**Chapter 1: Blood and Ashes**It was early dawn when the abbess had roused us. I was still rubbing rheum from my eyes when we'd unceremoniously shuffled out of sullen halls of St. Elise— the orphanage I'd spent the 16 years and three seasons of my life— and into a truck, cramped and packed with about two-dozen or so prospective soldaten for the Emethian war-horde.The gruel we'd eaten early in the morn stung acrid at the back of my throat for each lurching turn we took towards Raubzpich. I was doing my best not to stain my clothes, pressing my face into my moth-eaten rucksack with the little belongings I still had. I remember the deafening pitter-patter of rain against canvas, the flickering shadows cast by the singular swaying oil lamp illuminating the cabin, and the occasional flash of lightning that burned through my eyelids before the boom of thunder would rattle my bones. When we'd arrived at our destination, they said it was only noon, but the storm had blocked out the sun, and I could scarcely avoid tripping over my worn shoes as we were herded into the fort, a lumbering crowd of children no older than eighteen, shivering and smelling of rain trudging through the mud, following the lights of the officers like giant silken moths. We were first forced to relieve ourselves of our belongings, then our hair, then our clothes. After that, we were *inspected*. No, measured. Holes violated, eyes, ears, teeth, and gums scrutinized, dark blood drawn and spit collected into twin glass vials. The crook of my elbow still stung when we were forced into the showers, as the mage who'd drawn my blood took a sample of my humors twice after the first needle had bent painfully into my flesh. I shuffled under a waiting showerhead, averting my eyes from the nude forms of conscripts readily chatting away around me, preferring to stare at the blotches of scarlet rushing down my skin, between the tiles, and into the drain. I reached out, fingers grazing the copper dial, twisting it slowly. My eyes fluttered shut as a torrent of warmth surged over my skin, driving the chill from my bones. St. Elise didn't have warm baths, just a rag and a bucket you had to draw water from the well outside yourself. I wasn't quite sure if I could get used to the life as a conscript just yet, but this was a definite plus.1/3
>>6146985"Hey," a voice rung through the rush of water in my ears. "Name's Cym. Took us a week to get here from Eisenrot. You joined us when we stopped by Strask, right?"I swiped water from my eyes, blinking, only to find my gaze fixed on their chest—rounded, capped with puffy nipples and distinctly... *there*. "Strask-" I choked, dropping my gaze to the tiled floor, ears reddening with shame. "S-sorry. I did, yes. Me and a couple orphans from St. Elise.""Didn't expect to see conscripts this young. Orphans, huh?" Cym said, their voice softening. "Any news from the front?" They asked, and I could see suds gradually turn into clear water near their feet as they rinsed. "Must be pretty dire if they're pulling orphans now."> "Dire is right. One can only assume the ones who went before us are gone, now. Though between you and me, I think the abbess just wanted to clear out the abbey. More coin in offering noble children refuge than taking in orphans." *I busied myself studying people. I fed myself turning others against each other and currying favor. Humans are the first and most powerful resource, after all.> "I'd not noticed. One moment I was nose-deep in a textbook learning a spell to pick the locks and escape, then morning comes and I find myself surrounded by a sweating, pustule-ridden horde. Bar you, of course." *I busied myself studying the arcane and artifice. I figured it was going to be my way out of St. Elise, one way or another.*> "They're ramping up war efforts, from what I've heard. They'll probably send us to Volsk, since they'd need both infantry and mages if they hope to hold that position." *I busied myself studying the war. It was my reality now, and I'd steeled myself for this possibility long before news of the conscriptions reached St. Elise.*2/3
>>6146987Hello. Sadly I am woefully inept with formatting on 4chan. This is my first time posting on here, so I'm afraid I don't know how this all works. (If anyone has a link to how to format better pls send them my way this shit looks ugly af :3 )Mainly making this to test if I'm any good at writing CYOA. Our stalwart hero has a couple of stats and traits that will be updated based on your actions, namely: Stats:Brain -Brawn - Endurance -Mana -Traits:Daring vs CunningVirtuous vs IncorrigibleGregarious vs RecluseIn the future, you will roll d10s to pull off certain actions, for either a stat, or the following saves:Arcana (Brain + Mana/2)Vigor (Mana + Endurance/2) The first choice, however, will determine our hero's awakened ability (their minor magic ability), and I am so excited to see what you will all vote for. Voting will close when either 8 people have voted, or two days have passed, whichever comes first.3/3
>>6146987>> "Dire is right. One can only assume the ones who went before us are gone, now. Though between you and me, I think the abbess just wanted to clear out the abbey. More coin in offering noble children refuge than taking in orphans."
