Dungeon Life Quest (DLQ) 68 - Horrible Lack of Information Edition

Come on Lark, you must have seen stuff like this before. You lived in the company store, right?

At least try not to embarrass your waifu.

Yeah but that's a mining town. Like, literally. This seems busier.

>Find a booze purveyor; there'll be gossip there.
Time to tug the grape vine.

You mentioned that Diving Shadow sang for the miners, right? Amy could do something here to attract listeners, while River and Lark fish for information.

>Find a booze purveyor; there'll be gossip there
We're going to be served Vintner's wine, aren't we?

Who?

Seriously, the only thing of note about that guy was the shit he did to Amy. He barely made the villain grade. His pet croc was more intimidating.

they mentioned Vintner. He was here before.

I thought we were running these in /qst/ now?

No, they mentioned vintners. Plural. As in, the profession:
>"...Would someone /else/ be worried?" you press.
>"I dunno. Maybe the vintners -"

I'll admit, this is the only shit post about this that made me chuckle.

I'm up. Will call and write soon.

...

Called, gonna write after I finish the thing I'm doin'.

You have a land of milk and honey, follow your shepherd to your new home

Here we go.

RIVER'S CORPOREAL UNDEAD NOTES: docs.google.com/document/d/10wV5huZWXvfZQ682_UXTXcn9z1mMFRSZksBXaC8rqP4/edit?usp=sharing

Not yet.

Offhandedly I wonder what a Shadow created from someone who died with virtuous/heroic intent would result in.

Something a lot like Fetch.

Only tripping for identity confirmation.

I really like your quest, Vox. It's very well done.

Tripping out.

Nice t'see ya here.

I still owe you that read.

Don't worry about it. Try reading one of the two smaller ones that were one shots - A Matter of Taste or The Tale of X. If you want to go back really far, there's Tager Quest.

God damn it X S you get back to where you belong and keep making me that delicious subtext.

God damn it Vox stop making such endearing promises or I'll go back to making QM-tans and ship you motherfuckers and I know nobody wants that.

....WHICH subtext?

>Tager Quest
Pax Mortis? Why'd that stop so early? 'twas interesting.

Two liches in love.

This shit writes itself.

...I'unno. All of it? Then add another plane of subtext below that- like the kind you can only get from House of Leaves or children's pop-out books on the importance of pooping.

Life changes. I still intend on finishing it.

They're still deleting and banning these shitposts, yes?

You tap Karla on her shoulder; the goblin turns with a curious expresson.

"If I were looking for booze?" you ask.

"Booze, or news?" Karla asks.

"News," you correct yourself.

She points at an open-air bar some distance away. "Mike's," she tells you. "For one thing, he'll serve you things that aren't booze. For another, a lot of deals go down there, a lot of trade talk. Most of the other vendors here are folks supporting their own brews or projects - not necessarily bad stuff, but not great for just wagging your jaw either."

"Thank you," you tell her. "If you folks need anything, look us up."

"Can do," Karla agrees.

Mike, as it turns out, is a halfling gentleman with an easy smile and six fingers on his right hand. "Welcome! Welcome - what'll it be, my friends?" he greets; his voice is pleasant, warm.

"If we need our wits about us, you'd suggest...?" you proffer.

"I've a selection of fine juices, teas, coffee -"

"Coffee!" River interjects, immediately. "And. Um. Sugar. With the coffee. Yes."

Mike chuckles while you shake your head. Soon enough you have a table, two pots of coffee, mugs, and enough sugar to kill a pixie. You all drink quietly, listening to the gossip around you.

"Can't find furs for blood or money right now..."
"Door to the Cornucopia opened back up, got an order for twenty barrels -"
"Soldiers, minding their own business mostly but..."
"Something's got the Lich of the Center riled up. He's been prowling through the levels, accosting people -"
"Are you going to the ball?"
"What's wrong with her?"

You look at the subject of that last sentence. Sitting on the top of a chair, at a table that is otherwise empty, is a pixie; her little dragonfly wings droop, and she cries quietly into her thimble-sized mug. She drains what's left of it and throws it onto the table with a small collection of others.

Quietly, Mike comes out from behind the bar and offers her another one. She sniffles a miniscule thanks.

> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)
> Go elsewhere in the Bazaar (seeking what?)
> Investigate the Center Ring
> Ask your companions their thoughts
> Write-in?

That's ...not what I expected, with there nothing happening for two and a half years, but I'll take it.

Doesn't Hatchet man have a pixie?

Let's be good people and see why she is sad.

Hatchet does not have a pixie, no.

> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)

Sad pixie.

>Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)
>Crying Pixie.
Establishing friendly relations time!

>> Ask your companions their thoughts

debtor had one and this is mostlikely it.

> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)
Pixie~

Eh, I made my promise, I intend to keep it. Plus unexpected free time today.

> QM-tans

Do...do I want to know?

Just stay calm, no need to engage. Things have been going well thus far.

