>>25622573
>Rejoice for our plans can can surely be aligned.
>Greet him as the old friend he is.

>>25622573
We're doing this:

Pout. "You punched my shade in the face. Apologize to her."

Then we give our best trolling grin and ask: "Good to see a friendly face, what's up Jack?"

>>25622661
In addition to this, send a formal request to our brain to retrieve all our stored information about this guy.

>>25622722

When last you saw him, he was a daemon peer and master of Tenebriety, Necromancy, and Obfuscation, with moderate skill in Majesty, Pestilence, Celerity, and Glamour. He also technically has Fortitude, but barely knows any, so not really. A demon in the night, he specialized in guerilla warfare and had a bad habit of antagonizing mortal populations, thus lining up a lot of pawns for his enemies. That's kind of par for course for Court of Night, though, and since he's a necromancer dead mortals are about as useful as live ones.

"Don't be so oversensitive," Thin Jack says, "it was just a little love tap." He chuckles a bit, but then grows serious. He doesn't really even have lips so his smile can't grow any less wide, but his tone is a lot less cheerful. "Knowledge has done their level best to tear my concept apart. I've been able to transplant it from one world to another, but now they're targeting me there, too. Three of their peers have gotten together to target me and I can't fend them off on my own. I thought I might ask for your help, but then discovered you were otherwise occupied." Jack begins to pace back and forth as he goes on. "I tracked the location of your oubliette to that island, but Dominion finally caught up with me here and surrounded me. One of their peers has kept me besieged, but hasn't attempted to take the city from me since our first fight, when he arrived with a small pack of hedges. I defeated him then, and now it seems he fears another battle."

"Who exactly is Mortil?" you ask, "I've only heard rumors."

"A daemon from Dominion's House of Ancestors. Traitors all, they belong in the Court of Decay," Jack says spitefully, "but they are themselves capable necromancers."

>wat do?

>>25622998
"I ran into a hit squad on the way here actually, managed to take care of them with some help but it was still a scrape. Got me back up to Common, but I'm woefully underpowered."

"This Peer that's targeting you, where's he holed up? And is he using Golgothan forces to try and root you out? I'm not keen on what the situation in the area is, just been trying to get my bearings and trounce Dominion where possible. Haven't stuck the landing very well thus far though."

>>25622998
Is this dialogue supposed to imply that Mortil is that peer? I can't think of any other reason for suddenly asking about him.

>>25623063

Oh, oops. Jack originally mentioned Mortil by name as the peer, but then I edited the line for being kind of clumsy and didn't realize it made the follow-up dialogue nonsensical. Yes, Mortil is the peer. Pretend Thin Jack said that.

>>25623053

Jack shakes his head, "he hasn't used any of his mortal pawns yet, but they hadn't invaded the country before they pinned me down in it, either. I'm almost positive that I'm their real target. Five years ago, there were still some independent cities down south. Even if they've already conquered them, they certainly haven't consolidated the region. Moving north so fast is an unwise move, but it's the only way they could bring in a large enough army to hack through my new pets." Jack pauses a moment to glance at the ghouls hiding in the shadows of the throne room. "As for Mortil's location, I'm not sure. His ghosts have prevented mine from straying very far past the borders of this forest. I gather he's somewhere nearby, probably still in this country, but I don't know exactly."

>wat do?

>>25623212
We... kinda suspected that the statue guy in Shorefall was Mortil, based on rumors, but still. Ask for his appearance.

>>25623276
Was just about to ask this. So yeah, do so.

Also, ask him what the size of this mortal army he's expecting is. I have a feeling its a large division of the Golgothan invasion force that was sent to claim Ommos. In which case it almost makes sense that they would try and get rid of Jack during the fall and then attack the mortals during spring.

Fill him in on what we've been up to (Omitting Mari of course, for now at least) and say that it could actually work to our benefit if the army is crushed, due to our goal in acquiring Kestis as a mortal base of operations.

>>25623357
>our goal in acquiring Kestis as a mortal base of operations.
I didn't know about this. Worth mentioning however is that if they do march a Golgothan army in this direction, it may be possible for us to direct local mortal armies in the same direction, though convincing them to ignore the nature of his army won't be easy.

