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>>535032
Chapter One: A Town Called Sacrament

The night is silent, interrupted only by the raucous squeaking of the handcart as it rattles slowly down the track. It’s a harsh sound, almost a screech and once upon a time you would have called out for oil to be set out or for new wheels to be set into place. But those were better days and for now, these are all the wheels you have. As for oil? You could have laughed.

Also conspicuously absent tonight are the people you would have called all this out to in the first place. You are alone, bereft of companionship and most importantly, bereft of someone else to pump this bloody cart for you.

You permit yourself a small wheeze as you work the pump in the centre of the trolley and propel it just a little further along the tracks. Long gone are the brilliant silver rails that you had been travelling on just the day before, these new tracks are a dull gray and barely shine at all when your little circle of lamplight in the dark passes over them. The tracks beneath you are periodically tethered to stony plinths elevated from the barren ground and as a result the entire rail is nearly a foot above the ground. Angular runes of safety, compliance and protection have been stamped into every inch of the metal and your suspicions that this is a Third Age line are confirmed.
Not that that means much to you. You’re pretty sure nobody makes them anymore.

The moon is cracked tonight and a dull brownish-red. The stars are out but only in the dozens and the constellations here are new and strange to you. The land around the rail is rough and rocky, stony hills rising and falling in all directions and as far as you can tell, barren. Empty of all life save for moss and lichen and queer pale grass that doesn’t need light to live. You know of none of them but their thriving in the dark tells you that these are inimical plants and not worth eating. You will have to subsist on your rations from the last town for a few days more.

Aside from the little circle of illumination that the candle-lantern hooked to the side of the handcart, all is dark. All is dreary. And when the sun rises none of that will change. You are journeying through the twilight of the world.

It’s enough to make a man morose if he isn’t careful and God knows there’s enough of that already.

It is then however, that the silence, or at least the screeching and rattling that you’d come to accept as silence, is broken. A shrill cry in the distance and...there! Off behind that jagged hill, a spark of light! Not pale light or half-light, honest yellow burning light! But just a spark however and it winks out as quickly as it came. You wait for a moment and hear no more cries.

1/2
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>>535038
Surely it is worth investigating. That cry sounded distressed and whoever it was, their light had been woefully brief. Whoever is it out there is no doubt in trouble. But...the spark was far from you, over the hill and most importantly, far from the rail. You’d have to set foot on poisoned earth and invite any number of dangers. And you’ve fallen for these tricks before. Gremlins and imps and other beasts of the dark can mimic human calls. But surely none of them could hold a flame?
Stuck in an ambush away from the rail it could be far too easy for you to die. You have a duty to uphold and you cannot afford to come to harm before it is finished.


>Let the cart stop and wait for another sound or spark. Observe.

>Keep on pumping, it is best for you to simply continue alone.

>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.

>Call out and wait. It is better to be wise then dead.

>Other
>>
>>535043
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.
Yo Ouro! Good to have you back man.
>>
>>535043
>Call out and wait. It is better to be wise then dead.
>>
>>535043
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.
Yo Ouro whats good
>>
>>535043
>>Let the cart stop and wait for another sound or spark. Observe.
ay
>>
>>535065
Seconding
>>
>Call out and wait. It is better to be wise then dead.
>>
>>535043
>>Call out and wait. It is better to be wise then dead.
>>
>>535043
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.
>>
>>535043
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.
>>
Calling for saving.
>>
>>535043
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save it.
>>
>>535043
>Call out and wait. It is better to be wise then dead.
>>
>Since when are you afraid of the dark? If there’s a person out there, you need to save him.

Enough cowardice! Are you not a Lamplighter? That title may have fallen into ill-repute as of late but you remember what it used to stand for. It was given to you to bring light into darkness and though the light grows dimmer every day you’ll not forsake that promise. You have yet to lose your way.

That said, going into this rashly really will be suicide. You best be properly prepared first. You find your helmet from where it had been rolling around within the trolley and pull it over your head. You’re already wearing the rest of your plate, dimming runes of strength,flexibility and weight making it easy to wear in any situation.

And you do not lack for weapons, even now. Buried beneath your small pack of rations is your trusty wick, a firebrand attached to a long pole. It is both your badge of office and a capable weapon against beasts of the dark once lit. But you can’t expend it willy-nilly.

Beside it is...well, that’s complicated. A long pole-shape wrapped up tightly in dirty cloth, it is what gives your light and flame strength. You can swing it with a good amount of force too! But that tool is even more precious than your wick and to lose it will be to lose everything.

Fortunately you have other arms available.


>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.

>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.

>A large revolver. Stronger than either, a natural weapon of flame and light. But not only is powder scarce, it is getting ever harder to light it...
>>
>>535136
>>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.
>>
>>535136
>>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.
>>
>>535136
>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.

The choice of man and FFT Oracles.
>>
>>535136
>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.
>>
>>535136
>>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.
>>
>>535136
>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>>535136
>>A short sword, wrapped in runes of durability and edge. It is flammable and can be set aflame.
>>
>>535136

>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>>535136
>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>>535136
A short sword.
>>
>>535136
>>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>>535136
>>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.
>>
>>A long wooden stave. It is not runed and will likely never be so but sometimes keeping enemies at arms-length is a magic all on its own. Can also be set aflame in a pinch.


You grab your trusty stave from where it had been leaning in the corner of the trolley. It isn't runed but it's still a solid piece of wood with both ends capped in steel. Anything you can't hurt with this is probably immune to blades anyway.
You had a runesword once but those days are long past and staves, unlike such swords, are easy enough to replace.

You throw on your coat, hanging it over your armour as you lift yourself out of the handcart and set both feet upon the ground at once. It is firm beneath you, no trembles, no tremors. It is safe.

You unhook the small lantern from your cart and hang it upon your breastplate to light your way. The flame isn't very strong but it should serve as a wick in a pinch.

Speaking of, perhaps you should bring your wick and other tools with you? If this is an ambush you'd rather not leave them behind to be stolen. And you could use the fire magic.

You hear another scream from behind the hill, this one drawn-out and long. You'll have to worry about the wick later!

You abandon the cart and run up the hillside as best you can, scrabbling through the broken stone as it threatens to give way beneath you. You make a little more noise then you'd like.

You crest the top of the hill and by crimson moonlight, behold a massacre. Down at the foot of the hills in the little valley running between them, an overturned wagon lies broken.
A wagon? What a terrible idea!

You'd say that anyone foolish enough to stray off the concrete plains with a wagon deserves everything coming to them but looking down upon the scene, you turn that thought aside.
Nobody deserves this.

A man and a woman lie scattered down the hillside, taken apart limb from limb. Arms taken from shoulders, fingers separated from hands, bodies expertly chopped and spread apart.

And down beyond them, a whimpering child crouches behind the wagon, scratching at flint and tinder helplessly as dark figures surround him. You can't make them out quite well enough but they are humanoid and hunched over and their fingers, three times as long as normal, are bony serrated blades.

You've seen that silhouette before and to confirm it, you kneel for a moment and inspect the severed limb by your feet.
It's still moving, dragging itself slowly inch by inch. You have no doubt that if you could find the head it would still be capable of speech, the eyes capable of movement.

Ghouls. And they're on a recruitment drive too.

They haven't seen you or your lantern yet, their eyes fixed upon the boy. You'll not be having that.


>Charge down the hillside and shout a warcry to divert their attention from the child.

>Set your stave aflame.

>Call out to get their attention and try to lead them away.

>Throw the lantern at them and ignite it.

>Other
>>
>>535240
>>Charge down the hillside and shout a warcry to divert their attention from the child.
>>
>>535240
>Charge down the hillside and shout a warcry to divert their attention from the child.
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
>Charge down the hillside and shout a warcry to divert their attention from the child.
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
>>
>>535240
> Try to sneak close enough and light the wagon on fire.
>>
>>535240
>>Set your stave aflame.
lets find out how fire works
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
>>
>>535240
>Unleash hidden karate powers upon the foul beasts
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
>>
>>535240
> set your stave aflame
> charge
Bring the light, praise the Sun!
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
>Throw the lantern at them and ignite it.
>Other
Set as much as possible on fire
>>
>>535240
>Set your stave aflame.
Yo ouro where the waifus at
>>
>>535341
Inside your heart anon
>>
I'll be taking both votes at once.

>Set your stave aflame.
>Charge down the hillside and shout a warcry to divert their attention from the child.

You’re already moving before you finish thinking, your legs outpacing your mind as you hurl yourself down the rocky slope. Fragile stone breaks and crumbles beneath your feet as a landslide in miniature builds around you. The ghouls look up before you even say anything, their mismatched eyes goggling. Good. If they think this is something special, they’ll really like what’s coming.

“Ghooooooooouls!”, you holler. “Your time has co-oh-ah-woah!”
One of the stones skids badly beneath your feet and your warcry is ruined. Not that it matters. They should understand this all too well.
You tear the lantern from where it had been hooked to your chest and draw upon the light and flame and heat within. It’s no proper wick but it’ll do for this.

Wick: ½

Flame dances along your hand up your arm, passing over you with only the faintest touch of heat. It leaps from you to the tip of your staff and dances atop the metal capping it for just a moment. And then it seems to dissipate without effect.

The ghouls shake themselves from their trance and you can hear choked laughter from one of them. They peel away from the boy and skitter towards you, eager to take apart a Lamplighter so hopeless that he couldn’t even grasp a flame properly.

You swing your stave at the first one that leaps at you and he grabs hold of it with a sound of contempt, attempting to wrest it from your hands and throw it aside. And it is at that moment that the staff bursts into righteous fire. He wails as the flame sears his hands and eats him away, his entire body melting and deforming as if he were but wax.
You push him off your stave and leave him to melt while you swing the burning staff around in a wide circle, smashing another ghoul in the face and rapping a third on the knuckles. The ghouls fall back, one of them with a still-burning hole going straight through his face and another with nothing but a cindered stump where his hand used to be.

“Learning how to hide or delay a flame is something they used to teach apprentices,” you say, desperate to keep their attention on you. At the same time you lock eyes with the child behind the wagon and bob your head, trying to get him to run. He doesn’t need the invitation.

The other three ghouls back away a step, each one pacing around you with the ease of a practiced predator. The moment you swing at one the other two will rush in. And what’s worse, your staff is already beginning to burn low. You remember when it would have lasted for hours.


>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.

>Stay defensive but don’t run. You’ll be accounting for each and every one of these monsters.

>Stay on the offensive! Charge!

>Explode your lantern.

>Try to scare the ghouls off.

>Other
>>
>>535364
>>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.
>>
>>535364
>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.
>>
>>535364
>Stay defensive but don’t run. You’ll be accounting for each and every one of these monsters.
>>
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>>535364
>mfw I see that 1 / 2 gets turned into the half symbol.

>>535341
Better get used to polishing the wick
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>>535364
>Explode your lantern.
Throw the lantern grenade

>Stay on the offensive! Charge!
>>
>>535364
>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.
>>
>>535364
>Stay on the offensive! Charge!

Don't let the kid run on it's own. We are in the middle of a wasteland here.
>>
>>535364
>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.
Then
>Explode your lantern.
>>
>>535384
Changing to
>Stay on the offensive! Charge!
Then
>Explode your lantern.
When they counterattack
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

Looks like a tie between staying on the offensive or delaying until the kid is free and then running. Evens the former, odds the latter.
>>
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>Stay defensive for now and when you’re sure the kid is free, run back to the rail.

You take a step backwards and do your best to keep them from surrounding you completely. Yes, you might be armoured but the claws of a ghoul will sink through that with a bit of effort and while light and flame ward them away, both resources are in short supply. For now the circle of flickering light created by your burning stave and the dimming lantern by your chest is keeping them away but all it takes is for one of them to be brave and the others two will pile on too.
Maybe if you had just kept on going, rushing forward and keeping them off-balance but... no. The moment for that is passed.

But as best you try to watch the ghouls, you keep one eye on the child as well. He’s trying to keep quiet as he moves so he still has his head clear and he’s making his way around the wagon and back up the hill from whence you came. Good lad.

A fat and long tongue oozes from the teeth of one of the ghouls like a bloated slug, the organ not quite small enough for the creature’s mouth. You’ll have to watch for that, their saliva is poison. And now that they are all in the light, so to speak, you can get a much better look at them then you’d really like.

Their bodies are patch-work, limbs and pieces sewn together in a haphazard fashion. Some of them have even been working beyond that, extra eyes and noses dotting their bodies in unlikely places. A few of them have taken wounds, no doubt from the man and the woman. And as you spy the glinting teeth emerging from the sides of the long cuts and the saliva beginning to weep from them, you’d wish they hadn’t. Every cut made into a ghoul is just another mouth.
They’ll have to be smashed or burned.

And then, for but a single moment the ghoul behind you paces just barely out of your sight. You spin, your burning staff ready as he lunges! You catch his claws with the stave, denting and igniting them as you push the monster back and you let yourself keep spinning, the momentum carrying you back around to face the other two ghouls.
They’re already mid-leap.

>Roll 1d6. I will be using the combined totals of the first three rolls.
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>535512
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>535512
>>535525
Nice. Here's a 1
>>
Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>535512
>>
>>535531
>>535532
I got your back bro
>>
>6, 5, 1
Not bad! Sorry about dragging my feet with these update speeds by the way, shaking off some rust.
>>
>>535550
You always say that and your updates are always written way faster than the average quest
>>
>>535512
huh, cut them and the cut turns into a mouth , that's an interesting take on ghouls, wonder what other weird shits out in the dark.
>>
>>535032
Good to have you back Ouro.
>>
>>535550
Faster than Soma :^)
Not that that's saying much.
>>
>6, 5, 1

Your staff is already moving with you as you use the force of your spin to carry the stave right into the ghoul's chest. He screams as the flame cuts through him like butter and your stave continues through the now bisected ghoul to strike at the other.
This one is a little more canny however. He doesn't land a strike on you but he ducks beneath your swing and before you can pull the staff back in to defend properly he springs up from his crouch to tackle you!

You barely manage to keep your footing as you hold the stave horizontally to parry both of his claws but even as the flame melts those knife-like appendages the ghoul pushes forward, slamming his body into yours. You let him push you back but not too far. You’re still burning both of his arms to stumps, what the hell does he plan to do with this?
You find out almost immediately as the monster’s suppurating belly wound opens up to reveal jagged teeth that grind and tear at your armoured side. For now all they can do is scratch it harmlessly. But if there’s teeth…

The ghoul’s belly-tongue wraps around your waist and you suddenly find yourself having a bit of a problem. The tongue is the strongest muscle a ghoul possesses and you can’t rip yourself free! And from behind you can hear the ghoul you deflected earlier stirring from where you had thrown it. This is going to get real ugly real quick.


>Lower your staff to burn through the tongue, even if that means that the ghoul will be able to lash at you with what’s left of his arms.

>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.

>Stay as you are and hope your armour can bear the brunt of the other ghoul, you need to finish disarming this fellow.

>Explode the lantern.

>Other
>>
>>535602
>>Lower your staff to burn through the tongue, even if that means that the ghoul will be able to lash at you with what’s left of his arms.
>>
>>535602
>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.
>>
>>535602
>>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.
>>
>>535602
>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.
>>
>>535602
>Explode the lantern.
>Other
Stab the staff through the throat and attempt to cut the tongue from the base, as well as damage the innards
>>
>>535602
> Other
Suplex the grappling ghoul into the lunging one
>>
>>535602
>Explode the lantern.
>>
>>535602
>>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.
>>
>>535602
>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.
>>
>Throw yourself down and try to maneuver it so that the lunging ghoul knocks into the ghoul currently latched onto you.

You only have a moment to think this through and that’s not enough time. So in lieu of thought you let yourself fall, the weight of the ghoul atop you carrying you down as you pivot to face the ghoul behind you. Look at me, you silently beg. I’m a falling, I’m helpless, there’s another ghoul already on me. So just do the same damn thing ghouls always do and leap!

Your prayers are answered and the attacking ghoul slams into the one grappling you, what’s left of their claws shredding through the other ghouls back and opening a dozen tiny new mouths. The tongue’s grip weakens and you let out a wordless bellow as you bring your boot up and kick both ghouls off of you. You roll before you even see them land, getting to your feet and clutching your stave to you. The lantern by your chest is miraculously unbroken but the stave has been extinguished, only a tiny twist of smoke left to tell you that it had ever been burning at all.

The light is fading and you find yourself at the mercy of the moon and the stars to provide illumination. And you’d really rather not.

The ghouls are still tearing away at one another but you likely only have moments before reason rules over bloodlust once more. You turn your back and run, your legs burning as you scrabble up the steep hill and over the other side.
The trolley and the rail are waiting for you and so is the boy, the child lying in the dirt by the side of the elevated rail.

“Come on kid, what are you waiting for?”
You pick him up and almost toss him into the handcart, climbing in beside him and getting ready to man the pump. Those ghouls have got to be hot on your heels by now.


>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.

>Don’t move the cart just yet, you should lure the ghouls here and exterminate them both while you still can.

>Other
>>
>>535680
>>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.
>>
>>535680
>Don’t move the cart just yet, you should lure the ghouls here and exterminate them both while you still can.
The only good ghoul is a dead ghoul
>>
>>535680
>>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.
>>
>>535680

>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.

>Other
Explode the lantern
>>
>>535680
>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.
Later bitches.
>>
>>535680
>>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.
>>
>>535680
> run away
plz
>>
>>535680
>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.
>>
>It’s time to cast off and get away while you still can.

It's a little tight fitting you both in the small hand-car but you've been in more uncomfortable situations before. You grab hold of the pump and start pushing it down, each motion propelling the little cart further and further down the railway. You don’t let up until nearly ten minutes has passed and only then, with no intervention, ghoul or otherwise, do you relax and begin to slow your pace.

Oh, what you wouldn’t give for a proper engine! But those have been getting scarce of late and not just because the breaking of the world played foul with the means to make them. All too often you see oil simply fail to ignite, matches that lack spark, gunpowder that remains inert no matter what you do it. It’s not a severe problem for someone with your talents but the implications are chilling.

“Boy. Are you alright?”

He nods, lying straight to your face. He’s without any obvious injury but there’s something afflicting him all the same. His skin is paler than the usual light gray and he grips himself tighter then he should. It’s not that cold.

“Looks like you’ve got a bit of witch-chill, probably from lying about on the ground for so long. Didn’t your parents tell you to stay away from the earth?”
You stop just a moment too late. Why the fuck did you have to mention his parents?

However if he catches your reference to them he is un-moved. His voice is tiny, small even for a ten-year old boy.
“A-am I going to die?”

“What? No! Witch-chill isn’t anything to worry about.”
Not for him anyway. It’s more than enough for you. Witch-chill is, as the name involves, the spoor of a witch who has passed through the area. A clammy affliction that they leave upon the earth with every footstep. It can linger for a long time so if it was this alone you’d be willing to put it to coincidence but those ghouls earlier? Ghouls can’t sew themselves or at least, they’re real bad at it. Something else put those blighters together.
There’s a witch afoot.

“Where you from, boy? How did you even get out here?”

“S-sacrament,” he mumbles. “Town over on the plains.”

Well ain’t that a welcome name. You stoke the little lantern back to a proper light and as you do so, you press it against the boy’s chest for just a moment. A basic Benediction of Warmth to keep the cold at bay, not even enough to run down your Wick. It’s all he needs.
“And how exactly did you get-”

You stop, the boy reaching out to touch the emblem on your cloak. It’s a golden wheel, one with six spokes and each spoke extending just a little bit further than the rim.

“Are you a Lamplighter?”

What was his first clue? But he is small and still feeling the chill so you don’t make fun at his expense.
“In the flesh. I’m a…”

1/2
>>
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>>535829
>A member of the Knights Sol, an order that specializes on the light-magic that is Benedictions, magic that blesses and heals. You possess basic Flame Rites, advanced Benedictions and a well-rounded training in combat.

>A member of the Order of the Wick, a Lamplighter chapter that specializes in the movement and manipulation of fire. You possess basic Benedictions, advanced Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat.

>A member of the Bulwark, an order devoted first and foremost to fighting evil and protecting the people. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and advanced combat training.

>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.

>A Runecarver, Lamplighters with the knowledge on how to work runes into metal and other substances if needed. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well rounded training in combat in addition to knowing five runes. Runecarving takes time and effort however.

>”...just a Lamplighter, nothing special.” You were cast out long ago. You possess basic benedictions, basic Flame Rites, a well-rounded training in combat as well as a terrible secret.
>>
>>535832
>>A member of the Order of the Wick, a Lamplighter chapter that specializes in the movement and manipulation of fire. You possess basic Benedictions, advanced Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat.
>>
>>535832
>>A member of the Order of the Wick, a Lamplighter chapter that specializes in the movement and manipulation of fire. You possess basic Benedictions, advanced Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat.
>>
>>535832
>A member of the Knights Sol, an order that specializes on the light-magic that is Benedictions, magic that blesses and heals. You possess basic Flame Rites, advanced Benedictions and a well-rounded training in combat.
>>
>>535832
>>A member of the Order of the Wick, a Lamplighter chapter that specializes in the movement and manipulation of fire. You possess basic Benedictions, advanced Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat.
>>
>>535832
>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.
>>
>>535832
>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.
>>
>>535832
>”...just a Lamplighter, nothing special.” You were cast out long ago. You possess basic benedictions, basic Flame Rites, a well-rounded training in combat as well as a terrible secret.
>>
>>535847
Sorry. I'm deleting.
>>535845
Changing to
>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.
>>
>>535832
>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.
Hory shet Ouro it's been threads since we've had this many people.
>>
Called it for witch-finders.
>>
>>535832
>>A Runecarver, Lamplighters with the knowledge on how to work runes into metal and other substances if needed. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well rounded training in combat in addition to knowing five runes. Runecarving takes time and effort however.
>>
>>535924
Danmit, witches sound scary!
>>
>>535959
Who knows? He might be born from a witch and priest.
>>
>>535924
Does our witchcraft knowledge have to stay theoretical? If our order isn't all that great now, there isn't too much reason not to fight fire with fire, pun totally intended.
>>
>A Witch-finder, solitary Lamplighters in a tradition founded in the beginning of the Third Age to track and hunt witches specifically. You possess basic Benedictions, basic Flame Rites and a well-rounded training in combat as well as a depth of knowledge (strictly theoretical) about witchcraft.

"I'm a Witch-finder," you finish only to find that the boy has fallen asleep. You guess he wasn’t really hanging onto your every word, huh? It probably doesn’t matter. Knowledge of Lamplighters themselves has grown distorted over time, word of mouth twisting it into a thousand different stories. How could you expect him to truly grasp what being a Witch-finder means?
You aren’t just learned in their ways, you are steeped in them to a degree that other Lamplighters often would have found unsavory.

It was once common practice to avert your eyes from a witch’s castings to avoid seeing the names they use or to risk having one burned into your mind. But not you! You know enough about them and their craft that people could have once accused you of being one yourself. But that is nonsense. You loathe witches. You don’t understand what makes them what they are or why they wreak such havoc but you know more than enough to hate every aspect of them. Was it not they who first invited darkness back into the world at the end of the Second Age?
You don’t know for certain who is behind the world’s current predicament but you wouldn’t be surprised if a witch was involved either.

A witch is a breed apart from the other creatures of the dark and not merely in terms of power. Gremlins and ghouls, imps and duskwalkers, all the other blighted things that lurk beneath the ground, at least they were born as they were. But every witch was once a human, one of the Sons and Daughters of Light and they had all made the willful choice to turn away from that. To turn their backs to sky and flame and throw themselves in with the dread powers of earth. To become harlot-brides of dead and rotting gods.
Yes, you know their symbols and their names but you would never become one of them.

That is what you say anyway. To tell the truth, your ire springs also from something more personal.

You keep working the pump and hours slowly pass as the trolley makes its way across the rails, a few of the tracks groaning just a little in places where their stone plinths keeping them above the ground had been eroded or destroyed. The landscape slowly begins to level out and flatten, stony hills falling away in favour of a long plain of dead and dying trees.

This is not safer. The earth is softer, more fertile. More room for things to crawl their way out of, more distance for a witch to sense or control.
1/2
>>
>>536046
Letting the trolley coast for a short while, you bend over the side and drag your finger along the soil. Once having done so, you bring your hand to your nose and sniff it, being absolutely sure not to inhale any of the cursed substance.
No witch-chill. Either the witch has turned away or you’re outpacing her.

The plains aren’t an entirely unwelcome sight however. Dotted amidst the diseased trees are great jagged spurs of grey rock embedded halfway into the ground. Some are merely just boulders but others are giant shards that tower dozens of feet into the air. But though they may look it, they aren’t rock. They are concrete and they are safe.

As you keep pumping, you slowly leave the dead forest behind and there, in the distance! You see it! A ridge of gray in the horizon that reveals a vast flat expanse of concrete covering the ground ahead. At last! Something liveable.

As you get closer and closer the night finally breaks, the moon descending below the horizon and the sun slowly climbing out. Once this would have been a cause for celebration. It’s been a long time since then.

The sun that rises is a shattered thing, appearing more like broken glass then any form of light or fire. What light it does have is a dull twilight, barely lightening the world around you from when it had been night. You watch it limp up into the sky and sigh with grief, grief both for the sun and for everything that died with it.

It is then that the child wakes, gazing upon the broken sun without any sorrow. And why should he? He would have been born into this.
It has been over twenty years since God was murdered.

But that is an old story and this lad has plenty of new ones to tell you. Like, most pressingly, what the fuck he and his family were doing out there in a wagon.
“What’s your name, boy?”

“Marcus. What’s yours?”


>Christopher

>Joseph.

