Hooray, Envy quest! And I'm here for it!

Hurmmm, we should probably help. I doubt he knows the guy is a vampire, and we /really/ don't want him saying something he shouldn't have. Not quite sure what we /should/ say though... Guess either a) yes, it's us, and we were brought back by necromancy, or b) yes, it's us, and the death thingy was some fake or other to throw off enemies in the Inquisition. I'm leaning towards a, myself, especially given the whole ice thing, easiest explained with necromancy methinks.

>A quick apology for the absence - my laptop broke down and then life happened for a while.

>A or B, anon?
>A third option, in setting, exists - some people return from the grave as Vengeful Dead, generally accepted as avatars of the Wotan, god of death by the public. Doubly so, given their instinctive drive to destroy Fair Folk and other monsters.

>>14138132
A, I think, unless him being a vampire would make him hostile to necromancy.
C might work, but again, he's a vampire, so telling him we are an avatar of the god of death would probably not go down well, unless I am missing something inherent to this setting. Plus, we're basically hanging around a little village and spending time with our "fiancee," so the whole "drive to destroy monsters" isn't really something we are pulling off so well. Though we should probably let that be the explanation to the public if it ever gets out (not that we will let that happen if we can help it).

>As a Demon, you know that older Vampires are technically living things and thus have no reason to fear Necromancy.
> I'll go with option A, anyway, if you wish.

>>14138263
Oh, them being living is an interesting effect, though I wasn't so much thinking "fear" as "rival."
But yes, a seems best, though I really would like some input from others here. Really, anytime guys...

"Yes," you interject, stepping towards Kain.
"It is I. Thomas contracted the services of a Necromancer to restore me to life."

As Thomas continues to splutter, Kain regards you with obvious scepticism - you realise with mounting horror that this creature is too powerful for you to read its thoughts or emotions.

"I... see." Kain glances at Thomas, then back to you, then turns to Thomas. "A dangerous act, Thomas. We must discuss it in detail. Just the three of us."

"Uncle Kain, I-"

"Hush, Thomas. I understand. I do. Let us talk properly."

>>14138530
Thomas leads both you and Kain to the drawing room, where he sinks wearily into an armchair. Kain leans on the mantle, regarding you coldly.

"What little I know of Necromancy, Thomas, is that Necromancy can only bring the dead back as one thing - a Vampires."

He cocks a brow, looks at Thomas.

"Fortunately I have the proper equipment at my estate to study and contain such a creature... or simply protect her, should she prove harmless."

Go on...

>Sorry, I was cooking dinner. Salmon in mozzarella sauce over conchiglie. Gotta watch that base like a hawk.

>>14139450

Thomas speaks up.
"Contain... Uncle Kain, how can you be so cruel?" He seems aghast, and somehow possessed by a unnatural lethargy - like he wishes to be more irate then he is.

Kain hesitates.

"Forgive me, both of you. But this is a delicate situation, and I spoke too quickly, too harshly. May I speak with Alessa privately for a moment?"

>>14139784
>Mozzarella sauce.
I don't believe it works that way.

>>14139784

WHERE THE SOD IS THE ANARDANA POWDER?

My god, this quest is back? It's like Christmas came early!

>>14139828

There's no such thing, heretic.

>>14139812
>You taste it and tell me otherwise, anon.

>>14139826
>Tell me of this sorcery...


>But on the topic of the game...
>Action?

Thomas looks at you in some perplexity.
"Alessa? Do you object?"

>>14139901
Move close to Thomas; we need to push the buttons that we've built into him so thoroughly- his possessiveness, his envy. Emphasize with our body language that Kain is trying to threaten and take what is his.

Then look at Thomas with seeming uncertainty, letting him make the call in response to Kain. "Thomas...?"

>>14140068
Good lord, please don't be one of those OPs that moves events forward with the main character standing dully doing nothing when the players don't post. I hate that. Things take time, and sometimes they're slow. It happens.

"I trust uncle Kain. Call me, when you need me."

He kisses you, almost as though to display some loyalty or defiance in spite of Kain, and leaves.

Kain watches him go, then pushes himself from the wall and confronts you with a gaze like silk over steel.

"Alessa... do you realise what you have become?"

>>14140113
>EnvyQuest players are rampantly paranoid. But I shall note that complaint for future reference.

We are probably going to want Kain and Thomas to both want us for their own. We'll want to act like a good little new vampire who is looking for someone to guide us and show us the way but are still completely devoted to Thomas so he is incredibly jealous of Thomas.

>He seems aghast, and somehow possessed by a unnatural lethargy - like he wishes to be more irate then he is.
Kain is hitting him with some kind of mental mojo, dampening his reaction. Perhaps making Thomas more docile or more in favor of whatever Kain wants. This is unfortunate for us, as we're a fairly dedicated social type who relies mostly on manipulating others to gain strength and achieve our goals, but at least we're able to pit our strength against Kain's influence. We'd go down like a punk in a stand-up fight, after all. Have to play this careful.

>>14140315
Rampant paranoia is only made worse when your action might be taken out of your hands at any time.

>>14140315
Our move here... since we can't take Kain, and I assume that vampires aren't going to get us souls so there's no point in trying to corrupt him- we need to stick with Thomas as much as possible. The question is, what kind of attitude will lead us to that result?

Being bold and displaying strength would essentially pit our will against Kain's. Unless he's the kind to respect apparent strength and back off, he'll crush us.

Being apparently clueless weak might make him try to seize control, to bully us- at which point we hide behind Thomas, stir Thomas' envy, and let him take the fore in our defense while trying to get him to push through Kain's mental powers with our own manipulative and supernatural skills. That's a gamble, but at least we'll be hiding our own prowess and making use of the mortals that we've put so much time and effort into.

So, I think our best move is to act uncertain. Say something along the lines of "I'm back with Thomas! That's all that matters..." while trying to look like we're extremely worried after hearing the vampire bit, but trying to put up a confident front.

>>14140392
Playing them off one another and being the center of a storm of envy would be delightful- IF we can successfully feed on vampires. I thought that we were limited to humans on that score, so stirring jealousy in Kain would gain us little except a sense of smug satisfaction.

>>14140447
Well that and a elder vampire that we can manipulate to do stuff for us, very useful that.

We don't want them so far gone that they start killing each other but enough that they are both easily pliable.

>>14140510
It's not going to be viable to keep him thinking that we're a vampire in the long term. Demons are significantly different, and the longer we're in a location the more it gets tainted and begins to show evidence of our sinister nature as Countess of the Endless Depths. He'll pick up on the tells eventually even if we can keep up a world-class string of bluffs.

"I'm back with Thomas! That's all that matters..." You reply, with a masterful imitation of uncertain naivety.

Kain immediately appears to be on his guard.

"...Evidently Bran is not the only one." He mutters, shaking his head as if to dismiss a thought.

"You are a Vampire now, Alessa. Distinct from others by your unnatural creation. You must feel the thirst, surely?"

He strokes his chin.

"Can I trust you, Alessa? Can I show you something? Know that if you betray me, I will not hesitate to destroy you."

>>14140568
When he mentions the thirst, affect an expression of hidden panic- as though we've been keeping that (and any associated activities) hidden from Thomas. And desperately want to deny that it's true, but can't.

And when he makes threats, back up a bit, but catch ourself like we're trying to remember to be strong. And speak like we really wish that we could just run away at this mention of secrets and destruction but aren't going to because that would be wildly inappropriate. "I... I would not break a trust, lord..."

Continue with the naive facade, acting like a naive vampire who is just happy to be back with your beloved. A bit confused and in need of direction but ultimately trustable.

To answer his question we need to be a bit scared by the last part but meekly say yes. Also ask what does being a vampire actually mean.

>>14140568
>"...Evidently Bran is not the only one." He mutters, shaking his head as if to dismiss a thought.
Bran. Do we know a Bran? Anything gleaned from Thomas' mind while we were in it relate to the name, or something we've heard since?

>You recall nothing of Bran. Or... perhaps he was a mercenary hireling to Kain?

"Very good. Calm yourself, I won't harm you."

Kain's flesh suddenly flows like molten wax, turning to a pale green with curious gnarls, his ears growing to points and hands twisting into three-taloned claws.

"I, too, am a Vampire. Don't be afraid... I won't harm you. But I know your pain and your fear, though it was hundreds of years ago when I felt them myself."

Loxite. Clan Loxite. A breed of Vampires with a mastery over flesh and shadow, the lords and leaders of their cursed lot. Kain is more dangerous than you realised.

>>14140922
What other vampire breeds are there? We'll need to pick one to imitate, at least on some level.

Also, do we know anything of how vampires are made and grow into their power? What would a baby vampire, like we supposedly are, be able to do, and what weaknesses would we have?

>>14140922
I am very tempted to make our reaction to his sudden change to be jumping backwards and falling on our ass with a tiny squeak.

And then get up and look very embarrassed and more than a tad frightened at what we're learning about ourselves and him, in spite of his reassuring words. Look as though we feel like we should be mustering some sort of response but at this point are well beyond our depth, and thus are reduced to stuttering. "L-lord Kain... I..."

>>14140944
>Vampires, as you understand it, are created by other Vampires through a ritual blood exchange - willingly or unwillingly. A newborn Vampire, a fledgling, is undead and voracious for blood to maintain its rotting body for a few decades before pupating into a new and living form.
>The accusation of being a Necromantic creation confuses you - mortals can make Vampires now?

>As for the Clans, you may be able to pass for Clan Yaundae, who have powers of ice and venom. It would be at least eighty years before a fledling Yaundae would exhibit the characteristic scales or fins.

>>14141030
Hmm. Based on that, I don't see how Kain could possibly think that we're a vampire at all! We're fairly obviously neither ravenous nor rotting. The necromantic bit being strange makes me think that perhaps Kain doesn't think we're a vampire at all, but rather is playing his own game and telling us that in order to manipulate us with the assumption that we're ignorant and will believe what he says.

We can't go right out and say what clan we think we are of course but if he asks about what has changed we can say that we feel more comfortable in the cold than ever before, we're pretty recent as a vampire so he wouldn't expect much in the way of powers from us.

Are there any restrictions on what type of blood a vampire drinks or ways of taking the blood without killing the victim? We should pretend to be afraid of drinking human blood and that we don't want to turn in a monster but just want to be by our beloveds side.

>>14141162
>To your knowledge Vampires frequently feed without killing, and without restriction.

>Perhaps Kain is suggesting Necromantically created Vampires to be clanless?

