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>>6397138
>Month 1:

Following the conclusion of the competition for Yulia’s hand, it was thought that a sense of normalcy would return to Morfis. Many of the foreigners that had journeyed from far off countries such as Almyra and Sreng had all returned home, as did those from Fodlan who were not attached to the Knights of Seiros that were under the command of Cyril. The Morfisians had gone to great lengths to accommodate these guests, as well as the absurdity of Princess Yulia’s competition, and they were eager to see what the future held now that a suitor had finally been decided. Word had spread that you and Yulia would marry once her health improved. In the meantime, you would help govern the nation as her regent. Across the country, people wondered at the type of leader you would be. Almost immediately, you found yourself tested at great length.

The most important structure in all of Morfis was the Food Production Hub. Located in a key district of the city, the Hub was the heart of the country’s food supply. Because of Morfis’ arid and hostile desert climate, traditional farming methods such as what you were used to in Fodlan were mostly unsuitable here. But the mages of Morfis, using knowledge passed down to them by the Sorcerer King Xenophanes, had developed a method for creating food via the means of sorcery. It was through this ingenious arcane art, which was the envy of every nation, that Morfis was able to sustain and grow its population. The heart of this operation, which required extensive sorcery and equipment, as well as hundreds of working mages, was the Food Production Hub.

Almost immediately upon assuming power, an accident occurred that saw the entire Hub burned to the ground.

“I have our men sifting through the smoldering remains looking for any clues,” Bronte reports to you within the palace’s throne room, where you’d set up office. “So far though, their efforts have turned up nothing.”

>Bronte (Prime Minister)
>Level 45 Gremory
HP: 62/62
MAG: 37
SPD: 39
DEF: 12
RES: 35
>Spells:
Forseti (+20 DMG, 30% CRIT, Enemy attacks will miss you for 1 turn, 1 Use)
Thunder (+5 DMG, +10% Crit)
Fimbulvetr (+12 DMG, +10% Crit, Area of Effect, 3 Uses)
Bolting (12 DMG, 15% Crit, Long Range Siege Magic. 2 Uses)
>Skill: Flare (MAG% Chance to treat the target as if it has 0 RES for 1 attack)

>“Hasn’t that hub been around for over a hundred years?! Am I supposed to believe someone forgot to extinguish their cooking fire and now the entire country is going to stave?!”

“It’s suspicious, that much is certain, Bronte sighs in exhaustion. “If a culprit does exist, it is imperative that we find them. But more urgently, we’ll need to rectify this situation fast. The Hub was responsible for over half of the country’s food production. If something isn’t done soon, we’ll go through our reserves in no time. This is a national level crisis we have on our hands.”

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>>6397139
>“What’s it going to take to get those mages back to producing meals again? I don’t exactly get how this stuff works, but I know that it’s important. Can’t we just put them all up in another building or something?”

“It’s not that simple,” Bronte shakes her head. “The hub contained all the equipment and reagents necessary for that sorcery to even function properly. Not to mention the logistics to distribute it across the country. Getting production back up to even half of what it was previously is going to take a long time. As well as a boatload of gold.”

>“Of course. Why wouldn’t it? Everyone’s gotta get paid.” You grumble, annoyed at having to open up the treasury’s coffers. You’d just gotten your hands on them too! “What about the Royal College and those damn Sages? Surely they’re going to help get things back in order?”

“They claim they’re investigating the matter themselves, but given who we’re dealing with here, that’s dubious at best. Either way, we can’t sit around and hope they actually remain true to their word. The longer we wait, the worse things are going to get. Both for Morfis, and for you.”

>“Me? I just got here! What are you talking about?”

“Exactly,” Bronte says. “The people of Morfis are both furious and terrified. And rightfully so. But in the absence of a culprit, some pockets of them are beginning to blame you. After all, everything was going just fine until a foreigner came along and ascended to the highest seat of power. If this situation spirals any more out of control, you can be sure that you’ll lose popular support within the country.”

You sit back in your chair, contemplating your cousin’s words. This whole debacle seemed tailormade to drain your resources and weaken your position before you could even start gaining momentum as regent. Given the suspicious nature of this sudden fire, you couldn’t shake the feeling that the Sages had something to do with this. But would they really go so far as starving their own countrymen just to make you look bad? Perhaps this was the work of the Cult of the Serpent instead? Marek and his ilk that hadn’t defected were wholly devoted to eradicating Morfis. You were sure he’d be pleased with a catastrophe such as this. Either way, Bronte was right. Something had to be done. You had access to Morfis’ treasury, in addition to the substantial amount of gold given to you by Montblanc upon selling the rights to Shangri-La.

Current Gold: 143,800

>Choose One

>A): Spare no expense in getting the hub back up and running. You shall be known as Tristain the Magnanimous! (50,000g spent)
>B): Spare only what you can afford. (25,000g spent)
>C): Maybe you could but corners a bit and still look like you were helping… (10,000g spent)
>D): You needed this gold for your war against the Sages. Spend nothing and dip into the food reserves.
>E): Ask Fodlan for support.

>>6397140

>A): Spare no expense in getting the hub back up and running. You shall be known as Tristain the Magnanimous! (50,000g spent
Cultural victory option? Together with Morfisian Disney Land.

>>6397140
>>A): Spare no expense in getting the hub back up and running. You shall be known as Tristain the Magnanimous! (50,000g spent)

>>6397140
>A): Spare no expense in getting the hub back up and running. You shall be known as Tristain the Magnanimous! (50,000g spent)
Sucks for our pockets but yeah this ties very well with Tristanland for winning the hearts and minds. We gotta ease off the spending after this though.

>>6397140
>>B): Spare only what you can afford. (25,000g spent)
Idk man, fells like bait to me. There's probably some sick magic war machines that cost tons of gold which we will need in the coming mega war. (I'm chosing based on pure paranoia and on what the voices told me)

A wins, writing.

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>>6397140
>Month 2

>“Wow…these guys are pretty unimpressive…”

You watch dispassionately from a balcony overlooking a newly constructed training facility a few steps away from the Royal Palace. A Morfisian “soldier”, in reality a youth barely into adulthood, was dragging his sword along the ground as he struggled to lift the iron over his shoulder. Several feet away, about a dozen archers were firing at targets with aim so piss poor that it caused you to wonder if perhaps the desert sun were causing vision issues. Others were busy running a track that had been set up. Their endurance was failing, and what was supposed to be a brisk jog had morphed into the sort of leisurely stroll an elderly person would take after a modest lunch.

“Are you really so surprised?” Cuthbert asks at your side. “Fodlan may be in an extended era of peace, but we have hundreds of years of tried and tested warfare that we can look back upon for reference. Morfis meanwhile, hasn’t fought a real war in over a thousand years. The most these people do is patrol the desert for the Cult and fight off the occasional wandering Demonic Beast. Even then, much of that is handled by more specialized forces, like Hima’s Scorchers, the Warrior’s Guild, or the Yasha.”

>“See? I told you too much peace could be a bad thing.”

“Mmm. Peace is fine. But it’s no excuse to allow yourself to get rusty.”

>Cuthbert (Minister of War)
>Level 40 Sentinel
HP: 65/65
STR: 32
SPD: 31
DEF: 30
RES: 14
>Weapon: Silver Lance+ (+17 ATK) Killer Lance+ (+12 ATK, 25% Crit Chance)
>Skill: Rally Strength (Grant Ally +3 STR for one turn)

For all of Cuthbert’s bitching about having to be given a job to do, the man seemed to really enjoy working at a task that he was useful at. In order to better evaluate and address the needs of the military under your command, he’d whipped himself back into prime shape. The veteran standing next to you now was as close as ever to the spearman that fought as one of Empress Edelgard’s elite warriors.

>“I thought Hamilcar would have done a better job at training these guys. He seemed the type at least. But this is pretty shit.”

“Hamilcar is a man of the Royal Sages.” Cuthbert informs you. “They have their own army that answers to their command. One that I regret to inform you, also happens to outnumber the Royal Guard at least 4 to 1.”

>“Great. So he saves all the best stuff for him and his army?”

“Probably. But I wouldn’t dwell on it,” Cuthbert says, taking a long drawl from a smoking pipe. “Numbers are important, but it's tactics and skill that win battles. Hamilcar may show favoritism to his men, but he’ll still be dealing with a lack of fundamental battle knowledge that we Fodlanders have honed over centuries of killing each other. So long as we and Cyril’s Knights of Seiros can make up for the difference in skill, there’s a chance.”

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>>6397682
>“You think you can whip these guys into shape that quickly?” A drillsman down below blows a whistle, signaling that it was time for lunch. The soldiers breathe a collective sigh of relief before sauntering off to collect their meal. “I mean, a fight could break out at any moment.”

Cuthbert smirks. “I learned from the best tactician of the Unification War. Hubert Von Vestra was a strategist sent from hell itself. He knew how to bring out the best of his men, and more importantly, how to maximize their effectiveness without wasting them. If I apply what I picked up from those days, it should be no problem. These whelps have had it easy for too long. They thought they could just lay around and do a bit of napping without ever having to use those blades. Well it’s high time that changes.”

As if to demonstrate, Cuthbert leans over the railing and begins screaming at the throng of soldiers below.

“HEY! YOU PIECES OF TRASH! GET YOUR ASSES BACK OUT THERE! NO LUNCH UNTIL THOSE TARGETS ARE SO FULL OF ARROWS I CAN’T SEE THE PAINT! AND I WANT 25 MORE LAPS! NOW!”

The soldiers, cowed into submission, offer Cuthbert no resistance as they scatter back out onto the training field.

>“Alright, you’re the vet.” You wince. His screaming hurt your ears. “Just don’t break them too hard.”

“It’ll be necessary,” Cuthbert says. “We need to break them so we can remake them. That’s how you make a soldier. They’ll struggle, but they’ll hold the line. And the ones that rise above? They will be our ace in the hole. Our hammer that breaks the enemy’s spine. Elites to rival those back home.”

>“Elites, huh?”

Cuthbert was right. It wasn’t enough to whip these soldiers into fighting shape. You needed fighters that could rise above the norm. Specialists that were several grades above the standard. With hundreds of years of Fodlan military doctrine at your back, combined with knowledge imparted to you at Garreg Mach’s Officer Academy, such a core was well within your reach.

>What specialist unit will you create?

>A): Heavy Infantry (Tanky. Easily mow down enemy infantry)
>B): Archers (The bane of most mages.)
>C): Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)
>D): Mages (The specialty of Morfis, but with a Fodlan twist. Useful in various battle situations, though not durable.)

>>6397687
>>C): Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)

>>6397687
>C): Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)
Most of their shock forces are gonna be infantry and if they outnumber us 4 to 1 hit and run tactics are gonna be the way to go.

>>6397687
>C): Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)
Most versatile and if they outnumber us by that much hit and run is the way to go

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>>6397967
Whoops apologies for the double post, thought I'd fucked up the captcha earlier

>>6397687
>>B): Archers (The bane of most mages.)
Tough call. I think it would be nice for Tristain to have his own Elite Archer unit he could lead. Plus Mage Killers against the College or Cultists and other wacky stuff. On the other hand everyone loves a good cav charge and Tristain can fly over as well.

>>6397687
>Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)
We just have to turn them into Paladins and then they'll be able to handle mage attacks. This'll totally work, unless they all turn in to Dark Knights.

Also Tristain should get down there on the field to truly inspire these schmucks to give it their all. Y'know, crack a target in half with a powered bow shot (and angrily give them pointers on how to hold and draw a bow), run 50 laps before the soldiers do 10, obliterate a target with Earthsplitter. Really wow them with our skill and get them to strive to become strong aswell.

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>>6397687
>Cavalry (Specialists in regards to hit and run tactics. Destroys archers and can flank enemy infantry.)
Between either this and archers but the sages will probably have some sort of anti-archer tech.

>Start of second to last thread
The end hurts me already

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>>6398151
Also cackling at Tristain and Bronte both putting all their magical eggs into one basket. Bet back in Rusalka Blair is just shaking her head.

>>6398151
>>6398153
Hot damn anon thats quite nice! Very smug Tristain. I like the background details on the golems and Brotne's jewelry a lot.

>>6398162
>>6398151
Extremely cute! Thank you so much anon. It's bittersweet coming this close to the end, but if it's any consolation, with how slow /qst/ is that's still months away lol.

Captcha is finicky tonight, but let's see if I can post this update. Cavalry wins.

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>>6397687
>Month 3

Cassius saunters into the throne room, humming a jovial tune. The dark mage appeared to be in a good mood, and he had a pep in his step that you hadn’t seen before. In his hands was clutched a letter.

>“What’s got you in such a good mood?” You inquire.

“My long-distance friend sent me a letter!” As if to prove the point, he shakes the parchment in the air.

>“Your…long-distance friend?” You frown. “Who’s that?”

“Prime Minister Ferdinand von Aegir,” He grins. “To think that I would become fast friends with such an important figure in Fodlan politics. Meeting you truly was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, Lord Tristain!”

>Cassius (Minister of Foreign Affairs)
>Level 40 Druid
HP: 50/50
MAG: 38
SPD: 33
DEF: 12
RES: 36
>Spells:
Flux (+7 ATK),
Swarm (+4 ATK, -4 SPD on enemy)
Mire (+4 ATK, -4 DEF on enemy)
Ruin (+4 ATK, 50% Crit)
Dark Spikes (+13 DMG, Eff. against cavalry)
Quake (+8 ATK, AoE, 3 Uses)
>Skills: Summon+: Summons a powerful phantom soldier

Cassius had become your man in charge of all foreign diplomacy, the majority of which he’d naturally chosen to focus on Fodlan. Given his obsession with your country, that was to be expected. But that was fine with you. So long as he took his job seriously and ensured that Morfis remained his priority, you would let the man indulge in his fascination.

>“What does the letter say?”

“Well, he’s been telling me all about life in the capital lately. Saint Seiros Day is coming up soon. It sounds like a grand celebration! I’ve always thought Morfis could use more holidays.”

>“Get to the point!” You shout, your knuckles turning white as you grip the arms of the throne you sat upon. “I didn’t hire you to exchange love letters with Ferdinand von Aegir!”

“Ahh, right, business,” Cassius mutters, unfurling the letter. “Prime Minister Ferdinand once more congratulates you on your ascension to the throne. He says all of Fodlan is proud of your accomplishments. He has also proposed a finalized trade deal, which has been the subject of much of my work these last few months.”

>“Trade deal?” You mutter. “I don’t remember us discussing a trade deal?”

“I tried going over the specifics with you, Tristain. But you quickly grew bored of my efforts, and went outside to watch ‘beetle fighting’ with May.”

>“Did I do that…? Doesn’t sound like me…”

Cassius clears his throat. “In any event, Ferdinand has sent me back terms. Fodlan is willing to part with a generous shipment of iron and steel. Half of it would be finished already in the form of specialized armaments for your soldiers. The other half would be raw, meant to help strengthen infrastructure. More specifically, repairing the damage done to the Food Production Hub.”

