"Hey, sugar."

In a related note, you don't feel exactly shocked that your 'new' coworker was the bubbly brunette from last night, either. You school away the brief expression of surprise at having met her again as she runs you over the work you'll be expected to do, as well as giving you some tips about... Well, getting tips from the night crowd.

Various small laughs were exchanged as you learned details about successful waitressing that you hadn't ever actually considered. You're not really sure how much of that particular form of serving applied to you, but advice was advice, and so you took it with a grain of salt. You suppose you could pull it off regardless, when it came down to it...

You noticed that she seemed a little distracted as the talks went on and the two of you waited for your shift to begin, and after a few moments you realize she had been watching the pub. You're not sure what exactly she was looking for, but the perpetual sweeping glances never seemed to come up with anything conclusive.

>Ask about the investigator.
>Ask what she's looking for
>Ask about her
>Ask about the man from earlier
>Ask about something else.
>Other? (write-in)

>>44274452
>Ask about the man from earlier
>Ask about her

Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=valen+quest

Where things are said:
https://twitter.com/Riz_QM

Where things are asked:
http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Current Abilities - http://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
Basics of Mana - http://pastebin.com/V9b1DMrS
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE

Misc notes:The promised write-up is here. Hope you enjoy it.

>>44274463
Got distracted, but writing!
Also seems like we'll have a small playerbase tonight.

"So, about the guy from earlier..."

"Eh?" You shocked her out of her observations as she blinked a few times to focus back on the conversation at hand. "Oh, you mean Jack? What about him?"

So that was his name. You file it away as a mental note as you explain that you were actually working tonight because of him, and were kind of confused when he wasn't here when you returned. "He tends to work mornings, and I work nights. We agreed to trade off shifts to give each other some free time through the day."

"Free time...?" You mutter uncertainly. "Then you are...?"

"My name's Jill. It's nothin' like what you're probably thinking, he's my brother." The newly christened Jill explained with a laugh, "Dad runs this place, so we've been working here ever since we were kids. Now that we're older though... Well, got things to do outside the pub, y'know?" She shrugs, "We worked it out with pops. I work the night shift, Jack gets the mornings."

You suppose that explains why it was so easy for Jack to get you a shift... But this place was run by their family? You hadn't actually considered that a pub might be a family business before.

"I suppose that means your family really pays homage to Luna, huh?"

Jill gives you a strange look, and you get the feeling you've missed the mark a little.

"...Work with their attendants?"

"What exactly do you think a pub is for, sugar...?"

Your reply is drowned out as the call for your shifts to start comes out, and Jill shakes her head dismissively. "Well, let's get to it. Remember what to do?"

"Er..." You flashback through the tips quickly and then issue a nod of confirmation. Jill flashes you a smile and a thumbs up as she goes on ahead.

Left to your own devices, you decide to waste time bringing food and drink to people. You still had some concerns that no one had briefed you on any information to disperse, but Jill had told you to just come find and ask her if someone asked for something strange. You suppose with how valuable information was, they wouldn't just hand it out to people at the drop of a hat, so maybe it was given on a need to know basis? Or maybe Jill was just in charge of that.

Well, since you didn't need to bother giving people information, you just dedicated effort to remembering orders and the corresponding customers. It was difficult at first, but quickly melded into the rest of your experiences. On the bright side, you were finally starting to accumulate money from the various tips!

...Very little money, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to how much you were getting. Sometimes there wouldn't be any money at all, which left you a little disappointed, but without any understanding of the mechanics behind why people were giving you money, it couldn't exactly be helped.

Regardless of how well you worked tonight, or even if you worked steadily at this place all week, all month, maybe even for years, you don't imagine you'd ever get more than pocket change amounted from this place. Nothing even remotely close to the kind of fluid wealth you needed to move around in order to handle your domestic affairs and the management of your knights. Even so, you continued your steady work through the night.