>Harold

>Orion

>Augustine

>Peter

>Other (Saint names only for anyone in this culture)
>>
>>536050
>>Orion
>>
>>536050
>Orion
>>
>>536050
Francis
>>
>>536050
>Other (Saint names only for anyone in this culture)
Polycarp, who was immune to fire
>>
>>536050
>>Orion
>>
>>536067
This
>>
>>536067
That's cool and all but that is a really unfortunate name. That poor guy.
>>
>>536050
>Orion
>>
>>536050
>Martha
You never said we were male in the first place!
>>
>>536075
But he was multiple fish!
>>
>>536050
>>Orion
>>
>>536078
This is good in case anyone ever tries to kill our son.
>>
>>536050
>Orion
>>
>>536050
>Orion
>>
File: Martha.jpg (13 KB, 480x360)
13 KB
13 KB JPG
>>536084
WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME
>>
>>536079
Can it be his embarrassing middle name?
>>
>>536067
I'll support it as a middle name.
>>
>>536067
Second this middle/last name.

We don't say it, just end it halfway with a stammer.
>>
>>536067
say wasn't Mother Teresa canonized like yesterday? so... that's an option then?
>>
>>536121
Ehh we don't really seem like the stammering type so far. We're not some nerdy kid.
>>
>>536122
It should be available, ask Ouro to be sure
>>
>>536122
Nah we're male
>>
>>536122
>>536130
whoops thought i'd linked to his post...

right then:
>>536050
i'll just link things here.
>>536122
>>
>Orion

“Orion,” you say, the word feeling strange in your mouth. When was the last time you’d had to introduce yourself to another living soul? Well, you should probably get used to it because by the looks of things your long trek across the wasteland is over. You’ve finally reached safe land, the vast expanse of unbroken concrete ahead of you. Those gray plains should not only be home to Sacrament but to countless other towns, villages and homesteads as well. Where the railways are matters of convenience rather than necessity.
You’ve come so far.

“Hey, what’s this thing?”
Marcus is evidently feeling much better now, his hands going to the wrapped-up pole sitting within the trolley.

“None of your business is what it is,” you say as you gently smack his fingers away with your free hand. “Does a Lamplighter’s seal mean nothing to you?”

He waves his hand but you know he isn’t hurt.
“We’ve got a lamp back home,” he says, apropos of nothing but the strange workings of a young boy’s head. “It’s all fancy.”

You nod.
“Does it still work?”

He shakes his head and then stops himself to nod instead.
“Maybe? It shines like the sun.”

Oh, for the days when that would have been a bloody compliment.
“Then it would appear that I am here just in time. Now, what were you and your family doing out in the wasteland?”

“They weren’t my family,” he protests and strongly at that. “They were Adrian and Catherine.”
He says the names as if they were supposed to mean anything to you and you just stare him down until he keeps talking.
“Folks from town. They’re like married but not married. They gave me some food and took me out on the wagon.”

You shake your head.
“For what purpose?”

Marcus shrugs.
“I don’t know. They were mean.”

“So you’re telling me that you all went onto the earth with just a wagon and...what? Nothing else?”

Marcus shakes his head defiantly.
“I had this!”
He holds up the flint and tinder.
“Fire scares all the bad things away!”

“That they do, boy. But something that small? Out on the bare earth? At night and with witchborn things so close? To be honest, I’m surprised you even managed to draw a single spark from it. I’ve seen men twice your age fail to get a spark from oil in similar conditions.”
Maybe has a bit of the Flame Rites in him? You’d love to check but it’s not really your expertise.

“I got it from Ms Beatrice, she has a lot of good burning stuff. And Adrian didn’t even want me to take that, said he had a good deal in place.”

And now it all falls into place. And to think you’d felt bad for the man and the woman you’d found!
“Marcus, those two were cultists or heretics. They were assisting the witch.”

“There’s a witch!?”
He hugs himself in fear and you briefly scold yourself for not bringing the subject up in a lighter manner.

1/2
>>
>>536172
“Yes. And those must have had some deal with them. I’d say it was a very good thing that I found you then.”
Had those two damned souls been expecting a more welcome reception and found a pack of ghouls in its place? Hrmph. Such is the fate of all those who would make deals with darkness.

But there’s something even worse about all of this, a terrible thought hanging over your head. You had thought that you’d left the witch behind but if she was able to contact people in Sacrament...could her territory expand all the way to the edge of the concrete? Or further? Or might she be in the town itself? It wouldn’t be unheard of.
You might be in for a little more than just lighting a lamp.

“What’s wrong, Ryan?”

“Orion.”

“What’s wrong?”


>”I have reason to think that the witch might not be done with us yet.”

>”The witch might be in Sacrament itself.”

>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”

>”Nothing you need to worry about.”

>”I’m waiting to see if you turn into a ghoul or not.” Mess with the kid a little.

>Other
>>
>>536175
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536175
>>”I have reason to think that the witch might not be done with us yet.”
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536175
>”I have reason to think that the witch might not be done with us yet.”
>>
>>536175
>>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>”I have reason to think that the witch might not be done with us yet.”
>>
>>536175
>”I’m waiting to see if you turn into a ghoul or not.” Mess with the kid a little.
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536175
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536175
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536175
>Marcus, are you sure YOU aren't a witch?
>Inspect Marco
>>
>>536175
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”

You decide to shy away from directly mentioning your theory to the boy. It’d just make him worry more and if there is really a witch up in the town ahead, the last thing you need is him blabbing about it. Best to keep this knowledge to yourself for now.

“Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or maybe someone who started acting strange recently?”

“Adrian and Catherine are pretty strange!”

“Besides them.”

He stops to think for a long while and so you decide to nudge him along a little.
“Anyone who might have been taking trips to the ground? Or being strange about the farm soil? Do they do anything strange with their hands like this or do they shy away from light and flame?”

“Uh, I don’t know what that hand thing is. How did you make that sign? What-”

“Actually, best if you didn’t pay attention to it. Just anyone strange, Marcus, anyone who isn’t already dead.”

“Beatrice!”

“She of the ‘many burning things’? Doesn’t sound like what I’m looking for.”

“Yeah but she’s weird. She’s always got her hat on even when there isn’t light ‘cause she says the light hurts her eyes.”

“What about fire?”

“Oh she’s fine with fire. She has a cool gun.”

“Right.”
Well, that probably isn’t it.
“Anyone else?”

“Old Terrence, maybe? He’s always grubbing around in the dirt but I don’t know anything else because he don’t talk to nobody.”

Now that sounds a little more promising.
“Anyone else?”

Marcus squints at you.
“What’s all this for? Is something wrong?”

“That’s exactly what I’m hear to judge. Anyone else?”

“No? I don’t think so. I don’t know what people do.”
1/2
>>
>>536255
By the time the conversation ends, your cart has drawn up close to the concrete shore. The thick layer of concrete covering the ground is less than a foot thick and so the rails go from being elevated to sitting smoothly atop the gray ground with barely any change.
Finally, you can relax a little more. Not that you have the time to however because Sacrament is right in front of you.

The small township is sprawled only a mere hundred feet from the edge of the concrete, a small scattering of buildings, roads and farmsteads. Tamed earth is piled high to cushion the hard concrete below and your railway is ready to take you right through the middle of it all.
“Marcus, isn’t it a bit dangerous to build a town so close to the edge?”

“Dad said it didn’t used to be the edge.”

You think back to the scene you passed in the forest, huge shards of broken concrete adrift as if they been smashed by an unimaginable force.
“I...understand.”
Was the survival of the railway just a miracle or did someone rebuild it later? A thought to be pondered later.

It isn’t long before the two of you are seen in the shimmering twilight and a large man bursts down from the main street and charges towards you, well ahead of everyone else. You almost get your stave ready but Marcus calms you with a single word.

“Dad!”

He climbs out of the trolley and runs the rest of the way, his father almost seamlessly dragging him into a hug. There’s tears in the man’s eyes.
“Mark! Where were you? I didn’t think we’d ever see you again!”

You feel a little awkward off to the side like this. These kind of things? Not really your thing and that’s being gentle about it.

“I’m okay dad! The Lamplighter came!”

The man looks up, apparently spotting you for the first time as you sit back in the handcart.
“Hello.”

“My word,” he breathes. “I didn’t think there were any of you left.”

Now, isn’t that a sore topic?
“Well, yeah. Here I am.”

“Thank you for saving my boy!”

He reaches out to you but you ward him off with a single hand.
“Please do not hug me too.”

He laughs, apparently taking that for a joke.
“Well, well, you’ve certainly come at the right time. My name is Edmund Cester, mayor of Sacrament. You’re stopping here for a while, aren’t you? Please, by all means, what’s ours is yours. If there’s anything you need…”


>Take him up on his offer. You haven’t had a good sleep for days.

>Could it really hurt to take part in the town's celebration?

>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.

>Walk about and inspect the town yourself.

>”You’ve got a witch, by the way.”

>”I need to tell you about the circumstances in which I found your son.”

>Inspect him for witchcraft.

>Other
>>
>>536256
>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.
Can't sleep if there's a witch around.
>>
>>536256
>>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.
Then
>Take him up on his offer. You haven’t had a good sleep for days.
>>
>>536256
>Inspect him for witchcraft
and then
>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.
>>
>>536175
>”Marcus, is there anyone strange in town? Or might have started acting strange recently?”
>>
>>536256
>Inspect him for witchcraft.
>>
>>536256
>>”I need to tell you about the circumstances in which I found your son.”
>>
>>536256
>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.
>Walk about and inspect the town yourself.
>>
>>536256
>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.
>Inspect him for witchcraft.
>”I need to tell you about the circumstances in which I found your son.”
>Walk about and inspect the town yourself.

In this order
>>
>>536290
Aye this.
>>
>”Hold up. Let me attend my duty first.” Time to break out the wick.

"Hold up," you interrupt him. Normally this would probably be pretty rude to do to mayor but people expect Lamplighters to be brusque. It's not a profession that lends itself to the chatty.
“Let me attend my duty first.”

“Ah, uh, of course,” he stammers as he steps back. “Far be it from me to get between you and your main duty.”

Hrmph. It’s not your main duty anymore but the idea of what being a Lamplighter stands for still holds strong for you. Bring light to darkness. Sometimes that gets a bit metaphorical but it remains true in the literal sense as well. Sacrament and thousands of other little towns like it are ultimately dependent on Lamplighters like you.

You gather up your belongings, taking up the wrapped-up pole and bearing it across your back. It’s still bloody heavy but you bear the weight with long practice. As you approach the town you can see the people draw back away from you. As they should. You are clad head to toe in dented rune-plate, a dark red cloak and hood drawn over you with the crest of the Wheel God on its back. Your staff in your left hand and your wick in the right. You must look every inch the dedicated Lamplighter, a figure from the story books.
Not that you care what they think of you.

As for the people themselves, they look...ordinary. You don’t know what you were expecting. Third Men all, gray-skinned and hardy. Gray men and women for a gray age. Most of them have a lean hard-bitten look to them and you know why. The harvest must have been poor this year but worse still is the knowledge that the harvest is going to be worse the following. And it’s going to keep getting worse unless something is done.

You find the ornate lamp-post a little bit down the main street, embedded in what must have once been the very center of Sacrament. It stands out from the rest of the town as clear as day, a construction of dark spiked metal embedded through the false soil and into the concrete itself. You brush away the dirt to reveal a thin circle of runes in the concrete around the lamp-post’s base. Good to see those are still holding.
Once the runes would have glimmered and shone with light of their own but those days are long past.

The lamp still burns but not well, the light merely adding further twilight. Half-light.

“Some room, please.”
You set tap the bottom of your long-handled wick against the base of the post and you are rewarded with the awed muttering of the townsfolk behind you as the tip of the wick ignites with clean orange flame. True fire, a feat you doubt most Lamplighters would be able to pull off these days. Of course, you’re cheating in that regard.
The thing on your back glows warm for just a moment.

1/2
>>
>>536335
You bring the wick back up, gripping it firmly and feeling its power flow through you. Now this is a proper Flame Rite tool, more than that measly lantern!

Wick: 10/10

You reach up to the ancient lamp-post and turn the secret switch to open it. It takes you a bit of finagling and you let out a slow whistle of appreciation. Is this a genuine Second Age relic? In a place like this? Not bad.
You reach into the lamp with the lit wick and ignite it with the True Flame. You can feel the lamp react to it and you are quick to modulate it. You wonder if the townsfolk here have ever tried to light the lamp themselves. It wouldn’t have worked. A beast like this, like every central lamp-post all good towns should have, are Lamplighters are made for.

Wick: 9/10

You retract your wick, the lamp now shining over the entire town with a proper yellow light. And make no mistake, it is over the entire town. Central lamp-posts are built for that purpose, even if the ken for making them has been long since lost. Radiance seeps out across the streets and extends its safety over all of Sacrament. The crops will grow, the men will see and creatures of the dark will shy away.
It won’t last forever of course, there will come a time without proper attendance the lamp will gutter and die once more.

But for as long as it lasts, you have given sunlight back to the people of Sacrament.

The spell of silence is broken and the townsfolk rush forward, burying you under a tide of praise. You don’t even mind the hugs this time. All around you you can see the town come to life as people are roused to see the miracle that the Lamplighter has wrought.
And yes, you’ll admit that it’s awful tempting to take them up on their offer and be swept up in their celebration. After so long in the wasteland, the knowledge of a job well down does your heart a world of good.

But it might not be very responsible of you.


>Ah, celebrate for now. The town is protected once again, what harm can come of it?

>You’d love to join them but you’d rather sleep. You’re sure any of the people here would gladly let you rest at their home.

>Now that they’re all out here, announce the matter of the witch to all of them.

>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen.

>Other
>>
>>536337
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen
>>
>>536337
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen.
Lets not cause a panic or a figurative witch hunt
>>
>>536337
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen.
>>
>>536337
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen.
>>
>>536337
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen.
>tfw my days of being able to stay up late for quests are over
I'm glad you're back Ouro but I must sleep
>>
>Pull the mayor aside and tell him of what you’ve seen

You turn away from the lamp and the people ahead of you part before you like the Mud Sea before the First Men. They are eager to let you share in their happiness but for their sake you must remain apart for now. The light may protect against the dark but witches...witches are an uncommon breed of creature and they have trespassed upon light before.
You won’t rest until you are sure that you have done everything you can to protect these people. And to be quite perfectly honest, you’ve spent enough time crossing the wasteland that you’ve grown un-accustomed to this entire business.

Instead you head for the mayor, spotting him sending Marcus inside as people hold their hands to bask in the light’s warmth.
“Yes, Orion?”
Marcus must have told him your name. You’re not sure how you feel about that.
“Like I said, is there anything you need just ask.”

“What I need right now, Edmund, is vigilance.”

“I beg your pardon?”

You lead him away down the street, lowering your voice as you do so. Edmund is no fool, he can plainly see that this is a serious matter.
“I have reason to believe that a witch may be present in town.”
You give him a brief rundown of your meeting with Marcus and everything that transpired since.

The mayor looks like he doesn’t know where to begin.
“Ghouls? And Marcus-a witch and the Chesters and oh! I can’t believe you saved him from ghouls.”

“No need to panic now. Listen Edmund, the two of us need to keep this a secret for now. Do you really want to ruin this?”
You wave your hand to encompass the growing celebration.

“Of course not but, Sir Orion, a witch is no laughing matter!”

Understatement of the year, right there.
“Just Orion is fine, thank you. But as I said before, it is possible that one of the townsfolk themselves may have become a witch not that long ago. And if we handle this matter incorrectly then the town will destroy itself without the witch’s help. So please, keep this between us.”

He nods, a much paler shade than he was a few moments ago.
“I understand. But are you sure she is within the town?”

“Not necessarily a she. And no, it could be that her territory simply ranges wide. But in my experience as a Witch-finder,” you watch him go even paler as you say that, “it is best to assume the worst and work up from there.”

“R-right. So how can I help you with this?”

“For now? Just by staying quiet. And maybe by telling me about a few of the more eccentric folk in your herd. Starting with a ‘Ms Beatrice’ and an ‘Old Terrance.”

He purses his lips.
“You got those names from Mark, didn’t you? He’s the only one who calls Terry old. And to be honest, I don’t have problems with either of those people Sir Orion.”

Just Orion. Really, it’s fine. Tell me about the two of them.”

“Well, Terry isn’t that old first of. That’s him over there.”
1/2
>>
>>536425
Edmund points him out as right in the middle of the throng. Brilliant. Extracting him from there without letting people in on something being wrong is going to be painful. He’s right though, he’s not particularly old. A man with short brown hair and a huge beard that shows just a hint of gray. You’re probably older than he is.
“Now I know he’s a farmer, that’s always a very risky job. But I’ve known him nearly all my life and he takes confession with me at least once a week. And yes, he does spend a lot of time with the dirt but someone has to!”

“How often do people see him while he’s working?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, if he was eating dirt would anyone notice?”

Edmund looks appalled.
“He wouldn’t! And besides, all the soil here in Sacrament has been tamed for generation.”

“That doesn’t always stop them,” you mutter, accidentally adding yet more worry to the mayor’s face. “What about the other one? Beatrice?”

Edmund takes on a pleading look.
“You’d be best served leaving her alone. Yes, she’s a strange one but she’s helped Sacrament more than anyone these past years and just because she’s a little ...off, there’s no reason to take her!”

My, my. Someone is remarkable well-read on witch hunts. It was never particularly uncommon for righteous Lamplighters hunting witches to simply grab the strangest people first. But you’re not just any Lamplighter, you’re a Witch-finder specifically and you take pride in avoiding that sloppy shit.
“Just tell me about her, Edmund. What does she do?”

“She’s done all kind of odd jobs and work ever since she first came here. She has guns and blackpowder and she’s the best at making them ignite. So yes, she dresses strange and hides her face and she don’t take confession and people have called her a witch before but by God as my witness, S- Orion, we need her.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Now that’s a strange description. Because every part of that, save the mention of guns and flame, sounds exactly like a witch.
“Does she ever stray onto the earth?”

“I don’t know! She keeps to herself!”

“I see.”

“I know it looks bad but-”

“Can you point her out to me?”

Edmund squints towards the crowd and then frowns.
“Odd. She’s not here. I mean, that’s not unusual for her but you’d think that if anything would drag her out, this would.”


>You should start your investigation with Beatrice.

>Pull Terrance out of the crowd.

>Check out the farms first, don’t talk to anybody just yet.

>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.

>Maybe you should just wait. The witch may reveal themselves yet.

>Other
>>
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>>536356
Don't worry anon, I've got stuff to do as well. So I'm ending the session for now. I'll be back to this thread at the same time tomorrow to help finish this off. This vote will run on for tonight and I'll close it when I get back tomorrow.
I've just archived the thread and be sure to check my twitter for updates and session times!

Now aside from all that, what do you guys think of the new quest so far? It's been a little more solitary then I first intended but rest assured it's not going to stay that way.
>>
>>536430
>>Pull Terrance out of the crowd.
He's right there might as well start with him. If anyone asks what he has done tell them you like to know that state of the land around wherever you stay and Terrance would be the best to ask because he works it every day.

PS: How do we tell if they are witches? Do we have to wait for them to do something witchy or can we tell by laying hands or some shit?
>>
>>536430
>Pull Terrance out of the crowd.
>>
>>536448
Gay
>>
>>536430
>>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.
say since their home is empty now, maybe we can set it up as a base of operations?
>>
>>536430
>Pull Terrance out of the crowd.

>>536448
Seems interesting. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.
>>
>>536456
It possible to find one through a very rigorous and uncomfortable inspection if you're a Witch-finder but it's often better to look for context clues. Soil-stained hands, tracking dirt around, uncomfortable with light, doing weird shit with their hands, etc etc.
Obviously catching them with dirt in their mouth is the smoking gun.

>>536470
You can commission a great deal of things, depending on the piety of the local townsfolk.

>>536468
I'll take that into consideration, anon
>>
>>536468
>this coming from the anon that wanted to unleash hidden karate powers
>>
>>536555
Get some real taste senpai
My civs and Naruto fanfics are better than this gay shit
>>
>>536430
>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.

>>536448
It helped paint the quest a more serious tone, as well as keep the waifufaggtory at bay, so cheers to that. I'm also equal parts amazed and curious as to where you find your ideas to write these, cosidering the fact you just finished writing a different world almost recently.
Glad to have you back, mate.
>>
>>536430
>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.
>>
>>536430
>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.
>>
>>536448
Good shit man. Seems interesting.
>>
>>536430
>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.

>>536448
I am thoroughly enjoying this. I'm new to the board (like this week new) but this is my favorite quest thus far.
>>
>>536430
>Pull Terrance out of the crowd.
>>
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This thread will continue in about an hour or so.
>>
Have a wallpaper.
>>
>Inspect the home of the traitorous couple.

“Are you sure the witch is in Sacrament?,” Edmund asks again, his tone pleading. It’s easy enough to see why he wants to believe otherwise. Aside from everyone here being people he knows and trusts, as the mayor he has the role of not being only the literal leader of his community but the spiritual as well. Back in the old days, before the ending of the world, mayors were appointed to be pious leaders of their herds, to guide their souls to light and to take confession with all those who needed it. Sacrament still keeps with these traditions and so the presence of a newborn witch within the town wasn’t merely an existential threat but a moral one. It would mean that Edmund would have failed in his duties.
That’s not something you would punish him for but still, that’s the kind of mistake that haunts you for the rest of your life.

You would know.

“Perhaps. But there is no harm in acting as if they are,” you say, your eyes roaming over the celebrating townsfolk as if you could pick apart their witchcraft by sight alone. “As long as word of this doesn’t get out, that is.”

Edmund nods, the poor man sweating.
“I had been expecting a little more time allotted to us to simply be happy before the dark came knocking but...this is an ill omen to cast upon us today.”

“It is better to know the omens and be wary then it is to be happy but ignorant.”
Words to live by, especially for a Witch-finder. It is what your order has used to justify their delving into witchcraft for so long.
“Can you direct me to the home of the Chesters? That should make a fine start for now.”

“Of course. I still can’t believe those two...I mean, uh. Was it wrong of me not to have chastised them for living in sin for so long? I should have known something was amiss when they didn’t marry.”

“Marriage, while a most holy and beautiful thing, has little to no bearing on witchcraft or the dark in general save in the most abstract ways. This, at least, was not your fault.”

That doesn’t seem to make him feel better.
“Do you need me to come with you?”


>You guess so. You might need the help later.

>”You have your own duties. Leave me to mine.”

>”Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.”

>”No but you could fetch Terrance and set him aside for me?”

>”No but you could fetch Beatrice and set her aside for me?”

>Other
>>
>>537943
>”You have your own duties. Leave me to mine.”
>>
>>537943
>Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.
>>
>>537943
>”Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.”
>”No but you could fetch Terrance and set him aside for me?”
Welcome back.
>>
>>537943
>”You have your own duties. Leave me to mine.”
>”Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.”
>>
>>537943
>”Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.”
>>
>”Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere.”

“Guilt is a motivation that leads nowhere,” you give as your response, shaking his offer off as you walk past him. He sputters just a little before he runs to catch up with you. He nearly reaches out to grab your shoulder before evidently rethinking and letting his arm hang.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It is good to feel guilty about your failings. But you can’t let that control you. It won’t be assauged because what you have done will not be undone. Helping me or indeed any other action will not erase what has already come to pass under your watch.”
You have a little personal experience in the matter.

The mayor is clearly uncertain what to say here. You’ve practically insulted him right to his face and you can see his frustration but what can he do? He settles for grinding his teeth just a little.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Act in the interests of your town and your herd. Do it because it helps them and because it keeps the light and because it is the right thing to do. Doing it to make yourself feel better is half-hearted and selfish besides.”

He stops, letting you walk on ahead.
“And why do you light the lamps, Orion?”

“Because it must be done.”
You have no patience for fence-sitters and dawdlers. God knows you’ve made wrong choices before but the only thing to do is to get back onto your feet and make the right choice next time.
Still, you have the feeling that the next time you meet the mayor he might not be quite so cordial.

Leaving Edmund and the celebrating crowd behind you follow his directions down the main street and round a corner, the soft layer of tamed soil and dust queasy beneath your feet. After so long it is a little uncanny to walk the earth in safety.

The home of the Chesters is small, practically a hovel. The door is either unlocked or possesses no working lock in the first place and you stroll right in and find...nothing. A low-slung and ragged ‘bed’ in the corner, an ill-kept fireplace, a dozen little tools and knick-knacks. This was not as immediately educational as you had first hoped.


>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.

>See if you can find a neighbour who isn’t at the celebrations and ask them about the two.

>Look for tracks or signs from passage around the home.

>Leave this hovel behind and inspect something else.

>Other
>>
>>538000
>>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>>
>>538000
>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>>
>>538000
>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>>
>>538000
>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>>
>>538000
>>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>Look for tracks or signs from passage around the home.
>>
>>538000
>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.
>>
>Take the time to search the home thoroughly.

No, there has to be something here. What kind of Witch-finder would give up after a mere passing glance? These two were in contact with either a witch within or beyond the village, one who has spent at least some time in the wasteland. There has to be some means to it, some method of communication that they possessed!
You crouch in the middle of the hovel and after a moment of deliberation, drag your finger through the thin layer of dust just as you did back in the handcar. It’s best to do such acts out of sight for even though this isn’t [/i]quite[/i] witchcraft, it is a Witch-finder act derived from forbidden knowledge. Other Lamplighters likely wouldn’t approve.

Inspecting the dust tells you nothing however. There is no witch-chill present and if a witch has ever even so much as set foot in here, the entire place has been thoroughly swept and cleansed in the meantime. And considering the state of this place you very much doubt that has occurred anytime recently.

But there must be something! You know they’ve been in contact somehow. How did they get their orders, their deals? You search the house a second time and turn up nothing. So you search it a third time and then a fourth, your actions growing more and more frantic and frustrated as the answer continues to elude you! Before long the house is in an even greater state of disarray then it was before, the bed overturned, the shelf picked apart, the fireplace scattered. And yet you find nothing?

You pick up the pillow for the third time, a clumpy woven sack and shake it as if it were the Chesters themselves. And as you do so, you notice a small trail of specks leak from a tiny hole in the stitching, shaken loose by your search efforts.

You rip the pillow in half and take a quick step back as you see what spills out. Soil! The pillow is entirely stuffed with black loam soil, thick and pungent. Untamed and unruly earth and a thicker conduit for witchcraft then you have seen for a long time.
The thought of the two of them sleeping on this makes your skin crawl. Is this how it was done? Those fools! They hadn’t literally buried their heads in it but they’d done the next best thing and given the witch an opening straight into their sleeping dreams. This must be how they received their instructions.