>“And what do they want in return?” You inquire, already dreading having to open your already ailing treasury. No one told you ruling a country required so much spending.

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>>6398284
“They’re being fairly reasonable,” Cassius says. “They’ve requested an assortment of spell tomes, much of which contains sorcery that would reach Fodlan’s shores for the first time. They’ve also asked for some historical artifacts dating back to Xenophanes’ era. The items in question are nothing special. Mundane objects, in actuality.”

>“If they’re so mundane, why do they want them?”

“Ferdinand says it’s a request from Queen Byleth herself,” Cassius says. “The Queen and her husband, Seteth, have apparently taken a great interest in Morfisian history, and wish to learn more about our country’s origins,” The mage smiles, a tear forming in his eye. “To think they’d hold the same admiration for my country as I do their own. Diplomacy truly is wonderful!”

>“I suppose that is all reasonable. Getting the Hub back up and running ahead of schedule would be great. Not to mention those weapons and armor. All the ore in this country is pretty crappy.”

“There is one slight potential problem,” Cassius informs you. “Word has spread of this trade offer, and there’s a faction of notable mages who oppose the deal. They believe that our advantage in sorcery is the only thing that gives us an edge over Fodlan, and that if we part with our secrets, we shall lose that advantage. They worry handing over some of the inner workings of our arcane arts will make us an easier invasion target for Fodlan. Evidently they’ve gotten it in their heads that this Queen Byleth might fancy herself a conqueror.”

>“That’s a bit preposterous, no?”

“She did unify three countries and take them over,” Cassius shrugs. “She also has foreign troops embedded here in the Knights of Seiros. And no one is forgetting that a Fodlan noble is set to marry the princess. Rumors are beginning to spread amongst this faction that you intend to sell out the country to this foreign queen, whom you still hold loyalty to.”

>“This sort of gossip never ends, does it?” You groan. “So, what happens if I accept the trade deal?”

“Then it goes as planned,” Cassius answers. “We have ships ready to depart at a moment’s notice. This particular faction of mages will likely be further emboldened against you though. They’re a hardline group that aren’t exactly friends of the Royal College, and right now they remain neutral. But if we go through with this, their loyalty will shift to that of the Sages.”

>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.
>B): It may be better to have friends closer to home instead.

>>6398286
>>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.
the food crisis is a priority, we can manage killing a hundred more dudes a few months from now

>>6398286
>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.
Tristain? Bowing to a bunch of mages? Absolutely not.

....and we need to keep Byleth sweet if we want to keep our bow.

Really wondering what the hell Byleth is wanting though.

>>6398286
>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.
Byleth is crossing fingers the mysterious foreign mage nation isn't actually another fucking agarthan stronghold in disquise.

>>6397687
The ghost of yours truly shall guide Cuthbert

>>6398286
>>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.

>The Queen and her husband, Seteth, have apparently taken a great interest in Morfisian history, and wish to learn more about our country’s origins.
Okay maybe don't give them ancient snake people artifatcs, or they might get an idea that this country is some sort of a snake stronghold. A crusade is unlikely, but still.
>>6398286
>>B): It may be better to have friends closer to home instead.
Secures us more allies for hyperwar with sages. Or at least robs the sages of extra allies.

>>6398286
>B): It may be better to have friends closer to home instead.
Never trusted the frog of Fodlan.

>>6398286
>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.

Especially since all of Tristain's buddies have gone home? Arios is probably still around but have we lost Saorise and Uriyan too? Or are they sticking around with the orders to get an in with the new king?

>>6398162
>I like the background details on the golems and Brotne's jewelry a lot.
Thanks! I admit I was flip flopping a lot on whether to give her a fully black feather cloak but thought that might be a little too on the nose kek

>>6398286

My Tristain will commission the papers depicting them as The Chud Mages, afraid of the attractive warlike women of the exotic dark continent, contrasted by our gallant hero Big T with many companions.

>A): Accept the trade deal. Morfis needs that iron, and it pays to have friends abroad.

>>6398584
Mmm fashion is really hard to decide at times. I think you made the right choice. I wonder how peacock feathers would have looked.

>>6398584
>Especially since all of Tristain's buddies have gone home? Arios is probably still around but have we lost Saorise and Uriyan too? Or are they sticking around with the orders to get an in with the new king?
As far as you know, Saoirse and Uriyan have returned to their respective countries.

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>>6398286
>Month 3 (cont.)

“Tristain, so good of you to come see me.” Nadia says sweetly.

The basement of the Royal Palace had undergone drastic changes ever since Nadia moved in. Gone were the boxes of storage and kegs of wine that had once taken residence here. In their place, an assortment of strange sorcerous machinery had sprung up overnight. Dark objects of dubious origin whose sole purpose was to play some part in the extraction of quintessence. Nadia sauntered over to one such device. Fiddling with its surface, the machine began to whirr loudly as unseen gears turned within. Your heart was caught in your chest as you watched it hum to life, waiting expectantly for the contraption to reveal its goal. Eventually, a smoky dark liquid shot down in a stream, filling a vessel that had been placed underneath its spout.

“Coffee?” Nadia asks, offering you the cup.

>“Oh. No thanks.”

>Nadia (Minister of Research and Development)
>Level 41 Necromancer
HP: 45/45
MAG: 36
SPD: 38
DEF: 7
RES: 32
>Spells:
Aura (+12 ATK, 20% chance to Crit)
Nosferatu (+1 ATK, Restores HP based on DMG)
Seraphim (+4 ATK, super effective against Terrors)
Heal (Restore HP by MAG + 10)
Restore (Cures status effects)
Barrier (Adds +8 RES to Ally)
>Skill: Rally Magic (Grant ally +3 MAG for one turn)

“Come, there’s something I wish to show you.”

Nadia leads you into a room filled to the brim with dead bodies, each one laying atop a metal table. This wasn’t your first time here, so you were already used to the grim site. You knew that these corpses were not truly dead. Rather, they were waiting to be activated. To be infused with quintessence so that they may fight for you. It was a process that required an incredible amount of work, but you figured that Nadia had already made a dozen of these. You knew these creatures well, and had a feeling Nadia didn’t call you here just to see them again. Your hunch proving correct, she leads you into a back room, where another body is strapped to a metal table. Only, unlike the others you’d seen before, this man was alive.

>“Hey Butch.” You greet the unconscious brute. “Man, after three months I thought he would have wasted away into skin and bones. How did you keep him from losing muscle mass?”

“I infuse him with quintessence each day to ward off decay,” Nadia answers. “Enough to keep him strong. But not enough to rouse him from his slumber.”

>“Why haven’t we woken him up yet again?” You inquire

“I had a hunch it would be a bad idea,” Nadia says, sipping from her coffee. “Turns out I was correct. In my probing of this man’s essence, I’ve discovered something most strange. That I am not the first person to do so. Someone has beaten me to the punch. Poor Butch has been morphed into a Terror.”

>“Really? The guy was a beast for sure, but he doesn’t look like a monster to me.”

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>>6398662
“I’ve seen these imprints before,” Nadia says. “In the Terrors we used to capture and study in Ithaca. The ones that were created by the Cult of the Serpent. Butch’s aura exhibits much of the same traits that those monsters back then did. In fact, I’ve seen it gradually morph to something closer resembling the aura of those Terrors ever since we brought him down here. I suspect that whoever did this to him intended for Butch to be something of a timed explosive. To have him enter Morfis under the guise of the competition, morph into a Terror, and wreak havoc upon the city.”

>“Could one Demonic Beast really do that?”

“A Terror’s strength is often directly proportional to what they were before they were turned,” Nadia explains. “Butch has a Crest and a Hero’s Relic. If he were made into a Terror, he’d likely be the strongest the country has ever seen. Letting something like that loose in the epicenter of Morfis would spell disaster. Fortunately, whoever did this to him did not envision Butch going up against Homer, who possessed an anti-Terror weapon. The wounds inflicted by Homer have slowed the process to a crawl.”

>“Marek had told Butch that he was to be the Cult’s Champion. Seems like that was a load of bullshit, though that had been obvious from the start. So, what do we do with our friend here? Are you going to let him turn into a Terror and control him?”

“Tristain,” Nadia laughs, shaking her head. “I reanimate corpses. Controlling a Terror though? Let’s be a bit reasonable here.”

>“Oh, right.”

“Butch is progressing further into his final form,” Nadia explains. “I’d rather not let it get to that point. Euthanizing him now would be the easiest option. Otherwise, with enough time and resources, I can undo the changes Marek has made to Butch’s body.”

>“Oh! Well then, why don’t we do that?”

“It’s a liiiiiiiiiiitle expensive…” Nadia clasps her hands, taking on the guise of a teenage daughter begging her father for some gold to buy a dress.

>“How much are we talking here?”

“15,000 gold.” She whispers.

>“What?! Why?!”

“Do you want me to bore you with the magical and scientific explanation?” Nadia pouts. “Will a shopping list truly sate your curiosity? Or do you want me to deliver you an indebted Hero Relic wielder?”

Nadia’s preference was clear. Any excuse to practice forbidden sorcery was good enough for her. You ponder your options. Butch was a true bastard, but he had his own weird set of morals. He’d agreed to fight alongside you back at the Tower of Illusions, and all you did was give him some lunch. If you saved him from being a Terror, and then pointed him in the direction of the culprits who did this to him, he’d probably cooperate. And a Hero’s Relic wielder was worth an entire division of soldiers.

>Current Gold: 93,800

>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).
>B): Euthanize him.
>C): Leave him be.

>>6398664
>>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).
uuuuugh, our gold... i don't wanna leave butch on the shed though. we'll just have to cut our stat booster intake

>>6398664
lol must be one menacing looking coffee machine

>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).
Free my digga Butch. I like his style.

Although it would be really funny to let him go to town on the College if it could be contained to it. Or trap him in the Tower for use later. What if he could be happy as an attraction in Morfis Disney land?

>>6398604
Fun will befall thee!

>>6398664
>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).

>>6398664
>B): Euthanize him.
He's a loose cannon through and through - that "probably" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Besides who knows what other sleeper enchantments the Sages who examined him or Mark have stuck in him.

That and we really gotta conserve our gold since there's 100% going to be more sabotage in our future

>>6398664
>B): Euthanize him.

15K gold is so, so much to spend on one man when we know a crisis approaches. Think of the goodwill we could garner by returning his relic to Fodlan!

>>6398664
>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).
We're really burning through our gold here, but Butch was fun and brought out the best in Tristain.

>>6398664
>B): Euthanize him.

>>6398664

>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).

>>6398664
>A): Have Nadia restore Butch (15,000g).
We never got to fight him man to man.

>>6398664
>B): Euthanize him.
They're bleeding us out of all our cash... Sorry old pal.

>>6399202
I believe May's counterattack of who we can steal money from, aka Taxes, will ensure our prosperity

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>>6398664
>Month 4

“Boss! We’ve got trouble!” May barges into the throne room, bumping into a serving maiden who was taking away a plate that once housed a considerable serving of lamb. Before the plate can smash on the ground, May deftly catches it. The thief breathes a sigh of relief, before handing it back to the impressed woman. Your companion had always been dexterous, but like Cuthbert, she had been taking her new duties with a degree of seriousness that you’d been unaccustomed to when she’d travelled with you.

>May (Minister of Finance)
>Level 40 Assassin
HP: 42/42
STR: 25
SPD: 41
DEF: 18
RES: 15
Weapon: Peshkatz (+9 Attack, Can attack from range, always crits), Caltrops (block a path for 1 turn)
>Skills:
Unnoticeable: Less likely to be targeted by enemies
Steal+: Can steal non-equipped items. Can steal equipped items if STR is at least half of foe’s

>“May! What’s wrong?” And here you were looking forward to enjoying a post-meal nap. There was always something going wrong! Was ruling a country really supposed to be this stressful?

“It’s our taxes!” May cries, falling to her knees in absolute anguish. “Several wealthy mages are refusing to pay them!”

>“WHAT?!”

You nearly rip off the arms of your throne in fury. Taxation was supposed to be the selling point of ruling a nation! The entire reason anybody actually put up with the job! If you weren’t being paid ludicrous amounts of gold to sit on your ass and “rule,” then what was the point of all this headache?!

“Tax collection season is here,” May sniffles. As your party’s thief and Morfis’ new Minister of Finance, she was taking the lack of flowing gold harder than anyone. “But we’ve only been able to collect a meagre amount of tribute from some of the less affluent mages in the city. Meanwhile, a lot of the big shots are refusing to pay! They’re coming up with all sorts of excuses to avoid filling up the bag. So, I did a little bit of snooping, and apparently, they’re saying that because you haven’t actually married Princess Yulia yet, they don’t want to pay up.”

>“What?! My marriage status aside, that doesn’t give them any right to avoid their financial obligations to the nation!”

“Well…” May trails off. “A lot of them seem to have this crazy idea that you’re uhh…not gonna be around in a few months. Stuff like this would happen back in my village. If you knew someone was about to die, you’d try borrowing money from them. That way you can play dumb about paying it back. This is like…the opposite of that. They don’t think they have to pay you since you won’t be around soon to enforce the collection.”

>“And just where do they believe I’m going?” You grate your teeth.

“Hell, mostly,” May offers. “But some also think you’ll call it quits. I even overheard one mage saying-” May puffs out her chest, and does her best impression of a stuffy noble.

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>>6399279
“I’m not paying that red bastard! It’s because of him the House of Silk burned down! You think my wife is gonna do half the stuff those other women did?! Tristain d’Rusalka should go ahead and die!”

To emphasize the matter, she spits on the floor of the throne room.

You sigh deeply, massaging your temples to relieve your irritation. Evidently, these prominent figures were under the impression you’d be deposed soon, and that their obligations would vanish along with you. It was clear to see that their loyalties were aligned with the Royal Sages, whom they were probably hoping would come along and get rid of you any day now. Had things really fallen into such disarray already?

>“So, May, as my Minister of Finance, what do you suggest we do about this?”

“That gold’s rightfully yours, boss! And no one steals from you!” May says indignantly. “I say I go back and get it, but this time with a whole platoon of soldiers behind me. I’ll take the gold from them by force! It ain’t stealing if I’m just taking what belongs to you in the first place.”

>“Something like that sounds like it would piss off a lot of people…”

“Aren’t you and I pissed off?!” May cries. You’d never seen the thief this spirited before. It was actually a bit heartwarming to witness.

May was right. That gold did rightfully belong to the Royal Palace. And it was needed now more than ever. Ruling was expensive, and you were churning through your treasury like a Peshkatz through butter. These mages that May was describing were fence sitters. They would likely not openly support the Royal Sages, in fear of drawing your ire. They would simply sit to the side and hope that the Sages emerge victorious without any cost to them. There was some use in that. It meant there was one less enemy you’d have to fight. And if you won, which you intended on, they would quickly fall in line. If you came in and took their gold by force though, that would quickly change. Another enemy to add to the pile.

