[X]You doubt a peasant girl will be particularly knowledgeable of the military state of the city. You didn't know that much about Caras' holdings before your marriage, after all. You'll let the conversation evolve organically, learning whatever you can about Commoner culture, religion, etc, without worrying whether any given detail is particularly relevant to your current business.
[X]Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
From Sabrina's perspective, it should be very strange that it's Ada insisting on putting herself in danger rather than Teo; traditional medieval gender roles and all that. Something is off here and she should be suspicious.
[X]You doubt a peasant girl will be particularly knowledgeable of the military state of the city. You didn't know that much about Caras' holdings before your marriage, after all. You'll let the conversation evolve organically, learning whatever you can about Commoner culture, religion, etc, without worrying whether any given detail is particularly relevant to your current business.
[X]Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
Voting is currently unanimous in favor of simply chatting casually with Ada on the idea she's a peasant girl, with her own questions being fielded with partial honesty, but as last time I'll be waiting a day or two before formally closing the vote, primarily to pace myself better but hey dissenting opinions can still happen.
Also...
... finally got around to trying to draw a Gatekeeper, simply because this Breed in particular I can't keep straight in my head. Maybe now I'll stop forgetting the many, many eyes, among other points.
It's somehow never made it verbally into the Quest, but they have little wing... nub... things. I've always intended that, but kept forgetting to integrate it into Sabrina's narration. I really have no idea why I've been so slipshod with Gatekeepers in specific.
The brown thing is the hat. Only Breed to wear any kind of clothing so far, after all.
Yeah, part of the reason for the long gap in updates is I didn't want to botch Sabrina's character and so damage a core part of the appeal of this Quest, and 'holding' her character in my head is a bit more effortful than... uh, literally any of my other writing projects. So you're in part seeing me getting back into the groove of writing Sabrina-the-character-Questors-have-developed, instead of Sabrina-the-Questor-avatar-who-has-to-make-choices. (That is, in the prior update, the list of vote options I gave was primarily 'a list of things it makes sense to be able to do in context', whereas this update there were options I didn't include because they're not in character even though they're reasonable options to consider in context, and both 'dish on your relationship!' and 'I like this Ada girl, let's talk about her personally' were options where I thought to include them because they're Sabrina options) Sabrina being cranky from tiredness in the prior update was partly realism, but also partly 'if Sabrina seems OOC, there's totally a reasonable in-universe explanation, I swear.'
Glad to hear I'm actually successfully getting back into the swing of writing her, though.
[x]So I notice you seem to get along with the boy exceedingly well, Ada?... they're a cute couple, you want to hear more, okay?
[X]Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
I've always liked this quest's mix of cuteness and serious conflict.
[X]So I notice you seem to get along with the boy exceedingly well, Ada?... they're a cute couple, you want to hear more, okay?
[X]Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
[X]Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
[X]You're still not sure why Ada is so dead-set on putting herself into what she seems to think is probably danger, and you find it a little worrying. You'll try to steer the conversation toward the city's defenses, but only inasmuch as that's natural and believable an interest. If Ada gets suspicious or defensive, you'll drop that topic.
[X] You doubt a peasant girl will be particularly knowledgeable of the military state of the city. You didn't know that much about Caras' holdings before your marriage, after all. You'll let the conversation evolve organically, learning whatever you can about Commoner culture, religion, etc, without worrying whether any given detail is particularly relevant to your current business.
[X] Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy. No. of Votes: 9
[X] Tzardok
[X] Elle S.
[X] Izicata
[X] James Birdsong
[X] moelkk
[X] SolipsistSerpent
[X] Tascion
[X] veekie
[X] Zorakov
[X] So I notice you seem to get along with the boy exceedingly well, Ada?... they're a cute couple, you want to hear more, okay?
[X] Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy. No. of Votes: 3
[x] Kai Merah
[x] ChildishChimera
[X] tricholysis
[X] Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy.
