>>/quest/374886
>but the safe bet is on telling him what happened.
No it's fucking not. "Oh yeah, we just ate a demon"? Fuck that. Even if "just" we say there was a demon in our head, Owen's gonna want to take a close look at us, and then he'll figure out we ate the thing.

>There's a very, very good chance that he knows exactly what just happened.
Yeah, but if he doesn't it's better we don't tell him. And the chance that he doesn't isn't huge, he's almost certainly not aware of the Cimmerian's interaction with us if the Cimmerian didn't intentionally allow Owen to find out, which doesn't seem like something he'd do. And in general these people are less than supremely competent, so it's possible that he didn't discover anything. Even if he's entirely aware of what happened, there's no reason that we need to indicate that we're aware, or that we made decisions in our full right mind. Hence, mentioning a bad dream would be the ideal if we say anything at all.

>If he does or does not know, then telling him will cause him to trust Tiffany
I don't think Inquisitors tend to trust demon-eaters. Or anyone, for that matter.

>She's 12; they can't rightly argue with that.
Yes they fucking can. I don't know if you noticed, but they don't tend to take a very "lol, kids will be kids" view on Tiffany's exploits. Everything's a big fucking deal to them.

>If we don't tell him and he knows then he's going to mistrust Tiffany in the future and go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.
So then we reveal our dream.
>We're on thin ice here already, and getting outed here wouldn't help.
Yeah, neither will making our ice thinner by telling him we just ate a fucking demon.

>If we don't tell him and he doesn't know then nothing happens until somebody checks for demonic presence.
"Why do you detect as demonic?"
"I dunno. Maybe something to do with how I'm shackled to the Cimmerian?"
BAM. We've done enough demon fuckery that they know about already for some shit to be expected. Hell, there would probably already be a substantial demonic taint on us just from the coalescence.

>>357407
This is a good plan, let's stick with it.

Just wanted to let you guys now, taking Christmas eve off. Just too beat to pick up a stylus. (Yeah we celebrate decemberween on the 24th here)

In lieu of an update I want to ask my readers some questions:

-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
-What keeps you coming back?
-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?

You can answer any or all of the questions. Indulge an old hands curiosity.
In return I'll answer your questions. As a rule of thumb don't ask for major spoilers. Something was touched on but went unexplained? Metaphysics being confusing? What was that bartenders name back in Adeleine?

Anyway, I wish you all a delightful Yuletide.
-Nahkh

>-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
I like to use magic. I also like the emphasis on power and growth in that manner, and that we essentially are a "bad guy" type of a character, but with motivations that are nonetheless human. And that we still have an overarching force (our family) that we need to watch out for and respect. Not a lot of quests manage to keep a presence like that in existence and relevant, although to be fair I can't think of another that's tries.

>-What keeps you coming back?
I dunno, I guess that stuff I just said. But also the story and setting are just plain good.

>-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?
Acquire more spells, more ability and resources of sorts other than pure raw power. The apprenticeship thing should happen, in other words. More stuff that isn't a huge deal should happen too, so far everything is big and important (Grampa tried to kill you! Now he wants to become king of the dead! Here's an ancient demon of great power!) and that's good to get the quest started off, but some low-key stuff would be fine for a bit too. I'd like to go through the comparatively mundane stuff of seeing our dad in the hospital, alleviating suspicion enough that we don't have permanent inquisitorial escort, getting our apprenticeship, and doing some general hunter stuff without worrying about the impending "everything is fucked" situation too much. We could probably fill a thread or two with things like that, perhaps with small timeskips (weeks at most) here and there. I feel like the storyline needs some less huge bits so that the really big stuff hits harder, as was the case early on when we suddenly found out about Gramp's betrayal. In addition, I feel that Tiffany's been in a state of "everything's fucked" long enough; she needs to establish a sort of a grounding lifestyle.
Of course, this is contingent on you being around and updating as consistently as you did then; if you only do a few updates and then are gone again as has happened occasionally, this long-term of a thing isn't really viable.