You drag your finger hesitantly through the black loam and sniff, barely able to stomach having it so close to your face. It is saturated in witch-chill.


>Burn it. Burn it all.

>Call for help.

>Sleep upon the pillow. You may learn much.

>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.

>Leave it be for now.

>Other
>>
>>538040
>>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
then
>Call for help.
>>
>>538040
>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
>>
>>538040
>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
>Call for help.
>>
Is this based off a series? Or is this original?
>>
>>538056
Ouro does original stuff Look up his last quest, Snakecatcher quest.
>>
>>538056
The latter.
>>
>>538060
Dammit, I was hoping I had a new book series to look into.
>>
>>538056
Original, I'm afraid
>>
>>538040
>>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
>>
>>538066
Well write a book you bastard.
>>
>>538064
You now have a quest to look forward to instead. ;:^)
>>
>>538040
>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
>>
>>538040

>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.
>>
Sorry about the delay on this one. My internet connection got real funky for a moment.

>See if you can divine anything within it. Another shady technique.

The Witch-finders, in their quest to understand the enemy, had many practices that were frowned upon by the rest of the Lamplighters. Or would have been frowned upon if they hadn’t been kept secret. Really it was best that they didn’t know. But you are no mere apostate to be lured from your faith by such petty baubles and the idea that faith was best safeguarded by ignorance is one that you detest.

It is time to attempt a simple divination.

You take up a great handful of the loam and cup it between two hands, clearing your mind of all stray thoughts as you do so. This isn’t witch-craft. You are making no signs, invoking no names. This is safe.

Really, all you are doing here is relying on an age-old principle. Dark attracts dark. Soil so deeply impregnated with witch-chill should yearn for her touch or, you suppose, the touch of any witch. The yearning is weak but when in an environment free of all other darkness, it should out itself. And thus it can be used as a makeshift compass towards witchcraft.
A useful tool but not one to be relied on, it would be child’s play to turn it against you.

You gently blow upon the soil in your hands, letting specks fly off and settle where they will. The pattern appears random but by the same feeling in your fingers that you can use to track witch-chill, you can trace which direction the cursed dirt is inclining towards.
Outside.

You step outside, almost in a trance with the effort required to keep your mind centered, calm and empty. You need it be thus so that you can feel the miniscule deviations in the chill. And yes, it would no doubt look quite curious to see you, a Lamplighter, consorting with such means but fortunately the street is still empty. You can hear the celebrations still from deeper within Sacrament.

Your divination leads you down the street and around several corners and you can’t help but notice that it isn’t leading you towards the wasteland. It’s leading you deeper into town. Then you were right, the witch is here! All you can hope for now is that you find your culprit before the dirt smearing your hands dissipates altogether.

And just as the last of the soil fades, it does so. You are now standing in the outskirts of Sacrament, the last row of houses before the town gives way to vast concrete plains and the tamed farms. Your target house is a far sight from the hovel you were previously investigating, a modest but well-kept little cottage. There is nothing outwardly concerning about it but you can see the last speck of loam clinging to the doorframe. This is the greatest source of dark within all of Sacrament, there can be no doubt.


>Ready your wick and charge in!

>Go get the mayor.

>Round up the townsfolk.

>Just knock on the door at first.

>Try to sneak around the back through a window.

>Other
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141

>Try to sneak around the back through a window.

Don't give "it" time.
>>
>>538141
>>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>>538141
>Just knock on the door at first.
>>
>Just knock on the door at first.

There’s no need to be hasty just yet, the witch shouldn’t yet be aware of your arrival. What you did to the dirt was a passive act, it would have felt no different from simply spilling it upon the ground. And while another witch would be able to track them with such a divination you doubt they would be expecting a Lamplighter to be capable of it. And while the idea of rounding up a good old-fashioned mob is inviting, it might be best to leave the good people of Sacrament out of it. You wouldn’t want to endanger the townsfolk after all. No, best to leave cauterizing this wound to you.

But that doesn’t mean you should simply charge in first, staff out and wick ablaze. There is such a thing as subtlety after all, even in this line of work. Who knows, you might be able to worm something out of them before the time for the purge arrives.

So with that in mind you simply walk up to the front door and knock, your armoured fist rapping against the wood. Silence. Has she already been forewarned to your arrival? Has she fled? Is it even a she?

You knock a second time and this time you are rewarded by the sound of something clanging distantly round the back. Metal on metal by the sounds of it. Curious.
“Who is it? I’ll be right there!”
A feminine voice.

As the unseen owner of the house approaches only then does it occur to you that showing up on her doorstep as a Lamplighter in full regalia might scare her off. She must have seen the light, she must know you are here. Do you wish to provoke a fight immediately?


>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.

>See if you can shuck your cloak and armour off. You can do so extremely quickly if the need arises.

>Stand off to the side and hide to see who answers without them seeing you.

>Put your eye straight to the peep-hole in the door to stop her from using it.

>Announce yourself before she even reaches the door.

>Remain as you are and raise your staff to hit her the moment she shows herself.

>Other
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
Well fuck it.
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>sup Beatrice, how goes the gunsmithing?
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>>
>>538213
>>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>>
>>538213
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.
>>
>Remain as you are. You are not the one in question here.

What does it matter if she sees you for what you are? You are not here to befriend her or to invite her to some wretched tea party. And if it provokes her to make a fight of it then so what? Sacrament bathes in the light once more. Short of the sun miraculously recovering she will never be weaker and you will never be stronger. In fact, part of you wants for exactly that to happen. There’s nothing that would make you happier right now then burning a witch to death.

So not only do you stay as you are, you keep your grip firm around your wick and your staff, ready to raise them at any time.
You hear a small scuffling behind the door before it slowly creaks open, the woman on the other side clearly hesitant.

“Good...morning? Sir?”
Her voice, now that you hear it closer, is raspy and ill-treated. Has she not been eating the proper dirt lately? You suppose that would make sense.

The woman on the other side looks almost a girl thanks to her short frame but other aspects make it evident she is not. She’s dressed practically, wrapped in a thick overcoat, a pair of men’s trousers and sturdy boots. Maybe too practically. That’s not the kind of outfit you wear to traipse around town. It might be what you wear to travel the wasteland however…
Most curiously, the top half of her face is covered with a wide-brimmed hat that you would bet anything she had just pulled over the top of her head a moment ago. You can’t see her eyes.

She clearly knows what you are.
“Can I help you?”


>Push the door open the rest of the way. What’s she hiding?

>”I was just wondering what someone was doing staying at home in a time like this.”

>Invite yourself in.

>Hit her on the head with your staff.

>Grab her hat.

>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”

>Shine a light in her face.

>Oh, you should probably ask her name.

>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened last night.”

>”I’m looking for a witch. You’re a witch.”

>Other
>>
>>538288
>>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”
>"May I come in?"
>>
>>538288
>>”I was just wondering what someone was doing staying at home in a time like this.”
>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”
>Oh, you should probably ask her name.
>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened last night.”
>>
>>538288
>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened >”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”last night.”
>Oh, you should probably ask her name.
Be all friendly until the time comes.
>>
>>538288
>Shine a light in her face.
>Oh, you should probably ask her name.
>>
>>538288

>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”
>"May I come in?"
>Other
Something to the effect of "You seem rather ill, are you alright?"
>>
>>538288
>Invite yourself in.

Let's go full Pulp Fiction here.
>>
>>538288
>”I’m looking for a witch. You’re a witch.”
>Invite yourself in.
>”I was just wondering what someone was doing staying at home in a time like this.”
>Oh, you should probably ask her name.
Maybe in that order.
>>
>>538288
>>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened >”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”last night.”
>>Oh, you should probably ask her name.
>Invite yourself in.
>>
Okay, I'm calling it for a combination of:

>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”
>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened last night.”
>Ask to come in/Invite yourself in.
>Oh, you should probably ask her name
>>
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>”Oh, I’m just trying to ask around about the incident last night. Did you happen to know the Chesters?”
>”The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after what happened last night.”
>Ask to come in.
>Oh, you should probably ask her name

Well, she’s not immediately hostile. Does she think that it might be a mere coincidence that you have come to her doorstep? You suppose she loses nothing by acting as such while attacking you right from the start would just confirm any suspicions you might have had.
Has the light cowed her? That could very well be it.

But for now you are willing to play along.
“The mayor just wanted me to make sure everyone in town was still safe after last night’s ...incident. You’re actually the first person I’ve found thus far to still be in their home. Makes it a lot easier.”

“Staying inside, that’s me.”
She laughs nervously a little.
“Anyway I’m fine so thank you for the kindness.”
She attempts to close your door but you simply place your gauntleted hand in the way, the door bouncing off it harmlessly.

“Sorry to be so intrusive but I had another reason to come here.”

“You did?”
You can’t see her eyes but you can feel them, staring holes through you from underneath the brim of her hat. You can see her grow a little tenser.

“Did you happen to know the Chesters?”

She relaxes almost immediately.
“Sort of. Not very well. I don’t get out much and I wasn’t born her like them.”
You bet she wasn’t.

“Well I would be happy to take your testimony regardless. Nobody else has had anything of any use. Could I come in?”

She reluctantly opens the door wider to reveal...a grungy old cottage, a lot messier on the inside then the outside but nothing inherently...witchy.
“By all means, Lamplighter. What’s mine is yours.”
Her voice is a drone, even over the traditional rite of hospitality. She is making it plain that she’d really rather you didn’t stick around. The complete lack of respect involved is refreshing at least.

You step inside and walk to the kitchen table, taking note of the side-rooms. Is that a forge off to the side? How the hell does someone as slight as her hope to use it? It’s only when you see the pair of pistols hanging on the wall over the table does it click.
“Ms Beatrice, I presume?”

She doesn’t look happy at you naming her. You get the feeling she rarely looks happy at all.
“Just Beatrice. Only kids call me that. Do you have a name?”

“Orion.”

“Well, mister Orion, I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to you. Those two were always off in their own little world and I didn’t know much of them. That’s all I can say.”

The two of you stand beside the table awkwardly, the witch clearly wanting you gone without doing anything as suspicious as telling you to leave.
“Would...would you like some tea?”
She has to practically force the question out.

1/2
>>
>>538400
There’s an old teapot on the table beside you, stained and chipped. And beside it, a small bag of...something. It looks black.
>”I would be happy to.”

>”No thanks.”

>”It is a little odd to have such a well-used teapot these days. May I ask what you were using to heat it up?”

>Leave. You’ve accomplished all you can with talk.

>Hit her with the staff. You’ve accomplished all you can with talk.

>”Tell me what your deal is right now or I’m going to arrest you as a witch.”

>Just tell her about the divination.

>’Accidentally’ shine a light into her face.

>”Do you always wear that hat indoors?”

>Make a witch-sign at her and see her reaction.

>Ask to see her handle the gun. Gunpowder will not combust in the hands of a witch.

>”You look ill.”

>Other
>>
>>538402
>Make a witch-sign at her and see her reaction.
Make it like you accidently did it.
>>
>>538402
>”You look ill.”
"Have you seen a doctor?"
>>
>>538402
>”No thanks.”
>”It is a little odd to have such a well-used teapot these days. May I ask what you were using to heat it up?”
Just tell her about the divination.
>>
>>538402
>”No thanks.”
>Just tell her about the divination.
>>
>>538402
>>”You look ill.”
>”It is a little odd to have such a well-used teapot these days. May I ask what you were using to heat it up?”
>”Do you always wear that hat indoors?”
>Make a witch-sign at her and see her reaction.
>>
>>538402
>”Tell me what your deal is right now or I’m going to arrest you as a witch.”
There's literally no point to play coy
>>
>>538402
>Just tell her about the divination.
>>
>>538402
>Just tell her about the divination
>”Tell me what your deal is right now or I’m going to arrest you as a witch.”
>>
>>538402
>>’Accidentally’ shine a light into her face.
>>”Do you always wear that hat indoors?”
>>
>Just tell her about the divination

There’s a lot here to be suspicious of but frankly, you’re tired of playing coy. What reason do you really have to do so? The entire town may be riding on your decisions here and you’re just playing games!
“I’m sure you’d appreciate it if I just got to the point.”

“I doubt it.”
She knows. But does she know that you know that she knows?

“When I was investigating the Chester’s home I found a stock of black loam stored within their pillow. Do you know what that means?”

She nods grimly but says nothing.

“And when I scattered the dirt, I used it as a compass. It led me right to your doorstep. Do you know what that means?”

She keeps nodding but only seems to realize the import of what you said just a moment later.
“Wait! No!”

Her hands come up to make a sign and you had been waiting for this moment. You bring the staff down just hard enough to separate them and with your other hand you swing the wick until the tip of it is tracing against her throat.
“No signs! Now get over here and come with me, you’ve a lot to answer for.”

“Wait, wait!,” she shrieks. “You’ve got it wrong!”
She reaches up once more and this time your staff is too slow to keep her hands from moving. Shit. Oh well, it would have been nice to interrogate her but she’s left you no other choice. You prepare to ignite the wic-
And she rips her coat open, her fingers desperately working at the blouse beneath.

Well, that wasn’t quite what you expected but you’re not going to let her do it anyway. You push the handle of the wick against her throat hard enough to pin her up against the wall.
“The wiles of a witch mean nothing to me.”

“Oh shut it, you big virginal cu-...clod! I know it won’t, you think I haven’t dealt with your kind before?”

She unbuttons her blouse but only just enough to display her collar-bone and the little hollow beneath her neck. There’s a mark there, no, a brand. The crude shape of a wheel with six spokes has been burned into her sickly flesh just above her sternum.

You pull the wick back and drop her in disgust. You’ve been wasting your time.

You found a witch alright but just a tamed one. It’s been decades since you’ve seen her like.
“Mind telling me what you’re doing outside of a prison somewhere?”

“Bite me,” she spits, still catching her breath upon the ground. “That was before the world broke open.”

Well, that’s a reasonable excuse you suppose.
“I’m surprised there’s any of your kind left.”

“I could say the same for you.”

1/2
>>
>>538402
Yeah enough games >>538450
Although maybe she is an ex-witch just trying to make it in a concrete world and she will help us out if she knows there is a practicing witch around
>>
>>538599
The witch brand was a strange practice, one that had only been picked up during the latter years of the Third Age and it had been pioneered by your brethren. Learning from witches was hard and the need to slay each and every one of them was not conducive to proper research. Not to mention how to deal with the occasional surrender, witches who had come to regret their blasphemies. So the brand had come about, a mixture of advanced Benediction, Flame Rites and plundered witch-lore. With the mark of the Sun, the Wheel God, upon her flesh, a witch was rendered powerless and her connection to the earth sundered forever.
You’d come here trying to track down the active witch and all you’d found was this...this bitch, sitting around and fouling up your divination! You have to hold yourself from giving her a few good whacks with the staff while she’s down.

It’s not like she wouldn’t deserve them either. You have no love for the branded, even for those who willingly renounced their ways. That they regretted their choices did not in any way make up for the fact that they had still made that choice. They had still chosen to throw their lot in with the earth and to forsake their humanity. Even now, branded and stripped of all power, she only looked human.

Beatrice slowly gets to her knees, one hand keeping her hat steady over her face.
“If that’s all,” she rasps, “kindly get the fuck out of my house. Don’t you have a real witch to catch?”


>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?

>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”

>”How many people died before they dragged you in for branding?”

>”...You must be a lot older then you look.”

>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.

>Hit her a few times with the staff to make sure she’s subdued.

>Knock her hat off.

>Other
>>
>>538604
>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”
>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>>
>>538604
>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.
>>
>>538604
>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>>
>>538604
>WE have a witch to catch
You know the town and how witches operate. And surely you want to avoid a panic.
>>
>>538604
>I think you mean WE have a witch to catch.
>Do the people know what you are?
>>
>>538604
>>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”
>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.
>>
>>538604
>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.
>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”
>>
>>538604
>>”...You must be a lot older then you look.”
>>
>>538604
>>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”
>>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.
>>
Fun Fact: The term 'clod' is a much more serious insult for a witch then it might sound.

Anyway, calling the vote
>>
>>538681
It's a lump of dirt, don't they eat that?
>>
Ugh sorry for taking so long on this one.

>”Do the people know what you are? What kind of danger you’ve been putting them in?”
>No, there’s something here that still doesn’t make sense. What about the fire?
>”I think you mean WE have a real witch to catch.” Drag her out of the house. You can use this.

You shake your head as you look down upon her.
“Do the people here even know what you are?”

“Of course they don’t. Are you as dumb as you look?”
She curls up as she says that, reflexively preparing for a kick that doesn’t come.

“A bit selfish of you, isn’t it? To just waltz in, take advantage of the hospitality of these fine folk, these fine human folk without even telling them what you are? Or what you could bring down upon them at any moment?”

“Bring down what? I ain’t witching them! Not even if I wanted to!”

“And yet the compass still pointed to you! You’re still darker than everything else in this whole damn town, you daft bint! You don’t think anything can sense that?”

“That’s...that’s not how it works,” she says, sounding a lot more uncertain now. “But I haven’t been doing anything witchwise, I swear. I haven’t even touched the ground for years! I’ve been helping everyone here out as a-”

“As a gunsmith or something, yes. Now isn’t that interesting?”
That’s something that’s been weighing on your mind as well, come to think of it.
“A branded witch still shouldn’t be particularly apt with the flame. The first one I met, they used to take us to her cell as ‘prentices and shove little candles to her. They still went out the moment she touched them and that was back when the sun was alive and everything. So what does that say about you?”

“I think that says a lot more about you than it does about me,” she croaks. “That poor girl.”

She tries to get to her feet only to find that your staff leaning against the wall above her. You don’t want to let her move until you’ve come away with some answers.
“You can set that staff aflame if you want,” she mutters. “I’ll barely feel it.”

“Just spit it out already.”

“You know that we were all humans once, right? We aren’t monsters.”

“I know a lot more than you think. And trust me, that little detail makes things like you worse than the monsters. At least they didn’t have a choice.”

“Whatever. So back before I turned I was a member of the Hearth. The College of the Hearth, you ever hear of it?”

Of course you have. It’s a subsidiary organization to the Order of the Wick and while you don’t know a lot about what goes on there, you know that the men and women of the Hearth are supposed to be sacred. Priests and priestesses of the Sun and holders of the Flame Rites without being Lamplighters themselves.
You drag the staff lower until she cringes back down.
“If that was an attempt to endear yourself to me, it failed.”
1/3
>>
>>538864
“Just spit it out already.”

“You know that we were all humans once, right? We aren’t monsters.”

“I know a lot more than you think. And trust me, that little detail makes things like you worse than the monsters. At least they didn’t have a choice.”

“Whatever. So back before I turned I was a member of the Hearth. The College of the Hearth, you ever hear of it?”

Of course you have. It’s a subsidiary organization to the Order of the Wick and while you don’t know a lot about what goes on there, you know that the men and women of the Hearth are supposed to be sacred. Priests and priestesses of the Sun and holders of the Flame Rites without being Lamplighters themselves.
You drag the staff lower until she cringes back down.
“If that was an attempt to endear yourself to me, it failed.”
Did she really think telling you that she used to be a priestess of the Hearth would help her? That only made her blasphemy a hundred times worse!

“I know, I know. But after I was branded and the sun broke and everything went wrong, I started looking for my old Flame Rites again. Like maybe I could just get them to take me back. It didn’t work.”

“Of course not. What you did wasn’t just some mere folly or a mistake to be forgiven, branded or not, you chose to be an enemy to the Flame for the rest of your life.”

“Right, right. But then I thought, what if I can’t do it anymore because I’m trying to do it like a human. I had to do it like a witch. Don’t hit me! Look, it’s simple right? We eat dirt. Connects us to the earth and the gods-”

“I’ll have no heretical talk here.”

“Fine, dead gods,” she groans. “Has anyone told you that you’re a good listener? Because they lied. So I just figured, you know, since I’m so genuinely repentant of my ways and cannot take in the earth ever again, why not go back to old times but in a witchy way? I don’t know if you’ve noticed but to witches, magic comes in visceral. It’s what you eat and touch and feel-”

“Get to the point.”

“I’ve been eating gunpowder for the last few years,” she blurts out. “And since I don’t have no connection to the earth anymore, it’s been working! The Flame’s really taken me back!”

You shake your head.
“You’re still a witch. Light and fire, that’s still your opposite. Even if you did belong to the Hearth in your past life, I can’t imagine that you can just take in your opposite like that.”

Beatrice takes her hat off and throws it aside to reveal an extremely pale face, almost entirely white with barely a tinge of natural gray. You’ve known branded witches to look sickly from lack of dirt but not...not quite to this extent.
Her skin is white and cracked and her eyes, her eyes are all but lost within two huge dark circles.
2/3
>>
>>538869
At first you think it merely a disastrous attempt at makeup and then maybe a pair of black eyes but no, the dark rings around her eyes are the sign of constant and continual bruising. Looking closer, you can see tinges of blood rimming her eyelids and swimming within her bloodshot cornea.
“It wasn’t exactly comfortable. Back when I ate earth my body loved it, I didn’t even have to try to look good. But like you said, I’m still a witch. I get all hopped on powder but my body doesn’t like it, not one bit. It feels the fire in my blood and it’s decided that it doesn’t like my blood anymore, keeps trying to force it out.”

You back away in disgust, not saying anything. Beatrice just sniffs and reclaims her hat, hiding her face once again.

“I can keep most of it on the sly but for some reason I can’t stop the leak behind my eyes. Keeps sloshing around.”
She tries for a laugh but it comes out mostly like a sob.

Well, that’s an oddity for sure. And not one particularly to your taste.
“I don’t see how can take this as a sign of the fire accepting you back. It is literally killing you. A witch can never turn back.”

“I know that. Now don’t you have a proper witch to find? I ain’t doing harm.”

You make your decision. Is it not the essence of being a Witch-finder that you use every tool available to you, no matter how unsavory?
“I think you mean that WE have a proper witch to find.”

“What? No no no no!”
She scrambles away and you grab her by the shoulder, pushing past her attempts to strike you. In the end you almost have to drag her out of her house by her hair, the witch kicking and screaming all the while.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way!”

“I guess you can’t really trust a Lamplighter to know how to handle a woman. Tell me friend, back when they had all you big sweaty men cooped up together in the monasteries did you catch or did you thro-Aiirgh!”
You accidently bump her head against the side of the doorway as you pull her out. Well, mostly accidental.

“Fine, fine! I’ll help! Just drop me!”
You do so. Beatrice rolls away from your before slowly getting to her feet, a dishevelled look to her.
“I don’t know what you plan to use me for, I ain’t touching earth or doing anything witchwise.”

“Your knowledge may be enough.”


>Take her to see Terrance.

>Take her to the Chester home.

>Take her to the mayor to tell him what she is. She owes him and all the people of Sacrament that at least.

>Take her to the edge of the wasteland.

>”Where do you think we should start?”

>Other
>>
>>538871
>”Where do you think we should start?”
>>
>>538871
>>”Where do you think we should start?”
>Take her to the Chester home.
>>
>>538871
>Take her to see Terrance.
>>
>>538871
>>”Where do you think we should start?”
"you know this place better than I do"
also... wonder if eating ashes would be less painful for her but still provide a spark.
>>
Oh fuck I can't believe I put in overlap between part 1 and 2. Fuck.
>>
>>538871
Supporting >>538886
>>
>>538871
>Take her to see Terrance.
>>
>>538891
Nigga you doin great.
>>
>>538871
>>Take her to the edge of the wasteland.
>>
>”Where do you think we should start?”

“You know this town better than I do, where do you think we should start?”

She just looks at you for a long moment.
“Back at the Chesters I guess? Maybe we can try the divination again.”

You start walking back, forcing her to scurry in order to catch up to you. As she does so you shake your head.
“Won’t work. You’ll keep fouling up the compass.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unless you leave town it’ll just keep pointing to you. What do you think it means?”

“You know you can just search for the second-biggest emergent pattern don’t you?:

“I...did not.”

Beatrice laughs at you. You suppose you deserved that.

“You see? This is why I brought you. You’re just reaffirming my decision to drag you through all of this.”

“Aw nooo,” she moans

“Or,” you say, an idea striking you. “You could conduct the divination yourself. It can’t point at yourself.”

“Can’t.”
She says it flatly, an attempted last word on the matter.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m kind of taking a break from witchcraft right now.”
Hrmph. Something to remember. Once she’s sure that you are no longer directly threatening her, Beatrice gets awfully lippy awfully fast.

“It’s not witchcraft.”

“Does telling yourself that help you sleep at night? And I’m not touching loam if I can’t help it. I’m strictly earth-averse.”

You’re still pondering what to say next when you hear the rumble. It starts low, a feeling in the bottom of your feet more than a sound. But it keeps climbing higher and higher, louder and louder as the concrete shakes beneath you.
You barely manage to keep your footing, Beatrice clinging to your arm to steady herself. The moment you notice her doing that you retract the arm and let her fend for herself.

The distant thunder within the earth continues to sing for nearly a minute more before it finally fades.
“What was that?”

The witch is still busy getting off the ground.
“Why would I know?”


>Rush to the main street.

>Quick! Back to the nearest shelter!

>Finish your journey to the Chester’s house.

>Rush to the edge of the wasteland.

>Other
>>
>>538942
>>Rush to the main street.
>>
>>538942
>>Rush to the main street.
>>
>>538942
>Rush to the edge of the wasteland.
>>
>>538942
>Rush to the edge of the wasteland.
We will either find something there or ... we can run away more easily!
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

Looks like a tie between the main street or the edge. Evens the former, odds the latter.
>>
>Rush to the main street.

You don’t need to be told to know that something terrible is afoot. That wasn’t just the earth shaking, it was the very concrete itself. You can’t help but think back to what you saw when you had been taking young Marcus across the wasteland. The huge broken shards of concrete had littered the dying forest. You hadn’t put too much thought into what had happened there at the time. After all, travelling across the wasteland lets you catch sight of old ruins, dying relics and remnants of fading humanity nearly every damn day. But whatever had happened back there, you’d wager that it sounded much like this.

