Flandre's Quest (Touhou) World - (Madness Quest)
- Thread starter Entropy Judge
- Start date
ultima333
Lazy Snug Youkai
Aah, vampire.
[X] Ask Agito to let you communicate telepathically with her.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
Flandre could take her if she manifested an avatar and fought, but without a direct confrontation, there's not a whole lot she can do against Mephala.
And Mephala is the prince of cloak-and-dagger bullshit, more so than even Nocturnal.
Honestly though, it's for the best that we just get going. No guarantee Flan will come out of it in one piece, even if we put a wicked mark on Princess Backstab. And besides, the way Mephala works, she'll try to get Lulu and Agito to kill Flan, and that would not be good for her mental health.
[X] Ask Agito to let you communicate telepathically with her.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
*grumbles about stupid Daedric princes*
Flandre could take her if she manifested an avatar and fought, but without a direct confrontation, there's not a whole lot she can do against Mephala.
And Mephala is the prince of cloak-and-dagger bullshit, more so than even Nocturnal.
Honestly though, it's for the best that we just get going. No guarantee Flan will come out of it in one piece, even if we put a wicked mark on Princess Backstab. And besides, the way Mephala works, she'll try to get Lulu and Agito to kill Flan, and that would not be good for her mental health.
Shadlith
Mad Magician
- Location
- The Universe
[X] Ask Agito to let you communicate telepathically with her.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
Ooh! Are the DB recruiting us? That'd be an interesting way of making cash. On the other hand, I doubt we'd say yes, since we're just trying to get out of here right now, and I doubt Vita's with them... (This is where she got shoved, right? Or am I misremembering?)
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
Ooh! Are the DB recruiting us? That'd be an interesting way of making cash. On the other hand, I doubt we'd say yes, since we're just trying to get out of here right now, and I doubt Vita's with them... (This is where she got shoved, right? Or am I misremembering?)
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
As of last mention, Vita had traded blows with a dragon and shacked up with the Dawnguard, yes.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Vita joined a bunch of vampire hunters?
She really doesn't remember Flandre fondly, does she?
She really doesn't remember Flandre fondly, does she?
Question. What is Lutecia and Agito mental state currently? And what is their current friendship level with Flan?
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Votes are not locked.
And, while both were fairly well-protected by their magical abilities, neither one particularly enjoyed being near Flan's little whammy on the Guards.
Edit: Locking votes.
[X] Ask Agito to let you communicate telepathically with her.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
5
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
5
Lutecia just got bodyjacked by Mephala. Probably. Mephala might have made her think it was a good idea to do certain things. Or she had her brain injected with badwrongfun. Agito, being a fairly sensible individual with a good head on her shoulders, is fairly reasonable.
And, while both were fairly well-protected by their magical abilities, neither one particularly enjoyed being near Flan's little whammy on the Guards.
Currently undeterminable.
Edit: Locking votes.
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Babette
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
[X] Ask Agito to let you communicate telepathically with her.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
You purse your lips as Babette stares at you, then hold up one finger in a 'wait' gesture. She pouts but sits back, keeping an eye on you. The other girl sways from side to side, and you look down at Lutecia, keeping the odd girl in front of you barely in view. How to handle the situation …? You stroke the young magician's hair and she pushes closer to you, her shoulder pressing against the leg her head is resting against. You consider draping her over your legs like a big cat, but you're not sure how well that would work out. You meet Agito's eyes. "Could you let me talk to her, mind to mind?" Her eyes narrow.
"It wouldn't be a private conversation, you know. Lulu and I would be able to hear it, too." You shrug.
"I don't mind; it might even work better that way." She gives you a look, glances down at Lutecia, then shrugs. Babette frowns and tenses as the link is established, and you smile at her. "Hello, Babette. My name is Flandre Scarlet. How are you?" Instead of reacting with alarm, excitement, or any emotion you expected her to, she eyes you curiously and leans back slightly. Gone is the chatty, excitable girl, and in her place sits someone calculating and clever.
