You've made contact with the Shadow Company within Citadel. They've been able to hold their own, and keep sane within this place. However, your mission is quite clear, if the Shadow Company is to be of any use to you, especially in getting past Citadel's forces to its Heart, you'll need to get them out of the Citadel that's devoted to War and Combat.

The only way to do that is to access one of the other Citadels, and take out the Paladin Commander there. The person/being that's devoted to regulating the different Citadel layers and identifying any deviances that could spoil the 'utopia' that each Citadel exists in.

You have landed in a version of Citadel that's devoted to the 'purity and simplicity' of the past. Old thatched roofs, stone and daub walls, and the grand arena is now a grassy field where an actual knight's tourney is being held.

The tournament is being observed by one of the Newgate royal family, and the golden masked Paladin Commander. A knight in silver is winning applause and cheers from the crowd as they win favor and glory.

You've arrived in time to see the Silver Knight's latest opponent, a man from the Phoenix Empire. More importantly, you recognize him as being one of Kingfisher's flunkies. He's dressed in a ridiculous ensemble of what someone might think someone from the Empire might have worn, long ago, and is about to face the Silver Knight.

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Best part of the week has finally arrived!

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>>26865454
Hey Echo! How are you today?
Obligatory pic is obligatory.

>>26865459
Yay! Lamia Quest!

Okay, we have to fight the Knight as our main objective and rescue Phoenix Empire guy as our secondary objective. I think we should wait a while and scout out the knight's fighting skills before we go in and "A New Challenger Has Come!" fight the knight.
Also, should we let Mari say that we're doing this for the legacy of the Bear tribe, as one could say the Bear Tribe did win, what with the UFK and all.

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Okay, so battle plans! I felt we should be quick and dramatic, so here's my plan:

We have Lea or MariPeri go full camp villain. Something along the lines of "Aha! The prophecy has been fulfilled; the First Age of Citadel has returned and I am finally free! Go my champion of famine (Tricia, with a cloud of locusts)! Go my champion of madness (Mage, with some weird illusion spells or explosions)! Go my champion of corruption (Lea or MariPeri, who tries to get any spectators to flee)! AND GO MY CHAMPION OF WAR (Ssen, whose face should be covered with a helmet or wrappings)! DEFEAT THE CITADEL'S LAPDOG AND SPREAD DARKNESS OVER THE LAND!"

There are downsides to this, mainly that the citizens won't trust us, but honestly I don't care about that other than during the eventual evacuation.

>>26865615
"Something Something-Sun...I think." Mari says.

"What?" Tricia asks.

"The guy's name. It was something that ended in Sun." Mari says. "I think."

"More than I remember." Tricia says.

What ever his name is-Sun gets to his feet and grabs the sword. He looks around at the scenario he's in. He pats down his clothing, looking for something, but it looks like he's not finding anything, not even when he reaches below his belt.

The Silver Knight is motioning to his squire who's coming onto the field, wheeling a weapon rack with him.

The overweight 'Queen Newgate' waves her hand with a handkerchief in it.

"What's our play here?" Lea asks.

"Whatever it is," MAge says. "The center of the..." He sighs. "Magic Babble, I need to be up next to her Majesty's throne if you want me to locate the Heart."

>>26865723
Can we even get close to the throne without getting spotted? Because the only other way I can think of is to rush the Queen and take her hostage while Mage does mage-stuff.

>>26865723
Take out the Paladin Commander. He's the main objective, and if we do anything else he'll have time to call backup. The Silver Knight and Something-Something-Sun will probably be distracted enough to not kill each other before we're done.

>>26865816
I dunno if the Queen is necessary, though. It's only near her throne, it isn't the queen herself. If she is tossed out of the stadium for whatever reason, we're still good.

>>26865816
You're thinking about this wrong, dude.
Mage is a player. He's got smooth skills when it comes to the ladies.
He'll be fine....

>>26865852
>get Mage all dappered up
>introduce him as a prince (which being the son of the king of the ghouls, he is from a certain point of view)

I love it. He and MeriPeri should be on it. Tricia, Lea, and Ssen are all unfortunately too conspicuous and should stick to stealth.

>>26865905
Don't forget, he's also Dagda, so he technically is Elvish royalty, too!

>>26865905
You look at Mage and smile. "We need to send Yvonne, or one of the other Freed, to go get us some fancy looking clothing."

Mage shakes his head. "Oh, no."

"Well," Lea says with a smile. "You've pretended to be royalty before, shouldn't be too hard to pull it off again."

Mage sighs and nods. "Alright, alright. I'm already wearing the yellow boots, after all."

"I'll go back to our entry point and contact Yvonne and the freed." Tricia says.

"Okay," Peri asks with a grin. "So, what's Mage's title going to be now? We going to make him Dagda again?"

"Eh," Lea says. "Maybe not a good idea."

>>26866042
Man, that's a perfect plan.

But what is Ssen going to do? The biggest problem we have right now is that we're a giant snake person and that's completely verbotten in this setting.

Our choices are really either:
1. Be dumb (been there, done that, barely worked)
2. Be evil and civilized
3. Be evil and feral

All are very disruptive and I don't want to screw up mage's romance. Though we could try being a feral lamia in the Colosseum. I'm sure they used them like lions. We'll need to see if that's the case, though.

>>26866074
I see a women in a position of power, Mage, turn on the swag.

>>26866144
>implying he can turn it off

oh shit lamia quest is here, I'm late! Time to get read up, and then type super slow because of arm injury.

