/monster/ - The Last Bastion of Romance

>>119555

Danke, kamerad. I'll bear this is mind!

HOLY SHIT YOU'RE ALIVE

The next update is ready, but I just figured I'd wait and see if the move will take place on xmas. If it doesn't, I'll just go ahead and continue guys. Merry Christmas!

Have a snek for your wait.

>>121241

Frohe Weihnachten, Herr Wreichfag

It goes without saying that some interrogation is in order, but you're pretty sure that the owl call was a signal of some sort, meaning that there's likely more mamono nearby. The campsite is compromised, but blindly fleeing might just alert the elf's companions of your location. Telling your party to pack up their belongings, you warily watch the forest for any signs of movement as you concoct a plan.

Finished with their preparations, your party gathers around you one by one, watching you expectantly. Your options are limited, but at least it makes deciding easy. Since this part of the forest is slightly more sparse, Tabitha might possibly be able to spot something from the sky. You tell Samuel and Remi to wait and keep the prisoner quiet, while you and Tabitha go see if the elf has any companions nearby, you from the ground and her from the air.

Tabitha scrabbles to the top of one of the larger boulders and takes off with a leap and some laborious flapping. It's louder than you expected, but it's a bit late to reconsider the aerial reconnaissance now. Taking a last look at the rest of your party, you see that Remi is looking on with concern as Samuel draws his dagger while whispering something into the elf's ear, who desperately shakes her head in response to whatever he's saying. Oh well, she'll be fine… probably.

Deciding to head in the direction that your prisoner came from, you move in bursts. Sprinting from one piece of cover to the next, you take your time in examining your surroundings for anything suspicious before moving on. The trail she left was faint, and you're once again grateful for the night visions provided by your mask. There's no way you could've found tracks otherwise.

Your patience soon pays off. Crouched in the shadow of a hollow in the ground to the side of a clearing, you snap your head around, trying to track a sound that you're not even sure you heard. A flicker among the shadows catches your attention and as you watch, five elves slink out from among the trees. You're impressed despite yourself; even by your standards, these girls are good at stealth.

Creeping from cover, all the elves stop with their eyes trained on the sky. Wondering what's caught their attention, you take a peek for yourself and wince. The gentle light of the moon is enough to clearly illuminate Tabitha, who is flying in wide circles above your camp. As you watch, she begins to curve towards to your position, which causes the elves to hunker down in the edge of the clearing to avoid detection.

With no wind to cover the sound, you can faintly hear the beating of Tabitha's wings, which might be what tipped off the elf party. They seem to be focused on her, which gives you a moment to more or less act freely. The way things stand, you could run back to the camp and try to sneak away, though you don't know if there might be even more elves nearby and these ones now seem to be on their guard. The only other option that immediately comes to mind is attacking them, but you doubt you could take them all quietly. Raking your brain, you try to think of any better options (your time to shine, meine Kameraden! How should we make our masterful escape?)

>>121241

Cute~

>>122191

I'll uh, I'll need votes on this before we do it. As I've promised, I'll do whatever popular decision demands. That said, I'm not going to magically give us a way out if decisions turn out bad; imprisonment and death are very real threats.

>>122523

Oh wait, you probably meant that we should do this after KOing the elves. My bad.

>>123259

Whoops, I completely forgot that we had a compass! Remembering the general direction of companions would fall under sense of direction, which can be tricky in forests, but that's a non-issue now it seems… on to the next part, then!

>>123261

>mfw I save the day

>>125614

I salute thee, you are doing Gott's work

>>129854

>>128864

I am still alive, Kameraden. Due to juggling workloads, I haven't really had time to update… but I'm finally writing one now. Expect it either today or tomorrow.

Wait a second… why not just use your compass? It's odd that you forgot about it in the first place, seeing as how it's a basic tool for light-infantry advance units such as yourself… oh well, no point pondering it! Having resolved your predicament, you cheerfully pull out the compass and begin to navigate your way back to where you arranged to meet with your group.

Since this is unfamiliar territory, and since you know your party must be in the southeast of you somewhere, you decide that the simplest course of action would be to head south until you encounter the edge of the forest, then head east until you find your party… assuming that everything has gone as planned.

