Reforge

>I was very hungry!

>Yell rainbow backwards

>I was very hungry!

You deliver a scathing retort!


Wait.
???: AAAGGH!


???: WH- WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?
Oh good you forgot about his endless supply of knives. You, uh, might have some rocks now but you'd rather not get in another fight. This guy looks freaked out enough to do something really rash. Or maybe just run away.

What do you do?

>Throw the rocks at the guy and then run away like King Arthur

>Throw the rocks at the guy and then run away like King Arthur

???: HEY! DON'T YOU RUN AW-
???: Er
???: NEXT TIME I SEE YOU YOU'RE DEAD, FUCKER!!!
???: ...
???: Aw hell I don't have time for this. Least I got this light now.





Elsewhere under the city-

you (the other guy), are about to get some murderbug to the face when






You roll to your feet, the irate insect now behind you.
You don't
You aren't sure, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Anyway, looks like this guy's back, and now it's between you and your only weapon/precious companion in this cold (hot actually) cruel world!

You feel like someone is trying to turn your head inside out.
What do you do?

You see the bug's about to jump again and take a step back on instinct.


But rather than finding the floor your foot just sort of goes... down?


And you’re drifting off, untethered, from somewhere to somewhere else, and something, maybe the fact it feels like your brain is making an earnest effort to physically run away, tells you that this is not a somewhere where the trip’ll be survivable, and


suddenly you’re back inside, in gravity, falling backwards, and you throw out your other foot, get spun around, slam against the pipe.

You look around, breathing heavily, and find yourself just a ways off from where you just were when whatever the fuck that was happened again.

You should, uh, probably try and process that later when there’s no scary wildlife.


Then you spot that ladder to your right- you remember that was one of the two ways forward you were considering, the less sure one. You suppose that's still an option and you could just sort of go down? But in doing so, you’d abandon your stalwart companion, your one anchor in the turbulent seas of life! Won’t you stand and fight rather than run like a coward!?

On the other hand, y'know. This is getting weird and you have a headache and you mean its a nice wrench and all but you don’t really want to deal with this.

SpoilerShow

Alright so I've decided to sort of try going forward with the grating for now! Let me know how it looks, it's no trouble to change it back!

> It's better being a coward than a rotting corpse, now climb the ladder to safety and comfort!

> It's better being a coward than a rotting corpse, now climb the ladder to safety and comfort!

You’ll run while it holds off the beast… farewell………. old friend……………………








You book it to the door and it seems like you’ve given the bug the slip! Or it. Like. Didn’t care to chase you further. Either way! Victory!


Aww beans. You can hear voices coming from above!

You uh haven’t exactly had good luck meeting people in this place that one guy just tried to kill you or something before. So maybe you should just like. Try to get the drop on these guys? Try to sneak past? Or...
Too bad you don’t have a weapon now.

What do you do?

You get a little closer to eavesdrop.
You still can't quite make out the words but... Yeah. Yeah you recognize this. There's a weird, strained sound to that voice that sounds just like the guard who tried to do a murder on your body before. So that's. Great. You think you can hear... maybe three people? Or maybe it's way more than that but no more than three ever speak at the same time. Huh.

It's as you creep closer to make out their words that you reach a hand out to some nearby debris-

the clattering of metal tears through the silence! And oh okay you just knocked something over. Maybe... maybe they didn't hear that. It's cool. You're cool.

haha no they totally did! Uhhhhh what do you do now!?

--------------
Psst. Hey. You know what time it is? IT'S the day after VALENTIMES!!!

SpoilerShow

featuring two characters who aren't gonna show up til the next scene with Donna,
OH WELL

Uh, uh, hi guys! Sup. There's this guy with green sleeves I'm supposed to be following, have you seen them?

oh jeez please don't kill me

(Assomeone who jut noticed this advenure not long ago and cdidn't follow it when it had actual archive to read, jsut to check, the lady with a ponny tail and a cape is Eve, right ?
Was her speech being this weirdly garbled, a regular thing ? Because the summary in the first page mentioned nothing of the sort and while I though it might be jsut censorshp to rude words, the way the knife guy reacted (and herself did have a 'wait' reaction) seemed to indicate it wasn't nomal. But since the pointofview didn't linger to her own reaction, not sure.)

