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That-Shop-That-Was-Not-There-Yesterday Quest

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[1] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.
[2] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.

[3] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.

[4] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.

[5] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.
 
[1] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.
[2] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.
[3] You need to find something to communicate better with the, for the lack of better word, Knight. There should be something in your inventory that would work.
[4] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.
[5] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.
[6] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.
 
[1] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.
[2] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.
[3] You need to find something to communicate better with the, for the lack of better word, Knight. There should be something in your inventory that would work.
[4] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.
[5] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.
[6] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.
 
[4] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.
[1] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.
[2] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.
[3] You need to find something to communicate better with the, for the lack of better word, Knight. There should be something in your inventory that would work.
[5] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.
[6] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.
 
Would we sell wands of prestidigitation?

If so, one would be useful for cleaning up
 
@Farsan, I will allow the Icon of Icons, but the Choker is denied for several reasons pertaining the plot.
@MrGazzer, around the ballpark. Not Prestidigitation per se though.

With 13 votes and with my headache gone, I guess vote is closed. I am not going to start counting extensively yet to give some of you last chances to fix some things.
For @veekie, @Bladesguy, @giodan, and @hcvquizibo, all four of you are missing the part about translation. If this isn't fixed in the next six hours, I will have to assume that it's put on the last priority.
For @Trondason, I will assume that while you're using [X]s for the voting, you're ordering them based on Ranked Voting. If this is incorrect, post a proper vote below.

I will start writing right about now, though, since the first two option should center around cleaning.
 
[1] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.
[2] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.
[3] You need to find something to communicate better with the, for the lack of better word, Knight. There should be something in your inventory that would work.
[4] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.
[5] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.
[6] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.
 
Whoops. Well that's embarrassing. Let's try that again.

[1] Speaking of presentable, you need to make sure the shop looks presentable too. At least clean up some of the blood. You're not going to try and move the weird creature though. That one stays bound inside the mandala.

[2] You mustn't be distracted though, you need to clean yourself up. You're literally caked with your own dried blood. You need a clean hot plunge in the bath tub and tend to your wounds. Make yourself more presentable and all that.

[3] You're curious about this strange man. At first glance, between the pack on his back and the fact that he's not even wearing anything resembling an armour, he looks like an average traveller. Yet the way he carries himself, what with the mace and the sword on his waist, reminds you of a Subjugation Knight. And fortifications? You're inherently curious about that.

[4] You need to find something to communicate better with the, for the lack of better word, Knight. There should be something in your inventory that would work.

[5] You should also complete cataloguing the shop's inventory. It's not exactly the most appealing or important of things to do, but finishing it may give you a slight peace of mind.

[6] Also something else that does give you peace of mind, your stash of money. You're not even sure how currencies will work here but you need to properly account what money you have in the place.
 
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Artennova: An Overview
  • Informational
    • Artennova

    The Floating Spires of Lark Castle
    ​
    "Well then. I never expected that the experiment would turn me into a God... Okay then. Well for my first edict, time to sort out this distorted world. Let The Flourishing Begin Anew!"
    -Lark, Ascended God of Magic    ​

    Artennova is the widely-agreed-upon name of the spherical planet orbiting a blue star. It has two widely-agreed-upon celestial satellites, The Godly Palace and The Mourner. It has three widely-agreed-upon continents, housing all the major polities in the planet. It has four widely-agreed-upon major polities residing on Artennova.

    That's the end of where all of the widely-agreed-upon things ends. For Artennova is a chaotic world infused with magic.

    History
    No one has an idea when or where the first intelligent beings began to emerge in the world. It's a question that is unanswered to this day even to other Gods, for The Mourner continued his eternal mourning. But it's agreed-upon that the first societies were formed sometime five thousands years ago, belonging to the Dragonkind. They built the groundworks for many of the 'younger' races to claim their right. The Dragonkind often times bonded with the fondly-remembered younglings, serving as advisors to the younger races and to help them in their times of need. In time, perhaps a Golden Era where all the beings could unite as one despite their differences.

    But The Flourishing crushed that dream.

    For numerous reasons, Artennova began to be flooded by an intolerable amount of ambient mana, to the point of become a stifling miasma that choke and kill beings not attuned to the magical elements that permeate the world. Many trials and tribulationns occurred during The First Flourishing from the crushing blow of Months of Insanity to the Great Massacre of Cascan. Many of the races find their numbers lessen or mutate into differing forms and shapes. The lands and even times themselves are distorted. Lands fly off to the air, water turn to gas in an instant, entire wars and conflicts changing the fate of the world happen out of sight in The Hollowed History. It is somewhat-agreed-upon that this period of the Flourishing occurred for close to two thousand years, enough for the races to develop an identity distinct from one another.

