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A cataclysmic war, referred to hereafter as the Collapse, erupted about one thousand years into creation, and all but three demigods, all but two races, and all the gods died off. The tattered remnants of the world held together through the power of the three surviving demigods, including yours; the female demigod of the elves, named Asa. Three huge alchemic weather machines keep the world habitable, while the demigods have dispensed with the use of Heralds in favor of Avatars: physical projections of themselves that can walk and talk like people.

The afterlife was dismantled in the wake of the Collapse, and now, all souls are simply ‘inverted’ in the seas of Chaos outside reality after death, and absorbed by their corresponding demigod.

You were assigned by your King to track down a gang of bandits that had sided with the secessionists in the southlands, but were ambushed and nearly murdered by the conspiracy and their ancient weapon, the Orb of the Feathered Demon. Because the weapon can kill demigods, the Pantheon survivors made you a Herald in secret, and have charged you with killing the ten conspirators who survived the battle in the woods.


Previously, after doing your best to settle affairs with the kin of the people you killed, you discovered that the Circle’s warehouse had been broken into, and you chased Forest to his home, a large compound with several buildings. Now, you’re amassing forces outside the walls, preparing to barge in.


All mechanics are based on a 1d100+modifier roll.

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The manor house looks dead to the world outside. Your soul-sight, and the magic of the Royal War Mages, however, tell you a different story.

“One person in each of the three largest buildings, and one in the conservatory’s tool shed,” you inform the General. “The one in the tool shed is the only one who hasn’t tapped the Well.”

The General looks over the place and nods. “I see. Nobody in the observatory? Nobody in one of the guest houses?”

>”That’s what the Mages said.”
>”I assume there are, and they’re just hiding.”
>writein

>”That’s what the Mages said.”
but
>”I assume there are, and they’re just hiding.”

>writein "Give me some options. I don't want this going the way of Soutri."

>>34820523
>>34820758
>”That’s what the Mages said.”
>”I assume there are, and they’re just hiding.”
Nuking them all only works when you are Lina Inverse

“So the Mages say, General Cordland,” you say politely. “Still, I assume they’re hiding. Do you have any idea what tactic I should employ here?”

He snorts. “I could quote a dozen books and heroes, but the fact is that there’s only one thing that will work. You need to hit every door at once. I’d say teams of five men, bucklers and cutlasses or something similar, with mages in every group to look for hidden enemies.”

You rub your chin as you think that over. “The empty buildings… should we hit them too?”

“Can your soul-seeing thing be wrong?” he asks with a hint of awkwardness. He’s questioning a demigoddess.

“No.”

“Then I would station troops outside instead,” he says. “It’s very hard to conceal footsteps and heartbeats, though it is possible. If there is somebody outside, they may make a break for it when we hit the other buildings.”


>Anyone else you want to consult?

>>34821154
Do not think we have anyone left, besides Elsa's left hand ("husband").

>>34821226
I'd like to leave him out of it if at all possible. At least physically. If Asa can get hold of him, maybe he has a suggestion for this?

Oh, and of course the audience can suggest solutions other than the ones people list in-character at any time.

>>34821272
Stupid masturbation joke, pls ignore

You tap the Gem. {Sister, is there anything you or Jerome can add to this?}

[Honestly, no,] Asa says heavily. After a pause, she speaks up again. [Jerome is just hoping you’ll be safe.]

{Thanks.}

[Forest is a dangerous man, and utterly afraid of you for some reason,] Asa cautions. [He’s as likely as Soutri to take hostages. The fact that he apparently hasn’t is… odd. Then, this is his house. I imagine his plan never involved you being here in person.]


>Any final requests or ideas?

>Yes (what)
>No (move on to team selection)

>>34821752
>>Yes (what)
Can anybody on the rooftops see anything through the windows?

You look up to the rooftop facing the main mansion. “How do I get updates from the guys on the rooftops?”

Cordland waves a hand and a few troops run up. “I send up messengers.”