As time went on, you caught glimpses of Jill through the throngs of patrons. Once neatly ponytailed hair slowly grew frazzled through the night, with more and more strands of the brunette's locks starting to fall forward or cling to her skin. From the comments of both the customers and the condition of your coworker, you suppose the interior of the pub was fairly warm. It wasn't something that you particularly felt, and even if you did, the change up from having been in the Ice Queen's Atelier would have been more than welcome.

On the contrary, it seemed that the longer the night went on, the more popular you were becoming. People you were quite certain had been taken care of, or were in the care of Jill, would call you over to their table and then... Do nothing. Simply meander about, offer small talk, or thank you for coming over while giving off a relieved expression, or in some cases, an amazed one.

Your tips were beginning to increase because of this.

...They still amounted to pocket change to you.

However because of your sudden inexplicable popularity, you were able to overhear some interesting things!

>About the blacksmiths
>About the healers
>About the wall guards
You may pick one.

>>44275613
>>About the wall guards

>>44275652
Writing.

The guards who had been stationed along the town walls had supposedly been going missing for the past two days. This was only fuelling the unrest in town, as the disappearances between shifts began not long after reports of a commotion occurring in the forests to the north started to come in.

The information itself was interesting, but the implications behind it made you worry. The only forests near Carona were the ones to the north - In other words, the ones you lived in. The ones you left your knights to hide in. If your internal chronometer wasn't too off, you could only assume that commotion they mentioned was somehow in relation to the mineshaft cave in...

But the proximity between the cave in and the missing guards was an anomaly. Something was going on outside, and you had no idea what. If it was enough to pluck the guards from the walls somehow, then you held no delusions about what it might have been able to do to the knights you left behind...

...And perhaps more concerningly, one thought immediately sprang to mind when you realized that these guards were only 'disappearing' at night, and in very short periods of time. It wasn't as if you could specifically confirm it, but you DID have experience with something similar happening not too long ago.

To this day, you can still vividly remember the night you had spent rescuing Ari from the brigand camp.

You swallowed nervously, trying to put the thought out of your mind as you offered an uneasy smile to the customer you happened to be standing near. Without any way to confirm it yourself, there wasn't anything you could do about it right now. Even if you could confirm it, it wasn't as if you knew how to stop it; Fire only warded them away, you didn't know if anything could actually kill them.

As the night began to wind down, you had almost given up hope that the investigator would show up. It wasn't until late in your shift did you see a group of people enter the pub. Several of them were the shoddily cobbled together chainmail of the town guard, a detail that perked your interest on its own, but it was their body language that drew you to them.

While many who came in had looked exhausted, or stressed, or had an air about them which implied they simply wanted to unwind, they were different. There was a sombre attitude between them, and grim expressions that accompanied a peculiar smell which was impossible to ignore. For an Apparition of Shade, this was the kind of smell you couldn't mistake, even if you tried.

You moved quickly after you caught Jill's approach out of the corner of your eye, picking up the pace to approach and greet the guards with the same patently false smile you had been greeting everyone else with all night. The same perky voice as you made brief, demure eye contact with each of them in glancing turn.

Or tried to. None of them would meet your eyes as they responded in a terse grumbles and muttering.

Typically refusal to meet someone's eyes will indicate fear, or intimidation. It's a rejection of a standing of equals in some ways, and an admission of submission in others. However, circumstances can change what specific things mean; The act of eye contact is ultimately a form of pride. That they're avoiding it may indicate a lack of it... Shame? Possibly because of a failure, given it's a trait shared between the group.

You hummed idly, simultaneously acknowledging their perturbed orders as well as your shadow's thoughts. It was always a little amazing how easily Irue could so quickly pick apart the smaller details of someone's body language and come up with an answer behind it. Even with access to the same information, it wasn't a talent you felt you could possibly hope to match of your own accord.