>>25623276

Mortil is a phantom with a lantern. Like a tattered cloak with naught but shadows underneath. And also a lantern. Jack's belief is that the army conquering Ommos right now is going to attack him at Whisper as soon as they've finished up with Ommos itself.

Before going forward with any specific plans, though, Jack wants a promise that you will in fact come help him with his shit after he helps you evict the Red Queen and Razag from the Golgothan region. His concept is besieged and he really can't help you out with this just as a favor right now.

Well, what if we made an offer in a little bit to help Jack claim Sholta as a source of undead he can use to bolster his army? I recall an anon mentioning we wanted to pay Sholta a visit again to exact vengeance/root out Ivan so we can just waltz back in and say "No. Fuck you all, you've angered the spirits of the shadows." and murder everything with his help.

We've slipped the noose around him a little looser by killing that Hit Squad, so its possible he may be game for that and could use the reinforcements to storm the Golgothan army while they are still settling in. It would solve our "Weaken the Golgothan presence" issue that the Duke wanted us to deal with (Or supply more soldiers, but that went well with Sholta).

>>25623514
What is his concept? If it's something like BEING FEARED BY MORTALS EVERYWHERE, strengthening that would be, like, exactly what we do best.

>>25623543
I like this. On a related note, we were kind of expecting there to be Night daemons in the woods around here, kind of the ACTUAL reason we came to the area. We didn't find any though, we should ask if he knows about any hanging around.

>>25623514
I have a bad feeling about more of these "promises" cropping up in the future with whoever we decide to ally. I don't see any horribly obvious disadvantages besides being tied down on our word and the other obvious downside to being associated with Jack, but it's whatever.

Anyone else got anything they want to weigh in with?

>>25623611
Yeah we should ask if he has any underlings or Night Daemons that could be swayed to his cause.

>>25623631
>being tied down on our word

You're cute. But nah really, if he's asking that we help out once we've achieved basically the grand goal of this quest, he's being pretty patient I would say. And we're already associated with him I think. We can probably keep it between ourselves though, he'll understand if we need to keep a pretty profile.

>>25623723
Well yeah, I'm not saying its a bad deal at all considering. I think we should give our word, Jack seems pretty reliable if he was honestly trying to free our ass despite being hunted by three goddamn Peers.

>>25623611

Well, Thin Jack is himself a Night daemon, but he came here alone. There aren't any others around that he knows of, but he's a stranger in this part of the world. And his concept is Thin Jack. As in, people told stories about the demon Thin Jack until they gained enough traction to spawn a daemon who looked and behaved pretty much the same way, and now he goes around murdering people horribly in order to keep the fear alive.

>>25623543

Thin Jack would be delighted to consume another city (he says with his typical wide grin and an eager tone). There are two more hit squads in the area, though. They'll ambush him if he tries to leave his stronghold, and he wants to get rid of them first if possible, elsewise they'll follow behind and devour his forces from the back.

>>25623723

Thin Jack was the guy who taught you Tenebriety, so you're definitely associated with him, but the other daemons you encounter won't necessarily know that. Most daemons around here only know you for the things you've done in the Golgothan region.

Note to self: Name the region.

>>25623883
Ask him what he knows about the hit squads and their makeup. We might be able to assist him in picking one off with a surprise attack, though with Girdin and Mari at relatively hurt levels of productivity that may be difficult.

>>25623883
I assume that being the teacher of one of the fundamental aspects of your being means you were really good pals. If that is the case I see no reason not to agree to helping him.

>>25623883
If we achieve a decent amount of success here, we should also be able to, well, teach the locals about Thin Jack if that will help him. That should be trivial, really. Who knows, maybe he'll come to like this world when it isn't littered with overly aggressive Dominion pups.

>>25623942

Thin Jack has avoided confrontations whenever possible, but his ghosts have picked up a pretty solid read on all of them.