Rolled 77

>>26866074

We should jump into the Colosseum Arena and bellow a challenge to all comers.

>>26866108
Let's just have someone summon us as a "protector" at some point.

One smoke bomb and some wiggles of the finger, Bam, snake lady. Magic. I don't have to explain shit.

>>26866205
I like this plan.
Good backup incase the Mage swag fails or backfires spectacularly.

>>26866205
If we can pull it off, I'm fine with it. But I don't think we've ever seen summoning magic. I'm sure it's possible, but we need to be consistent with the time period.

>>26866074
"Unless you guys know of any other royalty he could masquerade as that would have been around this time period, it'll have to be dagda. I wonder if that elf war still is going on back in this time period.
Say, can any of you make some smoke? Magic or not? If we tell phoenix boy down there to wiggle his fingers and say some phony magic words with our whisper flute, and then make some smoke, I could intervene on his behalf AND we'd have an explanation for the educated lamia that hopefully wouldn't get me skewered.

>>26866448
I don't think we're going to be convincing the PE boy who has a standing kill order on us to do anything.

At least, not yet. When we capture Sideway's gang, we should try to convince them to help us save their master from getting mindraped or whatever by Citadel.

>>26866488
the guy's used to having some golem support, and is probably going to be minced in a fight.

Either we use the dagda maneuver to get the fight cancelled, or we get a summon-drop in with Ssen.

Heck, we could have dagda do the "summoning" on Ssen if it turns to violence, it doesn't necessarily need to be the kid. It just has benefits of giving him an option to work with us willingly, and gets Ssen out into the open quicker. Right now we're sort of... unseen, somehow. I don't know how.

>>26866544
What we could do is use said Dagda maneuver to have the fight postponed.

First, "to get the crowd satiated," we have Roman-style animal hunt. With us as the prey. Feral us.

It gets us in and we can recover Beacon sneakily later.

I dunno. I'm just not seeing the idea of a talking lamia something that anyone with a First Citadel mindset would by. We're kill on sight, at best. It'd be as if an alligator or bear showed up.

>>26866689
After these messages we'll be right back.

Rolled 17

>>26866689
I'm not really seeing an argument against the "leap into arena and challenge all comers" plan I proposed.

>>26866903
Well, if we do that, I think we'd need some flare. Citadel moves slower when the disruption is dramatic.

Since Mage is occupied, perhaps with MariPeri as his "bodyguard" protecting the queen, have Trica let off a swarm of locusts and biting flies. Lea could throw some smoke bombs.

That's a good enough plan.

>>26866903
it wouldn't really solve anything is the main counterargument. We'd need to go after the paladin commander, not just anyone who challenges us. Also, I'd like to be mostly in-character until after we have finished the commander to lower total citadel awareness raised, but that's an optional side bonus objective.

>>26866108
> 1. Be dumb

But anon, what happened to pretending to be something else?

>>26866689
the only way I could think of selling it would be with magic. Or claiming we're "very well trained".

>>26866594
that's a pretty risky idea. We'd have to set up beforehand some kind of escape route for us, maybe have some of our friends make an opening in the crowd or something.

besides Snakes don't do 'leap' very well.

>>26867061
it's really more of a lunge than anything

>>26867038
That's a concept only a modern mind would consider as plausible. This is first citadel, full of reactionary types who long for the days before serpents could become paladins and when life was simpler.

>>26867116
>>26867038
to be fair, we the paladin serpent sort of long for the days before serpents could be paladins.

Anyway, playing dumb may or may not work. It worked well on citadel folks, but they had naga pets. Did those exist in the past?

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Rolled 17

>>26867061
So do pic related into the stadium.

>>26867222
>PE guy puts down his weapons and walks away muttering "fuck that."

"Unless you guys know of any other royalty he could masquerade as that would have been around this time period, it'll have to be Dagda. I wonder if that elf war still is going on back in this time period."

"It's not." Mari says. "As of right now, Citadel and the Fey Court barely know of each other's existence. Also, Ssen, Mage can't pass for an elf."

"Who says I can't?" Mage says.

"You're the wrong height, your fingers are too thick and short, your ears are wrong, your legs and arms are too muscular in build, your teeth have an underbite, and your eyes have regular whites and none of that slight mother-of-pearl that first generation elves had." Peri says.

"True." Lea says. "But you said that hardly anyone's seen an elf in this era."

"We haven't gone back in time!" Mari says. "Don't forget that. We've just gone to a Citadel where everyone's pretending to live in a past that never existed."

"Alright, alright." You say as you watch -Something-Sun try and keep as far from the SIlver Knight as possible, as the SIlver Knight goes through a long and overly showy display of picking a weapon. "Can you guys make smoke?" You ask holding up the Whisper Flute. "Maybe we can help the guy out and give reason for me showing up and being able to talk."

Mari and Mage both nod. "Shouldn't be too much trouble. Will the Empire guy be up for it though?"

"Only one way to find out." Lea says. "Try and talk to him."

It's simple enough to contact Something-Sun's mind with the Whisper Flute. What do you want to say to him.

Some day I am going to remember what tequila does to my stomach...

So, I think we have a rough scale of plans.

plan A: the dagda gambit, we use mage's inherent nobility to diffuse the fight and get an official challenge made between us and the paladin commander so we can do this with as little collateral as possible.

Plan B: The summoning. We insert Ssen into the scene with a poof of smoke and some twiddles fingers on the part of a third party, usable for maintaining cover identity in past times.

