Now you've got a few choices to make.

You get two spells from the following (obviously something like Bind is useless to you if you can't Summon):

- Summon (level three) - You can call up a ghost or a spirit as long as it hasn't been dead for more than a year and talk to it.
- Bind (level three) - You can bind a ghost or a spirit to your cause for 3 days.
- Life leech (level three) - You can leech the life energy of normal people (to heal yourself and boost your own strength), and various creatures but not anyone with even basic formal training in magic - their barriers are too strong at the moment.
- Ice Pick (level three) - You use ice to stab people.

You've mastered two of the following skills:

- Knives (both thrown and fighting with your hand)
- Guns (all guns, rifles, semis etc)
- Bartering (The bluffing, the negotiating, the double dealing, it all comes naturally to you.)
- Intimidation (Scare the shit out of almost everyone. Even your bosses treat you with more respect than your position deserves.)

>>13796780
>>13796802
Quest threads are allowed here, why are you so mad?

Your underlings are as follows:

- Randy, an innocent sounding name for a dangerously cynical 16 year old kid. Loyal beyond death, really, because you helped him kill the judge that sentenced his father to death. You've taught him a bit of magical theory but he's not your kind, so for now he's a low level elemantal magician until he gets some real training. But boy can he set fire to shit.

- Big Jim, a muscular behemoth with no magic whatsoever. He resents the fact that he's the same age as you and yet you give the orders. Nevertheless he obeys because you've got the juice and he don't. He ain't all that smart but he's good in a scrap.

>>13796786
Whats the difference between bind and summon? When you summon will a spirit fight for you or is that just 'manifesting' it?

>>13796814
Because there are already too many of them here. tgchan is a better place for this.

>>13796875
Summoning is in a circle and just allows manifestation. At which point you have enough juice to talk to it and get information or what have you. Without bind that's pretty much all it's good for. Bind imposes your will upon the Summoned and it has to follow your commands and act on your behalf although once it's free it probably won't appreciate it. You can still make some sort of deal with the ghost or spirit without Bind though, if you're smart about it.

>>13796899
As long as we're crafty and we won't fuck up too badly (HAHAHAHAHAHA) then we probably won't need drain for now.

I choose Bind and Summon because we're smooth muthafuckahs and it might give us the edge we need.

So what's the situation? Where are we and what's going on?

>>13796932
Bind and Summon it is then. Now choose two skills. As listed: >>13796810

>>13796937
Just making the character. I'll explain the starting point as soon as we're done.

I don't think we need bind actually, we can just summon a ghost and threaten to leave them in the summoning circle forever unless they help us.

>>13796954
Right. I vote to take Summon, Bind, Guns, and Bartering.

>>13796954
Bartering and guns. Bartering to help get us what we want and guns for when we need to barter with a gun.

>>13796980
>>13796978

Wow. Bartering and Guns it is, you guys are on the exact same wavelength.

Now a clarification on the magic, your realm of expertise is in the energy in people's bodies and the energy released at death and after death. You've got two for sure spells, Summon & Bind, and some general skill at manipulating that energy. Describe cool (and not ridiculously overpowered) actions and I'll allow it to happen, i.e. minor telekinesis and various small time shit. Because you didn't choose Life Leech you can't use other people's internal energy but you can use your own although that tires you after use. Have some fun and be creative.

Let's get started - it's late on Wednesday afternoon and you've just woken up at your place, in your business everything happens at night so you've slept most of the day away. A guy who runs one of the speakeasies that you control said that he needed to speak to you about something but it wasn't urgent. You can suit up and go check that out or you can just go out and explore the neighbourhood or whatever you want.

should've gone for intimidation and scare the bejeezus out of everyone

imagine being so scary that you can summon a ghostdemon

>>13797128

*and intimidate it into following your commands

>>13797128
>>13797138
That would be suitably badass.

>>13797070
Take a stroll around our turf, let people see Big Duke in action, steppin' his fly ass 'round the block in his sweet fancy do-ups. Also it will help us keep an eye on our territory and remind people we are the boss around here.

Reading all of this in his voice, I'm having a rather good time.

>>13797156

HEY OP. SORRY TO BE A BUZZKILLER but I don't think people will do this quest thing right now. See, it's late and stuff.

Then again it is saturday/sunday, and neckbears must have nothing else to do other than playing silly quests. Oh well. Just don't be disappointed if it fails and stuff.

>>13797070
Business first if we want to move up in the world. Let's get ourselves dressed to move out, give our turf a quick circle and drop by the speakeasy.

>>13797156
Thats what the henchmen are for, we're the brains and the ones getting people to sell themselves cause we're too damn clever. Get dressed suitably for our company and could we have a inventory list or general finances?

Also who do we answer to whats the worlds views on magic? Are we special? Tell me we're special.

this idea is win ....

>>13797190
You put one revolver in a shoulder holster and another smaller one at your ankle, and then put on a damn good suit.

You grab your hat and step outside into the sun. It's summer time but late in the day so the oppressive heat isn't is bad as it could be. Some girls are playing by the steps as you walk by and they suddenly stop and stare silently as you pass.

Your experienced eyes spot some younger boys running with bags under their arms, runners for one of your number rackets going to deliver some betting slips. They nod respectfully and then continue running through alleys and passageways that keep them out of sight.

As you walk around everything seems to be as it should.

>>13797190
Eventually you find yourself down a side street and knock on a door with no handle on the outside.

After a few moments you hear a high pitched voice pipe from the other side, "Who the fuck is coming round at this hour? Don't you know we don't open till after dark?"

>>13797272
"Easy, Squeaky. It's me. Open up, I hear you been needin' to talk to me."

>>13797226
Your immediate superior is a gentleman by the name of Olukwele. Unlike the vast majority of people in the Outfit who were born in the US this guy came over from old land some indeterminate time ago. Olukwele and you as his right hand man run the speakeasies and the numbers. Two others are on the same level as Olukwele, who respectively run the protection rackets and the whores. Above them is one man who is the kingpin of it all. You don't know his real name, only that every one calls him Papa.

I'll give you inventory and finances at a later date but you can assume you're moderately well off, although you could be filthy filthy rich if it wasn't for a weakness for ladies with dubious but expensive taste.

>>13797329
I like us.

>>13797298
"Oh, that you Duke? C'mon in guy, no need to be shy." he says as if you were shy. You're not.

The door opens and you see a remarkably fat man for such a high pitched voice. Squeaky, as everyone calls him, beckons you to come in and you follow him.

You sit down together and he pours you a drink, leaving it on the table. Your choice whether to drink or not. He definitely takes down a few as he speaks.

"It's like this Duke, I think we got a cop problem. I've been having this guy called O'Leary coming round asking questions, not even about the drink would you believe, but about some missing crystals. Now, if it was anyone else I'd probably shank the fucker and tell him he ain't welcome but I hear from those who hear that O'Leary, despite the inner Irish cunt in him, is laying down with the Dutch."

"Now that's a damn strange bed, don't you think? I just wanted to give some heads up, that's all. Drink's on me." he smiles at his own witticism. Squeaky, comedian in the rough.

>>13797422
Coming round, you say- more than once? You expect him again?

And you find out anything on his background from those who hear? He got any good friends, lovers, children?

...any of them die recently?

>>13797466
"He's been coming here like clockwork at least once a night for the past week. He sits right there" squeaky points "orders a drink and then annoys the drinkers until they move away. He usually gives up, mutters something to himself and walks away."

At your final question you see him go pale, which is a rare sight on such dark skin. Everyone knows what you do but it still makes them nervous. "Ah, well, that's about all I've been told. I don't know nothing about his or the state of their ... erm... lives. I could ask around if you want?"

>>13797540
"Be smooth, 'bout it, bro. Don't get his jimmies in a rustle or nothin'."

Let's call up 'those who hear' ourselves and get some info on the Dutch.

>>13797540
Thank him for the heads up and leave a twenty, that's big money. Need to keep the wheels greased and flowing proper. He might be our underling but it doesn't hurt for him to like us too.

go climb a wall of dicks

>>13797592
>>13797622
You leave the twenty and you can see Squeaky's greedy little eyes widening in surprise. He's real pleased and real happy that his showing of initiative has got him this kind of reward. He'll definitely be contacting you with useful information all the time now, as well as giving you a feel for what people think and maybe even planning.

Now 'those who hear' were just random drunks at the bar who Squeaky quizzed, he's got a funny turn of phrase that card. You want to track them down for further questioning?

>>13797678
No, that'll tip our hand as being the one looking for information on him; word will definitely begin to get around. Instead, go back on patrol and stop in at various spots to check up on operations, show that we're working, and as we do ask some of our more reliable people- people we know are ours- about this guy. Maybe someone will know something; if not, we can take further action.

Also ask about the Dutch and crystals.

>>13797678
Woah. Harlem Quest and I've got Solomon Burke playing right now.
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hv6sQXI1WY

Let's not track them down, they won't know shit. Instead, hit up any contacts that we have on the streets. A mob underboss always has plenty of people who know what's what, so I suggest we go around and get some info about the Dutch and this O'Leary. Also have a couple of them keep an eye out for white dudes walking around. Should be easy to spot in Harlem.

>>13797678
It may turn out to be a dead end, but if O'Leary keeps to his schedule we won't need to track them. Where's the kid and the goon right now? I say we get them, scope out this guy when he gets to the bar and follow him to his roost.

>>13797739
>>13797742
You step out of Squeaky's and back into the light. You're blinded for a second as the sun takes you by surprise. After lowering your hat you continue with your rounds.

Your intent is to walk towards a source you have in mind that would probably know about crystals when an incident occurs at one of the borders. There's no solid line where your influence ends and another gang's begins, it's a sort of neutral zone where you both make small amounts of money but keep a presence there to fly the colours.

A young man, maybe 20 and some chump change, stands in front of you and refuses to get out of the way. He glares at you hard, making eye contact. Looks like this is his big day, trying to make a name for himself by standing up to that Duke from the Outfit.

>>13797853
Time to pull an American Gangster on his ass? I think it might be.

>>13797853
Stare back. After about ten seconds, if he hasn't talked, speak. "Do you want something, kid, or are you just enjoying being in my way?"

>>13797742
p.s. keep on the Burke train!

>>13797896
I haven't seen that movie so I don't know what you mean.

>>13797926
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwyOcJvG9Tg&feature=related

>>13797987
Holy shit. And here I was thinking he was at his craziest in Training Day.

Well, there seems to be two options now:

- Shoot him in the head immediately.
- Stare back. After about ten seconds, if he hasn't talked, speak. "Do you want something, kid, or are you just enjoying being in my way?"

Go ahead and vote.

>>13797987
While I fully support being that kind of badass, a proper criminal knows when it's warranted. If you jump right to shooting every time some punk gets uppity, you're a bloody-handed bastard who doesn't have the finesse needed to be part of the Outfit.

