>>43622029

Stomping onwards, you rub your eye as a sudden stinging pain flashes through it. Just a twinge of pain, nothing really, but it's enough to fill your eye with tears. You swipe them away with a callous flick of your fingers and press on, but it's not long before another lance of pain hits you. This one causes you to stumble as the world around you shifts, growing flat and somehow lifeless. You could be staring at a damn oil painting, for all you know. Then, as you're clutching a hand to your aching brow, everything drops away from you.

You feel like you've forgotten something very important.

“Bloody hell, Red,” the man behind you snaps, some vague mixture of concern and amusement in his voice, “What's gotten into you? Swaying about like that, you look as drunk as a lord.”

A snarl forms on your lips as you lurch round and seize him by the shoulders, staring hard at him. The words bubble up from some dark recess of your mind, each one overlapping and forming a wild chorus – Liar, cheat, thief and degenerate. Those are just the first ones that reach you, there's something else there, hidden beneath countless layers of thick deception. You can just about see it now, if only you could get a better look...

“Bloody hell!” he repeats, stammering with sudden fear, “Your eye, what's wrong with your bloody eye?”

Nothing is wrong, you hear yourself murmur, but... that's not quite right, is it? Once again, the thought strikes you – there's something terribly important, something you can't quite remember.

>Try to remember. This is important
>He's hiding something. You need to know

>>43622032
>>Try to remember. This is important
Figuring out this eye thing is more important than whatever Elliot's hiding. For now. I assume will have more chances to use Dominion's eye on him.

>>43622032
>>Try to remember. This is important

>>43622032
>>Try to remember. This is important
>>He's hiding something. You need to know

File: Elliot.jpg (148 KB, 450x703)

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>>43622080
>>43622083
>>43622269

All his sins and dirty secrets are just there, laid out before you. Everything you wanted to know about him, there for the plundering...

Grunting with exertion, you tear your gaze away from him and clap a hand over your eye. For a brief, terrible moment all you see is darkness but then, slowly, your sight begins to creep back. With it, your memories come dripping back until you can remember, quite clearly, what you were supposed to be doing. The auction house, Marco and Leon, all of it. A task that Amelia trusted you with, and one that you almost threw away because of what? Curiosity? Some otherworldly impulse that nearly pushed you over some nameless brink?

No, perhaps Amelia doesn't need to know about this. You'll keep it a secret, for now, until you know what to do. The thought that you might be tainted, somehow compromised, surfaces like an ill omen as you shake the last lingering remnants of those strange impulses away. Elliot said something about your eye, didn't he?

“Right, right,” the young man looks shaken, busy straightening his lapels and brushing down his hair, “It was bright green, just for a moment. I've never seen an eye quite that colour, let me tell you. Normally, I'd think it was some kind of contact lens, but that's not it, is it? That was something altogether more out of the ordinary.”

Something like that, you murmur, some of the details are a little muddled in your own mind. Then again, you've never really had a perfect memory. For a moment, Elliot looks like he's about to say something – probably some inane comment taken from the big book of British stereotypes – but you cut him off. You'd better get moving, you tell him in a hard voice. It looks like there might be a storm brewing – a single glance up at the churning clouds is enough to tell you that – and you want to be away before it hits.

>>43622334
>No, perhaps Amelia doesn't need to know about this.

Too late Petra. Mia already spilled the beans a few threads ago.

>>43622334

“Too right,” Elliot relents, “Cold enough as it is, wouldn't you agree? How would I play cards with a hand full of frostbitten fingers? A travesty, let me tell you...”

He prattles on for some time, but you ignore most of what he says. When you feel particularly generous, you occasionally offer a grunt or muttered affirmation, but that's all you feel like contributing to the conversation. It doesn't seem to bother the man, who keeps on rambling from one subject to the next. He's in the middle of some anecdote about gambling – his hand of cards was “quite simply terrible”, in his own words – when you halt him. Ahead, looming up from the thickening drifts of snow, is a desolate mansion. The auction house that your Oni told you about – there's nothing else it could be.

“Shouldn't there be, I don't know, guards?” Elliot asks carefully, peering around through the deepening gloom, “Not complaining if there aren't any, mind you, but this whole thing stinks of a trap.”

Big deal, you tell him with a grin – the first genuine happiness you've felt for a while. If it's a trap, that means they've got some reason to try and trap you. All you've got to do is burst in there, mess up their little plan, and break some heads. Easy. All in a day's work.

“Who, pray tell, are “they” in this little narrative of yours?” Elliot asks peevishly, “Some nameless, faceless menace?”

Probably, you tell him with an indifferent shrug, but that doesn't really matter to you. It was never really about WHO you were fighting. Anyone would do.

“Good lord,” Elliot sighs as he follows you, your path leading you right up to the mansion's front door, “We're doomed.”

>>43622430

You're no brash fool, the type of idiot to walk into the first pitfall they come across. At the very least, you check the front door over for any obvious traps before you kick it in, the thick soles of your boots splintering the dank, rotten wood as the lock bursts open. There was probably a side door somewhere that was left unlocked, the perfect thing for a quiet entrance, but you were never really the type to sneak in. When you enter a room, you like heads to turn. This time, you are, unfortunately, disappointed. The place is deserted.

“Well!” Elliot announces as he follows you in, “I hope they don't mind us leaving the door open. Hell of a draft coming in, wouldn't you say? And all this snow blowing in, well, these carpets are simply beyond rescue. Shame, really, they would have looked quite nice once. You see that tasteful border there?”