It only takes a couple of hours before the forest begins to slightly thin, and you soon find the edge, clearly marked by stumps and freshly felled trees running along the border of the forest. Heading east, you follow the tree line for about fifteen minutes before stopping. According to your estimations, your group should be somewhere nearby.

Where could they be though? You're glad that they didn't set up a campfire or anything, but it might make finding them a pain in the arsch. Keeping to the shadows, you search for a few minutes before you detect the beating of wings in the air. Hunkering down in the shadow offered by a tree, you keep a hopeful eye on the sky and see a familiar shape swoop overhead.

You call out to Tabitha, but she keeps going. Deciding to take a chance, you yell to get her attention. It works, and she reverses her direction in midair, flapping frantically, and scans the forest floor before spotting you. Landing beside you, she happily throws herself on you in a hug before she seems to realize what she's doing and snatches her arms back. Gasping for breath, she takes a moment to calm her breathing before offering to lead you to the rest of the party, which you naturally accept.

She leads you deeper into the forest and further to the east, only occasionally pausing to fly up above the treetops and get her bearings. She makes small talk along the way, detailing their run through the forest and how she'd been afraid they wouldn't be able to find you again. In a matter of minutes, you find yourself once again united with your group.

They all look relieved to see you (except the prisoner, who generally just seems indignant) and Samuel nudges the elf with a foot before looking to you. "Sir, wotcher wanna do with this 'un? I'm guessin' that the bands we seen patrollin' around are searchin' parties, an' I'd wager me boots that it'll be some time 'fore they get back… we could question 'er now 'n be done with it if ye'd like."

Sorry about the wait guys, but now it's up to you… do we question the prisoner now or later? It's already been established that questioning will be done in bad-cop good-cop style, but any additional ideas/details are always welcome.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, you shake your head and tell everybody to keep going. According to your map, you simply need to continue south to reach Rymgrand. Though you make sure to give the village a wide berth, you still note with a sense of relief that it seems to be alright, or at least it isn't being razed.

Carrying the prisoner quickly proves to be too tiresome for even you and Tabitha, and Samuel suggests that she be allowed to trot after the group with a rope (from her own pack) tied around her neck like a leash. The elf was not initially pleased by this development, but quickly learns to keep up after Samuel shows that he'll happily keep pulling the rope at his own pace if she slows down.

Since you're travelling across plains, even Samuel is able to make good time despite the darkness of the night. Hours pass, and during that time you decide to instruct your party on some of the duties and expectations that come with becoming members of the Neu Wermacht. Tabitha is mostly curious about why the Neu Wermacht does things the way it does and its organization, while Samuel and Remi are fascinated by the history of the Neu Wermacht (and by extension, the Neu Reich).

By the time dawn begins to break, you've passed the village and are travelling along the edge of a large lake located a small distance from the road heading south, away from the village. You decided against travelling along the road in case of more patrols, but according to Tabitha you'll soon be reaching hill country, where there'd be dangerously little cover to rely on.

You notice that your party is starting to look pretty exhausted, especially Remi and Samuel. Remi doesn't seem to be used to travelling, and Samuel looks like he still needs some rest to recover from the treatment he received at the hands of his captors. Besides, you'd like to question your prisoner sooner rather than later.

Apparently thinking the same thing, Tabitha pulls you aside and mentions that she knows a small tribe of sahuagin that live in a part of the lake that isn't too far away. She'd been sent to speak with them on behalf of the village a couple of times, and tells you that they're peaceful enough, despite being xenophobic and having some odd customs.

While not resting will eventually result in your party becoming exhausted, which will slow your progress and make them less effective in a fight, setting up camp this close to the road might be dangerous and there's no telling whether or not the sahuagin can be trusted if you decide to seek them out… especially with a dark elf prisoner in tow. What should you do?

Following a brief internal debate on whether or not you should take a chance with the sahuagin, you decide to move on, after questioning the dark elf prisoner. Lugging her around would only cost you precious time and resources, so you might as well get this out of the way. Heading back to the group with Tabitha, you tell everyone to rest for a little bit before you continue moving, and everybody seems relieved to have the break.

After casually kicking a few ideas around in your head while you were travelling, you had decided upon trying something along the lines of "good cop bad cop" in order to question the prisoner. It'd probably work and besides… you've always secretly wanted to try doing it. If all else fails, you still have more "advanced" interrogation techniques in your repertoire.

