For generations, the Kingdom of Lindan has been under siege by an otherworldly threat, that of demons. Hailing from a barbarous and unusual land and with skills that defy all magic, science, and logic, known as Cheat Skills, these Strangers all have the capabilities of bringing on the end of all times if they use their talents improperly. As such, an organization was formed, known as the Inquisition, to combat these hellspawn and send them back from the depth they’ve come from… Currently, however, there’s one small issue. That being said, you happen to be both a Stranger and an Inquisitor. You are Asher Riven and while normally you’d be babysitting the seemingly much more important Princess Lorina de Lindan, it’s about half a decade too early for her to join the Inquisition and she's probably too busy whimsically frolicking in the blissful ignorance of still thinking her fiance, the one she always keeps raving about, loves her you’re stuck at a minor noble party in a creepy backwater fishing village. Yippee...
>>6151559You sigh at the futility of it all. Was there ever really an option here? You’re going into the “secret” room all the strange people keep coming out of, and there’s no way to stop you. Like that has to be the answer, right? There’s no question about it. It’s just that the mere fact that it’s just right there bugs something inside you. It can’t be this easy, right? Surely, the mayor isn’t that much of an idiot? When he has explicit knowledge that an Inquisitor, whose job is to rout out demons, heretics, and their cults, wouldn’t have held an open party with a giant sign that says, “Hey, look at where I keep my secret cult!” right??You look over and see the circular man completely ignore you as he gorges himself on food, drink, and conversation with women much below his age. You hang your head as a deep sorrow overtakes you. Why couldn’t your life have been this easy before? You’re tempted to kill yourself simply out of secondhand embarrassment, maybe even with the totally poisoned cup in your hand that the mayor’s maid gave you. Though your Cheat Skill would make sure it doesn’t last. You raise your head, let out a shuttering breath, and begin your monotone march to the door in the back of the foyer where the banquet is hosted. However, on your way, you spy the fisherman you talked to on the docks earlier with a mostly empty glass as he talks to some masked folk. You, as the good samaritan you are, refill his cup with some of your own, and you walk behind him. You allow yourself a sardonic little smirk as he keeps drinking without even realizing what you’ve done as you set your goblet down on a buffet table. You have a feeling the nights are about to get a little bit more fun. The door isn’t locked and opens easily, and there are not even any guards to stop you; you’re dealing with some serious rookies here. Inside appears to be some servant's quarters of some kind, though instead of scullery maids and hallboys, you see three grown men in various states of dress. One in the front seems to have affixing a mask to his face after having adorned his robes. The next is fully clothed and seems to be coming from a door to the corner of the room down a few rather rickety wooden steps into the ground. The final is halfway out of his sailing attire with robes and a mask folded on a bed beside him. “Hey, guests aren’t supposed to be in here,” The one putting on his mask says as he fiddles with some straps, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” He says in a way he probably thinks is intimidating. “Wait, shit, sorry,” You say as you nudge the door behind you close with your foot, “This isn’t the bathroom?” You say with a faux-sheepish smile. “No, it isn’t,” The man says with some ‘authority’ as he finishes with his mask, puts his hood up, and walks towards you, “And I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he reaches out an arm in what looks like an attempt to shove you back, but it’s too late for that as
>>6151561>The next thing man can feel is a sharp pain in his chest, blood rising through his throat, and an inability to breathe as your knife slides through his chest. As he falls, another slash at his throat ensures he dies before his head even reaches the ground.>The man quickly finds himself falling, your leg having swept up his own, then through his mask’s lens, he sees your foot come down, knocking him into an unconscious oblivion. He’ll wake up again, but it’ll be far past you do whatever it is you need to down here.>[Write-in]
>>6151559It's not a StrangeQM thread if I don't manage to fuck up something. This time being the bold text. But anyway, I just wanted to assuage that one anon's fears by saying the Asher past side story will only be a couple more updates before his present one then we'll be going back to Lorina for a few arcs at least. I'm still busy but I can feel my writer's block for this quest finally breaking down.
>>6151565That also includes forgetting the archive which can be found hereArchive: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=The%20Isekai%20Inquisition
Welcome back, StrangeQM. How'd your break go?>>6151563>The man quickly finds himself fallingTry not to break the mask, though. It could come in handy as a disguise if there's a sacrificial victim.I wonder how the ceremony will compare to Temple of Doom's Kali Ma heart removal scene?
>>6151563>>The next thing man can feel is a sharp pain in his chest, blood rising through his throat, and an inability to breathe as your knife slides through his chest. As he falls, another slash at his throat ensures he dies before his head even reaches the ground.