You point at the large building. “Ask the spotters if they see anything through the windows.”

The Brigadier dispatches his runners. You close your eyes and focus your mind on the task, opening them only when the General speaks again. “Herald.”

You glance at the runners, where they stand, panting, and delivering their reports. “The spotters report no movement of any kind, and a few candles and lowstones lit. No pattern. Place looks dead to the world.”


>Now what?

>>34822227
Shit. Let's just bang some doors in then.

>Time to decide!

>You have approximately 100 soldiers of varying types available. 20 are skirmish and ranged troops, 80 are infantry or dismounted cavalry. You have five mages available, and two of them are veteran Royal War Mages.

>Which formations and tactics do you want to use?

>Just go with Cordland’s suggestion
>Come up with something else

>>34822927
>>Just go with Cordland’s suggestion

Waiting a few more minutes for my time-deprived audience to arrive.

>>34822927
>Just go with Cordland’s suggestion
I have nothing better

“Rally the men, General,” you say decisively. “It’s time to flush out a beast.”

Cordland salutes. “Yes, ma’am. Five by five?”

“Every door into the buildings with people in them, plus the ranged fighters on the tool shed,” you say, pointing at the tiny structure. “Take prisoners if the option is given.”

The General nods and turns to the runners, who promptly take off again. “Do you want a better weapon, Herald?” he asks over his shoulder.


>You may swap out your spear and round shield for any two short weapons, or a long weapon, or a one-handed weapon and shield of your choice of type

>”I’ll take what I have. Spear and disc shield.”
>”I’ll take…(what?)”

>>34823392
I was at a movie. Thanks for waiting. His plan sounds good, but increase teams to 10 men each, unless there are too many doors to cover with those numbers. Put the 2 veteran mages into the teams hitting main or big doors, and have the other 3 on the perimeter.

Also, how common is tapping the Well?

>>34823802

I'll incorporate your suggestion into the battle plan, if nobody objects.

Tapping the Well is pretty uncommon. It requires both personal sacrifice and considerable discipline, or incredible innate magical talent. Mages tapping the Well is much more common, since it takes decades of hard work to truly master magic. Forest is not a Mage.

>>34823851
Well, I'd say these guys are most likely not hostages because they've all tapped the well, aside from the guy in the shed, but Soutri's hostages had all tapped the Well too. Ugh, I guess as long as the soldiers know that they might be captives in there and we don't open with grenades it won't be completely terrible. Take a longsword and shield.

Soutri's hostages had not tapped the well. You were so close to them that you could see them with the Chaos Sight. Chaos Sight finds all people.

>>34823775
Fighting indoors we probably want a shorter weapon.

>>34824015
oh god
people died because I mixed those up
:(

“I should re-equip with something shorter than a spear,” you admit.

The General nods, and with a flourish, produces his own rapier. Its entire blade is shimmering with a flame enchantment – a very expensive one. “Done,” he he says gravely, handing it to you carefully. “Use it with pride.”

You smile and nod in respect for the weapon, and his willingness to let you use it. “Thank you, General Cordland.” You pass him your borrowed spear and sheathe the rapier. “I should have all available mages active, as well. If any of your mages are war veterans, I want them in the teams I’m sending in.”

“Very well,” he says. “Which building do you want to hit in person?”


>The pleasure gallery
>The guest house
>The manor

>>34824352
>Manor

>>34824352
>>The manor
>>>The pleasure gallery
Either works. Guest house is least likely to have Forest I think.

>>34824352
The pleasure gallery

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Two way tie, huh. Flipping coin. 1 is manor, 2 is pleasure house.

I do know which one he's in, fear not. This isn't one of those Time Crisis-style There Is No Right Answer things.

“I’m taking the manor,” you tell him.

He beckons a few small teams over. “All right. I’ll dispatch one mage with you, and teams of five men each to the four doors. Twenty two soldiers. If any reinforcements arrive, I’ll send them in piecemeal, and hold a reserve force in the stables in case this Keen fellow tries to escape on horseback.”