Gesturing to Samuel, you pull him aside and explain your plan to him. There's no one you can think of who's more suited to the role of "bad cop" for interrogating a mamono, and as you explain what you have in mind, a nasty grin spreads across his rough face. "Oho, a little "good guard bad guard"? A classic sir, leave it ta' me."

Calmly walking over to the dark elf with Samuel in tow, you squat down and look her in the eye. She glares back defiantly, before her glare is replaced with a wary look as you gently remove her gag. Free of the gag, she licks her chapped lips and glances at the lake. "Hey, so how about letting me have a drink of water? Not like it'd hurt, right?" You tell her that you'll let her have some as soon as she answers a couple questions, and the ingratiating smile that had found its way onto her face turns into a pensive frown.

"Depends on the questions. What do you want to know?" Settling into a more comfortable position, you list off your main questions. How many people are looking for you? What routes are they using? How long are they going to search? What type of forces could you likely encounter? How did enemy forces mobilize on such short notice? Why does Ennsyl want alps?

Nibbling her lip as she considers, the prisoner appears to be deep in thought before she slowly responds. "… what guarantee do I have that you won't just off me as soon as you get the answers you want? None of you seem to have any love for dark elves, so I'd like some kind of gesture of goodwill. How about untying me?" You give her your word that you won't kill her if she answers your questions, but say that you can't untie her. She sneers "well then it looks like we're at an impasse, I'm not telling you fuck all until I feel reasonably sure that you won't murder me, and good luck making me talk, freecock."

Stepping away with a sigh, you lean against a nearby tree and cross your arms, silently watching. Samuel slowly walks up to her, looming over her prone figure as he gives her a quiet stare. His posture is relaxed, and though he's slightly frowning, his expression seems expectant rather than angry. To your average observer, he'd look relaxed. To you, however, he looks like a man on the verge of exploding into violence.

This seems to be lost upon the dark elf, who merely returns his look with a confident stare. "Is this supposed to make me crack? Come on, don't pull that "good slaver bad slaver" crap on me, I practically invented it. So what if you killed a couple of us, huh? For each of us you kill, ten more will come an-"

She is interrupted mid-sentence by Samuel's boot slamming into her liver. Eyes wide with shock, a pained wheeze escapes her lips. With a snarl, Samuel grabs the dark elf by the collar of her vest and drags her to the lake's edge. He plunges her head into the water, holding it under until he pulls her out long enough to catch her breath before delivering a couple kicks to her kidneys. "'Ow's this for a drink o' water?!" he growls.

Gasping in pain and shock, she recovers long enough to hoarsely scream "please, make him stop!" to which you calmly respond "I am sorry, but zat does not sound like zee information I need." Samuel gives the dark elf another dunking session before wrenching her head around to look into his eyes. "Ye may think yer numbers are somethin' to gawp at, but 'ere's the thing: even if there're ten more knife-ears to replace ye, it doesn't change the fact that ye'd be dead."

He plunges her face back into the water, holding her under even longer this time, before pulling her out and letting her flop back onto land. Drawing his dagger as she coughs, he places its razor edge against the base of her ear, making her freeze as he speaks, his voice a menacing rumble. "Ye know… now that I take a closer look at ye, I suppose ye'd look almost 'uman if I trimmed yer ears a bit, into the right shape an' all."

Unable to take any more, she begins sobbing and begging him to stop, saying that she'll talk. You order Samuel to let her go and walk over, crouching next to the terrified elf. "Samuel, let us not go overboard, ja? She is just being loyal to her kountry, after all." Looking to her, you comfortingly pat her head "alzough zis pain would stop if you just answered some questions…" The dark elf begins babbling a mix of assurances that she'll talk and answers to your questions, though she's too panicked for you to really understand her.

As you begin to soothe her, Samuel leans forward to whisper in your "ear" (even though your helmet is covering it). "Beggin' yer pardon sir, but should we let 'er live after this? They're probably still muckin' about in the woods near the wall looking for us, but if this'n gets back to 'em, well there goes what advantage we got." Hrm, he does have a point… but is killing really necessary? Besides, you did promise to let her live if she talked.

Whatever you guys decide, I'd like to point out that this is a prime opportunity to ask her any other questions you might want answered.

