The Lost (30k Primarch Quest)

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[X] Plan: Quest Story
-[X] – Write in: you're gonna tell your life story (the quest) with some edits, it is truth too!
--[X] so any ways it started with me on a ship of trade, no here's a trick, piracy is illegal but if some ruffians were to sail the high seas, well the law states that's a sailing paycheck with rights to start looting.
--[X] so the thing is some trade and navy ships act as pirates when no ones looking plausible deniability and all that; so it turns out the pirate ship was a royal navy ship that was raiding on the trade route it was guarding
--[X] Now it's easy to get away with killing the sailors without repercussions, treason, piracy, attacking trade ships, attacking other royal navy ships, being dumbasses by having records of who they raided.
--[X] The problem was that they had children in the brig, so slavery as well; now ships attacking other ships is part of the business, it just happens and legally capturing pirates for a profit is a nice side income.
--[X] Slavery thou is super mega illegal even though there's those nobles and rich ass merchants and governers. We just their map and sail to were the slaves were being sent to, gonna raid the buyers of their riches
--[X] Of course those buyers had to be hidden and they chose to settle on an island in the middle of a storm with dangerous seas filled with monstrous wildlife
--[X] now normally this is when a ship turns around, too much trouble and we just freed some kids from slavery, but we may have a lapse of judgment at the time and I may have argued to sail truough the storm and convinced crew and captain on it so . . .
--[X] when we got to the island problems may have arose, ship broke, jostle wildlife and . . . Maybe there was a cult what was buying slaves from nobles and their sailors in the navy, just to sacrifice them to their dark heretical gods
--[X] Now we have some of the crew calling to kill the cultists, a few might be a tad too religious, others to make more money after our merchandise sank in the sea
--[X] Now we killing the peculiar but then a third party arrives, dark elder; the foul Xenos were raiding the island for slaves. Know this I'm not 100% sure about this and is just a theory, but the nobles in the navy planned to sell to both the cultist and elder and have them kill each other, get rid of the heresy and xenos
--[X] the cultists want to sacrifice us and the elder to their gods while the xenos we're having a competition on who can cause the most fear and pain between them while they capture some new slaves.
--[X] As you can tell by the fact I'm living we had slain the cultists and driven off the eldar; after scraping the cultists' ships nad some local trees for materials the repaired trade ship left that island with some modest treasure and coin and few casualties
--[X] Now we sail to one of the tech monk temples to get repairs, we got some aristocracy's that need cleansing and locked in the deepest depths of their fortress monasteries
--[X] now you may or may not have heard of some pirates at a traitor tech monk monastery fortress, and all I got to say is that one how did they know we sank a navy ship? One that was working with heretics, xenos, were traitors that sank other trade and other navy ships? They were in on it so when we fought them, me and the crew wlaren't traders, just people that got stuck between the royal knights, or where they titans? Doesn't matter, and between the neutral tech monks
--[X] oh and they were shooting at my shops so property damage. I want to emphasize I didn't kill any of the nobles piloting the giant machines, but may have tricked them into shooting one another
--[X] now on how I got into the palence . . . Well you tell me cause I got no idea, like you help one drunk noble lady and a pale về guard says I'm kidnapping her, like kidnapping is when you move someone onto another room with out consent, you think I gave consent to be whisked away into the palace? Like the talk with you gals was nice and mech girl needed the rest and relaxation, you say how she was from joining my wacky adventure only halfway
--[X] . . . Oh yeah I forgot their some cool robot skeleton pirate noble abominable intelligence that the tech monks were containing to protect the world but evil noble titan army may have unleashed them onto the world with their stupidity, last I checked the AI skeleton pirates were destroying the nobles so you may start hearing about an army heading to the capital or palace or going around destroying any humans they can fine . . .
--[X] So . . . I guess I'm the most unlucky person alive and I'm hiding here cause there's an army coming and the palace SHOULD be the safest place, I rather deal with some hide and seek with some palace guards than fight an evil AI army the nobles unleashed
--[X] now with all that information, what you ladies gonna do with the potential end to the nation?

This one just speaks to me for some reason.
 
I find it both interesting and hilarious that the two most popular options boil down to "tell this quest over again and hope it works out"

Makes planning what happens next a lot easier.
 
