Dungeon Life Quest (DLQ 70 - You Don't Know Jack Edition

I think he's just giving her a little taste of how hard it'll be to banish him when times comes to do it for keeps.

>Imp, we're trying to set you free; don't screw this up.

No. qst is no mandatory.

/qst/ is still a trial board, a lot of the long running quests aren't moving until it's confirmed whether it'll be permanent or if it's going to go away.

First thing I needed done is now done. Gotta handle the second and then I'll be home in an hour and a half or so.

Thinking about it, lulls like this aren't a bad time for stuff like writefaggotry or those cards.

Woo! Here I was worried I'd gone too obscure.

Your version of the curse is definitely better, the story's bottle imp was too powerful to really be a curse. That story always bugged me because all the characters were too stupid to realize they could've just wished for a new currency that was worth less than a penny.

On my way home. Be about an hour.

Remember, he did go full zombie army.

Robert has been dead for so long that he has lost concepts such as time and patience. The flipside of being a lich/dead is that they can tirelessly and singlemindedly aim for one purpose, accomplishing it when a living body would fail from overexertion.

Home, called, writing shortly.

Or they could have just switched to Zimbabwe currency, the only country on earth which prints trillion dollar bills (which you use to buy groceries).

Nothin' but interruptions today. Writing now.

You stuff the jar in your pocket and /pray/. The soldiers that come around the corner stop, and why shouldn't they? Between Robert's robe show and the rakshasa, still in his natural form, you sort of stand out.

You can see the look of appraisal in their eyes as they try to decide if this is a fight they're being paid enough to have. One, at the front, has plumes on his helmet. "Well met," he greets, formally. "You don't seem like natives."

"We are not," you answer, equally formally. "Harpies of the Roost got the door opened and we came seeking our fortune." The lie is as natural as kicking that snake in the face had been - though, admittedly, lacking in the surging thrill of it all.

The officer curses. "Couldn't be avoided, I suppose. Do we have a problem?"

"Depends. Do we?"

"My men and I are under orders to search the Inner Ring for objects of power. Seems like it might get in the way of you seeking your fortune, adventurer."

Hands tighten on their spears.

> Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE
> Jump them
> Run

> Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE

>Surely a place like this has to have more than enough objects of power for everybody. Its a giant warehouse for gods sake.

>> Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE
>We're more mercenary work rather than treasure seeking. I doubt we'll have much issue. Mind telling us what /not/ to get into so as to avoid future problems?

>Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE

Also add to this.

>Are you guys hiring then? Since this is a big place, maybe you could use a extra pair of hands?

> Don't worry, I've already had the talk about opening boxes. Can't spend money if you're dead.

> Hey, actually, are you guys hiring? You seem to be the most organized group here.

Why lie when you can deflect.

Seconding this.

I third this user.

This Desu. + "Why fight you guys to find stuff when you can pay me to find it instead?"

It would be lovely to get paid to find the stuff we're going to break/hide from them.

actually I think that joining into the group of soldiers we are rather desperately trying to /AVOID/ is not a very good course of action. So I choose to:
>VETO THIS VOTE

Especially since we are carrying /2/ of the items they are looking for.

You never played Dark Heresy, did you user?

Unfortunately I have not. Care informing me of how it relates?

> I choose to Veto this vote

Get wrecked Nigger. Not how this works.

I veto your veto.

Well then mind telling me why I'm in the wrong? If you can convince me I'll change my vote but at the moment I see this as a bad idea.

Voting to veto something implies you have the power/authority to override it, which you don't given you're a single user just like the rest of us.

Also voting against something is rather rude. You could've just voted FOR something else and say why that idea was bad rather than voting directly against it.

What he said, but I also wanted to call you a summerfag Tumblr bitch that should shut his daddy's cock holster and lurk more before posting egregiously stupid shit like some kind of retard on amphetines left unsupervised with daddy's iPad while he's washing your shit off his dick.

>which you don't given you're a single user just like the rest of us.
Indeed but I can still be outvoted/outnumbered. Its just one vote against it and not doing it. I'm not claiming the power to completely void it just a vote no for that, as opposed to a vote for another.

