The Proud Do Not Endure 17
[X] Compromise. Take the jacket, hauberk, gauntlets, hatchet, buckler and saber.

Fincher calls a halt to the column so you pick over the looted weapons. The legionaries, already exhausted before the march started, take the opportunity to sit in groups by the dirt road and share out rations.

Before you sits a prince's ransom in loot. Many of the arms are finely decorated with engravings and metalic leaf, and even semi-precious stones. The panoplies of warrior-aristocrats, cut down in their glorious prime.

Your first choice is a familiar-looking hatchet, either the very one you used in combat or its matched twin. Its ivory haft is carved with waves down its length, and with a rougher surface of saw-toothed scales at its grip. The silvered head gleams in the late afternoon sun like a full moon. It whispers of its loyalty to your cause. You regard it as a traitor, useful but on no account to be trusted.

Next you select one of the longswords. These are apparently unpopular among the legion, unsuited as they are to formation fighting. It is a gently curved, single edged blade almost two thirds of your arm span, weighted towards the middle and gently tapering towards the tip. Its curved grip and hawks-head pommel feel awkward in your grasp, but the weight of the sword itself is strangely familiar.

INTEGRITY: DIFFICULT
6 3
CHECK: SUCCESS

INTEGRITY: Your training with a sword goes beyond anything a mind has the power to forget. The stances are notched indelibly into your core muscles. The ones coiled around your bones, the ones that won't wither away until you are rotting in the ground or burning on a pyre.

THOUGHT GAINED: The Opening Gate

The quilted jacket is dun-yellow cotton, wax-printed with white five-leaf flowers. It smells of the sweat of its dead owner, with an undercurrent of something that is similar to but is not wine. The hauberk that fits over it is composed of overlapping leaf-shaped steel scales, each painstakingly etched with wave-like scrollwork, with larger, palm-sized matching plates covering the vitals and paudrons. You feel richer just being near it.

You round out your new acquisitions with brass-plated gauntlets and matching buckler, a head-sized rounded plate designed to deflect incoming stabs and swings. It's heavier than most implements of its size, and spotted with a pattern of beveled studs designed to trap and guide incautiously swung edged weapons. The gloves are a little tight across the knuckles, but they fit surprisingly well for items that are usually custom made. Fincher supplies a spare bit of twine so you can tie the gauntlet finger covering your missing finger together with your middle, to avoid it hanging loose.

Fincher and Toothsome make sure you are properly fitted before standing back to admire their work.

FINCHER: "You look right fierce, boss. Can't wait to see what you can do when you're not running into battle with fists and rags."

"Hopefully I won't have to do that again, I think I still have a bit of spear lodged in me."

FINCHER: "That reminds me, I'll need to give you a once over when we finally get to a safe camp. Medically, I mean. Just to check everything's working fit-like."

Toothsome is about to say something but you both know from his weirdly suggestive eyebrows what it is before he says it.

FINCHER: "Toothsome, get back in rank."

He shrugs an sidles off, taking his horse with him.

FINCHER: "Sorry about that. I just meant for, you know, checking your identity. And your health. Never know what we might turn up."

[ ] I trust you to be a professional.
[ ] If I'm getting naked then sex is happening, that's just how it works.
[ ] I'd rather keep the mysteries of my body to myself.
 
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[X] I trust you to be a professional.

The mix of script-style text (FINCHER: "Dialogue here.") with prose description is a bit odd to read. May I suggest sticking with regular dialogue?
 
The Proud Do Not Endure 18
[X] I trust you to be a professional.

"I trust you to be a professional."

She holds her hands up.

FINCHER: "That's all I'm asking. Don't want you to get the wrong idea. Just see me when we're somewhere secure, hopefully inside Ashglass."

You nod. Who knows, maybe you'll find detailed instructions tattooed on your back or something.

[ ] Who in their right mind would give me a secret mission?
[ ] Anything I should know about Ashglass?
[ ] Let's just ride.
 
Fincher doesn't know who the MC is, so she won't be able to answer 1. I suppose we should ask about Ashglass, though, before we move on.

[X] Anything I should know about Ashglass?
 
The Proud Do Not Endure 19
[X] Anything I should know about Ashglass?

"It's almost dark, we'll be at Ashglass soon, right?"

FINCHER: "Yeah boss, shouldn't be more than a few miles. I can smell the sea again, and city."

You're downwind from your destination. You sniff the air.

