>Main Character's name is Duke
>Tripfag's name is Ellington
>Duke Ellington
>mfw

Part I: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13796767/

I highly suggest you read it if you weren't around last night because a whole lot of things got done.

I'll summarise here with an info dump so people won't have to constantly refer to the first thread.

Skills:
Guns - all guns, rifles, semis etc
Bartering - The bluffing, the negotiating, the double dealing, it all comes naturally to you.

Spells:
Summoning (Level Four) - you can now summon people up to 3 years dead, faster and with less energy than you used to.
Bind (Level Three) - You can bind a ghost or a spirit to your cause for 3 days.
Life Leech (Level One) - 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.
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.

Items of Note:
Magic Knuckleduster, with two charges left in it. 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. You noticed the one time you've used it so far that it wanted to be used.
Happy Magic Juice - a high quality concoction that mystics use to power their astral wanderings: some laudanum, a some rare chinese opium, and a dash of Ghost. You've got enough in the bottle to get a mind and soul high and keep it there for a whole weekend.

>>13808291
That is a wide face you've got friend.

SHIT YEAH!

Let's see what else O'Leary knows about where to look for them crystals.

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 is 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
- 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.

Locations of Note:
Squeaky's - Where you just killed a cop in front of at least 20 people.
Van Gogh's Parlor - A chess parlor with offices in the back. It's a legitimate front that you run out of, with a special room to the side that is your inner sanctum containing all sorts of neat things.

Summary and present now: You're in your office having Summoned and Bound the ghost of O'Leary. He is 100% loyal but somehow because of who he was he's managing to be sarcastic and take pleasure in your ignorance about the plot you've stumbled into. O'Leary has revealed to you that some party has stolen rare crystals from a church in Brooklyn that can turn alcohol into water and vice versa in order to gain a complete monopoloy of the illegal liquor trade in New York, which your Outfit and every other criminal enterprise base their power on.

Been waiting all day for this.

Is that Peter Mensah in that picture?

>>13808348
Ask him about that Panther character who he thinks stole the crystals.

And about the priest who runs that church.

Once we've got some info out of him, I say we order him to keep watch over our place and report to us if something unorthodox occurs.

Then we go see Okulwele.

>>13808359
>>13808340
>>13808334
Hey guys. I'm really glad you could make it. I'm going to spend the next 10 - 15 minutes making food for myself and that should hopefully be enough time for anyone else who wants to join in to jump on board.

Then we can get started on tonights action. Fecal matter is about to meet a small rotating windmillesque gizmo.

>>13808399
He ain't pulling no rabbit out of a hat.

>>13808360
Nope. Although now that you mention it out there is a resemblance.

>>13808399
>>13808407
You mad geniuses.

First thing is, we need to figure a way out from under this dead cop. Any way out. The law's gonna come down on us like a million fucking bricks.

>>13808533
WHAT?

>>13808560
You heard me. Just read through. There was even a story post deleted for having the word "negro" it looks like.

>>13808533
That's what happens when you get retarded mods. Maybe they've got a script that just pulls all the N words (necromancer) from the board, and mass deletes the posts.

Fuckwits.

>>13808533
Holy crap, I didn't even notice that. I just looked at the archived thread now and several posts, one of them the one where Clarissa mentioned the Dragon for the first time, are missing! Fuck. What a waste.

I guess I'll have to be careful

Desecration!

>>13808576
>>13808560
I suggest easymodo rather than sup/tg/ since it keeps a log of deleted posts.

Let's get started guys.

----

O'Leary stands in front of you all smarm and insidious charm. His cheeks are so red and so high as he smiles that you'd believe he truly wanted what was best for you if you didn't look too closely at the glint of malice in his eyes.

"The Panther's Shadow. What a stupid name, Master Duke. I'm sure you wouldn't engage in those kind of theatrics if you were a successful thief."

"I have...I mean had some skill with...probabilities. I liked to call it the Luck of the Irish. It always got me going in the right direction and the badge and the blustering usually got me the answers I needed. I don't know how that Jackie is connected to that thief but she knows him somehow, I'm sure of it. My luck never led me to the wrong guy. Until you, of course, Master Duke." He smiles.

He waits silently for further instruction, almost hopping in place with eagerness to do something, anything, for you.

>>13808601
Ask about the priest. We want details on him. And if O'Leary had been investigating anyone else.

>>13808601
Can we permanently silence him from speaking to anyone but us?

Or maybe perpetually bind his soul into a statuette, as is traditional in necromancy?

>>13808638
I think binding his soul to an object would require a higher level of binding than what we currently have.

>>13808656
Well, we can at least bind him to be silent for 3 days with our current level of power. Plenty of time to get our own plans in motion.

Request a meeting with the bosses. We need to tell the big guys about this.

Practice life leech as we are walking around. Nothing harmful, but we need to get experience in this extremely useful power.

>>13808638
"My gut told me to come here again and again. Then the moment that Jackie walks through the front door my gut starts doing backflips. That's about the only lead I had."

"As for Father Connors. He's an upstanding pillar of society. I have only the highest praise for character and I begyou to throw yourself at his mercy to save your immortal soul, Master Duke. I think only of your good as I think your wretched, disgusting, sinful life, Master!"

O'Leary implores you with a wicked smile.

>>13808635
You can silence him for three days and then silence him again after that time is up. You can certainly keep him bound in a circle for as long as you want, but you don't know how to do that with ornaments or items. You've tried in the past and they've cracked from the energy that you've put in. Something in the formula is missing perhaps.

>you've got a certain understanding with the Other Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4pStVNQc4M

>>13808697
Silence him and then lock him in our back room until this whole matter is resolved.

Let's inform the bosses of the plot and everything we know except Jackie. We still need to have some 'in's to this business, if it looks like they are trying to take the credit and shit from us in the eyes of Papa.

Plus, keeping Jackie and therefore the Panther out of their knowledge lets us pursue our own angle on this game.

In disgust you order O'Leary to be silent for the next three days, to hide from both magical and plain sight and to keep an eye on these offices and report anything out of the ordinary.

Then you decide it's time to contact Olukwele and report on what's been happening.

You look at the time and see that it's gone just past midnight. Lots of working hours left. You think about it and decide you know where Olukwele would be at this time.

As you walk you try to Life Leech some of the old men but you find it too difficult to do while you're walking. You stand and say goodbye to them and then it works. Once again there's a spring to your step as you leave.

A local place called Jackson Park, named after some old American President that went crazy after trying to wipe out the indians which went horribly wrong when their Chief Shaman cursed him with insanity, people didn't notice for a few weeks. Some strange laws were passed.

Jackson Park used to be a mess of a place, filled with thugs with nothing better to do and alcoholics with nowhere else to go. Nowadays it's empty at all times. Nobody can enter except for Olukwele, despite the fact that he only spends about 15 minutes a day there. A personal park in the middle of the city. Bizarre.

You stand at the entrance of the park and wonder how to proceed.

>>13808792
there must be a standard procedure, do watever we normally do when we need to speak to him

>>13808792
How could we forget! All we have to do is whisper to him, "Olukwele, it's Duke. I need to speak to you," and let the wind carry it to him.

>>13808804
You've always been wise enough to not bother him during his quiet time.

>>13808792
Project your mind, seek him out in a different plane.

What happens if you just try to walk in? If it's nothing harmful we could try doing that. It would probably alert him someone was out here trying to get in.

>>13808813
>>13808818
You whisper "Olukwele, it's Duke. I need to speak to you," while adding some juice to the whisper. It carries into the park, slinking along until it finds ears that will hear.

You hear a forceful voice enter your mind, past all your defenses that says "Friend Duke, please enter." Despite the reassuring tone that was uttered with you take note of how easily he got inside your mind.

Upon entering you follow the main path winding through the park and find yourself approaching a bench with a view of a small lake. On the bench is Olukwele, a black man who looks like he's in his 50s. Olukwele's head is the first thing you notice. It's bald and elongated and so dark that it seems to shine at night with the reflection of the moon. His high cheekbones sink his small eyes into his face as he looks at you. Beside him is a baby lion that he's petting with his right hand. On looking at his hands you see that all his fingers have rings on them, rings of power that call out to you with their energy despite how far away you are.

You see him smile, his whiter than white teeth beckoning like a lighthouse in the night, "Come Friend Duke. My father, he always said nature is to be enjoyed with company." As he speaks you notice once more that despite the fact that Olukwele had lived in America for longer than you had been alive, his words still had a thick accent to them that made you think of jungles and savannahs.

This isn't something we need to do immediately, but I'm curious to try moving energy OUT of ourselves to someone else, then maybe try from one person to another. Pulling energy from our enemies into our allies would be a really nifty trick to have.

>Captcha: also orkherav

>>13808919
tell him about O'Leary, Aunt Lissa, and the man in chinatown who killed her.

Don't mention the kid that Freeman sent after us, thats personal business and we can handle it.

I just went to make sure this was archived on easymodo and I noticed one of you had already done it for me. Thanks!

>>13808919
Sit down and pay our respects, then tell him we've chanced upon some information that he might want to know about. Relay the plot to him, excluding Jackie.

>>13808987
How the hell does easymodo even work? I have only ever used suptg.

>>13808968
As you sit down next to him on the bench, on the opposite side of the lion so Olukwele is in the middle, you begin to speak and it does nothing to lessen the smile on his face.

