Hi, if you're enjoying my quest please consider taking a moment to nominate it for the user's choice award for best ongoing quest. A few of you have already done so, and Mare Internum seems to be within striking distance of securing a nomination for the final vote. I would really appreciate it if we could make it happen.
"I am Tenebrous Silken Vesper, also here to make a report as instructed."
Everyone stares at you, including Fincher. The morose-looking sentry who questioned you very clearly doesn't believe that is your real name.
But it doesn't matter. You believe it.
SENTRY: "Rank?"
FINCHER: "She's the minister."
WAR: NORMAL
CHECK FAILED
WAR: What? You're not a minister, you're a magistrate. You can give orders to all the ministers. Why is your authority being slighted in this way?
SENTRY: "Right." she bows her head stiffly in salute. "Welcome to Sulco camp. Follow me, don't stray. Command is waiting to take your report."
You follow behind, keeping pace with Fincher.
"Fincher." you hiss. "Why didn't you tell me I was a minister?"
FINCHER: "Not a real minister, boss. It's slang for an important civilian working with the legion. I told the scouts there was one with me."
"Oh, that makes sense."
You pass through the camp perimeter, a hastily constructed fortification of sandbags, stones and irregular palisades. The unpleasant odours of many hardworking people in tight and utilitarian conditions are overwhelmed by the smell of fresh bread. Your stomach constricts into a knot, seemingly to remind you of its emptiness.
FINCHER: "Hey, you," she addresses the sentry. "I've got wounded and all of my people are exhausted from marching down here hauling supplies, can we get someone to guide them into the camp? Maybe set them up with some decent food?"
SENTRY: "We'll have it in hand."
You look back to see the other wagons emerging into the rocky clearing in front of the camp. Sure enough, other legionaries are approaching and hailing them.
The camp is huge. You pass row on row of pitched tents. They must be housing hundreds of people outside the manse. Why? Surely such a massive structure is more defensible from within. Not to mention out of the rain.
Finally, you come to a broad awning of white canvas. Water cascades from it in a veil, partially obscuring what lies underneath. You see three figures.
"Well, here we are."
SENTRY: "Yeah, here we are."
The lead sentry walks through the water-curtain, leaving you and Fincher outside with the other camp guards. You hear raised voices. After a moment, she re-emerges.
SENTRY: "Command will see you now. Good luck." she bows her head to Fincher.
It's hard to escape the feeling that she doesn't normally say good luck when telling people that command will see them now.
You walk through the water at the same time as Fincher, rain sluicing off your heavy hood and mantle.
Three people sit on makeshift seating inside the command tent.
You recognize the yellow eye instantly. Though the overcast light is dim, it gleams vibrant and true, as though it is giving off its own luminosity.
AWARENESS: Maybe that's why she's called Shadowless Mei?
INTEGRITY: It's not. You know it's not.
The woman it is attached to lounges on a wooden box. The other eye is concealed by an eyepatch, from under which emanates old, waxy scarring. It looks as though someone has held a hot brand in the shape of a hand to her face, with a palm over her left eye. Her hair is smoke-black, but burned to a fine ashen grey where it intersects with the hand-scar. You judge that she is roughly your height, but more heavily built; her densely muscled arms seem like they are carved from dark wood, flanking the enameled red breastplate which signifies her rank.
The arms are folded. The face is scowling at you.
MEI: "Tenebrous Silken Vesper. In the flesh."
FINCHER: "Dragonlord." she bows her head.
Mei does not avert her withering gaze from you.
MEI: "When the scouts told me we had a civilian Exalt, I was sure Fincher here had found one of the locals. Imagine my disappointment."
???: "Dragonlord, please. Let's not get things off on the wrong foot again."
The second woman speaks in a smooth, low contralto. She is sat in the middle, on a light folding chair. She wears a heavy navy greatcoat with two rows of buttons and a fine black jade decorative chain. She must be one of the navy officers Fincher mentioned. Her skin is starkly pale, almost milk white. Her primly tied hair and eyes are an identical shade of pale blue. She wears large, round-rimmed spectacles, giving her an owlish look.