You really, really don't care, you tell Elliot bluntly, watching his face fall. This idiot, you realise, has no idea how serious this all is. If he keeps treating it like a joke, someone's going to put him in the ground. Frowning hard, you take a look around. There seems to be a set of stairs leading down to the basement – a good place for an ambush that, and an even better place for a trap – and another leading upwards. Up to the rest of the house, presumably.

“Got a bad feeling about this place,” Elliot mentions, in his usual off-hand kind of way, “Bit like something out of a horror movie, wouldn't you say?”

>Look for the inevitable basement trap
>Check the rest of the house first
>Split up – just like a horror movie!
>Other

>>43622513
>Check the rest of the house first

>>43622513
Jokingly suggest
>Split up – just like a horror movie!

Then
>Check the rest of the house first
We should make sure no one else comes up behind us when we spring the basement trap.

>>43622513
>>Check the rest of the house first

>>43622534
>>43622606
>>43622611

You've seen the kinds of basements they have in horror movies, and you'd rather not go wandering down there without checking out the other options first. Worst case scenario, you find nothing. Best case scenario, find some potential problem and crush it before it has a chance to become a real danger. Either way, you'll be sure that nothing will jump on you from behind when you do, eventually, check downstairs.

Hey Elliot, you suggest with a sinister smile, why doesn't he have a good long look around the basement while you check upstairs? After all, you could cover twice as much ground that way!

“You're a bloody lunatic!” Elliot gasps, “You think... You want me to... You... you're joking, aren't you?” Your laugh, rough around the edges, is all the answer he needs. “Right, fine. We'll take a little look upstairs, but I'm not going down there alone, okay! The last thing I bloody need is to take a little wander into someone's torture cellar...”

Still chuckling to yourself, you cross the room to the grand staircase and take your first step up it. Of course, it creaks like something mere inches away from collapsing, but you don't let something that petty put you off. It's lasted this long, hasn't it? Ignoring the chorus of groans that follow you as you stomp your way up the stairs, you draw your phone and hold it closely to your side. If there IS someone up there that needs a good beating, you won't be able to do it yourself. Yet.

Watching you, Elliot takes his own phone out, although with decidedly less confidence and eagerness. This will be the first time he summons something, you realise. Hopefully it'll be something more useful than he is.

File: Shikome.png (381 KB, 663x1080)

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>>43622744

When you reach the top of the stairs, you freeze. There was a noise, some faint rattle that echoed down the otherwise silent corridors, but it refuses to sound again. It was almost a giggle, some shrill laugh muffled by layers of wood and cloth. You're not alone here – not that you ever thought you would be – but the exact location confounds you. It was such a brief sound, and the echoes didn't seem quite natural.

“That door, there, at the end of the hall,” Elliot murmurs, pointing it out to you, “I saw a light, and some shadows moving about. There was someone in there, pacing back and forth. I think they know we're here.”

Is that so? You watch the door carefully for a moment – if there IS something in there, you don't see any sign of it – before shouting out. You in there, you yell, show yourself! Your voice sounds terribly loud in the tight corridor, and seems to linger for a long time, but nothing answers your call. Nothing, you tell Elliot with a shrug, he must have been mistaken...

Before you can say anything else, the door bursts open and a hideous demon surges out into the corridor. A woman, almost, she is carried aloft by long flowing hair that sways and writhes like boneless limbs. That shrill laugh you faintly heard sounds again, this time loud and blatant.

“More of you human fools?” she shrieks, “Ah, but I'll be a rich woman by tomorrow! I'll sell you, and your little friends as well – now surrender, unless you want me to tear you apart!”

>Summon a demon to fight
>Try and speak with her. Maybe she'll listen to reason?
>Attempt to flee
>Other

>Both Dullahan and Oni are injured, but still usable. Elliot will also fight

>>43622806
>>Try and speak with her. Maybe she'll listen to reason?

>>43622806
>Try and speak with her. Maybe she'll listen to reason?
Less reasoning with her and more trying to get info.
"More humans? Short one with glasses and a blonde or two dudes?"

>Summon a demon to fight
Oni. If he bites it we can just ask Dullahan for her sword again. I don't think we can carry Oni's club. Yet.

>>43622855
>>43622806
Going with this.

I bet we can guess but try asking her where they are cause you know, there's no point in hiding it since we are totally about to get captured by the scary demon.

File: Fortuna.jpg (53 KB, 487x748)

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Rolled 48, 57 = 105 (2d100)

>>43622910
>>43622855
>>43622851

More humans, you ask, which humans would these be? Two girls – one blonde, and a short one with glasses – or two men? You're not sure whether or not to expect an answer, but you figure why not? Talk is cheap, after all.

“Two girls,” the demon purrs, “I get so many girls lately – they always fetch a high price. Maybe I should keep you all, start up a little business of my own...”

“Oi!” Elliot shouts, raising his voice for once, “I'm here too, you know, don't just write me off like that!”

Well, since you're obviously about to get captured – you say this with a kind of blistering contempt – she won't mind telling you where these other girls are being kept, will she? Since, obviously again, you'll be joining them soon enough.

