/monster/ - The Last Bastion of Romance★

>Story continue

"Mmmph, that's warm…"

The soft words wake you from your slumber prematurely, your senses slowly sliding into place. A mild, throbbing pain builds up in your head and you wince at the mild pain. Ugh, you're going to have a little bit of a hangover, aren't you? At least something next to you is a little cold, making things feel a little nicer. Without thinking much on it, you pull yourself closer to whatever, wanting to press your body against it.

Whatever it is happens to be soft, yet firm. A pillow? You are in bed of course, so that makes sense. Pillows do get colder over time, though this one is much heavier than expected. Still, it feels nice. Head throbbing still, you move your face in closer to put your forehead to the cool material when you feel something strange. It feels soft and stringy and smells faintly of sweat. Your mind digs for an answer and with a growing sense of dread you realize that it's hair.

Hair belonging to Tabitha. Who is in bed with you.

Heart beating quickly in your chest, you think through this situation very carefully. Okay, so she hasn't killed you yet, which means you can still pretend like nothing happened. Pulling away ever so slowly from her, you freeze as shivers and says, "Ungh… cold."

Gulping, you pull in again and she sighs, drifting back to sleep. You turn your head and let out an uneasy sigh. Uncomfortable is certainly one word that can explain how you feel at the moment, though perhaps that's not entirely accurate. It's not as if being this close to Tabitha is actually physically uncomfortable, infact despite your reservations it's quite nice. The soft skin of her bare arms at her shoulder and the coolness of her cold blood make for a welcome relief from the aches of your body while the firmness of her toned body grants a rigidity that gives a certain sense of comfort.

You hate to admit it, but the softness of her hair is surprising, but not unwelcome. An overwhelming urge to rub your face against the back of her head has to be suppressed, lest you come to regret it. Of course, this whole situation is bad because you know you need to get away, yet part of you wants to just get closer. What a fucking joke.

Something slaps against your leg and you bite your tongue to keep from jumping. Tabitha's large, reptilian tail swishes gently under the covers, each time slapping your leg little by little. A little more stunned by seeing such a thing from Tabitha than the actual motion, you let it happen for a few moments before looking back to the sleeping Lizardman.

Though you cannot see her face in the darkness of the room, you can get a general sense of the outline of her body. She's curled somewhat on herself, having turned onto her side. Arms hugging her chest, she lets out soft breaths at the rise and fall of her chest. An almost content sigh comes from her and you feel a shiver down your spine. Though you want to say it's fear, you're having a hard time lying to yourself at how surprising it is to see her so… defenseless like this. Hells, you could probably do anything to her right now, like pat her head or hug her or-

No, no, no, no. With the other girls that's something different because they're still younger, but Tabitha is actually your senior, despite how good she looks. Despite the fact that she just professed that she has some trust in you, to go and abuse such a thing while she's sleeping of all times is… it's wrong for both you and her. You're a Wizard afterall! While the damned Grand Wizard's tampering removed such restrictions, even thinking about it and with a Monster…

"Mmm." Tabitha murmurs next to you. With barely any warning, she turns over to her other side and slides in close to you. Breath catches in your throat and you reach back your hands as she buries her head into your chest, breasts pressing close on you while she pulls her arms in on herself. Letting out another content sigh, you realize with a start that she must be seeking warmth. Did she do this to Alice when they shared beds, or was it the alcohol? You've never really seen her drink, but she didn't look like a lightweight…

Well, now is certainly the time of times to roll away. If she wakes up, she'll find that SHE's the one in the awkward position and you'll have plausible deniability. You'll have gotten to cuddle with her and get off scot free! No, wait, that's not the way to think about this at all and-

>>316173

Tabitha's clawed fingers dig into the fabric of your shirt and you wince as they scratch your chest. Well, you're pretty certain she's not drawing blood with that, but at the same time you can't escape anymore. Curses, you really, really had a chance there and you blew it thinking it over. Even worse, now your hands and still pulled back and you have nowhere to put them that isn't touching her body.

Looking down at her, you see her brown, unkempt hair and the outline of her pointed ears. Feeling the last vestiges of your resistance crumble away, you groan and place your left hand upon her head while your right hand slides behind her strong back. Though you intend to just sit there and let it happen, you feel something happen with your hand upon her head. A cold sweat beads on your forehead as you realize what is about to happen. You thought that this skill, this talent with headpats was a gift, but only now do you realize that instead it is a curse. A curse you cannot control and which seeks to impart maximum comfort upon the scalps of all it touches.

Through a magic more primal and ancient than that of Wizards, your fingers glide through her hair, applying gentle, yet firm pressure to her head. When your fingers first begin this profane ritual, Tabitha shudders against your chest, her nails digging deeper into the meat of your chest. A low, almost inaudible moan escapes her lips and you can hear her tail swishing back and forth under the covers. Your fingers gently caress down the side of her head, lightly kissing the edges of her ears and she gasps, huddling in closer to you, adamantium legs clinking together as she squirms.

With mounting horror, you realize she's enjoying this, and so are you. Having her pressed so close against you, fingers through her hair, making her feel this way… You kind of don't want to stop it. Submitting to your hand, you feel as pressure builds up in your chest and your pants. Closing your eyes and accepting it, you let the sensations wash over you until you realize something.

The swishing of her tail has stopped.

Licking your lips, you open your eye a crack and see Tabitha's eyes staring at you in the night. He expression is flat and tinged with an embarrassed sort of anger that makes your heart beat faster. Of course, this time it really is in fear. Though you get the distinct feeling that there is a hint of heat on her cheeks, her voice is cool as ice.

"What are you doing?"

There's no denying it. Accepting your punishment, you say, "Apparently patting your head."

"Are you drunk?"

"A little bit."

Tabitha closes her eyes and sighs out before pulling away from you. She looks down at her hands before turning back around. Face away from you, she says, "Go back to sleep on the other side of the bed."

"You're… not going to hurt me?"

"No." Tabitha sighs. "You're a little drunk, I'm a little drunk, we'll just… forget it happened."

Pulling the covers more to her side, you take what you can while staying away from her and turn to the side of the bed, looking out at the wall. Just forget it happened huh? Well, you could and probably should just forget it happened yet the beating of your heart and the firmness in your pants tells you that it will be quite difficult to do so.

With the rush of emotions dissipating, the pain of your headache returns and you inwardly groan as you try to fall back to sleep. Eventually, it takes hold of you again, dragging you back down into slumber. As consciousness once again fades, you feel again Tabitha's tail brush against your leg.

And it stays there.

>>316173

You're awoken by a cheeky Erwin at first light, the fox giggling at you in a way that only a fox can. Tabitha was already up and doesn't mention anything about what happened last night, nor does she really seem to have any change in demeanor toward you. Because of that, getting ready for the day was fairly straightforward and after gathering your things you head over to the other room.

Ebe opens the door for you, rubbing at her eyes with one of her wings. Though she looks a little hesitant, she lets you in at Tabitha's insistance and you enter the room. Sophie is gathering up items while Sylphie sits up in bed, propped up by far too many pillows. As you enter, Erwin jumps up onto her lap and she chuckles, petting his head before addressing the two of you,

"Good morning."

Sophie huffs and says, "Don't stress yourself out too much."

"Oh hush, it's only a rifle wound, it'll pass." Sylphie says, waving her arm and then wincing.

Looking down at her you blink in surprise as you see her without her usual robe, which you remember was damaged by the shot. Instead a bandage wraps around her shoulder while she covers herself up with a garb similar to Sophie and Ebe's Ectrian garb, the green silk looking nice against her pale flesh. She notices your stare and blushes before saying,

"Ah, well, Sophie wouldn't let me sleep in my robes so…"

"So we did the best for you." Sophie sighs, placing the damaged robe on the bed. "Ebe, you said you could mend this, right?"

"Uhm, yes, I can." Ebe says, nodding her head. "I have some leftover cloth I can patch it with, though it won't be the same…

"That's fine, we just need it to work." Sylphie says, smiling before turning to the rest of you. "So, when are we leaving?"

"In a few hours." You say, walking over to Sylphie. Sophie narrows her eyes but when Sylphie gives her a cool look, she winces and looks down, abashed. Wanting to ask, but not wanting to cause trouble, you settle for kneeling down next to the hurt Cat o'Ninetails. Smiling, you ask, "How are you feeling?"

"A little stiffness, a little pain here and there. Kind of warm, but overall I feel pretty good all things considered." She nods her head and winces. "Sorry about all this, I didn't mean to make everyone worry."

"Sylphie, you took a shot from a magitek rifle for me. How were we not supposed to worry?" Closing your eyes, you sigh out, "You really had me worried there. If you'd lost your arm, or Gods forbid, your life, I- we would have been crushed. It was a really reckless thing to do."

Abashed, she looks down with a wan smile and says, "I know, I just… I only thought about how awful it would be to lose you and I just… sprang into action. I barely even thought about the shield of rock when I did it." Tears well up in her eyes as she asks, "Are you mad at me?"

Shaking your year, you open up your eyes again and smile. "No, of course not. Without you I might have been dead but please, think of yourself. Your sister, your parents, all of us, we're all thinking about you, alright?"

Nodding her head, she sniffs and rubs at her eyes, wincing, "Yeah, of course. As it stands I'm going to have a reminder about this for-forever I guess." She tries to hide the pain of that with a smile as she asks, "Hey, do you think that guys find scars sexy?"

Feeling as if someone is acutely staring at your back, you say honestly, "Well, it's not really the scar, but the story. I think that taking a rifle shot for someone is kind of… you know."

She giggles, "Yeah, yeah, Mr. Wizard."

Ebe coughs, "I'll go get some breakfast." Tabtiha nods her head and says as well,

"I'll go and check on Alice, see if she's still connected at the waist to our benefactor."

Standing up, you nod and say, "Ah, I'll go give you a hand Ebe-" but you're cut off as you feel a small pressure on the sleeve of your robe. Looking down you see Sylphie, her face pointed away, cheeks flushed.

"You know, saving someone's life… deserves a little reward, right?" She smirks and looks at you. "I think a headpat isn't much to ask… right?"

Blinking in surprise, you look at Sophie who wrings her hands together before you shake your head and smile. "Yeah, of course."

Placing your hand upon her head, you let your fingers work their magic to the sounds of pleasure Sylphie elicits.

>>316177

Breakfast is soon consumed and Alice located, the swordswoman having been sleeping like a rock next to the innkeeper. Her hips feeling a little worn, she decides to stay in until it's time to go, and you really don't feel like arguing with her. In fact, given Sylphie's condition, only yourself, Tabitha, and Ebe are really in a position to go hunt for supplies. Despite Sylphie's protests, Sophie keeps her in place.

After giving a heartfelt apology to Mr. Ed while on your knees and groveling in the muck of the stable, he lets you off after making you kiss his hoof. When asked by Ebe why you had to do this, both you and Tabitha find it difficult to explain. You're forced to answer that, "Anything that happens to her must be explained and apologized to Mr. Ed." She seems to accept this answer though she bites back asking a question that you're afraid has to do with something lewd.

Once that's taken care of, you head out into the city, the two walking beside you. Though Guard presence is a little higher than you were hoping, a chance of attire seems to work at keeping most scrutiny off you. For your part, you're wearing your [Trenchcoat] as opposed to your light, Ectrian robes. With your [Goggles] on and your turban off, it's hard to tell you're the same person, though not terribly many Deleorians are present in town.

For Ebe, she wears her normal attire, fitting in as well as she normally does, which is to say she draws stares from everyone she walks past. Being a bombshell of a beauty and a species such as a Ghandharva does that sort of thing.

Tabitha though, well, it's hard to hide some of her more defining features, but with you didn't know better, you'd say by her attire change that she was a different Monster. Wearing the long pants from before, her magitek legs beyond her feet are covered however the most shocking factor is her top. Where you've never seen her wear anything but the tight fitting, black top and robes, you instead see her wearing one of the silken, rather revealing tops of Ectrian fashion. Though nothing obstructs the sword at her side, she's decked out in various jingling pieces of metal and tassels that accentuate her toned physique, though the tan lines where her normal outfit sit are quite evident in the transition from pale to tanned skin.

She takes it all in stride though, the veil over her mouth doing nothing to hide the flat expression she wears, but you're pretty sure she's embarrassed somehow? It's kind of endearing in a way, though from all the stares that your group gets as you travel, you begin to wonder if people think they're your personal dancers, something quite common in Ectria from what you hear. Oh well, gripping a particular stone in your pocket, you make your way to the market district to shop before it's time to go on a boat ride.

First stop is to procure more food. While Ebe assures you that Sophie has plenty, it pays to be well stocked. While there, you visit an alchemist and purchase another two [Health potions] and a supply of mana potions for Sylphie, though it feels weird for you to be holding vials of other men's semen. Of course all potions are based on this, it's just… still weird.

>You gain 2x [Health Potions]

While asking the alchemist, a small Mousegirl, about where to find a cryomancer, she describes a specialty potion for this region. She only has one in stock, but it's supposedly a potion designed to allow Humans and non-aquatic Monsters hold their breath for up to thirty minutes. When asked why this isn't anywhere else, she explains it only works with freshwater and where else would there be adequate supplies of fresh water for this potion to matter?

>You gain [Gilly Potion]

>"Tastes like Crocgirl sweat but lets you breathe like one too!" That's what the label says.

Feeling abashed, you take the potion and directions to the cryomancer. Oddly enough, it happens to be in an area with a fair amount of clothing, so Ebe takes Tabitha to look at things while you enter the little shop on your own.

>>316184

Built into the side of a larger building, you find the place at once larger, and smaller than expected. Under the shade of a hanging roof sits a tall desk where behind two Centaurs stand, one wearing a red (and revealing) top while the other wears a blue (also revealing) top. They smile as you enter and you realize with surprise that both of the Monsters have two horns atop their heads, something you don't think you've ever seen.

"Hello there!" The one in red says.

"How can we help you?" The one in blue says.

"Uhh." You say, looking confused. "I uh… wanted to get this coat enchanted to stay cool."

"Then you have come to the right place." The one in blue sighs.

"Looks like I've been cucked again!" The one in red says, smiling broadly.

"Uhh." Feeling a little awkward, you shrug out of the coat and hand it to the one in blue. "You're a cryomancer then?"

"Indeed." She says with some melancholy while going over the [Trenchcoa]. "My twin sister is a pyromancer. Most people come here for me while she gets to watch." She mutters under her breath, "Lucky bitch."

"O-Okay." You say, feeling awkward. As the blue one goes over your coat, she pulls out the chunk of [Basalt] and shrugs before replacing it. Frowning, you hold out your hand and ask, "Could you hand me that?"

Doing so, you look over the rock and have an idea. After Tabitha's help last night, and the awkwardness, giving her something nice might be good. The [Basalt] in your hands is right from Blackfire Reach, a little piece of home for Tabitha. Having something made out of this would be perfect! The thought of her giving you another one of those smiles makes your heart flutter for some reason and you turn to the red sister to ask,

"Do you think you could work an enchantment for me?"

Both sisters stop, looking at you in surprise. The pyromancer begins to blush as her sister licks her lips and begins to breath a little heavy. "Y-You need her help with something? S-Something I can't do for you ?"

"Y-Yes?" Giving them a confused look you ask for the enchantment, to which the pyromancer goes at it with gusto. Both items finish around the same time, leaving both of the Monsters flushed and breathing heavy. Feeling even more awkward, you shrug on your [Trenchcoat] and find it to be utterly comfortable. The strong heat of the day is cut almost instantly and the heavy outfit you feel you could wear into a volcano!

>Your [Trenchcoat] has been upgraded!

>The lovely piece of fashion is now constantly cool, however the thermos pocket lost its enchantment.

Ebe and Tabitha both walk over to the shop as you slip the [Basalt] into your pocket. When they both arrive looking for you, the twin shopkeepers look visibly flustered. The one in blue outright asks, stammering, "H-Hey, do you want to have sex with us?"

"Uh, no. No I don't." You say, backing away from them.

"Oh Twins, YES!" The one in red shouts, slamming her head onto the desk and managing to get her horns stuck there. Neither Tabitha nor Ebe ask questions as you both bolt on outside and away from this horseshit.

With food, potions, and your coat taken care of and your time coming to a close before needing to head out, you make a quick circuit around for any magical artifacts which may aid you further in your quest. While finding a ghitar care kit that you secretly purchase for Ebe, unfortunately none of the shops really has anything of much value here and a search of any ore sellers shows mainly industrial ores. You decide to pick up some more [Iron Ore] to add to Ronnie for a purpose you've been considering, though while passing by a silversmith, you purchase an elaborate hair ornament for Alice at rather cheap price.

Ebe approves of the design and Tabitha has no comment, though when you point to one that might work with her hair, she calls it foolish. Quickly changing the subject, you switch to purchasing a matching set of necklaces with stylized cat's eyes for both Sophie and Sylphie. Money isn't everything, but it's a nice gesture.

On the way out, you purchase some raw silver, which the shop keep sells with a confused look. Ebe sighs as you do but seems to accept this. She is learning. Tabitha says nothing as well. She has learned.

>You gain [Silver ore]

>A small, palm sized piece of silver ore, more pure than most raw silver.

>>316188

With your shopping complete, you return to the inn feeling rather satisfied. Tabitha grumbles about walking about dressed like that all morning while Ebe giggles and tells her how beautiful she looks. When asked to comment on it, you find yourself agreeing without thinking it through. Tabitha merely rolls her eyes, much to your disappointment.

Gathering up with everyone and having an hour to spend, Ebe passes out the clothing she found (mainly pieces of dancer's outfits, though you're not certain why she would purchase more of that) before fixing the hole in Sylphie's robes. You surprise her with the kit, which is filled with oils and a few strings and she hugs you tight as you thank her for everything she's been doing, even though you do wish sometimes you could do more.

Tabtiha goes to get Alice again and you give the necklaces to the twins. At first Sophie seems a little upset until she sees how excited Sylphie is at them matching. She eventually caves and thanks you for the gift along with her sister, apologizing for her behavior.

"I know I've been a twit, it's just… she's my sister." She says, looking pitiful. Both you and Sylphie tell her you understand and soon enough she's back to her normal, if a little more overprotective, self.

When Alice stumbles into the room, you give her the hair ornament, which she laughs at and then uses to tie her long, black hair back into a pony tail. Receiving approval from the rest of the women, she nudges Tabitha and says they match now. Tabitha merely sighs.

With everyone getting ready and gifts in hand, there's one last thing to do. Taking a deep breath, you take Tabitha aside and pull out the [Basalt], handing it to her.

"It's… warm?" Tabitha asks, looking surprised.

"It's a little gift from me to you, a piece from Blackfire Reach imbued to be forever warm. To remind you of home."

Tabitha stares at it for a long while before cupping it in both of her hands. Shaking her head, she smirks at you and asks, "First last night and now this. Rommel, is there something I should know?"

Feeling a little heat rise to your cheeks, you shake your head, not certain of how to respond, or perhaps needing more time in which to respond. She looks at you curiously before shaking her head as well and looking down at the rock.

"Well, it's a thoughtful gift. I'll need something to keep warm on those cold nights out…at… sea."

"At least it's just a river." You say, feeling awkward still.

"Right… right." She says, taking a shuddering breath. "Anyway, we should be going."

With everything set and Sylphie okay to walk, though she does use her staff for some assistance, you make your way to the docks to where Kuhalik specified. When you arrive, a man from last night greets you and ushers you into a warehouse where men are busy loading up items. At the fore of it stands Kuhalik, who looks up from his papers and raises an eyebrow.

"Someone was busy last night."

"I don't know what you mean." You say, to which he smirks.

"Well, seems our competition went and got themselves violently murdered. Guards are on high alert, and we're trying to pick up the pieces as we can." He hands over the papers to an attendant before looking at all of you. "Going to make smuggling out a little harder."

"You have the Mark." You say, narrowing your eyes.

He chuckles, "Haha! I'm not asking for any more. You've done some great services for me as it stands, I just wanted to give you hard time." Shaking his head he continues, "As such, I've giving you a letter of recommendation to Polah."

"Don't we have the Marks from Ammon for this?"

"Yes, but with this, she might be a little more receptive. Might be willing to give up some of her treasures too."

>You gain [Kuhalik's Kind Words]

>A letter of recommendation from Kuhalik for all you've done.

Taking the parchment, you nod and put it away as he leads you over to some large crates. Pointing to an empty crate he says, "Alright, time to get in."

"You can't be serious." Sylphie says, looking a little frightened. "Is he serious?"

"It's a few days up and down the river to the capital, you don't need to stay in the crates until after you leave the city and before entering the capital. River is fairly quiet unless any bandits are around, but they've been quiet recently."

>>316191

"Let's assume we have terrible luck." Sophie sigh. "What are we looking at?"

"Lamias generally, sometimes Violet Sands cultists, and occasionally Hippo girls."

"Hippo… girls?" She asks, looking confused.

"Think of a minotaur but faster and with jaws that will crush you in half. Oh and they can survive for awhile underwater."

"Oh good." Sophie groans.

"Yes well, they rarely cause trouble, most of them keep to themselves unless someone pisses them off." He looks at the light filtering into the warehouse and shakes his head. "We need to get going. Get in."

Grumbling, your group enters into the crate, which is packed with various fruits around you before being closed. Mr. Ed assures you he's fine as he'll be loaded up separately and soon after you hear many men grunting as they lift the crate and transfer you outside. Eventually you're let down onto a rocking surface and realize you're on a boat.

There you wait as sounds go all around you, just… sitting. Kuhalik talks outside and before he leaves, his thumps your crate and says, "Have a fun time" before leaving. What follows in another seeming eternity in a stuffy crate before it sets off down the river. The rocking motions stop soon after though and heavy boots thump on the deck, checking over all the wares. Something knocks on your crate and someone asks something in Ectrian. A man replies back and they both laugh before the boots thump away and you're let out down the river.

Perhaps an hour later another knocking comes at the crate before the lid is pried off and light shines down on you. Hands reach in and pull you out, making you afraid until one of the dockworkers from Kuhalik's warehouse waves a hand and says in Ectrian, [Hello!]

The rest are freed in short order and you take stock of the boar around you. The top deck is laden with goods in the flat bottomed boat while there is one deck below it for cabin space. The man directs both Sylphie and Tabitha to the cabins, the two looking a little green, while the rest of you (minus Sophie who goes to Sylphie's side) lounge around the impressively large boat. As the afternoon sun shines overhead and with nothing around you but mild grasslands in all directions, you find yourself at a loss of what to do until the next threat comes.

Because it will come.

>What do you do?

>>316192

Wew, that certainly was an update. Got most things covered I think?

Anyway, on a boat where surely nothing willl happen, which allows you time to think about what you did last night.You know what you did. Do you?

I'll admit that I haven't read this story in awhile, and the last thing I read was up to trading with the khepri. But I gotta know, what made people wanna choose some crabby, baggy, and haggy old lizard who still has a chip on her shoulder from being rejected by the love of her life multiple times who in the end chose some random nonspecial werewolf over her, when they can instead choose between cute young and supple bird or cat? Really, is it just cause she's good in a fight? Cause, she's from the last wizardquest? Cause you know that unless you decide to waifu the literally lizard-skinned old hag no one else will? I'm trying to wrap my head around why people want to choose her when there are just better options, like not waifuing anyone and going badass solo wizard route.

>>316195

Shit man, I don't know.

I'm just the writer.

>>316195

She works the best with Rommel's character. Sophie and Sylphie are like surrogate hildren, Ebe has mediocre characterization, and Alice is a slut. Tabitha is the only one in the group on the same level as Rommel, as has been established, and also provides a beneficial side goal of having to become strong enough to beat her to waifu her in the first place.

Also kuudere > all.

>>316195

I can't understand them either. The only thing they really say is because she's older, but it just sounds like bullshit considering. Besides, we're a wizard. We shouldn't be trying to waifu any of them.

>>316195

>some crabby, baggy, and haggy old lizard

Crabby… baggy… haggy! Those be fighting words laddie!

And for your information she not crabby, baggy or haggy! She's as cool as a glacier, got a well toned bod and is a hot mature lady. Whom can kick ass and take names.

>>316194

>>316200

Hey Ace, when does Rommels move [Headpat] level up?

>>316192

How about we go with a classic and try surfing behind the boat? Its a good excuse to practice our hydromancy. Certainly only that, Because only lesser wizards would find amusement in such actions. We can even give Erwin a little board as well so he could have some fun a valuable learning experience.

I would rather go with a awsome lizard girl rather then your average cat girl.

Just sayn

>>316216

You can't level up a skill that's already at max level

>>316218

Practicing hydromancy sounds like a good plan, expanding our arsenal is always time well spent. Although doing this is undoubtedly going to end with pissed off hippo girls somehow isn't it?

>>316195

Just because the wizard is being nice to her doesn't mean he's gonna fuck her. Its just a little gift for helping him put himself together after Sylphie took a shot and saved his life, he was full of shit on his head and she helped him to calm down, thats what a friend do. And don't forget our wizard only loves history and rocks so unless he finds a golem made of rare minerals who is a historian he probably won't be that interested.

>>316204

Dude give up, she still loves the hero's dick. The whole wandering swordsman isn't just to get stronger is also to forget she lost the waifuball for Blake's dick.

Remember, no waifus. Only rocks.

Tabitha is still absolute bro-tier.

>>316249

Poor deluded fool, the ship has already set sail…

I’ll post an actual response for my thoughts on the story and what we should do later, but first…

>>316195

There are plenty of examples of discussion surrounding the point of why people believe Tabitha to be best girl in the previous threads (such as >>293829 and >>293927 from thread three), but I’ll give you a more formal opinion with clear points. I hope you like massive autistic walls of text, because you’re about to get one and probably my largest yet.

Firstly, to refute your points against the Lizard:

>crabby, baggy, and haggy old lizard

You probably missed this due to the discussion occurring in spoiler tags, but right at the end of thread two I asked this (>>289622):

>Something unrelated but I'm going to ask this here because it seems like the best time, how does ageing work in this setting? Certain characters, namely Selene, Chakrandas, Madam Rapodaie and Misha (WizardQuest1 Lamia's Nest Owner), are really old in comparison to others, being ?????, 273, 48 and 70 at the time of the first quest respectively, yet are never described as old hags with wrinkled skin, merely matured if a description is ever made which implies they look like any other standard adult woman description or no. Is this because of monsters having longer lifespans than humans, or is it because of some kind of magical effect? If the former, do all monsters have extremely long lifespans or just particular races while the rest have a standard longer-than-human-but-not-too-much-longer lifespan?

