Slate 2011/04/01(Fri)23:01 No. 293008 ID: 370692
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We rejoin our intrepid heroine just outside a relaxed looking town.
Her name is Marisa; her preferred methods of neutralising violent advances upon her person include grappling and runecalling (the act of reading ancient magical runes to cast spells). In other words, she is a, "Runepuncher."
She carries with her a small bag that contains a rock and an amount of worthless coinage from an outlawed currency. In other words, "worthless paperweights."
She also has her book of magical runes, her elbow guard, and a recently acquired magical artifact, all of its powers currently unknown, save for its ability to teleport back into her hand upon her being separated from it. In other words, the artifact is, right now, a, "giant paperweight that also cannot be disposed of."
Her goal now is, and has been for some time, to search for, acquire, identify, and then utilise or sell various artifacts. In other words, she is an arcane archaeologist. However, she is but a novice and, unfortunately, this particular recently acquired artifact escapes Marisa's amateur identification skills; she will need to visit a library, identify some other, less complicated artifacts, or otherwise enhance her current identification skills to the necessary level.
Also, Marisa is a cat-person; she is naturally somewhat weaker than other races, but she has keener senses and is more agile.
The town is likely home to establishments that would of interest to an adventurer; a smithy, a variety of shops and stores where one might have luck in acquiring a backpack or somesuch, and a tavern, where an adventurer would no doubt be able to learn information that would of import to them.
What shall Marisa do?

Well, we don't really have any money to speak of, so the smithy's out unless we're looking for work of some sort. Might be able to get a drink at the tavern, but I find it more likely we don't even have THAT much.

How about we ask the bartender of the tavern if anyone's got any odd jobs that a runepuncher such as yourself could do?

Well maybe the magical stone is a Rune, and thus we should Punch it! IN XAVIER'S MEMORY!

Well if I recall correctly a Backpack will be essential for her adventuring career, and aquiring one should be a good goal

Slate 2011/04/03(Sun)19:42 No. 293685 ID: 370692
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Marisa gives the stone a firm punch, symbolically honoring the fallen Xavier. She is not quite sure what the slight ache in her fist is symbolic of, though.
Nevertheless, Marisa decides that one of her more immediate goals is to purchase a backpack so that she may conviently carry the various spoils that she will no doubt acquire.
To this end, she elects to visit the tavern to ask the bartender if they know of any available quests. On her way there, as she walks through the town's quiet streets, she draws a few peculiar looks. When she enters the establishment, she takes a seat at the bar and asks the tender,
"Do you know of any available paying jobs?"
The bartender responds, "...What? No. Do I look like a bulletin board?" She pauses, but then continues, "But... that fellow in the back there told me to, uh, redirect anyone that asked me something like that."
Marisa turns and sees a fellow that is indeed sitting near the back of the establishment. His expression is initially neutral, but when he lifts his head up and sees Marisa and the bartender looking at him, his expression turns devious. He holds out his hand and motions for Marisa to sit down at his table.

>>293685
Sure, why not. See what this OBVIOUSLY TRUSTWORTHY FELLOW has to say.

>>293685
Oh great, a scammer. Probably.

Before you go and talk to him, ask the bartender if they ever heard of a guy called Xavier.

let's hear what he has to say before we distrust him

Slate 2011/04/03(Sun)21:17 No. 293724 ID: 370692
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Before she goes to speak with the suspicious fellow, Marisa asks the bartender if she's heard of someone named Xavier. She replies,
"Well, there are a lot of people around here named Xavier, probably. But if you mean Xavier Dourdin, the Mayor's son, then yeah, I've heard of him. Of course, you'd never see him just walking around."
Marisa thanks the woman for the information and sits down at the guy's table. As soon as she does, the guy sits up and starts saying,
"Hey, really glad you took up the offer," he speaks without taking a breath, "I'd say that today is a lucky day for the both of us; you won't regret this deal you're gonna make." He inhales deeply before continuing,
"Okay, so, you're an archaeologist, right? I know I'm right, only an archaeologist would carry around a big rock like that. You're a runecaller too, I bet; you can only get one of those books if you've gone to an academy. Ok, so, I've got a really great proposition to give you; I have, right here, in my bag, a whole... a whole suite of open opportunities for you. I have the possible locations of a whole suite of rare and valuable artifacts. I have maps, here, in my bag, here. All that I ask, for my information, is a fifty/fifty cut of any profits resulting from any expeditions that I have provided services for. That price is negotiable, of course. Also, if you need it, I can provide support in funding the excursion or physically participating it. That does, of course, however, make it more difficult to negotiate those profit sharing margins. So, what do you say? This is a really great deal, might I add."
"Also, might I add, my name is Adrienne Alain. This is not a scam, I assure you. I can show you the maps, if you'd like?"

>>293724
Hmm. Perhaps. First off, how does he know we won't just go there and run off with all the treasure?

Second, how do we know he isn't going to take a couple of his buddies and just wait for us outside the ruin to rob us after we get out?

I say take his funding
we can use that money to buy a backpack you'll need, then tell him you're going to got to one of these places. then just leave town and don't look back by the time he realises you've just run off you'll be long gone

also give him a fake name

Sounds like his offer is pretty suite

Slate 2011/04/05(Tue)15:25 No. 294172 ID: 370692
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Despite Adrienne's assurances on the contrary, Marisa expresses some concern over Adrienne's sincerity. How does he know she won't just run off with the treasure?
His answer is, "Well, then, you won't be doing any repeat business, now, will you? Let me tell you, you will want to be doing repeat business with me. I have here the possible locations of a whole plethora of valuable artifacts; locations that are unknown to anyone around here; anyone but me, and, potentially, you.
Marisa asks how she can trust him to not just wait as she collects the artifacts and then bring a couple of goons to take it from her.
He responds, "Heh, I wish I had some friends around here. But seriously, if I did that, I'd be completely destroying any chance of repeat business with you. And when you're in my line of business, the information kind, you want people to trust you. That way, when you want some new clients, skeptical new clients, you can just refer them to your old clients, your trusting old clients."
"In fact," Adrienne says, "Zeph here can vouch for me." He rises from his feet slightly as he calls to the bartender. "Hey! Zeph! You can vouch for me, right?"
"What?" she says.
"You can vouch for my, uh... sincerity, my validity, right?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah," she says, disinterested.
Adrienne looks back at Marisa and says, "See?"
Marisa tells him that she'll make a deal with him, but first, she needs funding. She figures that, if she decides she doesn't want to follow through with the deal, she can just run off with the money when he's not looking.
He says, "Excellent. Now, since I don't have any other active clients right now, and I... don't think that any other treasure-seekers will be arriving here anytime soon, I can lead you to the shops, and maybe the artifact's location. Shall we be off?"

>>294172
...eh. Yeah, sure. The bartender's vouching for him, that helps. That's enough to get this job started anyway. Still, we've been burned before. Gotta keep alert though.

Also tell him after we buy some supplies we've got to talk to the Mayor before we leave. We have bad news to deliver...

well you might as well go along with his plan for now, getting supplies will be nice

>>294172
He seems shifty as fuck, but I really don't see a downside to this plan.

It SHOULD be a pretty good deal. I mean the guy obviously needs help on several tasks, and if he backstabs ANY of his partners then that rep gets back to him and then suddenly NO ONE will work with/for him. So he's probably legit.

>>294184
I dunno, it's hard to spread the bad word about someone with a knife wound in your spine, from the bottom of a hole, in an unknown dungeon.

Slate 2011/04/07(Thu)16:58 No. 294813 ID: 370692
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Marisa decides to follow Adrienne to the shops. As they walk through the streets, they both elicit some peculiar looks. Marisa mentions to Adrienne that they should visit the mayor before they leave, as she has news to deliver that she believes the mayor would want to know.
Adrienne responds, "Hah! You can't just pop in to see the mayor, especially if you're dressed like a Chatze. If you want to see the mayor, you'll need to... nevermind! You can make an appointment when you-- or, we, are done with our deal, first. Come on now, the shops aren't far."
Marisa and Adrienne reach the shops; there are many different establishments, all selling various goods. Some are advertising pastries, or the latest in fashionable clothing, or furniture maintenance and repair services. Of course, Adrienne and Marisa ignore these stores.
Adrienne says, "Alright, so, I'm not entirely sure where you might find some things, but I've been here a while, so I should be able to point out the places that have what you're looking for." Marisa says that one of the things that she needs is a backpack, or somesuch. Adrienne responds, "Ah, um... I think... that you might have some luck at a tanner's place, or a leatherworking shop or something. Or, maybe, we might be able to find a specialty store... Is there anything else that you think you'll need? Might I add, the target location is some ruins, overgrown with grass and shrubbery and the like. I'm not sure if that changes anything, but, just, ah, take that into account."

Do all cat-people wear maximum-popped collars?

>>294813
Grass and shrubbery? We'll need a cutting implement of some sort. Machete, perhaps?

find out what "dressed like a Chatze" means, and why is it a bad thing?

Slate 2011/04/08(Fri)15:47 No. 295096 ID: 370692
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Marisa knows that Chatze [shahtz] is her native kingdom. A brief history; long ago, the Chatzen people (Chatzen is the correct noun and adjective to use when referring to someone from or something pertaining to Chatze; Adrienne seems to be making a common mistake in using Chatze in place of Chatzen) were divided amongst many tribes, racially made up of a majority of Felines, with the largest minority being of Avians. One chief, known only through legend as an Avian named Unifie, managed to unite the majority of the tribes into a grand kingdom. Since then, the kingdom of Chatze integrated the remaining few independant Chatzen tribes as semi-automous provinces. The Kingdom of Chatze is unique for a monarchy in that many personal rights and priviledges are bestowed upon its citizens, and that citizens are allowed a say in the courts As always, however, they must ultimately yield to the monarch.
The kingdom's most recent activity was the fighting of a war with the republic of Rothe, itself formed from a number of tribes culturally similar to the Chatzen. The causus belli was stated by Chatze as the goal of finishing Unifie's work and uniting all Chatzen and all other related cultures under one banner. In the aftermath of the war, Rothe was annexed and turned into a semi-autonous province; it still elects a sort of head-of-state, but it must ultimately yield to the demands of the monarch. Despite the war having ended only five years ago, tensions amongst native Chatzen and native Rothans are surpisingly not extremely volatile, most likely due to the Chatzen queen having taken a Rothan husband, and the aforementioned allowance of semi-autonomy. This does not, however, mean that tensions are low. Marisa posits that this is the reason that being dressed like a Chatzen is a bad thing, here; she is in Rothe.
Marisa has also always been confused as to why many Chatzen garbs incorporate such excessively large collars, a question that she asks Adrienne.
He replies, "Well, you know how it gets cold, and windy, back home, right? So, obviously, you have a big collar to protect your neck, and maybe your face, from all the cold and wind. Plus, I think it looks totally sweet as hell."
Marisa un-pops her collar to see if she likes it that way, and changes the topic to supplies for the expedition. She mentions that she may need a machete, or some sort of hacking tool.
Adrienne replies, "Hmm... Uh, I don't know... see, something like that might qualify as a weapon, and you need a license to carry a weapon, around here, at least. I think. We'll see when we go to get that, but first, let's find that backpack.
Adrienne leads Marisa through the streets until they come upon a specialty store, focusing on bags and such. They step inside, and are approached by a man who says,
"Hello! What may I interest you in?"
Adrienne explains that he and Marisa are looking for a backpack or other kind of bag suitable for rugged terrain and the like.
The bag maker replies, "Well, I think I have a few things to show you, then."
He points to a series of moderately-sized backpacks and messenger bags, some looking similar to the one that Adrienne has, and says, "These here have everything you'll probably need. Good capacity, managable size, durable."
He points to another backpack, this one much larger, and says, "This has even more. It'll fit loads of stuff with room to spare, and it won't rip or tear. Of course, it can be pretty difficult to carry and manage it... it's also pretty expensive."
The last thing he points to is a peculiar-looking vest. He says of it, "Ah, and the vest. It's a bit unorthodox; it has a bunch of pockets all over it, some large, some small. There's one big pocket that take up the entire back. It should be more managable and easier to carry than the bags, but it probably can't hold quite as much."
Marisa looks at Adrienne.
He says, "Well, you can choose. But remember, the more money I spend, the harder it's going to be to negotiate that profit split."

I'm partial to the vest.

>>295096
Vest will be awkward and uncomfortable, and can't carry large objects very well. Pick whichever of the small backpacks you're most comfortable with.

Hey, he's going to be accompanying you on the excursion, right? So tell HIM to choose, because since you're the big tough adventurer handling all the problems, his job will officially be pack mule. Also, while a weapon may be out of the question, you can get something that'd serve the same purpose but with a more covert primary use. Like a cutting knife.

get the smaller backpack

Slate 2011/04/10(Sun)23:35 No. 295588 ID: 370692
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Marisa chooses one of the courier bags, and Adrienne pulls some coins from his backpack and pays for it. Once he and Marisa are back outside, she says to Adrienne that, perhaps, he should be the one to carry both bags, while she handles the adventuring stuff.
He responds, "Uh, no. I bought this bag for you and you're gonna be the one to carry it. I mean, uh, for as long as we're working together, then we're going to carry the weight equally. Now, let's go find that tool."
Marisa places the small sack and its contents, a rock and some worthless Rothan pennies, and the as-of-yet unidentifiable artifact in her knew bag. It is known only to The One why she did not have one of these in the first place.
Adrienne leads Marisa through the streets and to a cutlery shop. As they walk inside, Adrienne says, "Ok, so we can probably find something that would be just as good as a specialized hacking tool." After some looking around, they find a large knife that seems like a suitable enough replacement. They have some difficulty with purchasing the single large knife completely by itself at first, but with some coaxing and Adrienne telling the person behind the counter that it is being used for clearing shrubbery, the saleswoman relents.
Once he leads them both back to the center of the shopping district,, Adrienne asks Marisa, "Ok, do we need anything else, or are we ready to get this show on the road?"

well you need to pick out a pair of less political clothes right? then you can go see the mayor

Well splitting the carrying is pretty good too. I like this guy. Besides, he's your same species so he's clearly more trustworthy than anyone else. You can't trust someone, after all, if they're fundamentally different from you. Make sure you all have enough mundane supplies, like food, water, torches (might not need those with cat senses), rope, grappling hook, stick, etc

Slate 2011/04/11(Mon)22:32 No. 295895 ID: 370692
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Marisa states that she and Adrienne should bring food, water, rope, a grappling hook, a stick, perhaps some torches, and other mundane supplies. She also mentions that she needs some less political clothes, so that she can see the mayor.
He responds, "Uh, okay... I'm not sure we'll be in there long enough that we'll need food and water, but I have some in my bag. Just in case, I guess. As for the other stuff... I'm sort of short on cash. I mean, that's sort of why I'm making this whole investment, you know. I guess I have enough for some rope, but a new set of clothes? No way. Besides, when I said that you'd have trouble meeting with the mayor, I sort of had the idea that scheduling a meeting would be troublesome in general. I'm sure your choice of dress won't matter too much in relation to that. Besides, we have some ruins to raid! We have no time for makeovers! Or politics! You can pick up a stick on the way there! You can light the way with your runes! You can talk to the mayor after we've found that artifact! Let's go!"
Adrienne buys a length of rope and gives it to Marisa, and then leads them both out of town, down a road that leads in the opposite direciton from where Marisa came into town. The landscape is made up of rolling grassy hills, covered with windmills, farms and small forests. They walk silently for about ten minutes until Adrienne leads them off the path and through a forest, in which Marisa finds and bags a sturdy fallen branch; they eventually come across a stone structure, overgrown with weeds and grass. It appears to be some sort of entrance to someplace underground, but the stones are blocking the sun from shining down inside. The stones seem quite heavy.
Adrienne says, "Okay, this is the place. That stuff etched in the stone must be archaic Rothan or something, because I can't decipher it." Adrienne is wrong; Marisa can tell that the language is Runic, and that it is indicating this place to be the, "chieftan's,"... something. The rest of the runes are too old and faded, or beyond Marisa's skill, to be understood.
"Okay, so, how are we going to be handling this?" Adrienne says.

well you should take a peak inside, see what the entrance is like

Well then, lets go inside shall we.