    This changed when Lark, a human wizard, became the Ascended God of Magic. In one fell swoop, he changed the circumstances governing Artennova, doing anything on his part in The Renewed Flourishing to mend the bridges between the conflicting races, paving the way for the The Golden Age where a resemblance of the unity shown in the times before The Flourishing emerges.

    Magic
    It's hard to talk about Artennova without glancing at the impact magic has to society as a whole. The widely-agreed-upon consensus of the permeance of magic in Artennova is the quote from Lark (also widely-agreed-upon to had been appropriated from an unknown source inside the Hollowed History) himself:
    "Every trace of everything is imbued with mana. Mana is imbued in everything from the rays of the sun to the eternal skeletal remains in Cascan. To claim that magic is not a fabric of reality, is to simply spit in the face of the fundamental rules of the world.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    There's countless branches of magic in the Artennova with countless restrictions and rules besides. Lark Castle functions as the foremost authority in magical knowledge, what being governed directly by Lark himself. His style of governance is one in which he awaits for his priests and acolytes, which in essence is covers all mages in the world. Magic, to put it simply, is volatile to the point of being extremely dangerous. For this specific reason, Lark decides to promote to usage of magical items throughout Artennova instead. The effects of an item imbued with magic is often times weaker than the effect of a directly cast spell but provides consistency and without the risk of miscasts.

    That said, despite Lark's best efforts, the expediency of casting magic directly outweighs the benefits of magical items ｰ though it is widely-agreed-upon that without Lark's push, magical items wouldn't be as popular as it is now ｰ to the point of creating the most important institution in Artennova, the Subjugation Calls.

    Technology and Quality of Life
    It is agreed-upon that the civilizations of Artennova found themselves in a great spot after The Renewed Flourishing. From the magocracy that is Lark Castle to the magophobic democracy that is Alten Republic, the poorest of citizens have access to cheap daily food, free clean water, and healthcare services amongst others. The advances in technology correlates directly to Lark's push in making magical items accessible to everyone. Even Alten Republic couldn't deny that despite the citizenry's hatred to magic, opting to try inventing technological analogues to known magical spells and items. This led to numerous works that are aimed to improving the overall standards in Artennova. From the Skyfleet of Mysert to the Ruination Golems, Artennova heads to an Enlightenment Era, one that hopefully continued on the advancements of the Renewed Flourishing.
     
  • Informational
    • >all this 'agreed-upon'

    vocal why must you hurt my eyes and mind so
     
    zero_breaker said:
    vocal why must you hurt my eyes and mind so
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The usage of hyphens is an extremely-legitimate method to accentuate things~

    More seriously, it's a linguistical quirk that pops up in Artennovan society. Due to The Flourishing, just about everything is changing, up to how people perceive things. People constantly double-check the things they see around them, or even themselves. This led to a sort of a cultural phenomenon where people often ask for second opinions like "Is the sky red today?" or "Was that mountain there since last week?" and so on and so forth to the point where society develop a shorthand method of communicating whether or not things are as they seem.

    This dependence/obsession of popular consensus is also one of the key reason for the founding of the Alten Republic, but that's a story for another time.

    During The Renewed Flourishing, one of the things that Lark did was to ensure that there's standardization to how everyone perceive things, as part of his effort to mend the bridges but that too, is a story for another time.

    What is also something that's going to be for another time is the update. It will hopefully be up tomorrow (or tonight depending your timezone) when I feel more refreshed.
     
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    Prologue VII
  • Threadmarks
    • With both hands fully capable, you set out to clean out some of the damages that had been done. To this, you enlisted the help of one mop and bucket. Part of a set, in fact. You trace your good hand along the handle of the mop, activating the time-saving function of the cleaning mop. In a single bound, it moves by itself, swiping the bloodstained floor with ease. You put the bucket, filled to brim with water near the central aisle as you turn the appraisal sets onto your own body, scanning your broken and battered form.

    The outlook is... not good. There's no way of getting around the core fact that your body is currently decomposing. Your heart, stabbed from the front, no longer beats and with that, your wounds are not healing. Or rather, they are starting to rot.

    Fortunately, you have several course of action, as you left the mop do its work and move upstairs to the bathroom. Your ruined clothes are going to need to be cleaned and reconstructed later. For now, you're going t-

    Your thought processes stopped as you feel the rumblings of an earthquake below your feet. You stumble, trying to find your balance, as the earthquake intensified. What is happening now?

    As if on cue, the knight shouted from below. "My bad, I tapped on the wrong vein! I can work with this though!"

