The Hunt is On! Bloody Fable Conclusion
By Solar Gem X
Previously on The Bloody Fable:
Blood Fang: …Hmm. I can tell your being honest with your intentions, if it weren't for the fact that you've done your homework AND the fact that we agreed to help each other in the future, I would feel slightly annoyed…But Those are a lot of zeroes and there hasn't really been that much tough behemoths running around. I'm game at the very least. El, Geo, Lea, how about you?
*Sounds of Affirmation*
Blood Fang: It's unanimous then. Alright Blood Moon, The Fabled will Accept the Contract. Now when do we begin?
Twilight Beast: *a small smile appears on her face* Wonderful, let us fill you in on what we've found out.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Present Time:
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney OST - Logic and Trick
A series of papers are shown, including diagrams of the interior of the caves, the different ant that has been discovered and an Image of the Queen itself.
Rolling OPS
*Auto Pass due to constantly fighting these Things for over a Week*
Twilight Beast: As you can see, we haven't exactly been sitting on our laurels for the past week, while we haven't been able to enter the cave system itself, we have made sure to take out any ants that have strayed to far from the caves. From our different confrontations we can confirm that there are a total of 4 species of ants inside of the cave, not including the Queen Behemoth. There are the standard (warriors) ones, not much to say about them other than they are giant ants, they may be easy to take out but they are plentiful, weve slain easily hundreds of them, but they never seem to be an end of them, from some of the books I collected its not much a surprise considering the amount of ants in a single ant hill, and considering they've had plenty of time to amass an army… we are probably seeing up to thousands of them.
Geppetto: O-O Leviathan's blood… ok now I'm starting to see why you need help… even if they can be killed in mass, that's a lot of bodies.
Gargoyle: Ye… doesn't help that pretty much all of us lack any form of AOE attacks. So once they come out in swarms we need to back off. Hopefully Dragonfly here has a lot of powder stored, she's probably our best shot at making a dent on this.
Dragonfly: Well shit, could I leave? If there's that many, I need to get started on mixing my powders… have a spare room I could borrow?
Twilight Beast: Take 3 Lefts and enter the first door to your right, there's a room that's currently empty, Jack will accompany you. We will fill you in once we hash out a plan.
Dragonfly: Thank you, c'mon flamey! We got work to so! *Jack Barks in affirmation and follows*
Twilight Beast: Ok… where was I… ah right the ants. The second species have a mutation that lets them spit an acid like substance from their mouths. This substance can cause rashes and swelling if it touches skin, and in high doses can even melt rock, no effects on metal though. We figure that little tidbit after Gargoyle's arm began to slightly melt, luckily there was no lasting damage. The third species are a Variation of Flying Ant, they are slightly weaker than their normal counterparts, but make up for it with their ability to fly for short periods of time.
Tide Bite: Ugh… I hate those things, luckily there's a lake somewhat close to the nest, so when those things came out, I was able to just dodge them by going under water and just fling water at them, seems they cant fly if their wings get wet. Also helps that they and the Acid spitters are FAR less in number, we barely seen more than 60 of them put together.
Twilight Beast: Yes indeed. The last of them seem to be builder ants, they have been seen carving pieces of rock from the cave, expanding it. They flee if spotted and alert the rest of the nest, we haven't had a confrontation with them, but its best to be careful, if we manage to enter the cave proper its likely they will attack like the rest in order to defend the Behemoth… speaking of which, while we haven't had many confrontations with the Queen Ant, we can confirm that's its borderline a Golden rank, if not outright a Gold in terms of power by now.
Blood Fang: Hmmm… I see, quite the spread. Do we have any concrete information on its whereabouts?
*Rolling OPS*
17
Major Success!
Short Circuit: We are
almost sure of its location. The criminals that survived the confrontation were very amicable once we asked them a couple of questions. They gave us a very good map of the Base, before the ants at least. The cave system goes in a sort of Trident Shape with two entrances/exits. The main entrance is near a forest clearing, once you enter the next room was the Crews Living Quarters, following that, the next room splits in 3 directions. Left heads to another room where their Equipment was stored, followed by another exit to the cave system, this particular route leads to a more barren landscape with a lack of trees, but with a beautiful lake. The water even enters a bit into the Cave System, this is where Tide Bite discovered the Flying Ants as well, so its most likely they will emerge first from that location. Back in the Split, the left side leads to where they kept most of the ill-gotten goods the criminals collected, They were actually planning on making a third exit there and even made some headway into it, but failed to finish it, for obvious reasons…we could probably use it as another entrance, but we would need to finish the job ourselves. As for the middle path, it lead to the Leaders Chambers, it's rather spacious, so we assume the Queen its located there, since its also the most protected area.
