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Gravedigger Quest

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[X] Drag Chloe along and have the whole party celebrate.

The corpses ain't going anywhere.

I hope.
 
[X] Drag Chloe along and have the whole party celebrate.
 
I think I understand perfectly what he is saying, thank you.

It's just that I couldn't understand the logic behind that conclusion. Though thinking back to the scene at the gates, I guess it went something like 'demons are monsters who are not allowed entry, thus anyone who entered isn't a demon, therefore changeling'.

I wonder how Lirra deals with contradictory information with that kind of approach, though.
 
Nevill said:
I think I understand perfectly what he is saying, thank you.

It's just that I couldn't understand the logic behind that conclusion. Though thinking back to the scene at the gates, I guess it went something like 'demons are monsters who are not allowed entry, thus anyone who entered isn't a demon, therefore changeling'.

I wonder how Lirra deals with contradictory information with that kind of approach, though.
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Lirra is just gullible on that.

And I think she's more likely to think that someone might be mistaken and thus said the wrong thing than think them lying.
 
Inserted tally

I guess I'll lock votes. Poor unnamed girl gets no love.
Adhoc vote count started by Renu on Sep 11, 2017 at 9:03 PM, finished with 42 posts and 20 votes.
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    • [X] Drag Chloe along and have the whole party celebrate.

    ----------------------------

    The aspirants were free until tomorrow evening, at which point those who didn't make it to the Academy would be presumed dead and those who did would finally be properly inducted. In other words, they had a little less than twenty four hours to celebrate having made it and, in accordance with all adventurers stereotypes, that meant opening many, many kegs and getting absolutely wasted. The Academy, having been made by and for this kind of people, had already prepared what was needed and it seemed that, at least for this night, alcohol would flow freely.

    Lirra followed Lucilia and Melkorka as they crossed one of the massive courtyards that were circled by the walls and towers of the academy proper. Chloe followed her in turn, Lirra having convinced her to give this whole "party" thing a try just before. Granted, it was half because Lirra wanted to spend time with the whole party and half because not being the only one with no idea what was happening or going to happen brought her some comfort. The Academy had been built upon many previous iterations, and the differences in architectural style and outright quality made that clear. The layers upon layers of evolving walls and spires showed that clearly, as the oldest and centermost of these constructions had clearly been built to be able to repel an invasion and were solid if aesthetically unpleasing blocky buildings of rough stones, while the outer, more recent circle had more of a focus on presentation. Of course, some of these differences could be attributed to the evolution of warding magic, as defenses nowaday depended less on the thickness of your walls and more on the precise positioning of fine sigils, who in turn made your defenses look less imposing. Still, even with their age, the first rings offered more defense than several fortresses, while the outer ones remembered that this was supposed to be a place of learning and that an attack was not as likely as the builders first thought.

    Strangely enough, if one looked hard enough, they would notice that the first circle was actually designed to defend in two different directions: both in and outside. This was because of the actual center of the Academy's many defensive walls, gates, moats and killing fields - who had later been camouflaged as charming yards and canals, although they were just as sound as the day they were made, even if the few trees that had been planted since could offer cover for an attacker - had once been a Dungeon, a stronghold of the Dark, whose sinister master and nefarious inhabitants had been brought low a long time ago by the heroic party who founded the Academy. As such, it would have been just as easily defended with no additional fortifications, but the risk that Dark invaders would somehow know how to revive the evil that once dwelt inside had pushed the construction of the other layers of defense that now comprised the Academy. The first few of said layers had the added benefit of defending the world against this Dungeon should the worst come to pass.

    Still, such informations weren't relevant to the four girls, and they only knew such things thanks to the constant stream of trivia that Chloe was nervously broadcasting to take her mind off the fact that she'd soon have to take part in something that her education had given her almost no knowledge about - a rare occurrence for the young sage.