Plan C: If the dagta contingency and the summoning protocol both fail, we just go into the arena and take all comers, eventually wading our way to the paladin commander and exterminating her. The plan with the highest collateral and casualty rate, so saved for if the others fail.

Can we agree on this order of plans? Feel free to append new ones.

Also, I hope echo doesn't mind our multi-tiered planning.

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>>26867250
>Kingfisher learns we can fly

Rolled 16

>>26867261
[x] Snake backup incoming. Make some sort of arcane jesture like you're summoning us.

>>26867261
"Hey bird brain, if you need some help with the fight, twiddle your fingers and say some fake magic words. Use some showmanship too, make it look good.
Give a cheer to the crowd if you're up for the plan, we'll get things ready on our side."

Hopefully, he doesn't remember our voice. If he does, hopefully he is worried about his life.

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>>26867261
"Somewhere in the crowd, the avatar of chaos is hatching a plan. You can either be a part of it or have it aimed directly at you. Choose wisely. Oh, and by the way, Sideways was so adorable when she threatened me with puns! I hope you've been doing just as well as she has these past few months!"

>>26867304
More like pic related

>>26867354
I like this...

>>26867404
it doesn't actually tell him what to DO though

Whisper flute sending, don't tip off the Knight right now by responding.
Not a lot of time so here's the deal, we need that Knight Commander wearing Gold dead. As long as he's alive they can locate any of our people and any of yours on this level of Citadel.

When combat begins wave your arms like you're summoning a beast or monster. Just don't stab me in the back when I appear. Once that commander is dead we can go our separate ways. Unless you want to be killed by a goofy knight in silver or get ransomed again.

>>26867427
Well, if he agrees, we just tell him that we plan for him to summon "a great demon serpent" and that'll be the end of it.

>>26867456
eh, s'fine, I'm just pointing out it needs to include actual instructions at some point or he'll just be confused.

What we should do is use the mage's nobility to get a room in the castle and strangle what's his name in his sleep with our tail ;)

>>26867553
Takes too long. We are on a timer because it's probably already been a week in War.

>>26867553
shaddap youz

- -Hey bird brain, if you need some help with the fight?- - You send.

The boy looks around. - - Whisper flute sending, don't tip off the Knight right now by responding. Not a lot of time so here's the deal, we need that Knight Commander wearing Gold dead. Now, somewhere in the crowd, the avatar of chaos is hatching a plan. You can either be a part of it or have it aimed directly at you.- -

He looks at the Knight in Silver and nods. - - Good, now twiddle your fingers and say some fake magic words like you're summoning a monster. Use some showmanship too, make it look good.

Just don't stab me in the back when I appear. Once that commander is dead we can go our separate ways. Unless you want to be killed by a goofy knight in silver or get ransomed again.

Oh, and by the way, Sideways was so adorable when she threatened me with puns! I hope you've been doing just as well as she has these past few months!- -

{Oh, you have to be kidding me! YOU?!} He says out loud.

>>26867572
there's also the war going on outside, and the empire man trying to make a soul warp.

so THREE timers.

>>26867630
- - Now now, don't give it away before we pull the trick, it ruins the surprise. Oh I missed you guys. - -

Deadly enemies with Ssen: The worst place to be if you don't like having Ssen around.

>>26867630
--Keep that up and I will hug you until you cry--

>>26867643
TICK FUCKING TOCK

>>26867630
The crown doesn't understand Phoenix tongue, should we treat that like a spell?

Rolled 7

>>26867694
Should we specify non-lethally regarding the hug?

>>26867630
"You want to win or not? This guy isn't just some regular guy. He's Citadel's guardian of the entire sector. You, and Kingfisher by proxy, want me fighting your enemies. You do not want me making plans on how to take out you or your master."

>>26867735
>ssen
>plans
>hissingserpents.jpg

>>26867735
actually I am unsure who the man in silver is, all I know is the masked golden one is the commander.

The silver could, for all we know, just be some knight of no significance other than being able to slay most things.

>>26867764
Well, then we be more specific about who he needs us to help him defeat.

If Shadow Company and Kingfisher team up, it's game over for the PE mind control guy.

>>26867714
Nah, I think that's clear enough

Guys, are we going claws and tail or spear and shield for this one?

>>26867849
We are gonna be a monster summon.

Might as well go claws.

Also i vote to spit clear in the commander's eyes first round

One thing we need to do is hide our paladin medallion.

>>26867849
We could try claws at first and have beacon thrown at us if things get hairy.

Actually isn't the dude wearing plate armor?

We might have to go beaon

>>26867898
>paladin medallion
Doesn't exist, that's our standard symbol-of-faith for anyone who worships. We have a paladin circlet and mantle.

We need to hide all three of these things.

>>26867921
Circlet was what I meant.

>>26867913
we might actually get to spit poison in someone's eyes this time around. a little black in the mouth was enough for paralyzation, the eyes would work just as well.

>>26867942
Clear in the helmet holes would blind him if it works well and likely force him to take off the helm regardless as long as some drips in.

hell we may just be able to tail disarm and wrap him to death.

Rolled 19

- - Now now, don't give it away before we pull the trick, it ruins the surprise, and if you make too much of a fuss, I'll have to give you a hug. Oh I missed you guys. - -

He closes his eyes and nods. {Fine, COME ON!} He shouts, motioning towards the Silver Knight.

The Knight has chosen a classic looking sword with a flashy jeweled handle. (Which is totally anachronistic, as that kind of smith work didn't exist for another Age or two.)

