The Familiar of Zero: Guns, Germs and Zero Quest - Thread 2 -

>>533023
>[] "I am the Historian. Likewise, I am pleased to meet you."
Can you tell me of this world.

>>533023
>[] "I am the Historian. Likewise, I am pleased to meet you."

>>533023
>>[] "I am the Historian. Likewise, I am pleased to meet you."

>>533071
>>533395
>>533429

"I am the Historian. Likewise, I am pleased to meet you."

"Well, I've got to get going now."

"Please wait. Do you know of anything to make me literate in the local script?"

"Oh, yes."

He waves his staff and a sense of understanding falls onto you.

---

It's just you and the twin moons out here.

[] Retire to your mattress in Louise's room.

>>533599
>[] Retire to your mattress in Louise's room.
I hope you are not waiting for votes when there is only one option OP.

>>533662
alternative option

[] write-in

You can always write in.

>>533599
>Write-in
Search for the library of this place.
Begin absorbing its history.

>>533599
>[] Retire to your mattress in Louise's room.
>We should encourage her to follow the path of a historian. To uncover the history of the world.

>>533798
Louise could be important for the timeline, encouraging her to be a historian and just observe will be direct intervention be our part.

>>533599
>>[] Retire to your mattress in Louise's room.

>>534241
>>533798
>>533662

There is nothing else to be done outside here.

You make your way back to Louise's room. The young girl is sleeping, snoring softly, but quitely enough not to disturb sleep - assuming of course, you needed to sleep.

It would rather be hibernation.

You make your way onto the mattress, and start hibernating.

---

Morning arrives and you stop your hibernation. You feel slightly more stronger.

The door to Louise's room is open and you can see her on the threshold, bickering violently. You make your way to hit.

The redhead before you both stops, merely gawking at you. A red curiousity of a creature is at her foot and it too stares at you.

"My my, what would be your name?" She asks you.

"I am the Historian."

"It's rather amazing that the Zero managed to summon something like you. You're always welcome in my room, you know."

The redhead then makes her way somewhere else.

---

Your summoner's name was Louise de La Vallière. She wasn't too satisfied with the comments from the redhead, full name Kirche Augusta Frederika von Anhalt Zerbst.

Truly, their names were eclectic. Their names corresponded with names of certain individuals in the histories you knew so well. In particular, in the Golden History, the one which you used to judge all the others, Louise's name belonged to a mistress of Louis XIV and the redhead's name was was shared with a Tsarina of Russia's.

The fact that, here they were, reference points for your history-guessing, in a Hogwarts-style magic academy, meant that this world's flow of history truly was different.

As so as you went through the motions of eating in the Hall, for the sake of convention only, while others gawked onto you, you had reached the conclusion, that given its divergence from the Golden History and the fact that this was a different and distinct world in its own right with only analogies to it, that trying to use your understanding of history to predict future events would only lead to absurdity.

The people of this world worshiped a figure called Brimir. From what you were gleaning, he was more of a Muhammad-figure than a Christ-figure so far. The crux of the creed was about him being a conqueror.

"Historian." She said softly. Louise had finished and so had you.

"Yes, Miss de Valliere?"

"I'm almost finished and ready to go to class. Please ready yourself as well."

[] "I'd just be an eyesore. Please, Miss de Valliere, grant me leave to visit the library."

[] "As you wish, Miss Valliere."

(OOC: You can always write-in.)

>>535972
[X] "I'd just be an eyesore. Please, Miss de Valliere, grant me leave to visit the library."

>>535972
>[] "As you wish, Miss Valliere."

>>535972
> as you wish

>>535972

[] "As you wish, Miss Valliere."

>>536095
>>536017
>>536011

"As you wish, Miss Valliere."

---

It was rather dreadful, you must comment. Apart from all the staring that needed the whole class to be reminded of the fact that you were a shapeshifter, something else rather dismaying had happened.

It was a class on transmutation. You managed to glean some understanding about how mages worked, with their Line, Triangle and Square classification of magical prowess, but there wasn't much else in the way of history.

Furthermore, you learnt about the nickname that she was given - Louise the Zero. Her attempt at transmuting a piece of clay went extremely poorly and resulted in a very smoky classroom that she had to clean up.

---

Her cleanup had ended and so it was time for her to get lunch.

You hadn't made a single comment while she was cleaning the room. It wouldn't have been tactful. The little girl was not happy at all.