In all likelihood, it's either 'Chieftain's Residence' or 'Chieftain's ETERNAL Residence' if you know what I mean. And judging by the architecture, you're delving into the ruins of an ancient Minecraftian Civilization, so beware of self-detonating fungi creatures, zombies, and skeletons with bows. Use the branch/stick to poke anything that seems like it might be trapped (open things from afar if you can), and you can proceed first with whatshisname following you. Your hands should probably be free, though, in case you need to Rune and/or Punch anything.

Slate 2011/04/12(Tue)23:14 No. 296227 ID: 370692
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Marisa pokes her head into the structure. She can't see anything until she invokes some fire runes to act as a source of light. Thanks to her advanced senses, this is all the light Marisa needs to see the entire room. The walls, ceiling and floor seem to be made of slabs of rock, and one can see dirt peeking out of some of the cracks.
"So, uh... you can't make it any brighter?" Adrienne says while sticking close behind Marisa. She knows that this is as much light as her runic fire can produce on its own.

>>296227
Tell him that you both just got out of the sunlight. It'll be more than sufficient once your eyes have adjusted.

Yeah, once you take a few moments to let your eyes adjust things will seem better. Or you can eye him with irritation and tell him that you can make your runic fire into his tunic fire if he'd prefer that.

>>295906
Don't light the husbando on fire, you need him for scruffy-looking kittens.

"Think about that for a second hun; you just came into a dark room, you're eyes haven't adjusted yet. Give it a moment."

Wave the flame back and forth slowly to make sure you're lighting up everything in the room and to catch anything with a shine to it, like, say, an artifact.

"Besides, if I make it any bigger, your fur'll catch fire."

>>296236
This is a good line. You should go with it. This guy is still a little too excitable to consider any long term plans with. Odds are he won't make it out if his first ruin.

Also time to consider the additional protection that could be provided by your garment and re-pop that collar.

Slate 2011/04/14(Thu)15:53 No. 296758 ID: 370692
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Marisa tells Adrienne that they've both just got out of the sunlight, so he should wait a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Or, she says as she eyes him irritably, she can make this runic fire into his tunic fire, if he'd prefer. Adrienne's expression turns distressed, and he says nothing. Marisa turns back to the room and waves her arm, in the hope that some light will glint off of a hidden artifact or something, but she has no such luck. As promised by Marisa, hers and Adrienne's eyes adjust to the darkness, and the room becomes clearer.

hmmm, that thing on the wall looks like it may light up if given magic. examine it and see if that is the case.

Time to run around and explore, girl. I suppose you two cats would know what looks valuable more than we would. I've got nothing notable to say yet

careful around that one tile, it looks like it could be a pressure plate for a trap

Slate 2011/04/15(Fri)00:40 No. 296845 ID: 370692
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Marisa walks down the steps to the apparatus on the wall, being careful to stay away from the suspicious tile while telling Adrienne to do the same, her justification being that it may be a pressure plate for some sort of trap. Adrienne follows Marisa, attempting to stay as close as he can while also attempting to keep a fair distance, which proves to make him seem somewhat shifty in his movements. Marisa suspects the object on the wall would light up if given magic, like some sort of torch. She tries putting her runic fire to it, but this yields no result. Upon closer inspection, the object's component parts appear to be some manner of metal bars that have turned grimy and rusted; it may be a cage, or some type of sconce.

>>296310
Marisa also remembers to re-pop her collar.

>>296845
Try putting the artifact in it.

If that does nothing, take a peek up in that empty spot the block came out of. Afterwards, check the door leading further in to see if you can open it.

Ask your friend if there's reason to believe you're literally the first people to have discovered this place. Clearly HE knew that this place existed, and if we had a better idea how he knew of it then we'd know whether or not we can expect the place to be cleared of any obvious loot or if we need to waste time looking over everything. I suppose you can check for yourself to see if you can discover any evidence of 'recent' visitors... anachronistic evidence left behind, footprints in the dust, that sort of thing.

Slate 2011/04/19(Tue)22:36 No. 297885 ID: 370692
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Marisa pulls the artifact from her bag and sets it in the cage to no effect; however, she does notice that the artifact has somehow acquired many cracks on its surface.
Marisa is just tall enough to jump up and gain purchase on a stone, allowing her to peek over the gap in the wall and find a dark room containing some sort of large apparatus in its center; Marisa cannot accurately identify it without getting closer.
Marisa inspects the 'door' further in, only to find that it is, in fact, a large stone block that is denying further entrance into the ruins.
As she does all this, Marisa asks Adrienne if he thinks that they are the only two people to have discovered this place, and how he managed to find it. Adrienne responds,
"Uh, well, I'm pretty sure that no one else found this before me... I mean, I found it just by sort of wandering around the forest, but I don't think that it would be very likely for anyone else to have stumbled on this place too. But, that's just me."
Marisa also scans the room for any anachronistic evidence; all that she can see right now that would fit that classification is the fallen blocks and cage.

try to get a closer look at the apparatus

Alright then, let's climb over the wall.

Wallhacking! Help your bro up.

Looks like the hole in the wall's the way to go. If you can get up there yourself but he can't, help him get up first. Also, to note, him having found this place on accident doesn't exactly bode well for having a whole bunch of other locations that are primed for looting.

Slate 2011/04/22(Fri)22:17 No. 298468 ID: 370692
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Marisa tells Adrienne that they will be investigating the adjacent room. She is tall enough to climb through the hole in the wall with relative ease, but Adrienne requires some help, which Marisa offers and he accepts. Marisa holds her hands out for Adrienne to use as a boost up the wall. Marisa is tall and agile enough to simply jump up and scramble over the edge. As she is climbing, she hears Adrienne exclaim, "Oh, good. Hey, I'm just going to go over here." Marisa sees that there is sunlight shining down somewhere in the next room.

a hole big enough for that much light to come through should of been noticeable on the surface.

Yeah that doesn't seem at all right/safe. Also, have we recently made fun of Adrienne for having a girl's name? I think it's about time we do so

>>298468
Catch up with him. He's not a fighter, why is he going in front?

tell him to stop it could be a trap!

Slate 2011/04/27(Wed)21:51 No. 299800 ID: 370692
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Marisa calls out to Adrienne to stop, saying that it may be a trap. He responds, "What? It's just sunlight..." Marisa mentions how a hole large enough to allow that much light in should have been noticeable on the surface. Adrienne says, "Uh, well... maybe it was hidden by the trees..." Marisa jumps down and steps ahead of Adrienne, saying that he shouldn't even be going ahead; he's not a fighter, and he has a girl's name at that. Adrienne looks at Marisa, incensed.

On a side note, Marisa notices that the artifact, which really was visually cracked for the entire time since she placed in that cage and then took it back, is still cracked. She also knew that the apparatus behind her was never in the center of the room after all, and is actually on the wall off to the side. Also, she was wearing her bag when she climbed the wall. Also, Adrienne does have a tail.
sorta forgot all that stuff last time

Whoops looks like he's sensitive about his name. Shrug about it. "Good, you stopped. Now get behind me." If he gives you a hard time tell him you don't really care about his name, you just wanted him to stop so he doesn't get himself killed.

Cautiously proceed into the next room.

>>299854
That and check out the source of the light and whatnot

Slate 2011/04/30(Sat)12:03 No. 300451 ID: 370692
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Marisa attempts to repair the damage. She shrugs and tells him, "Good, you stopped. Now get behind me." Adrienne says nothing and still looks slightly annoyed, but he complies.
Marisa leads the cautious foray into the next room. Something has stained some of the stones. Chunks of the ceiling lie on the floor, letting some natural light filter in from gaps in the ceiling. However, there is a much more spectacular amount of light radiating from an unexplainable source on the ceiling. Despite how it manages to seem so extremely bright, it does not hurt Marisa to look directly at it.
"Well, now, this was certainly worth getting alarmed about. Good thing you stopped me, or I'd have walked right into that trap!" Adrienne says.

Push him into the trench. Or just explore and describe to us what you see/find

"Better safe than sorry."

Are those... scorch marks on the wall next to the manacles? Well, first check out that rectangular section of the wall with the two holes on it. Dart/spear trap, perhaps?

>>300486
I would laugh if it turned out that there actually is an obvious trap like that ahead.

>>300486
yeah check rectangular wall section, makes sure it isn't some sort of trap

Slate 2011/05/01(Sun)21:48 No. 300872 ID: 370692
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"Better safe than sorry," Marisa says to Adrienne, with no reply. Marisa kneels down to examine the object next to the manacles; it turns out to be a small wooden stand with two short protrusions; it is likely meant as a place to put a tool not in use, and looks to most certainly not be any sort of projectile shooting trap. The marks inbetween the manacles do not appear to be scorch marks, but rather a liquid or somesuch that has stained the wall.
"Huh, well, I guess some other people were here before us. For awhile. You know long does it take for a body to turn to bones?" Adrienne asks while peering down the trench.

Tell him "yes I do" and give him a mysterious look, then never bring up the subject again and ignore him if he does.

A long time. Also tell him to watch out for that loose brick at the edge there. The one he's standing on.

You might want to get ready to make sure he doesn't fall into that channel. But yeah, tell him you're done in this room, let's continue.

Slate 2011/05/07(Sat)15:27 No. 302339 ID: 370692
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"Yes, I do," Marisa answers with a blank expression and eyes so piercing and void of emotion that they could wear a hole directly through Adrienne.
"Uh... How long is it, then?" Adrienne asks.
"A long time," Marisa says.
She continues to stare into Adrienne's face blankly for a few moments while he returns a look of confusion.
Marisa lifts herself up and tells him to stay back from the brick, as it seems insecure. Adrienne says,"Oh! Yeah, it is a little loose, I guess," and steps off of the brick.
Marisa continues to the other side of the room. A piece of the ceiling has fallen and become somewhat overgrown with vegetation.

Oh hey, obvious secret door. Mess with it.

What's on the bottom of the trench? Heck, what's across the trench?

I'm going to second examining the secret door

aww, don't bully him so much.

>>302339
Check behind the rubble for any doors or anything that might have been blocked off, then go through the not-so-secret door.

Slate 2011/05/08(Sun)19:48 No. 302645 ID: 370692
File 130490930707.png - (60.48KB , 700x508 , 18.png )

A quick glance down the trench reveals a number of bones that are scattered amongst a sea of sharp spines. The spines are stained the same color as the wall between the manacles. The trench is easily deep enough that falling in would mean certain death.
There is nothing particularly noticeable about the other side of the trench.
The vegetation growing amongst the rubble is too thick for Marisa to see through, and it would take too long to simply .
Some fiddling with the obvious secret door finds that the door is, in actuality, a slab of rock. It is lined with earth, but this is easily dug away. Pulling the stone away reveals a small alcove.
"Oh, that's gruesome, isn't it," Adrienne comments.

>>302645
A bit, I guess. Anything in there besides the skeleton?

Maybe we can clear the collapsed exit.

search the alcove for sweet loots

Hmmm... well let's remove the skeleton (unless it animates in which case RUNE PUNCH its skull in) and see if it has anything on it and then see if there's anything else in this little alcove.

Slate 2011/05/11(Wed)21:44 No. 303591 ID: 370692
File 130517546716.png - (44.97KB , 700x508 , 19.png )

Marisa drags the skeleton from the alcove so that she may have more clearance to look around. It does not animate.
Adrienne steps back and says, "Okay, so you... handle corpses often, then." He looks visibly distraught, and he eyes the skeleton.
Marisa looks around in the alcove, but she doesn't find anything of note, save for perhaps the shackles attached to the alcove wall. The skeleton's arms had been in the shackles when Marisa dragged it out.

Maybe putting the skeleton back and closing it up would make him feel better.

>>303593
I doubt it... he is probably thinking of his own mortality... do adventurers like you (and like what he wants to be) see so many corpses on a regular basis? would that mean he is going to be come one?

I would answer with a "no"

Tell him that it was a skeleton, not a corpse. There's a distinct difference. It's just hard to notice. Sure it was once part of someone, but so's a lot of the dust they've probably inhaling, and you'd hardly say that y'all were huffing corpses, would you? I think not.

>>302339

It depends on conditions, but with the right bugs around as little as a month. Without beetles eating the flesh, it takes a couple of years.

make one last check of the alcove possibly for other hidden panels, and then put the skeleton back in and close up the little tomb

Slate 2011/05/12(Thu)21:16 No. 303820 ID: 370692
File 130526018597.png - (54.20KB , 700x508 , 20.png )

Marisa makes one last check of the alcove, but she still finds nothing of note. She puts the skeleton back into the alcove and reseals it.
Adrienne seems relieved at this.
Marisa talks to Adrienne about some things.

>>303627
He responds, "Uh... it's more that, you know, it's a corpse. Dead body. You don't find that creepy?"

>>303634
He responds, "Yeah, that's great, I'll be sure to remember that."

>>303636
He responds, "Okay, thanks for the clarification. Good to see that you know so much about corpses."