>Current Gold: 78,800g

>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)

>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
moneeeey

[i]how it works[/i]

>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
Need to make irs

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)
Let's not make any addtional enemies. When we're still around in a few weeks we WILL make them pay EXTRA due to trying to dodge taxes. We'll get the money, it'll just be a bit delayed.

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)
We've already pissed off the anti-fodlan mages. We'll just have to take their taxes with interest after.

>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)

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>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
If they resist we can kill them legally, also very convenient that now's Mays turn to shine because I just got a commission back from my artist friend depicting May enjoying her new luxuries that being a Minister brings.

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)
Best not to make any more enemies, I guess...

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)
Consider this compound investment, when we beat the shit out of the sages we will collect double from the traitors. Or just kill them and take all their property. But we'd best do it after we truly cement power so we don't push more people into the camp of the sages before the actual civil war.

>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
GIVE ME HARDER BATTLES.

Either that or say "Pay up or get an exemption for doing charity."
>>6399442
Nice art!

>>6399442
MAAAAY
>>6399280
>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)
Don't let them think they can push Tristain around so soon into his reign.

>>6399280
>B): You’d have to be satisfied with what May had already managed to collect (+8,000g)

>>6399442
So cute! May better be careful about packing the pounds though. If she gains too much weight she's going to lose her Unnoticeable skill.

>>6399280
>>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)

Considering this particular guy was a House of Silk supporter, and the rest probably similar, once a 'Free The Maya' decision comes up with our favorite dancer Chelsey they would probably be an annoyance again. Or we might want money to 'buy' the freedom of the Maya to at least keep their former masters neutral.

I wonder if Adeline and Elric will have their own decisions as well? Then maybe one for any tourney people who stuck around. Maybe Adeline wants to hire an entire division of elite heavy infantry bodyguards. Elric wants ??? His little gal pal 99 so he can walk around killing mages without a care in the world? Or some kind of cultural project. Then I'd imagine who we can hire from the tournament survivors. Maybe Alvin shows up. I think we will probably want the gold.

>>6399442
MAY!
She sure is cute

>>6399509
>''Tristain, I'm dummy thick and the clap of my ass cheeks keep alerting the sages.''

>>6399280
>A): Give May a large group of soldiers to support tax collection efforts (+25,000g)

A wins, writing.

>>6399532
Releasing 99 to stop the sages would actually be pretty damn smart when push comes to shove

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>>6399280
>Month 5

>“Geeze, this is gonna take forever. Can’t they work any faster?” You mutter.

You stood in front of the ruins of what used to be the Food Production Hub. In the months following the blaze, progress had been made in restoring the building to its original standing. The task was a monumental project, and you’d commanded that every free hand in Morfis be put to use in putting the place back together. Hundreds were assembled here, each deep in the throes of reconstruction. But there was still so much work to be done before operations could resume. Wishing to survey the reconstruction for yourself, and hoping that your presence would do something to inspire the many citizens hard at work here, you arrived in the middle of the day, flanked by Adeline and a dozen of your royal guardsmen.

“They’re working as hard as they can, sire.” Adeline answers. “But you can see the extent of the damage for yourself.”

>“No luck finding the culprit yet either, huh?”

A few months ago, Kosmas and the rest of the Yasha were able to confirm that the blaze had been set deliberately. Sorcerous traces in the air had revealed as such. You had no idea how the magic detecting powers of the Yasha worked, but it was enough for you to know for sure that someone was behind this mess. Only, whoever had done it had somehow managed to vanish as if they were a ghost.

“No, sire.” Adeline sighs.

>“Would you stop with this ‘sire’ business already?”

“Forgive me, milord, but I cannot be as casual with you as I once was before,” Adeline says. “You are soon to be king. And I am your royal guard. It would not be proper for-”

>“What if I order you to stop? Would that get you to knock it off?”

“M-milord, please do not make fun of my vows…” Adeline pouts, her face blushing in the heat of the desert sun.

You plan on continuing to tease the girl, when something flashes from the corner of your eye. Years of combat experience take over. You instinctively move your head to the side. The action proves to be unneeded though. Adeline saw it before you did, her face already turned in the direction. The quarrel bounces harmlessly off her shield.

“ASSASSIN!” One of your guardsmen roars.

“Catch the culprit!” Adeline commands.

Eight of your guardsmen rush towards the mysterious cloaked figure who’d fired upon you. The assassin drops their crossbow and runs into the press of workers, hoping to lose their pursuers. As soon as your guardsmen run off though, more trouble rears its head. The quarrel proves to be a distraction for the real threat. A dozen or so daggers appear on scene, each one pointed towards you. Your men were outnumbered. And you’d left your axe at home.

“FOR MORFIS!”

“FREE MORFIS!”

“FREEDOM FROM THE DARK CONTINENT!”

The newly arrived assassins charge towards you. Adeline puts herself between you and them, and raises her tower shield and spear to meet their advance.

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>>6399605
What follows is a slaughter. These assassins were not the likes of the trained Riahi, whom you’d fought off in Ithaca. In fact, they were hardly warriors at all. Their initial plan may not have been terrible, but they lacked the skill to back it up. Adeline impales one man right through the chest, even as her tower shield cracks into another’s face, sending him sprawling into the dust. Ripping her spear free, she jabs it through another’s face, and swings her shield like a battering ram, sending two of them flying.

>Adeline (Royal Guard)
>Level 40 General
HP: 72/72
STR: 41
SPD: 10
DEF: 41
RES: 0
Weapon: Brave Lance+ (+10 ATK, always attacks twice), Guard Lance (+8 ATK, +5 DEF)
Skills: Guard Stance (Stand in for attacks made on adjacent party members)
Counter: Enemy takes 50% of damage they inflict upon Adeline

The guardsmen that fight alongside Adeline were handpicked by her, and prove to be more than capable. In a few short moments, the assassination attempt ends in abject failure, with none of the assailants getting within a few steps of you. All of them lie dead on the ground with the exception of one man, whom Adeline has pinned underneath her boot. The chaos subsides as more soldiers come pouring in, seeking to restore order to the now frantic construction site.

“D-damn you, devil!” The assassin cries. “Did you come to gloat over your handiwork? You were the one that burned this place down, weren’t you! Admit it!”

>“Huh?” You scoff. “What are you talking about?”

“You came from the Dark Continent to sow havoc in our home!” The assassin cries. “You and your cronies! You plan to let us all starve to death!”

Was he really blaming the Hub burning down on you? It was just like Bronte had said. The longer the culprit went without being found, the more people would point their fingers in your direction. Getting a closer look at the ‘assassin,’ you find that he is hardly a man. If he was even 17 years old you’d have been surprised. Tears were welling in his eyes as he lay surrounded by the corpses of his friends. You briefly wonder if someone had put him up to this. If they did, they’d certainly consigned him to his death. Even unarmed, there was no way any of these louts could have killed you.

“Pay him no heed, sire.” Adeline says, adjusting her spear to deliver the killing blow. At that moment, it seemed as if the hundreds of eyes in the construction site were all looking upon you and the scene.

>A): Allow Adeline to execute the boy. An example must be made to the rest of the populace, lest you invite another attempt on your life.
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.

>>6399607
>>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.
Damn Elric for making me concerned for teenagers

>>6399607
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.

>>6399607
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.
Tristain the Merciful strikes again.

>>6399607
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.

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There is now a QM. Get Eir in FEH and you can summon yourself.

>>6399605
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.
>>6399708
What did he mean by this?

>>6399607
>B): Hold Adeline’s hand and show mercy. Take the boy in for questioning and a fair trial.
he's crying and pissing his pants already no need to be mean, throw him in jail.

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>>6399607
>Month 5 (cont.)

“How many Sages does it take to change a newborn’s diaper?” Elric asks you in the throne room. “Four. One to change the diaper, and three to perform inhumane experiments on it!”

Silence.

“A man finds a naked shepherd from Sreng cutting the wool off a sheep. He asks ‘Hey, why are you shearing that sheep naked?’ The shepherd replies, ‘Go away! I ain’t shearing this sheep with anyone!”

>“Ugh…”

“Heh, maybe you’ve heard that one before…”

>Elric (Jester)
>Level 40 Knight Lord
HP: 46/46
STR: 36
SPD: 31
DEF: 31
RES: 36
Weapon: Silver Blade (+16 ATK)
Skills: Vantage: (If HP at 35% or below, always attack first.)
Resolve (If HP at 35% or below, STR, SPD and DEF +7)

It wasn’t Elric’s fault you weren’t laughing. Well, actually it was. His jokes were terrible. Of all your companions, he was the only one you didn’t really have a ‘job’ for. The boy was still young, and didn’t necessarily excel in any area that would be useful to you. So you’d made him your page and occasional court jester. But even if his jokes hadn’t been shitty, you weren’t in a laughing mood. You were no closer to finding the culprit behind the Hub’s arson, and things were only growing worse. The boy whom you’d spared from Adeline’s wrath had confessed that he and his friends had been put up to the job by a beautiful woman.

This woman, whose name was unknown to him, had apparently been spreading ill word of you throughout the taverns and dark underbellies of the city. Her fanciful claims included that you were a demon of hell, and that fire was your weapon of choice. You’d burned the House of Silk, you’d defeated Arios with flames, you’d set the Food Production Hub on fire, and soon you’d set the entire country ablaze in your madness. None of your men had been successful in finding the purveyor of these rumors, so here you were.

“I’ve got some Almyran jokes in here somewhere…” Elric mutters as he scours his joke book.

Suddenly, the throne room doors swing wide open. A small group of soldiers, not your own, make their way inside without invitation. You recognize the white-haired man with strange glasses leading them. Stelios, the Yasha who’d been in charge of the 2nd round of the Competition. At his side was a woman who looked faintly familiar, until you realize she was one of the mages employed here in the Royal Palace. She was in chains.

“What’s up, big guy?” Stelios says jovially. He pulls the chain, causing the woman to squeal as she is yanked forward. “Haven’t seen ya since the Tower. Gotta say, I wish you were doing a better job. This place is really going downhill…”

“Aren’t you being a bit too casual for addressing the King?” Elric asks, closing his ‘jokebook.’ “Do you require a lesson in manners?”

“Regent,” Stelios corrects. “And my apologies if I’ve offended. I actually came to do a favor.”

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>>6399924
“Sire!” The woman, whose name you remember as Loreza, begs. “Forgive me!”

>“What is the meaning of this?”

“This woman works here, no?” Stelios asks. “She was caught practicing illegal sorcery. Morfisian law dictates that the creation of sorcerous food is strictly limited only to those authorized by the Royal College. It requires extensive training and mentorship, lest the product cause illness or even death in those who consume it. Loreza here was caught red-handed, and her shitty bread has led to illness in over a dozen poor civilians.”

“Forgive me! Please!” Loreza begs. “I was just trying to help! The hungry are growing by the day, and I couldn’t stand by! I-I know where I messed up! It was just a miscalculation, it won’t happen ag-”

“I don’t care if you know how to conjure up meat pies,” Stelios cuts her off with a tug of the chain. “Laws are laws. You ain’t authorized by the college, and so you’re in contempt of the law.”

“Sir,” Elric says, addressing Stelios. “You’re hurting her. There is no need for this sort of cruelty.”

Stelios rolls his eyes. “This is the least of her concerns. The punishment for her crimes is 20 years hard labor. But seeing as how she’s one of your own, I figured I’d do the courtesy of stopping here first and seeing if you would like to come to some sort of arrangement.”

>“What are you implying?”

“It would be a bad look for the Palace if word came out that one of their own was arrested for causing sickness to spread in the city,” Stelios says. “Keeping the peace is the number one priority of the Yasha, after all. Perhaps if you were to part with recompense for the families affected by her poor sorcery, we might be inclined to let her off with a warning and keep all of this under wraps?”

>“...You’re asking for a bribe?”

“I said recompense.” Stelios smiles. “To the tune of 10,000 gold will suffice.”

>“I see. And what if I were to force you to release her by throwing your ass out of here?”

“Well, I suppose then I’d be forced to let her go…” Stelios frowns. “But rules are rules. And there’s nothing we Yasha abhor more than their breaking…”

>“Elric, do you have any suggestions?” You humor the boy.

“This man is a scoundrel,” Elric offers. “Furthermore, I do not like the way he talks to you. Should this come to violence, I ask that you give me leave to kill him myself.”

Stelios scoffs as he regards Elric, but when he takes a closer look at the boy, he holds his tongue. Elric may have no longer been possessed by Mystletainn, but much of the spirit’s traits remained inside him. As did its extensive skill in swordsmanship. And Stelios had witnessed the grim work of that blade firsthand.

>A): Loreza broke the law. There is no denying that. She must face judgment.
>B): Pay 10,000g to free Loreza and keep this from spreading. (Current: 103,800g)
>C): Force Stelios to let her go.

>>6399929
>C): Force Stelios to let her go.
bitch. how much bank did you make from gambling at the tower? you should paying ME

>>6399929
I feel like this is a test... Broadly, the Yasha haven't struck me as being willing to accept bribery. Further, while she fucked up, she was trying to do a good thing...

>C): Force Stelios to let her go.
Better to pardon her, one way or the other, than to show we're corruptible or inflexible.

>>6399929
>>C): Force Stelios to let her go.
>Pay out to the civilians anyways, for good PR. But less, though. 2000?
Are we allowed to change the law immediately and declare "In this state of emergency, we are now issuing temporary food creation certifications if you pass a test". Test being "is your food edible? yes? good keep making it".

>>6399935
Agreeing with this instead of my >>6399934 if that's an option.

>>6399934
Whether or not the general Yasha are corrupt is one thing but even the Tournament was rigged, at least the Tower and likely written part. That mean bitch getting all the magic healing because she was one of the Sage's favorites. The whole test was overseen by the Yasha. The Sages already knew what the tests would be. If this guy isn't corrupt and a huge gambler I would be surprised.

>>6399935
Support. Change the law, when we talked with our Yasha buddy he admitted that was an acceptable means within our power. Or maybe invent a Pardon lol.

>>6399929
>>6399935
Yeah supporting this, pass an emergency decree or some shit and pay the citizens anyway.

>>6399935
A healthy compromise. No one gets overtly pissed with you except for a few hardline Yasha who believe this sets a precedent for you changing laws to suit your interest. Stelios lets Loreza go without a fuss.

-2000 gold.

>>6399935
I like this one

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>>6399929
>Month 6

Under the direction of Chelsey, your Minister of Internal Affairs, an illegal underground auction was raided by the Morfisian Royal Guard. Several wealthy patrons of the city had gathered one night with pockets full of gold to bid on an item of legendary renown. It was none other than Thyrsus, the Hero’s Relic of House Gloucester, that had gone missing following your battle with Leonora. Having successfully learned of the auction via her network of spies and confidants, Chelsey was able to locate the relic before it fell into the wrong hands. Those without a Crest who touch a Hero’s Relic risk becoming Demonic Beasts. This was a fact that was virtually unknown to many. Had the legendary staff not been found sooner, the risks of Terrors spawning in Morfis might have become reality.