Wait a moment...
Is this quest about Vampires?

>>14141249
Perhaps. Could be interesting... we'll learn as we go, I suppose. Let's use the reaction in >>14141013, let Kain keep the initiative. After we've gathered some more information we can start expressing some actual opinions.

>>14141282
>Demons. But the world is a big place, and you have encountered a Vampire.

>>14141290
Kain shapeshifts back, quickly and easily.
"Don't worry. I can teach you - a number of other fledglings live in my manor, learning about the gift that has been bestowed on them. One of them, Bran, is an artificial Vampire, like you."

>>14141361
Look uncertain. "Lord Kain, I- I don't wish to offend, but Thomas... They tell me that he only started to care for life again after my return, and he loves me so very much. I cannot leave him." Attempt to convey through our voice and body language that we don't think we could actually insist on that last given that he's crazy powerful, but we really wish we could. That is, we're trying to be defiant but he could call our bluff.

"I thank you deeply for your offer but I can't go with you. I can't just abandon Thomas like that." If we can do subtle manipulation on him we might want to make him want to try to convince us that he is the better choice.

>We apologise for technical difficulties

Kain appears moved by your plight, but a Vampire does not grow so old without knowing when to be hard, it seems.

"If you must stay with him, I shall remain here a while to instruct you. With Thomas caring for you, you have almost as much security as my wards, but you must learn how to live like this, and I will be back to examine you."

He frowns, though not at you. At some memory.

"I am a scholar of Vampire lore, Alessa. Even we do not know the full history or lifecycle of our kind, since so few elders survived whatever cataclysm forced us to hide among the mortals - and as you are not even natural Vampire, I cannot imagine how the centuries will change you."

>>14142109
Well, accept that. As graciously as we can 'manage' while holding our off-balance character. It is, after all, doubtless a great honor to be taught by one of Kain's obvious age and power and we should display awareness of that fact even as we visibly wish that we'd just been called back to actual life rather than vampirism.

"You would be welcome here, Lord Kain. Thomas is very fond of you, you know."

Act like we're not entirely sure what to think about this business of centuries, and are more concerned with the coming months than the coming decades.

We should aim to have some kind of finish here that will leave us either apparently dead or fled, with Kain as a potential contact in the mortal realms next time we are summoned. Could be useful.

If Kain is staying here I'm afraid that we'll need to dial back some of our more flamboyant excesses in the envy department. Alas.

There is something chilling in how casually Kain regards centuries. That kind of long-thinking is something you're used to seeing in Demons of your standing, or elder.

"I know, I am fond of Thomas... More than once, I have considered inducting him to my sect. Perhaps later, when my current children are ready to make their own destiny. I shall introduce you, at some point. It is good to have reliable company, makes one feel less isolated. Pardon me, I must inform Thomas of this new arrangement - and calm him down, no doubt. I can hear him worrying from here..."

With that, Kain leaves the room. He dropped the charade there, too, for he moved with sublime, inhuman grace that even you cannot reproduce.
The bastard.

>>14142340
Yeah, Kain is definitely stealing our show here. He's got a ton of influence, a ton of power, physical and magical prowess that eclipses yours... a lot to envy. Still, we have at least one thing he doesn't- knowledge that anyone who genuinely thinks we're a vampire is a fool.

We should follow and see his conversation with Thomas- letting Kain influence Thomas without our oversight is bad for our hold on the man.

You find Kain in the hallway with Thomas.

"...For a week, at least. Perhaps a month. Just until we know all is safe." Says Kain.

"Well, you are welcome in my home, always. I'll go have a room prepared immediately." Thomas replies, before seeing you, smiling, and hurrying off."

>>14142340

Hmmmmmmm. I see us as having two options here (in the long run.) Either one: we ally with Kain, maintaining our current fascade, or two: we kill him.
If he ever comes to find out, or even suspect, our true nature, he has to die.

If we DO decide to kill him, it will have to be not long before the completion of our plans, as there would be retribution for his death. If decide NOT to kill him, he must never find out we aren't a vampire.

>>14142548

Get Thomas alone, solidify our hold on him. Maybe some quick envy nookie in the basement, whatever. Also, feed our own envy.

"What right does that vampire have to such power? He is not of the demonic realms, and yet he is immortal! And what right has he to his hold over our Thomas? We have been inside Thomas' mind, have seen his deepest desires, have lain with him! He is OURS!" etc, etc. . .

>>14142558
We might be able to kill Kain, but I wouldn't want to bet on it. If we can lure him into our sanctum and then catch him unawares, maybe- but we're social primary. It would be a long shot at best.

What's more, in about a year this whole game will end- our Taint will be so thick on this place that unless we can pin it on someone else, even a blind person will be able to see that there's demonic influence at work. Thinking that Kain won't be sharp enough to catch on to that would be kind of silly.

I suppose what I'm thinking overall is that we should just lie for now, set up a pasty to blame everything going demonic on, and play a cautious hand.

>>14142548
I'm surprised that Thomas left; he's got to play the host with Kain, socially, doesn't he? But I guess that task falls to us with him absent. Act the good hostess until Thomas comes back, avoiding all mention of vampires and other such sinister matters if possible.

Kain is so close to family informal tone is not so odd, and he leaves for some other part of the house before you can speak to him - the library is your guess, or the drawing room again.
You practically run into Thomas as he returns from setting staff to prepare guest quarters - and a quick probe reveals Kain has not tampered with Thomas' mind at all. You get the distinct impression that the old monster really does care about the boy.
It takes little effort to spark some grudging envy of Kain's self-assured poise and cool head, but you can't induce any real cracks in his affection. Some relationships are like that.

>>14142829
Well, whatever. We don't really need to set him too much against Kain as long as Kain is letting us stay here, anyway.

Let Thomas handle Kain for a bit, and go make a few preparations of our own- make sure that Hord is informed that we've got a rather potent wild card deal with here and he's to keep things looking innocent to stop any wreches from being thrown into our plans.

Likewise, make sure to clamp down on Melinda- her habits of desperately striving for the merest word of approval from Thomas is adorable, but she needs to act normal while Kain's here. After all, Thomas cares so much for us that he's concealing our nature from even his closest friends, heh. Isn't that nice?

Make sure our sanctum is sealed and Kain won't be given any reason to go down there or investigate it. That's the only location in the house that's obviously supernatural, right? So if he goes in there it'll blow things wide open.

After a brief spell in your sanctum informing Hord of the risks, and having sealed the room for now, you seek out Melinda...

You catch her pleasuring herself with the hilt of Thomas' sword, in a corner of the armoury. Typical.

>>14143070
Inform her that we trust she's going to clean that thoroughly when she's done, and that Lord Kain will be staying here for some time. Lord Thomas thinks the world of him, and has expressed a desire for our guest to receive only the best impression of the home and staff. Give a bit of an annoyed demeanor, like we don't think quite as highly of Lord Kain- the overall idea here being that if Melinda gets the impression that she can one-up us in front of Thomas by doing more to make his home seem perfect and normal than we do, she'll jump at the chance.

>>14143158
>Inform her that we trust she's going to clean that thoroughly when she's done
Oh, and laugh at her while we say this, because she has to make do with his sword since the real thing is reserved for us. How pitifully inferior. Stir up some more of that delicious jealousy.

Are we actually able to get power if Kain feels envy from someone or is that only from humans?

Also inform Melinda that we expect her to take good care of Kain and imply that he's already taken a shine to us, making her envious of us as well as serve Kain very eagerly.

>>14143342
>Not from Kain, but weaker Vampires certainly.

You laughingly express your wishes to Melinda, who crouches somewhere between blank-eyed and terrified over the sword, listening.
She nods, silently, adjusts her clothing, and proceeds to clean the weapon.

You catch her murmuring to herself - 'Alessa will be a good girl.'

Tragic creature.
Hilarious.

>>14143411
Damn, we fucked her in the head but good while messing with Thomas, didn't we?

Should really make her a little more functional if we want her to make a decent servant, honestly. Not a ton, though... insanity is to be cultivated in proper cultists, as long as it can be twisted in the right direction.

Speaking of which, last threat something call a Contract was mentioned, as a means by which we could get mortals around us power. Can we have some more details on this? It sounded like something worth looking into.

>>14143494
>Contracts allow you to imbue mortals with a corrupted fascimile of a Magical Pattern, granting them tremendous magical power at the eventual cost of their soul and transformation into Demons.

>>14143584
Hrm. Annoying; her soul's already ours, and she's too crazy to make a decent demon. Likewise, Thomas is ours, and he'd be royally pissed at our betrayal if he was a demon, so that would be pointless.

Ah, well. So much for my vague plans to make our mortal tools worth something.

If we can't think of anything else obvious that we'll need to his from Kain, we can now leave here and return to Thomas. We'll want to stick with him most of the time that Kain is here, I think.

We must spread more envy. Begin sowing the seeds of envy among the peasants who migrate to Thomas's estate. We need to build up immense currency before returning to the hells, and sadly the Inquisition might be on us before long.

Then again... it's possible our new vampiric friend might have ways to elude them...

>>14143411
Oh my. I come back to find not only did the thread survive, but others joined in as well, and something as amusing as this. All is well.

Now, we could probably try to get her to stop calling herself Alessa, just to really drive the point home that she has nothing of Thomas' love, but that might be pushing her too far - better to leave her with a bit of hope, rather than crushing her hopes and leaving her to go off and do something else. Plus, while a powerful mind-fuckery vampire is in the house is probably not the time to be messing with our servants sanity.

Interesting note: that Magus from before we were brought "back" had shadow powers, and if I remember correctly was connected to Kain. We might have a way to deal with Kain by involving the Inquisition, if it comes to it, though obviously only as a last resort. Though an Anonymous tip off has potential...

Also, just what is the process of making a contract? I presume it's not the kind of thing you can just trick someone into signing by shuffling it into their paperwork, but otherwise?

>>14143666
I fully agree with your goals and methods here.

However, in terms of timing... I'd much rather wait until Kain leaves. He'll be watching us far too closely; if we're doing anything to obviously spread negative emotions he might know enough about demons to put two and two together. It's frustrating as hell, but we've got to put our plans for the corruption of the community mostly on hold for a while and coast on what we've already established until he's gone.

