Plot Summary


 * Placeholder-Lauren getting signum in Elleriot, passes out
 * -She wakes up to Erik attempting to heal her, causes suspicion
 * -They travel to Farionka together because it's the nearest town.
 * -Lauren searches for Donna. No luck, so they chill for the night.
 * -Some small dialogue. Lauren getting less suspicious.
 * -Next morning, Lauren decides to go to next town on her own. Erik comes with, not really giving a reason. Lauren lets him, but is suspicious of his intentions yet again.
 * -On the way, they encounter Shota. He interrogates them about the "man that killed his family" he's supposedly looking for. They know nothing. He didn't want to travel through *Cave dungeon* alone, so tags along with Lauren and Erik.
 * -Inside the dungeon, they come across *insert character*, injured. S/he is healed by Erik, thanks them briefly, and flees. (Possible side-antagonist?)
 * -BOSS: Some random monster.
 * -Exit the dungeon.
 * -Switches to Donna's perspective. Solo dungeon. She's on a simple job to kill a certain monster.
 * -BOSS: Said monster.
 * -After completing the job, she returns to Kinlarta, where Randle confronts her. Hires her as an escort/guard to the nearest port town.
 * -Beach dungeon with the two of them.
 * -BOSS: Some monster again I don't know.
 * -After exiting the dungeon and just before arriving at their target destination, Randle discovers who it is that Donna is looking to kill, and is about to attack, when Lauren's party shows up.
 * -BOSS: Lauren, Donna, Erik and Shota fight against Randle.
 * -Randle flees. Lauren and Donna reunite. They get a room at an inn in the nearby port town and catch up.
 * -Lauren and Donna discuss things with each other at the inn. Potential scolding/arguments about her running off. Donna tells about Randle, and how he seems linked with whoever she's after. Lauren agrees to help her track him down. Erik falls asleep midway through their conversation, not having anything to contribute. Donna questions his intentions after hearing from Lauren about how he's been tagging along.
 * -Shota parts ways in the town, as he searches for the herbalist (though it's still believed he's looking for revenge upon whoever it is). Finds out that he's in Wantel. Returns to inn as Lauren and Donna are finishing their discussion.
 * -Next morning, Shota explains what he found out about the murderer/herbalist, and that they have to get a boat to Polimorda before going to Wantel, because boats only go to that continent from Polimorda. Donna doesn't care. But Lauren agrees to travel with him as far as Polimorda, because it seems like a logical place to ask about Randle/whoever Donna's hunting for.
 * -Boat ride to Polimorda. Boat dialogue.
 * -They arrive at Polimorda. Shota immediately leaves the others to set up arrangements for a boat to Wantel (the next one is tomorrow morning!).
 * -Lauren, Donna and Erik search the town for anybody who knows anything. They check the jail, where Jen happens to be! ...Imprisoned! They try to get her out, but it doesn't work. They agree to get a room at the inn for the night and come up with a plan to free Jen.
 * -At the inn, they ask the innkeeper, Dreita, about Randle. She happens to know him, but gets quite pissy upon hearing his name. Doesn't know anything about where he is now, hasn't seen him for about a decade. Won't say anymore about him. Gives them room.
 * -Lauren and Donna attempt to come up with a plan. Donna gripes at Erik for not helping, which eventually turns into yelling at him for being suspicious, saying he shouldn't just be following them around without reason. Erik leaves. Lauren tells Donna she thought it was somewhat unnecessary, which Donna shrugs off. They both go to sleep for the night, assuming he'll be back and just needs a moment to himself.
 * -The next morning, just before boarding the boat, Shota is confronted by Erik. He offers to assist him in finding the herbalist, as he knows the continent is rather dangerous alone. He agrees, and they get on the boat together.
 * -Lauren wakes up to Jen grinning over her, trolling. She bolts up, asking how she got out, which wakes up Donna. Jen tells them that "the boy you two brought along" (Erik) convinced the warden to let her out somehow. Doesn't know the details. Questions where he went. They don't know either! Some guilt is had, but they decide not to worry about it too much, as he's probably left the island by now (they overslept and all the boats have gone for the day).
 * -Reunited sister fluff.
