of my strength. And I use it.”

You stand proud. “My appearance is part of my strength”, some force in your voice, “And I use it.”

Your words are only met with more outrage. If you make a wrong move they could see to have you thrown out. You sigh and say much more softly while looking. “You do not approve of my lifestyle.”

“You let man defile your god given body.”

Something about 'god given body', sets you quite on edge. You know they didn't mean it like that, they had no way of knowing, but still...

“A body you should have treasured for your husband on the night of your wedding.”

You stop listening. Something about sanctity, and a 'capital G' god. If you know one thing about gods and religion, then it is that all those religions which claim there was only one god, and that he – and it's almost always a he – will have you burn in hell for eternity for breaking one of his rules, because he is so all loving. All those religions are bullshit.

There's many higher beings adjacent to this world, and some just plainly powerful ones within it. And a lot of them received the title of god by some group of people, even some who didn't really deserve it at all. And of course there are also those “religious” gods, that people created for themselves. And while thoughtforms can be created by people believing in them, these puny spirits are anything but gods.

The next thing that you've never properly understood was human's relationship to sex. You're a magical creature, you can't perform this ritual to tap into Creation and pull a soul into this world. Very few humans are aware of that, though maybe it is something instinctual for them. There are even demons who specialize in harnessing that power by sleeping with humans.

You understand and even enjoy the power dynamics of sex. To make someone else yours – through force too, sure but – through cunning. To have that trust built to do with their bodies as you please. Even hurt them, to contrast the pleasure that usually coincides with sex.

“I will not cause trouble for your village”, you tell them. “The syndicate will not come for me. He- I don't know, maybe he planned to sell me into slavery, but got cold feet and just dumped me. He has no reason to harm you if you help me. I will not seduce any of your men. I will leave as soon as I can.”

“And take your sins with you! We should-”

“My sins are my own”, you interrupt them again. You feel rather annoyed, having to defend yourself against something that didn't actually happen. “But they do not justify a death sentence.” You sigh again and go back to soften your voice. “I am at your mercy. Please, allow me to stay one night and buy some clothes from you. Tomorrow, I will be go-”

“With what money?”, comes the question, and a look to the backpack they had carried in for you “Where did you get that backpack?”

>Tell the truth (the corpse near their village might have been someone they know)
>write-in

>>6176535
>write-in
>"I found this backpack next to me when I woke up."
Not really a lie this time

>>6176546
+1

>>6176535
>>6176546
+1

>>6176546
>>6176558
>>6176568
writing, but not sure if I can squeeze it out before I'll head to sleep
if I don't update in 2 hours, see you tomorrow

We really need an excuse to talk to the men instead of these fanatical women

>>6176535
“Found it close to me when I woke up”, you answer truthfully.

“What a coincidence.” That wasn't a statement, but an accusation.

“Maybe 'God' doesn't want me dead”, you answer, spontaneously thinking of something else as well, “or maybe the bodyguard took pity on me as they were riding away.”

Anfeld, who seems to be the lead lady of the three, narrows her eyes and the two of you stare each other down.

You have to make the rational decision. The stronger you appear, the more likely she will perceive you as a threat. You have to swallow your pride and look away and towards the fire again.

There were ways to find warmth in the village still, even if those three throw you out. The doctor. He didn't look very strong. The boy too, old enough to be very interested in you, but young enough to be manipulated.

You can hear them whisper to one another while you continue to warm your hands at the fire and forge parts of a plan in case they don't come to a satisfying conclusion.

“One. Night”, Anfled finally says.

You had to suppress a grin and say “thank you”, with what you hope was just a warm smile.

“And you will stay here”, comes as a further command, “don't leave this house.”

“Of course,” you confirm.

And with that they leave you alone. Finally.

You let out a sigh of relief, and a wave of exhaustion washes over you. This body has been pushed quite far. It barely had any muscle mass. But you can't sleep yet, and with some body heat recovered you stand up again.

With the blanket around you, you wander around the house. It was one big room in an L shape. The missing piece being the stable outside. Your eyes go to a sizable table, writing utensils, and a smaller shelf at the wall over it with some books on them.

You move over to a window where you can look out to the horses, the blacksmith and doctor still working on one. Maybe there's something wrong with its hooves? You don't quite like horses, they have too few toes. Then again, you never needed to worry about transporting yourself. Your knowledge about them involves supply lines for human warfare, but not how to ride one.

