[center][h1]~The Power of Stew~[/h1][/center] The man with the pendant's face contorted in contempt. "Huh? Who do you think you are little miss?" "Just a customer looking for a drink. One that'd hate for the bartender to be unable to do their job." "And if he doesn't come?" "You look like a guy with the resources to find him again. Or you could just wait outside, he can't stay here for ever" The man bared his teeth and looked away. "Tch. Fine. But I ain't letting ya leave either until I see 'im again there." At this moment, a new message appeared. [quote][u]Unusual Tourists[/u] -Inquire the estranged of midtown for information on the refugees 0/1 -Help the cloaked stranger: 1/1 (complete) -Listen to the cloaked stranger's tale: 0/1[/quote] With the appearance of the message, the face of the cloaked man also becomes visible. It is bizarre with a diagonal split in their face passing through their nose, with the lower half covering his mouth and right eye is that of a middle-aged man with a rough untrimmed beard and a skin that did not age well, whereas the upper half covering his bald head and left eye is the face of an actual mannequin with bizarre fleshy bumps here or there. Either side had tiny blue cracks shining through it, like magma shining through melting rock. [color=darkblue]"Thank you for rescuing me. I has been...difficult finding work, much less funds."[/color] said the mannequin man. His voice was noticeably very deep and elegant. I sighed and approached Totsurugi, whispering to their ear. [color=#68BCDD]"You might wanna sit down for this, it's gonna take a bit."[/color] [color=darkblue]"I wouldn't suppose you'd have a job for an old toy maker would you? I assure you, I can do good work! I did great work back in my village, with my grandfather's shop. Maybe I should have stayed with him after all... but if I hadn't gone to the lord's town, , I wouldn't have met the love of my life! The most beautiful girl I ever met, that Jenny. I wonder where she is now... I hope she's off painting something for our daughter. She's only two years old, and we were so happy we even skipped the lord's annual fair, where everyone would gather to show off their work. The lord was always so pleased to see it all, and to us newcomers it was a chance to prove our worth to him and everyone in town. I wish things could have stayed that way. I hope the lord and his family managed to escape alongside the rest of the Shelian refugees. Why didn't anyone come to assist us? Why must we forage for food while no one will even consider allowing us to work?!... I'm sorry, my emotions got the best of me. Frankly, asking you for a job when you've already assisted me to this extent would be too much. I don't have any means to repay you, but if you ever need my assistance I'll do what I can to make it up to you![/color] "Oi!" called out the bartender, waving around waterskins full of the drink Totsurugi had ordered. "Stop messing around, I've got your stuff!" Right as he spoke those words, the quest updated. [quote][u]Unusual Tourists[/u] -Inquire the estranged of midtown for information on the refugees 0/1 -Help the cloaked stranger: 1/1 (complete) -Listen to the cloaked stranger's tale: 1/1 (complete) -Collect [color=#23C126][Jove's Welcoming Stew][/color] from Jove 0/5[/quote] And after Totsurugi took the drinks, it would update again. [quote][u]Unusual Tourists[/u] -Inquire the estranged of midtown for information on the refugees 0/1 -Help the cloaked stranger: 1/1 (complete) -Listen to the cloaked stranger's tale: 1/1 (complete) -Collect [color=#23C126][Jove's Welcoming Stew][/color] from Jove 5/5 (complete) -Bribe Gam the crooked 0/1 -Bribe Big Hool 0/1 -Bribe Wasted Joe 0/1 -Bribe the snake man 0/1 -Bribe Madam Sesella the Seer 0/1 [/quote] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For the next part of the quest, we had to return to midtown. We would wander around that place, talking to each of the "estranged" as we spotted them. The anorexic card dealer and scammer Gam, the huge bald musclebrained Hool, the perpetually-in-hangover Joe always lying down at the bottom of the stairs, the refugee with blue cracks on his skin who commanded a hosted of snakes and snake replicas who somehow moved like the real deal, and the woman in the caravan looking through a glass ball she claimed was actually crystal. Each of them deflected answering our questions, except they said they might remember with some of the stew from lowtown, the one this 'Jove' made and which he always shared with newcomers to the town. After running the rounds once to complete the first objective of the quest, it autocompleted the second that said we had to go to Jove's tavern. Now was time to bribe them. [quote]-Bribe Gam the crooked 1/1 (complete)[/quote] "Ohoho? Oh I bet this will go down real swell. You wanted to know about all those cloaked people coming into town lately right? I don't know much about them, but I'll tell you what, they are a really sorry sight. They are totally penniless, and they only have this broken junk to take. I told one of them to take it a toy shop and trade it there or something but they started shaking. That's like carpenter starting to shake at the thought of going to a workshop! If you ask me, it's real fishy, I bet they are the [i]real[/i] scammers. Not me, as you can see I'm a man of my word. By the way, might I interest you in a quick game?" [quote]Bribe Big Hool 