It's only if someone seriously crosses us that we should pull our pistols.

>>13798025
Second one, followed by the first if he gives us lip.

>>13798025
Staring contest.

>>13798025
Stare. No shooting yet.

>>13798030
>>13798033
>>13798042
>>13798067
He flinches when you speak but he doesn't step back. And he doesn't talk back either. There seems to be a strangely resigned look on his face, almost like a deathrow inmate who's accepted his fate. It seems odd on him.

His hand comes out of his pocket and you see the glint of a brass knuckleduster. He throws a wild punch at you. You quickly take a backstep and time seems to slow down as you take in all the details. You notice some Chinese inscription on the knuckleduster and also a strange green glow that seems to surround it. The kid seems to quite literally have a killer punch.

Your move. You have one move to make before he takes a second swing at you.

>>13798113
If drawing and firing is one move, do it. Preferably into a location where he'll go down, hard, but be able to gasp out some answers.

>>13798113
Introduce him to a bullet.

>>13798142
>>13798169

You take a step back and then in one move draw your gun and fire it at point blank range at his head. Considering the power the kid has in his hands, some far Eastern crap that could take off your head, it's really the only way you can be sure you're safe.

A few women scream and run at the sound but the people who are in this world look on and nod sagely. You gave the kid a chance to walk away, like a man should, but the kid didn't take it and that's on him.

On the other side of the street you see a black man in a bowler hat sitting drinking coffee. You recognise him as Lawrence Freeman, a man on the same level as you who works for the Opposition. You look at the kid and suddenly things click into place.

The kid was sentenced to death for some bullshit, probably slept with someone's dame or was caught stealing, and so they used his death to test you. Like they'll always test you. Today you passed and your legend continues to grow.

What now.

>>13798252
Loot off those knuckle dusters.

[Also do we know anything else about Freeman?]

>>13798252
Tip our hat to the man, and then shake our head no. Sending punks like this is something we don't want to be dealing with on a regular basis, and that's a friendly way of letting him know. Take the knuckles and some small personal item for later communing and go. I'm interested in what he will be willing to spill about his boss's operation. They are the ones who executed him after all, we just pulled the trigger.

Then head to our source.

>>13798252
First, that eastern thing. If your knowledge of crazy oriental shit tells you that it won't kill you, grab it. You can't leave something like that lying around; maybe you'll be able to pass it on to someone who can figure it out or use it to good effect.

Second, if they're testing you, you'll pass with FLYING fucking colors. This kid's ghost gets whistled up, tells you exactly what he did and who sent him after you, and you send him after them in turn. If you let them send killers after you without response at least on the same level, they'll keep doing it until you fall.

>>13798308
>>13798303
>>13798271
Agreed with these. Sending the ghost to 'test' Freeman in turn would be a proper and proportional response. We should communicate as much to him, non-verbally. Maybe do that whole "I'm watching you." thing with the fingers to the eyes.

Most of all, you can't let someone send a guy to kill you without some kind of reply. It just doesn't work that way, you'll lose all respect.

>>13798271
- GAINED 1 MAGIC KNUCKLEDUSTER, it has three charges at the only. Each charge that connects is a killing blow. The kid was quite clearly an amateur so he could only throw the energy a few inches forward of the knuckleduster. You're experienced so when you use it you can punch from several feet away and the knuckleduster's energy will take a man down, permanently.

What you know about Freeman:
- He specialises in mental juju. Messing with perceptions, illusions, truth spells, etc. Nothing offensively minded but what makes him dangerous is his sheer ruthlessness, as was just demonstrated by the execution he just had you perform for him.

You grab some of the kid's hair and walk away, so you can summon him at need. Summoning ceremony you just need a quiet alley so you can draw the circle and then do the spell, which takes a few minutes.

As you walk away you shake your head at Freeman and he raises the cup of coffee in salute and smiles - the game between you continues. It's your move.

Options:
- Continue to source.
- Summon the kid.

>>13798380
Yeah. And freeman should know we're going to do something like that anyway because that's just the way it works.

>>13798409
Source first. Can't give the opposition the impression that they're more important than our business, and sending a ghost to kill them at four in the morning will probably work better anyway.

>>13798409
We don't need to summon him right now. We can do that later on, maybe before we go to bed tonight. We want the 'retaliation strike' to be public, but we can just command the spirit to attack Freeman when he's in the middle of the market or something. Source is the item of business right now.

Source now. Just go about our day like nothing happened, we're that badass. Eventually someone will come for the body, but for now it lets anyone who is in the area right now see that we aren't to be messed with. Reputation is a currency, and we just collected.

>>13798447
>>13798454
>>13798543
With the carefree walk of a man who knows he's the most dangerous thing on the street, you walk deeper into disputed territory.

Your goal is Aunt Clarissa. She's a minor clairvoyant who peddles her trade out of the back of a hair salon. Soon enough you arrive and as you step in you give a polite tip of the hat to two women getting their hair done. "Ladies," you say with a wide, experienced smile. They both smile back.

When you get to the back your sense of smell is assaulted by the smell of scentsticks. Cinnamon, sage, and some you can't even begin to guess. Far too many of them for such a small place.

You see a small old woman sitting behind a table, filing her nails.

"Well, well, well. If it ain't ol' Duke hisself. What's a big man like you doing coming down to see little ol' me, hmm?" she asks with a bitter smile. Her eyes narrow and take on a really mean glint. "Last time we spoke you said, let me see if I can get this right 'You're a two bit cracker jack clown who couldn't tell the weather in hurricane season.' is that right? And then you threatened to show me the back of your hand, yes? Am I forgetting anything?"

>>13798596
"Aw, come on baby, why you gotta be like that? You know how I am, I get stupid 'round pretty ladies and say all kinds of things that ain't true, and that I know ain't true. Elsewise I wouldn't be here, askin' for some of Auntie Lissa's wisdom, right?"

Uh, hope that Bartering skill comes in handy. If we did that in the past I imagine we brought a little gift or something to make it up right?

>>13798596
"Don't think so. On the other hand, trying to get two hundred greenbacks for fifteen cryptic syllables is the sort of thing that could get you shot by a less magnanimous gentleman." Seat yourself. "How've you been?"

>>13798661
Your tone and your friendly words take some of the spite out of her eyes but you can tell that she's still going to ask for your unborn child because you wouldn't be here unless you wanted something from her. Badly.

But, you're a smooth operator and you've thought ahead so you brought her a little something that should get her back on your side.

BARTER: From your inside pocket you bring out a small bottle of a concoction: some laudanum, a bit of opium, and a dash of ghost. Enough to get her mind and her soul high and keep it there for a whole weekend. She recognises it immediately and her face lights up.

"Duke, my duke! You sure know how to get on a girl's good side. What in the hell can I do for you?"

>>13798779
"You can tell me what there is to know about some crystals what up and vanished recently. Seems they're of significant interest to someone of interest."

>>13798779
"Well, I hear that some paddy's been nosin' round some of my joints. Hear lots of things, like maybe he's working for some people that aren't me. Was wondering what you could hear, with those lovely little ears 'o yours. They call him O'Leary."

>>13798816
>>13798858

"I can't say I've heard anything about any crystals or this O'Leary but I can try to do a reading to get you aimed at the right people, if'n you want."

She puts her nail file away and then leans her head down on the table in front of her. She closes her eyes and begins to chant.

You smirk at this because she's painfully amateurish. This was pretty much exactly why you insulted her the last time you were round here. There's no need to chant or say words to cast spells but lesser minds use them as a focus. You could tell Clarissa was chanting something in French and it almost sounded like a nursery rhyme from the rhythmic tone and repetition she was doing.

It takes a few minutes but she's soon leaning back and looking at you, her eyes fully white and her hair slightly on edge, as if there's a slight current going through her.

She opens her mouth to speak, when she starts screaming. She's got quite pair of lungs for a tiny woman her age. She screams and grabs her throat as if she's being choked.

Her head falls down on the table.

She's dead.

>>13798816
Don't do that. She's on neutral ground and some rivals might speak to her after we leave, asking what we asked about. She's a source we went to, so hopefully she keeps quiet... and even if she's not trustworthy at least she'll probably fear to give out our info to other gangs. Still, save the crystal info for if she can't get anything on O'Leary and the Dutch.

>>13798881
Well, that's not good. Head out into the parlor and speak with whoever is working there. Give them a little money for the funeral since she died with us RIGHT THERE, doing our work.

Get some hair from her too. We best find a deserted backwind and summon her particular ghost right quick.

>>13798881
Welp, that's not so good. Whatever the word is on these people and their crystals, it's bad juju. Get some hair. If she saw something before she bit it, her shade will be able to tell you.

Also, with Aunt Clarissa gone there's not much reason to respect things around here. Might as well grab your bribe back. I'm tempted to grab anything else concealable and valuable or powerful as well, but I'm not sure if that sort of thing would be frowned on by the Outfit. If it wouldn't, might as well seize the opportunity.

If she had anyone that's going to check on her, might as well tell them of her untimely end and make it explicitly clear that it was not your doing, but rather her own- she was careless when handling dangerous powers. A more competent seer would have been able to save themselves, surely.

>>13798926
>Also, with Aunt Clarissa gone there's not much reason to respect things around here. Might as well grab your bribe back. I'm tempted to grab anything else concealable and valuable or powerful as well, but I'm not sure if that sort of thing would be frowned on by the Outfit. If it wouldn't, might as well seize the opportunity.

Come on man, we aren't some adventuring party here. Respect for the dead, here. Well, I mean, at least as much as a necromancer who raises and binds their spirits is like to give at least. It's really more respect from the living that we want, and that means not robbing a dead old woman's beauty salon when her daughters are probably working out front.

We're a boss, not some thug. We don't have to stoop to petty thievery.

>Don't get his jimmies in a rustle or nothin'

I fucking lost it

>>13798978
Hey, I'm not saying we should flip through her wallet. But if she was known to have anything with serious mystic juice, then opportunity is knocking right now.

But your point is well made nevertheless.

You grab some of her hair, grab your bottle of Magic Happy Juice and make like a banana. There really wasn't anything else to be stolen. You look around for someone to tell about what happened but the two women who were getting their hair done and the hair dressers ran out of the place when they heard the screaming coming from the room.

You walk out and find the nearest alley you can. Pulling out a white piece of chalk from a certain pocket in your suit jacket, where it always is, you draw a circle and then certain symbols around the circle. You take a look at your suit, and then ground, and then back at the suit. You sigh and sit down crosslegged on the ground despite what it'll do to your suit.

