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>current world map
>you're somewhere on the interior of Mildania

>>22879019
get some food for the trip then find jack's bro and gogogo

>>22879019

Let Jack take the lead. Be on alert for possible suspicious types.

I wonder how comfortable Nona would feel memorywiping notion of our passage from someone she suspected of being a mobster...

You decide to let Jack take the lead on this one while you keep an eye out for any people who might be suspicious. You stop by at the tavern to get some food, then follow Jack as he leads you out of town. You're all walking for nearly an hour before you reach your destination - Jack's brother's house.

It's a little cottage nestled in some woodland. As you neared it, you started noticing colorful ribbons tied around tree branches and hanging from lines strung between poles. By the time you're near the clearing, the forest is awash in bright colors from the ribbons and - as you realize after looking - the small colorful birds sitting in the trees.

"He puts up the ribbons to distract cats," Jack says. "He doesn't want them killing the birds around his house."

You nod. That makes... Sense? You guess?

"Will!" calls out Jack. "Are you around here, Will?"

An orc pokes his head out from behind the cottage. He's as tall as Jack - and honestly looks a lot like him - but he's much thinner, and has a long beard. "Yeah? Who's there?" he asks, stepping into full view. He's wearing what look like simple, homespun clothes dangling with beads and ribbons and embroidered with intricate patterns. "What's going on."

"It's me, Will. Jack. I'm wearing a disguise."

"Wow, really? That's a crazy disguise, man! You don't look anything like yourself. What's up with the elves, though? Are they part of your disguise?"

What do you do?

>>22879453

"You could put it that way. We're his friends. Let's go somewhere private and give us the long story."

>>22879453let jack answer

>>22879453
Smirk "Essential, even."

"No, they're real people," says Jack, placing a hand on Will's shoulder and leading him into the cottage. You thought that was just a roundabout way of asking who you two were. Well, Jack did say he was odd. You share a look with Varaia.

When you get into the cottage, you find a lot of it full of what you suppose is artwork. Horns, antlers, whorled wood, stones, carved with intricate patterns and carefully decorated with colorful paints. Some have the same colorful ribbons used outside tied between branches of the horns or hanging from the wood. The floor is covered in saw dust and stone chips, most of the surfaces have various artisan's tools on them, and there are paint stains everywhere.

"Christ, Will, you've really let this place go," says Jack. He starts picking up tools and putting them in the box where they're ostensibly supposed to go. "When was the last time you swept in here?"

"Uhhh, I don't know. I think mum swept last time she was here. That was, uh... Let me think..."

Varaia gives you a worried look.

"Listen, I need your help, Will," says Jack. He's still tidying. "Emma and Rory are in a bad situation. I need you to drive me to Mild so that I can help them out. After that, you and I are going to have a talk about this. Understand?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, man," says Will, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean, it's like... I guess it is pretty bad, huh?"

What do you do?

>>22879796
This stuff is SO COOL

I mean, the place if filthy, but LOOK AT THE THINGS

>>22879796
Look all around and give your professional opinion on the most notable projects.

>>22879870
>>22879863


thirded. Bardic knowledge check time!

>>22879796
no cleaning is too bad when you sing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7aUAHOW6Ss

You go around looking at the various pieces. Some of them are really good. You say as much. "Some of these are really good. Like this one - I really like the sense of motion that the ribbons create. They lead the eye," you say, pointing out what you're talking about. That completely distracts will from the conversation he was having with Jack.

"You think so?" he asks, coming over to look over your shoulder. "Yeah, I didn't think that the carvings were enough, so I used the ribbons to lead you where I wanted you to look next."

He seems to be a talented artist if, well, a bit crazy.

"Have you thought about doing your art in the big city? Maybe opening a gallery or something?" you ask.

"Uhhh. I'm not sure. I mean, I like my birds. And I'm not too great with people," he says, again growing sheepish.

"He tried to," says Jack. He sounds disappointed. "They really liked his work. He would lock himself up in his house for days at a time, though. He got evicted because he let his apartment get... Well, get like this. I thought you were working on this, Will. Trying to get back out and try again."

"I was," replies Will, quickly. "I mean, I am."

"Will..." says Jack. "Listen, when all this is over, I'll take some time and help you out. I promise. We need a ride into the city, though. Today, hopefully. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah, Jack," says Will, nodding hard. "Yeah, man, totally. You got it. Anything you need."

What do you do?

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I was waiting for this thread.

>>22880247
sing help clean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7aUAHOW6Ss

can't we just utility magic the place clean?

>>22880289
>looks nice!

>>22880289

pfffhahahaha you rock sir.

>>22880247

I guess he is no good as source of information. Retire to wherever we are spending the night, and perhaps read some more enchanting. Maybe we could do for once without attracting attention by singing in a bar -- or maybe that's precisely what we should do for the sake of distraction?

>>22880333
I don't think we know Unseen Servant. Besides, if we're going to make a good impression on a salt-of-the-earth Orc family, we'll have to demonstrate that we're not afraid of using some Elbow Grease. Besides, taking the lazy way out is an old-us thing. We're the new-us. It's how we wound up an overweight lonely neckbeard. Let's not revisit old paths.

You start humming, whistling, and singing a few lines of children's songs about cleaning as you help Jack get to work. Varaia helps pick things up with her one good arm and you get to sweeping out all of the saw dust and stone chips. In relatively short order, the cottage is... Well, it's not clean or tidy, but it's livable.

"Hey, Jack?" asks Will. "We should probably get headed out soon. Unless you want to spend the night in town and head out in the morning. I'm good either way, just need to wheel the carriage around front."

"I'm good to go whenever you are," says Jack. "Unless you girls have something else you want to do in town before we head out?"

"I've got everything I need," says Varaia, alluding to the arrowheads and feathers she got.

What about you?

>>22880569
nope, lets skedaddle.

>>22880569
onward toward adventure

>>22880569

Let's move onwards.

Maybe disguise Will and his vehicle before entering the city. An excentric artist driving an orc and two elves might attract some unwanted attention.

>>22880569
I think we're good.

I've never been in these threads before, have there been sexy times at all?

>>22880694
Yes. Read through the archives. Sex, and more importantly Love, abound.

>>22880708
Wonderful

"Yeah, let's get a move on. We don't know how much time we have to waste with your sister and brother on the line," you say.

William heads out and after a few minutes pulls up one of those horseless carriages around front. It's sleek and black with chrome. The interior is cushy and nice. It also looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years.

"How did your brother afford...?" murmurs Varaia to Jack.

"Like I said, he did pretty well before things fell apart."

"So, pile in!" says Will. "I, uhhh, can't remember the last time I took this out for a spin. So, where are we headed in the city?"

The car starts moving. It doesn't move too fast, since the country roads are dirt or cobbled rather than flat pavement or stone. Still, it's a sight faster than riding in a horse-drawn cart. At the pace it's moving, you should arrive at Mild sometime tomorrow.

"You know where Millie lives?" Jack asks.

"Is it, uh, still the same place as before?" asks Will.

"It should be."

"Then yeah, more or less. You want me to drop you off there?"

"No. Close, though. Close enough to walk. We need to try to meet with her in secret."

"You got it. No problem. Absolutely."

"Thanks, Will."

"Hey, I mean, it's, uh, it's for Emma and Rory, right? How could I refuse. So, uh, has he been on any adventures, ladies? Anything interesting?" asks Will, turning a bit to glance at you and Varaia while keeping an eye on the road.

What do you say?

>>22880931

"A few. There was this time when we protected a wrecked train, or there was this time when we fought off an attack of Deep ones, or ..."

>>22880931

"We are on an adventure to Orselem to make him a paladin and I love a man in uniform."

Spank Jack and wink.

>>22880931
"Hmmm, let's see, he rescued me from starving in the wilderness, then when someone tried to kidnap me beat the man to within an inch of his life. Then he valiantly defended a train that a bunch of robbers derailed until reinforcements arrived. After that, he protected Varaia and I from being kidnapped by Deep Ones when they attacked the boat we were on, and he's decided that when this mess with the Blackmountains is resolved, he's going to Orsalem to become a Paladin. And if that's not adventurous enough for you, he has two beautiful elven women falling in love with him. How's that for adventure?"