So yes, you run. You started running before the witch was even back on her feet, leaving her to chase after you in panic. Your legs begin to burn as you power through the streets, your feet raising clouds of dust from the tamed dirt.

Everyone’s still in the main street but their celebration has understandably stopped. When the townsfolk see you one of them raises a ragged shout.
“Lamplighter! You got to fix this!”

They part before you and you feel your breath catch as you see the crack. From all the way to the very edge where the concrete plains and the wasteland meet, the concrete has been split, a great jagged crack zigzagging its way down the plains and straight down the middle of Sacrament’s main street. Down the main street and towards the…
“The lamp!.” you bellow! “Out of the way, I need to see the lamp!”

The lamp-post, god bless it, is safe. It’s still shining as bright as ever and the ancient magic within it is still carrying that light to all over town. But it was a close call. The crack in the concrete stops just inches from the lamp-post. You push away the thin layer of tame soil around it and your suspicions are confirmed.
The crack comes to an abrupt halt at the exact position of the tiny ring of thin runes carved into the concrete around the lamp-post’s base.
“It’s fine,” you call out to the people. “The runes protected it from the attack.”

“It’s fine? It’s fine?”
You don’t know the man who steps forward but you have a feeling the two of you aren’t going to be great friends. You have that feeling about most people, funnily enough.
“There’s a great big crack right down Sacrament! Look at it! It goes straight to the earth!”

You kneel beside it and sure enough, the crack is deep enough to cut straight through the entire concrete layer. There’s dirt beneath.
Oh, this is bad. How the fuck did she do it? The light was strong! It still is strong! How could any magic cut into a town with a lamp-post so bright?

“Orion!”
And of course, that’s when Beatrice finally catches up. Her chest is heaving and she clutches at the side of the town tavern while she does her best to recover.
“What’s going on? I can’t believe you pushed me, you’re such a fucking sod!”

1/2
>>
>>538978
She then flinches back as she realizes that not only is everyone looking at her, her hat was lost in all the commotion. You can practically see the stares of the townsfolk settling on her and her patchy face.
“Uh,” she croaks, holding both hands over her eyes.

You don’t have time to say or do anything about her sudden appearance however. Nobody does. Because from the crack rises a sudden hiss and a torrent of black smoke engulfs you!


>Protect the lamp!

>Protect the mayor.

>Protect Beatrice.

>Just throw yourself away from the crack.

>Light your wick! Do it now!

>Other
>>
>>538980
>Protect the mayor.
>>
>>538980
>>Light your wick! Do it now!


The Mayor is the witch. He was having his son sent out of the town to save him.
>>
>>538980
>Light your wick! Do it now!
>>
>>538980
>Light your wick! Do it now.
>>
>>538980
WICK IS ON
>>
>>538980
> throw yourself out of the way
Why am i always the only one that wants to do the sensible thing and RUN AWAY!
>>
>>538980
>Light your wick! Do it now!

>>538998
Coward!
>>
>Light your wick! Do it now!

Black smoke swirls out from not just beneath your feet but everywhere all up and down the street. If you could see further you don’t doubt that it clouds of it would be puffing up all along the crack’s entire length. And just that alone proves something rather worrying. This wasn’t just some opportunist attack, this must have been weeks or even months in the making. They’ve been sending in witching not onto the concrete itself but beneath it, a ridiculous amount of power building up in the imprisoned soil until finally…
Hrmph. You showing up and relighting the lamp must have forced their hand.

That’s good. You’re about to force it a lot more.

“Everyone!,” you bellow. “To me!”
You slam the butt of the wick down against the concrete with all your might and the burden upon your back screams silently as you draw upon it. The top of the wick bursts into true flame, orange and bright and burning almost as strong as the lamp-post behind you.

Wick: 9/10

You sweep the long-handled wick in a wide circle around you and the smoke is banished, every fleck of it that strays within your reach burning to nothing in the blink of an eye. And indeed, even beyond that the smoke retreats and curls up into the air and it is only until the light begins to dim back to that terrible twilight that you realize your mistake.
You were never the primary target of this attack. No person here was.

The runes around the lamp-post scream and spark but the airborne darkness doesn’t even try to cover them. Instead it simply wraps itself around the runes perimeters and builds up, creating a column of dark that completely shrouds the lamp from view.

Darkness falls.

You start to run to the lamp, careful to jump over the crack beneath you. What is the witch even planning to do with this meaningless gesture? The lamp-post will naturally burn through its dark prison in a matter of minutes and even without that, it will only take you but a swing to free it!
But as the townsfolk panic and scream you hear voices of another kind join their discordant orchestra. Groans and moans and choked up bursts of laughter.

You skid to a halt and watch as a woman seemingly trips up on the crack and falls to the ground screaming, her ankle lacerated by a knife-fingered hand. The soil you can see at the bottom of the crack is churning and boiling as shapes disentangle themselves and impossibly, contort themselves to squeeze right out.
Patchwork limbs and joints that have been replaced with thick cords and thread. Glinting teeth and fat, distented tongues.

Sacrament is swarming with ghouls.


>That doesn’t matter! Get to the lamp!

>The lamp isn’t in danger. Assist the townsfolk in fighting the monsters back!

>Cauterize the crack. (Extremely heavy Wick use)

>Call out to somebody (Specify)

>Other
>>
>>539026
>Cauterize the crack.
Filthy creatures.
>>
>>539026
>Call out to Beatrice
"Are you armed? Protect the citizens! I'm going to fix the lamp."
>>
>>539026
>Call out to somebody (Specify)
Beatrice pierce that barrier with whatever light you can use
>The lamp isn’t in danger. Assist the townsfolk in fighting the monsters back!
>>
>>539030
>>539031
>>539026
This.
>>
>>539026
> free the lamp first
> tell B to start shooting if she hasn't already
Do we get more wick after a fight?
>>
>>539026
>That doesn’t matter! Get to the lamp!

TO THE LAMP!
>>
>Free the lamp.
>Get Beatrice on the job of helping the citizens.

As much as it pains you, your duty is clear. You don’t just light the lamps, you protect the lamps and with them the light and with that humanity itself. That’s all there is to it. First and foremost, before any silly factional quarreling about witches or Flame Rites or any other kind of division. That’s the core of what being a Lamplighter is about.

“Beatrice!”
You find her still over by the tavern, the darkness and the smoke making it hard to see.
“A little help here?”

The townsfolk themselves barely have any weapons on hand, how could they? Until just moments ago this had all been a celebration, a renewal of faith within the protective light of God. And look at all the good it did them.
The first shot rings out, Beatrice pulling a large revolver from who knows where and firing into the mob of ghouls. The flash of her shots are brighter than they should be and every ghoul she shoots drops, a still-expanding burning hole punched clean through their makeshift bodies.

It’ll have to be enough.

You turn your back on the people and run towards the lamp. That’s the key right there. Just a single swipe to clear it and everything will be fine. With the light beating upon their backs the ghouls will lose heart, witch or no witch!
You are only mere feet away from the post when a hand grabs hold of your ankle, tripping you up and sending you to the ground!

A ghoul? No. You aren’t cut and not even your runeplate would stop a ghoul-claw in darkness. It’s a human hand.

>Roll 1d6 each. I will be totalling the first 3.
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>539046
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>539046
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>539046
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>539046
>>
>>539049
>>539051
>>539052
Fuck
>>539054
Late
>>
>>539057
The odds of this happening...
Dice God is awful.
>>
>>539052
>>539051
>>539049

GREAT JOB GUYS.
>>
>>539057
Maybe we get points for tripples?
/false optimism
>>
File: whenyourollthree2s.jpg (108 KB, 742x667)
108 KB
108 KB JPG
>>
>>539060
I KNOW RIGHT!
>>
>2, 2, 2

You are unable to catch yourself or break your fall and you slam into the ground with a heavy wheeze. Armour or no armour, a fall hurts just the same. And it only gets worse from here. With the wind knocked from your lungs, you are slow to rouse and not nearly quick enough to avoid the kick to the head. Your skull rattles inside your helmet as the boot crashes into your head once, twice and then a third kick to the shoulder to push you back.
Back to what?

And then you feel your lower half slide over the edge of the still-widening crack and you understand. Oh no. Anything but this! How long do you have before the ghouls burrowing through the dirt below notice and tear you to pieces? And not just you but your precious cargo as well? There is more than just a single life or a single town upon your shoulders now.
You shudder as something loathsome brushes against your armoured leg but the ghoul has yet to notice you properly. You can still get out of this.

You toss your staff to the side and use your now freed hand to start clawing your way out from where you had been wedged into the crack. You just have to free your legs and-

Your unseen assailant continues, kicking you in the arm. And at the same time, you feel the ghoul brushing past you slowly come to a stop and the thick pseudo-limb of what can only be a tongue encircle around your leg.


>Pretend to surrender.

>Distract Beatrice from her current task.

>Immolate the ghoul.

>Immolate your attacker.

>Set yourself on fire.

>Other
>>
>>539082
>Set yourself on fire
>>
>>539082
>Set yourself on fire.
For glory..
>>
>>539082
>Immolate the ghoul.
>>
>>539082
>Set yourself on fire.
We should have been Polycarp
>>
>>539082
>Set yourself on fire.
We shall burn brightly.
>>
>>539082
Can he survive setting himself aflame?
>>
>>539093
Perhaps you should have wondered that before casting a vote.
>>
>>539098
I am... That's why I asked...
>>
>>539082
>>Immolate your attacker.
>>
>>539082
>Immolate the ghoul.
>>
>>539049
>>539051
>>539052

The light has forsaken us
>>
>Set yourself on fire.

It would be easier to simply immolate one of the two beasts currently waylaying you but that would leave you open to the attacks of the other, whether it be ghoul below or man above. But why even bother with any of that when you can immolate yourself? You’re not relying on just a tiny lantern anymore, you have a full wick to draw upon!

You pull your wick back towards yourself, blocking another kick from your human attacker in the process. The handle of the wick shudders beneath the blow and you can feel it bend. Oof. An excellent reminder that this thing isn’t as sturdy as your staff. Mess it up enough and you could risk breaking it.

You drag the burning tip of the wick to the gaps in your helmet and, feeling the flame embrace you, you inhale.

Wick: 6/10

Your armour bursts to life in gross incandescence as you coax a great flame from the wick and let it take itself upon you. The ghoul beneath you screeches and flees as you rise from the chasm, your assailant backing away from you.
Flames swirl around you, blocking your vision with an orange haze as you reclaim your staff. You, of course, are unharmed. As long as your Wick has any power left in it at all fire will remain your stalwart ally. But this is a much greater fire then the one you would use to cover your staff and you cannot maintain it for long.
You’ll have to finish this quickly.

There’s a man still standing before you, large and bulky and very afraid.
“T-this can be explained!,” he squeaks.

“WITCH!”
You have no desire to entertain further foolishness from Mayor Edmund. You advance, swinging staff and wick as he pulls out a sword. And for a moment, that gives you pause. The blade is long and wide and while it isn’t quite a two-hander you’d put it at a hand and a half easily. And down the blade run sickly looking runes of Durability and of Edge. There’s something else to it as well, some kind of ointment or poison smeared thickly along the edge.

Edmund shakes his head.
“You couldn’t have just gone on your way, could you? You arrogant, insufferable man. Look at this. This is all your fault!”
You take a step closer and he dances back, still keeping between you and lamp.
“What, you want to fight? You want to risk it against this beast?”
The rune-sword glistens unpleasantly within his hands.


>”Beatrice.”

>Point your wick at him and burn him to death.

>Throw your lantern at him and detonate it.

>Just rush him!

>Attempt to disarm him.

>Take off your burning helmet and just throw it at him.

>Other
>>
>>539116
>Just rush him.
The witch burns now.
>>
>>539116
>Throw your lantern at him and detonate it.
>>
>>539082
>>Immolate your attacker.
Give them to the light. Fucking cultist or panicky civilian or whatever.
>>
>>539116
>>Throw your lantern at him and detonate it.
>>
>>539082
>Immolate the ghoul first, because poison
>Immolate your attacker next.
>>
>>539125
Ah damn

>>539116
>Take off your burning helmet and just throw it at him.
End him rightly
>>
>>539116
>>”Beatrice.”
He is ready for us to fight him. He is not ready to be shot in the back.
>>
>>539132
I'd vote for that too but there's much bad blood between Beatrice and MC.
>>
>>539139
Well then I vote for throw our helmet at him, then rush him.
>>
>>539116
>”Beatrice.”
I can't help but remember our very first Hiss and Old Bart encounter with this one.
>>
>Throw your lantern at him and detonate it.

You just stare at him for good few seconds before shaking your head and sighing. You’ll not be getting any closure today. Not with this moron. All of a sudden you feel your righteous anger begin to dim, replaced only by a quiet disgust.
“Why didn’t you just use that sword to kill me while I was stuck instead of putting the boot in?”

He stops, looking a little nonplussed by your sudden change in attitude.
“I-”

You unhook the small lantern from your breastplate and as you hold it in a single burning hand, you overload its Wick to the breaking point. Almost a shame. This little contraption served you well in the wasteland.
You toss it at him, a simple underhand throw without much force behind it. He actually manages to knock it aside with his sword but by that point it’s much too late.

He wails as the lantern bursts open and spits a column of liquid flame all up and down his body, engulfing him in less than a second. He drops the sword and flees, a walking pillar of fire but he doesn’t get far before he collapses. You don’t even offer him the honor of a second strike as you walk past his burning corpse and stand before the swirling darkness covering the lamp.

Wick: 5/10

A single slash of the wick later and the darkness is vanquished, the lamp-post returned to light. You hear the ghouls scream before you even turn around, the beasts either fleeing directly back into the soil or running like mad dogs across the concrete plain towards the wasteland. The townsfolk cheer and weep in equal measure but all you do is stare at the rich black loam that has unearthed itself from the chasm in the concrete.
It’s still moving.

Beatrice is the first to find you, her eyes wide and wild.
“That wasn’t the witch,” she says, abrupt and to the point.

“I know.”

The witch does her best to stare you down.
“How the fuck do you know?”

“Well for starters, he wasn’t all that difficult. And he died like a human. How did you know?”

She looks a little uncomfortable.
“He had no earth in him. And no, I didn’t sense it. It’s a smell.”

You track the crack from where it ends at your feet and where it goes, all the way down the street and the plains and into the wasteland. A wasteland that now looks a good deal darker around the edges than it used to be.

Black loam.

“Everybody! People of Sacrament!”
You call as loud as you can and the people heed you, gathering around. In the background you think you can hear Marcus sobbing.
“This is only just getting started. Prepare for a siege.”
>>
And that's that for today, I'm afraid! Half of you are already asleep or close to it I reckon and I have stuff to do. We'll finish this thread and the Chapter off tomorrow, same time, same place!
Check the twitter, thread's been archived, etc etc.

I hope you all had fun!
>>
>>539154
>I hope you all had fun!
Don't even doubt it, twas fucking awesome.
>>
>>539154
Goddammit why do you run when I have to sleep!
>>
Praise the sun!
>>
>>539152
Ummm Ouro......

>>539132
>>539146


>>539121
>>539125


>>539120
>>539122
>>
>>539207
Those immolation votes are late votes for the choice before that and >>539132 changed his vote to >>539145
Yeah, I should have worked the helmet in though.
>>
Just caught up and I gotta say this looks pretty fuckin' dope.
>>
>>539116
>gross incandescence
If only I could be so grossly incandescent
>>
Just finished reading, thanks for bringing us this quest OP.
>>
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Heres some music that might fit this quest:
https://youtu.be/0-8vp4akcPc
https://youtu.be/TAQMJZeYSe8

Also pic is how I think of the Sun in this quest.
>>
So before the next session this evening I suggest that we suggest to the villagers to accrue whatever burnables they have available in preparation for the siege, old furniture, etc. Maybe give Beatrix an order for gunpowder, or an order for a firearm, because that shit's useful.

Ofc, I wanna experiment with using Flame Rites on guns and gunpowder, especially if this witch wants to put an army of ghouls between us and it. If it's a smart witch, which so far the witch has been, they'll be dividing forces between ourselves and targeting the villagers because targeting villagers and dragging them away will make more ghouls, making any protracted siege spell the doom of Sacrament.
Beyond that we can't really expect the witch to come to us. It might be better to set out at a good opportunity to track 'em, but that might involve learning what Beatrix spoke about, and that's dangerously heretical.

Also, we should take that crispy Mayor's sword because it looks cool.

Something else to figure,
The story of the wagon and the kid don't make much sense, not complete sense anyways. So the owning couple had this cursed dirt in their pillows and that allowed the witch to convince them to do stuff.
We should probably tell all of the villagers to check their pillows and bedding's for dirt, because if the witch was preplanning this for a while I doubt Mayor Manpyre and the dirt-kissing couple were the only ones in on this. And, of course, if witchcraft can convince others to go against their normal behavior we can't totally trust all the villagers, obviously.

Dat about covers it.
>>
Oh, and if Flame Rites allow us to delay fire we could probably try attracting a horde into a setup of a bait-and-blaze trap, or maybe even make mines?

I'm unsure how controllable that delay is, but traps ought to be good all around.
>>
>>539295
It's just as likely that the Chesters used dirt for their stuffing because they were poor. Could be unfortunate coincidence, just saying.

Properly motivated, militia could probably handle small numbers of ghouls, but that's only as long as morale holds up.

>>539300
if we're capable enough, that would help. Set up traps and have a roving patrol. As soon as one trap is set off, have the patrol mop up what's left.

But the main issue here is that most of these tactics will only work if the hordes of ghouls aren't being micromanaged. Orion needs to put pressure by directly gunning for the witch, but who will lead the militia?

We need someone who can take the sword, maintain morale, and has enough sense not to overextend. Beatrice is not looking too hot on the "maintain morale" thing, and she's probably better with her guns anyway.
>>
>>539306
>It's just as likely that the Chesters used dirt for their stuffing because they were poor.
No way. Not with the implications dirt has.

>>539306
We need more info on the not old man. We need more info in general.
>>
>>539313
> We need more info in general.
Absolutely. We have a staff and a mouth, we oughta put them to good use.

Especially because I know what Ouro does when players don't ask questions.
>>
>>539313
I'm thinking 3 possible scenarios

>used Tamed Dirt then someone switched it out with the witchy stuff

>couldn't steal Tamed Dirt that was too important for farming, so they made do with whatever dirt they could find. Like idiots.

>they never slept on them, it was a plant to spread panic once someone actually got around to investigate.
>>
>>539323
I assume tamed dirt is hard to get, as in more expensive than pillow stuffing.

>>539323
>they never slept on them, it was a plant to spread panic once someone actually got around to investigate.
The kid is the witch.
>>
>>539325
>The kid is the witch.
We have cast a Benediction on him, so unlikely.
>>
>>539327
Damn, would be fun. Since his dad was in on something, maybe trying to protect the kid.
>>
>>539325
No way is Marcus the witch. He was surrounded by ghouls, remember? We also cast a Benediction on him.
He wasn't shivering in the trolley because he was close to a Lamplighter, he totally wasn't waiting by it for us to get killed, and his failed striking of the flint wasn't a lure because he sensed a Lamplighter through the witch-chilled earth, and his father being in on things while the Chesters took his son out to the wasteland plains was a complete coincidence.

I mean, given all we know it's very unlikely that that kid be a witch. It's not like the dirt ritual we performed led us to a location that he said he had been to (to get the flint from Beatrix), before he journeyed with the wagon. He's pretty clear of suspicion, yup.
>>
>>539342
I like that we thought about the same points. But I dont think OP went that way.
>>
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>>539342
>He's pretty clear of suspicion, yup.
>pic

But we did give him a Benediction of warmth. It looked and acted like a blessing. It helped cure his witch-chill. A real witch would probably get hurt by that, I assume. We'll inevitably have to test it for sure. Also, I know from experience that Ouro typically doesn't do things that way... but he's a clever git so he might pull a fast one. Regardless, let's not burn a kid until we're sure.
>>
>>539328
Remember how
>>536172
>Maybe has a bit of the Flame Rites in him?
Nearly positive this is why daddy got rid of him. The witch knows this and wanted to dispose of him before her attack.

Let's pick up the dead man's sword and offer it to Beatrice in exchange for giving the kid a gun
>>
>>539350
It was kinda strange how he fell asleep out of nowhere too though.
>>
>>539465
Adrenalin crash? a relatively warm and safe place?
>>
I get the feeling Beatrice was drinking soil infused tea, may just help soothe the pain but whatever

Regardless holy shit this is a good quest
>>
>>539511
Ash might be better, also what would the effects of volcanic rock and obsidian be in this setting.
>>
>>539524
Volcanos are probably considered heretical in this setting
>>
>>539796
they still give fire and ligth, as well as fertility
>>
The session will be resuming in an hour or so folks.
>>
The hole goes deep, darkening dramatically before you see the first splash of water. You simply shake your head and sigh before turning to the man accompanying you.
“Do you not have rain catchers?”

The man, an Eadbert Bute and honored deputy to the Mayor, now acting Mayor, swallowed nervously. He’s a shorter and older man but still spry.
“Of course we do, Sir Orion. B-”

“Really, just Orion will do.”

“Sorry. But you must understand that rain can be sparse some seasons. During those times we have no choice but to turn to the bore water. It’s always been safe before!”

You kneel by the side of the well, your finger tracing the runes of purity and protection from earth. They look unbroken at the very least.
“For now there’s no such thing as being too cautious. How’s the rainwater reserve?”

Eadbert looks like he already knows where this discussion is going.
“Adequate.”

“Then we’ll seal the well for now. Help me with the lid.”

Together the two of you drag the large metal lid over across the concrete until the well is safely capped. You and the acting Mayor take a step back as a small team of townsfolk shift the lid until the holes drilled through its rim line up the long holes drilled into the concrete around the edge of the well. After that it is merely a matter of pounding in the thick metal spikes. Hopefully between those and the runes the bore will remain secure. Eadbert himself grabs a hammer and gets to work with the rest of him, the back of his left hand still scorched from when you had tested him for witchcraft just a moment before.
“Are you going to help?”

“No, not here. I need to oversee the rest of the defences.”

You trudge back to the main street, your wick trailing in the dust behind you and your package growing ever heavier upon your back. How long has it been since you last slept? It must be days by now! You’d been hoping for some respite in Sacrament but so far...well, the less you say about that the better.

The main street is bustling, men and women together working to raise barricades and to seal the chasm. The great crack itself hasn’t gone but it’s been sealed over, planks and wide wooden boards dragged over the top of it and nailed together. Of course there wasn’t enough to cover the entire thing, not even with one of the houses already partially dismantled for materials, but all of the gap to have broken into the town itself has been covered.
You doubt that will stop the ghouls but it should at least slow them down.

The barricades begin just past where the covered-up chasm ends, a huge pile of furniture, overturned carts and scavenged concrete blocks, all covered in hasty wooden boards and paneling to keep it together.
1/2
>>
>>540603
The lamp-post is just barely wihin its bounds, almost a piece of foundation for the barricade itself. And even now you can see the people of Sacrament withdrawing behind it with all manner of weaponry at the ready. Guns and rifles, swords and shields, spears and farming tools.
Even further behind it you can see people dragging everything that will even remotely burn out of their houses. There’s even a man prying a barely alive old woman out of her ancient rocking chair, tossing it to the ever-growing firewood pile.

You don’t see Beatrice anywhere.


>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.

>Inspect the chasm.

>Inspect the Mayor’s runesword.

>Find Beatrice.

>Try to organize everyone together to discuss plans.

>Walk out to the wasteland.

>Make sure everyone has been mustered up and that there is nobody left in their homes.

>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.

>Other
>>
>>540610
>Inspect the Mayor’s runesword.
>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.
>>
>>540610
>>Inspect the Mayor’s runesword.
>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.
>Make sure everyone has been mustered up and that there is nobody left in their homes.
>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.
>>
>>540610
>Inspect the Mayor’s runesword.
>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.
>Make sure everyone has been mustered up and that there is nobody left in their homes.
>Try to organize everyone together to discuss plans.
>>
>>540610

>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.
>Inspect the chasm.
Can we pour oil into the chasm and burn it?
>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.
>>
>>540610
>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.
>>
>>540610
>>Find Beatrice.
Maybe she can lend us some guns. Then
>>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.
>>
>Inspect the Mayor’s runesword.
>Help the townsfolk with the barricade.
>Take the time to try and relight your Wick.

The barricade is coming along nicely or at least as nice as one can expect with such resources to work with. What the people of Sacrament lack in technical skill or knowledge they have more than made up for with desperation. And so the rickety barricade somehow stands, held up more by the stalwart hearts of those behind it than any particular sturdiness.
But still, it should do its job. No normal barricade can be expected to halt a ghoul advance in the first place and while the wood won’t stop them, the line of burning torches embedded in the top of the makeshift wall just might.

Beyond the barricade you can see people fortifying their houses as best they can. Looks like the people here are under no illusion of just how long the wall might hold.
Good.

You stop a man attempting to pile a bedframe atop the teetering barricade by placing your gauntlet upon his shoulder.
“Don’t put it there, it’ll topple. Place it down by the edge over there.”

You go to move on only to be stopped by a tired-looking woman, three small children clutching to her skirts. She’s dragging an ancient bathtub.
“Where should I put this?”
And she isn’t alone. Much too late you realize your mistake as people descend upon you seeking advice. Which part of the wall should be dragged lower? Where should the torches go? Is a matress a proper foundation?
Before you know you have been enlisted into setting this barricade right.

It’s almost an hour later before you are able to disentangle yourself but your work was not for naught. The wall looks much sturdier now and built along much sounder principles. Will it make a difference? Probably not but even a few extra seconds could be the gap between life and death for many.
You pull yourself away from them, citing the need for ‘important Lamplighter duties’. A half-truth.