[X] – Come clean
-[X] – Well you see, I'm a pirate and I was just recently plundering exploring an ancient alien bunker with Dalnim here when we accidentally awoke the inhabitants and barely escaped into a portal that led to an entirely unrelated alien spaceship up above the planet who then dumped us back through another portal in the palace to get rid of us. We were just wandering around trying to find an exit when we met our drunk friend here and now we're coming down from that incredibly stressful adventure while trying very hard not to start a huge fight in the heart of the palace.
 
Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by HalfTangible on Feb 14, 2024 at 8:20 PM, finished with 41 posts and 19 votes.
    • [X] Plan: Quest Story
      -[X] – Write in: you're gonna tell your life story (the quest) with some edits, it is truth too!
      --[X] so any ways it started with me on a ship of trade, no here's a trick, piracy is illegal but if some ruffians were to sail the high seas, well the law states that's a sailing paycheck with rights to start looting.
      --[X] so the thing is some trade and navy ships act as pirates when no ones looking plausible deniability and all that; so it turns out the pirate ship was a royal navy ship that was raiding on the trade route it was guarding
      --[X] Now it's easy to get away with killing the sailors without repercussions, treason, piracy, attacking trade ships, attacking other royal navy ships, being dumbasses by having records of who they raided.
      --[X] The problem was that they had children in the brig, so slavery as well; now ships attacking other ships is part of the business, it just happens and legally capturing pirates for a profit is a nice side income.
      --[X] Slavery thou is super mega illegal even though there's those nobles and rich ass merchants and governers. We just their map and sail to were the slaves were being sent to, gonna raid the buyers of their riches
      --[X] Of course those buyers had to be hidden and they chose to settle on an island in the middle of a storm with dangerous seas filled with monstrous wildlife
      --[X] now normally this is when a ship turns around, too much trouble and we just freed some kids from slavery, but we may have a lapse of judgment at the time and I may have argued to sail truough the storm and convinced crew and captain on it so . . .
      --[X] when we got to the island problems may have arose, ship broke, jostle wildlife and . . . Maybe there was a cult what was buying slaves from nobles and their sailors in the navy, just to sacrifice them to their dark heretical gods
      --[X] Now we have some of the crew calling to kill the cultists, a few might be a tad too religious, others to make more money after our merchandise sank in the sea
      --[X] Now we killing the peculiar but then a third party arrives, dark elder; the foul Xenos were raiding the island for slaves. Know this I'm not 100% sure about this and is just a theory, but the nobles in the navy planned to sell to both the cultist and elder and have them kill each other, get rid of the heresy and xenos
      --[X] the cultists want to sacrifice us and the elder to their gods while the xenos we're having a competition on who can cause the most fear and pain between them while they capture some new slaves.
      --[X] As you can tell by the fact I'm living we had slain the cultists and driven off the eldar; after scraping the cultists' ships nad some local trees for materials the repaired trade ship left that island with some modest treasure and coin and few casualties
      --[X] Now we sail to one of the tech monk temples to get repairs, we got some aristocracy's that need cleansing and locked in the deepest depths of their fortress monasteries
      --[X] now you may or may not have heard of some pirates at a traitor tech monk monastery fortress, and all I got to say is that one how did they know we sank a navy ship? One that was working with heretics, xenos, were traitors that sank other trade and other navy ships? They were in on it so when we fought them, me and the crew wlaren't traders, just people that got stuck between the royal knights, or where they titans? Doesn't matter, and between the neutral tech monks
      --[X] oh and they were shooting at my shops so property damage. I want to emphasize I didn't kill any of the nobles piloting the giant machines, but may have tricked them into shooting one another
      --[X] now on how I got into the palence . . . Well you tell me cause I got no idea, like you help one drunk noble lady and a pale về guard says I'm kidnapping her, like kidnapping is when you move someone onto another room with out consent, you think I gave consent to be whisked away into the palace? Like the talk with you gals was nice and mech girl needed the rest and relaxation, you say how she was from joining my wacky adventure only halfway
      --[X] . . . Oh yeah I forgot their some cool robot skeleton pirate noble abominable intelligence that the tech monks were containing to protect the world but evil noble titan army may have unleashed them onto the world with their stupidity, last I checked the AI skeleton pirates were destroying the nobles so you may start hearing about an army heading to the capital or palace or going around destroying any humans they can fine . . .
      --[X] So . . . I guess I'm the most unlucky person alive and I'm hiding here cause there's an army coming and the palace SHOULD be the safest place, I rather deal with some hide and seek with some palace guards than fight an evil AI army the nobles unleashed
      --[X] now with all that information, what you ladies gonna do with the potential end to the nation?
      [X] – Come clean
      -[X] – Well you see, I'm a pirate and I was just recently plundering exploring an ancient alien bunker with Dalnim here when we accidentally awoke the inhabitants and barely escaped into a portal that led to an entirely unrelated alien spaceship up above the planet who then dumped us back through another portal in the palace to get rid of us. We were just wandering around trying to find an exit when we met our drunk friend here and now we're coming down from that incredibly stressful adventure while trying very hard not to start a huge fight in the heart of the palace.
      [X] – Do something drastic
      -[X] Just grab Dalnim and walk. An Outsider in the Harem would be a scandal and bring the wrath of the Empress on their heads. You doubt they'll raise the alarm.
      [X] – Write in
      -[X] These people are mutants, right? Look at any that look like any of your psyker children, and start reciting their names. If they recognize them, tell them about the Cult of the Drowned.
      [X] – Come clean
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  • Voting
    • *name* said:
    so what does sun have on him again? we lost the necron weapon right? i can't remember what we have on us right now
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You have the necron compass, the sword you took from the treasure room, coupla pistols, your awesome hat, a longcoat that I don't think I ever described... probably a couple other things that you have and I've forgotten about.
     