The first one is led by Meredith, a porcelain woman confirmed to have Alchemy, Clarity, Celerity, and Majesty. With her are Kanagis, a half-serpent daemon with the powers of Celerity, Majesty, and maybe Thaumaturgy, Argas, a creature of twisted metal with four vaguely insect-like legs and a mostly humanoid upper half who has Arcana, Fortitude, and Celerity (and also benefits from lots of alchemical gear donated by his team, probably Meredith), and Tragon, a statue of a warrior, who's a brute with lots of Potence and Fortitude but little else.

The second team is more unusual. A pair of commons, who are probably tied to one another's concept somehow. One a knight, the other a jester, the armor of the former is full plate, which is more advanced than what the locals can produce, so that makes him easy enough to identify, and as for the latter, jesters are not ordinarily a thing in this area...Though some have sprouted up in imitation of the jester. Their names aren't known, but the knight definitely has Potence at least, and the jester has Celerity and Arcana. One or both have Alchemy, but Jack isn't sure which. Jack also suspects one or both has Obfuscation.

>>25624180

If Jack doesn't stick around to maintain the legend, it'll probably fade eventually. That said, he's more than willing to get a little nudge wherever he can. It's good news that there's so many rumors about Whisper City, now all he needs is someone to spread the word that it's him who's responsible. Maybe he should consider Majestifying one of his mortal cattle to that end.

>>25624389
Once Girdin gets back up to form we might be able to take the Common duo, that would definitely give Jack more breathing room. They'll have some cards up their sleeve, but if neither of them can use Talents with our Delusions then we can honestly have a good shot at beating them. Jack's a Peer so he probably has some powerful abilities to bolster our presence.

Anyone got some thoughts on that?

>>25624555
Hm. Hitting hit squads? I can't say I love the idea of spending our time on that. Just because we may have a chance against the one we know nothing about doesn't mean we aren't likely to run into the other which might very well overwhelm us.

Besides, won't it still be QUITE a while until Girdin is restored? We'll have to be doing something else meanwhile. Perhaps trying disrupt Golgothan forces in Ommos?

>>25624743
I suppose we could skirt south and see what we can do until Girdin and Mari recover some more. Being that Jack doesn't think there's many local Daemons about they should be fine, barring one of the hit squads stumbling on to them.

>>25624743

It will indeed be another two weeks or so before Girdin is healed.

That said, now that you're in here, you're kind of stuck. Thin Jack was stuck in here because of hit squad ambushes despite the fact that he also has Tenebriety and Obfuscation. The place is blanketed in ghost spies and there's still two hit squads ready to attack you on the way out.

>>25624829
How did we manage to slip into the perimeter without a hit squad intercepting us then?

>>25624829
They're in the actual city?

>>25624911

You didn't.

>>25624975

No, but they're all around it.

>>25624985
Surely the perimeter must have gaps in its watchfulness if we've taken out one of the groups guarding it then. Or at least they must have to spread themselves thin to do so.

>>25624985
But that was all the way down near Sholta. You mean these other guys just allowed us to walk right in?

>>25624997

The hit squads don't spot enemies, they just intercept them. Mortil's ghosts are the watchers, and you can't even see them.

>>25625065

Evidently.

>>25625166
These ghosts, is watching all they can do or can they also attack?

>>25625260

It depends on the skill of their commanding necromancer, but the fact that they didn't attack suggests they probably can't, considering you have no means of retaliation.

>>25625313
Well this isn't nice. We can't just sit here and wait to be killed, but we're not exactly back up to combat strength. If this has to end in a fight, Jack will have to do the majority of the work. Though I guess his city of ghouls counts for something there. What's his own opinion of his chances against them?

>>25625469
And ask him how much of a difference a few Delusions can bring to the table, since that's about all we can contribute really.

>>25625469

Thin Jack is primarily worried that if he leaves the city, Mortil might link up with one of the hit squads to ambush him. He's also bothered by how little information his ghosts and ghouls have been able to gather on the knight and jester. Walking into a fight with daemons without knowing what they can do is usually a bad idea.

That said, Meredith's team is something he's got scoped out pretty thoroughly and they don't especially have any tricks that can't be beaten by Tenebriety and an assload of ghouls. He's confident he can kill them and, better yet, they don't have any particular powers to counter Dementation or Majesty except maybe if Kanagis does have Thaumautrgy. So long as they take him out first, the delusions should work uninterrupted against all enemies so long as Mortil doesn't show up. He can fly and is incorporeal, allowing him to go straight through obstacles, so he can move very fast. But that assumes Mortil is hanging out just outside the forest, beyond Jack's own ghost network, waiting for a chance. If he's less vigilant, they might be able to mop up Meredith's group no problem.