    While the other two seemed somewhat annoyed by the constant stream of information, Lirra felt grateful to Chloe for the distraction from the fact that she was probably about to meet more people than she had ever seen and that the more people there were, the more likely it became that someone might make her hood fall and reveal her true nature.

    Anyway, the long history of the Academy explained the mix of solid walls and more fragile, wooden constructions that had formed some sort of shopping street where the party arrived. As night had fallen, most shops - generally selling weapons, armor and potions, the bread and butter of adventurers - were closed, except for one establishment, who was open and thriving. The last staple of business one thought about when talking of adventurers: a tavern.

    A warm light came from inside and music, laughter and general mayhem were audible from a distance, only growing louder and louder as the group approached. The party had apparently spilled to the street and improvised tables ringed the perimeter as proper furniture ran scarce. From solid barrels to flimsy cloaks extended from a pair of chairs (some liked to live dangerously) passing by battered shields, chest pieces and honestly anything that looked like it could maybe support a mug if you believed it hard enough. All were hosting groups of variable size, although they tended to stay on the small side.

    Unused to crowds, Lirra didn't think about how many less people there were compared to before the trial, and simply continued following Lucilia, placing herself near her back, as if hiding from them. Chloe, in turn, was doing the same with Lirra's back, and only Melkorka didn't take part in the awkward line behind the bard.

    "Finally! Music, booze and probably no horrible things wanting to end us!" exclaimed Lucilia, before turning to the two girls hiding behind her. "So, do you want a table inside or do we try to get something outside?"

    At that, Melkorka shrugged, while Lirra and Chloe looked at each other, unsure. After a few seconds with no answer, it was Lucilia's turn to shrug before she started walking inside.

    "Well, let's just have a look and see if we can find some nice corner..."

    The tavern was pretty large, made to accommodate many clients at all times. The wooden structure occupied two floors, the second starting further back and allowing its occupants to see part of the ground floor through the wooden beams that started from the railing all the way to the wall. Maybe it was purely decorative, as it wasn't really clear what it was holding, or maybe it was security in case a fight broke out. In any case, at the moment it was home to a few people who were sitting on it in the shade. Probably Cloaks.

    A long table was sitting in the uncovered part of the ground floor. Many aspirants were around it, in various degrees of drunkenness, and some were on it. Those were definitely at higher degrees of drunkenness. One had gotten a Lute and was doing, all things told, a pretty good work playing it given he probably didn't even know who he was anymore if his glazed eyes and the pile of empty liquor bottles at his dancing feet were any indication.

    Most of the noise they had heard before entering actually came from that table, which was giving a false cheery atmosphere to the tavern, as most other tables were calmer, grimmer assemblies. It didn't take long for Lirra to notice that most of these tables were host to three or less people. And from that, it didn't take a genius to understand why these people looked so down. The groups that had formed outside had probably done so to let them mourn in peace - although the big table at the entrance kind of made the gesture moot.

    In hindsight, the fact that the academy had made it so booze would be free this night wasn't so the new students could celebrate, but to help them cope with their probably first near death experience and the loss of companions, new as they were.

    "We almost..." Lirra began, cutting herself in the middle of her sentence before unconsciously, taking hold of Chloe's hand to remind her that she'd been saved.

    Although she had said it for herself, Lucilia answered her.

    "Yes, we really were lucky in the end."

    A solitary horned figure at the bar caught Lirra's eyes as the bard said that, reminding of what she had to do to save Chloe.

    "Yes, lucky..." the changeling repeated, conflicted. After all, finding her in time to save Chloe had been pretty lucky, even if the price she'd have to pay could be very steep.

    "Anyway, I'll just get a few bottles and we'll get back out. Can you make a table, Melkorka?" Lucilia asked.

    "I'd be kind of angry at wanting to use my creations as one usually, but… sure. Just don't make that an habit, ok?" she said before starting to walk back out. "Come help me find a nice spot," she added for Chloe and Lirra.