And Ace’s response the next thread (>>289805):

>it's pretty much that Monsters do age differently based on their species. Common wolf and catgirls, etc age very similar to humans, while Dragons, many lizard-like Monsters, etc age much slower. Some Monsters are just oddly gifted though, like the Cat o'Ninetails. Or maybe it's just Selene?

The key part here is “many lizard-like Monsters”, which includes Tabitha; this statement is backed up by her descriptions never referring to her as an old hag. And I question where you got “crabby” from, because she has never acted as such at any point in this story, nor the first WizardQuest, nor the short story about how she and Alice came into contact with one another on TFT. Stern and cool, yes, but not rude or brash without prior aggravation.

>who still has a chip on her shoulder from being rejected by the love of her life multiple times

Except it’s been confirmed multiple times that she doesn’t. I’ve already brought up what was already written in the first WizardQuest regarding this topic back in thread three (>>292167), but that was merely my view on the theory and as such nothing definitive. For actual confirmation, we have a few examples. From Ace’s words in thread three (>>292216):

>She also has gotten over Blake but why she's been wandering around though… well maybe she'll tell you, maybe she won't.

From Tabitha’s words in thread three (>>293142):

>"Ha, that's why you were wandering?" Alice says, snickering. "Couldn't get over the fact that the Lord Commander chose the mangy mutt over your scaly ass?"

>"I made peace with that ages ago." Tabitha murmurs.

And from Tabitha’s words in the last update of the last thread (>>315581):

>Motioning for her to continue, she does so. "You read the book so you know pretty much my early story, lost my legs in the final battle after failing to do much of anything. If it wasn't for Veronica I'd probably have fallen into some pretty bad depression."

>"Because of Blake…"

>She winces and then nods her head. "Yes… because of that. It took some time to truly come to terms with it, but I eventually did.”

It’s been twenty years since WizardQuest. Her flame for the man had begun to die following the defeat of Valinthia, and has long since died out at this point. And for all the shit Blake did, like fucking Veronica when he was already in an established relationship with Hala, he didn’t do anything to Tabitha; not even hold her hand. She’s probably one of the purest characters in the story.

>Really, is it just cause she's good in a fight?

That’s certainly a factor and is why I believe her to be one of the more useful members of our party, but not the sole reason for her being best girl.

>Cause, she's from the last wizardquest?

While some people may have this as a reason, I certainly don’t. Besides, Sophie and Sylphie are from WizardQuest’s epilogue and Alice is from IllusionistQuest; does that make them any less viable options?

>>316195

>>316263

>Cause you know that unless you decide to waifu the literally lizard-skinned old hag no one else will?

With the fact that she is still going to be around for a long time due to nature of reptilian monsters having long lifespans, it’s likely that she will get chances in the future if Ace ever decides to bring her back for another story. And who’s to say the others won’t share a similar fate?

>I'm trying to wrap my head around why people want to choose her when there are just better options, like not waifuing anyone and going badass solo wizard route.

Better in your opinion maybe, but not objectively superior. Also, we’re on /monster/, the Last Bastion of Romance; it shouldn’t be too surprising when people go for the waifu route.

Moving along, my own reasons for wanting to waifu Tabitha over the others and especially over the no-waifu route. It mostly boils down to three major elements: her character, her compatibility with Rommel and her interactions with Rommel.

Firstly, her character. To me, Tabitha is the most interesting character of our party, and honestly my favourite character in any of the image board stories followed by Blake and Richard respectively for a myriad of reasons, ranging from her personality and the way in which she acts towards others, her backstory both from the first WizardQuest and from prior events which we still have yet to see, her strengths and how she uses them, her flaws like her hydrophobia and how she deals with them, and how she’s reacting to events in the past and events now such as how she’s coping with mechanical legs following her spine breaking or her views on the current task at hand. If she wins the waifu wars then we get to explore these characteristics in more detail and to see aspects of her character she wouldn’t reveal to us otherwise as someone is more likely to be open with their partner than they are with their acquaintance or friend, which greatly interests me. To not waifu anyone would mean to miss out on these little intricacies which would be a huge shame. On the same vein, waifuing a bland character would lead to poor writing because the cracks in said character’s design would show up almost immediately and any attempted exploration would be as boring and bland as the character herself -- it’s for this precise reason that I vehemently oppose the Ebe route so much, though I’ve already ranted about that enough here (>>310572).

Secondly, her compatibility with Rommel. Out of all characters Rommel has met, Tabitha has the most in common with the disgruntled Wizard. For one thing, both parties view one another as the only other mature member of the group, which makes me wonder how a relationship between Rommel and anyone else would work when he views everyone else as children to protect. Personality wise, both are stern and calculating and can be very pragmatic in what they do, however they differ enough to keep things interesting. Both parties respect the other’s likes and hobbies, with examples including Tabitha’s acceptance of Rommel’s love for and shenanigans surrounding rocks and the two both taking a liking to physical combat via weaponry. Both parties also share a great deal of empathy for one another on many different topics, such as how both try to be pillars of strength to support the others in the party or how both share a feeling of isolation and loneliness as a result of past events. Both also share a sense of JUSTICE, as a result of being a Wizard on Rommel’s part, shown in situations where he goes out of his way to help others despite having no real obligation to do so, and as a result of working with the Grand Wizard and being a Lizardman on Tabitha’s part, shown in scenarios like during her introduction to this story in Blackfire Reach. In terms of practical compatibility, Rommel’s intellect and Tabitha’s wisdom and tactical ability complement each other in decision making, and the two work well together in combat due to their ability to cover the other’s weaknesses while also being independent enough to not be useless without the other. I could probably come up with more, but you get the point. In comparison, Sylphie only really shares a love for magic and a sense of isolation due to her parents never being around, Sophie doesn’t share much other than a mutual desire to protect her sister and the aforementioned isolation, Alice shares similar beliefs to Rommel but clashes too hard on the personality due to her haughty and carefree nature, and Ebe completely clashes personality wise and I can’t actually think of anything she and Rommel share in common.

>>316195

>>316264

Finally, her interactions with Rommel. From the first meeting back at Blackfire Reach, to the Sandwurm encounter, to the events in Hatset and to right now, every interaction Tabitha and Rommel have had has been entertaining in one way or another, be it in a humorous or intriguing fashion -- the Sandwurm surfing in particular stands out as one of my favourite, if not just outright being my favourite, updates in this story thus far due to a mixture of how ludicrous the situation is and the writing behind both the event itself and the conversation and reactions of both characters being hilarious. The pair have a fun dynamic, with Tabitha playing straightman to Rommel’s antics and both having a healthy dose of sarcasm, making them work well together in more active moments, and both are mature, down-to-earth and have a mutual respect for one another meaning conversations in more calm moments come much easier and can explore deeper topics than what is possible with the other characters due to a lack of maturity, a strong sense of naivety or the like on their part; to waifu her would mean to see more of the pair which is something I definitely want going forward, not to mention I like the idea of seeing how the interactions between the two evolve, more so because the foundations of the pairing that make me like it wouldn’t change like they are likely to do with other pairings. Rommel and Sylphie also have a pretty good dynamic, but I believe it works better as it is now, that being Mentor and Student, than it would were a relationship upgrade to occur, and I still prefer the Rommel and Tabitha mix. The other potential pairings seem rather lacklustre to me, due to either the character in question being either rather one-trick in terms of interactions or not very interesting in the first place.

But I digress, all of this is opinion. Hopefully all of this is of some use to someone.

>>316252

Don't remind me, anon. Bernson really is going to become a muscle wizard at this rate…

>>316263

>>316264

>>316265

This Anon, knows what's what.

>>316204

Seems like we got ourselves a waifu war. Some good points for the Tabitha.

>>316206

Ohhh a Wizard at all cost man. Good convictions

>>316207

Shouldn't be hard.

Also, you posted a cute cat gif soI guess we have to.

>>316216

More Tabitha friend.

Also, if you leveled up your headpat skill it would be a lethal weapon. Imagine Shining Finger, except instead of exploding heads, it's like headpatgasms.

You already have too much power for one man.

>>316218

>>316232

This is a great plan and nothing bad will happen. It worked out great with that Cancer,yeah?

>>316231

>Average catgirl.

Boi, whose CYOA do you think you're in?

>>316243

>>316249

We got us more rock lovers. Solid logic

>>316252

RIP Slav-san, if only he was still alive to reach out to us…

>>316263

>>316264

>>316265

My god. It's full of lizards.

This certainly is a treat to read, if only we had such well written and thought out reasons for Ebe and Sylphie.

Looking at it, we really seem to have an issue here in this waifu war. There wasn't much of a push with people for the bird or the cat (especially not the cat) so it's difficult. I can only see what I see and the push toward it. While relationships are certainly a fun part of these stories, it's still possible to back down though changing course entirely… I'd need some solid commitment. I might have to make a poll or something…

>>316442

Yes well, let's get working on that. Someone make a good description of what the tank should be done.

>>316448

tbh if I absolutely had to pick one it would be the cat. If we weren't a wizard I would absolutely try to be a warmonger.

>>316442

>going for is the tank we are going to build.

>>316448

>Someone make a good description of what the tank should be done.

It should start out being like a box to keep Rommel's rock collection in. It needs solid armour to keep the Taunki out. It needs to go anywhere Rommel goes. He starts with wheels, but they get stuck in the sand and such. He asks Sylphie how Lamias and Wurms move around. He later comes up with wurm-tracks. He then realizes that it needs a weapon, like a magitek cannon, to keep thieves at bay. Oh, and a transmitter/receiver to connect to the leyline.

All this to keep his friends safe… and not a battlefield winning weapon… the others can ride on top of it, I 'spose.

>>316192

>what do

have a switch blade installed in our staff, that way we can hide it, or better yet, attach some metal or rocks to the top of our staff and practice shaping it into a blade. We could even fire the metal out as a shotgun blast.

It's going to be awesome.

Add another to the Tabitha train. 949eba has already hit the nail on the head for my own reasoning behind liking scaly tail.

>What do you do?

What >>316218 says. The only reason it went badly last time was because the cancer was there for some reason. if we make sure to pay attention to our surroundings we should be fine to avoid any threats for the benefit of getting more magic practise and with something that isn't rocks.

>>316458

Why not just use the weapons we already have? The only reason it made sense in the last quest was because it gave Chaika more range to do her corruption thing. It was a really shitty weapon otherwise.

And back to the situation at hand. Wonderful update Ace, good humour and adorableness all-round. My heartboner greatly approves and hopes for more.

>>316192

We’re on a boat with a lot of downtime until we reach the capital or until something goes terribly wrong, so there isn’t much I can say here in terms of what to do. Since Sylphie and Tabitha are below decks and probably don’t want to talk right now, I guess we could talk with Alice about things, how she’s holding up and so on, as well as Sophie when she eventually comes back to the deck, and bother the two below deck later on. We could also follow standard procedure in downtime and practise our magic, preferably something like that [Mana Burst] spell we got from the Sphinx to counter the Prophet and other magic users or general Cryomancy spells to counter the majority of Ectrians and in particular the Apophis and Tabitha because we don’t have a true counter to any of the threats we are going to face when we really should. Another potential idea is to finally read through everything with the [Oculus of Henhotep], now including the [Kuhalik's Kind Words] if it isn’t sealed to both see if there is anything useful to us or anything we may not want Polah seeing written therein, but this may prove difficult to do if our previous issues with reading in motion translate to here; if they do, then it would probably be better if we wait until we dock if we ever do, though I doubt we would be sailing without rest for days or until we reach the capital before doing so.

The water-skiing idea from >>316218 is certainly another idea of what to do, albeit one which sounds like it is destined to go wrong. And when it does go wrong, the consequences will be much more severe than the time the Grand Wizard did it due to us having to deal with at least one though likely multiple pissed off Hippogirls who can break us in a moment instead of the shy and polite Crabgirl he did, not to mention there is no guarantee like last time of the boat stopping to save us when we get pulled under. Even so, it’s already going to happen, it sounds like fun it would be good practise in both Cryomancy and Hydromancy and we have more options of escape than the Grand Wizard did, so go for it any way. Just make sure to watch for any activity in the water both before we enter and while we’re fucking about, as it would help to be aware of any dangers rather than realising something has gone wrong the moment we’re dragged into the depths, and don’t go overboard with disturbing the water, as we don’t want to attract too much attention and a horny monster is much easier to deal with than multiple angry ones.

A final point unrelated to the current scenario, the tank. I don't necessarily disagree with the idea though honestly it still seems rather pointless and limiting to me, but we're currently on a boat and are due to go through a stealth mission when we breach the capital. Wouldn't it make more sense to start working on that after we save Selene and the Grand Wizard and can actually begin to make use of it?

>>316448

>if only we had such well written and thought out reasons for Ebe and Sylphie.

This is something I have genuine interest in as well, because it has been severely lacking thus far. Perhaps not to the autistic depths that I went into, but ‘’something’’ would be nice.

>I might have to make a poll or something…

Frankly this is just begging to be rigged by one of the parties. I know I probably sound biased based on the way things are turning out, but what’s so wrong about just taking what is being said in the threads and using that?

>>316495

>Why not just use the weapons we already have?

Because it takes longer to switch weapons and a switch blade shotgun staff is awesome

We're going to be attacked no matter what we do so we might as well have fun doing it. >>316218 sounds fun so do that. Also consider talking to the crew to see what they know about our destination so we can prepare a bit.

And Tabby is best waifu followed by Sophie. Not going for a waifu is boring and goes against everything this board stands for. It's not like being a wizard actually stops us from doing so either

>Story continue

Despite your deep seated fears, nothing actually came. Well, not within the first two hours anyway.

With Tabitha, Sylphie, and Sophie below decks, you find yourself with Alice, Ebe, and the familiars. With the sun shining overhead and the novelty of the boat though, everyone goes their own separate ways to look things over.

Walking around the boat, you get a better stock for the river craft. For a river in the desert, the Nil'al is very large. All around the banks grass and other life abound, attracting various beasts of all shapes and sizes to drink from the waters. Cruising down the middle if your craft, which is roughly 200ft in length if you had to guess, making it a rather large vessel. It's only two decks though, the top cargo deck and the bottom storage and crew quarters, but it works in the relatively shallow waters.

Despite being from Deleor, a country of rivers and canals, you didn't travel much on the boats. The only time you could remember doing so was with your Sister and Mother before the… raid. Taking a moment to settle yourself before thinking more on it, you breath out and recall the event. It really wasn't any worth much mention, just a small boat ride to Sanctifrond back before the Leyways existed, but it was fun being with them, seeing the water around you and the playful fish, etc. You don't remember much else about that trip but you do remember the boat ride.

Sighing as you grip the rails you turn back over to look at the cargo. Multiple metallic, and a few wooden, crates sit lashed to the deck, laden with various cargo. None of them seem to have the shapes of the slave crates and asking a crewman in broken Ectrian you find that none of them do contain slaves, and given how free they are about such things, you think it's true. Choosing not to bother with any of that at the moment, you decide to look for your other companions above deck before doing anything down below.

Ebe walks the length of the boat, chatting with the deck hands who take every opportunity to look at her body. Occasionally they even go a little further and pinch her behind or bump into her chest, blaming it on the rocking of the boat despite it's stability. She takes it in stride though, smiling and laughing it off, occasionally playing a song or two as long as it doesn't stop the men's work. You actually feel a little bad for her taking this behavior, but you have to wonder if such things happened where she grew up, or if her Mother prepared her for such things given her species and talents. Of course, out of the corner of your eye you check on her every now and then to make certain no one is going to go too far. Not that it's your business of course.

For Alice, you expected to find her fucking a sailor behind a crate, but instead you find her near the prow, arms on the railing, looking out over the river. Feeling surprised and curious, you decide to talk to her and see why she has such… melancholy?

Approaching Alice, wind wisps gently by, pushing her robe past and giving some glints of her armor underneath. Her sword stays at her side as always but she only gives you a glance as you walk up, her eyes turning back to the greenery. Leaning on the side of the boat as well, you watch Erwin as he snuggles onto Mr. Ed's back, the horse munching on some hay instead of shaking him off. Shaking your head, you turn back to Alice and ask,

"Alright, what gives?"

She smirks and shakes her head. "Rommel, you know I can have deep introspection also."

"I suppose, but after just getting onto this boat after a night of fucking over and over…" Your eyes go wide. "Are you pregnant?"

"Gods no." She chuckles. "I have a potion for that."

Cocking your head you look at her with genuine surprise. "A Monster would make a potion to PREVENT pregnancy?"

>>316604

"No, of course not. It's actually a human invention." She shakes her head, "Human alchemists are fairly terrible, but ironically they were able to make this okay. Hells, some human medicines are good otherwise and only use things like herbs and such instead of semen as a base. Unfortunately, they try to follow too much of Monster methodology and most fail or become poisons."

"Huh." You say, looking out over the water. "I didn't know that."

"Heh, well most people don't trust such things. Why should they when slurping semen works so well?"

"I wouldn't take you for the type to say no to slurping spunk."

"While that's true, it's not all that's on my mind."

Pausing to let her continue, she shakes her head. "Gods, I feel like The Ascendant on that boat ride. You know, the one with-"

"Yeah, I read the book."

"Yeah, right, right." She says. "Well, after about the tenth time that manlet unloaded his seed into me, I got to thinking about what I'm doing here. Have I really improved any since meeting with Tabitha? Am I even trying? What is my end goal in all of this?" Looking down at her hand, she grips it into a fist, "I just… wanted to ponder all of this."

"Have you found any answers?" You ask, genuinely interested.

"Heh, I only just started this little trip of mine but… I don't know. Thinking back to that failure back in Helmscrag, I'm trying to think about how I could have avoided it. Have I changed at all? I don't know if I have." Leaning forward over the rail she sighs, "And even if I do become the best with the sword, what of it? I won't lie, I love getting fucked as much as the next girl, but sometimes I wonder if it's time to find the one cock I want to spend my life with."

Looking over at you she asks, "Do you understand?"

"I… don't think I want to find a cock I want to spend the rest of my life with but…" Trailing off you find that you do sort of understand, though it's a little nebulous. Frowning, you say, "I think I do though, questioning what comes after all of this."

She chuckles, "Not quite, but I saw that look in your eyes. Have you been smitten by someone, hmmm?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Ohhh?" Alice says, giving you the smuggest of smiles. "Is it Ebe? The girl is crazy for you, you know. She's got one hells of a body too. If I were a guy I'd fuck her any day. Hells, I'd love to be part of the bread of that manmeat sandwich too-"

"Alice, please." You say, feeling your cheeks heating. "And no, it's not Ebe though-"

"Ohhhhhhhhh." Alice says, eyes sparkling. "It's NOT Ebe? Then who is it, who, who? You can tell me!"

"I liked you better when you were introspective." You sigh before turning away from Alice. She wraps her arms around your chest and whispers in your ear,

"Mhm, it's not me, is it? You know, I might consider you to be the cock I'd spend my life with."

Groaning, you reach your hand about and touch her nose, channeling some [Ice]. Her nose chills and she yelps, pulling away and sneezing profusely while rubbing at her nose. Shaking your head at her, you walk away with a rather quick step over to Erwin and Mr. Ed. The horse raises his head at you and flicks his tail, awakening your familiar who turns his head to look at you.

{Trouble in paraside, oh Master?}

Grunting, you sit down next to them and set down your staff. {Not you too.}

{Glad to see you're not taken in by temptation though. Have to stay strong.}

{Strong for what?} You send, frowning at him. He gives you a smug look and you grunt again. {If this is about last night, look things happened and… come on, I'm a Wizard.}

{Yes, and?}

You hold up a hand and pause before looking back down. {Erwin, this is… it's not right. Women aren't supposed to be on the thoughts of a Wizard's mind, they're just temptations we're supposed to fight and… and…}

>>316605

Erwin gives you a sympathetic look. {Ah, I didn't mean to bother you so much about this. I was just having some fun but… it's not going to kill you to be honest with yourself.}

{Ugh.} You send back, shaking your head. {I… I'll think about it.}

{Hey, if it makes you feel better, she seemed pretty eager when I told her you were downstairs last night.}

You don't need to ask of whom he's talking. Digging into your [Trenchcoat], you pull out the first thing you find, the [Kuhalik's Kind Words]. Blinking, you look the item over and then notice the seal placed there by Kuhalik. You could open it and then re-melt the wax on the parchment you suppose, but what are you really going to gain by reading it? Shady as he is, Kuhalik hasn't betrayed you even though he had plenty of chance to do so. Besides, letting Polah look over this without being molested is probably the best route to go. Nodding your head, you put it away and pull out the [Runic Rubbings].

Reading over them with the [Oculus of Henhotep] you go over the stop that you took a rubbing of. It's basically as Ebe described it, though with a few more details surprisngly. Whoever made this did NOT like the Apophis and described in detail how the Pharaoh mercilessly slaughtered their followers. Very… graphic.

Turning to the other script, it surprises you how this item works on even Dwarven runes. From what you had guessed before and what Ebe's Mother told you, most of this described the creature held in the tomb, Hent-ateh. The Dwarven runes of course were out of your league, but now you're able to read them. They describe more warnings to other dwarves, and explain some of the warding protections upon the tomb. Without being there again you can't copy the wards themselves, but you do get a good sense of what they were doing there. Using the mana in the land they created a seal that grounded the thing into this world and kept it bereft of power.

Getting some inspiration from this, you recall the [Mana Burst] that Farya taught you. The spell resonates with the other sources of magic and shuts them down, right? Compared to this ward, it's actually not the same thing at all, but you suspect that it's based on similar principles, though the resonating with the ambient mana must be because whatever Hent-ateh is, it's not from this plane of existence and anchoring it like that is a weight.

Thinking about things that way, you wonder if maybe by finding the resonance of something and then using the opposite, you could cancel it out instead of just causing a short circuit? Interesting theory, but you suspect you'd have to keep it channeled to keep the effect as opposed to the momentary burst. Feeling like trying it out, you look around for magical items and then snap your fingers, pulling out some of your friends and creating them into Golems.

Ronnie, Acillis, and Valinthia stand in front of you, awaiting orders. It's kind of cheating to use your own magic to try this because your know your own frequency, but you want to try it out so whatever. Locking onto the magical signature animating the quartz golem, you pulse a similar burst of magic of toward it with [Mana Burst].

The golem shudders and falls apart, the imbued link to him vanishing in your mind. You try to re-estabilsh the connection and you succeed, making you wonder just how this should last. Probably longer in an enchantment rather than a direct spell. Nodding your head, you turn to Valinthia and lock onto your magical frequency again, but this time you reverse it, channeling that. At first there is some resistance, but the bauxite golem collapses, the magic fading as you keep channeling. Satisfied, you cut off the spell and find a similar effect as the burst.

With trepidation, you perform the same magic on your [Oculus of Henhotep] and find that the enchantment returns shortly after [Mana Burst] and as soon as you stop with the channeling, which you believe you'll name [Reverse Polarity]. Yeah, that sounds nice.

>You learn [Reverse Polarity]

>By recognizing the magical frequency of a spell, you can reverse it and channel it back, canceling out the spell.

>Effect ends on end of channeling, finding frequency takes time though this is faster with [Mage Sight].

>>316606

Smiling in satisfaction, you go to put away the golems when some of them fall out of your pocket. Sighing, you figure that making a box to keep them in would be the best course of action. Without much sandstone or other rock around, you look at Ronnie, whom you have much of. Though you'd planned a little something different with Ronnie, you shape him into a box to store the other rocks and look down at the solid container.

Thumping him a few times you realize just how sturdy a box of metal would be. Hells, imagine if you could coat yourself in metal like this all the time. Of course, that would be plate armor, but imagine if you could do it without wearing it. Like a coach or something, or a box! Hmmm.

Rubbing your chin you think this over but find there isn't terribly much space for this, or raw materials without taking from one of the crates. Besides, being on a boat would make it difficult to try out functionality of such a thing, but it's certainly worth considering. If you could protect people with this and Sylphie and you could cast spells from it… well, then no one would need to get shot, would they?

You hum to yourself as Erwin yawns and jumps down from Mr. Ed, he walks over to you and sends, {I'm bored.}

{It's the human condition.} You send back, still going over ideas for this thing in your head. The more you think on it, the more you like it, though Gods above would it be impossible to be stealthy. Would probably be heavy too, so maybe giving it wheels?

{I'm a fox, so that's vetoed.} Erwin sends. He paws the Ronnie-box. {It's a box.}

{It's a metal box.}

Erwin looks all around you and then gives you a flat look. {My, how… novel.}

Sighing, you turn your attention to the fox and say, {Go play around the ship or snuggle with Sylphie, I'm sure she needs someone warm right now.}

{Maybe you should do the same with Tabitha, hmm?}

{Low blow Erwin.}

The fox looks abashed, {You're right, you're right, sorry.}

Shaking your head, you look out over the water and remember something from Wizardquest. Rubbing your chin, you ask, "Say, how about we have a little… experience."

{I don't like that tone.}

"Come on, it will be fun." You say, standing up and walking to the aft section of the boat. A few crewmen on breaks stand there, smoking pipes as you approach and you ask them for rope. They give you odd looks and you nod, explaining your plan. As you do, Erwin sends,

{Oh for the love of, do you remember how that played out last time for the Grand Wizard? Not so good! He froze a poor girl's snatch!}

{Oh come now.} You say, looking out over the water as the men tie the rope for you. {That's almost certainly not going to happen this time. Besides, we've surfed plenty of times.}

{On dry land! Come on Rommel, what if there are Hippogirls down there?}

[Excuse me, are there Hippos here?] You ask in your broken Ectrian. The crewmen look to each other and shrug before shaking their heads. Looking back to Erwin you smirk, {See, we're fine.}

{If… you say so.} Erwin says as the men fit a little rope on him. Nodding your head, you focus your Cryomancy as you're lifted over the edge of the rails. Forming ice under you, you anchor yourself as you make a large board and use the limited Hydromancy you have to stabilize that. Once good, you have Erwin lifted down and form a board for him, making little loops for his paws to sit.

"Ready?" You ask the fox, much to the amusement of the sailors.

{G-Guh.} He sends back as you let him go and to the two of you separate and pull back behind the boat.