Twilight Beast: And That's everything we've been able to collect, any thoughts?
General White: Hmm… I see. It was a good idea to get some backup for this if even half of this is true, an "army" is underselling it. Thankfully, you have collected a wide variety of info on the structure and the foes within, I can already think of some ways we can do this. It would probably be best to divide our forces into 3 groups. Group A would confront the forces in the First entrance, Group B would confront the Forces near the lake entrance and Group C would be a Strike Force that would use the near completed exit to bypass most of the army, heading straight for the Behemoth and attempt to eliminate it. If your notes about it controlling the rest of the Ants is true, once it is eliminated the rest of the army would fall like puppets without any strings.
Blood Fang: I Agree with White's observations, the main problem is dividing our forces, the most balanced approach would be to have 3 members in each team (9 heroes total), But we could lower or add to the amount depending on how you want to spin this. So tell me Celeste… what do you want to do?
Mission: A Wild Hunt!
A hidden cave system in the Hoia Baciu Forest has become the home of a Gold(?) ant like Behemoth and it has been slowly making an army using its mutated abilities. Your goal is to eliminate it and all of the mutated ants under her thrall.
Objectives:
- Eliminate the Queen Ant Behemoth
- Draw attention in the first two entrances and eliminate as many ants as possible to thin the numbers.
- Entrance A will have a mix of all ants; however Acid Spitters are more likely to appear in droves in this entrance.
- Entrance B will have a mix of all ants; however Flyers will appear primarily from this location. Additionally, there's a lake near this entrance.
- The Potential Entrance C forces will depend on how much attention The other two entrances generate. If you strike to early or don't eliminate enough ants the Strike team will be noticed, take two long and you risk the other teams being overwhelmed, leaving you stranded with the all the ants alone, almost guaranteeing the teams death if unlucky.
Resources:
Blood Moon
Twilight Beast: A powerful Umbrakinetic and Leader of The Blood Moon. TB can shape her darkness in a multitude of ways, from blast of shadow to tendrils and blades made of darkness. She can additionally cloak herself in darkness to evade attacks or move short distances via darkened areas, not only that she also becomes stronger when in a extremely dark environment. Unbeknownst to her and the world at large she has an additional power, which she has used on her fallen friend Jack (See jack's bio for more info).
[Elemental Manipulation], [Enhanced Senses], [Autonomous Creature Creation (Unknown)]
Jack: A man (or girls) best friend. Passed away during Twilight Beast Earlier years as a hero, Jack is thought to be an example of an Animal with Metahuman Powers akin to Quick Gorilla. However this is not true, unbeknownst to Twilight Beast and the world at large, Jack is an Autonomous Creature made from one of Twilight Beast Powers… well sorta. While they are a construct, it IS Jack. TB's power uses Bones as a medium for its creation, it can be made using any amount of bones, but the more bones used in the creation the Stronger and Sturdier the Result. Since Jack was mostly intact after the fire that claimed him, TB's power made him an extremely sturdy puppy. Additionally, the more bones used in the process the more like the deceased individual the construct is. TB can only make a single construct, but with enough resources that revived individual will have all the memories, quirks and personality of the original (even humans). However if the individual was a metahuman, they will not return with their powers. In exchange the construct will have a variety of abilities depending on any bones added to the collective, also they are pretty much fireproof.
[Elemental manipulation (fire) (minor)], [Bone assimilation- Variable]
Key words will be added or taken depending on how many bones are active (Max of 3 at the time, not including the main mass)
Alligator Skull – [Enhanced Strength (Head)]
Rhinoceros Ribs- [Enhanced Endurance]
Albatross Wing Bones – [Flight (Gliding)]
Gargoyle: Main Ability is to transform himself into a Stone-like Creature with Claws, wings and tail made of pure stone. If parts of the body are broken, he can absorb stone from nearby sources to repair his body, protecting his human flesh.