"Convenient. How?" She shrugs and smiles wistfully. "Ah, youngness. Listen age, experience. Young once. Terrible hiding traits." She leans forward to look more closely at Lutecia, but before she can get too close you reach out and poke her forehead. She sits back up and jabbers unintelligibly. "Poor. Turn or seduce, no young trust. Betray." Lutecia tries to burrow into your side as you work your way through Babette's broken comments. "Maker left? Died?" She frowns, possibly realizing that her speech is being broken up. She points at herself, then at you. "Vampire." You blink, then take a closer look at her … and you suppose you'll have to take her at her word. She sighs and shakes her head.
"Sorry. Is this your home territory? We're just passing through." You pull Lutecia up into a sitting position and let her lean against your chest. Agito slips against Lutecia's other side, watching you and Babette warily. The vampire shakes her head.
"Solitude delivery taking. Hide better. Safer both, Guards-Dawn spies." You frown and look past Babette and her companion. Perhaps these 'Dawnguard' men are dangerous to her, but against you … well, without knowing more about her, a comparison is difficult.
"I don't know … what do you guys think?" Agito stiffens before jerking her head to look at you. Babette blinks, then shrugs and smiles. Her companion leans against her, shoulder to shoulder.
"If it were up to me, I'd say ignore her. With any luck, we won't be here long enough for these hunter people to bother us, and even if they do … well, I won't say you're a 'good' person, but you can control yourself as well as most humans if you put your mind to it." Agito looks away from you as she gives her opinion, and you giggle. Before you can reply or ask Lutecia, though, violence erupts on the other side of the hall's open fire.
One man lunges forward, slamming into another man and tackling him into the fire. Naturally enough, the victim shrieks and starts thrashing, but something in his cry sets your teeth on edge, and the attacker draws a dagger and begins stabbing his opponent. Babette skitters out of the way, toward you, but her companion isn't as quick, and one of the attacked man's kicks catches her in the back, slamming her into the ground. Lutecia tries to reach out for the girl, but you pull her back - and a moment later, the victim tosses his assailant out of the firepit and onto the floor. There's a thud as the girl is slammed into the floor again, then both men leap to their feet. The defender seems to have suffered more from being in the flames than from the repeated dagger strikes, and the attacker strips off his scorched cloak and draws an axe from his back. The rest of the people in the tavern finally seem to start reacting, and while most of them scatter back from the apparent madmen, but the armored woman from before hurls herself at the vampire. He slashes at her face, but that leaves him open to his initial attacker, who leaps across the fire and buries his axe in the vampire's side. Babette takes the opportunity to scramble toward her companion, and you see that the girl's face is bloody.
Even after a second strike from the axe and a face-shattering punch from the woman, the vampire is still standing, but instead of fighting he flees, and the two warriors give chase. The innkeeper calls something out, and one of the workers rushes out as well, then she hurries over to the injured girl. She gently wipes her face clean, then, with Babette's help, gets her to drink something - a healing potion, going by how her nose almost seems to reshape itself and the bleeding slows to a trickle in seconds. She carefully picks the girl up and starts carrying her toward the stairs, talking with Babette all the while. Then she turns back to look at you and shrugs. Babette hurries back and gestures for you all to follow her. When you're all in one of the upstairs rooms, the girl asleep in the bed, and the innkeeper safely downstairs, Babette relaxes and opens a window. "Better hope. Not know vampire; smart Guards-Dawn. Dangerous." You snort and she glowers at you.
"If you say so. I'll admit he's clever, but he didn't seem that dangerous. Would you mind answering a couple questions for me?" She frowns before shrugging.
"Quick. No promise. Have potion quick." You smile and bow politely.
"Who's Mephala? What is she, and what does she do?" Agito winces as Babette stares blankly at you and steps away from the window. She shakes her head and sits down on the chair to bury her face in her hands.
"Insane." You tense, then force yourself to relax. "Stupid. Insane. Power, secrets, power, strong." She looks up at you. "Avoid. No match." Your smile turns chilly, but she doesn't seem to notice as you nod.
"Fair enough. What is a 'Sithis'? How are little ones different from big ones?" Her eyes narrow almost immediately, and she stares at you for a long moment.
"Uh, Flandre? Mind cluing us in?" You glance at Agito and toss your hands in the air.