    w34v3r said:
    We're also missing our shoulder gremlin.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Give it another... 3 updates? 4, tops.

    *name* said:
    is this sword from the necrons or from the palace?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It was the necron sword on display in the treasure room that I gave you when I realized I really really wanted Sun-Sin to have a cool alien sword.

    Partly just because it's cool, partly for plot developments so far into the future I'm not 100% sure we'll ever actually reach it.
     
    XXXV. Negotiation
  • Threadmarks
    • Technically a tie, but ultimately came down to 'tell the story'.

    XXXV. Negotiation


    You put an arm around Aki, but keep talking to Bao. "Let's not be hasty here, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation, there's no need-"

    Bao throws out her hand. Before her muscles even contract you grab Aki, carry her bridal style, and leap to the side, avoiding the sudden burst of cold right where you were before. The concubines (and Dalnim) are all stunned momentarily by how fast you move, and Aki's grip on you tightens.

    "Try that again," you growl, tone low with warning, "and I'll leave her to die in it as I cut your throat."

    Bao turns to look at you, entirely unimpressed by your threat. "Who are you?" She asks again, as if she didn't just try to kill you.

    You breathe in and breathe out. "What do you think I am?"

    "An invader pretending to be a concubine so he can peek in on the harem." Uta says, entirely fairly.

    "Hey, you assumed I was a new concubine and I saw no reason to tell you no," you scowl. "What makes you so sure I'm an invader here anyway?"

    "Tell me who you are and why you're here, and maybe I'll consider telling you." Bao growls, as hoarfrost gathers in the air.

    "… Fine. So, first things first, I'm a pirate. Ching Sun-Sin, captain of the Cutting Dagger. You may have heard of me."

    Aki shakes her head but holds on tighter. Uta tilts her head, trying and failing to remember where she'd heard the name 'Ching'.

    "Nope." Bao shrugs.

    That… stings a lot more than it should. "Anyway, a few weeks ago, my crew and I were sailing the seas, and we saw a ship flying the Reaver Queen's colors."

    "Hold on." Bao frowns. "This story starts a few weeks ago?"

    "Yeah, sorry, but it's important to the story, and I'll try to minimize the filler." You clear your throat. "So we dispatched them easy enough, but discovered they were taking children to this island in the Dajufeng. Now, when we arrived at their island…"

    -

    "-and she passed out. I picked her up, decided to bring her along. Not like I could just leave her unconscious in the treasure room I'd just robbed."

    "You kidnapped her for ransom." Bao growls.

    "I mean, I was thinking human shield, but yeah," you shrug, seeing little point in denying it. "Point is, we ran from an overzealous guard, Ning pointed out the secret passage we used to get here, and I decided we should lay low for a while." You nod to Dalnim. "She needed to relax and frankly I like pretty women, sue me."

    Mei snorts, her hair curling in on itself. "Flatterer."

    Bao doesn't laugh. "Okay… try again, but don't lie like a rug with a head injury this time."

    You glance at Dalnim. "How does a rug get a head injury?"

    The tech monk shrugs.

    Aki hugs you and places her cheek against yours. "I believe him."

    "… WHY?!" Bao yells. "That was the most insane pack of bullshit I've ever heard in my life! And I've heard more political speeches than love confessions!"