>>140339

Great job anon, I'm looking forward to seeing more

>>140395

Here you go komrade

It's been 20 days since last update

Looking to Samuel, you shake your head slightly. He gives a slight grimace, but nods respectfully and steps back. Turning your attention back to the dark elf, she shrinks away from you, switching her attention between you and Samuel. "Y-you promised to spare me if I talked, right?" she sniffles. However she visibly calms as you reassure her that you're a man of your word.

From what she tells you, a good portion of the troops that Ennsyl stationed near the Wall were sent to comb the entirety of their territory along its border. Apparently news like a man with strange equipment and/or "magic" taking out a group of slavers near the Vardic border was cause for concern among Ennsyl's leaders. They fear that it's a potential sign of a coming invasion, and the units stationed along the border are organized in a way that allows them to react quickly.

Being low-ranked, your prisoner can't tell you much in the way of specific details as far as the military is concerned. The only additional information that she has is that the search is being conducted by scouting forces and other lighter infantry units, and will likely only be called off if the military is satisfied that there's no incoming invasion.

As for the alps… it turns out that they can only give birth to sons, which is why Ennsyl wishes to use them to breed slaves. While this knowledge isn't exactly being spread around, it isn't really a secret either. Many people have drawn their own conclusions and it's a common rumor even among the military's grunts.

Although what she's told you isn't as comprehensive as you could have liked, it's what you could realistically expect from a rank-and-file soldier. Still, she can serve another purpose… since you aren't going to kill her, why not leave her with a warning, a message of sorts for elvenkind if she is eventually found?

Offering your hand to her, she warily accepts and you pull her to her feet. Gently taking her by the elbow, you lead her towards the lake to slake her thirst. She desperately falls to her knees once you reach the water's edge, diving for the water she so eagerly desires. You patiently wait, and after taking several large gulps she eventually leans back, gasping for air.

Having quenched her thirst for now, she gives you a hopeful look. "So… you wouldn't consider untying me too then, eh?" With a gentle sigh, you spread your arms wide in a conciliatory gesture. "Just as your hands are tied, so too are mine! If I vere to release you, zen our position vould be revealed, vis elven forces hot on our trail. No, I vill not release you, but I shall tie you up next to zee vater at least. Perhaps the sahuagin vill release you."

The elf looks pretty displeased, but she decides against responding when she sees Samuel leering at her from behind you. Settling for a sulky glare, she still perks up her ears up as you continue. "However, I vould like to tell you a little story before I go… have you ever heard of zee Holokaust?" She wrinkles her brows slightly in confusion, and eventually shakes her head before you continue.

"You see, I do not kome from zee Vardic Empire. Nor do I hail from zee Monster Realm. I kame from a different vorld, through one of zee portals. And zee Holokaust is perhaps vat my people are zee most vell known for vere I am from. You see, vee once had a leader kalled Hitler. Hitler had a great vision for our people, but he vas misguided, maybe even insane, though brilliant nonezeless."

"Our nation vas suffering, and he konsidered a group of people, known as zee Jews, to be orkestrators and profiteers of my people's suffering. Managing to unite us under one kause, one purpose, he turned his eyes to our enemies, of which zere vere many. Vee vent to var, und vis each victory our empire spread ever further, und in each land zat fell to us, Jews vere hunted. Zis hunt, zis kulling of zee Jews is vat is known as zee Holokaust, und six million of zem fell in bloody konkvest."

Getting lost in the telling of your Vaterland's history, you feel an old, bitter hatred welling up as grudges and inJUSTICEs from the past are dredged forth. "Vile I admit zat our leader vas misguided, zee only reason he kame to power vas bekause our country had been devastated in previous vars, unfairly blamed und forced to pay for all damages wrought. Zee suffering of my people vas unimaginable! But he offered promises of power und glory, and so vee followed."

"However his promises proved hollow, he vas too blinded by his own agenda und delusions of grandeur, ultimately failing us. Due to his endless var-mongering, vee suffered yet another terrible defeat, and by zee time zee dust settled… vee vere not even a kountry anymore. Merely an okkupied territory, vee suffered a new form of devastation: our kountry und people vere thoroughly raped, destroyed and plundered and having lost nearly all of our land, vee vere starving."

