[X ] Visit ex-priest in person

[ ] Visit ex-priest in person

>>18294423
[X ] Visit ex-priest in person

(with that lil pistol)

Do a search and find out as much about him as you can.

Talk to his neighbors and ask if he keeps to himself and if any of his old catholic friends ever visit.

>>18294423
Show up to his place, check for surveillance, ask his neighbors about him, do a solid check of the surroundings, make sure we have several escape plans and are sure he doesn't have any black vans outside his house.

"Well thanks for mentioning that before now."

"I did, if you had been listening. I told you I could pick information from the minds of those near me, even in my current state. You are just a poor listener."

Grumbling about witches and magic fairy bullshit, you light up another cig and head out to your car.

Sliding in, you depress the clutch and turn the key.

The engine refuses to roll over...

"Oh fuck me, come on!" You shout, exasperated, as you try again.

After a few more tries, the old girl finally relents and fires to life. Rumbling, loud life.

"Like I said before, I can get you into something newer you know..."

"Newer and completely soulless, I'll pass."

"Hmph, whatever. Just get us there quickly."

Now THAT is something you are entirely capable of.

The drive to St. Augustine, a really old city in its own right, isn't a short one from here. For starters, US 1 is a two-lane for most of the Keys, though thankfully with the sun down, traffic is starting to thin out.

"I sure hope this guy isn't as crazy as the last one..." You mull over the thought as you realize you've been chainsmoking like a fiend. This is the second pack you've gone through since pulling yourself out of the water.

"Indeed, though as an ex priest he is likely educated."

"One can only hope..." You mutter.

Its going to be a long drive, you might get Kiara to converse a bit, and after that you have a nice mp3 player setup.

>any questions you have for her?

Without a question in mind, you just start talking.

"So dragon dildos, right?"

"Dragon... Dildos...?"

"Yeah, dildo shaped like a dragon dong."

"..."

>>18294546
So I'm guessing you've been worshiped as a goddess at a number of points, any names on that list I'd recognize?
Given you being ancient were in in Israel circa 0 just wondering.

Also if you're real what other magic shit is real, vampires, werewolves, the fae for example. Also how common are witches/warlocks, and at what level of power. Is fortunetelling bullshit? At about what level of power are you at currently in percent and what is in it for me in the long term for helping you. Are you planning on dumping me in a ditch or something like that.

>>18294595
"Are you planning on dumping me in a ditch or something like that."

this one might be a reasonable worry.

After we find the bits and pieces and she has a "AT LAST!! NEW FLESH!!" moment, what happens to the kinda-alive sidekick?

Asking about the existence of other magical stuff would be a good plan. Do we need to make magic-killing platinum knives?

"So you're pretty damn old right?"

"I suppose so, especially to someone like you."

"I'm assuming you've been called by other stuff in the past, right? Worshipped as a goddess maybe? Anything I would recognize?"

"Hmm..." Kiara ponders, "I believe I was the basis for the goddess Brigid, though I can't be certain. I've gone by far too many names and such to keep track of them all."

"Know Jesus?"

"Are you religious?"

"Hardly."

"No, I wasn't around the holy land at that time. He was dead before I ever made it there, though I met some of his earlier followers." Kiara says, seemingly quite bored.

"So how much of this other stuff is real? Should I be carrying around wooden stakes and silver bullets?"

"Referring to old beasts of lore, are you? You can rest easy, most went extinct long ago, men saw to that." The witch sounds annoyed now, so you think it best to drop it for now and just tune in to some groovy tunes. She stays quiet for the rest of the trip.

Until, that is, you are making your way down the narrow streets of St. Augustine.

"No, I'm not planning on dumping you off after you outlive your usefulness, I'll just release my hold on you."

"Huh?" You ask, a bit startled at the voice after the quiet for so long.

"It was a concern in the back of your mind, and it was aggravating me while I was trying to think."

"Oh." You nod, "Well good to know you aren't just going to turn me into a newt or something."

"You'd get better..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Slow down, I feel something... They are here..."
"

>>18294699
>They are here...

*Dramatic Music*

Oh that is not ominous at all. Totally.

>>18294699
Draco time? Draco time.

