>>637303
Are you going to sleep in that armor? Take off the helmet at least.

>>637305
Do it, show us your secret identity/horribly scarred face

Rest, Hunted Soldier. You may be prey when you awaken, but for now, you can be at ease...

Pity you don't have any traps. Still, you can put little markers around the room to ensure that you aren't being watched.

Place a coin between the door crack. If it falls out, that's a good indication that someone opened your door. Get creative and place other markers around the room.

Take a bath but sleep with the armor on. This inn is plagued by something and you know it.

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)15:35 No. 637313 ID: 05171d
File 143051970523.png - (86.08KB , 900x666 , 18.png )

> remove armor, helmet
Helmet only. It is nice to feel fresh air on my face. I don’t want to take this armor off. I have something of vital importance on me now, and I cannot afford to let it out of my sight.

> coin marker in the door
That’s a really good idea, but I haven’t been paid by Ollie, yet. I don’t have any coins. I’ll have to think of something else to mark it with.

> take a bath
That sounds nice, and I am sure that I smell rank, but I am… afraid to lose what I have in my pocket.

Looks like she was the tortured one, then.

>>637313
What's in your pocketses?
Wash your face and hair, then. Maybe take off your boots, gloves... just keep on the parts that are important. Wash what you can. Let the air in otherwise.

How long have you been running?
You could prop your helmet up against the door in a way so that it would fall over if the door was opened.

>I don’t have any coins. I’ll have to think of something else to mark it with.
An old trick is to place or stick a hair across the door. Advantage over a coin is it's harder for an intruder to notice they disturbed your marker, although you do have to be careful in setup to avoid false positives.

>I am… afraid to lose what I have in my pocket.
What have you got in your pocketses?

Surely you can just put it on the edge of the tub.
What has it got in it's pocketses?

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)21:06 No. 637374 ID: 05171d
File 143053956964.png - (62.36KB , 900x666 , 19.png )

> How long have I been running
I escaped two days ago, and I haven’t had a blink of sleep since then. When I think of my time in Als Eyvor, I panic, and sometimes I throw up or wet myself. If I can get to safety, it will be behind me.

> What is in my pocket
This single key. I was tortured for its location, but I kept it secret. Wars may be fought over this key, but maybe I can prevent that from happening.

I decide to use my helmet to check for tampering in my room. It is less subtle, but I have arranged it on the cabinet near the door so that I will hear it when it falls to the floor. I will go for a bath now, and maybe a nap in the water. The door to the bath is easy enough to have locked, and it’s still early in the day. No one is taking a bath at this hour.

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)21:06 No. 637375 ID: 05171d
File 143053959424.png - (113.26KB , 900x666 , 20.png )

I disrobe, leaving my armor and the key within arm’s reach. I am already entranced by the quietude of this room. It is open and bright. I am alone, but that does not stop me from fearfully tearing open the curtain on each of the privacy booths against the walls. Seems like a good place for a pursuer to hide. They’re all empty.

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)21:06 No. 637376 ID: 05171d
File 143053961754.png - (81.40KB , 900x666 , 21.png )

This is nice. Alone with my thoughts.

Sleep now: y/n

n, you can sleep later when you dont have the key up for anyone to grab. just relax for now, but dont sleep.

>>637376
What is the key for? How do you plan to prevent a war over it?

>>637376
N. Let's not drown in our sleep.

N. Begin fun bath time.

And be sure to wash your hair thoroughly, you might not get another bath for a long time!

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)21:44 No. 637389 ID: 05171d
File 143054189023.png - (70.37KB , 900x666 , 22.png )

>don’t sleep
Ok. I'll just wash up a bit.

>What is the key for? How do I plan to prevent a war over it?
The key… there’s nothing special about the key itself. It’s just a piece of bronze, but what it opens is important. It opens an impenetrable vault hidden in the countryside behind a statue in a haunted cathedral, infested with monsters. Only an insane person would go in there. That’s how I kept the secret safe. I hid something there - an object so powerful that it is the envy of titans, and titans will always war for what they want. In their envy, they revealed to me something disturbing about themselves as well - something that they do not want the world at large to know.