>>22881217
Pretty good summary of Jack's exploits. Go with this.

"Well, he rescued me from starving in the wildnerness, protected me from a kidnapper..."

"Got shot in the leg during a kidnapping by Wild Elves," notes Varaia wryly.

"Protected a train from bandits, started learning white magic, saved a bunch of people from deep ones, oh, and he's planning on making the pilgrimage to Orsalem, maybe to become a paladin," you finish. "Oh, and he's dating both of us."

"Wow," says Will, clearly impressed. "I never would have expected you of all people to be living in the wilderness instead of the big city."

That's what he finds impressive?

"I bet it will be nice getting back to Mild after all this time," he says. "After all, the police stopped looking for you a few months after you left. That lady stopped spreading those lies around about you."

"Yeah, the biggest place I've been to in a while is Newpor- Wait, what?" asks Jack.

"What?" responds Will.

"The cops aren't looking for me anymore?"

"Of course not. Truth had to come out eventually, right? Only people who still want your head are the Blackmountains - and Stonehammer. That's why Emma was trying to get them to let you come back."

You actually see Jack relax a little. You hadn't realized how anxious he had been about the police.

What do you do?

>>22880931
"We've been heading to Orsalem for Jack's pilgrimmage. We've had a couple of dangerous encounters along the way, but we make a good team; between Jack and Varaia's sharp eyes, and my spellsong, we make a good team."

>>22881749
well that makes things simpler. probably best to keep the mask on, though

>>22881749
Oh, we can take an entirely different route if the police aren't looking for us anymore. Let's just head out, and make small talk along the way.

>>22881749
wasn't really living in the woods just sorta was dropped there

>>22881749

That's very convenient.

Still, the mafia alone is a powerful foe. We will need information, lots of it. You know what this means, right? Time to hit the taverns!

and pick up some gossip.

We know Nona was previously a fa/tg/uy, and it has been mentioned that in his former life he was an avid comic reader and likely well-versed in movie trivia as well. So now the question becomes 'How much of what we've indulged in in our last life is of use in this situation.' Did he read Punisher War Journal? That's basically the how-to book of destroying organized crime. Did he ever watch The Untouchables? The Godfather? Boondock Saints? A Bronx Tale? Road to Perdition? Reservoir Dogs? Ocean's Eleven? Mission Impossible?

>>22882090

So far her background has served us as an excuse to metagame with impunity, so go ahead and assume she knows all of them by heart.

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>>22882122

In fact I wonder if perhaps the Wizard did not merely take an existing elven bard that actually was on a mission spying for Unseelie queen and forcefully splice the neckbeard on top of her.

>>22882122

As for meta-gaming, it hasn't really helped all that much so far. Only once has it been remotely useful (bluffing Mab's name), and even that backfired. It's a resource to exploit, but it can easily bite us in the ass.

>>22882174

isn't metagaming always like that?

>>22882122
>>22882090
Also consider: As a fa/tg/uy, how in-depth did his research go for the games he ran/played in? Did he ever read the Anarchist Cookbook just to better prepare for a modern-era game? Did he study Vietcong guerilla tactics to prep for running a game based on elves invading human lands? People seem to forget that while we're not there now, Nona comes from The Information Age and has previously had access to vast amounts of knowledge and information that would have taken people of a medieval lifestyle multiple generations to amass.

>>22882174
Good point. Maybe we should hold back our 'OOC knowledge' a bit.

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"Hey, Jack?" you ask.

"Yeah?"

"What's the actual plan?"

"Well... Honestly, I hadn't thought past finding my brother and rescuing my sister yet."

"Ah. We should come up with a plan. I mean, I doubt we can just run and gun our way to that."

"Yeah, probably not."

"So, what do you think?"

"Well, I still want top priority to be finding my siblings. Aside from that? I dunno. Maybe try to get cash for supplies. We could try to steal it from the Blackmountains, maybe. Or get some allies - maybe find people who are already enemies of the Blackmountains to help us out. I think we'll pretty much have to build our own gang from the ground up in order to actually do this. It's too bad none of us actually have much experience with that."

"Hey, nobody fucks with a Saint," you say with a snort.

"What?" asks Varaia.

"Oh. Uh, nothing," you repsond.

"So, what do you guys think? What should our plan be? Like, generally speaking, obviously. We don't know enough specifics to go further than that," asks Jack.

What's your plan?

>>22882340
We either need to find enough people who are against the Blackmountains to start a rival gang, or learn way more about them so that we can win by attrition or kill somebody who's way at the top. Working with the police would really help here.

>>22882375
No, no gang so far.

It would lead to leadership problems, potential spies and obviously, a rival gang would attract too much attention.

We need to infiltrate the family first, IMO. Maybe Varaia, or at very least we can befriend one of the members.

>>22882424
But it's a gang built around a dwarven family. The Blackmountain family. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with infiltration, but only if we were, you know, dwarves.

>>22882460
>if we were, you know, dwarves

Aw, crap. Still, no rival gang. Does they have family business? Like taverns and such? Maybe we could get a job on one of those.

>>22882340
Okay, first we need to gather info on them, who the rival gangs are, what businesses they have their fingers in, any internal strife in their leadership. If we can find anything blackmailable, any weaknesses we could threaten to reveal to a rival gang we could extort them and force them to give up his siblings.

>>22882340

A city this size can't have only one family operating the less than legal businesses. Pity that we did not find an opportunity to meet with the cannabis dealer, he might have known someone. Well, too late for it now.

Let's start with business competition. Find a tavern close to a competing business, then try and overhear some drunken spillage from its employees.

Or go straight into Blackmountain territory and try to get hired. That might be easier, as long as the disguise holds, but that might be tricky.

>>22882375
"Any gang that's lasted this long and has enough power to ruin peoples lives with ease likely has influence over police departments as well. We can't go to the cops without risking tipping off the Blackmountains.

A gang is like a person. An artificial person, but still a person. there's the brains, but they're usually well protected, while headshots are useful, they're very difficult to pull off. There's the muscle, but there's usually a lot of that, so trying to kill it that way is long and dangerous. Oaths of loyalty and debts owed are the bones that hold everything together, you could try to break them and it will damage the overall structure, but it's not actually fatal. The organs are the people in the gang. You could starve the gang, prevent it from recruiting or taking in cash, but that takes a lot of time and effort. The easiest way to kill a gang is the same as to kill a person: You make them bleed. Just like with a corporation, money is the life blood of a gang. Find where they're getting their money, how they make it and move it, and then you start cutting, and keep cutting until nothing is left. Without money to pay them, the common thugs will look elsewhere for work and the the gang loses its muscles and organs, and its bones become weak. Then we start picking off the remainders one by one."

>>22882599
>then you start cutting, and keep cutting until nothing is left.
>Then we start picking off the remainders one by one.

I am not sure if this is a plan description, or a guro fanfic.

Good plan... as long as Jack and Varaia does not believe we went full psycho.

>>22882599
and by cutting i mean shooting and explosions

>>22882684

That most certainly WON'T do. We don't want the municipal authorities to declare martial law, nor do we want a panic among general populace.

This is a case for subterfuge and trickery, not for massive amount of violence and property damage

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>>22882709
>This is a case for subterfuge and trickery, not for massive amount of violence and property damage.

Clearly, you have a ton to learn.

>>22882709
:(

"First of all, we can't go to the cops. They're probably in the Blackmountains' pockets. What we need to do, though, is make them bleed. We find out where they're getting their money, how they make it, how they move it, and where they keep it, and we hit those. We hit them hard. It gives us cash to operate with and it bleeds them dry. Once they can't pay for thugs, can't pay their bribes, can't pay anyone, that's when they'll be weak enough to actually make a move on. Once we've gotten them off balance, that's when we go straight for the head and let it all fall apart," you say. You even bring up illusions for a simply visual illustration. "Like a deck of cards."

"Makes sense to me," says Jack. "And while we're doing all this, we keep an eye out for Emma and Rory. Try to keep them safe. Also, I think I know exactly who to start with, in this bleeding operation."

"Stonehammer?" you ask.