[] "I'll give you time some alone to contemplate, Miss Valliere." Leave her alone and wander around.

[] Write-in

>>536565
>Tell her you're going to look for the library.

We have history to learn

>>536565
>Go find someone who could help you control how you look.

>>536565
Go to the library, this girl is boring. (Not that we would get bored IC of course.)

>>536565
>Tell her you're going to look for the library.
Let's bust out the history books.

>>536565
>[] Write-in
"Perhaps we should spend some time studying in the library, Miss Valliere."

File: tegaki.png (3KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

3KB, 400x400px

>>536570
>>536593
>>536634

"Excuse me Miss de Valliere. I will excuse myself to the library.and give you time of your own to contemplate."

She grunts affirmatively, indicating that she has no objections to your leaving for the library.

---

As you enter the library, you notice you have no stationery with which to write. Fortunately for you, you find a scroll of dirty parchment with a quill and inkwell, seemingly abandoned.

While it is tempting to appropriate it, that might mean some student might lose an opportunity to use it to learn. You also then remember that you have no true need of writing; the memory of a being like you is infinite. There only needs to be information to be gleaned.

---

After a certain amount of arduous sifting around, an array of books related to this land's history is gathered before you.

Amongst such books include:

"The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"
"Records of the Crusades Against The Foulest Enemy, the Elves"
"A Short Record of Ancient Magic"
"Genealogy of the most esteemed Houses of Halkeginia"
"Foundation of the Holy Germanian Empire"
"Book of the Marvels of the World"
"The Various Cruelties of the Elves"
"A Depiction of the Depravity of the Elves"
"The Wild and Chaotic Lifestyle of the Elven Invaders"

[] "That's quite a lot of anti-elven sentiment here, what is it all about?"
[] " """Holy""", """Germanian""", """Empire""". Is it a farce here as well?"
[] "In a place such as this, history is most clearly written from top down" Look at the genealogies.
[] "This Brimir figure seems to be a recurring individual"
[] "A Short Record seems relatively neutral"
[] "'Book of the Marvels of the World' - Is that your equivalent writing there, Marco Polo?"
[] Write-in

>>536790
>[] "That's quite a lot of anti-elven sentiment here, what is it all about?"

>>536790
>[] "That's quite a lot of anti-elven sentiment here, what is it all about?"

Make comparisons between the elves and Jews, Mongols, Huns, Vandals, with a bit of Carthage thrown in?

>>536790
What are we voting for? Books for the MC read/checkout, books to get a summary of?
Anyway, having not read the canon i'm most interested in the foundation books on Brimir and the Empire, and maybe the geneology one to get a look at the power structure of the land.

>>536808
Skim

>>536790
>>[] "That's quite a lot of anti-elven sentiment here, what is it all about?"

>>536790
>[] "This Brimir figure seems to be a recurring individual"

File: N1viY8S.png (224KB, 365x301px) Image search: [Google]

224KB, 365x301px

>>537425
>>536795
>>536793

"That's quite a lot of anti-elven sentiment here, what is it all about?"

---

"And so, Sasha, formerly the Familiar of our Brimir, betrayed him, the great whore that she was, when Brimir righteously sought to slaughter her treacherous race of seductresses."

"The claim by the Protestant heretics that the three Houses of Halkeginia are spawned from unnatural, lewd fornication between the Great Whore Sasha and our Founder Brimir is by no means true. It is implausible and is simply Protestant tomfoolery acting up again."

"The hordes of Nephthys occupy the Holy Land, the earth where our founder once stood. For this great blasphemy, we have sent at least nine crusades to subjugate them. Alas, despite their valiant efforts, the elven hordes were far too numerous."

"The elves pirate Romaglian shipping, which brings precious cargo from the Far East to Halkeginia. For this reason alone, they should be exterminated."

"Other scholar have claimed Nephthys is a desert. This is a baseless assertion. Nephthys is in fact lush, fertile land great for the plebeians to toil on. It brings bountiful harvests and can be exploited for a variety of rare crops. It is only called a desert because of the presence of the Elven usupers and this is easily solved by slaughtering all elven men and taking elven women as our slave concubines."

"Despite the claims of Nephthys, crusaders have never committed any atrocities against the elves in their righteous struggle for the Holy Land. Claims about crusaders violating elven women are absurd, for this is impossible; how can elven women be violated if they are such temptresses who will use their wiles to misguide men from the path of Brimir?"