He bows to her Majesty, and heads out to face the Phoenix boy.

Something-Sun stands to do a strange kind of dance with hand motions and chanting.

"Okay." Mage says. He focuses himself and points his staff.

so, we're going with "hiss snarl" when we're summoned? And then perhaps talking occasionally like it's no big deal. If anyone asks, well, we're a magic lamia, not a normal one. Duh.

>>26868027
Let's only talk in lizard tongue, for authenticity.

>>26868024
>hand motions
>dancing
>chanting
He's really selling it! I like this kid. He's got moxy.

What's important now is we properly time rushing in there so nobody sees. And then that we unsheathe our claws at just the right time to really sell the whole performance.

>>26868027
>>26868040
Don't forget clear spit to the eyes

>>26868068
And ditching our paladin gear. Maybe not beacon.

There's not just a large amount of smoke, but also sparks and sounds of crackling and chimes.

"Go!" Mage says.

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>>26868024
>19
Fuck yeah Mage.

>>26868068
let's spit in the golden commander's eyes. The silver knight might be an OK guy.

>>26868087
Dump our pally gear with Tricia and move it.

>>26868087
Place mantle and circlet in lea's hands, and SLITHER! slither with the quickquick!

We're going into an arena, and we have to fight a knight.

>>26868040
lizard and phoenix, why not? I mean, we ARE a phoenix empire spell.

>>26868123
Beacon glowing might cause problems

>>26868146
oh, beacon too then.

and MAYBE even clang. It would be the first time we parted with him in... like a year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWokB4Ec5Og

Current theme

>>26868144
Sure. But we should make lot's of snake talk too.

>>26868174
We went claws a couple thread ago

>>26868174
"It's not you, it's me..."

Breakups sure are hard.

>>26868206
yeah, but he was on our back.

Rolled 15

>>26868087
Rolling for dramatic entrance

>>26868024
Ditch gear, wave goodbye. Action is go.

>>26868123
You put your circle and mantle with Lea, grab Beacon and Clang, and you slither through a hole in the fence that Peri has made.

You slither through the smoke and stop right in front of the Empire kid.

{Can we not make a big deal of this afterwards?} He asks. {I'd like to keep this as professional as we can. Cai may idolize you and your craziness, but I'd like to be professional. Okay?}

>>26868293
"{Who says I can't be both?}

>>26868293
{No refunds}
*spit clear in the Silver Knight's eyes*

>>26868087
Talk in Pheonix tounge that way it'll be clear you are his monster.

>>26868293
{Absolutely not, I'll see you before me having tea and making pleasant conversation if I have my way. But for now, I must get in character. Ahem.}

<Mi ma mo Fi fa fo, Rar, Grr, Snake snake ssssibilance>

>>26868293
{I'm here to fuck bitches, destroy evil, and fucking destroy evil bitches!}

>>26868313
>>26868340
I dunno. If this guy wants to be professional, I say we let him have his way.

We've taunted Sideways into some odd Stockholm syndrome, but I think this guy just wants to get the job done.

>>26868411
There's no getting off the snake train.

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>>26868424
>I want to get off Ssen's Wild Ride

>>26868411
Well, I suppose we can let him be professional.
I'm still going to work to wheedle in a business lunch and ask about the wife. (Regardless of if he has a wife.)

>>26868491
Oh, sure, the comment about a friendly cup of tea wasn't amiss, but anything involving "lot's of hugs/puns" is only going to make this an unwelcome alliance. We get serious and he'll be more confident of us helping him.

>>26868293
{That's not even my decision. You'll see, Sideways wasn't too fond of me at first either.}

>>26868545
We made her piss herself. I'm actually kinda surprised she likes us

>>26868293
>{Cai may idolize you and your craziness, but I'd like to be professional. Okay?}
Oh wow, really? I thought she just wanted to kill me really really badly. I'm so proud of her.

>We've taunted Sideways into some odd Stockholm syndrome
Oh, that's not so good. Now I feel badly for her.

Lets maybe keep this professional.

>>26868581
>>26868580
We've given her a goal in life: to beat us in some capacity.

>>26868599
Jokes on her, we're just gonna get ever more badass with age.

>>26868581
Well, she seems happy so it isn't so bad.

Rolled 11

{Who says I can't be both? I'll see you before me having tea and making pleasant conversation if I have my way. But for now, I must get in character. Ahem.}

The smoke clears and you're there. "BEHOLD! I BRING FORTH MY SERPENT! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE! SURRENDER!"

The Silver Knight pauses and then looks at the Queen. The Queen looks at the Paladin Commander.

"Tell Us, what manner of sorcery is this, Paladin?" She asks. "We were not aware that these Foreigner had such tricks within them? Do they have no idea of what Honor is? We are appalled!"

The Paladin Commander looks at you.

>>26868633
disguise check in progress.

>>26868633
spit black in his eyes

>>26868656
no, clear. commander isn't human

Rolled 5

>>26868633

Heh. This should be fun.

>>26868633
<THERE IS ONLY HONOR IN VICTORY>

>act barely restrained

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Or, possibly, Cai leaned that she REALLY likes being tied up and lightly tortured.

I'm projecting so fucking hard right now I should charge people for tickets.

Regardless we should have her hang out with Lea for a while.

>>26868633
>chinaman fighting trick to summon snakes in a fight
Sounds legit.

