>>43888277

With the snow piling around you in thick drifts it is, at least, easy to follow in Leon's footsteps. For someone who claimed to know exactly where to find some demons, he's certainly taking a winding, circuitous path to whatever destination he might have in mind. It's almost enough to convince you that he's wandering aimlessly, ducking in and out of random buildings in search of something – anything – that might allow him to claim success.

It's only when you catch up with him outside a squat block of cracked and blackened concrete – a warehouse is the closest comparison you can draw – that you get the impression that he's found something.

“Aye,” Leon nods sagely as he examines the hideously ugly building, “This is the place.”

You doubt that, but pointing that out wouldn't really help things. Keeping your opinions to yourself, you follow Leon into the dreadful building, glad for the shelter if nothing else. The inside looks like something that a tremendous fire has ripped through, leaving the walls scorched and coated with greasy soot. Your footsteps echo as you both walk through the empty halls, creeping around pillars and columns.

“They're in here somewhere,” Leon grunts, leaving a clean handprint on a wall as he touches it, the oily dust sticking to his skin, “Just gotta find 'em...”

As he mutters to himself, you glance to the side and spot a faint glow, like flicking candlelight, coming from behind one of the thicker columns. There's something there, clinging to the opposite side. Has Leon really not noticed that?

>Get his attention first
>Investigate the demon yourself

>>43888282
>>Investigate the demon yourself
First come first serve

>>43888282
>Get his attention first

Shieet usually I wake up an hour from now but I guess I was lucky this time. How's it going Moloch?

>>43888282
In the interest in not tying things up changing my vote >>43888405 here to
>Investigate

>>43888405

>Things are fine here, although I think starting early might have been a mistake!

>>43888282
>>Get his attention first

>>43888432
6am over on the Americlap West Coast here. That's alright though, getting up early has its benefits.

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>>43888431
>>43888384

You look away from that demonic glow for a moment, watching Leon as he blunders deeper into the desolate warehouse. You can barely believe that he was able to miss that flickering light, but it does, at the very least, present you with an opportunity to investigate on your own. This way, you don't need to worry about him breathing over your shoulder, or even stealing the demon out from under you. Maybe he would never consider stooping to such underhand tactics, but you doubt that somehow.

As your eyes flick between the glowing light and Leon's retreating back, you creep towards the lit column and circle around it, feeling the warmth of the air here. Not just light, then, but also a gentle heat. It might be gentle now, though, but you get the feeling that it could erupt into a blazing inferno at any moment. Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you pass to the lit side of the pillar and look up. Clinging to the blackened and burned concrete is some kind of lizard, swathed in flames. At the sight of you, it scrabbles up to dangle from the roof, looking down at you with cautious eyes.

“Hey buddy,” it says after a while, taking you by surprise. You weren't expecting it to talk, and you certainly weren't expecting it to sound like a middle-aged smoker, “You look like you need warming up.”

Well, you reply carefully, only if it doesn't involve being set on fire.

“Heh,” the Salamander chuckles, “I like you, good buddy. You've got a good air about you. Here, let me get a little closer so I can smell you.” It drops down from the ceiling, twisting in mid air so it lands on its feet, and draws close to you. Up close, it's warmth is that much more obvious. “Yeah, I thought so. Good air. Good ENERGY. Mind sharing a little with your good buddy here?”

>Offer your hand to the demon
>Reject the demon
>Other

>>43888531
>Offer your hand to the demon

>>43888531
>Offer your hand to the demon
Hope we don't get burned. Is this Undine's cousin?

>>43888564
>Is this Undine's cousin?
I get kind of a weird uncle vibe.

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>>43888531
>Hey buddy

>>43888559
>>43888564

What a strange demon, you think as you kneel down, offering it your hand. Padding closer, the Salamander sniffs you closely, his long tongue flickering through the air.

“Huh, hmm,” he pauses for a moment to think, “I see, so that's how it is!”

What, you ask aloud as you fight back a wave of confusion, what is it? In some absurd way, you feel like the demon is reading your palm – or perhaps reading some deeper, more intimate measure of your worth. Whatever it is that it finds within you, it seems to please the lizard.