You proudly raise your chin to your quiet audience, noticing that the rest of your party has joined you, as your continue your story. "But vee did not give up. Zee Deutsche people knew it vould get better, and vis luck, patience und lots of hard vork, vee managed to rebuild. Vee vere now divided into two kountries, one a puppet state und zee other a vassal for several dekades… but vee overkame zat too."

"Vee lived in peace, prosperity und progress, ever growing stronger. However, zee memory of vat vee had done vas always held against us, und vee tried to prove ourselves, using our powers for zee sake of helping others… but our sense of guilt and goodvill misguided us. It made us veak and visout pride, a mere puppet to our kapitalist konquerers."

"Zis vas never more klear zan ven "Merkel zee Fool" was in power. A narcissist eager for praise and "respekt" from our so-kalled allies to feed her ego, she kontinuously allowed immigrants to invade our kountry, turning our streets faceless, filled vis nothing but foreigners und replacing our glorious Kultur vis rampant dekadence and degeneracy."

"Our "allies" vere never going to forgive us! Zey only vished to use us, to suck us dry as immigrants ruined our kountry… so vee looked back, into our history. Vat kould have been, if Hitler's regime had not been corrupted by personal agendas und greed? Vat kould our future hold under proper guidance? Vis zis in mind, people of foresight began to unite und gain support, laying zee foundation for a future brighter zan ever before. Step by step, vee have retaken our kountry, despite all zee enemies both vithin and visout our kountry trying to stop us."

Standing up, you brush off the front of your pants before looking down at the prisoner in front of you. "Now, vee are more poverful zan ever before. I have been sent to learn of zis vorld und report vat I find to my superiors. I hope for your sake zat a peaceful solution is decided upon, for zee Holokaust is nothing compared to vat vee kould do to you vis our kurrent military might."

Leaning down to the speechless dark elf, you open her vest and rip off a sizable piece of her undershirt. Ignoring her squawks of protest, you use it to blindfold her and turn to your party. They're staring at you, Samuel looking almost breathless while Tabitha and Remi respectively look apprehensive and confused. Remi nervously clears her throat and starts and stops a couple times before saying "that there stuff you was talking about… that true? About that empire place you came from killing all them folks?"

Giving a gentle sigh, you nod. "One sing zat never changes is zee necessity of being able to vage var. Now kome, vee must make progress before vee may rest." Dragging the dark elf on top of some rocks by the waterfront, you make sure she has access to water and is in plain sight. No need to needlessly condemn her to death by starvation/dehydration.

In the following weeks of travel, you have to hide from increasingly frequent patrols consisting of both dark elves and normal elves. It also seems as though large quantities of soldiers are mobilizing towards the wall, something you take care to make a mental note of. Despite the increasing difficulty of travel, you finally reach your goal: the capitol of Ennsyl.

Perched at the top of a steep hill at the foot of what appears to be a mountain range stretching from west to east behind it, the city still manages to be impressive while being dwarfed by the forbidding mountains behind it. The only road leading to the city winds arduously back and forth up the hill which, you note with approval, would make taking the city by ground assaults absolutely hellish when combined with the city's large, graceful walls.

From what Tabitha tells you, it seems like the only way through the mountains, and thereby to Rymgrand, is to head through the underground kingdom of Drakengaard, the entrance to which is in the mountain itself. Unfortunately Ifflian (what the elven capitol is called, according to Tabitha) is located at the mouth of the only pass leading there, meaning that getting to Drakengaard without going through Ifflian would be extremely difficult, if at all possible. However, travelling around the mountain range would take a long time, to the point that it would be quicker to just head for Zipangu's portal first.

What should we do? Tabitha has suggested that if you want to head go through Ifflian, you could remove your helmet and hide your distinctive armor with Samuel's cloak while you and he pose as her concubinae. Remi could also pose as a noble from Daemonholm, to prevent her capture. However, you can see several ways this plan might fail…

Eventually you reach a line for the gates of the city, mostly filled with what appears to be merchants or other travelers. At the front of the line, an argument seems to be taking place between a tanuki and one of the gate guards. From what you can see, the tanuki is outraged by something, gesticulating wildly at the guard from atop her cart. The elven guard, who looks simultaneously bored and irritated, says something with an air of finality and ends the argument. You see a look of pure anguish cross the tanuki's face, before she reluctantly hands over some coins and the guard waves her cart through.

