I know about the protagonist-Setsuna relationship. But yes, I managed to miss/forget that specific HUD title somehow, but then the "bald badass" should have been written with capital first letters in the part I quoted, signaling it to be a title. Because otherwise right now it's not clear in the narrative, whether it is a title or narrators given opinion and the Kirche part still applies regardless.
Chapter Three, Part Eleven: Sowing the Seeds ------ I nearly took off for Tristania, the capital of this small nation when I realized that I had already promised Headmaster Osmond that I would deliver the goods within the hour. When I typed in the text command to check the in-game time, I realized that I only had ten minutes left. "Surely the old man would be lenient enough to give me some leeway? Eh, whatever, I'll just get it done now before I forget," I spoke quietly as I had Setsuna walk up and down the hallway and keeping a close eye on the radar to see if I had anymore surprise visitors like Malicorne and his band of fools. "Well. Maybe not all fools as I did get my first mook," I said as I absentmindedly had Setsuna sit down on the ground in one of the hallways adjacent to the other hallway with the Headmasters' office. "Maybe I should call him my First Prime?" *snort* "As if he would respond to the command of Jaffa Kree!" "Or, I could refer to him as my Padawan?" "...." "I'm not exactly Jedi material and all that." "Oh! He shall be Number Two!" "...." "...." "I knew I shouldn't have watched the Austin Powers movie marathon at two in the morning." "I'll think about this later," I said as I took Setsuna out of the seated position and prepared to leave with one last check on my inventory and seeing that the first delivery of items were there, as well as, the Familiar mouse of the old man. Once I had gotten Setsuna beyond the visual range of Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Miss Longueville, Professor Colbert, and anyone else, I had Setsuna use her Shadow Step techniques carefully. I made certain to keep a very close eye on the targetting radar as I moved quickly towards the hidden sheds within the foundation of the Earth Tower. Fortunately, the radar not only provided a constant visual watch on anyone or anything around Setsuna (with the exception of invisible characters as Osmond showed earlier), the radar also had a handy navigation pointer that, well, pointed the way to my intended goal. "Well of course they are," I said to no one in particular as I unloaded all of my inventory into the hidden shed as per the agreement I had with the Headmaster. While I continued to keep an eye out for anyone following my character, I moved back and forth between the main game, Factions, and to the add-on, Void Ascension, as I carried all of the items I had promised to Osmond in exchange for all the things I had asked for. In the end, I completed the task in only five minutes of game time, whereas in the real world it had taken me a good thirty minutes as I had to wait for the loading screens every time I moved from Factions to Void Ascension and back. Also, I made certain to keep track of only the inventory I had planned to give away and I had no intention of accidentally dropping any of the more valuable items that had the same name, but were enchanted to have special features. On the last run back towards Ascension, I changed Setsuna's secondary profession to that of the Warrior as I had a feeling I might need it in the future. "Done and done." As soon as I had said the words, a message had popped up about a new quest unlocked. "Hmmm....now that's rather interesting. Guess I could make a play at being Jason Statham what with the name not being so subtle and all." I checked the game time again as soon as Setsuna was outside of the hidden shed and found that I only had a minute to spare. I decided to wait and see if there were any penalties, traps, or special magical effects that would happen if I had not made the one hour deadline. Much to my disappointment, nothing flashy or awesome occurred. So, I proceeded to leave for the Headmasters' office by using a zig zag route and the occasional Shadow Step to move about and confuse any potential stalkers just in case there were any other mages with similar abilities like Osmond. Along the way, I noticed the name of Miss Longueville linger around the school vault as it had been part of the general academy map found in the library I had explored the first night. "Well, given that her title had been Suspicious Secretary, she might just be some kind of serial murder or even a Robin Hood kind of character," I whispered to myself as I continued towards the door of the Headmaster. "Enter, your Highness." At the greeting, I had Setsuna enter the door and wait until the door had closed shut. Once the door had closed, I immediately began to talk before the Headmaster