>>25626223
Does he know the current location of these squads?

>>25626296
Right, if we do a suprise (muthafucka) attack on Meredith's squad before the ghosts report our presence, we could probably take them if Jack is confident.

>>25626223

It takes time for ghosts to travel and report, so he's always about eight hours behind on their current position, but loosely the knight and the jester have swung around to block the route north while Meredith and company are hanging out to the south.

Latest reports suggest the jester and knight might be headed out of the haunted section of the forest altogether. The hit squads do that sometimes. It slows down their reaction times, but it also means Jack's ghosts have to track them down again, which means they'll fall off his radar for a few days.

>>25626472
Well then let's wait a day or so until we're sure they've left the area, then we can make our move on the vulnerable squad Meredith leads.

In the meantime let's hit Jack up with some questions about what sort of powers he can pull in the upcoming battle, and if he has any juicy ideas of how we can help pull off some team combos.

>>25626472
Can he counter these ghosts in any way, or even detect them at all? Are the ghosts EVERYWHERE, or only outside the city, or something else?

>>25626585
If he doesn't have Clarity then I doubt he can. Which means his guess is as good as ours.

>>25626585

He can detect when ghosts are nearby but not their exact position, and his scouting of the nearby area has confirmed that while they aren't everywhere, they are extremely common. His ghosts can also fight their ghosts, so he keeps his city packed with his ghosts so that he can detect and subsequently destroy intruder ghosts. His own ghosts can also feel the presence of nearby spirits, but he doesn't bother trying to track individual ghosts from Mortil, as that would be a bookkeeping nightmare and probably wouldn't work anyway.

The big problem with Meredith's group is that Celerity and Fortitude are both fairly common. Now, Jack has Grasping Darkness and Shadow Steel, which means he can totally pin down and subsequently impale anyone who has the former but not the latter so long as he can get the jump on them, plus he has some Celerity himself so he can keep up with one other Celerity daemon, but not two. The problem is sneaking up on them when they have ghosts reporting his location to them as soon as he steps outside the city. But even if they can't get the drop on them, Jack has a pack of shadow minions and ghouls to spare, so he can use those and your Delusions to keep the daemons busy while he picks them off one by one. He also has some Glamour that could be used to distract them, but this is probably a waste of his energy, especially since he doesn't want to come out of that battle spent for fear that Mortil will mop the two of you up in the aftermath.

If you or Jack had the power to move while using Obfuscation powers, you could just waltz straight past the ghosts. Oh, well.

>>25626908
How quickly do they typically respond? If we know this, we could attempt to bait them with a shade and setting out ourselves some time later, short enough to have a chance of catching them, long enough that the ghosts won't have time to warn them before they strike and reveal themselves. Shades transmit the intel instantly, so we do have an advantage there.

>>25626908
That last line was just unnecessarily cruel, TM. You know how torn we were between that and Shade.

Anyway, agreeing with >>25627076 on this one. Whats the word?

>>25627076

Ghosts all move at pretty much the same rate. So, if you send your Shades out, wait ten minutes, and then set out yourselves, the second ghost reporting your departure will arrive at Meredith's location about ten minutes later. But to outrun the ghosts is basically impossible, because they move faster than you do.

>>25627166
Welp, I've been sitting here for ages now trying to sketch a way to outrun them anyway but I can't find one. Stupid ghosts. But well, if they already intend to engage him if he leaves, we can at least get a straight up fight. They don't have obfuscation to hide their approach, and if Jack sends out ghosts of his own we're at least even on the intel. Then we just need to decide on a strategy for the battle.

>>25627567
I'm thinking now, but I'll need some time to drum up anything solid.

>>25627663
>>25627567

Well, I actually need to go now. Schedule has stabilized to about 1400 every day, so I'll be seeing you guys next time, when we fight Meredith's hit squad and maybe also Mortil.

>see you then