>Get their orders quickly
>Hang around them for a while to eavesdrop
>Try to ask about their day
>Other? (write-in)

>>44276516
>Try to ask about their day

>>44276516
>Try to ask about their day
...small talk! If they don't seem open to the idea though.
>Get their orders quickly

>>44276634
>>44276722
The day!

>>44276722
and then scampering off.

Writing.

"You guys don't seem very lively." You observe, eliciting at least one dirty look. You proffer a tentative smile in response, but receive only a frustrated shake of his head in response. You guys that was the most polite answer you were going to receive from the group of them as they put in an offer for a rather large round of alcohol. The order was simple, it was all the same drink, and they had even told you how many they wanted, but...

You looked around the table, more for your own headcount than clarification, and realized there was a miscount. They had ordered more drinks than there were people in their group, so unless one guy was doubling up, or someone else was expected...

Well, it wasn't terribly unusual on its own. You'd had a couple orders that night that had a similar discrepancy to them, but this group was the one that had your interest.

You took the hint and moved off, retreating to the bar of the pub to get the drinks they had requested before they became impatient. You were still waiting for that investigator to show up, but any guard in Carona had their own potential use to you.

"Getting awfully confident, eh sugar?" jill intercepts you with a wry expression as you start gathering the drinks. "Don't play with me, what are you up to?"

"...Eh?" You blink in confusion as Jill leans against the counter and gives you a sceptical once over. "You got into the swing o'things pretty fast, but y'weren't too so enthusiastic till those guys walked in." She explained, "I know y'saw me heading over there, but y'rushed in first, and even tried to talk t'them."

...Had this girl been watching you through the night?

"Of course I kept an eye on you." She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "You're new, and the night shift can get rough. You were doin' real well, just curious what got you goin with those guys? None of 'em look too friendly... I don't reckon one is your type?"

Jill didn't seem like she planned on letting you go without a satisfactory answer. You were caught flat-footed at the honest confirmation that she had been watching though. Now that you thought about it, she had been keeping watch on the pub even before her shift started; While you had thought she was being kept busy with her own customers, you suppose that something like this was literally an every day occurrence to her. Of course she would have kept watching the pub...

"...Well, sugar?" She repeated, breathing out softly as she leaned towards you. You opened your mouth to respond, but paused briefly at the half-lidded expression of relief she was giving you.

>Make something up
>Stick to your story about wanting out of Carona.
>...Is she alright?
>Other? (write-in)

>>44277542
>>Stick to your story about wanting out of Carona.
>>...Is she alright?

>>44277542
>>Stick to your story about wanting out of Carona.
>>...Is she alright?
No reason to change, and don't want to just deflect, but maybe something's up.

>>44277542
>>44277595
>>44277610
Thirding this.

>>44277595
>>44277610
>>44277617
This stuff.

writing!

>>44277542

>Stick to your story about wanting out of Carona.
>...Is she alright?
Fourthed

You contemplated making something up to throw her off, but it wasn't as if you particularly needed to hide anything from her. You had a story already, and it wasn't completely untrue, so deviating from it was unnecessary. You reiterate the story you had told her brother earlier that day, and while she perks up from time to time, it seemed like she was still very much distracted... With.. Something. She just kept getting closer.

"Are you okay, Jill?"

She had been slowly leaning towards you while you talked, and when you finally break off to ask, she leaned against your shoulder awkwardly.

"Er..."
"Why are you so cool...?"

You didn't think anything you had said was particularly-
...I knew this was going to be a pain.
-Oh.

"It's been so hot tonight, my shirt's sticking to me, I got sweat drippin' off my legs, an' your just walking around fresh and perky." Jill complained from your shoulder, "I admit I got a little jealous when the customers said you were refreshin' to have 'round, like 'what, I'm not good enough for ya anymore?' or something..."

You decide not to comment, as she continued to complain about her night so far. You had thought you weren't feeling the heat due to your own tolerance, but it seemed like you had completely forgotten about the Relic's icy aura lowering the temperature around you. So the popularity, the people asking you to come over, the tips...