could get a word in. "Room secure? From eavesdropping and scrying I mean." "But of course, your Highness." "No need to keep referring me to my title. In private, just Setsuna will do." "Very well, Setsuna. And why have you returned so quickly?" "The delivery is complete and I trust that they will not be linked back to my person?" "Yes. I must confess, however, that I had not expected you to complete the transfer of all the items on the inventory list so quickly. I see that the magic of your line is rather powerful to be able to use such a quiet, efficient, and powerful teleportation spell," Osmond said in a rather probing manner as he tried to use his 'Wise Sage' stare on Setsuna. "If you're trying to get some information about how it works, then you will be very disappointed as this type of magic cannot be learned only inherited," I deadpanned in response. Besides, it was true as no MMO characters within Guild Wars ever learned any kind of teleportation spell that could travel between different worlds, let alone different continents, save for the game mechanics. "Never hurts to try." "True. Now, before I leave, have you contacted your Germanian connection? The one called Herwald?" "Ah yes. I have already sent out a message that should have a response by tomorrow. I am curious as to why you have decided to take up my offer." "Let's just say that I need some more protection and even if you believe that I am royalty, I have no way of transporting other people with me to prove my claim. So, I need to gain some kind of title here that would help legitimize my person somewhat and I can see that Germania has the easiest route of all the countries." "Hmmm....that does make some sense. Well, off with you, as I do have paperwork to do," he said as he made a shooing motion. "See you later Headmaster," I said as I had Setsuna leave the office and head towards one of the side gardens before opening up the menu and transporting Setsuna to the capital of Tristain, Tristania. After a few seconds of the loading screen, Setsuna appeared on the furthest edge of the capital city, just on the outskirts of one of the neighboring forests and the radar showed only a few people milling about at extreme range. It was there that I had Setsuna change her outfit back to the Shining Blade uniform I had her wear during the meeting with Ludwig. "Time to see Ludwig and see what he's doing right now," I said knowing that I was far too early for the appointed date, but I just wanted to see if had any side quests for my character. Just as I was about to enter the capital itself, I heard a feminine scream emerge from one of the alleyways that led to the merchant district. "THIEF! THIEF!" "You alright miss," I asked as I had Setsuna run up to the brown-haired girl. "Three men wearing grey cloaks have stolen the money that I was going to use to pay our taxes as we are due by the end of the day! If we can't pay, then we will lose our Inn!" "Not to worry, I will take back what those thieves stole." And so, the chase began as the navigator pointer showed the way towards the three suspects that were moving in three separate directions. On the titles of the three, they were known as the Three Grey Fools. The first Grey Fool was found only ten seconds worth of running distance away as he was busy panting and leaning against a wall, behind some crates. Before he could even register my presence, I had Setsuna launch a Disrupting Chop from the Warrior skill set unarmed and watched as the man dropped like a sack of bricks as the strike connected with the man's neck with a resounding smacking sound. "One down, two to go." Once I checked to make sure that he was out cold, I retrieved the 1/3 Bag of Coins after searching his body and finding it inside his inventory and little else other than some rusted knives, dirty used clothing, and a couple of cheap wine bottles. Thirty seconds later, I encountered the second Grey Fool who had been in more shape than his counterpart, but not fast enough as I caught up to him. As he turned the corner, he caught sight of my character. In his panic, he tried to run faster as he kept his eyes on me. Problem was that he kept his eyes on my character and not on the boxes in front of him. What resulted was the second Grey Fool tripping over said boxes and knocking himself out. "Damn it! I knew it said fool, but I thought you idiots would have provided me with at least some challenge!" And so, I retrieved another item called 1/3 Bag of Coins from the inventory of the second of the three Fools. The third Grey Fool had stopped moving according to the navigator arrow and I became suspicious that a trap was being set. "Maybe you will be lucky number three." As I rounded the corner to a dead-end, I caught sight of the third Grey Fool, holding a knife to the neck of a struggling, little boy with his mouth covered by the mans' other