Let's continue on. Check how stable that fallen slab is, then let's crawl under it to get to the next room.

yes inspect the rock chunk, you wouldn't want it to fall on you when you crawl underneath

Make some comment to your friend here that his name apparently suits him, as he's clearly much too tender and frail to deal with the harsh realities of his chosen hobby. At least one of you has some balls. Even if they're hair balls. And if he doesn't stop fixating on corpses, he's likely to become one himself. Then have him tackle you and have hot angry cat sex.

Probably best not to mention that as the Skeleton didn't fall apart, there's probably a fair bit of tissue left on it holding it together (skin, ligaments and such).

>>303850
Can we not insult the guy further? If we're gonna talk to him... tell him that during your studies you learned a lot of stuff about various things. All part of being a mage.

Slate 2011/05/16(Mon)22:33 No. 304754 ID: 370692
File 130561042846.png - (55.27KB , 700x508 , 21.png )

Marisa goes to inspect the fallen ceiling slab. She finds it to be set in place very securely; it doesn't budge.
Marisa has conflicting ideas of what to say to Adrienne, but she ultimately chooses to allay Adrienne's concerns over her knowledge of corpses. Marisa mentions to Adrienne that she is so knowledgable about cadavers because, as a Runecaller, she has studied many subjects, medicine being among them.
Confident that the stone will not dislodge itself and trap her, Marisa crawls under it through the foliage and to the other side.

Interesting little setup we've got here... how wide is the trench, again? Do you think perhaps one of you would be able to safely boost-jump the other in order to get to the crank? Oh, but then you'd be split up with no easy way to reunite...

A safer option to get someone to the other side would be to investigate the block on the other end of the trench. I would note that it looks ready to tip over however, so if anyone climbs on top of it they should be careful and stick close to the wall so their center of gravity is away from the direction it could tip.

If the rope is secure enough, you could climb up the rope on this side, shimmy along, then back down the other side.

Slate 2011/05/17(Tue)22:20 No. 304966 ID: 370692
File 130569603250.png - (24.74KB , 700x508 , 22.png )

Marisa presumes that it would not be entirely impossible for her to jump the trench, even without a boost. The trench doesn't seem too wide, and Marisa is confident enough in her acrobatic abilities. She is not quite as sure about Adrienne, though.
The fallen block back at the beginning of the dungeon would certainly be easy enough for Marisa, or even Adrienne, to climb up and over.
It would be impossible to climb across the trench using the ropes; they dissappear into the ceiling.
Marisa cannot see through the hole, as there is something in it acting as an obstruction.
Adrienne crawls under the fallen slab to join Marisa.
"Huh," He says when he looks up to see the contraption.

Compliment him on his ever-astute and always-useful observation skills. Of course, you're only teasing him like this because it's the only way you know how to show affection. Okay, so what I'd guess is that you can use the crank on the other side to raise/lower the obstruction in order to clear the hole, creating a path to the area past the wall/block. If that seems to be the consensus, then crack your knuckles and say something 'cool' like "Time to earn my pay" before dramatically leaping over to the other side. And don't do that unless you're 100% sure you can make the jump, because, y'know, spikes.

go back and climb over the fallen rock to get to the other side of the trench

>>304968
that counts as bullying him, and you have done more then enough of that

Slate 2011/05/30(Mon)15:21 No. 307917 ID: 370692
File 130679408034.png - (13.37KB , 699x500 , 23.png )

Marisa is just barely able to resist making a sarcastic comment at Adrienne's expense. She supposes that there will time to do so later.
Marisa briefly contemplates taking the possibly safer route back at the beginning of the dungeon over the fallen block, but she has already set her mind on jumping the gap.
Marisa braces herself to jump. There are more skeletons at the bottom of this part of the trench than in the others; perhaps other people attempted jumping the gap as well? Marisa is unphased by this.
She backs up, cracks her knuckles, makes an offhand witty comment on the situation and then makes a running leap across. She sticks the landing.
Adrienne looks stunned, perhaps in amazement.

Ask Adrienne to stay off to the side while we crank the rope. Who knows what might come out?

yeah, in case a spring loaded something or other is in it.

First make sure to do a quick glance around your surroundings to make sure that Adrienne's reaction is in fact due to your impressive feat and not due to a looming threat on your life. Then make sure he's ready before examining the crank for possible traps and then using it

>>307932
I support this Idea

Slate 2011/06/04(Sat)16:25 No. 309107 ID: 370692
File 130722991510.png - (17.47KB , 700x500 , 24.png )

Marisa observes her surroundings for any immediate danger, and finds none. She tells Adrienne to stand out of the way in the case of any traps, a request to which he obliges.
"That was, most probably, the most clever thing that I have ever heard someone say," Adrienne gushes as Marisa gives the crank a look over for traps.
"I mean, the way the phrase was... phrased, in juxtaposition with the profound wordplay, the way those elements meshed together in the context, it was just simply brilliant!" Adrienne continues excitedly, as Marisa begins to operate the device after determining it safe.
"I--," Adrienne pauses as he looks into the hole, "... I can see through to the other side. Nothing's in the way anymore. Should I go through?" Adrienne pauses again; he reaches his hand into the hole nervously, before suddenly startling and jerking his hand back. He grimaces as he says, "Uh, I think this is some kind of guillotine. That obstruction you moved is really sharp. I... don't think that I want to go through."
Marisa notices that the crank is actually putting up a fair bit of resistance; she expects that she has enough strength to hold it for awhile, but she certainly wouldn't be able to do so forever.

What he heck is he talking about? Crazy catperson. Anyway, if the resistance means that it'll slide down after you let go, he shouldn't go through. It'd force you to split up, and he's not the one who's really equipped to handle the dangers that might lurk beyond. Instead, we need to find a way to keep the crank where it is. Perhaps tying a bit of rope from the hand-crank to anything nearby that'll keep it from rewinding?

tell him to hurry through and then you will let it drop when he yells clear, he is to look around for anything to help get you over as well and then yell to have you open it again.

If he goes through you won't be able to follow him... This doesn't seem like a good idea at all. We need to find something to lock the crank in place, or jam the obstruction. Tell him to keep out of there for a second, you're gonna drop it back down.

...hey, can we just climb over it? It looks like there's space above it.

Slate 2011/06/05(Sun)17:42 No. 309358 ID: 370692
File 130732095564.png - (20.43KB , 700x500 , 25.png )

Marisa looks around her to see if there is anything nearby that she could tie the crank to so as to keep it in place, but she is dissapointed to discover nothing of the sort. She decides to order Adrienne to quickly pass through the hole.
"Uh," Adrienne hesitates, "Uh, I'm not too sure about that... what if, you know, you drop it? Are you sure you don't have anything to secure the thing in place with, or jam it?" Marisa does not push the issue; she could try to coax him into going through, but for now she will consider her other options.
After ensuring that Adrienne is clear, Marisa releases the crank, and the blade within the construction at Adrienne's side of the trench crashes down with unexpected force; Adrienne is startled.
Marisa gauges her ability to climb the obstruction on her side as she unslings her bag, and finds it to be of too great height and lacking in sufficient footholds to surmount.
Her bag still contains the smaller sack, a small stone, worthless pennies, a large knife, some rope, a sturdy and thick piece of wood, and the cracked artifact.

Hmm. Think you can tie the piece of wood to the crank so that when the crank tries to rotate the wood hits the floor, stopping it?

tie the rope to the handle and wrap it around the whole assembly a couple times then tie the other end to the wood and throw it across. Adrienne will hold it while you jump back across you will then both pull the rope. then while holding the rope both crawl through and slowly lower it so the blade rests on the wood so you can pull the rope from the other side.

Hey, try cranking the crank until it's in the fully 'open' position then taking the knife and thrusting it through the wood of the crankshaft and in between the cracks of some of the stones beyond, thus keeping the wheel immobile unless the knife breaks or the stones break loose.

Slate 2011/06/11(Sat)17:00 No. 312096 ID: 370692
File 130783680906.png - (21.02KB , 700x500 , 26.png )

>>309367
The wood would not be heavy enough to keep the crank from moving.

>>309372
Marisa is not entirely sure what this plan is proposing, so she discards it.

>>309456
Not believing the other two ideas would work, Marisa decides to attempt to jam the crankshaft with the knife. She examines the wheel to ensure that everything is lined up, and begins stabbing the wood. She manages to bore a hole through to a crack in the stones that she can sink the knife into quite securely.
Marisa cranks it to the, 'open,' position, and quickly and precisely applies the knife; it works, and the mechanism is jammed. She supposes she received her-- or, rather, Adrienne's-- money's worth for that knife, then. It was not the intended worth, but...
"Uh," Adrienne says, "Huh. That worked." He crouches to look into the hole and then looks to Marisa, her hands free of the crank. "Though, I would have liked to get more out of the knife, but I guess this'll just have to do."

We can take it back out when we leave. Jump over and head in there first.

First make sure that the knife isn't going to slip or come out while you're under the knife, as it were. You can only do so much but make sure it at least SEEMS steady before you put your life on the line.

yeah kick it a few times to be sure it is in there and not a twitch away from breaking.
and what
>>309372
is saying is to use the rope to crank it from a distance.

>>312096
You know, we could probably just climb over the obstacle rather than waste a perfectly good knife. It's 8-10 feet of old weathered bricks, even an amateur could climb that pretty easily.

Slate 2011/06/12(Sun)00:00 No. 312280 ID: 370692
File 130786203665.png - (15.46KB , 700x500 , 27a.png )

>>312105
Marisa now understands what the plan was about, but either way, it would not have been plausible.

>>312185
Marisa realizes this.

Marisa ensures that her handiwork is secure enough for her to pass through the hole. She doesn't kick it, as she fears that would dislodge it, but she does attempt to shift it by jiggling it quite forcefully; it holds.
Marisa hops easily over to the other side. Adrienne says, "Aw, you should've said that line again. It was really clever, you know."
Marisa hesitates, but she dives into and scrambles through the hole. Marisa can feel her heart beating more heavily than normal from the adrenaline.
Marisa waits momentarily, but Adrienne doesn't show any signs that he'll be coming through. Perhaps he needs encouragement?

Slate 2011/06/12(Sun)00:01 No. 312281 ID: 370692
File 130786209558.png - (31.37KB , 700x500 , 27b.png )

It seems that he does not. Adrienne rockets through the hole, faster than Marisa had. He seems visibly distraught as both of them move on to the next chamber.
The walls here are built to form a sort of sphere around the occupants.
The chamber is being lit by the same sort of object that Marisa had encountered in the other rooms of the dungeon, only this one is not being hung from the ceiling.

Look long and hard at the Iron Maiden, then turn to Adrienne with a big evil grin and say "Heeeey, would you like to see a magic trick?" Then call him a coward when he backs out. Anyway, I'm guessing that's a statue? And, what exactly is glowing ? It looks like a staff, and then on the ground next to it... a knife? or something broken? Anyway, how far is the gap in the floor, and is it as apparently deadly as the spikes from before?

close iron maiden and knock it into the pit as a bridge.

>>312282
Oi, less antagonizing the guy who's paying us.

Closing the thing and not even commenting on it seems best for getting along with the guy who gives us money.

Take a look into the pit. Carefully.

Don't close the thing. Instead leave it open fully, and rotate it around on the bast to face the chasm, then tip it over to form a bridge with the spikes pointing down.

Slate 2011/06/12(Sun)21:57 No. 312617 ID: 370692
File 130794107043.png - (24.08KB , 700x500 , 28.png )

As much fun as it would be, Marisa resists the great urge to antagonize Adrienne. However, she is not quite sure that she can resist further temptation. At the next time that a thought enters Marisa's mind to antagonize Adrienne, she will likely follow through with it.
It is not a statue; rather, it is a woman standing extremely still. The fact that she is breathing is barely perceptible, though. The staff on the ground is of the same kind as the objects lighting the previous rooms. It shines with a brilliant intensity that yet somehow harms not the eyes of any one who should look directly at it. The other object laid at the woman's feet seems to be some kind of small knife that radiates a sort of shadowy mist. At the bottom of the gap, there are yet more deadly spines, much like in the previous chambers.
Marisa decides to push the iron maiden over so as to gain access to where the woman is standing; it would be long enough to reach the other side, and she doesn't believe that she could simply jump it. She requests from Adrienne assistance in moving into place. He seems nervous, but still obliges.
As they work, Adrienne says to Marisa, "Do you think she's okay? I mean, it's a little unsettling how she's--"
Adrienne is interrupted by Marisa tipping the makeshift bridge over and into position. It lands and startles both Adrienne and Marisa with a great crash. The woman's eyes open.

>>312617
Get ready for a fight, but let's not just rush in.

Say "Hey. Who're you?"

Slate 2011/06/14(Tue)16:30 No. 313270 ID: 370692
File 130809420469.png - (32.21KB , 700x500 , 29.png )

Marisa tenses up and prepares herself in the case of a confrontation, but she keeps a civil stance to avoid provoking one herself. She speaks to the woman, "Hey. Who're you?"
The woman gives a warm, disarming smile. She does not reply in words; rather, she simply shakes her head once.
The woman simply smiles silently at Marisa and Adrienne for a moment before her eyes wander to the book at Marisa's hip.
She looks back up at Marisa and speaks in Runic; what she says could be interpreted as,
"Your advent, surely, could only have been made possible as an orchestration of divine will," As she says this, she smiles, and she retrieves the two objects from the ground.
"As I had descried myself laid down within this pit of darknesses and the shadow of death, I found my only liberation from this lurid stench of the victims of the resent of kings, through engaging in meditation of fathomless depth," she ceases speaking for a moment, thinking, before continuing, "... that is, it was, ahead of your most fortuitous arrival."
She steps up onto the makeshift bridge.
"My alias is Temper. Yet, I feel your deed grants you priviledge enough to learn of my name and title; Adela the Blue."

>>313270
Remember last time. Right now this woman is a potential threat and should be treated as such.

"you will have to forgive me if i seem too cautious. but there is nothing to prove you are not simply an elaborate trap."

Tell Adrienne you got this, then converse in runic with the lady. Warily. She is armed, after all, with some kind of magic shadow dagger. It seems perhaps she's been waiting for someone to free her? Ask her why she's been imprisoned.