The object is called the Dagger of Breath. Piercing a cadaver, a corpse… even a skeleton with the dagger will return life and youth to that being. This is a power that most people assumed the titans to have, but they don’t. The dagger was given to me by a strange man I passed in the woods. He told me to hide it, and then ran. I never saw him again, but I took his advice. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I was telling the story to a shaman in Als Eyvor when Ortise’s men took me.

I am torn between traveling to that cathedral to take the dagger back. Maybe I’ll try to destroy it, or use it, or cast it into the ocean. I’m also just tempted to leave it there. That cathedral has been standing abandoned for centuries, soaring with ghosts and crawling with beasts. Nothing would call attention to it, and even if it did, the magic vault would be impossible for any mortal to crack. That is how I am keeping the realm from war.

I really want to sleep now.

About the cathedral........

>>637389
Wait, Ortise captured and tortured you to try to get the dagger? Man, what the fuck happened to his moral compass? Leave it in the Cathedral. How did you even get that much security around it?

Go to bed. Sleep.

....uhh, soooooo, Ortise's big brother (no love lost between them) kinda cleared that place out of monsters and found a font of healng (related to the dagger? Probably, but much less potent). Sooooo it's being used as a hospital now.

Sorry, but I think a change of plans is warranted.

...unrelated but uh, what is your gender? I'd kind of assumed you were male but now that I actually see you without the armor you're a bit androgynous. Or is it just that you're haggard from your harrowing flight?

>>637404
Rufio Ortise. The same guy that chopped off the arm of our cultist buddy. Also happens to be his little brother.

>>637412
Oh, and Als Eyvor isn't where our Ortise set up shop... Okay, so there probably wasn't a huge timeskip then. ...waaaaait a minute. She's talking about OUR Cathedral. It had a big locked door in the back.

>>637389
I changed my mind. Go back to the Cathedral and try to retrieve the dagger, after getting a good night's sleep in your bed.

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)23:37 No. 637420 ID: 05171d
File 143054864198.png - (73.66KB , 900x666 , 23.png )

>what is my gender
My CURVACEOUS FIGURE and AMPLE BUST make it plainly obvious that I am FEMALE. I can’t think like that. I don’t want people to think that I am SELF-CONSCIOUS.

>change of plans
I never… I never had much of a plan to start with. I need to decide what to-

Crus 2015/05/01(Fri)23:37 No. 637421 ID: 05171d
File 143054866033.png - (96.18KB , 900x666 , 24.png )

CLUFF.

I hear my helmet topple to the floor in the next room.

Arm thy self! He he arm. And maybe some pants

put on a towel and get weapon, no time for clothes.

shit, armor up as quickly as you can and find somewhere in the room for you to either ambush whoever entered your room are to flee the room. Whatever is quicker.

>>637421
Grab the key, get your weapon ready, put on any amount of armor you can in the scant few moments before someone tries to come through that locked door. Also pinch yourself to make sure you aren't hallucinating. Then stand against the wall by the door to whallop anyone that tries to come in. Oh, also close one of the curtains to make it look like you're hiding in there.

Are there any other exits?

Grab your stuff, and into one of those privacy booths! We armor up there.
The key is in your armor's pocket, right?

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)22:50 No. 637807 ID: 05171d
File 143063224845.png - (106.33KB , 900x666 , 25.png )

>suit up
Since there are no other exits from the bathing room, I scramble into as much armor as I can manage, then close one of the privacy curtains to mislead the intruder. The key is in my pocket.

>ambush
I wait next to the door, and the knob begins to rattle. I’m not helpless ANYMORE. They won’t take me again…

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)22:51 No. 637808 ID: 05171d
File 143063227418.png - (140.04KB , 900x666 , 26.png )

>whallop
HYAAAAAHHHH!

>>637808
Oops. Apologize to the poor lady, ask if she's alright. Why didn't she knock?

"OHMYGODI'MSOSORRYAREYOUOKOHMYGODISTHATYOUR-TOOTH-AAAAAAAA"

oh god oh god oh god
help them. put tooth back in.