You place Clarissa's hair in the circle and begin to summon her with your mind. Sometimes it takes a few minutes but this time Clarrissa's shade arrives almost immediately, like it wanted to be summoned, like it had a word or two it wanted to get out. However the Clarissa you knew doesn't appear, not as an old woman. Before you is Clarissa in her prime, a strong woman with sharp features and an angular kind of beauty. Petite and stunning like a knife. You hadn't intended for her to look like this but maybe your guilt made you put more energy than usual into the Summoning and allow her to manifest as she saw herself.

>continued:

>>13799111
"Listen up bitch, I ain't the one who killed you. You sho' didn't talk to me like this in life, and you best be knowin' that my hand's a bit stronger right now than it was when you were alive. Tell what you saw and I'll see about arrangin' it so your whore daughter don't get your shop. Otherwise, I already killed one man today, so I ain't in the best of moods and might see about relocatin' you to a worse spot down where you're at now."

What's the afterlife like? I assume we have some sticks and carrots we can use with dead people? Or something? Some cosmology wouldn't be out of order since we are necromancers.

>>13799173
Oh, and tell her that we just sat on the ground in a 200 dollar suit to talk to her. So she had best make it good.

>>13799111
"Bitch, you better mind your manners." Say it firmly. She knows what we do, but she probably doesn't know the full extent of our abilities. We could bluff some shit out of her. "I can keep you from ya' peace for a long time if'n I wanted to, ya hear me?"

"So what you talking about Dragons, huh? Some Chinaman shanghai ya or somethin'?"

Seems like a Chinese gang or at least a Chinese gangster is getting uppity.

>>13799173
You write much more flavorful things than me when making mostly the same points. I delete what I wrote and defer.

>>13799173
What you know about the afterlife and how it affects you: spirits die and go on a journey to some other place, whether it's another life, rebirth, heaven, hell, no necromancer is quite sure. The further on the journey the spirit is the more energy and skill it takes for the necromancer to summon the spirit because of the "distance" and the fact that the spirit is reluctant since it has to restart the journey if you bring it back to this plane. Different people travel at different speeds, some undoubtedly travelling so slowly their journey will last forever, making it their own private little hell.

>>13799173
>>13799193
Exploiting necromantic powers mind.

To reinforce the point, let's stretch our binding/summoning/necromantic skills. Since she's all loud and mouthy, age and wither her form, make her manifestation more like the old crone she was later in life and when she doesn't like it turn her back.

>>13799208
Then tell her we'll stick here here at the beginning with a lead weight attached to her ankle if she doesn't speak up, and be quick about it because we just sat in a seedy Harlem alley in a fifty dollar suit.

(protip: 50 dollars in 1927 is over 600 dollars today.)
>http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.html

>>13799257
And what a pleasant eternity she'll have, sitting in an alley in harlem, staring at the back of a hair salon.

Clarissa is in the middle of a rant, this time insulting your great grandparents for being stupid enough to get caught and sold into slavery, when suddenly her form begins to shrivel.

Her face seems to almost melt as she gets older right in front of you, which isn't that difficult for you since all you're doing is taking back your own energy.

This terrifies her and she begs you to stop, her voice losing all its pride and breaking.

This is nothing compared to how stooped and distraught she looks when you talk about hindering her journey, which you actually could do.

She looks at you with sad eyes and says, "You're a cold man, Duke. What do you want from me? Just...what do you want?" she asks, not even bothering to hide the pleading tone in her voice.

1920s Harlem mixed with magic.

This is the the most magnificent, pontificent, extravagent, blobravalent setting I have ever in my life witnessed.

>>13799300
"I want what I paid for, crow. Ain't my fault that you're no longer in a position to use your payment. Fact is, I paid, and I want delivery."

>>13799300
"What did you see, what killed you, and where was it all at? Any gangs I know of? Maybe some chinamen?"

>>13799300
I haven't the fingers or vocabulary to write up dialogue as good as the one guy has been doing, but we want to know what happened in her little vision quest. What's the deal with the dragon.

And since it probably wasn't a dragon but rather a Chinese clairvoyant, does she know any powerful ones, or any word of a clairvoyant from Chinatown.

"He choked me you know." she cries.

"I could see him reaching out to me all the way from Manhattan. And he just sat there drinking his damn tea like the limey fuck he is. Or maybe he's that other kind of limey that live with the teadrinkers, maybe that's why I saw his astral form as a dragon."

"All I know is that as soon as I started sending out signals for crystals and that man called O'Leary, some dragon flew back into the room after me and choked me to death." Clarissa looks at you with fear in her face, still afraid despite being dead "He smiled. I've never seen a dragon smile."

"Not much more I can say or find out, Duke."

"Please. Please, just let me go. Don't...you know...please?"

>>13799377
"Know what, bitch? I ain't got time for riddles. Talk plain and I'll let you go. Shit, I'll even give you a push in the right direction."

>>13799377
So we've got an Englishman working out of China town. Could be an opium user, sitting around in an opium den. Since Laudanum helped Clarissa, maybe he uses plain old opium to the same effect, sitting in a stupor and working security for things people don't want getting out?

>>13799377
"Begone with ye then, woman. I'll not be slowin' you down."

Dismiss her and see if we can scrape our more worldly contacts for info. This is some real shit.

>>13799388
She told us pretty clearly everything she knew, it's not a riddle. An englishman or chinaman, from Manhattan, likely chinatown.

>>13799377
How will I know him, Clarissa? Man's not walking around with a dragon sign. I need something more than some limey from Manhattan.

Then you can go. Before you do, if you've any will and testament this is your last chance to say it. Anything not too strenuous I'll see done, since you died workin' for me.

>>13799449
I like that. Performing deeds for the dead. Makes us seem more in tune with the entire process of death.

>>13799472
Now, mind, we're a mob boss here. We aren't going to go around solving every ghost's problem.

But yeah, if she died working for us I don't see why not. It will give impetus to those who work for us in the future if they know we'll take care of them if they die doing stuff for us. Give respect to those who die for us and we'll get respect from those who are still living working for us.

>>13799472
Thirded.
Let's deal with it, and do it appropriate like.

>>13799449
>>13799388
"He was powerful, Duke. That's how you'll know him. The astral plane can be a dangerous place and nobody travels as far as he did, as easily as did, without having serious power. He's a big player in whatever game it is you people play with each other."

When you offer to do something for her, her face breaks down, this final unexpected kindness after the stress she's gone through begins to make her lose her coherence.

As she fades away she says "I've got an envelope with money in it stashed in a compartment of my desk. If you could mail that to my daughter I'd be..." before she could end her sentence she's fully gone.

>>13799522
Yeah, might as well do it. Put a note in there with it saying something to the effect of, "Your mother sends her regards, and is sad that she isn't in this world herself to give them to you."

>>13799497
I agree. This is strictly for the souls of those who are working for or close to us. We can't go around doing favors for every dead soul out there.

>>13799522
If he can, give her a gentle little push down the path.

Then get up and make sure no one is watching us. Brush away the summoning circle. No one needs to know our magic.

Go into the office and get the envelope. We'll check it out later. After that we need to clear our before any cops come around.

>>13799557
That should depend on the amount of money. We could keep the entire thing. Could skim some off the top for ourselves and send her the rest.

>>13799522
Well, that's that. Get up. "Rest in peace, Clarissa."

Go back to her place. Hopefully there aren't any cops or anyone there; you'll want to get in, find her daughter's address and the cash, and get that done as quickly as possible. If you don't get it now odds are someone will find it when investigating her effects, and they'll likely just pocket it, considering how people think.

>>13799567
>If he can, give her a gentle little push down the path.
Only if it's completely free and doesn't take any effort for us, which I doubt. We're already doing the last will thing, she can make her own way in the afterlife.

Let's speed things up just a little bit so we can gloss over the small things:

> Brush away the summoning circle. No one needs to know our magic.

done

>Go into the office and get the envelope. Put a note in there with it saying something to the effect of, "Your mother sends her regards, and is sad that she isn't in this world herself to give them to you." Send it.

done

>>13796767
What's your next move?

>>13799593
Okay, finish the walk of our territory and see if there are any problems. Then call a meeting with our underlings and tell them there's maybe some shit brewin' and we're going to be convincing an Irishman to talk with us tonight.

>>13799593
Great. Now get back to our turf and make a full report to our boss. We've looked into this matter and determined that it involves major players; that means this is no longer solely our call, but an Outfit matter.

>>13799609
Before telling our underlings more than they might need to know, take the intel to our boss. He might know more than we do already.

>go to underlings and gear up for war and irishman hunting
>go to boss, report and plan counter-moves.

voting begins now

>>13799609
Errr, addendum: In case it wasn't clear, that means we'll wait for the O'Leary to show up in Harlem then send our boys to bring him to have a chat with us in, say, a diner that is closed for the night.

Diners are a good place for this because they have lots of sharp implements and apparatuses that get very hot, plenty of tables, and are already made to be easy to clean up after customers... which makes it easy to clean up after other things too.

Also, they are usually set apart from places people sleep, so noise doesn't bother anyone.

>>13799650
Call our boys, tell them to be alert. Don't tell them intel.

Talk to boss before doing anything drastic.

>>13799635
>>13799615
Remember guys, we're never going to move up the ranks if we tell our boss every little thing. We need to show:
1. Initiative
2. Competence
3. Ability to do things on our own

If we're lucky we'll eventually take our boss's job, either as he moves up to the Big Boss's position, as he's killed in a gang war, or promoted over him.

Right now we don't have enough info to tell the big bosses anything. Once we pump O'Leary for information we'll know enough, hopefully. But right now all we know is "there are powerful dudes out there who want things."

And really, that's hardly news.

>>13799668
Yeah. But taking action without our boss' knowledge could sour a whole lot of deals. Maybe our Outfit is actually doing some business with this O'Leary. or with this Limey motherfucker. Or maybe they know stuff already and someone else is already doing things.

We're a middle manager right now. Possibly starting a war without authorization will get out throat slit, and get our everliving spirit devoured by some kind of fucking devil.

>But taking action without our boss' knowledge could sour a whole lot of deals. Maybe our Outfit is actually doing some business with this O'Leary. or with this Limey motherfucker.
I'm calling bullshit. That ain't how it works. If there are truces going on then trust me, underlings get TOLD and know not to mess with the guys. And if O'Leary was here with permission we would sure as hell know, it's our turf and you always tell a boss about guests coming onto his turf. Because if you don't, well, they can get stuff like we are about to perpetrate done to them.

We seem to have 2 people calling for unilateral action and 1 guy asking for UN approval.

Proceeding with the calling up of the troops in next post.

>>13799726
Fuck it, let's do it. Let's fuck bitches up.

>>13799713
In summary: Mob hierarchy works a lot like the military. You know when there are exceptions to the rules happening, and if you kill some diplomatic envoy because you weren't told about it then it's on your boss's head... unless of course the boss told everyone but you in order to set you up for a fall. But if you fail to keep punks out of your territory then you are a weak motherfucker, same for if you run to the boss for every little thing.