You mention O'Leary and he continues to smile.

You mention Clarissa and he smiles.

You mention the dragon that killed her and he smiles even wider.

As you talk about the plan that whoever arranged the theft had in mind, Olukwele claps his hand together like an old man who's witnessed something miraculous. "What a brilliant plan. I wish I'd thought of it myself," he says simply, and strangely ecstatic.

"I must say I am impressed with you, Duke. You have barely been awake for half a day and you've uncovered a plot that could destroy us, dealt with a foolish white man once and for all and asserted your strength once again by foiling a stratagem by that fool who callse himself a Free Man, no need to be modest I have perfectly good hearing."

"I feel one day soon you will be a truly dangerous man, Duke." he turns to face you and assesses you silently.

"What will I do then?" he wonders, as he stops smiling.

>>13809026
No idea, I'm the same as you. Thankfully someone else already put it up there it seems.

>>13809078
You will sit and enjoy nature just as today, in good company.

>>13809078
"Maybe you'll allow me to sit with you and enjoy nature, just as we're doing now?"

>>13809168
I like this.

>>13809144
>>13809168
Olukwele nods. "Yes. Yes you will. At times you are wiser than your years, Duke."

"As for this other...matter. I have faith in your ability to deal with this level of things. It's time for you to take on more responsibility in our dealings outside of Harlem."

"Firstly, do not concern yourself with the police. They are just another gang and shall be dealt with as such. Should they try to attack us for the death of O'Leary I shall wreak death and terror upon them, their kin and all of their blood. It will be a delightful afternoon."

"This "dragon" you speak of is well known to me. He is an Englishman based in the Financial District, known as Lord Pitt, who has ambitions far greater than his capabilities."

"My instructions are as follows: you shall venture forth and represent us by striking into the heart of the Financial District to represent our interests. How you do so is your choice, as long as we are left in a position of strength at the end of it. If there is some gain that we can successfully make use of longterm, so be it. If not, so be it."

"Can you do this, Duke?"

>>13809261
"I can." Nod to him. "And I will."

>>13809261
"I can and will, daddy Olukwele."

If your judgement has given you faith in my abilities, I have no reason to fear failure.


Or something like that. Someone will post something better phrased than mine and I'll support that one.

>>13809318
Let's not say this.

>>13809286
>>13809313
>>13809317
"Very well." he nods in a final way to indicate this conversation is over.

"If you do not mind I am expecting someone." You stand together, he shakes your hand and then walks deeper into the park. He is out of sight much quicker than is natural. You look around and find you are no longer standing next to a bench but in fact standing at the entrance of the park just like you had been a few minutes ago.

Had you really even entered? You're not quite sure.

>>13809386
Motherfucker's tricky.

Head on back to our spot. Get word to Randy and Jim to come see us. We also need to head on down to our connection for weapons. We're gonna need some tools for this job.

A thought occurs. The Englishman is no Englishman, but actually a sheepfucker (non-kiwi variant)!

If you're particularly slow, I'll ask you to point your eyes at the dragon on the flag.

>>13809455
If it ain't the motherfucking Welsh.

We should make friends with some Chinese motherfuckers. Everyone knows they've got the longest history with the Talent. Plus they're always making shit like these knuckle dusters.

>>13809442
Also, do we have any other prospects for lieutenants? We're going to need to expand our enterprise to deal with this, and have our boss's blessing to do so. Best expand while the expandin' is good.

Hell, we can even create some sub-bosses of our own. Take over the neutral territory and that of our U MAD rival and we can start partitioning it up.

>>13809483
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We should keep our eyes open, but for now we're just a thug who handles a few rackets in Harlem.

>>13809386
That sounds like a warning if ever there was one...

>>13809455
Just some observations:
Lion = emblam of English Crown
Dragon = Welsh emblam
Prince of wales = English Crown

Aside from the fact that all welsh people are universally nice and like to sing tunes i'd say op, can write whatever he wants.

>>13809455
DINGDINGDINGDINGDING

MOTHERFUCKING BONUS TIME.

I was hoping someone would pick up on this. Because of this you get some information on Pitt and you get to level up one spell.

PITT: He's the illegitimate son of Pitt the Younger and some Welsh maid that got knocked up and decided to head to America to start a new life. He's over 100 years old but looks like he's 30. He specialises in astral magic and elemental magic.

Now vote on which spell you want to level up.

Summoning (Level Five) - you can now have the ability to summon 50 year old ghosts, now it's exponential growth in skill in this area because you know the techniques and you're learning constantly. You also stumble on the ability to summon demons. You can't control them at all or communicate but you can get them to cause havoc for you.
Bind (Level Four) - You can bind a ghost to items and for longer periods of time, now 50 days.
Life Leech (Level Two) - you now have the ability to heal minor wounds. If you're already healthy and use it you get a stronger, quite a bit faster and gain some stamina. Your target feels like they've run a marathon unless you decide to only take a little. You still cannot leech from magicians.
Rip (LevelTwo) - ripping out the souls of living people from their bodies by summoning them. Makes them unconscious for about 5 minutes since their souls return to the bodies relatively quickly. You still cannot do this to magicians.

VOTE!

>>13809501
Just some speculation on my part. I mean, dragon, and a limey? I put the two together and came out with Welshman. I wouldn't expect many Americans, particularly the Africans, to know how the United Kingdom is set up.

How Mr. Ellington decides to proceed is up to him. Hell, depending on the kind of dragon, it could be an immigrant from Hong Kong.

As much as I'd like to join forces with the Chinese, did the triads even have any presence on the East Coast, 1927 or otherwise?

>irish rogythen
Captcha says we're looking for a Irish rogy, then. But Captcha, we already got the Irish rozzer! Too slow.

>>13809517
Awwwwwwwwww yeah. I'm awesome.

>>13809517
Life Leech or Rip, I don't know which though.

I'm thinking Life Leech. It has already let us recover some from our exertions today. If we are going to keep up this pace of awesome we're going to need juice to do it.

Are white people allowed in here?

What kind of magic would a lowly Dutchman have?

>>13809517
Man. So many good choices. I vote for Life Leech 2, although I'm severely tempted by Bind 4.

>>13809573
Grow weed every day. Also, Summon (Prostitute).

Life Leech. Fuck yeah.

>>13809585
We'll get a lot of practice re-binding ghosts every 3 days, so we'll naturally level up to 4 pretty soon.

Same with summoning, we're getting tons of use out of that naturally.

Alright, you've talked it out a bit. Maybe you've had your mind changed or not. Make your next post just a two word post naming the spell and I'll take that as your official vote.

Then I'll announce what you have and we'll move on.

Leech

>>13809631
What?

>>13809562
Yes you fucking are man! When that mod deleted that Clarissa post from the previous thread I was worried that nobody would ever pick up on that tidbit because that was the only hint that he might be welsh "other kind of limey + dragon" because in every other reference he's thought of as an Englishman since Americans and Africans wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

You rock, Sherlock!

I say... Rip.

>>13809631
Life leech.

Alright!

GAINED! Life Leech (Level Two) - you now have the ability to heal minor wounds. If you're already healthy and use it you get a stronger, quite a bit faster and gain some stamina. Your target feels like they've run a marathon unless you decide to only take a little. You still cannot leech from magicians.

Moving on with the story:

You're back at the Office with Big Jim and Randy.

Randy has a car parked outside and it's ready and fuelled up to go wherever you want.

Tell me what you want to do.

>>13809754
Head on over to our "friend" in Hell's Kitchen. We need some weapons.

>>13809763
I'll second this. See if we can score a BAR.

>>13809763
I like your style guy.

You step out and give Randy directions to Hell's Kitchen. As he drives you think about what you know of the man you're about to see. He's a bit of a nut, still got the madness in him from all the battles he somehow managed to survive in the Great War. Winters is his name. Winters somehow managed to get himself thrown into almost every major battle of the Great War and somehow managed live through each one. Either he had the devil on his side or the luck of the fairies, nobody quite knew.

What everyone did know was that since he got back from the war, Winters had bunkered down in a basement in Hells Kitchen where he had an arsenal that an army compound would be envious of. Magical weapons, straight weapons, demonic weapons, you name it he probably had it in a box somewhere.

Usually he charges an eye and a tooth but you've got the barter skill so with some good thinking you might get yourself a deal.

As you enter the basement, leaving Randy and Big Jim outside (Winters doesn't like crowds), you see Winters sitting behind a desk cleaning out some weapons. He's a tall, gaunt man with receeding gray hairline and a a missing nose, just a grotesque hole where it was meant to be.

He looks suspiciously at you and asks what you're interested in.

I'm thinking that we need to put together a solid plan here. Moving on the Financial Distract with guns blazing would be easy, but I don't see how it would carry out our goal of increasing our outfit's power except by eliminating a single competitor with a dangerous plan. We'll need a more thought-out and sophisticated plot.

I'm thinking that we should whistle up a ghost of someone who would know the Financial District, and preferably the power groups and nasties within it, and get a full briefing before we do anything else.

>>13809775
Oh hell yeah.

Maybe a m1917 colt revolver or two... Its in .45acp

>>13809818
Mundanes, let's go for a BAR and a couple Tommy Guns. Maybe a colt 1914 for each of us for sidearms.