@smuchmuch I think the garbled speech is from the good decision that is eating static. She didn't talk like that before, and yes, her name is Eve. Also, the entire archive is up on mspfa.

Sorry I didn't get to this earlier! I suppose I'm just confirming that Smurfton was right about all that stuff, including that the speech issues are because of taking a big ol bite out of the static; I'm hoping to make this more clear in later bits of this chapter.

Thanks for reading!

become one with the rubble
if that doesnt work, ask these nice people if they could hand you the wrench you left up there

Uh, uh, hi guys! Sup. There's this guy with green sleeves I'm supposed to be following, have you seen them?

oh jeez please don't kill me

You call out to the group. You can't judge people by their spooky voices- maybe they can point you in the right direction!


The instant you call out you hear motion from above.




WELL, that didn't look... good? For bones? But they get right up and kind of. Settle themselves over there and wobble a little while venting that red version of your blue stuff. So that's. Unsettling.

You mean... they didn't actually give you directions and they're spooking you real bad and ARE brandishing a sword. Plus only one of them showed up? But they didn't attack you either so there's that.

This whole situation has you pretty on edge you gotta say!
What do you do now?

become one with the rubble
if that doesnt work, ask these nice people if they could hand you the wrench you left up there

You're not sure whether they've noticed you? They've put the sword down now, they're just standing there. But you try and sink back into the really smooth rubble or whatever as much as you can which isn’t actually that much because you’re basically flat against the wall already.


THAT'S WEIRD RIGHT
In a moment of shock you find yourself somehow still moving backwards despite being pressed against the wall.


There’s a very unpleasant moment where you think you’re occupying the same space as the rock and walls before you lurch back into(?) the room(???). You have a scream about it.
Okay! Just gonna focus real hard on not going anywhere! Staying right here! Yep!


WOAH SHIT WHAT


You fall and for a second you expect to feel, uh, whatever getting stabbed and dying feels like. But you just feel less fatal things like having fallen onto some really rough rocks. The guard(?????????) is just staying there with their sword kind of scraping against the wall a little.

Anyway this is cool and all but you’d uhhhhhhh like to fucking leave.
The ladder’s right there so you could just make a run for it but then again you’re worried about setting the guard off or however you describe this and getting a sword through the back. You... think you could make it? That ladder makes you nervous though.

But maybe instead you could do that thing you did before and kind of make some water pull you up somehow. That’d get you right out faster and without moving past the guard but you don't want to tire yourself out like before. You think… yeah. You think you’re getting a sense for this stuff. You reckon you could do your water nonsense maybe… two more times before exhausting yourself. Is this worth using it now?

On the other twitchy, be-gloved hand though, the guard was… talking you guess? And might start up again. It’s a long shot but if you could negotiate your way out of this that would probably be the best way to for sure not get attacked. If it's actually possible that is and attracting their attention in any way won't get you a sort of a cool new sword accessory for your personal torso.

SpoilerShow

If anyone'd care to weigh in, are the panels too dark? I never feel sure about that and I'd love some feedback on it.

Also, I am Going to Be Honest, I haven't remotely come up with good guidelines for the limitations of magic use rates and am very much making this up on the fly based on equally made-up-on-the-fly decisions from ch. 2. LET'S GO

Thanks for reading!

A bit dark for my phone, can still tell what's going on.

Use the water. Let's not go through the ladder.

Use the water. Let's not go through the ladder.

You get an aim as far up the passage as you can manage while moving as little as possible. They don’t seem to notice. Or move.


whoosh!


wHY is there a pipe here? It’s just right in the way! Your ribs are in inCREDible pain!
The hollow sound of the collision reverberates through the room.


Immediately, the sound of frantic movement comes from below. Also you knock a bunch of stuff over the edge you guess but that’s the least of your problems!


Are they going to come back up here? You might have only a few seconds to do something!

Should you lay some kind of ambush? Find some way to stop them from getting up or from hurting you? Fighting would be risky though, especially without a weapon.