[Transformation], [Enhanced Strength], [Enhanced Endurance], [Regeneration (minor)], [Flight (Gliding)]
Short circuit: A strong martial artist and electrokinetic, Elena Rivets could pass of as Lady Leizi lite, if it weren't for the advance metal prosthetics she has for arms, and the fact that her electric manipulation is weaker than the Horizon Heroine. Short Circuit is not capable of shooting lightning and can only generate her electricity a short distance from her body. Where SC lacks in power she makes up in pure control, her precision with her electricity in nigh perfect, and she was once capable of generating a constant stream of electricity that permitted her to power around 2 rooms inside of the Blood Moons base for over 8 hours, she also uses her power to charge her phone when low, and hasn't damaged any of the systems within. She uses her metallic arms to channel her electricity into her opponents when hitting, making it feel like you were hit with a point blank taser. Also carries a set of conductive Throwing Knives.
[Elemental Manipulation],[ Enhanced Strength (Prosthetics)]
Tide Bite: The Dysmorphic member of Blood Moon and its certified Heel. Stefan loves to wow the crowd and like using his appearance to scare criminals when fighting them. Voted most popular member of Blood Moon, right behind Jack.
[Transformation], [Enhanced Strength], [Water Breathing], [Enhanced Senses]
The Fabled:
Blood Fang: Leader of the nomadic Behemoth hunting Group known as The Fabled. Carmen Jaeger uses her sharp claws to tare behemoths asunder, and if that doesn't work the special liquid her claws secret will make the wish they had. Thinning the blood of those slashed, increasing blood flow, and if they are still alive? Heating the blood where the liquid lies, boiling the opponents from within… yikes!
[Transformation], [Enhanced Strength], [Enhanced Speed], [Enhanced Senses], [Blood Thinning and Boiling secretion in claws]
General White: Second in command of the Fabled and head tactician. Edelweiss Margaret can create up to 7 small constructs of around 3-4 feet in height that share her image, all carrying hammers that hit like a runway car. She uses these constructs, her ability to switch locations with them and the fact she can create a mark that drastically increases damage done in that area to help her teammates crush the opposition.
[Autonomous Creature Creation], [Teleportation (Limited)], [Ally Empowerment (Attacks)]
Geppetto: The shiest member of the Fabled and one of the more variable members thanks to his ability to create wooden constructs that have a variety of abilities. He can generate a weird energy that gives his puppets incredible endurance and range, letting him control them from a distance. The puppets will differ in strength depending on what role they were meant for.
[Energy Manipulation], [Construct Creation], [Hammer Space (puppets only)]
Puppets:
Champion- A Male Humanoid puppet wielding a Metallic Sword and Shield. Has [Enhanced Strength], [Enhanced Endurance]
Steed: Wooden Horse Construct that never tires, mostly used for transportation purposes.
[Enhanced Speed]
Princess: A Female Humanoid puppet Dressed in a fine dress… also is carrying enough firearms to qualify as a gun Shop, also strangely has permits for all of them. (Geppetto is sort of Weird)
[Guns… just a lot of Guns, like Holy moly, how can it carry so many] [Enhanced Senses]
Dragon: A Hollowed Reptilian (Debates still out if it was a Komodo Dragon or some other lizard, Geppetto says it looked like an Armadillo girdled Lizard) Gold Rank Behemoth that was combined with wood and various other materials in order to make a potent puppet. A group project made by all members of The Fabled, Dragon is Geppetto's strongest puppet to date and big enough to carry the entire Fabled team. This thing is filled to the brim with a variety of Dragonfly's powders letting it use a variety o status effects and an igniter mechanism within, letting it spew a stream of fire on its opponents
[Enhanced Strength], [Elemental Manipulation], [Flight]
Dragonfly: The Slightly dysmorphic and hand sized member of The Fabled, Dragonfly is probably their most destructive member, all thanks to the various powders she can generate and ignite into giant explosion or streams of fire.
[Elemental Manipulation], [Enhanced Speed], [Enhanced Senses], [Flight], [Very smol… will also bite your finger off]
These are your heroes…how do we carry out this mission?