???: "It is good to see you again. After we parted, I confess I thought your death was assured."
[ ] I'm apparently pretty hard to kill.
[ ] Yeah, it was pretty great, wasn't it?
[ ] I should tell you I don't remember anything.
This quest has a lot of new followers over the last few days, so just to make sure everyone is on the same page, a quick review of the (not particularly well situated) voting rules for this quest:
1) Voting in this quest is first-come-first-serve. The first person to make a response with one of the options guides the next action in the quest.
2) To prevent any one person from from monopolizing the action, nobody can make such a vote on two updates in a row. Alternating is fine.
3) Writein options are not permitted except as general suggestions to modify the approach of an existing option, which I will apply at my discretion.
4) These rules do not apply if the post is marked "This is a consquential decision, please vote." Those votes require a majority vote as normal, and writeins are allowed.
The woman's face does not change in any overt way, but she crinkles her pale lips inwards almost imperceptably before speaking. This is clearly her version of a grimace.
BLUE OWL WOMAN: "That is not how I would have described it."
MEI: "I told you, she's lost it. If she ever had it."
The third figure clears his throat and speaks up.
???: "Do we care so little about protocol that we're going to let this wretch address an officer without rank? You, do you care nothing for decorum?"
He has wavy grey-white hair and remarkably coloured skin, a dull blue-purple. It reminds you of necrotizing flesh, or a bruise. Like the owl woman, he wears a navy uniform, albeit lacking the black jade chain.
[ ] I don't know her rank, none of you have introduced yourselves.
[ ] I can't remember your ranks or anything else about you.
[ ] Shouldn't you be talking to Fincher?
[ ] I literally care nothing for decorum.
[ ] Fuck your rank, and your weird face.
"I can't remember your ranks or anything else about you."
There is a moment of silence.
FINCHER: "It's true, dragonlord, captains. She doesn't have any memories from before washing up on the beach."
Mei's eye flicks to focus on Fincher for the first time.
MEI: "No, that's what she told you. And you believed her. You're young, errors of judgement happen."
The female navy captain steeples her fingers in front of her and adopts a thoughtful expression.
CAPTAIN BLUE OWL WOMAN: "That would explain why she is going by... what was it? Tenebrous Silken Vesper? A name that you did not recognize, Dragonlord."
CAPTAIN BRUSED FACE MAN: "It sounds like her idea of a joke."
[ ] Are you going to listen to my report?
[ ] What can I do to make you believe me?
[ ] Even if you don't believe me, could you tell me a bit about myself?
[ ] You're being very rude, ignoring Fincher like this.
"We're here to make a report. Are you going to listen to it or not?"
The blue woman's cheeks press inwards just fractionally before she speaks. Her equivalent of an indulgent smile, you assume.
CAPTAIN BLUE OWL WOMAN: "I think we would all be very interested to hear you relate your experience." her eyes flick to Fincher, "And the Talonlord as well, of course. That is why we are here, after all."
Mei stares at you unrelentingly, radiating mute hostility. You're not sure she has actually blinked at all since this conversation began.
ATHLETICS: She is affecting an indifferent posture, but her leg is poised to push off the seat and lunge at you at a instant's notice.
You glance at Fincher. She gives you a small nod. You first.
"Okay, where to begin-"
1)
[ ] Give an exhaustively detailed play-by-play of your thoughts and actions over the last two days.
[ ] Keep it to broad strokes and externally verifiable facts as much as possible.
2)
[ ] Disclose that you found the imperial seal.
[ ] Ommit that you found the imperial seal.
3)
[ ] Disclose that you noticed that someone changed the numbers.
[ ] Ommit that you noticed that someone changed the numbers.
4)
[ ] Disclose that you attacked Orison.
[ ] Ommit that you attacked Orison.
5)
[ ] Disclose that Fincher knocked you out.
[ ] Ommit that Fincher knocked you out.
Please select only one option. We will proceed when different voters have made valid selections for all five categories.
Artifact weapons are common for DBs but even for a magistrate they're not obligatory. The Opening Gate thought suggests we specialize in swordsmanship but that's still mostly a suggestion at this point.