>>13799742
I've come to your point of view. And if shit goes down, then we can take our immediate superior's head for it.

Ellington, what do we know about Olukwele? Is he down with the magic?

>>13799738
Eh, first step is intimidation and interrogation. If he squeals and tells us what we want to know we might send him back to his boss. Or we might just stick him and leave him for dead on principle for trying to shoe in on our territory. Any time you stick your nose into another family/gang's territory you best be prepared for the worst, because nobody takes that kindly.

FUCK, almost forgot.

Before we go all full on war, summon the would be killer kid and interrogate his spirit.

>>13799793
I was thinking we would do that later on tonight, after we get this pressing business taken care of. That's a long-standing grudge, and we'll want the retaliation to be in public anyway. Which means tomorrow during the daytime, so the spirit doesn't need to be around for a while.

Besides, he's just a thug who got expended. I doubt he knows much.

You walk some more around the grey zone and notice Lawrence Freeman eyeing you hard as you walk back into your stronghold.

Every time that he tries something and you walk through his plans unscathed and looking like a badass, it's an insult to him. It's no longer just business, or the game to him, it's personal and he can't wait until the day when he has you tied up in a chair and your mind open to his.

You head to a chess parlour that everyone knows is your office. You pass the same old men playing chess out front that you always do, overhearing them discussing modern music and how it doesn't compare to stuff from their day, and head inside.

Inside your big office are Randy and Big Jim. Randy sits on a chair, stretched out and juggling two knives like it's child's play. He -was- a child and he was playing so maybe it does count as child's play. Big Jim is stretched out on a sofa, snoring like an out of tune trombone.

Randy spots you, so he snatches the knives out of the air and sheaths them in one smooth move. He smiles at you, and you wonder if he practised that just to impress you, a typical teenager seeking adult approval while disdaining it or maybe you were thinking about it too hard.

"What's up, boss?" he asks eagerly.

>>13799817
"Work tonight. Head over to outside Squeaky's and keep a lookaround for an Irishman. Big Jim and I will meet you there with some muscle. Keep it easy and don't let him know you're there."

>>13799817
A question on our powers: How able to affect things is a ghost? What can they do, and what can they not do? If we summon several ghosts, do they split our power or are they just as strong as if we'd summoned them alone?

These are important issues when making plans.

>>13799858
Emphasis on the keep it easy. We don't want to be starting trouble in Squeaky's place if we can help it.

>>13799765
Yes, Olukwele is down with the magic. Nobody knows how powerful he is because calling him secretive is like calling the Hulk ever so slightly peeved. He's ridiculously old but looks like a man in his 50s. The other two bosses, that are theoretically on the same level as Olukwele, always defer to him because frankly they're terrified of him and so is anyone else that has any good sense. Olukwele is the heir apparent to the Big Boss. Whereas you know all the players in Harlem and their agendas and how to play them against each other, Olukwele has his eyes on the whole of New York and even stretches of New Jersey, as well as contacts abroad that are the ones he uses to smuggle the vast majority of illegal liquor running through Harlem.

>>13799865
Dammit OP I am at my girlfriend's tonight so I can't stick around long but you sure as hell better continue this quest in the future because it is beautiful.

>>13799865
Looks like we aren't challenging Olukwele for a while, if ever.

Question, how much do we like him? Is he good to us, respectful, that kind of thing.

>>13799865
Any idea what kind of magic he does?

I think a more important question is:

Are the police and Feds down with the magic?

So yeah, send Randy down to Squeaky's. Have him wait until O'Leary shows up, and have him call us when he does.

Warn Randy not to move too fast. Don't take action until we get there or he's gonna pay for it. Dearly.

>>13799878
Equally important question, what does he think of us?

Also: Is someone who can detect, then reach out and astrally shred random mystics above, on par with, or below what we'd vaguely peg as his power level?

>>13799895
Of course they are. I imagine every mid level boss and upwards has some trinkets around his businesses to keep their eyes off, and every criminal likely has the same on their person at all times.

>>13799860
> How able to affect things is a ghost?
A newly dead ghost can't affect shit. A ghost that's been dead for a few months can affect the real world as much as any human, but they don't do it for extended amounts of time because it's like running the final hour of a marathon for them.

>What can they do, and what can they not do?
If you summon an experienced ghost it can possess someone of your choice. It can affect the material world. It can spy for you and overhear things of your choosing.

>If we summon several ghosts, do they split our power or are they just as strong as if we'd summoned them alone?
It does split your power. You can safely summon three or four ghosts and bind them simultaneously but any more and you're using vital life forces in your body to keep them bound. Their own power however remains the same regardless of how many you summon. E.G. Clarissa only appeared young because you injected energy into her, her neutral state being as an old woman, however she would have learned to make herself young eventually.

Make sense?

>>13799915
So the longer they're dead the more experienced/powerful they are, but the more power we have to put into bringing them back from their "journey". Got it.

>>13799928
And we can only summon a ghost for the first year after their death.

I'm assuming that time limit is lifted in special cases. Such as a ghost that can't "move on" and is stuck in a certain place. A ghost haunting a mansion or something like that.

Question. As a necromancer, would we be able to, uh, suck the life from people and use it to keep ourselves alive well beyond our natural limits? It seems to be a pretty obvious application of our powers, and our boss has clearly been keeping himself young through the decades somehow....

>>13799950
Leach life seems like something that would be able to do that, but we didn't pick that.

Maybe once we're older and more experienced we can learn to do that in addition to our current powers.

>>13799911
>>13799883
Olukwele sees you as a capable man with serious potential. You're not quite sure what kind of magic he does but you know that he has prophetic abilities because in a quiet moments together when you've been planning he's referred to future events that he would take advantage of that he would have no possible way of knowing unless he had some ability towards that direction.

How you see him is up to you.

Ellington, I love this setting. Plz to let us have some sort of rum-runner modified car mission at some time.

>>13799963
Well, reserving our judgement until we meet him then.

>>13799963
I say that we respect and fear him. Respect him for his calm and professional demeanor, and fear him because we figure if we tried anything against him he'd see it coming.

We'd be loyal to him for as long as he were competent. And we figure he'd be a good boss. And we think that when he goes higher, he'll take us with him.

>>13799979
Me too, man! THIS SETTING IS DA BOMB! I haven't used Da Bomb since fucking 1995, man. But fuck!

>>13799950
Yes. I was offering Leech Life lvl 3 as a starter before. You could gain Leech Life lvl 1 pretty easily by just attempting to use it, which you haven't needed to admittedly. Upgrading that would take practice or ingenious use.

Moving on with story:
Randy hops at your orders and says he'll head to Squeaky's and keep an eye out for the Irishman. Randy will grab one of the runnerboys and send him to you telling you exactly when the Irishman arrives, while Randy stays to keep an eye on him while you and Big Jim arrive.

Now you and Big Jim are alone in the room with some time to kill while you wait for the Irishman to arrive at Squeaky's.

>>13799986
How can you say anything about what we feel for him without having ever met him?

I have a suspicion that our big boss, Papa, is some kind of Voodoo priest. And if he is, I am pretty sure it will be amazing.

>>13799995
Welp, that's boring. Let's whistle up that poor kid while we wait and get him to tell us everything he once knew.

>>13799995
Let's play a game of chess with him and see if he knows anything about what's been going on.

>>13799995
I vote that we try to get our life leech leveled up. It sounds all kind of useful, from having living mana batteries in combat with us to keeping us alive through assassination attempts and even keeping us a swinging young man who loves the ladies well into our three-hundreds.

This is just to quickly say I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this. I wasn't sure you guys would bite when I first posted but you've really gotten into the spirit of things.

>>13799997
While we the players haven't met him, the character of Duke has. Since Ellington hasn't said anything one way or another, and since he's used our input to build on the story pretty well, I'm assuming he'll take bits of what we add and use them in the story.

Anyway: Talk with Jim. We need to make him more loyal. Consult his advice. Even if it isn't very good, it may make him feel more a part of "the team". Though it may boost his ego and make him think he's more valuable than he is.

Either way, tell him our plan. Which I assume is grabbing O'Leary and getting some information out of him. Hard if need be.

>>13800027
Man, this setting is fucking great.

>>13799995
Send Big Jim out to get a couple muscles to back us up. We don't know what we're going to be facing, so we might as well have a couple goons with us.

While he's doing that let's summon the ganger kid.

2 votes to summon the kid and 2 votes to interact with Jim so far. The next one decides.

>>13800041
Agreed.

If he can wrangle up a few toughs, then I think the confrontation should go as follows. Randy is in the bar already, us and Jim come in. The other toughs stay outside and guard the door.

>>13800053
Send Jim out for thugs and summon the kid.

>>13799999
Oh shit that sounds good.

Ellington, any idea on what Papa can do? Or is he a complete mystery?

>>13800018
This one is easy so I'll just bang it out.

You sit across from Jim and look at him really closely, you begin to see the energy within him and you slowly try to bring some of it towards you. Jim yawns and says "Scuse me."

GAINED LIFE LEECH (lvl 1) - you now have the ability to heal scratches and bruises. If you're already healthy and use it you get a little bit stronger and gain a little bit of stamina.

>>13800059
How awesome would it be if Papa is really a several hundred year old african shaman who was enslaved and taken to the cane fields in Haiti, then learned voodoo, bought his way out of slavery, and set up this criminal empire.

I put forth that it would qualify as /really/ awesome.

>>13800084
I am really hoping that Ellington takes that and runs with it.

>>13800059
Duke doesn't know but I want to tell you guys because you did a good job of guessing. You're right. He's a voodoo guy. That's all I'm saying though.

Next post: sending away jim, summoning kid

>>13800102
Well calling him Papa didn't leave much to guess.

You talk with Jim and bring him up to date on what's happened during the day.

"Oh jeez boss am I glad to hear you say that." he says in relief. You give him a raise an eye brow at his response and he adds "Word on the street is you killed some punk kid and then was so angry that you walked into Aunt Clarissa's and killed her too. I thought that didn't make sense but you made it all clear for me."

With the smile of an idiot relieved of a complicated burden, Jim walks out to round up some muscle.

Meanwhile, you head into a separate room in the building that Jim and Randy aren't allowed to enter. On opening the door you see the familiar site of the circle on the ground, drawn with your own blood, the symbols surrounding the circle actually physically carved onto the floor. It's beautiful. This is where you do the heavy lifting of your work, your inner sanctum where you spend your time summoning older and older ghosts working on controlling them and controlling your powers.

In comparison summoning the newly dead kid that you killed earlier is a piece of cake. Place the hair in the circle, and just by using residual energy in the room from the last time you were there you call out with your mind to the kid and he appears as he was before. Standing before you, mute and resigned.

>>13800136
Good point but it could've been short for Papa Smurf for all you know!