You don't know how much longer you will be alone in here. When you're going to leave tomorrow, it might be good to know what valuables are in here, if you might want to grab something. You also don't want to be caught snooping around, you don't have the luxury of looking more suspicious.

>Search the room.
>Only look around the room for items positioned out in the open.
>You don't plan on stealing anything, and wait until someone will come back in.
>You don't plan on stealing anything, and go to sleep ducked in the blanket by the fire.
>You don't plan on stealing anything, and go to sleep in the one bed.

>>6177050
>You don't plan on stealing anything, and go to sleep ducked in the blanket by the fire.
I doubt anyone will cause us harm here, and it may be a while before we have the luxury of sleeping like this again.

>>6177050
>>You don't plan on stealing anything, and wait until someone will come back in.
Stealing is an awful idea. They'll definitely check our bags before we leave.

>>6177050
Let's whisper and try to get the doctor and the blacksmith to the room. Maybe they'll be more amenable.

>>6177134
not quite an option, the stable girl is closer to the windows than the men who work out of the stable for better light

>>6177066
>>6177068
will be needing a tiebreaker in about an hour, or I'll move forward anyhow

>>6177050
>You don't plan on stealing anything, and wait until someone will come back in.

>>6177402
>in about an hour
he said as if he could delude himself into thinking he could find time to write during a workday

No, stealing something would just be plain stupid. You have much more to lose than to gain. They are already on edge about you, and you don't know how the old women will tell the story to the others.

You look around the house again and wonder who lives here. The stable girl, most likely. But she's too young to be living alone. Were she unwed she'd probably still live with her parents. Though, you have to admit you don't know the practices for such matters in this region.

While sleep is trying to grasp you, you still want to meet with her. Or whoever else owns this house. They just told you to stay put. You're not quite sure if that meant for your entire stay in the village or until they return.

You go to your backpack again and get the coin pouch out. In the forest they had no value to you, but it's different now. You will need clothes, and boots. Hmm... It appears as if this lands currency are minted with break lines. The silver coins, emblazoned with the profile of a man, can break into six pieces while the bronze ones, showing a bird, breaks only into four. In total you have 2 and 2/6 of silver, and 34 bronze coins. You don't know how much they are worth in relation to one another or how much plain clothes are worth.

The coins are also all rather dull and lack luster. If these ought to be the start of a new hoard you should polish them up a little bit. Light spit and the blanket should do for now. You start with the silver pieces...


You barely started with the bronze ones when the door opens up, and the stable girl walks in. Seeing you still naked and fully presenting, she quickly closes the door behind her. “Cover yourself up!”, she demands, and after you followed her order, opens the door again. “I'm sorry, Ereth.”

“No, it's okay”, the man, Ereth, who had barely avoided getting a door to the face, says, “Wouldn't want to rob the girl of her remaining dignity.” He is the skinny doctor.

You don't say anything, and wait for them to play this out. The tone of their voices make it seem unlikely as if they were living together here, but you don't want to make any assumptions.

He begins to move towards you, but then chooses to stay at a safer distance. “You said you weren't hurt anywhere.”

You're not. Only scratches. And the soles of your feet were hurting. But doctors, if they are not quacks, are often kinder souls. And letting him investigate your body for blemishes could make him amenable.

>write-in

>>6177626
>write-in
Open up and let him examine us. I don't see the harm. Try to convince him to allow us to see the village chief. Examining a map would help us much and perhaps he'd allow us more freedom here.

Is the stable girl still in the room? If she is could we ask her to leave and respect our privacy?

>>6177631
>Is the stable girl still in the room?
yes

>>6177631
+1

>>6177631
+1, ask the doctor and the girl are they related

>>6177631
>Try to convince him to allow us to see the village chief
Roll me a d100

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>6178166

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>6178166

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>6178166

>>6177626
“Well, I wasn't actively bleeding”, you tell him, “I have a good number of scratches and abrasions, and, ah... something terribly itchy on the side of my left shin. But most glaringly, my soles are killing me.” You do a pretend sigh. “You are the villages doctor, are you not? I don't have much with which I can pay for your services.”

Ereth gives you a smile. “There is never enough money to go around these parts. I can at least try and see if any of those cuts might be dangerous. The itch too. And you said you had been drugged for them to carry you into the woods.” You almost forgot about that part of your story. “May I approach?”

You gesture him towards you. “How else would you examine at me? And ah-”, you look to the stable girl, “Can we maybe have some privacy. This is not a free show.”

“You give shows?”, she snarks back.

“What? No!” You actually do feel a bit insulted. “It's just a turn of phrase.”