"Stonehammer. He runs the brothels and the illegal gambling in deepside - or at least he did back when he was trying to blackmail me," says Jack. "We can ask Millie for more information and for help once we get into the city."

"But just to make this clear, I get to sneak around and shoot people, right?" asks Varaia.

"Right," says Jack, while you say, "Absolutely."

You'll be on the road until sometime tomorrow. What do you do in that time?

>>22882684
I was thinking more along the lines of theft, burglary, and carefully planned arson leaving no discernible trace. As long as we're taking their cash, we should make sure hey can't replenish it, and why not keep a bit for ourselves? Invest in businesses around town, become silent partners with various companies, start a few side-businesses. Maybe start our own bardic school focused solely on teaching bards how to make movies.

>>22882839
Practice an audio only illusion of the Mission Impossible theme song. See if we can make music without n instrument. Also see if we can get a harmonica, because harmonicas are awesome.

>>22882839
Get as much info about the criminal groups in the town as we can from our companions, it'll be outdated but still helpful.

Reassure Varaia that she'll get to sneak around and murder lowlife scum to her heart's content.

Given our recent practice with Enchantment magic this'll be much easier than it would be otherwise.

Play some music as we travel, just to keep everyone entertained.

>>22882881

If we start a business at the same time as their coffers start to vanish, it will be suspicious and could easily bite us in the ass. I suggest we keep the appropriated assets safe until we're done with them.

>>22882839

Sing a song as per >>22882926, and try to get some rest so that we're fully alert upon our arrival.

>>22882839
Ask Jack what else he knows about Stonerhammer and Blackmountain.

Does he remember them packing magic weapons, or just lead flingers? How far do they stretch? What was the situation where Jack was just minding his business and got offered employment by this black market dude?

Ask Will about this kinda stuff too. Maybe he has a more recent idea of what's been going on over there.

>>22879019
>You were a 30 year old awkward lonely overweight virgin neckbeard who lived in his mother's basement. You were granted the unusual birthday present of being turned into a petite female elven bard and dropped naked in the middle of a forest.

Well that's certainly cutting right to the chase. Has the quest phenomenon found its final perfect form so it can achieve apotheosis and free itself from the shackles of this board? One can only hope.

>>22883161
I thought that was true when some faggot made that anonkun site.

Sadly, this wasn't the case.

Whats worse is this quest tries to claim its NOT a fetishy waifu/haremshit quest.

>>22883161
>>22883221
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

hide the threads you don't like if I gotta 40+ 40k and MGT threads and don't bitch about them you can hide this

"Do you remember what kind of armaments the gangsters had and what kind of territory they controlled? Also, how did you end up getting a job offer from them?" you ask.

"All kind of weapons," says Jack. "They run arms to get past customs and tariffs, so it all depends on who they're connected to. As for what they control, I'm not entirely sure. I got offered a job after I refused to pay protection money. I was trying to open a shop in the city after I finished with my carpentry apprenticeship."

Well, that was less than you were hoping to learn. You spend most of the rest of the trip trying to assemble an illusionary orchestra to play things like the Mission Impossible them and the sorts of jazz you would want to hear when fighting gangsters. Day moves into evening and Jack takes over driving from Will, who almost immediately goes to sleep.

Do you do anything in the evening or just try to get some sleep in the car?

>>22883161
>>22883221
The best part is, the players picked this. Petite female elven bard only beat male dwarven gunsmith by one vote. MP said he would have been just as happy to run it with the dwarven gunsmith as the elven bard. I wonder how differently the quest would have turned out.

>>22883299
Cuddle up with Varaia, take a nap.

>>22883327
Sadly, probably not very. Op would have just mentioned the orcish cum dripping down your mastercrafted dwarven beard and shit like >>22883344 wouldn't have changed at all.

>>22883258
>hide the threads you don't like if I gotta 40+ 40k and MGT threads and don't bitch about them you can hide this
Try that again in English.

>>22883344

second.

I suggest we cut back on setting things aflame, we should avoid harming people whose only fault is succumbing to extortion.

>>22883327
>I wonder how differently the quest would have turned out.

We began the quest naked and alone in the middle of the forest. The first thing we saw was a huge bear. I doubt MP would gave us guns to kill it, so, unless we could improvise some kind of sling, we would be eaten by a bear in our first day.

Also: aw, crap, is the troll on the loose again?

>>22883457

Ignore it, it will go away eventually.

>>22883327
Actually being male got beaten by one vote, being a dwarf only got one vote, and being a bard beat gunslinger by 2.

>>22883512
So we were almost a male elven gunsmith? Or was it gunslinger?

>>22883539
>Or was it gunslinger?

Gunslinger. Someone messed up gunslinger with the gunsmith thing, and MP decide to unify them as it would made more sense the first than the former.

Nobody vote for loli age :(

>>22883576
Thank god for that.

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Trolls gonna troll.
anyway, an anon requested a lineup of the races?
the dwarf gal was totally my favorite

>>22883539

check out the first thread in the archives, if you wish to check for yourself. But it doesn't really matter, it's the elf bard quest now. And I for one think it's pretty good. I could do without the angst, sex or personality issues, but meh, someone else is into it and I don't really mind.

polite sage for non-quest banter.

>>22883608
>BAWWW ANYONE WHO DOESNT AGREE WITH ME IS A DIRTY, MEAN OL TROOOOOOOOLL
Grow up.

>>22883608
Your anatomy needs a lot of work.

>>22883673
Anatomy is okay for that kinda comic style. Don't be an ass.

>>22883628
>I could do without the angst, sex or personality issues, but meh, someone else is into it and I don't really mind.

There really isn't much sex at all.

>>22883726
Every other suggested action is to play grabass with either the orc or the elf.

>>22883726

Which is why I follow this quest, rather than ignore it as I would if it was too much against my tastes.

You never get exactly what you want. That doesn't mean you can't be happy with a compromise.

>>22883665
wat? I wasn't even paying attention, I just noticed everyone else talking about a troll. you seem upset.
>>22883673
no arguments here. next time, I'll work with some reference pictures.
I ain't even mad

>>22883760

And it never happens. Every other suggested action in EVERY QUEST EVER is "rape fuck sex".

>>22883760

half of them is just random posters who don't have anything better to do than put this stuff in every quest thread there is.

And sometimes it's pretty in-character for a female elven bard.

>>22883697
I would rather him not be one of those artists who hides all of their faults behind “style”.
>>22883783
>I ain't even mad
For fucks sake, I wasn't trying to make you mad. Goddamn, you guys are thinskinned.

>>22883787
>And it never happens.
So I guess the orc blowjob and all those elf cuddle sessions totally didn't happen.

>>22883787
Like rape fuck sex is not the right answer for everything.

>>22883807

Well, you get people from every culture on the internet, and in some direct criticism is outright offensive.

Then again, this IS 4chan after all.

>>22883807
i don't think the spoiler was for you, but rather the guy who said you were an ass for making critique

NOW WHOS THIN SKINNED

You decide to just go to sleep. After all, tomorrow is probably going to be a long day, and you want to be at your sharpest. You lean your head on Varaia's shoulder, close your eyes, and clock out.

When you wake up again, the sun's risen and the car is moving on flat ground. You look around. The car is speeding down a road - a real road. It looks like it's made out of concrete, or magically-conjure/sculpted stone. On either side of the car pass all manner of buildings - warehouses, factories, stores, restaurants, houses, you think you even saw a school. Will, sitting up in the front, notices that you're awake.

"We're in the outskirts now. We'll be to the Great Hold itself soon," he says.

Sure enough, within the hour, you see in the distance a huge mountain, dwarfing the hills around it. From the look of it, you guess it must have at one time been some kind of volcano, that or built using some kind of geomancy. Your elf eyes can see green terraces running up the sides of the mountain, all the way to up near the top, where there's a huge airship dock poking into the clouds.

But what really gets you is the doors.

Two massive doors made of what looks like tarnished copper, set into the side of the mountain. Each almost a hundred meters tall, adorned with geometic designs and dwarven runes declaring this the Great Hold of Mild.

It's awe-inspiring.

Do you say anything?

