>>33064729

Helios! It's about time.

Tell Siduri that we don't really believe ourselves to be the mythical vampire-dad, pass it off as an outburst of craziness. We know various degrees of insanity are common amongst old vampires so she'll probably buy it.

>>33064915

Will give it 10 mins for more players then go with this.

>>33064915

You apologise to Siduri for your outburst, telling her that in moments of stress you occassionally have brief fits of mania. You do not know why you said what you did, but it is obviously not true.

Siduri simply nods, you don't know if she believes you now or believed you before.

"Do not be concerned, madness touches us all in one way or another eventually. There are ways to manage it. Although I had hoped you would make a better first impression on the other prominent residents of the city."

She changes the subject.

"I am concerned that Ankou was able to pour so that much of his power through that puppet. Did you see how he began to effect the living in the room? He or one of his bloodline must be closeby yet I cannot sense them..."

She appears lost in thought, furrowing her delicate brow.

What do you do?

>>33065446
"Can we shield the area? I do know that I can sense others to a degree, if you would like me to look for him.

>>33066110
>Can we shield the area?

"I can fend off his influence for the most part, unless he deigns to appear in person, which is unlikely."

>I do know that I can sense others to a degree

"We all can, to a greater or lesser extent. I can usually sense all of our kind within the city but there is some kind of murk that makes it difficult. I don't like it."

>If you would like me to look for him.

"Would you?"

She seems pleased at the idea.

"I do not believe it is Ankou himself, his foul presence would have an effect on the people around him that would be impossible to hide. Some of his children may have been able to sneak in. If that is the case, I would have them removed."

Do you wish to commit yourself to this quest?

>>33066110
Second

>>33066315
Do it

>>33066315
Accept.

>>33066473
>>33066603

>Do it

You assure Siduri that you will hunt down these invaders and dispose of them, though it will be a difficult task. You do not know the city and your quarry is unlikely to advertise their presence.

Siduri offers you some resources to aid you in this undertaking, you receive:

-A fetching leather wallet, stuffed with Moroccan Francs.

-Special ID papers that Siduri assures you will smooth things over with any human authority.

-A simple ring, bearing a symbol you do not recognize. This serves the same purpose as the papers but for the cities unliving residents.

-A chauffeur named Yusuf. He is a living man but one of Siduri’s servants, fully aware of vampires and their comings and goings. He has had special training and is rather capable. He also knows the city very well.

-A Bentley 8 Litre motor car in black. You have no idea how to drive it but Yusuf is apparently an expert.

-A map of the city which has all the places of interest to vampires marked down.

With these arrangements made she suggests that you retire, there’s not long left before morning. Your quest can begin in earnest when the sun sets.

Is there anything you want to do/ask before heading back to your room?

>>33066953
Na, lets go

>>33066953
Lets head on with it

>>33067014
>>33067061


You bid goodnight to Siduri and return to your room in the hotel without incident.

The maid from before is waiting, she has pulled open a concealed trapdoor in the centre of the room that was beneath a large rug. Within is a large open sarcophagus filled with rich soil for you to rest in. She shows you the mechanism for how the trapdoor is opened and closed before leaving you for the morning. You undress and lay down in the soil, the dawn takes you.

Once again you find yourself dreaming of Kassa and The Pale Tree. You are back in the stone circle where your human life ended. The Pale tree looms over you, larger than ever. Now its roots seem to rest in a lake of blood, with bones and skulls protruding from the surface everywhere, this grim landscape extends as far as the eyes can see. Kassa sits in one of the branches, looking down on you. She looks as she did when she was alive, albeit with a weeping wound over her heart, she has a look of deep sadness on her face and is trying to say something, but her lips move silently and no words reach you.

Then you are awake once more, night has fallen. A fresh set of clothes awaits you, as well as a fresh pitcher of blood and the day’s newspaper. There is a note addressed to you from Yusuf saying he awaits you in the hotel bar.

What do you do?

>>33067339
Drink blood then go down to the bar

>>33067339
Read the newspaper.

>>33067339
Drink what we need, dress, read, then go down to the bar. Also consider learning to read lips.