>>6151563>The man quickly finds himself falling, your leg having swept up his own, then through his mask’s lens, he sees your foot come down, knocking him into an unconscious oblivion. He’ll wake up again, but it’ll be far past you do whatever it is you need to down here.
>>6151563>The man quickly finds himself falling
>>6151563>The man quickly finds himself falling, your leg having swept up his own, then through his mask’s lens, he sees your foot come down, knocking him into an unconscious oblivion. He’ll wake up again, but it’ll be far past you do whatever it is you need to down here.We haven’t died a lot yet and these guys almost seem too amateurish to kill
I found a kickass picture of a 16th century Milanese falchion to tempt OP to post sooner.Edit: And of course I forget to post the picture the first time...
>>6151580Thanksgiving was pretty good anon, thanks for asking. Though sadly you >>6152106 would have more luck if today wasn't a Tuesday I'm too busy to write this time of the week. Planning on a decently sized one tomorrow to make up for it. That's a pretty fucking cool sword though.
>>6152121>Though sadly you would have more luck if today wasn't a Tuesday I'm too busy to write this time of the week.Aww, dangit... Well, I guess I've got something to look forward to tomorrow.>That's a pretty fucking cool sword though.Thanks. It's in the Deutsches Klingenmuseum in Solingen, Germany. Hoping to go there someday, both the museum and the city in general, due to it's history of swordsmithing and knife manufacture. Lorina would love it, no doubt.
>>6151563>The next thing man can feel is a sharp pain in his chest, blood rising through his throat, and an inability to breathe as your knife slides through his chest. As he falls, another slash at his throat ensures he dies before his head even reaches the ground.Total NPC death
>>6151563>>The man quickly finds himself falling, your leg having swept up his own, then through his mask’s lens, he sees your foot come down, knocking him into an unconscious oblivion. He’ll wake up again, but it’ll be far past you do whatever it is you need to down here.
>>6152335>>6152292>>6151869>>6151795>>6151740>>6151580Looks like the nonlethal route (for now) has an overwhelming majority so it's time to get this show on the road. Writing.
>>6152453There’s a satisfying crack as your foot stomps down on the bastard's head. Thankfully, it's not so loud as to be heard in the foyer, just behind the door, but you’re not so sure you’ll be so lucky with the ensuing fight. Despite this, you’re still somewhat happy the man isn’t dead yet. Well, happy is not really the right word for the emotion you’re feeling. It’s more like that you think you’d feel a bit bad if you killed someone this incompetent. Like when an enemy grunt in a movie calls out to their mom when they die. Yeah, that’s it. You find these sorry bastards to be pitiable.Doubly so, as it takes both of them a solid few seconds to knock themselves out of their whole “deer in headlights” thing they have going on right now. Too bad for them that’s all the time you need. The closest man, the fully robbed one, runs towards you up the steps while frantically scrambling to unsheath the sword at his hip as you dash towards him. Unlucky for him, the blade gets stuck; well, he’s actually pulling on it wrong, but that doesn’t really matter, seeing as he’s too distracted to pay attention to grabbing him by his collar with one hand and his mask with the other. Immediately, his arms raise to try and shove you off, but they quickly lose their direction as you pull the mask off his face for a brief second, bringing the straps holding it to the back of his head to full tension, and let go. The mask reels back, and so does he, as a yelp of pain escapes him as it impacts his face. You use the momentum of his staggering back to your advantage as you push him back down the stairs from whence he came.As he’s preoccupied, you snap your attention to the half-naked man, who looks to be hurriedly looking for something in the robes on the bed. Though the minute he hears you step towards him, he actually does something decently smart. He throws the robe at your face, a move that may have been trouble if it was not for the fact that his throw is terrible and in his disorderly state and it’s far from as strong a throw as it needed to be. His eyes widen as you grab the cloth, as you advance before you stretch it out, and with one quick move, you throw one end of the robe while holding onto the other, pivot behind him, and grab it. From there, it’s a trifling task to bring the cloth that is bunched together up and around his neck. You quickly find the man does not have the training, knowledge, or discipline to know what to do in a situation like this, as his head slowly begins to resemble a tomato. In fact, he looks to be trying to plead or maybe beg, which is unhelpful for him, seeing as the robe is too tight to allow him to speak.