[X] You're still not sure why Ada is so dead-set on putting herself into what she seems to think is probably danger, and you find it a little worrying. You'll try to steer the conversation toward the city's defenses, but only inasmuch as that's natural and believable an interest. If Ada gets suspicious or defensive, you'll drop that topic. No. of Votes: 1
[X] The Nomad
[X] You'll focus on Ada herself. She's clearly suspicious of you, yes, but she's been polite, considerate, and has been reserved in her suspicions instead of instantly, aggressively hostile. You find yourself liking and respecting her, citizen of an enemy nation or not, and would like to get to know her better.
[X] Partial honesty. You'll try not to let slip details like that your husband is a Gendarme, but you're perfectly happy to speak of how sweet, if clueless, he is, or answer questions about your own family, or about Freelander culture, or anything else you're pretty sure won't be obviously a reason for her to decide you're an enemy. No. of Votes: 1
[X] Tithed_Verse
Total No. of Voters: 14
Unsurprisingly, Sabrina has concluded a random peasant girl probably isn't all that knowledgeable of the city's military state and so will just let the conversation wend its way about naturally, and as for any questions Ada herself provides Sabrina will be as honest as she can be without letting slip anything that she thinks is liable to be taken as proof she's an enemy.
Update incoming, please standby.
... I'm not entirely sure when this particular update will arrive, the COVID situation is making my life even more unpredictable than usual and I have other obligations, so this might not get posted until after Monday, fair warning.
Sometime after the Storm Beast raid but before leaving for the Common Lands...
One day when you're passing through the courtyard on an errand, Caras is looming over the markers of Virmires past as he often does, and without really thinking about it you find yourself saying, "I've been wondering for a while now, but what's the history here?"
Caras startles, antennae glow dimming, having apparently been focused on other matters enough to not notice your arrival. "Hm? What?"
You gesture at the stones leaning against the tower. "You've left graves for prior Virmires. You don't do that with any other Breeds, as far as I know."
Caras sags a little, though given how large he is in practice it's not exactly easy to overlook. "They're reminders of my past failures, so I won't make similar mistakes."
You take a moment to digest that, having been assuming something a bit more sentimental was behind it, and then mentally shrug it off. You've gotten used to Caras coming from odd places at times, even if some examples are less adorable than others. And now you're more than passingly curious; what kind of mistakes would Caras feel a need to remind himself of so regularly? "It sounds like there's a story there. Care to share, dear?"
Caras glances up toward Virmire's tower for a moment, then mutters, apparently to himself, "Ah, no, he's over by the trash dump," and then re-focuses on you. "Now that the topic is on my mind, it occurs you ought to be kept in the loop if you're going to be my voice and claw off in the distance. It would be a terrible shame if you repeat one of my own errors unnecessarily." Then he lays himself all the way down, which is sufficiently unusual you're considering asking what it's about, when he starts talking, face inches from your own and voice as close to a whisper as you suspect he's capable of. "Alright then, might as well start at the beginning."
-------------------------------------------
This goes all the way back to when I was quite the young Lord, only a decade under my belt. My progenitor, the now-defunct Duke of Shrouded Blades, had decided I'd had more than enough time to get a handle on the basics of my own biology, and therefore he was no longer obligated to support and protect me. He formally declared me an Esquire, gave me a makeshift shelter for my Heart, and suggested I make my way to the Eastern border and carve out a territory in the trouble zone. He told me this was his last favor to me, clarifying that a spy of his had informed him that three local Lords had been killed in the last month, sufficiently suddenly none of them had successfully passed on the news, so I'd have a head start on staking a claim before other young Lords were made aware of the vacuum to fill.
The journey itself isn't worth telling, to be honest. I almost lost my Heart in the trip, but while that would've been a terrible setback it wasn't very interesting, just rotten wood going unnoticed for a little too long because my Workers were still being refined.
The important thing is that after arriving, occupying this castle, and sending rudimentary Runners to post the news that the Esquire of Soul-Consuming Carapace Shadows was now protecting these towns, it rapidly became clear that I had no skill with the topic of managing my vassals, and found the entire process utterly dreadful to boot. Things were fine when vassals came and pleaded with me to fight off invaders; though the closest thing to a combat Breed I had was little more than a Worker with sharpened limbs, the Duke of Shrouded Blades had done excellent work on my own body, and in practice I found I had little to fear. I had to be careful of fire, of course, but there were ways around that, such as having a Stabber sneak up behind those who thought that waving a torch at me was enough to protect them on its own.