Chelsey stands before you in the throne room. A box was sitting on the ground between the two of you. She undoes several locks with quick precision, and opens it to reveal the object in question. Thyrsus was laying inside, its red orb glowing ominously.

>“Wow, I can’t believe you found it! I’d almost forgotten about that thing…”

“It wasn’t easy,” Chelsey says. “You’d launched it quite the distance when you flew into that cyclone. Some very unsavory characters found it and were planning on selling it for a king’s ransom in gold, not knowing about the curse behind it. We certainly lucked out. The last thing we needed was to deal with Terrors in the city. I’m sure that too would have been blamed on you,” Chelsey strokes her chin, a new thought coming to her. “Though…I suppose in this case, they wouldn’t have been entirely wrong…”

>“What?” You seethe. “That wasn’t my fault! Those mages at the arena just did a shitty job erecting a barrier! In any case, I wonder what we should do with this thing? I can technically use it, but without the Crest of Gloucester, it wouldn’t really be of much benefit. I would only receive the paltriest increase of magic.”

“Luckily for you, we have a few options before us,” Chelsey says, before shutting the box closed once more with a kick. “Cyril has learned that we’ve acquired the Relic, and he’s offered us a generous sum of gold for it. He says the Knights will pay 20,000 for the safe return of Thyrsus to their hands.”

>You whistle jovially. “Now that’s a good pay day. What are the other options?”

“Have you heard about Leonora Gloucester recently?” Chelsey asks.

>“Hell no. Why would I?”

“Unlike many of the other competitors who have gone home, she’s still in Morfis. If she were to return to Fodlan without Thyrsus in hand, it would be the ultimate disgrace. I even heard a rumor that she might risk disinheritance were she to do so. She’s a panicked mess, apparently nothing like the woman brimming with confidence she was before. She’d been performing her own search, but to no luck.”

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>>6400370
>Chelsey (Minister of Internal Affairs)
>Level 35 Dancer
HP: 40/40
MAG: 25
SPD: 35
DEF: 5
RES: 28
>Weapon: Shining Bow (+10 ATK, Targets RES)
>Skills: Refresh (Grants an ally an additional action. Increases all stats +2 for 1 turn. Can be used anywhere in combat order.)

>“Hah! Now that’s a sight I would pay to see. The famous Leonora Gloucester, reduced to a snivelling wreck!”

“She hasn’t taken defeat well, no,” Chelsey says, resting atop the box as if it were a seat. “Furthermore, she seems to be terrified of you now, and won’t even step near the Royal Palace to ask for support. But the fact that we now possess Thyrsus would be of great importance to her.”

>“Are you suggesting I give her the Relic back?” You snort. “What good would that do us?”

“I am. But not for free of course,” Chelsey smirks. “If the Knights of Seiros get Thyrsus, they intend to return it to Leonora anyway. The reason they are willing to pay is because it would indebt Leonora to them. Apparently, she is a fearsome political opponent back home, who often opposes them and the Queen at every turn. She would hardly be able to continue serving as a nuisance moving forward were she to owe them such a great debt. What if we were to make her indebted to us instead though? We can bribe her. Promise that you will return Thyrsus to her. In exchange, her and her retinue shall fight for us in the battle to come.”

>“Leonora…fighting alongside us?” The idea seemed almost too ridiculous to consider.

“Oh, she’ll hate it,” Chelsey says. “But she’ll have no choice. She needs Thyrsus back. More than anything. If it means having to swallow her pride and fight alongside the man who defeated her, she’ll choke the life out of the Sages herself. I know you dislike her, but you know better than anyone that she is likely the most powerful sorceress out of Fodlan. Having someone like that on our side, especially when we stand to face no shortage of adept mages, would be a boon.”

Chelsey was right. Like it or not, Leonora was a fearsome opponent, and one whom you’d defeated by the skin of your teeth. Having her on your side would certainly help level the playing field against four mages who were reputed to be at her level. But could you really trust that wench?

>A): Give Thyrsus to the Knights of Seiros (+20,000g) (Current Gold: 101,800g)
>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.

>>6400376
>>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
ooooh, the humiliation... see, mercy pays off

>>6400376

>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
Smug woman humbled? Well since you put it that way.

Maybe Cuthbert likes evil women if she needs a minder? He served the Empire didnt he lol.

>>6400376
>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
We must show up unannounced, all smiles at whatever place she's staying at to deliver the staff and the ultimatum. We need to rub this in while we have the chance.

>>6400376
>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
>>6400381
I also support this, let's really get our jollies over this.

>>6400376
>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
Forget the 20000 gold, the look on her face will be priceless.

>>6400381
Support for both showing up unannounced and for >B)

Gotta say, Adeline wanting to just execute the kid on the spot was pretty based.

>>6400376
>>6400381
Supporting.
Hope we do get to see Tristain rub it in her face. On a semi-related note, I'm surprised Tristain did willingly return the Inexhaustible unless it being missing in the OP was a mistake.

>>6400376
>B): Promise Thyrsus to Leonora in exchange for joining forces. Leonora will be recruited.
We need to return the Brigid Bow as well

>>6401023
Anon... she went back to Brigid

>>6398664
If my hot evil scientist woman wants 15k gold, she gets 15k gold - Tristain probably
>>6399279
>“It’s our taxes!” May cries, falling to her knees in absolute anguish
Kek, May has become the real government worker.
>>6399442
Finally, the answer to her skeletal appearance in the dancer outfit drawing. She shall grow healthy.
>>6399607
>RES: 0
Adeline, please. Buy an enchanted brooch or something. I love you, but this is not the right RES amount in the mage country.
>>6400376
>A): Give Thyrsus to the Knights of Seiros (+20,000g) (Current Gold: 101,800g)
Cash money, knights rep+. Don't particularly want to see Leonora again

Dude, 6 months. Tristain has been sitting on a powder keg for half a year, and the autismo princess is probably still not putting out. Brutal. At least taxation went alright.

>>6401094
Whoops

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>>6400376
Six months had passed since you’d assumed your leadership role in Morfis. Despite the country’s current volatility, as well as the numerous tragedies that were unfairly being pointed in your direction, you’d maintained a firm hold as Regent. It was clear to all that the Sages and yourself were in deadlock, and soon someone would have to give. Having overseen all your royal responsibilities and conferred with all of your ministers, one last task was in front of you. And it was perhaps the most important of all; seeing to your fiance, Princess Yulia Xan Phanes.

Walking into your bride-to-be’s room was no small feat. It required a massive undertaking of undoing magical locks and seals that had been put there by mages far more advanced than yourself to keep her in place. When you arrive, you find her laying on her couch, reading from one of the numerous books she possessed. You were used to seeing her in this state, and knew it was foolhardy to talk to her until she was finished. You help yourself to some tea while you wait. Eventually, Yulia scoffs, and drops the book to the ground.

>“What’s the matter? Was it not to your liking?” You pick the book up with your free hand, examining the title. It was fiction. ‘The Brutal King’ was etched on the cover.

“No,” Yulia pouts. “The main character was not to my liking. I believed he would end up marrying the slave woman that he’d spent his whole life with, learning to cherish and treasure her. And that she would help smooth out the harder edges of his personality. They marry, but he also keeps a harem of beautiful women at his side as well. I cannot stand such a scoundrel! True love is a monogamous affair. It is a selfish and greedy sort who keeps multiple lovers. Would you not agree?”

>“Yeah. For sure.” You had no idea what she was talking about.

“Forgive me,” Yulia says, getting up from her couch and heading towards her dresser. The Princess was far from in a decent state, though you didn’t mind. She was pleasing to the eye, and she was already beginning to warm up to you, even if she was not exactly the affectionate sort. “I take it you did not come all this way to hear me ramble about a book. Bronte has kept me informed about the recent ongoing events in the country. Given the circumstances, I must say that I am quite impressed with your work.”

>“You are?”

She nods as she equips her robes. They were soft and pink, with a pattern of bunny rabbits on them. They didn’t seem particularly royal, but perhaps Yulia was still unused to having guests.

“Despite the enormous burden, you’ve spared no expense in restoring the Food Production Hub,” Yulia says. “You’ve whipped the Royal Guard into shape, brokered trade deals, and shown mercy to your enemies as well as the unfortunate.” Yulia smiles wonderfully. “You’ve beyond exceeded my expectations, sir.”

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>>6401309
>“Hah! It was a piece of cake!” In actuality, it really wasn’t. And Yulia’s opinion was certainly not shared by at least half of the country. But it felt nice to be praised at the job you were doing for a change.

“I’ve never ruled myself,” Yulia says. “I’ve never had the opportunity. But I do know that you cannot please everyone. A decision that favors one will undoubtedly disfavor another. Even the most well-meaning of intentions may be taken the wrong way. I know that you are trying your best for my sake, and know that I appreciate your efforts more than words can convey. I have a gift for you.”

Yulia steps away for a moment to retrieve something from a locked chest. When she returns, a leather-bound tome is in her hands.

>“Another book, huh? You shouldn’t have…” You hadn’t read the last four she’d given you.

“These are a copy of the personal writings of Xenophanes,” Yulia says. “His thoughts and musings, dating back to when he first escaped the Great Flood of Fodlan and first arrived in Fodlan. It is not just a book. It is perhaps the oldest book in the known world. Its contents kept secret to all but the Royal Family and the Sages,” She hands it over to you with great care. “I would like to lend it to you. As the original was written in Agarthan, I took the liberty of translating this copy myself for your benefit. Agarthan blood runs deep in my veins, and the language comes with ease to me,” She sighs deeply. “Though I wish I had another I could speak it with.”

You are briefly reminded of ‘Gyles,’ though you knew now that was not his real name. Was that thousand-year old Agarthan still dwelling within the Tower of Illusions, perusing through Xenophanes’ records? If he was, it mattered not. You didn’t even know how to get back to that secret floor. You accept Yulia’s gift.

>“Thank you, I’ll be sure to read through these.”

>You receive Xenophanes’ Journal!

“I hope that they shall provide you with guidance as you continue your efforts.”

Yulia takes a seat next to you, helping herself to some tea. The two of you sit there in some awkward silence, not really doing much talking. Just as you begin to doze off, Yulia’s pinky finger brushes against your own. You don’t think much of it, assuming it was an accident. But then it happens a second time, followed by a third. You turn to look at Yulia but her face gives nothing away. Was this a clumsy attempt at flirting? For someone who had probably read more romance novels than anyone in Fodlan or Morfis, she was certainly bad at it. The two of you had hardly shown each other affection before, so this was new territory. You were still unsure how you felt about her, but you knew you should move carefully.

>A): Hold her hand.
>B): Yawn and excuse yourself out of her room.
>C): Write-in

>>6401311
>>A): Hold her hand.
eeeeh, i'm not really sold on this whole thing. i'll vote this out of pity

>>6401311
>>A): Hold her hand.

>>6401311
>A): Hold her hand.

>>6401311
>A): Hold her hand.

>>6401311
>A): Hold her hand.
Well if multiple lovers is a no-go might as well go with the one who lets us keep our crown...?

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>>6401311
>B): Yawn and excuse yourself out of her room.
I refuse!!!! Give me hot necromancer witch or give me death (and revival to be a puppet for her to command!!!!)

>>6401311
>B): Yawn and excuse yourself out of her room.
Nadiabros, Maybros, everything else-bros, we must hold the line

>>6401311
>>B): Yawn and excuse yourself out of her room.
It's like kicking a puppy, but idk man.
Save me, Nadia.
>>6401570
Agreed. Also, peak art.

>A): Hold her hand.

>>6401570
That's amazing...

What the fuck is it about this quest that makes us spend money to produce these works of art? Like I'll be honest I don't read much quests these days but do other quests art this frequently? And of this high quality as well?

>>6401640
Three houses already had art for everything, because of the game, but this one is heavy OC and since the new cast is so good, people want to give them the same level of artwork. I think. I'm sleep deprived as hell don't quote me on anything, except Nadia simping.

>>6401311
>B): Yawn and excuse yourself out of her room.
I would prefer to the May Romance route.

>>6401570
Also hot damn. Very solid.

>>6401570
Amazing! Nadia looks beautiful here. Without context one might think she was the main antagonist lol. She's certainly packing the vibe. Thanks so much!

Looks like A wins. Writing.

>>6401311
>A): Hold her hand.

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>>6401311
You take the initiative, seizing Yulia’s hand. The princess lets out a squeal. She does not say anything, but the redness of her face and her aversion to meeting your gaze tells you all you need to know. You didn’t mind Yulia. In fact, you found her to be charming in her own way. But it was clear that she was vastly inexperienced at most matters of life. And although it was no fault of her own, you wondered at just how compatible the two of you might really be. You hadn’t known her for very long, but you felt you owed it to her and Bronte to give things an earnest chance before passing judgment.

>You gain a B-Support with Yulia Xan Phanes!

Taking your leave of Yulia’s room, you return to your chambers for the night. Having a bit of time to yourself, you decide to browse through the first few pages of the book that she had given you. The personal writings of Xenophanes were apparently kept so secret, that the only ones who’d read them were the Royal Family and the Royal Sages, all of whom could trace lineage back to the ancient Agarthans. Figuring the book must hold some sort of secret about Morfis and what lay inside Tartarus, you find yourself going through the first few pages. True to her word, Yulia had translated these passages for you. However, if you expected that to make things easier for you to understand, you were sorely mistaken.

>Passage 1

>Our long war has finally concluded. We have lost. The Alien God has made good on her plan to “cleanse” the world in a great flood. In a bid of desperation, Sage Thales has decreed that a handful of our best and brightest flee into the newly constructed underground city, Shambhala. He has convinced the other Sages that this is the only way to ensure the survival of our people. To hide in the earth like vermin, biding our time until we can strike back against the Fell Star. They’ve fallen for his ploy one and all. It has not been a month since we left, but I can only assume the degradation of their forms has begun, and that madness has already begun to creep into their minds. Soon, they will be Agarthan but in name only.

>But if ‘survival’ means having our very bodies and essence twisted by the Fell Star’s curse, becoming a mockery of the beauty we once possessed, then I refuse. With my credentials, as well as the frenzied panic that is naturally caused by the ‘end of the world,’ it was a simple matter to ‘commandeer’ a Titan class airship. Over a dozen Helios-level ICBMs are aboard. Enough to level an entire continent several times over. What would I need them for? I do not know. But I will not take any chances. Together with my four Talon, my new family, we set sail for a new world. One far away from the tyranny of SOTHIS. One where we may rule as gods.

>I keep these notes as a record of the ‘Last True Sage of Agartha.’ Perhaps these will one day humor me in the lonely millennia to come.

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>>6401917
Fell Star? Sothis? The hell is this guy talking about? Most of these words meant nothing to you. You began to wish that Yulia had left some sort of reference guide for you. Using context clues, this “Titan” must have been the airship that the legends say Xenophanes had sailed to Morfis on. And these Helios things must have been the weapons that Bronte had warned you about. The ones that were supposedly missing. Were those what were in Tartarus? If they really did have the power to destroy continents like Xenophanes claimed, then no shit you couldn’t let insane bastards like Lycus get their hands on them. Not even Fodlan in all its might would be able to stand against something like that.

