Listen for a while. If we tag out, it means you need to leave.

Oh nice.
A chance to talk to him. Just the two of you. Alone.
Never enough of those. It's gotta be good just for that.
Hey.
Hey.
Finesse. Hey.
Your stuffed toys are poking out from under the bed.

Well you'll find out soon enough, try to avoid speculating until then.

>>1105086
Quiet you, let her have this. Go ahead Finesse.

>>1105079
>Is this good or bad
Beats us, we're just his immediate impulses

Finesse 2025/03/19(Wed)13:55 No. 1105102 ID: 46e818
File 174241770339.png - (12.28KB , 800x600 , 2271.png )

>"It feels as though it's been a while since just the two of us spoke. So many new people, new duties to keep track of.
>I remember when it was just you, me, and the kobolds. The four of us that night, in a tiny, cramped little dungeon, doling out shared spaces. Me, sleeping at my desk, you, in a crowded workshop."

I don't know what to say, but he doesn't seem to expect me to.

>"I wanted to... apologize, I suppose. For how things went at the Seer's glade.
>The things I said -- well, I did mean them.
>I may not feel love for you the way you feel for me, but there's no one I trust more at my side. You are my right hand, and I know, as proud as I am, I owe so much of our success so far to you and your tireless efforts.
>But using you as an example like that, on the spot, in front of the others. That was... inconsiderate, at least. I just hope I didn't embarrass you too badly."

>>1105102
Hug it out. I know it's probably not what you were looking for Finesse, but he does value you a lot and he is thankful that you are in his- Our lives.

>>1105102
I would imagine the embarrassing part was having to hear Ash's thinly veiled boasting of their sexual exploits while pawing him, not having him express some actual care for you.

>>1105102
goodness, thoughts of us just starting up.
getting the portal working and sharing in a good cackle...

gah! profundity feels appropriate but escapes me.
I just know it is good we are all together.

>>1105102
You know what?
No teasing.
This is nice.
This is good.
Im happy to see him telling you this finesse because, dammit, you deserve to hear it.
Youve more than earned his high regard.

Finesse, who the heck are you?

>>1105102
Damn, this is ballin

Finesse 2025/03/20(Thu)12:32 No. 1105119 ID: 46e818
File 174249917692.png - (12.26KB , 800x600 , 2272.png )

"Master Muschio, that's... any other time, I'd have a lot to consider over it. I'm sure in time I'll have to... process this, and figure out what it means for me. But...
I do respect what you've said.

In the circumstances, however, I find my mind keeps returning to another aspect of that glade."

>"Do tell."

"The Seer. He was nothing but cordial to us, and his demeanor was cheerful and bright. But there was something else there, too."

Finesse 2025/03/20(Thu)12:42 No. 1105122 ID: 46e818
File 174249977806.png - (12.18KB , 800x600 , 2273.png )

"He said he had once been a more... primal God. Something more dangerous, more ominous.
I don't know the circumstances of his change. Was it a natural progression? I suspected at one point he might only be pretending, fitting some new role, but with the way he treated Tislomer, the way he relented... I'm not sure. If it was an act, it felt like he truly didn't want to give it up.
It may sound strange, but he reminds me of you."

>"Of me?"

"You wanted to be a villain once. When I met you. By and by you had to pretend. To act as a more generous leader, to get the alliances and help you needed. But at some point I think you realized the mask you were putting on was your truer face, after all."

Can't agree there. I think Muschio still wants to be a villain, but being a villain has more to do with his opposition to the status quo and his willingness to do anything for victory.
...I don't remember. Why did Muschio want to be evil in the first place?

>>1105122
>You wanted to be a villain once. When I met you. By and by you had to pretend. To act as a more generous leader, to get the alliances and help you needed.
Extraordinarily true.
When this all started he was a young man angry at the world for all that befell him, his family and their legacy. Ready to burn it all down and even started to with that town.
Taking over this place and gaining allies has slowly changed him.
Maybe it was him just growing up and maturing as a leader... or maybe something else is happening. It may be very apt to compare him to the seer in this regard. I'm still thinking that amulet and maybe this place are causing him to channel a totem god somehow.