BAR is the heavy firepower that we are going to have to leave in the car, but the Tommy Guns with straight mags instead of drums are easily concealable under a trenchcoat. And they will provide us with way more power than any of the police forces, and more than all but the best armed rival gangs.

As for magic... hell I don't know. Maybe see if we can go about getting an infinite bullets spell for our machine guns? For our cults maybe something that punches through magical shields. Finally, something for ourselves that keeps people from magically choking us. Amulet or something.

>>13809914
You've already got 2 revolvers, let's call them m1917 Colts.

>>13809922
General
- 1 Browning Automatic Rifle.
- 2 Tommy Guns with straight mags.

For Randy
- 1 Elemental Booster stone

For Jim
- 1 Medium Strength Amplifier necklace

For You
- 1 Medium Astral Protection bracelet

That will cost you either 40% of your wealth or 20% of your wealth and your magical knuckleduster.

>>13809818
"We need somethin' dat would make a heavy skilled elementalist piss himself, Winters. What ya got?"

>>13809987
I meant to add a question to the end of this to ask if you're ok with this list and this price.

>>13810004
Depends. Percentages are damned lies. What matters is how big our current wealth pool is and how fast it regenerates.

If we have 500 dollars and regenerate 100 every night then 40% is nothing. If we have 10,000 and regenerate 100 every night then 40% is ridiculous and we shouldn't even consider it.

>>13808265
You have 5000 dollars in various mattresses and generate 200 dollars a night.

How about an MP18 possessed by the soul of an insane stormtrooper... Every now and again it'll shout
"VERNICHTEN" "TOTEN"!!!

And shoots hot bullets or somthing... pic related

>>13810031
Do it. Very worth it.

This purchase is equivalent to around $30,000 dollars today for what is top of the line weaponry. At $200 a night in 1927 currency we make just under a million dollars today, per year. So this is worth it. Very much so.

>>13810044
Unfortunately not available. But you when you get Bind lvl 4 you can try to bind a soul to a weapon. I'm sure all sorts of interesting things will happen then!

>>13810058
Alright, I'm assuming you mean yes to the 40% deal and keeping the knuckleduster. You've just paid two grand. You now have 3 grand savings.

Alright. You've paid up. And you're back outside with all the new items in the back of your car, sitting with Randy in the front driving, Jim in the back with you.

Where's your next stop and what is the plan? Talk it out.

>>13810031
Then let's do it. Use our Barter skill to try and swap out the knuckleduster for the happy juice while retaining the discount, or if we can't, make a side trip and sell it somewhere that we know it would carry a high price afterward. There's no point in keeping it now that our junkie contact is passed.

>>13810099
Barter skill failed, Winters is only interested in weapons trading. You're stuck with the juice for now.

>>13810094
I think it's time for Randy and Jim to drop us off at Jackie's place and then wait outside while we put our smooth moves on the girl to get the Panther's name. Once we have that we can follow the trail back to wherever the crystals went. Find the crystals and we'll find the source of this problem.

>>13810094
See >>13809852. Go digging through our graveyard file to find someone who died and lived in the Financial District (preferably its shady side), worked with the Chinese gangs, or might have known Lord Pitt. Drag their soul back from its trip to the other side and chat 'em up.

1) Follow the Jackie/Panther lead.
2) Summon a Financial District ghost and pump for information.

Vote.

>>13810128
That's a good idea too. I support this. We can do it before visiting Jackie anyway, right? Besides, she's likely still shaken up.

We'll visit her tomorrow night, she'll likely be in a better mood then.

Vote for summon.

Alright. Next post: the summoning.

Gimme a few min.

>>13810151
Summoning.

Give Jackie some time to cool down after getting thrashed and then watching a man die so close-up. It's generally pretty disturbing for people without such an intimate understanding of death as we have.

>>13808265
Randy drives you back to the office and stands by the car to have a quick drink with Jim while you go about your business. You enter the office and then a moments later your sanctum. You have someone in mind to summon and you need both all your skill and the power carved into that room to summon the ghost you're about to call.

Slowly, you trace your finger in a sigil across the wood of a table and the wood rises up and reveals a compartment wherein your personal grimoire is hidden. You paid serious money, and several favours, to a carpenter with Other ancestry and it was worth every cent. You open the section of the grimoire where you have locks of hair next to descriptions of the people.

The second entry on a page reads "David Cole - owner of several slumbuildings in Harlem and former small time bookie in the Financial District that wisely reinvested his money in an up and coming area. Died of an aneurysm at the age of 49 in April 1925."

At the time when you collected his hair you wouldn't have been able to summon him but something at the time told you he would one day be a useful source and eventually you'd gain the skill to summon him. And now you did have that skill.

You place some of his hair in the middle of the circle, place the rest back where it belongs and put the grimoire back into it's cubby hole. After marking a counter-sigil on the table the cubby hole disappears and things are back to completely normal.

You stand in front of the circle, close your eyes and begin the Summoning. It takes what feels like hours but is only eight minutes. You keep pumping more and more of yourself into the circle and calling for the ghost. "David Cole! Rise David Cole!" you shout when it feels like you're nearing the end not because you need to but because it feels right.

And suddenly David Cole is there, and he is angry. He bashes against the wall of the circle, back and forth because he wants to get to you and choke you to death.

>>13810320
"That is not necessary, Mr. Cole. You won't break the circle. Calm yourself, and we shall come to a mutually beneficial arrangement... or do not, and see if you can stand against my power. Either way, I win- but down one path you also lose."

>>13810320
Well. I suppose we'll wait a minute for him to calm down. If he doesn't show any signs we bind him.

>>13810351
>>13810362
The ghost continues to rage. Bashing against your walls but its strength does it no good. This is your place of power and the amount of work you put into it shows in its rock steady defenses. If however you had done this ceremony in a regular circle elsewhere the ghost's strength might well have got it through the circle and at your throat before you had a chance to bind it.

Slowly the ghost calms down as it realises it's only wasting it's own energy. As the misty substance of the ghost stops flying to and fro it coalesces into a the shape of a man, a short man with a beard and an infinitely sad face.

"How could you? I was so close. I was so close to getting to the end and finding out the truth and you just pulled me away. Why? Why would you do that?" it asks.

Hey dude, chill out. I'm not gonna do anything to you, provided you're not an asshat. I just need some information, and I'll send you back on your way.

Hey Ellington, I just want to say - I read the thread from last night. And this is already shaping up to be a fucking awesome quest.

Also, wait a couple minutes and see if Cole calms down for a bit. If not, we'll have to talk or Bind him down.

>captcha: bound: telie
Captcha's suggesting the latter option, it seems...

>>13810429
"Because, Mr. Cole, in life you were a person who likely knew things which I now need to know. Answer my questions, willingly aid me until my dealings in the areas you knew are done, and I will speed you back along that path as far as I may as thanks."

>>13810429
"I apologize brother, but I'll send you back on your way after talkin' to ya. I'm afraid the world itself needs some'a your knowledge again, and I'd like for ya to tell me about any powerful Welshmen in Manhattan."

>>13810436
Thanks man! I'm not even going to pretend that praise doesn't give me an erection haha.

>>13810473
I'm not even going to pretend that your erection doesn't give me an erection.

>>13810458
>>13810466
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" he asks bitterly. "You can probably bind me and force me into helping you and I'm stuck at the start or I can take your help and hope you'll keep your word." He shakes his head. "It's an evil old world, even the dead can't get done right by."

"I have no idea what in the hell a Welshman is."

"Ask away, and I'll tell you what I know. Although my information as you might guess is probably out of date."

>>13810513
"Any people in the mob who are a bit too ambitious for their own good? Powerful white folk, englishman, astral or clairvoyant type."

>>13810513
"It is a rotten world, as you say. But I will keep my word on this.

"The Welshman I refer to is known as Lord Pitt. I understand that he is rather embedded in the Financial District. Of less importance but potential use would be any information you have on powerful people in the District, particularly in its less legitimate businesses; I will be involving myself there soon and cannot go in blind."

>>13810559
>>13810572
"Oh, I know who you mean now."

"Pitt is an asshole. The kind of asshole that demands people call him Lord Pitt. Most people always wanted to tell him to get the fuck out of here with that shit, this is America, but he's too powerful to say that to his face."

"He owns a skyscraper in the district called the Wessler, and I don't know if he's an astral kind of guy but I do know that back when I was bookie I knew several mystics that used to warn each other not approach that place on other planes because you were more than likely to end up dead."

"As for other people in the area, the ones you need to keep an eye out for are the Chinese and the Jews. They've got their fingers in every pot in the place and it's only in recent years that Pitt carved out his own little slice of the cake. I don't know how but he's got some momentum going and people keep an eye out for him."

>>13810677
Hmmm. Sounds like we could take Pitt's territory for our own once we off him, and have nice sweet spot to expand from.

>>13810725
Maaaaybe. Maaaaaaybe not.

>>13810725
We'd have to be able to hold it. That's no small trick with powerful Chinese and Jew criminal groups in place. Which is not to say that we can't, but we'd want more assets than we have at the moment.