("What happened to these, uh, Stabbers?" "I traded the Core for their bladed limbs away to a young Lord. I hadn't used it in over a decade at that point, as my current Breeds did everything the Stabber did but more efficiently." "..." "What?" "Never mind, just continue your story, please.")
But when it came to taxation, disputes over who owned what, who had wronged whom, who could get married to whom, and all the other concerns my vassals brought to me that didn't fall under the banner of making 'bad people' stop hurting my vassals, I couldn't keep up with what these even meant, let alone what was the correct way of handling any given situation. One town died on the vine, the farms failing for reasons no one could explain and the residents ultimately fleeing my territory entirely, scooped up by other Lords in the area. Something about crop spinning or something, you'd have to ask Virmire for the details.
As I was a young Lord whose territory was failing, I had little to offer to the adjacent, established Lords, and was far too old for anyone to offer support out of obligation to needy newborns. My own progenitor was too far away to reasonably petition, and had made it quite clear he wouldn't do anything more for me anyway. I would have to live or die on my own skills, or get lucky, or creative.
As it happens, I got lucky more than anything else.
The Captain Tacking A'Viking-
("The what?")
Oh, hm. You haven't... right, right.
Well, I don't know what his name means, I wasn't terribly curious and he indicated I wouldn't know what he was talking about if he tried to explain, but a Captain is a Lord who... hm. Well, I already made this known early, I think, but young Lords don't really have a lot of space to work with. The Freelands have every inch claimed by someone, somewhere, and nowadays Lords don't die very often. It was a freakish chain of events that led to my own opportunity, a Storm Beast raid sweeping through shortly after an earthquake had cracked the defenses of one Lord, another Lord's fort burned to the ground by his own vassals because they inexplicably believed the disasters befalling his region were perpetrated by him, and the third Lord -this castle's Lord- having attempted to expand into Shellmen territory and overreached himself, dead when the morning sun rose upon his forces before he could find shelter. A young Lord might be lucky and have an existing, nearby Lord fail before their own period of tolerance is over, or -actually, it's impolite to say this to other Lords so don't repeat this- or a young Lord might be not so much lucky as their progenitor just wants one of their neighbors to behave differently and is hoping the young Lord will make for a better neighbor... but often a young Lord runs out their tolerance period with no such opportunity appearing. At that point they can try to take their progenitor's place, and probably fail utterly and be destroyed, try to take some other Lord's place in which case they probably still fail utterly but are at least dying with dignity, they can try to expand into another country where the local humans are not used to Gendarmerie, in which case it is very likely they will die with dignity, or...
... well, some young Lords have a more coastal experience, and have the bright idea that they can build a vast ship and keep their Heart there. Sometimes their progenitor builds it for them, optimistically hoping it will let them avoid conflict with other Lords and ignoring that there's absolutely no way for them to have any vassals that way.
You might have guessed this, but most such Lords don't last very long.
Anyway, a Captain is a low-ranking example of such, though maybe rank is not the correct term in this case as normally the rank is something the Council prefers to assign based on population in one's territory, and naval Lords have no territory and no population. It would probably be more accurate to say that a Captain is an inexperienced naval Lord, one the Council expects to at some point have the weeks of no contact stretch into months and years until everyone just assumes a storm killed them or some such. Higher ranks, like Commodore, are reserved for the tiny handful of Lords that manage to make the naval thing work for decades, like the Admiral of Icy Horrors From the Depths, certainly the most famous of such Lords.
("I have never heard of him." "I think the last time he was seen was two decades ago?... he's probably fine, he regularly vanishes for a decade or two, but I imagine that would be why you haven't heard of him." "Alright then...")
Anyway, Captain Tacking A'Viking sailed into a coastal town I had at the time -it was wiped out by a Storm Beast raid a decade later, I still have no idea why- and my vassals dutifully informed me of this. Well. I interpreted it as dutiful, but in retrospect I think they thought he was an enemy they needed protection from, but weren't certain and worried I'd take offense if they presented it that way? For some reason? I'm bad with vassals, that's the whole point of this story, I have no idea.