“Good buddy, I'm a pretty swell judge of character,” the Salamander nods, his head bobbing through the air, “And let me tell you this, you gotta stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're a decent sort, but nobody likes a pity party. Hey, I've got an idea – why don't I come with you for a while? I can be your, you know, motivational coach!”

...You didn't think you were THAT bad.

“Hey, don't beat yourself up about it,” Salamander shrugs somehow – you've never seen a lizard shrug before – and gives you an approximation of a smile, “You gotta believe in yourself, that's all. Just think of life as one of them fancy Chinese fighting movies, and you won't go far wrong!”

That's just about the strangest advice you've ever heard, but you find yourself nodding along with Salamander's words. Maybe you're just curious about what nonsense he's about to come out with next, but you find yourself wanting to take the little lizard along for the ride. If nothing else, you could use another demon...

“Fair warning, good buddy,” Salamander says as he looks again at your hand, “This might sting a little.”

>>43888685

You open your mouth to ask the obvious question when Salamander bites down on your offered palm. A yell almost escapes your lips, but then you realise that there is no real pain – an uncomfortable warmth, maybe, but that's all. A moment later, when the demon opens his jaws to release your hand, you see the remains of a red mark where he bit down. Even that, though, fades quickly.

“Good energy, like I said,” Salamander chuckles, his long tongue flapping out like a man licking his lips after a good meal, “Oh, you don't wanna drive any heavy equipment for a while, that might leave you a little woozy. Sorry about that!”

He's not joking, you think as you rise to your feet and find yourself wavering. It's like he drained some of your strength, leaving you tired and fatigued. Still, you say, does that mean he's on your side now?

“Sure does, good buddy,” Salamander nods, “Signed and sealed.”

Before you can answer that, you hear a metallic clack and turn to see Leon standing behind you. At the end of his outstretched hand, an unfolded knife adds six inches of steel to his reach – pointed directly at your face. “Next one we see,” he says coldly, nodding down to Salamander, “Is mine. Got it, choirboy?”

>Fine with me. I've got what I came for
>Not if I see it first
>Pulling a knife on me? That's a bit much, don't you think?
>Other

>>43888724
>Fine with me. I've got what I came for
but seriously
>Pulling a knife on me? That's a bit much, don't you think?

>>43888724
>Fine with me. I've got what I came for
But
>Pulling a knife on me? That's a bit much, don't you think?

What a sourpuss.

>>43888724
"Don't threaten me thug."

>>43888736
>>43888739
>>43888789

That's fine with you, you say quietly as you meet Leon's eyes. Looking away, giving the violent youth any sign of weakness, would be a terrible mistake. Quite possibly the worst mistake you could make, in this current moment. This inhuman world could swallow a body up, and the only thing that would change in the human world would be the absence you left behind. But you've got what you came for – anything else you can find, he's welcome to.

“That's right,” Leon sneers, although you notice a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. Was he expecting a fight, or was he hoping for one? A moment passes slowly and then he lowers the knife, folding it back into the rubber grip against his thigh. “You... aye, you know how this fuckin' works.”

But really, you ask, pulling a knife? That's a bit much, wouldn't he say?

“Gotta be strong in a world like this,” he smirks at you, “Take no shite from nobody. I ain't gonna let myself get pushed around this time. Better remember that, choirboy, cause those girls ain't gonna forget it. Monsters ain't the only thing out there you gotta watch out for.”

You know that all too well, you reply coolly, but next time he wants to teach you a lesson, he can do it without sticking a weapon in your face. Now then, you add as you step around him, if he's finished, you can all move on with your lives.

“Aye, I'm finished with you,” Leon says, squaring his shoulders and walking ahead of you in some petty attempt at leadership, “But we ain't finished here. Got this door, heavy fuckin' thing. Needs both of us to open, I reckon.”

And now, minutes after sticking a knife in your face, he needs your help. How charming.

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>>43888923

When you see the door in question, though, you're not surprised that he can't open it on his own. The thing looks like something ripped from a military bunker, or possibly a bank vault. It's just ajar enough that you could get a grip on it, but the hinges look rusted and caked with a thick layer of something that has long since crusted over. Some vile, nameless fluid that you wouldn't care to get on your bare skin.