Both of you drift back and in the wake of the river craft feel the wind whip past you. It's not as fast as sand surfing, but the uncertainty of the shifting waters makes things more interesting in a way. Using your magic, you get a better feel for manipulating water as well as keeping your board from melting, using the balances together to create an equilibrium. Laughing from a surprising joy of such events, you turn to look at Erwin and find the fox chuckling as he uses his tail like a rudder to allow him to move through the water in elaborate shapes. You hope his paws aren't hurting from the cold though…

{Fuck you, this is fun!} Erwin sends. {I should bite you for putting me on this board though!}

{The Grand Wizard had a good idea for once!} You send back. {He just didn't do as much planning as I did!}

>>316607

{I suppose! Hey, how are we supposed to get back on deck anyway?}

{I'll call to the deckhands once we're done.} Turning to look at the men who were cheering you on, you find them absent now. Growing a little worried, you call out and get no reply. Calling out again with an [Amplify], one of them appears in a hurry and shouts what you think is,

[BRACE FOR IMPACT!]

"Eh?" You ask when the ship shudders and comes to a halt. The ropes holding you snap taut before the current forces you into the back of the boat, the two of you slamming into the wood with hard impacts. Feeling dazed, you almost slip off, but manage to hold onto the rough wood of the craft as best as you can. Looking down to Erwin you ask if he's alright to which he nods in the affirmative, having trouble keeping still.

Freeing his feet, you help him over to your board, creating a wider area of ice for more stability and look around you. The boat is stopped, but isn't sinking so… it's dropped anchor? But why? Feeling a little bit of fear in your gut, you push to the side of the boat to see another vessel in front of it. A small skiff of a boat with ladders leading from it to your current vessel. Damnit, brigands already?

Still with Alice on board, there shouldn't be any concern, so you just need to figure out a way to get onto the boat and-

[HIPPOS!] One of the men from above cries. Blinking in surprise, you look to see a feminine head surface from the water. Two more follow suit and before you know it, three incredibly strong Monsters with almost comically large and muscled legs ending in stubby toes leap out of the water and onto the boat, rocking it fierce shouting is heard above as well as the clash of battle and you groan. Great, not just brigands but these Hippogirls too, and boy do they look angry.

At a time like this you need a plan, need to think of something to get out of this mess.

>What do you-

A powerful hand grabs your leg and you look down into the eyes of a woman with a strong jaw and tiny, animal ears on her head. they waggle once before she lets out an almost bestial cry and rips you off your ice raft and into the water.

The water fills your vision and you blink to see, doing your best to keep from screaming and filling your lungs. Trying to let go, you find the woman refusing to do so, her grip almost feeling like it's going to break your leg. Try as you might, you're unable to get out and you're forced to send a blast of [Ice] into her face, causing her to scream and let you go. Swimming for the surface, you take in a deep breath of air, panting and scrabbling to get back up. Erwin calls something at you to watch out for but before you know it powerful arms wrap around your waist and the Hippogirl says in a rough voice,

[Think you can steal what's ours? You're mine big boy.]

You think you get the translation right and she mid water suplexes you back under the waves, almost knocking your unconscious. Feeling a little faint, you open your mouth and cough as water enters your lungs. The rope around your waist snaps as the Hippogirl bites through it with her powerful teeth and you begin to regret your decision. The Monster grabs you again and pulls you above water where you cough for air again before you feel everything rush around. She hoists you over her shoulder and you realize that she's going to try and take you as a damn mate.

If your lungs didn't hurt so bad, you'd laugh, but instead you look at Erwin who scampers around the ice platform, not certain what to do. The Hippogirl has you bruised and beaten and above deck there is a mix of brigands and more of these juggernauts of Monstergirls. Regretting ever thinking that anything positive would come out of water skiing, you dredge your thoughts together to the task at hand. Alright so, NOW you should think of what to do.

>What do you do?

>>316608

Fuck man, hippos and pirates? What a shitty river. You should have listened to Erwin, that was a terrible idea.

Well, better figure this out before 1. Alice kills everyone or 2. Alice doesn't kill everyone.

Which is worse?

>>316608

Hippoes are extremely susceptible to sun burn, so much so that they have to naturally produce their own sunscreen, referred to as "blood sweat". We just need to separate them from the water, either by physically removing them or freezing the water around us, and then dry them out with Fire and/or Light (new spell for concentrating light to create lots of solar radiation?). Have Erwin tell Sylphie to do the same thing if he gets the chance.

(Side note: I advise against looking up pictures of extreme sunburn.)

>>316610

This is a good thing, Hippo's are supposed to be delicious and now we can claim self defense!

Just kiddingnot really, I want to eat the hippo's dammit, We should taze the shit out of the hippogirl currently holding us and get to solid footing. Once accomplished we should dispatch the rest of the riftraft with lightning or ice. Fire is a no no on boats and shooting everything is getting a bit dull. Lets change it up

>>316616

Cast lightning, whilst in the river/soaked through? Are you an idiot?

Freeze the bitch.

>>316630

We can electrocute them when we're out of the water though.

>>316617

Put spikes on the outside as well so it functions as a chastity belt, that will teach her.

>>316608

It's time to freeze that cunt. The grand wizard already had one good idea from this, maybe this is another one?

>>316605

>"And even if I do become the best with the sword, what of it? I won't lie, I love getting fucked as much as the next girl, but sometimes I wonder if it's time to find the one cock I want to spend my life with."

So… Alice is thinking about the future, eh. Whether she finds a man that wants to marry her is a different matter. She has somewhat of a reputation…

"You can fuck the slut, but don't marry her".

>“Think you can steal what's ours?”

I wonder what she meant by this, seeing as we personally haven’t done anything to her or her kin. Perhaps they’ve mistaken us for someone else? In any case it’s rather irrelevant now given that they’ve cast the first stone, but still might be worth thinking about.

>>316608

Dealing with our captor is obviously the first step as we’re in immediate danger while within her grasp and as such need to escape it. That said, I disagree with what others are saying in doing something minor like casting [Ice] on her genitals, as all that would amount to is making her more angry with us than she already is, with worsened consequences for us when rape begins -- given our bruised and battered condition and current predicament, we don’t really have the strength or time to fuck around here. Instead, I’d recommend treat her like the threat she is and be more liberal with our magic when the opportunity arises, overpowering her with either our Cryomancy in the form of something like [Cold Prison] or doing something along the lines of what >>316613 suggests as to take her down. As for when to strike, doing so just before she begins to ravage us would be our best bet, because the likelihood is that she will have taken us to the shallow river banks to make her plans of mating with us easier, thus removing a lot of her mobility and the threat of us drowning should things go wrong, and she will be at her most vulnerable state at this point, giving us the best chance at really doing some damage to her.

With our own safety hopefully secured, we need to quickly find a way back to the boat to assist with the fighting there as we still need the crew alive and well to operate the boat, otherwise we’ve just lost our ticket into the capital and will have to find another, more dangerous method of entry due to our party needing to be hidden when entering and thus unable to operate the boat ourselves when we reach our destination. While there are a great deal of differing options for getting back, from swimming to the ice platform Erwin is still scampering around on and climbing up the rope still attached between him and the boat, to trying to climb up the anchor underneath the boat to sneak in, to using our magic to do something like build a bridge out of ice leading to the deck or propel ourselves with the wind onto the deck, most solutions are either too time consuming, dangerous or taxing on our already dwindling strength to be viable choices. One possible action that may work for us, however, is to use [Amplify] to call out to Ebe to see if she can use her wings to pick us up and bring us back to the boat so that we can quickly return to the fray while conserving our strength in the process. This should work as she is unlikely to be preoccupied fighting due to a mixture of her abilities being detrimental or dangerous to use without Audiomancy assistance and her having no combat skills whatsoever, meaning she is likely going to be free to help us, and has the added benefit of keeping her out of the fight and thus safe, so I propose we do this and also have her pick up Erwin afterwards if he hasn’t already climbed up the rope himself that is before re-joining us. Failing that, any method of return that avoids us going directly into the water should suffice in its place, albeit not being ideal.

Once on board, assess the situation, try to regroup with Alice and whoever else has come up from the cabins probably just Sophie if possible and go from there. A proper plan of action can be formulated once we actually know what we’re up against and where we stand situation wise.

>>316613

Aha…

In my line of work I know what some of these things look like. Not good hombre

>>316616

When you say, "Eat…"

Tazing yes, may be a bad idea.

>>316617

I warned you bro.

Well no, I don't think I really did but nothing good ever happens on these journeys.

>>316632

But it's gunna melt…

>>316633

I guess it's freezy time. Hope no one finds out cause that didn't go over well if that book is to be believed.

>>316664

Well. Slut she may be, Alice has dreams and aspirations too.

>>316688

Nice double dubs but I guess you'll have to find out.

It looks like ice is nice for the plan atm though.

>>316698

Ohhh gusting up onto the boat. This will probably be a messy landing but could be gud.

>>316728

can't we use our featherfall potion to land gracefully with?

>>316608

>>316688

I'm good with this.

By the way, the bit earlier with the bicorn sisters trying to outcuck each other was hilarious.

>>316730

See, it's details like this that need to be added or I'll have you hit your ass on the deck harder than a frenchman in a wine bar.

>>316734

Tbh, I couldn't think of an MG off the top of my head to be twin shop owners so I took the first suggestion given which was Bicorns. So I just… ran with it and here we are.

We sort of need to get our fox back onto the boat before we do anything else. Use hydromancy to push his platform to deck-level or get him to perform a [Gust]-assisted jump.

>>316613

Was the reverse psychology here intentional? Either way, that's really not as bad as I thought. The lad with the huge blister looks nasty and painful, but there's way worse medical shit out there.

(I really think y'all should not look up "tertiary syphilis".)

>>316744

>no goggles on Erwin

5/7 would not shitpost about

>>316730

Considering Sylphie was able to control the wind to slow her descent back when Sophie was first kidnapped by that one Wurm with what appeared to be [Gust] and our own Aeromancy skills have begun to catch up, we should be able to do the same ourselves and thus avoid having to use the very precious [Featherfall Potion] when we don't need to, of which ideally we should save for a party member who lacks the wings or magic to save themselves from a high fall should one occur. And besides, drinking semen doesn't sound like it would be fun for us.

>>316738

>Are we not immune to our own electricity ?

From thread 7 of the original WizardQuest, when we (the Grand Wizard) were dealing with Delilah:

>In her hurry to finish you off, which was working, oh ho ho, was it working, she free'd your other arm. Quickly seizing the opportunity, you point at the torso and cast [Lightning Bolt].

>Now, some would say this wasn't a smart move. Some would say you would be caught in the blast too, be electrocuted and die or something. But that's not how magic works, you see, magic works by…

>Oh who are we kidding, doing that hurt like fucking hell, and you feel your body tingle in pain as the power you discharged ran up you as well as the Dullahan. Both of you seize up and you feel your jaw clench together, keeping you from letting loose your scream that boiled up from within. The Dullahan on the other hand twisted and writhed, falling off you as it squirmed in the dirt, it's impulses firing off.

The [Lightning Bolt] in this case was cast by an experienced Wizard in Fulgromancy when direct contact was made between himself and the target and when nothing was wet, and it still affected him. He was also lacking Harmony in his grip at the time, so the spell wasn't amplified there's a possibility that it was actually weakened due to the lack of a catalyst, and yet it still hurt like a bitch. Best if we don't repeat the same mistake as he did with a worsened result.

>>316744

Pretty radicool, and the turban actually looks rather neat. Erwin a cute.

Whatever we end up doing, the situation should be handled with some stealth, since the element of surprise has pretty much been handed to us on a silver platter. If the other hippos are even aware of our presence, I doubt they think we have any chance of escaping Snu Snu. So, we give our new friend an icy chastity belt and ball gag, then get Erwin and ourselves back on the boat as quietly as possible. Ambushing the enemies might make things a little easier on us.

>>316743

This guy is right. Erwin is currently standing on an ice platform that is bound to melt soon and if he dies by drowning we die too. We need to focus on saving and unbinding the fluffy fox the moment the hippogirl is dealt with.

To clarify from a bit earlier, was Kuhalik implying the bandits would be a mix of lamias, cultists and hippos or was he just listing off other threats in addition to the bandits? Because it may be the case that the hippos are working together with the bandits in attacking us. They may also be lamias, so ice would be great here in that case.

>What do you do?

Deal with the hippo holding us with a lot of ice and maybe some razor wind while we're at it, also consider using hydromancy to slow her movements in the water. Get back to the boat without going in the hippo-infested water, so either via the Ebe delivery service or by throwing ourselves onto the boat and controlling the landing with gust, making sure to help out Erwin if he doesn't help himself. Once on the boat, razor wind and ice are our friends, so spam those against the threats there and go meet up with our party. If we can manage to swap to some dry clothes midfight, then possibly use lightning bolt against our wet opponents.

>>316747

Erwin doesn't have his own pair of goggles though. We should try to get him some later so he matches us.

>>316787

Foxes can swim, mate. He'll be fine for the moment. Deal with the Hippogril first!

>>316744

AWWWW YEAH!

We are going to buy Erwin some goggles later.

>Story continue

The Hippogirl continues to swim to the bank, taking you farther and farther away from the boat and Erwin. Normally you'd find this a little upsetting, but because of the ache in your back, you feel almost numb in the water. Though you have control of your magic, if you managed to make her drop you here, you might just drown anyway!

Besides, her control in the water vastly outpaces yours. Hydromancy helps, but you doubt you can wield it as well as you'd like, so it may end up being a detriment rather than a benefit for you. Perhaps some electricity would work here? No, while Fulgromancy is fairly easy to perform, the abundant water around you would fry yourself as well as your captor- you don't think you could pull off an insulation on the fly.

Which means… being dragged to the shoreline. Looking up at Erwin, you give him a bleak smile and then pretend to go limp. The Hippogirl grunts and shakes you violently, making you cry out in pain as she swims to the bank.

[Oh no you don't! You are going to be awake for this you bastard!]

Gritting your teeth, you writhe in her grasp, which somehow makes her hold you with less force. Gods, this, this was the reason you became a damn Wizard. Feeling a surge of annoyance, and pain, flare through you, you bare it as she pulls you back with both arms.

"Huh- AHHHGGG!" You shout out as she throws you out of the water. Despite being weaker than they were before the Grand Wizard's quest, some varieties of Monsters are still far, far stronger than a human. Hippogirls it seems, are one of those. One of those who has just thrown you from a river to the bank a distance of at least ten feet.

Needless to say, you hit the ground HARD.

"GAH!" You scream as you land on you back, sending up another shock of pain through your tortured frame. Body wracked with pain, you roll over while gasping for air. Wet, sopping footfalls come from nearby and you stretch your head to see the Hippogirl looming over you.

Only now that she's out of the water do you realize that she's entirely naked. Long strands of black hair stick to her bare, shapely chest and you get a good look at the solid rip cords of muscle that are her abs. Though her whole body drips with water, the area between her legs is soaked with fluid that dribbles down to the brown-grey hide of her thick thighs which end in those stubby toes.

Pushing yourself to try and get up, the Hippogirl walks over and grabs your leg, throwing you to your back again. Another flare of pain wracks you and your vision wavers. She leans over you,dripping river water onto your face as she grabs your trousers. With surprisingly dexterous fingers, she undoes your belt and begins to pull down your pants.

Despite the pain, that's quite enough of that. No, you won't become some powerless Normalfag if you get raped here but good Gods would you hate yourself. Besides, the longer you're here, the more trouble your friends are in. Gritting your teeth, you lift a hand and point at the Hippogirl,

"Back off, I'm warning you."

She promptly backhands you in the face.

>>316849

Once the stars telling you secrets about Fillios's underwear collection subside, you find that the Hippogirl has almost entirely taken your pants off. Thankfully you're not at all turned on by an attractive, powerful woman wanting to be impregnated by you and-oh no wait. You're getting erect. Fucking hells no more mister nice Wizard.

Without so much as a warning to the Monster, you hold up your hand again and cast [Ice]. While most normal combatants might have gone for the face, or perhaps for the hand, you instead hit the one place you know will have the most effect- you freeze her crotch.

The Hippogirl cries out in alarm and falls back, trying to use her powerful fingers to free herself from the frost. Despite having a moment of relief, you press the attack, casting more of the icy spell, forming an encircling band of ice that you then give spikes. It's not pretty, but it makes her whine like a horny Hellhound at a dinner party, unable to give her genitals the attention they need.

Picking yourself up, you find yourself wracked by a violent fit of coughs. Gods, you really took a beating there. Thankfully surprise is on your side this time, so you just need to get back to the boat and you can render some aid. For once, you kind of hope Alice has killed all of them because you really need a nap. Able to breathe again, you look toward the boat, your eyes drifting to the Hippogirl for a moment. Thank the Gods that you did, because it allows you to save yourself from getting tackled by the Monster.

Pushing yourself out of the way, you dodge her run, the Monster moving far faster than you'd expect for something of that size. Though her crotch is now dripping with melting ice water instead of other fluids, it seems to have made her angerier than anything. Why couldn't you have dealt with a demure Cancer, eh? Grand Wizard got all the luck.

[RELEASE ME NOW!] She shouts, or you think she shouts anyway. You're not drunk enough for this.

[No! You stop!]

[I will not! You will pay with your seed!]

Grunting, you hold up your hand again as she prepares to charge. Not even caring, you fire off more [Ice] and freeze her legs in place, connecting it to her belt of ice with rapid speed. She stumbles and almost falls, but the ice keeps her in place as it grows.

Sighing, you walk past the Monster who is busy shivering and… crying? She reaches out for you, but you're too far away. Giving her a tired look, you walk past, holding your chest with your hands as every step is painful. Turning and facing her one last time you look to Erwin out near the boat and send, {Are you alright?}

{I should ask the same thing! Also, pull up your damn pants.}

Blinking, you look down and realize your pants are still down. Grunting with effort, you fix the issue and then nod to Erwin. {Alright, let's get back onto the boat.}

{How? An ice bridge?}

{I don't think I could climb very well and the effort of raising an ice column like that seems… difficult at the moment.} You concede this to Erwin who grunts.

{Fine then, are you going to just propel yourself through the air and onto the boat.}

{Of course not-} Cutting off mid sentence you think about this. Actually… that's not half bad. Yes, your Aeromancy isn't very good, but it should be good enough with your ballistics control to do something like this. A little push on the way down and you'll have protected yourself as well!

Of course, you could also call out for Ebe, but surprise is on your side while time is not. You can't hear anything from the boat and the crates make it hard to see what's happening anyway. With effort, you nod back to Erwin and send, {Alright, you first so you don't drown.}

{I can swim you idiot.}

{You first anyway.}

Erwin sends up a series of protests as you point your hand at him and then cast [Gust]. Concentrating it on a localized area, a whirlwind appears under the fox that sends him spiraling into the air. Crying out in alarm, the fox flails and heads toward the deck. Before he hits, you cast [Gust] again and catch his fall, allowing him to land gracefully. Of course, he gives you the nastiest look you think he's ever given you, but he's safe.

Taking a deep breath, which hurts, you pull back from the bank to get a running start. Mentally preparing yourself, you build up the magics and then when it seems you can't build up anymore, you run (hobble) forward, jump, and cast [Gust].

>>316850

At once you begin to understand what Erwin felt as you soar through the air like a Cockatrice. See, that's funny because they can't fly and neither can you. Flailing your arms about, you almost forget to cast [Gust] again before you plow face first into the deck. As it stands, you merely hit with a little more force than intended and roll a few times before ending up on your stomach, staring at the planks of the vessel, vision swimming.

Though part of you screams for not using a [Featherfall Potion], the other parts say that it could have gone a lot worse. Groaning, you pick yourself up as Erwin scampers over. Dusting yourself off you cough again, feeling your back even worse than before. You cast a little [Ice] on your back to numb some of the pain as you stand on shaky feet.

{Have fun?}

{Har fucking har.} You send back, wincing. {See anything?}

{Not yet, I'll go on ahead.}

"Right…" You mutter, moving behind the fox. Erwin darts past crates, stopping as you run into a crewman passed out against one of the crates, a knot on his head. Must have been the brigands. Moving further forward, you begin to hear the sounds of shouting and combat.

Your familiar dashes forward and then pulls back sending, {Woah what the hells! Those Hippogirls are some pieces of work!}

Cocking your head, you hug the crates and look over at the open prow of the ship. Unconscious sailors and potentially dead brigands lay strewn around the deck and about them in a triangle formation are three groups look at each other warily.

One side are your friends and the remaining crew. Ebe and Sophie stands in between the crewmen, a club in Sophie's hand, though you see her tails trashing under her robe. Ebe pulls back some, ghitar in her hand. On the other side is a motley group dressed in various desert robes with a Lamia at the head, all of them carrying various weapons and a few nets. They look nervously between the crew and the last group, which is comprised of three Hippogirls. These Monsters have their arms crossed, looking out over the other two groups as a few crewman and a brigand or two lay strewn out around them.

In the center of it all though is Alice, kneeling on the deck, panting. Her hair is loose and covered with sweat while her robe is gone, revealing her breastplate which is dented. She looks up and toward the Hippogirls, her sword glowing faintly as she grunts and rises, holding her sword in stance.

"Well?" She asks, gritting her teeth. "You want to try that again?"

[We can't understand you.] The lead Hippogirl, a blonde woman who is somehow even more muscular than the one you trapped on the bank.

[She said try that again!] Ebe shouts, much to the ire of the Hippogirl.

>>316851

The Monster grunts and says, [Where are they? Give us back what you took and we will leave!]

"What did she say, bird-brain?" Alice asks, to which Ebe translates. The Swordswoman spits and says, "Tell her that we just got on this damn boat and don’t know what they're talking about. Maybe they should ask snaketits over there?"

Ebe translates this at which point the Lamia hisses and rises up, [We are here to appropriate your ill-gotten goods! The Cult of the Violet Sands demands you return what you stole from them and turn over the rest of your cargo as payment to the people!]

The Hippogirl brays, [We don't care who takes what, we just want what was stolen from us!]

Alice puts her hands to her head and cries out, "Why can't people speak a civilized languaaaaage?!"

{Erwin.} You send to your familiar. {What are they talking about? We couldn't have stolen anything, could we?}

{I don't know, unless the smugglers are bringing in something that belonged to the Hippogirls? But why would the cultists be helping them then? Aren't they usually… not into that sort of thing?}

{I didn't think so but… I've been surprised before.} Frowning, you look out again as Ebe translates something for Alice again.

"Seriously, tell us what we supposedly stole. I don't even like these people, we're just passengers."

[You dare mock us like this? You know damn well you stole our children!]

Ebe stutters as she translates, and Alice blinks her eyes in wide surprise. "You ah… wow. Holy hells, I'm sorry to hear that." Turning her head to the crew, she asks, "Hey, you guys aren't smuggling Hippogirls, are you?" They shake their heads with what can only be described as "mortal terror."

Ebe hesitantly translates this, which only enrages the Hippogirl. Looking out over at the Lamia and crew, you frown as you watch one of the men in the group quirk a smile before hiding it again. The leader herself stays as stone but you can tell there is a certain wariness in there, as if she's appraising the situation to see whether or not to turn tail or stick it out.

Planks crack as the lead Hippo stomps on the deck, building up a fervor. The Hippos around her do the same and you know what in mere moments she'll charge. One of them Alice could probably take on, but three charging? Again, probably get out alright, but the dagger in that Lamia's hand seems wickedly sharp and poised to kill your companion at a moment's notice.

Things sit on a knife's edge at the moment. If you're really in the wrong here then how can you justify things? But if you're being set up somehow can you really escape conflict anyway? Losing anymore crew will severely hamper your progress forward and losing the vessel entirely may make it impossible to enter the capital! Imagine if you traveled to Ectria by boat, you bet this shit would be happening every day.

Man, your back really hurts.

>What do you do?

>>316852

Relatively short update, but I guess you'll need to be able to figure out this conundrum here. Or just kill everyone! You're pretty good at that too.

And if you're wondering what happened to Alice, she got blindsided by a Hippogirl. Ouch.

Oh yeah, I'll be filling in for my old raid group for the next few weeks. Things may get a little shaky, as I know I'm skipping a sunday update. I'll do my best to get one out Monday for y'all.

>>316852

time for [Old Man Rommel] again, and act really fucking annoyed at all this bullshit and talk everyone down because that will totally work

>>316854

Sounds good to me. We should start by asking what that arsehole hiding the smirk thinks is so damn funny.

>>316854

Nah little nigga, This is beyond [Old Man Rommel]. This is slavery. And you know what we do to slavers, Right?

>>316859

>>316857

Do these. Whoever is involved is getting frostbitten genitals. My money is on smirky

>>316852

They clearly don't care about their children that much to begin with if they're willing to replace them by getting themselves pregnate so quickly.

Just saying.

>>316852

We should first make sure that there are or arent slaves on the ship, it's obvious the guy who smiled knows something why else would ace write that in

>>316854

This needs something more than just [Old Man Rommel], we need [ANGRY Old Man Rommel] who has had it with these misunderstanding causing grief for him and his party. I propose we give Ace the chance to set Rommel beliefs in stone on both The Slavery of family and Wizardhood's loss of it greatest limiter. I would also recommend that we take a sip or two…maybe ten of some liquid courage to help add more punch to our anger by allowing us to convey more emotion and meaning behind our [Amplified] yelling.

Where he empathizes with the hippos while berating them on their mismanagement of their power. Where instead of blindly rampaging on a ship with the possibility that they could be wasting precious time that could be better spent on endeavors more likely to bring them closer to there children. While still offering to help them to the best of our ability (with the application of our own experience with slaver's taking our family).

Then if we can placate the hippos then snake tits should be easier to manage if it breaks out into a fight. First we see if her claims about stolen cargo are legitimate. If the claims are true then or can't be proven at this time, we offer the return of the stolen goods on the condition that the rest of the cargo stays with the crew. If (and when) they refuse the offer we should go off on how that is little more than banditry and to associate their "noble" cause with such ignoble actions would taint the cause. Where we would use the options we have formed on Wizardry's limiter loss where it is a slipper slope where if you give an inch someone will take a mile. Resulting in the distortion the original image/idea and twisting it into something entirely against the core concepts of the original idea. If that doesn't get snake tits to stop it might be best to use either intimidation (they are all ready jumpy) stating that a fight would not be in their best interest; We could also the crazy cult's mark thing to get them to stop being stupid and if all else fails just give em the good old freeze the snek and shoot the mans with rocks hopefully with all of the commotion Alice could get to a better position closer to our group and Tabitha gets on deck.

>>316852

> The Cult of the Violet Sands demands you return what you stole from them and turn over the rest of your cargo as payment to the people!