I have an idea on that, though. What we want to do is find a double handful of people who died with regrets- a lot of things they'd want to see done in this world. Stuff that won't go away and they feel so strongly about that they might be willing to pass on the afterlife for a while to see it done. Look after their families, rescue siblings or lovers from bad situations, take vengeance on someone who really fucked 'em hard. We call these people up, and in exchange for taking care of their business we build ourselves a full suite of goddamn ghost bruisers, and keep 'em nice and strong by hanging out in crowded areas and skimming a little energy off everyone there on a regular basis.

When we pull the heavy guns as a... man of life and death, make sure that we're carrying something high caliber. Our best moves take prep, and it's time to put in the required work.

>>13810792
By sweet spot I mean a place where we won't be muscling in on other black gangs.

Speaking of which, we need to take care of Freeman before he becomes a knife in our back.

>>13810809
Look at you being all Machiavellian! I love it. I love watching this kind of plotting.

>>13810820
And yours too!

What do you guys want to do as a next step from now?

this place is full of niggers jews and worst of all the dutch

why would anyone want to live here?

>>13810820
Sounds like a god idea to me. On a related note asking Winters about explosives training could be useful, I get all these wonderful ideas involving ghosts and explosives.

>>13810677
"Interesting. I would ask you to come with me when I go into the District, stay unseen and dispense helpful advice as I move. There is nothing quite like a spirit guide to aid in one's travels. If I... encounter difficult people, help with them would be appreciated as well. Once my tasks there are done, or after three weeks, if you've helped as best you can I will send you as far back onto your journey as I may."

>>13810809
.45 long Colt single action cavilry revolver. The "break your wrist kind".

>>13810835
Take a walkaround. Tell our boys to keep the Tommy Guns for themselves, and that they should start being extra careful. We're going to war soon, so they should be on a lookout.

We need to call back uh.. what was his name? Clarence? Anyway, call him back in a couple days and have him tell us what Freeman's schedule is. Then we can take a page from the Italians and ride by with our boys on the sidewalls of our cars, doorframe in one hand to hang on and Tommy Gun blazing in the other. Fill him full of lead and then take over his territory.

As for plotting, I suggest seeing about, after we level up bind several levels, binding our enemies into the bullets of our Colt. Make them accurate even at long distances, soul-killingly deadly, and able to punch through magical barriers.

Plus, how badass is the rep of a man who enslaves the souls of his mortal foes to deal death for him even after they're gone?

Let's not move too quickly with this. We aren't dealing with small-time thugs like our ol' Knuckle-duster-carrying friend, here, and the worst thing that can happen to us is if someone tries to cut in on our business while we're off dealing with Pitt.

Let's keep things fairly localized for now.
- Deal with Freeman before he becomes any more of a threat.
- Start building up our list of contacts, both in this life and the next.
- Wine and dine Jackie, maybe offer her protection in exchange for anything she knows about Putt.

>>13810835
Maybe he should go for an simpler objective like i dunno, conqouring the mainland united states...

If your this powerfull then the 'Lord' has got to be at least a match for the 'Duke'...

>>13810859
>>13810859
"No way. That wasn't part of the deal." David says and you can see him getting angry and defensive. "I told you what you wanted to know and I'm not risking my soul for you."

"You either keep your word or you don't but I'm not doing any more than telling you what I know."

>>13810921
>No way. That wasn't part of the deal
Hmm?
>Answer my questions, willingly aid me until my dealings in the areas you knew are done
Is he just being obstinate, or have I missed something here? It explicitly WAS part of the deal.

>>13810921
"Last I heard, brother, you were risking your soul anyway by talkin' back to me. But I'm a fair man, and I'll send you back as far as I can now that you've done me a turn.

Iff'n I summon you again, I'll like as not be more powerful and be able to send you farther. So don't be gettin' all riled like you did this time. My regards."

Tip our hat and send him back on his way.

>>13810921

Does he know of anyone who got killed by Pitt, and would hold a grudge?

>>13810906
This.

>>13810967
Don't send him back yet. Even if we can't get him to work for us for a while, there are more questions to be asked.

>>13810953
Dave understood the deal as being information until your current crop of trouble is over for being sent back as far as you can send him.

>>13810967
Shall I go ahead and do this or do you have any more questions for him? Or something else?

>>13810994
Oh. Well, have him stick around in a circle for a while. We might need him again.

I imagine it's getting pretty late into the night. Let's have a nice dinner in a nightclub within our territory, then head to bed to rest up. Going to be a busy this week.

>>13810978
"There's all sorts of rumours but I know there's one man for sure that Pitt killed. Back in 1923 the Wessler building was headquarters for a Jewish mobster by the name of Lenny Brokowitz. That's the guy that Pitt bumped out of place and killed personally. If you can find him I'm sure he'd have a thing or two to say about Pitt and might even want to help himself."

>>13810993
Ask away.

>>13810994
You be haffin any unfinished buisness, maybe i'll takea care of it for you, then, maybe i wont...

>>13810809
I like this idea.

When we started we jumped to level 3 in both Summon and Bind, that tells me we started as a dedicated summoner. We also have a fat file of deceased to fall back on and know it well enough to pick out people when we need them.

Also our actions in dealing with the punk knuckleduster kid and Clarissa tells me we pay due to the dead and the tips we leave to our living keep people liking us.

Can we assume we have some other 'free ghost' floating about we have connections with? Kind of like the punk kid but maybe not nearly as loyal? Maybe some old deceased family members or favored thugs who died at our side and who stick around to help their old buddy Duke?

This could possibly manifest as an extra pair of eyes and ears on us. Even if it costs some energy to keep a loose ghost around, I think it's a good idea to just have a favored ghost (as 'free' and 'cheap' as possible) watching our back to let us know if, say the man in the brown vest has been staring at you for a little longer than is comfortable.

This wouldn't give us any combat advantage, I don't think, but it would give us a 'bonus to Initiative' as we'd have an extra pair of eyes and ears to alert us to danger.

What do you all think? Ellington?

Can/Should we burn some energy to keep a watchdog looking over our shoulders?

If so, should he/she be a family member, lover, favored thug, or what?

Don't be afraid to veto this idea, Ellington. We don't want Duke getting overpowered.

Alright let's move on from this section of the action. You've left David in the circle in your sanctum and gone on to do other things. If you have any more questions I'll answer them and we'll just all pretend that you asked it while you interrogated him back at the office.

It's 02:00 and you have some food, have a planning session with the boys. Do the final rounds of the day at 05:00 and then go home to get some sleep, you want to get an early start tomorrow. (earlier than usual anyway).

Wake up and it's a new day.

We've got some voting to do on medium term strategy. There seem to be two schools of thought.

1) Deal with Freeman, follow the Jackie/Panther lead, work on levelling up.
2) Enter the lions den in the Financial District, do some poking around and maybe take on Lord Pitt.

Is there any other options someone would like to suggest before we take a vote?

>>13810994
>Dave understood the deal as being information until your current crop of trouble is over for being sent back as far as you can send him.
Dammit, that's not what I said, lousy fucker. And his information is worth a hell of a lot less if we can't get it without troopin' back to our office.

But fine. Leave him summoned and hanging around for a while, and if he's too much of a pussy to come with us then he can stay behind. We'll keep our word, but more on principle than because the shit is worth it.

>>13811074
That's a neat idea for an awesome use for a ghost and you're free to implement that with Chandler when the current Freeman issue is over but I'm going to have to nix the idea for a free ghost slot. I might have let that slide in the beginning since you didn't have any combat oriented spells but with all the firepower you just bought and the fact that you can now do Rip I do have to keep an eye out for power creep.

>>13811129
Can we assume this man CAN sleep what with all those ghosts around...

Anyway could someone post the archive for this? I have to bed my insomniac head...

>>13811093
Hmmm... We shouldn't send a ghostly spy to Lord Pitt. If he's as powerful as they say, he could probably tell who sent it and we don't want to tip our hand just yet. He may already be on to us because of his presence in Clarissa's den.

What do we know of arcane magic? Would his arcane manifestation (this 'dragon') have been able to detect us while he was killing Clarissa? Does he have any way of knowing we're on to him?

This post inspired by Captcha: 'Gathrn Knowledge'

>>13811093
I am inclined to follow up on the crystals somewhat more before going into the Financial District. There's more background to learn, and we don't know how much time we've got- I'd like to pick up some more information. Also taking the time to implement one or two ghosts as in >>13810809 could put us in a much better position for moving in there, and they'll each take a bit of time.

>>13810875
The fuck you want that for? Single action?

The 1911 has been invented. There's no need to have a revolver, let alone a single action one, except in the case of magnum rounds (.44, .357).

Shame we can't get our hands on Browning HPs until 1935.

>>13811093
I think number one, for now. We need to secure our home territory first before making advances into other places. Then again, the crystal situation is pretty time sensitive...

Well, technically getting the name and location of the Panther from Jackie is dealing with the crystals too.

>>13811194
.45 long colt > .44

Besides if you try to fire a revolver on anything but single at range then you sir, will miss the barn and yo mama.

>>13811157
Yes, he can sleep! Good night yourself and here's the suptg link: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13808265

It's also on easymodo now.

>>13811158
Lord Pitt could sense someone powerful was sitting next to Clarissa as he killed her but because you weren't fully in that plane he couldn't tell who you were. All he knows is that someone powerful hired a small time mystic to look into certain keywords he had alarms surrounding.