Had you just been a walking air conditioner for people all night?

"Jinn bless, how are you doing this" She groaned, "Do you have any idea how miserable I've been all night? Why didn't I get any of this, huh?"

You press your lips together thinly as you stare off into air exasperatedly. "I need to get these drinks back out before they get mad." You try to excuse yourself, sliding Jill off you as you gather the drinks up. She slumps off of you agreeably, straightening her posture and running her hands over her clothes to smooth them out. "Fine, fine, but don't think this is it, y'hear? It's hot in here, so I'm calling dibs on you."

That promise seemed a little ominous, but you nodded in agreement as you went back out with the drinks.

By the time you had gotten back out to the table, you realize that the drinks you had gotten together before the story had already gotten chilled from being so close to you for so long. You give a bemused expression at this as you go about distributing the drinks to the table of sombre guards, noting with no small amount of complicated feelings when you noticed them visibly perking up once you arrived.

On one hand that was good, making them more positive and open to your presence was a good thing.

On the other, you had thought it was because of you until recently. Not the Relic casually cooling the air around you in this evidently miserably hot pub. While it was a good thing, you feel a little put out at the belated realization.

We'll need to keep this in mind in the future, or it'll get us in trouble.

You frown inwardly, keeping the expression from your face adroitly as you listen in on their conversation while handing out drinks with your patently false smile.

"...Guess I'll get this started." One finally grumbles, raising his mug - An act soon followed by the others. "To Gave! The dumb bastard..."

"To Gave!"

You blink. The chorus smelled like regret, this entire table smelled like regret. Nothing so intense and overwhelming as the Atelier - Nothing even remotely like the Atelier - But it was something you were attuned to enough that you couldn't not notice it at this range.

>Stand by and wait for more information
>Ask who Gave is
>Return to talk to Jill
>Other? (write-in)

>>44278229
>Return to talk to Jill

>>44278229
That's pretty funny. Irue as an AC unit.

>Stand by and wait for more information

>>44278229

>Stand by and wait for more information
Can't hurt

>>44278254
Jill!

>>44278268
>>44278295
Irue on standby.

Writing.

You take a step back as the group goes through one by one, alternatively praising and condemning whoever this 'Gave' was. In the ensuing round of tributes, you do learn a number of things.

Gave was an idiot.
Gave was a good guy.
Gave owed one man two weeks pay.
Gave may have slept with another guard's wife.
Gave may have slept with another guard's husband.
Gave may have slept with another guard's dog.
Gave was an investigator.
Gave was dead.

At least three of these statements were arguably false, and it concerned you slightly that neither you, nor Irue, were entirely sure WHICH three were fabrications in this regard. It was probably safer to point out the ones you didn't doubt the veracity of: He was a dead investigator.

In fact, as they spoke, you realized the reason they had come here was because he had always come here. This was his bar, where he had come to unwind, his place.

...Did our investigator die before meeting him?
Son of a... That's cheating! Who the hell dies in such an inconvenient way?!

"That makes what... Six?" One sighed, knocking back his drink. "Six people in two days... What the hell is going on."

"They can't let this go on much longer. We won't even HAVE guards by the end of the month, at this rate."

Your ears perked up as they finally began to talk, half deep into their mugs and finally relaxing between the heat and your own cool aura.

"When I first heard about this shit, I thought it was just some bugger trying to be funny and cut his shifts... God, what the hell was that." One man groaned, setting his mug down. "He was right next to me... The next thing I know, all I hear is screaming, and he's being dragged into the woods."

"Why didn't you help him? Use that sword you're so proud of!"

"I didn't see anything, alright!? He was just... Being ripped back into the woods, somehow! I can show you tomorrow, dammit, I know that bastard left marks in the ground trying to grab something."

"We need to take this to the captain, or the mayor, one. If we get a search party together by tomorrow, maybe-"

"Bastard's probably already dead, screw searching; We need a subjugation party!"