hand. "Stay back and the boy wont get hurt." After pausing for only a second to assess the situation, I continued to walk towards the scruffy looking man. "I said, STAY BACK, or the boy gets it." "Go ahead. I don't care as long as I get the quest done." At my matter-of-fact tone, both the boy and the Fool looked strangely at Setsuna as if they could not believe what she had just said. As a result, the boy began to struggle even harder and the man began to tighten his grip on said boy. "Quest? I don't know what you're talking about but you had bett- urk!" When he had started to panic, the Grey Fool had begun waved around his knife away from the boy's neck as he tried to warn Setsuna again. At that moment, I activated Crippling Dagger and watched as the flying projectile strike the Fool right between the eyes. "BOOM! Headshot!" In response, the boy ran away as he screamed like that kid from the Home Alone movie series when he had put on some of the aftershave. "Ha! At least you were entertaining enough," I said to the corpse as I began to search his inventory for the final quest item. And so, I retrieved the final 1/3 Bag of Coins which combined with the other two 1/3 pieces to form the Bag of Coins. "Real inventive there with the names," I dryly stated as I made my way back towards the brown-haired girl. Fortunately enough, there hadn't been too many people noticing the entire chase and most of the people would look away as soon as my character walked passed them. Once I had made eye contact with the brown-haired girl, she made a sigh of relief and ran up to my character. "Did you get them? Are you hurt?" "Yes, they were pretty easy to deal with and I believe that this is the Bag of Coins they took? And no, I am not hurt." *sigh* "Yes. Thank you so much for your help. I don't know what to say or do, but if you are ever in town, please visit the Charming Fairy Inn and tell them that you know Jessica, that's my name, and they should treat you well." "Your welcome, Jessica. You know what? Why don't I escort you to your location so that you wont have to worry about being robbed again, alright?" At my request, Jessica bit her lip and frowned slightly, but after some thought, she nodded her head and said, "I wouldn't mind the help. May I know the name of my savior?" "Gozen is my name and it's nice to meet you, Jessica." "You as well, Gozen. You must be strong like Matilda to have been able to take down those three so quickly." "Let's just say that I have a bit of talent for dealing with scum like them." And so, we continued idle chatter as we continued our walk towards the location of the tax collector site and I learned of some other troubles that had befallen the inn recently. 'Interesting, since I haven't received any confirmation that the quest is done, I suppose there's more to do. Maybe it might actually be entertaining.' ------ Any feedback, especially the helpful kind, is appreciated and enouraged. Authors' Note: Normally, the corrupt noble that collects the taxes in this area would be dealt with in the OTL in the undercover mission, but I am jumpstarting that and we shall see a bit of fallout in the coming snippets. ZnT/Guild Wars Crossover with PC-Controlled Assassin.
Oh, joy, I'm sad it took this long for me to notice, but at the same time, I got quite a bit of reading in.
Poor little boy 'NPC'. That one might have some repercussions later on with the rumor mill being what it is.
Well, damn. I suppose it's to be expected this murder will come back and haunt the player later? EDIT: Ninja'd.
That right there sums up perfectly why the player thinking this is just a game is a very, very, bad thing.
I'm very much awaiting the time when said incident catches up to him (or in case of Setsuna, her) by way of the revelation that it isn't JUST a game...
I wouldn't exactly call that murder, the robber was holding a young kid hostage and threatened to kill him, a real life cop would have been completely justified, even required to, in killing him before he gets to hurt the kid. It was the protagonists "Don't really care if the NPC kid gets killed" attitude about the hostage situation and enjoyment of killing that guy, that may come to hunt him later.
Or it could be spun as. "I knew that saying that would put the thief off-guard and leave him vulnerable to attack. Of course I cared about whether or not the boy lived. What kind of monster do you take me for?" Which is exactly how the player should spin it should anyone confront them on it.
I was thinking more on the people who hear the tale. Yes 'Setsuna' will have to play damage control when confronted with this info.
There's precedent already with the whole 'getting minions' part. She's already shown that she goes weird/insane while in combat. The last moron triggered combat reflexes. Outside it she's just a bit alien, to be expected from a isolated different culture.