That's pretty much what we saw; the complex life of a warlord-turned-celebrity.

There was something we saw that you didn't. Flashes of Ms. Bojack's perspective, behind the curtain. They're old, and cranky, and there's a lot of grimdark horror behind the happy overpositivity. And then there was the full transformation of those slavers into... whatever those were. That was creepy even with the happiness filter. But at the end of the day, Red appears to be actively functioning as a positive god with many negative connotations and inner subconscious workings.

What can I say? Some people are @#$%ing complicated.

It's not too complicated. You lost a lot, in your youth. You could have lost more, there are people worse off than you were, but there are few who dropped so precipitously. Among those who have, it's so often their own actions that caused it - they can at least claim responsibility for their own fall. As a child of wealth and station, you were promised power, allowed to taste it, to appreciate it - but you didn't HAVE power, yourself. You have been powerless your whole life, and worse, given the education to recognize it, to know what power looks like and to know you had none while you lost your home, your family, your place and purpose in the world.

Villains have power. It is the villains who act, and others who respond. Villains who are unrestrained, even by morality. You have done good things, protected people, done what you could to build a better world, and - since you are a villain - you can say you were not compelled to it, held to some rule, some standard. It is your will. Your choice.

Perhaps The Seer values that he has a choice, too. Your nature is something handed to you, and if we believe him, for his kind, something that can be taken away.

well, there is a certain gravity to love, both have a tendancy to drag everything together, to be inescapable once they have a hold of you.
Both are like sight too, dark stars taking in all light, and love desiring to see people as they are, and once either looks, what is seen becomes part of the seer

>>1105127
to add: What Muschio wants has not /changed/ per say, it has only been added to, to want to keep what he has, as well as avenge what was lost

what is the point in vengence if you lose it all?

>>1105122
The wheel turned.
Muschio wanted to incarnate the archetype of the villain. An evil man that antagonize those who would be called heroes.

But the thing is, He is the Hero. He carries inside him the blood of kings. He has no rivals, as no man can be his equal in deeds and mission.

He was born to be king, and a king he will be, a true hero among true heroes, a river to his people. The will and the way.

And overlord may know glory in his lifetime, but that's all the time it will last, maybe 'till the third generation at most. Our prince is building a kingdom for the ages, one built in the foundations of justice and prosperity. No scoundrel will ever achieve that.

Our enemies may know our Prince as evil incarnated, as he will bring doom upon them. But
evil is rooted in selfishness and self-adoration, and Muschio instead has a burning heart, that strives to give it's all for those that placed their trust in him.

>>1105122
I don't think that desire has changed, simply some perspective has been gained.

Recall where it came from, the bossman was subjected to a terrible change of situation. a family slain, a throne usurped, a kingdom turned against him.

And by all accounts we've come to see, this was the result of being a line of good people.
Clearly the only response is to become the kind of villain that would neither allow such a slight to occur, and who's wrath is so devastating as to discourage such an attempt in the first place.

But Muschio has proved to be a noble soul in the ways that count. Genuinely respects and cares for the plight of those under his influence.

Good news for everyone involved, the two are not mutually exclusive!
and a good thing too, since 'Do right by your own, and take no shit from anyone else' will win as many enemies as it will friends.

>>1105122
I think youre right finesse.

Villain was what they would call him so that is what he chose to be.
But that was just another cage of a different kind.
Hes grown beyond that now.
Without you and the others, i dont think he would have.
Not that youre intentionally changing him by any means.
I dont think you could.
He remains definitively and unapologetically Muschio.
Just one that treasures his companions and recognises how much they drive him to better himself in a way vengence alone could not.

>>1105135
>>1105137
>>1105143
Guys he burned down a village

We're not the heroes but we're not irredeemable scum
We're adventurers and we get things done

>>1105144
Wasn't that a freak accident?

Just saying Ridder deserves a little credit for that since self-reflection was a result of that fortuitous meeting. Still, would have meant little if Muschio had no conscience - given the whole Hookdon thing.

>>1105135
>>1105137
>>1105143

These.

>>1105122

We are who we want to be. Because if we weren't, then we wouldn't want to be.