"They eat babies and violate men and women alike in the night, regardless of whether or not their sex corresponds. They are degenerates and ought to be crucified."

It was prolific. It was vicious. Most grievously of all, it was repetitive. Elves were some great devil figure to the denizens of this world.

What you did learn from this however:

* The elf Sasha was a familiar of their great figure Brimir. There are allegations that Brimir's children, or the founders of the royal houses of Halkeginia in fact being descended from her although this is heavily disputed.
* The humans of this world were in conflict with the Elves.
* The humans of this world deeply coveted their Holy Land, which they claim the Elves are occupying.
*There is a Far East in this world, from which exotic goods of some importance are conveyed through the Holy Land.

Loose analogies to the Frankish Crusades against the Seljuks could be drawn. There also was a flavour of the Venetian-Ottoman trade conflicts.

What shall you read next?

(cont)

(cont. from above)

[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"
[] "A Short Record of Ancient Magic"
[] "Genealogy of the most esteemed Houses of Halkeginia"
[] "Foundation of the Holy Germanian Empire"
[] "Book of the Marvels of the World"

[] Enough reading for today.

>>537800
>A short record of ancient magic
Magic looks important so read up on it.

>>537800
>[] "A Short Record of Ancient Magic"

>>537805
>>537839

"A Short Record" truly lived to its name. It was short, for certain.

---

"The first recorded instances of magic stretch back six millennia ago. At this time, magical theory was still limited and elemental combination was rare."

"Summoning familiars from elsewhere was not known. However, binding living creatures as familiars was."

"There is currently an academic debate over whether or not there was magic before Brimir. Unfortunately, this debate is highly contentious and as such, it cannot be covered here."

"It can be veritably understood that around Brimir's time, there was an additional element beyond earth, fire, water and wind. This element was called Void. Unfortunately, information on this element is rather scarce."

"It is asserted by certain scholars, unnamed for their confidentiality, that Elven magic is linked to Ancient Void Magic. There are no sources that deny or verify this, so it much be treated as speculation for the current being."

As you said earlier, it truly lived up to its name of "Short Record"

You could conclude that:
* there was a fifth obscure magical element
"Void"
* elves had ties to ancient magic and Void element magic.

What is your next course of action?

Read:

[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"
[] "Genealogy of the most esteemed Houses of Halkeginia"
[] "Foundation of the Holy Germanian Empire"
[] "Book of the Marvels of the World"

[] Enough reading for today.

[] Write-in

>>538242
> foundations of the empire

>>538242
>[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"

>>538242
>[] "Foundation of the Holy Germanian Empire"

>>539503
>>538260

There's no harm in learning about a gigantic hulking empire on the continent, if it could be called one. Halkeginia must surely consist of more than some strange geographical pastiche mimicking early modern Europe. It probably had the diplomatic butchery as well.

---

"It is known amongst nobles that emperors stand above kings and kings above dukes and so forth."

"It was well known before Brimir's death that his inheritance would be divided between his three children and a fourth part be allocated to his spiritual successor his apprentice, hence the church of Romalia. This was all well and good where the inheritance was specified and demarcated namely the aforemention earlier four nations. However, one region never was demarcated. Furthermore, rather than outright conquest, it only felt Brimir's hegemony. As we know, in Germania, nobility is not by convention restricted to mages alone."

"So thus there was this problem. Germania was never divvied up. Germania didn't want to be divvied up. Indeed, some even say Brimir didn't want Germania to be divvied up. With this claim, the Holy Romalian Empire of the Germanian Nation, not to be confused with the Holy Romalian Empire under the command of the pope, was formed. Fortunately, this discrepancy is often recognized and it is merely referred to as Germania informally."

"The Imperial Crown is nominally elective. Theoretically, any prince of Germania can be elected although in practice, alternation between dynasties is at most occasional and still through marriage ties."

"Traditionally, the Emperor, never an Empress, is elected a college of seven electors, namely, the three Archbishops of Moguntiacum, Augusta Treverorum, Colonia Aggripina, and the noble princes of Bohemia, the Palatinus, Saxonia and Brandenburgensis. The election is usually carried through means of either bribery or under the table negotations."

Yep. It reflected the non-Holy, non-Roman, non-Empire you were very used to seeing eating itself.


What is your next course of action?