*drinks booze* Nothing can possibly go wrong!!!

>>18294737
>>18294699
And after cuing up the ominous music on the mp3 we need to find an alley or side-street to chill.

"...They?"

"Members of the Bleeding Sword, I think, now hush! I'm trying to concentrate..."

You go silent at her urging, your sense of panic rising. As powerful and whatnot as she's played herself up to be, she couldn't hide her worried tone.

"No. False alarm, its the ex priest."

"I'm at a loss here. You could sense him, or something?"

"Yes, you could call it that. This man, this Kenzington... He has a powerful aura. Not unlike the witch hunters."

Oh right, that explains everything. Auras and shit, you should have known, silly you.

"Don't be sarcastic, it annoys me. Witch hunters, real ones anyways, have to have such an aura by their very nature. Simple mortal men would fare poorly in a hunt against one such as myself. Hypocrites all, they rely on magic and call it a blessing or some such."

You stop the car.

"Hold the fuck up, they rely on magic?"

"Of a different kind, yes. External rather than internal. Many relics hold some kind of innate power. Even platinum, as I told you. Its anti-magic properties are magic based themselves."

"So how does that explain an aura?"

"Direct contact with a magical item or being will create an aura. Beyond my ability to sense them, they mean little, really."

"Cool. So now that we're all done freaking the fuck out, can we go talk to this guy? Is it safe?"

Kiara goes silent for a long moment.

"Safe enough, I should think. I don't detect anything malicious. It appears our clergyman has a drinking problem, though."

>>18294823
"I will too soon enough if this shit keeps up..."

As Kenzington opens the door, that "drinking problem" shows itself full force.

A frizzled haired man in half a bathrobe greets you with a half-belch, half-grunt. Followed shortly by another swig of the beer in his hand.

"You're... Father Kenzinton?"

"Thafuck ya call me? I ain'tcha priest anymo boy!" He wings the can at you.

"Hey! Easy man I'm just here to talk!"

"Tal *Burrrppp* Talk? Tha fuck you wanna talk about? I pay my taxes damn it!"

[ ] "I have a witch, in my mind, she's currently very annoyed."

[ ] "What do you know about witch souls?"

[ ] "I'm with the Bleeding Sword, I need your help you old buffoon."

>>18294823
Grab a bottle of booze, and give it to him as a "Hey, I'd like to talk to you about something."

>>18294823
one of those "seen some serious shit" drinking problems i bet. He will either be totally chill and not give a damn about anything or he will crack our skull with a whiskey bottle and "purify" us with righteous fire.
>or none of the above.

dangit, do we have anything.. a notebook, a community college pass that does not look expired? Anything to make the researcher cover a little less soggy?

[ ] "What do you know about witch souls?"

>>18294869
What do you know about witch souls, I'd rather not go full bore having a witch in our head and I'm not sure we could pass as being part of the bleeding sword, we don't know protocol and secret handshakes.

>>18294869
>>18294883
ahh.. ok, lets do it.
> [ ] "What do you know about witch souls?"
with a side-order of "i don't know who else to turn to"

[ ] "What do you know about witch souls?"

"What do you know about witch souls? Also, please put some pants on."

Kenzinton's face goes from an aggravated drunk to a cautious gambler.

"Now THAT is certainly an interesting question. But if you knew enough to seek me out, you know that I'm no longer with the church."

"And? So what, you still know things I need to know."

Kenzington looks around cautiously, up and down the street.

"Come inside, grab a beer, this isn't going to be a fleeting chat."

"Is it safe?" You mentally ask Kiara.

"Hah, no! You have no idea the kinds of stuff they put into that "beer", it may as well be..."

"Going inside you old hag, not the beer!"

"Safe enough." She grumbles back, even more annoyed now.

Well if Kiara says its safe enough for you to enter, you feel at ease enough to do so. Kenzington hands you a can as you pass through the kitchen.

"You aren't with the church, that much I can tell just by looking at you. So before I answer anything, I want to know why you are interested in this stuff, and how you even know about it."

>So why are you here, asking an ex-priest about witch souls like they are a complete fact?