>>357419
Mostly, it's just fantastically written. Idunnno.

>>357423
Thank you for the kind words.

>>357420
Thanks for the answer. Will def keep that in mind.
Also, >>357407 is some wise words bro.


I feel I should explain why I haven't been updating for six months.

But I can't.

There's no single reason why I haven't been updating.
I guess the biggest factor was that I felt the story had become stuck, sort of bogged down by unplanned sidetracks that were preventing me from moving forward with the main story. And the longer I waited the harder it became to get back on top of things. Reading old threads, updating my notes, trying to remember how characters looked and how they spoke, and after all that getting things rolling again, processing all the piled up sidetracks. And I've had some really stressful stuff that's been piling up in real life so I've been more worn out than usual.
Guess you could call it writers burnout.
Anyway, the time off allowed me to recharge my batteries and remember how much I've missed doing this. I've come close to restarting a few times, but the final push was me getting my new tablet. I'm happy to be on the saddle again, and all that piled up stuff doesn't feel like such and insurmountable obstacle anymore.
Authoring quests, in particular this one, has been one of the most satisfying creative experiences in my life. I don't want to stop. I might need brakes every now and again, but I really love doing this. I doubt we'll see me quitting for good.

Hope you'll stick around,
-Nahkh

>>357419
>-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
The story of the inevitable and tragic descent into darkness appeals to me and Tiffany has good characterization. Mostly in our ability to watch Tiffany's mind; seeing her thought patterns gradually change as she is molded by her actions and the events around her is probably the best part of the quest.

The magic system is also fun, but frustrating, particularly since we've been taught fuck-all and are thus stuck working largely on conjecture and guesswork. It's enough to make one wish that we'd had a longer apprenticeship under Alexander, mind control or no; he likely taught us more than we've learned since from everything combined.

>-What keeps you coming back?
Aside from the above, nostalgia counts for a hell of a lot. I fucking loved the first two or three threads, and even though since then I haven't been quite as enthused there's still the lingering spark there.

>-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?
Forward, preferably in a fairly predictable fashion for once. Every time it seems like we're finally starting to really get rolling we get yanked aside by sudden, unexpected events which are interesting but ultimately ensnarl us in another unexpected subplot and force us to chuck out basically all plans for the future since they're now completely obsolete. While that lends a sense of empathy for Tiffany's own total loss of control over her own life, it's also annoying as hell- and it's teaching us as players and Tiffany as a person that long-term planning is useless and short-term gains and rapid action should always be prioritized if we want to ever actually accomplish anything.

>>357478
>The magic system is also fun, but frustrating, particularly since we've been taught fuck-all and are thus stuck working largely on conjecture and guesswork.
I feel that that's a positive aspect of the situation. If we could do anything trivially, things would get too easy.

>It's enough to make one wish that we'd had a longer apprenticeship under Alexander, mind control or no; he likely taught us more than we've learned since from everything combined.
We should learn more under our upcoming apprenticeship. But we don't need a super in-depth knowledge of everything. We could use a broader base of magical knowledge, and more tricks up our sleeve will be a substantial asset, but you can really do a lot with simple pieces.

I agree with the "no sudden changes" notion, that's sort of what I was going for when I said Tiffany needs a grounding lifestyle, but you said it better than I did. I do think small things that aren't predictable should be good, but they should fit within a consistent framework. Seems to me that being a hunter apprentice is the optimal framework for that.

Duly noted. I've noticed the lack of stability in the quest, and have been hoping to establish some kind of regular lifestyle. What that will be depends entirely on who you guys choose to apprentice under.
The constant yanking around has been a symptom of me struggling with the feeling of being stuck with the quest, unable to keep things going forward. I'll keep that in check.

