Alright, so your weapons were confiscated mainly because you literally attacked Orison. But he said to say no more about it, right? It should be fine.
Your first retrace your steps to find Fincher's tent once more. The headaches have changed now. Every so often there is an alarming popping sensation, and your brain flops around inside your skull as though you slammed your head into a wall. It's less painful than the sculptor's file, but far more disorienting.
Orison is no longer sitting where he was. Presumably he has more important duties to attend to than sitting around waiting for you to talk to him.
AWARENESS: NORMAL
CHECK PASSED
Luckily you spot Wheeler the scout as he rounds a corner heading further into the heart of the camp, and jog to follow him.
You come across a neat row of newly erected tents, around which you spot several familiar faces from Fincher's talon. Orison is sitting on a crate, hunched over a folding desk, writing something with a stylus.
"Hey Orison."
ORISON: "Lady." He continues writing.
"Could you help me out a bit?"
He lays down the stylus and looks up.
ORISON: "And what can I help you with?"
[ ] Say you need a place to clean up and sleep.
[ ] Say you need your gear back for a duel with Mei.
[ ] Say you want your gear back without mentioning your duel with Mei.
[ ] Ask him where you would be able to find the best gear in the camp.
[ ] Ask him who has the most luxurious quarters in the camp.
[ ] Ask where to find someone else.
we should probably still try to remembre who doesn't belong and was added because i don't think they are a friend of the dinasty and if we get them as help it could jumpstart our "revolution"
ORISON: "Mhmm." he scribbles something on his slate.
"I'm going to need that back. Mei challenged me to a duel."
ORISON: "You're going to duel Dragonlord Mei?"
"Yeah."
ORISON: "Dragonlord Mei, the famous duelist?"
"Yeah, her."
ORISON: "Huh." he underlines something on the slate he was writing on.
"So can I get my stuff?"
ORISON: "Sorry, lady. We handed over all the extra gear we looted to the quartermaster when we arrived in camp, including the stuff we... the stuff you were using. Standard practice, you know."
[ ] Oh come on, that was nice gear, you must have kept some of it.
[ ] How about a place to stay?
[ ] Where can I find the quartermaster?
[ ] Alright, can I get some directions around camp?
Orison points over towards the back of the camp, near the manse entrance.
ORISON: "Over behind the command tents. Got a temporary structure set up. Lots of guards."
"Thanks. So can I just go in there?"
ORISON: "Couldn't say, lady. Do you think Dragonlord Mei has told them to let you in special?"
You think about that.
"Probably not."
ORISON: "You'll be needing a pass, then."
[ ] Can you give me a pass?
[ ] I've got a pass (lie).
[ ] I've got a pass (show the ring).
[ ] Is there any other way to get my gear back?
[ ] Actually, I wanted to ask about something else.
ORISON: "Being a magistrate and all you'd never commit a crime like stealing it by sneaking in or bribing the guards or getting an officer to fraudulently claim it on your behalf."
"I wouldn't?"
ORISON: "Well, I assume. And right you would be to not do that. Or do that. I don't really give a shit."
[ ] Can you give me a pass?
[ ] I've got a pass (lie).
[ ] I've got a pass (show the ring).
[ ] Can I get you to fraudulently claim it on my behalf?
[ ] Alright, thanks, I'm going to head over there now.
[ ] Actually, I wanted to ask about something else.
ORISON: "So you do. Maybe that will work out for you."
He returns to writing on the tablet.
ORISON: "Good luck with that."
"Why good luck?"
ORISON: "Well, lady." he leans in conspiratorially, over his desk. "I heard someone saying there was some nutter running around with a fake imperial seal. Just a rumour that's going around, right? But we wouldn't want to give anyone like that weapons, would we? They'll probably not recognize your very genuine imperial seal, just as a precaution."
"Why would someone start a false rumour like that?"
ORISON: "Couldn't say, lady. Maybe you should investigate."
[ ] Can you give me a pass?
[ ] Can I get you to fraudulently claim my gear on my behalf?