>>13800159
"Now listen up, Blood. You're gonna talk, and you're gonna talk fast. If you don't, then you're gonna be wishin' I'd killed you so bad there was nothing left to call you back here. Now I want you to tell me everything. And I mean fuckin' ev-re-thang."

>>13800159
"Listen brother, after you're dead there ain't no reason to keep silent, 'specially when was your own who sent you there. I just pulled the trigger. Can do pleasant, or can do hard. Either way, I'm getting what I'm wantin' out ov' ya.

What'd you do to piss off the boss, and what's he been up to lately that I might want to be known?"

>>13800189
>Now listen up, Blood
Seriously? This is New York in the twenties, not LA in the 80's.

>>13800181
Voodoo Papa Smurf? Casting curses and making voodoo dolls of Gargamel?

I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

>>13800195
>>13800189
The kid smiles sadly.

"What's there to say? I tried to steal from the numbers pot and I got caught. Freeman decided that instead of killing me straight away he'd get me to try to kill you. He threatened to have my two younger brothers killed if I didn't."

"Oh boy does he hate you. See how he plays it all like a cool cat when he outside? It's all an act. A show. All the guys know when he's inside he spends his time raging about you and giving himself near on heart attacks with his craziness. It's gotten so insane you can't even say the word Duke without him losing it."

"If I were you I'd watch my back. He might just say fuck the consequences and just try to take you on himself."

- Thread now archived

>>13800252
"What say to having a little revenge, then? You go spy on him for me until I get around to taking him down, and in exchange if you hear any plans to off your brothers I'll see what I can do about it."

>>13800252
"Oh, I know he's a twitchy one, but that's not what I'm gettin' at. The knuckles, kid. Where did you get them- or where did HE get them? Those were no cheap trick."

>>13800252
"You think he'll take care of your brothers? One or or the other? I could always give them a bit of work. Give them a bit of safety."

>>13800264
>>13800276
Combine these! OH MAN, COMBINE THESE! Assuming Freeman can't sense ghosts, try to get him to agree to a "contract" of him spying on him for us, and in exchange we'll look after his brothers.

>>13800264
"You got yourself a deal, Mr. Duke. And I'm...I'm sorry I tried to kill you, ok? Weren't nothing personal. I'll trust your word on that thing about my brothers."

>>13800267
"I don't know where he got them. He's got some other toys he keeps in a backroom somewhere. I think he gave me them to me because they're just powerful enough to maybe kill you but not so powerful that you'd get an edge on him of you recovered them from me."

>>13800290
No sense in paying twice man, he might be fine with us only taking action if they get into trouble. I would rather not babysit them forever. Also keep in mind we DID shoot their brother in the head. I don't want them working for us.

>>13800252

>>13800301
"It's all in the game, kid. Can't take anything personal. That's why he's weak. Why he's gonna lose. You keep yourself steady, Kid."

GAINED: UNDERLING - Chandler Raymonds. A punk kid you killed that has agreed to work for you for a time as a ghost, to spy on your enemies for you on the understanding that you keep his brothers safe if he finds out they're in danger. Because he's a free ghost who you haven't bound he can show initiative and do things on his own away from you and for extended periods of time without having to constantly rebind and set the parameters of his mission to him.

>>13800322
Yes, he so mad. And that's good. Gives us rep if even the other side knows we're awesome enough to drive him crazy like that.

Good deal with the kid's ghost. Now we just wait for the muscle to get here and then head out for the speakeasy.

Tell me Ellington, how long will it take to get some real skill in Life Leech? Or level up our other powers? And what are the levels like, roughly? I would prefer to know roughly what we can do before focusing into those areas.

are there any old ghosts who can give us reliable information that we can summon? Or would that do no good?

>>13800333
Heh, I like this. Smooth, cool, confident. Badass.

>>13800301
"You tell me what else he's got in that room, 'fyou get the chance. Now, git along."

>>13800360
For now let's not worry about that. We can summon and bind them to tell us shit later on. For now we want to pump the O'Leary source.

>>13800398
we've got tons of time before we have to deal with O'Leary, if we've got a reliable source of info we can call up we might as well find out which questions we should be asking when we get ahold of O'Leary

>>13800413
I'm saying not now because do you REALLY want to spend a large amount of power and stamina summoning and binding an old ghost then walk into a possible fight with someone who has backing like we've already seen?

We can do that after we've taken care of the situation that involves potential use of our powers.

>>13800360
Yeah, my guess would be that as a dedicated summoner we've already got a lot of ghosts that we know of and have a working relationship with. Depending on how hard the one year limit is- that journey description makes it seem that if we pull a ghost back, they'll have the time limit for summoning them reset, so we could have the same ghost servants/friends for years at a time as long as we stayed on their good side.

>>13800413
We know enough to ask Leary about:

Who he's working for.
Crystals.
English limey dragon bastard.
Chinatown.

And then we can let him bleed if we want. Or suck some life out of him.

OH MAN, Ellington. How about this. While doing some life leech, we command, "Sleeeeeeeep." Causing temporary unconsciousness. Fits within the confines. I figure it would take some effort and training first though.

>>13800350
You're close to achieving level four in Summoning because you've used it quite a bit in the thread. That means you can summon older ghosts soon (3 year old ones). Also once you get level four Summoning a new skill opens up which is Rip, that involves ripping people's souls out of their bodies. Level one of that is only temporary which makes them unconscious and then normal again when their soul re-enters their body. Higher levels of Rip will lead to insta-death. Clear?

Increasing spell power is just a matter of using them. Same thing with Life leech, eventually you can leech more and more out of people and make yourself harder, better stronger, faster, etc, like Daft Punk say.

Let's not do anything else for now. Let's sit back and wait for a call. Maybe have a drink and a smoke.

>>13800428
good point, if we don't get anything good from O Leary then we can try more summoning tonight or tomorrow morning

>>13800445
>Also once you get level four Summoning a new skill opens up which is Rip, that involves ripping people's souls out of their bodies.
...

Once their souls are out of their bodies, they'll be loose, right? And, say, exposed to complete devouring with Life Leech?

>>13800440
Nah. If we capture him and he doesn't talk we should bind his soul while he's still alive. Force him to tell us everything, and even go back to his masters and report back before the binding wears off.

>>13800468
Errr, report back to us that is. We send his puppeted self back to his masters to gather information, then report back to us.

>>13800438
>>13800360
Yes. You routinely walk through local cemetaries and the obituaries for recently dead and then you collect samples of their hair for yourself. Let's say you've got a small folder full of hairs that you've collected that are people you can summon. You've got little profiles on each dead person.

If you write a profile (a reasonable one) we can say that it's one you got out of your little folder, e.g. 5 months ago you collected the hair of a dead accountant and you occasionally call him up to look through your books and then use your own energy to give him a boost back to where he was on his journey. As long as it's not incredibly overpowered and is a fun concept, I'll roll with it.

>>13800445
We've been completely ignoring a third faction in all of this- the fuzz. What are the po-po and G-men doing at this time? They can't all be corrupt, and it would suck if they interrupted our war with the other gang.

Also, if there's word on the street about us being associated with Aunt Clarissa's death, then the guy who killed her knows we were the ones snooping around.

do we have any dead irish cops or dutch gangsters on file? It wouldn't hurt to do a little background on O'Leary

Jim has arrived with four nameless henchmen. All of them short, muscular and ugly. They look like between the four of them they could probably do the multiplication tables up to the number three, four at best.

>>13800483
That sounds cool.

Advice OP: You should take care not to let us go overboard with powers. You don't want us to be like a telephone book with the ability to do everything. You have to impose some limits. For instance, most of the stuff we do should focus on necromantic magic. That seems pretty fair. I mean, telekinesis and stuff would be cool for a while, but it would detract from Duke being a necromancer and he would become boring.

If on the other hand, we're a motherfucking boss with a near complete control over death, then that is one badass motherfucker.

>>13800493
Speaking of which, when we go to the speakeasy we should clarify what happened with Clarissa to Squeaky. Tell him that you don't like things being taken the wrong way, and all. Let all the usual gossips know too. We have a reputation to uphold, can't be seen as going around killing old ladies for no reason.

>>13800497
Give each of them a five spot and twenty to Jim for doing the legwork. Offer them a seat and tell them to keep their heads clear until we get word.

>>13800497
"hey Jimmie, lets play some chess and talk while we wait for the mick to show his face."

>>13800497
Give them a little smile. "Good ta see y'all. Have a seat, take a drink, play some cards. I'll pass the word when it's time for work."

>>13800497
What do we know about their loyalties? If Big Jim isn't that loyal to begin with, I don't want to get jumped once we're in the thick of it.

>>13800502
I can see telekinesis via us using our binding to bind little tiny spirits of inanimate objects and get them to do stuff, like fling the thing they are a spirit of across the room.

Assuming inanimate objects have spirits here.

>>13800509
>>13800508
>>13800511
all of these

>>13800520
I don't think we have to worry about that. We've got a bit more of a reputation than Jim. Plus we've got the money and influence.

Don't tell them now, but if they do good work tonight, tell them afterwards that we'll keep them in mind for future business.

You left your inner sanctum a while ago, after sending out Chandler to do your bidding.

You're sitting around shooting the shit with Jim and the boys when a young boy runs in through the chess parlor and to your office.

"Randy said that I should say that he said you should get comin cos "a white boy with a droopy tits and an ugly tache is causing a ruckus." ok?"

>>13800520
No henchman would do that. You do NOT jump the boss in the middle of a fight, otherwise the boss's boss will have you dead before the day is out.

We don't have to worry about Big Jim turning on us in the middle of a fight. The middle of a deal? Or even us just sitting around doing standard racketeering stuff? Yeah, then. But not in the middle of defending gang turf.

>>13800524
Using ghosts to move things and tricking people by implying that we might be telekinetic sounds cool.

But actually being telekinetic in anyway, I feel, cheapens being a necromancer.

>>13800531
with a toothy grin turn to the men and tell them its time to earn their money

>>13800531
Well, that's... not what was expected, but enough to call us out, I think. "Good work, chile. Drop the cards, boys, it's time to get going."

>>13800531
Sounds good.

Tell the boys it's time to go. Us, Jim and Two of them come in. The other two stay out. Make sure they're armed and to keep anyone outside.

>>13800531
Flip the kid two bits, that's like 5 or 6 bucks in our currency today. Then let's haul ass over to the speakeasy.

You tip the runner boy who gives you a grin that shows lots of gaps and he runs off, ready to claim to the world what a great man you are. It seems like tipping well pays off.

After you make your pronouncement you, Jim and the boys walk through the streets of Harlem looking like you're going to war. Quite the sight. People can tell you mean business and cross the road to make way for you. They don't know who the hell pissed you off but they do not want to be in that person's shoes.