>>22883608
>the dwarf gal was totally my favorite

>I can tell
>thanks for the pictures

>>22883807
Dude. chill your tits. I was agreeing with you. not once have I claimed to be a very good artist. there's always room for improvement, and in my case, a lot of room.
its cool.

>>22883858
'dayum'

>>22883858
'Mellon"

>>22883760
Only because a single lone jackass keeps trying to shit up the thread. There are always douchebags trying to sabotage quest threads.

>>22883843
>Then again, this IS 4chan after all.
Exactly, so you should be prepared for people to tell you that your drawings look like Michael J. Fox trying to paint with his diarrhea rather than getting so defensive over a legitimate criticism.
>>22883848
>i don't think the spoiler was for you, but rather the guy who said you were an ass for making critique
Except for that phrase is usually directed at people one thinks to be trolls.

>>22883858

I vote for - when we're done rescuing Jack's family - commandeering a zeppelin belonging to Blackmountains for the next leg of our trip.

In the meantime...

"...Open sesame!"

>>22883893
Right, because “30 year old tranny elf quest” is so goddamn intriguing

>>22883858
"Damn, that's big. It seems a tad excessive to me though."

>>22883858
".... Well crap in a hat. This has to be one of the most impressive cities I've ever seen."

>>22883858
"Is that just for decoration, or do they actually have 100-metre tall structures moving in and out?"

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>>22883900
>Michael J. Fox trying to paint with his diarrhea
I lol'd

>>22883858
- I wonder how many nickels you could forge with that doors...

>>22883900
you mean like the guy who called you an ass?

"Daaamn," you say, looking at those gates. "That has to be one of those most impressive things I've ever seen. It seems a little excessive, though. Is that just for decoration, or do they have things like that throughout the city?"

"It's mostly for decoration," says Will. "Every Great Hold has something like that, I've heard. Sometime to really show off. But it's said that no siege has ever breached the Gates of Mild. I don't know. There's some big copper statues along the city's main hall too - really stylized ones, supposedly of ancient ancestors of the important families."

The drive continues on to the gates, which are open wide enough for a few toll stations to be set up. Will drives the car up to one, lets the officers peek in through the windows, then hands them a one crown note and drives through into the entrance to Mild's main hall.

Mild is enormous.

The main hall is built into a sort of bowl-shaped cavern, with streets sloping down towards the center like the streets in San Francisco to the shore. A globe of light blazes in the cavern's roof, enough to wash the city in twilight. The city itself is full of towers carved out of stalagmites, buildings built out of stone bricks, streets weaving among them with almost organic curves in the natural stone.

..::||continued||::..

>>22884282
Street lights, window lights, neon signs, billboards, they all glitter in the twilight, visible from all the way across the cavern. There are copper statues, huge art deco designs, fountains, and greenery lit by magical lamps. The streets themselves are clogged with cars, horses, and foot traffic. Over half of the population looks dwarven, then orcish, then human, then fae.

It is, to put it simply, the grandest city you've ever been to - and you've been in Manhattan before.

"Wow," you say.

"Yeah," says Will. "There are five more layers below this one and tons of tunnels aside from that."

You're not even sure how to process that fact.

You're not sure if you can even really picture how big that means this city is.

What do you do?

>>22884282

>statues
Is Blackmountain ancestor amongst them? What other families are there?

>>22884292
Well, we're sortof fucked on what to actually do here. Why don't we ask Jack where he wants to go?

>>22884292
We probably need to meet Millie.

>>22884335
yep. lets go meet her.

>>22884292

Have him drop us within walking distance of the brothel, then find a tavern to drop our bags in.

Should we scout the area during its opening hours, or infiltrate it when it's closed? Does Nona's bardic skill set include lockpicking, anyway?

>>22884292
Gawk for a bit, try to pick our jaw off the floor, then lets go see Millie.

>>22884335
Yeah, Millie seems to be the best bet here.

>>22884334

coming up with a plan is a part of the challenge. this ain't no visual novel.

"I think you should probably drop us off at Millie's," you say, then look back out the window to gawk at the city some more. Will drives you all down a couple more layers, which look successively less nice and less well-lit, until you're in a section whose architecture is largely wooden and regular-sized stone bricks.

"It's a lot less crowded when everyone's at work or at home," says Will as he drives. "We kind of got here during rush hour. You can take the tube if you want to avoid the streets too."

Eventually, he pulls up to a street corner. By this point, Jack and Varaia have woken up too. The neighborhood looks about as nice as the boardwalk area back in Newport.

"I'm dropping you off here, Jack," says Will. "I'm going to, uh, get a hotel room at the Stoutaxe or something. I'll be here in town if you need me. And say hi to Millie for me."

"You've got it," says Jack. "Stay safe."

"Thanks for the ride," chimes in Varaia.

You three then walk down a few streets, and one alleyway, until you get to what looks like an old, run-down warehouse. Jack knocks on the door, then waits. Eventually, you hear a series of locks being unfastened, and a young looking dwarven woman - or old looking dwarven adolescent, perhaps - bursts out of the door and hugs Jack.

"Kid, I thought you sank with that ship!" she says. "It was in the news! Thank the ancestors you're okay." Then she turns to look at you and Varaia. "These those friends you mentioned?"

What do you do?

>>22884622
"Yes, we're the friends he mentioned."

Once we're inside ask her for a rundown on the local politics, gangs, and so on. We need info.

>>22884651
This guy has the right idea. We're working to take down a crime syndicate, so we need to know everything we can.

>>22884651

second.

what's the news?

>>22884622
"It'll take more than the combined might of every Deep One on the planet to stop Jack when he wants to do something." say it with a smile.

"We sure are," you say, flashing her a smile. "Now, let's get off the street before someone sees us."

"Right," she says. "Absolutely. Come on in."

She leads you into the building. It's a lot more impressive on the inside. On a basic level, it's a warehouse loft, and it looks comfortably furnished, with lots of wide open space. More to the point, there are arcane gadgets strewn everywhere, industrial equipment in the corner, and something that reminds you of the circle keeping the elemental back on the ship, but much larger and more intricate. You realize that Millie must be an artificer - or must have gotten all this stuff from an artificer if she isn't one.

"You look... Older," says Millie to Jack as she leads you all in. She sounds sad when she says it. "I like the beard."

"Thanks. I didn't have much in the way of a razor when I was living out in the woods."

"You guys want anything? Coffee? A beer, maybe?"

"Coffees, please," you say. "If you already have some brewed, anyway."

"You got it. So, I've narrowed down where I think they're keeping Emma to one of three places. Rory, though, is some kind of masked vigilante, I think. There have been reports of one operating all over the city the past few weeks."

"God damn it, Rory, always getting in over your head," mutters Jack.

"Oh, my names Millie, by the way. And you girls are...?" asks Millie.

"Varaia," says Varaia, simply.

What do you say now?

>>22885390
> Rory, though, is some kind of masked vigilante, I think.
he beat us to it!

>>22885390
"I'm Nona.

What can you tell us about their current operations? What are the locations Emma might be? Do you have any contacts that'll be useful for taking them down? Do you have any way to get in contact with Rory?"

>>22885390
HI, sis. Your brother fucked me in the ass.

>>22885462
This isn't his sister. Actually read the thread before posting troll comments and you'll probably get a bigger angry response. 2/10, there were better trolls in this thread alone.

>>22885390

Introduce yourself, and ask her to tell what she knows.

>>22885432
We're going to have to introduce him to The Mark of Zorro and The Dark Knight, aren't we?

"My name's Nona. Where do you think they're keeping Emma? And do you know how to track down Rory?" you ask. Millie comes back with coffees and hands them out. You take a sip.

"Well, I have no clue where exactly Rory's operating," she says, frowning. "He operates across the entire city and doesn't seem to leave a trace - aside from dead gangsters, anyway. They're starting to call this guy The Ghost. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure it's Rory, but, well, he first appeared when Rory got here, and..."

"And that's exactly the sort of thing he would do," Jack agrees preemptively.

"Right. As for Emma, well. The first place is a high-class joint, a real brothel. Mostly for rich clientele, not too abusive - I'm hoping she's there. After all, there are plenty of people with a thing for orcs, and she's always been pretty. Next place is a flophouse - they get the girls hooked on the shit they peddle up front, then make them 'work' for more. That's pretty much the worst place we could find her. Last place is a pretty standard whorehouse - girls sit out front to bring in the men, bar on the ground floor, rooms above that."