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)23:21 No. 637823 ID: 05171d
File 143063411795.png - (78.31KB , 900x666 , 28.png )

“Oh… yikes… I’m sorry,” I say, “A-are you ok? Why didn’t you knock?”

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)23:22 No. 637824 ID: 05171d
File 143063413369.png - (86.21KB , 900x666 , 27.png )

Conscious. No concussion. Cut on face, possible broken nose. She will be ok, though she has been stunned by the blow.

“H… house… keeping… fresh… linens…”

take tooth, carefully put it back in her face.

>>637824
Just... just give her her tooth, and tell her thanks, but you have to insist that noone disturb you. In fact ask if there's a way for you to lock your door from the inside.

Hold the key in your hand, she might be a spy.

Other than that, ask about what you can do to repair her broken tooth.

give tooth back.

but know that you've ruined her smile forever. she'll have to live with this disfigurement.

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)23:54 No. 637849 ID: 05171d
File 143063605416.png - (78.36KB , 900x666 , 30.png )

“Tha-thank you for giving m-my tooth back miss. I didn’t mean to intrude or get in the way, I’m sorry! Please don’t tell mister Ollie! He’ll make me clean the latrines again!”

I don’t need a reminder on this. I send the servant on her way.

> lock the door from the inside
I don’t need to ask. I can think of a way.

Crus 2015/05/02(Sat)23:54 No. 637850 ID: 05171d
File 143063608958.png - (121.71KB , 900x666 , 29.png )

I pushed the chest of drawers in front of the door. Ok, now. Got to sleep. Got to sleep. Gotta sleep. Key is safe. I just want this to be over.

Gotta sleep.

If you move the bed so the foot of the bed is up against that dresser you will make the room as secure as possible. Then you can sleep soundly knowing anyone trying to sneak around will jostle you directly and be blocked by a bunch of weight.

Once you are ready dry closing your eyes and thinking of nothing if you can. Then slowly breath in and out until you relax a bit.

>>637850
How did you escape, anyway? Just lie down on the bed with your head resting on the pillow, the adrenaline will wear off eventually and exhaustion will set in.

>>637420
Oh sorry, couldn't see either of those things since they were underwater. And before that, obscured by a towel.

>>637853
Assuming there are no windows, or other entrances.

Making it so anyone would have to move you to get into the room should make it pretty hard for them to jump you though.

Some guys are living in the church. You better get that dagger soon

What's your favorite song Crus?

>>637850
So uh, were you always like this under that mask?

>>638153
>>638128
Shhhh
Now is sleepy time

sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Crus 2015/05/11(Mon)11:26 No. 639708 ID: 05171d
File 143136878933.png - (74.38KB , 900x666 , 31.png )

I push the bed up against the dresser, against the door. Lying down, I close my eyes.

Crus 2015/05/11(Mon)11:26 No. 639709 ID: 05171d
File 143136880747.png - (107.41KB , 900x666 , 32.png )

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I scream and snap awake. How long was I asleep?! No, no! What’s happening! Help! The door is rattling.

>>639709
calm down, sit up, ask who's there

calm down, it could be anyone. could be the owner asking what you are doing.

Crus 2015/05/11(Mon)11:55 No. 639716 ID: 05171d
File 143137053240.png - (78.21KB , 900x666 , 33.png )

“Wh-who’s there?” I say, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“It’s Ollie. Why’d you beat up my servant? Open the door!”

wiggle the door one enough to see through.

"you see these scars, people walking in on me make me freak the fuck out"

"She snuck up on me and I got spoop'd and hit her. Is she okay?"

apologize for smashing her face in

say you're sorry, but she startled you. Ask what he wants and if he's alone.

Helmet on. You have to look strong and mysterious, not scared.

>Why’d you beat up my servant?
She disturbed me. Why do you disturb me now?

>>639716
You were sleep deprived and paranoid.

Crus 2015/05/16(Sat)20:01 No. 640983 ID: 05171d
File 143183168097.png - (78.51KB , 900x666 , 34.png )

I put the helmet back on. It makes me look more intimidating, and masks my voice as well. “She sneaked up on me and startled me,” I say.