Hah hah hah, oh man they are fucked. Rommel and co aren't members, but they are associates of the Violet Sands, and they should know that they're a bunch of shitheads for fucking with us. Namedrop the Apophis. Namedrop Aliph. Fuck it, namedrop Helene if we have to. Let them know that the Pharaoh did 9/11 or whatever they want to hear, too.

Talk about the monsterization ritual, only Violet Sands members could possibly know about that, so it should be proof that we aren't full of shit. The tone here should be that we're super secret agents sent to fuck up the Pharaoh and that they're shitheads for interfering. We're CIA, we're in charge here.

>>316852

>>316854

Old man Rommel might work here.

Whatever else happens, I think we should single out the dude who was smirking and see what he knows about the kids. Stealing children is bad.

If worst comes to worst I wouldn't protect the crewmen if they truly are slavers. Sure it would be nice to keep our ride to the capital but in the end this doesn't really concern us. I agree with the old man Rommel play for now but I think first we should get Alice out of there there's no need for her to bear the brunt of the force of an conflict that we have no part in. Didn't look like the crewmembers were particularly interested in solving this matter themselves or stepping in either. Why the fuck is Alice heading the negotiations in the fist place? Doesn't anyone of the smugglers have something to say? The captain maybe? At least the conflict with the hippos should be easily solvable if they don't actually smuggle hippo slaves right?

>>316854

>>316877

I also vote for [Angry Young Old Man]

>>316854

100%, I don't think Old Man Rommel has failed yet. What could be stronger than the wrath of the elderly?

>>316857

Maybe he finds the naked Hippos attractive or Alice getting beaten funny. Some people laugh in tense situations, you don't know

>>316859

If only angry feral Monsters had such reason…

>>316864

Well there's no guarentee that the one who attacked you had kids, but even so Monsters like these often work on impulse as well.

>>316869

Maybe I like herrings that are red in color?

who am I kidding, I don't have that level of forethought

>>316877

There are a lot of words there, but the part I'll pick out is the last part. Why isn't Tabitha on deck anyway?

>>316880

Correct. Daughterus for hugs not fugs or… there's no good one for kidnapping.

>>316885

A good question to ask! There are many presumptions one could make, but the lack of information is part of all this.

Although getting them to believe you may be difficult, especially if one of the sides initiates a conflict, like the easily angered and not too forward thinking Hippos.

Does this mean we get to kill slavers? Killing slavers is fun. We have gone far too long without killing any slavers. We need a clear recount of what happened from the hippos, and we need to interrogate the chucklefuck so that we can kill some s- I mean rescue those babies. Judge Detective Rommel is on the case!

>>316852

>Ebe translates this at which point the Lamia hisses and rises up, [We are here to appropriate your ill-gotten goods! The Cult of the Violet Sands demands you return what you stole from them and turn over the rest of your cargo as payment to the people!]

The leader seems awfully open about her status as a Violet Sands cultist to strangers, a heavy contrast to the generally secretive nature the cult has shown at every previous encounter. The group is also attacking a passing vessel to steal their goods, an action which doesn’t actually help their beloved Apophis return to this world and thus once again seems out of place for cultists like them, more so since it has been mentioned that every single cell was working towards this goal and there have yet to be any examples of the cultists doing anything petty like this. Are we sure these people are actually the cultists they claim to be?

>Looking out over at the Lamia and crew, you frown as you watch one of the men in the group quirk a smile before hiding it again. The leader herself stays as stone but you can tell there is a certain wariness in there, as if she's appraising the situation to see whether or not to turn tail or stick it out.

Given that we went around inspecting the cargo on board the boat earlier to find nothing suspicious and one of our crewmen claimed to not being transporting slaves back when he had no reason to lie to us, I think it’s safe to say who the actual culprits behind the child kidnapping is are from the reaction to the revelation of what the Hippos are seeking.

As for what to do, it’s important to note that we have the element of surprise on our side and should really use it to our advantage before we do anything else, otherwise we’ve just taken a beating launching ourselves back onto the boat for no reason. Since we’re clearly not using it for direct combat, we might as well use it for preparation in case things get out of hand. Examples of potential actions we could do before revealing ourselves include setting up our golems around the area in hidden locations so we can use them as surprise ammunition or to directly attack anyone that strays too close themselves, sending Erwin below deck to alert Sylphie and Tabitha about what exactly is going on above so that they can get in position to assist if necessary, and using [Magesight] to identify spell casters or magical trinkets we may need to counter with [Mana Burst] or [Reverse Polarity].

With swift preparation complete, I guess we’re unleashing our inner old man once more despite only being 30. I don’t have much to add to this that hasn’t already been said, other than making sure to bring up the agreement we made with Lady Aliph and how the Violet Sands was supposed to be non-aggressive towards us as a result, bringing out the [Aliph’s Sigil] as proof of our claims -- it may not do anything if the bandits are lying about being cultists which seems likely to me, but it’s worth the attempt nonetheless and we lose nothing by these people knowing about our connection to the cult. Also make sure to be ready to dodge or knock down an opponent at a moment’s notice, because I doubt the Hippos in particular are going to stay put to listen to our complaints when their patience has already been thoroughly tested.

If combat does end up breaking out for any reason, then focus on disabling our opponents above offense as it’s less stressful on us and both we and the rest of our party on deck aren’t in the best of conditions right now, thus benefiting greatly from weakened opponents. Cryomancy has proven itself to be exceptionally effective at locking down the first Hippo we dealt with and a huge counter to cold-blooded monsters like the Lamia before us, not to mention it wouldn’t cause great damage to the boat, so use that both directly on targets and indirectly to hinder movement, such as causing a charging Hippo to slide off of the boat with hopefully minimal damage to the vessel. [Metallurgy] is also extremely useful here due to the nature of the bandits being armed, the Lamia leader in particular appearing to be a huge threat with that dagger of hers, so use that to rip the weapons out of their hands to severely limit how they can hurt us. Finally, [Razor Wind] may prove to be viable for slowing movement on legged foes if aimed at the back of the calf on said legs, so consider doing that as well.

Hopefully we can get out of this with as few casualties as possible should diplomacy fail.

The two groups are indeed working together, but it's clear the hippos are being lied to here. We didn't have slaves on this boat when we left, and there won't be any now because we would have noticed if any attempts to smuggle them onto our boat were made. The guys in front of us clearly have nets, so the identities of the child snatchers are pretty obvious.

>What do you do?

Call the bandits out on their bullshit and put pieces of Ronnie through their skulls if needed. Theyr'e slavers and deserve to die because of it. Lightning bolt should disable the still wet hippos, and we can safely cast it through the arc node on either Phallia or Stan with no risk of self harm so there's no reason not to do so if the hippos get aggressive.

So, with me filling in tonight and having to do a few other things, no update tonight either. This probably wouldn't be the end of the world except I have to go to a birthday dinner for my sister tomorrow and Wednesdayis also raid stuffs.

Unless I can squeeze things together, chances are we may not get an update until thursday. Really sorry y'all.

Which means it's time to see what else y'all would like to see drawn? I have a need to commission things.

>>317257

>what else y'all would like to see drawn?

Clearly we need some art that features the best character, …Mr. Ed.

>>317262

especially since we've gotten art of pretty much ever other character BUT him

did we get any of Bubs, dire form or otherwise?

>>317257

Wouldn't mind dire form erwin

>>316964

^

Let the hunt begin again.

>>317262

THIS

Maybe one of Erwin dancing on Mr. Ed's with Rommel staring at him annoyed back when we first met Ebe

>>317442

You fool, what have you done?

Also I put the request in. Hope y'all like when it comes out.

>>317443

Oh fug me, oops

But, yay, more arts!

>>317514

> Best Monster Lady

But still worst girl

>Story continue

Something about this doesn't sit right with you. Stolen children? The Violet Sands being so open about things? Asshole McGee smirking over in the corner?

{Erwin.} You send to your familiar. {You didn't smell anything like children or any other kind of slave onboard, did you?}

{No, although some of the crates are filled with rather pungent spices likely on the way to the capital… but it seems so absurd that there would be children hiding in those, especially Hippogirls! Besides, why take them to that city and then smuggle them? Why not just put them below deck if you want to hide them from sight?}

He mentally chuffs, {Slavery isn't exactly frowned upon here, so who would care?}

Frowning, you think over the same thing. Maybe the sailors knew your group didn't think highly of slavery? You kind of doubt that Kuhalik would care that much about you group to find that information and tell them, especially as he didn't seem to recognize you. Either that, or he's damn good at lying.

{Erwin, go down below deck and get Tabitha, we may need her help.}

{Yeeeeah, I'm not certain that's a good idea.} He sends back. When you question him he responds, {Why isn't she here already? You're kind of dense sometimes.}

{Just… go get her. I'll handle things here.}

{Alright, alright, just send for me if you need me.} He sends, scampering off down the stairs to the lower deck.

Turning your attention back to the scene before you, you notice Alice standing taller, sword at her side as she watches both sides. Her main attention is on the Hippogirls, but you can tell she's positioned to watch the "cultists" as well. The [Aliph's Sigil] weighs heavily in your pocket as you grip your hand around it. Should you come out with it and make them back down?

No, that would ruin your surprise, which is all you have going for you. You're not certain you could take another of those Hippogirls without killing them, and even then they move damn quickly. You'd need to be positioned beforehand in case anything happens. If only you could be in multiple place- Ah, you can.

Sending out Greg, Valinthia, and Phallia, each linked for an [Arc Node], they make their way around the crates and other cargo, hiding from sight as this standoff continues. You can almost see the sweat coming from the sailor's heads as they watch in tense worry. Well, never mind, you'll do something here in a moment, because you've figured it out.

Fuck all of it. You know damn well (probably) that there aren't any children on this vessel and you damn well are sick of being put up to this shit. So far being up front and honest with your annoyance hasn't failed, so why would it fail now? Beats direct combat and if they want that then fuck them, they're the ones who asked for it.

Gathering a few pieces of Ronnie in your hand, you cast [Audio Tap] on a point behind the cultists and reverse it for <Vox Caster> before waiting and watching.

[I'm getting sick of waiting!] One of the Hippogirls says. [My little Ahliaya! Give her back to me!]

Alice frowns, "Bless you?"

The Hipoogirl gives even more irate and looks like she's about to snap. Over on the other side the Lamia shakes her head. [Pathetic. Insulting them after this. Surrender now and spare yourself the pain.]

Ebe translates to which Alice sighs, "Oh come on, there aren't any children on this damn ship! Right captain?"

The man next to her blinks in confusion before Ebe translates. He holds up his hands and shakes his head in the negative. [No! We are not transporting slaves!]

[SLAVES?!] The lead Hippogirl shouts, [THEY ARE OUR CHILDREN!]

[We don't have them!] The captain says back, clearly terrified. This only makes the Hippos angrier. Seeing the flash of animosity in the Hippogirl's eyes you figure it's about time to end this farce. Or perhaps you're just going to create a new one.

From your <Vox Caster> you send out, channeling all of your annoyance, [ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT!]

>>317727

The effect is immediate and if your ribs didn't hurt so much you'd laugh. The bandits flip about, looking for the source in panic while the Hippogirls bray and shout in challenge, looking for signs of intruders as well. The sailors as well seem terrified, while Ebe and Sophie look at each other with a sense of relief. Alice is about the only one to look dumbfounded, staring around while scratching her head and asking, "Eh? What did he say?"

[Show yourself!] The Lamia hisses, her features intent upon the spot where you're projecting from. Well, you suspect she would be with that famous Lamia hearing. Oh no wait, that was the tongue thing. Regardless, you continue using your broken Ectrian to say,

[Laughing man. What is funny?]

The man who smirked before looks at where his leader is with an ashen face. The Lamia looks at him with a cool expression and he licks his lips before saying, [Wh-what are you talking about?]

A loud crack thunders behind the man and he jumps while screaming as a [Lightning Bolt] hits the deck next to him. Phallia fades back into her hiding place after arcing your spell and you continue, [Don't lie.]

[N-Nothing! I wasn't laughing at nothing!] He says, visibly afraid. He turns to his leader who narrows her eyes. Licking his lips he steps behind her. Rolling her eyes she hisses,

[Show yourself, sorcerer. Your tricks won't work here.]

[Tricks? You want talk tricks? No children on boat!]

[Lies!]

[So is you being Violet Sands!]

The Lamia hesitates then and then narrows her eyes before turning back to the group before her. Hissing, she shouts to the Hippogirls, [They are trying to trick! Attack them before they hurt your children!]

[What?!] The Lead Hippogirl shouts. [GRAAAAAH!]

Stamping her feet on the ground she charges at Alice, the other two behind her. Cursing at yourself for your hand being forced, you walk out from hiding and cast [Ice]. A layer of frost covers the deck, causing the desert creatures to slip on the alien substance. They cry out and crash to the planks, sliding toward Alice who leaps over them and lands with surprising grace despite her flailing feet at the end. The side effect of your cast is that the sliding Hippogirls bowl directly into the sailors and your friends who try to leap out of the way.

Ebe takes to the air while Sophie attempts to dodge. Her foot gets clipped by one of the Hippogirls and she gasps before being slammed into the railing along with two of the sailors. You curse yourself as it happens, but your attention is pulled back elsewhere as something flashes in your peripheral vision. Gasping, you hold up your staff and a solid "thunk" is heard before an inch away from your eye appears the point of a blade.

Looking up, you notice the Lamia giving you a cool expression, her hand going to her belt for another throwing knife. Gritting your teeth in anger, you start walking toward her, knife still in the staff. The other bandits around her look at you with some panic, but at a hissed word from her, they stand up a little straighter. With a careful hand, she throws the blade at you, the path a little less easy to notice this time.

Not that it matters, you watch as she prepares and raise your staff to use your [Metallurgy] to stop the dagger in mid-air. The weapon hovering before you, you continue forward, implacable as you slowly flip the blade to point at her. The Lamia licks her lips and gives you a cold expression as you send the dagger back at her.

The blade embeds itself in the deck in front of the Lamia, who doesn't flinch as it's obvious where it was going. Still, it allows you enough time to get close enough to her that if you need to fire, you can without her reaching you, despite Lamia's great reach with their tails. Giving her a cold expression you watch out of the corner of your eye as Tabitha helps get Sophie away from the Hippogirls, the Monsters still flailing on the ground. You have a little bit of time to resolve this before going back to them.

>>317728

[I am sick of shit. Who are you?]

[We are Violet Sands.]

Grunting, you drop the rocks in your pocket and pull out [Aliph's Sigil]. Narrowing your eyes you say, [What is this then?]

[What does that trinket matter?] She replies, eyes seeming not to recognize the item.

Nodding your head, you put the item back into your pocket. Yep, looks like your hunch was correct. Taking a deep breath, you hold out your hand and then point at the man who chuckled before, casting [Gust] at him. He cries out in panic as the blast of air catches him from his feet and hurls him overboard and into the river. Snapping your gaze back to the Lamia you hiss, [Do not LIE to me.]

[How DARE you!] She hisses back. [I should kill you!]

Digging in your pocket for Ronnie again, you hold up the pieces and say,[This will kill you. Pain. Much Pain. If lucky.]Looking supremely annoyed and intimidating you say, [Where are children?]

The Lamia's gaze flicks to something behind you and she smirks, [Who cares what we did with them, you're about to be irrelevant.]

Not entirely certain what that last word was, you don't get the chance to ask before Ebe cries out and you turn your head to see a Hippogirl bum rush you. You're unable to stop her in time and she catches you, barreling you into the railing and making your vision go black for a second as the pain overwhelms you. Head swirling, you look back up to see the form of the naked and violently angry lead Hippo over you, grabbing your shirt and thrusting you against the railing, denting it even further with your soft, squishy body.

[Yes! He stole your children and hid them from you!] The Lamia laughs! [Take care of him while we look for your children.]

The lead Hippogirl shouts in your face [WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?]

She shakes you violently as you cough out, [The Lamia! She is lying!]

[She told us where they were! You are thieves and liars! Where are they?]

[Check ship. Please believe. Never would steal children.]

The Hippogirl growls, [I have been lied to before by man. I will break you.]

[Don't make me hurt.] You say, getting your bearings back. Holding your hand up to her muscled chest, you touch a piece of Ronnie to her flesh and power your magic around it. [Please. Stop.]

The Hippogirl's eyes go wide before she narrows them and then snarls before throwing you across the deck. Hitting hard, you crumple as you try to get up the first time, managing it with help from your staff. The Monster looks at you with a piteous expression before turning and surveying the situation before her.

Alice, who had been helping Sophie doesn't notice as a net gets throwing over her, making her struggle and drop her sword. She shouts a string of profanities understandable in any language before a man clubs her over the head. Sophie shouts at them as a Hippogirl tackles her to the ground, pinning her in place. Ebe, circling in the air, tries to swoop down and help, but ends up having to dodge as the Lamia throws another knife at her. Gulping, she flies back into the air in alarm.

Feeling faint, you push yourself up as everything starts to go wrong. The Lamia gives you a cool look before looking at her knives and shrugs, figuring it's not worth sending it at you. Instead she pulls Alice up by her scalp as the other bandits subdue the crew alongside the Hippogirls. You reach for your magic but find it difficult to focus with the pain and disorientation. Shit… if only Tabitha were here.

{Erwin} You send, mind foggy. {Erwin, where are you? Where is Tabitha?}

{I told you! She's not coming!}

{Why Erwin? Why? We need her!}

{I'm sorry, Sylphie tried to come on deck too but she's in no state either. I'll be there soon, I promise!}

"Tabitha…" You mutter to yourself. You knew she was afraid of the water, but what could be so terrifying that she couldn't come up here and help? She did it before, when she was younger, so why not now?!

Looking back to the situation at hand, you take a few, shaky breaths and try to gather your thoughts. Magic… you need magic to-

[They are stopped. Where are the children?] The lead Hippogirl asks of the Lamia who still holds Alice hostage.

[Hmm? Oh, they are? Good.] The Lamia says before nodding to her remaining brigands. [Go secure the cargo. We might as well take this vessel too since it went so well. We have some good slaves to sell also! Ah if only they didn't fight.]

>>317729

She turns to go but the Hippogirl grabs her shoulder and spins her around. [Where. Is. My. Daughter.]

[Oh. That.] The Lamia says nodding her head. [I lied.] At that she takes the large dagger in her hand and slams it into the chest of the Hippogirl.

The Monster staggers backward, looking down at the wound in her chest. She begins to say something but falls to the ground as a pool of blood appears around her.

The other two Hippogirls cry out in alarm but nets get tossed over them (and Sophie) and they get beaten as well until they go unconscious. All of this happens to the laughter of the Lamia who holds back her head and laughs like some stereotypical Eastern Theatre villain. Even her allies seem a little disconcerted, but to all intents and purposes, she won. She tricked everyone and won, everything went according to plan.

Except for one thing. She didn't kill you and let you watch this happen.

Anger flushes over you at what you see. Visions of Monsters callously taking what they please, stealing away not only property but lives flash before you. Feeling far from hale and with only anger to sustain you, you stagger to your feet and, with the help of your staff, shout out to the Lamia,

"I WARNED YOU!"

[What? I can't undestand-] The Lamia says before a piece of Ronnie flies at her skull. Unfortunately, just as your magic can intercept metal, she can dodge… metal. The pebble of iron sails into the distance as her whipcord body bends and dodges. Hissing, she whips back to you and shouts at her men, four left in decent condition, to charge you.

Feeling good about charging a man who can barely stand, they do so, running at you with nets and clubs. Though feeling faint, you shout in angry Deleorian at the men before sweeping your hand and stumbling to the ground as you do so. A wave of [Razor Wind] flashes out before you and the men cry out as their legs are torn to bloody ribbons from the deadly air.

Sadly, you knew this was just a ruse. The Lamia used the sacrifice of her men to dash at you, grabbing a club from one of the fallen men and charging at you, weapon held high. She gets maybe fifteen feet from you when a shadow falls over her. She blinks and turns around in time for the other thing she forget to crash down upon her, driving her down into the planks.

[THAT'S ENOUGH!] Ebe shouts, her talons holding the Lamia the deck. The Monster tries to worm out of it, but Ebe's powerful legs keep her in place the as Ghandharva lifts the guitar gifted to her by Sveth in the air. The rock-solid instrument seems almost light in her wings, but she brings it down into the back of the Lamia with enough force that the Monster gives one gasp of agonized pain before passing out onto the deck.

Panting with effort, Ebe looks up at you, wild-eyed. You give her a tired look and smile before saying, "I didn't… know you played the drums."

Falling to the deck with a grunt of pain, Ebe drops the guitar and rushes to help you up as Erwin arrives, looking aghast at the situation. {Holy hells, are you alright?}

>>317730

{No, I'm not alright.} You send, feeling weak. {But I don't think I'm bleeding anywhere, we need to help that Hippogirl if we can.}

{What? Why?}

{They were tricked like the rest of us. Come on lets-} You cut off as you cough violently. Ebe whispers some soothing words in your ears and you feel some tension leak away as she does. Damnit Ebe, you need to do things right now, not take a nap.

"Rommel, you need to rest. Let me and Erwin handle this, okay?"

"I… I can't…" You mutter to yourself as the Ghandharva practically drags you to the stairs. She gulps and with some effort gets you downstairs. She's sweating as she leads you to the nearest cabin, finding it occupied by Tabitha.

Looking up at the Lizardman, you're vaguely aware of her sitting against the wall, arms wrapped around her legs and sword on the bed. She looks over at you with wide eyes and says, "Oh Gods… Rommel, I didn't-" Her expression turns to horror and she looks down, putting her hands to her head. "I let it happen again!"

"W-wha-?" You begin before coughing again. Ebe hurriedly lays you down on one of the cots in the tiny room and holds you as you start coughing harder. She calls for Tabitha to help, but the Lizardman just stares at her for a moment before blinking and heading over to you, helping hold you down as it passes. You take a few, stabilizing breaths before nodding your head back against the makeshift pillow.

"I'm going back up there, please stay with him." Ebe says, nodding to Tabitha before leaving the room without a word. The Lizardman looks at her with panic, an emotion you thought you'd never see on her face before she looks at you with a piteous expression. Her mouth works without sound before she takes a shuddering breath, closes her eyes, and whispers,

"I'm sorry. After everything you said last night, and I do this."

"T-Tabitha." You say back, feeling parched. She looks at you and seems to get the message, pulling out a canteen and giving you some water, which feels heavenly. Sighing after the refreshment, you lean back and ask, "What happened?"

"I…" She begins but looks away, expression ashamed. "I thought I'd gotten over this, but…" Unable to finish the sentence she takes another deep breath and says, "I'll tell you after you've rested, alright?"

"Tabitha…" You say feeling very tired. "Are you going up?"

She tenses and says, "Maybe I could just look after…you…" She trails off and looks down, consternation on her face before she grips her hands and stands up. "No, no I'll go up and help. I'm sorry." Before you can say anything else she turns around and heads out of the small room, leaving alone and tired. Very tired in fact. Actually, so tired that a good nap is warranted and-

>>317731

You awaken a few hours later to Sylphie gently rubbing your shoulder. Your eyes flutter open and you look up at her with confusion before the pain returns and you grunt as the muscles in your back tense up. She puts a hand on your arm to stabilize you, wincing herself for the effort.

"Hey, hey. It's nightfall, are you alright?"

"No." You say, feeling parched again. You ask and she brings you some water to which you sit up with some effort and drink. Grunting you say, "What's going on?"

"Ebe and Tabitha got Sophie awake and they tied up the brigands. The Hippogirls are out but the leader is alive. Seems not even a dagger in the chest is enough to kill one of them, though the one you dealt with earlier came aboard and is helping." She sighs and sits back, "Most of the crew is down though, no one is dead it seems, which is a blessing, but they aren't in fit shape to sail this boat tonight. The captain will see to tomorrow though."

"I see." You say, rubbing your chest. "What about you?"

"Oh, well. I wanted to help, I really did but my arm and…" She shakes her head, "I'm embarrassed to say but I get seasick very easily. I don't so much fear the water as I have a difficult time not being bedridden. As it stands I'm not doing so well but… I figured I could at least talk to you."

"So that's why you didn't want to get to the port."

"We did pretty good overland!" She sniffs.

"Hmph. Where is everyone?"

"Erwin is looking after the brigands and Ebe is tending to the sailors. I think the Lamia is awake but we're not certain what to do with her at the moment. The Hippogirls probably won't be too happy with them when they awaken."

"No, I imagine not." You look around and ask, "Where is Tabitha?"

Sylphie looks down, "She… she's in the room I was in." The Cat o'Ninetails hesitates before saying, "I knew she was afraid of boats but I never guessed… I don't even think Dad knows why it's like this."

"I see." You say, frowning. She moved rooms? Why? Did she not want to be near you? Frowning, you look up as Sylphie claps and then winces.

"Oww. Oh, Sophie made dinner in the galley. I'll get you some."

"Thanks but I'll do it myself." You say, standing on wobbly legs. Taking a deep breath you say, "I should probably see what's going on for myself."

"Don't overdo it." Sylphie says, looking at you with worry. "You're not invincible."

Chuckling, though it leads to a little coughing, you retort, "Sylphie, I think I know that."

"Do you?" She whispers before shaking her head. "Anyway, let me know if you need anything. I think I'm going to lie down for a bit. Calm my damn stomach." She puts a hand to her mouth and then takes in a deep breath before leaving you alone again in the room.

Rubbing at your head you sigh out. This was supposed to be a simple boat ride and now this. Brigands masquerading as Violet Sands cultists, Hippogirls with stolen children, and a traumatized Lizardman? That's not to mention your own injuries, which you feel utterly foolish for allowing to happen. But… causalities were to a minimum. Maybe the price was worth it for you staying your hand. Of course, you only have so much patience.

Feeling like trash you consider your options and what you should do right now. To make it simpler:

>What do you do?

>>317732

Let's find out why Tabitha's acting the way she is after getting some food for us and her from the galley.

Okay first make the snake tell the hippos where their daughters are. Let the hippos decide what to do with her then, I imagine it wont be very pleasant.

Second is rewarding Ebe, she saved everyone so shes earned her headpats.

Third is checking on Tabitha, shes likely going through some tough shit right now.

>>317732

I know exactly what will make us feel better; torture the slavers.