Listening to them complain sent a chill down your spine that was completely unrelated to the Relic concealed on your person. One way or another, it seemed like your appointment had just been permanently postponed... But you had learned something particularly disturbing in lieu of it. Were your knights even still out there? If they were, how long could they stay out there without...

No. Calm down, they knew about Nightgaunts. More than anything, they KNEW about Nightgaunts. They were sleeping with fires on already, they were probably safe. Safer than these guys, at least. You didn't need to panic unnecessarily just yet.

>Speak up about Nightgaunts
>Return to Jill
>Try to get one of the guards to help you
>Leave the pub, there's no more reason to be here.
>Other? (write-in)

>>44278733
>>Return to Jill

>>44278799
This.

Writing.

You hang around until their drinks run dry, then carry them back to bar where Jill had seemingly taken up residence in for the rest of the night. With closing time so close, it seemed the customers of the pub had slowly dwindled so as to require less full time floorwork, leaving her to occupy her time with other things.

"Any luck, sugar?" Jill greets you as you return, taking the mugs as you pass them to her for refills. "And you really are a walking cooler, sugar. You gotta tell me how you're doin that."

"The guy I was supposed to be meeting tonight to get out of Carona is dead." You reply flatly, not bothering to hide your irritation with the result from the brown haired serving girl.

"Haha, he get drunk somewhere else and pass out?"
"No, he's dead."
"...Like, his girl got mad at him..?"

You and Jill blink at each other, and you tilt your head to the side. Was this denial, or did she just not get it?

"He's dead, Jill."
"The investigator is dead?"
"Dead."
"Like he's not alive anymore?"
"Yes, he's dead."
"He died?"
"Which makes him dead now, yes."

You take a breath-

"How?!"

-It seemed Jill took that moment to finally catch on. "It seems like something has been taking guards at night recently... I guess it took him, this time."

You look away, restraining the growing urge to cry. To be fair, the fact he was taken didn't necessarily mean he was killed, but that was the general agreement between the guards. Honestly, if what you thought was responsible for this, you had to agree with them.

"Are you trying to tell me that something killed him?" Jill set the mug in her hands down, raising them to cover the mortified expression on her face. You stare at her blankly for several moments before sighing. "Is this really so hard to understand? He's dead, it happens."

"Maybe if you live out in th' woods, sugar! People don't just die in Carona, it's pretty safe around here!"

Didn't she, just last night, try and tell you that she didn't feel safe walking home? Well, she hadn't told you specifically, but she had definitely said it. "I don't think it's that unusual, Jill. There are probably plenty of people who die around Carona that you don't know about, and you never find about." You keep passing mugs over to her to refill, the action giving her something to physically restart her thought processes as she took them in hand with a frown.

"Well, maybe you do find about them. I mean you work at a pub... But, you know."

"Sugar, me workin' at a pub's got nothin' to do with it. Don't try and put this on me either, you're the odd one here."

"Eh?"

"Normally people get upset about stuff like this, but you're just talking about it like it's another report or something. You got nerves of steel, or something?"

You shook your head, not willing to argue the point with her. Even if she denied it, the weird one here was definitely her.

"So... What's next, sugar?" She finally handed you back the last refilled mug. "That investigator was your best hope out of here, right? What're your plans now? If you still need work, I can get pops to let you stay. Or... I mean, if you need a place to stay, I've got room."

"I think Jack offered me the same thing..."
"He was probably just trying to get in good with ya. Don't trust him, come stay with me."

You fail to see how the two offers were any different, but you didn't feel the need to point that out. Beyond that, you don't think you really needed a place to stay in the first place.

"You'll probably need more work after this to, right? 'Least till the lockdown clears? I can talk to pops about it."

You should really say something before Jill one-sidedly planned out how you were going to be helped. Much like her brother this morning, she would probably help you with something if you asked, though she might also help you with something if you DON'T ask, which could be troublesome.