Chapter Three, Sidestory Unknown Boy Snippet ------ As fast as he could run, he moved blindly in any direction away from the hooded crazy woman wearing the chest-revealing, black and green clothing. While he had stopped screaming a few moments ago in favor of concentrating on his run, he could not help but go back to that terrifying moment. "Go ahead. I don't care as long as I get the quest done," came the rather cold-sounding response to the grey-cloaked mans' threats. In what the child would remember in his middle-aged years, he would look back to this moment and realize that he had experienced his own life flashing before his eyes. However, as he was only a child not older than ten years of age, he could not fully comprehend where all these strange and rapidly changing thoughts and memories were coming from. In that moment, the young child remembered the most vivid memory of the tales from his family about the abuse and horrible treatment of nobles against everyone else and how they could escape the law with only a small fine to pay. Up until that moment, he had thought that such tales were only myths and meant to scare his other, younger siblings into obeying their parents. Now, he knew better as no non-noble would ever be caught wearing some clothing so finely crafted. Just as he began to struggle in earnest against the hold of the filthy, smelling man, he heard the man start to say something when he saw only a blurry object move rapidly from the strange woman towards the man restraining him. "BOOM. Headshot!" In fight or flight mode, the boy made a very quick decision and chose the second of the two. And now, here he was continuing his run from the very scary noblewoman. It did not occur to him that the woman had not chased after him and had not ever attacked or threatened him directly, but as a child, he did not know any better. And he would have continued his run had he not found himself lifted off the ground by the back of his favorite shirt. Once he had stopped and opened his eyes, he realized that he was looking into the face of a knight of the realm as the man was dressed in full regalia of a Tristain Knight. There was no chance he could escape from death this time as his shoulders drooped in resignation from knowing the reputation of the knights' fighting prowess and skills. "Go 'head and finish it. Don't care anymore," he said in a defeated tone. "Child. You were running in a panic I have only seen in the most frightened of new recruits. Tell me what has happened that made you so afraid," spoke the firm, but calm voice of the frowning knight. "I don't care. Y-You're just like that d-d-devil woman," came a slightly more confident voice as he had not been skewered by the knight just yet. "Devil woman? I assure you that no true knight in service of Tristain would ever willingly harm any loyal subject of Her Royal Majesty," the knight spoke assuringly as the man wiped the frown from his face and gave him a friendly smile. And so the knight put him down and patted his shoulder in a friendly manner for a few seconds and kneeled down to look at him in the eye while continuing to give him a friendly smile. "My name is Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes, Captain of the Gryphon Knights. Upon my honor, you can tell me everything and I will see that you are safe from this 'devil woman' that has you so frightened." And so, with his adrenaline having run its course, he told Captain Wardes everything he had seen and heard during the incident. ------- Authors' Note: This scene takes place just after the boy has run away and has stopped screaming in order to conserve his breathing for his running. This is just another change from the OTL and we shall see whether or not Reconquista will become a bit more interested in the affairs of Tristain much earlier.
Her Royal majesty's lover, who happens to be a prince, on the other hand is a different story entirely. Both a nice chapter and side story, though I wish that you would continue with Louise's side story. (Thinking) You should as make a side story for both Giovanni, the pokemon master, and Malicorne, the stupid fat bastard. Giovanni's familiar HAS to be cat, that he calls Persian.
Atleast damage control is releative easy, if done right. "Was trying to distract the bastard, atleast the kid got out with a fright."
Fair enough, I probably should have used a better word ^^; Either way, I was trying to say that killing would eventually come back to bite the player... So, Wardes huh. This might throw a spanner into whatever Setsuna might have planned or will plan... I won't be surprised if the 'Disgruntled Foreigners' quest gets completely thrown off the rails because of Wardes ^^;