"I think I told you I talked with Mephala? Well, I was going to destroy her sword, because she irritated me and I couldn't attack her, but she told me to leave it alone and called me a 'little Sithis.' Not quite sure if I want to kill her - or rather, if I'm going to make the attempt, because I do want to kill her - but without more information on who and what she is, I can't make that decision." Babette shakes her head and stands up, climbing nimbly out the window.
"Back. Talk. Discuss." Then she's off, and you dart forward to see her creep along the roof. She seems to be making her way deeper into the city. You sigh as Agito dismisses the connection and hop into the window, luxuriating in the night's enhancement of your body.
"I hate to run off as well, but there are a couple things I want to check. I should be back before our little friend, but don't worry about staying up - I don't think we'll be doing much tomorrow." You catch Lutecia's shoulders drop a little, though whether it's from relief or disappointment you can't tell. You hope she's taking things well. "Be good, you two; I'll be back soon." You slip your cloak off and float back over the roof, stiffening and flexing your wings. You could go to the carriage company and see if you can figure out what you'll need to go to Windhome, and when you'll need it by. Or you could just go on a scavenging spree, that would be fine. Or, you could follow Babette. She seems to think she's better than you, and maybe that information you want isn't worth dealing with her ….
What do you do?
[ ] Follow Babette:
- [ ] Peacefully.
- [ ] Throw her out of the city - literally.
- [ ] Leave her for the werewolves to find.
[ ] Go to the Carriage Company.
- [ ] See if there's anything worth taking.
[ ] Gosteal scavenge some stuff (spare clothes, money, interesting items).
- [ ] Private homes.
- [ ] The castle.
- [ ] Stores.
- [ ] Other?
DM Note: Babette, why are you so hard to write? Is it payback for usually killing off the DB, or because I've actually finished the Thieves' Guild questline (of all things!) and not the DB questline?
...
Maybe it's just because I keep doing my prewrites and such with everyone actually being able to communicate effectively, and then in the story, they can't. :/
Also, I have an omake that you'll see at some point, because it's a side-effect of having tangled with Mephala. I'm just not sure whether I should put it up soon, or just before the update in which it becomes relevant.
[X] Carriage to Windhelm.
You purse your lips as Babette stares at you, then hold up one finger in a 'wait' gesture. She pouts but sits back, keeping an eye on you. The other girl sways from side to side, and you look down at Lutecia, keeping the odd girl in front of you barely in view. How to handle the situation …? You stroke the young magician's hair and she pushes closer to you, her shoulder pressing against the leg her head is resting against. You consider draping her over your legs like a big cat, but you're not sure how well that would work out. You meet Agito's eyes. "Could you let me talk to her, mind to mind?" Her eyes narrow.
"It wouldn't be a private conversation, you know. Lulu and I would be able to hear it, too." You shrug.
"I don't mind; it might even work better that way." She gives you a look, glances down at Lutecia, then shrugs. Babette frowns and tenses as the link is established, and you smile at her. "Hello, Babette. My name is Flandre Scarlet. How are you?" Instead of reacting with alarm, excitement, or any emotion you expected her to, she eyes you curiously and leans back slightly. Gone is the chatty, excitable girl, and in her place sits someone calculating and clever.
"Convenient. How?" She shrugs and smiles wistfully. "Ah, youngness. Listen age, experience. Young once. Terrible hiding traits." She leans forward to look more closely at Lutecia, but before she can get too close you reach out and poke her forehead. She sits back up and jabbers unintelligibly. "Poor. Turn or seduce, no young trust. Betray." Lutecia tries to burrow into your side as you work your way through Babette's broken comments. "Maker left? Died?" She frowns, possibly realizing that her speech is being broken up. She points at herself, then at you. "Vampire." You blink, then take a closer look at her … and you suppose you'll have to take her at her word. She sighs and shakes her head.
"Sorry. Is this your home territory? We're just passing through." You pull Lutecia up into a sitting position and let her lean against your chest. Agito slips against Lutecia's other side, watching you and Babette warily. The vampire shakes her head.
"Solitude delivery taking. Hide better. Safer both, Guards-Dawn spies." You frown and look past Babette and her companion. Perhaps these 'Dawnguard' men are dangerous to her, but against you … well, without knowing more about her, a comparison is difficult.
"I don't know … what do you guys think?" Agito stiffens before jerking her head to look at you. Babette blinks, then shrugs and smiles. Her companion leans against her, shoulder to shoulder.