>>6152517Actually, scratch that, he is able to get out one startled gasp and plead as you loosen the robes around him. However, it’s only because you see the other man finally start to rise up from his collapsed position at the bottom of the steps. “W-wait,” he says before you take the little bit more drastic action of grabbing the semi-disrobed man by his hair and slamming him, face first, into the nearby wall. From the crunch, you hear something definitely broke, but at least he’s gone limp, too limp to feel the pain. Though you will admit, that was pretty fucking loud and at least forceful enough to cause items on the nearby shelf to fall. You should finish up here quickly. And, of course, why not be dramatic in doing so?You don’t know if the man jogging up the stairs can see clearly through his mask, but if he can, you imagine he has a good look at the underside of your boot. Seeing as you lept off the top of the stairs in such a side way, your foot impacts his face, and your momentum sends him tumbling down once again. Poor fucker. Though not as poor as you because as the back of the cultist smashes through the rickety door at the bottom of the stairs, you happen to hit your head on the top as you go through. It really hurts! Hurts enough that you don’t see the cultist positioned with a crossbow behind the side of the door, aiming directly where your head should be if you handed it normally. He misses, thank the Goddess, because of your awkward position, and the bolt embeds itself in the open door, but the fact you’re now crumpled in a pile with another, still conscious, cultist does put you in a bit of a bind. “Hellsfire!” The crossbowman screams before he judges his options and decides to jump on top of you. Which by the way is totally unfair, mind you, seeing as you're still only a teenager (physically), and they're both grown men. So naturally, you do what you need to do to even the odds. And by that, you mean you turn your head around and bite down on the new enemy's arm. Hard. His scream turns rather embarrassing when you start thrashing your head, but it allows you to somewhat push him off. You don’t let go, though. And from your new position, you ram your knee into the groin of the cultist below you, making him lose his grip, and roll yourself over the second to a point where you can leap up above them.
>>6152518Once you're on your feet, you do come to the somewhat startling realization that there is a wod of meat still in your mouth. “Little fucking monster-” The wounded cultist says as he grasps his bleeding arm before being silenced by a kick to the head. Then you try to spit out the offending chunk somewhere close to where it’s missing from. Keyword being “try” because it ends up hitting the other cultist on his mask, to which he only lets out a choked sob. You’d offer to knock him out, too, but it’s at this moment that some light shone into the dark passage you found yourself in as people moved to investigate the noise from in here. You also hear a woman’s scream, so naturally, you bolt in the opposite direction. Well, it’s actually the only direction there is to run here. It seems you’ve found yourself in a dark and dank tunnel of some kind. Recently excavated, too, judging by the unworn supports, how cramped it is, and mining tools left scattered about. It’s also incredibly dark, but thankfully, you “acquired” a few matches earlier today, and there’s enough just random junk around for you to pick up something that looks torchy enough and light it on fire as you continue running. Oh, you also push as much random shit in front of you to block any pursuers' paths, but that’s neither here nor there. Eventually, though, you reach the end of the line after a good couple of solid minutes of running. Which happens to be just an ordinary ladder leading up a few feet to a wooden hatch, and with no other way to go-You find yourself in what looks to be a small barn on the outskirts of town, near the water. The interior seems to be mostly ordinary, save for the large iron cage built into a wall containing an elderly man and a little girl. But before you can investigate that, you take the initiative to lock the hatch by pulling up the ladder and pushing a large crate on top of the hatch. That is not to mention that you place the torch in a rather precarious position, leaning above some hay and the liquor you grabbed. So, say if someone hits the crate too hard while trying to open the hatch, it’ll set this whole barn as light as a little treat. Then, of course, you head towards the jail on the limited time you have. The old man is grizzled and worn, with long white hair and a large beard; even with cataracts in his eyes, he gauges you warily. Surprisingly, the little girl is much the same, in raggedy clothes and with scars no child her age should be bearing. She stands behind the older man’s knee once he rises, though she tries to appear like she isn’t shaking. “I don’t know who you think you are, kid, but-” The older man starts before you cut him off by flashing your Inquisitor’s medallion bearing a spider lily.“Alright, don’t get the time for any of that,” You say with a glance toward your shoddy trap, “Inquisitor Asher, now tell me where the keys are.”
>>6152519“T-they keep them over there,” The girl says while pointing to a spot just out of reach for the prisoners. Classic torture technique, though you aren’t exactly going to hand it to the cult without seeing some innovation.Sadly, it’s a ring keychain with far too many keys. So, by the time you’ve opened the cage door, you fear you’ve wasted too much time. By that, you mean maybe a minute. “Alright, first things first, once you’re out, run to the church and tell the Priestess I sent you. She’ll hide you, but do not under any circumstance leave unless I’m there to get you out.”“And why’s that?” The old man says.“Simple, I got a fu-” You see the little girl, “Frick ton of questions to ask you before for the sake of time, I’ll only ask you one now->”Who are you, and how did you get here?” Well, that’s two, but they should be easy questions>”Have you seen or heard talk of a Stranger around here? Or at least someone who appears very panicked or confused?”>”The cult give you any good monologues? Or do you know anything about them at all?”>[Write-in]
>>6152520>”Have you seen or heard talk of a Stranger around here? Or at least someone who appears very panicked or confused? Or possibly talking about monster girls way too much to be considered normal?"