“I don't like your tone,” the demon growls, “You think I'd just give away information like that? Bah, just wait until you're locked up in the basement with the-” Her voice drops away, leaving an awkward pause in its place. “Oh damn,” the demon mutters to herself before rallying admirably, “No matter – hear my voice, humans, and know true fear!”

Bring it on, you snarl as you punch the icon on your phone, calling Oni into existence before you. Elliot, swearing under his breath, follows suit and summons his own demon – a fair maiden, with an ever-turning wheel in place of her navel. Time to fight!

>Please roll 2D100, for Oni and Fortuna. I'll take the highest of the first three.

Rolled 51, 98 = 149 (2d100)

>>43622996
Lets see if Fortuna can live up to her name...

>>43622996

>Forgot to post Elliot's character sheet as well
>http://pastebin.com/saasKP4t

Rolled 6, 52 = 58 (2d100)

>>43622996

Rolled 35, 80 = 115 (2d100)

>>43622996

Rolled 42, 76 = 118 (2d100)

>>43622996

>>43623010
Looks like she does.

Rolled 79, 45 = 124 (2d100)

>>43622996
Ha! Ha! Time for sm/tg/!

And sadly, I'm not gonna be around for most of it. :(

>>43623010
>Lets see if Fortuna can live up to her name...
>98
Yeah, no problem

>>43623023
>+Bestows good fortune upon allies
Noice

File: Oni.jpg (448 KB, 1856x2484)

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>>43623010

Snarling – although, without many fangs, his snarl isn't much of an impressive sight – Oni lurches forwards on his wounded leg, club ready to strike out at the demon before you.

“Weak minded fool!” the demon shrieks, her shrill voice causing you all to wince, “I am Shikome, the old hag that commands Hell's legions – I won't back let some brute like you get the better of me!” Her last word is delivered as a piercing cry, drawn out and painfully loud, that causes Oni to stagger and stumble forwards. His mind, it would seem, is easily undone by such sorcery. However, before the shrieking sound can really start to melt his fragile mind, it is cut off by a raging wind. The gale blasts through the corridor, picking Shikome up and smashing her into the door she emerged from, reducing the thick wood to matchsticks.

“Well!” Elliot laughs aloud, his demon rising up behind him with a serene smile on her face, “Looks like the winds of fortune are blowing our way today!”

Was that supposed to be some kind of terrible joke, you ask with a backwards glance, some kind of pun?

“It worked, didn't it?” Elliot shrugs, a smile still creeping across his mouth, “But I'm not quite sure if we're finished here. Think she's got some fight left in her?”

You pause a moment, listening carefully, and are rewarded by the sound of a rasping breath. “Fight” might be pushing it, but she's certainly got some life in her. Slapping Oni across the shoulder as you pass him by – the brute grumbles as he hauls himself to his feet – you approach the fallen demon. She lies in a crumpled heap, splinters jutting out of her body at all kinds of odd angles and her tendrils of hair flopping limply about her.

“Wait!” she gasps, “I have information, things you need to know! Come closer, let me whisper them to you...”

>Approach closely so you can speak privately
>Have Oni destroy her, here and now
>Try to recruit her
>Other

>>43623190
>>Other
"I can hear you fine from right here so why don't you just tell me right now. Word of warning, Oni will crush your head like a melon if I don't like what I hear. So spill."

>>43623190
>Try to recruit her

Yeah, let's not let her scream at us.

>>43623235
>>43623190
This, I am not letting no goddamn hag whisper shit into my ear.

If she complies
>Try to recruit her
With a simple 'Get in the phone or die' proposition.

>>43623264
>>43623247
>>43623235

You can hear her quite fine, you tell the fallen demon sternly, from where you are. Why not just tell you whatever she knows, and you can go on your way. Fair warning, though – you've got one seriously pissed off Oni here, just aching to crush someone's skull. Give him an excuse, you tell her with a cold smile, please.

“I'm pissed off, and achin' for someone to beat on,” Oni agrees, spittle flying from his broken mouth, “So how 'bout you listen to the lady?”

“Erm, uh,” the demon writhes on the ground, trying desperately not to look like her attempts at an ambush have been foiled, “Those humans are your friends, aren't they? They're down in the basement – totally unharmed! I didn't touch a hair on their heads!”

She already told you that. It wasn't deliberate, sure, but she already told you that.

“Oh...” Shikome's voice grows dismayed, “Um...”

You'll give her an offer, you say in a kindly voice, a pretty simple one. She works for you, you tell her before nodding towards Oni, or she dies. It'll be quick, sure, but you can't guarantee it'll be painless.

“Not to split hairs or anything,” Elliot mentions, approaching to stand close at your side, “But shouldn't I get this one? Seems like your chap here didn't do much more than fall on his face. I ended up going the heavy lifting.”

He might have a point there, you admit, but...

“Either of you!” the demon blurts out, “I'll work for either of you! I just don't want to die!”

>Let Elliot have this one. He's earned it
>Take the demon for yourself
>Offer to fight him for it
>Other

>>43623416
>Let Elliot have this one. He's earned it
"True enough. Look at you, taking initiative."

>>43623416
>Let Elliot have this one

He always struck me as more of a mage.

>>43623416
>>Let Elliot have this one. He's earned it
Mages are more you anyways I prefer weapons

>>43623441
>>43623442
>>43623452

Well, true enough, you suppose he has earned it this time – and taking the initiative to make a claim on her!

“Almost sounds like a compliment there,” Elliot tells you, his voice impressively deadpan, “Not getting soft on me, are you Red?”