You settle down behind the bar within Sacrament’s tavern, a building that has been mercifully emptied thanks to recent events. Waiting for you is the large rune-sword that you liberated from Edmund’s impromptu cremation. Aside from the disgusting concoction smeared upon the blade, almost certainly some kind of foul witch poison, the blade looks sound and righteous. A more traditional Lamplighter might shy away from using something taken from a cultist in such a manner but you are not one to shy away from useful tools.
But you have not settled down here merely to inspect the sword, useful as it may be. You are here to relight your Wick so that you do not have to go into combat with it half-burnt, You sit down, wedging yourself in the small space behind the counter and lay your wick flat across your knees.

Wick: 5/10

>Roll 1d6. The highest of the first three rolls is the amount of Wick restored. This can only be done once per sleep period.
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>540722
ROLLAN
>>
>>540722
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>540726
Rolling to redeem myself
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>540722
Messed up my roll.
>>
Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>540722
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>540722
>>
Do we get an overcharged wick that decays down to normal over time? I think that would be pretty neat, but possibly annoying to keep track of.
>>
>>540758
I'm afraid not. Writin'
>>
>>540772
Curse you and your dream crushing!
>>
>6

Wick: 10/10

You're not so how many minutes have passed by the time you next open your eyes but you can feel the wick in your hands respond to your ministrations, glowing warm and with a faint tendril of smoke wafting up.
You stand slowly, stretching out your legs and making sure everything is appropriately limber. When the witch comes, you will be ready for her.

Unfortunately you didn’t specify which witch because Beatrice slamming the door open and intruding upon your combat meditations nearly makes you jump right over the top of the bar.

“Woah! What are you doing behind there, getting in a little…”
She cocks her head and holds her hand up her mouth, tilting it back and making a distinct sloshing sound.
“...before the siege starts? Didn’t think you had it in you.”

You don’t bother dignifying that with a direct response at first. Drinking goes against your vows and as a bearer of the brand, she likely knows that. She’s just trying to get under your skin. You can’t help but notice that she’s retrieved her hat from wherever it had fallen.
“I was merely preparing my wick and myself for what we will likely face today.”

“You lot and your wicks, can’t keep your hands off of t-”
You give her a look and even through the helmet she seems to get the message. Perhaps now she understands just how little distance there is between you tolerating her and you giving her the treatment a witch properly deserves.
“Nice sword,” she finishes lamely. “You sure you want to use that?”

“It isn’t corrupt as the runes upon it still hold strong. I have yet to see a rune betray the light, unlike some.”

Beatrice scowls and pulls up a seat at the bar, holding her head in her hands.
“You know,” she says with a tone of contemplation. “Runes aren’t really all different from witch-sign in theory.”

“Stop that.”

“I mean, they’re both just signs that you can’t speak and they both shape a Nam- ow ow ow ow…”
You rest your hand atop her head, knocking her hat off and twisting her dirty-blonde hair between your fingers.

“We already have plenty of blasphemy without, witch. It would be wise to avoid spreading it within.”
You let her go and she immediately slides down to the other end of the counter.

“You’re a real stuffy prick, ain’t you? Fine. I didn’t just come here to inquire about your good health, you know.”
A little face peeks around the doorway, pale and scared. Marcus. Of course. He had seen everything, hadn’t he?
“I’m no good with kids,” Beatrice drawls. “Do you mind explaining to little Mark just why his daddy had to die?”


>”I don’t have time for this.”

>Pass Marcus back off onto her.

>Sit down with the kid for a while.

>”Can I do that while I help the townsfolk plan the defences?”

>Other
>>
>>540825
>”Can I do that while I help the townsfolk plan the defences?”
>>
>>540825
>>”Can I do that while I help the townsfolk plan the defences?”
>>
>>540825
>>”Can I do that while I help the townsfolk plan the defences?”
>>
>>540825
>Sit down with the kid for a while.
>>
Bad news folks, I thought I had today free since my usual game-day with friends was called off. Turns out there's been a last minute miracle and it's back on so this session is going to be a lot shorter than normal. The thread will probably run onto tomorrow instead.

I'll still update today of course, just for another hour or so.
>>
>>540825
>Sit down with the kid for a while.
Being cruel or indifferent might give Mark a negative view of our order in the future
>>
>>540848
>Sit down on the kid for a while.
>>
>>540825
>>Sit down with the kid for a while.
>>
>Sit down with the kid for a while

It’s not that you don’t feel bad for the kid but this really isn’t your field of expertise. Do you even really have time for this? You have always done your best to live your life in a constructive fashion, no time wasted when it could be spent for the people or for the lamps. But...you look at the boys face and sigh. Light into darkness, you tell yourself.
“Give me a moment with him.”

You escort Marcus out to a dingy little table, sitting him down and ready to sit down yourself before you spot Beatrice out of the corner of your eye, the witch leaning over the counter and helping herself to the few scattered bottles behind it.
“Now is not the time for drink.”

“Speak for yourself, choir boy,” Beatrice says, apparently feeling empowered now that she is no longer within arm’s length of you. “This is flammable.”

“Now, Marcus, do you understand what happened today?”

The boy nods, his lip trembling.
“You killed my dad.”

“But do you understand why?”

“Y-yes?”

You had something ready to say but all of a sudden your tongue dries up. Sitting here with the son of a man you killed, telling him of just why it was righteous that you did it...It doesn’t feel comfortable to say the least. What are you supposed to say?


>”Your father was a bad man and he deserved it.”

>”Your father didn’t just betray his duties, he betrayed you and this entire town.”

>”It wasn’t his fault. The witch had assumed control over him. I sent him to the light.”

>”If this is the worst thing you ever see you should consider yourself grateful.”

>”For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

>”It was my fault, I should have closed the matter before it became like this.”

>”Your father sinned.”

>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”

>Recruit Beatrice to help break it to him.

>Other
>>
>>540906
>”For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
>Other
Hug
>>
>>540906
>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>”It wasn’t his fault. The witch had assumed control over him. I sent him to the light.”
>>
>>540906
>>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>”Your father didn’t just betray his duties, he betrayed you and this entire town.”
>”For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
>>
>>540906
>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”

>tfw missed the whole thread for work
>>
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Alright sorry guys, I have to go now. I'll finish this thread up tomorrow.
>>
>>540951
No sweat, good for my sleep schedule. Best wishes crushing fools at game night.
>>
>>540906
>”Your father didn’t just betray his duties, he betrayed you and this entire town.”
>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>>
>>540955
>crushing fools
God willing, we'll be doing a Conspiracy 2 draft so hopefully so.
>>
>>540906
All of these:
>”For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
>”Your father didn’t just betray his duties, he betrayed you and this entire town.”
>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>>
>>540951
S'all good Ouro. Had to flake away for most of the session myself.
>>
>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>>
>>540906
>>”For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”

I'm very curious to know what actually is occurring, but in that particular circumstance the danger to everybody seemed to override curiosity.
>>
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Drawfriend returns!
>>
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>>540906
>>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”
>”It wasn’t his fault. The witch had assumed control over him. I sent him to the light.”
>>
>>540906
>Other

"Do you know what it means to be a Mayor, Marcus? It means that one must shepherd the people of one's town, both spiritually and physically. Your father was supposed to protect Sacrament, but instead he betrayed it. His actions could have spelled the doom of every man, woman and child in this town and very nearly ended my own life. Do you see now why I had to kill him?

For what it's worth Marcus, I am Sorry."
>>
>>541769
This is pretty good.
>>
>>540906
>>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”

On another note do you think we could conscript Beatrice for our greater journey? Possibly the boy if he shows any talent?

An ex-witch and a apprentice lamplighter could be useful on the road
>>
>>542165
We have been beating on Beatrice since we met her. I suppose we could take her along if we put her on a leash and dragged her...
Oh and we killed Marcus' dad. But I suppose Stockholm syndrome is a thing.
>>
>>542167
Fire always needs it fuel if these two can keep the fire going just a little longer I don't see a problem with that
>>
>>542165
Another mouth to feed and protect in the boy, but the witch at least could be useful. I am very hesitant about bringing kids along but then again we snappled his father so, eh, not sure if we really feel responsible or not but I have a feeling that after we tell him about responsibility he's quite likely to turn it on us and try to come along. He doesn't really have anyone here for him, after all. Then again, I wouldn't mind if we just left him, assuming he survives this.

I mean, if we survive this too and gain victory against the hostile witch do we really want to leave Beatrice to her own devices? I think not.
>>
>>542169t
again I'd only advocate bringing the boy if he possess any solid talent for Benedictions or Fire rites not just a solid hatred of Witches.
>>
>>542170
Quite. I have a feeling dead weight would do worse to us than just slow us down.
>>
>>542172
Indeed I doubt revenge is a rare motive for a witch even if it would be against their own kin so to speak
>>
>>542165
Definitely not the kid and probably not Beatrice. The kid wouldn't be useful at all and orion doesn't trust Beatrice enough at this point.
>>
>>542202
trust has nothing to do with it and as I have said BEFORE only if the boy has talent sufficent to warrant training as a Lamplighter
>>
>>542233
Orion really doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who'd be willing to travel with and train a kid but we'll see what happens I suppose
>>
>>540906

>”Your father sinned.”

>”There can be no hesitation or stepping back when you fight with witches. The moment you quail, the moment you question what has to be done, all could be lost.”

> "That is what killed your father. What was left behind was a tool of the witch, not a man or a father any more. That was what sent you out to be sacrificed."
>>
>>542202
Better to have the witch where we can see her then leave her to spread heresy.
>>
>>542433
i'd like to spread her heresies
>>
>>542439
Boy, you're asking to get buried in the dirt.
>>
>>542439
Please reread the description of her face anon.
>>
>>542456
A sack fixes that issue.
>>
>>542463
Need a gag, too. Can't have her dirty mouth spouting off nonsense on the incline.
>>
>>542439
I mean if you want to rape her fine, but I don't think she's getting a waifu treatment unless we commit HERESY
>>
Actually, nevermind.

We don't know where else she's put gunpowder.
>>
>>542525
What the fuck man
>>
>>542525
wew anon nobody mentioned that
goin' a bit extreme arent'cha?
>>
>>542528
>>542532
you honestly think Orion would actually have consensual sex with a Witch repentant or not?
>>
>>542558
Obviously no. He wouldn't rape one either anon.
>>
>>542165
I think like our odds taking Marcus with us more than Beatrice. Sure B makes guns which is cool, but I'm willing to but a gun forge doesn't fit in our cart, and we would have to supply her with a steady amount of gunpowder or whatever for her to keep using fire. She has witch knowledge, but so do we, if a little less. Marcus, on the other hand, has already shown us that he can use fire by making a noticeable spark with only flint and tinder on the soil in the dark. Assuming he doesn't now hate us, I am fully in favor of getting a gun from B and giving it to him and taking him with us.
>>
I'll be starting updates again within an hour.
>>
>>542926
Look, it's OP!
>>
>>542926
Hype, also you should get a twitter
>>
>>542947
I've got one in the OP!

>>541649
Also, nearly missed this. Very nice.
>>
>>542907
He's a kid anon. It's really a terrible idea and there's no in character reason for it
>>
>Give the boy the talk.

There’s no point in mincing words or trying to dance around the subject. Life certainly doesn’t abstain from such when the time comes and the sooner Marcus learns this the better. You certainly could have benefited from the lesson when you were his age. You drag your hood back and take off your helmet so that you can stare him in the eye.
“What do you know about witches?”

The boy is too cowed to speak at first but you don’t give him the luxury of continuing to speak. No, you just stay quiet and let the silence drag on until he finally opens his mouth.
“They’re real bad.”

Not quite the answer you were hoping for but one you can work with nonetheless.
“Listen. When you battle with witches there can be no hesitation, there can be no stepping back. The moment you quail before the face of the abyss or you question what must be done is the moment that all could be lost. You must take the righteous act and you must never let your certainty in it fail.”

“Did...did my dad quail? To let the witch get into him like that?”

You wish you had a more comforting truth to give him.
“Witchcraft cannot sway the hearts of men, Marcus. You must let them in. Your father was led astray but not as a sheep blindly following the shepherd’s crook. He chose his path.”

“He wouldn’t do that! He’s my dad! He’s the Mayor!”

“Yes and he failed in his duties as both. As mayor, he was meant to protect both the bodies and souls of Sacrament but instead he chose to betray it. As your father, he was meant to protect you. And perhaps by sending you away he thought he was doing that. But even then all he was doing was giving you freely to the witch.”

Marcus is quiet for a very long time but when he next looks up, he finally meets your gaze.
“And you killed him.”

“He was already dead. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

The boy slides out of his chair and slowly walks out of the tavern without another word. Should you follow him? No. Let him do what he must do. So instead you simply sit there for a few more long seconds until your peace is intruded upon once again by Beatrice, the witch walking over from where she had been busying herself at the bar.
You can’t help but notice she doesn’t stray too close this time and keeps the table between you at all times.
“Bit rough on him, don’t you think?”

“It was the truth. What would you tell him? Instruct him on how to follow in his father’s footsteps?”

She flinches back a little but doesn’t object to your accusation.
“This was supposed to be the age of peace. Kids like him shouldn’t have to live through this.”

“We have your kind to thank for that.”
1/2
>>
>>542985
She lifts her hat and stares you in the eye for as long as you can stomach.
“You’re a real stuffy prick, you know that right? I refuse to be held personally accountable for the actions of all witches everywhere. I repented! I’ve come back to the light.”

You ignore her lies.
“What do you want from me?”

“An apology for what you just did a minute ago would be nice.”


>”Be happy that I don’t do it again.”

>Do it again.

>”That’s all blasphemy deserves.”

>Apologise. It was, perhaps, a little hasty of you.

>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”

>”Why do you do this to yourself?”

>"Then prove it." Trial by fire.

>Other
>>
>>542987
>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”
>>
>>542987
>Do it again
>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”
>>
>>542987
>Apologise. It was, perhaps, a little hasty of you.
>”Why do you do this to yourself?”
Is this asking why she became a witch or why she repented? Because I wanna know both
>>
>>542987
>>Other
"We don't have time for this. I'm going back to work." Walk outside
>>
>>542987
>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”
>Do it again.
Damn dirty witch thinking she deserves an apology
>>
>>542990
seconding
>>
>>542987
supporting >>542990
>>
>>542990
>>542996
>>543000
You want to apologize for punishing her for speaking blasphemy?
>>
>>543005
Being a witchfinder at all is looking into the abyss to be better acquainted, regardless of lesser people shying away from so called "heresy".

If she has insight into something, like the correlation and actual function of runes between the lamplighters and witch use, then THAT is specifically something I feel a witchfinder should be more educated on, rather than screaming "HERESY" and abusing them because of muh principles.

This is, very literally, why witchfinders are a thing. it is how they were made, it is how they work.
>>
>>542987
>>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”
>"Then prove it." Trial by fire.
>>
>>543011
Does she even know we're a witch-finder yet? I can't see that going over well.
>>
>>543021
She knows we can perform divination with dirt, which i would presume to be a witchfinder specific ability which isn't appreciated by typical lamplighters.
>>
>”I don’t have many kind words left and for those I do have, I save them for humans.”

You spread your arms wide as you rise to your feet.
“Tell me witch, do you see here a man with many kind words left to give?”

“No b-”

“And those that I have left, I save for humans.”
With those words intended to settle the matter for good, you walk around the table and towards the doorway, expecting Beatrice to shrink away before you and to stay out of your reach.

But she doesn’t. Instead she moves to block you, standing in front of you as if her frail body could possibly stop you from moving where you please.
“No, Orion. Not this time. Do your worst to me if you will, you certainly wouldn’t be the first of your blasted order to do so but I am not moving. Are you not a Witch-finder?”

How does she know that? It must have been the divination. You’ve let too much slip.
“Again, I fail to see how this could possibly earn you leniency.”

“I know what you Witch-finders are,” she says, staring up at you with bloody eyes. “I know what you do. Use whatever tools you can, no matter how unsavory? And yet when I offer help about runes you-”

“Every Witch-finder also knows that there is a limit between a tool and a hindrance. Runes are sacred words of the Wheel God and to let you crowd my mind with doubt upon the matter is of no use to me at all.”
Especially not now.

“Are you really so weak that my words could sway you? Look, I’m not trying to be your friend, god knows you’re the stiffest asshole I’ve ever fucking met. But I’m trying to help and while I’m helping all I want in return is a little human decency!”

Human dece-”

“Oh fuck off and eat rocks,” she snaps. “I’m as human as you. Now I’m not going to move so you can either just kill me or lock me up in the stocks or...maybe! Maybe you can stop grabbing me when I’m just trying to help!”
Her voice grows more and more ragged as she continues, practically ending in a shriek with her final words.


>Push her out of the way. “You are wasting my time.”

>”You want to help? Then help me.”

>”I will tolerate you but don’t insist that you are human in my presence.”

>There are stocks in Sacrament? Excellent. Put them to use.

>”Is this really the time to throw a tantrum?”

>Hit her.

>Offer her the ignited end of your wick. “Show me.”

>Just pick her up and keep walking. No need to hurt her but you have other things to attend to.

>”Maybe next time you should look in a mirror before making such outlandish claims.”

>Other
>>
>>543046
>”You want to help? Then help me.”
>Just pick her up and keep walking. No need to hurt her but you have other things to attend to.
>>
>>543046
>>Just pick her up and keep walking. No need to hurt her but you have other things to attend to.
>”You want to help? Then help me.”
>>
>>543046
>”Is this really the time to throw a tantrum?”
>Long suffering sigh of a weary man
>>Offer her the ignited end of your wick. “Show me.”
>>
>>543046
>”You want to help? Then help me.”
>>
>>543046
>Just pick her up and keep walking. No need to hurt her but you have other things to attend to.
>>
>>543046
>”You want to help? Then help me.”
Let's be practical here
>>
>>543046
>Is this really the time to throw a tantrum.
>You want to help? Then help me.
>>
>Just pick her up and keep walking. No need to hurt her but you have other things to attend to.
>”You want to help? Then help me.”

You think for a moment and then decide that you don’t have time for a witch trying to make drama about something that is inherently their own fault. You have a job to do.
“You want to help? Then help. Let you be judged by your deeds.”

“Except for how no matter what I do, you’re just going to judge me for what I am anyway.”

“What you are is one of your deeds. Probably the most important choice you ever made in your life and you choose wrong.”

“I renounced it! I know you only have my word b-hey wait wait, get your hands off of me!”

Growing tired of her protestations you simply pick her up and throw her over your shoulder, letting her bang up against the wrapped-up pole still across your back. And then with that done, you carry on walking as if nothing had ever happened.
She lies limply over your shoulder and down your back for a moment as if she can’t believe it. And then when she starts to struggle, it is but a mere distraction easily ignored. Her physicality is nothing compared to yours and she refrains from magic, no doubt knowing how pointless it is to set you alight.

“Let me down!”

“You said you wanted to help, didn’t you? Tell me what you know.”

She sighs and goes limp once more, having apparently resigned herself to her fate.
“Fine. You’ve seen the black loam out there in the wasteland, haven’t you? I went all the way out to the edge to inspect it.”

“Feeling homesick?”

“Go eat a dick. Wait, don’t drop me! I’d bet it’s the same dirt you found with the Chesters, right?”

“It would appear so.”

“And it was the same dirt that was being sprayed up to create that smoke in the attack, right?”

You stop for a moment. You hadn’t actually known that. But is it worth letting Beatrice know the exact limits of your knowledge? She could use that against you.
“You tell me, I didn’t notice.”
In the end you decide that it likely cannot hurt to admit such failings to her.

“Well it was. And I don’t know how much you know about soil but this stuff is powerful. Potent. Pussiant. This is deep soil is what I’m getting at here. The connection must be strong.”

“Yes, I had surmised as much. And?”

“Well I can’t help but notice that whoever this bitch is she has a lot of it!”

“And?”

“Well...look, I love this town. Do you believe me when I say that?”

“No.”

“Well I do, I like the people here and for the last few years it’s been home. So you should know that what I’m about to say, I’m not saying lightly.”

“You’re saying I should run? That we cannot win?”

“No! Of course we should stay and fight. But...maybe we should have a plan for if we lose.”
1/2
>>
>>543124
You kick the door to the tavern open as you speak, walking into the light with Beatrice still your reluctant prisoner. The main street is packed with villagers and they turn to face you as one, many of them no doubt questioning Beatrice’s position trapped over your shoulder. You don’t let it bother you.
For her part, Beatrice simply grabs her hat and jams it over her head while groaning softly.

Did they hear her last words? They certainly don’t look all that confident.


>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”

>”Ignore her words. We need to plan our defences.”

>”And what would you have us do?”

>”Look to the lamp. Light still burns and while it does, we can overcome any adversity.”

>”Worry not about dirt. It is to be trod upon.”

>"And I thought you had faith."

>Other
>>
>>543127
>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”
>”Look to the lamp. Light still burns and while it does, we can overcome any adversity.”
>>
Oh, we went into autosage a while ago. Remember to sort the catalog by Last Reply if you aren't already.
>>
>>543127
>”And what would you have us do?”
>>
>>543127
>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”
>>
>>543133
Nope qst has a retardedly huge post limit
>>
>>543127
>>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”
>”Look to the lamp. Light still burns and while it does, we can overcome any adversity.”
>>
>>543127
>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”
>”Look to the lamp. Light still burns and while it does, we can overcome any adversity.”
>>
>”We aren’t going to lose. I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be the safer the day I leave then the day I found it.”

“We’re not going to lose,” you say loud enough for all to hear. “Is there not still light? I promise you that when tomorrow comes, Sacrament will still be standing and what’s more, will be safer the day I leave then the day I found it!”

“But what are we going to do when the witch comes?”
The voice is from the crowd but you cannot see who called out. It sounded suspiciously like Marcus.

“We are going to throw her back! We are going to find her and make her face the light! Listen up! Witchcraft cannot find purchase upon the hearts of men unless you let them! And if Sacrament falls tonight, it will only be because there were those who could have protected it but didn’t! As long as you all make the right choice to stand by me, by your friends and family and neighbours, no amount of witches will carry the day! So all I can ask of you is to not be cowed. To stay strong. Do that and victory is ours.”
You slam the butt of your wick against the ground and it bursts into flame and just like that, the air of despair is broken. How can people possibly falter when a living avatar of the fire walks by their side? At first they clap and then they cheer and you walk down from the tavern steps and walk among them, bolstering their hearts as best you can.

“Great,” Beatrice’s muffled voice emanates from somewhere around your back. “But we might need a plan more concrete then that.”

“And we do!”
Your voice is loud and in an instant you have everyone’s attention once more.


>”The barricade will hold strong for a time and as long as it is built around the lamp-post the centre will never fall. We will outlast the tide until it passes.

>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.

>”The barricades will not hold but hopefully they will slow them down. Enough for us to slay them but we must be prepared to fall back to the houses.”

>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”

>”Our first and foremost priority will be trying to draw the witch to us. Nothing else is as important.”

>”The barricade won’t last but that is fine. We can set a trap for them just beyond it. Get everything that will burn.”

>Other
>>
>>543205
>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”
>>
>>543205
>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.
>>
>>543205
>”The barricade won’t last but that is fine. We can set a trap for them just beyond it. Get everything that will burn.”
As soon as they are about to break through we set that shit alight
>>
>>543142
I believe /qst/ autosages at the 3-day mark as well however.
>>
>>543205
>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”
>”The barricade won’t last but that is fine. We can set a trap for them just beyond it. Get everything that will burn.”
>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.
Beatrice will be in charge of the flame trap while we hunt
>>
>>543205
>>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”
>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.
>>
>>543232
Is she even capable of pulling it off? I'd support this if she is.
>>
>>543228
I don't think so. Somas last thread stayed up for like a week
>>
>>543243
Maybe we could set it up with our flame rites and have her trigger it.
>>
>>543249
We've got 72 hours autosage and 750 post bump limit
>>
Calling for a mixture of:

>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”
>”The barricade won’t last but that is fine. We can set a trap for them just beyond it. Get everything that will burn.”
>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.
>>
What other kinds of tricks do we have as a witchfinder?
>>
>”We will fight in steps. First the barricade, then the houses and then the farms. If those fall there will be nothing to do but run.”
>”The barricade won’t last but that is fine. We can set a trap for them just beyond it. Get everything that will burn.”
>”All I can ask of you is to defend your wall and homes as best you can and in any means you see fit. I will not be there to help you, I will be out hunting the witch myself.

You aren’t a fool. Despite what you just said to everyone, you know that sometimes faith and light alone cannot hold against the rising tide. Sometimes the creatures of the dark just win and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Especially now, in this broken world that is increasingly becoming their world with each and every passing day. So yes, you have a plan on what to do today should the strength of men fail.
“The first step is the barricade. It won’t last.”

Silence falls over the crowd as they take in what you just said.
“Then what did we build it for?”

“Is time not precious? And when the barricade falls is when they will learn what it means to trespass upon Sacrament. You’ve already gathered up gunpowder, alcohol, everything that they will burn. When they breach, set it alight. Do you follow me?”
You see a scattering of nods around the crowd.
“Good. You will fight in steps. First, the barricade and then when that trap is sprung you must fall back to your houses and defend them as best you can. And if those fall, you are not to stay and fight, you are to issue a fighting retreat back through the streets to the farms. Don’t leave anyone behind if you can help it.”

“And what if the farms are overrun?”
It’s ‘old’ Terrance, the farmer nervously pacing back and forth within the crowd.

“They will not be. But keep this in mind. There is no building here that is Sacrament. You are Sacrament. And it will live on if you do, even if every structure is razed. But, fear not! That will not come to pass. For while you are all doing your best to defend yourself and your homes, I will be out hunting. I will find the witch and I will crush her myself. And all I can ask of you is to endure until then.”

“And you will go it alone?”
It’s Eadbert, the acting Mayor. He stands apart from the crowd with a pitch-fork in hand.
“Will you not take any of us with you? I’d like to get good grip on her myself.”

“No. Your people need you more than I.”
That seems to chastise him appropriately and he steps back. But as the crowd disperses and people ready themselves as best they can, Eadbert approaches once more.

“Pardon me for asking, Orion, but is there any reason you’re carrying that girl upon your back?”

Beatrice groans again.
1/2
>>
>>543300


>”No reason.” Put her down.

>”She was in my way. I removed her from my way.”

>Tell him about her true nature. The people deserve to know.