Sighs of relief are heard throughout the line and people begin to enter the city in a steady flow once more. As your group reaches the gate, Tabitha swaggers forward with the spear lazily propped on her shoulder and a paw on her cutlass. "Good afternoon ladies! What'll it cost for me, my concubinae, and an alp that I caught to enter?" Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Remi start at the mention of being caught and glance nervously at Tabitha. Unwilling to interfere, you decide to see what happens.

One of the guards, a dour-looking dark elf, impassively watches your group as she takes bites from what appears to be an orange, spitting out the masticated pieces instead of swallowing. Weird. The other one, a normal elf with a scar running along her left cheek, blinks in surprise and checks you and Samuel out before giving Tabitha an envious look. "Damn, two men all to yourself? Some gals have all the luck…" she sighs before waving a dismissive hand at you, Samuel, and Remi. "They're property, so they come included in your fee. The alp is a bounty, so she's exempt too. It'll just be one silver for you."

Tabitha gives her a pleased smile and reaches into one of her satchels, taking out a square, silver coin with a hole in the center and handing it to the guard. The guard plonks it into a locked strongbox and waves your party through, droning a weary "Next!" As you enter the city, Tabitha gives Remi an apologetic smile. "Sorry Rem, it's just that you aren't really dressed for the whole noble shtick yet." Giggling, Remi easily forgives her.

Passing through the gate, you step into the middle of a busy thoroughfare, merging with a market. Everywhere you look, you see mamono of all kinds; haggling, arguing or just chatting in a multitude of different languages. Peddlers are hawking their goods in Common, and the watchful elves of the city guard stand ready to maintain order. The guards, you note, are more heavily armed and armored than the scouting forces you've encountered thus far.

Standard operating procedure for reconnaissance units in the Neu Wermacht is to secure a base of operations first, but operatives are allowed to act at their own discretion in extenuating circumstances. And if being stranded in a different world doesn't qualify as "extenuating circumstances", then what would?

Weaving your way through the marketplace while ignoring traders trying to sell their wares to Tabitha, you discuss your options with the rest of the party. According to Tabitha, cheaper inns are less safe for men and there'd be little to no guarantees as far as privacy and discretion is concerned. However, your funds are limited and upscale inns tend to be pricey. While you consider, you think back to the intriguing magic used by that dark elf prisoner back in Talmin… magic is certainly something that your superiors would be interested in hearing about.

Should you:

1. Look for a cheap inn first as a base of operations, to conserve funds.

2. Look for a more upscale inn first, to help ensure privacy and safety while you're here.

3. Look for anyplace selling magical supplies and/or look for better disguise materials first.

4. Other suggestions.

>>152295

>cant do accent

>The European Commission has announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU, rather than German, which was the other contender. Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had room for improvement and has therefore accepted a five-year phasing in of "Euro-English".

>In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make sivil servants jump for joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k", Which should klear up some konfusion and allow one key less on keyboards.

>There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f", making words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.

>In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e" is disgrasful.

>By the fourth yer, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

>During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and everivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. ZE DREM VIL FINALI COM TRU!

Also, have my take on the D4KK4.

>>152306

You, you understand my visions.

Well, there's a reason that standard operating procedures exist… and while these may be extenuating circumstances, it's not like there's an emergency. That, combined with the fact that Tabitha's money is the only source of funds that your party currently has, compels you to find an affordable base of operation before anything else.

You nudge Tabitha and tell her to ask a guard where a cheap inn might be. She leads your party over to a dark elf guard, who straightens as you approach. As Tabitha explains that she's looking for an inn, the guardswoman relaxes slightly and sighs, muttering about not being a tour guide. Still, she relents and asks what kind of budget Tabitha is working with.

In response, Tabitha pulls out a coin pouch from a satchel and holds it open for the dark elf to see. The guard peers in before giving her a rueful look. "I hate to break it to ya sister, but this'll maybe cover a night at a decent inn. I know a place where this'd last you a while, but…" the guardswoman glances towards you and Samuel. "Your fellow clientele at that place wouldn't exactly be the trustworthy sort and it's located in a part of town guards don't frequent very often."