When you arrive at Squeaky's you tell two men to stand at the door and order two others to come in with you as well as Jim. Randy is waiting just inside and points out the only white man in a room filled with black people. It's O'Leary.

O'Leary is standing over a small woman with his finger pointing at her face making hard gestures, his words lost over the buzz of the room.

Your move, Duke.

make sure we take the magic knuckle-duster with us just in case shit gets serious and we don't want to make it a fist fight.

>>13800579
Move up behind him, our minions flanking us. Then just stand there until he notices us and see which way he jumps.

>>13800579
How subtle can energy drain be? I want to suck a bit of his juice without him or anybody else knowing.

>>13800502
Thanks for the advice man. I'll definitely keep that in mind. Nothing ruins fun like everything being too easy or ending up as an overpowered tank that just blows through everything and everyone without being challenged.

Grip the knuckledusters in our pocket. Keep them ready to use if'n we need to fast. Good idea to keep them prepared.

Reach out from behind him and set our palm on his shoulder. Leech a little bit of life out of him. Get his defenses down. Get him weary and weak. And introduce ourselves.

"Now tell me, Irish. What're you lookin' for around these parts?"

>>13800581
>>13800591
These sound good. Seconding.

Maybe if he doesn't notice us quickly enough we tap him on the shoulder and say, "Problem?"

>>13800597
oh god, can we suck his energy out so he calms down and stops arguing?

>>13800597
Very subtle and won't notice, if he's a non-magician.

If he's a magician he'll notice that you tried, slap away your attempt to drain him and peg you as an enemy.

>>13800609
>>13800602
>>13800597
Suck Lifeforce Mind.

I'll agree to this. Don't touch him or anything, just slowly pull at him until he notices us. Or if he's a magician himself, do the whole "ominously loom over from behind him" thing.

>>13800616
better not try then, no knowing if an irishmen might be the limey fuck who killed my hairdresser

>>13800616
He also seems drunk, which, even if he's a magician, might render his perceptions a bit dull. Maybe?

>>13800616
Belay that, then. We don't want him turning and trying to blast us with a .45 or something.

Just loom threateningly with our muscle behind us. "Problem here, sir?"

>>13800622
An Irish thug cop nosing around a dive doesn't seem like the type to be labeled a "limey" who hangs around Chinatown sending out astral dragons.

>>13800623
He's not drunk, just a naturally pugnacious guy.

To Leech
Or Not To Leech

that is the question. vote.

>>13800579
Ask in that very polite, yet oh-so-dangerous way that implies 'you do not want to fuck with me or else it will be one of the last things that you do',

"Hey, O'leary. I heard there was a bit of a ruckus goin' on here. I just want things to go smooth... what's driving you all skeevy in my place?"

>>13800638
No. We don't want him thinking we are trying to attack him yet if he is a wizard. Best to keep with the standard intimidation for now.

>>13800638
Hold off for now. Wait to see how he responds. Keep our hand wrapped in the knuckle dusters though, ready to throw down fast if needed.

Depending on how he responds to us, also prepare to suck some energy out of him. But not right away.

>>13800638
Leech

>>13800638
We're here for him anyways. What's not to gain by at least attempting to leech him?

yeah, no leeching. All smiles and charm ask him if theres a problem here, leave the looming to the dumb muscle

>>13800639
1. We don't address him by name yet. That will tip him off that we are looking for/know about him.
2. You NEVER say it's your place. It's an illegal bar. You don't fucking claim it, what if this is a sting operation?
3. Way too polite when he is wrecking shit on our turf. You act intimidating in times like this.

Don't leech yet. Introduce ourselves in an intimidatingly friendly manner and gauge how he reacts. If he starts to get belligerent, then try to drain him to calm him down.

>>13800655
Because he could be like "OH SHIT GETTING MAGICK ATTACKED" and turn around with his gun drawn and try to shoot us, that's why.

Alright, you guys seem to have gone for not leeching while I was posting.

Let's continue.

You stand behind O'Leary as he's haranguing the woman in front of him and you hear him as he trails off and notices you.

"Listen to me ye ratfaced wee bitch. Ye know exactly who I'm talkin about and the less time you spend pretendin that ye don't is .... And who the fuck might you be, tall, dark and ugly? What manner of cunt did did the Cuntfairy drag in now?" O'Leary says angrily as he turns around and sees you. He completely ignores the guys behind you and pumps out his chest at you, almost forcing you into noticing the sheen of the golden star on the badge attached to his chest.

No leeching.
>"Now tell me, Irish. What're you lookin' for around these parts?"

Let's do this.

>>13800665
Hadn't thought of that, damn. Subtlety is good, I guess. I was still trying for intimidating, but that icy-calm cool variety that Samuel Jackson pulls off in pretty much every scene he's in.

>>13800678
Paddy. The correct term is paddy.

Or potato peasant.

>>13800678
agreed, and buy the woman a drink and send her off away from the conversation at hand. Its bad for business if Irish cops shake down our customers.

>>13800322
Hahaha, this is hilarious and sorry for taking so long to notice. You got me good.

>>13800676
This is why you don't say "HEY THIS IS MY PLACE."

Smile, ice cold. "I'm called Duke. Heard that some mick was down here causing problems. That wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

Look down at his star and back up. "Find that in a cracker jack box?"

This is now the official portrait of Duke.

>>13800712
Sigh. Came off wrong. Look down and then look back up. Not look down and step back.

>>13800713
"I aint buildin' no bookcase"
i laughed so hard when i saw that scene

>>13800676
I think we need to step up our intimidation. He has no respect.

"I'm the man that whupped Sunday, trashed Monday, and put Tuesday in the hospital. I don't like it when there's unneeded ruckus around these fine folks. So what's going on?"

>pic related

This is a fantastic thread, and a shining example of why /tg/ exists. Just a heads up.

Man, this is a cop. That said, nobody sends a lone cop into Harlem to rough people up. Do you know why?

Because when they first tried sending lone cops on patrols into Harlem, none of them ever came back.

>>13800759
hes obviously here as more than a cop. One white man in a room full of black gangsters is either very well protected, very powerful, or very stupid

>>13800777
>areyouawizard.jpg

>>13800741
>>13800712
"Ah, so then you're the one they call Duke, would you be?" he says, a knowledgable and calculating glint entering his eyes. "They say you run these parts like they're your fiefdom, like you're a... Duke" he snorts, "Well you listen to me, boy, you're nothing but a jumped up wee gobshite and you'd better mind your step or me and my "cracker jack box" friends will take you and yours off to where you belong."

O'Leary steps up right into your face. "Do you understand me, necromancer? That's right, I know exactly what you are you sick deviant bastard."

>>13800777

>>13800788
Facepunch.

>>13800713
>>13800733
>>13800777

First of all what a fucking awesome show and character and that line, my god! Secondly, Mr. 777, you are a genius and have earned my never ending respect.

>>13800788
"You might have some 'cracker jack box' friends, but you ain't workin' for them."

Pause for effect

"What are you really up to here, and why shouldn't I kick you out like any other drunken fool?"

>>13800798
Thank you.

And now, act cool and collected. Put our hand on his shoulder, even if he tries to avoid it. Drain some fucking life out of that bastard.

"That's a dirty word, Irish. You need to calm the fuck down when you're in Harlem. Don't you know that?" Smile and shake our head. "Or don't they teach you that before they send you out?"

Show him our teeth. "Are you a betting man, Irish? Cause I am. And I bet that we both know that it wasn't your potato eating bosses that sent you out here tonight."

>>13800788
no facepunch, grab him by his fingers and twist them painfully, possibly combined with a kick to the knee to put him on the ground. When hes there smile wide and say calmly "I'm lotsa things Irish, but a whore aint one of them and you'd do well do show some more respect"

OH SHIT GUYS, check out the OP's first post

>Necromancer is a dirty word used by white folks to try to keep down you down and maintain their power base.. Anyone uses the N word around you finds themselves dead and their ghost enslaved.

We can't let this guy walk away once we're done with him. It's the principle.

>>13800788
I don't think that we should fight him with anything but insults.

1. He's white in the middle of Harlem, and he's actually being an asshole. This means he has backup somewhere.
2. He's a cop in the middle of Harlem, that means he has backup somewhere.
3. He's threatening a necromancer ganglord on his own turf. That means he has backup somewhere.
4. Remember guys, this is before integration or Jim Crow was abolished.

Still, racial slur time.

"Didn't think a Paddy could pronounce that word. I guess you got off the ship early enough to run to school a few times before getting your mick wife knocked up."

>>13800832
Fuck that man. Do you have any idea how many white cops vanished into Harlem never to be seen again?

Like you said, this is before integration or Jim Crow going away. That means that we could gut him right here and nobody would see a thing.

>>13800818
I like where this is going.

>>13800832
Exactly. Nobody said, "Stop snitching," because nobody *was*. Heavy racial divisions.

>>13800832
kind of agreed, we can kill him, but we better wait for it.

I like the idea of putting a hand on his shoulder and draining as much life as we possibly can from while we tell him to be careful what he says

Just summarising the options you guys came up with:
1 - Hand on shoulder life force drain while trying to ask who really sent him
2 - Punch to the face
3 - Break his finger while demanding respect

Any more or shall we vote?

>>13800864
im with number 1 for now, no need to get violent i suppose

>>13800864
Option 1. If it works, it weakens him and it's subtle. Gives us a better chance of finding out what he knows.

If he's magical and it's hindered, then we know that, and we're no worse off than we were, except that he'd be aware we tried shit, which we have to assume he'd expect anyway. I say we go for it.

>>13800864
I vote #1- but b/c he called us a necromancer, I don't think that O'leary should get out of this alive.

>>13800864

Option 1, less obviously aggressive.

>>13800864
>Hand on shoulder life force drain while trying to ask who really sent him

At first I was against the hand, but then it made perfect sense. If he just backs down then we "got lucky". If we put a hand on his shoulder and suddenly he's woozy and not feeling too good and oh i think ill sleeeeepppp noooowwww...

Well, in that case we're a massive badass.

Hand on shoulder, drain him hard if we can.

OH SHIT OP, I JUST REALIZED THE CHARACTER NAME IS DUKE AND YOUR NAME IS ELLINGTON.

Fuck am I stupid.

>>13800879
hey, he'll end up dead eventually no matter what. We're in no hurry here, but if an opportunity presents itself we shouldnt hesitate.

>>13800887
You just noticed that? Well prepared to have your mind blown. Our rival is Lawrence Freeman.

Lawrence Fishburne
Morgan Freeman

>>13800891
Subtly draining him of energy will keep things calm and cool. I don't know about you, but I'd rather we take care of this quietly rather than watching it turn into a gunfight.

You put your hand on O'Leary's shoulder and begin to drain his energy, while you speak to him.