Captain Tacking A'Viking was of course also a young Lord, though not quite so young as I, and the fact that he was going the naval route meant he had gone in a very different direction with his own experimentation, and had very different interests from my neighbors. He had apparently hit upon the usefulness of this disparity already, and was sailing up and down the coast making trades with Lords, hoping he'd make his forces sufficiently robust to survive the ocean before the weather turned dangerous again. So when I showed up, backed by forty Stabbers and a dozen Workers in case this was some manner of subterfuge, he was quick to propose Core trading.
Even luckier for me was that my sunproofing technique, though frustrating even now and even more primitive at the time, immediately grabbed his attention when we were discussing options. Apparently he was wanting to not have to write off a day of sailing from being unable to man the ship's elements during the day. He was able to work around it some by hauling the ship from under the water, but this was slower, and involved a lot of Breeds tied up in it, rather than collecting fish for processing. As such, he was rather more generous than he might otherwise have been; we negotiated a deal where I'd produce a sunproofing Core for him, he'd derive Cores from his Diver design for me to approximate his design-
("That's where Divers come from?" "Well, I've made some modifications since, but essentially, yes." "I'd wondered why they'd seemed so different from the other Breeds..." "... but you've never seen a Diver?" "Um. I'm not sure how to explain. Just... continue the story?" "Well... I suppose I can.")
-and as a kindness, he also attempted to use himself as a basis for a Core for what he called 'political savvy'.
This is how Virmire I, my first major mistake, came about.
Virmire I was physically not terribly different from the Virmire you know. A little weaker, a little frailer, and twice as tall because I wasn't sure how much of a body he'd need. I didn't yet do carriages and Haulers, for one.
In temperament, Virmire I was... I believe genial is the word? My vassals, when they spoke to me, described him as being friendly and understanding. They never complained that he was 'cruel', a moniker I was given on and off for years for unclear reasons, and even called him 'approachable', though I was never entirely clear what that was supposed to mean.
In any event, at first Virmire I seemed to be a tremendous success. He took to his duties readily, took the tower as a place for notes and began properly tracking assorted info I'd never been able to carry in my head like how many sheep per year a given town provided, and my vassals considered him a clear improvement to my own fumblings. Banditry went down, he extracted the secrets of crop whirling from a neighboring Lord's vassals at minimal cost and so reversed another town's crops starting to fail, and I was even able to expand my holdings to defend three additional towns from having so much of my time freed up.
My first inkling that something was not entirely excellent about all this was that three years later I learned that Captain Tacking A'Viking had amassed a bloated force beyond any reasonable ability to sustain it while operating out of his one ship with one Heart, and promptly hurled his forces at the Duke of Sullen Forests without any declarations or explanations for this action. The Duke of Sullen Forests repelled the attack easily, and Captain Tacking A'Viking fled with his ship and a much-weakened force, only to repeat this basic plan of action two more times against other Lords before the Council sent Freewheeling Raptors -I forget his rank at the time- to sink his vessel, destroy his Heart, and drag him before the Council to be tried and executed.
Well, there was technically a possibility of the trial ending favorably for Captain Tacking A'Viking, but it would've required he reveal legitimate grievances against all three Lords, and anyway I only heard about this after it was all done. I doubt anyone found it terribly likely the Council would provide a favorable ruling at the time, and certainly it did end in an execution.
This was rather concerning given that Captain Tacking A'Viking had informed me he was using his own political acumen as a basis. I'd been perfectly happy at the time he said so, as it seemed unlikely he'd be more inept than I, but with now knowing that his political inclinations had included what seemed an awful lot like ambition willing to risk great costs, I was rather concerned about what might be going on in Virmire I's head.
I suspect he'd anticipated my concerns. He'd read the Council's announcement before it reached me, for one. For two, within a week he'd mobilized some number of my vassals into attacking the castle, having apparently convinced them that he would make a much better ruler than I if only they helped him get me out of the way.