>You've got no plans. Let her go wild.
>You need her help (with what?)
>Ask something (what?)
>Reject her help, you're fine.
>Other? (write-in)

>>44279183
>"Are you sure there's no other way to get out of town?"
>You've got no plans. Let her go wild.

>>44279183
>Reject her help, you're fine.
>Ask Traggart if he can remember the way home

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>44279239
1. This stuff.

>>44279274
2. This other stuff.

Okay.

>>44279183
>>Ask something (what?)

We should really find out when the night gaunt attacks started.

>>44279389
Two days ago. It was mentioned offhand in an earlier post (Guard disappearances).

>>44279395
Aw gosh my reading comprehension is shit at 4am sorry. Still, glad to see the thread is up.

>>44279490
It'll actually be over soon. Partly because we're transitioning to the next day soon, and partly because I've been terribly distracted all night, which is making it take unforgivably long for me to update.

Probably a few more updates total, so I don't feel terrible about archiving a <50 post thread.

>>44279509
It's alright, quality over quantity and all that.

"No, I'm fine." You shake your head, not particularly wanting to involve her or her family in this. Maybe if she hadn't seemed so squeamish a few minutes ago you would have had a different answer for her, but as it stood... Well, she was an informant. No matter how useful it might have been to have someone working the pub to be your ally in this, you had just received information straight from the 'tap' so to speak.

And with the kind of schedule you would be leading the rest of the next few days, you had precious little time to waste on playing nice with this admittedly too helpful family.

So you reject her offer, and then assure her that you're quite certain you don't need help, then reassure her that yes, you will be fine. She doesn't seem at all convinced, which you suppose is partially a side effect of your backstory... But primarily because that just seems to be the kind of person she is. Perhaps the kind of person this entire family is.

You hadn't actually met this enigmatic 'pops' yet, but you didn't want to push your luck in that regard.

You continue to do your job for the night, as it was already too late for you to pursue the lead you had gained from the Shrine on Taggart. It shouldn't be difficult to track him down... But, well.

"Do you know where I can find a guard named Taggart?" She was offering help, and this much would be innocuous. "He's a friend of mine from when I was younger, and I was hoping I could talk to him."

"Taggart..." Jill crossed her arms with a serious expression, "I guess if you've got a friend in town already then you'll be fine... Taggart, Taggart... Lets see, yeah. He works the midday to evening shifts at the front gate, if I remember correctly." Jill nods to herself, confirming her own answer with a quiet hum. "He's a guard, you said? Would he be able to help you get out of Carona, maybe?"

"...Maybe." You agree half-heartedly, trying to end the conversation before she got too interested. "I doubt it though, but I do need to talk to him all the same. I'll go find him tomorrow."

"You got a place to stay tonight, then?"

"Yes." You lied easily, not even blinking as you try to convince Jill politely to just leave you be. She nods again, seemingly taking you for your word. "If I see him around, I'll give him a heads up, okay?"

"That's really not necessary." You shake your head, "Besides, I should see him before you, anyway."

"Yeah..."

The rest of your shift continues without a interruption, and you changed back into your proper clothes with a sigh of satisfaction. The clothes they had found for you had evidently been some of Jill's older clothes, so they hadn't fit you right. The general size was similar, but there were details here and there that left you feeling a little drafty.

It was on your way out that you ran into one of two problems you had not expected to deal with that night...

"Wait up, sugar!"

The friendly brunette jogged up alongside you as you had been walking towards the door to leave, having already changed back into her own casual clothes. "You weren't going to leave on your own, were ya?"

"...Er." That had been the plan, yes. You realized with a sinking feeling that while you had no particular problem reading the language of this painfully honest girl, it didn't particularly help with getting out of her grasp. "You just said someone died around here, you know?" Jill looked at you plainly, waiting for some kind of response.

She didn't get much of one, aside from your own confused hum of acknowledgement.