>>6152521>>”Have you seen or heard talk of a Stranger around here? Or at least someone who appears very panicked or confused?”
>>6152521>”The cult give you any good monologues? Or do you know anything about them at all?”Both lmao and of course they’d give them the whole evil plot
>>6152521>”Have you seen or heard talk of a Stranger around here? Or at least someone who appears very panicked or confused?”
>>6152521>”The cult give you any good monologues? Or do you know anything about them at all?”
>>6152523>>6152590>>6153299>>6153520Sorry for the delay, life caught up to me for a spell. Anyway, this will probably be the second to last update for the past. Writing
>>6154832“Have you,” You think for a second, “Seen any sight of a Stranger here?” You gesture awkwardly to the cage, “Any at all? Oh, wait- please tell me you are good enough to church to know the common traits of one.”The old man grunts, “Course I do,” His face gains a strangled look as he looks over himself, a mix of frustration and melancholy, “I look like a man who doesn’t go to church?” Tactfully, you don’t say the obvious answer.“Never said you didn’t. Now my question?” You say as you move towards the large barn door, cracking it open just enough to let little wisps of fog enter as you hear voices and footsteps from the tunnel. The little girl, eager to get out of here, runs up ahead of the old man but doesn’t go outside without one of you two going first, “T-the man from earlier was weird, right? T-they all called him a demon e-even though he was nice…” She mumbles while hiding her face between the elder's knee.He nods as he closes his eyes to better recollect him; someone pounds on the underside of the hatch, “Aye, they brought in a man,” Another bang on the hatch causes your makeshift torch to fall, “t-two men, they brought in two men today. But one of them spoke in a heavy accent and wore strange clothes like the priestess talks about, the kind with a distorted painting of it.”“Yeah, the girl looked really weird…” The actual girl trails off.“Strange, the girl looked Strange,” The old man corrects her.“Y-yeah, strange and kinda like a monster,” Honestly, you’ve always been a bit curious about what would happen if you showed a medieval peasant anime. Maybe that’s what got the Inquisition started in the first place? And after the shit you’ve seen in your past life? Can’t say you could blame them.“And where did they go? Did the Stranger use his Skill to escape or something?“Oh, he sure tried,” He coughs, “but pardon me, he may have been a demon only tempting us with deception, but he sure looked to be drying his damned hardest to get us all out.”“Then where is he now? Since he isn’t here clearly,” You say.“He kept summoning demonic relics, so the guard he had on him tied his hand together. Was like that until about an hour ago, where they dragged him and the other fellow out to the water, It’s where they take everyone eventually,” Bingo, exactly what you needed to know.“Know a specific direction?”“North, away from the town,” The moment he says that you wish the two of them a word of luck and bolt. You’re pretty sure they hesitate for a second, watching you disappear so quickly before they realize the barn itself is starting to burn down. You’re sure they’ll be safe though, probably. Eh, well not really something you can help anymore seeing as you’re just about lost in the fog.
>>6154905You don’t even realize you’ve made it to the beach until water starts reaching over the top of your boots and gets your socks wet. Meaning that the rest of the night is going to be a hellish experience as you slog around with moist feet. Truly, the Goddess has no love or mercy for your demonic kind, else she wouldn’t even allow injustices like this… And that's enough inner monologue. It looks like you need to lock in; there are lantern lights behind you. Also, a nice-looking forest in front of you, perfect for hiding a secret lair. Needless to say, you march on into the forest, staying as close to the water as you can without actually entering it. You really don’t need a Fishman or something to drag you in and drown you. That’d actually probably be horrifying now that you think about it. A-anyway, you notice you’re going uphill after a good few minutes, rush towards the side of what must be a hill, and- yep, there it is. A nice hidden cove by the Great Lake is perfect. Now, all you need to decide is how you’re getting in. You look back over your shoulder and see the lights off in the distance looking through the forest for you; you have time, but not a lot of it.>So obviously you’re going to kick down the proverbial door of this cavern and storm in crossbows blazing>And that’s why you intend to sneak in, bag the stranger, probably blow up the place, and gtfo>[Write-in]
>>6154907>And that’s why you intend to sneak in, bag the stranger, probably blow up the place, and gtfo
>>6154907>>And that’s why you intend to sneak in, bag the stranger, probably blow up the place, and gtfo
>>6154907>So obviously you’re going to kick down the proverbial door of this cavern and storm in crossbows blazing
>>6154925>>6154943>>6155005>>6155044>>6155647>>6156219>>6156507Almost unanimous, writing!