*To Kiara*
>So, how do you recommend we go about this, because I don't think he'll believe the "I'm an occultist"

>>18294975
Curiosity is why I'm interested. My grandpa was a senile old coot who told me stories about witch souls and the like, he wasn't especially coherent and everyone else just assumed he was a complete loony. Me being bored and interested in the subject delved a bit deeper.

I found some old libraries and the like that had bits and pieces of conflicting information but there was enough to convince me that it was true. I tracked down you and here I am.

>>18295018
Add in the fact we read his article on the crusades. Hope we did at least.

"Curiosity is why I'm interested. My grandpa was a senile old coot who told me stories about witch souls and the like, he wasn't especially coherent and everyone else just assumed he was a complete loony. Me being bored and interested in the subject delved a bit deeper."

Kenzington looks you over, and you can tell he's trying to see through your bluff.

"Anyways, I found some old libraries and the like that had bits and pieces of conflicting information but there was enough to convince me that it was true. I tracked down you and here I am."

The ex-priest chews at a tooth as he continues to stare.

"You're a fucking liar." He finally says, "But you're harmless enough I should think. I'll admit, I don't know a terrible amount on the subject. Lets head into my living room, games on and I don't feel like missing it just to talk about god damn witch souls."

You follow him out into the room, where he promptly plops himself down on a couch of fading brown fabric and cracks into the beer in his hand. You can't help but notice he seems completely sober now.

"Fucking Dolphins..." Kenzington groans, "Why are you such shit?!"

"Ease up man, they might be better next yea... Oh who am I kidding..." You sit down on the seat next to the couch.

"So, pretty heavy subject you brought up. Not every day I meet someone who believes in witch souls, after all."

"Do you believe in them?" You ask, pondering opening your own beer.

"Believe? I don't have to believe, I KNOW."

>what do you want to ask first?

>>18295114
Do you have any leads on where I could find witch souls, traps I should watch out for to avoid unwanted attention and how did you learn these things?

>>18295132
Better to ask him what kind of things would hold a witches soul. Might let us narrow down what we're looking for and doesn't outright say we're looking for one. Also eventually we should ask about his paper that got him excommunicated.

>>18295114
So, tell me about them? What does a witch soul look like?

(We need to act as ignorant as we claim we are)

Also for some reason this thread isn't being bumped to the front page for me.

>>18295160
yeah i don't know if there is a butthurt mod or something but all quests are getting pushed back

>>18295146
This!

>>18295177
Not all. I'm seeing some quest threads being bumped to the front.

>>18295242
well a lot that should be front paged though.

"You know they exist? You've seen them?"

Kenzington nods.

"Terrible things to behold. Things that shouldn't be. The few I saw were weak, young girls severed from them in their prime. You see, its far easier to rip a witch to pieces than to kill her outright, once they obtain immortality."

"So you need to contain them inside something, right?"

"Correct, and it has to be one hell of a structure to withstand them. Hell hath no fury like a witch's soul, boyo. One of the ones I saw had been engulfing her container insides in flame for the last sixty years."

You ponder this for a moment. Here you had been thinking you would find the soul inside a church or something.

"Are they easy to find?"

"Some of them might be, if you could make it into the place they are held I suppose. Most are either heavily guarded or in places no one wants to go." Kenzington says in between sips.

"So they might be easy to find, but hard to get to eh?"

"Spot on. Most I saw were buried deep. The souls are awful things, destroy anything that contains them if they are held in the same place long enough, so most places that hold them are built damn solid."

You nod along with genuine interest.

"The church had tasked me with research, but wanted me to keep quiet about it. This isn't the kind of thing they want people knowing about. So when I published a paper about the crusades also involving the capturing of witches... Well..." He gestures down at himself as if to say "here I am."

Now this really sparks your interest.

"So they were abducting witches from the holy land? Why?"

"Well the church has always had it out for witches you know. But its always been my belief that the ones they found early on were never the ones they were looking for. After the thirteen hundreds the witch hunt during the crusades seems to have stopped entirely. I'm certain they were looking for one or more witches, and I think they found them, or her."

"He's got a keen mind, this one..." Kiara muses, and you can tell that Kenzington is holding her interest as well.