Of course, as it stands the quest could be summed up as
This is the story all about how
my life got flipped, turned upside down


So anyway, I'll take this opportunity to explain some things about artifacts, since the topic came up on IRC.

Enchanted objects are divided into two categories based on how they are powered.

Talismans are objects with a spell cast on it. The casting is a one-time event and the object is infused with magic. Over time the magic will fade and lose effectiveness. Talismans range in complexity from simple ad-hoc creations to highly complex ones that are reimbued time and time again. An example of a simple talisman is Tiffany's anti-scrying amulet. An example of a complex talisman is the wardstone in the Adeleine safehouse.

Artifacts are objects with a spirit bound inside it, powering the magic. Artifacts are inherently more powerful than talismans. The complexity of the artifact is directly proportional to how cooperative the spirit in question is. The creation of artifacts is a time-consuming process that is prone to error, and is best left to people who truly know what they are doing. The most difficult part of creating artifacts is defining the desired effect. If you use a spell A to describe the desired effect B, something of the A can very easily leak into B. The methods used by master artificiers to avoid this are carefully guarded secrets.
The most sophisticated artifacts feed the spirit with the users power, essentially allowing them to function indefinitely. Artifacts have even been known to grow in power as they age and are kept in use. An example of an artifact is Thomas' lance.

>>357510
Well, then it seems like the most obvious way to easily create an artifact is to bind the soul of an ostensibly willing sentient which understands the goal into the object in question.

I'd expect that was one of the first ways of creating artifacts, and all others are attempts to duplicate that without engaging in long-forbidden acts.
Such as, for example, preventing the dead from passing on to the afterlife.

I think Artifacts are well beyond our current capabilities. And there's nothing like that that we really need either. I mean, a potent weapon would be a good thing to have, but we really don't need a weapon more potent than the Labyrinth of Hak'keth. We just need to be able to deploy that power in a versatile and safe manner.

Now, this seems as good a time as any to discuss the goals Seven posted in the thread.

>Since they have some many-to-one scrying eyes for the inquisitors lets design some one-to-may broadcasting glasses for people.
>These would be useful for things like large sigils and coordinated rituals. If we wanted to, for example, have three hundred people show up, lay down a 3km wide sigil, and preform a ritual to empower it all within a one-hour window then we would need a one-to-many system to keep the chanters synchronized.
I don't see much potential gain in this endeavor.

>Mid-Long, lets design a ritual that attempts to scry everywhere within a circle and darkens where the scrying fails. Then put that on a pair of glasses.
Sounds like a good way to detect scrying blocks. Scrying reversal and detection would probably be useful there, but I'm not sure how we'd use them.

>Short-Mid, lets come up with a proposal for a new way for Inquisitors to work. One that gives them more privacy while also yielding better security. Also, keeping the ghostly aid but giving it an off switch. (This is easy. They will dismiss it out of hand.)
There's no real reason we should want to do that, and any attempt to modify the functioning of a group that watches over us will be seen as extremely suspicious.

>Get a laptop. Make it undetectable to others. Research how to magically download the library onto it so we can have a searchable database of all the magic. This will include the forbidden archives once the Cimmerian wants to make that happen.
Bind Seeing, the Hook, and the Cradle inside a Blade. Attach that to a Touch. Inscribe this all on the back of the laptop. That may well be enough that anything we touch the laptop to will be copied into the memory. It would be more likely with more Understanding dots, or if someone can think of a way to explicitly represent the computer's memory. I don't know about doing it remotely; I don't think it's possible with what we know now.

>Become goddess-queen of man. Fix everything.
A good goal. We'll have to figure out the steps to achieve it as more information becomes available. For now, our only leads in this direction are studying magic, eating demons, and achieving excellence in all things.