Chapter Three, Part Twelve: Sowing the Seeds ------ And so, Jessica and I traveled down the winding roads of the capital towards the tax collector as she led the conversation about her family and the business they had made in the Merchant District for the sake of helping those in need. As a side bonus, their business receieved much loyalty and income from the surrounding population due to their reputation for providing aid and having some of the best service and fanservice in Tristania. "....and my dad runs the Charming Fairy Inn along with a lot of the other girls because he always has such a soft spot for the runaways." "Interesting." "Yup. You wouldn't believe just how many times dad could never turn away any of the street rats, especially the ones who come from those kind of homes. Even if he couldn't make some space or work, he would always recommend a trusted friend to help them get back on their feet." "That's good to hear." "Unfortunately, dad, er, how do I say this, tends to have a bit of eccentricity to him ever since mother died. The poor man went and became both a mom and dad to me because he felt so guilty that he couldn't have earned more to give mom the proper treatment." "I hope by eccentric you don't mean harmful, do you? And I'm sorry for your loss." "Oh no! He wouldn't harm anyone who didn't deserve to get theirs, it's just that, well, he tends to dress in womens' clothing as a way to cope, but the girls don't mind and neither do I. No need to apologize. She died when I was really young and dad has done his best to raise me and I turned out alright enough." "Well, I suppose it could have been worse. At least, he's doing some good out of a bad situation." "That's right. In the end, he's become a very nice person to all the ones who need the help, especially the lost ones. At first, they might be turned off by his dressing habits, but they warm up to him soon enough. They all do." "Hmmm...." "Oh, by the way, don't ask too many questions of the girls. Like I said, some of them come from the bad homes or had some bad run-ins with nobles and could care less to be reminded about what they ran away from." "Got it. Not too many questions." "Yup. You know, you're a pretty good listener. It's too bad we couldn't have met much earlier as I think that we could've been great friends!" "Heh. Anyway, who is this collector you're giving you're money to?" At that question, the normally excited Jessica slumped in posture and looked around as though she were afraid of something emerging from one of the sidestreets or alleys. Once clear, she took hold of Setsuna by the arm and led her to a somewhat secluded alley and began talking in hushed tones. "Well. You remember how I talked about how dad accepts girls who run away from nobles?" "Yes?" "You see, some of those nobles really valued some of the girls who are now working for our inn and they were less than pleased when the girls refused to return. It got even worse when dad intervened and called in some of his favors with a few of his friends." "I think I know where this is headed, but go on." "It all started when Count Mott tried to retrieve one of his prized, commoner mistressess. Her name's Marie and don't tell her I told you her story." "My lips are sealed." "One day, the poor dear comes in with half her dress shredded from the waist down as though someone was about to force himself on her as there were signs of bruising beginning to form all along her arms, neck, and inner thighs. After some coaxing, dad was able to convince the weeping girl into one of the backrooms. Later that night, dad came out, but he wouldn't say a word except that he needed to contact one of his friends. I didn't need to be a genius to know that whenever dad calls in his friends, it's pretty serious and all." "Definitely sounds bad." "Yup. One of his friends was a lieutenant of the Manticore Knights who had pledged a debt of honor to dad for saving the life of one of his fellow knights when a Gallian spy had attempted to escape from jail. Long story short, the Gallian spy had some poisonous powder that was used in an attempted double suicide with himself and one of the Manticore Knights. Fortunately, dad happened to be in the area and had a home-made remedy that was able to hold the poison at bay long enough for a healer to be called in. The lieutenant on site immediately pledged an oath of gratitude to dad and the two became great friends over the years as a number of Manticore Knights visit our inn every few months." "If the knights visit your inn every few months, why is it that you would have troubles with the nobles then?" *sigh*"The problem is that the Manticore Knights are mostly made up of lesser noble families and Count Mott is a Palantine of the Royal Court. In other words, he's the final authority in the area outside of the Dukes and the Royal Family itself. But, Count Mott wasn't a stupid man, unlike the other nobles who had tried to retrieve their property in the past. You see, Count Mott secretly contacted the other nobles who had been rebuffed by dad. Can't really say what was said, but I know it was him because one of the dumb nobles said that he had been responsible for gathering them together." "Sounds like a lot of trouble." "You got it. So, one day, about half a dozen of the rebuffed nobles and about a company of men-at-arms arrive in force at the inn. Unfortunately for them, the Manticore Knights just so happened to arrive with about half their ranks in full armor. Ha ha, you should looked on the faces of those fat fools! And one of the idiot nobles, as they were running away, shouted that they had not heard the last of Count Mott and other such nonsense." "The lieutenant immediately took dad aside and told him of the danger of crossing a Palantine of the Court and that he and his knights would not be able to do much if Count Mott pressed the issue. In turn, dad thanked him for his support and told the lieutenant not to worry too much as he did have some other connections. The lieutenant didn't press the issue, but said that he would do as much as he could on his end to keep any Royal Inquiries from being brought down on our inn." "What's the name of the lietenant by the