    What is he doing? As much as you'd like to check on his work, whatever the hell it is, you need to... sort yourself out first and foremost. You didn't even bother trying to get the blood-caked clothes off of you first, them being too sticky, and just activated the shower. You can feel the hot water course through you, all while the rumblings from the earth continues at a steady rate.

    ...

    You left the bathroom covered in bandages with the ruined clothes thrown into the cleaning basket. You don't have enough medical expertise to start knitting your body together but you do know enough to commit to some first-aid... in so far as it is applicable to a Lich. A fact that you're doubting more and more now. You'll leave that thought for now as the rumbling stopped. You stopped to look outside...

    "What the actual hells?" ... to stare unbelievingly at the fiery landscape all around you. You almost rush out of the shop, unheeding of your injuries, before the knight shouted again.

    "Don't be alarmed, this is perfectly normal. Your house will not burn."

    ... You're not quite sure how you'd react but considering that the store is also rated for sudden firestorms, you decide to pointedly ignore the chaos outside and focus on finding the proper attire. You settle on a combo of thick wooly clothes, taking care to cover over the bandages as much as possible. You even make sure that the glove on your left hand can be considered as 'fashionable aesthetics' rather than the magical extremities projector that it actually is. Unfortunately, you're just going to have to go out with a piece of cloth over your missing eye, carefully putting on your spare reading glasses which flung off of you during the battle.

    Fully cleaned off, you went downstairs again, using the walls as supports as the earth rumbled once more. You take stock of the situation on the ground floor, finding that the mop is halfway done doing its rounds. The cluttered merchandise on the store can't exactly be fixed in the next... two hours, but you do what you can, taking care to grab the Icon of Icons and putting it on the countertop. It's quite the item. In essence, it translate voices into a series of images emitted directly to the mind of the communicated person. The drawback is that it only work to one person... with the upside that it is a completely private form of communication so long as the Icon is held.

    Icon of Icons
    A small statue the size of one's palm. The statue is made in the resemblance of The Mourner, or at least, the form in which it might have been using before The Flourishing. It allows the wielder to communicate their words to another by sending the voice straight through the mind.
    Qualities:
    Speech to Icons
    One-to-One Private Communication Line    ​
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    It will suffice as a sort of 'sophisticated' device to talk, at least until you actually learn the language. Which... is a problem. You'll need to properly research how to do just that. You have some thoughts on how to do that though.

    Those thoughts will have to be postponed as you quaff several bottles of potions. The first, is the Tonic of Flesh. You taste utter raw liquified meat go down your gullet as you finish the potion. That should help quicken your metabolism rate and passively regenerate and knit your flesh together. The second, Tonic of Blood, should help you to replenish the lost blood from the fight. The metallic tang of the potion lingered on even as you wash the aftertaste of the potions. You don't have anything to deal with your lack of sight for now though. Something to also consider for later.

    By the time the three hour mark is done though, you have cleaned the shop in its totality. The knight didn't call for you though. Still... you're curious about what he's doing. But first, payment for services rendered. You set about grabbing the newly baked loaves of bread from the oven and put it on a plate. In addition, you set aside a jug of water aside. Carrying the two items downstairs, you swing the door open and prepare yourself to meet the man.

    Result:
    -> The entirety of The Wizard's Shelf is utterly cleaned from the damage of the battle. None of the wares were harmed beyond repair and all of the reagents were quickly salvaged. ???
    -> Aside from the lack of one eye, Alicia Lemongrass' physical condition is outwardly stable. No bad first impression possible when interacting. Wounds will regenerate in at least a week. Options to sped up the regeneration and healing of the eye unlocked
    -> Icon of Icons found and serves as an excellent one-way communication device. Further options to understand the language available.
    -> Not much is gleaned from what the man is capable of... only that it is extremely flashy and at least dangerous.
    -> Money remains uncounted. ???
    -> The remainder of the items remain uncatalogued.

    ---
    Due to a combination of sickness and IRL business, the update is rather late. Finally got the time to complete it. As usual, if you have any ideas, submit them and please wait warmly for the next part.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • The lamp of lightening.
    A simple lamp that has been enchanted to glow with thunderbolt designs regardless of the state of oil or fire inside of it.
    Appears to be much more magical than it actually is- to the untrained eye.
     
    Staff of Destruction
    A metallic staff 49 attoparsecs long and 2.3 attoparsecs wide with a handle perpendicular to the body of the staff close to the top, the Staff of Destruction contains a powerful array of mana condensers etched into one side and a combination focusing and tracking array on the other. Can be used to store and fire a focused, homing bolt of mana at a given target.
     