“Thanks, General,” you say, tapping the pommel of his sword. You turn to the men and women he’s loaned you, and hide a small twinge of guilt – some are barely more than kids. The leader is a Warrant Officer, so they’re not hopeless, but still. Everybody in your squad was older than some of these people, before they died.

The mage steps forth. “Your Eminence! War mage Costlerey, at your service!” she says reverently. She’s a fairly old dark elf, and strapped up to the teeth in shimmering armor. It’s not plate, it’s chain, but it will still slow her down a bit.

“Thank you, mage,” you say with a salute. You glance over the other troops and let your expression harden. “All right, soldiers, listen up! We’re going in the doors! Our target is a man named Cordel Keel, AKA Forest! He’s a talented soldier, and he’s hiding somewhere in this compound! Break, teams of five, stack on the doors!”

The Warrant salutes and waves the men towards the doors as the skirmishers on the rooftops prepare their weapons. The mage and five troops tuck in behind you as you sprint to the servants’ entrance, sparing a thought as you do as to where the servants actually are. You haven’t seen any yet.


>Final instructions?

>Yes (what)
>No (it’s clobberin’ time!)

>>34825059
>increase the teams to ten men each, or even 15

if there are 100 soldiers here we don't want 80 milling around outside while 20 go in

60 or 40 should be more than enough for a secure perimeter

>>34825201
The other eighty guys are hitting the other buildings. You were picking which one you hit in person.

>>34824352

>>34825239
got it, nvm

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>>34825059
>>No (it’s clobberin’ time!)

Costlery takes a deep breath and tilts her head back. You clap your hands over your ears and close your eyes, as do the other soldiers, and the mage screams.

She doesn’t just make noise. A rippling wall of magic erupts from her head, blasting the door to splinters. You charge in the second the pathway clears, and see nothing – the room is dark.

You engage your Chaos sight, and the world behind you glows faintly as the other six people rush in. The spot where you saw the Well-tapped person before is a bit too far to see from here, but as you rush through the servants’ antechamber, it starts to shimmer at the edge of your sight. It’s not moving.

You charge through the halls of the house,letting your superb eyes adjust as you run, and hearing the other troops pour in through the far doors. You round the corner and find yourself face-to-face with somebody you’ve never seen, in the clothing you’d identify with the Mercenaries’ Guild, and brandishing a spear. He has the most terrified look you’ve ever seen in a living person on his face, and the instant he sees you, he screams.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” he shrieks, and hurls the spear at you.

Roll 1d100+8

>>34825059
No (it’s clobberin’ time!)

Rolled 59 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>34825810

Rolled 10 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>34825810
100 pls so we catch it like a bamf

Rolled 34 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>34825810

Rolled 70 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>34825810
90+

Writing.

You swing to deflect the spear, and it ricochets off of your shield to tangle with the legs of a soldier behind you. She gasps and manages to get clear of the blade, but she’s down. You spring forward and stab with the rapier, but he’s running away. Running fast.

“GET AWAY!” he screams, and runs headlong into another search party. The lead soldier in that group leaps back, but the man isn’t fighting – he just plows through the group and takes off at a sprint, though the soldier at the end of the column takes a swing at him and knocks him to his feet.

Your groups merge as the running mercenary scrambles up, but as soon as he sees that you’ve surrounded him, he funbles for a dagger and holds it to his neck.

“Back off, abomination!” he squeals, staring at you with eyes filled with madness. “GO AWAY! LEAVE ME BE! YOU’LL NOT HARVEST ME!”

>wat do

>>34826352
"I'm not here to harvest anyone, you fucking lunatic. Whatever Keel told you is a lie."

inb4 the triad are evil and the conspiracy has been trying to save the world the entire time

>>34826352
>Harvest the damned
what a fitting ability name
and just in time

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>>34826503
what
Why? He's threatening to kill himself. Why would we vaporize him in front of a bunch of people who would then start spreading the news the Herald vaporizes people when they start talking about harvesting people?