>>33067399
>>33067484
>>33067687

You open the paper and see what has been happening in the world. Drinking the blood as you read.
The main focus seems to be on ongoing war in the east. The Empire of Japan is making great inroads into China, who seem unable to oppose the Japanese armies.
Closer to home the French ambassador allegedly made a remark to the visiting German ambassador stating that he considers Eastern Europe to be in Germany’s ‘sphere of influence’. This has caused some consternation.
There are various pieces arguing that another war in Europe is imminent, citing the expansionist ambitions of the new German government.
There are a few other matters concerned with various celebrities and local goings on which are of no particular interest, the one exception being something that strikes you as familiar. Apparently last month an American cargo ship was found drifting a few miles off of the coast with no sign of the crew. An investigation is still ongoing but has so far reached no conclusions. You cannot help but recall your own disastrous experiment with sea travel.
You make your way down to the bar, which is bustling with the living, you put on your dark glasses and concentrate, masking your undead nature from those around you. It occurs to you that you have no idea what Yusuf looks like.
What do you do?

>>33067878
Wait at the bar. He'll probably come to you.

>>33067878
Ask the barkeep for Yusuf

>>33067930
>>33067984

You approach the bar and manage to find yourself a spot to lean against. This place is a far cry from the village tavern you visited a few times as a youth.
The bartender is a tall, well-dressed man standing with his back to you, preparing a cocktail. You call out to get his attention.
He turns around and you are shocked to see a familiar face…. Menelau!

He sneers at you.

“Are you enjoying the wages of your cowardice?”

You step back, shocked and speechless.

“You left me to die in those woods boy, you thought that’d go unanswered. The gods hate the craven."

He glares at you, eyes full of hate.

"When I sent your stupid barbarian woman to get herself killed in the same woods it was justice.”

Composure roll! Beat 50 to succeed. First roll will be the result.

Rolled 20

>>33068219

>>33068239

Failure!

(This is completely real, no other possiblity occurs to you. You cannot hide your shock and distress, your mask slips.)

With the above in mind, what do you do?

>>33068330
Try to explain that you were just a farmer and panicked. Then break down and start crying.

>>33068372

You back away from him stammering.
“I…I was just a farmer, I didn’t know how to fight, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean….”

You don’t believe these excuses any more than Menelau seems to. You fall to your knees sobbing with the weight of all that moment of weakness has wrought. Blood flows from your empty eyes, staining your clothes.

Menelau stands over you.

“All that came after was your fault, it was you that brought her back as a monster as much as it was that tree.”

“How did you feel when you realized she’d killed your family? Though it might as well have been by your own hands.”

He watches you for a reaction.

“Did you just push the thought from your mind? She’d slaughtered everyone else in your village, why not them? Perhaps you were too busy thinking about fucking her on a bed of fresh corpses. What would your mother think of her clever little boy hmmm? ”

He walks about you in a slow circle, spitting his words like venom.

“You are a soulless, degenerate abomination. Dressing up like a real man is an insult to every one of your victims and I will not allow it.”

What do you do?

>>33068771
Run the fuck away. We can get Siduri to summon Yusef to us.

>>33068771
"Everyone from that village is long dead. Leave me be, revenant!"

>>33068771
"And yet she would not have killed my family if you hadn't sent her there. I surrendered to the Army. I didn't murder them. I followed you in my greed, and if I'd have had an ounce of sense, I would have left you to your folly and saved the village."

>>33068771
>Stand tall
"You won't allow it? How do you think you will stop it? The times have changed, and so have I."

Hey! Peasant Quest!

>>33069090
I really feel it should be changed to Plant Vampire Quest

>>33068926
>>33069001
>>33069026
(taking these as 'confront' votes)

You feel anger now, as well as sorrow.

You wipe the blood from your face and stand tall to face Menelau, though he is still taller than you.

>You won't allow it? How do you think you will stop it? The times have changed, and so have I.

He shoves you back dismissively, you stumble but remain on your feet.

“You’re still a fieldmouse boy, no matter how long you’ve slept in a box. Cunning but no spine.“

>She would not have killed my family if you hadn't sent her there. I surrendered to the Army. I didn't murder them. I followed you in my greed, and if I'd have had an ounce of sense, I would have left you to your folly and saved the village.

“I only told her the truth, you did the rest. Should I have lied and told her you’d run off to be a priest? That would’ve been your way, the coward’s way. Now you hold up surrendering like a badge of honour. You sacrificed EVERYTHING to be with your raider whore and yet when the time came you wouldn’t fight to protect her. You just rolled over like a whipped dog and let them bury you in the ground a thousand miles apart….
How’s that turned out for you?”