Though some things can be done safely. Envy in broad ways, rather than small and petty ones, can be spread safely- speak of the grandness of other holdings, the prosperity of their people, and we might be able to stir jealousy in the hearts of our own holders (assuming we can stop them from leaving in response to our words). Handled correctly- and hopefully we've the social skills to do so- we might be able to push that envy into productivity and ambition. Could be good times all around, without ever making use of the sort of petty, more personal envies that would point fingers to us as a demon. Larger-scale stuff isn't as intense and thus as wonderfully delicious, but I'll take what I can get.

>>14143717
Also if we're able to stir them into working harder we can make other holdings envious of ours. We should also show special favor very publicly to a few of the people in our holdings employ to make others jealous of them and desirous of our attentions. Maybe use Melinda for some of this as our tool.

>>14143717
A good time to start practicing acting through proxies, I think. He won't have his eye on Melinda, so perhaps we can try using her...

>>14143584
Dammit, OP. Get back here and post, or at least note that you're leaving.

>>14143673
> The process of bestowing the Arcana Infernal is simple and rather transparent - the Diabolist is offered the power to achieve their goals, offers their soul upon death as payment, and receives the power offered.
>Of course, if they abuse the power and are transformed into Rabble in the meantime, their soul is forfeit.

The week passes with relative ease - Thomas, despite your best efforts, is more contented than he has been in weeks. Melinda does her very best to impress and at one point you're forced to pre-emptively reprimand her for considering ingratiating herself with Kain in the only way she knows.

Kain himself oversees your education as a 'Vampire'; how to hunt, how to feed without killing, dangers and boons. On discovering your victims do not become briefly catatonic with joy when bitten, he ascribes this flaw to your clanless nature and suggests you feed on livestock.

In the meantime you have been able to foment some envy in the community, flaunting your position to the visiting peasant women who in turn nag their husbands.

At last, Kain leaves, having elected to stay nearly a month to ensure you knew how to take care of yourself. This has had the curious effect of spreading your Taint over most of the house, bit very mildly - you didn't let yourself stay in any one part of the building more than two nights in a row.

>It is 6AM GMT.
>I would like to sleep now.
>I shall return in, say, eight to ten hours.
>I shall resume in this thread.
>Feel free to plot, speculate, and ask questions in my absence, and I will address all I can on return.
>Also, Captcha is awesome at naming NPCs

Perhaps we should encourage Thomas to take a new mistress. We only want our darling to be happy, surely he deserves better, right? We pick out the most beautiful peasant girl we can find and coax her into the role. Melinda will then have such an insane amount of envy, getting replaced not just by the legitimate wife... no, but by a concubine! See how that new girl is taking your place, Melinda?!

What would you do... what would you do if I could give you the power to reclaim your standing as his concubine? The power to retrieve your position from the bitch?

Then when that happens, coax the jealousy and envy in the displaced mistress and offer her the same thing. A two-for-one! And they will both be sworn body and soul to us.

Well we're going to have to make Thomas unhappy about his life again now that Kain is out of the picture. We could tell him the truth about Kain being a vampire and that he considers him simply a passing distraction and not a true friend. Make him envious of the immortality and vitality and power he possesses and convince him that if we take the corruption even further we can grant him the same.

We should take stock of our lands and what we can do to improve them and spread our influence further over them. Flaunt ourselves and Melinda making the men jealous of Thomas and the women jealous of our station and beauty. Select the cream of the crop and grant them station and favor higher than what they have but obviously below ours. So they are still envious of what we have but those below them envy them.

>>14144219
>Thomas, despite your best efforts, is more contented than he has been in weeks.
Dammit.
>In the meantime you have been able to foment some envy in the community, flaunting your position to the visiting peasant women who in turn nag their husbands.
DAMMIT. This is what we're reduced to? Unable to hold on to the emotions of a man we possessed for weeks and guided into willing ritual murder, spending our time fermenting fucking domestic discontent? We are a Countess! Within our veins flows the tear-salted waters of the Bitter Seas, the Endless Depths are ours to command (or they SHOULD be), and this kind of petty shit is not worthy of our name.

With Kain gone, hopefully it will be easier to get back to stirring Thomas' emotions into discontent. Emphasize the modest nature of his hold, drive him to jealousy and towards ambition; if we can get him to work hard for it, then emphasize how hard he works for such modest gains when others have much more handed to them for no labor at all. Constantly urge him towards plans to assess the wealth and power of others and then try to emulate or steal it.

>Kain himself oversees your education as a 'Vampire'
I assume that from this, we've gained a somewhat more thorough knowledge of how vampires work than we previously possessed? Did we learn anything interesting?

Frankly, I'm astonished that we were able to last a month without tipping our hand. What 'vampiric' attributes were we able to successfully emulate? What lies do we now have to bear in mind and keep to in the future when dealing with Kain? How did Thomas react to the whole endeavor- when he believes that he was the one who resurrected us under our spirit's guidance, and knows that we showed no inclination to drink blood before Kain's arrival? Did he start buying into Kain's assumptions, or actively let the vampire believe lies, or what?

>>14144687
>encourage Thomas to take a new mistress
Hell no. Our strongest hold on him is the fact that he's still desperately in love with the memory of his wife, and us by extension. We can't afford to dilute that in any fashion, or we'll become far less able to direct his actions. Certainly not for mind games with an already broken girl who already feeds us plenty of envy.

As far as getting their souls goes, the whole concept of getting souls is frustratingly vague in this quest- we can simply tear them out personally based upon our actions in the first thread or two, but what else makes souls "ours"? Do we have to get some kind of contract signed or have them sacrificed to us, or can we just get credit for them by having someone die when their heart is strongly influenced or dominated by our favored emotion? This makes a huge difference in how exactly we need to proceed in order to ensure that matters are most favorable for us on our return to the hells.

>>14145090 con't

>>14144705
Considering that Kain outright said he'd end us for revealing that he's a vampire, it would likely be a poor move to tell Thomas, though his envy would likely be excellent (assuming he can get over what I assume would be reflexive horror). It would be better to be more indirect- arrange things so that Thomas realizes that Kain's a vampire largely on his own, in a way that can't be traced to us. We'd need to make sure that Kain wouldn't blame us on principle, though. Difficult.

It should be possible to coax Melinda into appearing to others like she's better off than them and enjoying it. It's a small step from there to mind game her into taking delight from inspiring jealousy in others- and then we've got her actively working to feed us, which would be great. Also, since she's crazy and getting more heavily tainted all the time, the fact that she'll probably quickly alienate everyone else hardly matters to her usefulness as a tool.

Setting up a more elaborate system of people constantly envying one another might be possible, but I don't know if it would be worth it- we need growth, which doesn't mix well with strong negative emotions all over. Right now there simply aren't enough people around here to get some really good sustainable hierarchical envy going.

JESUS CHRIST, ENVY QUEST IS BACK?!

We need to "reassure" Thomas that we love him so very much and we weren't betraying him with an older, more mature, handsome and powerful man, we would never dare do something like that to our beloved. Also Envy is pretty useful if directed right into bettering our holding. If they believe that if they do well enough they might be able to lord it over the person who has something they currently want they will move heaven and earth to do so. We need to find the prettier girls in the holding and use them to ferment envy among all others while having them envy the fact that no matter how much they try they will not be as beautiful or powerful as us. We are the only ones who truly get Thomas and everyone else gets pale imitations or his incomplete attention. We want a handful of Melinda's envying us and everyone else envying them. We also want a similar thing with the men envying the veritable harem that Thomas is building.

We want everyone competing for favor from the person above them with eventual hopes of standing over them.

>>14145090
He already has Melinda as an approved mistress you know. We encouraged him to do her while whispering in his ear about how we loved him. He's completely devoted to us, having us present him with the gift of a beautiful peasant girl we can corrupt later will not dilute those feelings.

Question for when OP gets back:

What is more valuable? A tiny number of people corrupted completely and willingly selling their souls, a few people corrupted completely, a medium group of people who are corrupted, or a huge group that has lots of envy and jealousy inspired by us, but not much more than that. Just strong feelings instead of corruption.

Also, what is the average level of soul-income we should expect to retake our rightful place?

We need to find some people to make Contracts with. That's a pretty good deal and who doesn't envy someone with magical powers?

>>14147011
Well, anyone who's not on the run from the Inquisition?

We should see if we can not have Hord at as our cats paw in gaining contracts for us. Sending out Hord/Olaf so that we might have the contracted pawns of draw the Inquisition away with overt works of magicks if the need arises. While this is only for an emergency and would likely only work once, think of the Envy we could inspire as they find aid from our estate. Every coin they spend be a reminder of our wealth that kept them afloat. But I digress.

Kain, as I am quite sure, knows we are doing something to Thomas actions must be taken soon. We should at some point make a point to visit with only Thomas and take a look at this Bhan or whatever the other "artificial" vampire might be. If my gut feelings hold true, it might be a fellow demon... Depending what kind will determine what path we take with it.

>Please email me when next thread starts up.

>>14144847
>You have learned that fledgling Vampires decay at a rapid rate, but provided with a regular supply of blood can maintain their appearance and vitality. They can abide neither sunlight nor pure water, and have minimal access to Sorcery. According to Kain, the fledgling period is something of a winnowing - fewer than one in fifty survive to pupation, leading to a multitude of these weak Vampires in the world but so few of the more powerful, older ones - and a Vampire who can survive decades a fledgling is clearly a cunning individual.

>>14145445
>True corruption of a small number of souls is most valuable, as it doesn't merely afford you with currency, but bound Rabble. Ibarys was once mortal. Conversely, the Principle of Suffering will be pleased by your spreading of envy and more likely to grant future possessions - many Demons pray in the Hall of Silence, but out of the hundred there that day, only you were found worthy.

>The soul you took in Hell through murder was already corrupted simply by exposure to the Demon City, and thus easily crystallized.

>Thomas' soul is very much yours, now. As is Melinda's. Though they won't die for some years, you will be granted the value of 400 Obols on return to Hell.

>The Principle of Suffering is also known as The Hated and Bitch-Queen - she won't simply restore your Estate to you, but will at least present you with the opportunity to reclaim it.

With Kain gone, you redouble your efforts.

Beginning in the home, you attempt to convince Thomas of an affair with Kain. He doesn't completely believe, but with Kain absent it is easier to make him envy the noble Count, his charismatic mien and graceful stride.

Over course of a few weeks, you ingratiate yourself with the local women. They love you, at first, but as you enhance your own beauty and discuss your wealth, the envy sets in. You appoint a few as ladies in waiting, to the ire of their friends. You find ways to grant special favours to their husbands, like a little extra money, a free drink, tobacco, it all adds up so that the men envy the husbands of your handmaidens.