>>317760

This. Deep freeze parts of the Lamia's tail and shatter them until she decided to cooperate. Find chuckles from earlier and threaten to do the same with his genitals unless he confirms the location of the child. Afterwards they really need to be killed. The smugglers know to keep this voyage and meeting us a secret, But the bandits won't follow that discretion. They must be eliminated to preserve our presence.

Fluster Head pat the burb, Head pat the AliceGently, Head pat the hippo? And finally rest our ailing body

>>317732

Check up on Tabitha first. headpats maybe needed

Then get food. Maybe coax Tabitha to join you.

See to the rest of party. Dish out headpats

Check on Hippos, see if they're awake.

Find chuckles, ask him where kids are. Point out that his boss doesn't give a shit about him or the others.

>>317257

Thanking Ebe is quick, so we should do that first. Missing childrens is pretty top tier important, so we should question the lamia about that, or let the hippos deal with with her. Anyhow, after that, we should talk to Tabitha, bring some food with us or something.

Gots to thank Ebe for the save and check up on things above deck. We should probably give Tabitha some space right now, we can talk about it once we're on land

>>317732

Since both we and everyone else are kind of broken at the moment, there isn’t much that can be done right now other than checking up on things like the well-being of our companions and the crew, talking with our companions and recovering our strength via rest to pass the time. Ergo, we should do these things and hope to get back to travelling soon.

Priority number one, at least in my eyes, is checking up on and dealing with the captured bandits, because any time they spend alive is time they could be spending attempting an escape, which is not something we want because, as Nane shows, they will seek revenge on us if they succeed at doing so, not to mention it will be a nightmare trying to keep the Hippos from murdering them before they’ve been useful to us first, so talking to them before said Hippos eventually awaken is a must. We at least know the leader is awake in the present, so head over to interrogate her about the location of the missing children, why their group attacked our vessel and if they are part of a larger group we need to worry about before reaching the capital, with the former-most topic being the most important and the latter two being useful information but not mandatory to obtain. Once that’s done and has hopefully yielded where the children are being held I would imagine they would be close by, almost certainly aboard the bandit’s vessel due to them clearly attempting to take slaves in the fight, we should seriously consider just executing her on the spot because we can’t keep her prisoner when we enter the capital but nor can we let her get away with her terrible crimes she’s committed against us and the Hippos by simply freeing her -- the Hippos may oppose this outcome due to wishing to dish out their own brand of JUSTICE, but frankly Rommel is unlikely to have it any other way and they should be content enough with getting back their family members. Afterwards, repeat the process for the remained bandits.

With that out of the way, we should do some checks on our party members on deck to see how they’re holding up after this event, as well as check up on the crew’s condition with the captain to get an idea of how long this journey is going to be delayed as a result of the crew’s injuries. Ebe in particular is worth talking to because she actually did really good with that last action, seeing as it was her solving a problem via her own initiative and without having to rely on another party member beforehand, and as such high praise in order; might as well make use of our cursed hands the concept of which is wonderful to give divine headpats. Here’s hoping she performs similar actions going forward, though she will probably need more time to grow a spine first so she can gain the confidence to do so.

After checking up on the situation on deck, we should head back below deck to talk with Tabitha as she seems like she could really use our help right now, grabbing food for ourselves, because we’re hungry, and for her if it turns out she hasn’t eaten anything herself, because she probably won’t go up to get food otherwise, as we do so. Given how she seems rather apprehensive about us seeing her in her current, miserable state to the point of preferring Sylphie of all people to see her like this rather than us and appears to be rather depressed about her failings, it may be worth trying to reassure her that we’re here to help and bringing up what she said to us immediately following our communion with Dollora, namely the part about how everyone can benefit from help at times regardless of who they are, so that she actually accepts our assistance and stops feeling so negative about herself. Assuming she doesn’t try to push us away or leave, discuss with her what went wrong back there, what has caused her to become like this my bets are on a near-death drowning experience while on an ocean voyage based on previous comments from her in this story and the prequel and if there is anything we can do on our end to help make the journey less horribly unpleasant for her. Perhaps we could suggest she try to name the [Basalt] we gave her as a way of keeping her mind preoccupied as originally suggested, as we certainly aren’t going to name it with our track record of not naming rocks and it technically no longer being in our collection. Or perhaps, as >>317767 suggests, we could give her comforting headpats, though make sure to suggest it before trying anything as we’re not trying to make her even more uncomfortable than she already is.

>>317846

"them" being the slavers, of course. Not the babies.

>>317846

This sounds hilarious, I vote for this. Screw the ice, This game sounds like a lot more fun.

>>317732

>Looking up at the Lizardman, you're vaguely aware of her sitting against the wall, arms wrapped around her legs and sword on the bed. She looks over at you with wide eyes and says, "Oh Gods… Rommel, I didn't-" Her expression turns to horror and she looks down, putting her hands to her head. "I let it happen again!"

What is she talking about?

>>317846

I like this game. Tickling is so much fun

We should probably just level with them. Just be like "I can't fucking stand slavers. I can't stand people who harm children. You are both. Either you are going to reveal where their children are, or the torture is going to begin. I will get the information out of you, eventually."

We should probably just level with them. Just be like "I can't fucking stand slavers. I can't stand people who harm children. You are both. Either you are going to reveal where their children are, or the torture is going to begin. I will get the information out of you, eventually."

We should probably just level with them. Just be like "I can't fucking stand slavers. I can't stand people who harm children. You are both. Either you are going to reveal where their children are, or the torture is going to begin. I will get the information out of you, eventually."

JFC. I'm not sure how I triple posted with no sage, but sorry.

>What do you do?

Tabby needs our help, so we should give it. I guess the others could do with some of our attention too, so go see them as well. If we're going to deal with the bandits now, then what >>317846 said should work to get them to talk minus the wanking and over the top edginess parts, we have things to do right now and we're not Coldsteel, just efficient

>>317864

I'm curious about this too. She was unable to help unlike in Wizardquest1, so perhaps something happened which traumatized her further between then and now that she blames herself for?

>Story continue

No rest for the weary you suppose. Which is probably fine given the fact that you can't just lie about in bed all evening like some normal person. That just wouldn't be feasible in most situations for you these days.

On a more serious note, you are a little worried about the events that just occurred. As far as you're concerned there are three things you really need to address at the moment, and while all are fairly important, you figure you might as well get the most physically taxing out of the way while you're still (relatively) fresh from bed.

"Where the brigands being kept?" You ask Sylphie who blinks at you.

"Oh, they're upstairs, didn't want to keep them below deck due to the lack of space." Nodding out to the hallway she grunts and puts a hand to her stomach. Looking up at you she blushes, "Uhm… if you don't mind leaving I couldn't use a little ah- well."

"I understand." Standing up, you give her a soft rub on the head before turning to go. She sighs and it seems some of the tension leaves her as you do so. These hands of yours… Taking your staff, you wince as a twinge of pain goes through your body from your injuries. Damnit this is going to be annoying going forward.

With a sigh, you continue outside and upstairs to find yourself under the night sky. Basking in the cool, desert air, the accumulated sweat of your exertions cools you down and you almost feel cold, a sensation you never really thought you'd feel again. Walking past the crates which loom around you, illuminated by the moonlight, you come to the foredeck to find the bandits tied up. Most of the men are tied together and unconscious while the Lamia is tied so firmly that you'd think she was a hog on the way to slaughter. On closer inspection under the lantern of one of the crew do you notice that the ropes are not tied in a normal pattern. Why would someone put such emphasis on tying the ropes around her breasts?

As you approach one of the men swings a lantern over to illuminate you. He nods his head as you're recognized and he directs you to someone standing near the prisoners. Alice and Ebe turn to you, the former rubbing a bruise on her head while the latter lets out a sigh of relief before walking over to you and giving you a hug.

"Rommel, good to see you're walking around but…" She looks a little hesitant, "Shouldn't you be resting though? I'm sorry I couldn't help you out sooner and you had to get hurt like that and-"

You cut her off by placing a hand atop her head. Her eyes go wide as your fingers begin their dark work. As you course through her hair, her breathing increases and her body shivers. Though you should be hurting as you do this, you feel nothing but a simple calm. Ebe lets out a little squeak as you run past her ears and you say, "You did really good today Ebe. You saved me and everyone here with your quick thinking."

"I-I didn't d-do anything." She mutters, words half hearted as her eyes flutter. "I j-just hit her with my guitar."

"Yes, and it made a very satisfying 'kabong.'" You say. Hand moving a little firmer, she shudders and lets out a little gasp, melting into your hand as you pat. This is dangerous, what you're doing here. If you're not careful you might even become used to this, using your hands to make women into pat sluts. Well, that's going a little far actually, but damn does Ebe seem to really love this.

When her legs begin to quake, you slide your hand down her cheek and cup her chin, giving her a little scratch under there before pulling away. Her eyes flutter open and she blinks at you, a little confused. Ah well, maybe that last part would have worked really well on the twins. Looking down, her cheeks heat up and she stutters, "T-Thank you."

"That was a reward, no need to thank me." You say, nodding your head. "I just hope I can count on you in the future if something like this happens again."

She beams and says, "Yes!"

"Ahem."

Looking over to the side, you see Alice standing there, a look of annoyance on her face. Puffing out her cheeks, she says, "Geez, get a room you two. It's like you made love to her head or something. I think she even came a little."

"N-No I didn't!" Ebe says, a little too quickly.

>>318165

"Yeah… anyway. Did you come just for that Rommel? It's sweet but you really should go to sleep again, you look like shit."

"I could say the same to you."

Alice gives you a cheeky smile before sighing. "Ah I'm too tired for this." Looking over at the captives she sighs, "Those hippos are going to utterly murder them when they awaken."

"I heard the leader is alive. Who healed her?"

"Ah, seems one of the crewman was a mundane surgeon of sorts, was able to just pull that knife out and stitch her up. Bitch stopped bleeding pretty quickly, all things considered, though we're not really certain what's going on in the inside, though…" She points to another part of the deck where the three Hippogirls sleep. The leader lays on her back, breathing with a fair regularity all things considered. A man sits next to her, talking with another Hippogirl who looks at the others with worry. On closer inspection it's the one you froze before, though she does have some clothing on which seems tight over her frame, but keeps her more modest even though you can see the entire definition of her breasts. She notices you and narrows her eyes before nodding her head slowly and then looking down with a blush on her face.

"Anyway." Alice continues. "I don't think the fully situation has been explained to her, she's probably waiting for her leader to wake up. They are kind of slow you know." She nods her head, not caring how loud she is.

"I see." Looking over at the tied up Lamia you feel a deep sense of anger well up inside you. It might be time to get to the bottom of all of this. Looking over to Ebe you say to her, "Please go downstairs and look after Sylphie, she's not feeling too good."

The Ghandharva blinks and asks, "What? Why all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm not sure I want you to see what I'm going to do here."

Ebe blanches and looks away before taking a deep breath and standing firm. "No. I'll be here. You might need a trans-ah who am I kidding, you WILL need a translator."

"Ebe-" You begin before being cut off as Alice puts a hand on your shoulder and shakes her head.

"She's resolved to it. She's not a child."

Looking at the swordswoman with concern for a moment you then nod your head and say, "Alright but… this isn't going to be pretty."

"It's fine." She says, with only a little trepidation.

Walking over to the captives, your friends in tow, you stop before the Lamia and the others and plant your staff on the planks with enough force (and a little audiomancy) to make her jump, as well as some of the present brigands who look about in startled confusion.

[What do you want?] She hisses, looking a mix of angry, tired, and a little embarrassed. Seriously, who tied those ropes, they're pressing her clothing into her so tight that it accentuates her curves. You get a deep feeling that this is actually very sexual in nature and when you look over to Alice she has a shit-eating grin on her face.

Shaking your head, you begin to speak and Ebe rolls her eyes before translating for you, forcing you to switch back to Deleorian, which is easier anyway.

"Where are the children?"

[I don't know what you're talking about.]

Hanging your head, you rub your temples before saying in a slow, deliberate voice. "You are going to tell me what I want to know or we're going to play a game here. I'm not so certain you want to play this game."

When Ebe finishes translating, the tied up brigands look to their leader with nervous eyes. She narrows her own and hisses, [Do what you will.]

Sighing, you pull Dante out of your pocket and gingerly apply magic through him, breaking off small pieces of the [Obsidian]. The volcanic glass swirls around your hand as your magic carries it until you place the shards on the cheek of one of the bound brigands who begins to sweat. Looking over at the leader, you say, "I'm sure you're thinking, what could he do that the Hippos wouldn't do? They can break your bones, rape you into submission, drown you, or even take you as captives. What do I have to fear from a Wizard of all things?"

>>318166

At the mention of the word Wizard, some of the men grow frightened while the Lamia's eyes narrow further. Choosing not to acknowledge this, you continue. "You see, I'm tired of letting slavers get away. I'm tired of being nice to you scum, and I'm tired of doing things in a polite way. You have one chance to tell me why you attacked, where the children are, and why you were impersonating the Cult of the Violet Sands."

Flicking your wrist, the piece of Donte digs into the man's flesh and he lets out a chocked cry as it slices through his skin, leaving a shallow, but bloody trail. "Failure to do so will lead to one lucky slaver being tickled by Dante until they can't 'giggle' any longer. Do you understand?"

The Lamia hesitates before hissing with no content.

As if eager to feed on the blood of a slaver, the rock digs further into the man's skin, dragging greater furrows and eliciting a cry of pain. The men near him try to back away as bloody rents are formed in his skin, but find they cannot move anywhere. You merely stand there, looming over them and watching as your friend goes about his gruesome work. Alice stands stoic beside you while Ebe does her best to keep from blanching. The nearby crewmen also look a little perturbed, but they keep it to themselves.

The right side of the man's face a bloody ruin, he pants and shudders, blood dripping down onto the ropes as he begins to cry. You don't even bother to ask him where the children are, he'll tell you if he knows. Using Donte, you cut open his shirt and expose his bare, muscular chest. Grunting, you take the rock and begin the process again, this time on his chest.

By this point, everyone is watching you and you're growing a little inured to it. The silence from the other bandits is more unnerving to them than the bloody work you're doing and you know they'll all be wondering if their next. Once you've written the word, "Slaver" onto his chest in bloody furrows, you sigh and step back, holding the blood covered rock in your hand, the black edges gleaming red in the firelight.

The man looks at you, panting and crying, his lips quivering. Narrowing your eyes you say to him, "Last chance before we end this."

His mouth works pitifully but he eventually looks down, weeping. Feeling disgusted with yourself, yet even more-so disgusted with him, you shatter Dante with your magic into a storm of particles which you maintain with [Flurry]. The man looks at you with wide eyes, seeming to know what's going to happen. He opens his mouth to scream as you fling the particles at him, which unfortunately just makes things all the worse.

Bits and pieces of razor sharp volcanic glass shred the man's insides apart, and he vomits a mixture of blood and obsidian, his cries turning into garbled chokes as he dies possibly the most gruesome death you could wish upon someone. The men next to him scream in panic and pain as errant pieces scratch their skin as well until you recall the pieces to you, forming them back together into a whole. Looking down at the man, he lets out one final, bloody cough, and dies.

Sufficiently terrified, the men sitting next to him begin to cry also, speaking so quickly you can't hear it all. Holding up a hand, they stop, looking at you with wild eyes and you point to one of them, the man who was smirking before. Gesturing at him, he says,

[We took them! We took the children, oh Twins. She told us we were to use them for leverage, to get the Hippos to listen to us so we could take the cargo! We're not of the Violet Sands, we're just thieves- though they have caused us trouble and- oh Twins please don't hurt me!]

He breaks out weeping and you bed down in front of him to say, "Thank you for your honesty. Now then where are you keeping them?"

[The hideout! They're at the hideout!]

[SILENCE YOU FOOL!] The Lamia hisses, her face wracked with anger. [YOU COWARD!]

"Where is your hideout. How many others are there?"

>>318167

[D-Down the tributary up the fork! O-Our boss is present, she's also a Lamia! The children are there, oh Twins we were just going to take some cargo!]

"I see." You say, nodding to the man. "What will happen when you don't return to your hideout?"

[T-They might come looking for us and-] He cuts off and blanches, [W-what do you mean, not return?]

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant. A Wizard is faithful, one hundred percent." As Ebe translates this, you pull Ronnie out of your bag as soon as she finishes, you shoot him into the man's skull. Everyone gasps in surprise, except for the other brigands who look at him with shock. Unfortunately for them, this pause allows you to complete the grisly work with each one of them, leaving their sagging corpses tied together. Retrieving Ronnie you turn to the Lamia who thrashes on the ground, her eyes wild with fear and rage.

"You should have been more accommodating." You say. When Ebe doesn't translate you sigh and continue. "I don't care if you can't understand me. I don't care if the Hippogirls want to destroy you either, I only care that you're not going to hurt anyone any longer."

[NOOOOO!] She screams as the piece of iron lodges itself between her eyes, and then the light dies from them. Her body slumps to the deck as the sounds of the night river play around you. Retrieving your friend, you place him into your pocket and sigh before turning to the crewman. [Throw off.]

He blinks at you a few times before getting the message and gathering up a few more men, and the awakened Hippogirl to throw them overboard. You watch the grisly work before turning to Alice and saying, "What's done is done. We won't have another Nane on our hands."

She nods her head, understanding, and flicks her gaze to Ebe. The Ghandharva looks at the men tossing the brigands overboard with hollow eyes. Sighing, the swordswoman taps your shoulder and says, "You'd best go downstairs and get some food. I'll take care of her."

"Yeah." You say, feeling emotionally exhausted. "You're right."

Giving one last look to Ebe, you feel it would be best to leave things. Heading back downstairs, you stop as you pass by the room Sylphie was in before. Leaning close, you can't hear anything through the door, but you wonder if Tabitha is inside. Feeling a growing tension in your chest, you turn back toward the galley.

The galley is small but has decent enough seats for the crew. A range sits over in the corner behind a counter where Sophie sits, leaning on an elbow and sighing while stirring a pot. She looks when you walk in and says, "Oh, hello there Rommel."

"Good evening." You say, tired. She furrows her brow at you and says,

"You look even worse than I expected. Did they hit you that hard?"

"Yes, and no." You sigh. "I just executed the slavers."

"Oh." She says in a quiet voice, understanding. An awkward silence pervades the galley, you two being the only ones there. Sophie is the first to break it, looking up at you and saying, "You must be hungry, I made a stew from what they had here along with some bread from the port."

"Hmm? Oh, yes, right." You say, feeling famished. She walks over to you with a bowl and some fresh bread-not hard to come by considering that it's a river boat and you aren't expected to be gone for terribly long periods of time unlike a sea vessel.

Looking down at the bowl, you smell the rich scents eminating from it and your mouth begins to water. Looking up at her you say, "I'm sure the cook wasn't too keen on you upstaging him like this."

"The cook has a concussion, and he'll get over it later." She says, waving a spoon. "Besides, do you know how many marriage proposals I got down here? Clearly they haven't had a beautiful woman cook for them in ages, I'm doing wonders for moral."

"Hah, right… right." Your laughter trails off as the morose feeling comes over you again. Stirring around the stew you ask, "Has Tabitha eaten?"

"Tabitha? No, she hasn't yet that I know of. She was on deck for abit when I was first waking up, helping tie up the brigands but didn't stay long." Sighing, Sophie says, "She isn't… terribly find of boats."

"I know." You say, furrowing your brow. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"Beyond what's in my Father's book, no. It's a touchy subject and we never found a reason to ask her. I suspect it's something very important considering how radically different she acts about it though."

"She didn't look so good when I first saw her, was shaking and just… I don't think it's right to just leave her alone like that."

Sophie looks at you with a warm expression. She gives you a soft smile and then walks over to the pot, readying another bowl with some bread and a hands over a flask of something.

"I understand." She says, nodding her head. "You take care of her, okay?"

>>318168

"I… yeah." You reply, looking a little skeptical. What did she mean by take care of her? Looking down at all the food, you manage to hold it all, though Sophie takes your staff from you. Nodding your head gratefully you stand to go and ask her, "About Sylphie…"

"It was her choice, and I don't blame you. We'll just have to live with it is all." Sighing, she looks back to you and smiles, "Now then go to her."

Turning from her, you head down the hallway, moving in time with the gentle swaying of the boat until you arrive before her door. Knocking on it with your foot you ask, "Tabitha, are you in there?"

Nothing answers you. Sighing, you knock again and say, "I know you're in there, let me in, please."

You hear something move inside then and the door creaks open a moment later to reveal Tabitha standing there, her hair in a state of disarray and her face looking miserable. "Rommel, I don't really want-"

"You need to eat." You say, pushing your way into the little room. She gives a half-hearted protest as you place the food on the small outcropping that passes as a table. Sitting down on one of the little beds you take a spoon and begin to eat, savoring each bite.

Tabitha looks at you with a blank expression as you eat and says, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm eating?" Dipping your piece of bread into the bowl to soak up some juices, you take a bite and sigh, "Damn, Sophie really does know how to cook."

"That's not what I- Rommel, please." Tabitha sighs, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I didn't want you to see me like this and-"

"If you don't eat I'm going to eat your food for you. I've had a long day too."

The Lizardman sighs and walks over to grab the bowl and bread, sitting down next to you on the little bed and taking a bite. Her eyes light up some and she says, "This isn't bad at all. Honestly, I don't know who taught her how to cook, her Father isn't that great and I promise you that Selene hasn't cooked anything that wasn't over an open fire."

"Maybe Chaika taught them."

"Her? Hmph, maybe." Tabtiha chuckles. She looks around for something and you pull out the flask, which she looks down at before opening and sniffing. She quirks an eyebrow and says, "Wine?"

"Seems like it." At this she shrugs and takes a drink before handing it to you, which you drink from as well. The slightly sweet drink is of very poor quality, but it helps take a little edge off your nerves. The two of you eat in silence until you notice Tabitha put down her spoon and stare into her bowl. Furrowing your brow you ask, "Full?"

"Rommel I… I can't just eat like nothing happened." She whispers, hands trembling. Staying quiet, she raises her head and says, "I cowered down here while you almost died!"

"Yes, and it was very painful." You say, putting your bowl to the side. "But I don't blame you for it."

"Why? If I was there I could have sliced them apart like nothing! No one would have had to get hurt and… and…"

"I read Wizardquest as you know. I know what happened on that boat ride from Sanctifrond. I know you have an issue with boats. I don't blame you for not being there." Looking into her eyes you continue with conviction despite being so tired. "What I do feel a little ashamed about is that you're just hiding here instead of talking about it. That's not the Tabitha I've come to know."

Her face grows ashen and she looks down. She takes a ragged breath and breathes out, "Do you really know me though?"

"No, I'll be honest. But do you remember yesterday? How you said I'm a pillar of strength for you in this group?" Taking a deep breath you exhale and continue, "I can't stand seeing you like this. To have affected you so strongly it must have been something very traumatic. I won't ask you to tell me but I want you to know that I'm here for you to lean on through this."

Giving her a soft smile you hold out the flask and say, "You don't have to hold this in alone."

Tabitha looks down at the flask, then up at you with trepidation. Her scaled fingers shake as the takes the flask and holds it in her hands. Taking a shaky breath, she takes a drink and says, "Rommel you… you're a bastard, you know that?"

>>318169

"I've been called that before." You say, taking the flask back from her. "But what's the occasion?"

"You could blame me for being weak, you could berate me, you could even hate me. Instead of any of that though, you want me to just lean on your shoulder and cry?"

"Well, not in that particular way, but I suppose-"

You words are cut off as Tabitha leans into you, her head resting on your shoulder. The Lizardman closes her eyes and chuckles, "This isn't how a normal Lizardman is supposed to act."

"You're not a normal Lizardman, now are you? Besides, didn't you say that people, fighters or no need support every now and then?'"

Giving another chuckle, Tabitha then sighs and looks down at the bowl in her hands. She's quiet for a long while before she begins to speak.

"I've never told anyone this… not Veronica, not Blake, not even the Wizard. They never really asked either, figuring I had my reasons so I just… never confronted it." She grips the bowl tighter and says, "I actually haven't been on a boat since the incident twenty years ago and it's because of what happened when I… when I was a child."

Taking a deep breath, she continues. "When I was maybe eight, my Mother, Father, and I went on a sea voyage out of Hudson to the islands south of Deleor. My Mother had been a refugee from Blackfire Pass and my Father had decided that we should leave Deleor to find a new life, despite the relative peace from the Monster Nation.

"It was an experience to see a vessel like that, to be out on the open sea. I remember being excited about it all, though never missing my sword training on deck. It was actually during one of those sessions with my Mother that…" Her words drift off as she begins to tremble. Putting a hand on hers, she looks at you and then nods her head, gaining some resolve.

"While sparring, the sailors suddenly went into a panic, the men running about to get weapons, shouting about pirates. From behind a small island a vessel appeared and rapidly gained upon us, lobbing firebombs and sending boarders. It was a group of men, women, and Monsters of all shapes and sizes. The sailors did their best to fight them off, but they had a Hydromancer in their numbers and the sea was that their command."

" They had put me in the corner of the vessel, saying I was too young to fight, so I just watched. My mother and Father fought them off too, using her skills to slay many of the boarders. They didn't expect someone like them on board and the pirates were driven back.

"In desperation, the Hydromancer used her power to tear a hole in our ship, causing it to take on water and list. My father was thrown off balance just as a pirate came from behind him. I tried to reach out and warn him but I couldn't and the man stabbed my Father with his sword. When I tried to pull him away, the pirate backhanded me and sent me tumbling back and over the railing where I fell into the dark ocean."

Shaking visibly, Tabitha says in a low voice, "It was so cold… so dark… I couldn't see, couldn't feel, I was so panicked. I couldn't even use my blade skills and my Father… Gods my Father." She puts a hand to her face and takes a shuddering breath. "I gulped in some water and could feel my lungs burning as I drifted downward. I felt like I was going to die until something came in and grabbed me. I remember opening my eyes and seeing my Father looking at me with a smile as blood trickled from his back. He swam me up where some of the crew were able to get me back on board."

>>318170

Looking at her, you ask in a quiet voice, "Just you?"

"Yes." She whispers. "Just me. Once I was secured my Father lost his remaining strength and sunk down under the depths."

Closing her eyes she says, "We returned to Deleor via a passing merchant vessel and mourned for him. My Mother was changed after that and I… I never really got over my fear of boats." Gulping, she gives a sad chuckle and says, "That's… that's my story."

"Gods…" You whisper, looking at her. "I didn't know Tabitha… I just… I'm so sorry."