What do you do?

>>33069336
Ask him how he survived all this time.

>>33069336
Life goes on, I have learned much since my awakening and my understanding grows daily. You, however, have not moved on. The fury in you is as strong as the day you first harbored it.

I will live well, you will die in anger.

>>33069391
From the character sheet:

>Sanity: Losing everything you knew, waking up in strange new world and 'life' as an undead abomination has taken it's toll. You sometimes see and hear things that are not there.

I dont think this is real Anon.

>>33069440
we know its not real, the protag does not

>>33069440
Yeah I know. Confronting him about this might unravel our hallucination.

>>33069336
He is right, /tg/, surrendering was a stupid idea.

>>33069610
I wish I was awake for the vote.

>Wake up
>See vote
>Pissed off the entire morning

>>33069621
Shit are you me?

>>33069401

>Life goes on, I have learned much since my awakening and my understanding grows daily. You, however, have not moved on. The fury in you is as strong as the day you first harbored it.

>I will live well, you will die in anger.

"Will you?"

Menelau begins a dry, mirthless laugh and for a moment it isn't him your facing but yourself as you were when you were alive.

Then the hallucination breaks, you are suddenly aware of the bar around you.

Everyone has backed well away from you, some have looks of abject terror on their faces, others have fallen ill, sweating, pale and vomiting. A few seem to have lost their minds, either gibbering or slashing at themselves or each other with broken bottles.

What do you do?

>>33069738
EAT

>>33069738
Cloak our form again. Get out of here. See if Yusuf is outside. If they aren't, contact Siduri, tell her about what happened.

>>33069792
Our asking the tree for help lead to this wonderful hallucination. Doing horrible things gives us more. Lets not.

>>33069858
Or, do a lot more.

>>33069738
Ditch the bar. Hope we didn't drive our manservant insane.

>>33069927
>>33069831

You try your best to compose yourself and make for the door, you need help making this right.

You don't have to go far, Siduri has appeared in the doorway. A modestly dressed local man with a stoic expression on his face stands behind her, you assume this is Yusuf.

Siduri looks about the room, disbelief on her face. She curses in a language you dont know and turns to you.

"What have you done!?"

"This is my house! Those who come here are supposed to be under my protection!"

At that moment one of the lunatic patrons manages to slash open another's throat with part of a shattered glass. A torrent of blood gushes forth and you and Siduri's attention instantly snaps to it. Your falls open involuntarily.

With a snarl Siduri turns to Yusuf.

"Close the hotel and seal off this area. No one comes in. Contact the police chief as well as the govenor, tell them I need the records of these people to disappear. They were never here. Contact my 'cleaners' as well.

Yusuf nods before rushing off. Siduri closes and locks the door behind her.

"Theres no other way" she whispers

Then her body seems to flicker like a candle that seems extinguished for a moment before burning again.

The heads of everyone else in the room save you simply explode, showering everything in gore and blood, more of which pumps from the stumps of ruined necks.

You are overwhelmed, you can't keep your appetites in check in the face of this.

What do you do?

>>33070348
Pick up some gore and stuff it in your face while trying to apologize to Siduri.

God, we're not a very good guest, are we?

>>33070348
can we roll to regain composure?

>>33070348
>start crying again and blame your insanity.

>>33070348
Keep our illusion of our features up, get out of the bar. It's bad enough these people died because of us, it'll look worse if we start eating them afterwards.

>>33070436
if not, try to explain that we saw a very disturbing vision of our past

>>33070348
>You are overwhelmed, you can't keep your appetites in check in the face of this.
Seriously, lets get out of the bar.

Any coherent thought you had is washed away in a red haze, even with all the strides you’ve made in self-control more than 100 ending in the same moment is too much for you to handle. You begin to feed on the dead like a rabid animal and you aren’t alone, Siduri succumbs as well. All her grace and elegance lost to primal bloodlust.

Awareness returns some time later, you are glutted beyond anything you’ve experienced before and you whole body throbs with warmth and life. Your head swims as waves of euphoria pulse up and down your spine.

Siduri lounges a few feet away, giggling like a drunken teenager, her delicate evening gown torn and stained with blood.

“OooOOh don’t worry about all of thish. There was nobody here….nobody here I liked anyway and we couldn’t let it all go to waste.”