Jack just sits there and listens. His face is hard - he almost looks in physical pain.

"Jack," says Millie. "She only got taken in about a month ago. She could... She could still be okay. You know?"

"Yeah," croaks out Jack, his voice rough. "Yeah, I know."

What do you do?

>>22885923
I think the first thing we should do is spread out and each go to the three different brothels. Jack and Varaia could go to the last place (so that Jack looks out for Varia), we could try the flophouse, and Millie could go for the high-class joint. Remember that we're just scoping out the joint to see if she's there, and then we'll pay them a tiny sum to "see" her when in reality we're just scouting to find where she is. When we know here she is, we can go back to Millie's place and plan this whole thing out.

Jack SHOULD be okay with his face the way it is now (the beard oughta help), but if Millie has some sort of artificer tool that will set up a constant illusion, that will work perfectly.

>>22885923
"We'll get her out of wherever she is and we will mete out justice to the ones that did this to her. Do you understand Jack? They will not get away with this."

Okay, we should probably check out the high-class joint if anyone does, we're the only one who can blend in there properly and play some high class music on the piano there, gather rumors.

Millie could investigate the standard whorehouse, or we could do that afterwards. Whoever visits the flophouse brings Jack with because they ought to have someone big and scary with them. And he needs to be disguised for that part so he isn't recognized.

>>22885923
We should send Varaia out to track down and safeguard Rory. After all, who better to hunt The Ghost?

>>22885923

Let's start with the upper-class joint and ruin its reputation while we're at it. We could masquerade as inspectors of local health and sanitation authority and have the place locked up. Are we capable of pulling off some of this 'multipass' trick with a blank piece of paper and enchantment magic?

Somehow I doubt the female orc would be there, though.

>>22885923
"Step one is the worst joint with the drugs. If she's there, we'll save her and get her fixed up. If not, we'll still be able to help the other girls there. Either way, I say we burn it to the ground. It won't draw too much attention, since it's so low-society. Then we work our way up to the middle-class place. We go in, pin down anyone who actively works for the Blackmountains and kill them, anyone who's just there to earn a paycheck can walk. Either way, by the end of the night the girls will be running the house. Then we hit the high-society place. Same deal. Anyone that wants to walk can walk, but the high-ups and those who work directly for the Blackmountains don't get that choice."

"Is there a decent metallurgist in the city? I need to know if something I know of from my home is easily available here." --that being Aluminum.

Also, look around at the gadgets. Did we just walk into Rory's Ghost-Cave? Is Millie his Lucius Fox?

>>22886111

Seconding this brothel plan. We should all go as a group to each location.

>>22886040
I agree with most of what you say. I think we have the same general idea, it's just the execution that differs.

I thought Millie should be the one who goes into the high-class place because she's native to the place, and she's a dwarf; she'll be the most likely to fit in. Jack with Varaia for the typical place because Varaia might be a target because of her dark skin (although we might go with them, too, because we can set up illusions.)
Then, we would go to the flophouse, just because we're the last one and it's not TOO bad to have a talented bard out there.

>>22886058
You know what would work REALLY well? Getting into a big brawl with some gangsters in a back alley. The guy seems pretty professional, so just have one of our group go into a bad situation in an alley or something (maybe cast an illusion), and he'll probably show up to intervene. Then we can talk to him.

>>22886111
Why the heck would we burn the place down just because it's a flophouse? You're risking innocent lives like that, and it's not becoming of a person who's trying to take down a crime syndicate to be committing arson.

Big question: are these places illegal?

And i think the real low-rent joint that keeps the girls hooked should be burned to the ground just on principle.

>>22886163

>luring the Ghost out
that will take much more than a simple back-alley brawl. Plenty of those need to happen in a city this size.

If we're hitting Blackmountains whorehouses, the Ghost might come to us

>>22886166
>prostitution is illegal in Mildania
>so are most recreational drugs
>so is human trafficking/slavery

>each of these places has one or more of those in varying amounts

>>22886163
We burn it because it's a low-class whorehouse that deliberately uses highly addictive drugs to control its whores. We're talking about crack whores who can't run away because they're chemically dependent on their masters. Slaves. That's why we solve this problem and send a strong message that it will not be tolerated. And if we can get the Aluminum, we can burn it in such a way that I doubt anyone has ever seen before. Not on this world.

>>22886258
Sounds good to me.

>>22886258
>Aluminum
You're suggesting thermite, right?

>>22886258
Wouldn't it be a little better to not do that? We could take down Blackmountain instead, and they have a long reach around this area. Taking down a huge part of a big gang would do more than burning down a simple brothel; burn it down and there'll be another manifesting there a week later, like the moldy scum on an aquarium, coming back no matter how many times you clean it up.
The closest thing to a permanent solution is to take down the group that's behind a huge amount of this illegal, immoral crime.

>>22886279
*Grins like a maniac*

>>22886329
But that can't happen unless, as >>22882599 said, you can bleed them dry first. This brothel brings them money. If we shut it down, that money flow stops. If they rebuild it here or elsewhere that costs them more money. If they increase their guards on their other brothels, that costs them more money and lures out more of their members for us to kill. It's all about resources. And we need to take those resources from them, any way we can.

>>22886329
Fuck that, thirding full vigilante mode.

>so, just to confirm, is the plan to hit the flophouse hard and fast, kill the managers, rescue the girls, and then burn it down?

>>22886494
and not get shot again, if possible...

>>22886494
>rescue the girls
They are already lost. Let the fires take them and the gods sort them out.

>>22886538
I say we rescur them...but what do we do with them after?

>>22886494
Any that we can get clean and get to a church to get them cleaned up, yes. Yeah, we'll start at the bottom and work our way up. If we can make the fire look accidental, so much the better.

>>22886578
send them to a church, maybe even ship them out to Father Whats-his-name in that town we washed up near.

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>>22886538

>>22886538
Seconding. They'll only slow us down, anyways.

>>22886494
And let's use illusions to mask our identities while we're at it. Does The Ghost use some kind of aesthetic? If so, that.

>>22886609
then we rescue them

>>22886538
>>22886616

Third here. Yeah, let them burn.

>>22886623
I suggest we create our own mark. Maybe a clown like makeup, with green hair and a grin smile.

Oh, oh, don't forget a purple suit.

(What description should I use to archive this thread?)

>>22886616
>>22886538
That's fucking evil. Like, seriously. "It's too much effort to rescue the sex slaves. Let's just burn them to death along with their slavers." That's fucking retarded. If we so much as proposed that, Jack would probably never talk to us again. We're adventuring with someone who's seriously considering becoming a paladin. Stop being retarded.

>>22886763

The Bard and Company plan arson.

>>22886763
Jack's brother's crazy and we finally get started in Mild.

>>22886725
>>22886616

Not sure of samefag or just not realizing that we're doing all this to save a paladin's sister.

Let's not burn anything. If anything, clean out blackmountain thugs.

>>22886763

The Bard and her friends reach the city of Mild and set out to take on the underworld.

>>22886773
We aren't gonna actively burn them, we just aren't gonna go out of our way to save them. They can run out on their own just fine.

>>22886773

Agreed. Abandoning the prostitutes to die is stupid, selfish, and completely out of character.

>>22886817
Because any of this is in character for a 30 year old virgin.

>>22886773

I bet it's the "orc dick cum" troll again. Just ignore it.

>>22886815
>fought dramatic gun fights to save a train full of people
>is adventuring to save a paladin's sister from a life of prostitution
You're retarded. You're 3edgy5me.

No burning prostitutes, we're trying to save one.

>>22886833
>I CANT HANDLE DISSENT
God damn you guys are touchy.

>>22886834
>staying focused on a mission is edgy
Whatever you say, champ.

>>22879026
Where did you get that sexy map?

I say instead of burning anything we just infiltrate by sucking and fucking our way through their defenses.

Its not like we don't have the practice and the talent for it. We ARE a bard, after all, and we definitely have a thing for orcs.