Together, you and Leon brace yourselves against the heavy metal door and pull with all your strength. At first, there is no reaction but slowly, inch by inch, you manage to tug it open. Once you've got a foothold, it's easier to get around it and push. After a few painful minutes of grunting and straining, the vault lies open before you. The air that rushes out smells... off. Not the bad air of a long-sealed container, but something tinted with countless overlapping perfumes and incenses.

“Smells like shite,” Leon mutters darkly as he fishes a small penlight out from his pocket and shines it within, “Dark as fuck, as well.”

“Come to me...” a voice – soft and cultured, like that of a particularly cunning scholar – comes drifting out from the rough tunnel beyond the doorway. “Come, child, and we shall meet face to face.”

You don't like this one bit, but Leon immediately takes off down the gloomy corridor. Not shuffling, like a man possessed, but walking in bold strides. Whatever awaits him, he's not scared in the slightest. Shaking your head in disbelief, you hurry to follow him. At the end of the corridor, flanked by burning pyres – they burn with only the slightest waft of scented smoke – is a leering, goat-headed devil.

“Now child,” the devil croaks to Leon, “We shall walk down a path of darkness together...”

>Stay silent and watch
>Urge Leon to reconsider
>Tackle Leon away
>Other

>>43889024
>>Urge Leon to reconsider
Dude's got a knife so tackling him isn't such a great idea. I don't like all this "path of darkness" talk though. Maybe it was devils like this that turned him so chaotic before

>>43889024
>Other
"Just don't make some stupid self destructive pact. Remember who's supposed to be in control."

>>43889024
>Urge Leon to reconsider
Paths of Darkness never end well. Usually you end being a demon's bitch. Still your call though.


>tfw all of Leon's Demons are smarter than Leon.

>>43889024
>Tackle Leon away

No, Leon. Bad.

>>43889107
We should get him a Preta so he doesn't feel as bad.

>>43889121
A Slime, maybe

>>43889024
>Tackle Leon away
Calm your ass down, Scotsman

>>43889121
>>43889124
a Zombie maybe? Those are brainless.

>>43889115
>>43889126
>Tackling the angry thug
>Attacking a guy with a knife
>Expecting him NOT to shank us for doing so
come on guys

>>43889024
>Light up the room with salamander
I'm a bit late to the party, so I'm just fooling around

>>43889024
>Urge Leon to reconsider
I suppose you guys are right. I just assume that once he is under pact Bahomet can't do shit.

>>43889192
>>43889107
>>43889073
>>43889078

You almost stay silent – he was pretty keen on waving that knife of his about, last time you got in his way – but in the end, as it looks like the goat-headed devil is about to touch Leon's forehead in some blasphemous parody of a blessing, you can't hold your tongue.

Don't do it, you shout at him, your voice shockingly loud in the confines of the chamber. Don't make some stupid mistake like this! A path of darkness? Doesn't he see that he's just putting himself in that devil's thrall?

“Silence,” the Baphomet snaps, without turning to look at you, “This will be an... equal partnership. I offer wise counsel, and nothing more. Of course, some require more advice than others...”

That's just what you were saying, you rage, is Leon even listening to you? A desperate groan forming in the back of your throat, you lunge forwards and grab Leon's shoulder, twisting him away from the Baphomet's grasp. Away from that curiously hypnotic stare, Leon's eyes seem to clear slightly as the life returns to them. Relief blossoms in your heart as you see sense returning, only for your hopes to shatter as Leon's knee crashes into your stomach. As pain explodes through your body, you can't stop yourself from lurching backwards and collapsing to the ground.

“Fuck off, choirboy,” Leon sneers, his voice fading in and out as you struggle to regain your breath. When he speaks again, his voice has dropped to a whisper that you nevertheless hear with awful clarity. “This is my choice,” the violent youth murmurs as he turns back to Baphomet, “I need to be stronger.”

Through blurred vision, you watch as Baphomet touches Leon's forehead and, a moment later, flickers out of sight. He really did it. As you struggle to rise, Leon turns to march out of the vault, but then pauses. Turning back to you, he swings a heavy kick at your jaw that plunges you into a new blackness.