She almost looks as though she’s blushing, which given her lack of a pulse you’d have thought impossible.

“Besides….how could I be angry with someone soooooo handsome.”

She twists onto all fours and begins crawling towards you. Her dark hair somehow hanging *upwards* in defiance of gravity.

It’s then that you realise both of you are somehow on the ceiling. This seems hilarious to you and you burst out laughing like a madman. You are so distracted that you don’t notice Siduri until she’s literally managed to climb on top of you.

You feel her shapely body pressing against yours, the heat of dozens of stolen lives burns through your clothing and your body quickly responds as any living man’s would.

“You’ve caused me sooo much trouble, I think you should…..make it up to me.”

What do you do?

(Resisting Siduri will require a willpower roll of 25+)

>>33071077
RESIST
stay true to our murderous waifu

Rolled 67

>>33071077
Kick her off of us.

>>33071148
Eh, no. We should still be nice to her.

Rolled 9

>>33071077

Resisting so hard right now.

Kassa will doubtless wake up at some point and her reaction upon discovering you had drunk sex with her slutty daughter would probably be apocalyptic. Siduri for one would probably not survive.

Rolled 88

>>33071118

Adding to my post here>>33071200

>>33071166
This, we let her down as nicely as possible.

>>33071077
Resist. Explain that while this would be a great way to thank her, so would catching that asshole who screwed with her party.

>>33071077
Let her down gently.

>Peasant quest
If we're representative of the average peasant, then jesus fuck I never want to live in this world.

>>33071302
Read the first couple threads

>>33071302
Read the first few threads, most of our choices were stupid and filled with trolling. Still, our QM is amazing.

>>33071351
You ALWAYS say that it was "filled with trolling". It was just other players wanting to do something different than you. Stop trying to make it inauthentic.

>>33071391
No, really, read the first few threads. Blatant trolling. At other times, choices were stupid enough that I assumed blatant trolling.

>>33071439
I rolled for the go to the chapel choice. Proud of that.

>>33071391
I'm not saying the 'evil' choices were trolling. They made their mark on this quest. I just wish people would be a bit more inventive with their 'evil'. Think Planescape.

>>33071542
Betrayal, memory-erasure, and plots within plots that result in innocent people/friends being used as disposable gears in our quest? If so then we need to cultivate friendships and use people in whatever manner we want. Fuck THEIR moralities and fuck THEIR choices, their morality is what WE decide, their choices are what WE want.

>>33071118
>>33071148
>>33071166
>>33071200
>>33071236
>>33071237
>>33071238
>>33071252

You turn your head away from her and make what excuses you can, gently pushing her away to show her you mean it.

She leans in and gently bites your bottom lip, actually tearing some of it away with her sharp teeth. You are boiling with so much lust that the few moments of pain before the wound heals are ecstasy.

Then she rolls off of you with a long sigh of frustration.

“Resisting me like this only makes you more desirable you know.”

“But I suppose you can make yourself useful in other ways. Go clean yourself up and get looking for Ankou’s servants. I’ll have Yusuf come up to your room to keep an eye on you.”

You make vague noises of agreement, still wrestling with intoxication and fleshy desires.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need an ice bath.”
She drops from the ceiling, but instead of landing on the floor her body bursts into a greasy mist, her ruined evening gown burning up in a flash. The mist quickly disappears into an air vent.

What do you do?

>>33071648
I was kinda trying to point towards the ending, but whatever gives you inspiration I guess.

>>33071729
Quickly wash up and change, we have some people to hunt

>>33071729
Wash yourself up

>>33071772
>>33071784
These.

I need a reminder, what's our goal again?

>>33071804

That's up to you Anon.

>>33071729

Mr Bean, lord of the undead strikes again!

Fuck it. I need to archive binge to get my head screwed on. I'm going to sit out on this so I don't inadvertently fuck something up.

>>33071804
It seems finding our waifu has been our priority so far.

>>33071804
We are traveling the world, seeking knowledge of Kassa, and mentoring under powerful vampires to build our strength and abilities

>>33071969
Freeing as finding doesn't accomplish much.

So OP Do these people count towards that kill count the tree wanted?

>>33071772
>>33071784
>>33071797

After some strange awkward attempts at jumping, you manage to get off of the ceiling and sheepishly make your way back to your room. Fortunately the hotel is all but deserted.
You bathe and change into some new clothes but as you are doing so you notice something strange. You seem to have a reflection.