>>1105122

All this time, Muschio has been fighting back against the injustices done to his family and kingdom. That he initially chose to do so from an adversarial position is understandable.

Now, however, he is building up his own base of power and using the very talents he was trained to bear to unite the region and become a contender for the throne. It might still be a long shot, but Muschio is showing himself capable -- more than capable, perhaps, with all his exploits -- of not only fighting back, but besting his predecessors in the process.

Evil, after all, is only what others make of it -- and a term assigned to us by those who overthrew the Malto reign.

Finesse 2025/03/21(Fri)15:04 No. 1105160 ID: 46e818
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>"I've a nolition to admit I've lashed myself to wayward serments in the past, for fear future oaths might not be taken seriously.
>But I think, in some way, my devotion to villainy was a reflexive reaction to the upheaval and revolution that stole my birthright. To seek defense, or to push offense in its place, by taking a position that was active rather than merely reactive. To give to myself, through opposition, the power I was abused of.

>In the end, it was, as you say, a mask. One that only fit halfway.
>So if, in making a better future -- one which can protect those I care for -- I must shame myself in confessing it, I will. Without hesitation."

Finesse 2025/03/21(Fri)15:07 No. 1105161 ID: 46e818
File 174259487733.png - (9.17KB , 800x600 , 2275.png )

I see, clear as ever, the man I chose to follow.
The regal air that he emanates in every word and action.

I know he will be king yet.

>"Perhaps we all pretend, as we go. We fake what we intend to make until we know it better. Some pretensions last, some fall away. Like a crab on the sand, trying on new shells and casting old ones away. In a sense, yes, I suppose we are all pretending, until we need to no longer hide, no longer adapt.

>All of us pretend, in some way. To be happier, stronger, less alone. All of us in this life, in this Vault.
>I wonder, idly, who of us is pretending the most."

Finesse 2025/03/21(Fri)15:08 No. 1105162 ID: 46e818
File 174259493548.png - (13.44KB , 800x600 , 2276.png )

"Oh, Ashedel!"

>"Apologies for interrupting, Muschio, but our guest has arrived and is cleared to the main entrance now, if you'd like to greet him."

how DID that defrief with Ashedel go?

Drop everything and get with the fancy!

>>1105162
Better get your Dapper on Boss
first impressions are quite important.

>>1105161
I think i see it too finesse.
Yeah.

Crowns rest lightly upon heads bereft of wisdom but not to worry as he is developing that quality nicely.

>>1105162
Oh!
Time to ready yourself finesse.
Duty calls.
We may end up bouncing around.
Good talk!
I mean, for you two.

We should go.

>>1105162

And no once, Butter was mentioned ;)

Muschio 2025/03/22(Sat)13:24 No. 1105220 ID: 46e818
File 174267509028.png - (9.69KB , 800x600 , 2277.png )

Very well. I thank Finesse for the conversation and excuse myself, making for the Great Hall.
Something to chew over.

>"By the way, Muschio.
>How shall I introduce you? 'Prince Muschio Malto'? 'Lord'? 'Master'?
>This might be your first formal introduction as leader of these people. Best to set a precedent."

>>1105220
(Honorary) EMPEROR Muschio.
Or just 'Warlord'.

The Malto Formerly Known As Prince

Prince sounds good.

>>1105220
You could probably generously describe yourself as an Overlord or Lord Paramount at this point; Lord sets you amongst any fool with title to a patch of dirt, and Prince ties you to claims on land you clearly have no way of pressing. It's time to be proud of what you do have, right at this moment.

>>1105224
Agreed. Best go with Prince, we are not king until our rightful throne is restored.

I think "Prince Muschio Malto, Protector of the Timore Woodlands" is an appropriate and accurate description of our place in the world.

>>1105220
Grand poobah!
No wait.
Muschio the magnificent!
Breaker of chains, breaker of hearts, breaker of beds.

Changed my mind
>>1105254
This is way better than "Prince" alone.

>>1105220
Burrito Supreme

>>1105254
I also find myself in agreement with this one. A statement of who you are, not too high and not too low; a specification of what you do, and the vibe of who you are.

>>1105254
The second part might be more important than the first, protection of the Woodlands should be emphasized over future aspirations.