Cecil 2010/05/30(Sun)04:18 No. 185333 ID: cf68aa
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>>185326>>185330>>185331
>NO! SCREW YOU GUYS! I'M DONE!
>OH FUCK! THIS HURTS! IT WENT RIGHT THROUGH MY BREAST!

>"I yield! You win!"

Norue pulls his blade out, wipes the blood off and walks away. The Red Stone casts Major Heal at 67%

>Oh god... I forgot how powerful he was... This was suicide from the start.. Fuck...
>If I can't beat him what chance do I have against Dart...?


>I suck...

Cecil begins to lose consciousness.

>>185333
Ugh. Major Heal kinda sucks. I wish there was another level past it but before Zeroon.

[cast Major Heal again from the Red Stone]

Hmm, Alex is busy with Nari. Would Chel be back yet?

@Chel: Hey can you come pick up Cecil and get him to a healer or something? We decided to pick a fight with Norue and it didn't go well.

>>185333
DAMMIT! 30 more seconds and he would have been dead!

[Cast Nil via the Red Stone, swapping a spare Cell Stone for Norue's underpants]

[Switch to Norue]
So, think you could get a healer in here?

I'm kinda wondering what exactly were you trying to prove with this.
Unless I'm mistaken Shatter Point is a forbidden move, and this fight would have gone a lot differently if we used forbidden magic.
With Zeroon he would have kept going after being stabbed through the chest, with Thead you'd just be dead outright, and that's not even getting into Dark Mana.

So, really, what did you learn from this fight?

>>185335
[Or a health potion, or whatever other equipment he has we could swap.]

Cecil you should get better and then try again. I am really angry at the way you handled yourself, yes you did suck because you couldn't defeat an idiot like that person you fought. Still though we do need you so get up focus on your anger and use that to push yourself foward and learn how to defeat him for the next time you meet him.

Also Switch to RJ, I want to see what she is doing.

>>185356
Wow, what an asshole.
Cecil did exactly as we instructed up until the point when he panicked, and he panicked because he was dying from a sword-induced sucking chest wound. I challenge you to do better.
Cecil, I don't know if you'll hear or remember this, but I'm proud of you. My lamentations were because we came so close and failed, but you held strong even though you knew the odds we faced,

Aww, dawg man we need a new master of magic. Cause bros, we got spells out the wazoo so its a strategy thing. Know who actually sorta atomized that badass Dart? Muthafucking Charles dawg. Lets go hit him up for some trainin'.

Cecil 2010/05/30(Sun)14:17 No. 185425 ID: cf68aa
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>>185392
>Ch-charles...?

>>185356
>>185383

>N-no... He's right.. I need to use this defeat.. I need to...

Cecil passes out.
----------------------------------------------
Chel
>Aww poor baby... He's gotta stop doing this. Poor Nari is gonna have a heart attack.

'sup Chel. The Red Stone could use another Soul Heal if you don't mind.

How are his injuries? Norue is quite out of our league it seems.

>>185425
I know, Chel. We wish we had better options.

It almost worked, but as it stands this improves our position for quite a few things.
Norue is going to respect Cecil more for forcing him to take the fight seriously. Now we can approach Norue and say that we would like a role as an advisor, and leverage our rather significant resources to our advantage.
For example? We have proper royalty who has been born and raised to run nations, we have personal alliances that put those of the kingdom to shame, we understand magic and its usage, and so on.
Norue's smart, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince him to give us a bit of control.

So, how IS Nari?

Cecil 2010/05/30(Sun)17:07 No. 185487 ID: cf68aa
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>>185449
>Hehe.. I've actually never run the kingdom. Or any kingdom for that matter. I have no idea how it works.

>Nari's doing a lot better. Her and Alex have spent the days reading and playing games.

>I think they're getting closer~

>I already cast Soul Heal on the Stone so it-

Knock Knock Knock

>.... That sounded to high up to be Nari and to hard for it to be Alex...

>>185487
Hey... What happened to Gene anyway?

Go on and answer the door. Could be RJ or Felix.

say "who is it" before you open it. with all the crazy wizards running around it would be a good idea to confirm.

>>185487
Oh, it doesn't matter if you actually know what you're doing, just what he'll believe.
Besides, what he needs right now is crisis management, which is right up our alley.
Plus? You could ask your father to send a contingent of soldiers here to help defend the city, and have the Royal Army Mages teach them wizard magic in exchange.

Do you remember what happened to your ear?

It could be Norue or Gawain at the door.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)13:51 No. 185943 ID: cf68aa
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>>185685
>My ear was bitten off by a Gram. It was not pleasant and I have never been able to grow it back. It also kinda messed up a bunch of the nerves so that ear doesn't feel as good.

She goes up to the door and asks who it is

There is no reply. She carefully opens it.