>>34826540
I don't actually want to. I just wrote it because he used the word harvest and I knew it would get outvoted.

Also I don't think it vaporizes people.

Well, so far, it's tied for the actual action. And I haven't said what it does. If you want to change your vote, go ahead, if not, I'll flip a coin in a few minutes.

>>34826730
don't actually harvest him
I thought lurkers would shout me down when I made that vote

“Whoa, whoa, back up,” you say, raising your hands. “I’d prefer not to kill anybody!”

“BULLSHIT!” he roars. His eyes dart back and forth between the soldiers surrounding him. “I know what you are! I know what you can do! Leave me be! Let me go!”

“Stand down, put the knife away, and nobody dies,” you say, forcing calm into your voice. “I promise.”

He shivers in fear. A bead of blood trickes down the edge of the knife where he has it against his skin. “You’ll take my soul, I won’t allow it,” he whimpers.


>Use divine ability (which?)
>Try to get him to stand down (roll 1d100+6)
>kill him
>writein

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Rolled 87 + 6 (1d100 + 6)

>>34826988
>>Try to get him to stand down (roll 1d100+6)
Worse case scenario he offs himself.

>>34826988
>Use divine ability (which?)

Voice of the Divine, reach him through the fear

>Try to get him to stand down (roll 1d100+6)

dice+1d100+6

Rolled 96 + 6 (1d100 + 6)

>>34827134
and I always forget rolls
mostly because I know they'll be bad

Rolled 46 + 6 (1d100 + 6)

>>34826988

You’re a Herald. You don’t need to tap Asa’s powers to speak to the terrified. “Sir, please listen,” you say calmly. “My name is Elsa. What did Keen tell you it was?”

The man glares at you through whatever mass of fear he has in his mind. “He… he didn’t…” he manages.

“Right. I’m a person. Can you understand that? I’m not a phantom, I’m not a ghost,” you say quietly. “I won’t kill you because I can.” You slowly raise one hand to hang in midair. “Will you give me the knife?”

The man stares at you, his chest heaving. “You’ll… you’ll murder me…”

You shake your head. “No.” Asa’s power bleeds into your voice, but you don’t summon it actively. In your Chaos sight, you can see your soul reach out to caress his. “Calm yourself. You can survive this… if you give me the knife.”

The man’s eyes tear up. “No…”

A soldier behind him silently raises a cutlass to decapitation position, but you make a minute shake of your head, and he pauses. “Sir, please.”

The man falls to his knees, sobbing, and the knife clatters from his hands. Costlery is at his side in an instant, and he’s asleep in seconds.

The soldiers all relax a bit. “Well done, your Eminence,” one sighs.


>Which building next?

>Tool shed
>Pleasure gallery
>Guest house

>>34827512
>Pleasure Gallery

>>34827512
>>Pleasure gallery
Off we go!

Back and writing, this will be the last post of the night.

“Thanks,” you say, wiping you rhand over your brow. “What… ugh. What was he so scared of? What is Forest telling these bastards?” You shake your head before anybody can answer. “Forget it. I’m moving on to the pleasure gallery.”


You climb the stairs to the top floor, where an open bridge takes you over to the pleasure gallery’s open structure. A pleasure gallery in a place like this is usually a reconditioned guest house, used for parties. A few caterers, some musicians, some professional dancers, some companions, and you have all you need for a huge party – the whole building is filled with servants’ tunnels and the like. The walls are usually lined with nice art or huge windows, and this place is no exception.

As soon as you enter the building, you instantly spot the problem. Forest himself is barricaded into one corner of the top floor’s open sides, surrounded by blocks of metal and stone. The huge, open, central room is at least three storeys tall, and he’s locked himself into one corner. He’s armed, obviously – you can see spots of blood on the floor around his impromptu barricades – and a few of your men are hunched over injured comrades.