>>357516
>I don't see much potential gain in this endeavor.
Besides taking down grampa from no less than 1.5km away?
We can create a sigil as a number of interlocking sections and have unskilled labor assemble it on-site - with the family's resources that's within the realm of possibility, and I'm pretty sure we could even talk the Rothwalds into helping back it since they'd love a front row seat at the largest and most ambitious magic project in hundreds of years.
However, in order to empower it we would need lots of people coordinating their efforts, and that means we would need a way of keeping everybody in sych.

>Sounds like a good way to detect scrying blocks. Scrying reversal and detection would probably be useful there, but I'm not sure how we'd use them.

Tiffany has already used the hell out of Hide+Absolute, and so far it seems to be incredibly effective for something so simple.
Powerful+Effective+Simple means it's almost certainly in wide use, and being able to see where things are hidden gives us a great starting point for developing countermeasures and counter-countermeasures.
Ideally we'd be playing this game three or so layers deeper than anybody else, but research takes a lot of time.

>There's no real reason we should want to do that, and any attempt to modify the functioning of a group that watches over us will be seen as extremely suspicious.
I didn't say modify, I said draft a proposal for an entirely new system. One which accomplishes all the same tasks as well as or better than the existing system, but with few or none of the flaws.
It would be rejected out of hand, but the idea would spread among dissatisfied members and underscore the problems.
At that point Tiffany sits back and watches how it plays out. Disrupting the status quo is highly unlikely, but it would let us see first-hand how the Kinsley family suppresses information and dissent. That information is valuable.

>I don't know about doing it remotely; I don't think it's possible with what we know now.

That's why it's a mid/long term goal.
Well, no, the reason it's a long-term goal is because we have no idea how magic and technology interact, nor how rituals behave under such conditions.
We could try doing that ritual on Tiff's hand and see if she can memorize a mundane book, and we could try it on a piece of paper to see if Kinsley library books can be magically copied, but there are too many variables to try this immediately.

>For now, our only leads in this direction are studying magic, eating demons, and achieving excellence in all things.

Eating demons is a bad thing. Tiff was told it made her stronger, but we have no idea how. Or even if.
What did Tiff lose when she ate that demon? What did she gain? What's the RoI?
Since our suggestions can nullify most behavioral changes, there's a near-certainty that one of the side effects is us losing control of her.

Sorry, was out of town for a couple of days. In retrospect I probably should have said something. Oh well.

Also, I approve of this back-and-forth weighing-of-plans. Keep up the good work.

>>357601
Well, it works out fine for me, since I was out of town too. Still am, but I'm in a place with proper wireless for the moment.

>>357559
>take down Gramps with a giant sigil
That's a decent eventual plan I suppose. So far we don't have nearly the respect from the family to pull it off.
>magic glasses
Could just use a radio system. No point in wasting magic.

>Scrying block detection
Sorry, I meant I'm not sure how we'd use those runes to get that effect. I can see the utility of a spell like that, I just don't know how to make it happen.

>I didn't say modify, I said draft a proposal for an entirely new system.
You suggested using a different method to deal with a problem which is currently dealt with through an existing process, ergo you suggest a modification to the approach. But that's a semantic point and largely irrelevant.
Rocking the boat isn't a bad idea, and seeing how information flows is a good one, but being seen to rock the boat is bad.

>That's why it's a mid/long term goal.
A partial success now is better than leaving the whole thing until later, as long as it doesn't impede later success, and I find that very unlikely in this case.

>Well, no, the reason it's a long-term goal is because we have no idea how magic and technology interact, nor how rituals behave under such conditions.
Nothing suggests technology is mystical or counter-mystical in any way. The only way to find out is to search existing documentation or experiment.
>We could try doing that ritual on Tiff's hand and see if she can memorize a mundane book,
Let's not use our own mind as a subject for experimentation. That could have substantial negative repercussions.

>and we could try it on a piece of paper to see if Kinsley library books can be magically copied,
That sounds like a better idea.