    RL things kept pushing me from writing a coherent update, not to mention that the update is pushing against me along the way. Probably going to be at least another day before the update drops. In the meantime:
    @Artemis_Fowl_2nd, accepted with reworking. It will be put under Curios.
    @Michael Lewis, accepted with slight reworking. Had to google what 'attoparsecs' are for a second but it will be put under Ranged Magical under Weapons.
     
    Prologue VIII
  • Threadmarks
    • You finish your work, planting State of Affairs to the ground, quenching the blue flame that envelop the blade on the now charred ground. Nature is always the first casualty whenever your lot shape the earth.

    "Though the grass burns, humanity survives." You mutter the prayer under your breath, finishing your work. You should ask the lady soon. Two and a half hours had passed an-

    You whirl as you hear the door open, readying your hand at the now-cooled mace hanging at your side before relaxing, if just. Out comes who you can only assume to be your Gracious Host for the night. You feel your breath hitch lightly at your throat at her appearance. Her skin, to be specific. Fair and light tone, bordering on pale. Her body itself is covered in garments that would border on uncomfortable for many of your kin. Your light admiration turned to concern however, at the lack of eye and the fresh bandage covering it. And the sword hanging on her hip. The Long Dark must've taken its toll on this maiden.

    Before you could say anything else, however, your mind is hit with a series of flashing images. Your sight temporary sees a hand, held up in a sign of refusal before you see a pair of eyes. As soon as you processed them, you see face to face with the lady once more. She is holding a weird statuette of sorts in her right hand and balancing a tray filled with bread and water on her left, face kept neutral. You then see another flash of image. That of the foods and yourself, clothed in a cumbersome set of armour before the lady pointedly glance at the tray.

    So she's asking you to not look too closely at her form and to accept the food. You think. It's hard to make sense of things from images, even if it is much better than trying to slowly understand what a single word mean through repeating.

    You accept the tray from her hand. "My apologies then, I didn't mean to pointedly gaze at you." He paused. "It's simply unusual to have someone like you in here."

    The lady cocked her head to the side, expression betraying what she was about to say. "It's a long story, but let's start by me asking a question." You rummage your pants with your free hand. The appendage quickly found the black dagger, wrapped in a piece of cloth. Confirming your suspicions, the lady's eyes widened. "You dropped this?"
    ---

    Of all the things that you thought you'd never see again it'd be the Void Dagger. The Banishing Ballista propelled the weapon to the far distance, after all. "Yes." You said, remember to speak in the foreign language. The knight paused, putting the tray on the ground before handing you the dagger with two hands, which you accepted tentatively with both hands. You are, after all, unsure what customs work here. And as helpful as the man is, you can't help but to be wary.

    Anyone carrying a black sword back in Artennova was trouble. While you are certain that this knight aren't paid by the Republic, your instinct told you to be careful still. Whatever magic he used, it is most definitely powerful. What he seemingly did was raising the earth around the hill by the way of using lava and magma flow from within the ground, creating a sizable wall of packed soil with very much still hot lava washing over it. That's not counting the smoke from the fire he set. Judging by the smoke surrounding the fortified complex, he had basically set fire to the entire grassland... which you don't even know its size.

    While you inspected the surroundings, the knight had partaken in the meal you gave, quaffing the water and eating the bread given. After a while though, he asked. "I suppose that you would allow me to enter your abode, Gracious Host?" He looked expectantly at you. "You've offered food, will you offer your roof?"

    [] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [] You'll refuse to his offer. The questions that could be asked could very well lead to some conflict. You have a hunch that this isn't exactly the right thing to do.

    Aside from that though, what will you need to actually discuss with him? He did say there's a lot to discuss, and you can be certain that there'd be things that he want to know.
    [] Those pertaining to himself. One can learn a lot from a person simply by their mannerisms, sure. But directly asking gives you a lot more knowledge. This is rather risky at the same time, because he will ask the same of you.
    [] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
    [] Maybe there's another thing that you want to talk about, but what exactly would it be? (Write-In Option)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [X] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
     
    [X] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [X] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
     
    [X] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [X] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
     
    [X] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [X] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
     
    [X] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [X] Those pertaining to the creatures you fought. Your wounds bled no more and your heart started to faintly beat now, but still, what the Gil were those things. The normal things are clearly analogous to ghouls of sorts. But what were the two weirder creatures you fought? The puppet-like being in particular would've killed you were you still a normal human. So answers regarding those would be great.
     
    [x] You did clean the store for a reason. He could stay inside and peruse at your wares. You'll have to head off several tricky questions, of course. He is unfamiliar with your wares, and you're the same with his customs.
    [x] Those pertaining to himself. One can learn a lot from a person simply by their mannerisms, sure. But directly asking gives you a lot more knowledge. This is rather risky at the same time, because he will ask the same of you.
     
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