>more questions?

>page 6 despite all the posts...

How has this issue not been addressed yet?

>>18295274
Can things other than a witches soul be stored? Kiara may want to go for the soul first but if we can find other parts of her before it, it might make getting the soul easier. And then what kind of things would store those, etc etc.

>>18295296
Also, what kinds of materials would that storage be made out of?
>we already know platinium gives Kiara problems, wouldn't hurt to find out what else would be used so we can possibly narrow down sources/places with said materials.

>>18295274
How are people able to recognize and find witches, are there signs and clues for it? Do they usually aim for security through obscurity or security through big security, are they more likely to hide in deep in the foundations of some public works that no one looks for or under a heavily guarded mountain? What techniques are used against witches, I somehow doubt they are completely mundane. Where would I find this sort of thing?

"So aside from the soul and the mind, are there other pieces? How many chunks do they tear a witch up into?"

Kenzington sits back and frowns at you.

"I never mentioned a witch's mind..."

"I've read enough to know about them. But only the mind and soul, though I assume there are more pieces."

"A good assumption, and you are correct. One more piece, the witch's body."

"Where would I find one of those?"

Kenzington shrugs at your question.

"That I can't answer, because I'll admit its not something I know."

"Well damn.... Back to the witch's soul, what kind of stuff would the structure be made out of?"

"Concrete and steel. A LOT of concrete and steel. Plus a platinum lining, or the whole thing won't last a day. From what I've been told, a witches soul will degrade even the strongest of structures in a matter of decades rather than centuries. Any place that has held a soul for long is going to appear pretty ramshackle just from the stress of containing it."

>>18295416
Damnit Papa-N! I specifically did not mention mind since I knew he'd say that! Heh.

"So how does the church even find a witch? I assume they hide at least, if they know they are being pursued."

Kenzington shrugs before crumpling his can.

"You'd have to ask a witch hunter I suppose, I'm sure that their techniques have changed from what I know. Back in the day, they just went after anyone deemed suspicious, which as you can imagine, wasn't too accurate."

"Well do you know anything about witch hunting?"

"Heh, want to be an amateur witch hunter eh? Well, aside from their weakness to platinum, I don't have much to offer. I will tell you that many will sooner pay to have you quietly disposed of rather than deal with you themselves, though. The witches were frequent patrons of assassins."

>more questions? Debating calling it a night soon because of the autosage as this is already on page 7

>>18295473
Unfortunately, i think calling it here for now would be best, there's only like 4, maybe 5 people watching the thread atm. Also, the thread has been archived.

Btw, i like the new system, and I think TG likes it too, Being able to ask and choose paths almost freely is nice.

>>18295473
So you think they were looking for a couple of specific people, well, witches back in the inquisition. You have any notion who they were? What was going on back then?

>avoiding mentioning that we might want information on a specific witch.
>clever, vewy clever.

>>18295473
Mentally ask Kiara if she needs to know anything more

>>18295506
As much as I rather go on, I have to agree. I imagine there would be more people if this wasn't in autosage for some reason.

>>18295506
Yeah, I hope that more interest picks up, though I doubt it will ever reach HLQ levels. More players is always nice, the first thread had a good flow to it.

I like the new system as well, its really opened it up to having better dialogue than HLQ did, and I wanted this to be a more intellect/dialogue based quest. /tg/ having more freedom works well here, whereas it may have been utter chaos in HLQ.

>>18295473
Thanks for all the help. Ask Kiara if there's any other details she's interested in. Ask if we wanted to know more about the witch hunting during the crusades where would we look?

>>18295528
Again, I'll be watching your twitter(jeeze... I felt dirty saying that) and hopefully i won't miss the entire godamn thread... May the HUE be with you.

Yeah I'm going to call it good for the night and pick back up with these questions/asking Kiara in tomorrow's thread. Damn this autosage problem...

I'll stick around ITT to clarify things/etc

>>18295556
And also with you. (having a twitter feels dirty, but it works well for how I use it at least.)

>>18295581
What kind of a schedule do you think you're going to do for running this quest?

>>18295581
I think what also kinda killed the interest in it tonight was your long dinner break.