"Your blood made of ice?" Jill sighed incredulously, "Listen sugar, you may be a stone cold badass, but I'm not. You expect me to walk home all on my own after that? Or what about you?"

"...I'll be fine?" You answer uncertainly.

"Oh you'll be fine, sure! But what about me? What if we split up tonight and I never see you again, and I spend all night wondering what happened to ya' and if you got home okay?" She once again rounded it back to herself, which was an angle you couldn't exactly shrug off if she insisted on it. Unfortunately, you didn't actually have any home to walk back to.

"Fine, I can walk you home." You sigh, giving in to the not-so-subtle hints. You feel like this happened last time as well, but under a different face... Still, the beaming smile Jill returned when you finally agreed was a little heartening. "Great!" She chirped, leaning against you once more as she stood up on the tips of her toes to bring her lips closer to your ear.

"Because there's this girl that's been watching you for the past hour or two, and I think she might still be waiting outside."

You blink, trying to trace your memories back for someone in the pub that may have been watching you. Nothing immediately came to mind...

Jill set back onto her heels with a shrug, apparently unconcerned that she was about to walk with you into the hands of a potential stalker. You wanted to make a comment on how strangely she placed gravity on various concerns, but you started to feel like if you brought it up, then you'd lose in some manner.

"Can you describe her to me?" You choose instead to try and gather information. There wasn't anyone in Carona that you 'knew'. Especially not with this face. If it was a girl, the only things to come to mind were Asche and Kara, but... If it were Asche, she would have simply approached you. If it were Kara, you get the feeling there would have been a larger commotion. Had Rinnier broken free somehow?

"Uhm... Well, she was kinda.." Jill made some suggestive movements with her hands to emphasize specific curvatures. "You know? Dressed really fancy, too, kind of like a noble. Also her hair was kinda long-" She glances at your own hair briefly, "-ish. Not long like yours, but long like a normal person's, I guess? It was past her shoulders."

...You got nothing.

"Well, maybe it was just my imagination, but just to be safe, yeah?" Jill laughed easily, "And you never actually told me how you managed that cool air trick back there, either. You gotta tell me before you leave Carona, or I'm not gonna forgive you!"

You sigh, opening the door to leave as Jill chatted amiably at your side. You realized that even now, her eyes were still roaming. Always roaming.

When your own eyes turned back infront of you, you encountered the second of two unexpected problems. Specifically, you encountered-

"Ah, that's the girl I meant." Jill muttered briefly as you came to a frozen halt at the top of the pub stairs and locked eyes with the loathesomely familiar girl standing proudly below you. "You know each other?"

"Irue Valen." The girl greeted you lukewarmly, "I didn't expect to find you... Slumming?" One side of her lips quirked in amusement, and your own lips quirked in the opposite direction and feeling. "Do you truly have time for this during your Rite?"

"Slumming...?" Jill's silent parroting from your side made you feel as if this was going to become more troublesome in short order.

You sigh finally, stepping towards the imposing noble girl before you.

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"The surprise is mutual, Jenseits."
____

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

And we are archived.

I'll lurk the thread for a bit to try and answer some questions if I can.

We had a short thread and a pretty small playerbase tonight, even for Valen. I suppose it's not unusual with christmas coming so soon, but thanks to the few people who showed up to play!

With christmas coming up, maybe I should try thinking of a present for my players... I don't know where to start, though. Maybe a write-up of something? I don't know if those are really liked, though.

>>44279759
Whoooooore

>>44279743
It seems like nightgaunts are following her.
>>44279759
I do read them.

>>44279759
We are still disguised yes? How does she know it's us?

>>44279783
https://youtu.be/TDijZLg0GFQ?t=1

>>44279799
You are not disguised. You chose to wander the streets, and subsequently get employed, without a disguise to avoid over reliance on the Relic.

You only disguised yourself briefly to deal with the Shrine without arousing attention from Roderick or anyone else who may recognize you.

>>44279809
Seconding night gaunts following this chick. We should ask her about it next thread.