Slate 2011/06/15(Wed)22:58 No. 313786 ID: 370692
File 130820393266.png - (32.68KB , 700x500 , 30.png )

Marisa turns her head to Adrienne and tells him that she will handle this.
"You will have to forgive me if I seem too cautious, but there is nothing to prove you are not simply an elaborate trap," she says in Runic, wary of the woman; Marisa has already had one unpleasant experience with a stranger met underground. "You've been waiting for someone to free you? Why were you imprisoned?"
Adela the Blue smiles. She steps forward, but there is nothing threatening or malicious about her or the action. She replies, "One might dedicate a life to discovering the manners in which any intentions I may possess are borne of insincerity and devious goals."
She continues, "Regardless, it is the one actuality that remains; I am both a shepherd and a charge, separated from both my keeper and my own flock by the wall established by those who were destitute of the visions of Truth. It was with great purpose that I set myself to uncovering and acquiring the divine instruments that I will require to witness rent asunder the wall barring me from making progress to my Great Purpose,"
She further says, "To such an end, I discovered these chambers, tainted with a history of torture and vengeance, hoping to perhaps acquire such an artifact as I speak of, and perhaps even to give my blessings and thus allow these wretched souls relief from their remaining mortal bonds."
"Quite unfortunately, through using my tool," Adela the Blue raises the dagger emanating a shadowy mist, "with this branch," she gestures to the branch that hangs behind her, "I had stranded myself upon that pedestal. I must admit, my strongest virtue is not that of foresight."
Once Adela the Blue has finished orating, Adrienne whispers to Marisa, "Um... what is she saying? Is it bad?"

send Adrienne back through. stay out of reach of the dagger. and ask what her great purpose is.

Ah, so she said that she got trapped here. Summarize what she said to our boss.

Ask her what the dagger does.

>>313786
What is your grand purpose? What is your truth?

PS. be ready to run and jump across the gap and pull out the knife to drop the big blade.

"allow these wretched souls relief from their mortal bonds" does not exactly sound entirely reassuring.

Slate 2011/06/16(Thu)17:42 No. 314021 ID: 370692
File 130827137736.png - (25.40KB , 700x500 , 31.png )

Marisa gives Adrienne a summarized account of what the woman has said; the woman calls herself, 'Temper,' and, 'Adela the Blue,' is searching for artifacts so that she may break through some kind of barrier separating her from her, 'Great Purpose," and to this end came here searching, but ended up trapping herself.
Marisa then orders Adrienne to retreat back through the obstruction in the previous chamber, believing that a conflict may occur. Adrienne obliges and departs from the chamber.
Ready to flee herself, Marisa turns to Adela the Blue and inquires as to the nature of her, 'Truth,' and her, 'Great Purpose,' asks about the function of the knife releasing a shadowy mist, and tells her that she is unsettled by the phrase, "...allow these wretched souls relief from their mortal bonds."
Adela the Blue smiles as she responds in Runic, "Truth is the identity of my revered shepherd, the individual who has, upon himself, taken the responsibility of guiding myself and others toward our own Great Purposes, as he did himself toward his own.
She continues, "All souls are in possession of their own Great Purpose, their ultimate reason for being, that they must discover; what exactly the term Great Purpose connotes is of such broadness and complexity that I might orate to you about for an extended period of time that I would dare not to estimate the exact length of.
Adela the Blue takes another step forward, and Marisa takes a step back in response, thinking to stay away of the knife. Adela the Blue does not seem to notice as she says further, "Souls are bound to their mortal bodies for however long the body exists as one physical object, or for however long it requires for one such as myself to stumble upon a soul ensnared, still held within a body that has long since ceased its functions. It is my duty, then, to offer my blessings so that such wretched souls may be relieved of their remaining mortal bonds, so that they may continue on the path toward their Great Purpose."
Adela the Blue raises the knife and says, "As for my tool; while I suppose that one may, if possessed by some manner of malice, utilize it in malicious manners, I have not, and certainly will not, employ it myself in any such manner. Allow me to demonstrate to you its use."
She turns to the branch and skillfully throws the knife; it embeds itself in the branch. Adela the Blue suddenly breaks apart into a shadowy mist that is whisked over the the knife embedded in the branch; the mist reshapes and reforms back into Adela the Blue, with her hand grasping the knife.
"You likely see how this may make the tool valuable. Stone is quite impervious to being penetrated, and this slope behind this branch allowed me entrance to this chamber, but it is much too steep for me to scale back up. And so was how I had been trapped upon this pedestal."

"so you are like the true angel of death, a Shepard for the souls of those already dead, not a taker of life"

>>314021
That's sorta insanely valuable. Too bad she seems sorta insanely dangerous.

Hmm she's something of a philosopher... and it seems this guy 'Truth' is her master, and she merely one of his apprentices/students. I wonder if this'll ever come up later? I'm not certain, but I'm getting more trusting of this gal, as she seems to be hinting that she's more of an undead-hunter, releasing the souls from those bound to a body no longer functioning, than some kind of "Everyone must die before they can truly LIVE!" lunatic... You need not repeat everything I say to you, catgirl, I'm merely giving my opinion and information to you and the other voices.

>>314021
She seems legit. Offer to escort her out, and note that you have found one corpse here already that might need her help.

Let's make our way out. See if we can catch up to Adrienne.

Slate 2011/06/18(Sat)15:11 No. 314680 ID: 370692
File 130843510018.png - (20.67KB , 700x500 , 32.png )

Marisa says to Adela the Blue, "So, you are like the true angel of death; a shepherd for the souls of those already dead, and not a taker of life."
Adela the Blue seems bemused for a moment, saying, "That is... not quite so. This duty is not mine alone; it is shared by all with the knowledge to perform these blessings. And, even then, it is not a requirement that all those who possess the proper knowledge or training must actively seek out the afflicted and then give the blessings. Rather, it is an obligation of those who possess the proper knowledge or training to bestow the blessings upon any afflicted they may encounter. In addition, this obligation does not entail that one guide the soul beyond its corporeal bonds; there is not even a manner in which one might guide a soul that is released from its bondage."
Her expression turns pleasant again, and she smiles as she says, "However, your final assertion was quite correct. I am not one to behave with violence. I would, quite certainly, be absolutely incapable of performing any action of the sort."
Marisa makes an offer to escort Adela the Blue from the dungeon, which is accepted. Marisa mentions, as they exit the chamber to return to Adrienne, that she has found already one corpse that may require help.
Adrienne is standing before the blade-obstruction, which is still open.
"Hey!" he says, "Uh... so, what's happening?" He gestures to Adela the Blue while saying, "And what's her story?
"Also," he adds, "I think that was the last room, and yet we haven't any artifacts."

ask adela if she found anything that would count as an artifact but is useless for her purpose.

You could tell Adrienne that technically they found three artifacts. Adela's staff, her dagger, and the mage herself. But you can tell Adrienne as well that he was wrong in that she clearly got here before them, so any failure in procuring anything like artifacts is purely due to his misinformation.

Also make sure he doesn't do anything like jump through the hole and shut it on y'all. This looks like the obvious place for a setup. If necessary you might need to lunge forward and grab his tail as he tries to snake through the opening.

>>314680
You know I'm not sure that was all there is to this ruin.

Explain to Adrienne what we found out about Adela the Blue, and say that we should probably get back through this thing before the knife breaks. If it will break...

...is there anything on the other side of the gap in the floor now?

Slate 2011/06/21(Tue)15:22 No. 316026 ID: 370692
File 130869496197.png - (19.55KB , 700x500 , 33.png )

A cursory glance to the other side of the trench yeilds nothing of interest.
Marisa explains that Adela the Blue is follower of someone named Truth, she is obligated to pray for any dead she may come across, that her knife allows its wielder to teleport to targets that it is thrown at, and that she has assured Marisa that she would never do any harm. Marisa also says that they all should pass through the hole soon, should the knife be losing its strength.
Adrienne says, "Huh. Yeah, I guess we should get through here."
Adrienne moves to pass through, but Marisa proceeds to point out that they have actually found at least two artifacts, Adela the Blue's staff and dagger, and that the woman herself seems to be a Runecaller, as she speaks Runic. Marisa also mentions that Adrienne was quite clearly wrong when he earlier purported that no one else had discovered the ruins, and further adds that any failure to procure any artifacts not already in another's possession is due to his misinformation.
Adrienne responds, annoyed, "Hey, I said that I wasn't sure if my info was spot-on. Even then, I'm not the who's under contract to find these things; you are."
"Besides," he says, "We can just get one of, uh, Adela's artifacts." He turns to Adela the Blue and says, "Hey, would it be possible for you to, maybe... be generous enough to part with one of those?"
Adela the Blue stares at Adrienne blankly for a moment, before smiling and shaking her head. Marisa explains to Adela the Blue what Adrienne inquired, curious to know the answer herself. Adela the Blue speaks in Runic, "I am afraid that I cannot part with my tools. The Mist is too invaluable for traversing treacherous terrain, and I suspect that this staff of enchanted light shall prove itself invaluable as well."
She pauses for a moment, thoughtfully, before saying, "I realize at this moment that I have made a profound oversight; I have not inquired as to your name, or the name of your fellow, and I am afraid that I have neglected to inform you that, as a native of beyond the Wall, I do not speak your native tongue."
Adrienne asks, "Uh... What's she saying? Is that a yes?"

hmm... maybe with her help you can get some of the other light orb staff things from the roof?

In response, you might tell Adrienne that you were under contract to find any UNCLAIMED relics from this site, and if the site HAD no unclaimed relics then it's no fault of yours.

And to Adela you might argue that were it not for your help she'd be trapped forevermore in that room and that now she's free to resume her journeys/quests/whatever, so it might behoove her to offer the staff in gratitude, since it would've done her no good were she not free.

Of course, I'm still not entirely sure it'd be a good idea to do that... I have a feeling there's a whole 'nother side to Adela we've yet to see.

But feel free to introduce yourselves, as long as your names are not ancient curses in Runic or something and by revealing them you'd give her great power over you or oblige her to destroy you body and soul. Or anything like that.

>>316027
Alright that seems fine, if she can help us get something then this won't be a complete loss.

But enough talk, get through that opening!

You know what, let's go through first so we can grab that wheel.

Slate 2011/06/26(Sun)23:16 No. 318256 ID: 370692
File 130915538672.png - (47.89KB , 700x500 , 34.png )

Marisa decides to reveal her and Adrienne's names to Adela, as Adela has requested them, and doing so would not have any overtly negative consequences.
"Marisa. Adrienne," Adela repeats to herself aloud, "Those are wonderful names."
Marisa then cautiously inquires as to whether Adela, if she is not willing to give up her own light-staff, might assist Marisa and Adrienne in obtaining one of the staves hung from the ceiling.
"Certainly," Adela says, "Though I must beseech you to refrain from addressing me by my name without using my title as well. I would request for you to refer me either by my alias, Temper, or by my name and title together, Adela the Blue."
Marisa turns to Adrienne and argues that she was contracted to locate unclaimed artifacts, and as there were no unclaimed artifacts discovered, she is not at fault. However, she says, Adela the Blue has agreed to help in acquiring one of the light-staves from the ceiling.
Adrienne opens his mouth to counter, but no words escape. Instead, Adrienne remains silent and rubs his chin thoughtfully, before opening his mouth again, to say, "Actually, I don't think that we agreed to any exact contractual obligations like that. But whatever, we can get one of the artifacts on the ceiling. Really, as long as I get more than my investment back, I'm happy."
Marisa decides then that there has been enough discussion; she quickly crawls through the obstruction and hops over to the crank, so as to secure it so that there is no risk of the knife failing while one of the others is still going through. Marisa beckons for the others to follow. Adrienne seems apprehensive at first, but he manages to gather enough courage to dive in and scramble through. Adela the Blue passes through without much incident. Marisa yanks the knife from the mechanism, and stows it away in her bag after she slowly lowers the guillotine.
Adela notices the pile of skeletons and bones at the bottom of the trench; with a solemn expression, she approaches the edge and closes her eyes, appearing to fall into a state of deep thought.
Adrienne seems perplexed by Adela's behavior. He dismisses it and turns to Marisa.
"So, uh, how exactly are we going to go about grabbing one of these staves?" Adrienne says, "Maybe we could build a tower, by standing on each other's shoulders," he says with a chuckle.

partially. if you get on top of the wall that the crank is connected to, do you think you could jump to it?

Tell Adrienne that his thinly-veiled attempt to look under your and/or Adela the Blue's skirts was easily recognized for what it was.

I'm curious as to what various 'investments' Adrienne has made, though i don't suggest voicing such questions. I mean, he got the map from somewhere, right?

Also, humor Adela. She seems nice and ominous.

>>318256
Throw rocks at the base until it cracks, then dive across and catch it.

>>318256
Well, if the knife can pierce the staff base, Adela the Blue can teleport up to grab ahold of it. Then Marisa can just catch her when she falls.

Also let's not forget to show Adela the Blue that skeleton in the alcove. But don't disturb her while she's meditating.

>>318316
Oh c'mon why would we say that, neither of the females are wearing any clothing that's vulnerable to that type of perversion.

Slate 2011/07/05(Tue)17:32 No. 322150 ID: 370692
File 130991232076.png - (49.88KB , 700x500 , 35.png )

Marisa allows Adela to meditate in peace. She instead focuses on her urge to antagonize Adrienne. Marisa makes a valiant attempt to resist, but she is ultimately unable to deny the temptation. She at least promises herself that she will show greater restraint in the future, as if to excuse her actions now. While Marisa is not wearing a skirt, she supposes that she could still warp the intent of Adrienne's statement in her own favor. Marisa informs Adrienne that his thinly-veiled attempt to glimpse beneath Adela the Blue's robe was easily recognized for what it really was.
Adrienne absorbs this rather brusque statement for a moment.
A smile springs to his lips as he gives a chuckle, and says, "Clever."

>>318284
Marisa supposes that she could reach the top of the barrier, and that she may even be able to leap far enough to reach the light-staff, but she would be reluctant to do so; the staff is hung just above the edge of the trench on her side. If Marisa were to jump for the staff from the barrier, and if she were to do so with too much momentum, she could very well overshoot the edge and end up impaled in the trench.

>>318433
Adela's knife would not likely be capable of piercing the staff; the staff is too thin.

>>318354
The staff is bound to the ceiling by some kind of adhesive, which has likely lost its strength as a result of old age. Marisa can fathom how she might break the staff free by throwing rocks at it, but she is concerned that she would damage the large gem that adorns the staff if she did so.
Marisa deems the safest and most practical plan to acquire the light-staff to be knocking it loose with a stone, as it poses the least risk of harm to her or anyone else's person. Marisa fishes out the rock that she has been carrying in her bag for a while now, moves into position, and heaves it up at the staff. Upon the rock connecting, the adhesive can be heard cracking as it gives out. The light-staff promptly drops into Marisa's arms, and she fumbles with it a little.
"Hey, I thought we were going do the tower thing," Adrienne says.
Adela is still meditating, and she is so still as to emulate a statue.

leave her to it. she is most likely in deep meditation setting the soul free. give Adrienne the staff. certainly seems like enough of an artifact to me.

Now club him with the staff whilst further antagonizing him. I enjoy it so much.

>>322157
This, but use the broken end. Don't want to crack it.