This was ridiculous, of course, as Virmire I wouldn't have been able to properly use the Heart. Even if the Council had decided his actions were fine instead of executing him, which I'm somewhat skeptical of, his rule wouldn't have lasted for terribly long if he'd succeeded.
This didn't really matter at the time, though. My vassals had been convinced by him this was a viable plan, and while I did try to lay out the logistics of why this was a terrible course of action, this was primarily responded to with jeers and claims I was a liar who'd say anything to 'save my hide'.
The good news is that Virmire I's similarities to Captain Tacking A'Viking extended to the overestimation of his forces' abilities. I was able to sneak my complement of Stabbers out and take out most of the vassals from behind before they really grasped they had trouble in their midst, and when they did figure out that many of their number were dead the rest fled in short order. Virmire I himself also attempted to flee, consistent with Captain Tacking A'Viking, but I hadn't designed him with speed in mind, and he didn't have a boat to escape where I wouldn't be able to follow.
So that was all not much of a problem on its own, but it did leave me with the rather dire problem of needing a Virmire that wasn't recklessly ambitious, while my own political acumen remained less than stellar. It's not as if I'd gotten much in the way of practice, either, since Virmire I had seemed perfectly competent at handling it for me.
And this time I didn't have a Lord conveniently eager to trade with me to help solve my problem.
Caras whips upward all of a sudden, reminding you of a guilty child caught with their hands in a cookie jar for a moment, before loudly saying to you, "Good talk, Sabrina, good luck with your errand!" and promptly focusing on Virmire.
You stare, blinking, wondering what just happened, and then shrug with a smile.
You've learned quite a lot today, and could use some time to think about it anyway.
So you continue on your way, humming to yourself as you go, still smiling. It was nice just listening to Caras tell a story for a bit...
Turns out writing the conversation between Sabrina and Ada is pretty hard by itself, and then a chain of stupid crap has been going on that's left me little energy to pour into creative writing, among other things. Then I had the thought of this story, some time to myself, and wrote.
Nothing to vote on, just a bit more story, worldbuilding, etc. Dunno when the next proper update will be ready, but I am working on it.
So uh, that happened. Ah, poor Caras, part of me wants to give the big doof a hug, even if I doubt he'd recieve it in the spirit it was intended...
XDDD
'Sir, I am married!'
("That's where Divers come from?" "Well, I've made some modifications since, but essentially, yes." "I'd wondered why they'd seemed so different from the other Breeds..." "... but you've never seen a Diver?" "Um. I'm not sure how to explain. Just... continue the story?" "Well... I suppose I can.")
When did we see or even hear about a Diver? I can't recall...
This story continues to be fascinating. However, I find myself much more interested in the relationships between the various powers of the world and their logic than in what our character reasonably can see through her own eyes.
This sidestory probably did more to interest me in the setting than the entire Stormbeast chapter. It makes me giddy that there may be 4 or 5 more of them. I forgot, which is the latest Virmire, the sixth?
I'd love to see what Admiral of Icy Horrors From the Depths is getting up to every decade and how he got the name.
This sidestory probably did more to interest me in the setting than the entire Stormbeast chapter. It makes me giddy that there may be 4 or 5 more of them. I forgot, which is the latest Virmire, the sixth?
The seventh. And I'll almost certainly get back to the other Virmires; this was originally supposed to cover the full set (I was calling it 'The Many Deaths of Virmire' initially) but ran out of steam and then went 'oh yeah, MMQ updates are often under 3000 words anyway'.
This story continues to be fascinating. However, I find myself much more interested in the relationships between the various powers of the world and their logic than in what our character reasonably can see through her own eyes.
Monster Marriage Quest is Sabrina's story, but I intend to tell more stories in the setting even once MMQ itself is over. Not currently sure what format they'll take -a recurring issue in my writing is having difficulty picking a story to tell, and I've proven pretty poorly-suited to running Quests so I'd be hesitant to run a second Quest in the MMQ setting- but it's certainly going to see more exploration of some kind.
