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Mare Internum: An Exalted Quest

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For A Better World 155
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    • Kymme said:
    [X] Tell me about this partner of yours.
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    "Tell me about this partner of yours."

    BRINDLE: "She's called Pale Willow. She was the chosen of another goddess, Mercury. She was really smart and wise and... and..."

    He stares into the fire.

    BRINDLE: "It doesn't matter now, I suppose. Nobody else is going to remember her."

    "But you will."

    BRINDLE: "I heard her telling me to run. I don't think I would have gotten out otherwise."

    The fire is burning lower. You allow a few moments to pass in silence, which seems the respectful thing to do. Fincher glances sidelong at you.

    FINCHER: "And this sabotage mission you were on, this was her idea?"

    BRINDLE: "I... yeah, it was. She had the details."

    INTEGRITY: A half truth. He thinks this would be simpler than explaining whose idea it was.

    "And she had the escape plan, I suppose."

    Brindle nods.

    BRINDLE: "There are a few other people who know we were here, but they haven't sent anyone. It's been weeks. Months, maybe, I lost track of time. Maybe they were expecting you to help."

    "Me? Who wants me to help? With what?"

    BRINDLE: "I... I meant the generic you. You, the legion."

    INTEGRITY: VERY DIFFICULT
    4 4
    CHECK PASSED

    INTEGRITY: That's a lie. He meant you.

    "Do you know me, Brindle?"

    Fincher turns to look at you.

    BRINDLE: "No. Not personally. But I've seen a file on you."

    "What kind of file?"

    He swallows, glances at Fincher.

    FINCHER: "Well, I want to know too."

    BRINDLE: "The... the people I work for, they keep a lot of information. All kinds of people we might run into. Who we should avoid, who we should observe, who might be helpful. You're listed as a potential mission asset."

    "Mission asset. What does that mean?"

    CRAFT: It means you are a thing to be used.

    BRINDLE: "We... that is, I read..."

    He wrings his hands, glances away.

    BRINDLE: "You are considered a useful ally. I mean, obviously you're a good detective. Not many can spot one of us in hiding."

    INTEGRITY: He doesn't want to talk about this. Maybe you don't want him to talk about it either.

    [ ] Do you know what my name is?
    [ ] Why am I considered a useful ally?
    [ ] I want to know everything that's in this file.
    [ ] What do you know about this island's manse network?
    [ ] Do you know anything else about the Ragara expedition?
    [ ] I want to know more about this higher authority.
    [ ] Why would you impersonate a legionary?
    [ ] Why were you really looking through Mei's papers?
     
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    • I really really really wanna ask him about our past/name. We won't have many more opportunities for something like this probably.
     
    zxzx24 said:
    Can we give them a hug at some point? I think they could use it.
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    Agreed, yeah. ...Though given the bullshit that Sidereals can get up to in general, I also can't help but imagine the kid taking the offered hug quite literally.

    And then later down the line, when Vesper gets emotionally devastated over, I dunno, a random broken rock that sends her spiraling off onto a mental tangent and he's near enough to return the favor... Vesper's finely honed detective skills find something odd about the hug-style he's using, almost as if it were intended for use by someone with a slightly different body type waitaminute. :V
     
    I mean I would but that's totally opposed to disco Elysium's point. Sleeping dogs never stay asleep. Never forget your past but do not hold it to tight. Wake the dog and find out if it's dead.
     
    For A Better World 156
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    • Cessali said:
    [X] Do you know anything else about the Ragara expedition?
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    "Do you know anything else about the Ragara expedition?"

    He looks relieved by the subject change.

    BRINDLE: "Well, only a little. There were three Dynasts. Semiun, Kanlish and Mosun. Mosun is a sorceress, Kanlish is muscle, one of the best they have. Semiun is a reclusive scholar with ties to the inner circle, which is what got us keeping tabs on him."

    FINCHER: "What's the inner circle?"

    BRINDLE: "Secret projects. House Ragara are mainly into banking and finance, but their leadership likes to dabble in occult projects to further political goals. They're the reason Ragara himself is still alive, although he's retired now."

    FINCHER: "Fucking Dynasts."