Absolutely not, you snap back, it's just that you prefer weapons – real, honest weapons. Magic and all this wizard shit is definitely more his kind of thing. If this was a demon worth a damn, you'd be fighting him for it right this instant. This little wretch though, you say with a nod towards the cowering demon, he can have her. Anyway, he should hurry up and claim her so you can both get on with the more important matters. Go on, you snap again as Elliot grins at you, get on with it!

“Yes ma'am,” Elliot nods, his voice rich with sardonic amusement, “Hurrying up now, getting on with it now. No time to waste!” Then, as you stew in your own anger, he stoops down and presses his phone close to the defeated demon. Shimmering and breaking up into static, she then vanishes into the young man's phone. “There we go,” he announces happily, “And they always told me that I wasn't good at making new friends.”

Now he's talking about a nameless, faceless they, you point out with amusement, it must be contagious. Then, before you can both get drawn into some long and pointless diversion, you point out that you should probably head to the basement. Things to do, after all, and people to rescue.

“Quite so!” Elliot agrees, “Think she was telling the truth, about not harming them?”

She'd better have been, your voice is grim as you reply, or you'll drag her out of his phone and beat the shit out of her.

File: Mia face.jpg (908 KB, 1310x900)

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>>43623711

Together, and with a heavy ring of keys taken from the floor – the impact with the door, you realise, had shaken them loose from Shikome's body – you descend to the basement. Still, you can't help but wonder where the rest of the guards have gone to. Surely there were more of them here, you wonder, and not just the one of them?

“Spoiling for a fight, eh?” Elliot jokes, “Well, maybe you'll get your wish. Sooner rather than later, I imagine.”

Maybe, you grunt as you haul open the heavy metal door. It grinds against poorly oiled hinges, squeals of metal reminding you somewhat of the demon you just defeated. You stick your head around the door only to duck down a moment later as a thrown boot slaps against the door. When you look again, you can't help but smile as the embarrassed look on Mia's face. She's certainly got spirit, that one. Only one boot, sure, but a lot of spirit.

“Hello,” the young girl says a moment later, her voice typically cool and calm. It always strikes you as strange, how in control she always looks. She'd make a good leader, you decide, once she's got a few more years on her. Hell, she makes a good leader right now. “Um,” Mia adds a moment later, “Can I have my boot back?”

“I told you not to throw it,” Cassandra gently scolds the young girl, smiling regardless, “Unless you've got magic boots, it wouldn't have done much good. Still, Petra, I'm glad to see you. How did you find us?”

Long story, you tell her with a shrug, but you have your ways. People just seem to tell you things – you can't imagine why. Same story with that demon above, you add, she seemed pretty eager to unburden herself.

“That's the one I wanted to hit,” Mia tells you, “That big stupid hairball.” The childish insult gets a laugh from your group, especially the petulance in her voice as she says it. Still a kid after all.

File: Cassandra (Before Haircut).jpg (51 KB, 585x720)

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>>43623884

“We might have a problem,” Cassandra tells you later, as Mia is tugging her boot back on, “After they locked the door, I heard a guard mention something about a storm. It's going to hit tonight, they said, and it's going to be a bad one. Really bad – maybe even lethal, if we were to get caught out in it.”

“It could get worse?” Elliot asks, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, “Bloody hell, I almost dropped dead on the way here. So, what's our next move then?”

“Hard to say,” Cassandra admits, frowning, “We never had the chance to search this place before, so if there's a lead on where Leon and Marco were taken, we'd need time to find it. Take too long, though, and we risk getting caught out in the storm. We do a rush job, and we risk leaving here with nothing.”

“We need to find Marco,” Mia says calmly, as though she was talking about a close friend rather than her father, “I'm searching this place. You can leave if you like.”

You laugh aloud at that, surprised at the simple resolve on her face. She's made up her mind, no doubt about that, and you can't see anyone changing it in a hurry.

“Mia, that's not a good idea,” Cassandra adds, giving it a good attempt regardless, “We could always come back here later. Though, if the guards return...”

>Stick with Mia, give the mansion a thorough search
>Take a quick look around, then leave
>Suggest another option (Write in)

>>43623959
>Stick with Mia, give the mansion a thorough search
If the storm gets bad we can just port back to the real world right? I know its untested but all other ports back to the real world have been near instanteous.

>>43623959
>>Stick with Mia, give the mansion a thorough search

>>43623959
>Stick with Mia, give the mansion a thorough search

Blowout soon fellow summoners!

>>43624310
Pretty much right?

>>43623997
>>43624020
>>43624184

You're not going to leave Mia alone, you tell Cassandra sternly, just because of a little wind. Besides, you need to get as much information as possible – if things get really bad, you can just use Amelia's little gadget to shift back to the human world. As you make that last point, Mia seems to stiffen slightly, her brows dipping in a cute frown. It vanishes a moment later when she looks up at you, giving you a slight smile.

“Good,” she says, “We should get searching then. If we find what we need quickly enough, we won't need to do anything rash.”

“And what if it doesn't work?” Cassandra asks, a slight edge to her voice, “You're putting a lot of faith into something we've only tested once. Besides Mia, didn't you say-”

“It'll work,” Mia cuts Cassandra off in a flat voice, “Why shouldn't it?” It looks, for a moment, like Cassandra is going to raise further objections but then she just shrugs. “I heard that the boss of this place had a room on the top floor,” Mia adds, after making sure Cassandra was finished, “We should start there.”