>Do...do I want to know?
Eh, it's for best if you don't, probably. Dark times, evil portents, etc.

Too late, someone else told me.

And now I'm curious.

Vote extended while I acquire breakfast.

>> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)

Sad pixie? Sounds like the Hero thing to do

>> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)

Lich of the Center...?

> Follow up on some of the gossip (which?)
Sad pixie in bar

Called, writing shortly.

wrong board

You get up from your table. River goes to get up with you, but Amy stops her with a gentle wing-tip, and the elf sits back down.

You pull up a chair near the crying pixie and wait. She looks up from her thimble, eventually, and gives a little sniff, trying to compose herself.

"Rough day?" you ask, gently.

"Yeah..." She finishes her thimble and drops it on the seat of the chair. "G-got rejected."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" you ask.

"No," she mumbles miserably, before immediately proceeding to talk about it. "Known him fer years. He was there for me, y'know? Rescued me from this stupid bottle some research mage stuck me in. Bes' friend in the world. We been through thick and thin together. Love 'im. Bastard."

You listen quietly. The pixie is animate in a way you've only seen in Amy when she gets going, all wide gestures and buzzing wings. Must come from trying to be noticed by bigger people.

"It's not like I haven't fought beside him before either!" she exclaims. "Or gotten hurt! Or seen him get hurt! We help each other, that's how it goes, fer /years/ an' /years/ an' now it's, 'Oh no, Flitter, it's too dangerous' and 'You can help by finding things'. Fuckin' fake job. Fuckin' bastard. Finally get the courage to tell him how I feel and he makes me go away. Who does that? Who fuckin' does that, huh?"

"Is your friend in some kind of trouble?" you ask.

"Some stupid gang war," Flitter mutters. "Not like we haven't done /that/ before either. Except this time it's like he's just given up. I can see it in his eyes. 's like he expects to die. Fuckin'. Fuckin' bastard..."

Her cursing sinks into little sobs.

> Comfort her
> Offer to help
> Not your business
> Write-in?

In other news, Domo's decided to illustrate one of the pastebins.

wildwestscifi.net/filler/14038-dlq-lost-in-translation-a-nsfw-experiment

>> Offer to help

We ARE a hero after all, and she IS a damsel in distress.

>Flitter
So this /is/ Debtor's pixie.
>Offer to help

>Write-in?
>"Maybe he just doesn't want you to get anymore hurt /because/ of his job."

...'s feckin' adorable.

urge to metagame rising. BUT we are on a mission, and gitting too deeply involved would hamper that. Still....

> Comfort her

Not our business? Nate couldn't leave someone in distress if it killed him, and it nearly did.

> Comfort her
> Offer to help

It's not meta gaming when we're playing a Hero!

>> Write-in?

So is this dude also a pixie or is he regular sized. How would you fuck that wouldn't result in horrific pain for you that kills you? Teach me your ways pixie.

...

Never change, Veeky Forums.

>Comfort her.
We know she works for the Debtor, but Nate's the Hero right? Saving damsels in distress is part of the job. Even if its just offering a shoulder to cry on.

>"I think I know a bit about what you're going through. Me, and that lass with the wings, we have a special relationship with another. And this girl, she used to push people away, because she was afraid they'd get hurt because of her. Didn't want her work putting them in jeopardy."
>"It's taken some time - a long time - but we've finally gotten her to realize that she doesn't need to be alone. That when she falls, we'll be there to pick her back up."
>"Your friend? He sounds a lot like her. It's not that he doesn't love you. He just doesn't want you to get hurt."
>"Show him that you aren't going to leave, that you'll always be by his side. It'll give him the courage to act, and do what needs to be done."

Too wordy? *shrug*

Cooool.

It's called a hugjob, man.

>> Comfort her
So she's kind of the Debtor's Victoria. I hope for her sake the Debtor ends up being another Brigette, then.

Depends on the level of abuse he visited on Lora (or hasn't).

From everything we do know he sure doesn't seem like he did, so far.

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, whether he's another Brigette depends more on him than it does on us. If he deserves to die, I'm gonna feel sad for the poor pixie, but I'm still gonna vote to kill him.

Called, writing. Sorry for the slow updates today; kinda under the weather.

I guess you only come here for this quest, but there is now a dedicated /qst/ board

No there isn't.

He seems like a more neutral Brigette.

She had the angle of good intentions, being nice person, but she's done some bad shit.
Debtor seems like he doesn't have this much good buried in, but also not as such heinous deeds.

Liike, Brigette has +5 karma and -5 karma, averaging at neutral for us to decide; this dude is -1 and +1.

I'm getting a Peter Pan grew up and became a deadbeat vibe from this guy,due to the whole pixie thing.

Hm. I wonder if what he owes is time?

Nonsense! He obviously owes Richard seven dollars.

Not $3.50?

Even worse, two three fiddys. Also known as seven dollars

That board's currently only in it's testing phases (and as such most threads there are shitposts from non-Veeky Forums boards) and judging by the current mod reaction it isn't obligatory that all quests be moved over there yet.