>>6156558“Kali Ma, shakti de!”
>>6154832looks like I lied this will be the second to last I promise.
>>6156558Sneaking down below is a trivial task… Well, it is after you figure out exactly which rocky outcrop is loose and will lead you to falling and impaling yourself on some sharp rocks below, which is, in all honesty, probably better than what could have happened if you fell in the water instead. You’re pretty sure you actually see a rather large dark shape in there as you walk into the decently spacious cavern of the cove. The cave itself opens up under the hill, though it’s divided by a river-like outcropping of the lake that seems to flow into many different cavernous offshoots, the largest of which the shadow moves towards.The cove itself appears to be pretty developed, with wooden pathways put over the stone ground, and even a few bridges go across the water. Nets full of fish and shelves drape themselves over the ceiling and walls while other equally pirate decorations can be found strewn around like the wreckage of small wooden boats scattered all around the area. Robed cultists with familiar masks tend to these decorations and a few well-placed torches as others work on the wooden structures and supports. You even see one hanging many items you remember in your time in the twenty-first century, such as the black glass of phones, T-shirts with a variety of anime characters, anime figurines, and holy shit, is that a body pillow? It takes a lot not to laugh at a cultist hanging up a pillow covered with a nearly naked cartoon with a sort of reverence you’ve only seen in priestesses’ and the most zealous of Inquisitors. The whole display is almost enough to make you miss the ancient-looking carved pillars that rise from the depths of the lake to the top of the cavern. Many seem to have decayed and eroded with time, one even acting as a decent bridge across a stream further. Like the kinda design you’d see in a Skyrim dungeon. Honestly, the way the cultists are moving and how there always seems to be a way past the torchlight with a bit of applied athletics makes this whole area seem like some big video game level. You aren’t happy that the fact this gives you a sense of deja vu, especially when-“Hey! Is someone over there?” A robed man calls out as you hide behind a time-worn pillar. You have your shortsword out, just in case, as you hear footsteps approach, though you really wish you had a box or something to hide in.Just as the man gets close enough to the pillar, you throw a stone into the water behind him. His mask obscures his vision enough he can’t see it but can hear the rather loud plop as it splashes, along with the other cultists in the large main room of the cove. “...Who's over there!”“...Shit, did I drop something?”“...Must’ve been the wind.”
>>6156601As the idiots lose focus, you use that time to move to your next hiding place, closer to one of the interior caverns. Then you wince as the guards hear the ruckus the force sent after you make it outside. You thought you’d have more time than this, but whatever. At least they make for a nice distraction for you to dash away with. Of course, following in the path of the giant monster under the water. This actually leads you to a relatively tight corridor without any natural sides, forcing you to run on the rickety wooden bridge constructed seemingly without rhyme or reason. Sometimes, a diagonal bridge will come ahead, forcing you to change the side of the water you're on and other and other times, you need to leap over a few missing floorboards. You’re also insanely tempted to lift a torch from the wall next to you and light the bridge on fire, but you restrain yourself for now. Eventually, the walkway passes a corner and leads you to a circular chamber containing many empty barrels, another cage using bars rising from the floor to the ceiling of the cavern, and a cultist. As the masked man approaches you, you grab his wrist and elbow with one hand each before you push and hear a crack and scream and throw the man into the water behind you. “Holy shit,” Says the wide-eyed blond man in the cell as he watches the cultist struggle to swim before being sharply pulled under the dark abyssal water and replaced by a circle of blood and rising bubbles, “Holy fucking shit,” Judging by the man’s accent and rather unique sense of fashion you recon you found your man. Then he looks towards you, “You just killed that guy.”You shrug, “Something did,” His jaw hangs open, “Tough crowd,” You mutter as you approach the jail door, “Alright first things first, what’s your name and where are you from? France?”He winces, “Ew, no. I’m Johan from Bremen.”“Never heard of it,” You say as you unlatch the door and remove the iron keeping it closed.“G-Germany, I’m German,” You did actually clock him as one based on his accent, but it’s best to ease into this conversation, “W-wait, how did you know about France?! Were you Isekai’d too? A-are you a part of some adventurer’s guild sent to take out this cult?!” He then sees you alone and looks around you, trying to find anyone else, “D-do you have a harem?!” You, for sure, are not going to answer that last question.“Close,” you say as you inspect every nook and cranny for signs of the other man that was taken here, “I’m here to kill you,” He staggers back as you smile, “Just kidding,” Then you shake your head a bit, “Kinda.”“And w-what’s that supposed to mean?”