You've been there, you mention, it might be a little untidy though – you launched someone through a door. There might have been some strong winds as well, so any paperwork might be a little, well, disorganised. Mia closes her eyes, sighing softly, and you add that it wasn't actually your fault. Blame him, you say as you point to Elliot, he was the one wrecking the place.

“Yes, thank you,” Elliot rolls his eyes, “Next time I'll leave you to it, shall I? I mean, we can see what you have to say when the brains are leaking out of that large chap's skull. I promise not to laugh too hard.”

Jackass.

>>43624369

Mia, growing tired of your bickering, leads the way upstairs, heading straight for the ruined door. When she takes a look inside the small room, a small sigh escapes her. Looking through the blasted doorway, you've got to agree with her. You'd say that it looks like a tornado ripped through the place, but that's pretty much exactly what happened. Loose sheets of paper – as well as stranger things, like scraps of tanned hide – cover the floor, while drawers hang out of crumbling desks and cupboards.

Inside the drawers, of course, are more papers.

Groaning, you start to pick through the ruins, scanning each sheet as you pick them up. Most of them are either blank or covered in gibberish, and you quickly learn to focus your attention on the tanned hides. These, at least, have real words on them – burned, rather than written, as though printed with a length of heated metal. Most of the hides have nothing but lists of numbers and abbreviations, referring to various transactions you would guess, but some of them have the information you were seeking.

Leon, you read aloud, sold to Leanan Sidhe for the price of... a length of enchanted rope? Was that really all he was worth?

“That sounds about right,” Cassandra sighs, her voice causing you to jump. She must have slipped up on you while you were busy reading, “I came to warn you, the weather is getting worse. Check your phone.”

Frowning, you take your phone out and, at Cassandra's prompting, check the Gateway app. It flickers and wavers on the screen, the button occasionally vanishing altogether. So, what she's trying to say is...

“Something about this storm is messing with it,” Cassandra nods, “There could be something magical about it – there's so much we don't know about this world! If we don't leave soon, we might not leave at all.”

File: 1439440650859.jpg (15 KB, 192x171)

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>>43624541
>for the price of... a length of enchanted rope? Was that really all he was worth?
>“That sounds about right,” Cassandra sighs

Leanan Sidhe huh?
Leon might not be having too bad a time if he plays his cards right.

>>43624591
>Leon
>playing his cards right
That'd be like Petra getting laid

>>43624604
>Leanen Sidhe
>In Celtic folklore, the Irish leanan sídhe is a beautiful woman of the Aos Sí (or fairy folk) who takes a human lover.

He would have to TRY to fuck this one up.

Also
>That'd be like Petra getting laid
;_;

I want that enchanted rope! interrogate shikomi!

>>43624541

“Petra, come ON!” Cassandra grabs your arm, tugging with a fear her face doesn't show, “We've got a lead on Leon, that's enough to start with, right? He should be able to tell us what happened to Marco. You're reaching too far!”

“I'm not leaving,” Mia says flatly, not looking up from the notes she is shuffling through, “I don't care. This Leon guy might not know anything – the answer is HERE, I know it is!”

You could just grab her, you realise. Grab her by the arm and use your own Gateway to shift you both back to the real world. If things get any worse, it might yet come to that. On the other hand, she might be right. What if Leon doesn't know a thing, or isn't willing to share any knowledge he does have? Even filling your pockets with as many of these branded hides as possible, you might not find the right ones.

“I can't find it!” Mia yells suddenly, smacking a stack of papers over in a brief but violent tantrum, “He's here, I know he is!”

“Mia...” Cassandra says softly, “This is pointless, dangerous even!”

“I can't leave him,” the young girl whispers, “He wouldn't leave me. He'd stay, no matter what.”

Grimacing, you look away. Cassandra's right, you know that, but the sight of Mia scrabbling through the drifts of paper is almost enough to convince you to stay.

>Grab Mia and leave
>Stay with Mia. Damn the storm

>>43624683
Look for the enchanted rope!

>>43624683
>>Stay with Mia. Damn the storm
If we're inside, we should be okay, am i rite ?

>>43624692
>>43624668
>Trusting Petra with magic rope

>>43624683
>Grab Mia and leave
"He wouldn't want to lose you in the process of finding him, just like you wouldn't want to lose him if he was trying to find you. We'll come back after the storm passes."

>>43624683
>Grab Mia and leave

>>43624712
The guards left because of the storm, if the building could handle it they'd be here. And we are more fragile then they are.

>>43624683
>>Stay with Mia. Damn the storm

>It seems we have a tie. Next vote, stay or leave, will confirm which one we go with. I repeat, the next vote after this post will decide it.

>>43624683
>Grab Mia and leave

>>43624859
enchanted rope

>>43624868
>>43624745
>>43624726

Mia, you say as gently as possible – damn it, “gentle” is not supposed to be your job! - Marco wouldn't want to lose you because you were trying too hard to find him. She wouldn't want him to kill himself looking for her, would she? You promise that you'll come back here, as soon as the storm passes. Not a moment later than that.

“Just a few more minutes, please!” Mia pleads, grabbing great handfuls of papers and loose hides, shoving them deep down into her pockets. She grabs them wildly, half of them spilling right out again as she lunges for more. You wince, looking away as Cassandra shakes her head silently. You both know that this is futile. Even if you gave her a few minutes, that would just lead to a few more. More and more until you were all caught out, stranded in this looming storm.