“I think you have a bit of a problem. You need help,” says Ollie. “Can you let me in?”

“Are you alone?”

The innkeeper groans and pauses. “Yes. I’m alone. I’m trying to pay you like I promised, but I hope you can understand if I take a little away to get my servant some medical treatment. I’ll give you sixty grimps, and I’ve gotta ask you to leave.”

Accept his terms. Take the money and go.

You'll have to be more careful in the future. You can't let fear and paranoia make you lash out at innocents.

>>640983
Those terms are acceptable, but consider that he knows you're not a guard etc, and his maid saw your face. She may have been outright instructed to barge in on you to find out who you are. If he dug deep enough he may know that you are wanted. Let's not assume the innkeeper is on our side.

Move the dresser and bed so that the door opens enough that you can see out. Be fully armored and armed. Ask him how this is going to go down.

"That's fine. I am sorry for hurting her, I'm a bit twitchy."

Crus 2015/05/18(Mon)10:37 No. 641210 ID: 05171d
File 143197063347.png - (86.29KB , 900x666 , 35.png )

Ollie hands me a small bag of coins when I open the door. He is alone. “Here’s your money. Sixty grimps. Go ahead and count ‘em if you want, but you gotta leave after that. I can’t have violence in my inn. If anyone else catches wind, there will be more fights, and I don’t want to have to hire security.”

>>640990
>maid saw my face
>instructed to spy on me
>might know that I am wanted

I rush back into the room to grab my things, then leave as quickly as possible. I was a fool for trusting strangers’ hospitality.

Crus 2015/05/18(Mon)10:37 No. 641211 ID: 05171d
File 143197065609.png - (81.06KB , 900x666 , 36.png )

I lost track of time while I was asleep. It’s dark now. Really dark. I must be brave. I am now fully rested and freshly bathed, and I have a bit of money. I know the realm well enough, so I just need to decide where to go next.

we should check on the dagger.

I say we find a cave or something we can hide out in. Inns are too dangerous, too many eyes, too many ears, too many people. Threats.

>>641211
I think you should go somewhere vaguely near the Cathedral and check up on it by asking about local news.

Who would think to look for you in a supposedly monster-infested church? Whatever's inside aught to be no challenge at all for you, and then you can stay there without a care in the world. Other than, well, food, but that's something to worry about later.

>That maid was a spy!
I think we're gettimg just a bit too paranoid.
We should probably head to the church. Guard that knife. We need to stay out of sight while we do it, though: Being seen there will just be a signal for "IT'S RIGHT HERE."

Crus 2015/05/19(Tue)10:04 No. 641492 ID: 05171d
File 143205505676.png - (34.29KB , 900x666 , 37.png )

> return to the cathedral

I guess it is important to protect the realm. I just need to make sure that I am not seen while I am there, or that will be the end of it all. If I can manage to get there unseen, then it would be a sanctuary for me. I feel much safer around monsters than men. Judging by how far I am from Als Eyvor now, it will be a night’s walk to get there. I’m very hungry, but I have given up on the prospect of finding food.

Crus 2015/05/19(Tue)10:04 No. 641493 ID: 05171d
File 143205508211.png - (31.16KB , 900x666 , 38.png )

There are strange, hunched figures sleeping like gargoyles in the rocks. If they did not ebb and swell with breath and flicker in the wind, I might mistake them for sculptures.

I hear something, but I might just be paranoid. I think I really do have a problem. It’s probably nothing.

Crus 2015/05/19(Tue)10:05 No. 641494 ID: 05171d
File 143205515777.png - (125.78KB , 900x666 , 39.png )

“I HEAR THAT FOOKIN’ PURSE RATTLIN’! GIVE IT HERE!”

CLANG

Throw the purse to distract them, and then smash their ribcages in.

Loot them afterwards.

You look like a guard under the employ of the White Dragon. Maybe you can intimidate them by claiming to be one.