Or maybe you just run for it with your head start- it looks like the tunnel continues past some kind of glowing chasm. You might find a better position or escape it that way... but you think... that's just a pipe laid over the presumably magma-filled gap? That seems just a lil unsafe! And if it catches up with you while you're on it... um. That'd be bad probably.

There's always more blue stuff you suppose? But you still have that feeling that using it again will really wear you out.

What do you do?

SpoilerShow

A bit dark for my phone, can still tell what's going on.

Alright, thanks! I tried to make this one a lil brighter but the scene also moved to the part of the area I'd already established as more shadowed so I think this update is even darker overall :|
It's no trouble to edit these if they're too murky, just lmk!

Aaah! Whatever you’ll just keep moving.

Although, on closer inspection, it seems like this pipe isn’t held down by anything except for like, some small piles of dirt?


GUESS YOU’RE GOING ANYWAY THOUGH




THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA HOLY SHIT!
Looks like the guard’s totally off balance though! You can probably maybe capitalize on this while trying to stay on top of this stupid roll-y bridge!

Okay. Capitalization time! Um. You could rush them maybe and just sorta knock them off into the presumable magma below? But that could be dangerous on such uneven footing plus you'd be entering the stab radius.

Unless you don’t have to go over there yourself to knock them down… you could hit them with your water dealie, maybe, or. Bean them with something you're carrying? You got a tiny pillow… which is PROBABLY too light. You think. Got, uhhhhhhh like the hilt of a sword but with a kind of shiny gem where the blade should be? And this small colorful rug or something. The threads kind of vibrate a little?

Yeah you have no idea what this stuff is or if it's useful its just the last of the junk you grabbed from that temple you woke up in that you haven't already lost. Now you're thinking about them you guess it's possible one or both could help you somehow? But it seems pretty dang risky to reexamine mysterious artifacts or whatever when some kind of scuttling murderous armor guy is like. Right there.

You think you can end this now if you act fast! But you’ll either be putting yourself in physical danger, exhausting yourself and your magic, or losing something potentially valuable...

What’ll it be?

Keep rolling until the pipe (hopefully) falls or at least it's about to jerk to a stop, then jump for the ledge. Hopefully they'll fall. Use blue stuff to recover if necessary.

Keep rolling until the pipe (hopefully) falls or at least it's about to jerk to a stop, then jump for the ledge. Hopefully they'll fall. Use blue stuff to recover if necessary.

You roll that pipe right off that ledge and everything plummets into the chasm.


But you catch yourself on something in the other tunnel!
And, once again, immediately crash harder than that guy into the fiery grave you presumably sent them to. You need a dang nap now.






you're leaving


Here you gooooooh no not this shit again.

Y’know, falling into this weird. Uhhhh. Space? Used to hurt a lot more just kind of mentally like to experience and you’re not sure if it’s a good thing that you’re maybe acclimating or if you’re just falling apart because that’s kind of what it feels like to be here. Coming unraveled. What you’re sure is NOT a good thing though is that the place you come from is getting way further away than before!

But just as you’re about to freak out about that something else catches your eye. It’s the first time you’ve seen anything out here other than the mind bending STUFF that is whatever you call what you’ve fallen out of.


But there's something else now, so distant you can barely make it out even if you're pretty sure this place doesn't have distance in space, exactly. And then you remember. You remember and you know, you just know, that this is from before, that you were somewhere before you woke up in that temple in the woods and in that place, in that time, you knew a face.

It doesn’t really feel like a revelation. It’s just so natural and obvious to know that face that, more than any other, is seared into your memory.

Who are they to you? Why could you never, ever forget them?

And, just as quickly, it’s gone.

Great! Good! You’re glad!

You hadn’t- you mean, it’s not like you’d been angsting over the no memories exactly but- that doesn’t mean that this isn’t- you just- it’s like when a word is just on the tip of your tongue except it’s the most important person in the world to you, full stop and you

just

CAN’T

REMEMBER

Fucking excellent! Guess you’ll just hang out here in the fucking void still knowing nothing until you utterly disassociate or whatever’s happening to you! SOUNDS DANDY!


??????: Hey!


??????: Hey you!
Oh. It’s that guy.
??????: Yeah, you! You’re gonna die- I mean, not exactly but that’s not important- if you stay out there!
??????: We’re gonna reel you in!