You jog over to the nearest group and squat next to the Lieutenant in charge. “You found our man,” you tell him. “What’s the situation inside his barricade?”

The young officer doesn’t look up. “The situation is that he has a repeater crossbow, a satchel of corrosive poison bombs, and I need a medic,” he says shortly.

You let out a heavy breath. “All right, then. Time to go to work.”


[TEMPORARY END OF THREAD]

Keep it alive for tomorrow.

bump

bump

>>34828831
>>34829199

And a third. This thread ain't dyin' this day.

>>34826352
oh shit, bump before disappearing

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Well done! I'll take it from here.

You have your back pressed to a wall down the hall from Forest’s little hidey-hole, wondering what he thinks you’re going to do to him. You don’t literally absorb souls, do you? And even if you did, how could he know?

You try to put the thought aside, but it won’t go. Does he actually know something you don’t?

The whole inner dial;ogue vanishes as a bolt thuds into the wall beside you. You shake your head. Forest is still in his little hole, you’re out here, and like you said to the Lieutenant, it’s time to go to work.

“Herald! Get out of my house!” Forest cries from inside the barricade. “Go away!”

“After all you’ve done? You know I can’t do that, Cordel!” you shout. “You’ve killed people while I was watching! You’re part of a conspiracy to traffic ancient superweapons!”

“Who cares?” he screams. “What’s the distinction between normal weapons and superweapons? Why does the Pantheon come for me, but not all the arms dealser in the world? What the fuck did I do to deserve this?”


>Try to reason with him
>Just order the Lieutenant to take the barricade
>Page Asa to ask her something (what?)
>writein

>>34834688
>writein
Toss a glue grenade into his little fort.

You sigh under your breath as you think over your options. You could use your soul-guiding abilities to force him to surrender, but… what’s the point? You dip your hand into your pouch and pull out a Glue grenade, then prime the little alchemic vial.


>Roll 1d100+12 for Ranged Attack.

Rolled 27 + 12 (1d100 + 12)

>>34835226

Rolled 75 + 12 (1d100 + 12)

>>34835226

Rolled 3 + 12 (1d100 + 12)

>>34835226

You slow your breath and still your hand, then lunge out into the corridor. A bolt tears from the depths of the maze of blocks, and though it does pierce your pauldron and nick your skin, it also lets you know where he is. You hurl the grenade, and it soars through the gap, cracking against something.

Forest yelps, and the clatter of a metal bolt against the floor greets your ears. Problem is, you can’t tell if he’s actually pinned, or if you just got his weapon.


>Send in the Army guys and the mage
>Attack
>writein

Bumping for the players at lunch.

>>34835725
Breakfast actually. Move to his position with a few army guys as backup.

Also tell him the distinction is that superweapons can kill the gods and doom the world and everyone in it.

>>34835754
This. So much this.

It doesn’t actually matter, really. He’s pinned.

You wave the Army squads behind you forward as you unsling the rapier. You charge into the barricade, adrenaline pounding through you, and see your target.

Forest is flailing at his arm, which is stuck to one wall. He sees you coming and bellows something incoherent, aiming his crossbow at you at point-blank.

One of the mages flicks his wrist, and the crossbow glows red. Forest screams and drops it, accompanied by the sound of sizzling meat and cracking metal.

You duck under his swing and deflect a hasty kick, then ram your rapier hilt-deep in his chest. He coughs once and stares at you, with horror written on every inch of his face.

You lean in as he slumps over. “The difference is that deicide can’t be just, assassin,” you say coldly. “And if we lose one more, the world ends. I’m sure Asa will explain it to you.”

You turn on your heel and walk off as he rattles and collapses, still hanging from the wall with one arm. You thumb the Gem as you leave. {Forest is dead.}

[Oh?] A few seconds pass. [Indeed.]

{Why was he so frightened of me?}

Asa’s voice turns pensive. [Interesting. Check out his rooms in the main house when you’re done. He had some interesting artifacts that may help explain.]