Read:

[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"
[] "Genealogy of the most esteemed Houses of Halkeginia"
[] "Book of the Marvels of the World"

[] Enough reading for today.

[] Write-in

>>540305
>[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"
In order to properly understand the present and predict the future, you must know the past.

>>540305
>[] "The Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"

>>540305
>[] Enough reading for today.

>>540349
>>540804

You looked at the title of book.

"Accounts of Our Holy Founder Brimir"

You weren't expecting a neutral account.

---

"He bound the Elf Sasha and made her submit as his familiar Gandalfr, He subdued an Elf."

"He had four Familiars, Gandalfr the Left Hand of God, Bearer of All Arms, Vindalfr, Right Hand of God, Master of All Beasts, Litfhrasir, Lover of Life, the Heart of God and Miodaitnir, the Mind of God, Master of All Spells."

"And he smote and smote until all threats to Man were destroyed".

"But in the end he was betrayed by the treacherous Elf Whore, as his great blade Derflinger was forced to kill him. May Sasha be damned."

Again, more elf-hate. It was more of hagiography than a biography. But what you did learn was that this legendary figure game from the land the people of this world were so coveting.

What is your next course of action?

Read:

[] "Genealogy of the most esteemed Houses of Halkeginia"
[] "Book of the Marvels of the World"

[] Enough reading for today.

[] Write-in

>>541067
*came

>>541067
> enough reading for today
Please OP, some plot, I beg you! Let's get this elf genocide underway.

>>541067
>[] Enough reading for today.
Break time.

It was enough reading for the day.

You made note of those two books for later.

Through the window, shades of the afternoon came in. It wasn't fully orange, but there was a tinge of late-afternoon yellow, mixed with midday blue.

Generally, human beings would've used this time to relax. It would've been meaningful for you to relax, were it not for fact that you were the embodiment of the collective unconscious of /his/.

Indeed, you're quite at a lost at what to do.

[] Write-in

>>541878
And leaving off the important books on who's who and learning more of this world to better predict it.
Great.

>write-in
Find Louise. We are her Familiar, a thing we should have researched, by the way.

>>542182
Supporting.

>>542182
>>542194

Maybe Marvels and the Genealogy would've been more interesting. Either way, it wasn't a time to regret reading the others. There was a more important thing to do and that was to get back to Louise to clarify certain things.

Throughout Earth's mythology, familiar spirits were creatures that were summoned to aid magicians in their endeavors. Given this, the pertinent question was what were Louise' endeavors and how could you aid here. After all, you had no powers of your own that the denizens of this world could describe as magical. - your shapeshifting was quite possibly only the result of you being bound as a familiar, rather than some intrinsic magic. The only gift you had was those Million Annals you bragged of, or more humbly, the countless iterations of human history on Earth you've seen.

Of all the miscellaneous things in existence that could've been summoned, from teenage human boys down on their luck to escapist truants and NEETA, it had to be the collective unconscious of said boys, and the very rare girl, who were interested in history and the humanities!

---

Disinterest, disengaged but thankfully, not distracted, you make your way into Louise's room.

"I have returned, Miss Valliere."

She grunted in acknowledgement, quite engrossed in her schoolwork presumably. It couldn't be helped.

[] "Once you have finished, Miss Valliere, I wish to discuss my capabilities with you."

[] Write-in

>>542342
>[] Write-in
"Is there anything I can assist you with, Miss Valliere?"

>>542374
This

lets get to know the little tyke a bit more.

>>542374
This

File: tegaki.png (2KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

2KB, 400x400px

>>542374
>>543452
>>543561

"Is there anything I can assist you with Miss Valliere?"

The silence that ensued, the sound of quill on parchment gone, chilled the atmosphere considerably. However, it was not a chill of anger. A more analogous chill would be the loss of temperature in a dying person. It was a wilting silence, one which would crushed the confidence of other beings.

"What I want to be helped with and what you can help me with do not necessarily match."

The insinuation started to become more obvious. During her Transmutation lesson, she had shown herself unable to accomplish what was considered a basic elemental magical art.

Sadly, you had nothing in the way of elemental magical ability yourself.

"So to clarify, your desire is to be aided in practicing elemental magic?"

"Yes."

"I am unable to help you in this regard."

"Thankfully, that clears up my expectations." Her tone was one of a person achieving piece with their disappointment. Was that a hint of sorrow or relief in her voice?