>>26868668
And by this, I mean act predatory. Writhe, coil and strike and hiss. But act as if you're waiting for your "master"'s signal.

>>26868666
>666
clear it is then

>>26868633
The Paladin Commender shrugs. "One cannot expect chivalry or decency from those of the Phoenix Empire. They are of a baser people, who root in ignorance and savage customs. Excuse me, I must commune with his Light for guidance."

The Paladin Commander steps away from the queen. "Possible deviance detected in Past, isolated outside foreign element has introduced unknown elements. Adjusting. Please stand by for possible need for Correction."

The Paladin Commander returns to the side of the Queen. "His Light has shown to me the Truth, a true Champion of Citadel can slay any foe and beat any trickery."

"Very well them go forth good knights!" The Queen says. "Show this barbarian that we fear him not!"

{Was that anywhere near what you were hoping for?} Your 'master' asks.

Rolled 17

>>26868745
{close enough}

Quickquick mode engaged, let's kick some ass.

>>26868745
{All is well}
*spit black in the silver knight's eyes*

>>26868623
Until we turn senile, and then talking to us becomes even more bizarre, confusing and infuriating because we use the same puns every day and nobody ever knows what we're talking about.

>>26868745
{Close enough. I'm following your lead. We sell it well enough and end the fight quick enough, and Citadel won't have time to react.}

>>26868745
{Look, I don't really think these things through.}

I wonder how many knights we're fighting now. hopefully still the one.

{Close enough, I don't really think things too far though. I'm following your lead. We sell it well enough and end the fight quick enough, and Citadel won't have time to react.} You say.

{Okay, so...are we trying to get the Shiny one or are you going straight for goldie up there and leaving this one for me?}

Rolled 15

>>26868915

Which one is Shiny and which one is Goldy?

>>26868915
{Let's work together on the silver one for now, I'll make a break for the commander if it tries to leave.}

>>26868976
shiny is the silver knight citadel champion, who is unimportant but will probably murderize the phoenix guy right up.

The golden is the commander, who we need to take out to black out this area, and bring in folks from war.

>>26868915
{Let's end this fight quick together and then charge after gold. One to the other, without missing a beat.}

Rolled 18

>>26868915
{We'll fight together against Shiny, then afterwards I'll engage Goldie while you try to bug out.}

>>26869016
This one works, citadel will never know what hit it.

damn mislinks.

>>26869051
We want him to with us, gotta collect all the PE dudes

{Let's end this fight quick together and then charge after gold. One to the other, without missing a beat.} You say.

{Got it...just so you know, I have very little training with this type of sword.} He says. {Also, this sword is NOTHING like a proper Empire folded blade. The balance is wrong, the handle's wrong, and I doubt it can cut butter.}

>>26869089
Let's offer to let him meet up with sideways if he sticks with us, post-fight. He didn't try to kill us(yet) so he gets a room instead of a room with a lock on it.

>>26869142
Spit black in the silver knight's eyes

Rolled 1

>>26869142
{Focus on blocking, should be sturdy enough for that if they aren't trying to rig the fight.}

Rolling for initiative.

>>26869142
{How about with what Silver is using? I can tie him up, you finish him off, then grab his blade. Gold is going to be tough, though. If you're telling me you'd rather bug out, then that's okay. But your help could serve Kingfisher well. This could become just as much his safehouse as it is ours.}

>>26869142
Aren't we pretty good with a curved sword? We could theoretically swap weapons, but he probably is no good with a spear either. And beacon will be mad.

{We'll import some better examples after all this war business. Now say something in a commanding tone and point at the silver guy.}

let's just go punch the guy. He's probably gonna sword us while we're tlaking.

>>26869322
That and every second we waste is an hour in War.

>>26869356
n-what?

Every second wasted seems to be about 12 seconds wasted in war, given the ages of the children and how much time was spent on the outside.

>>26869142
{You're a smart guy. I'm sure you can make do.}

>>26869142
Make a mental note to get some real phoenix swords.

>>26869142
>That's it, I'm sick of all this "Masterwork Citadel Sword" bullshit. Empire blades deserve better than that. Much, much better than that.

I'm too tired to make a proper copypasta but that's the first thing that came to mind when I read that.

>>26869562
Ditto.

>>26869142
"Well, that means that his sword probably can't cut butter, either, unless they're trying to screw us over.

>>26869577
Oh, I think they definitely screwed him over. This tourney is faker than professional wrestling.

>>26869601
heck, the smoke-summon thing RELIES on it being fake as pro wrestling.

Rolled 5, 3 = 8

{Focus on blocking, should be sturdy enough for that if they aren't trying to rig the fight.} You say.

{They are.} He says.

{If you're telling me you'd rather bug out, then that's okay. But your help could serve Kingfisher well.} You say.

{Fuck the old man. He's going to screw us over anyway.} He says. {If we live, we need to have a talk.}

{What about shiny's weapon?} You ask as you circle the silver knight.

{I know how to use a mace well enough. I'm game.} He says. {Now, hold on...}

"COME! FACE THE MIGHT OF THE EAST AND THE GLORY OF THE EMPIRE!" He says.

Roll for initiative

Rolled 1

>>26869622
Rollan

Rolled 5

>>26869622

>>26869622
Marvelous, we get to half a talk with phoenix boy. Long as we keep him alive.

Let's go for wrapping this dude or poisoning his eyes.

>>26869636
Time to put my dice away

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>>26869622
>He's going to screw us over anyway

Sounds like somebody went full panic mode.