1/1 (complete) [/quote] "You makin' fun o' me? Tis be nothin', so tiny! Well, I dun know much either, so we're even. All I know is they suddenly came in, they can't work o' anything. They dun work on what they are good at, and they are weak, most o'them can't work in fields and they never fought a day in their lives. Seriously, handling them is like trying not to make one of those wine glasses the boss asks me to bring him." [quote]Bribe Wasted Joe 1/1 (complete)[/quote] "Eh? What? Oh right, right.... Sorry, I...ow my head... I feel like there's a dragon in it and someone stole a goblet of wine... probably me...ow.... Ah, yeah, this! Excellent. It's good for inducing AND treating headaches like this!" Joe took a big sip from the stew. "Ow... it's still hard to remember.... but I think I overheard them talking about some Shelin place? Wasn't that like, some upstart town or something? I think I got my daughter uh....uh.... what was it? Maybe I should ask her. Ah, no I can't. That wench went and took her... she took everything from... " Joe took a bigger gulp of a couple bottles at once, the beverages rolling down from his chin. [quote]Bribe the snake man 1/1 (complete)[/quote] "What a kind man, that Joe is. He is so welcoming to those who come to him in their time of need. Very much like the lord of that town. The memories are still rather fresh in my mind, so forgive me for not talking much. However, please spread this among your peers: You must not go to that town. I've personally witnessed the life being stolen from friends and family in front of my very eyes. And in turn..." He pointed to one of his snakes. It wasn't hard to notice what was unusual about it: the entire thing was made from crockery, shaped like a snake and painted yes, and a string tying the body together alongside a few wooden sticks, however it was not the sort of thing one would expect to be [i]alive[/i]. [quote]Bribe Madam Sesella the Seer 1/1 (complete)[/quote] "Thank you dearie. In return, I'll do you a little service. Come on, sit down..." She pulls out her 'crystal' ball and begins randomly moving her fingers around it, saying making "oooouuuu" sounds as if that would help the mysticism of the situation. "I see... a town one should typically avoid. Such danger! The survivors all fled, and the few that remained fight for their very selves to push back against the oddities that tirelessly seek to escape their birthplace, while the lord cowers in his home, driven mad." [quote][u]Unusual Tourists[/u] -Inquire the estranged of midtown for information on the refugees 1/1 (complete) -Request 5 [color=#23C126][Jove's Welcoming Stew][/color] from Jove in his tavern in lowtown. 5/5 (complete) -Help the cloaked stranger: 1/1 (complete) -Listen to the cloaked stranger's tale: 1/1 (complete) -Collect [color=#23C126][Jove's Welcoming Stew][/color] from Jove 5/5 (complete) -Bribe Gam the crooked 1/1 (complete) -Bribe Big Hool 1/1 (complete) -Bribe Wasted Joe 1/1 (complete) -Bribe the snake man 1/1 (complete) -Bribe Madam Sesella the Seer 1/1 (complete) -Go to the local guard station to share what you have learned 0/1 [/quote] [color=#68BCDD]We're almost done with the quest. The guard station is over there. You will get a small special reward depending on how well you report what you were told. Either way, the guard captain is going to have all the details though, it'll just be a difference between learning them from you or learning them from her 'other sources'. Lets go!"[/color] The guard station was a relatively small building with a naturally strong security, from magical wards to of course guards of its own. The front half of it was a sort of reception, with a few spears in a corner and various kinds of clothing, and light by a single shining crystal at the top. This mostly white-painted room had a couple of guards supposed to be stationed in what appeared to be desks, one who had taken a break and left the helmet on the table, while the other laid back on his chair with his feet on that same desk. Nonetheless, it was the only one here to be talked to. "Huh?" He protested. "Information? You? You stink. You've come from lowtown no? I bet you're just trying to scam us from for some rewar-" [color=#8945ff]"What is happening here? What is with this lack of discipline from a subordinate of mine?"[/color] [img]https://moewalls.com/web/wallpapers/anime-knight-girl-red-eyes-cape-white-horse-military-uniform-sword/thumbnail/lg.jpg[/img] "G-guard captain!" The lazy guard quickly attempted to stand up to salute, but ended up rolling poorly because his feet were previously on the table, and fell flat on his face. [color=#8945ff]"So the report was true, there was someone willfully dismissing important information. You'll be hearing from me later. I'll take it from here. Get out of my sight!"[/color] The guard ran to the back, opening the door to the miniature prison of the station, and heading towards the armory in a hurry. The guard captain marched to the door and closed, giving a slight smile to Totsurugi as she turned back. [color=#8945ff]"My apologies for this mess. As guard-captain, I am truly ashamed of what my subordinate put you through, I hope you can forgive us. I must also apologize, but we are dealing with an increasingly urgent situation, so for starters, would you mind taking a seat and sharing with us the information you've gathered? I'll be sure to put a bonus in for you."[/color]