>>22886914
>Owlface made it for us

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Are you all fucking joking? See, this is the type of shit that would get us all fucking arrested, and for a REALLY GOOD REASON.
You're going to burn down a brothel, ignoring the fact that innocent people, nay, victims of drug addiction and abuse, may die, but you still think it's the right thing to do? You seriously think that it's worth it to kill innocents just to cut off a source of income for the Blackmountains?

You're not trying to save lives, you're just looking for a good excuse to blow shit up. Voting for getting Emma before we make all of this shit explode for some reason.

>>22886893

>if you're the orcdicksuckeranon
How sad your life must be if you go out of your way just to bother other people.

>if you're someone else
see >>22886834. Idea of burning innocent people alive is honestly retarded.

>>22886937
>we definitely have a thing for orcs
Too bad this is dwarven organized crime. Also, thank you for your continued trolling. It really makes me enjoy the thread much, much more knowing that you're so butthurt about this quest to want to try to spam/troll it. Every letter you type is another tear of impotent rage to me.

>>22886914
iirc Owly made it for the quest. OP put together a crude MS paint version, and Owlface was kind enough to make it kick ass.

>>22886956
Owl face is sexy. Also I wish I had that talent for my dnd game.

>>22886961
Don't forget the fact that FIRE SPREADS. We could be killing innocent people in nearby buildings even if we evacuate everyone from the one we're burning. Arson is a retarded thing to do unless you're just in it for the chaos.

>>22886965
>I CANT HANDLE OTHER OPINIONS
Maybe a certain other site is more your speed.

>>22886988
Dwarves, orcs, same thing.

But damn dude, you are awfully anablasted over this. Chill out before you prolapse something.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/22879019/

Archived thread

>>22886815
>We aren't gonna actively burn them, we just aren't gonna go out of our way to save them. They can run out on their own just fine.

>drugged up sex slaves
>able to flee on their own

Yeahhhhhh, nice rationalisation for arson and murder.

>>22886988

Different anon here. It might not even be him, and strictly speaking, such tactic would be a valid move for a determined - or desperate - enough person.

We're not that desperate yet. Let's go in as customers, or let's break in during closing hours. Free the girls, leave the guards behind with blurred memories.

>>22887044
Analblasted? I'm loving the shit out of this. People hating the things I enjoy makes me giddy. I'm like a hipster, but even less well-adjusted.

>>22886961
Dude, I'm the one who originally suggested arson in the first place, and even I said 'Rescue first, let the wage slaves and slave-slaves go free, and then burn down the building and product to sap the Blackmountains of income and resources.

We're being responsible here. Don't confuse all of us with the two guys who are just looking for an excuse to complain about the thread being 3edgy by sabotaging it.

>shall tedorke
Yes, captcha, I believe we shall speak with Ted the Ork about being the dork.

>>22887068
>hate
You use that word a lot. I think you have a persecution complex

>>22887068
>I'm like a hipster, but even less well-adjusted
That's.... actually kind-of an accomplishment.

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>>22887051
>>22887055
Screw it, rolling d100 for a safe entry, scouting out each place WITHOUT burning things down or killing people unless absolutely necessary.

>>22887103
That was actually the first time I used it, and I said 'hating,' not 'hate,' i.e. the colloquialism which means 'to express dislike either genuinely or through sarcasm.' But yes. I really enjoy when you do that. Please, continue. It rustles me in all the right ways.

>>22886791
In a more serious tone, maybe I did not get my point through, but, yeah, burning a fucking brothel is fucking retarded REGARDLESS IF WE SAVE THE PROSTITUTES OR NOT.

It will attract attention, we can't control how it will work and quite probably we will kill several persons. We are going full joker if we pull that shit.

>>22886988
Im gonna be honest here. Im only skimming these threads because TG cock sluts are my fetish.

>>22887146
You must really love children, being that pedantic.

>>22887151
Then you might want to go to a different quest. It's been more than half of this quest's entire run since we've actually done anything sexual.

>>22887103
I'm pretty sure you're just an asshole antagonizing him for no good reason.

>>22887162
Oh god yes. Keep going. I fucking love it. This is my real fetish, I just wait in quest threads with female protagonists as bait for people like you.

I like how you guys are getting trolled and derailed by bragging about how untrollable and underailable you guys are. For fucks sake, its like you dont even like this quest and just want to talk about how fucking speshul you are.

>>22887142

Second

>>22887165
Its about to happen soon enough, I can feel it in my dick.

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>>22887142
This is getting so ridiculous that I'm going to roll another one for the other side of this, just so we can try to get this story going. d100 for being reckless arsonists.

Fuck it, I give up. This shit has passed its fucking idiot threshold. Have fun masturbating to the thought of how much you love to be hated or whatever the fuck. And I guess orc dicks too because apparently that's all the rest of you are here for.

"Let's start with the flophouse," you say, decisively. "We hit it hard, hit it fast, don't give them time to react. Kill all the managers and guards, unless we want to take some to interrogate. Then get the girls out and maybe burn down the place or something."

"Fire's a bad idea," says Millie immediately. "It attracts attention, could spread to other buildings with other people in them, and the police and fire department will respond. I'm all for shutting this place down hard, but unless you have a safe way to demolish the place, that part's probably going to have to be left out."

"Well, okay, then," you say. You hadn't really considered anything beyond robbing the Blackmountains of a place of business. "We should also probably use some kind of disguises, just in case. Maybe toss up some kind of illusion around us. Does Rory - The Ghost - use some kind of costume?"

"From what I've heard, it's plain clothes, leather gloves, a black hood and mask with two eye holes - basically, he covers all his skin, so nobody can know his race. It might be a good idea to do that for us. I'll see if I can put anything together."

"But what if she's not there?" asks Jack. "What if she's at one of the other ones?"

"Then at least we'll have taken down the worst one," says Varaia. "And if she is there, then she needs help a lot worse than anywhere else."

"Okay," says Millie. "We can probably hit there tonight if we move fast to prepare. You guys need any supplies?"

Do you?

>>22887288
From what I've been able to see, it's a troll here for orc dick and a counter-troll talking about how he's here for the hate. If you're that easy to drive off, though, then perhaps it is a good idea for you to leave rather than suffering through it.

>>22887339
Maybe I would just like to not bicker over inane shit for fucking once.

>>22887317
Rope, grappling hooks, sharp knives.

We can get to the roof in the middle of the night, play something to make all of the inhabitants fall asleep, and then we start slitting throats.

>>22887317
again, I suggest we look around the warehouse at all the artificer-stuff. Are we looking at Rory's Ghost(Bat)-Cave or not?

"Do you have any gadgets amongst all this that would be useful in this endeavor?"

>Rorsact twenty
NO! Absolutely not, Captcha. We will NOT hit this place with the force of 20 Rorschachs. That is just too reckless.

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>>22886991
>>22886993
>>22886956
>>22886914
<----------

>>22887199
third

>>22887317
Do wand/staff weapons make a lot of noise? I'm thinking we might need to get a weapon for Jack in case we have to do any shooting, and I'd prefer one that doesn't make TOO much noise.

Millie's artificer loot should be more than enough for scaling the building or doing other spy-tastic things.

>>22887360
or alternately knock the guards out magically.
then we slip the girls out, and watch the guards. they might lead us somewhere important....

>>22887317

Artificier, eh? She's bound to have all sorts of handy gizmos on store. How about smoke grenades? Elf sight should pierce through easily, no?

>>22887317

Grappling Hook! Oh and smoke bombs might be useful.

And give Jack a sledgehammer to destroy the shitty drug brothel.

>>22887421
>She's bound to have all sorts of handy gizmos on store.
Like a vibrator

Can we have sexy bulletproof catsuits? Yes, even for Jack.

Especially for Jack.

But seriously, armour would be nice. Bonus points for bulletproof and flexible/non-bulky

>>22887185
>>22887162
>>22887146
>>22887103
>>22887068
>>22887044
>>22886988
>>22886937
Undeniable proof that Ass Quest is the better quest about magically transgendered elves trying to make it in the world. Roger is a better Bard than Fatguy, too, and he is a fucking wizard.

>>22887359
Why are you on 4chan then?

>>22887377
I like how the owl is just chilling there.