For a moment he yawns and it seems that he hasn't noticed but then his eyes widen and he shouts "Ye sneaky fucking rat bastard, try to steal my life will you?" And suddenly what little energy you took from him slams right back into place and O'Leary draws a gun suddenly from his side and points it at your face.

Randy, Jim and the two boys behind you draw their guns and simultaneously cock them at O'Leary.

"Nobody fucking move!" O'Leary shouts. "Anybody fucking moves and this ugly piece of shit here redecorates the ceiling with his dirty cunting blood!"

He called us a necromancer in our own place. Not cool, we can't let this slide.

Obviously drain the fuck out of him, let everyone see.

>>13800897
Yeah, I got that one right away. I also figured he got the inspiration from when Freeman played a similar character to ours in that one movie whose name I can't remember. Tim Roth played Dutch Shultz. Whatever.

>>13800903
Shake our head at him. "I'm disappointed, O'Leary. You should know, there's only one student of death in here. Now put that gun away before something bad happens."

Stare him dead in the eye. Use some of our magic power, plus any that we might have managed to hold onto from what we squeezed out of him, to increase the size and malicious nature of our "aura".

In short try to scare him. I got the idea from stuff like BG2 and the like. Fear spells are usually black magic. Thought it would be fitting. Maybe it will work, maybe not.

>>13800903
Oh god we're in deep shit if we handle this wrong. Ok just try to calm everyone down and keep a big toothy grin going. Where is the bartender? Any chance he or any of our other guys could get behind him unnoticed a break a bottle over his head or something?

>>13800903
Unfortunately for him, pointing a gun at someone's face is stupid as hell. You can knock it out of the way super easy.

Smile. "You just made a mistake."

Bind his soul. If we can't do that then drain some life from everyone within reach and use it to enhance our speed. Reach up and knock the gun upward, and while we are doing it try to snake one of our fingers behind the trigger so he can't fire.

If he gets a shot off or not, it's so blatantly stupid to hold a gun to someone's face. They can react and knock it out of the way well before you can pull the trigger.

>>13800903
We're at melee range. He is armed with a pistol. We are armed with a one-shot-kill punch.

We have the advantage. His reaction time is highly unlikely to be good enough to fire before we can dodge to the side and snap out our fist. Do it.

>>13800931
We can't rip his soul yet. That would be once we got our summoning/binding powers increased.

>>13800933
i think killing him is a worst-case scenario. It's much better to have this end with his ass kicked badly, it sends the right kind of message to all the people in the bar.

>>13800941
Killing him now might be a bad idea. But he has to die before the night is out. Cracker called us a Necromancer. Bitch gotta pay.

>>13800938
Not ripping it out of him. Just binding it while it's still in him. Hopefully we will be able to order him around like a puppet if it works.

Because honestly? A whole pick on "Binding" the ghosts we have summoned seems pretty ridiculous and limited if we can't play around like this with it. It's already more efficient to make deals with them.

>>13800933
This. Let's knuckle-punch him to death. He's at point-blank range, and we have the advantage in terms of dodging if he's still seated at the bar.

>>13800941
You don't think "point a gun at me and die within five seconds" is the right kind of message? Because it seems like just the kind of image I'd like to project.

>>13800948
Eh, good point, we can always call up his soul and bind it for answers.

Knuckles to the gut while we say some badass one liner like. "Nobody calls me a Necromancer on my turf."

Guys, I forgot to say that I saw this post and acknowledged it so that you're prepared (>>13800602). You've still got options. Talk it out. I'm going to make something to drink.

>>13800948
So it's either "that guy's a crazy loose cannon, killed three people today. Including a cop and an old hairdresser" Or "I don't care what your auntie Joanne says i don't think Duke would have killed Aunt Lissa, I saw a cop pull a gun on him and he just smiled and talked him down"

>>13800962
I say try a Fear spell to cower him, and if doesn't work, say something badass, but cool, like, "That's a bad word," and then blast him with the knuckles. You said earlier we, being more in tune with death magic, didn't even have to touch him with them.

>>13800964
Uh, why would that mean we wouldn't kill Clarissa? Because we didn't kill a cop with a gun in our face we... wouldn't kill an old woman? What? That makes no sense. One is actively dangerous to provoke, the other is an old lady.

No, I vote for either trying to puppet him with Bind or if we can't do that Knuckle him.

>>13800972
Just putting it out there, creating a Fear spell on the spot on the spot with your aura is acceptable since that's classically a necromancer feat. I don't know how far that would get you but just putting it out there that's a viable thing.

Proceed talking.

>>13800977
Oh shit. I say we try it then.

>>13800977
Eh, fear spell isn't going to cut it. He has a gun in our face after calling us a Necromancer and roughing up people in our bar.

Finish him. "Nobody calls me a Necromancer."

>>13800777
Holy mother of god

>>13800989
Yeah, I'm with this. He is a white man who has boldly strolled into Harlem and for some reason thinks that he can badmouth- and point weapons at- a known mid/high-level criminal there. The man obviously has no sense of fear, and no brain.

>>13800989
After we kill him buy a round of drinks for everyone. Say it's "In memory of Auntie Clarissa, who was killed by the man who bought this cop off."

If anyone here knows her family, hand them the envelope and tell them it was her last wish that this get to her daughter.

You know what I'd do if I was really fucking scared all of a sudden while holding a gun to someone's face?

I'd shoot. Seriously scaring a guy with a gun to our head is a terrible idea.

Just kill him with the knuckldusters, take some hair, and summon and bind him (because I doubt he'll voluntarily give us info) later.

Also binding will likely become more useful if we use it more.

Bind should

Ok, let's jump straight to voting on options:

1) Kill him dead with the knuckledusters instakill.
2) Try to talk him down while attempting a fear spell.
3) Drain life out of people sitting nearby and then try to physically take him down so you can question him later on after an ass beating, hoping that you'll be faster than him pulling the trigger.

>>13800977
<---This.

>>13801015
Fuck it. Take the honky out with the Chinese kid gloves.

>>13801011
I like this. It deals with the cop, gives us cred as a badass mofo, deals with the potentially bad Clarissa situation, and makes us look generous and a man of the people.

Perfect score, fatality!

>>13801015
Instakill. No hesitation. No warning. He just dies. If we can really project the death several feet out from the kuckledusters, do it without even moving or removing them from our jacket, so that it looks like he just suddenly dies to everyone else present.

Then we can make a pity comment and cement our legendary prowess in the mind of everyone here forever.

God damn, Harlem Quest is Best Quest.

Duke needs to become the best. Loved by the people. Feared by his enemies. Respected by everyone. And with the power to back it all up.

>>13801015
Option 1. Kill him.

Then do
>>13801011
to deal with the potential propaganda nightmare. Talk it up so that we portray ourselves as cleaning house and protecting them from people trying to come in and kill/rough up people under our protection.

Because, really, that's one of the things people expect after paying protection money.

>>13801039
Yessssssssssssssssss.

Ideally we'll never even move, just make a slight unnoticed punching motion inside our suit pocket.

O'Leary stands there looking triumphant.

"Look at you, big man. Big Duke, King of the fucking mountain, yeh? We'll you're a fucking joke matey and when my lot are done with you..."

As he stands there gloating at the success of his impromptu stand off, you focus on your hand and feel the energy swirling inside the knuckleduster. Surprisingly it feels like it has desires. It wants to be released to wreck havoc. All it wants from you is a slight nudge with your energy. A slight nudge, a bit of direction and it tells you that it will take them all on for you. All it wants is just a little of you.

And you give it.

Some green energy flies out from your pocket faster than anyone can see and uppercuts O'Leary so fast, so hard that it breaks his neck and severs his spinal chord in one blinding moment of speed and power. The green energy hovers around O'Leary for a few seconds as the Irishman falls to his knees. It almost feels like it's enjoying the moment in its swirls around the dead man, and then it dissipates.

""Nobody calls me a Necromancer on my turf."

You turn to the shocked people around and say "Drinks on me, people. In memory of Auntie Clarissa, who was killed by the man who bought this cop off."

It's immediately clear that everyone's relieved the cop wasn't here in official capacity. They promptly all decided to forget he had ever been there. O'Leary who?

>>13801044
>Duke needs to become the best.
Like no one ever was?

I'm not sure killing people without moving is something we want getting out. More of a hidden ability we don't show the general public. People will start avoiding us if they think we're too powerful, even if we are on their side.

>>13801070
Have Randy search his pockets. We're above doing that ourselves. Then have Jim help him take the body to a dumpster where Randy will dispose of it using his special "gift". After we take a lock of hair.

>>13801075
Are you kidding? Killing people without moving is awesome.

Take some hair and then have the muscle dispose of the body somewhere nobody will ever, ever find it. Send Randy to oversee the operation. Tell Big Jim to say in the speakeasy and his drinks are on us tonight, he just needs to keep an eye out. Tip our hat to Squeaky and head out.

We're summoning O'Leary.

>>13801098
For maximum awesome points we should also offer the girl who was getting roughed up a hand up, and chivalrously kiss her hand and give her a wink. If she's cute tell her to come around some time, we can have a bit to eat.

Then walk out.

Like the boss we are.

This is how I picture our boss looking.

>>13801116
Fuck. This is how I picture him.

>>13801106
Shit, the girl! I almost forgot about her.

She knows something that this guy wanted to know. We should indicate to her that we desire a chat. There's no way she'll say no after what we just did.

>>13801070
Glad we dealt with him.

>>13801070
When this story gets around we are going to be such an awesome dude in the community.

>>13801093
>>13801098
You indicate for the two boys, Randy and Jim to pick up the corpse and follow you into a back room.

You smile and tip your hat at the lady who was getting the tongue lashing from O'Leary and though she's still shocked and horrified at the sudden death she'd just witnessed, she is definitely pleased at your attentions. She introduces herself as Jackie and says she'll see you around...whenever you want.

Once you enter the room you grab a lock of of O'Leary's hair and then order Randy to take it outside and burn it to cinder like only he can. Unfortunately you found nothing in the man's pockets beside some chump change.

Summon O'Leary immediately or....?

>>13801141
Summon him back at the office. This is something we want to do in private.

>>13801141
Nah. Not right now. And also don't do it in our secret magic room. We don't want even his spirit seeing our sanctum.

Make sure we tell everyone good job. Bosses stay in power by having good relations with the subordinates.

>>13801161
Why? Hell, he already knows who killed him... us. I imagine we're going to permanently seal his spirit lips shut after we get what we want from him.

This thread is on my list. My list of favorite things. I will be back tomorrow to gaze upon its progress.

Ok. Time skips forward: the four henchmen are paid and wander off to spend the easiest money they ever earned (especially the two that just hung outside chilling), you've walked back to the office, told randy and jim to wait outside with the old men while you enter the office draw a circle and Summon O'Leary with ease.