“Anyway, this is my home,” she tells you as she walks through the house and to the desk. “And they already rented it out without asking me!” You do understand the anger that fuels her. “I'll not be looking,” she adds.

You look after her and give her a weak apology, it wasn't your fault you were confined in here after all. As an answer she just threw her hand up. She was about as old as you were in appearance, maybe a few years into adulthood. It's still somewhat unrealistic that she lives here alone, but it doesn't seem like the doctor was living here with her. He might really have just come in to examine you.

“I've missed your name the first time,” the doctor says. “My name is Ereth, and I'm not the village doctor, more like the valley doctor. I live further upstream.”

“I'm Sendrea,” you repeat your name. “And I'm not a prostitute, no matter what those-” you stop yourself, “lovely older women said. I'm a traveling scribe and bard, I collect and write poems, ballads, songs and stories. And I've had... a sponsor funded my endeavors, whom I did not have feelings for. But it was just this one person.”

They share look. “You must still understand how that can be seen as a life of sin.”

You can understand how they would think the acts you committed as a dragon were sinful. But sin is just an excuse of the weak to hold the strong back. As if divine judgment-

But the pretend life story you made up about yourself as a human wasn't anything close to that. You blood is starting to boil at having to defend it against such pitiful arguments, and not actually being in the position .

“For spreading art, stories and songs, the things that make life worth living? And doing what I want without hurting anyone?”, you scoff, “Terribly sinful.” But now you're antagonizing them. They can still be allies, so you apologize. “I'm sorry.”

“You have had a stressful day,” Ereth states, “You will not have to justify your life choices before me.” He sits down in front of you. “Now let's get you looked at.”

---

The examination was distinctly unpleasant. The pain you could deal with, but having a man you don't find attractive run his hands over your exposed leg... It made you think about that dagger a few times. But you let him do as he pleases, even if you get the feeling that he was taking his time and was touchier than he needed to be. Him finding you attractive, on the other hand, was working to your advantage.

You learn that he was staying at the village head's home, and asked if you could meet with him too, but you were shot down. Apparently the old hag is his wife. You also learn that the doctor was departing the next day as well. He had only been here to treat the horse, whose leg wasn't as bad as it looked at first.

You haven't had much more conversation in you, so before you went to sleep you had an opportunity...
>ask to come with him and go upstream further land inward
>You have other plans, namely to go downstream towards the coast
>write-in

>>6178240
>You have other plans, namely to go downstream towards the coast
Would be nice to have a companion but in the absence of directions we should just head towards the coast

>>6178240
>You have other plans, namely to go downstream towards the coast
I think we've just had enough of him for now.
Maybe save such this for when we get more used to interacting with people as equals.

>>6178240
>>You have other plans, namely to go downstream towards the coast
Ask for something to eat and drink

>>6178240
>You have other plans, namely to go downstream towards the coast
Sleep early so we can wake up early and explore before anyone's up

>>6178240
You quickly fall asleep after the doctor had left and the stable girl gave you a few bites to eat...

You stand at the foot of Mount Mozzu. The progenitor dragon, your god, coiled around it. Each of the subtle shifts of their body starts rockslides and erodes the mountain further. You have never seen them awake, any communion you have ever had with them was through a temple. And then you have never heard their words before, only felt meaning. At least at the times they chose to convey meaning.

“Your grace,” you kneel down in your human form, your voice could never travel this distance, but you know they can understand you. “The elven goddess cursed me into this form. She interfered with the mortal plane too much. My absence will not go unnoticed by the world.”

There was no answer, but you can feel that you had their undivided attention. Yet they weren't saying anything.

“Please, to restore the order of the world you must-”

“I must?”, boomed the voice from above, it has the sound of barely contained anger. “You'd command me?”

You recoil in primal fear. Their teeth were larger than the house you fell asleep in.

“And you'd have me commit the same transgression as Istiria?”

You find yourself unable to answer, and each seconds that passes just increased your fear.

“Rejoice, child”, they eventually say, “your circumstance can be of service to me.” As you feel a smile in their words you dare to look up again. “Undoing the curse now would only paint my and Istiria's actions as a petty squabble. Doing nothing- Well, then her crime had victimized one of mine.”

Divine politics. And you have the ability to be a pawn to your god. “What shall I do for you?”

“Good, good.” A grin very clear on their face. “Reclaim your girls”, they command, “show her the meaninglessness of her actions in face of a dragons conviction. Humiliate. That. Bitch.”