Alright, the consensus seems to be that we should stay in Harlem, do some more background and sort things out at home before we strike out and deal with things further afield.

That's what we'll go with.

You've just woken up, had breakfast cleaned yourself up and put on a fresh suit to face the day. Now that we know medium term, what's short term. What's first on our hitlist?

>>13811273
Excellent.

I vote we keep as low a profile as possible when dealing with anything regarding the crystals or the Financial District. We don't know how paranoid this Pitt is and chances are he's begun an investigation into finding out who we are. Let's give him little reason to suspect us.

Tell the boys to ready for war, but keep them quiet and as uninformed as possible. We work the Jackie angle because that's small and local and word's not likely to get out that we're looking for these crystals. Besides, we've a public reason for seeing her and a known weakness for the ladies so it won't stir up undue attention.

Also, we ask for a report from Chandler. What has he seen of Freeman and his dealings? Anything useful or relevant?

Try putting some energy from ourself into someone, I'm curious to see if we can buff our allies.

>>13811317
Get a report from Chandler and invite Jackie to dinner later in the evening, since we woke up early I imagine our "breakfast" was actually lunch.

>>13811376
Yeah it's about 1-ish.

>>13811352
We'll give that a try as soon as you're near someone.

>>13811369
>>13811376
Because of the intimate knowledge you have of Chandler and your own innate skill, you can summon him without even using a circle. You call out to him and you can sense him getting closer from the other side of Harlem.

In a few minutes he's materialised in front of you and is curious.

"What can I do for you?"

>>13811394
Tell me what Freeman has been up to, and if you can want to know where he goes regularly. Places he stops that others won't be near him, and who his boss is.

>>13811419
Chandler smiles as he speaks."Well, he's had his morning rage session. This time he was angry about how you somehow get away with killing three people in one day, "one of them a fucking pig for chrissakes!", and nobody does anything about it but talk about what a hardass you are and how you're not to be messed with."

You notice that he's already getting better at being ghost. He's more solid and coherent and wearing his Sunday best, a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. It hung really well on him and made him look like a sharp nightclub singer, the kind all the ladies go crazy for when they begin to croon.

"I've been snooping around his weapons locker and I can't get in. It's a magical fortress. Just approaching makes me begin to disintegrate. I have no idea what he's got in there but it's damn heavy shit. If you ever have to take him down don't go near him when he's at that place. I'm guessing it doubles as his sanctum like you've got yours in the back of your offices."

"His plan for today is to walk into the disputed territory and try to convince some of lieutenants you have doing protection for businesses in the area to jump ship and join them, with their client lists."

"I don't know who his boss is but from what I understand Freeman is getting serious pressure from up top for not doing his job as well as you do yours."

>>13811394
"What plans occupy the mind of our old friend Freeman?"

"What do the gossipers and grapeviners say of me and mine? What does the public think I'm up to?"

"Have you heard anything that may be of relevance to me? Any power players that may have been inconvenienced or been stolen from?"

*I'm not sure how to phrase the above question, I want to ask if he's heard of any major thefts without telling him we're looking for the crystals. We should keep that a secret even from the dead.*

Also, to keep up appearances of being kind to our dearly employed:

"Your brothers are safe, yes?"

>>13811437
Welp. Sounds to me like we're going to need to make him vanish soon. Muscling in on our territory is grounds for a quick trip to the bottom of the ocean.

>>13811455
>"What plans occupy the mind of our old friend Freeman?"
Already answered this.

>"What do the gossipers and grapeviners say of me and mine? What does the public think I'm up to?"
"Nobody wants to even think of what you're up to, ever. Who knows, you might sense it and turn up and get them to stop thinking. Permanently."

>"Have you heard anything that may be of relevance to me? Any power players that may have been inconvenienced or been stolen from?"
"No, sir, none at all. Everything seems to be humming along quite nicely, fun times for all, you know? I hear there's a great party going at CeeCee's tonight. Shame I won't make it, huh?" he was also starting to pick up on some of that ghost humour.

>"Your brothers are safe, yes?"
"For now, yeah. But that Freeman's a snake. One of these days he's going to remember how his "use" of me backfired and try to take it out on my brothers in anger. He won't call it anger though, he'll act all calm and shit and say "Simply tying up loose ends," in that snooty tone of his. Asshole."

>>13811437
Wait, just for clarification. Is the disputed area's protection rackets run by Duke personally, or run by the Outfit?

If I remember right, Olukwele and Duke run the numbers and speakeasies. The protection rackets are some other Boss's responsibility.

If the disputed protection rackets are under Outfit control, we should send an informant to the proper boss, but I think it'd be irresponsible for us to but in personally. Last thing we need are our own people thinking we're muscling in on their duties.

Unless they're our personal protection rackets. In which case we should respond to this threat ourselves.

>His plan for today is to walk into the disputed territory and try to convince some of lieutenants you have doing protection for businesses in the area to jump ship and join them, with their client lists.
Well. If we can avoid falling to his mental mojo, let's meet him inside one of those clients' offices and explain that we won't be stolen from, and he's going to withdraw from the whole disputed territory or we'll do something about it.

He'll get pissed, no doubt. That's when our ghost hit squad strikes. Can't rely on acting properly ourselves or through minions when there's a mind controller around.

Note that accomplishing this will require the existence of a ghost hit squad. Get one.

>>13811502
In safe territory the protection rackets are under the control of different bosses, you've got it absolutely right. But the disputed territory is a powder keg and so Olukwele has given you the responsibilities of the protection rackets as well in that zone because the other bosses probably couldn't finesse the kind of situation that seems to be developing.

Good catch.

>>13811519
Not >>13811510, but I think we should inform whatever boss runs the protection rackets and offer our assistance in the matter.

>>13811536
Err, you don't need to though because the protections being hussled into are in the disputed territory. They're your responsibility to deal with. You're the man on point.

>>13811519
Woops should've read that better.

So what's the plan?

Ambush Freeman with the boys and that newly bought firepower? Or just head to disputed territory and wing it?

>>13811553
Well, it's as good of an excuse as any to deal with the Freeman problem.

First: I say we send word to Jackie we'll have dinner with her.
Second: We go to our racketeers in the disputed area and see if we can 'smoothly' build morale. Maybe buy the boys a drink or two, tip them well, let them know they're in good where they're at.

I say we do it this way because it looks better on us and worse on Freeman if our boys don't even give him the time of day when he comes knockin'. If it becomes publicly known that Duke had to go secure his forces himself, that might imply we don't trust our boys and others may try to swipe them up when we're not looking.

In short:
1. Dinner date with Jackie
2. Try to deal with the Freeman Problem while making it look like we didn't personally deal with the Freeman problem. Make it appear effortless to an outsider.

>>13811636
Clarifying: We go buy drinks for the racketeering boys ASAP, as in BEFORE Freeman gets there. And then be nearby but out of sight when Freeman propositions them.

The best case scenario here is that our boys shoo Freeman away themselves, and to Freeman (and his bosses) it looks like we didn't have to do anything.

Our fallback plan will be to intervene personally.

>>13811615
>Ambush Freeman with the boys and that newly bought firepower?
When we take him out permanent-fashion, it will NOT be like this. Bringing goons with heavy weapons near someone with mind control powers is just asking for those heavy weapons to be pointed in unfortunate directions.

The only ones we can trust to deal with him are us and the dead, and I'm not sure about us.

>>13811670

>>13811670
>>13811710
Alright then.

You begin your "morning" tour and show your face round the usual places. People smile at you and you can tell their nervous and but the smiles are genuine.

You might or might not be a crazy vicious dog that kills people for giggles but you're THEIR crazy vicious dog that kills people for giggles. Morale in the Outfit is high today. Slowly you make your way towards disputed territory and the scenery changes. The people are less smiley and more fearful. The inhabitants can tell that things are in a precarious balance and nobody wants to get caught in a crossfire.

You arrive at a dingy poolhall, smelling of stale beer and an out of function toilet. The daylight is blocked out by wooden panels on the window and the lighting is low and sleazy. It could be night or day and that's just how the inhabitants like it. At one of the tables is Winston.

Winston is one of the guys who has the biggest number of clients in disputed territory and by his open and unsuspecting smile you can see that you got there to him before Freeman did. Winston is a normal human with no extra abilities, only a fantastic bit of skill at intimidating citizens got him where he was today. That and his ridiculous proportions, standing 6'8 with build of an ox.

"My man, Duke! How's business going?"

>>13811735

Smile back. "The Duke's business is always good, Winston. As is the business of the Duke's friends."

>>13811822
"Ain't that the truth. What brings you round this early in the day, huh? You don't usually come round here till later. Something to do with that kid that tried you yesterday?"

>>13811735

How well do we know Winston? And how much does Winston know about the Opposition?

If the answer to both of those questions is 'well enough', we can sit down for a drink and talk about how well we're doing and how poorly the Opposition is doing. Really let it sink in that where he is is where he wants to be.

>>13811822
Seems a little blatant, but basically good. Spend some time getting the news of what's been going on, make sure all's good and he knows we're watching carefully and supportively, and move on to the next guy. Can't say anything too obvious, or Freeman will know that we came here specifically to mess with his expansion plans when he reads it in this guy's mind later.

>>13811838

"That punk?" *shakes head* "Just a kid shuffled off to his death by a coward."