>>22887553
To read about sucking orc dicks, apparently.

>>22887360
Seconding

>>22887539
Seconding this. Any kind of protection would be better than our current unarmored self.

And we'll need equipment that lets us do a B&E, through a window or a back door.

>>22887539
>Jack in a catsuit
...
no. no, I must not draw this. I would fall sick from mirth.

"I can't really think of anything," you admit. "A grappling hook, maybe?"

"...why?" asks Millie, cocking her head. "Do you actually know how to use one correctly?"

"Well, no, but how hard could it be?" you ask. You really just wanted there to be a situation where you got to be batman or a ninja or a cat burglar or something. "I figured we could go in from above, where they wouldn't suspect us."

"Couldn't they just run out the front, then? I mean, the whole point of this is to rescue the girls while killing the guards and managers, right? Don't get me wrong, I'll still get you the grappling hook, I just don't really understand the plan here. It should take me a few hours to get the hook and the disguises. Feel free to make yourself at home, and try not to attract too much attention if you go out."

"Wait!" you say, before she goes. "Maybe some kind of armor too. Something that can stop a bullet - I'm not sure what that would be."

"That kind of protection's way beyond my funds," she says. "I'll see if I can get you some kind of plate to wear in case they have wand guns or something, though. And hell, if we find some cash in these raids, maybe we'll be able to afford something good."

With that, Millie heads out.

What do you do for the next few hours?

>>22887625
thirding.

Maybe without the slitting throats part... although I suppose it's the only way to be sure. They did make a very bad career choice after all.

>>22887693
Plan for speed and violence. Capitalize on confusion.

Wait, we're a bard. We can MAKE confusion for the others.

>>22887693
She brought up a good point with the hook...what are we seriously gonna do.

>>22887693

1) Take a look at the place. Layout, possible entrances, exits
2) Check out the mind-magic textbook, specifically ways of determining how to make person speak truth, and ways of knocking them out without permanent damage. A Fear spell might be handy too. Maybe a Rally Humanoid too, although our song should be enough to instill the captured girls with some courage.
3) Maybe we could try out a tavern and overhear some rumors.

>>22887726
I'm down for some pandemonium

>>22887770
>tavern
We're in a densely-packed urban center. The word you're looking for is 'bar' or 'pub.'

>>22887787

I stand corrected.

>>22887770
>Maybe a Rally Humanoid too, although our song should be enough to instill the captured girls with some courage.
What if we could switch fear, despair, and arousal for RAGE with a spell? Turn the whores into berzerkers.

>>22887848

That would not work. They have no combat training, no physique for it and absolutely no armor or equipment. They would've been cut down if they tried to attack the right person, or gotten out of control and went for innocent bystanders

>implying innocent bystanders in the Shades

We need them with their wits around them so we can evac them safely. Possibly under cover of invisibility.

>>22887760
We could always use it to hang someone.

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>>22887693
Craft a fine catsuit for our orcish paladin warrior.

No, I'm kidding. Why don't we just look over the brothel and come up with a plan, preferably putting the guards to sleep, slitting some throats, and pocketing some loot.

Spellsong would make us look bad; they'd be able to tell it was a bard, and not everybody is going to call our victims evil crooks and us wise heroes. Enchantments are the way to go.

>>22888003
>Enchantments are the way to go.
Agreed, to a point. But if we used a spell to, say, blind everybody in a room, would it be Illusion (Small eyeball-sized orbs of darkness centered on each person's eyes), Enchantment (mental compulsion: YOU ARE BLIND), both, or either/or?

>>22888085
How about an illusion of small black orbs, plus a mental compulsion to sit down and relax?

You head outside for a bit, planning on using your elf eyes to scope out the flophouse from a distance. You spend a few minutes casing it. It looks like it was once a three story apartment building designed for dwarves - Jack will probably have some problem with door frames and stair wells. The building's windows are all boarded up, and so are its doors aside from one that opens to a side alleyway. A mean-looking dwarf with a scar on his cheek leaving a narrow bald patch in his beard guards that door.

That's about all you can figure out from looking from the outside, at least without a lengthy stakeout.

You head back and spend a while studying your enchanting textbook, especially studying up on how to make an enchantment to make people speak the truth. Varaia spends the time finishing up her new arrows. Jack does equipment checks and rechecks, then spends a while praying quietly.

Eventually, Millie returns. She tosses four black masks, four black hoods with a simple drawstring - like they were cut off a hoodie or something - four pairs of black leather gloves in various sizes, and something that makes your heart do a somersault.

It's a grappling hook with a little magic-powered pistol.

"It can shoot it and it can reel the rope back in. You should be light enough for it to pull you up, as long as you hook on to something sturdy," Millie says. "Don't do something stupid with it. Please."

What do you do now?

>>22888182
We need to think up a plan. Ideally, we use the grappling hook pistol to get everybody on the roof of an adjacent building (Jack could use the stairs, I guess. Then we hook it onto our building and make a rope so that we can all climb down on top of the building. We wait until it's quiet, then we sneak down into the third floor (where there's less likely to be traffic.) Jack and Millie stand guard outside, while we work with Varaia to check the rooms (so that we know what's inside). Use our enchantments to put any hostiles to sleep, and keep the working women quiet until we've taken out all of the hostile people in the building.

>>22888305
Why? Why not just work from the bottom up? Using the grappling hook is super fucking neato, don't get me wrong, but it's also fucking retarded. We're a bard, not a rogue - we don't know how to do this shit. It's also not tactically advantageous in the slightest.

>>22888182
We are Rorschach!

>>22888332
Well, the very top floor is probably going to be maintenance and the rooms where the sex workers do work. The other two floors are more likely to have more guards, who will call us out, making this into a big fiasco.

As for the grappling hook, honestly, it'd work better if we just had a rope. We're just using it to get to the top floor of the brothel (and we're actually going to use another building to get up to a high point.)

>>22888379
Our entire plan so far has been shock and awe, overwhelming force, fast and hard. Not sneaking four fucking people in through a rooftop that may or may not have a boarded up entrance.

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>>22888003
<--------
>>22888182
why not illusion fire?
same effect, less chance of adjacent buildings catching fire?

>>22888332
Except for setting up a sniper, jack, in a position to wipe out any reinforcements approaching the building or pick off anyone that gets past us.

>>22888420
>I'm saving that to use if/when Jack gets sworn in as a paladin

>>22888420
It helped on the ship, and most people have a natural instinctual fear of fire.

>>22888420
This could actually be a really good part of our work. If we start an illusionary fire, we can get all of the important people up at one point trying to put it out, and we can take them out from a vantage point. We should add this as part of our plan.

>>22888407
Except...any vents or radars or any things that are usually on top of buildings might have to be repaired for one reason or another. They probably wouldn't block off entrance there anyways, since they don't expect, you know, a raiding party.

>>22888519
Even if it's not specifically barricaded, trying to go in through anything other than a real entrance via stealth would be idiocy for anyone other than maybe Varaia. Punching in through an air duct is fucking loud - and probably not large enough to actually fit a person through regardless.

>>22888576
No, they're not going to barricade a door when there's an air duct up there that might, you know, break occasionally.

Actually, why don't we check to see if there's one up there, MP?

Rolled 2, 9 = 11

>>22883457
Fuck that bullshit. We're a dorm on tg, roll to wrassle!

>>22888616
>how do you intend to check without being in a position to have already grapneled your way to the roof?
>it's not exactly easy to spot a pad lock on the inside of a door or whatever else might be in the way

>>22888672
We could just go into a nearby building and go up a few stories to look at it

...I for some reason doubt that they'd put a padlock on the inside of the door. Like I said, doesn't seem like they'd expect us to come in there, you know?


If you all hate my idea, then what's yours?

Rolled 6, 10 = 16

>>22883665
Uh..no everyone who complains about a thread in the bread and won't leave or hide the thread is a troll.

>>22883920
Why are you still here?

>>22888701
>for some reason doubt that they'd put a padlock on the inside of the door
What about to keep whores from getting onto the roof to try to escape/kill themselves? You know, like how the front door is boarded up? And how the only way in is through the side door in the alleyway?

>>22888420

I am terribly, terribly aroused.