[ ] Alright, thanks, I'm going to head over there now.
[ ] Actually, I wanted to ask about something else.
Just a reminder, in addition to your THOUGHT CABINET you can access your INVENTORY (which has only been done once) and your OBJECTIVES (which has never been done at all). I don't think there is anything new or interesting in the inventory, but keep the objectives in mind just in case you lose track of what we are doing.
You can also LOOK AT or THINK ABOUT things and people, as desired. These are for flavor text and information only.
APPAREL
Officer's Tunic (Apparel, Chest) - A light summer-cut tunic in scarlet linen, legion officer issue. It's too small for you, but it fills you with a warm, patriotic glow.
Brazen Gauntlets (Apparel, Gloves) - A fine pair of brass-plated steel gauntlets. Surprisingly cosy, if a little tight across the knuckles.
Floral Jacket (Apparel, Coat) - A yellow jacket of quilted cotton, wax-printed with white flowers. It smells unsavoury, but it could save you a nasty injury, and helps distribute the weight of heavier armour.
Looted Hauberk (Apparel, Armour) - A fine fish-scaled steel hauberk. An elite, finely worked item that exudes an aura of wealth and privilege. Its previous owner is stupid and dead, and you are smart and well protected.
Ragged Tunic (Apparel, Chest) - It's damp and it has holes in it. At some point it has been soaked in grain alohol and vomited on. It's like your life in tunic form.
Ruined Boots (Apparel, Shoes) - Once-fine leather footwear ruined by hard use and a lengthy soaking in the sea. If these boots could tell stories they would probably be very long and tedious with occasional bouts of kicking things.
Sturdy Breeches (Apparel, Legs) - A hard-wearing sheepskin garment, covering the legs down to mid-calf. Uncomfortable and damp, but endued with admirable structural probity.
WEAPONS:
Hawk Sword (Weapon) - A curved, heavy-pommeled cavalry sabre used by elite Raigi cavalry. It has some strange insights about the weather. ([ ] Interact with Hawk Sword)
Traitor Hatchet (Weapon - It's a beautiful hatchet with a carved ivory haft and a silvered head. It tried to kill you, and now it's yours.
Brazen Buckler (Weapon) - A brass-plated buckler made to match your gauntlets. Skillfully used it could deflect all but the heaviest attacks.
OTHER:
Imperial Seal - This heavy jade signet ring marks its bearer as an imperial magistrate acting under the plenipotentiary authority of the Scarlet Empress. Who in their right mind would give you such a thing? ([ ] Interact with Imperial Seal)
Etched Flask - An unremarkable copper water flask that someone has scratched an Immaculate mantra into. It's dented, as though it was used as a projectile at some point.
Borrowed Spyglass - A brass spyglass capable of magnifying distant objects. An unadorned, non-folding model, but still well beyond the means of most. Faint notes of mint and pipe smoke.
Fingers - These are your fingers. One of them is missing. It's a mystery. ([ ] Interact with fingers.)
Reflection - This is a face that you are in and you hate it. ([ ] Interact with reflection.)
We've already interacted with our fingers and agreed to get a prosthetic finger. We don't have our gear - poor Hawk Sword.
And, now that I look at it, I guess we could just directly skip to the Interact With vote...
[X] Interact with Imperial Seal
(Crumplepunch, if it's too much of a bother feel free to ignore this or put it in the update after the next.)
Edit: Or, of course, we could address the yeddim in the room and interact with our reflection. I won't make that vote though.
APPAREL
Officer's Tunic (Apparel, Chest) - A light summer-cut tunic in scarlet linen, legion officer issue. It's too small for you, but it fills you with a warm, patriotic glow.
Ruined Boots (Apparel, Shoes) - Once-fine leather footwear ruined by hard use and a lengthy soaking in the sea. If these boots could tell stories they would probably be very long and tedious with occasional bouts of kicking things.
Sturdy Breeches (Apparel, Legs) - A hard-wearing sheepskin garment, covering the legs down to mid-calf. Uncomfortable and damp, but endued with admirable structural probity.