I think physical violence is going too far. He's still our boss and we're not the type to just straight up betray him like that.

If we HAVE TO antagonize him I guess we could tease him by saying something like "Yeah I bet you'd love to be in a stack of bodies with two women."

>>322187
I will say this suffices

>>322187
i agree. hitting is not teasing.

I agree. Even if you do decide you feel like hitting him, make sure it's only a playful *bop* on the head, and include Cheshire grin right before and/or after, perhaps with some pithy phrase.
Antagonizing him is one thing, but pissing him off is another.

Slate 2011/07/09(Sat)21:38 No. 324444 ID: 370692
File 131027272819.png - (57.07KB , 700x500 , 36.png )

Marisa decides to hand the staff off to Adrienne for him to carry.
She holds it out in front of him as she says with a wide grin, "Yeah, I'd bet you'd love to be in a stack of bodies with two women."
Adrienne is just reacting to the joke with a laugh as he reaches out to take the staff, when Marisa promptly retracts it, letting Adrienne grasp air. Marisa then uses the staff to tap Adrienne lightly on the head, before finally pressing it back into Adrienne's outstretched hands; Marisa is still grinning as she does all this.
Adrienne cautiously accepts the staff as he tries to hide his utter confusion under a smile.
Adela the Blue opens her eyes and looks to Marisa and Adrienne. She smiles and says in Runic, "How amusing I should behold that you have already acquired, without my involvement, the artifact which I had only just previously promised to assist you in reaching."
Adela strides past Marisa and Adrienne to the fallen piece of the ceiling, saying, "I do believe that we are prepared to move forward."
Through the gap in the ceiling can be seen many gray storm clouds, forming and moving into position so as to blot out the sky.

The look on his face is priceless. Anyway, yeah, time to start returning to the entrance. Or ask Adela if she wants to stop at every skeleton you're aware of and spend several minutes doing... whatever it was she was doing

Show Adela the Blue that skeleton in the alcove.

Slate 2011/07/11(Mon)20:31 No. 325189 ID: 370692
File 131044146959.png - (67.30KB , 700x500 , 37.png )

The three proceed to make their way back out of the dungeon, stopping at every skeleton to let Adela meditate and perform her blessings. Marisa is sure to show to Adela the skeleton hidden in the alcove. Adela does not pause in front of just the skeletons; she also meditates in front of the stains on the walls.
As Adela is meditating in front of one skeleton, in the chamber with the other light-staff attached to the ceiling, Adrienne tries his hand at knocking the staff down. It ends up falling into the trench.
"That's a shame," Adrienne says as he looks down at the pieces of the shattered gem, scattered amongst the spines and bones.
Adrienne and Adela are both able to scramble up through the hole in the wall at the entrance of the dungeon with boosts from Marisa. Marisa is able to climb up on her own.
Once the three are outside, Adela looks back, and her eyes are drawn to the engraving above the entrance.
She says in Runic, "'Chambers of the Chieftain's Wrath.' After bearing witness to the grotesque horrors housed within this terrible place, I find myself chilled down to my very bones by the extent of your precursors' ruthlessness."
Adela turns back to Marisa and says, "I am afraid that I must now depart. I have much to do if I am to break down the wall and return to Truth. May you find yourself fortune in your own endeavors. I leave you with my blessing."
With that, Adela turns and begins to stride away.
Adrienne says, "I, uh… Think we should get going now, if we want to outrun the storm. That is, unless…"

>>325189
"Unless what?"

Unless?

OUR precursors? Or rather, precursors of the catfolk? How strange to think we're older than humans. Anyway, since it doesn't look like we can get anything more out of her, bid Adela farewell but subtly remind her that she owes you a debt. Then, since you don't want to turn into Wet Cats, you'd best find some cover with Adrienne to cuddl-I mean HUDDLE in.

you need to punch someone it has been far too long

Slate 2011/07/13(Wed)20:08 No. 326177 ID: 370692
File 131061292073.png - (53.32KB , 700x500 , 38.png )

Marisa calls out a farewell to Adela the Blue while subtly reminding her that she owes Marisa a debt for the rescue. Adela does not respond or acknowledge Marisa in any way, and instead continues, uninterrupted, on her way until her form is finally lost amid the foliage of the forest. Marisa turns to Adrienne and asks him to complete his thought.
"…Unless," Adrienne says, "There was something else you needed to do, like, well… something. And there was something you needed to do, which was say bye to your new little friend. So, I guess that's that. Are we ready to head off?"
Marisa agrees and says that she and Adrienne should find some place to cuddle and stay warm, but she catches herself and clarifies that she meant to say, 'huddle.'
Adrienne does not outwardly acknowledge Marisa's verbal slip as he replies, "No, we don't need to do that… I'm sure that we can make it back to town in time if, you know, we walk at a brisk enough pace. Those clouds don't look too… 'rainy.'"
Adrienne goes ahead, stopping momentarily to call to Marisa to hurry up.
On an unrelated note, Marisa suddenly feels an inexplicable urge to punch.

>>326177
Punch a tree, then.

Follow along, and tell Adrienne you kinda wish you had run into something to fight in there. It was irritating getting all nervous about traps and monsters jumping out and nothing happened.

Huh, well Adela turned out to be quite the dead end. Anyway, I guess it's time to go back. You can make some idle chit-chat with Adrienne, possibly asking if he's got other ruins he'd like to investigate, if you're enjoying yourself. Also, in order to continue to establish yourself as dominant, it is necessary that you walk in front of him, and possibly faster than whatever pace he chooses, so you can wait impatiently for him to catch up. And if he tries to be dominant and walk faster... you walk faster still. Til you're both sprinting towards town like two cats caught in a deluge. Which you might be.

>>326186
Punch a tree real hard when he's not looking. Then, when he turns around act like nothing happened.

Slate, you are giving us WAY TOO MUCH influence on Marisa's personality. At the very least either filter out the ones that don't make sense, or rework the collective suggestions int a general idea.

( >>326209 agreed)

Suggestion 2011/07/18(Mon)21:32 No. 327865 ID: 370692
File 131104993782.png - (58.33KB , 700x500 , 39.png )

Hm. I thought i was already filtering the suggestions. at least a little bit anyway. evidently that's maybe not the case. would it necessarily be a bad thing, though? I feel that you all have been making pretty consistent suggestions (in terms of defining the personality of the character), and I feel that I've been implementing them so as to give the character a consistent personality. please, point out if I'm being stupid for thinking this. Anyway, I'll try to pay more attention to how I handle suggestions.

Marisa moves to follow after Adrienne. She is sure to give a strong punch to a tree that she passes by on her way to catch up to Adrienne. He halts for a moment to look back and see Marisa clenching and unclenching her hand as she tries to hide the pain she is expressing on her face.
Marisa is sure to assert her dominance by staying ahead of Adrienne. She walks fast enough that Adrienne must struggle a little to keep up the pace. Marisa tries to make small talk with Adrienne by shouting back over her shoulder at him about how she had hoped to run into something to fight in there and how it was irritating to get all nervous about traps and monsters that never appeared.
"I sort of noticed," Adrienne says. Marisa glances back behind her to see Adrienne's expression is slightly troubled.
Marisa attempts to change the subject and asks Adrienne if there any other ruins that he would like to investigate.
"Yeah, yeah, I have the whole area around the town all mapped out," Adrienne says, the enthusiasm evident in his voice, "I found a whole lot of--"
He halts his speech quite suddenly. Marisa turns around to find that Adrienne seems to have realized something. Adrienne pauses for a moment, but picks back up where he left off in a noticeably less excited tone, "… Nothing. Uh, I think there were really only, I think about two, other places that might have some artifacts. We can see how many we can hit tomorrow; If I remember, you wanted to pay a visit the mayor today. We can pawn this off to my contact, and you can use some of your cut to buy the appropriate attire."
Marisa and Adrienne walk along the road back to town in silence for a few moments, Marisa still in the lead, when Adrienne speaks up.
"So, uh, if I might ask, what exactly was up with that, 'Blue,' lady? She's some kind of cultist? I've already forgotten a lot of what you told me, honestly."
Marisa and Adrienne will likely arrive back in town in just a few minutes as long as they keep up their current brisk pace.

tell him all about her again. and keep up the pace.

[It just sometimes seems like you're being too exact and precise in applying the suggestions to the character rather than having the character come to some internal compromise for herself]

So Adrienne is clearly lying about what he knows, but it may not be so much an example of him being untrustworthy as perhaps he doesn't know if we're trustworthy or if we'll kill him once we get what we want. Perhaps we need to put some effort into showing that we're good for him. When it comes to Adela, you can try to explain in detail what you know, but ultimately I think the best way to put it is that she seems like a Protagonist... Someone someone might write a story about because she's on some grand venture that mere civilians who are merely eking out their own place in life can never hope to truly intrude upon.

take note of those heavy storm clouds, you'll have to keep pace if you want to get to town before it starts raining

>>327865
You give each suggestion too much importance, and it's making Marisa act like a mild schizophrenic because of how inorganic the execution is.
Which isn't all that far from the truth actually, now is it? Discuss.

Slate 2011/07/22(Fri)22:34 No. 329925 ID: 61fa90
File 131139924514.png - (42.87KB , 700x500 , 40.png )

From this point on, Marisa has resolved to attempt to assert more independence in her actions.
Marisa is sure to keep up the quick pace; she is not extremely eager to be caught in the storm. As she is walking, Marisa honors Adrienne's request and explains, to the best of her abilities, what she knows about Adela the Blue.
"Huh," Adrienne says, "Sounds like she's in some kind of crazy cult. I mean, she certainly doesn't follow the Singularity, and you'd have to be pretty crazy to try to break down the Wall. Hope she doesn't attract too much negative attention with that high profile she's keeping."
Marisa is about to agree with him when Adrienne halts in his tracks; he has caught sight of the town. He looks to the sky and Marisa follows his gaze to see the dark clouds meshing together to form a great grey curtain that stretches out across to the horizon all around.
Adrienne passes by Marisa as he says to her, "Come on, we'll sprint the rest of the way; I want to get rid of this thing before it starts pouring."

Slate 2011/07/22(Fri)22:34 No. 329926 ID: 61fa90
File 131139925742.png - (62.80KB , 700x500 , 41.png )

Marisa is sure to catch up and keep ahead of Adrienne so that her dominance may remain established. He calls out directions to her as they weave through town until he orders they turn into an alley. Adrienne taps out a distinct pattern on a cellar door, and it cracks open.
The person behind the door notices that Marisa is with Adrienne and says, "Adrienne. Who is this?"
"This is my, uh, new partner," Adrienne says with indifference; His tone takes on an enthusiastic quality as he continues, "And we have just recently come into possession of this exquisite, uh, 'Lamp-Staff,' artifact--"
"You're selling it to Arkay, Adrienne. Not me."
The door swings open to reveal the doorman, who steps aside to allow Adrienne in. Marisa moves to follow, but she is halted by the doorman.
The doorman says, "Hand over your weapons. They'll be returned when you leave."
Adrienne folds his arms as he waits for Marisa to join him inside.

Hand over any pointy things you've got. I think that's just the dagger. And... ask if your spellbook counts as a weapon. It probably does, actually.

(WHY IS THAT POOR MAN IN A COFFIN LAYING AGAINST A WALL?!)

Hand open what few weapons you have. If he looks surprised at your lack of weaponary, you have full permission to crack your knuckles and grin with your sharp teeth.

yes, hand over the knife and knuckle crack.

yes hand over your knife

Slate 2011/07/24(Sun)19:31 No. 330935 ID: 61fa90
File 131156107008.png - (61.26KB , 700x500 , 42.png )

Marisa presents the large knife to the doorman, who takes it and sets it down to the side.
The doorman asks, "Is that everything?" Marisa is apprehensive about giving up her book of runes, so she neglects to mention it. Instead, she responds to his inquiry by cracking her knuckles and giving a wide grin.
At this, the doorman looks her over and says, "Hm. You are quite large for a feline Chatzen. And that runebook marks you as a caller. I'll need you to give up the book and let yourself be restrained."
The doorman turns and shouts down into the cellar, "Alima! Zane! I need this one restrained!"
Two people start coming up the steps as Adrienne chuckles to himself.

>>330935
Give up the book and allow it but be VERY huffy about it.

>>330935

"I'm not keen on being restrained. I'll let you hold the book but can we come to some other arrangement than restraints? I'm too prideful to be bound except by someone who actually beat me fair and square."

If you can't weasel your way out of being 'restrained,' at least find some way to get Adrienne to share your pain. Tell them "Oh, then you might want to tie Adrienne's hands behind his back too, since I've been teaching him some things and if he can gesture freely he can get some spells off"

give them the book, but don't let your self be restrained

that's just dumb, your a guest not a prisoner

looks like we might have to punch people, but not yet

Slate 2011/07/27(Wed)20:55 No. 332679 ID: 61fa90
File 131182533582.png - (49.79KB , 700x500 , 43.png )

>>330945
Marisa is personally opposed to being restrained by anyone, for any reason. In fact, being bested by someone in combat would be even more of an incentive to resist restraint. She would also be quite apprehensive of giving up her runebook; all graduates from the academy are expected to treat their books as though extensions of themselves.

>>330957
It would rather foolish to attempt a bluff of such caliber; it is common knowledge that people train for years from youth to learn even basic runecalling.
Marisa replies to the doorman, saying that she will not submit, and that she would never concede to being separated from her runebook.
"Ah, you know what? I'll just talk to Arkay without you. I'll ask him to split the money into two bags. I'll try not to be long," Adrienne says. He proceeds further into the cellar and out of view.
The doorman sighs, but manages to smile and says, "Listen, the only reason I need you restrained is because of the last one that Adrienne brought down here. I have no doubt you aren't as stupid as he was, but Arkay wants the extra security."
There is a brief pause while the doorman thinks of what to say next. Eventually, he continues, "If it matters, the, 'restraining,' would actually be more like... Alima and Zane accompanying you with their hands resting on your arms, and I guess I could let you keep the book in your bag… of course, if you'd rather wait, I could answer some questions for you?"

>>332679
Hmm. Well, okay. Keeping the book in the bag would be fine. And people just touching you is a bit irritating but maybe you could deal with that just to see what's down there.

What happened with the last guy? Did he try to steal something?

yeah book in bag, and arms on shoulders seems reasonable

agree to these conditions

I don't know, do you(we) have any questions for this guy? I'd naturally rather be in the room when Adrienne discusses payment and whatnot, leaves less room for double-crossing... after all, two bags don't have to be of equal size or weight, or one could be filled with gold and the other copper. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but as a Cat we should know that everyone else is clearly out to deny us what we rightly deserve.