>Please choose a character
>Cassandra
>Joseph

>>43889281
>Joseph

Ameliadammit, Leon.

>>43889281
>Joseph

>Wise council
Riggggghtt... damnit

Rise and shine Joseph.

>>43889281
Wake up, Joseph

>>43889281
>Joseph

>>43889281
>Joseph

>>43889437
>>43889362
>>43889360
>>43889336
>>43889298

The first thing that tells you you've woken up is the groan that slips from your broken, bloodied lips. Your entire body cries out with a bruised ache – about as bruised as your pride, you reckon – as you force yourself to your feet. You've got enough medical training under your belt to realise how lucky you are, however, when you realise that nothing is broken. You've got one hell of a headache, and the cold has sunk into your bones, but you're alive. Focus on the positive.

No, focussing on the positive is too difficult right now. What your mind keeps returning to is one simple fact – the next time you see Leon, you're going to...

“Kill him” is what you really want to say, but you force that bitter thought back down to the depths of your mind. You'll have words, you tell yourself, and make sure he realises how poor his judgement is. He'll listen. You'll make him listen. For now though, you've got other problems to concern yourself with. Coming to this desolate place was a matter of following Leon, and the snowfall has long since obliterated any trace of his footprints. If he's still out there, in the demon world, you've got no idea how to track him down. You don't even know how to get back to where you started.

Taking your phone out with trembling fingers, you check the Gateway app on your phone. With a sigh of relief, you see that it glows with a firm and stable light. You can get home, you've got that much luck still left in you. All is not lost.

Your finger pauses as you move to press the icon, the temptation to stay – to hunt Leon down, by any means possible – nagging at you.

>Play it safe. Return home
>Hunt him down.
>Other

>>43889478
See If we can call the others, let them know Leon pulled a massively stupid move. Tell them you going to track him down.
>Hunt him down
Summon Salamander he's friendly and hopefully can track the git.

>>43889510
Archangel might be able to detect evil/devil/chaos too.

>>43889478
>Play it safe. Return home

Let's face it, we don't have a way of finding him right now. Also,

>>43889536
Does Joseph even know who Alice is?

>>43889478
>Play it safe. Return home
Fuck it. What are we even going to do if we catch up? Words won't mean shit to him and we are too weak for 'words' right now.

>>43889589
Was planning on having Arcangel literally kick the shit out of him.

>>43889478
>>Play it safe. Return home
He's got to come back at some point. We can deal with him then

>>43889612
While I like the appeal of that

>1. -Weak to Dark (Instant kill) magic
And Baphomet is king of Mudo

>and 2.
We are supposed to be working together, even if he didnt get that memo. Maybe next time we see him we causally mention that if he pulls that shit again, to anyone in our group, we'll kill him. I mean fuck, Joseph is much more of a ice old motherfucker than Leon is.

>>43889667
>old
cold*

>>43889560
>>43889589
>>43889628

Grimacing, the mere act of contorting your face sending a twinge of pain through you, you tighten your grip on your phone. You're in no condition to go chasing after Leon right now and even if you knew where to find him, what would you do? Talking is all well and good, but you don't think Leon is in the mood to talk. If you're lucky, he'd just take a swing at you as soon as you opened your mouth. If you were unlucky, he'd come at you with that knife of his.

Still, you can't quite stop yourself from thinking that you've failed somehow as you tap the Gateway icon to return to the human world. You'll tell Amelia what the situation is – she might be able to offer some constructive advice on how to deal with Leon. After all, she dealt with him during the previous cycle, didn't she?

With that thought in mind, you close your eyes and wait for the transition to sweep over you. It does so, but... it's bad. Perhaps some aspect of your injuries leaves you vulnerable, because you feel a dizziness like you've never felt before gripping you tightly. Stomach churning, you feel your body yanked in all directions at once for a brief but terrible moment during which you cannot – or perhaps you don't dare – pry your eyes open. When the awful transition ceases, you reluctantly look around.

There are... flowers surrounding you. Withered, dying blossoms with a rare few petals still clinging to them. The sky above is dark, with neither sun nor stars to light it, and the air is as still as a tomb. This place... you feel like you should recognise it, but you don't. Still groaning with the pain of the transition, you force your legs to move and take a few tentative strides through the field.