>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”

>Other
>>
>>543304
>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
She'll love that
>>
>>543304
>”No reason.” Put her down.
Distrust would be disastrous right now. I want her to stay back and help protect the people while we hunt.
>>
>>543304
>>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
>>
>>543304
>>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
>>
>>543304
>Tell him about her true nature. The people deserve to know.
>>
>>543304
>>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
>>Put her down
>>
>>543304
>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
Say something about how she's strong with the flame so theyll be less worried about us leaving
>>
>>543304
>>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
Also tell them that she will be putting her expertise to good use to help us kill the witch.
>>
>>543329
>>543327
This i wanted to say something like this but i already voted
>>
>>543329
She might be helpful in the witch hunt but I have a bad feeling about leaving all these normies to fight ghouls without any magic. Plus witch hunting is our area of expertise so ideally we won't need much help. We always work alone as a witch hunter.
>>
>>543304
>>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
>>
>”It is not my choice. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”

“It’s not my choice, I’m afraid. She seems intent on throwing herself at me.”
Beatrice immediately renewing her struggles in response to your comment is a small spot of joy in what is otherwise been a joyless day. She should just be happy that you’re aren’t telling him the truth about her just yet.

The acting Mayor peers at her while the witch attempts to stuff her head up to the neck within her hat.
“Well, I won’t question that.”

Whatever else he had to say however was not to be for it was this moment that the shadow fell. People call out in panic as the light seems to dim all around you, the entire town taking on an overcast appearance. You turn to the lamp immediately but there’s nothing wrong it, it’s burning as bright as ever. And yet the entire town is in shadow?

“Orion!,” Eadbert chokes out. “What’s going on?”

“Man the barricade!,” you roar and the townsfolk jump to your command, the disarray within them dispelled. “Guns first! Don’t fire if you can’t see! And for god’s sake, keep your other weapons ready!”
You are among the first to climb the barricade, men and women readying themselves all around you in whatever ways they can. And so you are one of the first to see it.

Out past the tamed earth of Sacrament, past the crack that still zigzags along the concrete plains, at the very edge of the wasteland with her feet planted atop a mound of black loam, the witch is there. You can barely make out a silhouette such is the distance but the setting broken sun is behind her and from her feet spreads a vast shadow.
The witch is small, probably almost two heads shorter than yourself but her shadow is of something incomprehensibly huge. It spreads over the concrete plains and encompasses the entirety of Sacrament within itself as if a giant that scraped the sky itself was standing over the top of all you.

“Ur,” Beatrice whimpers and the disgusting word is enough for you to finally shuck her off, the witch instinctively grabbing hold of the package on your pack and dragging it down with her. You turn to catch it but it’s too late, she’s already landed upon the barricade and her finger is upon the tied-together canvas that keeps it wrapped and beyond sight. Her hat is tilted at an angle so you can see her darkened eyes open wide.
“This is-”

“None of your business.”
You sweep it from your hands and balance it back over your shoulder where the witch used to be.

“What are you doing with one of them? How even?”

“Unimportant.”

“I see them,” an old man hollers from behind you, a rifle that must be equally old clutched tightly in his hands.”They’re coming!”

The witch hasn’t moved. But running through her shadow come the ghouls once more.
1/2
>>
>>543387
>It’s time! Charge straight for the witch.

>Take the slower and longer route around the side of the town to avoid the ghouls.

>Get to the rail and use the pump trolley to reach the witch.

>You left the sword in the tavern! Grab it!

>What does Beatrice know about the shadow? Shake it out of her!

>Help the townsfolk defend the barricade for a little, just to be sure that they can hold.

>Use your wick to take shots at the ghouls as they advance.

>Change of plans. Stay back and protect the lamp-post for now.

>Other
>>
>>543389
>What does Beatrice know about the shadow?
I'd rather avoid the shaking.
>Help the townsfolk defend the barricade for a little, just to be sure that they can hold.
Just while Beatrice explains the shadow. Then we should use the trolley.
>>
>>543399
This exactly
>>
>>543389
>It’s time! Charge straight for the witch.
>>
>>543387
>You left the sword in the tavern! Grab it!
>Help the townsfolk defend the barricade for a little, just to be sure that they can hold.
Then
>It’s time! Charge straight for the witch.
>>
>>543389
>Get to the rail and use the pump trolley to reach the witch.
Yo Ouro will the ghouls cease to exist once the witch is killed? If so we just need to kill her ASAP.
>>
How'd we manage to forget the sword? That's a pretty big fuckup. The flaming staff works just as well against ghouls at least.
>>
Good place for it, the fewer mouths the better.
>>
>>543410
Because you leaned the sword against the bar while you finished relighting your Wick and after that it's been constant interruption after interruption leading right to this point.
>>
Hold on a moment guys, internet is acting up real severe all of a sudden
>>
>>543462
Australia a shit
>>
Rolled 4 (1d6)

Okay I'm back and it looks like a tie between charging and using the pump trolley? Both options have other votes involved as well. Evens for the former, odds the latter.
>>
>>543504
wew former
>>
>>543504
Woah. We should tell Beatrice about the sword, she knows the town and should be able to give it to whoever can best use it. No sense having it not get used at all.
>>
>>543504
>charging headfirst into a swarm of ghouls
well shit
>>
>It’s time! Charge straight for the witch.

Every second you waste could be another life lost, you can’t afford to waste time with foolishness. Not now. You ready your weapon and prepare to descend from the barricade. Just a straight charge down the plain towards the witch should do it, she shouldn’t be able to move while maintaining this shadow. Yes, the ghouls will be in the way but hopefully their attention will remain on the town ahead of them.

“Wait!”
Beatrice tries to stagger to her feet atop the barricade and fails.
“You can’t go out alone against that! You’ll just die!”

You push her away, the last thing you need right now is her scaring the townsfolk even more.


>”Stay here, they need someone to light the trap.” Tell her about the sword also.

>Take her with you.

>”Then tell me what the problem is!”

>Other
>>
>>543516
>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
>>
>>543516
>>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
>>
>>543516
>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
>>
>>543516
>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
and make it quick, that witch needs to die asap.
>>
>>543516
>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
>>
>>543516
>>”Then tell me what the problem is!”
>>
>”Then tell me what the problem is!”

You don’t have time for this! The witch is right there! The ghouls are running ever closer, many of them regressing to four limbs and galloping like beasts. You hear the first gun go off, a crack that inspires a dozen more. A few ghouls fall but not nearly enough.
“What is it then? Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill her?”

“You can’t,” Beatrice says, her own voice rising to be heard over the gunfire and the screams of ghouls. “It’s Ur. She has Ur’s sign.”
Simply saying the name seems to take the fight out of her and she sits down, her hands clutching her hat. Two thin lines of blood coat her pasty cheeks.
“First and eldest, burned and broken to a hundred thousand pieces! The deepest! Even the shadow of his shadow will lay us low!”
You aren’t the only one to hear her, heads are turning all up and down the barricade and behind it too as her mad litany continues.
“It’s the loam! She has his sign and she has his flesh! “

You lean down and gently pull her hat to the side, parting her hands so that her blotchy face is exposed to the world. She stares up at you uncomprehendingly.

And then you slap her. Not hard but certainly not gentle and you do it three times for good measure.
“This is not the time for this! Sacrament needs your gun! Are you a human like you said or are you just another witch?”

That gets to her, righting her mind from where it had been toppled. She retrieves her revolver from her coat along with a very small pouch. And then, in full view of everyone, she pours the black-powder into her mouth and shrieks, the bruises around her eyes darkening almost to black and blood trickling from her nose and mouth.
“Fine then! Just go and kill her!”

“What about Ur?”

“That name means nothing to me,” she insists, her mouth a grim line as she fires. A gout of flame erupts from the barrel of the gun and in the distance a ghoul collapses with his head and a large segment of his upper torso incinerated.
“Your dead god is stronger than hers.”

You leap from the barricade and land, already getting ready to charge with both wick and staff ready. And as the shadow darkens and the ghouls close in you hear her call out.
“Oh and get her feet off from the loam! Don’t let her touch it!”


>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.

>Meet the ghouls head on and burn your way through to her.

>”Are you coming with me or not?”

>Shout out a challenge to the witch.

>Other
>>
>>543571
>Meet the ghouls head on and burn your way through to her.
>>
>>543571
>Meet the ghouls head on and burn your way through to her.
BURN THEM ALL
>>
>>543571
>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.
We need to save Wick power
>>
>>543571
>>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.
This is intense Ouro
>>
>>543571
Do we know whether or not ghouls will die if the witch that made them dies?
>>
>>543571
>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.
>>
>>543595
We do not, but if the witch dies, the shadow falls (I hope) and we're fighting in the light again.
>>
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>>543571
>>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.

DEUS VULT
E
U
S

V
U
L
T
>>
>>543571
>>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.
>>
>>543595
They do not but without a witch they have nobody to co-ordinate them, nobody to re-stitch them when they come apart and are almost incapable of making other ghouls.
>>
>>543571
>Meet the ghouls head on and burn your way through to her.
The more we kill the better
>>
>>543616
The light will repel them once the witches shadow does right?

That's how the lamp protects towns like sacrament right?
>>
>>543624
Correct. Masterless ghouls avoid proper sunlight at nearly any cost.
>>
>>543571
>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.
>>
>Make straight for the witch, attempt to avoid as many ghouls as possible.

As much as you might itch to put the fear of flame into these wretch’s hearts, you have business with the witch and the witch alone. Killing her won’t destroy the ghouls, they are not ethereal shades or golems animated entirely by a witch’s magic, they are hardier creatures and will persist. But without her the shadow will fade and the ghouls will surely scatter back into the wasteland without her hand to guide them. And there...there they will die the slow death that awaits all their kind, the degradation of rotting bodies without a witch to maintain their stitches.
But still by God does it hurt to jump to the side and merely watch as they scuttle straight towards the barricade.

But you must.

The gunfire continues as you charge around the side of the main horde, desperate to conserve as much of your Wick as possible for the witch herself. The bullets won’t likely be capable of killing or even incapacitating the ghouls in a single shot but you know for a fact that every bullet lodged within their flesh is agonizing to them, the echoes of the flame that birthed it enough to drive most ghouls who have been shot to flee.
And yet...these ghouls are shot and they fall and yet they rise just moments later to continue the charge. The few ghouls whose sewed joints were severed by lucky shots remain on the ground, helplessly paralyzed, but every ghoul capable of doing so just ignores the pain and keeps on going. The witch’s control over them at this range must be absolute.

The first ghoul to reach the barricade is destroyed instantly by Beatrice, a single bullet setting his entire body alight. But behind it are three more and they crash into the makeshift wall, claws scrabbling as desperate villagers beat them back down.
And as those ghouls take the focus, you spot one more hit the barricade and simply slide through, the patchwork monster contorting his entire body to flow through a gap no larger than an inch.

You’re well out of the town now, racing along the edge of the giant shadow across the concrete plains towards the wasteland. You’re past all the ghouls now but the witch is still frozen in place, her hands twisting together and making the same sign over and over again.
The shadows darken and behind you, the sounds of gunfire fade to nothing as torches are blown out and black-powder fails to ignite. The light of the lamp still warms your back and the explosive bang of Beatrice’s revolver still sound but everything else threatens to fade away.

Your feet smack roughly against the concrete as you keep running full tilt, no slowing down or holding back. The edge of the concrete and the witch herself is only thirty feet away!
But she’s kept a bodyguard.
1/2
>>
>>543671
Five ghouls stand awkwardly like puppets, evenly spaced out in front of her at the very edge of the concrete. You can see none of the usual joy or cruelty glinting in their eyes that characterizes such creatures, these ones are but dolls in the witch’s grasp.


>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.

>Light yourself on fire and push through as many of them as you can.

>Just run for the witch and hope they can’t catch you before you reach her.

>Burn the ghouls from a distance as you charge.

>She’s a little too far but try to hit the witch with a jet of fire from here.

>Call out to her.

>Other
>>
>>543675
>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.
>>
>>543675
Does her shadow require her concentration to maintain? I want to distract her so the townspeople can use guns again.
>>
>>543700
Or maybe we could disrupt her shadow with our light so it cant reach the town or something
>>
>>543675
>>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.
>>
>>543675
>Burn the ghouls from a distance as you charge.
I wish I knew what that mysterious package on our back is
>>
>>543700
It appears to yes but you don't rightly know what will happen if her concentration is broken.
>>
>>543675
>>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.
>Call out to her.
>>
>>543675
>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.

>>543711
Definitely a relic of some kind.
>>
>>543675
>>Other
Set a delayed flame on yourself as you continue charging. At the last moment before the ghouls strike, ignite, preparing to smack the next one
>>
>>543675
>>Light yourself on fire and push through as many of them as you can

IN BRIGTHEST DAY AND BLACKEST NIGHT.....
>>
>>543675
>Light yourself on fire and push through as many of them as you can.
They're controlled completely at this distance, so we'll have to destroy them just as completely to impair them.
>>
>>543721
I like the delayed flame idea but maybe we should use it as a fallback and activate it only if we're about to be overwhelmed
>>
>Light your staff and bash through the closest one and then keep going.

The five ghouls turn as one as you approach but it’s already too late for them to converge upon you. With staff in one hand and wick in the other, you raise them above your head and slam them into one another. Your staff ignites and you duck around to the side, running for the ghoul furthest away from the rest. A step to the side takes you just past his swung claw, the very tip of his fingers raising sparks off the top of your helmet as you duck past him.

The moment you step past the ghoul you swing your staff back in a reverse arc, smashing the burning stave into his back and through it, the flame carrying your strike all the way through until the monster falls to the ground in two burning pieces. The witch might still be keeping it alive at this distance but it won’t be capable of anything like that.

The other four ghouls sprint towards you but you are already past them and running straight for the witch! You can see her clearly within the darkness now, a little slip of a woman with long black hair and a sour face. She’s standing atop the pile of black loam soil and...you don’t recognize her at all.
Looks like the witch wasn’t inside the village after all. Not exactly.

Her hands are held in front of her, gray skin outlined in front of her filthy white dress. They are constantly moving, fingers slipping around each other almost bonessly to form the same impossible gesture over and over again. Witch-sign.
Soil might be the source of a witch’s power but the signs, the names, they were the medium through her blasphemies echoed through the world. You’ve learned much of them from your studies, enough to know that each sign is a name of some deep elder thing, a sigil that cannot properly be spoken by the human tongue and is instead carried within the mind itself. Witches speak in hands, their fingers the closest means a once-human body possesses to emulating the unspeakable.

It is normal Lamplighter tradition to look away from the witch-sign, to avert your gaze and the gazes of others from a witch’s hands. This is because the signs can be contagious and to watch one be formed enough times is enough to give one the faintest idea of what their originating mental symbol must look like. And once thought of, such sigils are embedded into your head forever. It is best to look away and to keep yourself clean then it is to wonder upon such sigils lest you find yourself emulating them. But you are a Witch-finder and your order never takes their eyes off a witch.
You have at least a dozen shadowy names burnt into the back of your mind already and it’s never done you any harm, what’s another one?

1/2
>>
>>543765

And yet this sign, the witch-sign that Beatrice called UR...it is large. Not in any physical sense but in the same way that a simple shadow can cloak an entire town, the symbol in the witch’s hands is both nothing more than the movement of a few fingers and yet also eye-wateringly immense at the same time. Simply looking at it hurts your eyes and tilts your perspective like a warped mirror.

You reach the end of the concrete and without even thinking you leap, carrying yourself through the air right towards the witch your burning stave and wick held aloft. And yet you cannot take your eyes off that impossible witch-sign.


>Shut your eyes and swing down blindly as you land.

>Keep your eyes open!

>Other
>>
By the way Ouro should we be rolling for anything?
>>
>>543773
Soon
>>
>>543769
>>Keep your eyes open!
>Flare our wick even brighter, burn the mark out of mind and our sight.
>>
>>543769
>Keep your eyes open!
If possible hit her legs first to separate her from the loam and then do the finishing blow with the wick
>>
>>543769
>>Other
Increase the intensity of the flame such that we can't make out the sign clearly
>>
>>543769
>>Keep your eyes open!
We are not afraid
Fuck make some signs back at her to show her we know her tricks
>>
>>543769
>Keep your eyes open!

>>543783
>improve the lighting so that we can't see
this makes no sense
>>
>>543769
>>543777
Aww fuck looks like I spoke too soon.

>>543769
>Keep your eyes open!
>>
>>543769
>Other

Ignite ourselves on fire and tackle her
>>
>Keep your eyes open!

You have not come this far to back down now! Are you expected to cower before a mere witch-sign, the like of which you have seen countless times before? You will keep your eyes open and you will swing true and damn the consequences!
Behind you hear a muffled bang and a new light joins the rest, ruddy and orange and climbing high into the sky. The barricade has been detonated.

You keep your eyes open, the witch flickering within your strained vision. Sometimes she looks impossibly far away or just a speck within the air, sometimes she is a hundred times larger than you. But between all the false perspective you keep your eyes trained upon her true self and ignore the witch-sign’s fouling. It’ll take more than that to make you halt!

You land beside her, feet sinking deeply within the soft black dirt. Before you even finish landing you kneel and swing your burning stave across to sweep her feet out from underneath her. But there is further witchcraft afoot!
There’s some dark pooled beneath her feet and for a moment you don’t recognize it. It’s her shadow, her true shadow and not the immense conjured one. Her shadow unwraps around her legs in a motion that sickens you right down to your stomach, two-dimensional hands catching the flaming staff before it can strike her.

The treacherous earth gives way beneath you and you begin to fall from the mound, witch-chill sinking straight through your armour and up your legs. And still the shade wrapped around her legs grips your staff tight, flesh and blood and flame pushing against nothing but air and darkness in a test of strength and will.

>Roll 1d6. I will total the first 3.
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>543825
WHEEL GOD DICE
GO
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>543825
fuck
>>
Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>543825
>>
>>543829
>>543835
Nice roll anons.
>>
>>543765
So this is got me really curious.
Names of power subscribe to ancient elder things and are represented through unspoken symbols, like hands, which can get lodged into the mind of those who see them, as they and their meanings are inherently contagious in some weird magic warbly kind of way.

So our dead wheel god and blessing benedictions and rites, and to some extent runes, must each revolve around this back structure somewhere in the celestial hierarchy.
It is weird that runes, unlike names, do not seem to get lodged into ones mind or appear contagious that we know of, perhaps because they are not "casted" but rather "set" and are not witnessed acts, or just because scribing an evil god's name into the air acts as a mind-link to the witch from their elder friend, and so to a lesser extent of anyone watching it.

Which makes me wonder if we know anything similar to the Wheel God's Name, but then maybe that's what Flame Rites actually are. However, Flame Rites don't appear to wrench malevolent symbols into other people's minds, or so far we have not seen anything of that like.

Then again, how does one really become a Lamplighter? That's probably the heart of the more systematic differences here.

Can we recall the other shadowy names we have burnt into our mind, Ouro? Or is doing so heretical and a surrender of our faith?
>>
>>543856
> Questions: http://ask.fm/OuroQM
>>
>>543862
Well that answers that, thanks anon.
>>
>>543862
Waaait a second that doesn't tell me anything relevant to how flame rites themselves are attained or given.
Guess we'll have to find out on our own.
>>
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>>543856
>>
>>543900
You do realize that you can ask your own questions on there right
>>
>>543913
I was, but ehhh, I think it's more interesting this way.

>>543912
Oh probably.
>>
Sorry about the delay folks, it's nearly done. Something came up
>>
>2, 5, 6

The shadow holds out only for a moment longer and then your staff sweeps straight through it and into the witch’s slender legs. Her hands freeze and you hear a squeal as you knock her bare feet out from underneath her and send her toppling down the large mound of dirt at the same time that you fall as well. The two of you fall down opposing sides and you’re clutching hold of your wick and staff as best you can, witch-chill of a purity and power rarely felt stabbing into your body from all angles as you roll through the black loam.
The staff is merely smouldering now, the flame extinguished by the shadow’s touch before it ever even touched the witch.

Wick: 9/10

Around you the immense shadow begins to waver but it doesn’t yet dissipate on its own. You were afraid of that! She’s signed it in so frequently already that it must have begun to ingrain as a proper curse. It’ll still disappear but it’ll take precious minutes and you doubt the witch is going to give you that. Of course, simply killing the witch should banish it regardless.

Speaking of which, you hear discordant laughter from around the other side of the mound as you get to your feet, slowed by the witch-chill. You breathe in and center your mind immediately to shut out the Cackle, a particularly nasty witch trick that dampens the internal flames of those caught unaware. Your wick remains alight.
You weren’t expecting her to be cackler but after all these shadow tricks you suppose you shouldn’t be surprised.

You leap around the side of the pile, doing your best to shake off the witch-chill in the process only to find that she’s been just as quick as you. The little witch dances back around the way she came, keeping the center of the mound between you as if this was all some kind of child’s game.
“Good evening, mister Lamplighter,” she sings. “What are you doing still alive in this age? In our age?”

You don’t rise to the bait, keeping your will strong in case she follows it up enough with another cackle while you desperately calculate how dangerous simply leaping through the pile of dirt to get at her will be. But as you slow, something bites at your heels and you can’t stop yourself from jumping as the witch’s true shadow reaches through your armoured boots as if they didn’t exist and draws blood along your foot. The damn thing is stretched out like a snake, winding out from the witch and curling all the way around the mound to get to you.

“You’ve got to be faster than that,” the witch taunts, faking a pout. “If you’re not going to play with me then you can entertain the ghouls instead.”

The four puppet-ghouls drop from the concrete and you find yourself re-adjusting this witch’s capabilities up even higher. You’ve removed her feet from the loam and disrupted her sign, allowing the great shadow to slowly lift.
1/3
>>
>>543975
But after all that she can still move her ghouls and shade around, even summon up a Cackle?

“What’s the matter, mister Lamplighter?”
Ugh, affecting that girlish tone of voice does her no favours either.
“My roots run deep, don’t they? Realizing just how out of your depth you are?”

“You are indeed most powerful,” you speak to her for the first time and you can see her smile.
“But out of all the witches I’ve put down, you’re only ever be second-best.”

She doesn’t even have time to react as you leap, barging right through the pile of loam, ignoring the witch-chill as it tears into you anew! Your wick flashes bright and while the resulting jet of flame is deflected by her shadow, that itself gives you the opening to slam bodily into her and bring her to the ground beneath you.

Wick: 6/10

“Act your age,” you puff as you bring your knee down on her chest, wedging the staff between the two so that it traps both her arms and halts her frantic attempt at a sign. “You’re a grown woman.”
You bring your wick up and are ready to swing it down and set her skull aflame when you notice something dark sitting just beneath her neck, her dress tugged just low enough by the struggle to reveal it.

A very familiar brand.

The witch vomits, regurgitating a solid clump of mud right into your face. You cry out as witch-chill blasts her freezing touch through your mouth, nose and eyeballs and you drop back with your grip slackening, unable to stop her from rolling out of your grip.
You can’t see anything and the mud won’t move, rendered packed and sticky beyond its means by disgusting magic.

By the time you’ve cleared the mud from your face and dispelled the witch-chill from your head with a minor Benediction, the witch is climbing the mound once again. This time the brand of the Wheel God is proudly displayed upon her skin. You know that brand! She should be tamed, cut off from magic forever!
“That’s right,” she says. “Wondering who broke it for me? Nobody. It came loose on its own. This is our world now and the sun is dead. All of his magic is draining from the world and soon? No lamps will light, no fires will spark and no brands will hold power. The source simply isn’t there anymore.”

She makes the sign of UR with her hands once more and the shadow returns, stronger and thicker than ever before with a choking pressure that feels almost like a physical presence.

The deep orange glow of the burning barricade behind you winks out instantly, swallowed by darkness.

The faint boom of Beatrice’s revolver, it itself the only gun that has been sounding for quite some time, fires one last shot in the distance and then ceases.

Your wick still burns faintly but for how long?

2/3
>>
>>543978
>Bring up your wick and empty all your power upon her in a single jet of flame.

>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...

>Just tackle her again before her ghouls reach you.

>Say something else to try and distract her.

>Set your staff back aflame and fight on, conserving your Wick as much as possible.

>Other
>>
>>543978
>>Bring up your wick and empty all your power upon her in a single jet of flame.
>>
>>543982
>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...
>>
>>543982
>>Just tackle her again before her ghouls reach you.
Then set yourself on fire
>>
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>>543982
>Ignite yourself in righteous fire
>Just tackle her again before her ghouls reach you.
>Hold her long enough to burn her to cinders

Being Immune to fire allows for unorthodox tactics I find this fun
>>
>>543982
>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...
>>
>>543982
>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...
>Just tackle her again before her ghouls reach you.

>>543999
And dis.
>>
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also I'm beginning to suspect their may be a corroding Influence within the church

two witches both branded in the same town? not a coincidence

dear sunlight what if witches form Covens?
>>
>>543982
>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...

If we do the flaming tackle plan we should delay the flame until we make contact. I don't like our odds of tackling her with her shadow powers though.
>>
>>544008
Our lamplighter organization is already all but destroyed
>>
>>544011
On second thought the flames might protect us from her shadow attacks so maybe delayed flame isn't a good idea
>>
>You still possess one source of flame even greater than your wick...

You raise your wick but her shadow is faster, the shade expanding within the darkness into a behemoth that rushes at you with a claw the size of your torso! You leap to the side and avoid it narrowly as it passes seamlessly through the earth beneath you. The ghouls close in but you raise your wick and swing it, the fire warding them back for just a moment. Looks like her control is slipping which means…
“This isn’t your power,” you grunt.

“It’s cute that you think that matters.”
She makes the sign again and you have to fight to stop yourself from falling to your knees, such is the presence of the darkness stretching out from her. In the distance you see the light protecting Sacrament begin to shrink and flicker. Even the town’s central lamp-post can stand it no longer!
“This is the power of a god. Where’s your god, Lamplighter?”

The wrapped-up pole slips off your back as you roll to avoid another attack from the shade, landing in the mud beside you. You stare at it mutely for a long moment.

No.

It’s too dangerous. If that thing is damaged or destroyed then all is lost.