"It's been so long, I can barely remember his face." She says, tears falling down her cheeks. She wipes at her face and says, "Gods, look at me, I'm a mess, ha… this isn't like me at all."

Gently, you take your hand and place it on her head. She gasps and looks at you as you slowly start running your fingers through her hair. Tabitha's eyes well up further and she says, "You never asked why I was able to fight the Sahaugin twenty years ago, but not the brigands today."

"It's fine. I don't need to know."

"I was trying to be strong for Blake because I thought I loved him, because that's what Lizardmen do. But today I was so afraid of anyone in this group being hurt that I froze! I was a coward and I froze!" She buries her head into your shoulder and goes into what some call ugly crying. Of course, she doesn't look ugly to you while doing it.

You continue to stroke her hair until you hear her sobs stop and her breathing go more steady. Looking down, you see that she's fallen asleep on your shoulder, something she likely sorely needed on this voyage.

Tomorrow you'll have to manage to get everything back to normal and to deal with those Hippogirls. Thinking about what the man said, you wonder if the Hippogirls will be alright getting their children. And what was this about the Violet Sands messing with them? Either way, this can wait until morning. Sighing yourself, you take the bowl from Tabitha, place it down, and stay where you are until you also feel the pull of sleep take you.

>What do you do?

>>318171

Boy howdy, this update has everything! We got your pats, we got your edge, we got your deep interpersonal story expostion, and all in 4,967 words! What a steal!

I could never write a normal novel. 50k words is NOTHING.

Oh but yeah, Hippogirl daughterus, hrm. Is it worth your time and effort to go after them, or do you just keep cruising along? Oh and the brigand vessel was empty of anything of value btw. Nice boat though.

> [T-They might come looking for us and-]

I'm a little worried about that "and-"

>>318173

I think you kind of let down on the crazy aspect to our massacre that sounded so appealing. You made it more logical. While it got the job done, It felt kind of lacking tbh. I'm glad Dante got to see a little bit of what I initially planned for him to do as well. Everything else was rock solid. Poor Ebe is going to explode at this rate.

And you know damn well we're going to rescue those children. More slaver blood will run the river come the 'morrow. Save the babies, Probably get an unwanted marriage proposal. The usual

>>318171

Go after the slave kids, if the guys running the ship complain about the delay, tell them we can't hear them over the sound of the sweet new boat they just got for free.

Oh, and since this is technically delaying the thing we're supposed to be doing, put it to a group vote, as if they wouldn't go for saving kids anyway.

We seem to be making a vow to stamp out slavery, written in blood throughout our traves.

>>318180

For what it's worth, it felt "in character", from my perspective. What I mean is that even if we're killing the slavers we run across, even including that torture scene, I don't picture Rommel as being cruel in his treatment of them, just ruthless and pragmatic.

I feel like it was a means to an end, rather than something done because he wanted to. Obviously, personal opinions are personal, so our mileage on each other's thought's is probably gonna vary.

We must rescue the babies! On to the slaver hideout! There is blood to be shed!

>>318178

Oh you should be.

>>318180

>>318228

Yeah, I couldn't really write Rommel as going crazy there. The Wizard? Probably, Tobias? Definitely, but not Rommel, it would have been a little too out of character and I guess I didn't interpret the request as him going that route.

>>318190

It's a nice little boat. Comfy.

>>318195

Slavery is bad m'kay?

>>318230

Fair

>>318233

Looks that way.

>>318238

Then the illusion was complete! The Hippomoms are probably going to be busy cracking skulls and taking care of their kids. They might be grateful for the assist though.

Yeah, we gotta save those babies. First and foremost it's the right thing to do, secondly we need to get back into Ebe's good books and make her feel like she did the right thing if we don't want another Blakenning or worse, a cynical/depressed birb and thirdly there might be more slavers to kill. We do need to talk to the crew about this, because we can't have them decide that they are only being payed to get us into the city and leave without us. Best we ask while the grizzly image is fresh in their minds so they feel just a little bit afraid of us, no matter how polite and non-threatening we act.

>>318171

>I think she even came a little.

>N-No I didn't!

Ebe is just too perfect.

>The Ghandharva looks at the men tossing the brigands over with hollow eyes.

As much as I wish she didn't have to see us like that, it's important she knows that vile behavior can't be tolerated. We need a one-on-one with her as soon as possible to make sure she's ok.

Of course we have to save the rugrats. Their parents almost raped/killed us but that's not their fault. When everyone wakes up we can make plans to assault the hideout. On a related note, the hippomoms deserve a knock on the head or at least a lecture from grandpa Rommel for being so shortsighted. Dum-dums almost got us all in cages.

>Sighing, you pull Dante out of your pocket…

>“Failure to do so will lead to one lucky slaver being tickled by Dante…”

>…you shatter Dante with your magic into a storm of particles…

I see Donte is having an identity crisis.

>We finally learn why Tabitha has serious hydrophobia

>It’s due to a mixture between PTSD, Survivor Guilt and potentially her blaming herself for making the mistake that ended up costing her father’s life

I’m not sure whether to be happy or depressed at this revelation. Poor Tabitha. At least she finally got that off her chest after approximately 35 years of bottling it up, as little help as that may be in the long run. Best if we keep this to ourselves, seeing as she trusted us enough to tell us.

>>318171

It’s kind of hard to do anything when you’re asleep, so definitely finish with the whole resting thing first. When we eventually awaken, be it by our own volition or because another party member walked into the room to get us up which could be rather awkward given our position, wake up Tabitha if she isn’t already awake and go find the others, party members and Hippos alike, to bring to some location on the boat to discuss the situation of the kidnapped children, because there’s no way in hell that we’re going to just ignore this issue and move on without acting. Also, make sure to pick up our staff from Sophie while we do this.

The hostage situation can be broken down into two smaller problems that we need to deal with, the first being how to actually get to the bandit hideout, because the search parties that are likely to be sent out aren’t going to bring the children with them and thus we have to go to the base of operations if we want any success. I don’t think our crew gives a shit about saving some random children, let alone the children of the monsters that just tried to kill them, when the risks are high and the reward is effectively non-existent for them, so we can’t really rely on them to get us there, though we can at least get them to wait for us to do the deed ourselves seeing as they still aren’t going to be moving for a while due to injuries and how they are possibly being paid more than normal by Kuhalik to smuggle us. Sure, we could try to convince or intimidate them into helping us, but I somehow doubt that will work. If it does, neat. If it doesn’t, then we’ll have to find another means of getting to the hideout. Perhaps we could try to man the bandit vessel if the combined numbers of our party and the Hippos is enough to operate it, or borrow one of the carrier or lifeboats a vessel of such size likely has stored somewhere to get there? In any case, we need to figure this out before going any further.

The second problem is what the hell we actually do once we’re there, because running in gung-ho is only going to get the lives of the Hippo children threatened, along with whoever else may be held hostage in there, and we know nothing about our opponent so it will end in disaster, much like how a lack of information lead to us nearly dying and Sylphie taking a magitek rifle shot for us in the encounter with the Quicksands. Granted there isn’t much to discuss here as we don’t know nearly enough about the destination to plan out an infiltration just yet, but we could at least spitball ideas for how to deal with certain scenarios, like using the [Gilly Potion] for underwater access.

Other than discussing all this, there isn’t much else that can be done at the moment so I guess just talk with the others to pass the time before setting off.

>>318180

>I think you kind of let down on the crazy aspect to our massacre that sounded so appealing.

For good reason, it wouldn’t make sense because we’re not an edgelord and have never shown signs of enjoying the act, only variable levels of disgust. Hell, recently we’ve been going further in the opposite direction, such as how we decided to go with admonishment against Lady Aliph’s group rather than just killing them when we would have been rightly justified doing so given their actions against us. Why would we suddenly do a 180?

>Story continue

{Is she snuggling his arm?}

{Oh my Gods, I think she is.}

{I kind of want to leave them like this, it seems so… so strange.}

{But it's adorable too! Oh, I kind of wish I could do that though.}

{Sylphie, please he's- Oh shit, I think he can hear us!}

{What? Erwin damnit you said this was secure!}

{Well I thought it was but- fuck, he's waking up.}

Your eyes flutter open at the sudden noise in your head. It sounded like Sylphie and Erwin arguing about something but… eh it must have just been a dream you guess. Blinking your eyes again, you make to sit up when you notice something wrapped around your arm. Looking down, it takes you a few moments to realize what it is.

Laying down beside you on the little excuse for a bed is Tabitha, her arm hugging yours close to her chest. She stirs as you move and her own eyes flutter open. A little drool coming from the corner of her mouth, she looks up at you in surprise and blinks twice before her eyes go wide. She inhales sharply and pulls away from you, sitting up on the bed and looking at you with shock.

A snicker comes from over near the door and both of you turn your heads to see Sylphie standing in the doorway with Erwin next to her, snickering. As soon as she catches your gaze she stands up straight and says, "Ah! Good morning!"

"W-What are you two doing in here?" Tabitha stutters, doing her best to get control of herself. It's… actually kind of cute to see her flustered like this.

It's Sylphie's turn to look surprised and she hesitates before shaking her head and saying, "You know, this was my room first."

"That doesn't- ughh." Tabitha shakes her head and takes a deep breath before her usual, stern demeanor comes over her face. "Is it morning then?"

"Well, I just said that, but yes, it is." Sylphie raises a hand and then makes a face before inhaling. "Ugh, stupid… boats… stupid… stomach."

Nodding your head at Erwin's sending, you say to Tabitha, doing your best not to act… well, shocked at the situation you're in. "Erwin says it is morning, the crew is getting ready to shove off."

"Yes, that." Sylphie sighs. "Sophie made breakfast, figured you two would want some after ah…?"

"Please, you're a Cat o'Ninetails, use your nose." Tabitha hisses.

Sylphie mock winces, "Okay, okay! Sorry, sorry." She gives an apologetic smile to Tabitha who frowns at her. "W-Well anyway, the Hippogirls are awake and the Captain is getting the men in order. Looks like we'll be in shape to head to the capital." She sighs, "A shame about those kids though, at least we know where they are."

"A shame huh." You say, expression darkening. Tabitha regards you with a serious expression and asks,

"Rommel, you're not thinking about…?"

"I am thinking about it." You say, nodding your head. "But nothing is decided, let's get breakfast first."

"Fair enough." Tabitha says, rising from the bed before looking down at herself and her light clothing. She sniffs and makes to get fully dressed while mussing with her hair. As she does so, Sylphie walks over and asks,

"Hey, what DID you two do last night to make her so peppy?"

"You could just ask mentally." You whisper. "And nothing, she just… opened up to me is all."

"Wow, my nose must be broken because-"

You wave her away with your staff and she giggles before wincing and rubbing her shoulder. "Fine, fine, I get it." The Cat o'Ninetails says. Tabitha gives her an odd look and she waves to the Lizardman before walking out of the room. Erwin stays however and looks between the two of you before giving his fox grin.

{Beat it furball.} You send.

{Yeah, yeah.} He sends back, heading out the door. He pauses at the threshold and sends, {You should talk with the bird, she's a little… out of it after last night.} With that he leaves the two of you alone.

Rubbing at the side of your head, you sigh and say, "Sorry about that, it seems their minds are overactive. I didn't mean to put you in such an odd position."

"I'm the one in the odd position?" She asks, quirking an eyebrow at you before cocking her head and then smiling, "Ah, I suppose it wasn't what either of us are expected to do. Sorry about that I-"

"No, no it's nothing." You say, holding up a hand. "Besides, it's good to see you back to your old self."

Tabitha pauses and looks down at herself before blinking in surprise. "Huh I… didn't realize I was…" She shakes her head and sighs, "I guess maybe I did just need a good night's sleep." Looking up at you she smiles, "And I guess getting that weight off my chest…. Thanks."

"You're over your fear then?"

>>318480

"Oh Gods no, it's taking all my will not to just curl into a ball again but…but I think I'll be alright. At least until we can reach dry land." She gives you a shaky smile, "Don't tell anyone about this though. I have an image to keep up."

"Well, I won't but Erwin is a notorious gossip."

Both of you chuckle at that, although you know damn well that he has Sylphie as a mouthpiece anyway. It is what it is you suppose.

The two of you finish getting prepared and head to the galley to find it empty again save for Sophie and a surly looking man standing behind her with a lump the size of an orange on his head. The former hums while stirring a pot and sprinkling a little something into it while the latter mutters to himself. At your entry, Sophie looks up and appraises the two of you in a split second before smiling and waving.

"Well good morning you too. I see you're feeling better Tabitha?"

"Marginally." She says. "Is this the chef?"

"Oh, aye, I was." The man says in reasonable Deleorian. "But the girl here is taking mah job. No one wants mah cooking anymore."

"Oh hush now, they like it well enough, you just need to add some salt every now and then."

"But nowan's ever given me a flowa and complimented mah cooking."

"Well, maybe you should grow a pair of tits and a spine if you want to be fawned over so much." Sophie says in her normal cadenence before humming again, leaving the man blinking in surprise. She looks back up at the two of you and says, "Breakfast?"

"Uh… yeah." You say, the two of you receiving what appears to be a porridge and some eggs. Eating the meal, Sophie tells you about the situation with the crew and the Hippogirls. Apparently they're awake now and they were certainly hungry. Some of the sailors who were late to breakfast complained that they were petetioning the captain to take them to the brigand's hideout, but he was having none of it.

"Yes, it's all quite sad, but what are we to do?" Sophie sighs. "The Captain has made up his mind on this, and as our dear chef says-"

[My ship is my woman and I'll steer her how I please.] The chef says in Ectrian. You frown at him while Sophie and Tabitha shrug, not understanding. Very well then, you guess you'll have a word with the Captain.

Finishing your meal, you ask Sophie and Tabitha to meet you on deck in abit. Tabitha reaches for your arm on reflex as you pass, but stops and shakes her head, taking a deep breath and nodding without immediately following. You feel a little bad leaving her alone to finish up, but she has Sophie and you really need to get moving before you miss your chance. Heading upstairs, you wince at the sudden sunlight.

Putting your hand down from shading the bright sun, you look about and see weary men going about their work, and notice that the boat is once again moving. Looking at the side of the craft, you notice as well that the brigand's ship is lashed to the one you're on, the smaller vessel moving down the river without any problems as the larger vessel sails.

As you look at the smaller ship you pause as you notice Ebe sitting on the railing, kicking her feet over the side while humming to herself. Though you can't tell from behind, it feels a little… melancholic. Turning your gaze to the Captain, who is giving orders to his crew near the foredeck while the Hippogirls try to talk with him, you figure you have some time to speak with her.

Ebe turns as you get near, your footsteps betraying your presence. She gives a wan smile and says, "Oh, morning Rommel. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough I suppose." You say. "Yourself?"

"Aha, well… not so much. I tried but I was a little on edge after everything."

Nodding your head you look out at the banks of the river and sigh. "This is about what I did to those bandits, isn't it?"

>>318481

"Huh? Oh! No! No it… it isn't…" Ebe says before trailing off. Drawing her lips into a line, she looks off to the side and says, "I know why you did it, it just seems so… cruel, in a way."

"You remember what Nane did to us, how forgiveness could have gotten us killed more than once."

"Yes! I know, I know! I just! Agggh!" Ebe says, throwing up a wing. "I know why we fight, hells I know why I FOUGHT. Because sometimes it’s the only thing we can do, but it doesn't make it RIGHT!" Lowering her wing, she sighs and looks at you, "Does it?"

You're not certain how to answer that question. Or more precisely, you know exactly how to answer that question, but not how she WANTS you to answer that question. Mulling it about for a moment you decide to answer straight and true. "Ebe, they needed to die, for our safety and the safety of those they may have hurt in the future. Slavers don't deserve a second chance Ebe, they'll just keep doing what they've been doing, hurting others for their own gain until someone stops them."

Gritting your teeth, you hiss out, "They'll even stoop so low as to abduct children for their ends."

Ebe looks at you with a sad expression. "Rommel…"

"We'll do what we can when we can do it." You say, looking down at her. "I'm sorry you had to see that, but such vile behavior cannot be tolerated any longer. I won't see anyone else I care about get hurt because of people like that."

Her eyes go wide and she looks down again before nodding her head and saying, "I don't know if I agree completely but… I understand." Looking back up, she smiles with a more genuine look, "Thanks Rommel."

"I'm not really certain what I did." You say, smirking.

"Well, for one you've proven you're not some kind of psychopath." She chuckles. "Probably."

"Probably." You chuckle in reply, though you do feel a little worried about doing so for some reason. Taking a steadying breath you say to her, "Come on, I need to speak with the Captain and I'd like everyone present."

"For what?" She asks, cocking her head.

"You'll see."

As you approach the Captain, he and the Hippogirls turn to meet you, all of them nodding their heads… at Ebe

[Thank you for helping us, fair Ghandharva.] He says to her, bowing.

Ebe blushes and waves a wing, [Oh, you are too kind.]

[What do we owe this pleasure?]

[Rommel… this Wizard here has a request.]

The Captain stands straight and regards you before nodding his head. [I am told you aided us as well? Rid us of the brigands too.]

Ebe nods at you and she translates for you. "Yes, but not before they told us where their hideout is, and where they are keeping the children."

[Our babies!] The lead Hippogirl says, wincing and putting a hand to her chest where her wound was. [We must go to those liars and kill them all!]

"In time." You say, holding up a hand. "Captain, I must ask, would you be willing to take this vessel toward their hideout?"

[Of course not! We are already behind and I will not lose any men to such a venture!] He says, looking outraged.

"What if it wasn't your men? What if it was my group and these Hippogirls?"

[No! If I did not deliver you, then Kuhalik would have my balls in his jar!]

"In his… jar? Ah, nevermind." You say shaking your head. "Captain, one of the men mentioned as well that their friends might coming looking for them and attack this vessel."

He frowns and sniffs, [Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't. We will have to defend this ship if they do.]

"Your crew is in no shape for that and you know it. A preemptive strike would leave you with little in the way of loss and if Kuhalik asks, we went off on our own." Leaning forward you say, "I just need you to get us to where we can reach the hideout and wait a day at most. If we're not back by then you can assume us dead and leave. If we return, then we'll hand over the treasure they're sure to have."

Ebe blinks and looks at you with surprise as she finishes translating while the Captain rubs his chin. Pursing his lips he then looks at you with a critical eye and says, [I will not get my ship down that small tributary. However… if you could crew that smaller vessel then we can wait for you to return. I suppose we could make up the time somehow…]

>>318482

Nodding your head, you turn as the Hippogirls look at you with surprise and thanks. One of them even looks a little surprised! Before saying anything more, the rest of your group arrives and stands around you as you address them and explain what you plan to do.

"So, you want to go to this Brigand's hideout and rescue the Hippogirl children?" Sophie asks, giving you a quizzical expression. "And this will set us how far behind?"

"I'm not certain. Hopefully it will be quick." You say, being honest.

She sighs and shakes her head, "Rommel, we've had too many distractions as it is! We can't afford this!"

Tabitha steps forward. "While I agree on one hand, on the other hand, the possibility of being attacked is a heavy one. We may not get so lucky the next time so I vote for going after them instead."

Sylphie looks down and says, "I… agree with Sophie. I feel bad for those children but Rommel, we're so behind as it is and if we miss this boat again we're in trouble. Mom and Dad…"

With two votes for and two against, everyone looks to Ebe. The native Ectrian looks at the two Cat o'Ninetails and gulps before looking to you. She looks into your eyes for a long moment before taking in a deep breath and standing up straight. "I understand the worry about time, however these people are a blight upon Ectria. If we can stop them here, then I vote we save those children."

The twins look at each other with surprise before looking back to Ebe. They give her appraising looks and when she turns her cool expression on them they both stand a little straighter themselves. Sophie sighs and shakes her head."Alright… alright, if you feel that way about it… I guess its settled."

Ebe nods and tells this to the Captain. The man groans and then gives some orders to the men present. As he does so the lead Hippogirl walks up and presses you into her chest as she hugs with enough force to crack your spine. Thankfully she doesn't and you're able to pull yourself away from her soft, yet firm, embrace with only mild shooting pain. She smiles and says, [Thank you. We are so sorry for before, we were so scared and blind in anger.]

[It's fine just… think things through.] You reply in grunts.

[Yes! Ah, by the way, my name is Huma.] She introduces the others as well and they also give apologies though you allow no hugs from them, even the one who tried to rape you. Okay, especially not her, though she does look very apologetic.

With that settled, your group goes to make preparations. As it turns out, no one knows how to operate a boat, not even the Hippogirls, who offered to push you anyway. A few of the crew, despite their captain's look of disapproval, offer to help you, feeling bad for the Hippogirls despite the attack as well as a thank you for Sophie's cooking. Although the way you see some of them looking at the Monsters, you begin to wonder if that's their only motive…

It's about mid afternoon by the time you reach the tributary and everyone is loaded onto the smaller vessel. It's maybe a quarter of the size of the large cargo ship, but it seats everyone comfortably and has a secondary deck, though it's only got a small cargo room underneath which is bare of anything of value beyond rope and nets.

The Captain warns all of you to be back on time before the sailors cast your group off, fighting the current to get into the smaller river. They manage it with skill born of years of sailing this river (and the Hippogirls pushing some as they swim alongside) and you're off.

The landscape around this smaller set of water is about the same as with the original river: grasses and small shrubs lining the nearby areas of the river while farther out the desert begins to creep back in. The difference here is that in the distance you can see a series of hills or rocky outcroppings where the smaller river is heading toward. Your money is that this hideout is in there somewhere…

You have to fight against the current in some places, making the journey toward the hideout slower than you'd like. Again, the Hippogirls are a great help, their strength and water skills allowing you to push forward despite some hardships, but it's already getting dark by the time the hills get closer in view. One of the Hippogirls who ranged forward returns and tells you to anchor the vessel.

>>318483

Confused, the crew does so and the Hippo boards with surprising skill, informing you what she's seen ahead. Apparently, the river begins to split into smaller offshoots which go to various places between the rocks. Some of them dead end into little pools while others head into caves. While swimming, she noticed a man sitting near one of the caves, a bored expression on his face as he hid in the near darkness, watching for anyone coming. While avoiding attention, she swam forward and into the cave he was protecting to find a surprisingly large lake where two small vessels, and one larger river boat about double the size of your current vessel, were moored.

From what she could see, there were maybe twenty brigands- male, female, and Monster around the boats, with various tunnels heading further into the caves. When pressed, she mentioned ancient ectrian pillars around the makeshift dock as well as other carvings which marked it as an old ruin turned hideout for these thieves.

Many of the tunnels she saw ran in various directions all around the docks, though most were near the larger, and likely "flagship" vessel she mentioned, where most of the brigands were present. Some of the smaller tunnels didn't even appear lit either. To her dismay, she was unable to see the children, but was forced to leave as she sensed that something else was in the water with her, though she didn't stick around to find out what.

As night begins to close around you, you're a good half hour away by foot. You could get closer and risk the sentry as well, but then comes the issue of getting into the well-lit cave and then further into the complex. And what exactly did this Boss of theirs hold in store for you as well? From all you know, she too is a Lamia though if she possesses magic that's something you'd have to prepare for. At least when asked, the Hippogirl didn't see anything resembling a magitek rifle, though you'd still want to be careful.

Conferring with your cautious group and the eager Hippogirls, you formulate a plan on how to get in and get the girls without- or perhaps with- ending the brigands who haunt these waters.

>What do you do?

>>318484

Well, guess you're going after them girls. You got quite the task ahead of you though, so how are you going to do it? And what is in that water…?

>>318484

Cave right? Meaning naturally echoey?

Double amplify the shit out of Ebe and let her knock them all out. Water conducts sound as well so whatever is hiding down below should also be affected by it. For good measure throw a bunch of lightning in the water to fry her

>>318491

I like it. Send in some golems to scout beforehand and use <Vox Caster> to be extra thorough.

>>318480

At this stage I think Sophie is the only female in the party which isn't obviously wanting Rommel's dick. Since we've got her twin that is close enough anyway.

But there can be only one. This isn't really the time, but after we deal with the hippo girls we should ask what Ebe said to us in bed while in the village with the cultists. It was probably something fairly important, and Ebe didn't seem to realise we didn't hear any of it, so we should address that.

In regards to the cave we should definitely scout ahead, maybe find some vantage points where we can get the jump on them.

>>318484

>>318491

>>318502

Super nap time sounds like an awesome plan.

>>318480

>She inhales sharply and pulls away from you, sitting up on the bed and looking at you with shock.

>>318481

>Tabitha reaches for your arm on reflex as you pass, but stops and shakes her head, taking a deep breath and nodding without immediately following.

Oh what all this then? Have we bypassed something?

>>318483

<Voting…

We didn't ask Alice, Erwin or Mr.Ed!

>>318491

Yes… very echoey and very old. One hopes you don't cause partial cave-ins…

>>318508

The only one not vocal about it in any case…

And vantage points may be hard to come by without being in the water- they do have a fairly clear view of who comes in and out of the cave via the waterways.

>>318634

Maybe you're looking too much into it, she very well could have been caught off guard by Sylphie's presence! And maybe she just was afraid and you were present to act as that pillar and when you left some of the fear came back?

>>318634

Erwin will follow your commands and so will Mr. Ed with Sylphie.

Actually, where did Alice go? She chose not to be present it seems but she cared little otherwise/ head was killing her. I didn't find her input important/forgot to include it.

>You wave her away with your staff and she giggles before wincing and rubbing her shoulder.

>Meanwhile, in the last update…

>Looking down at all the food, you manage to hold it all, though Sophie takes your staff from you.

We never got our staff back before sleeping, so I don’t know how we suddenly have it here.

>>318484

We have two objectives this mission: rescue the children and ensure that the bandits are unable to attack us for the rest of our journey to the capital, be it by killing them all or dealing a large enough blow to stop such an action from occurring such as by destroying their boats. The latter objective we can worry about later, since the former takes priority right now.

Before anything else, we need to actually get inside the hideout, preferably without being spotted so we can get into a better position before doing anything else as otherwise we’re ineffective. Entering via the guarded cave by land isn’t a viable option since it’s bright enough for anyone trying to sneak in to be spotted immediately, so that leaves entering via swimming since the boat would obviously be spotted, trying to find another entrance in one of the many caves dotted around the area that may connect to the hideout or taking the hidden third option of making our own entrance via tunnelling with [Trench] into one of the many unlit tunnels inside mentioned in the scout’s report. Since the water is occupied by some being and at least two of our party members should ideally avoid going near the water, and we don’t really have the time to spare searching for another entrance due to it already being twilight hours and us having to make the journey back, I’m going to advocate for the tunnelling option, especially since the bandits have no reason to expect a magic user, let alone a Wizard with Geomancy, to be infiltrating their base.