In particularly clever move, you imply to some of the guards that your ladies in waiting also service Thomas - and the rumour has the desired effect on the populace. Melinda has also learned to mitigate her own unhappiness by rubbing her position in the faces of the other women, and you can see your Taint at work in her as she elicits spite with remarkable skill.

You survey your hissing whirlpool of envy from the bedroom window, nude and gorgeous to any chance onlooker as shafts of sunlight illuminate your appealing belly and womanly hip, fading to a tantalising shadow as one's gaze crosses your thigh. You can feel a spike of vitriol from a maid in the courtyard below, hah!

You have felt a deep and unsettling cold touch your Animus recently - the Principle is pleased. A bitter wind has blown through the estate, an omen - good, you hope.
But there is something to worry about... the peasants have been speaking of wolves, or beasts who walk like men stalking not far from the estate in the past week. The Firstborn, the werebeasts, have come it seems, to send you back to Hell.

>The Taint has deepened in Melinda and Thomas - particularly in Melinda, who is now as visibly Tainted as Thomas. Thomas is beginning to bring bad luck to those in close proximity to him - those not protect by the Taint, anyway.
>The house is also developing Taint, spreading outward from your cellar sanctum as tendrils of ice and cold air, though it has not yet reached the ground floor.
>The house is now attuned as a summoning site; you may attempt to summon more Demons through or even try to open a permanent portal to Hell - which will alert the Inquisition.

>>14148574
If werewolves are going to come after us, we should definitely look into summoning some other demons. Permanent portal to hell seems like too much right now, though. Don't want to alert the Inquisition unless we are already at the point where that is likely.

>>14148793
>Summoning requires further human sacrifice, but is otherwise quite simple. Any summoned Demon will be a Rabble of your Circle bound to your command for the duration of their summoning

>>14148574
>The Firstborn, the werebeasts, have come it seems, to send you back to Hell.
Werewolves? Details?

>>14149073
>The Firstborn have sworn to protect the material realm from both your kind, and the hated Enemy, recognising your sovereignty just enough to allow a quota of corruption per year.
>Not that such a mandate has a hope in Hell of being seriously obeyed

>Werebeasts possess powerful magic and are capable of harming you.

So...anyone have any ideas on how to acquire the necessary sacrifices to get some Rabble bound to us? We don't have much in the way of combat ability, so werewolves sound bad.

>The house is now attuned as a summoning site; you may attempt to summon more Demons through or even try to open a permanent portal to Hell - which will alert the Inquisition.
Please explain- how would they know, aside from the fairly obvious evidence of demons running around everywhere?

>True corruption of a small number of souls is most valuable, as it doesn't merely afford you with currency, but bound Rabble. Ibarys was once mortal.
How true of corruption are we talking here? Take, for example, Melinda- what more would we have to do to her to make her turn into a bound Rabble of ours upon death?

>Werebeasts possess powerful magic and are capable of harming you.
How powerful are they? Compare to, say, Thomas with a sword, and to us with our standard weaponry. And to any combat-oriented Rabble that we might summon. We need to know what might allow us to effectively oppose them.

>>14149429
>The Inquisition does have some esoteric artefacts for detecting Demons, and the sudden pulse of magical energy caused by opening a portal would alert them

>A Contract of Arcana is the most sure way to complete corruption, but simply staying the course will gradually transform her - it won't be long before she and Thomas begin to manifest powers, albeit much weaker than those of the Arcanum. A human bound by Contract will also struggle to disobey your commands.

>Even the less combat-orientated werebeasts would prove a significant challenge for you to defeat, and Thomas would be slaughtered instantly. And they hunt in packs. Your best bet is to bog them down with Rabble and rely on superior tactics, or form a Contract with Thomas or Melinda.

>>14149409
Getting sacrifices in the middle of winter will be damned tricky unless we're willing to start devouring our own population; there aren't a lot of travelers. And I'd rather not sacrifice our peasants- still hoping that we'll be able to expand the town and thereby bring more people into our immediate influence.

If there's any chance that we'd be able to talk our way out of this, that would be best. The mention of a quota of corruption implies that agreements are in place which could be used to get them to leave, if we're able to rules-lawyer it.

Failing that, we might be able to make a family relatively far from the town center all disappear and frame the very wolves that we're looking to fight. I don't know how we'd convince Thomas to go along with this, though- at least before he gets a good look at the Firstborn and sees them as a clear and present danger to his holdings and wife. If he thinks there are few other options, he might go for agreements with the dark powers straight-up depending upon how twisted he is- possessiveness is a rather present trait in those tainted by envy, and it might be enough to drive him to blood sacrifice for power.

>>14149533
Well. Contracts. Hmm.

Is there any way to add clauses to the usually-simple 'soul for power' Contract? Because we already have their souls, and I think we could argue a better deal. Particularly in Melinda's case, we could almost certainly get her to agree to servitude to us in life as well as her soul, and that would eliminate the problems that would inevitably emerge from having the person who envies us the most suddenly given the power to do something about it.

How are the werebeasts working out we are here? I mean, we haven't exactly been going out and advertising our presence, do they have some kind of fancy way of detecting demon presence? Or just imbalances in the worlds magic or something? How accurately can they track us? If they are here knowing there's a demon somewhere nearby, would we be able to frame Kain, or get him to testify to them that we are a vampire, and not what they are looking for?

>It is a simple effort to add a clause of servitude to the Contract, and Melinda is likely to go along without thinking.

>The Firstborn have seers and scryers capable of detecting your presence, though it has no doubt taken them weeks to narrow down your location to the household. They routinely search for Demonic presence, like a night watch on patrol.

>Do you wish to take any action?
>Incidentally, now is a good time for XP spending, I think. You have 3 points, and can choose from Mental, Social, or Physical stats to boost, add to your magical panoply by advancing Spite, Curse, or branching into Tearstorm magic. You may also apply functional changes to your true form, if you wish.

>>14149698
>night watch
:D

What's this Tearstorm magic, anything like the Ice Arcana? And just how large functional changes can we make?

>>14149739
>Magic of the Bitter Sea, using ice and water in cruel and injurous ways, not to mention the capacity to produce lethal toxins from mere water.

>You may go as far as to add additional limbs, or armour, or wings, whatever you choose. The more thematically appropriate the better, of course.

It seems unlikely that werewolves are going to be particularly easy to convince of anything with non-magical influence. We should probably take something that will improve our ability to fight. I like the idea of spending a couple points into Tearstorm magic.

>>14149698
I want so ridiculously badly to upgrade social/social/social. Social prowess is key to manipulating the beliefs and attitudes of mortals, and that's what we're really after.

However, as it seems combat is likely to come up soon, social/social/physical would probably be better. No sense focusing exclusively on our clever schemes and thus getting killed.


Anyway, if we can add a clause of servitude to the Contract, let's do it. Bring Melinda down into our sanctum, tell her that she shows a small amount of promise, and we're willing to grant her a bit of real power... the kind that might attract the notice of anyone she pleases. All she has to do to get it is swear herself to us forever, body and soul.

>>14149771
Hurmmm, that seems like something that might be handy if we have to rumble against vampires, not to mention given it's the middle of winter, so plenty of applications for ice magic. Anyone else's thoughts?

Hurmmm, as much as I would like some fancy wings and stuff, that might be asking a bit much of our disguise. Perhaps not the best thing to go for right now.

>>14149809
I don't think S/S/P would be a good idea, really, given how much stronger these things are than us, plus their pack hunting. If it comes down to a fight, one physical upgrade is unlikely to help much. We'd probably be best getting at least one point in magic (probably Tearstorm), and any we don't put in that pumped into physical, OR just putting 3 in social (or maybe mental) and hoping like hell we can use this to rules-lawyer our way through the encounter.

>>14149853
If it comes to a fight, even three points in combat abilities (magic or otherwise) isn't going to save us against this kind of power. Mixed magic/physical would be best for that, but we'd still only be able to take out one or two of them, I think.

I would back trying for rules-lawyering, if the OP gives the word that it might be feasible. It would give me a profound sense of satisfaction to talk a pack of werewolves into fucking off and letting us corrupt everyone in peace.

>Your disguise will remain perfect regardless of alterations to your true form

>It may be possible to talk your way past the werecreatures, though that may involve promising to sell out some other Demon later on.

>>14149980
>It may be possible to talk your way past the werecreatures, though that may involve promising to sell out some other Demon later on.
As long as they're not a demon of Spite who outranks us, that's not a problem for us, right? In fact, if they're non-Spite then our Principle might even approve, depending, as I understand the situation.

>What action, anon?

>>14149995
This. Demons are not some big happy family. Besides, if it wil be too disadvantgeous to betray a fellow demon, we can betray the wolves too.

>>14150714
...I was hoping for confirmation on >>14149995 before proceeding, but I suppose I'll just assume that it's so and proceed based upon that assumption.

Throw everything into Social. Contract Melinda as in >>14149809 as a backup plan, in case talking our way through this falls through. Then go out alone into the woods to meet the Firstborn, wearing our cloak but not using it. Call out for a meeting under whatever contract has been arranged between the Hells and their kind. Have a newly-empowered and enslaved to our will Melinda on standby at a prearranged location so that we can run and lead the shapeshifters into an ambush if things go south.

You retire to your sanctum, meditating in the pool of water to refine your Animus, honing the glut of power to both tool and clay. Your composure becomes unshakable, and your bearing all the more fearsome.

You call for Melinda, and she arrives quickly, bowing in supplication.

"My lady?" she asks, averting her gaze.

I don't think we want her to look away from us, we want her to see directly how much better we are than her. Politely and lovingly tell her not to avert her eyes and than tell her that her faithful service has earned her a special place and then Contract her. Make sure that after this she lords her new found position over others to make them desirous of contracts as well.

>>14151074
Talking her into this shouldn't be overly difficult. Serious business voice. "Look at me, girl. Do not let your eyes waver. I have seen your desires in your gaze, you know. Your constant envy, your endless covetousness for what is mine." Hopefully at this point she's frightened/denying it, so proceed onward. "It is hopeless, of course. You could never match me. But you could have a fraction of what makes me your superior... if you're willing to take it. To offer all that you are if that would grant you the power to be less impotent in your desires, for the strength to exert your will upon the world and take things that should be yours."