>Also voting against something is rather rude. You could've just voted FOR something else and say why that idea was bad rather than voting directly against it.
I will admit it rude. In that I can apologize, but I'm not overly liking the other suggestions and honestly don't have a better one than just the generic "Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE" but I dislike that one enough for a veto vote.

Also, I meant convincing to change my vote via why this course of action is better than one of the other votes.

Hey Mr. , sadly your vote doesn't out weight 5 votes to do something.

So congrats on pissing into the wind there.

> Has no ideas of his own

> Just posts to shoot down other people's ideas

user, I suggest you go post your reasoning in a "that guy" thread. I feel you'll get some educational responses.

This isn't a videogame. We can just pretend to join them. Or subcontract. Or just learn where their headquarters are if that's where you join.

This isn't some sort of route lock choice like in a Vidya.

Let's put this slowly. There. Is. No. Veto. Vote.
What you should do is put in your own vote and quote the person you disagree with, arguing your point of view. Vetoing something implies your vote somehow "cancels" their vote. Which is stupid.

> Lie. LIIIIIIIIIEEEEE

> You've joined the Lush's forces!

> All previous allies suddenly hostIle. Forced to rape Lora as initiation. You ram your cock down her throat to stop her asking "Why did you join those soldiers, now you can't complete your fetch quest for the Lich!"

Fair enough. Consider my vote void. I'll keep it up for archive reader sake. Though I will add I have seen veto votes in other quests I've read. Rather rare and generally for bad ideas but still 'a thing'.

>This isn't a videogame. We can just pretend to join them. Or subcontract. Or just learn where their headquarters are if that's where you join.
True, but I just see walking up to a guard looking for both 1) the amulet around our neck, and 2) an imp in a bottle that is currently stuffed in our pocket and asking to join them in finding magical artifacts in the effort to not give them the same items we currently have to be counterproductive.

Listen, saying "I veto this vote" is about as meaningless a post as saying "take it to /qst/"

Like, seriously, actually fucking voice your reasoning for why someone's write-in is bad. Then vote the way you think you should vote.

Saying you're vetoing something is like saying you're kicking someone out of the thread. It's a retarded and filled with unwarranted self importance when what you're actually trying to say is

"wait, guys, don't do this it's retarded"

In fact I'm so pissed off at veto faggot that I'm voting for just to make sure it wins.

> Checks poster count

And it's gone up, we're good!

Man why are there always so many Newfags in DLQ that don't know Veeky Forums or Veeky Forums etiquette

Called, writing.

I am confused. I've voted against other votes before, admittedly with my own alternative.

This is the first time in years I've heard someone say you "can't" do a veto vote.

>with my own alternative.
Key words, user.
You can't really do a negative vote, you have to suggest something for the character to do.
You can't just say "Let's not do this," without following with "Do this instead."

>I've voted against other votes before

Great, you were retarded before.

>admittedly with my own alternative.

You can offer an alternative without pretending or grasping for more power than you actually have

Listen, by outright saying you VETO a vote rather than voting for an alternative you are subconsciously trying to get the QM to see the votes differently.

See, for example, if Vox sees four votes

>Do A
>Do A

and

>Do B
>Do B

he knows it's a tie.

If instead you're being a faggot and saying VETO what Vox would see is

>Do A
>Do A

and

>Do B
>Do B. I veto Do A.

So instead of counting it as 2 v 2 there is a slim possibility that Vox might actually count your attempt at getting a -1 in there as a -1, leaving the vote at 2 v 1.

Obviously on such a small scale no one is going to miss the actual count, but if a QM is getting twenty votes for a set of options and sees a bunch of faggots accompanying VETO with their votes, if he is not careful and is just skimming he may actually get a different view of things then how they actually are meant to be in the democratic process that is voting in a quest.

You are inadvertently fucking with the democratic process. Or at least you're trying to and your attempt is annoying.

That's the long explanation.

The short explanation is you have UNWARRANTED SELF IMPORTANCE

I veto this opinion.

what about nonbinary cases?

>A
>A
>A
>A
>B
>B
>B
>C
>C, but for the love of god, not A
>not A, wishy washy poorly justified D
>One of the Bs here, can we please not take A seriously?