>>43889787
>After all, she dealt with him during the previous cycle, didn't she?
For a whole 2 or so days and spent a month in a coma between them!

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>>43889787

“Weak,” a dismissive voice says from all around you, “Humans can be so weak and fragile. I forget that, sometimes.”

You've heard that voice before. You never wanted to hear it again.

“So, Joseph,” the black winged angel says as he drifts down from that perfectly dark sky to face you, “Life without faith does not seem to be treating you well. You've had a false god toying with your mind, you're an outcast among those who should, by all rights, be beneath you, and now you've fallen foul of a common thug. Not a particularly impressive record, it must be said.”

A bitter scowl crosses your face as you keep walking, passing right by Mastema. You don't know where you're walking, but anywhere would be better than here, in his malign presence.

“Don't be like that,” Mastema crows, “I'm here with a message. The Great Will forgives you, Joseph, and welcomes you back to His flock. He can give you the strength you so clearly require. In fact, I have a gift for you – a sign of His willingness to cooperate.” Mastema, appearing before you with an effortless flourish of magic, holds out a long object, draped in black velvet. “Take it in the spirit that it is offered, human – with good grace.”

You almost fall for it. You actually reach up to take the offered weapon – and it is, without a doubt, a weapon – before you stop yourself.

“Why stop?” Mastema asks, “Don't you want to get your revenge on that fool and his pet devil?”

>Why are you doing this?
>Would God really take me back?
>Take the weapon without comment
>Just walk away
>Other

>>43889883
If it were any other Angel Mastema, I'd consider it. You? Well, you can cop a squat on a flagpole and spin.
>Walk away

>>43889883
>Just walk away

>>43889883
>Just walk away
"Sorry, this meeting reminded me of someone else who deserves my revenge a tad more."

>The Great Will forgives you
Pfft, like the forgiveness that left Gabriel and the rest of the Archangels mutilated.

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>>43889883
>>Just walk away

>>43889967
How... How long were you waiting to use this?

>>43889990
Since thread 1. I've been expecting this meeting for a long time

>>43889916
>>43889939
>>43889940
>>43889967

The Great Will's forgiveness? You've seen what that looks like – it looks like open wounds and bitter regret, hidden under a mask of pious humility. You can't accept that – and you definitely wouldn't accept anything from Mastema. Any other angel, and you might consider it, but you'd rather pluck a coal from a burning fire than take something he offers you. As for revenge, well, seeing him has suddenly reminded you of someone else who deserves it even more. With that, and before you can say anything you later regret, you turn and walk away from Mastema.

“You fool!” Mastema shouts, his voice booming after you, “Do you really think you'll ever be able to compete with them on your own? You were nothing without me, Joseph Johanssonn, and you'll never be anything without the Great Will!”

Pausing, you close your eyes and clench your hands into tight fists. You're fine with that, you murmur to yourself. You've seen what happens when you reach too far at Mastema's behest. Never again. Now, you tell the angel without looking at him, is he going to let you go? This meeting is over, there's no point in keeping you here a moment longer.

“Tch,” Mastema tuts, “When the world lies in ruins, all because you put your “faith” in a human with a few funny ideas, you'll beg for forgiveness. I can only hope, for your sake, that the Great Will feels merciful.”

You ignore that, forcing it out of your mind as you feel yourself tugged gently, the sensation quickly growing to a mighty pull that reduces the world around you to darkness. A lurching sense of movement later, and you wake to find yourself where you wanted to be – the human world, at last.

Now you just need to figure out where the hell you are.

>Next post will switch to Cassandra's perspective

A thought struck me. What if Mastema is telling the truth about Joseph being forgiven?

>>43890404
I think the Great Will and Mastema want a agent in Amelia's little circle. I'm sure they'll 'forgive' him if they can get that.

>>43890404
Well great for Joseph, but the Great Will since Mastema. Any other angel? Maybe Joseph would have turned, but the exact wrong one was sent.