Monster Marriage Quest is Sabrina's story, but I intend to tell more stories in the setting even once MMQ itself is over. Not currently sure what format they'll take -a recurring issue in my writing is having difficulty picking a story to tell, and I've proven pretty poorly-suited to running Quests so I'd be hesitant to run a second Quest in the MMQ setting- but it's certainly going to see more exploration of some kind.
I do like the world building, but I am pleased that the quest is built around Sabrina's narrative. I like story feel to it, compared to a civ-builder quest.
"So!" you start off with. "I know so little of Commoner culture and am glad to get an opportunity to speak to one so familiar with the same so soon!" This is basically true, even, albeit you're putting way more enthusiasm and friendliness into your voice than is really generally accurate.
"What's wrong with your voice?" Ada responds with, which has nothing to do with what you just said and also what?
"What?" you say quizzically, unsure what Ada is talking about. You've always been told you had a quite nice voice, even had a suitor compliment your singing quite aggressively. (Until Sophie and Simone terrorized him into staying away from you for whatever mysterious Sophie-and-Simone reasons they had) This is the first time someone suggested it sounded anything other than pleasing.
"The-" Ada struggles with words and-
Unclean? Unclear.
-thaaaat is the Gatekeeper in the luggage. Which is suggesting the girl in front of you is infected.
Your smile probably turns quite stiff, you suspect, but it's dark in here and Ada is wringing her hands and groping for words so you rather doubt she's noticed if so.
Okay. So you have a Burner Worm right in front of you. Probably. That's... you're not sure how to feel about that. It's certainly a worrying thought.
"-dissonance!" Ada says triumphantly, drawing your attention a bit away from the dire concern that she might burst into flame on you.
"I don't follow?" you respond politely, noticing this time how Ada winces a bit at the sound of your voice. That nags at you.
"Like when musicians play at odds with each other! Discordance! The opposite of harmony!" Ada sounds very pleased to have put into words whatever it is she's describing, but it's not really... getting across real meaning to you.
But you do understand she finds your voice slightly painful to hear just from her reactions, so-
-t̴͙͚̗̘̪̭͇̻̙̟͍̄͝ͅh̶̘̯̋̑̊̅͛̊̈́͆͘ë̸̠̫̮̮̯̻̼́ͅ ̷͙͈̀̿f̶̫̪̳̺̂̓̃̓̽͜i̶̪̲̻̳̺͉͉̫̦̙̬̓̎͋͆͆̀͋́͘r̵̘̮̲̋̌̈͝s̶͓̝̣̝̫̺͈̲̽͂̈́̿́̀͂̿̚̕̚͘͜͝t̵̡̛̛̺̯͇̞̻̱̦͌͆̑͋̈́̅͘ ̸̧̧̗͖̠̙͕̦̺̈͋̈́̋̊̽̅̕͜͝d̶̪̥̯̯̰̭̠͌̅͋̋̃́́͗̓̈̀̀͜͝ǎ̷̡̧̡͈̫̙̩̋͗̐y̷̨͓̝̻̖̥̰͔͔͈̑̌̚͘͜͝- -the Sergent's reaction- -the mayor, the others in town- -no Breed bothered similarly-
-oh.
Ohhh. Right. That! You'd quite forgotten about how dear Caras and Virmire had sounded that first day, before the Integration. You do that now? You should probably ask about that when next you're home. You're a mite peeved and sort of wish to rebuke one of the two, but you're not sure either of them knew themselves given how they spoke of Integration as a thing described to them by another, and apparently rather poorly. So for the moment you'll simply be peeved at the Great Plan anew and sound out Caras and Virmire later to determine if they merit proper blame or merely to have their ignorance alleviated for any future cases.
(You really, really don't want there to be other brides, Caras is yours after all, but if things go well it seems likely Caras will outlive you given all you know, and it is 'until death do you part'. You'd rather he be better-informed for that hopefully-far-off future)
Alright, you're certainly not explaining this with the full truth, given Ada might possibly be able to set herself ablaze, but, well, you can still lean into the truth anyway. So with a shrug, you say, "I think I know what you're talking about now, but I don't know the details. It's simply how things are for me." After a moment's thought, you add, "It's not that I'm unwell, if that's what is worrying you! Quite the opposite, really!" And then you pause, not immediately sure why you said that...