AWARENESS: LEGENDARY
6 6
CHECK: SUCCESS


AWARENESS: There it is, so distant you almost missed it. Flax rots in bundles in the mud. Vinegar and shit, salt and tar, scared animals, stale groundwater and human misery. You haven't smelled this city before, but you have smelled every city before.

"Good nose."

FINCHER: "Not going to do me any favours where we're going."

"Twenty thousand, you said?"

FINCHER: "I think that was what we got on the census, yeah. Could be higher, what with the siege packing everyone in there."

"Or lower."

She nods, grimly.

"So... it's a port city?"

FINCHER: "Oh, yeah. Keep forgetting you don't know nothing, boss."

"Thanks, Fincher."

FINCHER: "Right, so Ashglass is a fortified port city, satrap's seat, biggest settlement on the island. Part of the old Fajadi trade circuit. Home of, uh, a cadet house, I forget the name. Primary exports are fabrics, some kind of oil, I think?"

"Anything about local politics?"

She shrugs.

"Ok, what about the sea approach? Why didn't the navy just smash their way through and enter the city that way?"

FINCHER: "Yeah, apparently the navy didn't want to commit the forces for a sea battle. Thinking was this should be a legion show, so that's why we made landfall on the coast. Or were supposed to, anyway."

Something twitches obliquely at your memory. Something about a landfall. An inconsistency.

INTEGRITY: EXTRAORDINARY
4 2
CHECK: FAILED


It fades, you cannot focus on it.

FINCHER: "You okay, there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking. We'll figure out an approach when we get closer."

FINCHER: "We will?"

You frown. "What do you mean?"

FINCHER: "I only mean I'm the legion officer here. I know I'm meant to escort you and all, but I think I should be the one making the plans. Even if you outrank me somehow, you can't remember it, and you're compromised for definite even if you do."

[ ] I can take charge. If everything goes south you can say I lied about outranking you.
[ ] I think my skills are still sharp. At least let me advise you, we'll work better together.
[ ] That's a relief, I hate all that strategy stuff. Lead on, talon.
 
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[X] I think my skills are still sharp. At least let me advise you, we'll work better together.
We should also really check the Thought Cabinet at some point.
 
I dont agree with that, the dialogue is fantastic the way it is.
There's nothing wrong with the dialogue itself, it's a compelling read, but stylistically the name tags feel odd. This is clearly a narrative piece, including description and narration, and the film script style nametags really don't fit with all of that. I think it would be better with standard prose dialogue tag conventions. They're standard for good reasons; they work, they don't break the reader's immersion, and they're what the reader expects.
 
The film script style nametags are a specific departure from typical dialogue tag conventions because this quest is inspired by Disco Elysium. The words spoken by the different parts of our psyche need those tags because we've got like twenty five plus of the fuckers bouncing around in our head and keeping them straight in the typical way is straight up unfeasible.

I'm just waiting for when we get the equivalent of a ten paragraph Shivers monologue. That's some good stuff.
 
@TaliesinSkye I know what you meant and i still think it should stay the way it is right now. It reminds me a lot of Disco Elysium, which is a very good thing. I can understand why it would irrirate people that are used to the way most other quests are written, but i can assure you that it is in no way inferior. Simply a choice of style.
 
The film script style nametags are a specific departure from typical dialogue tag conventions because this quest is inspired by Disco Elysium. The words spoken by the different parts of our psyche need those tags because we've got like twenty five plus of the fuckers bouncing around in our head and keeping them straight in the typical way is straight up unfeasible.

I'm just waiting for when we get the equivalent of a ten paragraph Shivers monologue. That's some good stuff.
Ohh, that's where it came from, it's mimicking a game.

I think it'd be okay if it was just marking the skills speaking, since that's out of character as it were, but for Fincher and other real people I don't feel like it translates between mediums well. Having a character's name in a text box in an RPG is normal, expected. In prose though it feels out of place.
 
The Proud Do Not Endure 20
[x] I think my skills are still sharp. At least let me advise you, we'll work better together.

"I think my skills are still sharp. At least let me advise you, we'll work better together."

She gives you a dubious look.

FINCHER: "Alright boss, we'll play it like that. Tell me if you've got any suggstions or such, but don't contradict my orders. Ask don't tell, right?"

"Alright. Let's take a look at what we're dealing with."

FINCHER: "Scouts should be reporting back any time, boss."

"Scouts?"

FINCHER: "Yeah. Tulip and Wheeler are up ahead, Dunland and Gannet behind, half a mile each. They've got good eyes and they can ride."

WAR: It is sound. We don't want to get ambushed by a superior force again.