>>6156602Even though he won’t grasp the meaning, you flash your medallion, “Inquisitor Asher,” You don’t give your last name. There’s no need and he wouldn’t understand it’s ‘significance’ anyway, “I’m a part of an organization tasked with tracking down your kind and seeing that you don’t use your,” you gesture to the scattered twenty-first century trinkets littering the bottom of the cell, “abilities to destabilize the kingdom.”“Aren’t you pretty young to be someone that important, though?” You affix him with a strange look, “Is that really the question you should be asking right now?”He again looks around the cage he’s in and sheepishly smiles, “Uh, no?”“Right, now where is the other guy that was with you?”“You know about Daxton-?”“He can’t have gotten much farther!” The man is cut off by shouting from behind you, which sounds remarkably similar to the mayor. Especially all the huffing and puffing that echoes through the cave walls. “Out of time,” You say as you shove Johan out of the cell, “Where the hell is he?” “T-they took him further in, uh, are we going to be safe?!”You shrug, “You will be if you stay close,” Is all you say before resuming your run. You hear a strangled “F-fuck,” come from behind you, and he falls into step. Thankfully, it’s not too far until the cave again opens up to a large cavern full of foggy air, stalagmites or tites or whatever, ancient decor, barrels, and cultists. You pull Johan behind an eroded but carved stalagmite with blue gems encrusted into it. Past the side of it, you see three masked men tying an older man up next to the end of the water, which flows into the room in the shape of the top half of a question mark. The gray-haired man seems to be struggling as much as he can, but the cloth in his mouth makes it impossible for him to scream. “Daxton!” Johan goes to shout, and he would if your hand didn’t clasp his mouth shut. It’s too risky. Besides, two of the cultists are jogging away from the bound man, and the third steps behind him and faces the water. He raises both his arms above his head before starting to chant in a language you can’t understand. Which is very strange, seeing as it’s quite well documented that when a Stranger enters this world, they’re gifted the ability to speak every language as if it were their own. Then, words that sound to be in English break you out of your thoughts.
>>6156607“Ooo~ Great One, I summon thee! For tonight, a feast is to be had with the most delicate of delicacies!” You can’t just rhyme a word with itself, man, “So that you may once again grant us your mercy! May our nets be forever full!” As he says this, the first tentacle breaches the water, a murky brown thing with black ring-like spots; two large ones wrap themselves around decayed pillars, seemingly made for it to pull itself up, “May our town forever be safe in your wondrous mists!” What pulls itself up appears to be a massive circular mouth that rises from the deep, with eight other tentacles that search the room before wrapping themselves in spots that look carved just for them. “Let my mind be yours~ Oo~ Great One!” Around the dark pinkish mouth seem to be dozens of smaller tentacles that grasp at the air and stone, searching for something. “Accept our sacrifice, O~ Great One! Accept it all!” The robed man says before walking backward with a bow, away from the swiping tentacles. Johan is left both green and speechless at the sight of the goliath squid. But sadly, not for long as one of the smaller mouth tentacles touches the quivering and bound man on the floor and begins to wrap itself around the sobbing man’s body. Then, it lifts him into the air and dangles him. Then you notice what you assumed was that the interior inside its mouth is not. Instead of a mouth, this monster has a series of dark pink plates that come together like a phalanx, the cracks between them emitting a foggy steam that lingers in the rooms. Each plate moves with a loud creaking sound as the bound man dangles upside down in the air with a singular tentacle around his foot. Then, with speed that makes it hard for even you to witness, the tentacle slams the man into one of its plates and begins to grate him like one would with sandpaper. Yes, sandpaper, what an apt description for the material its suspended plates seem to be made of because you very quickly see the skin shredded from his flesh, his meat torn from his bones, and bones shattered against the behemoth. All until nothing is left but a mound of mush drooling blood and gore into the cracks between the kraken's mouth-plates. Johan immediately vomits when all is said and done, just as the mayor and his posse of fishermen and cultists enter the room. Well, fuck.>Hey, remember that equipment you “acquired” earlier? Now would be a good enough time to start throwing some molotovs around>Maybe you can use the kraken to your advantage? You doubt it actually discriminates between the cultist and non-cultist>Johan has to be able to summon something useful to kill the beast while you deal with the cultists? Maybe a bomb? Or some bleach?>[Write-in]
>>6156607>picrel nameEasy way to remember the difference for me is "Stalactites are stuck tight to the ceiling, Stalagmites might fall on top of you.">>6156608>Hey, remember that equipment you “acquired” earlier? Now would be a good enough time to start throwing some molotovs around.>"Hey, how's your aim?" (pass him a molotov, you'll still be able to stab him in the back later when his guard's down)
>>6156608>Maybe you can use the kraken to your advantage? You doubt it actually discriminates between the cultist and non-cultist
>>6156608>>Hey, remember that equipment you “acquired” earlier? Now would be a good enough time to start throwing some molotovs around
>>6156608>>Johan has to be able to summon something useful to kill the beast while you deal with the cultists? Maybe a bomb? Or some bleach?