>Go right there
>Go see who the other two people are
>Go report to the General
>writein

>>34836189
>Go see who the other two people are
clean up first

It would be smart to go see, but there were two other people in this place. Time to investigate.

You jog out onto the bridge, heading for the guest house. The place is the best-lit of the buildings you’ve seen so far here, and every few hallways, you see a Guard or soldier standing watch, so there can’t be much of a fight going on.

You climb down the stairs for the basement, but as you step off, you hear voices from the wine cellar.

“So you’ll keep her away from me, right?” a woman’s voice asks. It sounds like sandpaper on a wound; she’s been crying a lot.

“Yes, yes, we’ll keep the Herald from eating your soul or whatever,” a soldier replies. One of the mages from outside speaks up, too.

“You know they don’t do that, right?”

“She can!” the woman moans. “I’ve seen it! She can!”


>Confront this person
>Go check the tool shed.

>>34836344
>Send in someone to ask where she saw it, don't go in ourselves

>>34836344
Stay out of her sight but flag one of the guards over, see what other babble they've been spouting. (If necessary, assure the guard Forest was telling them all sorts of shit). Have them escort her out and have her interrogated somewhere. Same goes for the other guy with the dagger. (also the same for anybody else we find)

>>Go check the tool shed.
Then go to the shed.

>>34836399
>>34836483
This

Maybe going in there right after she was convinced to surrender on the condition that she never see you isn’t the best idea. You snag a passing soldier and tilt your head towards the door. “Do me a favor, Corporal,” you murmur. “Go find out why the prisoner was willing to surrender when the others weren’t. I need to go check on the last target.”

The soldier nods and walks in as you turn back around and head outside. The chilly early winter winds flick the ends of your hair about – you should go get it cut, you think absently as you walk.

The tool shed is a dilapidated little set of walls with a roof, and as you approach, you see a gaggle of soldiers exit with a withered old man in the middle of their group, looking quite perplexed. Cordland is standing nearby, shaking his head. He spots you and walks over.

“Groundskeeper, a bloody groundskeeper,” he mutters. “Didn’t even know we were here.”

You frown at the sight. “Wait, where are the rest of the servants?”

“The hitman ordered them all out,” the Brigadier says with a shrug. “The groundskeeper is deaf as a post and didn’t hear it.”

You massage the bridge of your nose in exhasperation. “Great.”

“At least it’s over,” Cordland sighs. “A few wounded, but no deaths.” He looks at your shoulder. “You should get that looked at.”

“Asa’ll handle it,” you say, dismissing the actually very painful cut. “Thanks for your help, General.” You pass him his rapier, and he returns your borrowed spear.

“My honor, Herald.”


>Go check out that item Asa mentioned
>Go return your borrowed kit
>writein

>>34836853
>Go check out that item Asa mentioned

>>34836853
>>Go check out that item Asa mentioned
See what's up.

I'm always curious about new toys. Let's check out Forest's room.

You heft your borrowed kit and walk back into the main house, where the soldiers are lighting the candles and glowstones. You climb up to the top floor, looking around for the master suite. After a few minutes of searching, you walk into a grand, heavily decorated chamber, with a luxurious bed, complete with silk sheets. The little bath off the side has a tub, a shower, a bidet, and a massage table, and it’s surrounded with scented candles and piles of various soaps.

“Not what I’d expect in a hitman’s sense of décor,” you chuckle as you root through the room.

You open the wardrobe next to the bed and recoil in surprise. Inside is a mirror, but not one built into the doors of the wardrobe. It’s just shoved in there, and it’s shimmering with an eerie light.

You tap the Gem. {Sister, what is this?}

“A Radiant Portal,” Asa says from behind you.

You feel Asa’s hand rest on your un-hurt shoulder as her Avatar moves to stand behind you. “I owe you an apology, Elsa,” she says dolefully. “I thought we had accounted for all of these.”

You glance over at her to see her staring into the shimmering silver surface. “What is it?”