A grin now also rises to your face. “Your will shall be done.”

They lay back down on Mt. Mozzu. “I will grant this body an internal flame. You will be immune to all mundane fires, and if you were to lose your life or limbs to disease or infection, it will be burned out.”

The most common causes of death in humans. Just like that, this burden was lifted of you. “Thank you, your grace. I will not disappoint you.”

I will continue writing later

>>6178606
I really want to get burned at the stake now just to see their foolish faces when we walk away unscathed.

>>6178606
>“Reclaim your girls”
Does he mean our harem?

>>6178642
Yeah, it was because of our harem that we were cursed.
A girl collecting girls is a bit odd, though, and I'm not sure what we could do with them that would humiliate the elven goddess. Plus, it'd be a pain to keep them fed.
Maybe a high class whorehouse or school of courtesans for royals? Perhaps to curry favor? Perhaps to deal in secrets and blackmail? Some bene geserit shit or another to breed out average and ugly looking people :^)

dang, way too busy rn, no update today

>>6178642
the girls that Rendeas kept as part of his hoard

shame on me

>>6180522
What happened?

>>6180574
I promised to update you guys at least once a day if I'm not able to squeeze out an update

>>6180615
Don't worry about it. Just don't go MIA for days.

Everything fine QM?

>>6181382
nope

I know I wanted to run a quest starting maybe halfway through february where my schedule clears up, and jumped on this one too quick, because it caught my interest

>>6181798
This thread is not going anywhere. Take your time.

>>6181798
How are you holding up?

>>6184972
on track to upkeep my "halfway through february"

File: beasts of fire.jpg (227 KB, 600x821)

227 KB JPG

>>6185059
Great to hear it

show of hands, who is still here?

>>6193767
I am

>>6193767
still here, coming back soon?

>>6193767
>implying anyone can ever leave

File: the-simpsons-mr-burns.gif (1.04 MB, 374x280)

1.04 MB GIF

>>6193767

>>6193827
>>6193835
>>6194009
>>6194259
happy to hear, we'll start tomorrow

When you wake again, your heart burns with purpose. Humiliating the goddess that did this to you?That does sound quite delicious. She didn't care about the rest of your hoard, it were only the girls that concerned her. You imagine there will be some sort of punishment for her because she interfered with your life in such a manner. If you collect all your girls again, her actions will have amounted to nothing. At least in her own eyes.

But the more you think about it the less sense the situation makes. There are millions of humans in slavery. Thousands of elves as well, whose pantheon she belongs to. And there had only been three elves in your collection. Something else must be going on behind the scenes too. But your hubris doesn't go quite as far as making further assumptions of the dealings between gods.

You were granted a divine mission. Your god directly appeared in your dreamscape and told you what to do. Usually there might be more up to interpretation, but you felt like the task given to you was rather straight forward, even if you don't properly know how to go about it. What you know was that the reward for fulfilling a divine mission was never small, and the dragon god's pride will not make him just placate you with a small one. You still mourns the loss of your hoard, but you will not let this feeling be a depressant. Reconquest is motivating.

You rise up to your full height – which was barely above average for a human woman. The blanket you were given simply slides off of you to reveal your still naked body. The stable girl, Elean, had been rather awkward around you yesterday before heading to sleep, and the topic of acquiring clothes hasn't come up. Looking over to her, she was still asleep in her bed.

You will at least be needing boots and clothes at least. A water bag too, but if you travel by the river you can postpone buying one. As far as money goes, you have two and two-sixths silver coins and 34 bronze ones, but you have no idea how much mundane items are worth.

>Take what you need (specify), and leave some money behind (specify)
>Wait until Elean wakes up and do something else in the meantime
>Wake Elean up

>>6194936
Take just the coin pouch and head for the village square to buy what we need. We did say we aren't going to steal.

>>6194941
>Take just the coin pouch and head for the village square to buy what we need
naked?

>>6194944
Yeah. Our charms worked with males before. There's safety in a crowd.

>>6194936
>Wait until Elean wakes up and do something else in the meantime
No point in taking unnecessary risks right off the bat
Take stock of what we have, clean and repair where possible. If the fire is out, rekindle it, I guess?

>>6194941
+1

>>6194944
A dragon shouldn't be ashamed of her (his?) body

>>6194941
Support. Do we need to buy food too or is hunting rabbits enough for sustenance?