Once inside, I recommend we sneak around the area, keeping to those unlit tunnels and having Sylphie use [Trick of the Light] to avoid detection, and look for clues to the whereabouts of the kidnapped children, be it in the form of eavesdropped conversations between bandits, metal crates being transported somewhere or whatever else raises flags for us. The likelihood is that the children are being held in either one of the side tunnels or one of the boats, as they would have been seen in any other location and I doubt the bandits would have transported them outside of the hideout when they still may be in use as hostages against the Hippos, so pay attention to those areas in particular. Once we have a vague idea of where our marks are being held, start heading towards that location. If they are in the tunnels, we should be able to get to them without raising the alarm easily enough in the same way we entered, so secure them and get them safely outside before moving on to the second objective. If they are on any of the boats, then we don’t have much choice but to go loud before saving them unless we can somehow sneak onto the boats directly from the water, in which case do that.

In terms of actions to take when assaulting the bandits, what >>318491 suggests should work wonders here, since it would take down the bandits which may be hiding inside the boats or in the side tunnels and we wouldn’t have to worry too much about the eluded partial cave-ins at this point due to us and Sylphie having Geomancy, allowing the two of us to deal with any collapsing ceilings, and the children either being safe with us or safe? inside one of the boats, thus protected from being crushed, so consider doing that along with setting up a [Privacy Barrier] for to protect ourselves of course. Depending on the type of light sources the bandits are using, we could also try using [Gust] to put out said light sources and plunge the cave into darkness, thus leading to massive confusion and disorientation from the bandits, though this could backfire on us if we aren’t careful. Assuming the children are safe with us and are not being held on one of the boats, another possibility is to torch said boats with a few [Fireball]s to further add to what the low number of remaining bandits have to deal with, so consider doing that as well. In any case, focus on saving the children and getting them to safety if we haven’t already.

Other than all that, consider leaving someone behind to look after the boat in our absence, because the last thing we need is for our ride back to Kuhalik’s men to be stolen or damaged in some fashion while we were gone -- one of the Hippos should suffice for this role. It might also be worthwhile bringing the [Oculus of Henhotep] with us to read any of the markings around the place seeing as we’re entering some ruins, but rescuing the children obviously takes priority here.

Sorry, no update today. Partially because I was going to skip saturday, partially because I was asked to play overwatch, and partially because I'm just really tired. Sorry guys.

>>318929

Your staff is always with you, so why would you think about it otherwise? The only logical conclusion is that Sophie put it in there after you fell asleep…

Anyone else for tunneling? Cause that will be… important to know. Got an extra day to cast your votes/ plan more.

>When you weren't going to make an update but writefag delays

It's a good feeling.

>What do you do?

What >>318929 said about tunnelling sounds like a good idea for entry, so long as we pay attention to where we pop out. If we are doing >>318491 then make sure to protect Ebe from ranged attacks and those running towards her, because back in Hatset she nearly died to the demon-thing while in process of singing and we need to avoid similar complications here. See if we can't snipe the leader with a rock or something before doing this though.

Be wary of the thing in the water too, because it could be leviathan or something else extremely dangerous for all we know. It's not like water type or depth has stopped certain monsters from appearing before, what with the large lobster appearing in the smallish freshwater river back in the first quest.

>Story continue

The game plan is simple. You go in via tunneling magic into the complex and send out <Vox Caster> golems to project sound from Ebe to put everyone to sleep. Once that's done, you get in and grab the children and leave before anyone is the wiser. Get back to the boat and no one should get hurt with this course of action.

Easy enough, and should be minimal casualties on your side. However this may lead to minimal casualities for the bandits but… perhaps that's for the best. If you should have to cut some down, then that's not the end of the world, though that thought does give you some pause with how nonchalant you are about it.

Though you'd rather leave them for such a mission, the Hippogirls would not be denied coming with you. Infact, they threatened to finish the job if you wouldn't take them. The only compromise they would make is to have the one who tried to rape you (who is unmarried, you've come to find out) would stay on the boat and make sure the men don't leave you. They don't seem particularly offended about this though, seeming to acknowledge that they're smugglers and have a low trust threshold.

You also would have liked to leave Sylphie behind, but her arguments about needing her magic were just too strong. Maybe if Mr. Ed was present you could get her to stay, but sadly the horse just wasn't going to fit on this boat, much to his annoyance. His snort as you passed by him while leaving made it damn clear that she wasn't allowed to be hurt again, EVER.

With the part set as Sylphie, of course Sophie, Tabitha, Ebe, Erwin, the Hippogirls, and yourself, the boat seems almost necessary. But it was decided as well to leave it- the attention would be unwarranted and whatever was in the water there may make it impossible to get out without an issue. So on foot is it, with the Hippogirls swimming ahead.

Walking through the grasses in the nighttime desert, your group is oddly silent. The only noise heard is the clinking of metal, the rustle of clothing, and the shifting of grass. Occasionally you hear a critter dash about as well, but generally speaking you move with stealth, guided by the two Cat o'Ninetails and their acute night vision. It's one of the surprising common times you're glad Alice isn't present- could she have kept quiet?

Well, it's a shame to think that way. She was too tired from her wound to come with you, which would explain why she wasn't present for your vote. Not that you think she would have voted against Tabitha anyway, but you wonder how helpful her blade would have been in this situation. Given the tight corridors your might be facing it's actually doubtful that another sword would have been useful as it stands. Best that she gathers her strength and isn't just trying to have an orgy with all the sailors.

Shaking your head, you dispel the though. Slut she may be, but she seemed genuine about thinking about her future… besides not even she could satisfy that many men in her condition… right? Shuddering at this thought, you don't notice Sophie stop and raise a hand until Tabitha drags you down into the tall grass.

"Sentries." She hisses, and points ahead.

Blinking, you look through the grass to see the vague form of something sitting on the rocks in the distance. It's likely the man described by the Hippogirls. Sitting out, alone, in the middle of the open is a strange place for a sentry, especially as he has no light. How was he supposed to see anyone coming or report in time to let anyone know about it? Is it just to spook people from coming too close? Anyone who really wanted in though would find a way you assume so… why is he there?

"Should we shoot him?" You ask in a low voice.

Tabitha cocks her head and then shakes it. "No, it's too far in the dark. If you had multiple shots you could make it, but even with Sylphie's guidance you might not hit. Best to get close."

"What is Sylphie makes the shot?" You ask, looking to the Cat o'Ninetails.

>>319119

Sylphie's ear twitches and she turns to you before wincing. "I don't think I could… I'm sorry."

Grunting at your forgetfulness, you nod your head and say, "Of course. Sorry."

"Well, what should we do then?" She asks.

You think to answer her when Sophie hisses, "So that's how they're doing it…"

Everyone looks to her and she nods forward. Turning your gaze to the blurry sentry you see something else in the darkness next to him. You're unable to get a clearer picture though of what it is though due only possessing human eyesight. The way that both Sophie and Sylphie get agitated though certainly makes you on edge until Sylphie hisses, "It's another Catgirl. The man is a decoy."

"Eh?" You say, blinking in surprise. "Another desert Catgirl?"

"Shhh!" She hisses. Ears twitching back and forth she waits before sighing, "Yes, hiding in the bushes. May be more than one."

"How do we stop her?"

Sophie looks at you and then asks, "Permission to use my tails, sir?"

Blinking, you nod to her and say, "You are authorized to use your tails to take out the sentries." Smirking then, you add, "Any objections, lady?"

Sophie rolls her eyes and sheds her robes, revealing the tight fighting outfit underneath the color of night. Of course, the usefulness of such a thing is limited as it still shows off her midriff and thighs, but hey, let her do what she wants. Tails springing to life behind her, she crouches low into the grass and hisses before moving silently through.

Sidling up to Sylphie, you watch her move her hear, ears twitching madly as she tries to follow her sister. You're unable to see or hear anything in that darkness and it once again reminds you just how different humans and Monsters can be. Thinking on this it reminds you of the Monsters in the water and you cock your head to regard the river. What are the Hippogirls doing anyway?

Sylphie tenses and you regard her strangely until you notice the source of her tension. The figure in the distance is standing up, pointing at the water and shouting something. The river ripples and from it emerges an angry Hippogirl who charges at the man. He cries out but is unable to stop her and she cuts off his screams quickly as her strength bowls him over.

"Shit, this isn't quiet anymore." Tabitha growls, hand on her sword. "We have to get the other sentry before she warns them."

Nodding, you rush out toward the grass where the other sentry is hiding, trying to sense her movements with [Survey], but you're unable to reach out far enough. Which means she's gotten away from you or-

The grass some distance ahead of you shakes violently as something dashes through it. Glinting in the moonlight you see blades in the darkness as Sophie dashes through the low brush. Her quarry appears dashing from foliage ahead to vanish again while Sophie appears a moment later. As the rest of you close in a violent tussle happens in the bushes followed by almost feral cat levels of screeching before… nothing.

Tabitha reaches them first, her legs carrying her forward with blinding speed now that she doesn't need to use stealth and she stops, allowing the rest of you to catch up without issue. Sighing out in relief, you see Sophie emerge from the brush a moment later, grin on her face(though she sports a few scratches) as she says, "Got her."

Looking down you see a the Desert Catgirl restrained with her tails, the brigand squirming with some panic as she looks up at her captor. Sophie gives her a wicked grin and puts a finger to her lips, though this is moot as one tail is in her mouth and another is pointed at her throat. Her captive wimpers and looks down.

Heavy footsteps sound behind you and you see the Hippogirls behind you. Huma grunts in annoyance, [There was another one, huh?] Nodding to one of the others, she walks up to Sophie and grabs the Catgirl, forcing Sophie to let her go, lest she lose a tail. The Catgirl tries to shout but a hand clamps over her mouth and she squirms unsuccessfully as the Hippo leaps into the water with her before you can stop her.

"Holy hells!" You utter in shock. "What are you doing?"

The lead Hippogirl blinks at you, not understanding Deleorian, of course, and returns to the water, the others following her. You stand there in shock for a moment before Sophie stands up, takes her robe from Sylphie, folds it up, and puts it away. She then sighs and continues onward to the hideout. The rest of you look between each other but come to the conclusion that there isn't much else you can do about it. These Hippogirls are going to be the death of you.

>>319120

It's a little while before you see the cave network appear before you. The opening of the cave through which the water flows is smaller than expected, and you can't see any light coming through it, making you wonder how long the waterway is before reaching the hideout… and how much solid stone you'll have to tunnel through.

The Hippogirls rejoin you (sans Catgirl, whom you'd rather not think about), afraid to go further in the water. When asked what it is in there, they refuse to answer, though you suspect they don't know themselves. Seeing as you're not going to go in through the front, they don't want to fuck with that thing. As it stands, you won't be able send in scouts until the tunnel is finished.

Moving forward, you listen for sounds coming from the cave but don't hear anything. Making sure no one else is present with a [Survey], you and Sylphie make it to the rock and begin to get a feel for what you're looking at. As you feared, it's solid rock, thick and dense. Tunneling through this is going to take some time, even with Sylphie's help.

Turning to her, you ask, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Rommel, please. I was just shot, it's not that big a deal." She flashes you a smirk before wincing and rubbing her shoulder.

Sighing, you begin to [Trench] and she follows suit, carving a large enough hole in the stone to let you through. And thus begins the process of tunneling. And tunneling. And more tunneling.

"Did I mention I hate this?" Sylphie sighs, reinforcing the rocks again.

"Yes, my dear sister, but it's at least above ground." Sophie says, shaking her head. "Honestly, why even pick up the magic if you're going to complain."

"Oh hah hah, you complain when your make-up isn't right." Sylphie counters, to which Sophie frowns and is about to say something when Tabitha interjects in a cool voice.

"Girls. You're both annoying."

"Yes Tabitha…" They say in unison.

Rolling your eyes, you [Survey] again to find that, after what seems to be an eternity, you reach the actual tunnels. Unable to feel anything further out, you take what info you can get and relay it to Sylphie who nods with renewed vigor. Tunneling forward, you stop just feet shy of the opening to one of the other tunnels. Using your magic, you find no one present in the admittedly small corridor. The Cat o'Ninetails forms a small hole for you and you put your golems through as well as Erwin to scout things out. If only you could see through the Golems… but oh well, Erwin can direct things well enough.

Following his signature, the Golems, Babyface and Greg who you rigged up with an [Arc Node] fairly quickly, keep pace with the fox. The rest of you just sit and wait as the golems scout through. You ping the area with [Survey] every now and then, getting a good sense of the place for later reference, but Erwin is a better guide. He sends for you to stop every now and then, sniffing ahead and going forward.

So far no one is present in these small tunnels and in places they're collapsed in from year of disuse. You begin to fear that you may never find anything when Erwin sends, {Wait… what's that sound?}

Frowning, you send your mind to see through Erwin's eyes and hear what he's talking about. Shouting, a lot of shouting and… is that metal clashing? You make to pull away when Erwin's urgency forces you to the back of his mind. You hear the sound of feet dashing on the floor and you watch as a group of brigands run past on alert, weapons drawn.

Confused, you pull back to yourself and send, {What's going on?}

{Sounds like a battle to me. But who is attacking them?}

{I have no idea.} You send, looking over at the Hippogirls. Unless more of them appeared from somewhere, you don't know who would be attacking although…

{The Royal Guard?!} You send back, worried.

{Maybe?} Erwin sends, worried. {But if they're here, then we may have a shot at going through and getting those kids without any trouble afterall. I doubt they'd keep guards on them when they need to fight!}

Thinking this over, you relay the information to the others. Tabitha grits her teeth, "How long were we tunneling? Must have been for quite some time for another group to come in behind and attack them."

"We did take out the sentries, poor though they were." Sophie says, holding up a finger.

[What is everyone saying?] Huma says, agitated. [Why are we waiting still?]

Ignoring her, you return to Erwin and send, {Go, scout it out and see what the commotion is.}

He moves out and you wait a tense few minutes until Erwin sends, {It's… not the Royal Guard. It's… Rommel, I think those are cultists!}

>>319121

Cultists? Violet Sands cultists, here? But… wait a second. That man mentioned that the Violet Sands were causing trouble for these bandits. But why? Why would they attack them and how unlucky are you that they're attacking now?

{They came in via some small boats. I can see men, women, and Monsters fighting them but it's a standstill. No sign of the boss I don't think and-} He cuts off for a moment before continuing. {Rommel, that thing in the water. It's a monster.}

{Huh? Like what kind.}

{No, not the kind with breasts, the ancient kind. I saw a man fall into the water and large jaws grabbed him and pulled him down. Holy hells, these things DO exist still.}

{Alright, we're going to sing and stop all of this, give us a second to get this ready.} Casting an, [Amplify] as well as a [Privacy Barrier], you get Babyface in place as Ebe readies to sing. Once again you watch as her silent words play through the barrier, shielding you from her [Lullaby]. Erwin feeds you information on how it's working, you having put a barrier on him as well to keep him from hearing the dread effects.

{I think it's working!} He sends. {They're getting sloppy and confused, though some of them look afraid for some reason. Maybe they've figured out what's going on, although for the life of me I can't tell why the ground is shaking.}

Ground… shaking? Oh hells. You quickly shut off your amplify and shake Ebe, breaking her out of her song. She looks at you with a dazed expression and you turn your attention back to the Golems, feeling everything around with [Survey].

"Oh hells." You whisper to yourself. You made the [Amplify] too powerful, and the Audiomancy mixed with the natural acoustics rocked the ancient cave with sound that shook the very foundations. Unfortunately these foundations in some places are beginning to collapse.

{GET OUT OF THERE} You send to Erwin with panic. The emotions of the little fox race as he and your golems run back down the tunnel. Your survey shows the rock breaking around you and you're not able to form a strong enough connection through the [Arc Node] in order to stem the tide with your magic. The tunnel collapses around you and Babyfaceis crushed ironically by granite, severing your connection, while Greg and Erwin make it to where the cave-in stops.

{I'm fine, I'm… fine.} Erwin sends, his mental tone tired. {Gods, what the hells. I didn't expect that to happen!}

{I should have. Damnit. Just get into a side tunnel and stay safe, okay?}

{Right… right…} Erwin sends. He doesn't feel hurt over the connection but he has to be scared.

Relaying the information to the others, the Hippogirls become very, very irate. Huma shouts, [WHAT? IS MY BABY HURT?!]. She grabs you by the lapels in the small tunnel and shakes you as she shouts, [LET US OUT NOW OR I BREAK YOUR SPINE!]

Well shit. If you let her out, she's going to rampage down the tunnels, destroying any further chance at stealth. If you don't, she's going to kill you unless you do something about it. This is not according to plan at all. You were supposed to have located the children by now damnit! Even sending Erwin out now, you're not going to get info in time before the Hippogirls have to be dealt with and then there's the matter of what's going on with the Cultists vs. the Brigands along with all the questions that come with the cultists even being here.

While the Hippogirl shakes you like a cocktail, you ponder this over. You should really think about,

>What do you do?

>>319122

>You lose [Granite]

Oh dear. That's not good at all. First a battle and now a cave in. The further complex should be okay since it was in the main chamber but things might be more complicated now, especially now that the Hippogirls are unmanageable.

Tunneling was a good idea but it took too long and the Violet Sands caused trouble. Probably also not that big of a problem, but the singing. As 949eba noted, reinforcing would have helped locally if Ebe was singing in the room, but the cave in would have happened and might have even trapped you in there with them. I may have misread the scouting and vox caster thing, but this is the end result anyway. I'm sure there were other ways this may have been imagined but let's see what with do with this situation.

>>319122

I call bullshit on this, I couldn't find any information about sound causing cave-ins.

>>319132

The hardness of granite can vary depending on the mineralogy of it, but typically hovers around 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, which is the same as Quartz. There would have had to have been a whole lotta shakin' goin' on to cause a cave in, unless of course there was a lot of previously existing structural weakness in the rock, like fractures and faults

>>319132

>>319141

And you'd still need a considerable amount of shaking even with those weaknesses

>>319120

we really need to get some sort of [Low-light Vision Spectacles/Goggles] at some point, or add an enchantment to the [Magesight Goggles] we already have (if that's possible and doesn't remove the [Magesight] it

>>319132

Yeah he's right, If we were capable of amplifying Ebe's music to the point it would collapse a cave system we wouldn't even need her to sing anything coherent. She'd basically be Black Canary and could pop their heads before a cave in occurs. Whatever, We can roll with it, But it should not be possible.

Stealth time is over I guess, Time to go in hot. Quickly eliminate anyone who crosses our path and stay together incase further cave ins occur. On our way out we are retrieving Babyface. No Man Left Behind

>>319165

Shit my bad, Sorry

>>319122

>[LET US OUT NOW OR I BREAK YOUR SPINE!]

Personally, I say: let them, we don't owe them anything and they're proving to be a liability and a danger to our party and their children!

There is already a lot of confusion as it is. Just remind them nor to kill or injure the cultists.

If the Hippogirls do cause trouble with the cultists; they're on their own… we don't want to piss off the cultists.

>>319132

Brittle material can fail suddenly like this, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. All it takes is one inclusion in a certain spot with the proverbial straw to break the camel's back and BANG. Fractured granite.

>>319141

Just because something is hard doesn't mean it's ductile. Nor does it say anything about a material's ability to deal with vibration. Rocks and ceramics are strong to a point, but when they fail it's going to be a brittle fracture with next to no ductile deformation. There would also be next to no warning as a result of a sudden brittle fracture as well.

>>319141

>>319142

>>319165

I apologize for when my lack of understanding leads to these things. Mostly going off tropes and other media were certain things like that can cause such problems.

I mean, I'm not (and can't) change it, and I want to see how it's handled but my bad in a way.

As apology, I wanted to get more art- I mean uh, I will commission another piece that people want to see done! Just let me know. Preferably before tonight so I can submit the request.

>>319194

Very old caverns not well maintained. Something was bound to give eventually is my rationale.

>>319176

Unlikely to run into them in large numbers since the nearest entrance to that area was closed off.

>>319210

we need art of mr ed, or maybe bubs, or maybe bubs AND mr ed

also, you forgot your name Ace-kun

>>319222

Half of that is on the way, and I had to dash back to work from lunch and forgot to add it.

>>319229

what about bubs, mr ed, and erwin doing pet familiar things together

>What do you do?

The hippos are the immediate concern, so try having Ebe pacify them down with [Dirge of the Dunes] so they feel really bad about threatening us. Failing that, just do what >>319176 says and let them run off ahead and claim they aren't with us if anyone asks, as that's a better outcome than trying to fight them. With that out of the way, check the tunnel we're in now to see if anything collapsed, removing any rubble blocking it. We kinda need the escape route ready in case shit hits the fan more than it already has.

Everyone is going to be busy dealing with the unconscious people and the cave-in, so we should still be unnoticed despite our actions. Take this opportunity to try and swipe the children from under the bandit's noses rather than fight as it's too risky to try and attack anyone right now due to us not wanting to harm the cultists. And definitely make sure to stay the fuck away from the water if at all possible.

>>319291

This is the purest relationship.

>>319291

inb4 HORSED porn

>>319122

Before anything else, the Hippos. What >>319176 and >>319289 said should suffice for dealing with them due to our limited options here, though I’ll also add having our party plug their ears so the effects of [Dirge of the Dunes] are minimised on them, casting a [Privacy Barrier] around the tunnel we’re in so no one but us and the Hippos hear Ebe play, and instructing the Hippos to stay away from the water due to that true monster currently occupying it should we let them run off so they don't get themselves killed. There’s a chance that having Ebe sing rather than letting the Hippos charge ahead immediately could piss them off further, but such a situation can quickly be diffused by opening the way to the hideout for them as requested should things get too heated, as they will quickly turn their attention to that and leave, and worst case scenario we shouldn’t have too hard of a time taking them down non-lethally due to us having a better and healthier party than previously.

The Hippo situation dealt with ideally without conflict, start making our way over to Erwin and our golems, rescuing Babyface in the process, before heading into the main chamber. In terms of how to proceed, we can either continue with the original stealth plan or reveal ourselves and charge into battle. Since we’re still not in the best position for murdering everyone, don’t actually have a good idea of what the situation outside is like and can likely abuse everyone else being distracted with the madness caused by the surprise assault and tremors, I say we go with the former, only with a little more haste now that the children may be under threat and we don’t have to tunnel any more. Stick to the darkness when applicable and use Sylphie’s [Trick of the Light] to avoid detection, a technique even more effective than when previously suggested as it’s unlikely anyone will look at our position for longer than a glance with the enemy right in front of them, and continue looking for clues to the children’s whereabouts. Also try to pay attention to what it going on with the cultists, because it helps to be aware of what we might have to deal with and we may get some clues as to why they’re here.

If we get spotted when trying to stay hidden or should we decide to reach out to the cultists for whatever reason, such as not having a choice in the matter, make sure to show the cultists [Aliph’s Sigil], as they will certainly recognise it and avoid attacking us in their own assault, thus allowing us to work together for the mutual goal of beating the shit out of the bandits and avoid having an unnecessary war on two fronts on our hands. If any of the cultists try to suggest that we’ve broken the agreement with our actions, point out how the Violet Sands was unwilling to tell us their plans due to us not joining them, thus meaning we had no way of knowing that they were also attacking this location before it was too late and have plausible deniability as a result -- hopefully they will accept this logic. When it comes to combat, focus on knocking our opponents into the water for the creature lurking within to finish them off and keeping our team well clear of said water to avoid a similar fate. Also, be ready with [Ice] and [Rock Solid] should things go wrong for us, our party members or the Hippos whom we may decide to help.

Remember that time I said I'd be filling in for raid stuff?

Yeah that was today too. I had forgotten which made the nap I took after work basically mean no update today. Really sorry to jerk y'all around recently, obligations getting in the way and I'll be out of town next saturday and sunday…

Well I guess I'll just have to stay up late tomorrow since i have tuesday off. Raid stuff ends on sunday so it's back to trying to update every other day.

I want to advance this as much as y'all do!

>>319400

Oh, additional note- The tunnel closest to you leading to the main chamber is blocked. You could probably easily remove the debris and get in there though, but unless you go around anyone you meet would be heading further into the complex. You can still totally go to the main chamber if you want, but that's not where the children are as far as you know.

>>319391

Joke has been made before.

>>319365

I thought it would be cute too! I hope whenever the next thing I had ordered gets done y'all like that too.

>>319426

>You can still totally go to the main chamber if you want, but that's not where the children are as far as you know.

>as far as you know

I'm going to regret this, but I'll advocate for ignoring the main chamber for now and heading further inside in that case. The kids are likely going to be stored somewhere convenient for the bandits and a boat is anything but convenient unless transportation is required, which it wouldn't be yet given the circumstances, so looking elsewhere is preferable here.

>Story continue

You're getting a little tired of being shaken like a sack of potatoes giving the stink eye. Sighing with frustration you channel some of your magic into the ground to throw Huma off balance and then use one of the techniques that Tabitha taught you (more like smacking her with your staff) to get her to drop you. Shaking your head, you hold the staff out at her and growl, "That's enough. We're not going to fight each other."

Stepping back with your party inside the small tunnel, the Hippogirls begin to bray, their voices echoing in the small chamber. Pulling a little father back you say to Ebe, "Sing the sad song."

"Huh? What?" She says before gulping and fumbling with her ghitar. As she begins you cast [Privacy Barrier] to shield your group. The Hippogirls grow quieter before looking between each other and then to the floor, anguish on their faces. One of them even puts their hands up to their face and begins to cry.

Braving the sorrow, you tap Ebe on the shoulder and she stops, allowing you to drop your barrier. She nods and looks to the Hippogirls who look absolutely grief stricken. With a sigh you say, [There, you calm down?]

[N-No!] Huma says, sniffling. [Our daughters might be dead and we can't do anything! It's too hot in here and it's cramped and we're useless! I just want to punch something!]

You don't catch all of that but Ebe whispers it to you, her tone sad. She gives you an uncomfortable look and you rub at your head in response. Sighing again you say, [Come. We fight. Get daughter.]

Huma sniffles and rubs at her eyes. She nods her head with resolve and you shake yours before turning around and addressing the rest of the group.