Sorry Mia, you mutter as you grab the young girl's arm, clutching her tightly against your own body as you fumble your phone out and hit the Gateway app. Mia wails, her small fists hitting weakly against your arm, as the world around you twists and shudders. A pang of pain runs through your head for a moment – your eye in particular – but the moment passes quickly. When you regain your senses, you're sprawled out in a deserted side street. Back in reality.

“I've lost him,” Mia murmurs, her body limp under your arm, “That's it. I've lost him.”

“Not yet,” Cassandra says awkwardly, unable to look the young girl in the eye. You release her, ready to grab her again if she tries to run off, but she simply stands there, looking down at the ground. “Mia, we're not done yet, remember? Leon will know something, I'm sure of it.”

“Ladies,” Elliot announces, his voice bright with forced cheer, “I have an idea. Another source of information, if you will...”

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>tfw when the enchanted rope is gone forever

>>43625014

You all turn to look at the young man, who clears his throat and shuffles his feet at the sudden attention. “Ah yes, well,” he coughs again – maybe he caught a cold, wearing that ridiculous outfit – before continuing, “I think we're all getting fixated on the notes themselves. What I believe we should be asking ourselves is this – who WROTE the notes?”

“Nobody,” Mia says, with an utter lack of life in her voice, “They're all branded on. Look – no writing. No... pens. Nothing.”

“Semantics, Mia dear,” for a moment, you're sure that Elliot is about to pat Mia on the head, “Who branded these notes, then?”

Of course, you realise. That – to borrow Mia's term – big stupid hairball!

“Quite so, ten points to the redhead,” Elliot bows slightly, acting like the host of some awful TV game show, “And I just so happen to have the culprit here!” Then, with a glance of exaggerated caution, he summons Shikome again. “Now, demon, reveal your secrets!”

>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>What was that storm? It wasn't natural
>Was there anything we missed at the mansion? Any... useful items?
>Other

>>43625136
>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>What was that storm? It wasn't natural

>>43625136
>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>What was that storm? It wasn't natural
It was an emission in the Zone.

>>43625136
>>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>>What was that storm? It wasn't natural
>>Was there anything we missed at the mansion? Any... useful items?

Don't tease me Moloch. I want that rope.

>>43625213
>Don't tease me Moloch. I want that rope.
What would you even use magic rope for? Petra ain't exactly in a position to tie up God

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>>43625213

>>43625136
>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>What was that storm? It wasn't natural

>>43625246
>>43625226

Niggers it's magic fucking rope. Tie up anybody you don't like. Make a noose and hang yourself magically, like Odin. Wonder Woman had a magic rope. Who doesn't want to be Wonder Woman?

>>43625226
>Petra finds the four cornerstones, sends them all to Amelia
>Amelia becomes corporeal
>"NOW HAVE SEX WITH ME DAMMIT"

>>43625246
>>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>>What was that storm? It wasn't natural
>>Was there anything we missed at the mansion? Any... useful items?
Lets keep this thread friendly

>>43625150
>>43625171
>>43625213
>>43625264
>>43625335

There was an older man amongst the prisoners, you say calmly, placing a hand on Mia's shoulder to calm her. You can sense her trembling in your grip, eager to bombard the demon with questions. Probably one question, rather, over and over again until she got the answer she wanted. An older man, you repeat, who was sold. Who bought him, and where has he been taken?

“He wasn't sold,” Shikome shakes her head, long tails of animate hair crawling about as she does so, “He was taken by the Intoxicating One, as tithe. His emissaries take their pick of the slaves and bring them to his fortress. Why he was chosen, I couldn't say. His whims are sometimes... mercurial.”

Is that so? You look between Elliot, who looks pleased with himself, to Cassandra, who simply shrugs. Mia looks... actually, you're not sure what that expression on her face is. Determination, perhaps, but tempered with a deep sadness. She had placed all her hopes on Marco being there, you realise, in that awful basement prison. Now she's had her objective pulled out from under her nose, only for it to be dangled in front of her once more. She can't keep chasing after him forever – hope can only preserve someone for so long.

“Mia dear, don't pout,” Elliot says, scolding her gently, “Eyes forwards, and fixed on the horizon.”

That's right, you agree, move forwards. In your case, that means asking the next question – just what the hell was that storm? Nothing natural, you'd bet on that.

“The storms have been getting worse,” Shikome admits, “We're not sure why. Nobody really is. You're right about one thing though – they ARE magical in nature.”

Interesting. Something to ask Amelia about, perhaps, but she might not be able to help. She seems surprisingly ignorant about what happens in the other world. You're about to leave, when something occurs to you. One last thing...

I'd just like to say, the best idea Amelia ever had was bringing Mia back to life.
Mia a cute.
>>43625136
>There was an older man you sold, who bought him?
>What was that storm? It wasn't natural

>>43625538

Was there anything you missed, back there at the mansion? Any useful items, perhaps given as payment for certain auctioned off individuals?

“I kept a dagger behind a painting in my quarters,” Shikome admits, “A potent little thing, with a valuable enchantment woven into it. It might still be there, later – I hid it well.”

Ah, the thought of being able to rip into your enemies with your own weapons, rather than relying on your demons to do the job for you. If you weren't already sure about going back, you would be now. It's a nice surprise, but not exactly what you meant. Was there anything... else? Anything useful?