Entrance A:
{} Heroes
Entrance B:
{} Heroes
Entrance C:
{} Heroes
*Making Choices*
*Choices Made*
Begin The Mission!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hoia Baciu Forest Mid-day
It was silent today in the forest, well unless you were near a certain cave system, which was a buzz with the skittering of giant ants. The workers, hard at work expanding the inner cave system and making holes around the entrance of the cave were the only things that were heard. These creatures heavily mutated by their "Queen" were hard at work, following their base instincts, and were constantly making sure their home was protected from outside threats like the Shadowy one or the Stony one. Yes, things were rather peaceful for workers #231 and #165, everything was it supposed to be, and soon their Queen will expand her territory, just as they rid of the giant Furred ones and the other prey, they will expand their kingdom outwards, making sure none could stand the might of the "Marele imperiu". NO ON-
*Rolling Gargoyle Hit*
15
Major Success!
???: Hey whats hanging?
The workers stopped and turned to see a Stone like figure looking at them...ITS THE STONY ONE!!! Call for Back up, Call for *Splat*. That were the last thoughts of the drone before their heads were splattered by a pair of stony fists.
Gargoyle: And thats 2 out of a S*** ton. Things are about to get interesting, now... lets begin with the mission. OY INSECTOID FREAKS! YOUR QUEEN SMELLS LIKE ELDER BERRIES AND ALL OF YOU ARE GRADE A UGLY!
There was a moment of silence... and then a Torrential Screech filled the air, and the sounds of hundreds of feet soon after.
Battlefield ~ Starting Up (Normal Battle Theme) - Etrian Odyssey V OST
*Rolling OPS*
20! Natural Crit!
*Rolling HIT*
9, 15
Major Success!
As the massive hoard came barrilying towards the Stone Faced (Literally) intruder that had dared come once more towards their territory, the numerous ants, hundreds in number and with a good amount of spitters, did not notice the Giant Shadow flying on high until it was too late. With flick of its tounge acting as a igniter, 70% of the first 2 waves of Ants were Burned to a crisp and from the Sky emerged a Giant Monster, and on top of the massive beast was Geppetto, The Champion, The Princess and Jack, who quickly jumped into the Fray.
Gargoyle: Woohoo, What an Entrance! Good Job Gepetto!
Jack: Woof!
Geppetto: Thanks for the boost in confidence Mr. Gargoyle, but that was just the first wave, we need to get ready for the rest. Speaking of which, I think our little act caught the attention of the rest of swarm, Brace for impact!
*Due to a succesful Ambush and... well Burning the heck out of the initial Ant strike force, you have gained 2 units of taunt. These will attract bigger numbers to you (+1 to Ant HIT Dice for every 2 units), but will lower the chance of The strike team being discovered. (-1 to discovery rolls per unit)*
All 3: LETS DO THIS *ARF*!
*Entrance B*
*SCREEEEEEE*
Tide Bite: HA! It seems like Gargoyle and the Boys have made an Impression on the Ants up front. Time for me to earn my keep.
*Rolling ESP*
9 + 3 (Under Tha Water) = 12
Medium Success
As Tide Bite stealthfully swam into the cave from the nearby lake, he observed the walls of the cave he was in. It was littered with Flyers, easily reaching 30 members and there was also a large group warrior ants. As one of the workers came closer to the waters edge and as a Flyer observed a little bit from the waters surface, Tide Bite took his oppurtunity. He Jumped out of the water with incredible speed, slicing the Flyer in half before Stomping the warriors head into paste. As quickly as that happened he jumped into the waters surface once more, just as the ants began screeching, some following him and a small group of others heading into the caves, in order to to secure the paths that lead to the Queens Chamber.
Tide Bite: Tch... Didnt grab the attention of all of them, but I guess most is better than nothing. Also I guess its a matter of time before they come back with more. Alright, time to regroup!
As the Dysmorphic hero swam towards the lake near the cave a proverbial swarm of Ants followed, with a symphony of wing flaps in hard pursuit. Once they reach the outside, the creatures were able to see two other figures close to the waters edge, The bright one and a unknown small one, prey most assumed. As the Flyers began to swarm above the intruders they prepared to launch themselves and...
*Roll ESP Ants*
10- 3 (Literal brainwashed animals)= 7
Minor Success
*Roll Hit Dragonfly*
15+ 3 (Pollen Trap) = 18
Major Success!