"Alright, we're going in. Let's stay away from the main area where the battle is and do not engage the cultists whatever you do." Thinking about it, you say, "Ebe, relay this to the Hippos." She does so and you turn to the wall before you. Using your magic you [Trench] the rest out, revealing an entry into the tunnel before you. Holding out a hand, the Hippogirls shuffle past you in the hallway and take deep breaths before nodding and hurrying down the way you point, away from the main chamber.

The one thing you forgot about was how fast they could run. Before you can recall them they bolt down the tunnels, feet crashing all about as they do so. Any chance at stealth is basically ruined now, though you doubt many people are still in the tunnels. Looking between the rest of your group you shrug and chase after them, Tabitha and you in the front while the others trail behind.

As you run through the path created by the Hippogirls, you send out pulses of [Survey], feeling the aftereffects of Ebe's singing. Something tells you that granite should NOT have done that, even with sufficiently loud sound, which either meant that this place was being held together with glue and dreams, or it wasn't your fault. You really doubt you'd get so lucky as to not have it be your fault, but that battle seemed fairly fierce…

Which is exactly why you're not going toward it. You'd rather not piss off the Violet Sands at the moment, and not getting involved in this fight seems like a perfect way to do that. In fact you don't see anything really in the tunnels, save for some distant echoes of shouting, for quite some time. Of course, it was only a matter of time until ahead of you a scream is heard before being cut off. Soon enough you find the source- a man dressed in motley of a brigand, his body smashed and trampled against the walls, leaving bloody streaks.

The gruesome sight is quickly left behind as you race past. Trying not to think about it, you send out a [Survey] to find that the Hippogirls are out of range of your pulses. Great… although you do feel something else and-

A spear head thrusts from a tunnel ahead of you. You choke out a cry and have your staff ready, but Tabitha seems to predict the attack. He sword flashes from her sheath faster than you can track it, the blade slicing off the spear head. She wheels upon the side tunnel, you stumbling but doing the same as three men dressed as bandits appear, two with swords and one with the broken spear. They take one look at your group, then their weapons before dropping them and bolting, screaming in panic.

>>319599

"Shit." Sophie says, crouching down, her tails whipping. "I should chase them down."

"Not worth the risk and we don't have time." Sylphie says, acting the voice of reason for once. Her sister grunts but doesn't defy it, heading with the rest of you through the tunnels as the men's voices fade into the tunnels before becoming inaudible. Or well, you think it's inaudible until Sophie hisses,

"Damnit, their screams changed and cut off. Something killed them."

"Cultists?" Ebe says, holding not her normal ghitar, but Sveth's guitar. It's still amazing to you how such a large and unwieldy instrument is held so easily in her wings…. actually wait, is she holding it single winged?

"Probably." The Cat o'Ninetails sighs. "Nothing we can do about it for now. Let's keep going before we meet."

It goes unsaid that everyone expect that you will meet in the tunnels. Thankfully you don't meet anymore living brigands, though you do find a few unfortunate souls pasted against the walls, testament to the freight leyway advance of the Hippogirls. You begin to wonder what would happen if a Hippogirl met a Wurm. On second thought, let's not think about that…

With your [Survey] you're able to pick paths forward through the tunnels while the Monsters in your group listen for signs of trouble. Fearing the Hippogirls would run into dead-ends in the almost non-existent light of the tunnels, you find that fear a little less than realistic as you find at least one thin wall punched clean through, the rocks still crumbling. Feeling a larger chamber ahead, you stop and have Sylphie cast [Trick of the Light], hiding your group.

While a few torches were placed at larger sections of the tunnels, you ended up relying on your staff more than anything. Because of this, the light in this chamber is almost blinding when you enter. Shielding yourself at the change, you look around before widening your eyes in surprise.

Littered around the room are various pieces of loot, from Ectrian coinage to more material supplies and artifacts. Adjusting your vision you begin to pick out more than just this treasure vault as the forms of surprised guards fighting the Hippogirls appear. The Monsters go toe to toe with the rather more well equipped Monsters, their momentum slowed down by their skill at arms. Still, they all press toward a certain corner of the room where a large, converted throne stands.

And at the feet sit the forms of four young Hippogirls.

The oldest couldn't have been more than ten years of age. She sniffles as she tries to keep the others in line but at the sight of their mothers they wail out. Unfortunately the guards standing next to them hold blades out, looking nervously between the fight and the form upon the throne. It's only then that you notice the creature reclining there, her muted brown scales fading into the stonework.

Sitting on the throne is a Lamia of fairly average size, with dull, brown scales. Her human-like half is well toned however with rather ample breasts and pretty face, something she amplifies with the framing of her long, black hair. She wears an outfit akin to that of a dancer, though far more ostentatious, a golden tiara with inlaid emerald shining on her forehead. To top it all off, in both hands she holds knives that glisten with something sickly green.

Though she doesn't seem all that physically intimidating, what disconcerts you about her is the fact that despite her sanctum being breached by a group of Cultists and Hippogirls, she seems utterly at ease. In fact, a smug grin sits on her face as she looks over her nails while holding her blades. Her eyes fall upon you as you enter and she rolls her eyes as if annoyed.

Which is exactly why you put a pebble between them.

Or, well, you tried to. As if expecting something like this, the Lamia cocks her head to the side, the pebble exploding into dust as it hits the far wall. Sighing, she rises up from her throne and says, voice audible even from a distance due to the acoustics of the cavern, [That's far enough of that.]

Snapping her fingers, her subordinates fighting pull away from the Hippogirls, forming a wall of steel. This normally wouldn't normally be disconcerting for the Hippogirls who would barrel right through despite their wounds, but the Lamia holds up a small girl, perhaps five years old and puts a blade to her throat. The girl cries for her mother but the Lamia presses the blade closer and she whimpers, going quiet.

Licking her lips with her long tongue, the Lamia watches as the Hippogirls slow down, their faces panic stricken.[That's better. So that stupid niece of mine is dead if you're here? Of course she is.] Sighing, the Lamia leader continues, [I bet she lost my ship too. I suppose this saves me the trouble of going looking for her…]

>>319600

She turns her head to you and cocks it before speaking in perfect Deleorian. "And what are you doing here? You don't look like anything much, though the one with the nine tails who is trying to sneak behind me is quite interesting. Are you of the Violet Sands?"

Shocked, Sylphie drops the spell before wincing and holding her shoulder, clearly strained some by the spell. The Lamia smirks at your expression before waving a knife to the side of the room. Following her gaze you notice Sophie hiding in the recesses of the shadows near a large pool of deep water, crouched low with her tails behind her. Cursing, she stands up straight and looks at the Monster with an annoyed expression.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You can't get the drop on me. The moment you entered my domain I knew you were here." She chuckles, "Of course, I didn't know that the Cultists behind you were coming until they reached my little port. Now, say hello."

Surprised again, you turn to see a group of men, women, and an Anubis wearing various clothing and various weapons storm into the room, spattered in blood. The one thing they share in common is the Violet Sands sigil worn around their necks on chains. The Anubis snarls as she steps in, [Tarula, the Slippery! You will pay for your crimes today and return the Eye of Ant'anha to us!]

To this Tarula merely laughs and says in Deleorian, "Welcome! I've been expecting you!"

[Release our children!] Huma shouts. [If you dare harm a hair on their heads, I swear-]

[Oh, you'll what? Break my spine? Please, if you so much as try this girl is dead.] She chuckles again and drops the girl who is handled roughly by the guards next to her. Looking out over the crowd of intruders she sniffs and speaks in Deleorian.

"This works in my favor. I will rid myself of some pests while taking favorable slaves. And as for those I lost, well…" She waves at the Hippogirls, "I have good replacements." Smirking she switches to Ectrian, [You will work for me, unless you want to see your children hurt, yes?]

Huma growls but looks down, distressed. You can tell she's thinking it over- it's not like she owes you any loyalty for anything. Feeling that this might get out of hand quick, you begin to speak but are cut off by the Anubis again,

[I don't care about this rabble, whoever they are. None of you will stop us from ending you! The stolen gifts of the Apophis will be returned to us!]

Not quite catching all of that, Ebe hurriedly gives you a translation as Tarula laughs whole heartedly. [You think you can beat me? This gaudy tiara of yours gives me precognition! I know everything you're about to do!]

"Uh… what?" You say in response to this declaration. Ebe translates though that's not what you meant. What the hells? Precognition? How the hells did she get a talent like that?

[It's not for you to use! The power is only for those chosen by the Apophis!] The Anubis shouts, eyes flaring with rage.

[I'm a Lamia you idiot! I AM chosen of the Apophis!] Laughing out loud she shakes her head. [This has been the greatest gift I could have stolen. Seriously, thank you for not guarding it well, I never would have built this little group up without it.]

The Anubis looks down with an agonized expression. Clearly she had a part to play in this becoming a problem. Thinking through everything you say send messages to Erwin to relay to Ebe via Sylphie as you speak out to Tarula to buy time.

"Precognition? Why sit here in these caves with a power like that? You could become the Pharaoh if you wanted to!"

"Mmm, tempting." Tarula says, tapping her chin. "Too much effort though, I just want to build a little pirate empire and live the good life. Of course you wrecking my home is throwing that all out of place." Squinting her eyes at you she flicks out her tongue. "Why are you here anyway? Who are you?"

"Travelers, here to help these Hippogirls and…" Digging into your pack, you pull out the [Aliph's Sigil] and hold it up. "We are also allies of the Violet Sands."

The Cultists murmur amongst themselves, recognizing the sigil. The Anubis nods her head, not going to argue against a potential ally in this fight. Tarula narrows her eyes and flicks out her tongue before hissing, "How touching, now then you-" She cuts off sharply as the emerald on her tiara shimmers and she looks at Ebe as the Ghandharva pulls out her ghitar and begins to sing. Before you can cast [Privacy Barrier] the Lamia whistles, the shrill sound echoing through the cavern.

>>319601

Ebe, looking confused, stops playing and looks about as the cavern shudders. A loud, terrifying roar echoes from nearby and you snap your head to the pool of water next to Sophie. The Cat o'Ninetails leaps to the side as from it emerges the maw of a massive creature. It lands upon the edge of the pool with stubbly legs and roars again as it tries to snap at Sophie. Unable to do so, it drags itself further from the waters to show its full mass.

In the light of the torches you appreciate the bulk of the creature, an utterly massive crocodile with jaws large enough to swallow a man whole. Its leathery hide is pock marked with old scars and imbedded weapons and its left eye is missing, a gaping hole present where it should be. Swinging its tail like a club, the beast slaps aside some loot making Tarula shout at it.

[No! Bad! That is MY loot!]

As if somehow understanding the words the creature stops its trashing and opens its disgusting jaws, swinging its head so its right eye is facing you. You've seen Monsters, but this thing is something else, something that even Dollora forgot. Remembering what Ebe said about her father, you're reminded that such creatures do exist in Ectria. How old was this thing and why was it obeying someone like Tarula? This all just doesn't add up…

But no time for that. Now instead of just a hostage situation with a precognizant Lamia, you have to deal with primordial predator and potentially turncoat Hippogirls. All in all this entire venture is not going in your favor. The exit sits open behind you, seeming very tempting to run where that thing can't chase you. But doing so will damn the children and the Cultists who really want that tiara back, though having such a power also seems like a bad idea. How does one lose something that makes you precognizant anyway?

Well, better figure out what you're going to do quickly as Huma is nodding her head, mind made up and pointing toward you.

>What do you do?

I wish I could say this was ever supposed to be a good situation for you, but it really isn't.

Well, it probably could be, but it might necessitate some hard choices. On the plus side, there's some really nice loot you could earn!

>>319550

Going to the main chamber first would have probably gained you extra Violet Sands members and you may have dealt with the mega-croc beforehand, but the Hippogirls certainly would either be dead or have turned on you. This whole scenario wasn't meant to be easy as far as side quests go though I'm sure someone is going to find someway to blow my mind and call me out on my bullshit here.

>>319602

the way i see it, there's two ways this can go:

1) We fight the lamia, croc thing, and probably the hippogirls, dooming the little hippogirls to life as orphans and/or slaves (at which point they'd probably die)

2) we side with the lamia, thus saving the hippogirls and their daughterus but pissing off the VS, who would go after the hippo daughterus becuase fucking cultists

so basically, it's either kill all the bad guys and end up with unfortunate civilian casualties, side with the bad guys and get new bad guys and suffer yet more unfortunate civilian casualties

or we could just say that all we really came here to do was free the children and other slaves (thus saving the hippogirls in their entirety), and convince the lamia to let the hippos go and then keep the VS people that were attacking as new slaves (because fuck cultists, i dont give a shit about them)

>>319602

I would like to remind everyone that we're in a cave (i.e. surrounded completely by the element we have the most control over). We can build a wall around the primordial monster, then simultaneously raise it up and bring the ceiling down to crush it. As for the lamia, being able to see something coming doesn't necessarily mean being able to dodge it. If we separate her from the hippolets, we can surround her with fire or shoot a shitload of pebbles at her at once, preventing her from dodging.

>>319606

Or we could just tell the lamia that we are a geomancer and if she doesn't let the children go and return the tiara we'll just collapse the entire cave on her head, precognition or not she can't dodge having a cave pulled down on her head. I'm also not against burying the hippogirls in the cave if they end up threatening us or the violet sands.

>>319602

I don't have any useful plans, but something to note is that while the Lamia has the tiara, Rommel can make credible threats like "do X or rocks fall and everyone dies" as a rather reckless example and she'll know we mean to go through with whatever we decide if she doesn't.

Can't we just pebble the guards that hold the hippo children hostage? As far as I understand the Lamia doesn't directly threaten the kiddos anymore but let's her guards handle it. Who probably don't have a way to doge them in this chaotic (probably) poorly lit situation.

I like >>319606 suggestion on how to handle the croc. Once the children are somewhat save and the monster is taken care of I think we should be able to handle the rest. With that many people getting the lamia in a check mate situation where even if she knows our moves she can't possibly escape or doge should be doable. Maybe we can "accidentally" crush the crown in the process I'm not sure if I trust anyone involved here with that kind of power.

Separating the children from their guards should be the first thing we do. Wall the lamia off from the kids to eliminate any precognisant fuckery, then pebble the bandits like >>319619 said. The loyalty of the hippos depends entirely on the safety of the kids, so removing their reason to fight for the enemy will make things much easier on us.

>>319602

The hippos are going to

charge us, Use that bulk and momentum to our advantage. Meaning once they get moving, Drop them into a deep ass hole that they can't climb out of. And while we're doing that, Drop the ceiling on the croc. At best we kill it outright, But we're likely just to pin it down

.

So how we deal with precognition, Overcome her reaction time. Basically means send in Tabitha and Sophie while counting on Tabs far superior battle honed muscles to move faster then the not nearly as experienced lamia, And Sophie's 9 precision blades to overwhelm her puny 2 armed defense.

We can create an opening for them to close the distance by trying to pull the daggers out of snaketits hands. Even if we can't remove them from her grasp, She'll still be unable to use them.

>>319626

We could also target her crown with Reverse Polarity. I'd imagine suddenly losing all magical foresight would create one hell of an opening.

>>319602

The Hippos turning on us is rather unfortunate, but at least it ensures the survival of the children until we have a good opportunity to rescue them, as Tarula isn’t going to have them killed while she has use for them and there is still the risk of grieving parents coming for her head. Since we’re aiming to keep them alive as Rommel doesn’t want to make the children orphans, a result of his desire to stop others from sharing his horrible fate, we need to remove them from the equation without killing them, a feat that can be done by freezing them with [Ice] and [Cold Prison], throwing up particularly thick [Build the Wall]s around them to imprison them, digging a hole with [Trench] that they can’t escape from or having one of our party members distract them for the entirety of the fight. We could also attempt to save the children first so the Hippos direct their aggression towards the bandits instead of us, but that may be difficult with Mega-Croc heading our way, so we should probably try something else first. Whatever we do, try to do it quickly so we don’t have to worry about them as early in the fight as possible.

Moving along, Mega-Croc is our first real threat, as the bandits are going to be busy dealing with the cultists due to the latter’s lack of care for the children’s safety and Tarula seems content to just watch everything unfold from her throne. Focus on staying the fuck away from it and dodging to the right (its left) if necessary, as Mega-Croc lacks a left eye and is as such blinded from its left flank, thus making us harder to hit as a result. In terms of how to damage and kill it, what >>319606 said could probably work here, though failing that there are a number of different options we can try, such as trying to destroy its other eye to blind it, using [Epicenter] to pierce its soft underbelly and rip apart its vital organs, striking at the palatal valve in its maw which it should have as a crocodilian creature to cause it to recoil should we come face to face with it, freezing its maw shut with [Ice] so it can’t open it should work due to the muscles opening the maw being incredibly weak, hitting it with any Cryomancy spells due to it being cold-blooded and so on.

After dealing with Mega-Croc, we can turn our attention to Tarula, who will likely decide to start doing things now that her pet is dead. Her ability to see into the future seems to be limited to a few moments ahead of time, seeing as she noticed Sophie only when she got close and hasn’t made any claims of “seeing our demise” as seers are wont to do when they have such powers, but this still limits us as obviously she can see everything we do before it happens and will turn stop or avoid most of our attacks. As others have mentioned, one way of getting around this is to use attacks that she can’t easily mitigate, like causing the ceiling of the cavern to collapse around her, as then even if she sees the attack coming she won’t have the opportunity to counter or dodge it, but this still has issues in that such attacks are either difficult to set up or affect us and our party as well, so it isn’t the most ideal solution. I would instead propose we take a different approach, that being the use of [Reverse Polarity] which 39fe01 pointed out just before I posted this damn it.

Earlier on during this boat trip, we discovered [Reverse Polarity], which was able to completely disable the effects of both our own magic and the [Oculus of Henhotep] for as long as the spell was channelled. Seeing as the spell worked on that artefact, it’s almost certain that it should also work on the [Eye of Ant'anha], allowing us to stop its effects and prevent Tarula from using it -- this should leave her horribly confused and caught off-guard, as she has been relying rather heavily on the artefact if her words and confidence are anything to go by, thus giving our party members a perfect opportunity to strike her down before she can get her bearings. Even if she sees the spell coming, she shouldn’t be able to dodge or prevent it from going off due to there being no delay from spell cast to effect, so such an action has no counters. The only downside to this is that we would have to figure out the frequency of the artefact first, but that shouldn’t take too long with the artefact being constantly active and us having access to [Magesight].

>>319630

>>319602

Should we have to deal with Tarula attacking us, such as if our party failed to capitalise on her momentary lapse or if she decides to get aggressive before we can disable her powers, then do so with extreme caution as she is still a dangerous foe, mainly because of her weapons. Those daggers of hers appear to be coated in poison, meaning any wounds will lead to the injured being afflicted by whatever effects said poison has which is clearly a terrible outcome and will likely require swift usage of a [Health Potion] to prevent death, so avoid having anyone cut at all costs. Prioritise trying to disarm her with [Metallurgy], as her weapons are incredibly unlikely to be made of any rare materials it would have been noted otherwise and can probably be ripped from her hands quite easily foresight or no, followed by as many Cryomancy spells as we can muster due to her cold-blooded nature.

On the topic of saving the children something we should try to do whenever possible to get the Hippos off of us, our party and the cultists can probably handle that on their own, though what others have already said about using [Pebble Gun] on them while they’re distracted should also suffice should we deem our own intervention necessary. [Metallurgy] once again works here for disarming the bandits, so consider using that too. [Tremor] might also be a viable option so long as we’re careful not to affect the cultists too much with it, so also consider using that.

Assuming all goes to plan, we will have killed both Mega-Croc and Tarula and saved the children in the process, though now we have the issue of what to do with the [Eye of Ant'anha] Tarula stole. Hopefully it accidentally gets destroyed in the confusion of battle, but if it doesn’t then my vote is for giving it to the cultists. Destroying it ‘accidentally’ or otherwise or trying to take it for ourselves is going to invalidate our agreement with the Violet Sands and make us enemies, which isn’t something we really want to be doing when we’re coming up to the most dangerous point of our adventure thus far. Letting them take the artefact ensures we keep our truce, meaning we don’t have to deal with angry cultists when we escape the capital, and even if it is used against us in the future we should be able to counter it again easily enough.

>>319616

>Rommel can make credible threats like "do X or rocks fall and everyone dies" as a rather reckless example and she'll know we mean to go through with whatever we decide if she doesn't.

Except we would never go through with such a threat due to the unwillingness to kill ourselves, our friends or the children in the process. Therefore, she would simply peek into the future, realise we won’t do shit if she says no as our threats are completely empty, and proceed to say no and be smug at us.

can't wait for the logic-defying way how to beat someone with precognition power. probably be plot-induced stupidity I guess.

>>319632

Depends on how long into the future she can see. Lets say a giant rock that you can't outrun is gonna fall from the sky onto your head in 30 seconds. Even though you know what's going to happen there's not much you can do about it. In the end you're still limited by your own strengths and abilites regardless of whether or not you know what's going to happen.

>>319639

how can you see in the future when the future is fluid? how many different possible futures can you see at once? how do you see it? by picture-in-picture view? at what resolution?

>>319642

That would probably depend on how exactly time works here. If each individual action branches out into its own timeline then it's unlikely seeing the future could do much good. If there's only one timeline and most is predetermined then being able to see an accurate future is possible if not plausible. And depending in the strength of the ability and/or any practice or training that's been done, you might be able to see quite far into the future.

>>319603

Can't we use feedback or reverse polarity or something to deactivate the tiara? now would be a good time for that sphinx to show up

>>319606

For something so large you'd probably need a little bit of time, something which she'd notice. Doable, but first would be saving the hippolets if you want that done.

>>319605

Those seem like the options at the moment, huh? Ah y'all have plenty to say as it is tho.

>>319611

The nuclear option! I'll have to tally up to see how many people want that one.

>>319623

Basically

>>319626

Remove them as an option huh? Well that sounds actually pretty good. Maybe Sylphie can do that, though again you may want to focus on the children first if saving them is in your objective.

>>319628

You'd need to be a little closer for that and it would take you a few moments to get the magical signature of such an item but yes, yes that could work!

>>319630

>His horrible fate. Aww but you're here now and happy?

Oh and you mentioned everything I said to reverse polarity man. Ayep.

>>319631

Yeah they're probably just high quality steel knives from what you've seen. Precog and all may make it difficult to snatch them from her though.

>>319642

Guess you'll have to find out exactly what it is later. Unless you break it.

Speaking of which I wonder how many people would be up for trying to "break it" versus random chance that it 'breaks." This could be important.

>>319656

Others have mentioned that option!

Also, I thought about her or another blast from the past appearing but nah. Not this time.

>>319663

I forgot my hat.

Oh and due to other purchases, a bubs and Mr. Ed pic isn't happening for awhile, but I hope some of you find the next pic wholesome.

>>319631

I know we're not dumb enough to kill ourselves, it was an explicitly pointed out poor example of something we could potentially use to our advantage, but preferably in a saner context.

>>319664

>no bubs & mr ed pic

what about an erwin + bubs + ed pic?

>>319674

Not going to happen since Bubs died before Erwin was even born. Sorry…

And I'm not against a bubs and Mr. Ed pic it's just moneywise and getting slots and such

>>319676

what about a ghost bubs, erwin, and mr ed

>>319676

>bubs died before Erwin was even born

That's not possible wizard quest happened approximately 20 years ago. Erwin is 30ish**actually did we ever get his exact age?* he would've been at least ten when buns died.

>>319664

>some people

It's Tabitha and Erwin isn't it?

>>319789

Erwin is the two year old Fox familiar, not the thirty year old Wizard - that's Rommel. Bubs died at fifteen, which would mean he passed on approximately four years before Erwin was born if I've got my timeline right.

>What do you do?

Saving the kids gets the hippos on our side again, so do that first. Ebe singing a lullaby WITHOUT the amplify effect should knock out the bandits without causing the cave to collapse again, so do that while protecting ourselves and the cultists with a privacy barrier. Throw up a couple of walls too, just in case the bigass croc or the lamia tries anything.

What >>319606 and >>319630 said for dealing with the croc with geomancy sounds good, as I doubt it will handle being crushed and impaled all too well. It's not going to be an easy kill, but we're in our element and crocs kinda suck on land.

The reverse polarity idea is our best bet for the lamia, because we won't be doing shit otherwise. Mana burst might work too as something to cast until we can set up reverse polarity, but that depends on how long the dispell effect lasts for in comparison to how far into the future the tiara allows one to see. Also lots of ice.

>>319663

>Speaking of which I wonder how many people would be up for trying to "break it" versus random chance that it 'breaks." This could be important.

Purposefully trying to break the tiara puts us on the cultist's shit list. We don't want to be on the cultist's shit list when the grapesneks gain control of Ectria unless we're planning on dying/being raped any time soon. Pray to Solos it breaks by coincidence.

>>319663

>Precog and all may make it difficult to snatch them from her though

Thats the thing though, Precog doesn't really do shit here. Its not like she can dodge our manipulation of metals. She can entirely see we are going to try and pull the blades away, But she still has to deal with us yanking on themAnd with our magic prowess shown thus far, Pulling a familiar metal blade out of an enemy's hand should be easily accomplished. If their grip strength is really that strong then we could lift them off the ground if need be. . On that same train of thought, We can dull her blades so that the poison would never meet the bloodstream of anyone she hits. There is nothing within her physical ability to stop us, Even if she is aware.

>>319843

>implying we wouldn't have to work for Mr. Ed's approval first IN ADDITION to The Grand Master Autist Wizard himself

>>319840

Story wise, Tabitha was briefing donning a light cream coloured dress along with her old black cap (rip cap) back in the original WizardQuest, after the Wizard took her clothes to be enchanted with prolonged warmth. Image wise, never (I would like to see something akin to this myself, assuming there aren't any characters currently missing art who deserve some).

>>319843

>Anons went with the best possible option instead

I see nothing wrong with this.

>>319861

>Granny sword-hobo lizard as the best option.

Tabithafags should have remained on the first wizard quest.

>>319890

>hating on scaly tail

>implying any of the cum-guzzling zoophile, the flirt with a stick up her ass, the bland liability or the literal slut are better options in any way

I'm afraid you have shit taste hero.

>>319840

>>319861

Just realized that Tabitha was running around and 'going commando' for a while!

Tabitha MUST be TEASE for this!

>>319896

>I'm afraid you have shit taste hero.

As shit taste as Blake even. What shitty hero runs away from hawt, toned, ass-kicking scaled amazon. And runs to a dull, foolish and common mud mutt?