>Since our suggestions can nullify most behavioral changes, there's a near-certainty that one of the side effects is us losing control of her.
Unlikely. We've never had absolute control. Even if our control was decreased to the level that we had over Cheelop (the most independent protagonist I can think of offhand) that would be fine.
But honestly I reckon Nahkh is probably able to make that change happen in a more fulfilling way than "too many demons, Tiffany doesn't listen any more".

I must admit, I made a mistake in chapter seven. I left out a something about the definition of synchronicity.

Here's the original passage:

Synchronicity measures the degree to which you can synchronize your Haftsusha with your Tuaftia. It essentially allows you access to extra reserves of power. This is the hardest to actually learn, Balian is the only one to ever get five on the test on that. Duncan suspects master Cain would rank even higher, if he would take the test.

It should've included:

People with high synchronicity are also more able to synchronize their spellcasting with other people, either to cast a larger spell cooperatively or to counter the other's casting. That's not what the test was meant for, but it is a correlation we've discovered.


Sorry for that. I'll update that to the wiki.

Note about latest update (613)
You don't need to just be either for or against calling Martin, you can also suggest alternative things for Tiff to do. Some things come to mind such as looking for her dad, talking to the Cimmerian to learn how to heal dad or to learn more about the recent demonification etc.

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

>Unlikely to walk again.
Fuck. That's rather sobering.

>>/quest/376791
>You are looking at this from an assumption of innocence perspective; [etc]
You are correct that we should not assume our innocence will be considered default. But you then go on to suggest texting just as I did, so I think I may have missed your point, or you may have missed mine.

>Owen would have a hard time saying no since that is a completely reasonable request
Ordinarily this would be true, but considering that Dad has been mauled by a powerful demon we summoned, revealing information about how we're doing also reveals weakness that could be exploited.

>>357690
I honestly have no clue what I was responding to. Maybe there was a deleted post or something?
I dunno, sorry about that.

>Dad has been mauled by a powerful demon
I was thinking more along the lines of "There was an accident and Dad broke his leg really badly."
If we wanted to earn bonus points with him we could throw in "For being so fussy about things they're pretty bad at keeping things clean."

I'd like to have Owen approve the message before we sent it, since that would cover basically everything. Getting him to do that is easy, since Tiff can just say Martin's not good at English and she wants Owen to check the spelling "and stuff" for her.

>>357672
He's a doctor, not a magic doctor. A day or two of research into healing magic and we'll be good to go.
What's Tiff's power rating now, 7/5? Find some healing rituals and have somebody check her work while casting and she can fix basically anything.

Which reminds me; we need to retake the test to find out how things changed. We can say it's because Cimmy might have changed things.

>>357753
>I was thinking more along the lines of "There was an accident and Dad broke his leg really badly."
I don't think we want to give even that much information. Also, there's likely damage way beyond just "broken" if Dad won't be able to walk; even a pulverized knee would allow walking with a brace, although there'd be a limp, he wouldn't be able to run, and stairs would be difficult.
>If we wanted to earn bonus points with him we could throw in "For being so fussy about things they're pretty bad at keeping things clean."
I see no reason why that would be advantageous in any way.

>>357754
We haven't seen any magic dealing with living bodies yet, healing could be decidedly non-trivial. We should certainly look into it, but from an OOC perspective I actually think it's positive to have grievous physical injury as a thing that can't be easily dealt with.
Also, if fixing Dad was as simple as casting a Cure spell on him, he wouldn't have been taken to the hospital in the first place.

I don't see much point in taking the test already. We only ate a small demon and are already very powerful. It's unlikely we've changed enough to register and there's potential to arouse suspicion in asking for another test so soon, even with an excuse.

Well, been a week since the last update. I reckon that means we're gonna wait months until the next one again.

>>357884
Hush you.

Busted my wrist at work on monday. Haven't been able to hold a stylus in my hand.

Update incoming.

>>357891
Ouch, you have my well wishes then. Was it broken or just sprained?