Smile. "Do not hesitate. This is a rare offer, not the kind that everyone gets." Hold out your hand. "Will you be mine forever, body and soul, and receive my power and favor in exchange? That others will look upon you as you look upon me?"

She bites her lips, her eyes watering in combined awe and terror of you, before inhaling deeply.

"Yes, mistress, please."

That seals it. You kiss her, and a chill breath flows from your body to hers, her skin turning an alabaster white with faint sparkles of frost, her eyes a liquid, cobalt blue, and she is bound to you, utterly.

She falls gasping to the floor, delicate spirals of frost spreading over her exposed skin. The knowledge of how to use the power is effectively seared into her mind.

>>14151263
On the one hand: Mwahaha.

On the other hand: That level of obvious heavy physical taint could be a problem. We'll have to play it off or conceal it somehow... a problem for soon but not right now, I suppose.

Regardless, spend some time seeing how she takes to her new power and form. When night falls, it'll be time to go out and handle the werebeasts as previously outlined.

What do we know about werewolves, could Melinda now hold her own against them or would both of us get ripped to shreds by a small pack?

For that matter how powerful is Melinda and what powers does she now possess and what are the limits on Contracts?

How exactly does the agreement between Demons and Weres work?

The Werewolves are our first priority, we need to set up a meeting with them somehow and come to an equitable solution, i.e. we sell some other demon out later and they leave us the hell alone. However this is likely to go south so a ambush involving Melinda and a dozen crossbowmen might be in order as plan B.

Content with your new minion, you sneak away into the woods not far from the manor; less a real wood and more of a sad little stand of trees, skeletal in the winter air.

It is not long before the pack arrives - four them surround you, keeping their distance. A bear, a boar, a cat, and wasp. The wolf approaches you directly and bows politely. It is a towering creature of rippling muscle and commanding bearing.

"Hail to thee, Fallen One. We must ask that you depart the world of men, lest we be forced to remove you."

You know that customarily this must be asked three times.

>>14151403
Customarily this must be asked three times... and then what? They tear into us?

Do we have any leverage here, traditionally, or only what we can offer them of our own resources?

>>14151403
OP? We need more data before acting. Answer >>14151421 and >>14151360, please. Adequate background information is key to diplomacy.

>Three times, and you agree, or are forced out.

>The most leverage you have is bargaining time and information - you pledge to return to hell after a specified period of time, and in exchange for information on a fellow Demon intruder at a later date, and they allow you to work uninterrupted for that duration.

Are vampires and werewolves foes? Because if so, perhaps we can direct them towards a target that they feel is a much higher priority than us...

>>14151573
To elaborate on this, we can promise them information on a powerful coven of vampires that is not only manipulating the world, but expanding and teaching their kind. Surely that is worth the price of allowing us to remain here...?

Also, guys, we should start investing in mental too. We can't be pure social or we're nothing but a pretty face. We need PLOTTAN too.

>>14151567
Well, then. Let's be polite and apply all our persuasive powers- which are considerable- to sounding like someone they can work with. And give what I hope is a decent opening offer. "Hail to thee, Firstborn. I would be pleased to depart the world of men as you request in three years, when my work here is complete. To show my goodwill, once each season during that time I would offer to answer you all you ask about another of the Fallen in this world, so long as they are not one which I am sworn to obey."


>>14151608
True, although my impression is that social stats in this game include sense motive/perceptiveness. That's kind of essential. We can up our lagging physical and mental stats next upgrade time, I suppose.

>>14151360
>Melinda could fight one-on-one with limited chance of success, and would be better supporting other forces.
>Melinda possesses powers of Ice and Water, albeit not terribly powerful. Enough to kill an ordinary man.

>The agreement is that werecreatures will attempt to drive Demons out of reality whenever found, and Demons similarly allowed to fight back. One can barter information for more time, however - if they allow you to operate, they will expect you to help them prevent other Demons from doing so.

>Werecreatures and Vampires are indifferent to one another

>>14151675
Well, honestly, it looks like we don't have any choice at all. We not only have nothing to offer them other than information, we only have two completely corrupted souls so far! Ugh!

No, we need to get some more before our time is up. We MUST get more. Who knows when we will be back up here?

I wonder if we could start seducing one of the leaders among the townsfolk. Someone we would have reason to visit, like a prominent shopkeeper or something. Nothing physical, dangle it just out of reach. As he grows more infatuated with us we keep implying that we can't be with him. At least, not when he has so little compared to our husband. Look at the enormous estates we already have, the servants? How could he hope to compare to nobility?

But no, what is nobility really? Doesn't he deserve to be happy? Happy with /us/? Why is he restricted simply because of who his parents were? All that the nobles have should be his as well...

>>14151765
I agree that we need to thoroughly corrupt more people. With Melinda now on Contract, perhaps the other women that we've made into our handmaids would be good targets. They have a lot of exposure to us and our Taint, so we have plenty of opportunity to both manipulate and corrupt them, and it would play well into our existing net of envy throughout the town. From the outside, it'll look like a group of heavily favored women; from the inside, the women envy us our beauty and wealth, and Melinda her power and the amount of favor that we give her. Eventually we can Contract them all and do the classic witches' coven bit, pass them all off as mages when the Inquisition comes and flee to start again elsewhere.

As far as cultivating envy over our beauty through lust, my impression was that we're already making all the women in town envy us our gorgeous body, effortless charm, and extreme wealth and all the men envy our husband his extremely desirable wife.

I'd like to try and arrange things so that the people we corrupt will spread more envy, rather than requiring us to do it all ourselves. The personal touch is highly effective, but takes time- time that we don't have, since we're on a clock due to our tainting everything we touch. If we can corrupt people who corrupt others in turn, we should be able to get far more souls. I hope.


>>14151675
OP, action is at >>14151657 if you missed it.

>>14151657
I don't know if we need that much time. How about we do it on a seasonal basis: as long as we provide information on our demon counterparts we can stay here, up to three years?

>>14151657
"Hail to thee, Firstborn. I would be pleased to depart the world of men as you request in three years, when my work here is complete. To show my goodwill, once each season during that time I would offer to answer you all you ask about another of the Fallen in this world, so long as they are not one which I am sworn to obey."

The wolf nods.

"This would be acceptable, but such time is far too long. One year would be better for such an offer. Nonetheless, O mistress of the Demon Realm, we must ask that you depart the world of men, lest we force you to do so."

>>14151938
I expect the bit with Thomas to be concluded inside a year, honestly, but if he's ours and dies, we win- and can just move on to the next place and start all over again. Three years is about as much time as I thought we could possibly need.

As much as I'd like to push asking for more time, it'd probably be best to accept his terms. Any other lovely suggestions?

>>14151961
"And again, O guardian of this realm, I tell you that I would be pleased to do as you ask in two years, when I have made efforts to complete my duties here. And once each season during that time I will answer all you ask about any demon in this realm which I am not sworn to serve, and once each year during that time give my advice and counsel on any topic you name, save those I am forbidden to speak of."

"You are gracious indeed, o lady of the infernal realm. This is a most generous offer, but we must ask instead a span of one year and six months, during which time your offer of information is more than kind. We entreat thee to depart the world of men, lest our hands be forced."

>>14152306
Then we have an accord, guardian of the mortal realm. For a period of no more than one year and six months from now I shall continue here unmolested by your kind, and for whatever duration I choose to stay in the halls of men I will fulfill the obligations as outlined.

>>14152306
"In one year and six months, most noble weres, I shall depart the world of men if you but ask, with no forcing of any kind. And once each season in that time I shall answer all you ask about another demon in this realm I am not sworn to serve, and once during that span provide you with my advice and counsel on any topic you wish, but for those of which I am forbidden to speak." Smile charmingly. "Have we an accord?"

I anticipate this being fine, but if he was just buying time to get through the three ritual requests, he might now try to jump us. Be ready to flee towards our ambush if he pulls something.

>>14152306
Accept it, we might win the first fight with them, but when a pack of werewolves disappear their friends will investigate

The wolf nods.
"This is acceptable."

>>14152495
What are the exact words that were used in the agreement? What's the point of being a demon, after all, if you can't adhere to the letter rather than the spirit of your contracts?

>>14152495
Oh, come on, OP, give us a little more to work with than that.

>>14152512
yes, which of the two proposals that were posted did we use? They have subtle differences in meaning. One of them means that if we dick off to hell again early, we still have to help them. The other means that if we overstay our welcome, we still have to help them.

>>14152512
>>14152561

The wolf nods.
"This is acceptable. For a year and six months you may operate unharmed by us, and provide us with the specified information. We shall leave now."

>>14152701
>The third option

>>14152848
Would we gain favour with our superiors if we managed to take down a few of these were-beasts before we depart?

>>14152848
That's... not really much more to work with, OP...

Say something polite about awaiting their requests and watch them go, I guess. Then go back home and proceed with implementing >>14151872, since apparently this encounter is over.

>>14152924
They leave, peacefully, though one or two throw you filthy looks.

And so you are left alone, with a promise of eighteen month amnesty at the cost of betrayal. But with some info from Hord you can sell out fools form the Circle of Wrath.

>>14153366
We need to get it from Hord? Considering that both of us are on the mortal plane at the moment, it's rather embarrassing that he's better-informed than we are about who's around.

Still, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Get back to corruption of the townspeople as previously outlined; aim to have our circle of handmaids tainted and their souls destined to us by spring.

>>14151872
You make excellent progress over the next few months, corrupting the entire township in tiny little ways and turning a few handmaidens to real Taint. Soon you can become offering them Contracts without fear of rejection.

>Sorry, had to run an RL TT game and was slipping in my posts while the players were arguing in character

>>14153640
Have to admit I'm losing immersion here, OP. Need a little more detail, expansions on what's going on, interesting plot hooks to follow, that kind of thing. If you're so distracted that you can't provide those, just put this thread on ice until you can; quality is being rampantly sacrificed over the last few hours in addition to speed.

>>14153671
really, this.

>>14153671
>Didn't want to halt the thread again so soon, sorry. Normal quality will resume next post.

Content with your accord that the hated werethings will not harass you, you return to the village.
Time is short, time is money, time is favour.

With your improved predatory social skills you turn your handmaidens into a snapping, venomous coven of bitter witches, constantly flaunting their good fortune over the other omwne in the village. Melinda is still more vicious, tormenting those in her own sway with curses and bile. Spring is slow to arrive at the House of Strobel, as your unnatural influence keeps the air cold and turns rain to snow. The ground floor is especially chilly, and a thin rime of ice covers all. If the people suspect, they are too cowed by the malefic aura generated by you, Thomas, and Melinda.
The guard seem to be developing a perverse loyalty to Thomas, who torments them daily - and you see them change, as he Taints them in turn.