Curt 2015/05/19(Tue)12:23 No. 641505 ID: b9cef6

Alright. Experienced (But weakened) fighter with milotary arms and armor V two jackasses.
With your weapon, all the force comes from distance. Optimum targets are the wrong sides of joints, but arms will do fine.
Keep your distance, and whap them as best you can. I reccomend focusing on Spear Dude if you can, because you can't block that as easily as a sword swing.

Crus 2015/05/20(Wed)01:16 No. 641624 ID: 05171d
File 143210980723.png - (150.80KB , 900x666 , 40.png )

>throw the purse
No. If they make off with the purse, I'm not in any condition to catch them. I doubt they're stupid enough to dive for the purse like dogs after meat with an armed opponent in front of them.

>Pose as a guard
It wouldn’t work. Ortise’s van wears white armor, and this is the armor of an eastern soldier.

>make distance
>strike arms
I dance aside from the spearman’s jab, and it pierces my cloak. Using my staff to push him away, I seize the opportunity to strike his forearms. He wails and drops his spear, reeling back with his arms quivering in pain. I strike his chin, and he bites off his own tongue.

Crus 2015/05/20(Wed)01:17 No. 641625 ID: 05171d
File 143210982712.png - (95.37KB , 900x666 , 41.png )

AH!

I feel a bite on my shoulder, forcing me to cringe. The swordsman cleaves into the boiled leather of my armor, dragging the rough, rusted blade through my skin. It feels so familiar and so frightening. I become disoriented in the dark of the pass and run forward, away from the pain.

>>641625
Hope you don't get tetanus from that hit. Don't run, though. You can't. Turn around, defend yourself. Parry any follow-up strike then feint to get him to try to block. Hit anywhere he's not blocking at. Preferably the face or legs. Just injuring his legs will let you escape.

and that's why armor is important,

finish this other guy then yo really need to get to the cathedral. remember is has a healing fountain.

Crus 2015/05/20(Wed)10:46 No. 641689 ID: 05171d
File 143214400297.png - (88.05KB , 900x666 , 42.png )

>turn and fight
Yeah! I’m finished being helpless!

I turn around, ready to parry…

Crus 2015/05/20(Wed)10:47 No. 641690 ID: 05171d
File 143214403399.png - (52.40KB , 900x666 , 43.png )

“A pity you had to witness that, sir. Stabbing a man in the back reflects poorly on my honor, but I assure you that such an underhanded slight is one that I reserve only for the most dire of circumstances.”

Oh, it's that vigilante from before. Thank him, but also ask why he's following you.

He just helped you, but be on your guard. Don't start bashing unless he threatens you, and ask him what he's doing out here.

Crus 2015/05/20(Wed)12:08 No. 641706 ID: 05171d
File 143214889644.png - (52.45KB , 900x666 , 44.png )

“Why are you following me?” I ask.

> “I’m not, and I was about to ask you the same question,” says Mister Disotto, wiping his sword clean on the stabbed man’s shirt.

Both of the highwaymen are still alive. The stabbed one is slowly bleeding to death and struggling to breathe, and the other is knocked out, bleeding more mildly from his mouth.

“Why would I be following you?”

> “It is not an accusation, sir. Merely an observation. It seems we’ve both gone in the same direction, and there needs not be suspicion in that.”

“Why did you help me?” I ask. I don’t feel the need to thank him. I could have handled it myself.

> “You were in need to it,” says Disotto, sheathing his rapier. “You appear to be in pain, and rightly so. You should seek medical attention, however I fear I am not qualified to give it. Should you need accompaniment, I could offer that.”

“I got you kicked out of the inn. Why would you want to help me?”

> “Amid my evening patrol, I came to realize that my behavior there was not in accordance with the manner of a civilized gentleman,” he says, “and I now realize that I was, in fact, in the wrong. I do not fault you for upholding your word to the innsman.”

I’d never expect a man as pompous as him to admit to being wrong. I don’t know what to make of him. I also need to decide what to do with the highwaymen.

He's the vigilante. He should decide, he has more experience with it anyway.

As for you, just head to the nearest town, wherever it is. Bonus points if it's a different direction than where you were going, because then he'll have to either admit to following you, or move on and no longer be a problem. Get medical attention, maybe pick up a few basic supplies now that you have money (backpack, food/water, bandages, change of clothes?), then keep going towards your true destination.