Rolled 10

>>26869622
why are my dice not rolling

>>26869652
>>26869641
>>26869636
We got a 5.

Works for me.

I say we tail disarm + black spit in the eyes

>>26869663
You go first

Rolled 6

>>26869679
Tail disarm + Beacon Stabbity

>>26869648
I want to have that talk with him. About getting screwed over.
As a boss, we're much less likely to screw you over.
>>26869663
tail disarm works, black too. If we're lucky the fight is pretty much ended by that.

>>26869679
Tail disarm and black spit in the eyes

>>26869679
Disarm the guy and go in for some black to the eyes. If we're lucky, everyone lives. If not, he's a golem or too strong for it, in which case we gotta kill'im.

>>26869663
I say spit THEN trip/disarm. If the spit connects it makes any other trick more likely to succeed. At worst it gives him something to deal with while we close.

>>26869720
Sounds good

>>26869740
>>26869720
>>26869711

Okay, so you're trying to both spit black at the slot in the knight's face plate, and do a targeted tail disarm.

2d20 +1

Rolled 13, 17 + 1 = 31

>>26869779

Rolled 6, 5 = 11

>>26869779

Rolled 7, 8 = 15

>>26869779
watch as I ruin our rolls

>>26869802
Now that is a sucess

>>26869838
Congratulations, you didn't fuck up!

Don't push your luck.

Rolled 16

>>26869802
Not bad.

>>26869802
Bullseye! The blade goes flying out of the knight's hand and the poison you spit out covers his entire face. He claws and screams and you see his left arm go limp and hang loose.

Something-Sun dives for the spiked mace and grabs it.

Then...well...everything goes Not-Purple, you taste something slightly citrus-like in our mouth and...

"COME! FACE THE MIGHT OF THE EAST AND THE GLORY OF THE EM-{What the Fuck?!}"

You're back in the starting positions that you were, Sun's holding his 'Empire' sword again, and the knight is there. Standing noble and bright in his shiny silver armor.

{Oh, I call bullshit!} He says.

Your turn.

You do notice one thing. The knight before had a celtic-esque design on his armor's filigree. This one has an ivy pattern. Also he's weilding an axe, not a spiked mace.

>>26869940
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

>>26869976
Meaning same tactic

>>26869940
{Well, this is a new one. Maybe Citadel want the fight to look good rather than be over in one blow.}

{Damn. Most of my victories are won swiftly and without warning.}

>>26869940
{I'm sorry, I tried, but looks like you're stuck with that shitty weapon. Citadel is too good for damnation!}

It's wrap time.

>>26869940
{Yeah, I agree, bullshit. How long can you hold axe-man off? I think I'm going to go for the gold one to cut off the supply of knights}

Rolled 20

>>26869940

Hm, either Citadel wants a much more dramatic fight than that, or we're timeskipping to each next opponent.

Let's go for Goldie.

>>26870034
I don't think it's timeskipping.

I think it's trying again but with a better/different knight.

Let's not kill the knight too much- it will come back as a cyborg with a jetpack or some shit. Heck, even a spear and we'd be semi-fucked, spears would ruin us.

>>26869940
Try for a wrap. See if that also causes a fight restart.

If this fails, next round is goldie.

>>26870143
Yeah, but Citadel could and probably will warp us again if we step outside of the arena.

Damn... us trying to save PE kid isn't going to be easy. Citadel wants him dead.

So I see two votes for wrap, and a vote for repeating the disarm/spit tactic. Any others?

Rolled 20

>>26870256
Wrap

>>26870300
I already voted for wrap, but yeah, totally. it's one of our few techniques that works almost as well against a fully armored opponent.

>>26870300
... okay.

>>26870098

Citadel may be savescumming the fight. Or re-loading with different saves.

if this fails, and the attack on gold fails, we may seriously have to consider throwing the fight and selling as hard as possible.

Thing pro wrestling.

>>26870300
Roll for wrap

>>26870358
1d20, successful wrap on 12+

>>26870331
I think savescumming is exactly the idea. And there are two ways to deal with that: 1. do the same shit over and over again or 2. have an even worse resolution

Eventually the save scummer takes their losses and let's it go.

A wrap + stab from PE wouldn't go amiss (I've already voted, btw), but if it happens again we go for goldy. And if that fails, we go venom, increasingly deadly each time. Every time Citadel starts the fight over, we bring new weapons to the table.

That all being said, an axe and a spear are both very dangerous weapons to a lamia.

Rolled 13

>>26870358
citadeeeeel!

>>26870331
Or relocating you between similar layers.
Or this is a layer with just us and our opponents(s) in it now.

Rolled 1

>>26870358

>>26870381
Fuck

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Rolled 12

>>26870381
Sorry guys, I fucked up.

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>>26870381

Rolled 19

>>26870358
we big winners!

Rolled 19

>>26870407
Thank you.

>>26870372
>>26870381
>>26870407
Well at least we succeeded...

>>26870371
yeah, if we eventually work up to halbred, we'll be right proper fucked. Stabbed or chopped, either ends way badly.

Rolled 19

>>26870372
(I don't count dice's second roll.)

You wrap your tail around the knight, pinning him quite nicely. Old style (or whatever is considered to be) armor can lock arms together quite nicely.

{You want something cliche...fine.} He takes a deep breath. {DIE!}

He swipes with his lousy sword.

>>26870485
>that was actually Citadel's roll for bullshit

>>26870485
WOAH bro! You took his head off! I was all wrapped up on him!