    They followed her out and away from the insidiously oppressive atmosphere of the tavern and walked back to one of the yards they had crossed before. It was a reasonable distance away from the shopping street while not being too far apart, a perfect compromise for the two wallflowers' first party.

    In the end, rather than building an unstable and sharp table, they decided to simply sit down on the grass. They still intended to get drunk after all and dying impaled on furniture definitely didn't tempt them after getting out from the death trap that was the test.

    Lucilia arrived one minute later, a few bottles in her arms and four cups tenuously held between her fingers.

    "So much for a table," she commented with a smile before flopping down and letting the pile of bottle slowly slide down until they were resting on the grass.

    Lirra looked at the spirits hesitantly, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Melkorka grabbed a few of the bottles and passed them around, before doing the same with the cups.

    Well, that was it, then. Lirra uncorked her bottle before filling her glass. That done, she held her cup in both hand at chest level, neither drinking nor putting it down.

    Meanwhile, Melkorka reached to the straps of her helm before finally removing it, allowing Lirra to look at her face for the first time. Svartalfr were strange creatures, in her opinion - although her ashen hair and curved horns didn't exactly leave her in a position to judge. The runesmith's skin was a pale blueish white in the few parts where it was visible under her long ivory hair, who was growing pretty much all over the upper half of her face, ending just under her eyes, which were a vibrant red, with no sclera visible. Finally, while Lirra's ears also were pointed, Melkorka's were gigantic, almost the same length as her face and half as wide.

    Blushing timidly as she realised she was staring, Lirra brought her eyes back to her reflection in her cup.

    "Well, then, now that we all have something to drink," Lucilia said, raising her cup. "To not dying horrib- I mean, to adventure!"

    "Hear hear!" Melkorka raised her cup as well.

    Chloe simply nodded and raised her own, although a bit lower than the other two, a small smile on her lips, before Lirra finally joined the group and raised her two hands in a jerky motion, spilling a bit on her hands.

    "And-and chance encounters!" she let out quickly before downing her glass, hiding her face in the process.

    The other three followed suit, although only Melkorka downed her whole drink in one go.

    "Uh? Is that it? I thought I asked for some strong drinks alongside the ones for Chloe and..." commented Lucilia, her voice slowing down as realisation dawned on her. "Lirra!"

    "Heeeeee~ Ish teshtyyyyyyyyyyyy~"

    ---

    As one who had always been loved by nature, awaking to the shrill howling of birds and the cruel, unforgiving light of the sun burning her eyes from behind her eyelids was not something Lirra was used to, and neither was the feeling of something having died on her tongue. Well, if you excluded that one time she tried to eat a toad, but she was four so it didn't count, although that memory would haunt her dreams until her last day.

    Moaning, she pulled on her hood to bring it further down on her face before pressing her head down on her soft pillow. In her state, it didn't occur to her that her having a pillow at all was strange until she felt an arm move to rest on her back.

    "Mhh… too tight… need breath..."

    At that, the changeling girl froze, one eye snapping open despite the piercing pain the act caused. Lirra was seeing red. As in, her field of view was filled with the color; she wasn't angry or anything. She was feeling too sick for any such emotions. Too much effort. Still, as her eyes went further up and she saw some lighter, white cloth and bare skin, she learned that embarrassment apparently didn't take that much effort.

    She started weakly twitching in panic but Lucilia's arm was holding her in place, until Lirra moved for long enough for the bard to weakly raise her head to see what was happening. She saw the changeling girl sprawled atop of her and resting her head on her chest and raised an eyebrow before very calmly and methodically checking that they both were still clothed, then she let her head back down.

    "We didn't do anything she'd regret. Good," Lucilia muttered to herself. "Sleepy now. Don't know how you can be this energetic after last night."

    And with that, she lowered her hat to cover her face and went right back to sleep.

    Sleep sounded good. Would probably hurt her head less than being awake, too.

    ---

    Eventually, Lirra woke up again, this time on a less alive and more grassy bed, and while she still felt terrible, it wasn't as bad as before. Thankfully, her avoiding the sun getting in her eyes made sure that she carefully kept her hair covered as she slept.