But is it not arrogance to think that you can fight through all of this without risking it? Would you let your pride and misplaced caution ruin all you have sought to protect?
You remember what Beatrice said to you only minutes ago atop the barricade.

”Your dead god is stronger than hers.”

That wasn’t a figure of speech, she had just touched it and perhaps even divined its true nature. She had meant it literally.
Then so be it.

You reverse your wick, swinging the lit end straight down the side of the package and are rewarded instantly with the smell of burning canvas and a glimpse of harsh true light.

The witch gasps and her hands freeze once more.
“Stop him!”
Her command is verbal this time, her control loosening further with panic. From one side the ghouls lunge, from the other the shade reaches out to claw at you, beneath you the very earth begins to give way as the witch focusses the entirety of her will upon you. Will it be enough?

All you can hold onto is faith.


>Roll a 1d6. The first 3 will be used.
>>
Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>544093
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>544093
>>
Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>544093
>>
>>544128
Son of a bitch...
>>
>>544128
Yikes, not using best of three is harsh
>>
>>544146
It does fit the tone though.

Maybe there's more we can do, something else?
>>
The three dice system here assigns the different values for different parts of the action. For example, here the first roll is for avoiding the ghouls, second is for opening the package and the third is for avoiding the shade.
>>
>>544153
Well at least the important one was successful. Definitely still a harsh system but I guess it is fitting for the setting.
>>
>>544167
I think we've just been spoiled by always having best of three
>>
>>544170
Its gonna end up with nearly every roll having at least one failed action. Maybe we could burn wick points to boost a low roll if it becomes a problem
>>
>>544176
So when you play table top do you just mulligan until you get a roll you like?
>>
>>544180
Nope. Chill man I'm just discussing this new dice system. Sorry if I've offended you in some way.
>>
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>3, 5, 1

You sidestep the ghouls inexpertly, parrying one swipe with your staff and dodging two more. But the fourth ghoul lands a paw right on your side and the claws punch small holes straight into your breast-plate. Luckily it doesn’t go deep but you still gasp in pain as you tear at the sealed object below.
Light blooms in the dark, brighter and brighter until you finally work the treasure free-

The shade’s hand slams into you at almost the same time, bashing you in the chest and sending you flying back into the dirt. You feel at least one rib break, probably more, and your vision strains as you scream in agony. But you keep firm hold of the long pole even as your wick and stave are tossed aside.
And the light, glorious light, burns away the darkness!

“What the fuck are you doing with that?,” the witch squawks, her composure broken.

You must admit that it must make a strange sight indeed. The central lamp-posts are ancient contraptions, many built in the First or Second Ages themselves. They form the central basis of your entire order and are the lifeline of every town or city left in the world. Even before the end of the world turned them into a necessity of life, the central lamps were considered sacred and to protect them was the greatest duty a Lamplighter could ask for. To allow one to come to harm used to be unheard of.

So to see a broken one in the hands of a Lamplighter must be quite the sight indeed.

It’s battered and dented and yes, broken right at the end, smashed out of the ground right where the base should have been. You carry it aloft in both hands like you would your staff or your wick and locked deep away the lamp’s glass cage itself shines a radiance brighter than even the true flame produced by your wick or the fire you used to light Sacrament’s own lamp-post. White and blinding, it is too hot even for you to bear for long and if you were to ever take your gauntlets off, all would see the burns you have to prove it.
There is no Flame Art that can protect one from this.

The lamp-post itself is your greatest shame. To even look upon it is to relive a day you’d sooner forget. But the tiny shard trapped within it? That is your greatest hope and your greatest duty.
You wince as you slowly climb to your feet, burdened by both wounds and the ever-growing burn of the lamp.

“Speak no ill of the dead, witch. They just might hear you.”

The shade lunges and, feeling the purifying fire rise up through your arms and banish all other concerns in a blaze of pure agony, you simply swing the lamp-post down.
The shade falls back, withering and in two pieces.

The ghouls won’t even approach as you advance towards the witch, the ground around you drying up and catching fire as the light grows brighter still. You only have a minute left before you burn yourself to death but that’s more than enough.
This is over in seconds.

1/2
>>
>>544200
The witch still has the presence of mind to duck beneath the flame as your swing the lamp-post at her but you simply keep it spinning, hitting her in the back with the broken butt of the post as she rises. She sprawls helplessly upon the ground as you lift the lamp high, ready to finally visit a much-needed judgement.


>Destroy her.

>Touch the lamp to her brand.

>Other
>>
>>544205
>Touch the lamp to her brand.
then
>Destroy her.
>>
>>544205
>>Destroy her.
binding her again seems largely pointless, she gloried in her release from it so she'd hardly be a co-operative captive, burn the witch.
>>
>>544205
>Destroy her.

we will have questions for Beatrice if she can answer them after this
>>
>>544205
>Destroy her.
She's pretty unredeemably evil and I'd rather not worry about a prisoner
>>544208
I'm not really sure that makes sense, I'm assuming touching it to her brand breaks her connection to the earth so idk why you'd do that and then kill her
>>
>>544205
>Touch the lamp to her brand.
>>
>>544205
>Destroy her.
Can't risk now.
>>
>>544205
>>Touch the lamp to her brand.
>>
>>544200
I wonder if the shards inside lamp posts are parts of the wheel god, hmm.

>>5442505
>Destroy her.
We know for a fact that brands aren't solid sauce at this point.
>>
>>544205
>Destroy her.
Why are you guys voting to rebrand her? It didn't work the last time, she got her powers back somehow and did really bad shit with them.
>>
>>544218
I just want to see if it will make the brand active again.
It is information
nigger
>>
>>544226
I feel like QM wouldn't give us a worthless option. How does no one else want to see what happens?
>>
>>544230
I just need a better reason than curiosity to spare this monster I guess
>>
>>544230
see >>544235

we already have Beatrice as far as we know we don't need to spare another monster
>>
Anyway guys, I'm practically late for work as it is so we're going to have to finish this tomorrow. Same time, same place. It'll be a small session, just you wrapping up unfinished business in Sacrament.

For the record, the flaming tackle plan would have worked too.
>>
>>544238
Thanks for running!
>>
>>544230
>I feel like QM wouldn't give us a worthless option.
Well, a risky option that endangers us in the future isn't necessarily worthless.

>>544238
Neato. Thanks for running!
>>
>>544238
so why do you take one vote over another if they are obviously combined?

but yeah thanks for running this helps fill the aching void in my heart left by Crusader quest

I wonder how long its going to take Orion to start drinking
>>
>>544250
HF pls
>>
>>544281
>HF
>Implying

that would require me to be GOOD at quests
>>
>>544205
>Destroy her.

BE PURGED
>>
So work didn't actually need me for all that long.

>>544250
If this is a question about why I didn't combine the flaming tackle and the lamp-post vote it was because just one would have been enough.
>>
>>544325
more the Igniting and using the center lamp post and Igniting ourselves and tackling the witch
>>
>>544332
We can do it next time.

Just keep it in mind.
>>
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>>544333
>>
>>544352
Nice
>>
>>544352
Excellent.
>>
>>544208
I actually want to second this. Properly investigate the circumstances of the brand losing power, THEN kill her.
>>
>>544355
we can do this after we kill the witch because we have a much more docile one probably still alive back in Sacrament
>>
>>544361
why would studying the brand that HASN'T lost its power yet be helpful?

Although I wonder if the blackpowder has been reinforcing it.
>>
>>544362
we're unaware if her brand is useless, and as far as we know her witch powers could still be active, hell the fact we're fighting a witch with one suggests as much
>>
>>544363
If so, we probably should be kinder to her, since she could go back to witching but didn't.
>>
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>>544366
>Treating witches nice

seriously I doubt she knows her powers are active again and if she does well that shows just how unsavoury she found them in the first place
>>
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>>544366
>kind
>to a witch
>>
>>544369
>>544370

We have to encourage furher repentance. Every witch that prepents on her own is one less for us to deal with.
>>
>>544372
Every witch we kill is one less to deal with.
>>
>>544373
It's one we had to deal with, anon.
>>
>>544372
I believe we should be nice to Beatrice.

So guys, how are we gonna be nice?

Fireplace with scented roman candles?

Relaxing swim with thigh-building weights?

A nice shining dance with our portable lamp post?

I'm open to suggestions, really.
>>
>>544372
she has repenteded the fact she is alive is kindness enough
>>
>>544382
Ow! You almost cut me anon.
>>
>>544384
Looks like we'll have to be kind to the witch to get some medical attention to this anon's cut.

>>544382
Look what you did. Now we actually HAVE to be kind to the town witch.
>>
>>544382
you are a annoying cunt
>>
>>544384
>>544387
okay maybe a little kindness but i dont think we should be buddying up to her just because she's of use to us
>>
>>544404
No one's talking about buddying up. It's about not going meme Inquisitor on her.
>>
>>544405
It's all about going meme inquisitor on her. Heck man, we don't even need the meme, we ARE an Inquisitor!
>>
If she loves the village so much she'll stay there, why are we discussing this? Good ridance.
>>
>>544408
>why are we discussing this?
I believe,

It's because we will eventually need to decide whether to bring her along or not. For the record, I am on the side of witches can go get BTFO.
>>
>>544407
well more literal witch hunter, we kinda lack the retinue and power of an inquisitor

>>544408
because she'll be bloody useful with firearms and insight into witchcraft abroad
>>
>>544408
Personally I don't really mind whether she comes with us or not, but I'm seeing people make choices not unlike the wh40k trash from back in ye olden /tg/ days.

I just hope we can curb that kind of idiocy early, because once it gains ground, we're not going to become decent human beings later on; We'll just keep sliding towards the warhammer memes, and then feel justified when our ruthless demeanor naturally begets a vicious response.
>>
>>544413
On the other hand, I don't feel like Orion as a character would be very open to the idea unless he had some solid in character Beatrice-borne reasons to do so.
>>
>>544416
Which it's exceedingly unlikely he'll get, because the default reaction of "witches get BTFO" is adding friction to friction, in a relationship that's already tenuous.

Our choices shape what Orion will and won't be open to as time goes on, and saying "oh but IC he wouldn't be open to it" is self-defeating. He will never be open to an idea if we continuously vote for him to be hardline against it.
>>
>>544416
>>544421

I don't even understand which idea exactly are you talking about.
>>
>>544413
fair enough really I mean ultimately some Humanization on Beatrice's part would probably do wonders to winning Orions graces also vice-versa I suppose

>>544416
Orion is a Witch-finder he's entire school of thought to combating witches is essentially fighting fire with fire I wouldn't be surprised if this was partially the reason why branding witches came about in the first place
>>
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>>544421
And?
>>
>>544416
Well she was pretty useful in this fight and I predict that she'll be kicked out of sacrament since everyone knows she's a witch now.
>>
>>544205
>>Touch the lamp to her brand.
bit late for it but ill put in for this, mainly because im curious to see what would happen and or what precisely was going on in the town.
>>
>>544205
>>Touch the lamp to her brand.
>>
>>544208
Supporting this, give her one last moment of despair.
>>
>>544205
>>Destroy her.
>>
I'll be updating in an hour. Vote called.
>>
>Destroy her.

She lies helpless before you and for a long moment you entertain the possibility that there could be any other outcome. Could you touch the lamp to her brand? Would the fragment within revitalize it? It might be worth to find out just what caused its failure in the first place. The post in your hands continues to burn and with a shake of your head you banish those thoughts from your mind. What must be must be.

“I’m sorry,” the witch croaks. “I’ll be g-”

You swing the lamp down upon her head, obliterating it instantly. When you pull the dented lamp-post back up all that is left is a headless corpse and a burned smear of ash and bone where her skull once was. The body itself catches fire moments later and you stand over in silent vigil until you can be sure nothing remains.
The shadow fades and the light of Sacrament blooms anew.

You wrap the lamp back up as best you can, your hands trembling as all of your adrenaline and nervous energy departs. And what are you without that? Just a man who hasn’t slept for a very long time. You drag yourself to the edge of the concrete, fleeing ghouls shying away from you and the poorly concealed relic you carry until you collapse upon the rock.

It’s over. You can rest now. You are asleep before you even close your eyes.

………….

You wake to the welcome sight of lamp-light flooding through the curtains of the window beside you. You’re in an unfamiliar bed within an unfamiliar room, a small wooden room with a bed and a chest and not much else. When was the last time you slept in a real bed? It would be easy to simply let yourself slip away for even longer.
But an hour spent sleeping is an hour wasted so you sit up and get out of bed as quickly as you can.

Someone stripped you while you were asleep, your rune-plate, cloak and underclothes stacked neatly at the foot of the bed. On the floor beside it are your stave and wick and, wrapped up neatly once more, your broken lamp-post.
You’re wearing someone else’s clothes, loose pants and a light tunic a little too small for you.

With little else to do you return to the window and look down upon the town of Sacrament. The main street doesn’t look too good, still cracked and scorched and you can see the signs of a great fire in the very centre. But the houses themselves are mostly intact and the lamp below shines almost like the sun of old and you feel at peace.
It’s been a while.


>Make your way downstairs to find the homeowner.

>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?

>This is fine for now. Walk out into the town itself.

>Other
>>
>>545286
>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?
>>
>>545286
>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?
Also given what we have seen, consider apologizing to Beatrice. She could have been so much worse.
>>
>>545286
>>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?
something something discipline, grooming standard whatever
>>
>>545286
>>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first.
>>
>>545286
>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?
>>
>>545286
>Make your way downstairs to find the homeowner.
>>
>>545286
>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?
>>
Sorry about the delay on this one, I had a phone call.

>Get yourself dressed and properly washed first. How long has it been since you had a shave?

You find a washroom just across from your room and you get to work. There’s a mirror in there as well, one that allows you inspect yourself properly. God almighty, you look a mess. When did you get so dirty? Your chest is done up with bandages, no doubt for the rib but as you give it a cautious poke, you note that it’s already been set back into place. You’ve always healed easily, even for a Third Man. You strip the bandages and roll them back up in a neat little bundle. Someone will have to wash them later.

But aside from that, you’re practically the image of health. Just a few scars here and there, the sign of a body more bent than broken. Your hands are the only exception, both of them charred black all the way up to the wrist and halfway to the elbow. You flex them and wince a little. It’s the price of your duty. The pain should fade in a few hours but the scorch-marks will never heal.

You tilt the mirror to show your face and hair and for a long moment you just stare. When did you get so scruffy? You know that your hair had grown out in the wasteland but you hadn’t realized just how filthy it all was. Good thing whoever lives here has a razor.

A short time later and you emerge, clean and shaven and with your cloak and armour back on. You don’t feel like the same man without it. You pack up your wick and stave and shoulder your burden once more, ready to-

“Leaving so soon?”
It’s Eadbert, the acting mayor. Probably just the real mayor now. He’s standing by the doorframe, his spectacles in hand. This must be your house he’s staying in.

“Soon but not yet, I have business here first. But yes once that is settled I will likely leave when the sun rises once more.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any way I could convince you to stay?”
He says it lightly and you know he means it as a joke.
“That lamp won’t stay lit forever.”

You permit yourself a small chuckle.
“There’s very little I can do about that. There are others that need me more.”

The mayor nods.
“Still got your duty to attend to? Then go with God, there’s a lot of towns up the rail that’ll welcome your kindness. I guess that keeps you moving, huh?”

“There’s a stop waiting for me soon. But yes, I cannot stay. How fare the people?”

Eadbert sighs.
“All is ...mostly well. We’ll be holding a few funerals later and there are a few who are still hurt. But it could have been a lot worse and there’s not a soul here who doesn’t know that. The witch is gone and the lamp is lit, they all know it’s safe for now.”


>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.

>Walk out to see how the restructuring is going.

>”I can tend to the hurt if you wish.”

>You have someone else you need to see.

>”What of the children?”

>Other
>>
>>545414
>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.
Ask where Beatrice is
>>
>>545414
>>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.
>>
>>545414
>You have someone else you need to see.
I'm assuming that's Beatrice.
>>
>>545414
>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.
>You have someone else you need to see.
Beatrice
>>
>>545414
>”I can tend to the hurt if you wish.”
>>
>>545414
>>You have someone else you need to see.
Beatrice
>>”What of the children?”
Marcus specifically
>>
>>545414
>>You have someone else you need to see.
Beatrice
>>”What of the children?”
Marcus specifically"
>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.
>”I can tend to the hurt if you wish.”
>>
>>545414
>>Walk out to see how the restructuring is going.
>”What of the children?”
>>
I just grabbed up all the popular votes, you don’t really lose anything from doing all of them.

>Ask for a map for the rails ahead.
>You have someone else you need to see.
>”What of the children?”

“I can’t promise you that the lamp will last forever,” you tell him. “But I’ve prolonged it and it should be many months before it burns low again.”
Maybe less time than that, you think, recalling the witch’s words. Light and flame just don’t have the weight they once used to and if even witch-brands can fail, who can truly say how long the lamp will last? But you keep those words to yourself.

“And in those months, will another Lamplighter visit us again? Do you know how many are left?”

You place a hand on his shoulder.
“I won’t tell you any pretty lies. I can promise nothing.”

The mayor sighs.
“That’s what I thought. Thank you again for saving the town.”
He has a lot of words left in him that remain unspoken. Most are probably about the former mayor and you know it is likely better for both of you if they stay silent.

“Now, if I may trouble you further, do you have any maps I could use for the rails ahead?”

“I do but you know how good they’re likely to be, don’t you?”

You do.
The world has always shifted and these days it likely does it more often than not.
“The rails help pin it down, don’t they? I’d appreciate any help I could get.”

He nods without speaking further and leaves the room, returning a minute later with a dusty old map of the rail lines. The corners are frayed and worn and even without those you’d know it was made before the world ended. Nobody makes maps anymore.

“If you keep following this rail you should come up to a junction,” Eadbert says, his finger tracing down the map. “I don’t know if it’s still there but when you reach it you’ll have to switch tracks. The track that starts there will take you up north towards Edelton, Karre and Christopher’s Rest. I know those towns are still there, they have working saltpeter and lime mines and we still send food up-rail in exchange for supplies.”

“No.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I won’t be switching at the junction, I’m taking this rail all the way to the terminal.”

“But...that’s shattered land. And it leads only to-”

“Dis, yes. I have business there.”
You drop the name into a conversation with a weight to it, one that Eadbert evidently feels more than you.

“You know what they call that place, right?”

“The city at the end of the world? Yes.”

“No. It has a different name now.”

“I know. But that is where I go all the same.”

“But why? Dis has no need for lamplighters! Why go there when so many towns upland need your help?”


>Tell him the truth about your duty.

>”To avenge the sun.”

>”Nothing you need to know.”

>Don’t answer.

>Other
>>
Alright, all that business is settled. Updates can resume at a faster pace.
>>
>>545536
>>Tell him the truth about your duty.
Maybe we can get our own mythos going on.
>>
>>545536
>Tell him the truth about your duty.
>>
>>545536
>>Tell him the truth about your duty.
>>
>>545536
>”Nothing you need to know.”
>>
>>545536
>>Tell him the truth about your duty.
Mostly because I want to know
>>
>>545536
>Tell him the truth about your duty.

>Dis
Good god, why
>>
>>545536
>>Tell him the truth about your duty.
>>
>>545536
>Tell him the truth about your duty.
>>
>>545536
>>Other
GO GET THE RUNESWORD
>>
>>545607
Also do this
>>
>>545607
Second this shit I do
>>
>>545536
>>”Nothing you need to know.”
certain things i cannot tell you
>>
>Tell him the truth about your duty.

“There’s something there I need to find and if I do, it’ll be a greater service to the world than lighting any number of lamps. I know it won’t be pleasant but it’s something that must be done.”

“I don’t suppose you could explain it? This cannot be something you do lightly.”

“It isn’t.”
You dislodge the package from your back but do not open it yet.
“You know the names of Dis, don’t you?”

He scowls and closes his eyes for a moment before speaking as if he was reciting something from rote memory. And he likely is, it’s all in the scriptures.
“In the First Age it was the First City. In the Second, it was the Fallen City. In the Third it was the City At The End of The World. And when the Fourth comes, the Forgotten City.”

“No.”
You shake your head.
“The calendar is broken, the names given by prophecy holds no meaning anymore. Call it by what it calls itself.”

“The City Who Killed The Sun.”

Yes, there it is. The root and cause of all your problems, the city that broke the world so that the gears of time could grind to a halt forever.
“It’s still out there, past the Sentinels and at the very edge of the world. Tell me, Eadbert, what did you see when the sun died?”

“N-nothing. I wasn’t looking directly at it.”

“Well I was. I watched it pass over the horizon and then stop, tethered to the earth. I watched it get ripped to pieces and watched those pieces fall across the world and burn to nothing.”

“I’m sorry but-”

You unwrap the lamp-post once more, just for an instant and watch as Eadbert steps back from the radiance of the thing trapped within. And then you seal it tightly shut once more.
“And I caught one of those pieces as it fell.”

He polishes his spectacles uselessly, a stray tear running down his cheek.
“I-I don’t know what to say. I’ve got half a mind to call that blasphemy.”

“It probably is. But the sun was caught by something on the horizon, the very edge of the world and we all know there’s only one thing there on the shores of the Sea of Mud. That’s where it fell and where it was killed and that’s where will I find the rest of it.”

Poor Eadbert looks a little lost.
“But even if that thing you carry really is a shard, that doesn’t mean the rest of it are there!”

“They are,” you say with a blunt certainty. “Dis is the only damn thing in this world that still thrives. So that is where I must go. To find whatever other shards I can and to kill the sinners who dared to take that power for themselves. The sun will rise again."

“That’s absurd. I mean no disrespect but...but it just doesn’t sound real.”

“That’s a matter of faith. Now, I trust you understand that I will not be taking the junction?”

He nods and then stops, He looks torn, a man whose faith is lost and worst yet, knows it.
1/2
>>
>>545673
“I’m sorry Orion. I really want to believe in this quest of yours...but…”

“But you can’t. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No. Thank you. Thank you for at least trying to give me hope. And-uh, and if it actually works and the sun comes up…”
The poor man is dithering, almost on the verge of more tears.
“If the sun ever burns like it did when I was a kid and you stop back here in Sacrament, tell you what, I’ll buy you a drink.”

You just stop for a few seconds, the offer so unexpected and petty that you don’t know what to do about it. And then you laugh and he laughs and the burden of a night where you both had to fight for your lives eases just a little bit more.
“Good. I’ll take you up on it.”

Eadbert walks you downstairs and then stops just ahead of you.
“Oh! I’m sorry Orion, I’d forgotten they were here.”

Sitting clustered in a little circle on the wooden floor are the young children of Sacrament, numbering just over a dozen in total. They’re sitting just before the door, an old seat in front of them and a book of scripture sitting by its side.

“I was supposed to be reading them the holy book,” Eadbert says. “Since the mayor himself is gone.”
It is the duty of the mayor to tend to the spiritual health of his townsfolk. That includes the children.

When the kids see you they rise to their feet immediately, joy lighting up their little faces.
“It’s the Lamplighter!”

“O-Ryan!”

“You’re alive, pa said you might have died!”

“Can you read us the book instead, Mr Bute is boring!”

Eadbert keeps himself between you and the horde, holding his arms out wide to stop them.
“Hold it! The Lamplighter has just arisen and has many duties to attend to. He can’t waste time with you.”
You watch their faces fall as they quiet down, disappointed and sullen.

You don’t see Marcus anywhere with them.


>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”

>Give them a pat on the head and leave.

>”Where’s Marcus?”

>”My apologies. I really have no time.”

>Other
>>
>>545678
>”Where’s Marcus?”
>>
>>545678
>>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>”Where’s Marcus?”
>>
>>545678
>>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>>”Where’s Marcus?”
>> Where is Beatrice?
>>
>>545678
>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>”Where’s Marcus?”
>>
>>545678
>Other
Do a small magic trick with fire
>Give them a pat on the head and leave.
>"Where's Marcus?"
>>
>>545678
>>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>>
>>545678
>>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>>
>”I can spend a little time with them. It would do me good.”
>”Where’s Marcus?”

The disaster is over and the witch is dead. Would it really hurt to spend some time with a few children? Surely not. These are the people you fought last night to protect after all and to lose sight of that would be to betray your duty.
“I think I’ll be just fine, Eadbert. Spending time with them might do me good. But if you don’t mind me asking, where is Marcus? I don’t see him here.”

“He’s been through a lot,” the new mayor says. “I thought it would be fine to let him stay home with his uncle for today.”

“Can I stay home today too,” a little voice pipes up.
“Yeah!”

“No! And especially not today! The Lamplighter is here and he’s going to read to you!”

You freeze. That isn’t quite what you intended when you said you’d spend time with them.
“I believe that is your duty Mr Bute.”

“No!,” another of the kids speaks up.
“We don’t want Mr Bute!”

The mayor sighs.
“Kids these days don’t have any proper respect. But if you don’t want to, you can just be on your way.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m not doing anything important for a while.”
You sit down on the old wooden seat in front of the kids. You look at the book too as you take off your helmet. And then you just give them a grin and toss it aside.
“The Book of Begettings, huh? No wonder you’re bored out of your skull! Let me tell you something interesting for a change!”

The kids cheer while Eadbert just harrumphs in the background.


>The Beginning of the World And The Four Ages. A nice basic tale that most of them probably know already.

>The Girl Who Spoke in Hands. A cautionary tale.

>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.

>The Mistakes of Jack Wick. Not even religious, just a light-hearted children’s story.
>>
>>545786
>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.
>>
>>545786
>The Girl Who Spoke in Hands. A cautionary tale.
>>
>>545786
>>The Girl Who Spoke in Hands. A cautionary tale
They probably have witchs on the mind
>>
>>545786
>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.
>>
>>545786
>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.
>>
>>545786
>>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.
>>
>>545673
>>545678
Goddamn that's Badass.
>>
>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.

“Alright. Why don’t I tell you kids a little something about me? You want a Lamplighter story?”

They raucously agreed and with that, it was on. Reciting from memory, you launch into a long recounting of the very first lamps and those who tended to them. And a little extra spice to make it more interesting, of course.