 * -Switches to Erik's perspective. On the boat with Shota. Shota questions why Erik came with him instead of staying with "all the chicks," which he doesn't answer. The subject gets dropped as there is some commotion. Upon investigating, it's discovered that pirates have come aboard! Oh no! Shota recklessly jumps at them, and Erik decides to back him up before he gets himself hurt.
 * -They battle a few pirates, and then the captain confronts the two of them. It's revealed that there's somebody on board that they're after. He knocks Erik and Shota aside, and calls out for Nieder to show himself. Nieder does, indeed, show himself. He takes out a good number of pirates with one swing of his axe, grinning, and begins stepping at the captain. Captain readies himself to fight back, when Nieder runs past him and jumps onto the pirate ship, destroying every pirate that he gets near, and essentially just steals their ship. The captain and his remaining crew, angry, tie up everyone on the initial boat and set course for somewhere that isn't Wantel. This pisses Shota off, but there's nothing he can do.
 * -Switches to Lauren's perspective. The following day. They take the first boat heading for the port town nearest Tarnable.
 * -Travel over some mountains. Mountain dungeon! Maybe a cave or two!
 * -Night hits when they get to the peak, and they decide to set up camp. More sister fluff. They catch up some more. Reaffirm their plans. Going to Tarnable to ask around, and because Lauren wants to know more about Signum. Jen explains how she even ended up in jail in the first place. (HOW?????) (Guys, she was totally trolling a little kid and they thought she was a pedo. Come on.)''' [Jen would never troll a sweet, delicious shota boy. That's preposterous! I bet she was framed! Everyone is just so jealous of her mad skills, you know.]
 * -Next morning! Second half of the mountain dungeon.
 * -They arrive at Tarnable, and have a brief look around the city. End up at the Signum Research Center, and Lauren drags Donna and Jen in with her.
 * -They manage to meet with a researcher named _____. (Side protagonist?) He looks at the item Lauren got with the Signum, seemingly intrigued with it for some reason. Gives it back to her without elaborating. Begins to walk away without saying anything, but Lauren stops him. He turns back around, and she asks if he'd explain Signum to her in more detail. He does so in a bored tone of voice, and walks away yet again. Satisfied enough, they check into an inn for the night.
 * -Switches to Erik's perspective. Erik and Shota are tossed in a cell together, presumably at the pirates' "hideout" or whatever you want to call it. Shota yells to be let out, which...doesn't work. He gives up after a while, still looking really irritated. Erik asked what his hurry was, and he almost lets it slip that he's looking for the herbalist for medicine. But corrects himself in time, instead saying that he can't stand that the "murderer" gets to live longer thanks to these pirates. Erik doesn't question it. Shota asks what HIS problem was, because he seems rather somber, and Erik offers no explanation beyond "I don't want to be here." Shota mocks him a bit, to which Erik responds by rolling on his side and falling asleep. Annoyed, Shota does the same.
 * -Erik wakes up the next morning and Shota is gone. He panics slightly, but does his best not to freak out. He peeks out of his cell, when the guard sees him and walks over. He explains that the captain wanted to speak with Shota, so that's where he went.
 * -Shota returns shortly, grinning, and explains to Erik through the bars what happened. The captain thought he showed a lot of potential in how he just started "kicking ass" back there, and asked if he was interested in becoming a pirate. Shota declined, telling him about the "revenge" that he wanted to exact. Able to relate, the captain agreed to help him, should he join their crew. ...So he did. And now...Shota's a pirate. ...And he also worked it out so Erik is a pirate too. ...Yeah.
 * -Erik gets released, and they both go speak to the captain. Realizing that Erik is a healer and not very well-versed in combat, he orders him to stay at the base for now, doing chores and cooking meals. Shota, on the other hand, was to set sail immediately with him and a crew, to reclaim their ship, which was seen heading towards Wantel when Nieder hijacked it.
 * -Shota, the captain, and a large number of the pirates leave. Erik remains at the hideout, with a few other menacing-looking pirates. Shenanigans follow.
 * -Eventually, he is confronted by a Badass Female Pirate (BAFP). She trolls him a bit, before stating how entirely out of place he seems here. After talking about it some, with more trolling, on a whim she decides to let him escape. She literally kicks down a door, and watches him walk out. She advises he head for Tarnable from here, as it's the nearest town, so he does.