    Aki frowns at her. "Easy, it's too stupid to make up."

    "… What."

    "It's too stupid to make up," Aki repeats, turning to nuzzle you again. "If he was, for example, trying to sneak into the harem, wouldn't it make more sense to portray himself as a shipwreck survivor? Or as Dalnim's secret lover he was trying to run away with? Or the janitor? Depths below, even a concerned citizen that happened upon Ning would be more believable than a magic portal in a space temple filled with undead robots that lead to a spaceship filled with weirdo magic knife-eared space babes that had ANOTHER magic portal that happened to lead to one of the palace's treasure rooms."

    Bao's expression at that point lies somewhere between 'are you fucking kidding me right now' mixed with resting bitch face. "That's what happens when you lie, your story is full of holes!"

    "On inspection, yeah, but this has holes from the get-go. It's like that guy who was late to his appointment with you because he forgot his pants."

    You blink, train of thought derailed. "Wait, what?"

    Bao breathes in deeply and exhales. "Okay, let's say for one wild moment that you're telling the truth, what's next then?"

    "Which way is it to the docks?"

    Aki frowns and holds on tighter to you. "Why?"

    "It is my intention to steal a ship, sail it back to my crew, and hopefully save their lives from the soulless skeleton robots." You say calmly.

    "That so?" Ning asks.

    You look at her, surprised. "How long have you been awake?"

    "Long 'nuff." She says, pulling herself up and rubbing her head. "What're you going to do about the skeleton robots?"

    "Fight them, obviously."

    "You'll lose." She says bluntly.

    "I'm not going to kill them all." You fold your arms. "I'm going to get my crew out."

    "Okay. Say they're not dead and you do. How long are you gonna last before these robots take over the world?"

    You bite back your insults, your insistence that they're fine. "Shouldn't you be at your meeting?"

    She waves a dismissive hand. "They don't let me talk anyway, fuck 'em. Don't change the subject."

    "What else, exactly, am I supposed to do? Unlike you I don't have a noble house to call on."

    Ning snorts. "You've got me."

    "And why would that matter?"

    She blinks at you, confusion evident in her eyes. "Wow you really don't know do you."

    "… Ning's full name is Shenzhou Ning," Bao growls, standing up. "Divine Empress of Tabgach, Emissary of Heaven, Blood of Jade."

    …

    "What."

    "I know I don't look it right now," Ning snaps, dusting off one of her shoulders.

    That's a bit of an understatement.

    As she pulls herself up, she sways and almost falls over again. In every description you've ever heard of the Empress (save for those composed by pirates that really need to just pay for a cheap whore or something), she is portrayed as an imperious and majestic being, looking down her nose and speaking in a voice like thunder, commanding respect, adoration and fear in equal parts.

    Seeing her now she looks more like a middle-aged mother going through a bad divorce after waking up from a bad hangover. Her hair is a complete mess, as is her make-up. She's missing jewelry (save for a neck brace) and while her clothing is of fine make it's wrinkled, messed up, and covered in spilled sake. The smell is about what one would expect.

    You shrug. "Eh, I live with pirates, I've seen worse."

    Ning snorts. "A bit backhanded but I'll take it. I don't think I got your name?"

    "Ching Sun-Sin."

    "Ching…?" She frowns. "I know that name…"

    She's quiet for a moment, then shrugs. "Eh, can't recall specifics. Girls, boys, leave us."

    "Uh, ma'am-" One of the men asks.

    She sighs. "Yes, you can give Dalnim another foot rub before she leaves. Just get out of earshot."

    The concubines bow to Ning before moving away, taking a confused Dalnim with them. You keep expecting someone to laugh and say they were joking, but no one does. And you also realize that if the Empress was talking poorly about herself, then either she was full of self-loathing or she'd been quoting other people…

    "Do you really have no plan beyond 'show up and shoot things'?" She asks.

    "It's not like I have any other options." You say, making the bait obvious.

    "Au contrare," Ning wags her finger at you. "I have access to something that can end this threat to my planet and save your people all in a single go."

    You raise an eyebrow, pretending your curiosity has been piqued.

    "Tell me, Ching Sun-Sin," She grins wide, "Have you ever heard of my personal Knight?"

    You raise an eyebrow further, this time genuinely surprised. You'd been hoping for some of her subordinate houses to come, but her personal knight?!

    "It would doubtless turn the tide against these machines. I don't care how powerful they are, the Staff would be more than powerful enough to wipe them from existence."