“Oh?” Shikome asks innocently, “There might have been something, but I'm afraid my memory isn't what it used to be. Perhaps something to do with being thrown into a door. Through a door, rather. What, exactly, are you looking for?”

“Yes Petra,” Cassandra asks, a faintly amused smile playing around the corners of her mouth, “Just what ARE you looking for?”

You're just asking, you snap, you're being thorough! That's what Amelia would do, at a time like this – she wouldn't do things by half! Anyway, if you have plans to go back to the mansion, you might as well know what to look for.

“Fine, fine,” Cassandra hides a giggle behind her hand, “I believe you.”

“Anything “else” I might have,” Shikome tells you with great reluctance, “Would be in the pantry – the treasure room, we called it. That'll be the first place the guards check when they return though...”

You heave a heavy sigh. Victory might be sweet, but there's nothing as bitter as defeat.

>I'll end this here for tonight. However, I have a brief bonus “episode” to post, about Amelia and Joseph. Stick around!

>>43625744

Your name is Joseph Johanssonn and, once upon a time, you would have called yourself a man of God. Now you're not even sure what that means.

Is God the abrasive young woman who paces around the room in front of you? She certainly claims that title for herself, even speaking of how she created the world and all of mankind. Or is God the tyrant of law and dogma that you served once, in a past life that is now an inseparable part of your own mind? Why, the theological implications alone of what you now know to be true would be hard for anyone to swallow, even for an uninvolved bystander.

You wish you could call yourself that. Uninvolved. Ignorant. Innocent, even. You dearly wish you could see yourself as innocent, but every time you look at Amelia you can feel recoil punching through your wrist, the same recoil you felt when you fired a spread of wildly aimed bullets at her father. If there was anyone in that ruined world that could have been considered an innocent bystander, it would have been him, and yet you had gunned him down out of what, desperation or spite? Maybe both, hidden under a shield of self-righteousness.

“What do you want?” Amelia, catching you staring at her, spits. Her dislike for you is plain to see, not that she really makes any attempt to hide it. God was supposed to be kind and forgiving, that's what you were taught – that couldn't have been more wrong.

Still, she asks a good question. Just what do you want, what reason do you have to stay here? Your presence is tolerated, not appreciated – Mia and Elliot, at least, don't look at you with contempt – but it's clear that none of them trust you. Knowing what they know, you can't really blame them.

>>43625765

“Look,” Amelia snaps, her jaw working as though she was chewing something unpleasant, “Maybe, just maybe, I was a little harsh, okay? I've made a lot of mistakes, and doing... what I did to you might be one of them. I'm not apologising though!” She adds that last part with particular venom, although you get the impression that some of it is forced, added to her tone out of some petulant urge. “I'm just saying that if I DID apologise, it might be justified, that's all.”

Huh. It might be clenched into a fist, but you can recognise when somebody is extending their hand to you. It might not be any genuine guilt or regret motivating her, but you see no reason to throw Amelia's attempts back in her face. If you want to build bridges, this is just the first step on a long road.

Everything you did, you tell her slowly, it all started off with the best of intentions. When you poisoned the council, it wasn't done out of some lust for power. They refused to act, to do anything but cower in their chambers and pretend that they were the rulers of that new world. It was stagnation, nothing less than a death sentence in a world of transition. Once you started to consider your options, that was when you heard his voice. The oily, tempting voice of that angel. With him whispering in your ear, it got easier to decide what to do. But as time went on...

“Let me guess, you just lost control?” Amelia rolls her eyes, but with that same forced aggression. She's still angry, you realise, but not so much with you. Her anger is focussed elsewhere, perhaps upon the same angel that you resent. Her question goes unanswered as you both lapse into silence. It lasts for a long, uncomfortable moment before you are able to speak up again.

>>43625786

How much of what you did, you ask her quietly, was down to you? How much of it was Mastema's doing, guiding you down a path you couldn't come back from?

Amelia seems to think on that for a long time, first scowling hard and then letting her face relax into something more weary, almost a look of defeat. “That's not for me to say,” she tells you eventually, and this time her voice is not unkind. Not kind or merciful, exactly, but less... judgemental. Less spiteful. “It's not up to me,” she adds, in that same tone, “You've got to decide that for yourself. You've got your own life now, without that bastard whispering poison in your ear. Make the right choices this time around, and we won't have any problems. But if I see you starting down that same path...”

You understand, you tell her with a quiet resolve in your voice, you understand what she must do. You'd do the same, in her position. Although for what it's worth, you say with your eyes fixed upon Amelia, you regret what happened. Every moment of it.

“So do I,” Amelia sighs, finally allowing herself to meet your gaze.

>That concludes the bonus content for today. I might do more in future, depending on what happens. Next thread on Sunday, and I'll be sticking around for any questions or comments!

Thanks for running!

>>43625809
Thanks for the run and the write up Moloch.

>>43625809
Thanks for running. Would Lilim know where a Leanen Sinde with a human and the Intoxicating One's fortress is?

>>43625939

The fortress should be easy enough to find. The Leanen Sinde in question, as well, should be possible to find, yes

>>43625975
So what would have happened if we'd stayed behind with Mia a second time?

>>43625975
What would have happened if we found the enchanted rope?