way?" "Oh! I'm so sorry. His name is Jacques Poitier de Charney and he was one of the few nobles I can say I was very pleased to have met and known. Anyway, he says that he would do his best to head off any attention from our inn, but Count Mott had one last parting shot since his intimidation tactic didn't work and even backfired when mulitiple witnesses came forward with his name as the one shouted by one of the six fat fools who had run away. He ordered an audit of the finances of the Charming Fairy Inn." "Sounds like a cheap shot." *snort* "Count Mott couldn't find any fault with the finances of the inn nor could he find any back taxes owed to the Treasury, so he used his influence to convince the tax collector to pocket extra money from the Merchant District in order to get back at the inn." "And how did you find out that he had used his influence?" "Remember how I told you that dad was going to use some of his other connections? Well, that's where Matilda came in. She's a green-haired, non-noble, triangle earth mage who was able to eavesdrop on Count Mott and overheard the conversation between Count Mott and a few of the accountants who work at the treasury. Said something along the lines of how the accountants could get their rightful compensation by raising a little extra." "But wouldn't the other members of the Merchant District raise a stink about this?" "Normally they would and the Queen would listen. But, her husband passed away at the time and the Queen practically fell apart. End result was that Count Mott was able to silence the others at the Court by saying that they needed the extra funds in order to compensate for the Queen's lack of oversight and other lies. In the end, the other members of the Court hesitantly agreed because they had other worries to deal with that were much bigger than some non-noble merchants. And so, here we are with the tax collectors' office asking for triple the amount of the usual payment on the grounds of 'necessary taxation' for the purpose improving the nation and other crap." "And in order to deal with this person, someone needs to silence the idiots doing this, I take it?" *snort* "As if it would be so easy. If I hadn't said it before, I'll say it again. Thank you for bringing back the stolen money." "My pleasure." With the conversation over, Jessica and my character continued their walk towards the tax collectors' office in relative silence while I thought about how to deal with the accountant idiots and get myself some more achievements or maybe even level up my character. On our arrival, I noted that the office looked more like a grandiose manor than anything else. When we entered, Jessica immediately traveled towards one of the side booths that was behind some iron bars. "Here to pay for the Charming Fairy Inn," Jessica stated as she presented the bag of coins at the counter and waited with no expression on her face. "Ah yes. Your little inn. I could always lower your rates if you let me have some fun with you or a few of your friends," the slimy, pale-faced accountant said as he leered at Jessicas' figure and then turned to look at my character, "Or you could offer me to have her for a night or three and you would only pay half the amount." "As I said before, I am here to pay the taxes owed," Jessica said with a slightly strained tone as she struggled to keep her hands from slapping the man across from her. "Are you sure? Maybe your silent friend could speak for herself?" said the accountant with narrowed eyes as he tried to inimidate Jessica, but only came off as desperate for some bedroom action. "I am sure. And Gozen can speak for herself, but she is on duty right now as my bodyguard after I was nearly robbed. You wouldn't happen to know why three, supposedly jailed robbers somehow escaped from prison and decided to attack me specifically, would you?" Jessica responded with an even more strained tone of voice as she leaned on the counter and began to tug on her dress in order to show her assets. "Are you accusing an upstanding member of the Royal Treasury of illegal activity," said the accountant with a somewhat distracted voice as he was a little busy staring at Jessica. Or rather her cleavage. "Why of course not. I just wanted to make sure that poor maidens as myself would never be violated by such thugs," she said as she tugged on her dress a bit more, showing even more cleavage. *gulp* "W-well, you see. There have been r-rumors." "Yes," came the seductive reply. "I-I can't say for c-certain, b-but there are some who say that the three Grey Fools were p-pardoned by a P-Palantine of the C-Court," whispered the accountant as he no longer even tried to restrain himself and openly stared at the display of flesh before him. "Thank you so much. Now, won't you consider lowering the rates? Maybe to the original amount of a third" Jessica said as she laid it on really thick. At that last part about rates, the accountant snapped out of his stupor. "I'm sorry miss, but I can only accept what is the proper payment as I am an upstanding citizen of Tristan after all," he stated in an arrogant tone as he continued to sneak peeks at Jessica. *sigh* "Very well. I guess I will never find it in my heart to ask you when you get off work so that I can relieve you of some of your problems," she regretfully said as she turned to the side with both of her hands on her face and blushing like an innocent girl. *GULP* "W-well. I suppose paying only a