Maybe take this opening to pontificate on some of the character weaknesses of Freeman. Really set a negative perception of the man in Winston's mind.

Tell Winston that we're just going to sit back in the corner and wait for someone. Tell him not to worry. He's a good earner and a good "friend".

Head on over to a dark corner. Summon Chandler and have him keep watch near us. Or if he can, go out and ghost Freeman and come tell us if he starts heading our way.

Also, if we get forewarning of Freeman's approach, leech a little bit of energy out of the drunks here. Give us a bit of a boost before the confrontation.

Two options have appeared!

1) Stay with Winston, chat with him about how good things are and then wait in a corner for Freeman to show and have a tete a tete or show down here.
2) Reassure Winston and then move on to other guys you've got in your pocket.

>>13811915
P.S. You've sent Chandler off already and he's following Freeman as it is so there will be advanced warning.

>>13811915

Depends. How critical is Winston? If there are other racketeers of equal importance, we should reassure as many of them as possible.

If Winston's the main man (and it sounds like he is), I vote we focus on keeping him on our side and stay here to make sure of it.

>>13811915
Winston is too much of a liability. He's a monster of a man. If Freeman takes control of him, then we've got a fucking giant to contend with.

Reassure Winston. Don't outright tell him that someone is going to come see him, but imply that we appreciate him and all he does.

Then go off to see that one loanshark. The half jew who's so good at his job.

>>13811936
Winston is the biggest one in disputed territory, it's why you went to him first, he's the most reliable and capable of them. The rest sort of follow his lead.

>>13811915
Unless we're planning to kill Freeman personally, right now, staying here is a bad idea. We'll force a confrontation and have to back it up, and we haven't rigged the fight so that we'll win it. Move on.

Alright, moving on it is.

You talk for a few minutes with Winston, bucking him up, reassuring him of plentiful future profits and then head on to your next target.

Doc Green is a former army medic that mustered out and set up a small practice in Harlem. He really didn't mean to begin loansharking but he cared so much for his patients that he started offfering the really sick ones credit. Then some that he didn't care so much about got a bit of credit and refused to pay up. One thing led to another and a decade later Doc Green is a loanshark and protection racketeer that people respect.

You're about to arrive at his practice, preparing your smile for the sexy nurse that always hangs around reception, when you see Chandler materialising in front of you.

"Stop, Duke. Doc Green is in there right now talking to Freeman. Green refused Freeman's offer, called him an idiot if he thought Green would jump from a winning team to a losing one when Freeman suddenly pulled some of that mental crap and Green is suddenly thinking seriously about it."

Maybe we still have time to rig the fight in our favor.

Can we sense how far away Chandler is to kind of get an ETA on Freeman?

If we've got time, maybe leech some of the drunks and call the boys for backup. Maybe summon an ally or two just in case things go south.

Remember we're trying to avoid a personal confrontation, we want Winston to tell him to shove off himself. But if Winston falls we take a serious blow to our rep and we can't afford that, we need to be there to back him up in case Freeman pulls out some guns we don't know about.

Remember Winston's nonmagical and Freeman has no reason to suspect we're there. Freeman probably didn't come expecting a sortie, and we might still have time to rig the fight.

>>13812026
Well hrmm. This could be tricky. We can confront Freeman now. Make this a fight to the death here. He had Chandler use those knuckledusters and has an entire room full of serious shit, so he might be packing some serious heat right about now.

Ask Chandler if he's alone. And if he can sense and bad juju surrounding him.

Pull out a pistol and get those knuckledusters ready. Stay right outside the door and wait to see what Chandler says.

>>13812026

Is Chanlder powerful enough to Possess someone yet?

If not, how quickly can we summon a ghost powerful enough to Possess someone?

Maybe we should duck into a back alley, summon a ghost with possession powers and instruct them to Possess Doc Green and refuse Freeman's offer.

We shouldn't go in there now. 1. Freeman's already warmed up and ready to go. 2. Doc Green is an experienced veteran who may already be under Freeman's control and might take his side in the fight.

Would Doc Green know a spirit we controlled possessed him? Would he be put out by it?

>>13812095
Oh shit. I have a plan. Prepare weapons. A pistol and those knuckledusters. Have Chandler watch the door and tell us when Freeman is about to come out. When Freeman is right on the other side of the door, prepare a massive punch with those knuckledusters and kill his ass through the fucking door!

>>13812095
Chandler says he's alone and has none of the heavy weaponry on him from his weapons locker. Clearly Freeman thought he was getting the drop on you by visiting your underlings when he thought you were busy with other things.

>>13812111
Chandler isn't strong enough to possess anyone yet. To summon someone strong to possess someone you'd have to travel back to the office.

>>13812121
I'm willing to let you try this if the other guys agree with you.

Let me know what you want.

>>13812121
Falcon Punch!

In your defence, that asshole was pulling voodoo on your dude. That shit don't fly here.

>>13812121
>>13812166
>>13812177
I say we definitely try it. But it has to be Freeman coming through the door. Chandler can't fuck us on this or he knows what will happen to his brothers.

And make sure we have a pistol out and ready in case things don't go as planned.

>>13812121
I would point out that if Freeman can control minds, he might be able to sense them as well. He could pick up on our hostile intent, depending upon how alert his mental senses are. We'll want a backup plan for if he does.

>>13812227
Having an instrument of death in each hand could probably be enough?

Ok. The consensus seems to be to try to bushwack Freeman.

Next Post: THE ASSASSINATION OF THE COWARD FREEMAN BY THE BADASS DUKE.

>Next Post: THE ASSASSINATION OF THE COWARD FREEMAN BY THE BADASS DUKE.
The irony inherent in this statement is staggering.

You stand at the entrance of the practice and wait for Chandler to come out.

You've worked out a signal between you so that he'll tug on the string of energy between you the moment that Freeman is about to open the door.

It's afternoon in New York and the heat is at its most oppressive. You're standing there in a several layers of suit and logically you should be sweating. You're not though.

You're cool, you're calm and you're ready to take a life.

Your left hand contains a killer knuckleduster, your right an m1917 Colt Revolver that's taken more lives than you're bothered to count.

Your patience is your ally...

And, when we inevitable summon and bind his lousy spirit, we'll gloat. But not in a prideful way. In a calm and cool method. We beat him. He was a foolish man.

OP, this is a great quest. Awesome setting. Player input. Fast typing and posting by you.

It's the best I've been involved with in a long time. And my current favorite. NOW LET'S GET THAT PIG FUCKER.

>>13812303
Shit, the suspense is like I'm really there, waiting.

>>13812295
Haha, I know!

--------

Suddenly you feel a tug at your core and this is it, the moment is here.

You let loose with a left hook and the energy from the knuckleduster flies out with glee. You can almost hear it shouting a battle cry. Whatever the Chinese did to this knuckleduster they made sure that it takes pleasure in killing.

It flies through the door breaking it completely and kills Freeman in one blow.

You see the body of Freeman fall and once again the knuckleduster's energy floats aroudn gloating before it disappears. But just before it disappears it lets out some sort of disappointed whine.

You look three steps back from the door and you see Freeman standing there with a shocked look on his face.

By putting two and two together you instantly realise what just happened. Freeman is a kind of mental magician and at some point years ago he must have created a simulacrum that acts as a stalking horse for him. Everywhere he went, dangerous meetings, confrontations, even day to day activities, it goes ahead of him and he controls it fully while keeping himself invisible from the minds of the people in the surrounding area. It was all just in case something like this would happen and Freeman's caution has paid off.

He looks at you in shock and goes to draw something out of his inner pocket.

His surprise means that you have one move to make before he makes his move.

You could guys could very well die in this confrontation so I'm going to request consensus before I make an official next story post.

>>13812316
Thanks buddy. For a while there I was worried that you guys would think I was making things go to slow with the story and taking too much time filling in background and fleshing out the setting but you seem to be ok with the pace I'm setting so that's good. Once again, thanks!

>>13812352
We're too far away for another shot from out knuckle dusters.

And we're not suited to offensive magic. Leech life isn't fast enough and isn't effective against mages.

But we have a mighty fine revolver in our hands.

And by god, when it comes to shooting iron, there's no man better than The Duke.

"Neat trick." And then blast him. Right in the motherfucking heart.

>>13812352
Shit.

The duster has range of several meters due to our abilities, right? And we should have one charge left.

Punch again.

>>13812352
Ah, I knew it'd be too easy to just blast his ass with the dusters.

>>13812374
The Background and setting is FANTASTIC! It really fleshes out the world. I loved our meeting in the park wit Olukwele.

>>13812378
Out of range, sorry. You were -just- in range with the FauxFreeman on the other side of the door. Now he's twice as far. To get in range you'd have to take a few steps forward and that would count as one move.

>>13812352

Shoot him down, we had our 1911 prepped and ready to go for just in case something like this happened. Stick to the plan and end him here.

>>13812398
Good thing we're skilled with guns and have a six shooter in our hand.

>>13812375
>And by god, when it comes to shooting iron, there's no man better than The Duke.

We're a dead shot with guns, so that's how it is.

Sucka' stepped into the wrong establishment. Weren't counting on a fly steppa' like The Duke.

m1917, not m1911, my bad

>>13812418
Eh, I think we should probably switch to a m1911 though. It's just a better gun all around. Semi-auto clip loaded. Almost as reliable as a revolver, and packs just as much of a punch.