Engineer's Cloak (Apparel, Cloak) - A hooded woolen cloak, reinforced with leather. Its dark grey dye signifies the position of legion engineer.
WEAPONS: None.
OTHER:
Imperial Seal - This heavy jade signet ring marks its bearer as an imperial magistrate acting under the plenipotentiary authority of the Scarlet Empress. Who in their right mind would give you such a thing? ([ ] Interact with Imperial Seal)
Etched Flask - An unremarkable copper water flask that someone has scratched an Immaculate mantra into. It's dented, as though it was used as a projectile at some point.
Fingers - These are your fingers. One of them is missing. It's a mystery. ([ ] Interact with fingers.)
Reflection - This is a face that you are in and you hate it. ([ ] Interact with reflection.)
You take out the ring and interrogate it.
"Hey, are you going to be of any help at all?"
The imperial seal is silent.
"Well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"
THE IMPERIAL SEAL: Fix her.
"Fix her? Who, Mei?"
THE IMPERIAL SEAL: Fix her.
The shadow of a memory flashes over you, like a cloud over the sun. Incredible pain, physical and emotional. Darkness shrouded in red. Bile rises in your throat.
THE IMPERIAL SEAL: Whatever it takes.
You put the ring away, hands shaking uncontrollably. You really don't want to talk to the ring any more.
You don't really want to think about Mei. You remember her eye, in many times, in many contexts, in many places, a fulcrum on which your past reality is precariously balanced. Everything surrounding it is confused and blurred, a wash of sensation and bitter emotion.
Wait, what are you doing? You might have blacked out a little while trying to figure out why you like Logris' face so much.
EMBASSY: I am so glad you asked.
SAGACITY: We have been keeping a list.
Major Objectives:
Lift the siege of Ashglass.
Enter Ashglass.
Fight a duel with Shadowless Mei.
- OR Stay away from Mei.
Tasks:
Claim your prosthetic finger from Rooster.
Acquire narcotics.
Acquire subversive pamphlets.
Explore Thazaniel with Logris.
Find drawstring materials for the Palean arbalests.
Get cleaned up.
Find somewhere to sleep tonight.
Acquire a weapon for the duel.
Train with Logris.
Questions:
How did I lose my memory?
Who am I?
Whose face is this?
Who cut off my finger?
What was my name, before?
What happened to the fleet?
Why was I sent to this island?
Why is the Raigi army so big?
What's up with the weird unit in the Raigi siege force?
Why is the weather on this island so strange?
Why is my body so badly injured?
What is the nature of the Five Part World?
Who killed Fincher's scouts?
Who changed the numbers?
What did I do to Mei?
Where is my daiklave?
What was the corpse monster Logris mentioned?
A weapon! Right, that's what you were doing. You stop dithering around and proceed to the quartermaster's tent.
It's not really a tent. A kind of shed has been erected, not as sturdy as Rooster's workshop but still a far more permanent than the legion tents. Half a dozen legionaries in madder coats with black sashes stand at the entrance.
WAR: Black sashes mark them as camp guards. Probably a temporary designation from the ranks, given how messed up normal order is with casualties.
Right. Now what?
[ ] Try to bluff your way past.
[ ] Bribe the guards.
[ ] Demand entrance using the imperial seal.
[ ] Look for a way to sneak in.
[ ] Force your way in. Mei's not going to get any more angry at you, after all.
[ ] Reconsider and go somewhere else first.
Wait, what? I definitely wrote a thing about interacting with the ring between the inventory and thinking about Mei, but it's somehow gone? I'll edit it back in.
Sorry for the delay, needed a short break.
EDIT: That was very odd, the text was present in the post but it didn't appear at all until I fiddled around with Parabola's quote above it a bit. Never encountered that before.
The shadow of a memory flashes over you, like a cloud over the sun. Incredible pain, physical and emotional. Darkness shrouded in red. Bile rises in your throat.