You know what, give this guy a cat-stare.

Slate 2011/07/30(Sat)20:24 No. 334430 ID: 61fa90
File 131208265055.png - (72.32KB , 700x500 , 44.png )

Marisa is still extremely apprehensive of consenting to restraint, but she supposes that the clarified conditions are acceptable. She will be sure to make her disdain for Alima and Zane restraining her no secret, however.

>>332720
Marisa is not entirely clear on what a, 'cat-stare,' is, nor is she clear on why she should subject the doorman to one. In fact, Marisa feels that this inexplicable persecution complex continues, it may breed in her the same manner of xenophobia that she should apparently be so worried about.
In any case, Marisa puts her book in her pack, and she says that she will agree to the conditions. First, however, she says that she would like answered a question; What happened with Adrienne's last partner?
"Oh," the doorman says, cringing as he seems to recall the fellow, "He was big and mean, and he tried to jump Arkay. When Alima and Zane pulled him off, he tried to grab one of our artifacts and run, but Alima and Zane also put a stop to that." The doorman chuckles as he continues, "Then they kicked him out onto the street, and he landed face down, rump up! It was quite hilarious."
The doorman waves to Alima and Zane, saying, "Okay, she's ready."
Marisa allows the two to rest their hands on her shoulders, but she makes a clear display of her discomfort about it.
"Good luck!" the doorman says with a smile as Marisa is escorted into the cellar.
Marisa is greeted by the sight of Adrienne haggling with someone that she assumes to be, 'Arkay.' Marisa tries to focus on their conversation, but her attention is stolen by a peculiar creature that Marisa has never seen before, yet somehow recognizes. The sight of this creature is brewing in her some very surreal feelings.

Aaaand now you know what a cat-stare is, first hand

You must pet the kitty.

>>334430

Wait politely, listen to the conversation, interject if you think appropriate. When they're done, ask what the creature is.

>>334462
Yeah, this seems like what we should do.

Of course, it's not what will happen. Ask one of the two dudes next to you what the thing is.

Look closely at whether the cat seems to be paying any attention to the conversation about the artifact.

There is a decent chance that the cat is Arkay.

Slate 2011/08/06(Sat)03:57 No. 337186 ID: c6f95c
File 131262825787.png - (36.04KB , 700x500 , 45.png )

The creature seems markedly uninterested in the conversation, and Marisa believes that if it were Arkay, Adrienne would be talking to it instead. In any case, Marisa would like to know more about it and why it resembles her.
Marisa's better sensibilities tell her to remain professional and polite, and to pay attention to Adrienne's and Arkay's conversation. Of course, this is difficult for her to do as she quietly asks the woman to her left what this eerily familiar creature is.
"And see here, Arkay, if you will, that you can stare directly into the source of the light, yet find that it doesn't burn your eyes--"
The woman to Marisa's side, Alima, interrupts Adrienne. "Arkay," she says with a smile on her face, "The cat wants to know about the cat." She chuckles a little.
Arkay looks at Marisa, and when he follows her gaze to the cat on the shelf, he lets out a hearty laugh. Alima and Zane join in. Adrienne tries to join as well, but his laugh seems rather weak and forced.
"Adrienne! You did not tell me about your partner!" Arkay says as he walks out from behind a counter and over to the creature on the shelf. He picks it up and walks over to Marisa.
"Her name is Minou, and she is my pride and joy. And, it would seem, a long lost relative of yours!" Arkay laughs at his own joke as he holds the cat up next to Marisa's face.

Slate 2011/08/06(Sat)03:57 No. 337187 ID: c6f95c
File 131262826722.png - (29.52KB , 700x500 , 46.png )

Marisa cannot help but feel slightly insulted, though.

NO ONE TOLD YOU TO ASK ABOUT THE CAT YOU DIMWIT!

>>337188
I did.
>>337187
Scritch the kitty's widdle chin. Ask where it came from. There must be a reason why you've never seen one before.

It's no more strange than a cat-person keeping a pet monkey now, is it? Relax, he meant no harm by it.

ask what he means.

>>337187
Hold your paw/hand in a fist to it's nose so it can smell you.
If it bites you don't flinch, you'll just make it nervous, testy and act feral.
If it hisses at you, try hissing back. It won't end well, but that means it already hates you and you might as well declare dominance.
If if licks you or tries to rub against you, let it, that means it likes you.
If it sniffs and does nothing or just looks away, that means you are uninteresting.

>>337187
>>337514
Also, the method of petting the cat is by scratching the top of it's head and around the ears, or brushing your hand lightly across its fur and along the fur, don't go against the grain! Also if it starts to make a growling-ish noise, that means it's purring and it's happy.

Orrrrr you could stop making such a scene with the cat so as to avoid further mockery and just ignore it completely, looking to Adrienne and asking how much longer the bargaining is going to take.

Slate 2011/08/08(Mon)10:51 No. 338095 ID: 880ab2
File 131282591482.png - (44.94KB , 700x500 , 47.png )

Marisa has no knowledge of the behavioral patterns of cats, but she would like to remain polite to Arkay, who is apparently expecting that she do something to acknowledge it. She certainly doesn't know if this type of animal enjoys being scratched on the chin, but she supposes that she will find out.
Marisa is lightly surprised by the cat craning its head forward to sniff her hand. She directs a couple of questions to Arkay, asking where the animal came from, as she's never seen one before, and what he meant by his previous statement.
"Well, now, you could find a little cat just about anywhere! Which is why I'm not quite sure why you have apparently never seen one before," says Arkay. Marisa was born and raised in the mountains, though she is not sure if that would have anything to do with it. The cat seems to have lost interest in Marisa, as it has stopped sniffing her and turned to look off the side. It does not even acknowledge her scratching its chin.
"And I meant my last statement as a joke, I assure you," Arkay continues, chuckling as he does. His smile almost radiates warmth.
Realizing that she may be looking like a fool right now, and remembering what she came down here for, Marisa retracts her hand and looks to Adrienne while asking how much longer the bargaining will take.
Arkay takes a moment to laugh before gently letting his cat drop from his arms to scamper off.
"I see that you are a girl of business!" he says as he moves back behind the counter. Marisa cannot help but feel slightly offended by Arkay calling her a, 'girl.' She distinctly recalls the rite of passage that she went through to become an adult.
"As it so happens, I believe I was just about make an offer when you arrived," Arkay says.
Marisa feels an urge to rebuke Arkay for his insolence.

Resist urge. instead, reflect upon your rite of passage.

I don't think he means you're not a woman. He just means girl as in female. Best to not look foolish any further.

Slate 2011/08/09(Tue)14:33 No. 338307 ID: 880ab2
File 131292562721.png - (31.49KB , 700x500 , 48.png )

Marisa can recall the Rite. It is a tradition that has been practiced for centuries, she's been told, by the people living in the mountains in southern Chatze. It has more of a symbolic meaning than anything else; to be eligible for the Rite, one must already display the various qualities expected of any responsible adult, and so passing the Rite becomes simply a recognition of that. Marisa can recall standing before the shrine, flanked on her sides by her mother, her father, and her sister, with the Stone of Modenhed gently bobbing in the ceremonial dish. Marisa recalls cupping the Stone in her hands

Slate 2011/08/09(Tue)14:34 No. 338308 ID: 880ab2
File 131292564642.png - (45.94KB , 700x500 , 49.png )

Marisa realizes that she has greater immediate concerns at the moment, and so returns her attention back to the present. As much as she was offended by Arkay's behavior, she decides not to say anything, reasoning that he simply did not know better. She is still a bit frustrated at Arkay, though.
Arkay turns to look at Adrienne and says, "Now, Adrienne, based one what you've told me about this one-- a bright, everlasting light… that does not even irritate the eye! I would offer three-thousand Valutaer."
Marisa knows three-thousand Valutaer to be no small amount, but having no gauge for how much most artifacts are worth, she is not quite sure whether that would actually be a suitable amount.
"Well, uh, you see, Arkay," Adrienne starts, "I never actually said that it was everlasting… I really just said that it's lasted for as long as it's taken for us to get in there and come back to you, which is a few hours maybe--"
"Adrienne," Arkay interrupts, and Adrienne seems to shut up almost reflexively. He seems anxious as Arkay continues, "That is a very important detail. An artifact like this would be quite valuable… but if I do not know when it will eventually cease to function, then I would be making quite an investment. One-thousand Valutaer."
"Now, Arkay," Adrienne says, sounding nervous. "D-don't you think that's a bit of a drop? I mean, well, uh, this is a pretty, uh, exquisitely crafted staff, and, even if it were to… 'go out,' as it were, I'm quite sure that this exquisite staff could quite easily be sold to someone as, uh, jewelry or something."
"Hm," Arkay scratches his chin, thinking. After a moment, he says, "One-thousand five-hundred. And that's final."
Adrienne looks crestfallen.

Okay Adrienne was an idiot for selling himself short. It's presumable that it's been lit since the last time anyone has been in at the very least, and Adela was in there for HOW LONG? In all likelihood it's ancient and won't go out. Perhaps you might be able to use your Runic studies to validate how it works?

Point out that it was also hanging in the ruins for decades, at least. It wasn't attached to a power source or anything, either.

Point out that it has been in the ruins (for decades / since the time of the Cheiftain if you know who that was), and is still fully functional despite no maintenance.
You might also want to mention that such an artefactual would be valuable to runic researchers wanting to study or replicate a useful enchantment like that. (Judging by your reaction to it, efficient magical lighting is uncommon or nonexistent.)

yeah mention that it was in the RUINS for like a thousand years.

>>338316
This.

I say, go with your gut. Claim that the staff is an endless light source, and base your claim on how long it had been between when it was created and when you found it. Don't even doubt the statement yourself. Say it, and mean it.

Slate 2011/08/10(Wed)18:27 No. 338843 ID: 880ab2
File 131302606281.png - (41.07KB , 700x500 , 50.png )

Marisa could feasibly use her skills to analyze and learn more about the artifact, but it would take much more time than present company would likely be willing to give.
Marisa decides that, at the very least, she can try to rescue Adrienne from selling himself short. She speaks up, telling Arkay how she and Adrienne found the artifact in some underground ruins, how it had likely been hanging in there for at at least a few decades, possibly even since the time of the tribes, and how it still seems to function perfectly despite no maintenance.
Arkay scratches his chin in consideration, and Adrienne's ears perk up hopefully. As Arkay is thinking, Marisa also offers that the artifact may be of interest to researchers, due to its rarity. Marisa has no idea if it actually would be of interest to researchers, or if magical lighting like this is very rare, but she doesn't mention that. Marisa is relatively new to archaeology, so she really only knows as much about artifacts as anyone else.
At Marisa's second statement, Arkay laughs and says, "Adrienne! Looks like you've found yourself a real rookie!" He pulls the light-staff under the counter and pulls out two bags of coins before lightly leaning toward Marisa.
"Adrienne hasn't explained our business to you very well, has he?" Arkay half-whispers with a playful smile, before turning back to Adrienne, who is looking at Marisa. He is noticeably nervous, and his ears have pressed down again.
"At least, though, she's convinced me. Effectively everlasting light! Three-thousand Valutaer it is, split seventy-thirty, as you asked," Arkay says as he splits coins between the bags accordingly. Adrienne reaches out and rests his hand on the bag slightly bulkier than the other, still looking at Marisa.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

grab the smaller bag.

As >>338851 said
after you get him outside you can take 600 from him to make it a even 50/50 split but as is there is no reason to cause a scene.

>>338846
Our job is not strictly legal. He's a fence.

>>338861
Considering he bought us stuff... well, maybe we can get a little more out of him anyway since we just helped him get more. Negotiations should take place outside though.

>>338885
Those were expenses related to the job and as the employer it was his duty to provide the funds, you got to spend money to make money. We were the ones who retrieved the item from the ceiling and got full price when he fucked up the negotiation so if he thinks he can cheat us out of our 50%(a price which he agreed to) then he is mistaken or will be sorely mistaken very soon. I am also of the opinion that we should not negotiate the 50/50 split, that was the figure quoted when we first met and thats the fairest figure considering both come out equal and thus we won't have to argue about who deserves the bigger share.

>>338983
Good points, all.
Perhaps we should let him know that we don't agree on 30% right now, though we shouldn't discuss it in here.

>>338995
Well heres my plan, we take the smaller bag and smile and thank Arkay for his hospitality and then let Adrienne lead the way out when we get outside we ask Adrienne to let us hold the bag and that when we get to his house(or wherever hes staying) we will split the money evenly, if he refuses then when take it by force and lead him to the inn. We should only bring up the matter in here if he refuses to be the first outside, the reasons I'm so against mentioning the matter in here unless we really have to is A. Adrienne is already embarrassed and emasculated so I don't think we'll win any points with him if we challenge him in front of his boss B. This matter doesn't really concern Arkay as I doubt he really cares how the money is split so to argue about it would waste his time and be rude to the host C. We are in a underground bunker with goons on both sides of us who are extra jumpy because the last time there was a guy down here they tried to kill their boss, why would we do anything that might look like we're trying to cause trouble when we can handle the matter topside away from the goons?