>>6194941
>>6194971
>>6194999
after confirming we leave as soon as possible and take our sins with us and confirming we will stay in the house until then like the village head's wife commanded us to-
>going out naked into the village to buy stuff
I'm gonna need a d100 here, folks

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>6195002

>>6195004
interesting

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>6195002

>>6195006
Whats the dice here? BO3?

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>6195002

>>6195009
depends on the context.
MC skilled: bo3
MC unskilled: bo2
luck: bo1

>>6195015
I think we can arguably put this in the MC unskilled category.

>>6194936
Having already decided that stealing would not be a good idea yesterday, you take your belongings sling them over your back and head for the door. Elean is not a merchant, it would be unreasonable to expect her to sell you her own clothes, and wanting to stay true to your word you should leave the village as soon as possible.

The sun had not yet risen above the mountains, but the light of dawn is already noticeable in the sky. It's brisk and fog is hanging over the fields from the direction you came yesterday. It immediately hammers in why humans need clothes. But the cold is nothing to fear, you will acquire a proper weapon against it soon, you only need to find a tailor.

As you walk through the still mostly quiet village you lose yourself in thought as you think back to your reflection. You are confident in your tastes, and this body, you're already looking forward to a time where you'll be able to accentuate your beauty with a proper dress. But you're also looking for a spellcasting focus, so maybe you'll be using a staff. You will take what you can get, but you will still want to be designing your outfit with all accessories in mind.

“You're the whore that came in yesterday, aren't you?” A voice snaps you out of your train of thought. “So what yer price?”

The voice came from a burly man with beard. You recognize the look in his eyes too as he looks you up and down. It was the same look you had on your face when you were hunting that rabbit yesterday. The look of a predator.

Most people who saw you avoided you, but this guy is the first to approach. While you do not break eye contact with him, you were rather sure that there was nobody around to help you. So much for assuming the villagers can keep each other in check when there's more of them in one place. You know your beauty is your greatest asset right now, but your soul is convulsing at the thought of being made prey.

>“I'm not a whore.”
>“You can't afford me.”
>ignore him
>write-in

>>6195032
>“You can't afford me.”

>>6195032
>>ignore him

>>6195032
>“You can't afford me.”
Ignoring might enrage him. Establish our place in the hierarchy first.

>>6195040
>>6195049
going with this, writing...

>>6195027
no, it was for circumstances in the village, not how good you'll be at haggling

>>6195032
“You can't afford me,” you tell him with a smile.

He bares his teeth, furthering the predator and prey dynamic he was putting on. “Yer just showing off the goods?” He begins to move closer. “that's not how you do business.”

“Fancier shops present their wares in windows even on days they are closed,” you explain, “and they don't let any passerby enter either. You've never been to a big city, have you?”

He had not proper response. Likely lacking both the wits and vocabulary to keep the metaphor going. “No...”, he eventually says, brain racing to establish dominance.

You're not sure how well you could defend against him, but you refuse to give him the satisfaction of acting intimidated. “You're not a common thief either, are you?”, you ask, but leave the question in the air.

Finally breaking eye contact you continue to head towards the village's center, but for safety you check if your dagger is properly accessibly. Currently it's in its sheath, which was merely wedged between your back and the backpack.

He's not following you, so you got that going for you, but you think you should really clothe yourself. Showing off your body like that will likely carry negative consequences. But shame wasn't the emotion you feel about it. It's a frustration. They should be grateful to bask in your glory.

But you also have to remind yourself that you don't properly understand human's attitude towards nakedness and sex. You're a dragon, you never wear clothes as such. Only when you transform yourself temporarily, and even then not always. And dragons are beings of magic, not creatures that need to breed.

You look back to double check, and he was following you now, albeit not closely. It wasn't over.

>Ignore him and press forward and find a tailor
>Stop and pull out a dagger, he will likely back off once he sees how badly this can end for him.

>>6195103
>>Ignore him and press forward and find a tailor

>>6195103
>Ignore him and press forward and find a tailor
The conservation is over

>>6195110
*conversation
damn autocorrect

>>6195103
>Ignore him and press forward and find a tailor

>>6195105
>>6195110
>>6195120
gonna need another d100 (unskilled)

>>6195113
you might still be in a pickle tho

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6195129

>>6195132
pickle status : still inside

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>6195129

will continue tomorrow

>>6195159
Great to have you back

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>6195129

kids got dropped off at my place unexpectedly and had to deal with other stuff too. sorry for the delay on day 2 of being back.
writing now

>>6195103
He is a waste of your time. You promised to get out of this village as soon as possible, and you mean to keep it. Clothes first!