You had become so used to not having one, it's sudden return is jarring.

An image of yourself as a living man stares at you from the mirror, he wears the ragged leather vest and simple peasant clothing you set out in on your doomed quest so long ago. His eyes are full of sadness and regret.

What do you do?

>>33072065

Siduri killed them, not you. So no.

>>33072129
"Sorry, but the days of your existence are long past. I regret that you couldn't grow to live a full life. In time, may I be able to once again be as you were."

>>33072129
Reach out to shake his hand, exclaiming "Good bye old friend"

>>33072129
>stare longingly into the mirror

We can probably mash all of those in to one

>>33072129
Introspection. Who we were and who we are are two different people. Try to accept. Just, please, try.

>>33072163
>>33072179
>>33072238
>>33072238

You feel as though you should say something, acknowledge this image whatever it might mean.

Before you can think of something a knocking interrupts your reverie and when you turn back to the mirror, the reflection has vanished.

You answer the door, it's the local man who was with Siduri before. He confirms your earlier assumptions and introduces himself as Yusuf. He is remarkably calm and businesslike considering what he saw earlier.

He is eager to get going, presumably under instruction from Siduri and advises you that there several locations you could investigate to try and find a lead:

-The abandoned cargo ship, now berthed by local authorities at the docks for inspection. Yusuf advises you that Ankou is known to live at sea, this vessel may well have been how his servants got here.

-Graveyards. Ankou's bloodline emulate their father's necromancy and as such are always interested in the dead.

-'The night market' A local expression for the more casual place the undead of Casablanca gather each evening. It lacks the decorum of Siduri's hotel and all manner of individuals can be found there.

Where do you go?

>>33072151
I vote we go Dexter and hunt the wicked.

>>33072744

The tree stipulated 'pure' or something. So that probably means good people or virgins.

I dont imagine we can do anything that's remotely just in the service of the tree.

>>33072740
Abandoned cargo ship

>>33072740
Night market > Cargo ship > Graveyards.

>>33072767
I still vote for the Dexter path anyway, we need to eat and I have no moral qualms about ending a pedophile or torture's life to continue our own.

Also pure is a vague and relative word. I have seen it used in many different ways most directly contradicting each other.

>>33072740
graveyard. Boats already empty, right?

>>33072822
As far as mortals can tell.

The choice with the most support/best reasoning will determine where we start part 10 with as I'm getting too tired to write properly.

Thanks for playing tonight folks, might do a short session tomorrow but failing that next weekend, will keep you posted on twitter.

I'll hang around the thread for a little bit for feedbac/questions as always.

>>33072814
The Pale Tree meant 'pure' in the classic human sacrifice context, namely virgin.

>>33072885
Just because someone hasn't fucked doesn't mean they can't be evil.

>>33072885
Thanks for running, this is easily my favorite quest running right now. Keep up the good work

How did you come up with the idea for tree vampires? If it doesn't spoil anything. I love the whole thorns for teeth affinity with the dirt aspect.

>>33072994

A couple of years ago I was messing around with a vampire romance deconstruction novel but my standard of writing never got to a level I was happy with so it got mothballed. The vampire concept you see here is essentially the one I came up with for the novel with a few minor tweaks.

>>33072994
>>33073072

To further elaborate, I wanted vampirism to have this connection with primal symbols of historical mysticism that were not well understood rather than Christianity/Satan/Dracula etc. I settled on druidism, stone circles and sacred groves, as for me at least those images are all very evocative in a cultual subconscious sort of way.

The vampires themselves were supposed to be accidental sacrifices to the starved and vengeful forest spirit the druids worshipped, who were then reanimated as walking sacrificial altars, their victims being fresh sacrifices.

Their appearance was intended to create a sense of wild otherness, a twisted out of control force of nature rather than something 'manufactured' by occultism or organized religion.

>>33073363
It really is a great concept, I was actually planning on having a friend draw some stuff up for the quest, if he gets the time.

>>33073558

That would be really goddamn awesome and I would be extremely grateful.

>>33073363
Any references to Vlad the Impaler?

>>33073649
Thanks for running

>>33072740
Cargo ship may give us some clues initially, but most likely he wont be there. Night market: Possibly will be there, bigger chance for odd or interesting encounters. Graveyards is PROBABLY where he'll be.

Cargo Ship -> Market -> Graveyards.