I'm not saying all the above are right, I purposely left in some bad reasonings. But I want your opinion on where the grey area divides.

>>Do A, Do B
What of a case like
>Do A
>Do B
>Do C
>Do D
>1 vote veto D, no vote for others

This would cancel out a 4 way tie into a 3 way tie with the 'unliked' option taken out. Or simply devalue 1 option without 'doubling' another options value.

>>C, but for the love of god, not A
Vote for C, nothing more.

>not A, wishy washy poorly justified D
Vote for D, nothing more.

>One of the Bs here, can we please not take A seriously?
Means nothing when it comes to the vote tally.

That said the QM can look at the complaints and hold a FD or revised vote.

honestly, I hate people that do shit like

>C,but for the love of god, not A

Because it's trying to be every vote that isn't A without committing.

If you're going to bandwagon, spend two seconds sizing up your best chance of dethroning A and bandwagon.

Like, y'know, choosing B.

In all honesty, in a big clusterfuck of multiple options you should have two rounds of voting where the two most voted for options go toe-to-toe but that would take a lot of time.

As for

>not A, wishy washy poorly justified D

HAHAHAHA, enjoy having no impact on the actual election. Essentially people that vote 3rd party candidates in American politics enshrined via quest voting.

And

>One of the Bs here, can we please not take A seriously?

totally fine as long as it isn't worded in a way to make it sound like a vote then it's SAMEFAGGING.

But the thing is at least all of those people are actually offering discussion. They are saying shit and not just throwing out the word VETO like it actually fucking matters. Anything you type that isn't an actual vote should be treated by the voter in question to potentially have no impact on the upcoming contribution from the QM

The general rule is you don't vote directly against other options.

If the "not A" votes were saying they didn't want A and were explaining why they opposed it, that's fine.

If they were actually voting against A and expected THOSE votes to affect whether A was the winning option (rather than the votes for whichever actual option they chose) then there's a problem.

Honestly, as a QM, I would tell the one voter who vetoed to grow a pair and choose A, B, or C so I wouldn't need to hold a re-vote for my shitty three way tie.

double down
>A, B, and C are not mutually exclusive
>Someone votes ABC
>The one who voted for just A is doesn't want it, but the other two are okay with it.

what the fuck is going on?

Intense discussion on the topic of interpreting alternate voting methods while preserving the equality inherent in the system of questing on Veeky Forums

You give the soldiers a sheepish grin. "Don't worry, I've already gotten the talk about what happens when you open the scary doors," you tell them. "...Actually. You're part of a larger force?"

"Aye," the officer agrees, cautiously.

"You hiring?"

To her eternal credit, Amy manages to make no sounds of shock, though you can hear her feathers stiffen at the unexpected tactic. The officer looks puzzled too.

"Boss is kinda far off," one of his subordinates mentions.

"Jack's close by," another reasons.

"He /is/ close by," the officer agrees. "Listen - we can always use skilled men, but we're on assignment here. So if you're looking to get hired, I'll have Carl and Triss here take you to Jack, and he can decide if he wants to pay out of pocket for you. Do good work and a rec from him can get you a distance with the Lush."

"Sounds workable," you agree. Carl and Triss - both human and professional, though Carl's hair is an odd shade of blue - step out of formation and beckon for you.

"Let's go," you tell your companions, before setting off with your enemies in the lead.

This whole affair is giving you a skeezy feeling in your soul. Harry and Applegrove both taught you to be honest. Captain Miller encouraged it too. But - well, but there's not time for that, right now.

Heh. Bri'll probably laugh like hell when you explain it to her. It sounds stupid thinking about, it, but...

"Jack," Carl says, professionally. You startle out of your reverie and look up to see a lean man turning away from the door he's contemplating. Jack isn't precisely handsome, but there's an angular, blade-like quality to the man that suggests motion. He wears a coat much like Brianna's, all dusty grey and bulging pockets, and a large sack hangs from his left hip, bulging full enough that you have to wonder why his belt hasn't snapped.

"Is the rest of your squad okay?" is the first question you hear from the man; he sounds concerned.