Not only is that terrible, but I'm covered in blood now!

Rolled 15

>>26870485
That's fine, my second roll wasn't linked. I feel it's improper to roll twice.

His blade slams into the side of the Knight's head. There's a harsh snapping sound and the knight's head bends at a funny angle that you don't think is natural or healthy.

"COME! FACE THE MIGHT OF THE EAST AND THE GLORY OF THE EM-{Again?}"

The knight now is Bronze and Silver.

{How long do they expect us to DO this?} Sun asks you.

>>26870535
Wrap both of them.

>>26870535
{Long as it takes. Hold the knight off, I'm going for the gold.}

>>26870535
Right, time to go for the real target. This will just keep on happening.

>>26870535
{Until you lose, but I'm not giving up just yet. We make a big show of it, I parry with Beacon, and we end this bullshit with an Enli-errr, a death ray on Gold. Trust me. I did this once before...}

Rolled 6

>>26870535
{Until you lose probably, try to hold them off, I'm going for goldie, that might stop this hackjob}

Guys, if we go for Gold that's exactly what Citadel wants. It will know we are a foreign enemy and will immediately call in reinforcements.

>>26870602
well the original plan of getting close by winning the fight and jumping it by surprise aint gonna work right now, apparently.

Maybe one more try, with SHOWMANSHIP, but any more is a real waste.

{different knight each time, how many stage champions do you think they have lined up?}

{Until you lose probably, but I'm not giving up just yet. There's a different knight each time, how many stage champions do you think they have lined up?} You ask.

{Eight banners.} Sun says, pointing at the eight different colored banners that are arranged above the royalty canopy. {Two down...what happens if we clear all eight?}

Rolled 3

>>26870727
So we are timeskipping,

>>26870727
{Well... that's an observation that give me quite a bit of hope.}

Stretch a bit.

{Let's try not to be boring.}

>>26870727
{Lets find out, think you can manage 6 more champions?}

>>26870727
{The FUN begins}

SIX more champions? What a chore. can't we like fight two at once or something to speed this up, citadel?

{Let's find out, think you can manage 6 more champions?} You say.

He shrugs. {Normally, I try to let MY servants do the fancy work. But I can't seem to summon any elementals, let alone find decent shells for them. I doubt even if I managed to pull it off, they'd just get erased, right?}

Your turn.

Rolled 5

>>26870809
Wait, this is the guy we traded for the pair of gems, isn't it?

Hah.

>>26870809
Killkillkill. We've got six of them to do so we'd better hurry.

>>26870809
{Then you'll get a good workout fighting the ones I don't drop}
wrap wont and black in the face of the other.

>>26870821
I think this was one of the other ones. Maybe.
>>26870809
{Light if I know, I'm not the mage. Let's get grinding, keep an eye on goldie.}

We COULD still go for gold. we don't have to kill all the knights.

>>26870840
wrap one*

>>26870907
there's only one, he's just two colors.

Unless there's two and -I'm- the one who misread.

We actually don't have to outright kill them, disarming them works too.

>>26870923
yeah, we're going for disarms primarily. But fuck if we can do those reliably.

{Light if I know, I'm not the mage. Let's get grinding, keep an eye on goldie.} You say.

Okay, so poison, tail, claws, or Beacon?

>>26870943
My vote is Beacon. With luck the charges won't reset.

Rolled 10

>>26870943
Beacon, we need to start building up it's charge.

>>26870957
>>26870943
might as well test that.

>>26870943
Beacon. Build up a charge and when the last one drops hit goldie with it.

>>26870966
Voting This.

>>26870809
My guess is that citadel, like always, wants a good show. We need to keep the fight going for more than a moment. And use large amounts of nonlethal when we do. So mostly tail and black.

>>26870988
If we broke a claw in fight, that would make it much more dramatic/"realistic".

>>26870957
>>26870962
>>26870965
A straight attack with Beacon it is.

1d20 +2

>>26870988

Wrong. Citadel wants us to LOSE. I recommend we deny this ambition.

Also, the next time we see Odette, we need to clarify things for her; she's not dead. Not in the same way dad is.

Rolled 20 + 2

>>26871028

Rolled 7

>>26871028
Rolling!

Rolled 20

>>26871028
stabbing is always our best plan. It's kind of embarrassing.
>>26871034
well, she is sort of alive, but it's really up to her whether or not we should persue non-citadel methods of keeping her coherent.

>>26871045
>>26871051
>double 20
I don't recall a single time this has happened.

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Rolled 18

>>26871045
>>26871051
Praise the Light!

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Rolled 6 + 2

>>26871045

I think I can be forgiven for double posting...

>>26871045
>>26871051
Well he's fucking dead.

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>>26871034
Yeah. We need to have a big pow-wow after Shadow Company is evacuated from War.

>>26871045
>>26871051
>live footage of Ssen battling Citadel's champions

>>26871051
>>26871045
SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR! BAH GAWD KING! HE MAY HAVE JUST BEEN BROKEN IN HALF!

>>26871051
>>26871045
Well this is something

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>>26871045
>>26871051
Hahaha

Fuck Citadel

>we just killed the next two champions

don't celebrate too much, it's one out of 6 mooks

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>>26871045
>>26871051

>>26871045
Your strike is true and punches right through the armor of the knight and into the chest of the bronze/silver knight.

There's that shift again and there's another different bronze/silver knight...only the problem is that the scene reset the knight, not the time. He reappeared with Beacon inside his chest!

Another flash.

