ARPG 2-33 (Patreon)

> Prepare

You meet back up with Myla and decide to have a good lunch with Jates. You meet the innkeeper as she comes out of her own room. She agrees and you all prepare for a meal. "By the way..." Jates speaks to you as she cooks. You decided to help as well. "Since you're gonna help me and well... the whole town, I'm not gonna charge you guys for the days you stay here." You ask her if she's sure she wants to give you such a kindness. She smirks back at you. "Honestly, I'd be a jerk not to. You're gonna get rid of the town's biggest problem." She goes back to her cooking before speaking again. "Er... Also... Have you asked Myla about the uh... the thing yet?" You realize you haven't. That probably won't be a fun conversation. "Just... go ahead and do it. Better for me to know sooner rather than later. I can handle the food, just go talk to her." You nod and head out of the kitchen.

In the common room, Myla sits at a table, relaxing. You sit across from her, planning out how you plan to tell her about the plan to bring Jates with you. "I thought you were helping the runt cook." You tell her that there's something you need to talk to her about. "Alright, go for it."

You decide to just say it plainly, quickly getting all the details out before the beastkin can interrupt with objections. She gets an angry look on her face. "No. No way. That isn't even a-" She stops, looks at you, and sighs. "But you aren't gonna take no for an answer, are you? Gods..." She sits and thinks for a few moments and suddenly perks back up with a smirk. "Heh. Alright. Fine. The runt can come along, but only on one condition..." You have a bad feeling about this. "She's gonna make herself useful. And I get to determine how useful she is. And if she screws up?" The wolfkin pats her belly. "She's lunch. Period. And no complaints from you either. You can't use the excuse of 'Oh, we'll get in trouble' or whatever. She'll be with us, and she'll know the rules. If she's willing to go with that, then she's free to come along." You try to argue her a little, but she stands her ground. Looks like these are simply the terms you, and Jates, will have to abide by.

You head back into the kitchen and let Jates know the verdict. She shrugs and sighs. "Well, it ain't much of a choice, but alright." She gives you a smirk. "I figure I can prove myself. I'll just uh... try to keep the teasing down. That might be the best plan." You nod and agree. "For now, I guess I'll just hang out with you. Maybe I can get Myla to lighten up a little."

[JATES THE MAGE HAS JOINED THE PARTY]

[RACE UNLOCKED: DECEPIO]

A while later, the food is done and you all settle down for a meal. It's a good meal and the three of you eat well. Myla does seem like she has a never-ending appetite.

[FLORIA HUNGER: FULL]

[MYLA HUNGER: STUFFED]

[JATES HUNGER: FULL]

The three of you decide it would be a good idea to meet up with Dulstaft and the captain and do some training as well as decide on a battle plan. All of you meet up in the chapel. Inside, Dulstaft greets you.

"Welcome, friends!" The old man greets you with a smile. "We've much to discuss. Come, I have a perfect place for us to speak." Saying that, he leads you to a large, well-made, but otherwise ordinary statue of the goddess inside the chapel. The giant of a man feels around on the back of it, and with a click, the statue starts to slide to the side. "It's always nice to have a place where one can have some privacy." Looking where the statue was, you see stairs leading down. The path is well maintained and lit by what appear to be some sort of magic stones. Everyone aside from Dulstaft and the captain look surprised, even you must say that you didn't really expect such a plain looking chapel to have such secrets. "Malor is a town of secrets, lass. Though this is one known by few. Come, follow."

As you descend, Dulstaft hits a small switch on the wall, and the statue moves back into place. Going down deeper, the area opens up into a fairly wide room. It's very plain, just carved out of the stone with a few sturdy supports, but still fairly impressive. "We can speak here." The captain seems to be a man of few words, but he certainly has a commanding aura to him. "I don't believe I properly introduced myself. My name is Marcus, and I am the guard captain of this town. I've long been aquainted with Sir Dulstaft."

Dulstaft laughs and pats the captain on the back, nearly knocking him over. "I told you before, no need for such formalities!" He turns to your group. "Marc and myself go far back. I remember back when he was but a babe!"

"Is this necessary, sir?" The two of them are practially polar opposites. Captain Marcus seems pretty focused and serious, while Dulstaft is jolly and playful. "Regardless, we must develop a plan for dealing with the bandit leader Nysk." He turns to your group. "I have a few plans, but since you will most likely be the primary target, I'll allow you to choose. But before that, I must ask..." He turns to Jates. "Is the innkeeper going to be helping..?"

Jates waves her hands and shakes her head. "N-no way! I'm no fighter. But if there's something that doesn't involve fighting then... I would like to help."

The captain nods and turns back to you. "Perhaps I can find something of use for him." So Marcus thinks Jates is a boy. "Anyway, let me run through the plans I have."

"The first plan involves a bit of danger for you, but otherwise seems solid. You will leave Malor along the southeastern road and trigger Nysk's ambush. Dulstaft and myself will follow close behind but stay hidden to get a surprise attack in while Nysk and her forces are dealing with you." You express concern on if you'd survive long enough for them to help. He nods and explains more. "We know how Nysk works. She prefers to have her enemy submit, rather than just killing from the shadows. She will most likely surround you and taunt you for a few moments before attacking. As I said, this plan is risky for you, but the surprise attack would deal a heavy blow."

"The second plan is a bit more brute force. We all go together, fall into Nysk's 'trap', and fight our way out. There will be no surprise attacks here, and upon seeing myself and Sir Dulstaft, Nysk may choose to act more careful, which could prove problematic." He doesn't seem to like this plan too much. "This plan has safety in numbers, but lowers our chances of catching Nysk. It's likely that she would choose to send her men at us and flee to safety."

"The third plan is... risky, but has the highest potential reward. I know of at least three of my guardsmen who are on Nysk's payroll. They likely know of the ambush, including some details. If we capture them, I can easily get them to talk." The confidence in his voice is a little worrying. "Then we will have a better idea of Nysk's ambush is and we can potentially ambush her ambush. However, if anyone allied with Nysk realizes that one of her men was suddenly imprisoned, they will go to her, and then they will suspect what we are planning. This plan can potentially make our battle with Nysk the easiest, but it can also make it that much harder if we are found out."

The captain stops for a moment. "Those are the three plans I have developed. If you have an alternative plan, let me know and we can discuss it. You defeated Konic, whether by luck or skill, I know not. But with that, we may have a proper chance of finally breaking the bandit's grip on this town."

"And once you're done with the planning..." Dulstaft pushes his fists together. "We shall do some training to make sure we can properly work as a team."

"My vote is the second one." Myla says to you. "I'd rather take the risk of Nysk getting away rather than the risk of getting killed."

"I'd say we go with the third one." Jates looks confident. "If we time it right and keep an eye on possible spies, we could finally put Nysk on the defensive and put her where she belongs! Six feet underground, of course."

In the end, it looks like the choice is up to you. A risky surprise plan, a brute force plan, an information-based plan, or maybe something else, if you can come up with it.

[WAITING FOR INPUT...]

To see the character's current status, go here: 

http://aryion.com/g4/view/322228

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It's almost time for the training montage! Get ready to put yer best montage music on! :V

Also, we can now play as a midg- er... Decepio! They're quite good at magic, but frail. They're also natural prey, which probably isn't a good thing.

I will also start showing hunger status when it changes, cause I realize that it can be a little hard to know just how hungry everyone is. :V

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Look here if you're new to Adventure RPG to learn how it works!

https://aryion.com/g4/view/331554