>This is the first time in years I've heard someone say you "can't" do a veto vote.
They don't tell you, but most of the time nega-votes are simply ignores.

If you have a write-in, sure, cool. It gets votes.
But it doesn't count as -1 to other votes.

"Yessir," Carl answers. "Triss and I were detailed to bring you these adventurers, sir. They're looking for employment."

"I could always use battle-ready help," Jack admits, looking all of you up and down. "...Not sure how much I like the look of that rakshasa or the cheval, though."

"How did you know?" Robert asks, shocked.

"I've had a very long time to get to know things," Jack answers, evenly. "You wanna tell me what that poor girl did to deserve you infecting her soul, shade?"

"That girl is my student," Robert sniffs. "...A rather talented one, at that. I'd had my doubts at first, but..."

"Mmhm. I'll believe it when I hear it from her mouth," Jack says flatly. His gaze goes back to you. "I'm going to make this simple: if you're the sort that kills for money and doesn't ask questions, get the fuck out of the Warehouse. I don't tolerate your kind. These people, they've done nothing to deserve that."

> What do you say?

"I was about to ask the same question, honestly."

Hmm, sounds about right. Supporting this.

Also, I love how Jack /immediately/ called out Robert.

So let's say, hypothetically, you wanted to fuck a pixie. How would you go about it in an ethical but also pleasurable manner?

I also like this. Very hero like.

>Not sure how much I like the look of that rakshasa or the cheval, though

Huh. For self-proclaimed idiot, he's rather well-read.

For all that Jack's made some serious mistakes in the past, I can't help but like him. Of course, this just makes me wonder what he's hiding, what guilt drives him, what debt binds him.

And it makes me wonder if he knows everything about the Lush, given their amicable relationship.

>*Grin* You know, I was pretty worried when I heard about armed soldiers charging around the Warehouse, but if you're the guy in charge of them, then I think that I can rest easier. Mind if we have a private conversation though?

Making a chain play when he's got guards standing by around him probably isn't smart. Let's see if we can a private word about what he's after, and if we can find a way to nullify that debt. Eliminate the debt, and he has no reason to be the Debtor. It's still not a story with a happy ending for him, but at least he doesn't have to keep answering to Richard. He can be his own man.

I dunno about amicable. Look here: suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/46882856/#p46887320

A fair point, but he still accepted the offer of troops and managed relative politeness with the giant. The giant also likes him, which is a rather odd concession to make for a total hedonist like him. Then again, giving troops the guy you expect to get knocked over before you to better delay Bri from coming and ripping your spine out makes an awful lot of sense.

Sure let's go with something like this.

That's fairly unanimous. Called, writing.

You cock an almost relieved smile. "I was about to say something similar, Jack. There's a line you're supposed to draw if you expect to be a man of honor. There's no glory in killing children in their beds."

"/Red is the Glory/," Jack muses. "You were militia?"

You nod. "I wanted to get into soldiering, but circumstances prevented that. I can't handle marching the miles any more."

Jack claps your shoulder and gives you a sympathetic squeeze. "I know what it's like, living with the corpse of your dreams sleeping in your bed," he murmurs. "...But I still don't like your cheval."

"/Have it your way/," Robert snarls. River's body shudders, and the spectral robes vanish in tatters. The elf sways, woozily, but is caught by Lark.

"River?" the tobacco grower asks.

"Remind me," River mutters dizzily, "to kick his fukkin' ass."

Jack lets go of your shoulder, looks at River, then looks back at you ."That's your life /every day/, isn't it?"

You nod, and Jack nods back. "Can we negotiate now?"

"Got a job for you already, actually," Jack admits. "Probably dangerous work but if we're being honest, you folks are probably more qualified than my men are. No offense, Carl."

"None taken," the soldier answers.

Jack points, unerringly, towards the center of the Warehouse. "Some asshole is trying to open that door. That needs to not happen, at any cost. There's five components to the thing. One of 'em's in the hands of some ancient lich, that's probably safe. He used to have another, but my men say the amulet's missing. I can only hope he stashed it someplace."