"COME! FACE THE MIGHT OF THE EAST AND THE GLORY OF THE EM-{Okay, my voice is starting to crack from shouting that so damn much.}"

It's back to before with a different knight, this one with a gold trim.

Your turn. Beacon is at 4 charges.

>>26871130
2 crits has to do SOMETHING

its like a rule or something

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>>26871151
See that, Citadel? That's what you get for save scumming.

>>26871151
{Go short and simple. Use some of them racist insults, they're short.}
That's half down, let's try to disarm this guy WITHOUT beating him so our friend has a weapon.

A fancy gold weapon.

>>26871151
>He teleported onto a spear

Man, that guy had a really bad day.

Okay, one more hit and then we can enlighten the fuck out of the paladin captain

>>26871154
>>26871151
Read Echo's latest post.

"[Hold off, I'm going to cheat.]" Defend against this knight once, then use the 5-charge to Enlighten the Gold Knight.

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>>26871151
>Reset knight, but not time
>Citadel killed another knight with it's own stupidity
Hah!

>>26871192
Indeed.

>>26871151
{Guess sneaking around doesn't do much for your public speaking capacity, now does it?}
do >>26871214

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Rolled 3 + 2

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing multiple times and expecting a different result, then the sanest thing to do would be to repeat our previous action and expect the same result!

And Light knows we need some sanity in this place.

>>26871214
yes, this. This hard.

>>26871151

You know what would be funny

if that phrase ends up becoming a habit for him whenever he gets in combat.

and he'll secretly like it

>>26871214
I posted just as echo posted

read the time stamp

>>26871151
Hah, we're dropping them so fast the commentators can't even do their jobs.

Let's go for another Beacon strike. Keep some of our moves under wraps.

>>26871237
>"AND THERE GOES THE PE'S SUMMON WITH A DEVASTATING SPEAR STRIKE RIGHT OUT OF THE STARTING GATE. She's certainly not giving Citadel a breather, is she Rick?"
>"No she isn't, John. But I think she'll have to be wary of the very last Champion. These are all designed to wear her out and they're certainly doing their job."

>>26871223

Belay this nonsense and do this:

>>26871214

>>26871228
Our zaniness is infectious.

>>26871223
>sanity

That ship has sailed, hit a reef, and sunk into the bottom of the ocean at this point.

>>26871281
Obviously. Otherwise Sideways would still be boring and pun-less.

>>26871284
Amen.

Oh, BTW, I saw a pic of a tiny Lamia being given a piece of fish the size of her. Does anyone have that pic? I forgot to save it, and then it 404'd.

Rolled 20

{Hold off, I'm going to cheat.} You say as you hold up Clang and Beacon to defend against the knight's incoming attack.

{As long as you're the only one who might get hurt.} Sun says.

This knight has a two-handed sword and brings it up and sends it crashing down onto you, where you block with both Clang and Beacon.

>>26871350
ohhhhh this is gonna hurt.

It's gonna raise our charges to 5, but it will hurt. And it's the first time beacon's taken a hit and possibly failed us.

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Rolled 7

>>26871350

Well, CRAP. Roll for QuickQuick!

>>26871350
Well okay then.

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>>26871369
Not even quickquick could save us.

This is Citadel's revenge.

Rolled 10

>>26871350
Quick quick for our sins?

>>26871350
You feel part of your heart break a bit as you hear the hard CRACK and see the fracture on your shield. The blow did no harm to you...but Clang...poor poor Clang has been split! You can see light through the crack! Another hit and he'll break in two!

What's worse, is that Beacon didn't charge!

The crowd roars with approval at the show.

{Well...at least we're not doing the same damn five seconds again.} Sun says.

Your turn.

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>>26871399
>poor Clang has been split

>>26871399
sling clang over our back bite with white

Clang must be avenged

>>26871399

Put Clang to our back and go in with both hands on Beacon. That board has done enough.

>>26871399
<Bastard!>

Smack the two hander out of the way with your tail, then stab him while his guard is down. Fucker cut clang.

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>>26871399
CLAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!

Carefully and lovingly put Clang away on our back.
Then.
BLOOD RAGE!!! AVENGE CLANG!!!

>>26871443
This. Kill. Maim. Burn.

>>26871443
gonna interpret this as tail disarm and stab.

Supporting it.

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Does this mean that Clang's machine spirit was lost to Citadel?

<Bastard!> You sriek and bear full fangs as your tail whips out one way and Beacon lunges forward.

2d20 +1

Rolled 13, 5 = 18

>>26871514

Rolled 16

>>26871514

Rolled 20, 6 + 1 = 27

>>26871514

Rolled 12, 14 = 26

>>26871514

Rolled 14, 10 = 24

>>26871514
Hopefully we're good at avenging.
>>26871505
He can still be fixed! I hope!

Rolled 6, 17 = 23

>>26871527
both successes, not bad.

>>26871505
You can try and fix it, but...but not it just feel like a cracked iron/quicksilver shield. Not Clang. You could get it re-smithed...or repaired but...well...it could be similar, but never the same.

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>>26871418
not a violent enough reaction there

>>26871544

'Tis sad, but not unrecoverable.

We shall overcome. We shall have Clang 2: Son of Clang!

>>26871567
nonono its Clang 2: clang harder

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>>26871544
>>26871567
We'll fix him. We'll fix him and he'll be better than ever! With new features!

Also, didn't we keep our antidote back there? In case we bit someone on accident?

We'll need to brew more.