third would be alright. But only ifyoumeetmetwohourslater," he rushed as he hurriedly filled out the paperwork and put away only a third of the coins and returned the rest at the implied offer of Jessica. "Well then, I will meet you later big boy," Jessica teased as she let one of her hands gently stroke the mans' face. As we left the treasury office, I could not help but ask, "Are you really going to, you know, let him have his way with you?" *snort* "Of course not. I have standards after all and he is one of the newer workers there who hasn't learned the ways of the city girls. Unfortunately, when he finds out, he might give some trouble to the inn," she ended with a worried frown. "I see. Well, let's get you back to your inn and safely away from this place," I said as I began to form some plans for dealing with this problem and finishing this quest. The trip back to the Charming Fairy Inn was uneventful and Jessica made my character promise to visit sometime with offers of discoutned drinks and food. After that, I had Setsuna move into one of the abandoned alleyways and change her costume into Grenth's Regalia. Unlike other armors, this costume had a full body armor and helmet that completely concealed the character. Perfect for my plans. Once in the costume, I decided to leave on a different route for the treasury office and deal out some pain to those fools. "Maybe I should try this out, Batman style or something similar," I cackled as I activated a few of the stances from the Warrior class and used the One with the Shadows enhancements to blend in with the shadows around the buildings as I traveled towards the Royal Treasury building as the sun had begun to set and provided multiple routes that did not encounter any light. On my arrival, my navigator arrow pointed out the idiot who thought that he was actually going to get some. "Damn it! I knew I should have charged that whore the same amount! Next time, you and your girls will pay with your bodies!" "I don't think so," I said with a gravelly voice. "Wha-," was all he got out as I hit him with a paralysis variant of the Shadow Step. Another feature that had been added as part of One with the Shadows had been the ability to transport one person with me as I used Shadow Step and I did so to one of the abandoned buildings that I had spotted on my first time through the capital. The room I had in mind was about two floors beneath the surface of the building and appeared to have been one of those old wineries that had been abandoned. "You, you can't do this. Do you know who I am?" came the false bravado of the man who was clearly trembling at the knees once he had regained control of his body. My character stood before him, unmoving at about four meters away. "If you don't let me go now, a dozen knights of the Manticore Order will burst through that door and rescue me because I am a very important p-person," he continued with a trembling voice. "...." came my response. "TALK, DAMN IT!" he shouted desperately as he began to sweat on his forehead. "I do not expect you to talk, Mr. Fool. I expect you to die," while I ordered my character to begin a slow walk towards the man. He backed away with wide eyes as his hands began to shake, "Stay back. I'm ordering you to stay b-back." "Do you hear the voices too," as I quoted the Chaos Marines from the Dawn of War series and ordered Setsuna to stop. "W-what?!" "They tell me MAIM KILL BURN, MAIM KILL BURN." "Just st-stop! I will confe-confess it all! I d-didn't mean to steal. I-I-I was just following or-orders because C-Count M-M-M-Mott said that we would be p-punished if we didn't follow his lead. H-Here. This is the note with his signature. Take it," he threw the note at my person as he held up his hands in surrender and got down on his knees, "Please, by the Founder. Mercy. I'm innocent!" "There is no such thing as a plea of innocence in my court. A plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time. Guilty," I said in the coldest manner possible as I quoted Inquisitor Karamazov while I stored away the note into my inventory. "What?! HEEEELLLPPP-gah!" His cry for aid had been cut short as I pulled out a warhammer and bashed his head like the whack-a-mole game, but with bloodier results. "YEESSS! Finally got myself to level 22 now. Guess that last quest gave a lot of XP. Now, let's see what you have in your inventory in what's left of your body. Nice blood physics by the way." And inside his inventory I found some other incriminating, physical evidence of orders to take bribes, skim off some of the money for himself, and more signed documents from the person known as Count Mott. "Now, I should go see Ludwig and see if he knows who Herwald is and the relation to Osmond," I said to myself as I activated One with the Shadows and, once arriving at the edge of the capital, changed Setsuna's costume back into the Shining Blade uniform. ------ Any feedback is welcome, especially the helpful kind! Authors' Note: This is a bit longer than the usual, but I am hoping that I can jumpstart the interest of Reconquista, or at least parts of Reconquista, in the strange happenings in the capital and how the OTL is going to change drastically from here on out. There will still be major events like the invasion from Albion and the invasion into Albion, but a lot of the timetable is now shifting with butterfly wings flapping around like crazy now. ZnT/Guild Wars Crossover with PC-Controlled Assassin.
