Nevermore

Was a quest by Gnome. It was hand-drawn and scanned in, though this proved to be too much effort in the long run.

(link)

Plot Synopsis

After the hunterbold of his village goes missing, a kobold called Jrinifiblin (Jim, in human tongue) is sent to find him. In doing so however, he falls through into a strange desert known as Nevermore, and soon realizes he may not be able to get back home.

Chapters

• Chapter 0: Life at Home
• Chapter 1: The Endless Desert

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Chapter 0: Life at Home

The esteemed hunter Briflnok never came back from his hunt, and now the tribe has nominated Jim as the "Next Best Warrior" in an attempt to find Briflnok.

Jim, accompanied by Nifimlis and Jemlin, head north to find what has become of Briflnok, but in doing so encounter a strange floating ribbon. Jim and Jemlin pursue the strange ribbon and in the process Jim falls into it, thus identifying its true nature: a black hole.

Jim's would-be crash landing is halted by a strange looking woman covered in bandaging who introduces herself as Arlanko. Also, he finds out, she has a tail. Further more, she has no arms.

Just as he is (not) about to have his many questions answered, Arlanko leaves to resume battle with her companion against an armored rhino-creature.

In the meantime, Jim discovers a cart sparsely filled with supplies such as guns (which he doesn't recognize), a plant, a horn, a sock and a lighter. Also, there is a bag.

As Arlanko and her companion argue about something concerning Jim, he finds a bag in the cart. Within the bag, he finds Briflnok.

"Mission accomplished! Return to base!"

Jim scurries away from the car, finding out fairly quickly that he has nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Arlanko and her companion, Sage, are still discussing Jim. Arlanko suggests they help the kobold, whereas Sage says otherwise (to put it nicely). Arlanko takes up the responsibility and goes to fetch him.

Jim attempts to run away to a house on the horizon, but Arlanko, who quite obviously has some kind of telekinesis thing going on, pulls him back and up into the air. We now learn what we already know previously, thanks to Jim being held upside down-- Jim is male. Also, Sage hates males. Also, they kept Briflnok for food. Lovely.

As the chapter closes, Arlanko prepares to answer more of his questions.

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Chapter 1: This Endless Desert

As it turns out, Briflnok was killed by falling into the desert like Jim did-- he just didn't land as softly.

More importantly, we find out that Jim has fallen into a pirate dimension, or as Arlanko calls it. "Nevermore": a gigantic sprawling desert from which there is no return, populated by matter and beings stolen from places unknown. Unfortunately, the portals are one-way only. There is no going back.

Still, life goes on. Jim laments being the only kobold around anymore, but thinks that he'll be okay. He also agrees to let Briflnok continue to be tonight's meal, though informs them that he is poisonous to eat to any race other than kobolds.

Seeing that Arlanko somewhat mistrusts that information, he goes to talk to Sage about the other potential meal of the day. She starts to inform him of the creature's condition, then sees that Jim is obviously not Arlanko.

Hastily Jim tells Sage he is a girl, and that Briflnok was his boyfriend, and that he is trapped. Sage, being Sage, says that Jim would do well to not be dead weight or he will be dead weight. You know, literally.

She asks what his skills are (in so many words) and he informs her that in his life he has been a legendary soap maker, "good with dairy products", a basket weaver and a hunter. The last occcupation is the only one to which she shows any reaction.

Suddenly a scream rings out, and Jim sees that Jemlin has fallen into Nevermore as well. He checks on her and when he finds that she is still well, he tells her that they must pretend he is a girl all the time. Understandably.

Jemlin starts babbling at Sage, who apparently does not like to talk and begins to choke her to stop the talky-talky noise.

Jim pleads with Sage not to murder Jemlin (it's rude, for starters) and promises that if Sage refrains, they'll never come back. Sage then drops Jemlin from her strange, vice-like grip and says good riddence. (Not literally.)

Running to check if Jemlin was hurt, Jim finds that everything is in order. They ask politely for Briflnok's body and Sage reluctantly accepts, allowing them to take it along with them.

The quest ends abruptly here, due to reasons given by Gnome.

Cast

Main Characters

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Jrinifiblin, or "Jim" in human tongue. Kobold.

Arlanko. Psychic snake lady. She, uh, doesn't have arms.

Briflnok. Former hunterbold of Jim's tribe. He's dead.

Sage. Human. Hates men. Also, kind of a bitch.

Jemlin. Creator of the Bold Brew.

Supporting Characters

Nifimlis. Fisherbold. Spoil sport.

Status

The quest has been abandoned, though that terminology is not by any means the official word on it. This quote was given by Gnome upon asking:

"Nevermore's reason for being gone is because I was unhappy with the protagonist and how the events were unfolding. The protagonist was a kobold because I asked what he should be on IRC, and I was very unhappy with him as a kobold.

If I ever go back to Nevermore, it will be a complete reboot, with a new protagonist."

Trivia

This protagonist is one of the few that addresses a board of TGChan directly. He also seems to be a Genre Savant: he knows to some degree about /Quest/ making suggestions to him, and at one point claims that he's been railroaded.