No one is around but there is a letter on the floor

21? blackjack.

>>185943
Ah, then we'll see what we can do to fix it. The nice thing about the human lands is that there's easy access to skilled healers.

Oh, and is the goldeon knife there? It would be very bad if Norue took it .

Couldja show us the note, please?

@RJ: How are you feeling now?
@Felix: Are you looking forward to fatherhood? Also, are you going to soulbind with RJ?

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)14:12 No. 185951 ID: cf68aa
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>>185947
RJ
>I'm feeling a lot better now.
Felix
>Uhm... It was quite sudden.. But... I'm happy.
-----------------------------------------------

>It's not the healing that's a problem. It's just a cursed wound. Nothing can heal those.

>Anyway I got the knife back, now let's read this note...

>Oh.
>Uh huh...

>Oh wow!

>>185951
What's it say? We can't read it.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)14:23 No. 185959 ID: cf68aa
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>>185956
>Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot. The note reads

I found the answer to your healing problems. Item 21 will recover any wounds at a price. Go to the Hospital and look for a man in a brown cloak. Ask him for item twenty one. Good Luck.

>>185951
Ok, I can't make sense of it. Could you translate?

Can't be healed? Well, they said the same thing about soul petrification. Would you mind if we looked into it for you?

>>185959
Hmm... This seems like a trap. I can't think of anything besides your ear, and we were talking about that mentally.
This could be a blank piece of paper with a glamour on it. Fold it up and ask Alex to check it for magic.

item 21 will recover any wounds AT A PRICE. yeah no.

>>185959
It says 'at a price' but doesn't say what that price is. I don't think it means it will cost money. I think it might be a more unpleasant sacrifice.

Be wary of magic that has secondary effects.

We should investigate anyway. Do not directly ask for 'item 21'. Instead, ask the man what kinds of wares he sells.

>>185972
We should find out what it is and ask the I Shop about it. If he doesn't know, then we give him the item so he can figure it out.

@Felix: So, will you soulbind with her? Or are you going to wait and see?

could also dick you around by healing your one ear and then putting the wound on the other.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)15:06 No. 185975 ID: cf68aa
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>Well I don't sense any magic coming from it... And I don't wanna bother Alex at the moment.

>I guess I can check it out on my own.

She goes to the nearby hospital. Once there she sees the man in the brown cloak.

>Odd.. No one else seems to notice him...

he is distorted, the note may have other-worldly magics that let you see him.

>>185975
I am getting some WEIRD vibes from this guy. Like he's not quite... there.

This doesn't match anything we've ever seen before. Could this guy be the Philosopher?

Ask him who he is. Ask what the 'price' is attached to Item 21, and how it works.

>>185975
Well, go ahead and say hi. Say you got his message and ask for his name.

The fact that nobody else sees him suggests that he IS using a glamor to fool your senses, and since we're piggybacking on your senses and can only see what you see, any glamor would affect us too.

Be prepared.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)15:14 No. 185984 ID: cf68aa
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>"Uhm.. Hi. Who are you?"

"...."

>"So I read the note. What does item 21 cost?"

"...."

>He's not responding to anything...

i really don't like this.... say 'i want item 21'

Poke him to see if he responds. If not, pull back his hood.

@Alex: Weird stuff at the hospitol. Bring Nari.

NO. DO NOT.

Hmm, maybe he'll answer to a yes/no question.

"Will item 21 work as soon as you give it to me?"

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)15:37 No. 185993 ID: cf68aa
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>".. I want Item 21"

She sees an odd glow.
Suddenly there is an immense force pressing against her head.
It slowly begins to crush her and she begins to fade away

>"W-wait... Sto..."

She falls down.
The pressure becomes intense and she holds her head in pain.
She feels blood coming from her ears.

She starts crying softly.

Suddenly the pain is gone.

She opens her eyes to a Dark World. Everything is black except for a red path that seems to go far into the Darkness

Dammit, that was a bad idea. Alright, we'll help you through this.

We're going to have to follow the red path. Be careful.

>>185993
Yea, that's about what I expected would happen.
Good thing I told Alex and Nari to get to the hospital, 'eh?

Might as well follow the path since there's not much else we can do right now.
We'll talk you through this.

oh wait! this is the real alice tale. the blood red path of the first alice.

turn around, what do you see?

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)16:11 No. 186007 ID: cf68aa
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>>185997
>There's something there... It's..

>Oh god my head..

>It's saying it knows a shortcut to the Item...

>>186007
No shortcuts.

i'd have to agree. short cuts often result in bad stuff.

>>186007
The short cut seems to be across your neck. Don't do it.

@All: Everybody, respond! Chel is in trouble!

>>186013
Oh, and try to wake up.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)16:45 No. 186018 ID: cf68aa
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She tries to wake up but nothing happens.