While you see more people now, nobody was appreciating your beauty as you hoped they would. You can't chalk that up to a village full of people with bad taste, no. It's as if they are ashamed on your behalf.

You finally make it to the poor excuse of a village square, but the entire village wasn't very large, so you shouldn't have expected anything. You hope you can simply circle around and one of them would be a tailors shop, but you didn't come far.

Shouting erupted from across the square, the mad ramblings of an old woman. You at first didn't want to pay attention to, but the voice was familiar, and the words- quite likely directed at you. Things like “sin”, and “whore”, and how you even dare to enter their village.

A rock is thrown at you, which you easily dodge, then another. And another.

Anfled is not alone either, she was with three younger men and one her age. One of the younger men you recognize. You had only passed a few people, and this one was one of those who looked at you and immediately turned the other way.

Maybe nakedness was something much more serious than you thought, but she sure wasn't explaining her outburst about it coherently.

>Try to reason with them to buy clothes still.
>Run

>>6195767
on run: specify where too, I should have given the option to go back to Elean's house for example

>>6195767
>>Try to reason with them to buy clothes still
Just let us buy clothes and supplies we'll fucking leave

>>6195767
>Run out of the village and downstream
We'll try our luck with the next village or traveller

>>6195767
>Try to reason with them to buy clothes still

>>6195786
+1

>>6195767
>Run out of the village and downstream

Urghhh these people are hopelessly annoying. Next time we shouldn't play victim and just take what we want.

>>6195767
Exit stage left, Sendrea.

Something tells you that people who throw rocks will not listen to reason. Anger rises up in you again. Besides your appearance, you'd like to believe that speech would be your next most valuable asset. But arguments will only work if both parties work within the same framework.

You should have known that these peasants view of the world wasn't anything like that of the humans you have been working with before. Humanities strength comes from their numbers, and the weaker they are the more they need to band together. This was not like conversing with kings and heroes. Maybe you can treat villagers like a sort of hivemind, and were you be included you'd poison it, leading to their unreasonable reaction towards anything they perceive as an “other”. You much rather deal with individuals. Individuals can be reasoned with, and it's easier to overwhelm a single person should negotiation break down.

Having made good distance you slow down. You're already exhausted again, this body really did not posses any stamina. The soles of your feet are already wound again, not the best circumstance to start another journey on. Your chest also hurts. Through your sprint you had dismissed the advantage of balance and use your hands to stop the movement. That was the first time you felt embarrassment about this body. A beauty like that is not supposed to move that fast. It was only by the treeline that you eventually stop to catch your breath.

You need to learn from this experience more, much more. You've never been against insurmountable odds. Any battle you fought you had the liberty to chose. The closest ones had been against your peers in your youth. After you were fully grown, any fights against other dragon had never been about taking the others life.

The question is, have you learned fear? The response to potential harm? You don't think so. You evaluated the situation and you chose to remove yourself from it, even causing harm to yourself – you still rub your feet – but that was not the primal response as it had been described to you before.

Having caught your breath again, you feel ready to continue on. Downstream, to the coast, to Caburh. Actual civilization! You feel more confident about that one. Despite it's lack of actual contents, you sling the backpack back on and-

The dagger you have had wedged in between it and your back is gone. Looking around, you don't see it anywhere, so you didn't drop it when you took it off. It must have gotten loose while you ran. You wanted to have it ready to use, and now you don't have it at all anymore. You want to chalk it up still not being used to the sensations of having skin like that (it's skin one should caress or deliberately cut, not rub moldy old leather over it until it feels numb to the owner), but it would be a lie. You did not pay enough attention.

You lost the opportunity to be clothed and have boots, and you lost your only weapon. You can't make any more stupid uninformed decisions like that. No more naked walks in backwater villages.

How to proceed... You can head directly downstream to the next village, where the situation could repeat itself. Or you can head into the woods, spend some time to craft yourself basic tools and fashion yourself some clothes to wear, and avoid humans until you feel ready.

>head to the next village
>hide in the woods for a while (come up with a plan)

>>6196320
>head to the next village
Stop and make something for our feet first. We can fashion primitive sandals from leaves and tree bark. It's not too difficult. But for clothing, we'd still need to buy or steal from the next village.

>>6196329
>for clothing, we'd still need to buy or steal
there are viney plants around from which one could weave primitive clothing to cover up the important bits. It won't be comfortable though.

>>6196320
>head to the next village
Living in the woods without a knife is not possible. Agree with making simple sandals first then we could also approach travellers on the road and buy stuff from them. We do better with individuals .