>>339009
wow, uh...
sorry for not considering this in the update but i sort of already wrote it and drew everything before checking the thread to make sure that i wasn't missing anything
i appreciate your apparent enthusiasm, but i would implore you to either make shorter suggestions in the future or, if you must make long suggestions, use line breaks to make it less of a wall of text.
in any case, pls forgive me for ignoring your post

Slate 2011/08/11(Thu)10:33 No. 339014 ID: 880ab2
File 131308401156.png - (34.77KB , 700x500 , 51.png )

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Marisa says to Adrienne. Just as soon as she utters the words, however, she realizes that she did, and that current evidence points to Arkay running a not entirely legal business out of a cellar discreetly hidden away in a back alley.
"Buh?" Adrienne seems stupefied for a moment.
"Uh-m, no," he continues, "I just--thought that you would be more… vindictive?"
Marisa snatches the smaller bag from off the counter, staring blankly into Adrienne's eyes all the while. She resolves to speak with Adrienne about splitting the profits more equally once they are both outside. She makes for the the exit, bag of coins in hand. As she starts up the steps, Alima and Zane withdraw their hands from her and take up positions back at the bottom of the stairwell. Adrienne, noticeably unnerved, slings his backpack back on and makes to follow Marisa.
"Uh," Adrienne looks back, "Nice doing business, Arkay--"
"Be mindful of your friend, there, Adrienne!" Arkay interrupts with a laugh.
"Uh, yeah…"

Slate 2011/08/11(Thu)10:34 No. 339016 ID: 880ab2
File 131308407801.png - (54.46KB , 700x500 , 52.png )

Adrienne nods to Alima and Zane, who both nod back, before going up the stairs.
The doorkeeper smiles at Marisa as he opens the door outside for her and bids her a good evening. He does the same to Adrienne.
Stepping outside, Marisa is stricken by the fact that it has begun to drizzle very lightly, no doubt a premonition of the great storm that is about to strike. She dislikes having to get wet, but this amount of drizzle is something that she can manage to suffer through. Adrienne, however, is attempting to shelter himself under his backpack.
Marisa stares blankly into Adrienne's eyes and demands from him an additional six-hundred valutaer to make the division of profit equal between them.
"Now, hold on, a minute, here," Adrienne says. He sounds slightly stressed.
Marisa argues that she deserves an equal share of the profits for several reasons; she was the one to actually retrieve the item; she was the one to rescue the negotiations when Adrienne mishandled them; and Adrienne himself had originally agreed to split the profits halfway. A flash of lightning streaks across the cloudy sky.
"Well, now, hold on here--" Adrienne is interrupted by rumbling thunder that causes Marisa and Adrienne both to jump.
"…Well, hold on…" Adrienne pauses, listening for any more thunder. After a moment, he continues. "… If I can remember right, I said that the negotiations would start at fifty/fifty, and I said that if I had to do some things, like buy supplies for you, or be a part of the actual expedition, that I would be the one with the greater share of the profits, which are conditions that you agreed to, and since those are things that I did, I would say that what we have here is pretty fair then wouldn't you agree"
Adrienne wilts under Marisa's unfaltering, blank gaze. She opens her mouth to respond, but as she does, the rain begins to come down in full force. Adrienne lets out a frustrated, wavering sigh. Marisa is noticeably alarmed, desperately trying to shield herself from the downpour using her arms and her satchel; she manages, however, to not break into complete hysteria.
Quite suddenly, the cellar door cracks open, and the doorman calls out.
"Hey!" he shouts over the noise of the rain, "I didn't quite catch your name!" Marisa notices that he is holding what would appear to be two large cloaks.

Two options.
First, you could just grab Adrienne by an arm and drag him with you to someplace under cover like an inn or tavern or abandoned house and then can appropriately chew him out (cat fight? Cat fight!)
Second, you and he could temporarily retreat to the doorman, introduce yourself, and take his cloaks if they're offered as seems plain, and then possibly proceed with the first option. There's a possible risk, of course, that if we turn around and head to the doorman, Adrienne makes a break for it.

We should get out of the rain. Be sure Adrienne follows you, then gruffly tell the doorman your name.

Inquire how much it cost to buy the stuff you got. There is absolutely no reason for you to lose more money from the split than what they cost. Also, the dagger wound up to be essential in fully exploring the ruins.

Also point out that at a 50/50 split, he'd get 1500, which is more than a 70/30 split would've given him if you hadn't helped him get a good price for the artifact. In fact, it's almost 50% more than if you had kept your mouth shut.

This is fairly good news, considering. We knew Adrienne was up to something, and now that is out of the way.

I vote we say to Adrienne:
"40 percent of this trip's pay and 50 percent from any future trips."

There is at least one more ruin left, after all, and putting too much pressure on him may loose that.

>>339013
I knew it wasn't going to get filled, but It was less a suggestion and more a one sided argument to be honest and it would've been worthless to type that much and not post.
I'll make sure to section any posts that get too big.

Its simple. Give him the choice of 70% of the 1500 he negotiated, and you take the rest, or 50% of the 3000 you talked it back up to.

Slate 2011/08/12(Fri)09:27 No. 339323 ID: 880ab2
File 131316646440.png - (54.34KB , 700x500 , 53.png )

Marisa, not trusting Adrienne to not flee the moment she diverts her attention from him, seizes his arm and jerks him over to the doorman.
"H-hey!" Once Marisa has brought him to face the doorman with her, Adrienne, rather sheepishly, says, "Uh, hey, Cedric."
Eager for some manner of protection from the downpour, Marisa gruffly tells Cedric her name before demanding to know if he is offering the cloaks to her for free.
"Well," Cedric says, slightly surprised by Marisa's abruptness, "I heard the thunder, and I had seen how it was going to rain soon, so I thought that I would lend you two some cloaks to make the trip home a bit easier--"
Cedric is interrupted by Marisa snatching a cloak from his arm. She slings it around herself and pulls the hood up fast enough to have barely let go of Adrienne's arm. Marisa is already quite wet, and this causes a dark, primal terror to well up deep within her, but at the very least she is safe from being soaked further.
Adrienne opens his mouth to say something to Cedric, but before he can form a word, Marisa verbally descends upon him with a variety of arguments concerning the split of profit. She says that by splitting the profit now by half, Adrienne will still have more than seventy percent of the money that he negotiated for.
"Hey," Adrienne responds. His demeanor has changed to one of indignation. "I'm pretty sure what we agreed to was to split the actual, final amount earned for the artifact, and not an amount that was brought up during the negotiations-- if we did that, it would be equally fair to split one-thousand valutaer as it would be to split two-thousand fifty!"
Marisa asks about how much the equipment they bought costs, says that there is no reason for her to lose more money from the split than what it cost. She also adds that, were it not for her wanting to purchase the large knife, they never would have explored the ruins fully.
"Why does that even matter? I'm the one that bought that stuff! And, in any case, we didn't even need any of it! It was a waste! You agreed to conditions that I explitcitly said would make it harder for you to get an even split of the profits for!"
Marisa delivers Adrienne an ultimatum: he may accept seventy percent of the fifteen-thousand valutaer that he negotiated for, or he may accept fifty percent of the three-thousand that she negotiated for. Adrienne sighs. Cedric looks on at the Marisa and Adrienne's quarreling with pursed lips, but when Adrienne turns to look at the cloak he is holding, he holds it up to Adrienne with a smile.
Adrienne turns back to Marisa and says, with the stress evident in his voice and the heavy rain soaking him quite thoroughly, "Could you at least let go of me long enough to put this on?"

Be covertly prepared to rune-punch his ass if he tries anything tricky. He seems rather well defeated at the moment but he's already surprised me this much by trying to weasel his way out of your fair due.

agree, but at any sign of trickery be ready to tackle him

Slate 2011/08/13(Sat)15:46 No. 339692 ID: 5c5f57
File 131327557708.png - (50.21KB , 700x500 , 54.png )

Marisa releases Adrienne's arm, but she remains acutely vigilant of any trickery that he may attempt.
"Thank you," Adrienne says, rubbing his wrist and giving Marisa a nasty look. He accepts the cloak from Cedric and puts it on, giving a shiver once he has tightly wound it around himself.
"Thank you," Adrienne says to Cedric, in a much more sincere tone. Adrienne's voice has regained its strength.
"You're welcome!"
"Now," Adrienne says, redirecting his attention to Marisa and fishing coins from his bag. He counts out six-hundred valutaer in fifty-valuta coins and says, "I have six-hundred right here. I'll give you the six-hundred. All you need to do is tell me if you understood, at all, the deal that we made when we agreed to work together, because the way that I see it is that you didn't."

say "Yes, you said my share would go down if you bought stuff, but we never agreed on how much. This was supposed to be haggling about the specifics of that amount, you baby."

Tell him that he was unspecific and that you can't be held to that in-specificity. However, you should acknowledge that there WAS talk that it was originally to be 50/50 and that your share would be deducted depending on his involvement, including buying stuff for you as well as him physically participating in the expedition. As a result, there indeed ought be some difference in the payment. HOWEVER, as previously noted, there was nothing specifically mentioned as to how that would be done, so it's really up to YOU (Marisa) to determine how much of your share to give him. Perhaps... 600 sounds reasonable. This would give you the added benefit of completely throwing him for a loop, as you've just successfully argued a return of those 600 coins just to give them to him yourself. It'd show that you DO care about him and business but you do think such business needs to be FAIR.

Yeah, he said it would be 'harder to negotiate' the price difference if he bought us stuff, and he didn't say that it would be 70-30 until he had already told the fence to split the money that way. He made the decision on his own. That's not negotiating. He practically broke the contract doing that, then refused to budge on the split when we told him how we had helped him beyond the scope of the original contract.

If we want to be really proper about this thing, there would be an additional contract for your assistance with the appraisal. A consulting fee, or something. Heck, we could call this 600 our fee for that.

Slate 2011/08/15(Mon)14:45 No. 340376 ID: 5c5f57
File 131344473297.png - (57.58KB , 700x500 , 55.png )

Marisa makes various points, saying how Adrienne is essentially not following the contract that he established by splitting the profit in his favor and refusing to negotiate. She also acknowledges the terms of the contract, saying, "Yes, you said my share would go down if you bought stuff, but we never agreed on how much. This was supposed to be haggling about the specifics of that amount, you baby."
"Okay, then," Adrienne says, "Thank you. Here's your money." He extends his hand, full of coins.
Marisa does not accept the coins. Instead, she further posits that it is up to her to decide what to do with her share, and she says that she would like to give Adrienne six-hundred. Marisa's reasoning, which she does not reveal to Adrienne, is that this will serve as a gesture of good will that will endear her to him.
Adrienne's brow furrows as he processes this. His mouth opens, but just as soon closes, as he apparently is at a loss for words.
"Oh, come on!" he finally shouts, tosses his arms out in exasperation. He stuffs the coins back into his bag.
"I'll be at the tavern," Adrienne mutters, fuming, as he stomps around Marisa and out into the street. It is known only to the One what has provoked this reaction in him.
"Um," Cedric pipes up as Adrienne is leaving. Marisa turns her attention to him to see that he is holding a pamphlet in his hand. He holds it up and says, "I was wondering if you might like to attend the service this Saturday."
In large, intricate lettering is written on the cover, 'The Singularity: How You May Achieve Enlightenment and Fulfillment Through Acceptance of the One and the Interconnectedness of All That Exists."

>>340376
Ask if the Singularity has anything to do with technology, magic, or universal consciousness.
I hope it's the first.

Ask a few polite questions, accept and take a small peek at the pamphlet, then tell him that you've got to hurry after Addrienne and then do so. We don't want him finding someone else to work with while we chat about 'religion.'

Slate 2011/08/17(Wed)07:21 No. 340868 ID: 5c5f57
File 131359089633.png - (41.20KB , 700x500 , 56.png )

Marisa, so as to remain polite, decides to ask a few questions. She starts by inquiring if the Singularity has anything at all to do with technology, magic, or universal consciousness.
"If I had to choose, I would say, 'universal consciousness,' if that means what I think it--"
Of course, being eager to catch up to Adrienne, Marisa is too impatient to hear out the entirety of each of Cedric's answers. She interrupts him to ask another polite question: Where and when on Saturday will this service take place?
If Cedric is bothered by having been interrupted, he does not show it. Instead, he answers Marisa's second question, saying, "The service starts at about seven o'clock, in the Egliss at the center of town, and goes on until about noon. Luncheon will be served to attendees who stay--"
Marisa, unable to devise any further questions, instead interrupts and says that she will accept the pamphlet. Cedric smiles and hands it to her; she accepts, and, to remain polite, shields it from the rain with her body and scans it briefly. From the little that she reads, the Singularity is apparently about believing that the spirits and souls of all beings and objects in existence are inherently linked despite being housed in separated physical shells, and that at some point in the future, the spirits and souls of all beings and objects in existence will be unified as an entity that transcends time and space known as the One, and that
Marisa is finished with taking a small peek at the pamphlet and so folds it up and tucks it into her satchel before telling Cedric that she must hurry after Adrienne.
"Oh!" Cedric says, just as Marisa turns to leaves, "I nearly forgot." He picks up the knife set by his side of the door and hands it to Marisa. She thanks him, despite her hidden exasperation at having to take off her cloak and expose herself to the elements as she unslings her satchel to fit the knife and her new bag of coins in it.
"Be careful with that. I hope to see you at the service!" Cedric says, "Oh! Be sure to tell Adrienne to bring back the cloaks the next time you're here."
Cedric makes a peculiar sign with his hands as he smiles and says, "We are as One."

Slate 2011/08/17(Wed)07:21 No. 340869 ID: 5c5f57
File 131359091498.png - (67.96KB , 700x500 , 57a.png )

Cedric closes the door to the cellar as Marisa slings her satchel and the cloak back on. The satchel cannot hold much more. Marisa makes haste out of the alley and after Adrienne, who she can see walking farther up the street. As she exits the alley in one direction, two people, a rather diminutive avian and a rather sizable aquatic, are entering it from the other direction. The avian is wearing a cargo vest that does not fit very well. The avian is also speaking to her cohort, and Marisa is able to catch a fragment of what the avian is saying as she passes by.
"…uess you're right, Deleau, I do look kinda ridicu…"

Slate 2011/08/17(Wed)07:22 No. 340870 ID: 5c5f57
File 131359092603.png - (55.48KB , 700x500 , 58.png )

Marisa reaches Adrienne just as he is about to turn a corner; she grabs his shoulder to stop him.
"What!?" Adrienne shouts as he whips around. The look etched on his face suggests that he has been brought out of a state of contemplation. "I told you that I'm going to the tavern. If you want to talk to me, do it in the morning; otherwise, talk to Zeph."
Adrienne spins around again and stomps away. He shouts after himself, "Didn't you have a mayor to see?" and continues on.

oh right the mayor.

didn't we need some less political clothes first?

No reason you can't go to the tavern first and enjoy a drink or two until the rain stops. I mean, no sense trying to get new clothes to see the mayor if you're just going to get rained on.

Let's not waste time. Go get those clothes and see the mayor.