She ignores the creature and keeps moving foreword. She can sense things watching her from the darkness waiting for her to fall of the path.

After almost an hour she sees something ahead of her.

She moves closer.

She sees it.

Horror takes over and she feels the urge to scream.

>>186018
SHH. Stay silent! It's okay. Nari is fine. This is just a trick.

>>186018
Ok, we're just going to do this...
[Attenuate Chel's emotions]
...so you can think clearly.

This seems to be a vision quest at the verge of death. If you screw up then you'll die and leave Nari an orphan. I'm pretty sure your soul is on the line, so don't expect resurrection either.

No matter what, stay on the path.

You're going to be confronted with horrors, but you need to remember that none of them are real.

If you come across something, ask us for help before you act.

We can get you through this, but you need to do exactly what we say. Do you understand?

even if nari IS dead, we can fix this. the item is supposed to fix any wound. then we use a Phoenix down and she will be good as new. just step over it.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)16:59 No. 186027 ID: cf68aa
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Chel covers her mouth and keeps moving.
Hours seem to pass in this place.

She see a light

>>186027
Get a closer look at the thing on the ground but don't touch it.

Heck maybe you should just avoid it completely.

>>186027
Approach with caution, and look through the aperture.
DO NOT enter until we've looked inside and given the ok. Do you understand?

Oh, and don't touch anything, but that goes without saying.

.... yeah, let's leave the key that says 'don't touch' alone. if the only way forward is with a key then we just walk back and get it.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)17:06 No. 186034 ID: cf68aa
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She ignores the key and moves on.

The light is to bright and she can't see beyond it.

But it is comforting to her. She feels relaxed just looking at it.

And sleepy..

turn around. see if being near light or looking at light makes you sleepy. if it's looking at it then walk to door backwards. if it's being near the get away from it, NO SLEEPING!

>>186034
STAY AWAKE. Shield your eyes so that you don't have to look at it.

And step through.

>>186034
Turn around and walk away from the light. We need to see the area around here more carefully.

Also, call out "HELLO? IS ANYBODY HERE WHO CAN TALK?"

@Nari: Nari! Are you there? Can you hear us?

[Show this area to Cecil and the I Shop owner]

@I Shop: Any ideas?

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)17:11 No. 186039 ID: cf68aa
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She turns around away from the light.

She sees something terrible.

The path leading to this spot is gone

>>186039
Not surprising.

You're going to have to walk through the door. Just try to stay awake and don't look directly at the light. Shield your face with your hand if necessary.

>>186039
Is the key still there?
Is the darkness edging closer?

If the key is gone, then turn around, grasp the cell stone in a fist, and shove it through the gap for 10 seconds, then withdraw it.

(Wait for us to be through the opening)

@All: SAY SOMETHING TO US! NOW!

yes, carefully walk through door without looking at light.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)17:26 No. 186056 ID: cf68aa
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the key is gone now.
She holds her hand over her eyes and steps through the door.



She can feel the sun now.

>>186056
Ok, hand off your eye and look around.

@All: Hello? Somebody, please respond!

look around. be careful.

>>186056
Don't forget to breathe.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)17:39 No. 186079 ID: cf68aa
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She puts down her hand and looks around.
She's in a beautiful field with a bright blue sky

There's someone in front of her shivering in a blanket

>>186079
Nobody is responding. We're still inside the trap.

It looks like a catkin under the blanket. Soul Peer them from a distance.

>>186079
Show compassion.

spin all the way around. if nothing is seen anywhere then say something to them.

>>186087
By which I mean help them get warm.

>>186096
AFTER we've made sure the area is safe, AND that they're not attempting an ambush.

Scan the area, then Soul Peer the person.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)18:13 No. 186108 ID: cf68aa
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Chel can't seem to use any of her spells here.

She goes up to the person and gently touches them. Under the blanket that person is shivering violently.

Chel goes to her other side to face the person.

It's a girl. Most of her face seems to have be either torn or burnt off.

She looks at Chel and whimpers.
The girl pushes something into Chel's hand

Use this on the girl before you or keep it.
If used on her you will never be able to use it again.

>>186108
Use it on the girl.

>>186108
Take a good look at the item.
Also, ask the girl what her full name is.

Your ear isn't much of a wound, and I'm reasonably certain we'll be able to cure that soon-ish anyway.
Besides that? This is a test. I'm leaning towards using it on her simply because it seems the safest option.

>>186108
I don't think we should use it on the girl. Nothing here is real; and if you die, you certainly won't be able to use the item again right?

use on girl.

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)18:25 No. 186123 ID: cf68aa
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>"Don't worry. I'll help you. What's your name?"

The girl just continues crying and shaking.