>Passage 2

>The Morfisian Desert. A barren wasteland bereft of any resources. Perhaps life bloomed here once, long ago, but that changed upon the creation of the magitek missile. Needing a testing ground far away from Agartha, a far off island was chosen. The Sages battered Morfis with their newfound weapons. The results proved successful. Agartha grew stronger with the knowledge that they gained, and they had a new tool to use against the Fell Star. As for the locals, they were hardly spared a thought. They were primitive people, even back then. A justifiable sacrifice in our neverending pursuit of power and knowledge, and our desperation to overthrow SOTHIS.

>But to think that some of those people managed to survive…it beggars my belief. How did this fly under our radar? I am at such a loss for words that I can only turn to these pages. The Morfisian survivors have become more primitive than I ever thought possible. Every day is a fight for survival. They have degraded into a tribal people, battling for the few scraps of this land that are left. Even more curious, what I can only describe as “magical anomalies” now seem to rule over the few people left, being worshipped by the Morfisians as gods.

>I need a few days to contemplate this…but perhaps this is what we have been seeking. A new place to call home. To rule over. Morfis might be a wasteland now, but there is still some promise within these lands. With my abilities, creating something new here is well within my grasp. I can make whatever I like. A brand new start.

>It may take a millennia, but such is the gift of Agarthan vitality. I have all the time in the world to play with my newfound sandbox.

>Sandbox…? The irony is not lost on me.

Morfis was once a testing ground for Agarthan weapons? By the Goddess, these people were monsters! It was no wonder the Goddess chose to wipe them out. This wasn’t exactly the type of light reading before bedtime you thought it’d be…

>A): Continue reading.
>B): That was enough for now. Anymore and you risked ruining your sleep. Go to bed.

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>>6401919
>A): Continue reading.
Time to double Tristain's IQ (from 1 to 2).

>>6401919
>A): Continue reading.
Can't wait to see the rage when out face goddess crashes his ship.

>Tristain has the brainpower for context clues
You learn something new everyday kek

>>6401919
>A): Continue reading.

>>6401919
>A): Continue reading.
Can't just leave it there

>>6401919
>>A): Continue reading.

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>>6401919
>Passage 3

>We have made first contact with the inhabitants of Morfis. Making an impression upon them was not difficult. In absence of any real civilization, strength is what is valued most in these harsh lands. These ‘spirits’ that they worship and follow fill the role of gods for them. I do not know what they truly are in reality, but I know for certain they are nothing like our own gods, or even the Fell Star. I suspect these spirits were called into being by the prayers these people once had for their own lost progenitor god, and that those prayers were twisted by the energy of the magitek missiles that ravaged this land. In any case, subduing them was a simple matter. For now, I have chosen to seal away the spirits we encounter. When time permits, I wish to study them. But for now, I need them out of the way so that we can begin the process of nation building.

>The Morfisians believe we are killing their gods. In truth, the reality matters not. So long as these spirits are out of sight, they are also out of mind. The worship of them ceases, they are forgotten and they effectively die off. This is convenient enough, especially as the inhabitants now flock towards us instead. And why wouldn’t they? Water, food, shelter…all things that this land lacks, we are able to conjure with ease. The sorcery required for this task is great, but that is where these spirits truly excel. We can siphon from them as if they were batteries, fueling out magic. I would almost feel sorry for this, if nearly all of them had not proven to be malevolent in nature. Sacrificial rituals, wanton bloodlust, and a ravenous lust for power are traits they all share.

>Not all of these people are grateful for our intervention though. It seems some of them preferred the worship of these ‘pseudo gods.’ Agrippa believes we should kill these ones off. I don’t believe we need to do so just yet. After all, these are now our people. Though they may lack the sophistication and advancement we Agarthans have come to know, with our guidance, there may be hope for them yet. I pray they shall fall in line.

>This is my first passage in over a year. Our work is great, and I find I have less time for journaling than I previously thought. I hear of a warlord in the east who commands a great host. They call him a bodysnatcher. Interesting. I look forward to meeting him.

A bodysnatcher? That must have been Mystletainn. You knew how that story ended. You were the one that was left to finish Xenophanes’ work, killing the spirit once and for all. As for these other spirits, this at least explained why you kept running into them all over the place. Just how many did Xenophanes seal away?

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>>6402241
>Passage 4:

>It’s been ten years, and I’d almost forgotten I’d started this journal. Diotima was the one who’d found it in storage and returned it to me. Almost all opposition in this land has folded. With the exception of those stubborn fools that refuse to forget the old gods, all of Morfis bows down to us. They look upon me as a deity. Agrippa, Diotima, Favorinus and Hagnon are my disciples. I suppose this outcome was always to be expected. Our sorcery is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. And unlike our former brethren, we still held our bright, shining forms, imbued with magic that would ensure flawless skin and never-aging features.

>I find myself thinking of my old friends lately. What was Solon doing? Did Anacharsis still keep worship? I thought of a joke the other day that Myson would have enjoyed. I shared it with the others, but none of them understood the reference. In truth, I don’t think Myson would have understood anymore either. Him and the others would have now spent over 10 years in the underground, away from the light, remaining dormant lest they risk eradication by Fell Star and her spawn. Their bodies would have twisted into something profane. Their minds clouded by nothing other than revenge.

>I wonder what they would say if they saw me now? Uncorrupted. Unbothered by the thought of striking back against SOTHIS, instead focusing on what they would call a ‘vanity project.’ In truth, I do not doubt my old friends would seek to destroy me for abandoning them. Should they ever find out I faked my death, they would no doubt wreak vengeance against me. In doing so, they would destroy Morfis too. In their current state, the only way they could find me would be a powerful signal, such as the detonation of a Helios-class ICBM.

>As such, it is fortunate for me that I can no longer sense any trace of SOTHIS. Perhaps flooding the world proved to be too much for her, and she has faded away? That would be a blessing. The Nabateans too would certainly destroy me and my creations should they find out I survived. They are not the type to forget our war so easily.

>It is for this that I have decided I will instruct the Morfisians in the way of magic. It is the greatest gift I can give them. Not just so that they may defend themselves against any outsiders, but so that they may grow as a people. I admit, for the first time in centuries, I am looking forward to something.

The next page contained a spell sigil. Was this one of the sorcerous arts Xenophanes taught the first mages? You have a hard time deciphering it, but you pick it apart piece by piece, until you THINK you’ve learned it. Perhaps.

>Choose a spell to learn:

>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)
>B): Rexbolt (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Armor units. 3 uses)
>C): Rexwind (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Flying units. 3 uses)

>>6402242
>>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)
we are a firey guy after all. and we already have effectiveness against the other two types of units

>>6402242
>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)
Only anti-cavalry unit on our team is Cuthbert, plus Tristain has multiple counters for armor and flying already.

Agree with other anon in that it nicely ties into Tristain going all fire spells like grandpa (with the one wind spell Alvin forced on him kek)

>>6402242
>>>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)

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Hello! This is a heads up that I will be out of town for 2 days, so updates should resume on Saturday when I'm back. In lieu of an update, I wrote something in between the last thread and this one that I never posted. It's probably not canon, but I figured I might as well share it.

I also wrote a stupid "April Fool's Joke" at the tailend of last thread that maybe you saw or didn't.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2026/6350752/#p6392128

>>6402419
“Uhh…Tristain? What are you doing?”

A confused Cuthbert and Adeline stumble upon you lording over a frantic Elric. The boy was sitting at a desk, writing across several sheets of papers as he tried to keep up with your dictation. Already, a growing stack had been piled up the side. The veteran knight, unable to help himself, walked over to examine just what his charge was so slavishly working on.

“The hell is this?” Cuthbert mutters under his breath.

>“My memoirs.”

“Memoirs?” Adeline's curiosity gets the better of her, and she too follows Cuthbert’s lead, taking her own sheet of paper to read through. “Aren’t these usually written once you’re…dead?”

>“Yeah, usually. But that’s not gonna be for another like…90 years. And seeing as how I’ve already achieved enough amazing feats to fill up a thousand pages, I figured we’d better get started on writing these now. Otherwise, the work will just keep piling up. Seeing as how Elric here is now my trusted page, I’ve charged him with the project.”

“I see…” Adeline says. She was unsure of your claim, but did not have it in her to argue. “Well, I suppose it's better to write these now while the memory is still fresh, rather than to put it off until later and let the details become murky.”

“I’m just glad to be helping!” Elric adds cheerfully.

“The female assassin smashed the legendary Djinn Orb into pieces, freeing the desert spirit and turning its 1000-year wrath upon Tristain and his companions,” Cuthbert dictates, reading from one of Elric’s pages. “However, the spirit was no match for Tristain’s might. The spirit bargained and pleaded for his life, but Tristain would not be fooled by such desperate tricks. The demon was cut in two with a swing of the future king’s axe.”

“Inspiring, no?” Elric asks, looking up with starry eyes.

“Bullshit is what it is,” Cuthbert sneers, turning on you. “That’s not how it happened at all. You were the one that broke the Djinn Orb when you threw your axe. And I specifically remember that when it had offered you power and treasure, you went along with it!”

>“Get your memory checked, old man,” You scoff. “You’re going senile.”

“It even kidnapped May after you refused to kill it!”

Elric looks up, confusion etched upon his face. During the battle, he’d been charged with guarding Magic Seal 99, so he only knew the ‘facts’ that you had told him.

>“Hey, back to work!” You snap at Elric, before turning on Cuthbert. “Quit confusing him. He’s got a lot more pages to get through and you aren’t helping.”

“…Didn’t Nadia kill the Djinn?” Adeline’s brow furrows.

>>6402421
>“You too?! Look, no one cares about petty details. Writing is all about how people feel when they read your work. What do you think would be more inspiring to future generations reading about Morfis’ greatest king? That he slew an ancient desert spirit of yore? Or that he used a 500 gold Light Rune to win?”

“That’s right boss!” May exclaims. The thief stumbles into the room, holding a stack of blank papers high enough that she was unable to see past them. “And while we’re changing things, I had a few ideas of my own. Maybe we could leave out that part about Klement holding me hostage?”

>“Absolutely not. Freeing you from his clutches is the exact type of heroic deed the people should know.”

“But boss, think about my character,” May whines. “How am I supposed to be a fan favorite if I get taken so easily? Not to mention that ridiculous costume…”

>“Fan favorite? No one is reading the ‘Chronicles of Tristain’ for May!”

“While we’re on the subject…” Adeline mutters turning red. She begins reading aloud from the page in her hand. “The green knight clanked slowly across the battered ship. It was evident she was out of her element out at sea. The look she shot Tristain’s way was not just one of desperate longing. She made it perfectly clear that she would need the help of Fodlan’s favored son to avoid sinking to the bottom of the ocean.”

>“What? Isn’t that how it happened?”

“...N-no.”

“Elric is the perfect writer for this farce,” Cuthbert grumbles, crumpling up the page in his hands. “Half this shit he wasn’t there for. The other half he was possessed.”

“A-actually, Lord Tristain,” Elric says, turning towards you. “I was hoping we could maybe keep the whole Mystletainn thing out of this? It’s a bit embarrassing. And you’ve already got plenty of other deeds we can write at length about!”

>“What the hell is with all these suggestions? This isn’t a voting procedure! It’s my story!”

“Ahh, but what if we did vote though?!” May suggests enthusiastically. “You could come up with a couple of ideas for the next part of your story, and all of us could vote on which one we liked best!”

“Story? I thought these were memoirs…” Adeline says.

“No one is voting on anything!” You declare. “That’s a ridiculous concept, even for you May.”

The thief pouts, hanging her head in shame.

As your friends pile out the room one by one, you begin thinking of how to spice these memoirs up a bit. It was imperative that you build a GOOD FANTASY STORY. The whole world would soon know of the glory of Tristain d’Rusalka, and the novelization of your deeds would be the first step in spreading your legend. Now then, what should you add next?

>A): More scantily clad women
>B): A really scary dragon that you beat up
>C): A talking animal companion
>D): Cryptic phrases that will invite conspiracy theories
>E): Write-in

>>6402422
>B): A really scary dragon that you beat up
And then Tristain adopts the dragons child showing both his might yet kindness, the historians will eat this shit up

>>6402242
>C): Rexwind (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Flying units. 3 uses)
Our own ultimate wind spell, like auntie...

>>6402422
>A): More scantily clad women
Evidently.

>>6402422

>E): Write-in
A GIANT PILE OF TREASURE. Gambling, spoils of war, a Never Ending Light Rune, magic axes, metal wands that shoot beams of light, a flying chariot, and also the Sorcerer King's long lost ship. It was huge and Tristain could swim in it.

>>6402242
>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)
>>6402422
>D): Cryptic phrases that will invite conspiracy theories

>>6402242
>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)

>>6402422
>D): Cryptic phrases that will invite conspiracy theories
Let's make auntie proud

>>6402422
>>A): More scantily clad women

>>6402422
Tristain really just read a bunch of bullshit personal accounts and then immediately decided to make his own one.
>“While we’re on the subject…” Adeline mutters turning red.
Adeline blushing is a treasure every time. Curse you tree for rolling out so many prefect waifus, but also incredible job.
>>D): Cryptic phrases that will invite conspiracy theories
We gotta keep the next generations guessing.

>>6401919
kek, the sun's face gets me every time.

>>6402242
>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)

>>6402422
>D): Cryptic phrases that will invite conspiracy theories

>>6402242
>A): Rexflame (+10 ATK, AoE, eff against Cavalry units. 3 uses.)

>>6402422
>A): More scantily clad women

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>>6402242
>“What is this?” You ask, taken aback by the revelation you’d just read. You were in the throne room of the Royal Palace, surrounded by each of your friends and newfound ministers. A newspaper was clutched in your hand tightly. By now, this would have circulated across the entire city, its contents spreading like wildfire. Up until now, the Four Royal Sages had, at least publicly, made a show of working together with you and standing out of your way. But that appears to have finally ended. They have made a public denouncement of you and Bronte, having accused the two of you of manipulating and holding Princess Yulia hostage.

“The Sages are demanding that you hand over Princess Yulia,” Bronte says darkly. “They claim they wish to verify for themselves that she is not in distress. Of course, if you were to do that, they would discover she cannot use magic, and they would have all the reason they need to depose her. It seems that regardless of our decision here, both roads will lead to a serious confrontation.”

>“Why are they just doing this now though?”

“They appear to have grown tired of waiting for you to make a misstep and be run out of the country,” Bronte says. “Morfis is in turmoil, but you’ve held a tight enough grip to your rule. Worse for them, you’re even fixing some of the newfound issues that have arisen. Now is the time to strike, while you’re still a divisive figure. This article will rile up those in the country that have already chosen to dislike you for one reason or another. And it gives the impression that the Sages are doing what is best for the nation. Though in reality, they’re just looking to use their newfound key to open Tartarus.”