Hmmm... I don't what it is, but I think the 'quoting the Chaos Space Marine' section doesn't really fit... or maybe it's too abrupt or creepy, I don't know.
Y'know, there are two ways to look at this chapter. As a player, it's just a somewhat amusing quest completion. As a person, though, it's... kinda terrifying. When you behave like you're playing a game you end up being kind of a sociopath. Especially when you have Setsuna's Player's love for references. Nice Bond reference, btw.
Yes it did come off as horrifying to me when I thought about just how frightened the poor accountant was when combined with the armor Setsuna was wearing, known as Grenth's Regalia, the female version to the left: And thank you for continuing to read. Just trying to show how....shall we say, the player interacts by using a lot of references to games, pop culture, and so on, especially in combat or situations where violence is going to happen. If it really is jarring, then I might go back and change it. Wardes will definitely be a pain in the butt as Setsuna and the player will have to play hot potato when certain events start to happen that force drastic actions. Might be something like that or some other bs excuse that can be made up on the fly if Wardes and whatever passes for law enforcement connects the dots. But don't expect too many resources being dedicated to this cause after all, when the 'victim' was only a commoner. So, who knows? Good catch on the lover part as he specifically said only about Tristain citizens and all that. I actually didn't think about Giovanni the pokemon master when I pulled that name from the list of Renaissance era Italian names. But good catch there. I might come up with a side story sooner or later. As for Louise, she might come up later on. Thanks for the input. She does come off as weird/insane and might lead to some of the characters thinking it might be a reason why Setsuna is not the heir to the throne because she is not Princess material and might have been a cast off, left to fend for herself, as the cause for her being raised by the Uncle Togo rather than residing inside the Canthan capital itself. Anyway, thanks for reading. Definitely play damage control as there will be fallout, but not as fast as some may think because this was only a commoner boy. Then again, this is Captain Wardes who does have a measure of influence and might speed up any investigation, when he is not too busy when reports of mysterious disappearances start to pop up at the hands of a strange, black armored warrior. That is the most likely bs reasoning she will use when/if confronted by this issue. The player will definitely be affected once there is the realization that this is not just a game. Could be. After all, the continent of Halkeginia have nobles who either abuse their power or genuinely believe in protecting the commoners as the Valliere family is one notable example. For the corrupt ones, only need to look at Count Mott who shall be dealt with in Setsuna's brand of justice. This. Pretty much this. If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that you are reading my mind. The fallout will really hit the player hard when it happens. It will. Most likely after the massacre, I mean, the battle at Saxe-Gotha. Rumor mill is generally considered to be the only force faster than the speed of light. Hope you enjoy what has been written so far. Oh he knows the title, 'Clumsy Bald Badass', but I did not capitalize it in order to keep with the flow of the player thinking rather than emphasizing the title. But, if it really does not stand out enough, then I can always change it and capitalize that part. As for the Kirche scene, I had intended to show that she is interested in flirting a little with some Tristain mage who actually has some kind of backbone, when compared to the other boys at the Academy. But, again, if it does not fit, I can always re-work that scene.
Been thinking for a while now... while we'd all like to see the moment when the realization that this isn't just a game dawns, I wonder how that would happen in a convincing manner, given that there's really no way to ascertain the "realism" of the ZnT setting behind the screen?
Thats a good point. The biggest problem is that as long as Setsuna is a character, and not a person, the player has no reason to expect that everyone in the game are in fact real people. On the top of my head i can think three ways that the player learns about the realism of the game. 1. is my .Hack idea from earlier, with the player taking control of Setsuna as a real person. 2. The Player can start to experence dreams of the game, were he plays from Setsuna's POV. At first he thinks that he has simply been playing to long and takes a break, but as time goes on the the dreams start to get more "real", pain and other emotions can be felt, the player starts to get creeped out until finally the player has a realization. 3. Zelretch comes out of nowhere and starts to troll HecateGW (The troller could also be Yukari) A wizard did it