Avatars don’t breathe, but she seems to sigh anyway. “When the world was born, the people had easy means of speaking to the Gods, thanks to the Heralds. They built shrines to their divine parents, where they could worship and pray, and their wourds would be heard. In the days before the demigods and out Avatars, that was the only way to speak to Mai’te, Garm, Gleiss, all of them.”


(con’t)

Asa steps forward and rests one finger on the rim of the frame, and the glass shines with a soothing, silverly light. “This is a Gnome portal,” she says to herself. “This was a device that allowed people to see the direction in which the nearest permanent Temple or Herald may be.”

You feel your skin crawl. “They were watching me?” you ask in horror.

She shakes her head, sending little beams of light over the floor and walls. “No, sister, no. It shows their direction.” Asa takes your hand and presses it against the frame, and the mirror glows, showing the setting sun – which is behind you, out the window. “It shows the way the viewer should have to face to find them.”

“Oh… so they could tell which way I was going, but not what I was doing?” you ask.

“Correct. And if my suspicion is correct…” She turns to you and raises one hand. “May I have access to your Gem for a moment?”

>Yes
>No

>>34837296
>Yes

>>34837296
>yes

“Uh, all right,” you say.

Asa rests a hand on your forehead, and that familiar feeling of peace and calm floods your body. As you feel new power enter you, you see the edge of the mirror gleam with bright red light.

ABILITY UNLOCKED: FOR PEACE, FOR REST
New Divine Ability unlocked!

For Peace, For Rest: With a single word, Elsa puts all people around her for twenty meters to sleep. If she wishes, she will be one of them. If she stays awake, she can control their dreams, and if she so chooses, the targets will never awaken. INFINITE ACTIVE USES.


You step back, rubbing your forehead, as Asa looks at the mirror. “I knew it,” she says with satisfaction. “The mirror glowed with red light very time you grew more powerful. Gnomes were always cramming new features into their devices.”

“Oh,” you mutter. “So… they saw me growing more powerful, and it drove Forest paranoid.”

“And he passed it along to his partners,” Asa says, sounding quite pleased to have solved the riddle.


>”So do you think there’s more of them out there?”
>”Did Forest know where Kotrick is?”
>writein

http://pastebin.com/ezsJzAWG

UPDATED!

I never put her maiden name on there, for some reason, or her middle name, which was her mother's maiden name. I also updated her age and weight.

>>34837469
>>”Did Forest know where Kotrick is?”
"Why did he think I was going to harvest him?"
also holy shit that ability OP as fuck

>>34837469
That's OP. Can we differentiate between the eternal sleepers or is it an everyone or no-one deal?

>"I guess this is how they knew I could harvest souls."

>OP

spoilers
You're fighting people who could solo younger Brothers, or cadet Firesouls. I wasn't actually planning for you to have the Forest encounter anywhere near this early. You found his home base far earlier than I planned. If you had missed even one perception check in the last five threads, it wouldn't have happened. Now, the only conspirator you've located is Moor, and he won't be anywhere near this easy to reach, much less kill.

>>34837599
So we need the OP.

>inb4 Moor has his own fortress outside the city
>inb4 the Explorer is hidden in a subdimension created by one of his artifacts.

>>34837677
>inb4 I suggest we drop another frag out down the chimney.

Except for some collateral damage, Frag Out has been amazingly successful every single time.

“Why did he think I was going to harvest him?” you ask, recalling the words of the hitmen. “And what’s this ability you gave me, To Harvest the Damned? Does it literally drop people into hell?”

She chuckles. “It’s dramatic liscence. It just kills people. It doesn’t drop them into the afterlife without visiting the Cage.”

“So how did he know about it at all?” you ask.

Your demigoddess shrugs. “Libraries. The old Heralds were the champions and high priests of entire empires; their lives and powers were fairly well-documented. Forest probably had one of his partners go check out your potential strengths. When they saw you gain power after power after power, but didn’t know what they were, they grew paranoid.”