>>18295593
Around the same kind that HLQ had, one maybe two threads a week. Pretty much whatever I can find time for between work/uni/etc.

>>18295598
Yeah, I was pretty pissed at my girl. Took her over an hour to leave her damn room when I went to pick her up.

I mean, while I can appreciate getting dressed up and looking nice and all of that...

We ate at a fucking applebees, so...

Well if the schedule is variable, can I get a link to the twitter to get an idea on when it might be going on?

>>18295633
Its just named HereticalLoveQ

>>18295633
It is safe to assume however, that it probably won't be running any night SWQ is.

>>18295633
hereticalloveq
^search that and twitter in google.
(not sure of posting urls after your episode, papa)

>>18295648
Yeah likely not, though SWQ seems to be slowing down somewhat with the IRC and all that now.

Also he runs Tues/Thurs which are my big class days, so they would be out anyways.

>>18295650
Yeah, I was pretty shocked when a 1d4chan link got me banned. Though planefag seems to ignore those bans and the mods don't seem to care.

>>18295670
Actually tune in on saturdays cuz he hasnt run it on a thrusday in 2 weeks. Also this reminds me fucking much of Blood Quest. I love u PapaN

>>18295695
Ah, I haven't been checking the days, had to follow from the archives recently as I've been busy. Guess I'll stick to sunday/monday over saturday then.

Never read bloodquest though.

I love everyone in my threads, even the haters

>>18295670
I can assure you, the IRC is just where the "SWQ discussion threads" went. We try to keep it off topic during the quest.

>>18295722
Yeah it seems to have cut down on some of the off-topic discussion, which is good, less ctrl+f "planefag" required and it makes the threads easier to follow.

Eliminating the discussion threads was also probably a good thing, as I know they were drawing copious amounts of hate from those already staunchly against quest threads. Not that I care what they think, I just don't want a /quest/ board because it would never work.

>>18295742
Eh, /q/ is probably going to be /query/ or somesuch. The 4chan Metaboard. It probably won't work, but hey. I wouldn't worry about /tg/ being split. Moot said during the recent new board expansions that he wasn't going to be splitting /tg/ anytime soon.

>>18295768
Yeah, I'm glad Moot clarified that, but I still would prefer not to give the haters any ammunition. I still need to do the IRC one of these days, just haven't found the time. Is it pretty active even on off days?

>>18295797
Currently talking about wildlife encounters, it's fairly active. during the afternoon through the night.

>>18295797
Fairly active, with occasional SWQ discussion whenever someone feels like it. Other times we talk about whatever.

...and right now it appears that we are talking about the wildlife of backwoods Maine.

>>18295810
Wildlife encounters eh? I had to stab a bull shark in the face for messing with me while I was spear fishing just a few days ago down in the Keys.

Seems like my kind of discussion.

>>18295819
It's not really backwoods, I live in the suburbs near NH

It's just that the difference between the backwoods of most places and suburbs in Maine are negligible.

Stuff I wanna know:

-what are these witches doing that merits them being evicerated?
-why does last care about her shit? Can he suppress her if he wants?
-What does last like to do? Won't dealing with her keep him from hiding from people that want to find him, or interfere with his job? How important are these things to him and are they more important than what this witch wants him to do?

-are there weird magic places left in the world? Portals? Oracles? Places where time doesn't move?

-what makes a witch? How do you obtain immortality?

Ill post more when I think of more.

I really dig the dialogue, the dolphins crack was silly.

Also, my money is on this witch being some sort of Fey.

-What does this girl look like? Does she look like anything in our head? What does last look like, has being dead changed him? Are we cursed? Since we're now smoking a lot more, do we NEED stuff like that? What happens to kiara if we get high off our balls?

Personally I think it'd be funny as shit if she were a lightweight and everything last did affected her twice or thrice as much. Might be handy if we ever want to shut her up for a bit.

Also, this priest. He's gonna kill us, isn't he. He's giving up information to a stranger way too easy.

On a side note, as much as I like kiara,we're being way too helpful. We just got drowned and our mind semi-permenantly invaded by an ancient, possibly malicious force in one day, folks get PTSD for less than that, id be wigging out at least a little bit.