Spring does finally come though, like the cold light of morning following a night of indulgence.

You have but sixteen months remaining, though great progress has been made.

What then, shall be your next move?

>>14153911
I think, dear love Thomas, it is time we bought a place in the city...

>>14153911

Ah, yes. Time to expand our little circle of witches... perhaps Lady Maerlyn would be a fine addition....

>>14153911
Well. At this point, I'm pretty sure that any hope of concealing our presence here has been all but cast aside; the taint is growing thick here. There's nothing for it but to begin aggressively prepping for the inevitable conflict while gathering such as we can.

Renew our whispers to Thomas of the need to grow his village's prosperity to match others, who are all so much frustratingly more wealthy and better off than he. To prove his acumen the equal of his brother's, who gets so much more. He'll know what to do- write letters and so forth to try and pull other people in. Likewise, have our handmaids do the same with their husbands, constantly seeking to drive them to ambition and achievement through jealousy. Link success in this matter to their status in our eyes and roll that into this next bit.

Make our handmaidens compete amongst one another for the honor of being given Contracts demanding absolute loyalty and servitude, feasting on the constant jealousy as they do. Make sure they all get Contracts eventually, but drag it out so that we can feast as much as possible, and make it subtly clear that status and our favor goes with how early one was gifted so that the last one to swear us her soul constantly envies all above her, and all of them envy Melinda. They should be constantly feeding us power while also forming a sorcerous cadre for when things go downhill.

>>14154128
Melinda should be instructed to stir up envy amongst Thomas' guards- this will be an excellent opportunity for her to bestow physical favors and careful words and thereby inspire them to grow envious of one another, and of course of Thomas most of all for all that he has- both Melinda and that far superior specimen of femininity, ourselves. Naturally, they should continue to be as loyal as possible in exchange for scraps. If we can offer them Contracts of loyalty/soul to boost their physical prowess, consider doing so with any that we can get really Tainted. Though, actually, Thomas would be the very first target for that sort of thing.

As long as we're considering boosting the guards, it was said that we have fine horses here- can we taint some of them into some kind of demonsteeds, or something else that would be powerful and horrifying to anyone who comes and threatens the town openly? Could be fun.

Any random travelers now that the snows have gone are prime material for ritual sacrifice to summon up Rabble. Make sure it's only ones who won't be missed, though.

Thomas entreats more settlers, under your direction, and attends a few small parties at neighbouring estates with a sneer on his lips. More settlers come, at once fearful of this strange village in which they find themselves, yet unable to leave. The sun is dimmer around the House of Strobel, the air bitterly cold. Fight, but fail, for the master of the house is far greater than you could hope to be.

Thomas is, you feel, ready to offer a contract - you might as well, another month and he'll be unfit for the public consumption. The guards are gradually turning into malevolent ice-sculptures bound to his will.

Your bickering coven is quite self-sustaining - jealous of each other, of Melinda, of you. Most of all, of you. For all their infighting and clamouring for favour, you remain... indifferent. It infuriates them that they are so far beneath your concern even as they strive to outclass you.

A few settlers to the village are loners from distant cities and foreign lands, ripe for the sacrifice.

Will you offer Contracts and summon Rabble? Thomas has had the impressive foresight to establish a spy network, who have warned of Inquisitorial investigation. You have already provided the Skinshifters with their intel this season - they have gone to remove Duke Vorbis of the Circle of Wrath from this world. Be wary of his vengeance, should he realise you led them to him.

In the icy air of Strobelheim, the breath of blue-eyed inhabitants does not steam, nor carry a single kind word.

>Captcha is using Daedric script, /tg/. What the fucking fuck.

>>14154322
>Will you offer Contracts and summon Rabble?
Shit yes, we will.

Thomas is the most delicate, of course, but we've put in by far the most work keeping him ours- it should be trivial to bring up the matter of an option which might bring him the power he needs to be a man worthy of fear and respect, to have his name spoken of in every hall of the nation, to be far better known than the rest of his family for all that they have more than he. And just as we were called back from beyond the very veil of death by our soul's need for him, all he needs to do is agree that his soul will be forever ours.

Our handmaids should jump at the chance for power and favor; issue Contracts to them as in >>14154128, staged out to maximize deliciousness. Any of them who take on Contracts, except Melinda, are to move out amongst the villagers and begin to form their own envy-based coven- make each of them a petty noble of her own gang of bitches, competing against one another for power and our favor. I don't expect that we'll have long enough to really take advantage of this, but it could potentially lead to even more Contracts and will certainly lead to more envy.

The guards are already Thomas'; once he's taken a Contract, it should not be a large step to get him to simply tell them to offer themselves to us. Coupled with our own wiles, we can Contract them all and make them obey Thomas, and us, forever.

And if we have sacrifices to spare... hmm. Rabble, or something else? Are there other options that we could use sacrifices for?

>>14154322

I think it's time to spread our influence to the neighboring towns, since it's obvious that Strobelheim is in the bag. Perhaps turn our attention back to our brother and father, and the noble house we're vassals to?

>nddecturi focus
I agree, Captcha, we should focus on ndecturi

>>14154587
Hah! This is actually a great idea- we can take the idea with the handmaids from >>14154566 and use their little covens as 'seeds' of demonic cults that we can send out to wherever, so that they'll survive even if this town falls. If they fuck up and get killed, so what- their souls are ours anyway. And if they survive and spread, they can call up more envy demons and bring a huge cascade of favor upon us from our Principle.

All we need is time. Keep a sharp eye out for the Inquisition.

>>14154649
Good idea. Set about trying to get them to spread their coven of their own will.

Thomas was always promising.
Always cunning, always properly politic, yet ultimately there was a crack in his armour for you to exploit.

Now, as you offer him the Arcanum of Bitter Ice, Thomas becomes something almost desirable.

His flesh turns icy white with tinges of blue, his eyes become black and deep and cold. His skin is speckled with frost and his hair turns to icy shards. He assumes a grim beauty - like perfect cliffs of ice, towering, imposing, starkly, coldly beautiful. Were it not for his pledge of loyalty to you, his heart is no more now than a flinty shard, and he would abandon you without thought.

Curiously, you find you cannot offer the Arcanum again, in spite of your efforts. You deepend the Taint in the handmaidens, certainly, yet no more true Contracts can be forged. Curious. Hord is ignorant of why, you shall have to ask a priest on your return. They spread some Taint through the village, nonethless.

The Inquisition is sending a member to investigate soon, along with some allies of his.

You successfully conjure some Rabble through sacrifice - Voriel, a towering but ponderous glacial Demon, and Sitrax, a venomous little bastard reminscent of a seasnake.

They are pleased to be in the prime material, and indulge in booze and narcotics when not serving you directly. Sitrax makes a spirited effort to offend and cast you low, but it fails, and you remain unoffended for such is his nature.

>>14154986
>no more true Contracts can be forged
Does this stop us from actually collecting their souls? Can we convince them to pledge us their souls in exchange for nothing at all (well, our favor or something similarly meaningless) and have it work? Because the real reason we're here is to get the souls, after all.

Continue our work on the town as outlined. That's very important- summoning Rabble, forging Contracts, all that is ultimately just to assure security for our real work of spreading envy as far as we can and rooting it deeply in the hearts of men.

Use Thomas' contacts to discover which Inquisitor is coming, and learn his habits and capabilities. Ideally, we'd set up an ambush and take him well outside the town, before he has a chance to put up his guard. In fact, beyond the next town over would be preferable- then they could honestly tell anyone who questions that the Inquisitor never even made it there.

>>14155245
I think our objectives went from 'obtain souls' to 'get stronger, crush enemies' to 'please the Principle; be gifted with new estate' so now we're trying to spread as much influence as we can in as short a timeframe we've been given.

As for the Inquisitor business, well... perhaps an ambush wouldn't be our style. We need A Plot. Perhaps even sway the Inquisitor to our cause, if possible? (Soc Soc Soc Soc Soc seems to think so)

>>14155524
How about convincing the inquisitor into thinking that the were beasts are actually demons in disguise?

>>14155524
It would be brilliantly excellent to somehow convince the Inquisitor to work for us or otherwise depart this location and tell everything that all things are fine here. I'm not sure how we'd go about it even being stupidly persuasive, though... it would depend a lot on his individual personality and weaknesses, and how well we can present ourself to him. Something to be handled carefully and delicately.

>>14155524

It would be stupid delicious to pit the Inquisition against Kain, then have Kain think the were-folk were behind it, while having the were-folk assume that... that they're being attacked by magi?

A bit of a stretch, but I'm just throwing ideas around here.

You lack free-floating sacrifices for further Rabble, but your Taint sinks deeper into the town. And those Tainted souls are yours utterly on death, Contracts be damned.

There is little information to be gleaned fo the Inquisitor - a Montefort, hilariously; likewise a vassal of Maerlyn but noted Demonslayer.

He will have to visit your father's estate before taking the road to your home.

How shall you act, Eshara? Your presence is unmistakable to a seasoned Zakha Maleficarum Inquisitor

>Fun Fact: Those aspect of Kelenite language not drawn from French or German are Belarussian

>>14155983
Clearly we shall rally the peasants. Tell them of the fools coming to claim the power and wealth they have, envious of them. As all the now know is Envy, it should be obvious that others would envy them. They will beg to help us ambush and slay these inquisitors on the road.

Whatever their strength against us, a well-designed ambush by a couple hundred peasants supported by our rabble and Pacted should annihilate them.

>>14155983
I don't see that we're getting out of this one. Is there any kind of persuasive tack we might be able to use on Inquisitors, traditionally- that is, things that we know they've given demons byes for in the past? We need our poisoned tongue for this one.

But regardless, I think us, Thomas, Thomas' guard, our Rabble, and Melinda ride out towards Thomas' father's estate. We'll fall on the Inquisitor in the night as he travels between the two, and either kill them all or (if we can) taint them and have them spread the word that we wish spread.

>>14156099
I don't think rallying the peasants would work out that excellently, really. I'd rather just take our guards and those people with Contracts, and spread tales amongst the villagers- particularly those who are Tainted- that the Inquisition is coming to put the town to the torch and that unless Lord Thomas can stop them, all within will be burned as tainted. That should ensure that even if we get killed, our Taint will survive and spread, perhaps to bring us opportunities to return in the future.