Were Swiftly Exploded into Chunks, thanks to DragonFly's ignitable Powder/Pollen trap. Only 4 of the swarm of 30 remained, but with the injuries they suffered from blast, they were quicly taken down by Tide Bite Strikes and Short Circuits Throwing Knives.
*Team B has obtained 2 units of Taunt! Further lowering the Ants Detection roll (Current Total: -4) but increasing the ants HIT rolls (Currently +2)*
INTERRUPT!
The Queen Has Been Informed of The attack and has been enraged! She Activates her skill [Agression Pheromones] adding a +3 to all Ant HIT rolls. (New Total +5 to HIT rolls)
Things have gotten harder for the 2 distactions teams, would you like to spend an additional round attacting more attention, or should the Strike Team enter as it currently Stands?
{X} Yes, roll to engage as it stands. (Roll a ESP Check with a +4 in order to reach the Behemoth).
{} No, we need more time. (Team A and B will continue fighting with the aim to attract more enemies towards them, imcreasing the difficluty of their fight, but lowering the Strikes Teams Chance of being discovered. Currently you have 4 units of Taunt, granting a Plus 4 to your ESP roll, but adding a +2 ant Hit Rolls, currently +5 thanks to the Behemoths ability).
Team C: Blood Fang, General White and Twilight Beast
*Rolling Hit*
12 + 3 (Weiss Marking) = 15
Major Success!
*Rolling ESP*
11+4 (Taunt units)= 15
Major Success!
As the other teams made their assault towards the enemy forces, The strike Team that was composed of the Remaining Members of the Two Teams made their way into the newly made entrance of the caves. General White's Constructs and her Weiss Marking ability made short work of the wall connecting to the inner depths of the cave… and into a small duo of Builder ants that were standing near the wall of the cave, the last thing they ever heard being… HI HOOOOO!!!, HI HOOOO! HI HO, Hee Ho, HI HO! Before been buried in rubble.
Twilight Beast: *Raises Eyebrow*
General White: Not. A. Word.
Blood Fang: *Snort* C'mon we need to hurry.
As the trio of heroines made their way into the deepest part of the cave they meet little resistance, their team members managing to draw a large amount of attention with their nigh simultaneous attacks, just as the trio made it into the inner chambers.
*Rolling Ant Hit*
20 + 5 = 25!
Natural Crit! (Frack...)
[Queens Gambit Activates!]
On a result that is 15 or higher The Queen Ant Behemoth can activate [Queens Gambit], letting her roll a 1D6 in order to gain an advantage during combat.
*Rolling*
2, 4
4 was Chosen
[Queens Royal Guard is Activated!]
Blood Fang: Merde…
Twilight Beast: Suddenly I'm very Glad I insisted in coming with you instead of joining Team B…
The Queen was NOT alone like they hope, not having hundreds of guards, but having a reasonable defense force of her own. 10 Flyers, 5 Acid Spitters and 15 Warrior ants, all looking at them with an alien-like hatred in their eyes.
There was but a second of silence… before all hell broke loose.
Blood Fang: *Transforms* (No lightning)
It doesn't matter, we have a job to do, ready?
General White: Always!
Twilight Beast: Right Behind You!
Celeste Quickly shoots towards the enemy troops slicing 4 of the Flyers in a split second and quickly going for the rest of the Guard. As she went on the Hunt, Blood Fang and General White ran towards the Behemoth with the hopes of ending this fight quickly. The general launched a sphere of white light towards the Behemoth and…
*Roll Hit General White*
12
Medium success!
Managed to mark the Chest of The Behemoth with her power, increasing all damage and power effects inside of the mark. (Allies gain +3 Hit when attacking a marked Enemy). As the mark Settled Blood Fang Jumped towards the enemy and
*Rolling Hit Blood Fang*
7 + 3= 10
Vs.
*Rolling HIT Ants*
7 + 5= 12
Both meet with a Moderate success
Nearly misses the queens chest as she dodges to the side, clipping the Behemoths arm and dealing superficial damage. But even a shallow cut can be disastrous when fighting her. (Behemoth Suffers a -1 to HIT thanks to Blood Fangs [Thin and Boil] Ability. This effect will increase in potency as the battle progresses or Blood Fang lands more Hits). She was quickly attacked by a group of ants who wanted to capitalize on her near miss (2 Flyers, 3 Spiters, 5 Warriors) and had to dodge before she was swarmed.