    SAGACITY: Ragara is the Empress' firstborn son and by far the oldest living Dynast aside from her. At almost seven hundred years he has lived well over twice the natural Dragon-Blooded lifespan.

    "And you were suspicious that they came to Hoxiahn?"

    BRINDLE: "We were suspicious that they came to Hoxiahn secretly. They went out of their way to charter private transport without using traceable house or imperial resources. We know they arrived on the Fajadi sprint trader Alawaid in Ashglass with a small retinue. They presented themselves to satrap Balathir as tourists interested in surveying the island's ruined manses."

    "And why was this concerning?"

    BRINDLE: "Context. Semiun presented himself as an archaeologist, but most of his academic work has been on geomancy."

    "You didn't want an expert to study the place."

    A fractional hesitation.

    BRINDLE: "Yes." He glances to Fincher. "I can't say more."

    FINCHER: "You seem to know a lot about what's going on. Are you with the Eye?"

    EMBASSY: The All-Seeing Eye is the Realm's secret police and spy network. It is the sister organization of the Magistracy.

    BRINDLE: "I really can't say, I'm sorry. But like I said, I do have imperial sanction."

    "Fine. What would be so bad about the manses reactivating? What do they even do?"

    BRINDLE: "It's..." he swallows. "It's dangerous. It has to be avoided."

    "That's it?"

    Brindle nods.

    "Okay."

    [ ] Why are you answering all of these questions?
    [ ] What do you know about this island's manse network?
    [ ] I want to know more about this higher authority.
    [ ] Why would you impersonate a legionary?
    [ ] Why were you really looking through Mei's papers?
    [ ] Alright, we need to figure out what we're going to do about this.
    [ ] Okay, I think we're done. Hug?
     
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    • Could be something to do with the realm defense grid. Which is. Incredibly awful news if that is the case.
     
    Honestly, any weird magic shit in Raigi territory sounds like something we should fuck with to see if that means fewer corpses trying to murder us.
     
    For A Better World 157
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    • Chlof said:
    [X] Why are you answering all of these questions?
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    "Why are you answering all of these questions?"

    BRINDLE: "Because I need you to trust me. I'm telling you as much as I can. More than I should."

    "Why? If you had kept playing the part Fincher probably wouldn't have believed me."

    Fincher shrugs in a half-apologetic way.

    BRINDLE: "We... I haven't explained. We're natural astrologers. We have a connection to the stars in the same way you have connections to the elements. We have a connection to the future."

    The future.

    Fincher frowns at that.

    "So you're saying you had some kind of vision."

    He nods.

    BRINDLE: "It's not precise or completely reliable, but I do get... hunches, I suppose you could call it, about the best approach. Right now my hunch is telling me that my best chance of survival is to be as honest as possible with you."

    "That sounds helpful. Are you willing to share some of these hunches of yours?"

    BRINDLE: "I'll do whatever I can, but you have to do something for me."

    FINCHER: "You're not exactly in a good spot to be bargaining, kid."

    BRINDLE: "It's not that, it's..." he takes a deep breath. "You can't tell the dragonlord about me. This has to be secret."

    You share a glance with Fincher. She looks skeptical.

    FINCHER: "Why should we do that?"

    BRINDLE: "She'll kill me. I'm almost certain."

    "She threatens to kill me all the time, I wouldn't take it personally."

    BRINDLE: "This is different. I said my files listed you as a potential ally. She is on the list to be avoided. If you want my help, you can't tell her. Please."

    Fincher looks at you questioningly.

    FINCHER: "Don't want to alarm you boss, but it's going to get out that you were here against orders one way or another. Can't stop everyone from talking."

    "Alright. What do you think?"

    FINCHER: "This is too weird for me to deal with, I'll follow your lead. But you'll need to tell her something. What's it going to be?"

    [ ] I'll make up something. We'll keep Brindle secret.
    [ ] If he's in danger, we need to get him out of camp and find somewhere for him to hole up.
    [ ] We can't keep this secret. I'll protect him if I have to, but we need to tell her.
    [ ] He crept into our camp and changed our memories, we don't owe him anything.

    This is a consequential decision, please vote.
     
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    • [X] We can't keep this secret. I'll protect him if I have to, but we need to tell her.

    We like just got Mei to maybe trust and respect us a little.
     
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