Tabitha turns towards Remi and asks if that sounds good, while looking at you with her eyes. You give her a slight nod and she turns back to the guard and asks for directions. The dark elf looks a little concerned, but still explains how to get to what's unimaginatively named "The Inn." Tabitha thanks her and leads your party away.

After a couple hours of navigating, occasionally stopping to ask for directions, you begin to notice that your surroundings are looking way rougher. Run-down houses and the occasional shop eventually give way to ramshackle buildings and dilapidated sheds: many of which are leaning upon each other for support and look to have never seen paint in their life.

In contrast to their clean and orderly layout from before, the streets begin to become haphazard and narrow, wending among the dark alleys as though they were trying to hide from inquiries and righteous eyes. Blending in with the surrounding squalor, you almost miss your destination. A two-story building, larger than the rest, with a crudely carved sign that says "THE IN."

Heaps of garbage are piled against the side of the building and its warped door hangs unevenly from its hinges, but the noise from the inn's open shutters imply that there's quite a bit of activity going on inside. Tabitha turns to the rest of you with a grim look before going in. "Stay close to me, the women in places like this are dangerous."

Conversations slowly trail off as you enter the inn, as scarred and rough faces turning to look at your group. Crude oil lamps light the room through a haze of pungent pipe smoke. Rough tables are randomly scattered throughout the room, some of which are little more than planks nailed down to the top of a barrel. Equally slipshod benches and stools sit next to them.

You see a closed door to your right, which probably leads to a kitchen, and a crude set of stairs without a handrail to your left, leading up to the second floor. The floor of the inn is covered with litter and scraps of food. It also has several stains, some of which appear to be blood. Seated at the tables are a collection of mamono, obviously gangsters, thugs, or just trouble. Most of them are quite big and many have unkempt hair and tattoos.

Not so easily intimidated, you and Samuel stand tall and proud at either side of Tabitha. Remi, however, immediately blanches and shuffles behind the rest of you. You all stick out like a sore thumb among the rabble and as soon as the mamono see you and Samuel, grins break out all around, some revealing teeth that are missing or filed into points. The hungry look in their eyes is far less friendly than their smiles. The only exception is an incongruous mamono who looks like a scholar, of all things. At first glance she looks like some kind of holstaur, except you note that she has a fluffy, luxurious tail. She's busy scribbling away in a notebook.

The holstaur… thing aside, you have a sinking feeling that there's going to be trouble. That guard really wasn't kidding, was she? You watch as a lizard-girl walks up to Tabitha and halts, looking her up and down. The lizard-girl is wearing a vest that shows off her wiry, muscular arms and an apron that debatably could have once been white. Wiping her hands on a filthy rag, she flops it over her shoulder and rolls a toothpick from one corner of her mouth to another. "Something I can do for you?"

Tabitha asks for a room and you notice that, unlike the other mamono in the inn, this lizard-girl isn't eye-raping you and Samuel. She gives Tabitha an appraising look and asks "How'd a single room work? I'm kinda full," which Tabitha replies to with a nod. Suddenly, some kind of mamono with green-tinted skin and white hair stands up from her table at the center of the room, leering at Tabitha with mean, dark brown eyes. A pair of large black horns jut from her forehead, poking through the tangled mass of her hair.

Now that you see her at her full height, she's at least two meters tall and judging by her garish clothes and crude tattoos, you'd bet your rifle that she's some kind of gangster. Still leering at Tabitha, she places her hand on the hilt of a wickedly curved dagger. "Expensive-looking whores you got there, girl. I don't suppose you'd mind if we came up to your room and passed them around some, would ya?"

Tabitha locks glares with her and though her eyes don't move, her hand does-slowly inching towards the hilt of her cutlass. You notice that the scholarly-looking mamono's pen has stopped scribbling and she is now peering intently at Tabihta's sword. She's so intent on it that she almost seems to be unaware of the situation.

Scheiße, things escalated even faster than you expected… if we don't want the situation to get worse, we should

1. Let Tabitha deal with this. Spaghetti aside, she seems like a fairly competant fighter and you can't afford to draw attention to yourself.

2. Kick that green bitch's ass. It may draw attention, sure, but probably not attention from authorities, judging by the neighborhood.