>>6156608>>Hey, remember that equipment you “acquired” earlier? Now would be a good enough time to start throwing some molotovs around>>Maybe you can use the kraken to your advantage? You doubt it actually discriminates between the cultist and non-cultist
>>6156608>Hey, remember that equipment you “acquired” earlier? Now would be a good enough time to start throwing some molotovs around.>"Hey, how's your aim?" (pass him a molotov, you'll still be able to stab him in the back later when his guard's down)
>>6156602>picOh no he's hot>Maybe you can use the kraken to your advantage? You doubt it actually discriminates between the cultist and non-cultistPottery
>>6156612>>6156635>>6156689>>6156799With a one-vote lead, the Molotov strategy wins. Writing.
>>6157728May take a couple of hours though but that's nothing new
>>6157728Alright, let’s be completely honest. You want to throw the mayor and some cultists into the maw of the sea monster. You really do. Buuut- and this is a big but it’d be a real shame if the molotovs you’ve been making while watching said beast eat someone didn’t see any use. Like a real shame, so it looks like your future is decided for you, “Take this,” You say to Johan while shoving a bottle of fire into his hands, “It’s yours, don’t care where you throw it,” You’re tempted to ask how his aim is, probably shitty, but there’s no time, “just try to hit something,”“Wait, it’s mine..?” You hear Johan mutter, looking at the bottle of fire in his hand as you rise, step out from behind the stalagwhatchamacallit, bring your arm back, and throw. For a few seconds, all watch as the bottled flame flips through the air until it impacts the pile of gore on one of the beast's central plates directly, exploding into an inferno.The sound the beast makes is both deafening and horrifying for all of a moment until it ejects fog like a squid would ink, so much of it the entire chamber is enshrouded in a blanket of white. You can’t actually see anything other than the visions, voices, and memories at the edge of your vision, but you chalk that up to eldritchy mind-control nonsense and ignore it. You’ve dealt with this type of shit plenty of times before, so in light of paying attention to any weird illusion, you focus on where you last saw the cultists and the screaming and thrashing of the kraken. For good measure, since from all the stones falling on your head, you’re pretty sure it’s collapsing the cavern. When the first mask comes into view, it’s only a few inches from your own face. Your blade thrusts into his throat before he can even register he’s here. Then your blade slices off the head of the next, debowel the third, and chop up the fourth. You hear the breaking of glass as you fight the fifth and the howling of the singed monster. Johan must not have succumbed to any illusions. Nice. Though that also means he is now a defenseless liability, you’re sure your onslaught serves as enough of a distraction to protect him.“Run for the exit!” You shout as you parry the blade of a cultist, “The cave is coming down!” You continue as a large rock falls on his masked head, crushing it in a rather gory display. By now, the smoke had swelled so much in the room that the endless white void had been replaced with a gradient grayscale. It would almost look beautiful if it were for the fact that half of it makes your eyes and throat burn, and the other half shows you visions of the perfect world you once lived in. It also makes killing cultists much harder, though you must have gotten about seven by now. Though you saw over a dozen enter the room. Which granted is enough to see you back into the corridor and out of the smog-filled room.
>>6158027Unluckily, you’re followed by the mayor and a half dozen cultists instead of by the Stranger, “Do you have any idea what you’re ruining!” The pudgy man wheezes, his eyes red from both the smoke and his own insanity, “Everything we sacrificed-” Before the man can go on a long tirade about his backstory or whatever, a bottle of fire flies through the mist, directly impacting the mayor on his fat cheek leading to a rather comical display of rippling fat as the glass explodes into shards of glass and fire. The mayor, along with multiple other cultists, are consumed in the roaring flame as it melts their skin and flesh from their bones. The others are so stunned they don’t witness the Stranger running past them, summoning another molotov in his hand and throwing it at the wooden walkway between them and him. Without words shared, the two of you leave the cultists to a trapped demise in a collapsing cavern of fire that not even the kraken manages to escape from.The breeze feels nice once you manage to get out of the cave, only having to clean up two more cultists left as a rear guard to get here. You give Johan and yourself a minute to catch your breath before you give him a questioning look, “So, about that Cheat Skill of yours.”“Come on, man. You’re not even going to thank me?” He asks exasperated. You just roll your eyes.