“There must be more to it than that,” Cuthbert says. “Hamilcar’s army outnumbers the Royal Guard 4 to 1. If they wanted to, they could have confidently overrun the palace at any time prior to Tristain’s ascension. The Royal Guard has only gotten more powerful since we’ve arrived, so why wait until now?”

“Attacking the Palace would be a death sentence,” Bronte says. “The magical defenses that are in place would shred a normal standing army. They know that.”

“But they’re choosing to make their move now,” Nadia interjects. “This cannot just be simple desperation. They must have something up their sleeves that makes them confident an attack would work. Perhaps something that they were able to conjure up within these last six months.”

>“Could it be related to your Quintessence research?”

“It’s possible,” Nadia says. “But who knows for sure? Either way, they are no fools. I doubt they intend to march lockstep into their doom. A siege against the Royal Palace is a grave matter. It would not surprise me if this has been in the planning stages for over a decade.”

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>>6403902
“The newspaper says that we have a week to comply and hand over Princess Yulia,” Adeline offers. “Obviously that is out of the question. But after that…it’s left up in the air as to what will happen…”

>“A week? How nice of them,” You scoff. “That gives us some time to prepare at least. What steps do we need to take?”

“The Royal Guard is in position around the palace and the surrounding district,” Cuthbert reports. “Hamilcar’s forces will soon move in. I’ve received word that Shangri-La has already fallen to their control and that they are using it as a rallying ground. As I said, we’ll be outnumbered, so we’ll need to prepare our defenses accordingly. Sniper nests, siege weapons, barricades, we’ll need it all.”

“The treasury has over 100,000 gold ready to move!” May declares. “Anything we need, we can buy. Equipment, weapons, mercenaries, you name it!”

“We’ll need to talk to Cyril of course,” Cassius says. “The Knights of Seiros will be of tremendous help here, and he will have ideas of his own.”

“What about the friends we made along the way?” Elric pipes up. “Governor Tobias seemed like an honorable man, and he was grateful for our assistance in dealing with the Cult. Perhaps we can ask the Scorchers for assistance? Or even Ithaca? What if we were to get 99’s help?”

“Ithaca is under Sage control,” Cuthbert shakes his head. “Likely won’t find any help there. But the Scorchers of Hima would certainly be invaluable.”

“I’ll begin finalizing my own little surprise,” Nadia smirks. “Rest assured that our project will be ready to move out in time for the battle.”

“I’ll keep an ear to the ground,” Chelsey says. “Any intel we can find out about the Sages and their plan will be worth it.”

“The castle’s defenses need to be prepped,” Bronte offers. “It has been centuries since they’ve been activated, but they will be as effective as the day they were put in place.”

There was no shortage of work to be done. All signs pointed to a siege of the Royal Palace and its district. You’d learned about these affairs at the Officer’s Academy. They were grim, violent battles. This would likely be no different. There would be no walking into this and simply hoping things worked out. If you and your friends wished to survive the upcoming battle, this preparation stage would be crucial, and you would need to oversee each aspect yourself. Time was ticking.

>Choose One

>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.
>B): Inspect the army that Cuthbert has prepared.
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros
>D): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.

>>6403903
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros
Cassius is right, might as well get Cyril's wisdom now rather than when the timer has nearly run out.

Our of the remaining things order should go
>palace defenses
>army
>mercs

>>6403903
>>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.

I'm a bit more interested in whatever wacky shit this place has got, but Cyril and the Knights are also very tempting. Especially if Arios is still around for his treatments or w.e.

Heres my thinking. No matter what they need a decapitation strike on the Palace, and if Yulia is captured, dies, or is exposed as having no magic thats pretty much game over for ever ruling this country without constant uprisings. If we don't have to devote extra forces to hold it thats our flexibility to stage strikes against the enemy and then fall back to our stronghold until we can retake Shagri-La.

(I wonder if we had gone with the fortress option if it still would have gotten taken over lol)

If the Palace defenses work, and if they can even cover the entire royal district, then once the siege starts that news will spread and will be the rallying cry to those we've helped. Hold on long enough for them to show up and we've won.

>>6403903
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros
He's a veteran, and even if he can't help very much in terms of material resources or manpower, he can tell us exactly how to best win our siege.
I'm guessing our friends of the Cult might also help us? We haven't heard from them in a while... All the desert areas are probably going to be great for guerilla warfare with them.

>>6403903
>>D): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.
Palace defences can be overseen by Bronte.
Army can be overseen by Cuthbert
Knights of Seiros and Mercs need to be secured by Tristain.
Let's go check if there are any wanna-be protagonists among the mercenaries.

>>6403903
>>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros
boy oh boy, we are in the thick of it now. i wonder if Arios is still around...

>>6403903
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros

>>6403903
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros

>>6403903
>C): Speak with Cyril, securing the support of the Knights of Seiros

>Worse for them, you’re even fixing some of the newfound issues that have arisen.
Interesting. Guess this is the work of us being generous with the repair fund + emergency decree easing the strain on the food production side. Wonder if we fucked up the choices we'd have a peasant revolt on our hands as well.

>I’ll begin finalizing my own little surprise,” Nadia smirks. “Rest assured that our project will be ready to move out in time for the battle.”
Is this Butch or their second child kek

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>“Cyril! My friend! How are you!?” You greet the Fodlan commander warmly as he steps into the throne room. The commander of the Knights of Seiros Expeditionary Forces had been making his base in the former Fodlan embassy. However, with the recent news, he and the rest of his men had moved into the royal district, where they were intermingling with the palace guard.

“Save the flattery, I already agreed to assist you. Much to my own displeasure,” Cyril says gruffly. “I had hoped things could still be settled diplomatically, but I suppose I was too optimistic. Here’s your damn bow back. Better you have it now than I.”

>You Received: The Inexhaustible (Bow, Equipped) (+11 DMG, +20 SPD, +10 LCK. Restores 20% HP every turn if user has Crest of Indech. Deals two consecutive hits if unit initiates combat. Cannot counter in close-range combat.)

You happily accept the bow. You’d remained true to your word and returned it to Cyril following your victory in the tournament. Present circumstances would see that you wouldn’t have to go long without it though.

>“I understand your disappointment, but know that I’m truly grateful for the assistance of you and your men. I believe with your aid, we can squash these Sages.”

“You do?” Cyril raises an eyebrow. “I have 100 soldiers and 100 mounted knights. I understand that with the Royal Guard, that brings us to about 1250 soldiers in total. Whereas this General Hamilcar has 4000 under his command. And that doesn’t include whatever additional enemies you’ve managed to cook up these last few months. Anyway I look at things, we’re hopelessly outnumbered.”

>“Quality over quantity! Surely I don’t need to tell you that. Didn’t you once hold Garreg Mach Monastery against the numerically superior Adrestian Empire?”

“Yes, once. We also lost once too. And that victory was under the command of Queen Byleth, who might as well have been the reincarnation of Saint Seiros herself for how favored she was. You don’t strike me as cut from the same cloth, Tristain.”

>“Doomsay all you like, but I wouldn’t be here if I thought victory wasn’t possible. What we lack in numbers and sorcery, we make up for with our own advantages. If there’s one thing we of Fodlan are good at, it is war. These Morfisians have never faced the might of Heroes Relics on the battlefield. And so far, I count that we have at least four on our side. That is, assuming Arios is well and able?”

You knew Arios was on the mend, and the trade ships that had arrived from Fodlan had carried the unique steel needed to mend the broken Thunderbrand.

“Arios will fight,” Cyril says tightly. “Not out of any friendship with you of course, but out of duty to his fellow knights. As for the other two, I’m assuming you mean Leonora and that Butch character? I hope for your sake, you keep a tight leash on them. I would not put it past either to turn tail and run.”

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>>6404713
>“Noted. Any other advice you can share would be greatly appreciated. Right now, you’re the most experienced man in the entire country when it comes to warfare.”

Cyril sighs, rubbing his head as if to stir up the old, buried memories of the Fodlan Unification War.

“Right. Well, starving us out is not an option for them. I’m assuming the Palace has access to the same sort of food production magic the rest of the country relies on. An interesting and welcome boon. As such, a full-frontal attack can be expected. For the Sages, their victory condition rests on killing you or capturing the Royal Palace. Either one would swiftly spell the end for our forces. As for us, all we need to do is survive until they’ve run out of either men or resources to throw at the walls. You must resist the temptation to try and decapitate the Sages. Sure, killing them will mean victory, but it will undoubtedly be the most dangerous option. If not for the reason that they are amongst the world’s most powerful sorcerers, then for the simple fact that there are four of them and one of you.”

Cyril was right. Killing just one Sage wouldn’t end things when there were still three others that would happily fight. Meanwhile, if you fell in battle, you couldn’t imagine anyone would be eager to continue holding arms. You’d have to focus entirely on defense. That is, at least until the Sages left themselves vulnerable to a strike.

“The layout of the royal district lends itself to being struck on multiple fronts,” Cyril continues. “How you position the few men that we have to deal with each individual threat will matter greatly. However, it isn’t the district we are here to defend, but the palace itself. If things seem grim, do not hesitate to have our forces fall back. So long as we hold those palace walls, they cannot harm the Princess.”

>“Understood. Anything else?”

“Yes, the Relics that we possess,” Cyril says. “As you said, they are a great boon, and perhaps the best equalizer we have. During the Unification War, they were collectively responsible for thousands of deaths on every side. But do not place too much faith in them. Our wielders are powerful, but not immortal, and they are prey to overexertion when utilizing both Crest and Relic on a large-scale battlefield. Be mindful of that.”

Cyril’s advice was good to have. In conjunction with Cuthbert, these two truly did have the greatest military knowledge in the country, and that alone was a boon that you held over the College. Armed with more knowledge on what to expect, you decide on your next task.

>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.
>B): Inspect the army that Cuthbert has prepared.
>C): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.

>>6404718
>>C): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.
Where the fuck are our cultists, c'mere Penelope we gotta bring up the Crest user count.

>>6404718
>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.
It'll be easier to spring traps this way.
>>6404720
This, we need our Serpent Cultists at the ready for healing purposes... Through strife we will be unified!

>>6404718

>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with

>>6404718
>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.

>>6404718
>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.
They are our number one weapon here.

>Thunderbrand fixed
Thank Sothis Arios won't be dead weight

Cannot wait to make Cyril eat his words after we crush this siege.

>>6404718
>C): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.
Eventually we'll have to come out of the castle to go dunk on the Sages. We need manpower for that.

>>6404718
>>C): There were several mercenary companies you could purchase assistance from.

>>6404718
>A): See to the Palace’s defenses. You needed to know what you were working with.
Bronte did say that the defenses were magical, so I wonder if the Sages can just send 99 out to disable them. Last we heard of her, she was supposed to be returned back to Lycus.

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>>6404718
“Look at them!” Bronte declares in pride. She was standing before the two giant statues that were situated in the Throne Room. You never thought much of them before, figuring them to be some sort of weird decor from Xenophanes’ time. But while Bronte was supposed to be showing you to the castle’s defenses, she chose to focus on these weird monstrosities. She slaps one of them on the leg with all the showmanship of a horse merchant. “The ingenuity of a civilization lost long ago. Tristain, we stand before Titanus MKII, Remote Variant!”

>…The uhh….the what?”

You were pretty sure these were just oversized statutes.

“A weapon from the era when Agartha ruled the world,” Bronte says. “A near-impervious golem, infused with ancient magic and technologies that give it life. Long ago, the Agarthans fielded thousands of Titanus in their battle against the Nabateans. These two are a remnant of that forgotten war that ravaged the world. One alone is worth a thousand men. And we have two!” She says giddily.

>“You’re uncharacteristically excited about this.”

“How could I not be?” Bronte turns on you. “A machine that can fight for us, minimizing the loss of life on our side? These Titanus are a blessing.” Bronte stops herself. “Well, perhaps that’s not an accurate statement, given that they once fought against the forces of the Goddess…”

>“How do they work? Furthermore, do we even know how to use them? If they’re as ancient as you say they are, I would imagine they’re a bit esoteric to use.”

“Yulia has translated for me a surviving manual,” Bronte says, retrieving a small journal from her robes. “She doesn’t just read smut, you know? Stuck in her room all her life, she’s become quite the engineer. The sigils needed to activate these weapons are already known to me alone. Once upon a time, a man would sit inside these golems and control them from within. Can you imagine?”

Controlling this…thing? Like a mount? Perhaps you should consider upgrading from Fionn. This inanimate creature would certainly give you far less guff.

“Fortunately, these variants are remote controlled. I cannot emphasize enough the power of these golems, Tristain. These two Titanus alone are much of the reason that the Sages have held off conquering the Royal Palace all these years.”

>“They’re aware of them? And they’re still choosing to attack?”

“Yes. Hubris? Desperation? Or perhaps they really do have a secret weapon up their sleeve. In any event, these Titanus will be a major boon to our forces. The enemy’s morale alone will crater once under attack from them.”

>“Excellent. Now, how do we get them out of the throne room without destroying it?”

“I’m working on that,” Bronte says, flipping through the pages of her manual. “Worst case scenario, we can always redecorate once things settle down. A fresh coat of paint around here would do wonders.”

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>>6405154
>“Impressive as these are, is there anything else to the Palace’s defenses that we should be aware of?”

Bronte leads you to a balcony, one that overlooks the entire courtyard of the Royal Palace, and that allows you to see into much of the surrounding district. She points out six specific pinnacles that were attached to the turrets and watchtowers that extended from the palace’s exterior.

“Those aren’t just for show,” She says, leaning over the railing. “The tops of them open up to reveal another Agarthan weapon known as the Viskam. The best similarity I can give to you is to think of them as ballista capable of long-range magic spells. They can automatically fire off at any enemy that comes within a certain close distance of the palace. If all six are firing, the results can and will be devastating. That being said, we can’t rely on them forever. The Sages are aware of their existence, and will likely use their own siege magic to target them first. Still, they’re durable enough, and we should be able to get several volleys off before they are destroyed.”

>“I see. What else do we have?”

“The passages on the east, west and front of the palace are imbued with what I can only describe as giant-sized Light Runes,” Bronte says. “Unlike the variant you’re used to, these runes will only block the enemy’s passage, leaving them vulnerable to attack from our mages and archers. They don’t last long, and we can only use them once on each side, but you won’t need much time to fry the enemy if they get caught up behind those barriers.”

>“Noted. Anything else?”

“Beyond the usual sniper’s nests and chokepoints that we may take advantage of, we have time to make an additional improvement to the palace’s defenses. However, a week isn't a very long time, especially given our resources and manpower. I’ve assembled a list of potential options that we can put in place. Of these, we can only feasibly enact one. I leave the decision to you.”

>Choose One:

>A): Increase the stability of the palace’s walls, preventing them from being easily levelled.
>B): A spare Viskam was found in the basement. It’s damaged, but with enough time, we can refurbish it, adding a seventh.
>C): Begin constructing additional barricades within the royal district, slowing down the enemy’s advance.
>D): Erect aid tents, allowing better quality healing for our soldiers.