3. Try to negotiate with words (if this option is selected, please provide examples).

4. Reader's choice.

Gut choice meine Kameraden. I'm working on the update even as I post this.

Setting your lips into a grim line, you decide to step back and let Tabitha take care of this one. Drawing unwanted attention to yourself is one thing you just can't afford right now. Remi is shaking uncontrollably, obviously terrified, so you place a comforting hand on her shoulder to calm her. She gives you a wide-eyed look as her trembling abates, though she still looks extremely scared.

The green-skinned mamono gangster draws her long-bladed dagger, stepping towards Tabitha with deliberate menace. In a flash, Tabitha tosses the spear aside to Samuel and draws her cutlass. Completely different from the sleek, elegant image you imagined of swords, her cutlass is an ugly and brutal-looking weapon. More like a cross between a machete and a cleaver than an actual sword, the weapon is roughly a meter in length with a basket hilt and a slightly curved blade.

Smoothly shifting into a high stance with her blade in her right hand, as if poised to chop her opponent down, you notice Tabitha lowering her left hand to hip-level: curling her fingers and extending her claws to their full length. She and her opponent barely move, lightly shifting weight and settling into their stances as they size each other up.

The tension is abruptly shattered by the strange holstaur-ish mamono, who shoots to her feet and eagerly points. "AH-HAH! An authentic Stormhaven Stronghold cutlass! I knew it!" Only now seeming to fully realize what's going on, she turns to the gangster and shoots her a confused look. "Rava, what in the Lady's name is going on? However did you manage to get into a fight with a bonafide buccaneer while I was distracted?"

As the gangster opens her mouth to reply, she is abruptly cut off as the scholarly mamono turns to Tabitha and cheerily keeps talking, positively overflowing with excitement. "And that stance! I've never had the chance to see the naval techniques of Stormhaven slavers up close before, I have so many things to ask you!"

Before anyone has much of a chance to react, the strange not-quite holstaur has already begun hustling your party upstairs. The green-skinned mamono tries to weakly protest, "O-oi! Ru, don't just wander off with strangers, the boss'll have my head if something happe-" but the strange scholar waves the gangster off, who then sits down with an air of miserable resignation.

You are crowded into a rather small, dingy room. The ceiling is lower than is comfortable and the wall beside the bed is covered with the dried remains of what looks like years of spit as well as… other bodily fluids. A small, weakly glowing oil lamp is hanging from a nail in the wall and the windowless room has a rank smell to it.

Completely at odds with her surroundings, the young scholar doesn't seem bothered whatsoever by her accommodations. She promptly plonks down on the floor under the lamp and takes out her notebook, waving to the bed and eagerly looking at Tabitha. "Please, have a seat! I would love it if you could tell me about Stormhaven, the influence from human sailors and its deep roots in piracy have undoubtedly led to the formation of a fascinating culture."

Your whole party simply stands there, trying to process what's going on. Tabitha, noticing that she still has her cutlass in hand, sheepishly slides it back into her sheath and nervously glances at you. "I uh, I'd rather not talk about it if that's okay. I kind of… I kind of put that life behind me." The holstaur-scholar-thing looks crestfallen, but nods in acceptance, muttering something about respecting the ethical guidelines of fieldwork.

Hopping to her feet and dusting off her robes, which are, you only now note, actually fairly revealing, the scholar grabs each person's hand in turn and shakes them while introducing herself. "I suppose introductions are in order! My name is Hwei-Ru, though most people outside of Zipangu just call me 'Ru.' Who might you all be?"

Tabitha introduces you all, sticking to the story of Remi being a captive and you and Samuel being her concubines. Ru's eyes momentarily flick to Remi and she treats you all to a giggle and an indulgent smile. "I sincerely hope that it is not your intention to become a professional gambler Tabitha, your poker face is terrible! Your cover story is also in need of improvement so, in light of these things, I have a proposal. You all travel with me for companionship and provide me with protection, and I will let you accompany me out of the city under my authority, under the condition that Tabitha lets me interview her. Deal?"

Even though this scholarly mamono doesn't look to be more than a teenager, she seems to be quite astute for her age. Do you:

1. Accept her offer.

2. Decline her offer.

3. She knows too much. This is a problem. A problem that needs a final solution. ie. you murder her to death.

4. Reader's choice.

Feel free to add a personal twist to any of the options!