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>http://pastebin.com/zgu8M2zF

Last time you were down in those winding, windswept tunnels, the chill sunk so deep into your bones that it was several hours before you felt warm again. It was the kind of cold that leaves you aching and pained, barely capable of putting one foot in front of the other.

Your name is Cassandra Einhart, and this time you came prepared. A thicker coat, with several layers beneath and a scarf wrapped around your face. With barely any skin exposed to the biting wind, you feel just about ready to brave the Lady's domain. You walk with confidence, only faltering a little as you fumble your way down the securely tied rope with thick, clumsy gloves. Elliot follows you down this time, complaining bitterly.

He's dressed just as warmly, his tailored suit buried beneath a vast overcoat found in some long-forgotten corner of Marco's wardrobe. It looks and feels like it was made from doormats, and Elliot looks as though merely wearing it disgusts him, but at least he isn't complaining about the cold.

“Honestly,” he gripes as you walk down the tunnels, lingering streaks of red in the ice reminding you of the fight that first brought you down here, “Where on earth did Mia's father get this thing? Siberia? East Germany? It must be East Germany, because I don't think this has been washed since the cold war!”

It was, you remind him, his decision to come here. He's the one that wanted to negotiate with the Lady, after all.

“Yes yes,” Elliot waves off your polite reminder, “Just, I can't really claim to be dressed to meet nobility, can I? Here I am, heading to meet a proper Lady, and I'm dressed like a bloody hobo!”

Sighing, you hush Leon as concentrate on following the path without slipping. It seems to be opening up, growing wider here, and the air is painful to breath. You must be close.

>>43890552
>Sighing, you hush Leon
SKINWALKERS

>>43890552
>Leon
Man he's fast

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>>43890600
>>43890605

>Honest mistake! I meant Elliot, obviously!

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>>43890552

A few paces, and one last corner later, and you see the tunnel before you opening up into a grand cavern. Huge crystals of glittering ice pierce the walls, and the air itself seems misty here, the scant few drops of loose water that find their way here immediately turning to a chill fog. In the centre of this barren chamber sits a vaguely human figure, half encased in ice. A female figure, you realise, as the pieces fall into place. So this is the Lady.

“Humans,” she croaks, her voice creaking like icebergs grinding together, “You risk much, coming here. Do you not fear death's chill grasp?”

“Ah,” Elliot stammers, “You're not going to try and kill us, are you?”

“Not yet,” the Lady cackles, “But waste my time, and that might change. Speak then, humans, or offer whatever challenge you bring!”

Elliot – the brave negotiator – gapes at the half-frozen woman and says nothing, eventually turning to gaze helplessly at you. So much for his talents at diplomacy...

>Do these tunnels lead into the Intoxicating One's fortress?
>What will it take to get you to stop your storms?
>I'm here to end you, and your storms
>Other

>>43890640
>Do these tunnels lead into the Intoxicating One's fortress?
>What will it take to get you to stop your storms?

We'll try diplomacy first, see how far that takes us.

>>43890640
"What do you get out of helping out the Intoxicating One?"

>>43890640
>>Do these tunnels lead into the Intoxicating One's fortress?
>>What will it take to get you to stop your storms?
Moloch is this Undine?

>>43890732
I thought Undine was queen of the Amala Network's Information Brokering.

>>43890732
>is this Undine?

>The Lady? No, she's a new demon. Hel

>>43890732
>>43890722
>>43890673

The first thing you want to know is simple – just what does she gain from allying herself with the Intoxicating One? He has to have something he can offer her, right?

“The balance of power has shifted,” the Lady says carefully, “Old orders have fallen into powerlessness and impotence, whilst new alliances will rise to rule over this world. The Intoxicating One believes he can seize power for himself, but he cannot do it alone. I wanted to seize power as well, and yet I lacked an army. Together, we can conquer all in our path.” She sounds perfectly satisfied with herself, but then pauses for a moment, “Ah, but after that, what then?”

It sounds like there might be some faint cracks in that particular alliance. Perhaps both of them are already scheming to get rid of their respective partners? No loyalty among thieves, or so they say...

Before you lose your momentum, however, you press on with the next question. These tunnels, the ones that you've been running through like a rat in a maze, you ask where do they lead? Is there one that might lead you right up into the Intoxicating One's fortress?