"If it were up to me, I'd say ignore her. With any luck, we won't be here long enough for these hunter people to bother us, and even if they do … well, I won't say you're a 'good' person, but you can control yourself as well as most humans if you put your mind to it." Agito looks away from you as she gives her opinion, and you giggle. Before you can reply or ask Lutecia, though, violence erupts on the other side of the hall's open fire.
One man lunges forward, slamming into another man and tackling him into the fire. Naturally enough, the victim shrieks and starts thrashing, but something in his cry sets your teeth on edge, and the attacker draws a dagger and begins stabbing his opponent. Babette skitters out of the way, toward you, but her companion isn't as quick, and one of the attacked man's kicks catches her in the back, slamming her into the ground. Lutecia tries to reach out for the girl, but you pull her back - and a moment later, the victim tosses his assailant out of the firepit and onto the floor. There's a thud as the girl is slammed into the floor again, then both men leap to their feet. The defender seems to have suffered more from being in the flames than from the repeated dagger strikes, and the attacker strips off his scorched cloak and draws an axe from his back. The rest of the people in the tavern finally seem to start reacting, and while most of them scatter back from the apparent madmen, but the armored woman from before hurls herself at the vampire. He slashes at her face, but that leaves him open to his initial attacker, who leaps across the fire and buries his axe in the vampire's side. Babette takes the opportunity to scramble toward her companion, and you see that the girl's face is bloody.
Even after a second strike from the axe and a face-shattering punch from the woman, the vampire is still standing, but instead of fighting he flees, and the two warriors give chase. The innkeeper calls something out, and one of the workers rushes out as well, then she hurries over to the injured girl. She gently wipes her face clean, then, with Babette's help, gets her to drink something - a healing potion, going by how her nose almost seems to reshape itself and the bleeding slows to a trickle in seconds. She carefully picks the girl up and starts carrying her toward the stairs, talking with Babette all the while. Then she turns back to look at you and shrugs. Babette hurries back and gestures for you all to follow her. When you're all in one of the upstairs rooms, the girl asleep in the bed, and the innkeeper safely downstairs, Babette relaxes and opens a window. "Better hope. Not know vampire; smart Guards-Dawn. Dangerous." You snort and she glowers at you.
"If you say so. I'll admit he's clever, but he didn't seem that dangerous. Would you mind answering a couple questions for me?" She frowns before shrugging.
"Quick. No promise. Have potion quick." You smile and bow politely.
"Who's Mephala? What is she, and what does she do?" Agito winces as Babette stares blankly at you and steps away from the window. She shakes her head and sits down on the chair to bury her face in her hands.
"Insane." You tense, then force yourself to relax. "Stupid. Insane. Power, secrets, power, strong." She looks up at you. "Avoid. No match." Your smile turns chilly, but she doesn't seem to notice as you nod.
"Fair enough. What is a 'Sithis'? How are little ones different from big ones?" Her eyes narrow almost immediately, and she stares at you for a long moment.
"Uh, Flandre? Mind cluing us in?" You glance at Agito and toss your hands in the air.
"I think I told you I talked with Mephala? Well, I was going to destroy her sword, because she irritated me and I couldn't attack her, but she told me to leave it alone and called me a 'little Sithis.' Not quite sure if I want to kill her - or rather, if I'm going to make the attempt, because I do want to kill her - but without more information on who and what she is, I can't make that decision." Babette shakes her head and stands up, climbing nimbly out the window.
"Back. Talk. Discuss." Then she's off, and you dart forward to see her creep along the roof. She seems to be making her way deeper into the city. You sigh as Agito dismisses the connection and hop into the window, luxuriating in the night's enhancement of your body.
"I hate to run off as well, but there are a couple things I want to check. I should be back before our little friend, but don't worry about staying up - I don't think we'll be doing much tomorrow." You catch Lutecia's shoulders drop a little, though whether it's from relief or disappointment you can't tell. You hope she's taking things well. "Be good, you two; I'll be back soon." You slip your cloak off and float back over the roof, stiffening and flexing your wings. You could go to the carriage company and see if you can figure out what you'll need to go to Windhome, and when you'll need it by. Or you could just go on a scavenging spree, that would be fine. Or, you could follow Babette. She seems to think she's better than you, and maybe that information you want isn't worth dealing with her ….