You page through the knowledge in your Gem, and feel a distinctly uncomfortable sensation. “Uh, this sleeping power…”

She nods. “Mmm?”

“It’s… so powerful, you know.”

“A powerful power,” she says drily. “Indeed. Of course, if you lose concentration, you’ll black out. This isn’t something you can whip out in the middle of a fight.”

“How do I control it?”

“It’s as intuitive as breathing, once you try to use it actively,” she counsels. “Just will them to sleep, and they do. Will them to wake, and they shall. Leave them to rest, and they’ll wake up naturally on their own.”


(con’t)

You look at yourself in the mirror. The brand is now piercing your eyebrows, and starting up into your hairline and eyelids. “And the dreams?”

“They work the same way.” She lifts one hand and gestures vaguely at the bed. “This isn’t a torture tool. This was designed to assist those Heralds who chose to use their powers to explore the wilderness, put animals to sleep. The combat benefits were stumbled upon later, and the dream control was added far later, when several Gods were already dead, and the Heralds had become warlords. If we had had the means of redesigning the ability from scratch, maybe we would have.” She grimaces. “And this is the only ability I’ve given you that some may be able to resist. If they have a shield up, a magic shield, they could potentially block it, if the magic fied is so attuned. I highly doubt there’s more than a few magic shield enchantments of the sort left in the world, though, but this entire campaign has consisted of surprises, so that doesn’t mean much.”
>”So he did know where Novai and Kotrick were?”
>”Then now what?”
>writein

>>34837806
>>”So he did know where Novai and Kotrick were?”

>>34837806
I was gonna ask if it could be blocked. I had a feeling it could, considering how powerful it was. It's probably well documented enough that the others will be prepared for it as well.

>Can we control the dreams of different people individually, or will everyone have the same dream?

>Can we will only a specific person or people awake, or wake everyone but a specific group, or must we wake everyone at once?

>What did Forest know about the remaining conspirators?

>>34837873
Since Elsa knows the answer to one of those questions intuitively, I'll just tell you: not only can it be blocked, but if her concentration skips, anybody who knows meditative techniques can break out. Also, she can't control dreams individually, and she has no way of knowing if there's people she can't see in the AOE. It's a forty meter diameter AOE. Asa will be greatly upset if she puts people to sleep who aren't her enemies. It's AOE, centered on caster.

>>34837907
Ok. Asa will really be upset though? It's just sleep.

>>34838069
If you put somebody to sleep, then will them to never wake, she'd be justified in being very angry.

>>34838200
Now that's understandable. I guess we can't will them to wake up after willing them to never wake.

>>34838255
No, you could, but if you didn't know you had done it, then you'd have killed more people by accident.

“So did he know where Kotrick and Novai are?” you ask.

“Sadly not, not any more,” Asa reports. “They were relocating, to avoid your finding them. But Moor, he saw Moor two days ago.”

“Where is he?”

“In a warehouse loft, but you already knew where he was,” your patroness reminds you. “Now, go get some rest and let me heal that arm,” she adds, pointing at your stinging wound. “You’ll need numbers and planning to take on Kotrick’s lieutenant.”


LEVEL NINE: DIVINE POWER RISING COMPLETE!

Progress: B+
Combat: B
Improv: C+


Not bad at all! You’ve made a lot of progress, killing a major boss in less time than I estimated and unlocking one of your most potent powers.

Combat was gimped a bit, since you had your enemies off-guard most of the time, but you managed to take on Forest with no casualties, and that’s impressive.

Writeins were more common but not particularly substantial, but still fine.

See you all next Friday!

>>34838268
Oh, I see. You're saying that if someone was in the 20 foot radius that we didn't know about, and we put them to sleep without knowing about them then they'd be effectively dead.

Is that really a concern? Walking around a bit with soul finder on should cover all the area we affected, since the range on that is 15 feet.

>>34838311
Thanks for running!

>>34838334
And by soul finder I mean through the eyes of ghosts

>>34838334
Correct.