>>6405156
>D): Erect aid tents, allowing better quality healing for our soldiers.

Assuming a siege, healing the injured and sick will pay off well over tome.

Not as useful of they try to attack immediately, but if they do such a thing then they walk into a fully functioning palace against multiple hero’s relics, so I think it’ll work out.

>>6405156
3 Gates; east, west, front with giant sized Light Runes
2 Giga Golems
6 Viskam towers, which I kind of imagine will shoot big ass lightning down on anything, but particularly anything flying
A bunch of typical fortress bits.

The Tristain Gang. The Elite Cav unit. The Palace Guards. Butch. Leonara. Nadia and Tristain's ""child"". The Seiros Knights Expedition. Plus whatever else we can get after this.

Outnumbered about 4-1. They know about the defenses above. So a surprise 7th Viskam does sound pretty funny, especially if they wait until the 6th Viskam is down to send in their own fliers. Flying mages? Wyverns?

They might open a hole in the walls when all the gates are choked full and slowed by the light-runes. They send cavalry to charge through the holes in the walls? But we did prepare elite cavalry and Tristain will probably be flying around, he will have Rexflame to blast them.

>>6405156
>D): Erect aid tents, allowing better quality healing for our soldiers.
We're already outnumbered, we need to keep what men we have on their feet for as long as possible. Plus let's us top up Arios/Leonora/Butch who are our real trump cards, because with 99 around I have a feeling that those mechs are going to be turned into scrap metal sooner rather than later.

Second choice for me would be barricades to make choke points for siege magic

What if we could use the damaged Viskam? Like if it had just enough life left to fire off a shot or two. Or as a bomb.

aim the Viskam so it shoots directly down one of the three gates? Lol. Use the Light Rune to catch as many of them as possible when they think the forces there are ""retreating"" deeper in, activate the Light Rune, BAM.

My thoughts on the other methods:

>barricades
Looks useful on paper, but my question is do we have enough firepower to actually put the additional chokepoints they'll create to good use? We didn't spec our troops into long range attackers, and Bronte and Leonora are the only two people with siege magic of note. The Viskams will most likely take the barricade down when they're fired so they're pretty much a last resort.

If Tristan had picked up bolting way back when then I might be pushing for this option more, but since I'm sure one of bronte/leonora will be tasked with being out anti-air mage we might not have enough firepower to actually get the most out of these.

>Viskam
Will be good for a surprise attack, especially if the sages are only planning for 6, but will also probably be taken down by whatever they're packing for the other six in short order

>Walls
Honestly the least attractive option because with how they're outnumbering us, if they've got a battering ram to the walls then we've pretty much lost. We could do a pretend surrender in other for them to swarm to a particular wall and then activate a light rune in order to pin and nuke them, in which case the reinforcement might be useful to attract more people to help break it down, but that's a very high risk strategy that we might also be able to pull off with the walls as is.

So I'm going to vote
>D): Erect aid tents, allowing better quality healing for our soldiers.
Hit and run tactics attacks in the royal district is going to be our main way of attacking with with both the scorchers and our cavalry, and this will allow our troops to do more of them. Plus if the aid tents can act like the heal pads during the tower climb this might also get our crest users more charges to use. Even if they're not that good, they may let our crest users get back to the field quicker if one of them takes a bad hit.

Non-combat wise this also ties into the "benevolent to the little people" image Tristain is cultivating here, in contrast the Sages throwing their troops' lives away to get to the door.

>>6405156
>>6405523
Might help if I actually vote instead of word vomiting

>>6405156
>D): Erect aid tents, allowing better quality healing for our soldiers.

>>6404713
>I understand that with the Royal Guard, that brings us to about 1250 soldiers in total. Whereas this General Hamilcar has 4000 under his command.
Huh. Morphis' standing army is about 1 roman legion. Not bad for a desert country with low population, +way more soldiers are probably some sort of anime superhumans instead of just dudes. Just fire emblem things.
>>6405154
>“Yes. Hubris? Desperation? Or perhaps they really do have a secret weapon up their sleeve.
Anti-magic girl probably.
>>6405156
>>A): Increase the stability of the palace’s walls, preventing them from being easily levelled.
We need the choke points to remain choke points. Enter through the big doors only please.

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>>6405156
You instruct Bronte to begin erecting aid tents throughout the royal district; positions where your men could fall back to and receive healing. Outnumbered as you were, every available soldier was critical, and the longer you could keep them in the fight the better. Retiring for the night, you return to your room. The day’s preparations, as well as the ones still to come, weigh heavy on your mind, and you find sleep impossible. As such, you decide to once more peruse through Xenophanes’ passages, in hopes of finding something that may prove useful.

>Passage 5

>It has been 50 years since I last updated this log. Rather atypical for a journal, I suppose. Though when one has lived as long as I have, the passing of time is hardly noticed. Our ‘royal’ city is almost complete. While still a work in progress, Morfis has made extraordinary leaps and bounds from where it once was. I can say without any hubris that much of this is my own doing. The sorcery under my employ is unlike anything on either continent, and we construct what would take any other civilization dozens of years to complete. But it would be wrong to not give any credit to the Morfisians themselves. They are hardy people. Honed by the cruel desert, they are adaptable, and work tirelessly without complaint.

>One need look no further for proof of this than in how quickly they have picked up the sorcery I have taught them. I thought to show them a few scant spells at first, but both their ability and potential is ravenous. They seem to have an innate talent for magic. Most curious. Is this a result of their exposure to the sorcery released by the Helios missiles? Whatever the case, I welcome this development, as it has made our work far easier.

>I frequently keep my gaze westward, but I have yet to hear any word from Fodlan or my Agarthan brethren. It is as if the entire continent has gone dark. I pray that it remains that way. The war seems like a distant memory. Let SOTHIS and the Nabateans enjoy their newfound spoils, ruling over a tattered and broken world. I have my own pressing matters that I must attend to.

>I’ve grown tired of conjuring food for the masses, so I plan to teach the most adept of my mages this technique. Hundreds of years ago, in a world far different than this one, this was a trivial spell. Here though, it is essentially a miracle from the gods themselves. Once they learn how to conjure food, I expect their population to increase quite a bit. And when that happens, we can expand the city to even greater heights.

>When was the last time I’ve been this excited? I grow giddy at the thought of erecting a grand city in these blasted wastes. A successor to ancient Agartha. Perhaps this time, we’ll even do things right, with no obsessive, mad Sages in charge (myself excluded of course.)

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>>6405925
>Passage 6

>I’ve taken a bride. Such a thing is so utterly incomprehensible to me that for the first time in 150 years, I have picked up this old journal once more. Her name is Hestia, and she is the greatest mage the Morfisians have to offer, which is still several leagues below where I am. Fortunately, it was not her skill that attracted me, but her curiosity, wild-nature, and curves that seem as though they were crafted by the finest fleshcrafters in old Agartha. I’ve never been married. That was always a point of contention back home. Were my colleagues here now, they’d likely mock me for only being able to marry a human rather than an Agarthan. My apostles meanwhile, say nothing, for all four are guilty of the exact same thing. Though I thought to keep things separate, it seems Agarthan blood will soon intermingle with the population here.

>Hestia is with child. This also presents several unique challenges. I am functionally immortal. She will likely live only another 40 years at best. This unique union has also essentially created a ‘royal family’ descended from their own ‘god,’ and how that will play into the future of Morfis I haven’t the faintest idea. My progeny will all grow to be long-lived, great sorcerers, as will those of my apostles. The entire dynamic of this country may soon change, and I cannot tell whether it will be for better or worse.

>When one has children, it is customary to remove any dangerous objects from the home with which they may hurt themselves. For the first time, I am beginning to look at the Titan Warship and the Helios ICBMs with a sense of apprehension. They’ve both remained dormant for over a century at this point, but they still hover above the city, like a sword waiting to drop. I’ve kept them here as deterrence against any possible encroach from either my former brethren or even worse, the Nabateans. But as I have yet to hear or see any sign of them, perhaps now would be a good time to move them somewhere else. Somewhere out of reach where they won’t do immediate harm, but close enough that I may call upon them once more if needed.

The next page contains some scribbles you recognize as magic sigils. They were hard to read, not just because of their handwriting, but also their complexity. It was only due to the gift of Macuil that you could make any sense of them at all. Could these have been spells Xenophanes planned to teach his child? You squint your eyes trying to understand, until you think you’ve got it.

>Choose one to learn:
>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)
>B): Renewal (+20% HP each turn for 3 turns. Stacks with other passive healing effects. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)

>>6405926
>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)
Because renewal actively goes against the boosts we get from hit and run, and this will be very useful for Tristain to warp to places to hit problem areas with this siege.

>>6405926
>>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)

>>6405926
>>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)
Handy. I wonder if he could push it to take someone else with him. Fionn while riding him? Pull an ally out of danger, or kidnap an enemy officer from their command post. Maybe knock them out first.

>>6405926
>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)

>>6405926
>A): Rewarp (Teleport yourself across the map. Costs 2 Charges of Macuil)

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>>6405926
Representatives from various mercenary companies within Morfis have been summoned to the Royal Palace to meet with you. Of the available sellswords within the city, there were three groups that had answered the call. Some you were already familiar with. You’d had an early encounter with Murillo’s Companions upon first arriving at Solis. Known as the finest mercs in the country, they’d pledged their blades to see that the various contenders that could afford their service would arrive safely to the competition. And their success rate would be near 100%, had you not pried Elric from their clutches.

But then there were the three men before you, who you were already a tad familiar with. You recognize them as fellow competitors. These three in particular had made it to the 3rd round, only failing to reach the top of the tower in time due to the sudden betrayal of Homer. Isaac, the third son of some noble Enbarr family, Thomas vi Muller, whom you were already acquainted with, and…Simon? You weren’t sure what this man’s deal was, but he had a hard look to his eyes atypical of one with noble status.

“Good to see you again, Tristain! Or should I say, my liege?” Thomas greets you warmly. He was a nice guy, and he’d proven his trustworthiness.

>“That won’t be necessary. I’m surprised you three haven’t left for Fodlan like everyone else did.”

“We mutually agreed that there is nothing for any of us there,” Issac says, his voice cold and to the point. “None of us are the heir to any particular fortune or inheritance. Like every other contender, we came to this land to earn our own riches. We may have failed in the competition, but opportunity presents itself in another way. It seems this land will soon need swords for hire. And in that, we believe we are several notches above what passes for a warrior here.”

>“Your intuition proves correct. How many of you are there?”

“Our company is made up of former contenders, as well as the combined might of our retinues that we came with,” Thomas says proudly. “All in all, we’re 100 men strong. Not much in numbers, admittedly. But each one is worth a dozen of the enemy. Especially the three of us. If that bastard Homer hadn’t nicked our badges, we might have made it to the finals! Though after seeing the eight of you, I’m a bit glad I didn’t…”

>“Some more Fodlan steel would be a boon,” You look towards Simon, who had yet to say a word. “What’s his deal?” You ask.

“Don’t bother, this guy’s a real tightlip,” Thomas says. “Not that he’ll admit or deny it, but I’ve got it on good authority he’s some sort of assassin. If not from the shady way he acts, but certainly from the way he fights. If the enemy deploys rogues of their own, you’ll want this guy to counter them.”

>“Leave your rate with Chelsey,” You sigh.

“Hire us, Lord Tristain,” Thomas claps. “We’re worth every coin!”

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>>6406578
The next man that walks through the door is another familiar face. This one in particular startles you, as you were under the impression you’d killed him several months ago.

“Yo.” Nestor waves.

>“Are you a ghost? Didn’t I break your neck in Solis?”

“I got better,” Nestor shrugs. “Morfisian healing is second to none. And Murillo’s Companions employ only the best. Anyway, I heard you need some mercs. Why not hire us? You’re already aware of our rep, no? We’re the best around.”

>“You want to work for the guy that broke your neck? And I’m supposed to trust that you won’t stab me in the back.”

“Things are different. You’d be paying me now. Once that gold hits the coffers, anything between us is water under the bridge. 200 of my fellow sellswords are gathered here in Morfis, waiting for the inevitable fighting to break out. We don’t know who we’ll be fighting for yet, but truthfully, I’d rather fight for you. I told you back in Solis I wanted to serve a worthy lord. Back then, I didn’t believe that was you.”

Nestor rubs his neck, as if massaging a sore spot.

“Well…now I do.”

>“I don’t know…you did try to rob Elric. I’m supposed to just believe you’ll be true to your word this time?”

“A fair point,” Nestor concedes. “But that was my own business, not that of the Companions. Once old man Murillo gives his word to fight for someone, he sticks to it. In all our years, we’ve never broken contract. And for what it’s worth…I never intended to kill the boy. Would sending a green child like him back home really have been that bad?”

Given everything that happened to Elric after, perhaps he had a fair point there.

>“200 men, huh? What are we talking about here?”

“We’re a mixed bunch. Strong infantry, sharp archers, crafty mages. We can adapt to any situation. What’s more, we’re familiar with some of the tricks of the Morfisian infantry. A few of our members are from their own ranks, having left to pursue more lucrative ventures. General Hamilcar knows this, and trust me, he won’t be pleased to know we’re on the opposite side of him.”

>“Very well. Leave an estimate with Chelsey and someone will contact you soon.”

The third and final man that enters is a peculiar one. He had all the roughness of a brigand, not too different from the sort you’d seen terrorizing folks at Shangri-La. The obvious villain strolls into the throne room carefree. If he was nervous at the prospect of meeting with royalty, he certainly didn’t show it.

>“Hello.”

“Oy!” The man grins.

>“...Are you a mercenary?”

“Right! That’s me! Name’s Corvo. I’m the leader of Corvo’s Cutthroats. They’re named after me cause I’m the baddest of the bunch.”

>“I figured. So, what do you do?”

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>>6406580
“I hate mages!” He suddenly declares, his face twisting into an ugly grimace. “Can’t stand them! Fancy dress wearing slimy bastards! I’d cut the throat of every single one if I could!”

>“Well, you’re in the right place for that.”

“Saw you back at Shangri-La, I did,” Corvo says, regaining some composure. “I knows you’re one of them too. But you don’t wear a dress like they do. You fight with an axe. You get your hands dirty. Saw how you took over the colosseum. It was badass! I’ll fight for you. Me and my men. You may be a mage, but you’re alright.”

>“What do you bring to the table?”

“I didn’t bring any food.” Corvo’s brow furrows in confusion.

>“Uhh…your men. How many? What do they do?”

“Oh, my clan? 300 of us!” Corvo declares. “Hard badasses, we are! Every man and woman a killer! No mages of course. Can’t fucking stand them. But just good old iron and steel. We’ll kill any mage you want us to.”

>“Refreshing. Give Chelsey an estimate and we may be in touch.”

“She’s pretty!” Corvo declares, before walking off.