You tell them of the first lamp-posts that were ever raised, back in the First Age between the death of the Wayward Flame but before the birth of the Wheel God, the Sun. Back when flame only existed in the hearts of the First Men who had just crawled from the boiling Sea of Mud which gave them life. They fought the darkness and raised ancient cites amidst the bones of dead gods, cities of which only the very first, Dis, still stands. Back then the central lamp-posts were lifelines, islands in the darkness and the men who upheld them, while not part of any knightly order or given any special honor, were the first Lamplighters in all but name.
And then the Wheel God had been born and took to his daily voyages across the sky, scorching the wretched earth and driving the foulness into the dark places beneath the ground. The Sea of Mud heaved once more and the Second Men emerged with skin like gold and an eye for beauty and creation. Such was the beginning of the Second Age. In the Second Age, you tell them, the lamps multiplied as the world was tamed and was paved over. Concrete was mixed and made for the first time and it was spread wherever the Second Men went until the entire world was covered in it, one end to the other. With the dark powers of the earth so completely sealed and with the sun still beating down, the lamps lost their importance.

The Lamplighters existed back then but their orders had mostly became a formality. The central lamp-posts were themselves extraneous for back then the world burned with fire. Beyond even the efforts of the Wheel God, the Second Men themselves made many lights and spun them throughout the sky and from the concrete plains they created rose titanic spires spun from metal and glass.
The Lamplighters were happy to wither on the vine for those were the days when Man truly ruled the world. And even though it was foretold that the Second Age would one day end and that the Third would come, full of bloodshed and war, the Second Men grew complacent and fat within their light-filled paradise.

What darkness could topple them?, they asked. The entire world had been sealed, either paved by omnipresent concrete and steel or thoroughly tamed. Every creature of the dark had been catalogued and studied and sent back beneath the earth without any way of ever rising up through the concrete shell. So what could lay them low?
The answer was, of course, a new kind of creature and one that did not have to rise from the earth but instead was born from the very heart of humanity. Witches.
1/2
>>
>>545973
Spires fell, glass shattered and concrete was broken. The unified rule of man ended and the dark rose back up.

And in this Third Age, ruled by Third Men with gray skin and hardier bodies, the Lamplighters finally rose back to prominence. It was these long-neglected orders who saved humanity from the sundering that had just come. They lit the lamps and drove the monsters back and eventually all the shattered communities and splinter-nations of Man were held together once more, this time by a society of dogma and constant vigilance.
And it had only been through the central lamp-posts and their attendants that this had even been possible.

One of the girls raises her hand after you finish, your heart still feeling the embers of pride you once held for your organization.
“And where are the Lamplighters now?”

Alas, you will not tell them the pretty lie they need.
“Dead, mostly.”

“But what about us? You said we were all unified again but that’s what my dad says.”

“No. This was before the sun broke. Now everything is wrong once more. But in the dawn of the Third it was like this and we pulled together all the same. It’ll be the same for the Fourth, trust me. Not today, not tomorrow and maybe not even next year. But we aren’t down yet and we’ll always fight on.”
That’s easier said than done, of course. At least back in the old sundering they had the knowledge that it had all been ordained by the Prophecy of the Ages. The ancient First Age script that laid out the course of Man from beginning to end, as listed upon the wheels of time and the solar calendar.

The First Age, a time of fire in the darkness and a mighty forging.
The Second Age, a time of beauty and prosperity but one that had been foretold to have been undone from the start.
The Third Age, a time of renewed darkness and survival through faith, inquisition and the sword.
And then following that, there was supposed to have been the Fourth Age. A time of peace that would never end.

But God died and the calendar spins without meaning and time is undone. No prophecy can be true now and the Third Age, with its dour militant Third Men, has spun on forevermore. You can’t truly promise these children anything.
“That’ll be all for today,” you say quietly and walk out the door.

>Find Beatrice.

>Find Marcus.

>Get that damn sword.

>Inspect the rail.

>Other
>>
>>545982
>Find Beatrice.
>>
>>545982
>Inspect the rail.
>Get that damn sword.
>Find Beatrice.

In dat order.
>>
>>545982
>Find Beatrice.
>Get that damn sword.
>>
>>545982
>Get that damn sword.
>Find Beatrice.
>>
>>545982
>Find Beatrice.
this strikes me as more of a one option only vote but I could be wrong
>>
>>545982
>>Get that damn sword.
then
>Find Beatrice.


Pretty sure to bring about the fourth age Orion needs to put the sun back together and in doing so remove DIs from existence.
>>
>>545982
Ay, Ouro, is Sunless Sea an operating inspiration here?
>>
>>546019
Never played it.
>>
>>545982
>Find Beatrice.

Why the sword?
>>
>>546038
It's runed and neato.
>>
>>546038
It's runed and we need something that isn't a piece of wood if we're going to witch city
>>
>>545786
>>The Lighting of the Lamps. Give them something a little more righteous.
>>
>>546117
Slowpoke.jpg
>>
>>545982
>>Get that damn sword.
check on marcus and beat as well if possible
>>
>>546138
i was never that guy in snakecatcher, so it was bound to happen sometime
>>
Man this feel like it should be an anime on Adult Swim
>>
>Find Beatrice.
>Get that damn sword.

You exit the home still unsure how to feel about that. On one hand the duty to bring light to darkness has many meanings and to spend time with children who’ve never truly seen the sun and regale a few of the old war-memories was relaxing. It lifted your spirits and made you feel just a little better.
But on the other hand it just makes your duty all the heavier upon your back when you go to pick it up again. But that’s just your lot in life, you were never one much for idle fun.
Someone did their best to teach you otherwise once and to say that it didn’t quite work out would be speaking lightly.

What you probably need right now is someone who can make you feel better. So naturally you go out in search of Beatrice, a woman likely to do the exact opposite.

You can tell something’s wrong the moment you reach her home. The door is broken open and her smithing gear strewn throughout the cottage. You spot the teapot that you saw yesterday lying in pieces on the floor. And smeared over the far wall across from the door is a frenzy of black paint, block letters left on the wall and the floor.

WITCH

Well, they’re not wrong. It looks like they finally found out. Or did she tell them? Either way you can’t say this isn’t what she deserved. You were practically ready to do the same yesterday when you met her. But it doesn’t feel quite right.

You walk back down Sacrament’s main street and enter the tavern, swinging both doors wide as you enter. A hush falls over the crowd inside but only for a moment. When they see who you are the tavern erupts in cheers and people wishing to thank you.
You ignore them and walk straight to the barkeep.
“The sword.”

“Oh yes sir! Right away!”
He reaches down and passes you the sword from where you had left it behind the bar. You sheathe it, the scabbard taken from old Mayor Edmund’s home and hang it by your side. You’re not sure how much use it’ll be or even where the old Mayor got it from but whatever its purpose, it’d be best with you.
Someone offers you a beer. You refuse.

“Who broke into the home of the witch?”
Your question restores silence to the room.

Nearly twenty minutes later, you leave unsatisfied. They’d known or at least some of them had and few of them even seemed to care. It was a shame, they’d say but well...nobody saw who did it and she was a witch. She’d probably been bringing danger to everyone involved just by staying there! It could have been her fault!
And you couldn’t really argue with them. It wasn’t even a crime, by Lamplighter law the house had been theoretically abandoned the entire time.
Only humans own property.

In the end you rebuke none of them. As a Witch-finder you cannot find it within yourself to fault them for what they did.

1/2
>>
>>546206
Luckily Sacrament is a small town and you don’t have far to walk before you find her. She’s sitting by the rail with a bag, her gun and small wooden barrel. Her hat is jammed over her head particularly hard today. She flinches back when she sees you approach.

“Beatrice.”

“Orion.”

“I am glad to see you survived the night.”

She laughs, just a little.
“You’re the last one I expected to hear that from. Anyway, you got room for another passenger in that dinky handcar of yours?”

“What? You’re not coming with me.”

Beatrice gets to her feet.
“It’s your choice. Trust me, if there were any other option I’d go with them. But after that little show you put me through on the barricade? Everyone knows what I am now! Thanks for that by the way. And I guess I ain’t too welcome anymore.”

“They had the right to do so. You snuck into this town and disguised what you were. You won their respect under false pretenses.”

The witch wraps her arms around herself and cringes just a little.
“Yeah, you weren’t my first choice of companion but it’s either go with you or wait nearly a month for the Edelton trade carriage to come back. Next you’re going to say I deserved it, right?”

“Yes. Regardless of whatever else you do, it remains a human’s fundamental right to rebuke a witch. The choice you made is something that should not be forgiven or forgotten.”

“Yes, this is it. This is what I crave. A sanctimonious lecture from the invert who broke a central lamp. Can I hitch a ride with you or not? It’ll be only be until the next town, you can just let me off there.”

“Do you plan on lying to them too?”

“Maybe. Do you?”
Her eyes flick to the wrapped-up lamp upon your back.


>”No. Stay here and face what you deserve.”

>”Fine.”

>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”

>”I thought you loved Sacrament.”

>”I’m not going up Adelton way, if that’s your intention.”

>Other
>>
>>546212
>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
>”I’m not going up Adelton way, if that’s your intention.”
Invert? Is she calli us a homo?
>>
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508 KB
508 KB GIF
>>546212
>”Fine.”

>>546222
Basically.
>>
>>546212
>>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
>”I thought you loved Sacrament.”
>”I’m not going up Adelton way, if that’s your intention.”
>>
>>546212
>”Fine."
Is it adelton or edelton?
>>
>>546239
Supporting
>>
>>546239
Seconding.
>>
>>546240
Edelton. The prompt is misspelled.

>>546222
Yes. Invert is kind of an old-timey way of calling someone a fag. And you are from an all-male order who are theoretically celibate. It's not an unknown association to be made by the impious or the crude.
>>
>>546212
>>”I’m not going up Adelton way, if that’s your intention.”
>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
also
>invert
nice old timey insult
>>
>>546276
Do we have any old-timey insults for witch wenches?
>>
>>546287
She has dirt under her nails
>>
>>546287
Mealy mouthed illbreeding bugbear?
>>
>>546299
I dunno why but that kind of gave me a boner.
>>
>>546308
probably the breeding bit
>>
>>546212
>>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
Little does she know that their won't be another town
>>
>>546287
'Witch' is usually considered enough
>>
ded?
>>
>>546408
Ouro is a tortoise not a hare.

He ain't ded.
>>
>>546411
He's actually usually pretty fast, he's been taking a lot longer today for some reason. Longer updates I suppose.
>>
>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
>”I’m not going up Adelton way, if that’s your intention.”

You must admit, when you first woke up today you were not expecting to find such a blight upon your quest. Does she really think she’ll ever be more than a hindrance? You must admit she was helpful atop the barricade and she fought with gun and flame better than most. To turn her aside when you could use her further would be foolish. You feel your mouth set into a hard line underneath the helmet as you realize what you must do.
“I’m not going up Edelton way, if that’s your intention.”

“That’s fine,” Beatrice says. “News would probably spread via the trade carriage eventually. There are towns on the other line isn’t there?

“Yes,” you lie.
In truth you have no inkling what lies still upon your rail save for its ultimate destination. Eadbert wasn’t much help in that regard after all.

“Then just take me to one of those, I’ll get off there.”
She throws her leg over the side of the cart and sits down within it as if she belonged there.
“I’m not waiting a bloody month in this place, not anymore.”

“Fine, you can come. But you’ll have to pump your share.”

She stares at the pump in the middle of the cart with growing dread.
“What? I can’t do that!”

“You’ll have to learn because right now you’re extra weight. I’ll need more hands to make this lighter work.”
You toss the rest of your belongings into the cart along with fully-stocked pack of rations that the people of Sacrament gave to you as you left the tavern. As you lever yourself in the cart you notice how the witch still cringes away from you.
Probably for the best. You don’t particularly want to touch her.

“Thanks. For letting me on. And for killing that witch last night, even though I didn’t see exactly what happened.”

“It went well enough. And you did an adequate job of fighting for the barricade. I assume it was you who ignited the trap?”

“Yeah, that was me. Pretty good huh?”

“For a moment back then I almost mistook you for human.”
You give her the compliment with as much grace as you can muster but she seems to take it the wrong way for some reason.

“So about that witch,” she changes the subject. Her voice, always ragged at the best of times, is harsh once more. “Was I right about the sign?”

You tell her of the witch and of Ur, recounting your battle as best you can. You can’t see much of Beatrice’s face aside from her mouth but she appears surprised at your depth of knowledge concerning the witch’s magic.
1/2
>>
>>546421
“You were right, Orion. That wasn’t her power. I mean most of it probably was but that sign was from somewhere else. No, don’t ask me where. But she was too strong otherwise.”

As she speaks she rubs her collarbone and your attention is drawn towards the location of her brand. You can’t see it right now but you know it’s still there. But is it still effective? If you are to believe the witch from last night, her own brand wasn’t struck down by any outside force, the magic powering it simply failed. Does this mean all brands are failing? Is Beatrice’s brand just a mark now? And if it is, how could she not notice? Would she lie about it?
No, you decide. Despite her many, many failings you are convinced the Beatrice at least believes herself to be a follower of righteousness. If her brand is failing then she simply hasn’t noticed. She might not have even set foot on proper soil for years.

Which then leaves you the following dilemma. If she doesn’t know, should she? Should you inform her of it? If her heart is true it will only help her guard herself from the earth’s temptation. But she is a witch. By definition she has failed such tests before and will almost certainly do so again. Telling her of this will plant the seed in her mind, give her the temptation to return to what she was.
Not to mention the unpleasant idea that her current fixation on returning to what she was when she was human might simply be mad desperation born from her powerlessness. She might embrace the earth again the moment you turn away if you tell her.

“Oi Orion I can’t help but notice you’ve been staring at my chest for the last five minutes. Don’t get any ideas just because I’m the first woman you’ve laid a hand on ever since you took up your vows.”

>Don’t tell her.

>Tell her.

>You’ll tell her later perhaps. When you know you can trust her.
>>
>>546212
>”Fine but you have to pump your share.”
>>
>>546426
Let's ask her about the circumstances of her becoming a witch and then her branding before we decide
>>
>>546426
>>You’ll tell her later perhaps. When you know you can trust her.

>You? Pfft not with a hundred foot wick.

Keeping the tradition of our first major traveling companion being a foul mouthed witch eh, Ouro?
>>
>>546408
>>546411
>>546416

I've been slower than I'd like for this whole damn thread so far but today's been particularly bad because of the cold. My apologies.
>>
>>546426
>>Tell her.
No reason to have this come bite us later, and if she does resist it'll help her with her attempts at redemption and being more human.
>>
>>546426
>Tell her.
>>
>>546421
>You must admit, when you first woke up today you were not expecting to find such a blight upon your quest
ehehehe

>>546426
>You’ll tell her later perhaps. When you know you can trust her.
>>
>>546426
>You’ll tell her later perhaps. When you know you can trust her.
>>
>>546426
>Tell her.
Seems like a good way to find out where her loyalty truly lies. We can always kill her or reactivate her brand with the lamp.
>>
>>546426
>>You’ll tell her later perhaps. When you know you can trust her.
I'd sooner burn off my cock.
>>
>>546426
>>Tell her.
if we're going to have to kill her best do it sooner rather than later
>>
>>546426
>Tell her
>>
>>546426
>>Tell her
Let's not be dumb and put this off until its an issue that we have to deal with
>>
>>546426
>Tell her

Make a joke about being an invert
>>
>Tell her.

“If you attempt to make use of your wiles against me again while we are travelling together I will leave you behind.”

“I wasn’t!”

Unpleasantness aside, you’ve come to the decision that you need to tell her. As tempting as it is to keep it from her it will likely only cause trouble in the future regardless. And she has yet to betray you in any capacity beyond choosing to become a witch in the first place.
“There was something else about the witch that I hadn’t mentioned. I think it would be for the best if I told you. She was branded.”

“You mean…?”
Her hand goes to to brush up against her collar once more.

“Yes.”

“What broke it? I didn’t even know anything could break it!”
Is that eagerness you hear? You can’t tell. Have you made a mistake?

“To hear her speak, nothing had broken it. Such is the way of the world now that it had come loose on its own. The sun is no more and all the magic born from the Wheel God and the flame is fading. Do you understand why I am telling you this?”

Her grip tightens, her hand trembling.
“I...I think so,” she says quietly. “But I haven’t felt anything like that, I swear!”

“I believe you but you must be on your guard.”

“Or what? You’re going to kill me?”
You couldn’t identify her tone before but the sound of desperation leaking through is all too familiar to you.

“If that is what must be done, yes.”

“Great. Good. Great.”
Beatrice pushes herself back into the corner of the trolley and picks at herself nervously.
“What am I supposed to do with this? Why did you have to tell me?”

Any possible answer you could have given her is forestalled by the cry of a child and the sound of little feet flapping against the concrete.
“Don’t leave without me!”
It’s Marcus, the pale little boy running to the handcar and grabbing hold of the edge.
“Take me with you!”

Beatrice leans over the side.
“Mark? Get out of here!”

“Orion, please! I want to come with you!”
There’s a strange look in his eyes and a quiver to his movements.

You stare him down.
“Why?”

“I...I don’t know where else to go. Or what I’m supposed to do.”
He’s been crying a lot, you notice. Puffy eyes and stained cheeks.

Beatrice leans back into the cart, whispering so that he cannot overhear.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, this kid has always been real weird. And going out of town is way too dangerous for him.”


>”Get in.”

>”This is no place for children.”

>Give him something.

>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”

>”Be the man your father never could be.”

>Let Beatrice handle this.

>Other
>>
>>546559
What do we actually have to give him?
>>
>>546559
>”Get in.”
lamplighter apprentice aquired
>>
>>546559
>>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”

Honestly, I don't want to deal with a kid on this trip. He will literally just be a burden, especially since we're not going anywhere even close to safe for a while.

>>Give him something.
I we have to, we could give him his dad's rune sword and tell him its his duty to protect the place, I guess. I'd rather keep it though.
>>
>>546559
>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”
>”Be the man your father never could be.”
Resist the trope anons we can't bring a kid on this dangerous mission
>>
>>546559
>>”This is no place for children.”
He's going to die if he follows us. Dis is no place for a child
>>
>>546566
It's a bigass sword he probably wouldn't even be able to carry it
>>
>>546559
>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”
>”This is no place for children.”
>>
>>546559
>>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”
>>”Be the man your father never could be.”
There is no way he won't die. We're headed for what is basically a hell City
>>
>>546559
>>”Get in.”
i basically want him to come along, though its obviously irrational and the wrong thing to do
>>
>>546566
We need that sword more than he does.
>>
>>546571
Probably not, and I want to keep it. But, I would rather give it to the kid and let him try to grow into it in Sacrament than bring him with us. Giving the sword away is a last resort.
>>
>>546559
>>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”
>>”Be the man your father never could be.”
>>
>>546559
>>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”
>”Be the man your father never could be.”
>Give him something.
A list of all the runes and flame rites we know.
>>
>>546559
>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here

I guess point out that he has a talent for lighting fire like with the flint and steel in the wasteland. And that the ghouls aren't gone just scattered so hes needed here.
>>
>>546585
Is being able to make small sparks with flint really so rare?
>>
>>546566
remember there was something off about the sword. We may still hold that the runes wouldn't turn against the sun, but the rules don't matter anymore and B told us that runes are similar to signs... Best to keep an eye on it for now.
>>
>>546588
Yes, since he did it on tainted soil surrounded by ghouls in a witch's domain. We mentioned to him that most people wouldn't have been able to do it.
>>
>>546588
I think it was the fact that he was able to do while he was surrounded by dirt.
>>
We should give him every a list of every rune and flame rite we know, maybe show him how to lite the lamp too. Best gift we can give him.
>>
>>546591
Why are people replying to my post as if I'm saying that we should give the sword away? I think I made it pretty clear that I would like to keep the sword, but I would rather lose it if it meant that we don't have to play babysitter until the quest is over or the kid dies.
>>
>>546595
I don't think those are things you can teach someone in like 5 minutes
>>
>>546588
In the middle of the wasteland yes. Orion states hes seen trained men fail to bring oil to light in the wastes.>>536172
>>
>>546559
>Give him something.
Do we have some kind of mark of lamplighter-ness that isn't really important? How much do we care about our wheel god cloak?

>>546562
From his perspective he must feel like he doesn't have anything to lose. Presumably he has no family and the children in town hate him for what his dad helped to cause.
Not that I'm still saying we should take him. Not on this trip.
>>
>>546597
The kid can't force us to take him with us so idk why it would ever be necessary. It would be a nice gesture though.
>>
>>546562
>>546602
Derp, you were being literal. Misunderstood your post. My bad.
>>
>>546597
Because you are the first one who voted to give the sword away. Even if its a secondary vote, don't vote for options you don't want. Also sometimes even if a vote gains traction if there is a reasoned resistance to a vote it can shift weight.

This isn't saying you shouldn't voice your thoughts or anything but voting to give the sword away is still voting to give the sword away even if you voice your reservations about making the vote. So if you don't want to take the kid with us or give the sword away vote for something else.
>>
>>546597
>>546597
Just yell at him to kick rocks
>>
>>546559
>>Other

Test him for ability with benedictions or flame rites if he has either or both we can take him on as an apprentice lamplighter, God knows the world needs more of them

Also grab the lantern he mentioned at the beginning of the thread we need a new one
>>
We should really only take Marcus on if he has ability to become a lamplighter otherwise he's dead weight
>>
>>546634
hes still dead weight, we don't have the time or resources to train him during our suicide mission unless hes pants on head prodigy that farts fire all day every day.
>>
>>546641
Watch him follow along the rail anyways like a dummy.
>>
>>546654
Shhhh he's going to hear you
>>
Actually that gives me a great idea.

Let's bring him along.

To use as bait!
>>
>”Remember when we spoke of duty? Yours remains here, I will not rob Sacrament of another son.”

Your journey is going to be long and dangerous and what lies at the end of it is certainly no place for children. And you doubt he’s making this decision for all the right reasons. You’ve been in his position before and worse besides and you know how he must feel. And thus you know that he simply isn’t capable of making the proper decision right now.
If he comes with you he will regret it. You all might.

“Marcus, remember when we spoke of duty? All men have their God-given duty and no single one of them is greater or more important than the other. Your duty remains here. Sacrament ill needs to lose another son.”

“But why?”
His eyes fill with tears once more and he doesn’t even bother to hold them back.
“I’m just so...so angry!

“At me?”

He sniffs.
“A little. But mostly the witch. A-and my dad.”

“Then rid yourself of it, they are dead and it is wasted upon them. Very little of what you do now will mean anything to them. There’s only one way to gain vengeance upon those who are dead.”

“How?”

“Live on and live well. Become the man your father never could be.”

“If they’re dead how will they even know about that?”

“They won’t but you will. Now go back, Marcus. You’ve got your whole life still ahead of you.”

And that was that.
Several minutes later you and Beatrice are hard at work at the pump, the witch’s sickly face already flushing red with exertion. Sacrament is shrinking behind you and will soon vanish entirely as just another dot upon the concrete plains.
It was a worthy thing, what you did back there. Yes, Sacrament has felt a calamity that they will not soon forget. But the light remains strong and the people work together to rebuild their homes. Cement is already being mixed to being the long slow process of filling in the crack and as for the dead? They will mourn and then they will move on and keep on living. Just one more star in the night sky.

The pure sunlight of the lamp fades as you move and the two of you soon pass into a familiar world of perpetual twilight and ever-deepening shadow. All is dark. All is dreary. And when the sun rises soon none of that will change. You are journeying through the twilight of the world.
But you are not in the wasteland this time, instead your trolley rattles above pure and safe concrete. And you no longer journey alone.

The two of you relax and let the trolley simply coast for a while, a luxury bought from the safe lands you now travel through. It will not be a luxury that lasts forever. Not in the direction you have chosen.

Beatrice leans against the opposite side of the trolley from you and guards her eyes from the replacement lantern that the people of Sacrament gave to you. It won’t clip onto your breastplate like the old one did but it is bigger and brighter.
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>>546704
“You know,” the witch says. “All that stuff you said to the kid, that wouldn’t have come from personal experience would it?”

“It is a human’s fundamental right to rebuke a witch at any time he pleases and to push her from his pump trolley.”

“Clod.”
She runs her fingers around the rim of her wide hat and then slowly takes it off entirely, baring her face to the world. She looks as sick as ever and the bruises around her bloodshot eyes are a dark reddish-purple.
“Nobody’s around, huh? I guess I don’t have to wear this for now.”

“Put it back on.”

The trolley rattles deeper into the dark.
>>
And that is that for both Thread One and Chapter One! A fair bit larger then what I intended but eh. Later threads should not quite be so engorged and the update times should be faster as well.

Thanks for reading! The next thread should be going up in a few days, probably not tomorrow but possibly the day after that. Check the twitter for update times and all that.
I hope you lot all had fun.

Oh and I'd just like to say thanks to Cegremo again for making my OP image and for doing so unasked for and completely out of the blue.
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>>546726
Thanks for running! Great first thread.
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>>546726
It was great Ouro. Can't wait to see what hellhole we climb into next.
Thanks for running.
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>>546726
I created a Twitter account just to follow yours.
Great quest man.
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>>546726
Thanks for bringing this great quest. I'm always asleep when you are running it but it is still nice to read.
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>>546726
Thanks for running the future should be interesting now that we have a repentant witch with us
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>>546726
It's fucking amazing Ouro. Kudos to you.
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So Dis is UR, right? First city and all.
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>>546867
Dis is Dis and Ur is Ur. Babylon and some unknowable dark entity.
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>>546726
Looking forward to the next thread.
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>>546867
>>546874
Based on Beatrice's panicked explanation, I'm guessing Ur is the name of the first dead god among whose bones the first city of Dis was built. Or, perhaps, the very first person to become a witch.
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>>547488
Perhaps at the very least Ur is among the most powerful

why the hell do you think Dis is built on the bodies of a dead god though?
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>>547553
Twas in the story. >>545973
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This looks fucking rad.
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>>548682
Oh Man I totally missed that
>>
Orion and Beatrice



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