You travel in silence for a while. Vocal silence, at least. The hoofbeats of your horse seem to grow incrementally louder with every step. A truly incredible headache is building in your brain. The sensation feels exactly as though something thin and rough-textured is being shoved directly into your skull. You decide that it is a sculptor's carving file. Each impact of the hooves drives this delicate tool a little further into your left orbital just above your eyeball, like the tap of a tiny hammer.

Finally, blessedly, you see Fincher's scouts return, and have something else to focus on. The riders pull up beside their talonlord.

Wheeler is a tall and somewhat goggle-eyed young man. Tulip is a heavyset woman with a dashing scar across her cheek. They both have identical straight dark hair and snub noses. Maybe they are related.

Tulip nods respectfully to you before addressing Fincher.

TULIP: "Lady, it's bad. There's more of them than we expected, a lot more. We approached from the hill, like you said. I counted five thousand in the forward camp." She nods to Wheeler.

WHEELER: "I got six."

FINCHER: "Six!? That can't be right. You counted the whole camp, do they have dependants?"

TULIP: "The five or six is just under arms, lady. Closer to ten in the full camp."

WHEELER: "There's more, lady. They've got ships blockading the harbor. We couldn't get a good look with the towers in the way, but there's a lot."

FINCHER: "What about the city?"

TULIP: "Looks intact. Lights on the walls, cooking fires. Going to be hell to get in, though."

FINCHER: "Well, it's something. Anything else?"

WHEELER: "Figured that was enough, lady. We rode back as soon as we could."

FINCHER: "It's enough alright." she sighs. "Okay, get into rank. Turner has some stew left. I'll figure out our next move."

They bow their heads and ride past you.

TULIP: "Glad to see you're awake, lady."

You're not so glad about that yourself.

Fincher looks expectantly at you. Time to offer your advice.

[ ] Suggest the two of you approach the hill and double check the scout's report.
[ ] Suggest the two of you disguise yourselves in armor and enter the camp.
[ ] Suggest you move the talon to the hill and begin preparations for your attack.
[ ] Suggest you move the talon down the coast and look for the opportunity to steal a ship.
[ ] Suggest you look for some kind of long term shelter outside the city until you can figure out a better strategy.
[ ] Shrug and say she's on her own.
 
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No reason to doubt two independent reports that have nearly the same result. I'm not sure what sneaking into the camp would accomplish. Attacking would be suicidal. Stealing a ship might work, but it would be nice to know how many ships they have. Sheltering outside the city is a good default option if no decent options present themselves. Getting into a city that's under siege isn't the best bet anyway; it's rather difficult to get back out again.
 
[] Suggest the two of you approach the hill and double check the scout's report.
would not only allow us to verify information, but use our very good awareness to maybe get more out of it then a normal mortal
 
[X] Suggest the two of you approach the hill and double check the scout's report.
There's little harm in verifying it with our own Exalt eyes.

On another note...

[X] Review Thought Cabinet
Crumple, I know you said at the start that you'll typically choose the first responder as the chosen option without tallying votes, but at the same time that means that we'll never get around to checking stuff like this unless we are quick at responding to your posts. Could we just check it anyway even if this isn't the first vote? Or you could put up an Informational-threadmarked post on the Thought Cabinet? Up to you, of course.
 
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The Proud Do Not Endure 21
[] Suggest the two of you approach the hill and double check the scout's report.
"We should check it out, don't you think? We don't have enough to go on to organize an approach."

FINCHER: "Yeah..." she stubs out her pipe with her thumb. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, let's scout it ourselves."

She turns to her group.

FINCHER: "Okay, Orison's in charge. Get off the road and set up a day camp, we'll be back in less than an hour. Wheeler, give me the glass."

Wheeler tosses a waxpaper scroll tube to her, she catches it easily.

CRAFT: AVERAGE
4 4
CHECK SUCCESS


CRAFT: Not a scroll, too heavy. Balanced towards the tip, well packed. Probably a spyglass.

Thanks, Craft.

Fincher mounts her own horse, an off-white gelding a hand shorter than your bay. She nods to you and takes off at a canter.

The headache is getting worse. Your intestines feel like they are shrivelling.

INTEGRITY: EASY
5 5
CHECK SUCCESS


You haven't actually eaten or drunk anything since you washed up starved and dehydrated on the shore this morning.

"Hey Fincher, have you got anything to drink?"

FINCHER: "Oh shit, sorry boss, I didn't even think about that." She draws up alongside you. "Uh, did you mean water or something stronger? I've got some wine."