>>43626126

Cassandra and Elliot would have both bailed, that's the main thing. A thorough search would have found the information about Marco and the enchanted dagger. The rest, I'm keeping to myself so I can potentially reuse it later because I'm a hack writer.

>>43626216

You would found the rope, I guess? I wrote it in purely to set up a joke about Leon being sold very cheap, I wasn't sure what it actually did!

>>43626252
>hack writer.
So a writer then.

Moloch, am I still an autist if I was pestering you about the rope ironically this entire time?

>>43626252
Have your ever thought of having the characters fusing with their demons, sort of like in DDS?

>>43626301

Well, I'd been assuming it was a joke, at least. Layers of irony and all that!
We're all autistic here

>>43626319

That was one of the ideas I'd been playing around with in the very early days actually. Joseph being a doctor is kind of a holdover from it - he would have been responsible for injecting Mia with the freaky drug that causes fusion.

>>43626363
Will we ever learn what Elliot's big secret is?

>>43626566
>We've never played from Elliot's perspective
muh muh shadowruns

>>43626566

Only when you get his social link to rank 10!

>>43626605
>social link
Is that something we should have been keeping track of? Did pulling Mia out early harm our relationship with her?

>>43626849
Pretty sure that was a joke.

Real relationships can't be tracked by social links.

Also I doubt it, she's a smart girl she understands why and we got the information anyways.

>>43626849

I'm afraid >>43626874 has it right, that was just a joke! Although I imagine the effect would be similar - once he trusts a character enough, he might be more willing to spill his guts.

As for Mia, well, she's pretty mature for her age. The fact that we've got a lead makes a big difference - if there hadn't been the safety net of recruiting Shikome, things would have been much worse!

>>43626959
So I am assuming Leon is...doing well considering Leanan Sihde was the one that bought him.

We probably need to grab him first for more manpower before we attack some fortress huh?

>>43627022
I imagine our saving Leon's life will be eerily similar to that scene in Monty Python with all the nuns in the castle.

>>43627022

Well, Leon's life could certainly be worse, that's for sure!

As for attacking the fortress, that's what I envisioned as the climax of the first "act". In other words, it's a pretty big deal!

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>>43627073
Man it probably will be. We'll just have her be his demon so he has access whenever he wants her.

>>43627125
>implying yandere fiance will be okay with that

>>43627141
>implying the fiance isn't Leanan just picking up his cell.

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>>43627141
>>43627153
>Two yandere girls fighting over Leon
>His face when

>>43627209
Well his life will certainly be Chaotic.

>>43627275
Carlos, I swear to YHVH, I will cast you into the fires of Hell

>>43626363
>Mia is cute girl
>her team is filled with cute girls
>fuse
I don't think /tg/ can take so much cute.

>>43627382
And I get called an autist

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>>43627382

On the other hand, Elliot would end up with a wheel in his guts!

>>43627485
But he'll be better at playing cards at least.

>>43627485
And Petra would be headless or an oni. Meaning no difference there.

>>43627585
Ouch.

At least the Dullahan would be able to fight.

>>43627630
LEARN TO DODGE!

>>43627640
Her fight with Oni could be summed up with.

>DEX character tries to block a STR character.

>>43627585
So Joseph would end up fused with an angel? Isn't that what he tried to do with the Shofar in the previous cycle?

>>43627683
Well, bugger.

At least Cassy would be able to fight.

>>43627729
How big would Cu Chulainn's Gae Bolge be seeing Wingless/Cass taking down demons with ease?

>>43627749
>Use both hands

>>43627749
>>43627764
FIRMLY GRASP IT.

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>>43627749
>>43627764
>>43627803

>>43627820
Mara has a nose just below his head.

>>43627820
I'm telling you. Mia's team should be 5 cute girls and Mara.

>>43627846
I've never actually noticed that before. Huh.

>>43627820
I now want to know how New Cass would react. Would she remember or would she just feel uncontrollable rage/fear?

>>43627887
I think just very uncomfortable. And wishing she had her sword.

>>43627870
Yeah, I bet he regrets ever using it. Must smell AWFUL.

Green Dick Cheese Awful

>>43627867
>"We don't like to talk about the other guy"
>>43627887
If I was her I think I'd be fine with Amelia wiping those memories

I step away from the screen for half an hour or so, and you guys start talking about Mara.

Not sure how I feel about this

>>43628080
Can't leave us alone for a second.

But seriously answer this >>43627749

>>43628100

I'd say it would go from a regular old spear to, say, a pike. It's good to see a young lady with enthusiasm!

>>43628135
>Not a Halberd

What'd it take for Halberd status?

>>43628135
>spear to pike
Is Cu suffering from ED?

>>43628164
>What'd it take for Halberd status?

For me to learn relative polearm sizes I guess!

>>43628221

Aren't pikes supposed to be huge?

>>43628244
whelp, missed the whole thread, but I'm more surprised I'm in it at all considering the timeslot.

pikes aren't huge, they're long as fuck, some more than triple the size of spears, yes.

>Mia fused with Nadja
mitebcool

I think demon fusion would be an interesting compromise. If demons want to be on the other side, they make a pact with a human and fuse. If the demon is dominant, they get shunted to the demon side

But really I see that going wrong in SO many ways.

>>43628549
That's pretty much a big recipe for 'lets see how badly this goes'.

>>43629070
Hey, like Alice, I'm ready to go down this rabbit hole.

>>43628080
Mara is best demon