 * -He goes to Tarnable, where he bumps into Lauren, Donna, and Jen! Immediately they burst out laughing due to Erik's ridiculous pirate clothes. So they all go to the inn, for Erik to change back into his usual clothes and to give him a chance to explain what happened.
 * -Erik explains that he was able to convince the warden to let Jen go by using his healing magic on a family member that was very ill. He tells them about his decision to go with Shota instead of staying with them, still not explaining why. And then proceeds to tell of the pirate fiasco, how Shota went with them to seize back their ship, all the way up to him encountering them in Tarnable.
 * -Lauren explains that they still haven't found any new information.
 * -She asks him what he's planning to do next, and he answers that he does not know. Lauren offers for him to continue traveling with them, stating that it's always nice to have a healer around, and Erik happily agrees.
 * -They're about to leave town, when they catch wind of some commotion that just sprung up in town. They agree to check it out and see what they can do.
 * -They go to the Signum Research Center, where they see the researcher from earlier. Lauren asks him what happened, and he tells them that an important item they were researching was stolen (by Vortain, but we don't know that yet). He tells them the direction that the thief went, and they give chase.
 * -They enter a cave, which leads underground...to a labyrinth dungeon! Oh gosh.
 * -Near the end, they find Vortain, strolling along casually with a frail-looking girl slung over his shoulder and unconscious. They get his attention, though he seems not to care. He simply asks them what they want, and they ask if he was the one who stole from the Research Center. He says yes, putting the girl aside, asking if they had come to take her back. They say yes, and he charges at them.
 * -BOSS: Vortain. Defeating him will earn you a good amount of experience, but losing will not give you a game over.
 * -Whether you beat him or not, he's completely uninjured while the party is worn out. Lauren, Donna and Jen continue to fight him. Seeing an opening, Erik runs over to grab the girl, and begins running back from where they came. Lauren, Donna and Jen all follow, Vortain giving chase. At first it seems impossible to outrun him, but someone triggers a trap, which causes that entire section of the labyrinth to collapse. The four of them just barely make it out, while Vortain is piled under rubble, and thought to be dead.
 * -They return to Tarnable, and hand the girl over to the researcher. He thanks them briefly, and takes her inside. They follow.
 * -The researcher explains that the girl is the subject of a key experiment right now. Tells them that the Signum inside her body behaves in a much different way, like that of a key would. Explanation of how all that works. He goes on to explain that they need to transport her to Jelarion to have somebody there look at her as well, so he asks if they'd be willing to escort them there after proving they're reliable. They agree, and they all leave for Jelarion.
 * -They go to the nearest port town. They get on a boat. The boat takes them a short ways to the appropriate continent. Erik recognizes the pirate ship that Nieder hijacked at the dock, but doesn't say anything. They travel to Jelarion from there, through a river/hillside dungeon.
 * -They arrive! At Jelarion! The researcher and the girl head to the mage academy. Lauren, Donna and Jen head to their house to check up on things, and Erik looks around town for any information.
 * -Lo and behold, Erik finds Nieder hanging out at a bar. With none other than Vortain! And so he creeps on them from a distance, being careful not to be spotted. Nieder is bragging about the sweet boat that he nabbed from the pirates, mocking Vortain for not being able to keep track of some girl. They discuss their next course of action. Vortain is apparently waiting in Jelarion until the girl arrives here, as he knows they had planned to bring her here next. Then, he and Nieder are heading north for Wantel, where their next target is supposed to be.
 * -Erik leaves the bar to warn the researcher about this.
 * -Meanwhile, Lauren, Donna and Jen are having even more sister fluff at their house. They discuss where they should begin looking next, as they've had so very little luck. Rettabanta is just a short ways south of there, so they agree that it makes sense to make that their next stop.
 * -Erik, the researcher, and the girl come to tell Lauren, Donna and Jen about Nieder and Vortain. Because they could find them at any given moment, they all agree to leave for Rettabanta immediately. And so they do.
 * -Lakeside/marsh-type dungeon. It's night, and dark. Wonderful.
 * -The same person that Lauren, Erik and Shota found injured in the cave dungeon is here too, injured yet again. Erik heals him once more, but he doesn't immediately flee this time. He seems to know something about the girl, but after acting suspicious in that way for a moment, he flees.
 * -BOSS: Some monster!