    More alarming, however, was the fact that she had absolutely no memory of what happened after they toasted last night. Trying in vain to remember what happened, she weakly brought her arms under her to raise and sit.

    She stayed like that for a minute or so, her eyes unfocused as she tried to finish waking up, still trying to find her memories, until Chloe knelt in front of her and offered her a skin of water, a faint blush on her cheeks as she looked at her. Despite her surprise at her expression, Lirra accepted the skin and drank greedily, draining the whole thing in seconds before she looked around to see if someone could tell her what happened. When her eyes found Melkorka and the Svartalf looked away, also blushing, she started worrying a bit.

    "Ah, calm down, you didn't do anything that you should regret," came a voice from behind her. "You were just, mh… friendly. Very friendly. And adorable, too. So much more entertaining than Chloe."

    "Well, sorry for that." It was only because she was just in front of Lirra and that she was starting to get used to the sage's small voice that she could hear it. The look Chloe sent Lucilia from behind her glasses was more than enough to replace her words, though.

    Lirra felt something sitting behind her before hands fell softly on her shoulders.

    "Still, sorry about that. I had prepared two light drinks for you and her, but they got mixed with the ones I took for Melkorka and me. Are you okay? You should drink a lot."

    Lirra nodded.

    "Chloe brought me some."

    "Good. Well, other than that, I don't know what you could do except rest to get better. Don't worry, we still have a few hours before whatever comes next."

    As it turned out, several hours later, what came next was a short speech from the director, congratulating them for making it and telling them that they were free to leave if the experience was too much, before they were guided to a lobby and the layout of the dorms were explained to the students that didn't leave (although not many did after all they had to go through to stand here).

    The first year's dorms were separated in four wings, one for each Gate, and although it wasn't actually forbidden to go into one that wasn't yours, the added travel times - the Academy was huge - as well as the fact that they would spend more time with those who shared their vocation, made it unpopular to the point that it had been a great many years since it had happened.

    As with most things in this place, after this short explanation the students were left to their own devices and sort themselves as they saw fit.

    Thankfully, at that point Lirra had mostly recovered from her hangover and was simply lost and panicked in the middle of a crowd, as opposed to lost and panicked in the middle of a crowd with a head splitting headache.

    -------------------------

    [] Try to get a single room. It's the easiest if you want to keep your nature a secret.
    [] Get a room with a random Sword. You do have to meet people if you want friends.
    [] Get a room with *sigh* that other Changeling. She already knows what you are and seems ok with it.
    [] See if you can't room with Chloe, Melkorka or Lucilia, and damn the added distance. (write which one)
    [] Get utterly and completely lost (GM rolls a dice).
    [] Write-in? Surprise me?

    Many thanks to @Avalanche senpai for beta-ing.
    Adhoc vote count started by Renu on Oct 17, 2017 at 10:56 AM, finished with 28 posts and 18 votes.
    • [X] Get a room with *sigh* that other Changeling. She already knows what you are and seems ok with it.
      [X] Get a room with a random Sword. You do have to meet people if you want friends.
      [X] See if you can't room with Chloe, Melkorka or Lucilia, and damn the added distance. (write which one)
      -[X] Chloe
      [X] Try to get a single room. It's the easiest if you want to keep your nature a secret.
      [X] Drag Chloe along and have the whole party celebrate.
      [X] See if you can't room with Chloe, Melkorka or Lucilia, and damn the added distance. (write which one)
      -[X] Lucilia
      [X] Get utterly and completely lost (GM rolls a dice).
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    • [X] Get a room with *sigh* that other Changeling. She already knows what you are and seems ok with it.
     
    Mmm, torn. I like Lucilia, but we should shoot for more friends. They're all great, but we could really use someone who's taking a similar path to Lirra.

    [X] Get a room with a random Sword. You do have to meet people if you want friends.
     
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