>>14156210
I suppose, but it seems to me that having a huge crush of bodies will drag them down. The last inquisitor part was what... five people? Four?

A few hundred peasants and they will simply be overwhelmed by mortal muscle.

>>14156264
That's very true, but the last inquisitorial party would have gone down like punks just Thomas' guards in their current taint-boosted state, unless I very much miss my guess. Throw in three actual demons and two Contractors, and we should outclass even an experienced demonhunter, and moving hundreds of people through the woods in a mob is just asking for something to go wrong.

Those would be my guesses, anyway. OP would have to confirm my impressions.

>>14156264
>Fifty peasants, anon. Unless my helpful friend Mr. Talking Jameson Bottle is lying to me.

>Catching the Inquisitor away from this place steeped in your Taint may allow you to talk him out of visiting. The peasants live in mortal terror of the Inquisition - Inquisitor Malleus Straker, Butcher of Kendalstat, put no less than one hundred men, women, and children to the sword to kill but three Vampires.

>Thomas' spies turn up more information: The Inquisitor's retinue includes not merely his two bodyguards, but an Eotran Warrior-Monk and Alchemist. The Monk alone is capable of cutting a bloody swath through your servitors.

>>14156333
Well... dicks. Bags and bags of dicks.

How could we talk them out of it if they can recognize us though?

>>14156333
Pose as a fleeing peasant woman and "run into them" on the road. Act terrified and say how the entire village has been fleeing the rumor of their coming, afraid of what might happen. Insist there was no taint, just that everyone fled before they got there because of the bloodthirsty nature of their master.

Just in case have the guards, Thomas, Melinda, and our Rabble around to fight just in case things turn bad.

>>14156333
Talking him out of visiting, when Thomas looks like he does and we're even more obviously demonic except to those we've tainted, strikes me as... if not impossible, then very fucking difficult. The Inquisitor's obvious objective will be to confirm that the rumors about Thomas are false- one look at him will prove them true.

So I'm with >>14156359 on this one: Bags and bags of dicks.

>>14156375
This... might work, IF we can successfully disguise ourself to the Inquisitor's face. I don't think we'd be able to make him believe that there's no taint at all, though. Unless we were able to give him a more tempting target with a high enough level of urgency that he felt compelled to redirect his attentions immediately... hmm... who else do we know of that we could send him after, given that he specializes in demons?

>>14156437
>and we're even more obviously demonic except to those we've tainted,
Pretty sure our disguise works on non-tainted, given it worked on Kain.
Not sure about Thomas'.

Now, I wonder... Assuming we used our cloak, how well would we be able to catch them on the road and kill the Inquisitor in his sleep? Might be hard, with the monk, but still... Damn, I wish we had gotten wings now...

>Dawn approaches once more, anons. And that means I need to sleep. The whiskey told me so.

>Quest resumes in eight to ten hours, once again.

>We may be hitting autosage soon, I'm not sure - so archival and feedback are much, much appreciated. You should plot how to deal with the Inquisitor in the meantime, and I'll answer any questions on return.

>I apologise for the sloppy midpoint earlier. Tonight I'll also be running an RL game in this setting, so I'll be busy for at least three hours depending on what they do this time ("Naturally we set the tavern on fire. Nothing controls a crowd like the imminent threat of third degree burns").

>Likewise if you ever fancy a primer on the RPG forming the base for this quest, sing out.

>>14156591
>autosage

We've got roughly 130 posts to go.

>>14156607
>Excellent. Thank you, kind anon. Couldn't find the fucker on the main index to check myself.

>>14156633
You're welcome.
May I suggest your companion for the next session?

>>14156699
>...You make a compelling argument, but I'm broke until payday on Tuesday (FUCKING BILLS HOW DO THEY WORK), and in a Havana Club Especiale mood to boot.

>>14156532
Ah, that's true. Hmm. Though running in there acting as a peasant would involve leaving our cloak elsewhere, which I am loathe to do given how useful it is.

For example, as you mention it does provide rather excellent possibilities for assassination. More physical skill would be ideal to pull that off, obviously, but we could very well manage to kill at least one of the major threats. Perhaps more, depending upon how perceptive they are.

That doesn't really play to our strengths, though, those being the fact that we've cultivated a fairly impressive number of semi-fanatical minions in our time here. A more combat-oriented demon wouldn't have nearly this many souls doomed to be hers by now, but on the other hand would probably tear this Inquisitorial party like tissue paper. If we're not using our tainted minions, it feels like we're doing things wrong.

Perhaps, to play to our social strengths, we- and one or two of our less tainted minions- could enter Thomas' father's estate a day or two ahead of when the Inquisitor is expected, posing as travelers of some kind and bringing some kind of dire news that would draw the Inquisitor off when he hears our tale. If we've got anything real to use, that would be best. If not, dark tales of Kain- we can lace them with hints of the demonic that a veteran Inquisitor would immediately pick up on- should suffice, and would be supported by Thomas' father's historical suspicions. That might send the Inquisitor into the jaws of something bigger and nastier than us, if he's sharp enough to pick up on Kain's nature and thereby get himself killed. On the other hand, involving Kain with this guy in any capacity would bring Kain down on our head eventually, which could end even more poorly than the Inquisition. Argh, tough to decide.

>>14156633
If you use Firefox, get Greasemonkey; there are a couple nice scripts to let you keep track of it without using the main page. And to do some other convenient things.

>>14155983
>Tainted souls are yours utterly on death

I guess it's time to finish this 'cult' business, then. Bring as much people down as you can, destroy any evidence of demonic possession/summoning, and go back to Hell. Assess your harvest, acquire equipment/mercenaries/rabble, and kick some traitorous ass.

>>14157193
While I'm all in favor of kicking ass in Hell, in my opinion it would be better to stay in the mortal realms as long as possible. One can't get here every day, after all, and thus far our stay here has proven almost ridiculously lucrative. I am quite inclined to keep tainting as many people as possible until we have very solid reasons to think that staying longer will see us killed in a way that will do more than merely send us home.

Not to mention that getting demons into the mortal world isn't easy, so coming back early on our own might well go over poorly with our superiors.

So the Inquisitor is
>likewise a vassal of Maerlyn

Possibly try to get him alone, persuade him to rebel? Promise him riches, power, etc.? At any rate, maybe it's time to taint our dear father and brother now, to whatever end that may accomplish.
>Decoy for the Inquisitor (thinks they're the demonic anomaly he's been sent to investigate)

>Open rebellion against our feudal lords

>Bait-and-switch a lesser demon, hide from the Inquisitor so he thinks that our underling is the only demonic presence there (Sitrax, probably, rationalize it with being a punishment for offending us)

>>14157705
While I do like the bait and switch, it'll only work if the Inquisitor is damned sloppy. Anyone with half a brain would interrogate some villagers and discover that the lady of the house has unearthly beauty and charisma, someone every man wants and every woman wants to be.

We might be able to turn the Inquisitor against Maerlyn, either in addition to what we're doing here or as a distraction. Particularly, if we're able to plant word or evidence that Thomas start going downhill after speaking with or spending time in the company of the Lady Maerlyn, it might imply some things that the Inquisitor would want to investigate. As a specialist in demons, though, one would think that the Inquisitor would be relatively hardened against the more blatant offerings that a demon might try. I suppose we could offer him demon lore, or evidence of that mage-hunter Inquisitor's corruption, or something of the sort.

I don't think we have enough time to taint the other Strobels and make them the apparent source of the rumors, more's the pity. Something to try later.

>>14157786
Remember that Demon Duke who tricked a 'mage-hunter' Inquisitor by pretending to be an angel? I'm thinking we do something similar. The angel bit worked by playing into the mage-hunter's beliefs, maybe we can find something similar for the demon-hunter. Envy, perhaps, but he's been trained against that. So... ideas?

Pretend to be something unrelated to what he's hunting. I'm guessing... Something that he knows is supernatural but doesn't care about or is willing to turn a blind eye toward. Wish we knew more about this particular inquisitor, though.

Or maybe the alchemist could be our way in. Offer him a 'Philosopher's Stone' in exchange for his loyalty. Of the three, he seems the most materially interested.

>>14157864
*Cough* Vampire *Cough*

>>14157864
Could work. I'm willing to give it a shot. We'll have to keep the Inquisitor away from our area of taint to pull it off, though, so let's move out for Thomas' father's estate- alone and personally- to intercept him. Take our cloak and proceed invisibly to spy for a while and pick up on things; hopefully we'll arrive well before the Inquisitor does. While we're gone, everyone we've tainted can keep tainting the town, readying themselves for future combat, and otherwise being generally useful.

>Envy Quest soon fellow Demons

>I have a lot to do tonight, so I'll be posting until 6PM GMT, then going to do some necessaries, and resuming around midnight.

>Action? Many have been suggested, and are very good, and I'll knock together an amalgamation of them without further direction.

You leave Strobelheim in the dead of night, having told Thomas you need to sleep in your sanctum for a time, entrusting control of the burgeoning cult to him and your minions.

Wrapped in your mystical cloak, you arrive at the Strobel Estate. Last you heard, the Inquisitor was coming from the north down the main road from Untotenstat by carriage, perhaps another day's travel away.

So...intercept the Inquisitor's group, spy on them?

>>14161370
sounds good to me

>>14160753
We can expect him to spend at least a day at the Strobel Estate, I think, gathering more rumors and learning about the person that he's come to investigate. Not to mention checking out the rest of the family for any taint- he wouldn't have his reputation if he didn't do a thorough job.

Assuming that's so, the best move is probably to move invisibly through the Strobel Estate for now. We can spend the day stalking people, listening silently to rumors and conversations- word is sure to be all over about the Inquisitor's coming if we were able to hear, and it's likely that Thomas' father and brother will be having some words on the topic. I'm surprised that they haven't come to check on him already, honestly, and would like to find out more about it.

How quickly can we noticeably taint someone? I'm wondering if we could, for example, appear to someone in the night, spend the night tainting them through close interaction *cough*, and then in the morning be able to blackmail them into whatever we want since they'll be forced to hide their demonic influence unless they want to burn.

You spend the night watching the estate - regrettably you cannot safely expose yourself to anyone in the household save a guard or two who could be Tainted, should you wish...