>>6146987> "Dire is right. One can only assume the ones who went before us are gone, now. Though between you and me, I think the abbess just wanted to clear out the abbey. More coin in offering noble children refuge than taking in orphans."
>>6146987> "Dire is right. One can only assume the ones who went before us are gone, now. Though between you and me, I think the abbess just wanted to clear out the abbey. More coin in offering noble children refuge than taking in orphans."standard diplomancer>>6146998>Hello. Sadly I am woefully inept with formatting on 4chan. This is my first time posting on here, so I'm afraid I don't know how this all works. (If anyone has a link to how to format better pls send them my way this shit looks ugly af :3 )All the info on formatting is in the sticky >>2 and the /qtg/ >>6120952 They also have some other useful info about the board, even if it may be fairly outdated, so the OPs of these threads are worth checking out.Basically you can make [i]italics[/i], [b]bold[/b], [red][/red], [green][/green] and [blue][/blue]. They can be combined in any manner. Only the thread's OP can format, which is determined by some combo of cookies and IP so if you clear them or you've got dynamic IP address you're shit out of luck. If you're in doubt, check if you have them by posting something, I've seen and had formatting rights retained myself after an IP change. Also everyone can use [ spoiler ][ /spoiler ]
>>6146987> "Dire is right. One can only assume the ones who went before us are gone, now. Though between you and me, I think the abbess just wanted to clear out the abbey. More coin in offering noble children refuge than taking in orphans."Real son of a bitch hours.
>>6146987> "I'd not noticed. One moment I was nose-deep in a textbook learning a spell to pick the locks and escape, then morning comes and I find myself surrounded by a sweating, pustule-ridden horde. Bar you, of course."
>>6146987>> "They're ramping up war efforts, from what I've heard. They'll probably send us to Volsk, since they'd need both infantry and mages if they hope to hold that position."
>>6147091Thank you, I'd hate for this first attempt to be drab. Amateur, yes, but at the very least this should be interesting.>>6147008>>6147022>>6147091>>6147175R𝔞t b𝔞st𝔞rds, the lot of you.>>6147278>>6147294Outnumbered 4 to 1. I only hope whichever outcome occurs you enjoy the story nonetheless.Two more votes and my respite ends. Might lower this to 6 votes moving forward since I've built up a pretty hefty amount of content. Also, for when we start rolling, how does everyone feel about dubs warranting a reroll if and so you want to? Catch is you go with the second roll no matter if it's lower than the first roll. We can roll d10s on here, right?Crossing my fingers that the formatting on this post works, enjoy a couple sketches of Emethian uniforms, and a standard-issue feterer (more on that later on)
>>6146987> "They're ramping up war efforts, from what I've heard. They'll probably send us to Volsk, since they'd need both infantry and mages if they hope to hold that position."
>>6147460I wouldn't be against optional rerolls. Will we be able to bank them? Will this be Bo3 or 1 roll per prompt?>Might lower this to 6 votes moving forward/qst/ is very slow, but with consistent quality and speed this is a decent number of votes to expect.
>>6147460This is a pretty slow board, even six votes would be considered highThe reroll idea sounds good, and yes we can roll d10s
QM?
>>6149894I am alive, cur. Be patient.
>>6149980Guess not