Actually, it's because of pic related. It's my headcanon until proven otherwise. And even then it'll probably still be my headcanon.

>tfw when someone screencaps my post

On instinct - and admittedly with a bit of hesitation - you put a fingertip on Flitter's hair and rub her head. She makes a little squeaking sound and relaxes visibly, looking remarkably like Amy does when people do that to her.

What's with flying people and head rubs?

"I know someone kinda like that," you tell her, gently. "Actually, I'm dating her. And she has...had, this really bad problem with pushing people away because she thought being around her would only hurt them. It took a lot of time, and a lot of patience, to get her to realize that she doesn't have to be alone."

"We had a fight," Flitter murmurs.

"Friends do that sometimes. He's still your friend, right? Even if he doesn't return your other feelings?"

"Always," Flitter whispers, looking up at you with the tiniest rage you have ever seen.

"Then head back. Tell him you're there to help. You're a big...an adult, you can decide what is and isn't too dangerous."

"Thanks. I'll. I'll think about it. Um. You can take your finger off of my head now."

You withdraw it. "Too far?"

"I get really bad dandruff," she admits; she leans forward and scratches her scalp furiously, loosing a small cloud of flakes. "Wha's yer name?"

"Nathan," you tell her.

"If you see me again when I'm sober, wave me down or somethin', 'kay? Yer a good guy. Pure o' heart."

"I dunno about -"

"Pixie," she says flatly.

"Guess I can't argue with that..."

Flitter buzzes her wings and rises, unsteadily, into the air. "I'll be back sometime. Don't wait for me, but, y'know, sometime. Thanks again!"

Amy gives a little 'hmph' when you sit back down at your own table, which is immediately appeased when you start scratching her hair.

"Now what?" the Sultan drawls.

> Now what?

>We could find out more about that lich

Supporting.

That seems like something Bri & the Caretaker may be interested in.

skritch the sultans hair, obviously.

>yfw is a lich woman and she is the caretaker's wife.

Vote's gonna be mildly extended.

Seconding
>We could find out more about that lich

Rolling

This won't end badly.

>We need to find out more abotu that lich.
>
>See what sort of stuff is being asked for and sought after. What does this place NEED?

Going for the TwoforOne special I see.

I am reading AspirinQM quest on anonkun right now. Damn am I gratefull for Veeky Forums's bump limit and enforced time between posts. The ammount of salt going on there is unreal.

Oh?

The usual happened and people began screaming about samefaging. Aparently, there were some dubious decisions in the past, and now there are 30 people in chat, calling each other's falacies.

There is enough salt going around to fuel two mines or about two thirds of a Twich chat.

>There is enough salt going around to fuel two mines or about two thirds of a Twich chat.
For some reason this seems hilarious to me

Called, writing shortly.

'What now' is not a question that takes a lot of thinking for you.

"There's a lich loose down here -"

"There's a lich loose on a lot of levels of the Dungeon," Amy adds, helpfully.

"- and it's evidently active," you finish. "I'd like to know more, preferably without running face-first into it."

"Knowing our luck its phylactery is guarded by being in a room full of horrible shit," River predicts, gloomily.

"Luck?" Darshan scoffs. "That's good tactics."

"Until he needs to move it," you point out.

"...I don't want to admit I'm wrong, and yet..."

"Mmhm. Amy, you're with me, we'll ask around this side. River, you, Lark, and Darshan ask around elsewhere."

"Yessir," River agrees. Lark gives you a grateful look before they split off.

You go for Mike first.

"What's this I hear about a lich?" you ask.

"You must be new. Come in with those soldier boys from the Cornucopia?" he asks.

You shake your head. "Out of the Roost, actually."

"Door's open? I'll be damned, took 'em long enough. Well, here's the skinny. The Lich of the Center came down here some, hell, some four hundred years back? He was already a lich then, mind, so who knows how old he actually is. Had this amulet that killed anyone who wore it and stored the death for later, right?"

"That's worrying," Amy says.

"You're tellin' me," Mike agrees. "Only, he doesn't /do/ anything with it. He claimed this little tiny room, built a throne in it, sat down, and just...sat there. Every now and again he'd get up and ask folks a question or two, usually if someone opened his door, but, y'know, never seemed interested in anybody. Except now he's wandering the Center Ring, pokin' around and askin' folks all kinds of insistent questions."

"Someone steal his amulet?" you ask.

"Doubt it. That'd mean getting in arm's reach of the guy. Nah, somethin' else is wrong. Damned if I know what, though, the guy doesn't have a language in common with just about anyone down here."

...since when does Nathan call the Sultan 'Darshan'? I thought that was his true name that River didn't share because it would cause the demon "discomfort"

...Mentally replace that with 'the sultan' while I beat my head against the desk.

Nate does KNOW the name, in case of emergency.

It's okay vox. We all make goofs. Incidentally, I've been in the quest long enough that my phone has started autocorrecting things to become your name.