You also, quickly, like the Bitter Wind herself sneak out to find the Inquisitor's party.
They consist of an absolute brick of an Eotran Monk armed with a staff and covered in glowing tattoos you uncover is titled Resilient Retribution. An Alchemist named Vikk travels with them, skinny but determined-looking. The Inqusitor himself is youngish looking, scarred by Demonic claws with long braided hair, rather Northern and burly and bearded. Good Principle, he is bearded.

The party seems cohesive, the Inquisitor remarkably moderate, personable, and prone to indulging in a good pint.

>>14165586
What do we know about the capabilities of alchemists and monks, generally?

Would we be able to successfully imitate a normal person in the presence of this Inquisitorial party? Anyone in particular pose a danger? And I assume that our cloak is pretty much flawless concealment against humans of their level?

If the Inquisitor enjoys his ale, my instinct here is to assume that he'll at least stop in at the taverns of the town around the Strobel Estate. We can arrive first as a traveler and push our social prowess into quickly making some friends- or at least people to socialize with- amongst the young women of the town, and learning some news. When the Inquisitorial party arrives and checks out the town's taverns, we and our new circle of friends move to flirt with them- after all, he seems nice in spite of the Inquisition's reputation and isn't that a story that will beat all pretty much forever?- and we move in on whichever of them seems most vulnerable. Get whatever information we can from an entertaining evening, then spend the night tainting our chosen target as much as possible- and before dawn, reveal the horrible truth of what we've done to him and use our skills at intimidation and manipulation to make him our reluctant servant.

It's not a flawless plan, I grant, and it's the sort of thing a lust demon might come up with, but it might work out.

The Inquisitor being young is a definite point in our favor. If we are able to get into a conversation with him we'll be able to convince him that his superiors think he's an arrogant upstart, that his older colleagues look down on him but we can help him show them all. If there are any stories of any famous inquisitors we can use them as examples of the heights we can help him achieve. We can use the fact that he's moderate and personable to plant the seed in his mind that his superiors think he lacks the proper zeal.

How much do we know about the inquisition as a whole. Are they generally from certain regions or is it very multinational. Are it's members by and large incorruptible or is true incorruptibility a rarity. Could we play on the fact that he's a young inquisitor who looks a bit like a uncultured brute to turn him to our side. Also could you tell us more about monks and especially alchemists. I've already gathered that monks are complete combat monsters but do they deny themselves physical pleasure and the like or does monk refer more to the martial training they've had.

>>14166442
>Multinational
>Magehunters are corruptible - Demonhunters have seen Hell, and fight with all their might against corruption.

>Monks are essentially Shaolin Vampire Slayers. They have a vow of poverty and a vow to protect the weak, but are still often inclined to carouse and fuck at leisure.

>Alchemists are the remants of a bygone age, the descedents of biomagical supersoldiers with an extreme toxin resistance and suite of Attribute boosting potions brewed from slain monsters - from Demons to Fae to Mutants.

On closer inspection, you note an anomaly among the Inquisitor and his party - a chosen scion of The Eternal, a half-Demon Prophet of the Reclamation, ignorant of his own heritage and unknown to his friends.

>By the way - the guys are my RL player-characters. Woo, crossovers. What you do here influences next Monday's session.

>>14166696
They're PCs? Well, nothing to do but drop everything and run before they get us! Nothing can stop the PCs!

More seriously, let's implement >>14165730, with an eye towards either sexing and corrupting that monk or tipping off the half-demon to his heritage. It sounds like the inquisitor himself would be hopeless, but if we could taint the monk it could put us in good stead for later.

And if all else fails, we can reveal ourselves, inform them that Strobelheim is lost to them already and it's far too late to save it, but we'll be moving to [insert moderately distant large town here] with all speed with the intention of stealing the souls of everyone inside it, and dare them to try and stop us before we have. Then we dash off with the speed of the Bitter Wind, run tirelessly to a completely different town, and do exactly what we said we'd do there instead.

Hmm, them being PCs throws a serious wrench in our plans. We might be able to pretend to be a resident of the place or just be ourselves and make sure he knows that this place has been improved by our presence. Instead of hovels good houses are built, our fields produce more, our horses are the envy of places all around.

If this doesn't work we can note that this place is already lost and it isn't worth your time to hunt us down when we can point you towards the real threats.

Aiming our efforts towards the monk/alchemist and revealing the half-demon nature of the fourth member could sow enough discord among them to keep us in the clear but that's a bit of a long shot.

We should have enough social ability to pull off at least one of these if not more than one of our ideas in combination.

>>14166696

So they are PC's?


>>14166864
>>14166966
Good News Everyone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D1cap6yETA


Let's think deals and mutual interest, shall we...
They might be after other magicals, so we can go stealthy as possible ( still implementing some of your ideas but as subtle as you can muster it.
Then, once discovered try and cut a deal they might be interested... a thing done after careful observation as to what they are after ( - and if they are deamon hunters lets get some info on them from their former kills)

We can get them data on local paranormals we would like to get rid off ( currently none , but one dislikeable and one not so much disagreeable, ) or we could get them intel on our rival circles, perhaps asking in return not that we be left alone ( that one is a given) but for them to search a way to jump circles for deamons without having to ask for greater deamons.
most likely they will find nothing, or they might find something then use it to sett it up as a trap or bait to banish us, but it gets them doing something in and running after something that is not us. Until then we could amass more force and perhaps research ways of having a more diffuse presence, like we had with our first minion, only perhaps transferable like a disease, transforming us into the first pure pandemic emotion vampire.
With luck if they do find a way tojump circles we could adapt it so that we gain a little from the sins of all the seven circles, and with getting the diffuse upgrade before they inevitably turn on us we will have a foothold to restart in a way never before seen.... Mwuahahahaha!

Also I propose this voice and attitude when we speak with them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCPBZqVnRQY&feature=related

>>14165730
I like this idea. Seeing as how they're PCs, I'm expecting at least one to fuck everything in sight. This is the guy we taint.

Also, you mentioned possibly providing the system and setting this was in?

Them being PC's and at least two of them can rip through small armies a direct confrontation is the least desirable option. If we get into a straight fight one of three things will happen, either they'll rip us into tiny little bits and stomp on the pieces, we'll lose but be able to escape with all of our work getting destroyed or we'll win but suffer horrible losses and have another inquisition party after us as soon as their disappearance is known.

I'm fairly certain that its impossible for us to brute force our way to victory, even if we do have legions of mooks.

>>14167620
What exactly "victory" is can be argued, at this point. I mean, we've already gotten what, fifteen souls tainted enough to be ours? More? We could just leave the town and call the endeavor well done. We're just looking to turn success into great success.

Which is reasonable. We're not likely to get another opportunity to get this many people under our control for a while- Thomas really was a golden opportunity. Moving in on another town would be much more difficult, since we'd lack a position of power and an easily twisted mind to start with.

>>14167459
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying, but I suspect it's insane.

IIRC, leaving early is greatly frowned upon. So it'd be better to go down scheming/fighting/screaming than cutting our loss and leaving. Unless they have some way to destroy us completely, death just means we go back to hell (with all our souls).

Let's try to appeal to their vanity. Beautiful woman getting "seduced" by powerful adventurers. If we can taint one the rest will fall as we use our powers to stoke the massive envy. After all, we're superlatively beautiful. Anyone would envy the one who takes us as his "prize" correct? Especially if they all had a shot but we picked one over another.

OP, really wishing you were running this right now. There is clearly interest.


>>14167807
Leaving for hell early is greatly frowned upon- I meant that we could just wander off to somewhere else in the human world and start over again if we wanted to. Indeed, I suspect that even if we're completely successful in fending off this Inquisitor, we'll end up doing just that once the whole town is corrupted.

Either that or lead our tainted demon-army on a crusade against all that is right and good in the world, tainting and bloodily sacrificing everyone we can catch until someone mans up and sends something more impressive than a mere Inquisitor to put us down. Which could be fun.

>>14167860
Oh, definitely- just don't play it too hard, with an Inquisitor specialized in detecting and eliminating demons right there. We hopefully have the social aptitude to read and manipulate the situation expertly, though.

>Was just having a post-session drink with my bros, sorry all.

>What will be your action, anons? You've got some very good plans in mind, and I won't be showing favourtism to my RL players - the links are loose, at best.

>It is entirely acceptable to go down fighting a Demonhunter - you have earned high esteem for this rich bounty of souls, falling battle against an Inquisitor would be icing on the cake.

>>14167978
>see
>>14165730

>>14168049
>Right, let me sober up and plot out the details of this one. It's a solid plan, and I shall implement it for you ASAP.

We definitely want to avoid a direct combat situation. Our main goal is to direct them elsewhere, we should play on their perceived inadequacies, sow some discord in the group. We should make sure that when they go to our tavern everyone in the town looks happy and cheery with the current situation, that our presence is making the town a better place.

If all of our social acumen fails us and we feel we have no chance in battle we tar pit them with our servants and take Thomas and Melinda and flee elsewhere to start anew, maybe we could seek asylum with Kain if everything goes to hell, or more accurately not to hell, and we need protection.

>>14168135
We're meeting them at the Strobel Estate, not our own. Our town is not by any means happy and cannot be passed off as anything but demon-tainted- as was said,
>In the icy air of Strobelheim, the breath of blue-eyed inhabitants does not steam, nor carry a single kind word.
We can certainly claim otherwise, of course. And playing them off one another is of course a solid plan.

If we have to flee, it would be better to leave Thomas and our Rabble to die behind us. Perhaps Melinda, too, if we can pass her off as the lady of the house whose existence will doubtless be whispered of. We'll need to cover our tracks and hopefully get away clean, and that means letting the hunters think they've destroyed the corruption root and branch. Certainly, we can't flee to Kain- he only likes us because he thinks we're a vampire and he's fond of Thomas; we can't maintain either our earlier ruse or that we've done anything but devoured all that made Thomas good at this point.

A day is all you need. Lying through your gritted, icy fangs, you ingratiate yourself with the inhabitants of the Strobel Estate, the peasants and servants, the women and maidens. They like you, respect you - a travelling woman of independant means, unbound to any man and capable of caring for herself. Perhaps a monsterslayer, a modest heroine looking for friendship and ale and place to rest before carrying on her good work.

Soon the Inquisitor and his allies will arrive, and your dark work can begin...

>Cliffhanger for now. I must sleep. Forsaken game tonight (I am ELODOTH AS FUCK), but I'll be continuning this game before and after.

When you have the time posting the primer to this setting would be much appreciated.

>>14168627
Looking forward to seeing how our plan goes. I'll keep watching and posting actions when I'm around.