INTEGRITY: VERY DIFFICULT
6 4
CHECK SUCCESS


You badly want that wine. Sweet, heady wine. Your body needs it, physiologically, as much as it needs air. You might be suffering from some kind of withdrawal, and there is a medical case to be made that it would be healthier to drink it.

But people are relying on you right now, and that is very much not a good idea if you want to be reliable.

[ ] Give me the water.
[ ] Give me the wine.

[X] Review Thought Cabinet

Thoughts can be equipped in your Thought Cabinet. These represent the ideas you are currently chewing away on in the toothy depths of your psyche. They might be slivers of your past you are trying to remember, conundrums you are trying to resolve or harebrained schemes you are trying to reconcile with reality.

Each thought offers a set of penalties and/or bonuses while you are thinking about it. You cannot unequip thoughts during this time. After thinking about it for the allotted time, you will recieve some kind of information about the results of your thought, along with a different set of bonuses and/or penalties, and possibly other benefits or modifiers. You can unequip and equip completed thoughts whenever you rest.

You currently have two slots in your thought cabinet. You can acquire more later.

Diamond and Thunderbolt
The highest calling of any Dragon-Blood is to fight the Anathema. They are some of the few adversaries in the world who can outmatch you in single combat, and a material and spiritual threat to the order of the world. Those who have slain one of these terrible creatures have a unique place of respect anywhere the Realm or the relicts of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate hold sway. Could you be one of these heroes? Is your secret mission to slay the human demons that haunt this island?
War -1 (Personal deeds only)
24 hours.

Unbroken Rushes
Let's face it, the Realm sucks. It's all very glorious if you are at the top of the mountain, living in palaces built out of tribute and stocked with stolen treasure, reclining on beds made out of the prostrate bodies of subjugated slaves, but it's objectively terrible for everyone else. You feel for the blood and immiseration that follows in empire's wake, and it fills you with an undefinable rage. Try to remember where it comes from. Try to find rebellion in your past.
Embassy -2 (Fuck your manners)
Craft +1 (We built the world)
12 hours.

The New Black Jade
This island was the last known location of the infamous sorcerer-warlord Yonris and her armies. She was Dragon-Blooded, like you. You don't know who you are. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you might be one and the same... but it does take an idiot to seriously entertain the idea. Have a good long think about Yonris and try to figure out if there's any good reason to think you're not her.
Sagacity -2 (Objectively preposterous)
Presence +1 (Appeal to vanity)
8 hours.

The Opening Gate
You have knowledge of an esoteric school of swordsmanship developed by the outcaste swordmaster Hidur. It emphasizes swordsmanship as a solved game, an algorithmic process by which any attack and defense can be calculated from the starting point of a single stance, the eponymous Opening Gate. How and why did you learn this art? Did you learn Hidur's legendary secret technique, buried in the rigidly defined stances of his teachings? Ponder these questions and more.
Integrity +1 for self (Deep introspection)
Integrity -1 for others (Deep introspection)
48 hours.

Select up to two thoughts to think about.
 
Crumple, I know you said at the start that you'll typically choose the first responder as the chosen option without tallying votes, but at the same time that means that we'll never get around to checking stuff like this unless we are quick at responding to your posts. Could we just check it anyway even if this isn't the first vote? Or you could put up an Informational-threadmarked post on the Thought Cabinet? Up to you, of course.

Yeah, I think it would be a good idea to accept these ancillary votes for bookkeeping stuff regardless of what order they come in. The purpose of the first vote rule is to allow for (potentially bad) snap decisions when they are offered, and this allowance doesn't impede that.

Unrelatedly, I am aware that the MC has an extraordinary rate of success at skill checks. I just want to assure everyone I am rolling legit.
 
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[X] Give me the water.
[X] The Opening Gate

I'm of mixed thoughts about Disco Elysium's thought cabinet and the oddness of needing experience to unequip thoughts that can sometimes bestow penalties, but it's a fun system regardless.

Unlike the other thoughts, we are objectively good at violence, so I think it may be more worthwhile than the others - hopefully.
 
I'm of mixed thoughts about Disco Elysium's thought cabinet and the oddness of needing experience to unequip thoughts that can sometimes bestow penalties, but it's a fun system regardless.

Unlike the other thoughts, we are objectively good at violence, so I think it may be more worthwhile than the others - hopefully.

Yeah, as I mentioned, completed thoughts in this game can be unequipped when you rest, no resources cost involved.

Note that you have two slots, so if anyone wants the MC to get to work thinking about another at the same time then it's there for the thinking.
 
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