??????: Don’t worry too much about this!
??????: Okay! Bring him in!


There is a crash, and an apology.

Pastwhile,

Donna (You!) is (are) waiting on top of Teneogris’s outermost wall. The agents from Four Corners, apparently a pair of adventurers, are just outside your gate, far below. You came straight here from your vizier’s chambers to apprehend them for their blatant involvement in the conspiracy that’s put yourself and Aeron in danger, destroyed your home, and could wreak untold damage in your lands in the very near future. These people… killed your father. You will make them pay.

So how are you going to do this? They’ve come openly, allegedly seeking audience with your vizier. They probably think you don’t know the truth, and that’s assuming they even think you’re alive and didn’t plan for you to die in the initial summoning which of course they absolutely did, obviously.

Should you have them arrested on the spot as a show of force, then interrogate them immediately? That would at the very least be satisfying. Or should you welcome them openly and play along, seeing how they act when they think they’re undiscovered and perhaps getting a better sense of what their plan is, at the risk of giving them a chance to further it?

Also, and this sounds silly, you know, you’re objectively the most beautiful and intimidating person in the world, but should you make a direct appearance? When you concluded your meeting you’d planned on it, but, frankly, running for your life through the forest is not clean work and you haven’t had a chance to tidy up.

Will you strike now or lure them in? Will you show yourself or work from the shadows? And is there a way to make some time in all this to get a gods damn wash and change of clothes?

A/NShow

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE

Try waving your artifact around and wishing you were actually clean, then go down and confront them.

.>Firsthave a prty of guards greet (and suround) them see how they presnt themselves.

>Have your knight bring you a clean coat and a bassin of water t clean your face and arms. Doesn't have to be the fanciest but just good enough and big enough to cover most of the ripped and stained clothes


>Viezer: Prepare to do your oh so delicate balancing act job of smoothing things ove should it be needed without overstepping the firsborn authority

Try waving your artifact around and wishing you were actually clean, then go down and confront them.

You vaguely wield the jar while wishing you were clean and... what were you doing again? Hey- it looks like the jar is making those rings again. Does that mean that it's hiding something or whatever it does? You tell it to deactivate it and-

SpoilerShow

Oh, right! You had used it to hide the stains and rips. Hmm. It appears that if you make something 'hidden' with the jar, you can't perceive it either. And given that 'hiding' the damage was how it reacted to 'make me clean', you're starting to get the sense that however this thing works, it can't make actual, permanent changes to reality. Maybe there's a way around these limitations, but frankly you haven't the faintest clue of how this thing works and yes, you are concerned about that.

.>Firsthave a prty of guards greet (and suround) them see how they presnt themselves.

You send a group of guards out to meet with Four Corners and ask them their business here- while making it very clear who holds the power in the exchange.

??????: ...looks like they're spooked.
????: Perhaps. I'll admit that this response is perhaps a bit much, but there are innumerable, perfectly legitimate reasons for them to be wary.
????: Well, no need to be standoffish-
????: Providence upon you, good fellows! I shall of course answer where I may regarding our purpose in coming to your, may I say, magnificent Teneogris...

>Have your knight bring you a clean coat and a bassin of water t clean your face and arms. Doesn't have to be the fanciest but just good enough and big enough to cover most of the ripped and stained clothes
>Viezer: Prepare to do your oh so delicate balancing act job of smoothing things ove should it be needed without overstepping the firsborn authority

You get as presentable as you can while you wait to hear back from the retinue you sent out. The pair say they're here seeking information about the summoning, and to 'offer their services' if need be. Sounds like they're aiming to do something inside your city, possibly hinging on meeting with your Vizier since they're specifically seeking audience with them. You're going to head on down and confront them yourself- but, unfortunately, it looks like you gave your aforementioned advisor time to catch up with you.

Vizier: Firstborn! Please! I beg of you to hold for just a moment!
This is bad. If you snub them, you might meet more resistance later. But if you quail or get turned away now? You’ll have established first thing after assuming control here that you can be second-guessed, that you'll do foolish things, that they can or even must control and influence you.
What will you do? Assert your dominance and carry on? Or weaken your authority to ease your relationship?