Chel tries to look at the object. She can't focus on it and looking at it makes her dizzy.

It seems to contain a liquid of some kind. There's a lid on it.

open jar, pour on her face.

or if we can't open it try to just give the whole thing.

>>186123
Use it on her.
I dunno, are we supposed to rub it on her face? Have her drink it?
Ah, screw it. This is a dream, so the intent to use it on her might be enough.

Why are we using the item we came here to get on someone that we don't even know is real? I DISAGREE.

>>186123
Open it and touch a small amount to her lips. Injested or topical it should still have enough of an effect to notice, and enough to tell the difference. Then do whatever seems most effective to heal her.

>>186132
It could be some kind of a test, or exactly what it seems. She may have everything to do with the vial or nothing at all. In any case, what do you think the right thing to do is?

>>186132
It's a dream object, not a real object.
Besides, we don't actually need it. Give Cecil a few weeks to engage in spellcraft and I'm reasonably sure we'll be able to heal Chel's ear on our own, cursed or not.

Heck, it might not even take THAT long; we solve practical problems.

We can use it on Nari. Or Alex. Emotional scarring counts as a 'wound' right?

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)19:05 No. 186176 ID: cf68aa
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Chel opens the bottle and pours a drop of the liquid on the girls face.

The wounds seem to close up. Skin reforms over her face. The healing seems to spread and soon her whole body begins looking refreshed. Even her ear is healed.

Chel notices that the bottle is empty now.

The girl smiles and looks at Chel.
As Chel looks into her eyes she notices the girls smile getting wider and wider. Almost too wide.
The look in her eyes goes from soft to murderous.

The girl lunges forword and grips Chel's shoulders. Her nails sink into Chel's skin causing her to gasp in pain.

'I'll be watching you'






---------------------------------------------

Chel wakes up outside the hospital.
Her shoulders sting and the object she had before is gone.

The girl's voice continues to echo in her ears.

>>186176
Inspect your shoulders.

>>186161
Seems... unlikely. We might need it for Gene, depending on his condition.

>>186176
Check your ear and shoulders.
@Alex & Nari: Chel could use some help here!

[Show the I Shop owner the short version of what happened]
@I Shop: Think you can tell us who or what creepy girl was?
Oh, and out of curiosity, if you lop-off a bodypart with a cursed wound, can you grow the part back properly?

Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)19:32 No. 186201 ID: cf68aa
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Chel regains her composure and inspects her shoulders.

She can feel six wounds.


>>186181
Alex
>What's wrong mya?

>>186189
I Shop Owner
>Seems like you were on some type of drug trip stranger.

>As for the cursed wounds thing the short answer is no. Those things require very intricate rituals that are either very costly or time consuming. It's best to just leave cursed wounds as is.

>>186201
Damn it. The girl really did claw you. I hope that we didn't unleash a monster into the world.

>>186201
[Show I Shop owner the wounds]
@I Shop: No, this was definitely magical.
Here, I'll let you in on a few secrets:
First: We are immune to mind-altering effects, be they magical, psychological, or chemical.
Second: We have the senses of whoever we're riding with, although we might have trouble understanding any beyond the standard 7-8.
Third: We were incommunicado while we were in there, and the only thing that can really do that is being outside of range. That means either she was off on another continent, or on another plane of existence.
Fourth: We've identified the item as Elixir of Life, aka "Item 21".

If you can find out anything about the thing in brown, the girl, the numbered items, or anything else along those lines, could you let us know?
Oh, and feel free to ask us for help if you have a task that fits our skills.

>>186201
@Alex: Chel did something dumb, and just woke up bleeding outside the hospital.

>>186201
@Alex: Ah... well, it's not as bad as we thought it might be. Just an odd experience resulting in minor injuries. Chel's fine.

END OF CHAPTER 8 Chel 2010/05/31(Mon)20:12 No. 186236 ID: cf68aa
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>>186232
Alex
>Oh. Well then tell her to go in the hospital mya. Problem solved.
-------------------------------------------

>>186228
>Oh so you got my letter? Good.
>Shame you didn't get it... One of the 215 woulda helped out a lot stranger.
>I'm afraid I can't tell you much about them.
---------------------------------

Chel
>I... I feel kinda sick.. I'm gonna check out this hospital. Just go with someone else for now...

[RJ and Felix do not want to be bothered but can be talked to if you insist.]

>>186236
@I Shop: Ah, we didn't know where it was from. Still, would you let us know if you find out anything about that... zombie-girl-thing, the thing in brown, or other related topics.

@Alex: The wounds were caused by an evil spirit type thing that seemed to be holding Chel on the verge of death.

[Switch to Cecil]

So, how are you?

>>186236
Let's see what Alex and Nari are doing.

[gotta go with alex/nari]

http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/186274.html