Just sprained. Forearm's still a bit swollen, and it's pinching some nerve. It's like my hand's fallen asleep for days. Can't make a tight fist, but can pick stuff up now at least. It'll be fine, don't worry.

A brief update:
Still healing up hand, hopping on pain killers and wrist braces.
Will probably be slightly less high by the weekend, and hopefully I'll have the brace off by then. In other words, Tiffany will resume on Friday.

Two fridays have come and gone. How's your arm doing?

Ahem. Sorry for the delay. Back now.

>>360298
Do you have any planned update schedule that you're going to shoot for this time around?

I'm trying to return to the old one update per day because of my timezone.
If I have spare time in my hands at any point I might update several times a day.
I'll strive not to have consecutive days of not updating, so at worst I'll try to keep it above an update every two days.

>>360323
It's like my birthday comes every day!

Urgh, sorry for the absence. Back again.

>>56176
I'm afraid we're quite used to it at this point.

... Point.
At least I keep coming back.

From suggestions it looks like the personality remains split with both halves extant, but the calculating one is dominant since it's the one making the decision and will likely govern the use of the emotional facet.

Right, chapter over.

However, suggestions are still appreciated (on this thread though).
We've got a lot of balls in the air, feel free to give your opinion on what the next chapter should focus on.

>>56266
I would like to see Tiffany actually become a proper apprentice, or at least have the opportunity to focus on it, in the next chapter. Then the rest of it can be spent developing the master-apprentice relationship and Tiffany's feelings on it, as well as how her daemonic powers and the Cimmerian influence the whole thing, possibly through the use of some minor plot points.

>>56266
Mom, particularly.
I want to learn more about her.
She's a classy lady.

Allow me to offer a more welcoming welcome than you received before. I'm glad to see this quest up and going!

Anyways, future suggestions? Alright...

I wanna name the The Cimmerian. Even if he dislikes it. Especially if he dislikes it. Because "The Cimmerian" is such a title.

More Mulder. Because Mulder is the shit.

I'd like to use the phone number and reach out to our Rothwald buddy. As glad as I was to stop having to puzzle out his accent, it would be nice to make sure he wasn't killed in the American fiasco. Show that even if we didn't go with him, we appreciate his help, and don't want him dead. After all, we *may* want to try uniting the magic families at some point, and it'd be good to have someone friendly to start with.

I've been looking forward to our next run in with the Reaper, now that we know more of how things actually work. Almost certainly not something we want to do on purpose, or soon, but it'll be interesting when we get to it nonetheless.

Aside from that, hopefully enough breathing room to do some diplomacy, and work things out with some of the people around us before the next magical disaster happens (of course, what's the fun in things being easy?)

Just a quick fyi, I'm likely to be away from home until sunday, this is a scheduled outtake and not me riding away to the sunset (like usual).

SEE? I CAME BACK!

>>56420

WELCOME BACK.

Let the magical teacher dating sim commence.

Such a handsome...
goatee

>>56445
Wait, if Tiffany's PHYS strength is maxxed out, what the heck is her magical strength like?

>>56445

Yes, good.
(After the Pigeon dating sim, no old man courting a little girl necromancer is going to traumatize me).

>>56450
What about "My Girlfriend's The President"?

>>56420
I am pleased, and hope such violations of precedent will continue.

Hey guys.

When I start writing an update, I usually make a list of things that need to be addressed. These are derived from your suggestions and things I'm planning behind the scenes. But when I start to actually write it, sometimes the dialogue flows naturally into a completely different direction. I realize it's entirely within my power to take the quest there, but I wanted to ask if you prefer a more naturally evolving story or should I strive to follow my plans and your suggestions?
I'm just curious about your preferences, s'all.

-the big N

>>60219
I think we can deal with a little bit of deviation. As long as we usually have the opportunity to address things that were missed that we think are important I see no complaints being raised. Obviously, stuff just happens sometimes. We can't control everything in the real world, even ourselves, and Tiffany shouldn't be able to either... yet.