> Wait, /you/ aren't trying to open the door?
> Say nothing; let him keep talking
> Come clean. This just got complicated
> Write-in?

>> Say nothing; let him keep talking

> Say nothing; let him keep talking

...go on. Tell us about how you're NOT trying to open that door.

> Say nothing; let him keep talking
Well, that's interesting.

>Come clean. This just got complicated.
Things are looking /very/ interesting.

And yes, I know that Jack is our 'enemy', but I doubt Flitter would be his best friend if he was a deceitful bastard.

> Say nothing; let him keep talking

>> Wait, /you/ aren't trying to open the door?

God damn it vox, I knew I should've stayed paranoid.

...

>Come clean. This just got complicated

>> Say nothing; let him keep talking
I feel that coming clean /right now/ would be rather difficult without running into misunderstandings. I think we could probably do so but maybe at a better time?

"Don't worry bout the lich's amulet I'm wearing it cuz I'm a woundseeker because my mother was the seer and I'm the lover to the lady who has killed all your allies."

> Ask him what's in the center of the Warehouse

It's Lora!

go away there's a fucking quest board

True. Very well, I guess I'm changing my vote here to;
>Say nothing; let him keep talking.

That's the Sanctum. You know, he private spot that Grand Master Dick hijacked.

Aight, I need to hit bed. Votes remain open.

I'm hosting a side story on /qst/ tomorrow starting at 2 PM and ending when I feel like it's goddamn finished. I'll post the link when we start. I'm gonna experiment with rolling a bit more, using a D10 and public difficulty classes. We'll see how it goes; should be an education in any event.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

> Say nothing; let him keep talking

The fact that he apparently doesn't want to open it doesn't actually make much of a difference. Anyone here could be lying about their own goals. Any of them could be lying about what is actually in the center and whether or not opening it is a good or bad idea.

Regardless of whom actually wants to or doesn't want to open it, acquiring the key items for ourselves is still a decent idea. Along the way, we can do some more investigation as to whom we should trust and what we should do regarding opening or not opening the center. But whatever the answers are, having the key items in our possession will, if nothing else, give us more power and more options.

Only problem is that stupid fucking bottle imp.

Thread archived, incidentally. Now I'm passin' out.

I imagine most of the objects are rather problematic. The Bottled Imp is pretty much a monkey's paw that'll actively try to fuck you over even more than usual, the pixie's heart's probably one of those things that laying hands on it will be Bad for various reasons, the medallion kills you if you put it on, the staff belongs to the lich, and...

Let's see, the other two bits are an Angel's Voice and a Demon's Soul. Getting Lora to open her mouth seems pretty easy for Jack, but unless you're a Chainholder... yeah, that's not going to work out too well for you, barring a recording enchantment down here somewhere with a piece of an Angel's voice in it. A Demon's Soul, though... Darshan's here, but I doubt he'd like to 'donate' his soul to the project. On the other hand, someone could always summon another Demon.

Anyway, it's also possible the Jack's recognized us, and is trying to play us, but... Yeah, he's the first Chainholder we've seen actively trying not to be a terrible person. Even Bridgette had an army of Demons working for her. I also can't help but worry about the artifact he sent to the Lush... Then again, if I were Jack, and I figured my time was coming due... 'Wrong Artifact, sorry. Can't be helped. Sorry that about blowing up that staff, guess we'll never use it now.'

Also... the name 'Jack', who's a self-admitted fool... And the Lush's a giant... who lives in cornucopia, where many things grow... things like vegetables... Are we in for a Jack and the Giant Beanstalk kind of thing?

....I hadn't realized that beanstalk reference.

I also can't see this ending well, even if Jack would be acting against Lush for some sort of golden goose.

Shrinking magic? Or a shapechanging one to turn you into a pixie too.

The Bottled Imp /is/ the Demon's Soul.

The amulet's not part of the key.

Sooo...what's IN the door?

Who is Flitter? The pixie?

On other note i just thought something. What if Flitter is a male pixie?

I don't see how being a male pixie changes anything.

Oh, don't get me wrong user. It's not a problem to me either. But, maybe, Jack just don't like boys?

But then again. He was in the army.