>>13812413
I'm betting on you duke.

I am.

Blast that fly sucka'.

>>13812445
There's also a larger ammo capacity. We'll need to keep it in mind for later.

>>13812445
>clip
Good thing we're not on /k/

>>13812445
Magazine, not a clip. A magazine is fully closed like those you see in modern semi automatic weapons.

A clip is like those used in older rifles and the like. Where the bullets are exposed before they're put in, and the chambering mechanism is inside of the weapon.

>>13812465
I did it specifically to lure /k/ommandos out to tap their ballistic knowledge about the m1911. Because god knows, they want to marry that gun.

>>13812375
>>13812399
>>13812413
>>13812415
"Neat trick," you say deadpan as you lift your right arm and with your great gunfighter skills and fire the gun at Freeman.

The bullet flies through the air and connects exactly where you aimed it, at his heart.

Two things happen though. One, it seems Freeman has some sort of basic shield up (maybe it's part of the clothing) and that stops the bullet from being fatal.

Secondly Freeman had been going for his left inside pocket so his arm was in the way as you shot the bullet. His right arm is now broken.

Freeman forfeits the next move because he's dealing with the pain of a broken arm.

You can make one more move.

>>13812472
>>13812475
HAH! GOT ONE!

You. Detail the magnificent 1911 master race sidearm to us.

>>13812475
It is a very nice weapon. There's reason for it to still be in use today.

>>13812483
Blast him again. Right in the head.

>>13812483
Shift our aim upward. The next shot is in the throat.

>>13812492
No good ones, though.

>>13812503
>>13812514
Really though, anywhere in the head and neck region is good for me.

>>13812483
Shoot him right between the eyes. If it's the clothing that bypasses it. If it's something that effects everything, well, a broken skull and concussion will do awesome stuff for our chances of surviving this.

Alternate plan: Shoot his other arm.

>>13812485
A .45 cal semi-auto designed by His Holiness The Lord John Moses Browning, given to man to strike down his foes. A slim frame makes it an easily concealable weapon, while the 7+1 round capacity lets it handle most jobs. .45 ACP is a common round, well known for its capacity to kill. Reliable, used by the military, and an all around classic (well, it's a bit early to be a classic, but you get the idea).

>>13812390
>I loved our meeting in the park wit Olukwele.

That's great! Olukwele is such an awesome dude in my head, I'm glad that's being conveyed.

You guys do rock though, some of the shit you say has me laughing for minutes on end.

>>13812529
I wrote the edit from Boardwalk, and I'm proud of it, but I am so fucking pissed at whoever deleted it.

Man, you've made something great here.

>>13812526
>>13812524
>>13812514
>>13812503
With a wry smile and ease, you shift your aim upwards and aim at Freeman's head.

The second bullet flies out of your revolver and spins through the air and connects once again quite solidly with some shield surrounding Freeman.

There are consequences however. The blast to the head breaks Freeman's skull and renders him completely unconscious, probably in a full coma state, and he falls backwards on to the ground.

He's down for the count, no danger to you at hte moment but still breathing.

The people in the waiting room don't scream or shout or anything. They're terrified any action from them will turn your attention towards taking care of witnesses. They wait to see what your next action is.

>>13812527
FUCKING SAVED. I just want to read that out loud like a Southern Baptist preacher.

In retrospect this might not have been the best idea.

We're in a powder keg of an area, the only reason we're in charge is because we're expected to handle these situations cool and smoothlike with a level head.

It won't look good that a boss, even a rival boss, was effectively assassinated in semi-cold blood in a hot-zone. We weren't provoked (beyond the test we were given earlier), and we had little reason to attack him other than a semi-reliable ghost of an informant told him he was practicing mental juju on a friend of ours. While that may be bad, it's not worth upsetting the balance of power over. We're not the kingpin here, we still answer to a lot of people who might be upset by this little development.

Still, we are where we are and we need to be solution oriented. We've already tried to kill him and taken a shot at him, it won't do to back down now.

Take another shot, aim for the throat.

Be thinking about how we're going to explain this to the higher ups, there's bound to be some people upset by this. We need to let them know we're not a loose cannon itching to kill at the slightest provokation, though our actions today might suggest otherwise.

>>13812571
Calmly turn to the people in the waiting room while putting our gun away.

"Would you fellas mind helpin' me take him to the back? Man seems to need a doctor."

>>13812588
>"Would you fellas mind helpin' me take him to the back? Man seems to need a doctor."

We're such a badass.

>>13812578
I read it in the voice of Michael Palin reading from the Book of Armaments in the Holy Grail (holy hand grenade scene).

>>13812602
>>13812588
A lone guy in the back of the room hears that and starts lets out the most cackle like laugh you've ever heard. After that the tension breaks and is released in the form of laughter. Everyone is relieved and laughing incredibly hard to each other, poking each other in the rib, repeating that line again and again.

Damn. You just walked into a room, coldbloodedly killed a man in front of 8 people and then had them laughing about it.

Two of the men stand up, walk over the corpse and carry him into the back with you where Doc Green is sitting next to a bed looking confused.

Now that Freeman is unconscious it seems something of the manipulation he was doing to Green is starting to come off.

>>13812586
What are you saying man?

The dude just tried to come into our places of business and forcibly subvert our underbosses. That earns you a bullet, period, even discounting that he tried to kill us yesterday.

If we had let him get away with this shit we would have been seen as weak. He's not even dead. We can patch him up and hire a nurse to take care of him. Have him brought back and wheeled around the territory we are about to take in a wheelchair every saturday, saying it's to help his recovery.

But everyone will know what it really is. When they see the vacant stare and drool being wiped from his mouth, they'll know it's an example of what happens when you try to fuck with The Duke.

We need to talk to Greene. Make sure he's still loyal and not fucked with.

If he's loyal still, give him some cash to get his door fixed.

And check Freeman's pockets for any trinkets. Be careful though, we don't want to be touching any cursed items.

Take a pair of the Doc's scissors. And cut off ALL of Freeman's hair. We're going to want to be summoning him a whole lot.

>>13812622
So wait. Is he dead or in a coma?

Because my plan here:
>>13812627
won't work if he's dead. Also, I would rather not kill a fourth person in two days. Just having him rendered a drooling vegetable to be carted around in his former territory every weekend is plenty.

>>13812642
WHOOPS my mistake. He's not dead, he's unconscious/coma.

>>13812641
Uh. I don't think the hair is consumed on summoning. That would be crazy inefficient.

>>13812641
Even if he's alive, cutting off his hair should send a message. When we have him dumped back in his territory after this, the "don't steal my fucking businesses" message should be passed loud and clear. I wouldn't be surprised if his bosses put someone new in his job, really.

We need to get some fine protection magic like he had. Like Olukwele has. I fear the day when we come against someone with the power to transform into a monstrous beast.

>>13812662
We have an amulet, yes?

>>13812649
To clarify once again, I forgot that I said he was comatose and not dead. Freeman is not dead. Hair, however is not used up and can be reused.

>>13812630
You talk to Green, tell him about the way Freeman messed with his mind and you can see him slowly nodding seeing logically that he was loyal to the Outfit and that the Opposition seemed to be a sinking boat that only a fool would jump onto. Mrs. Green didn't raise no fool.

You give Green some money to fix the door and he is 100% back on board with you now.

>>13812662
Oh, you mean like Gregor? That Ruskie hangs around Central Park? Fuuuuck man. Scary dude. Supposed to be some kinda relation to that Rasputin fucker.

>>13812665
Even if we don't, we're about to have whatever Freeman just had. And his whole armory.

>>13812679
Assuming someone doesn't clear it out first.

We need to kill him, summon and bind his spirit to service, and find out what he has in that armory and out to get into it.

Then once we clear him out, we need to find out everything he knows.

No one can keep a secret from The Duke.

>>13812679
I doubt it. Even if he was dead (well, no, if he was dead we'd just bind him...), his shit was probably warded. One doesn't get a gun collection to leave it lying around. There'd be keyholes or challenges only he'd know.

As a comatose fucker, we merely have an advantage in the now.

>>13812679
His armory is in his base, deep in enemy territory. How do you figure we're going to loot it?

>>13812695
I'd also bet he has goons lying around who'd know to whack you on sight.

>>13812690
I really don't want us to be seen murdering yet another person today. We're already viewed with fear. That's good. But too much fear is bad. We can't look like some vicious mad dog who bites everyone around him. Just a man who takes care of business and you never EVER want to cross.

>>13812708
We also don't want him laying around alive. He's a mental magician man. Even if he's in a physical coma, who knows what he might be able to do from beyond that little veil?

We need to take him out of the equation.

>>13812708
Hell, I'm surprised we haven't gained Intimidation (Rank 1) at this point. Or do physical skills not work that way?

>>13812720
Send him for a lobotomy then. Part of his recovery treatment. If I recall, it was still a medically accepted procedure in the 20's.

We'll never need to deal with him again.

>>13812665
An amulet that protects against choking from the astral plane, yes. Don't do shit in the real world though.

>>13812675
That guy is plain scary. Only an idiot would get on his bad side after he's been on a binge.

--

You rifle through Freeman's body and find a couple of things.