>>6158028“Do you require anything else, Hero?” the clanswoman says, her shaggy tail swaying behind her.“Oh, yea! ‘Nother round o’ ale!” Says the drunken half-scotswoman, Sally, from across the table as you sigh. “Nothing for me, thank you,” You say before sighing and looking over the paper once again. After leaving the Inquisitor on the road and walking from the station, you managed to arrive in Clan Mathan about at sundown to a hero’s welcome. You didn’t exactly expect that, but you suppose you saved their entire village that one time. After a feast both for your victory and once again for the clan’s continued survival, you were led to a tent overlooking the loch. From its open flaps, you can see both the remains of the Metal Castle and the scaffolding of the workers hired to disassemble it. In the other direction is the port lights of the bustling city of Ivern. Between them is the dark, rippling abyss of the loch, and with all this worrying over Johann’s, such a thing brings back bad memories.But that’s not really important, not right now, since this paper changes quite a lot. Apparently, though Johann isn’t here, Inquisitor Abram left it here after you left Ivern days ago. “You’re late! You’re late! For a very important date!” It is all it reads, though it came with a small pocket watch with a smaller compass embedded in it. The suited paw that serves at its hand doesn’t point north but to a location southwest. A trap, most definitely, but one you’ll fall for nonetheless.>You are Lorina de Lindan>You are Inquisitor Asher
>>6158029>You are Inquisitor AsherWho’s now wondering why Alice in Wonderland references keep coming up in his life…
>>6158029>>You are Lorina de Lindan
>>6158029>You are Inquisitor AsherNice update
>>6158029>You are Lorina de Lindan
>>6158029>>You are Lorina de LindanTime to go back
>>6158029>You are Inquisitor Asher
Aww, man, I wanted to see if Charlotte took the haunted spooky doll with her to her mother’s clan…
Looks like there's a #Lorinasweep writing. Going to be a bite-sized update though since my brain is fried currently.>>6159761We'll be back..... eventually
>>6160605“Yes, so please just sign here listing your soul as possible collateral and we’ll be done here,” You say. Pleasepleaseplease just sign the paper, you think. When you studied contract magic in the Academy you were certain I’d have no real life implication for you, what a wistful and wonderful world that would be. But no, here you are, having to discuss clauses upon clauses with a skeleton and spider because you’re [b]apparently[/b] the best magician currently in the Inquisitions headquarters. Yeah right, you’re pretty certain the Lord Inquisitor just wanted you to earn your keep instead of “researching” the Strange world of Earth and relaxing all day. Oh, and Marie got to go outside and fight changelings yesterday because life isn’t fucking fair now, is it!“I get that part, but why my soul? Isn’t that a bit extreme?” The skeleton, Mikhail, says from across the harshly lit table. He appears a lot more animated this time, which, granted, does make sense when you consider the last time you spoke to him he was apparently a puppet controlled by changelings while he and the spider next to him, Xiao, were tied up in a backroom. You take a deep breath and put on your tightest smile, “Because neither of you have the blood needed to make a bloodpact with. And while more severe a soulbinding contract has a similar function and according to Lindan Legal Code is what should be used if a bloodpact cannot be made due to one or more of the consenting parties' biological inabilities.” “Okay, but what if there’s a good reason why I need to leave the capital without permission or a chaperone? Like we get attacked again?”AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH- “As we’ve discussed clause six dash nine already covers that exact scenario. Please remember, you’re getting a much better deal than most Strangers will ever get. And your soul will only be claimed in the most egregious of contract violations,” Please sign it please sign it please sign it. “And if we do not sign?” The spider chitters, a clear taunt.I’ll kill you, “You’ll be kept under confinement until further notice. Now if you will?”“I’d like to get Usami here before we do anything,” Mikhail says.“Need I remind you he has already signed his contract?” It’s literally still on the table.“We’re a team we make these kind of decisions together.”“How about we call a quick recess while I get someone to get him?”The skeleton and spider share a look before his bony jaw opens, “We’ll stay the night just let us think it over,” Oh sweet and tender Goddess, yes! “That is understandable, Inquisitor Abigail will see you back to the cells,” You’re free, finally free! You find your smile fading as you remember you have to meet with the Lord Inquisitor in an hour. Then you feel the weary exhaustion behind your eyes once again. Lorina de Lindan is gone, you are a husk of a body that talks over contracts for hours on end. You need to do something to get your mind off it all.
>>6160627>Go find Marie and Alyssa [Discuss anything specific?]>Go to your room and scream>Go to the sauna and relax>Go break something>Head to the Lord Inquisitor early>[write-in]
>>6160628>>Go to your room and scream
>>6160628>>Go to the sauna and relax
>>6160628>Go to the armory and find your happy place: looking at beautiful and unusual weaponry!
>>6160627>Go train with one of your favorite weapons
>>6160628>Go to the sauna and relax
Segregated or single sex?