>>6196340
Supporting

>>6196329
>>6196340
>>6196347
writing

1d100 for sandal making (unskilled)

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>6196376

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>6196376

>>6196320
Without a knife you will not be able to survive properly in the woods. You could catch more critters but then you would barely even know how to properly dismember them. Not that starvation is the most pressing concern, it's just one of the factors. No, you should just head towards the next village with the hope of meeting a single person alone. Someone you can talk things through.

First of all you need boots. Or sandals at least. There are enough viney plants around with which to make something. A solid piece of bark for the sole, some vines to tie it together. But where to find proper bark like that? Maybe a dead tree? You think you remember some by the river, likely storm damage, just the way you first entered the village.

It didn't take much time to find what you were looking for, and there was also a good assortment of rocks by the river which you can use to make primitive tools. You only smack a larger rock on top of some and check if the smaller ones broke in a way that they had a pointy enough tip.

You are also able to find a dead tree from which dry bark peels off with barely any resistance. The bark only being maybe half a finger in width, carving holes through them was easy too. To make sandals you trace the form of your foot and put holes in the right places before layering a few over one another and bind them together.

That was barely even a lot of work, and while you are not content with the craftsmanship, you don't need the sandals to look good or even symmetric to one another. Given the tools at your disposal, you think you've done an excellent job.

“I think yer price just went down.”

You spin around to face the one who just spoke. Already way too close for comfort, about 5 steps away, the burly bearded man leans against a tree.

He laughs at your reaction, having successfully snuck up while you were focusing on your work, and didn't hear much through the noise of the flowing river. “Now I wonder what the price of proper boots should be for you.”

“I don't think I need another pair.”

He gave another laugh and tells you, “yeah, I don't think I need another excuse either,” before approaching.

>Try to reason
>Fight (with what? Rock, vines, dead branch)
>Run

that was the last one for today, good night folks

>>6196435
>Try to reason
How on earth did he tail and sneak up on a natural hunter like us

>>6196435
>throw dirt, run

>>6196459
Staying near a source of water is usually a bad idea unless you are certain nothing could take you even with surprise.

>>6196435
>>Try to reason
I fear we will lose our backpack next if we try to run again

>>6196435
>Fight with sharp rock

>>6196435
>Try to reason

>>6196717
>>6196476
>>6196459
alright, 1d100, skilled bo3

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>6196723

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>6196723

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>6196723

File: no reason.png (646 KB, 1099x720)

646 KB PNG

>>6196729
>>6196732
>>6196734
writing

>>6196742
If these are the rolls then even running wouldn't save us

>>6196435
You had outran the villagers because they only wanted to chase you out, but you're not quite confident in your ability to outrun him, and proper footwear was only part of that issue. And a fight? You'd have to get lucky. So, you need to keep control of the situation with your words.

“No, I think you don't need to, you're rather straight forward in your desire,” you tell him with a smile.

“Oh?”, he pauses, seemingly willing to partake in that game.

But what will the game be? A back and forth, and the bait you have to throw is... you willingly participating. He is not beautiful, you don't want him for yourself, he doesn't deserve to touch a beauty like yourself.

“But out here?”, you gesture around. “Not exactly a place for a pleasant experience.” If you can move someplace else, you might be able to gain the upper hand somehow.

He laughs again, “want to go back to Stibridge?”

“I meant something like a hunter's lodge-”

“Nowhere close.”

You're losing ground, both figuratively and literally, as he kept inching closer.

Is that fear? You are being made prey, and you're losing your options. Fight or flight. Neither seems like it will bear fruit. It's your refusal to behave according to your current strengths that put you in this situation. You are weak. And real prey would have run away a long time ago. Real prey would have paid more attention to its surroundings and had noticed him approaching quite a lot sooner too.

Inaction was a decision in and of itself. You attempt to jump backwards in the last second, but he was able to grab your arm. “Now now, where do you think you're going?”

“Let go of me!”, you attempt to command him and accentuate it with a hit to his side with your remaining free hand, which he also just catches.

“Come on, I just want to see how good you are at your job.”

He lifts you up at both arms so your feet barely touch the ground. Like that you can barely shift your center mass to make any worthwhile movements.

>Fight like hell
>Pretend to give in and wait for an opportunity
>Give in, but try to negotiate him bringing you clothes. (Dragon Dignity --)

>>6196760
>>Pretend to give in and wait for an opportunity
What's dragon dignity and how much do we have?