All three companies evaluated, Chelsey returns. The frown on her face informs you that she had been forced to deal with Corvo herself. Having gone over the numbers given to her by the three companies, she reads them to you.

“The so-called Champions of Fodlan are the most expensive,” Chelsey starts. “They bring the least amount of men, but they’re quality speaks for itself. They may be full of washouts from the marriage competition, but having survived at all speaks to their skill. They are requesting 40,000 gold.”

>“Tch, typical. Never do business with a Leicester man. The others?”

“Murillo’s Companions are only requesting 30,000. I’m told this is a bargain. Seems Nestor talked their commander down on price for the opportunity to fight for you.”

>“How touching. What about Corvo?”

“10,000,” Chelsey says flatly. “He wasn’t much of a negotiator. To be frank, you could probably convince him to pay YOU. The man just really seems interested in killing mages.”

>“Well, what do you suggest?”

“This isn’t exactly my specialty?” She sighs. “But I do know this. Anyone you don’t hire is liable to go and fight for the Royal Sages. At the end of the day, they’re sellswords. And despite their lip service, they’re not going to miss out on what’s sure to be a major pay day for them. My advice, if we have the money, hire multiple groups, or even all of them.”

In terms of expenses, the only thing left to do was purchase items, equipment, and last minute defenses for the castle. It was hard to say how much that might cost, but it at least gave you somewhat of an idea of what to do with your coffers.

>(Current Gold: 101,800g)

>Hire who? Choose as many as you like.

>A): Champions of Fodlan (40,000g)
>B): Murillo’s Companions (30,000g)
>C): Corvo’s Cutthroats (10,000g)

>>6406585
>All of them
and we still got enough gold left to buy Meteor, all according to plan

>>6406585
>All of them

With the aid tents they'll be more useful, and we already have added ++ reinforcements to the sages side anyway through our extremely wise choices earlier. We need all the bodies we can get.

>>6406585
>All of them

Fuck as much as it hurts me to see our coffers go down, all that gold might as well be shiny rocks if Tristain gets disposed here. And hopefully crushing the sages and most of their standing army now means they won't be able to whip up another rebellion for another few tax seasons...

This choice doesn't leave much for the castle defenses, but on the other hand it's taking skilled men away from the sages without any bloodshed on our end and the tents mean we'll at least get our money's worth out of them. If we went bolstering the palaces defences with Bronte then I might have said just grab Nestor and Corvo, but it looks like most of the battle will be decided in the royal district.

>“Good to see you again, Tristain! Or should I say, my liege?” Thomas greets you warmly. He was a nice guy, and he’d proven his trustworthiness.
KEK I forgot Tristain never found out about the very above board lassi

>I told you back in Solis I wanted to serve a worthy lord.
Alright Nestor I bet you say that to all the boys
>Gets us a discount
Huh guess Tristain going to bar for Elric actually did impress him.

>>6406585
>All of them
We'll need the numbers, and Chelsey outright said that not hiring them is going to result in them working for the Sages.
Hiring all three leaves us at 21,800 gold. We'd still have more than enough gold to buy Meteor if we want it, and then the remaining gold can either be used for castle defenses or some stat boosters. I doubt that we'd need any new weapons at this point.

If it wasn't nearly likely that there's going to be a purchase limit of 1 when we go on our shopping trip, rejecting everyone and investing everything in Tristain would have been hilarious since a Tristain with ~70 DEF/RES would have been able to just use Rewarp and then enemy phase the entire enemy army.

>>6406689
But what if they're liars and they already work for the sages?

>>6406704
Even if one of them is already working for the sages, there's little chance all of them would already be working for the sages; and buying them all makes it certain that we'll get the loyal ones and they'll watch each other's backs. So:

>>6406585
>A,B & C. All of them

>>6406585
>>A): Champions of Fodlan (40,000g)
>>B): Murillo’s Companions (30,000g)
I just have a bad feeling about those Corvo guys. If they aren't Sage plants, then they are dudes that really really really just wanna start killing mages and perhaps just people in general. War criminal tribunal central.

>>6406585
>A): Champions of Fodlan (40,000g)
>B): Murillo’s Companions (30,000g)
No way the Corvo guys will accept working with the sages, and they feel like a massive liability and hit to our reputation...

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>>6406585
You settle on purchasing the services of all three mercenary groups. It was an expensive and costly endeavor, but it was better than having to face them yourself on the battlefield. Particularly given recent intel from Chelsey that suggested the numbers of the Royal Sages had increased. They’d acquired the help of the Warrior’s Guild, led by Tarek. Evidently they’d promised the man Shangri-La upon their victory, and he was happy to take them up on their offer. It was presently under their control, and you had no idea if Montblanc even lived at this point. They’d also acquired the aid of several prominent mages who were incensed with your decision to establish trade with Fodlan, as well as those mages whom you’d had May seize taxes from. In total, their numbers had swelled to over 5000.

You’d sought additional help, but so far, things were not looking promising. A messenger had been dispatched to the Scorchers of Hima, but it was left up in the air as to whether he would arrive in time, and even more vague if Governor Tobias would answer your call. Furthermore, you’d sent scouts out searching for any sign of the cultists led by Eman and Penelope. But so far, there was no sign of them. It was as if they’d completely vanished. You knew there were many underground passages the cultists employed, and it was certainly possible they may not be found in time.

They weren’t the only ones missing either. Crowley was nowhere to be seen. You thought to employ the Dagdan to your side, even just to have an additional Hero’s Relic that you could call upon. But the man was a ghost. The same could be said of Gyles. If the ancient Agarthan was still within the Tower of Illusions, you had no clue. It had fallen under the control of the Yasha, who were aligned with the Sages, and there was no chance of getting near it. Like it or not, it seemed the sides were finally settled.

General Hamilcar’s men had reached Morfis, and the entire city seemed as though it were closing in on you. In a few days, the fighting would begin in earnest. The treasury was running low, but there was still some preparation you could manage. A merchant had snuck into the royal district, and was peddling wares that were of personal interest to you. You head out to meet her, looking for anything that may be of worth for the battle to soon come.

>“Hey, I recognize you.” You knew this redheaded woman. She was the same merchant with a bad attitude you’d dealt with in Shangri-La. You recall that her name was Anna.

“Yeah, you’re the cheapskate that just bought a pack of Light Runes before facing the gauntlet,” Anna scoffs. “Can’t believe a guy like you is king now.”

>“Can it, wench. You’d better have a bigger inventory now, otherwise I’ll send you packing with empty pockets.”

“Yeah, yeah. Take a gander.”

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>>6406956
>Store Note: Due to ongoing supply shortages as a result of civil war, items are limited to 1 per customer.

Pure Water: (Buffs RES +7. Lowers by 1 each turn): 500g
Concoction (x3): (Heals 20 HP): 700g
Elixir: (Heals Full HP): 2500g
Light Rune (x3): (Lowers an enemy’s speed -5. Stops movement for 1 turn): 2000g
Killer Knuckles: (+3 ATK, +30% Crit, attacks twice when initiating combat): 2000g
Silver Gauntlets: (+6 ATK, +10% Crit, attacks twice when initiating combat): 3000g
Aura Knuckles: (+2 ATK, targets opponent’s RES, attacks twice when initiating combat): 4000g
Swordreaver: (+12 ATK. +10 extra ATK/30% Dodge if fighting a Sword wielder. -10 ATK and +5 DMG taken if fighting a Lance wielder.): 4000g
Killer Axe: (+11 ATK, 30% chance to crit): 5000g
Spirit Dust: (Increases MAG Permanently +2): 6000g
Energy Ring: (Increases STR Permanently +2): 6000g
Dracoshield: (Increase DEF Permanently +2): 6000g
Speedwing: (Increases SPD Permanently +2): 6000g
Talisman: (Increase RES Permanently +2): 6000g
Sorcerer King’s Idol: (Increase LUK permanently +4): 6000g
Seraph Robe: (Increases HP Permanently +7): 10,000g
Brave Axe: (+10 ATK, attacks twice when initiating combat) : 8000g
Meteor: (Magic, +15 ATK., long-range siege magic. 2 uses.) 15,000g

>“Shit, what the hell are these prices?! I could go to the Seven and Eleven and get all of this for way cheaper!”

“Yeah, why don’t you go ahead and do that then?” Anna grins. “Oh wait, you're under siege and can’t. Sorry, but these prices are just what’s dictated by the market.”

You wanted to throttle this woman, but she was right. Like it or not, the enemy was closing in, and she was the only merchant willing to deal to the Royal Palace right now. There would be nothing else to spend your gold on after this, so it was advisable that you get rid of as much of it as possible. After all, you wouldn’t have to worry about being destitute if you were dead.

>Buy what? (21,800)

>>6406956
>They’d acquired the help of the Warrior’s Guild, led by Tarek. Evidently they’d promised the man Shangri-La upon their victory, and he was happy to take them up on their offer. It was presently under their control, and you had no idea if Montblanc even lived at this point.
i don't know what the big idea was, the stat boost and the money came in handy but we could have gotten a better deal from the merchants...
>Meteor, Swordreaver, Light Runes
Oh hey, she brought us a swordreaver all the way from hima. see, we didn't miss out on anything

>>6406957
>Meteor: (Magic, +15 ATK., long-range siege magic. 2 uses.) 15,000g
>Light Rune (x3): (Lowers an enemy’s speed -5. Stops movement for 1 turn): 2000g
>Swordreaver: (+12 ATK. +10 extra ATK/30% Dodge if fighting a Sword wielder. -10 ATK and +5 DMG taken if fighting a Lance wielder.): 4000g
I wonder if Klement will come and fight at our side too, or if he's well and truly out of the fight.

>>6406993
>>6406957
Support

But also weren't we also gonna spend money on Cuthbert's army? But even if we did guess it's going to be pretty useless against 5000 men....holy shit if Tristain actually wins this he'll be going down in the history books as the greatest military commander.

But what are out tactics for this thing? I was thinking do the best to block some of the entrances into the royal district with either the mechs or with strategic rubble placements done by our mini nukes. That gives some makeshift choke points which our men can use to take out anyone that trickles past it. The sages will then either need to concentrate their forces taking down the mechs, which will group them up nicely for siege magic or will have to use their own siege magic to take down the mechs which leaves our mini nukes free from damage for a little bit longer.

Most importantly will funnel people to the open entrances which will leave them ripe for our own siege magic.

>>6406957
I wonder if a Meteor could counter a Meteor intended to knock out one of the magic tower defenses

I hope Corvo's guys don't start attacking civilians / our own mages.

>>6406957
Supporting this
>>6406993

Reminds me I had been hoping to give the Maya freedom so we could scoop them up for the war lol

>>6407151
Probably would have also been a nice thing to do right away in case Tristain dies in this battle. Then again it might have come across as really self-serving instead of altruistic.

>>6407205
Yeah I was kind of expecting Chelsey to bring it up before things got hot.

If the Sages weren't in control of the Yasha it might have been nice to pardon some prisoners too, actual victims of bad policy rather than the crazy mages like the muscle guy...Although we also killed or maimed a considerable number in the tournament.

I wonder if praying to Fortuna would help lol. I'd imagine the Sages might eventually try to hunt her down to rebuild the Wheel or destroy her, or maybe even try to use her for something else.

>>6407205
>Tristain dies in this battle
Think once the siege goes on a bit we can do a false flag operation we rewarp? Pretend Tristian has lost the plot in the face of his defeat and is about to go on a stupid, suicidal charge to protect his friends, get the army to nicely bunch up around him and then warp out just before the Viskam blasts land. We gotta fight dirty to win this one.

>>6406993
This wins. Writing

>>6407113
Wasn't enough gold left to really do anything major with Cuthbert's army.

>>6407151
>>6407205
Chelsey knows that if Tristain gave them freedom and died, it would just be revoked right after. Unfortunately, it's the type of thing he'll need to actually win here to enact.

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>>6406957
“Absolutely not,” Cuthbert says, crossing his arms to drive the point home. “It’s an obvious trap.”

“I must concur with your minister here,” Cyril says. “Though it may seem heartless, I believe this may be a part of the enemy’s plot. And if it is, leaving those people to die will save more lives in the long run.”

The battle was set to begin any day now, but a new development had your advisors debating heavily amongst each other. A group of refugees had appeared within the royal district, and they were begging for the protection of the palace. The group was 200 strong, and consisted of political opponents of the Sages, mundane citizens of Morfis, as well as people who had been accused of harboring sympathies towards you and your “band of usurpers.” On the surface, this might prove to be the extra boost of manpower you needed. But not everyone was seeing eye to eye on the matter.

“We don’t have time to vet every single person in that rabble,” Bronte argues. “But I can vouch that the spokespeople among them are earnest supporters of the Royal Palace. A few of them were even the targets of the cultist assassins that Tristain and Chelsey had dealt with at the House of Silk. They’ve never been on common ground with the College. Is it any wonder that the Sages would take this time to drive out all their enemies?”

“If the Sages really hated them that bad, they would have killed them already,” Cuthbert growls. “Best case scenario, they’re sending them to bog us down and force us to take care of untrained rabble.”

“Worst case scenario,” Cyril says, “There are assassins and saboteurs among them looking to sow discord within our ranks.”

“Would you suggest abandoning them?” Chelsey scoffs. “What sort of message would that send to the citizens of Morfis if their King willingly chose to leave them to die! Hamilcar’s men are closing in on us. If we don’t safeguard those people, they’ll not last 15 minutes out there. Every man, woman and child will be slaughtered!”

“Leadership is not easy,” Cyril concedes. “Sometimes difficult decisions must be made to benefit the greater good. This is one of them.”

>“Can’t we just take them in and lock them up somewhere?” You ask, trying your best to think of a working solution. “That way we can make sure they aren’t up to anything suspicious?”

“And what, spare men to watch them while 5000 soldiers beat down on our walls?” Cyril asks. “We need every available fighter we have!”

“Princess Yulia is aware of the situation,” Bronte interjects. “While the decision is Tristain’s, she ultimately supports that we safeguard as many people as we can. She is aware of the possibility that this is a trap…but…” Bronte gazes at you seriously. “If it is, she trusts you’ll outmaneuver it.”

>A): Take in 200 refugees. About 1/3rd can fight.
>B): Leave them to their fate.

>>6407525
>>A): Take in 200 refugees. About 1/3rd can fight.
if the would-be-wifey says so...

>>6407525
>A): Take in 200 refugees. About 1/3rd can fight.

>>6407525
>B): Leave them to their fate.
Asking honestly, when has Cuthbert ever been wrong? He called both Elric and the lassi. And ~60 men who can fight somewhat decently isn't worth the risk of internal sabotage. The palace is our best defence and the sages are painfully aware of that.

>>6407525
>Write in
Put them in the Tower of Illusions and lock the door?

I suppose if the evil women enjoyers had the will to let Nadia be evil, she could turn these 200 refugees into super food for Tristain Jr, or who knows what. After all they would just die anyways. Unless she could just drain them so thoroughly even if a spy was among them they'd probably not be able to do anything until after the battle.