General White was using her constructs to weave through the battlefield, aiming to hurt the Queen Ant. As she neared 3 warriors launched themselves to her before…
*Rolling Hit Ants*
2+5=7
Vs.
*General White Roll HIT*
14
Medium Success!
And they missed completely, the heroine switching with one of her small doubles, who was prepared to swing, decapitating all 3 at once. As the copy turned around, she was sliced in half alongside one her sisters.
*Queen Ant Hit Roll*
14+ 5- 1 = 18
Major Success! (FUCK!)
The Queen Screeched as she slew some of the interlopers, quickly moving in order to slay more of the white ones while evading the Red and Black ones, she noticed that the White one seemed to move in tandem with the other ones, and did not engage as violently as the other two. The Queen immediately pegged her as a commander, leading troops to battle instead of engaging, which meant that her death would lead to dissent in the ranks. So she lunged towards another small thing and…
*Queen Ant Hit Roll*
20+ 5- 1 = 24 Nat Crit!
Major Success! (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!)
The Queen Rejoiced as her scythes quickly dispatched 4 of the small ones, now one of the troops remained and she could smell the anxiousness In the Commander. Just a little more and…
*Twilight Beast and Blood Fang Hit Roll*
20+ 1 (Thin and Boil) + 5 (Scarlet Tandem) + 3 (Weiss Mark)= 29 Nat Crit!
*Due to The Behemoths Earlier Nat 20, both sides lose their Advantage for their next roll*
Blood Fang and Twilight Beast: I DON'T THINK SO!
The Scarlet and Black duo managed to catch the Queen off Guard, dealing a massive blow towards it, Blood Fang Left a massive Gash in its back While Twilight beast surfaced from the shadows beneath the Behemoth piercing the right side of her chest, where a piece of General Whites mark was placed. ( [Thin And Boil] activates! Queen Ant will suffer a -3 to its HIT dice due to blood loss, the next mayor HIT roll that lands from Blood Fang will increase it to -5 and begin the process of Boiling the Behemoths blood, causing injuries for as long as the battle last).
The Queen Screeches in pain, launching a wild swing towards Twilight Beast who managed to dodge in time. Trought the haze of pain the Queen Notices that the rest of her guard has been vanquished during the short time she was slaying the little ones. She quickly disengaged from the clash and began preparing to call for more reinforcements.
*Queen Ant REP Rolls *
1+ 5 (Queen Call)= 6
…minor success?
A group of 5 builder ants appear… and are immediately sliced to ribbons thanks to Twilight Beast.
Twilight Beast: Yeah... No.
END IT BLOOD FANG!
*Blood Fang HIT Roll*
15+ 3 (Weiss Mark) = 18
Major Success!
Blood Fang: WITH PLEASURE!!!
As the heroine Voices her affirmation she manages to get inside the Monster guard and launches a devastating skywards strike with her right claw, leaving deep gashes into the Behemoths Flesh and even slicing its face. As the beast screeches in pain it falls into ground, and continues screeching louder amd louder still, as it feels the blood within her begin to boil, thanks to Blood Fangs Claws… and less than a minute later, it quiet's down… dead.
General White: That… was close. But we did it. We need to grab its head, but first lets head outside, we need to make sure the rest of the teams are still ok.
Twilight Beast: Agreed.
As the heroines went to confirm the status of their teammates, they find that both teams are ok, somewhat injured but alive. Most if not all of the mutated ants dropped dead the moment the Behemoth died, their strings cut as they could no longer function without its influence. As they congratulate each other for a job well done, Blood Fang Returned to the monster corpse and grabbed its body, dragging it to claim their well-earned rewards, plus extra.
The Fabled Gained 10,000 income! (Behemoth bounty (5000) plus extra for some of the ants(2,500) and from some of the residents of the nearby cities and farms (2,500))
Team Blood Moon has gained more Territory and 2 new contracts! They will Receive 2000 income at the start of every turn, from now on.
Authors Note: Tadaa! The conclusion to the Fabled X Blood Moon Crossover Event. Was in the middle of writing this when the latest chapter came out, so here's a little extra (Way lower Quality) words for y'all. Man I need a break, but with this I should be
hopefully prepare for the next chapter of the quest.