Owlface what have you done?

>>22888848
I thought that was to make it more discrete/keep the wrong type of people away from the place. I don't think the prostitutes would kill themselves by running through the front door...

Regardless, I seriously want to hear what other people think should happen. I'm not getting any alternatives here.

>>22888917
How about the suggestion that got the majority of votes? I.E. hit them hard and fast while boosting everyone with support from illusions and enchantments and shit?

Use the back door, after creating an illusionary commotion out front to draw the guards.

Maybe a dragon or something.

After that, we take them out one by one by blinding them, silencing them with magic and having Varaia take them out with arrows. We could use the wand gun, if it's moderately quiet compared to the distraction.

>>22888982

Infiltrate the building, make an illusion like there's an earthquake? have Varaia and Jack ambush whoever rushes outside?

>>22889030

Earthquake would be too much of a strain. Visual and audio is easier. In retrospect, a dragon is a bad idea, as that would undoubtedly bring the authorities.

>>22888982
Mmm.... No, no dragons. A bunch of Deep Ones in trench coats trying to buy time with the girls. Or abduct them. Their proclivities are well known, after all.

You decide to hit them hard and fast, using illusions and enchantment to distract and disable. Jack gives Millie the shotgun, and you all gear up with the masks and gloves. In the beginning, you're fast and stealthy, with Varaia taking point and using her knife to quickly eliminate the guards. You've managed to clear most of the first floor that way when one of the prostitutes spots you and screams - that's when you start evacuating the girls and using firearms when meeting resistance.

You finish clearing the first floor quickly, then have to fight your way up to the second. Jack takes the lead, using his rifle both as a ranged weapon and a club in his strong hands. You hear a grunt, and you're pretty sure you see blood on him, but you hope it's someone else's and not his. You clear the second floor using illusions and enchantments to lure out or offbalance the gangsters, letting you take the rooms one by one in quick succession. Millie camps the staircase up to the third floor with her shotgun and takes out a few reinforcements before they can do anything.

The third floor is, compared to the other two, extremely sparse - just two gangsters left up there. When you're sure it's safe, and all of the rooms have been checked for Emma - she wasn't there - Jack slumps against a wall. You can see now that he had been shot - by a shotgun by the looks of it. It clipped his side, tearing apart his shirt and making him bleed.

..::||continued||::..

>>22889201
"Oh god, Jack," you say, taking a closer look. Though there's blood and torn flesh, it doesn't look like the wound is actually open anymore.

"Got shot. Used white magic to power through. You guys will have to help me dig the pellets out when we get back," he says, pulling himself back up. Varaia nods - she's apparently not at all squeamish about that.

"The girls are gone," says Millie. "We should take whatever we're taking and go. What do we want, the money, the weapons, the drugs? Do we want to try to find a living one to interrogate?"

That's a good question. What are you going to try to take?

>>22889210
Money and Weapons, also do find one to interrogate to find out where they moved the girls

>>22889210
Money, weapons, burn the drugs, take one person to interrogate.

>>22889210
take the cash, and whatever weapons we can use.
destroy the drugs.

>>22888908
stupid sexy Jack.

We need to secure the premises, isolate a henchman, interrogate, then use magic to alter his memory of the events. We'll make him think we were a group of Deep One mercenaries, and that's exactly what he'll tell his bosses once we let him loose as the sole survivor out of the gang members.

Then we loot and make a hasty retreat to the Bardcave.

>>22889346
But we're all dressed as The Ghost. Why not just use this urban legend that Rory's created instead of making us appear to be ocean-rapists?

>>22889242
>where they moved the girls
The girls were here. We evacuated them.

>>22889210
Take anything that's worth more than 5 bucks. This is about depleting their resources. Killing their goons has torn up some of their 'muscle', but if we don't make them 'bleed' it won't matter, muscle is easy to replace. So we take their cash and guns, and destroy the drugs.

>>22889362

We want the Blackmountain family to think they're under attack from all sorts of groups- or maybe that the Ghost has greater resources under his control than they think. Suddenly, he is no longer a lone loony- but a rival crimeboss who has the power to hire some seriously deadly help.

>>22889440
Ah sorry, missed the part in the first post and managed to read the part in the second where Mille says the girls are gone

>>22889362
The ghost, whom bullets passed through as if he were one and who couldn't be hurt, backed up by shadowy, hunched forms that -could be- Deep Ones.

If we're going for urban myth, we're going all-out. Bat Man. The Phantom. The Shadow. We're there.

>>22889470
>>22889287
>>22889285

Or better yet, drop the drugs out of a moving carriage in an upper-city plaza, with a note incriminating the Blackmountains for narcotics distribution.

You load up all of the weapons into your bags. You also take all the cash from their pockets, as well as finding a cache of cash in an unlocked metal lockbox. You toss all the drugs - a pink powder with some large crystals in it - into a burn barrel that had been providing light to one of the big rooms on the first floor. Finally, you find one of the gangsters that was still breathing, let Jack give him just enough healing to keep him alive, and then drag him and everything else out of there, taking back ways and lots of turns to get back to the warehouse.

Once you get back, you all toss the gangster on the floor. Varaia takes Jack over to a table to start digging out the shotgun pellets. Millie starts taking inventory of everything you stole from the flophouse. That leaves you watching the gangster until he wakes up or Jack heals him back up, you guess - which suits you just fine.

After all, you're going to be the one interrogating him.

>ending it here
>I'll post the list of stuff you stole in the next post
>I'll also answer questions that you could reasonably know if asked

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>>22889522
You... I like you, here, take this

>cant find anything else thats cuter without it being too anime on my folders...fml

>nine slug pistols of various make and model
>one sawed off double-barrel shotgun
>two wand pistols
>two slug rifles, one of them bolt-action and the other semi-automatic
>one staff rifle, damaged; Millie thinks she may be able to fix it
>a variety of knives, mostly cheap and shitty

>over five thousand crowns in mixed bills

>>22889570
Hey MonkeyPaw. if you want to make a map of Mild, I'm more than happy to polish it up....

Just sayin...

>>22889621
>I might
>the main thing stopping me is all the layers; it's like multiple cities stacked on top of each other
>if I make a map, it won't be tonight

>>22889612

WE ARE ROLLING IN CASH.

>>22889633
if you can make a coherent set of levels, I can make it work.
>I'm shit at layouts, but I can beautify another persons map like whoa.

>>22889678
>>22889633

How about a map per layer? I mean yea it will be more drawing but will most likely remove the "layer on layer" problem...right?

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>>22888420
Feel's like I'm wearing nothing at all

>>22889716
thats what I was thinking

>>22889612

Does any sort of tracking spell exist in this 'verse? If so, can Nona check for any on the weapons or cash?

Furthermore, did we leave a trail back to Millie's house?

We also might want to look into creating a few safehouses.

>>22890556
>Does any sort of tracking spell exist in this 'verse?

>yes
>they're in the divination school of magic
>it's used in magic for tracking, scrying, analyzing, mind reading, and casting magic at sympathetic ranges, each of them at various skill levels
>it's a favourite school of wizards to use in conjunction with other magic and a favourite school of magically-talented detectives and bounty hunters
>Nona doesn't have even the slightest skill in it and would be starting from scratch if she tried to learn it
>it would take a few months of moderately frequent study to have even basic practical abilities with it

>>22890654

So, MP, when should we have an eye out for the next thread?

This story just keeps getting better and better.

>>22890738
>tomorrow, early afternoon, as usual

>>22890654
But Nona would know it exists and that diviners CAN track us down, given time and sympathetic links. We need to be careful of our forensic footprint.

>>22890909
You mean like how Jack might have left behind blood when he got shot? Not that I'm suggesting that a raid on a crackhouse is sufficient to warrant calling in a magical tracker. Just saying we should be aware of that shit when we're hitting more important places.

>>22890990
Well, the hoods and gloves should keep hair follicles to a minimum, and fingerprints and skin samples, but a lightweight armor to help prevent blood loss, and maybe a bottle of some kind of solution to taint any samples that are left behind, wouldn't be a bad idea. Like in Boondock Saints when they use the spray bottle of Ammonia to taint their blood spatters.