... have you so much as coughed since the Integration? You're not sure. You were never the sickly sort in the first place, but it's been a few months since the last time you even labored under a fever. Normally everybody has a little something every now and then. At least, that's how it was in Abandonne.
Huh.
You tuck that thought away and refocus on Ada, or more precisely on how heavily the doubt weighs upon her face. It's similarly heavy in her voice when she says, "I have never heard of a child born with such a cond-" then her eyes dart around the carriage, and for reasons unclear to you she completely changes conversational direction. "-ah, my apologies Dame Sabrina, I did not mean to pry. Forgive my impertinence."
Alright, you're not sure what just happened, but it's convenient so you won't question it. (Yet, anyway) "Nothing to forgive-" 'Impertinence'? You don't really know what the word means. Is it offensive? "-so don't worry, Ada. I'm perfectly happy to simply chat a bit about things!"
Ada looks relieved, then wary, face unguarded, feelings on clear display. You wonder, in the back of your head, whether she's just naturally like that, or if she is overestimating the ability of the carriage's shadows to hide her face from your eyes. "I don't know what to say, Dame Sabrina. I imagine a peasant's life wouldn't be of much interest to, um, someone so august? Where are your bodyguards, if I may be so bold?" Ada's face is politely blank here, not looking particularly quizzical, as if the answer matters little to her. You are rather skeptical this is truly so!
"You need not worry about me," you say, evading the true thrust of her question. "I am quite safe, I assure you!" Well, aside the worrying possibility the girl in front of you might be able to set herself ablaze. You're not sure if you'd get any warning; you've not seen it happen yourself, and Caras' description was unclear in retrospect. (You really should've asked for more detail before setting out... but then, this scenario was not within your expectations at all) But she doesn't need to know that you're eyeing her with some trepidation...
... unless your eyes glowing makes that obvious? Uh. Hopefully not?
"If you say so, Dame Sabrina," comes forth weighted down with intense skepticism, as if Ada thinks you are such a wilting flower you need bodyguards to save you from a stiff breeze. Which is actually reassuring, really! It means Ada doesn't suspect the Boulders (Somehow? They seem quite obvious!) or otherwise have worryingly-correct suspicions. (Probably)
A bit frustrated at how long Ada has stalled you from your goal (Even if said goal is one you have low expectations of getting real return out of pursuing), especially when it seems to be largely on accident on her part (She seemed genuinely worried for you when asking after your eyes and voice!), you decide to be a bit mean. "So how are things between you and the handsome lad, Teo, anyway?" you ask with a teasing smile. You kind of hope you were wrong and there isn't anything between them and this will fluster Ada more than if they were a couple like you first thought. Mostly because you're so annoyed with the situation, honestly.
Ada flushes with an intensity you've never seen before, startling you, and you're doubly-thrown when her verbal response is actually quite level. "I'm happy enough, but would rather keep that which is private... private." Is she annoyed you ask? She doesn't sound it in tone. Hmm. "Do you pick mushrooms, Dame Sabrina?" Ada says, apparently trying to change the subject. Hmmmm.
"Not in a while," you admit, but don't bother to clarify that your marriage is why. (You picked a few maybe a week before the Gatekeeper came for you at the start of all this; Sophie and Simone were always more enthused when it came to woodsy adventures, but you found it a relaxing thing to do, especially when food was not coming so easily, and classically went looking perhaps every two months) "Are you inviting me?" you suggest. If she likes mushroom-picking, maybe she'll be more open sharing a hobby?
Ada shakes her head, saying, "It was just a passing curiosity." And then she is quiet.
Okay, you didn't really want to go mushroom-picking out in the harsh sun with a girl possibly carrying a Burner Worm, so you're not that upset, but goodness gracious can you get this girl to share anything at all? You're not even sure if she's wary of you or simply naturally this closed-off; you can't get a read on her.
This isn't working, and you're frustrated.
Hmmm.
[]You know, you've been so guarded in this conversation, and it's not something you're really practiced in. Perhaps Ada is sensing how unlike you this is? Maybe you should find a topic to raise far from your married life, something to share naturally, relax yourself and Ada.