GAINED - BROWN STICK. The thing he was going for in his left pocket was a plain brown stick. You're not sure what it does or how it works but you can guess that it's something offensive from the context he was getting it out for.

GAINED - WEAK PHYSICAL PROTECTION AMULET. This thing shows what a weak guy Freeman was. If he had been smart he would have invested in something a bit more powerful that would absorb the blow and spread it out around the shield instead of just taking it one point and letting some of the force through.

What a small time chump.

Now you've got some options with what to do with Freeman.

1) Kill him. Take his hair, drop his corpse in Opposition territory.
2) Keep him alive. Take his hair. Drop his comatose body in opposition territory with a sign that reads "Don't Steal Business."
3) Keep him alive. Take his hair. Keep him as an object lesson that you trot out occasionally when people seem to be forgetting what a badass you are.

Vote.

>>13812720
I refuse to kill yet another person. We're going to scare people away from us if we keep this up. NO. We need to be both approchable as well as feared.

>>13812740
Either 2 or 3 is fine with me.

>>13812740
How comatose is comatose? I don't want him waking up one day in our office in the perfect position to wreck my shit.

I vote for dropping him off. Leave a gift for whoever picks him up too.

>Brown stick
A wand? A dead branch (break it, summons a creature, wrecks shit)? I wonder if there's people who can identify this stuff for us. Winters?

>>13812776
Or leave something in his pockets that'll activate when he touches it.

If there is one fucking person that we can kill without people thinking we are crazy, its one of our enemies that routinely tries to kill us.

Snap the fuckers neck and take his hair.

>>13812776
Nah, Winters isn't in that kind of trade. He can sell something sure. But for a job like this, we're gonna need to talk to a crafter. There's that one little Chinaman down in Chinatown. He hasn't been too friendly to us in the past, but if we show him how green our money is, he'll give us a fair deal.

3

An example is always handy to have.

>>13812799
And while we're in Chinatown talking to him we can get some what's-what about our dragon friend. I approve.

We've got to get rid of him now. Don't do it in public if we don't want the attention, but don't let him live. Being a mental magician, that could make him dangerous even when he's out cold like this. Who knows what his mind is up to right now even?

Besides, when he's a ghost, we can fucking summon and bind his ass. Learn his secrets. We can learn what the brown stick is without having to take it to someone for Identification. We can learn just what he has stored, how it's safeguarded, and who's watching over it.

And we can learn all about his business interests. Not to mention his bosses. We deal in fucking death. We kill people. We gain the most from killing him and squeezing everything we can out of him.

>>13812740
Option 2. Keeping him around as an example would be a bother, and would demonstrate that we consider him worth our time. Let our rep spread naturally instead of deliberately shoving it in everyone's faces all the time.

>>13812799
>live in canada
>only 20s are green
>wiki says the earliest banknotes were in 1935, and the green ones were 1s

Hm. I guess your 1s are green too...

>>13812828
>Who knows what his mind is up to right now even?
Probably nothing, seeing as a 45 slamming into your skull and imparting all that force will jello your brain even if it doesn't go through.

>>13812841
US currency's been green since late in the 1800s.

>>13812832
I'll change my vote from 3 to 2, because this guy makes a good point.

We probably shouldn't shove it in everyone's face. Just let it grow naturally. We don't want to be a chump like Freeman, always trying to puff up how bad he is.

Guys, come on. If we don't kill him, we don't find out all of his little secrets.

And the 2s take it.

You walk over to the one phone in the building and call to the office. It rings for a while until one of the old men who always are around playing chess answers the phone. He calls for Randy and it turns out Randy was having a nap in the office. You tell him and Jim to drive over.

They arrive in about 10 minutes and in that time you've shaved Freeman's head and collected all his hair. That's one message that everyone will understand. You've also established the state of Freeman's health with the help of the doctor and it's clear the doctor thinks Freeman won't ever wake up or if he does he'll be so out of it that he'll need care for the rest of his life. Part of his skull has been driven into his brain.

Randy and Jim carry Freeman to the car for you and you begin to drive to Opposition territory. They ask if they should stop at the border and you shake your head. You say drive deeper in and they look nervously at each other. A few blocks in where it's clear that this is Opposition, even the bright colours of the suits people are wearing make it clear this isn't part of the more conservative Outfit zone, you tell them to stop the car.

You drop Freeman outside and leave a note on his body that says "Don't Steal Business" and then order Randy to drive you back.

-----
GAINED - Intimidation (level 1)
GAINED - Reputation in Harlem and the surrounding neighbourhoods: "He's fucking dangerous man. Don't even think of going up against him. You hear what he did to that Freeman? Those Outfit boys don't mess."

>>13812889
It's possible that his spirit is already gone from his body and it's just a meatsack now. Remember, when we rip the soul out of someone they just go unconscious. We should try summoning him.

P.S. For what it's worth Freeman's office and armory are deep in Opposition territory, just like your office is deep in your home ground.

>>13812900
BADASS MOTHERFUCKER.

Well then, while we still have our boys with us in the car, head on over to Chinatown. Go see that Craftsman and have him ID this stick for us.

It's Chinese territory though, so we'll have to show that we come in peace and be diplomatic with the locals.

And from now on, Standard Operating Procedure. When we're traveling by car like this, we should have at least one of those Thompsons inside and ready to go if things get hot.

>>13812900
Hell yeah. You don't mess with the Duke.

Now, a few things:
1. First thing, go around to all the guys in the disputed territory and firmly establish it as our stomping ground. This is our territory now. Everyone will say yes after what just went down, that's the way it works when one boss wins.

2. Talk with Chandler. Tell him that we'll give him a choice. He can stick around and work for us in his dead form, we'll 'pay' him by watching out for his brothers. Or we can dismiss him and give him a bit of a shove along in the Journey.

3. Try to summon Freeman.

>>13812940
Nah. Thompsons stay on our Lts.

BAR stays in the car. Aw yeah. .50 caliber light anti-materiel rounds fired full auto. Things will punch through and engine block and kill someone on the other side.

>>13812944
I'm down with the first two. But trying to summon Freeman while he's still alive seems out of our reach.

>>13812959
See: Rip.

We're able to rip the souls out of still living people, so at the very least it's practice at using that skill.

But more important is what Rip does. We rip out their soul but their body stays alive in an unconscious state. It's possible Freeman's spirit is already departed and on the Journey.

Besides, what does it hurt to try bro?

>>13812956
What in the fuck are you talking about? BARs are chambered in .30-06. You're thinking of a M2. That's a HMG, very obvious, and is a crew served weapon.

I wonder how much it'd cost to get our hands on a M1919A4. I bet Jim would have no problem lugging that around, nor would we, especially with a little leeching.

Ack. Guys, I'm sorry to stop you when you've got such awesome planning going but I have to stop now and go to sleep.

Regarding when I can set up the next game, I don't know yet because I get my work schedule for this coming week on Monday.

If you can send me a message to my email saying "Hello and Goodbye Fuckface." I can reply to you all at once and let you know when the next round will begin.

Thanks for being involved, I've had a lot of fun tonight and once again we took care of a whole lot of business!

Any final thoughts or questions before I head off? I can make probably squeeze in one more post before I knock myself out.

>>13812981
Ah, my bad my bad, was getting mixed up.

Still. BAR is clearly the weapon for the car don't you think?

>>13812987
Just have Duke go into a heavily trafficked area of the disputed territory. Get out of the car. Get people's attention. And say very clearly, "I run this shit."

>>13813006
Don't worry, I'll make it clear in the first post of the next round that Duke took advantage of the power vacuum by having meetings with various underlings of Freeman and make it clear they other got clear of the zone or found themselves in a situation they really didn't want to be. The disputed territory is fully Outfit now.

Alright, adios for now.

>>13813028
Like. A. Boss.

>>13813003
In the trunk? Sure. In the seats? No. A long weapon is unwieldy, and the range on that thing is over kill. I'd rather have a Thompson (preferably a GI issue M1928, straight mag) due to ease of use and common ammunition. The BAR is limited on ammunition (20 round box mag). It's our heavy weapon, and the best one available at the time, granted.

And don't forget, Thompsons fit inside violin cases. Fuck yeah.

>>13813006
Ehhh, that's not... quite how it works. You have to go in to all the little underbosses and talk to them, get them to know you, and most importantly get them to personally understand that you run this area now. You can't just pop in and say you're in charge, you actually have to be a people person with good management skills to be a mid-upper level boss.

It's not all about badass. You need to be badass, and it makes everything a lot easier with balls of steel and a reputation to match. But you also need to know when to shake hands and smile, and when to be the nice guy who hands kids candy.

Our persuasion and a timeskip should have this area locked down tight within the week.

>>13813033
Criminals in the 20's and 30's often sawed off a portion of the barrel and most of the stock for just that reason. See: Bonnie and Clyde.

>>13813057
Well, great. Now we've got underpowered .30-06 rounds flying willy nilly. Personally, I feel Thompsons and a lot of box magazines are the way to go until somebody invents a carbine worth using. Just remember to only load 25 rounds in the magazine, not the full 30.

thanks Ellington

this was damn awesome

>>13813028
Oh my lordy this quest. Emailed like the fist of an angry god. I trust it won't hurt if we put some notes in the email aside from the catchphrase. And did the catchphrase go in the body or the subject line?