    You have your doubts that any single Knight could turn the tide, but you see the confidence in her eyes, and you do know the legends around it.

    The Staff of the Azure Sky was the largest and strongest Knight on the planet, said to have been crafted from the bones of the moon. (It's doubtful that's what actually happened, but the fact that a legend of such a thing exists tells you all you need to know about that thing's size). All fear it, and from what your mother tells you, rightly so. It'd been damaged once or twice, but rarely rendered immobile, and never left survivors once it decided to kill.

    Which begged the question of where the stories came from, but 'never' probably meant 'few'.

    "And in exchange for this boon, you want…?"

    "I want you kill Lord Chan. Or at least make sure he dies to these robots." She says without preamble. "You said you got a meeting with him earlier. Which suggests he trusts you."

    You frown and fold your arms, glaring at the Empress.

    "What?!"

    "Your knights asked for him to be brought in alive when they went to the temple."

    "Yeah, well. My generals and I disagree on that point." she growls. "Taking men alive hasn't done anything so far."

    You raise an eyebrow. "Seems a dishonorable thing you ask, to kill a man who thinks me his ally."

    "Tell the corpses of the last twenty years honor matters!" She snaps. "I want the war to be over! Chan is keeping this going. If he dies, then it would break the morale of his houses and maybe we can get some actual negotiations in! The war can stop. We can drop a few taxes, get some infrastructure projects in, do something with my power besides offer condolences to dead farmers!

    "Normally I'd give you a title, but you don't seem like the type. So I'll offer a full pardon for you, your mother and your father. I'll throw in a letter of marque for your pirate armada while I'm at it."

    Not bad. While the Reaver Queen's armada has always been fiercely independent, you know that some pirates are granted these papers, allowing them to raid and pillage the enemies of one house or another while being protected by the nobles.

    She glances back at the harem girls who are trying very hard to pretend they're not listening. "And you can take the girls. You'll be nice to them, won't you?"

    You scowl. "What kind of man do you take me for?"

    "The kind in charge of a group of criminals I know nothing about. Besides, we'll need a reason to sell deploying the Staff to my advisors, and frankly they get bored in here."

    "… fair enough. But that's all things that benefit you. What am I getting out of this?"

    She frowns. "Saving your people at the temple, legalizing your piratical activities, and restoring the good name of your father isn't payment enough?"

    Mental note, she did recognize his name.

    "What makes you think I care about whether or not the law approves of what I do?" You hold up your fingers and rub them together, grinning. "If I'm going to be killing a man on your order, I expect proper compensation."

    "How about that sword of mine you stole?"

    You snort, not even mentioning why that's not enough.

    "… Fine. Name your price." She growls, grudgingly folding her arms. "And make it reasonable, please."

    You grin.

    Reasonable payment is for chumps. You're gonna extort the shit out of her.

    -

    Voting


    In exchange for bringing the Staff of the Azure Sky to bear against the Necron menace, the Empress has promised you a letter of marque, full pardons for your family, and other stuff you don't care about. But she's just handed you a blank check to demand anything you want from her in exchange.

    (Note: No, you will not be locked in to killing Chan Len by this decision. That will come later. For now you're extorting the Empress, so have fun with it)

    [] – Marriage

    The fastest way to be put in charge of this planet is to wed the Empress. Technically you'd be her consort rather than her equal, but you've never really cared about titles. You'd be all but divine, and the planet would be under your control, de facto if not de jure.

    [] – Treasures

    You want all the Necron treasure that the Empress and her forces have acquired, and your own pick from the rest. No one would ever challenge your mother's armada again, and you'd have free reign of the seas to do as you please.

    [] – Help for the children

    The kids you collected from the slavers need to get home. The Empress would surely have information and be able to help with a speed you couldn't match without her.

    (Note: You can do this with the marriage as well but this option dodges tying yourself down to potential responsibility)

    [] – Knights

    She was half right. You don't want a noble title, but the giant robots? Now that sounds like fun. You're pretty sure there are ways to transport them over the ocean…

    [] – Write-in

    Suggested by @w34v3r
    [] write-in: Witch academy - There's a lot of witch kids running around untrained, hell we had to figure our powers out all on our own and we come from money. In order to prevent similar incidents as to what started this mess, there needs to be a proper school for these kids.

    Submitted by @*name*
    [] Write In: Friendship – she's gonna go on an adventure with us and join our crew; she can think of it as a vacation
     
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