-[]Speak of your sisters; Sophie and Simone are, if nothing else, a well of interesting stories. (If often frustrating for you)
-[]Speak of your dear Maman and Papa; everyone has parents, and you love yours so. (Even if Maman's plan last time was... upsetting)
-[]Speak of your hazy memories of childhood friends you've since drifted apart from. (If only because three were boys who, once puberty hit, could not look at you the same. The two girls... moved away? Or something?)
-[]Speak of your past suitors, since apparently the topic is relevant to Ada. (Though you weren't really moved by anyone before Caras, so perhaps this is a dangerous direction?)
[]No, it's fine! It's fine. You'll stay the course and just... hope it eventually works? Or that she goes away on her own?
[]Now that you think of it, Ada clearly sees you as a Person Of Importance. If you claim you'd like to rest in preparation for an Important Meeting of some kind later in the day, perhaps she'll excuse herself and you can then focus on preparing for the siege? It wouldn't even really be a lie, now that you think about it...
[]Hmm. It seems risky, but you do have the Gatekeeper and two Runners squeezed into the luggage; you may be able to talk Ada into coming behind the carriage, and then having her paralyzed.
-[]And then you'll take her to the cave, keep her out of the way, and come to a decision later.
-[]And then you'll take her to the cave and have her killed as carefully as you can. She's a Commoner with a Burner Worm; friendliness was probably never an option.
-[]And then you'll take her a bit away from this clearing and try to interrogate her more directly; maybe she'll actually answer questions if it's not a social occasion.
-[]And then you'll move her a bit away from the clearing, then have her brought along when you initiate the siege; she can be a hostage or something?
-[]And then you'll have the Gatekeeper and Hauler take her back to the castle; maybe Caras and Virmire will think of something clever.
[]You'll simply ask Ada directly about her own Burner Worm. You'll claim you 'assumed' all Commoners had them if she questions why you know, and then hopefully she'll give you something directly. (You're already steeling yourself to be horrified)
[]You'll ask more directly about local nobility. Ada (correctly) thinks you're noble, and thinks you'd find peasant life boring; perhaps she expects you to be more interested in Your Fellow Nobles?
[]Write-in.
(Options 1 and 4 require voting for exactly 1 sub-option. A write-in should be reasonably specific in an immediate sense, but not...like, a paragraph of detail or the like)
Yeah, I didn't... y'know... want the Quest to go on hiatus for over 4 years, but as I've laid out elsewhere I was living in what I'm calling the Nightmare Apartment, and it was increasingly crushing out my ability to engage in creative writing at all, in no small part by virtue of being very bad for my health.
The good news is that I've now been out of that apartment for 4~ months and my brain function has substantially improved, to the point that creative writing is once again I Must Get The Words Out Of My Head instead of I Want To Write But Can't Write At All, so here we are!
The bad news is that 'out of that apartment' is specifically 'completely homeless, again' (It's a long story) so not exactly a great situation. (But still better for my health, sadly) The worse news is that a perfect storm of bad luck alongside Google's user-unfriendly approach to account security has cost me access to virtually all of my files of any kind that weren't already public, probably permanently (This is in fact part of why MMQ is getting attention first: it was one of my least note-dependent projects), which includes a bunch of notes I'd made for MMQ here; I'm probably not going to stay as 'on course' to the original as I'd prefer, as for example I had notes for what the entire Virmire death chain went like and don't recall what they were and so will almost certainly end up diverging from the original plan when the rest of that story comes up.
But at least I am writing again.
Here's hoping I stay consistent like I was once upon a time.
Oh! Four years ago Quest! Nice to relive the memories-
Who's this Ada?
…Why did we meet with someone who could have a burner worm?
Vimire Death Chain!?!
I've got re-reading to do it seems!
it's great this is back, but more than slightly hilarious that after being dead for four years it gets an update on the same day someone else posts a quest with exactly the same name. (the quest in question, for those curious)
I'll be honest, given that the last update was mid-2020, I honestly thought you might have been dead, so I'm really happy to see both you and this quest back!