Slate 2011/08/19(Fri)09:34 No. 341551 ID: 5c5f57
File 131377169008.png - (54.90KB , 700x500 , 59a.png )

As Adrienne disappears around a corner, Marisa entertains the thought of following after him to the tavern to imbibe until the rain stops, but she pushes it from her mind. Considering the intensity of the storm and the weight of the clouds, it does not seem to Marisa that the rain will relent any time soon. If she would like to find, "less political," clothes and visit the mayor tonight, Marisa decides that she must waste no time, and sets off.
Her unfamiliarity with the layout of the town fortunately proves no hindrance; as it so happens, the cellar that Arkay seems to run his business out of is apparently located near a district full of clothing and fashion stores. Marisa enters one and finds a woman fiddling with a coat on display amidst the many pieces of clothing hanging for display on the walls.
The woman, once she has finished adjusting the coat, turns and raises her eyebrows upon noticing Marisa.
She says, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I was just about to close up shop. You understand, with the rain?"
Marisa assures the woman that she does understand, but she also assures the woman that she would not take too much of her time.
"Well…" The woman crosses her arms and frowns. Just as quickly, though, her frown reverses into a smile as she continues, "I suppose I can stand to suffer just a little longer. Now, tell me, what were you interested in?"
The woman moves to stand beside Marisa as she says that she is looking for more, 'Rothan,' clothing that will make her seem more, 'Rothan.' The woman nods.
"Well, now, just about every article of clothing in here should fit that qualification!" The woman directs Marisa to a particular part of the store. "Now, we have some wonderful mantles here that would fit quite well with…

Slate 2011/08/19(Fri)09:35 No. 341552 ID: 5c5f57
File 131377171010.png - (16.85KB , 364x445 , 60.png )

Marisa does not listen to the woman gush about what garments would complement her, but she still allows the woman to disappear into a back room and emerge with some pieces. Marisa tries them on in a private dressing room, and, upon stepping out, hears the woman say,
"Well, now, there you are! Southern Rothan contemporary. You look like you could've born and raised in the Tahss Mountains!"
Marisa also learns from the shopkeeper that the clothes would cost around one-hundred valutaer. A steep price, but, assuming that she made no frivolous purchases, Marisa would still have fourteen-hundred left over. Marisa is comfortable with how the clothes fit and look, she could keep them reasonably dry under the cloak, and she is willing to pay for them. Unless, of course, there is something else to consider…

1. You look like a dude.
2. The rain is going to soak everything.
3. Steveshirt.

well if you're not big on making yourself look good you should probably try some cheaper clothes on

maybe ask what discount clothes she has

>>341552

The clothes look fine, and you should purchase them.

>>341574
1. Jockin around is fine and dandy but I would implore you and while we're at it everyone who will post to make at least one clear (and hopefully serious) suggestion in their posts
2. Was said in update that cloak offered sufficient protection from water and if I say that it does then it does beCAUSE I AM QUEST AUTHOR AND THEREFORE MY WORD IS LAWW
3. I must be stupid What is Steve/Steveshirt?

Slate 2011/08/23(Tue)18:51 No. 342557 ID: 61fa90
File 131415068108.png - (64.52KB , 700x500 , 61.png )

Marisa is fully prepared to hand over the money when she feels distant pangs of doubt in the back of her head, and contemplates asking for cheaper clothes. She reassures herself, however, that the clothes are fine, and proceeds to pay the shopkeeper, who thanks Marisa for her business.
Just as she is about to exit the store, Marisa halts and turns around to ask the shopkeeper for directions to the town hall. The shopkeeper gives Marisa very comprehensive directions, and practically before she realizes it, Marisa is standing in the doorway before a rather spacious lobby. Thankfully, the cloak has managed to keep her new outfit relatively dry. Two important-looking people stand out of the way and whisper between themselves, while a man sits behind a desk, scribbling something as he is flanked by stacks of papers.

>>342555
http://tgchan.org/wiki/Steve%27d[/spoiler]

>>342596
link don't work but searching steve on the wiki tells me what i prolly need to know
i prolly should've wikied steve first shouldn't i have
>>341574
in any case i don't think there's a steve resemblance
either that or im dumb

It's not about resembling Steve, its about how the Steve Shirt is always suggested whenever a "pick the character's outfit" event occurs.

Ask to see the mayor. Say that it's about his son.

Slate 2011/08/28(Sun)23:53 No. 343665 ID: 61fa90
File 131460082913.png - (46.44KB , 700x500 , 62.png )

>>342721
oh
i need to lurk moar
The fellow behind the desk does not look up from his writing as Marisa moves to stand before him and requests to see the mayor about the mayor's son.
The fellow behind the desk sets his pen aside as he pulls himself from his work to give Marisa a look over. Satisfied with her outward appearance, he hoists himself from his seat and steps around the desk.
"So, Xavier Dourdin has managed even more mischief. Tell me; how has he accosted you?" the man says, before catching himself. "Actually, disregard that; I would not want to trouble you for the details. News of Xavier's latest, 'exploits,' shall circulate soon enough, I am sure. If you will follow me…"

Slate 2011/08/28(Sun)23:56 No. 343667 ID: 61fa90
File 131460099446.png - (55.91KB , 700x500 , 63.png )

The man turns and heads deeper into the building, and Marisa follows. As they pass by the two important-looking people, she overhears them discussing important-sounding things.
The man guides Marisa down a few corridors and halls, past several offices and officials, and up flight of stairs to deposit her before a pair of great oak doors, larger than any others that Marisa has seen in the building. There is an armed guard stationed before the doors, and there is a conveniently-placed waiting bench stationed to one side of the doors. Marisa can hear voices beyond the doors, but she cannot make them out.
"And here I must leave you. If you require any assistance with navigating the building once you have finished speaking with Lady Dourdin, I am certain that one of the guards can direct you." With that, the guide spins on his heel and departs.
Just as he disappears back down the stairs, a woman emerges from the office and departs for the stairs as well, not even outwardly acknowledging Marisa or the guard. Moments later, another guard peeks his head out; upon noticing Marisa, he ducks back inside. There are some muffled words exchanged inside, and the guard emerges. He makes his way to stand at the side of the bench opposite the doors.
"Lady Dourdin has requested that she not be disturbed for a short while," he says.

>>343667
Any idea how long that'll be? We can wait.

It really is a question of how long a 'short while' is. And perhaps we might curtail it by mentioning that you've vital information as to the well-being of Xavier. Also why does he have a blue/gray face?

Slate 2011/08/31(Wed)14:31 No. 344271 ID: 61fa90
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>>344007
argh i already finished the update before i read this sorry
i need to refresh this thread more often
also the person is a woman and has bluegrey skin cuz she's supposed to be one of those aquatic-people
Marisa can speculate that, based on what the guard told her, she must wait for, 'a short while,' to see the mayor, though she cannot accurately define what the guard meant by, 'a short while,' without asking him.
Marisa decides to ask the guard to clarify the amount of time that he meant when he said, 'a short while.'
"… A brief period of time," the guard replies. Marisa bores holes through him with her blank gaze, unsatisfied with his answer and expecting more. He does not acknowledge her, and instead remains staring, stone-faced, straight ahead. The other guard looks on in concern.
Finally, the guard breaks from his facade under Marisa's scrutiny and shoots her an annoyed look.
"Ma'am, if you would please take a seat, I'm certain that Lady Dourdin will be ready to meet with you in just a few minutes."

Slate 2011/08/31(Wed)14:31 No. 344272 ID: 61fa90
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Marisa decides that she can wait that long, so she unslings her satchel and takes a spot on the bench. The guards return their gazes forward.
A minute passes before Marisa realizes that she can hear what may be a voice or voices whispering behind the great oak doors, but she cannot be certain of what is being said. Marisa glances to either side of her and sees that the guards do not seem to notice this; that is, if they are not already ignoring it.

Slate 2011/08/31(Wed)14:31 No. 344273 ID: 61fa90
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A few minutes pass, though, and one of the doors creaks open. It is only now that Marisa realizes the whispering behind the doors has ceased; despite how intently she listened, the voice or voices must have been so faint that she did not notice when they trailed off.
"Send in the next one," a woman announces through the crack in the doors. Marisa stands up and is ushered inside by the male guard, who, once they are both in the office, moves to stand vigil against a wall adorned with various maps and sea charts. Various trinkets, baubles and oddities decorate shelves. A globe sits in a corner, and a stand is set up with a book that is open to a page of what Marisa recognizes is printed in Runic. A massive shield of elaborate design is displayed high on the wall behind a desk piled with papers, at which a middle-aged avian settles into a padded chair and crosses her wings over her lap. As the woman looks her in the eye, Marisa can practically feel the woman's glare pierce into her head.
"I am Lady Aure Beatrice Dourdin of Lieusous Montagnes, Wife to the late Constante Finn Dourdin and Mother to Xavier and Brise Dourdin, elected as Mayor by the people of Lieusous Montagnes."
Her voice betrays her age, but it still holds a certain confidence.
"And… to whom do I owe the honor of speaking with?"

Introduce yourself formally... uh, I have no idea where to begin talking about what happened. Let's start by telling her we're here about her son.

You are Marisa [lastname], runecaller and explorer.

You are here to relate an unfortunate story. A few days ago, you were exploring an underground ruin, and you happened across an injured Avian who introduced himself as Xavier Dourdin. A human ruffian had locked him up and broken his wing. You attempted to resolve the situation peacefully, but the human betrayed you, and tried to kill you both. Xavier, fueled by anger, gave his life killing the human. You would not be alive were it not for his sacrifice. You are sorry, and ashamed that you could not protect him. (which is true, even if protecting him wasn't actually your GOAL per-se.)

Wait, so you heard voices from within, but when the door opened no one came out? And they send a guard in with you? Clearly she's going to devour you body and soul. Or if she doesn't, you can introduce yourself as blahblahblah, but regret the circumstances of your meeting for you have to be the bearer of bad news, blahblahblah, your son died a hero, blahblahblah, by the way do you need any ruins explored or artifacts retrieved?

>>344333

i think asking for business right after telling her that xavier died is a little callous.

>>344318

sounds good.

>>344273
Introduce yourself. Say that you have some bad news about Xavier. We'll continue from there.

Slate 2011/09/01(Thu)21:55 No. 344832 ID: 61fa90
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Since Marisa has no surname that she knows of, and since she would rather not identify herself as a citizen of the country that has recently subjugated the mayor's, Marisa introduces herself as Marisa, runecaller and explorer, and she says that she is standing before the mayor to relate an unfortunate story about the mayor's son, Xavier.
Marisa pauses to gauge Lady Dourdin's reaction, but the mayor's piercing expression betrays no change.
"I see you are not one for pleasantries, then. And for a moment I had hoped you were here to discuss with me the intricacies of the Runic language."
Lady Dourdin takes her eyes off of Marisa to let slip an exasperated sigh and sit up in her chair, before refocusing them back on Marisa.
"… Never mind that, though. Tell me; what has the boy done now?"
Marisa relates the long episode of Xavier's sacrifice to rescue her from the ruffian in the underground ruin she had been exploring earlier in the day. It is only now Marisa realizes that not even a single day has actually passed since the incident with Xavier and Amin; to her, it feels as though her escapades since this morning and up to now have taken up the better part of a year; about eight months, to be exact. In any case, Marisa is sure to communicate her sorrow for Lady Dourdin's loss, as well as the for the fact that Marisa could not protect Xavier.
The guard loses his composure for a moment, allowing surprise to break through onto his features, but he just as quickly reverts to his stone-faced stoicism, acting as though nothing had happened. Mayor Dourdin, however, does not show any surprise. Instead, she glares at Marisa as her brow furrows. She glares at Marisa for what approaches a relatively long while. She glares at Marisa long enough to make Marisa feel quite uncomfortable. The heavy rain pounding against the outside of the building is quite painfully noticeable as every drop breaks the great silence in the room.
Marisa begins thinking that she should do something when, quite suddenly, Lady Dourdin closes her eyes. She takes off her spectacles; a somewhat difficult task for her, given the fact that she must do so with a pair of wings, but she manages to set them down on her desk with a practiced poise. Lady Dourdin opens her eyes. If Lady Dourdin's eyes had glared hard enough to pierce into Marisa's head, then they are now directed at her with such an intensity that they pierce straight though Marisa and everything directly behind her.
"What is this? Is this some manner of joke?" Lady Dourdin remains quite calm, but there is a sort of underlying venom evident in her voice that indicates a sort of tranquil fury. "I shall have you know; it is directly against Rothan civil law to abuse the Right to Conference with Civil Servants. Explain yourself, or remove yourself from my office immediately."

Adopt an innocent and confused stature. Explain that you mean no offense nor any trick, but rather if there's been some mistake you'd like to be made aware of it. All your information is stated in good faith and with no malice nor intent to deceive, and if it was some OTHER Xavier who introduced himself to you, blahblahblahblah. Make sure to give a description of him, explain that you saw him die, etc etc.

>>344832
What? We're not lying! What's there to explain?

>>344846
Well technically we didn't see him die. He dove into the water along with the big muscly guy and we didn't see his body afterwards.

Say that we wish we could say that this is all some sort of joke, but this is very real.

Say that you've related events exactly as you experienced them, and that although the man claimed to be 'Xavier Dourdin' you did not demand any proof.

Slate 2011/09/02(Fri)19:49 No. 345064 ID: 61fa90
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Marisa does her very best to convince the mayor of her innocence and her sincerity; she explains that, while she wishes that this was some sort of joke, she is delivering this unfortunate news in sincerity and with no malice nor intent to deceive. Marisa describes Xavier's appearance in an attempt to prove her sincerity. Marisa states that she has every reason to believe that Xavier is, quite unfortunately, dead, but she is careful to leave out the fact that she electrocuted the pool that she had seen Xavier fall into lest the mayor take it the wrong way, regardless of the extenuating circumstances.
A thought comes to Marisa, however, and she relates it to the mayor; while the person that she met identified himself as Xavier Dourdin, Marisa admits that she did not demand any proof and that he may have very well been an impostor.
Lady Dourdin glares with her piercing eyes at Marisa for quite a while. Eventually, she speaks.
"Do you expect me to accept your tall tale based solely on your word, that of a complete stranger, and a description of my son that any individual in this town could provide? Just as well, my boy may be known for his occasional mischief, but he is no treasure-hunting hoodlum; I am inclined to believe that you are most correct in saying that this boy was an impostor.
"And I have another issue with your story; what, exactly, were you even doing in this ruin? It is as if you are completely unaware that possession of artifacts by civilians is explicitly illegal under Chatzen civil law!"
The mayor, quite to Marisa's surprise, switches to conversing in Runic; she does not use the correct suffixes, she mispronounces some of the runes, and she uses some runes in incorrect order, but Marisa is able to derive some meaning from the mayor's statement nonetheless.
"Know you even how to speak Runic?"

say in runic "yes, well enough at least"

>>345064
Speak in runic back to her. Tell her that yes, you can speak runic, and you could demonstrate a runic spell if she doesn't mind you pulling out what could be considered a weapon.

But yeah I'm not sure we have any more reason to hang around. We could just leave if she's done asking us questions.

>>345067
I second the part about offering to demonstrate a spell. It is probably for the best to keep the conversion moving away from the legality of amateur archeology.

Based on recent conversations with our new fence, I think its entirely possible that we WERE unaware that possessing artifacts was illegal this morning. We ARE new to the area, after all.

Anyway, in runic: yes, we know runic. Now that she mentions it, the gentleman calling himself Xavier had been gathering some papers from a journal written in runic. SOMEONE with a fledgeling grasp of the language had apparently decided to make the ruin their 'secret base.'

Respond in eloquent runic "No, I do not speak that language. Do you? Bitch"

"Well I'd hardly be a good Runepuncher if all I could do was punch."
In Runic, obviously