>>6196768
just a vibe until QM who wanted to write a dragon quest no longer wants to write a prostitute quest

>>6196760
>Give in, but try to negotiate him bringing you clothes. (Dragon Dignity --)
There's little you can do when you're being held by someone who can snap you in half

>>6196770
Just desserts indeed

>>6196760
>Give in, but try to negotiate him bringing you clothes. (Dragon Dignity --)

>>6196760
>Fight like hell

>>6196760
>Pretend to give in and wait for an opportunity

>>6196760
>Fight like hell

>>6196760
>>Pretend to give in and wait for an opportunity

looks like a 3 way tie, but semantically 2/3 in favor of not giving in, so next vote on which flavor of not giving in decides

>>6196810
oh, should have refreshed
ok then, writing... soon. got to do something else first

oh and luck roll
1d100

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>6196816

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>6196816

>>6196760
“Alright,” you swallow part of your pride and pretend to go along with it, “no need to get violent.”

“You're just saying that.” He moves your hands together to hold both of your wrists in one of his. “I was just about to create my own fun here.”

“Fun how?”, you ask. “just stick your dick in me and that's it?” His now free hand goes you your chest and squeezes roughly “... and grope me, I guess.” Gross, his hand feels even worse than moldy leather that had rubbed your back.

“Damn, your skin is soft”, he states the obvious.

“I take care of myself”, you tell him, which was a lie, of course. But you plan to make it true.

Jewels and metals need to be polished, that's easy. But paintings, wood, leather, skin and hair, these things are biological. Taking care of such material require a dance of different substances, not just to clean, but to then often neutralizing the substance one just used.

Balanced nutrition is important too, but you have not yet had the freedom to worry about what you should eat, but what you can eat. Beggars can't be choosers. Right now... you much rather think about proper nutrition. You haven't eaten today either. And he is using his mouth to assault your chest.

He is in an rather awkward position though, having to tilt his head to reach his prize. And in doing so he is offering up his neck. You can see the artery supplying his head with blood, and you feel the need rising to use your mouth as well. You've dealt with human women before, and their bite force should not be underestimated when they put their mind to it.


>Bite his neck (muscle, easier to reach)
>Bite his neck (artery, harder to reach)
>Wait for a different opportunity

>>6196900
>Wait for a different opportunity

>>6196900
>Wait for a different opportunity
It's awkward for us too, gotta wait until we're on the ground and we can reach for a rock or something hard

>>6196900
>Wait for a different opportunity

>>6196900
>Wait for a different opportunity
Be patient and endure this a little longer

>>6196900
Say we have STDs or something. That should get him to hesitate

>>6196907
>>6196915
>>6196942
>>6196991
I will need another 1d100 for luck

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>6197523

>>6197546
Fuckkkkkk

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>6197523

>>6197546
I am conflicted between what story I want to write and what the votes and rolls give me.

>>6197556
That's the fun of questing I guess. You can never predict what you will write next.

>>6197556
It certainly is a most humbling event for our dragon now that the shoe is on the other foot.

>>6197556
desu I feel the quest has derailed in intent as well. The direction votes have taken feels like something that leads to horni voting and not in a good way like EMQ

You here QM? Did you get cold feet or still thinking of a way to resolve this?

>>6200224
oh, cold feet
had an exam and put this on the back burner in my head.

I pointed out that going out naked will be a bad idea but it got voted on, so i wanted to punish you for it and scare you into behaving.
But I was playing into the hands of the horniposters.
I have barely any other choice but to continue in a way I really don't want to.
Both from a personal standpoint and a narrative one on what watching gods will think.
I could deus ex it, but from a meta standpoint... what IS the point when people do just want to hornipost.
Like... when getting some power and recapturing the girls and even getting new ones, that's where I'd enjoy the power dynamic more. But we'd be a little further off from that.

note to self: next quest: never horni bait, coomers want to be raped

>>6200237
Oh okay focus on your exams. I guess you could have the deus ex happen after this encounter should you wish to speed things up. Should note that this thread is near its end a new one is needed.

>>6200237
Tbf I think the dice gods were having a laugh too

Shall I archive this then?

lol what a shitshow

just ignore the votes and rolls and write whatever you want

This is messy but not unsalvageable. The QM should be exerting stronger control over the story. Anons must stop being retarded (impossible I know). Encounters should also be less randomized.

>>6205243
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6174244/
Archived. Hopefully QM comes back or at least says a few words before this thread dies.