What do you do?
[ ] Follow Babette:
- [ ] Peacefully.
- [ ] Throw her out of the city - literally.
- [ ] Leave her for the werewolves to find.
[ ] Go to the Carriage Company.
- [ ] See if there's anything worth taking.
[ ] Go
- [ ] Private homes.
- [ ] The castle.
- [ ] Stores.
- [ ] Other?
DM Note: Babette, why are you so hard to write? Is it payback for usually killing off the DB, or because I've actually finished the Thieves' Guild questline (of all things!) and not the DB questline?
...
Maybe it's just because I keep doing my prewrites and such with everyone actually being able to communicate effectively, and then in the story, they can't. :/
Also, I have an omake that you'll see at some point, because it's a side-effect of having tangled with Mephala. I'm just not sure whether I should put it up soon, or just before the update in which it becomes relevant.
Ehm, why can't Babette talk normally? Because everything i remember from Skyrim says she could, and did. She was somewhat funny, at that. Also loved pulling tricks on people by making them think she was a child, and the master alchemy trainer, so this is almost certainly a trap (especially if she's faking the talking thing), and a reasonably dangerous one at that.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
She can; but Flan & Co. don't speak any of the Tamrielic languages and are relying on Lutecia and Agito's telepathy to communicate. It's giving disjointed responses, but it's fairly reliable.
Slith10
Back from the dead and ready to party!
- Location
- New Zealand
Okay, we need to start looking for more methods of communication, this will get annoying and inefficient quickly.
We are likely missing subtext/etc from what she is saying and we should be looking for something that doesn't rely on Lutecia and Agito being in the same location as us anyway.
We are likely missing subtext/etc from what she is saying and we should be looking for something that doesn't rely on Lutecia and Agito being in the same location as us anyway.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
They're also not equipped with inherent Magic Resistance.
Depends on where they're from - American vampires have some different customs from European ones. Time period matters, too.
Seriously, though, it is complicated. Relevant factors include (not necessarily limited to) :
* Whether either vampire is in control of the territory;
* Age of the vampires (and, relatedly, relative power);
* Intent - a vampire planning a hostile takeover is generally not going to pretend he wants to join the other vampire;
* Nature of the meeting - chance encounter vs. a requested meeting in someone's home, for example.
Generally, it's polite for a visiting vampire to meet whoever is in control of a given territory as soon as he learns of the 'host' vampire's residence, as well as for vampires to introduce themselves (which is more than just 'my name is X'). Unclaimed territories - including ones claimed by non-vampires - tend to have looser requirements on what is considered 'polite enough to not get you smacked for being a jackass.' And they are, of course, reciprocal - if a vampire initiates contact but doesn't make any customary gestures, the receiving vampires is not necessarily bound to make any of her own, although cultural differences might lead to the latter making them if they think it's necessary.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Not locked.
[X] Follow Babette:
- [X] Peacefully.
1
[X] Follow Babette:
- [X] Peacefully.
1
Slith10
Back from the dead and ready to party!
- Location
- New Zealand
What even was Babette's intent here? She comes back, then leaves for a discussion? We can't yet talk to her without a (friend's telepathy) active in the local area.Entropy Judge said:
Following Babette is therefore frustratingly pointless, when if we had a connection... It would be only annoying and vague.
EDIT: Negating vote to wait/watch for other votes.
[] Follow Babette:
- [] Peacefully.
If nothing happens:
[] Go steal scavenge some stuff (spare clothes, money, interesting items).
- [] Stores/Other:
-- [] Whatever you think you can get quickly/quietly into.
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Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Ah. Let me clarify the scene - Babette isn't waiting for Flan, and seems to have gone off to do her own thing somewhere. She did say something about making questions quick, after all.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
[x] Follow Babette:
- [x] Peacefully.
- [x] Peacefully.
[X] Go steal scavenge some stuff (spare clothes, money, interesting items).
- [X] Stores.
- [X] Stores.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Cue six different editions of The Lusty Argonian Maid and The Sultry Argonian Bard in Flan's pack before she leaves Whiterun, because she can't read.