GAINED - Summoning (Level Four) - you can now summon people up to 3 years dead, faster and with less energy than you used to.

GAINED - Rip (Level One) - essentially ripping out the souls of living people from their bodies by summoning them. Makes them unconscious for about 30 seconds since their souls return to the bodies relatively quickly.

O''Leary materialises in front of you and glowers.

"Fuck you, necromancer. I ain't saying shit."

>>13801189
Bind.

>>13801189
Fuck with him, Matrix interrogation type stuff, getting rid of his mouth etc. See if he'll talk after that.

>>13801189
"Oh, but brother, ye'll not have a choice methinks. And when I'm done with ya, you'll never say a thing again."

Bind him. Have him tell us what he was after and who he was working for.

You stare into O'Leary's eyes and use your energy to force your will into him. It's not all that difficult considering how recently O'Leary died. Which is a good thing because you've used a lot of energy today and already feel quite tired.

His glowering face relaxes and turns into a simpering smile. "Oh, Master Duke, what can I do for you?! You have but to name it and your wish is my absolute sincerest command, sir!"

>>13801208
I don't see Duke saying "ye" unless he's mocking his accent which works.

One thing Ellington. I call it Morrowind Syndrome.

If a skill is useless you'll never use it, therefore never level it up, therefore never have it be useful. It's a cycle. The skills that are useful at the start just get better and better, until eventually you would never even consider using the other ones. Often times it gets so good and broadly-scoped that you can alter said skill a little bit and pick up the slack from the others. Like eventually we can start ripping out souls and binding them to our own to increase our lifespan and physical ability rather than absorb Life Force. And so forth.

>>13801226
I was thinking more Jamacian, to be honest. But come to think of it, Duke is a New Yorker. He wouldn't really have an accent.

>>13801220
"Tell me why you were at the speakeasy today."

>>13796767
Dammit OP, I've got to go sleep. Is this archived? Will there be a link to the new (hopefully) thread?

>>13801248
"Oh is that all, Master Duke?"

"Why it's because Father Connors asked me to look into a small matter for him. Some items the Holy Church consider...ahem...valuable, have gone 'missing' you know?"

"I'm sure you do a wise man such as yourself, Master Duke."

>>13801230
Good point. Will also remember this!

>>13801268
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13796767

I'm probably going to start winding up for the night in a few posts or so once we're at a natural endpoint, we've been going for over 300 posts and 7 hours. I'll start a new thread late on Sunday evening and hope you can join us then!

Eventually, we'll stop being known as Duke, and they will call us The Duke. The Duke of Harlem. And in time, The Duke of New York.

>>13801268
read
>>13800260

>>13801285
"I aint making a rabbit disappear" guy here. I will definitely be there.

>>13801289
Y'all bitches small time. I'm going for Duke of Cornwall.

>>13801285
Why are you looking in Harlem? Whose location or name were you trying to beat out of Jackie?

>>13801285
"Give me all the details you know about the items, everything you were able to find out about them, and what led you to Harlem in the first place. Then tell me who Father Connors is and who his connections are."

>>13801303
>>13801289
Gentlemen, gentlemen. Eventually we'll just be called simply "The Duke" once again. After we control the overall organized crime of the entire country, after all, place names would be meaningless.

>>13801310
"Well, the thief of course. That saucy wench is well known to be friends with the only man who could've stolen the crystals. It is absolutely imperative that the Church regain them, I'm sure you follow."

>>13801313
"Oh so you don't follow? Remarkable for a such an esteemed and widely learned fellow such as yourself, Master Duke." Was the ghost being sarcastic? The binding forced it to be obedient and deferential but was the magic that O'Leary had clearly been able to manipulate in life allowing him to be overly deferential to such an extent that it became mocking? Food for thought.

"As I'm sure you'd know, being of such a curious bent, if you didn't have far more important things to attend to, the Lord Jesus was known for a little trick of his of turning water into wine, you recall? Well he used some rare crystals to do it. Those crystals can also turn wine into water, which some might be interested in. As for Father Connors, he's just a simple priest in a small church in Brooklyn whose only claim to fame, in a very small circle of people mind you, is the fact that it was home to those very crystals. The poor Father was distressed that people might find out the truth, the dear soul."

>>13801354
>That saucy wench is well known to be friends with the only man who could've stolen the crystals.
Do tell, who is that?

>>13801368
And why is that, moreover.

"Why, I believe even you know the name of a thief as famous as the Panther's Shadow. A rather foolish and inelegant name if you ask me." He tutted.

"As for why." The ghost looked truly smug now, bristling with knowledge it knew Duke needed. Delaying the final revelations with needless words and extemporaneous chatter.

"Well, let's imagine something for a second, Master Duke. Let's imagine that some unscrupulous fellow had hired a thief to steal those crystals. Let's say the unscrupulous fellow then proceeded to to turn all the alcohol in New York into water, thereby destroying the power base and money flow of many many well established ... groups. Let's say this dastardly fellow then went the only supply of alcohol in New York, as he again and again and again transformed alcohol into water. He would be the most powerful man in the city's criminal sect wouldn't he?"

The ghost smiled.

"Wouldn't he...Duke?"

Information summary at this point:
Someone stole the divine crystals Jesus used to turn water to wine from a church.

The priest of said church asked a mage-cop named O'Leary to look into the theft off the books.

O'Leary tracked the presumed thief to Harlem and was attempting to get information on him from a girl named Jackie.

There is an extremely powerful clairvoyant protecting knowledge of the crystals and O'Leary.

>>13801391
out of character: I don't see the big deal. Can't you, you know, go to a liquor store?

>>13801404
1927 is prohibition era and that means alcohol is illegal and only found in illegal joints and the sale of which is a criminal offense. Alcohol won't be legal again for quite a few years.

>>13801391
Well, that would explain why there is such a ridiculously powerful magical presence guarding it. Staggering amount of profit to be had there.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, we can go to the bosses. With information this good we might even get a meeting with Papa himself. This is a serious plot, one that does not come along very often.

>>13801404
Prohibition. Lasted 'till '33.

>>13801404
1927 bro. Prohibition, you know?

>>13801404
Prohibition era. Alcohol is big money, to the point that organized crime exploded in the era off the profits.

AND ON THAT SHELL OF A BOMB I'M CALLING AN END to things for the night.

Thank you all for playing along and sticking with this from the beginning all the way up to now, despite the twists and turns and strangeness of it all.

Your patience and your ideas have been awesome to watch and you've come up with great stuff, and some random hilarious posts and pictures. This was a looooot of fun for me.

Now you can talk amongst yourselves, and I'd also appreciate any feedback on which parts worked for you and which didn't. This is pretty much the first quest I've run except for one failed abortion of a quest a few months ago.

Okay. Can we bind O'Leary's spirit against talking to anyone other than us, ever?

Failing that, can we imprison it in a magical vessel or something? I think the traditional thing is statuettes.

>>13801391
Let's turn this conversation a bit. O'Leary was a rather -talented- man, wasn't he? Where did he learn those talents? What was the extent of what he could do?

And what possessed him to think that he could stand up to us on our own turf, when he obviously knew that we were bad, bad news?

>>13801431
Honestly, almost all of it worked.

The only thing I'm unsure about is the skills we picked. Life Leech seems so much better than Bind, for instance. I'm not sure how much leeway we have with using Bind, which is honestly the only thing I'm iffy on. If all it does is bind summoned ghosts to do our will then... well, it seems like it would be a part of summoning. It's really really focused and useless otherwise. That's why I was suggesting binding someone's soul while it was still in their body and making them a puppet for the 3 day duration. Alternately, we could rip out someone's soul and bind it to an item or our own soul. Into an item has all kinds of obvious uses for both the soul and the body. Grafting it to our soul and absorbing it could likely provide many benefits such as increased magical power/endurance, extended lifespan, increased physical abilities, or other things.

I'm sure I'll thing of other horrific things. But it seems to me like Necromancy is a school to be just as feared as anything Olukwele or Papa could pull. Eventually, after we get stronger of course.

>>13801416
>>13801422
>>13801423
>>13801424
American thing, I guess.

>>13801431
>This is pretty much the first quest I've run except for one failed abortion of a quest a few months ago.
I'm very impressed. I was honestly wondering if you were one of the other quest runners like StonerDM or Writer-Dude who got tired of their trip and decided to start a new one.

So yeah, once again, very impressed. Keep up the good work. Think you could use some more florid descriptions of people and places, though. There didn't seem to be a lot of detail to help us picture the people and places. For instance, I still have no clue what the neutral territory looks like other than a street with random generic buildings and a cafe where you can buy coffee. Same for Squeaky or Jackie. Squeaky has his voice and is rather heavy, so that helps. But Jackie is just uh... well, she's female and black. Same thing with the punk Chandler. I couldn't really get a mental picture of him other than "Big, youngish." Even some scars, a broken nose, description of how heavily he was built, hairstyle, clothes, or even how he was tugging nervously at one ear or something.

>>13801464
Bind and Summon were the two non-combat skills offered. Ice pick and life leech were clearly more combat orientated. I too was thinking of voting for life leech, but bind allows us to kill whoever we want and still extract information from them.

>Grafting it to our soul and absorbing it could likely provide many benefits such as increased magical power/endurance, extended lifespan, increased physical abilities, or other things.
Hah. That sounds like a terrible idea. At best, we'd be picking up fragments of their psyche. At worst, there'd be two souls in one body, and you'd end up like a schizo.

>>13801507
I'll agree with this. NPCs seemed a bit under described. Great for throwaways, (a ratty street urchin runs up to you and hands you a message; you see a knight in shining plate battling a horrific demon in the distance) but anyone who gets a name should generally have a pretty complete description too. At least in my opinion.

>>13801515
>Hah. That sounds like a terrible idea. At best, we'd be picking up fragments of their psyche. At worst, there'd be two souls in one body, and you'd end up like a schizo.
How do you know? For all we know we could put the soul through a "celestial soul grinder" and the stuff that pops out the other end is pure spirit essence that we can use to boost our own output, as it were.

There was already something mentioned called "Ghost" that got someone spirit-high, after all.

>>13801464
First, thanks! Secondly I reckon you're underestimating the usefulness of Bind just a little. Sure, in two of the summonings today it wasn't necessary but that's because the ghosts were fresh and had motivation to co-operate. Summoning an older ghost is a whole different thing and getting co-operation off someone you've pissed off by disrupting their journey is much more difficult. They arrive angry and sometimes you need to Bind just to get them to calm down.

I do get your point though, and hope you don't feel to robbed by the fact that you're stuck with it.

>>13801507
Thanks for the kind words and I'll definitely work on giving you guys better mental images. Now that you've pointed it out it's such a glaring omission I really can't believe I did so little! Live and learn, I guess.

I'm off to sleep now. Anything else you guys say I'll read in the archives. Good night.