She continued:
"That is the only obstacle left on my road. I am quite confident with my other studies."

That presented you with a problem: If you could not help her and what you could help her with, she did not desire help, what was your purpose in existence on this world as a familiar?

"However, there is one thing that is obvious to me. You are not a mere beast or monster familiar spirit like ones the others have summoned. You've got the gift of reason. You title yourself Historian and you do so confidently."

She continue and this time around, her talk accentuated the negative:
"I haven't got Zerbst's figure. I'm not proficient at magic as Tabitha. I've struggled onwards and onwards, being adequate in theory. However, at this rate, I can't see a future beyond a political marriage as the younger daughter of a duchess, not that it is bad, but still, its frustrating." A deep, strong, but ultimately restrained breath comes from her.

"I don't want to lose my pride in all of this. I don't want to be forgotten in it. I want to be able to stand. I'm sorry for burdening you with this, but it weighs on my mind quite heavily."

The room was becoming ever darker with sunset.

[] "So you wish to preserve your pride as a Valliere, Mistress?"
[] "So you wish to show your power to the world as a Valliere, Mistress?"

[] Write-in

>>543730
>"So you wish to preserve your pride as a Valliere, Mistress?"

>>543730
>[] "So you wish to preserve your pride as a Valliere, Mistress?"

>>543730
>[] "So you wish to show your power to the world as a Valliere, Mistress?"

>>543730
>[] "So you wish to show your power to the world as a Valliere, Mistress?"

>>543730
>[] "So you wish to show your power to the world as a Valliere, Mistress?"

>>545290
This.

>>544498
>>544504
>>545290
>>546209
>>546209

"So you wish to show your power to the world as a Valliere, Mistress?"

An amused grunt came from Louise. A silence of reflection passed.

"Is it too presumptuous of me to ask of you to help me accomplish that?"

"Not at all. The nature of life means all life seeks to become stronger. All people desire to become stronger. Rarely does anyone seek to be weak. Those who do not possess power will generally seek it. People are afraid of weakness, because it leads to death. People seek power, because it protects their life and their standing. Essentially, you are just one of these people. There is no shame to it, only calculation."

A pause of anxiety came, but then her voice became slightly higher in expectation.

"So does it mean you can make me stronger?"

"Only as an adviser. I shall not interfere with my own hands."

"Right. However, that means you can still tell me where the path to greatness is, right?"

You reply: "Perhaps. The greatness which you seek exists in a history I've seen unfold for more than a million times. It is in no-way beautiful."

Europe was by no means the center of the world. However, it laid at the crossroads of history. A mere peninsula on the great island of Eurasia, at its darkest hour, it seemed that there would be no hope. Europe prayed for it, but it only got worse as the continent plunged into a 30 years war. Despite this, it grew. A strong kingdom in the west developed, as did one on Great Britain albeit on parliamentary ones. This great rivalry constantly brought the two kingdoms to a head against each other, but as history pass, in their rivalry, they each had become stronger. That was the Golden History, the median of all the other ones, the one that stood tallest.

"If that is your earnest desire, then this is what it might entail: a continent is brought to its knees as a huge civil war burns an empire. Countless duchies and counties are subsumed into kingdoms that only become stronger with each new land they usurp. Ideas that seemed obvious no longer will stand strong. Children will rip themselves out of their mothers' wombs. Others ambitious will contest with you for the control of the entire world itself. Most of all, being a noble will mean nothing anymore."

Oh, you could see the anxiety in her face. Yet she sat still, trying a strike semblance of defiance.

[] "Do you really wish to create Halkeginia Universalis?"

>>547261
>[x] Other
"Or you could not listen to me because I am a massive overly dramatic faggot."

>>547261
>[] "Do you really wish to create Halkeginia Universalis?"

>>547261
>[x] Other ["I can understand your hesitation Ms Valliere. It is only common for humans to show anxiety when faced with a significant choice, for I have seen many men and women in countless parallels carving their identities into history. Many of them brought the world into chaos and change by their ambitions, but they have also met their ends as well. By your desire, Ms. Valliere, I will assist you to the best of my abilities can limit, but I will ask again: do you really wish to create Halkeginia Universalis?"]

>>547261
>[] "Do you really wish to create Halkeginia Universalis?"

Fuck void magic and shit, lets conquer the world.

New thread!

>>548844