 * -They get to Rettabanta, and it's revealed that the researcher's family lives here. So they start by going to their house.
 * -Here, it is revealed that the researcher and the girl are engaged! His parents ask if "she is the girl he's marrying," and he answers yes. He doesn't say any more on the subject.
 * -Everybody sits down to discuss what it is that Nieder and Vortain are after. Researcher explains to everyone that the girl is one of five people who were exposed to the same Signum. The Signum, however, did not become one with the people as it normally does. Instead, it flowed into a crystal, where it is stored. When Signum flows into a person, the consciousness of that person acts as a barrier for the power of the Signum. Meaning that it can only unleash so much energy at a time. However, when it goes into something non-sentient, there is nothing preventing the power from all coming forth at once. If all four keys were to gather with the crystal, the results would be devastating.
 * -Everyone assumes that this is the motive in Nieder and Vortain trying to capture the girl, and agree that she must be protected.
 * -The researcher puts forth that they will probably be after the other four keys as well, so they should make sure to keep them all safe. He tells everyone that one of them, a young boy, lives in Yarten, which is just on the other side of the mountains, in the desert. Everyone decides that they need to him, but the girl isn't exactly strong enough to survive in the desert, even with everyone else. So it's decided that Erik and Jen will stay and protect her in Rettabanta, while Lauren, Donna and the researcher go to Yarten to retrieve the boy.
 * -Shortly after Lauren, Donna and the researcher leave, Nieder arrives in town and finds them. He boasts that he and Vortain caught onto Erik snooping on them at the bar, mocking him for lacking subtlety. He threatens to slaughter the village unless they agree to come peacefully with him. So Erik, Jen, and the girl get dragged along with him to the stolen pirate ship, where they are kept as prisoners.
 * -Meanwhile, Lauren and travel down the other side of the mountainside and traverse the desert, arriving in Yarten. Upon arriving, they discover that the boy they're in search for has already been coerced into leaving with Rilter. Nobody knows that he is tied with Nieder and Vortain at this point, but they still think it'd be best for him to come with them instead. But Rilter will have none of that. So he just ignores them. There is tension. It leads into a fight.
 * -BOSS: Rilter. Same deal as the Vortain fight. "Defeating him will earn you a good amount of experience, but losing will not give you a game over."
 * -Whether you win or lose, he makes off with the boy. Donna wants to chase after him, but it's decided that they'll go back to Rettabanta first.
 * -Whoops when they get there they find out what happened. They head north for the port as quickly as they can.
 * -They don't make it in time! The boat's already left when they arrive. Researcher's very subtly pissed/worried, and Donna's just pissed. They begrudgingly decide to just set sail for Wantel by way of Polimorda, as there is another key there. Plus, they'll hopefully meet them again and have a chance to rescue everyone at that point.
 * -Switch to the boat with Nieder, Vortain, and now Rilter. In the brig. Erik, Jen, the girl, and the boy are all sitting there, shackled, and talking a bit. Upon finding out that the boy is the key that was in Yarten, Erik and Jen begin to worry that if Lauren and Donna came across Rilter they may have been seriously hurt. But they also realize that two of the five keys are in the hands of the enemy right now, so they try to focus their thoughts on finding a way to escape with them.
 * -It comes to their attention that Randle is in the cell across from them at some point. He, Erik and Jen talk to each other through the bars about how they ended up there. Randle explains that he's also in opposition of V3 as well, and does need the keys away from them just like they do. They are less skeptical of him than they perhaps should be, but agree that joining forces in order to escape would be the best course of action.
 * -Randle explains that he has a plan to escape, but they'll have to wait until the boat stops at a port, otherwise they won't be able to actually get away.
 * -A few moments later, Nieder appears in front of the cells, peering into them. He starts boasting that because they have no actual use for Randle, Jen and Erik, they're just going to be thrown overboard. He drags the three out, leaving the boy and the girl alone.
 * -He continues taunting them, grabbing Randle and lifting him above the water by his collar, when he sees another ship coming at them. He recognizes it as the ship he was on before stealing this one, and realizes that the pirates must have come to take it back. He quickly drops Randle, and goes to inform Rilter and Vortain of the nature of that ship. Through some miracle, however, Randle manages to grab on to the edge of the boat with his shackled hands, and pulls himself up.
 * -Seeing this as his chance, he