>Highwaymen: what do?
Wake the KO'd one. Tell him to tend to himself and his friend and get the hell out of here before you finish the job.
>Guy: What do?
I see no reason that he can't come with us. Why was he headed this way?
Don't mention him being wrong. If he thinks he's some honorable guy, he would take offense to us being suprised by him admitting wrongdoing.
Also,
>Become childishly angry over him assuming you needed help

>Stabbing a man in the back reflects poorly on my honor
Considering he stabbed me in the back first, I'd say he deserved it.

>>641706
/shrug
eh, sure, for a while. There are things I need to do alone, however.
Keep the fact you aren't a Sir hidden. Don't actively hide it, just don't tell him otherwise.

Crus 2015/05/21(Thu)00:01 No. 641801 ID: 05171d
File 143219168122.png - (62.04KB , 900x666 , 45.png )

> “Oh, you’re going south?”

He says as I stop to wake up the unconscious highwayman. He is mute, having severed his tongue, and his mouth is crusty with scabbed and clotted blood. He reels in horror at the sight of his dying friend, and retreats.

“What?” I say, distracted by the mugger.

> “I am going south myself.”

“Why?”

> “I’ve decided to elevate my cause. Word has reached me of a new order which has arisen in the bluffs to the south, not far from here, which seeks to cure the sick and heal the wounded. A peasant came to me with word that a man there has taken to performing astonishing miracles of healing. Someone like that can be nothing short of a saint walking among us, and I seek to be in his service.”

I take one last glance back at the remaining highwayman. He has passed out from loss of blood. The adrenaline has worn out of my system, and the pain begins to course through my shoulder.

> “This man has taken residence in an old cathedral,” says Disotto, “An unlikely thing, if you ask me. Well, follow if you will. I don’t care.”

My heart skips a beat, and the adrenaline nearly returns.

>>641801
...right. Yeah, this seems legit. He's got a rumor that sounds quite valid, and it means someone's in the cathedral. Wash out your wound at least so that it doesn't get SUPER infected. You can get it healed at the cathedral.

>>641801
Put that bandit out of his misery, or carry him along to be healed when you arrive.
Either way, we'll want to not have him pop up later to try and kill us for killing all his friends.

>>641801
well alright then, lets just loot the bandits and be on our way then. Also might wanna patch up your armour (and shoulder) with something nearby.

Crus 2015/05/21(Thu)11:25 No. 641841 ID: 05171d
File 143223275856.png - (67.01KB , 900x666 , 46.png )

>loot

I look over the groaning man. He has nothing of value. No money, no food, no water, no possessions. Just his clothes and his rusty old Messer. Maybe that is why they were robbing us. He is shivering under my hands, and will probably die within the hour.

> patch armor

I will need a bandage or at least a poultice to do that. I don’t want to disturb this man anymore by tearing his clothes. I am not bleeding very severely, as the blade was not able to cut very deeply. It just hurts.

Crus 2015/05/21(Thu)11:26 No. 641842 ID: 05171d
File 143223277851.png - (43.00KB , 900x666 , 47.png )

> “Perhaps this will teach them to take up an honest line of work for a change. A job well done, I’d say. Will we get a move on, then, or will I have to leave you behind?”

Suggestion 2015/05/21(Thu)11:32 No. 641844 ID: 353142

>>641842
Assuming you can make it to the church on time, carry him with you for healing. He might learn a lesson, and it's not like he'll be very dangerous if he's still hostile once healed; both of you are more than a match for him.

the bandit is as good as dead. let's go

They would have killed you or worse given the chance. Regardless of what brought them down this path it was there choice.

So leave them here and get a move on.

Crus 2015/05/21(Thu)12:02 No. 641849 ID: 05171d
File 143223494564.png - (61.54KB , 900x666 , 48.png )

>>641808

Taking the brigand with me would be a burden, but killing him would be a mercy, and I have none of that to pay forward. I proceed to the south with Mister Disotto, wary of him all the while. Maybe by some stroke of luck we aren’t going to the same place.

END CHAPTER THREE