“Why yes, there is,” the Lady says with a veiled smile, ice cracking as she moves her arm to point behind her. A particularly solid looking wall of ice blocks what might, maybe, be a tunnel. “Down that path, a portal to take you into his loathsome den. Of course, as long as this region is under my power, lashed by storms and ice, it will remain barred.”

And that's the crux of the issue, her storms. What would it take, you ask grudgingly, to get her to stop her storms? Maybe not permanently, but just long enough for your purposes. A matter of hours, really.

“Well,” the Lady leers as she thinks to herself, “Offering your service, are you? Very interesting... I DO have a task that needs doing.”

>>43891118

“I need you to kill someone for me,” the Lady says, after a gloating pause, “Destroy them. Remove them from the chessboard, by whatever means necessary. Crush her, snuff out the flames she protects, and I will give you this... time you need. For a matter of hours, the skies shall calm.”

That sounds... possible. You could probably manage that. What you want to know first, though, is who you're supposed to be killing.

“No friend of yours, I assure you,” the Lady replies casually, her creaking limbs waving away your question, “And it would not effect your world in the slightest. These two facts, I can promise you. To find her, look for a fire on the horizon. She hides at the bottom of a grand tower, whose roof burns with an eternal flame. This flame offends me, and I would see it destroyed. Return here, when the deed is done, and we can negotiate in good faith.”

You start to ask another question, but then the ice crawls up the Lady's body and reclaims her. Silent as the rock that surrounds you all, she glares impassively into the void. Shrugging, you start to leave as Elliot grabs your arm.

“Are you really going to do it?” he asks in a hasty whisper, “Kill this... person?”

>No way. I'm no assassin
>She needs to die, Elliot
>I plan on “removing” her, but she doesn't need to die
>Other

>>43891156
>No way. I'm no assassin
"We'll recruit her or at the very ask her for her help to take down Lady. These storms need to go permanently one way or another since they can mess with the Gateway app."

>>43891156
>>I plan on “removing” her, but she doesn't need to die
Tell him of that one time Amelia pulled the wool over Oberon's eyes with Cernunnos

>>43891196
>at the very
at the very least*

Man I need to proofread.

>>43891202
>>43891196
>>43891156
Pretty much these. We'll have to see how fire girl is, but these storms really need to go permanently either after or before the Fortress raid.

>>43891196
>>43891202
>>43891331

Kill her? No way, you're not an assassin. Some lines, you tell Elliot, have to be drawn. No, you're planning on taking a tactic straight out of Amelia's history for this one. A long time ago, she told you how she “assassinated” a demon. They formed a contract, and then she killed them – only for the demon themselves to return to her storage, rather than whatever formless voice other demons are banished to. You can't see any reason why the same tactic won't work here.

“Cunning,” Elliot says with a wink, “You'll remove her from the chessboard, just like our noble friend back there said.”

Exactly. What's more, this fire keeper might be able to lend you aid against the Lady. Sooner or later, you remind Elliot, she needs to go. Those storms of hers are too much of a risk to have hanging over your heads forever.

“I understand,” Elliot sighs, frowning reluctantly, “I'm no fan of senseless violence, but I'd much rather be able to come and go as I please, thank you very much. Getting stuck in the awful place because she threw a tantrum isn't my idea of fun, needless to say!”

Then it's decided, you announce as you take Elliot's sleeve and practically drag him back down the tunnel. You might even be able to split off for a little return trip once Marco is safe, just to deal with the Lady. When she's dealt with, the guardian beast will be defenceless. Perfect. That's the thought at the front of your mind as you scurry back to the rope, climbing back up to the surface with the same clumsy gait with which you descended. At least Elliot, you notice, has the same trouble. Nobody, you've learned, can climb rope with ease.

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Pic related or Sati? Place your bets.

>>43891609

As you trek back to the abandoned, snow covered city properly, you spot the problem. There isn't just one tower with flames coming from the top floors. If anything, the majority of the looming, skewed towers you see have fires, some large and some barely flickering, rising from their roofs. One building, however, has a fire that is grander and brighter than all the rest. Not just the roof burns, but most of the top few floors. You've seen that beacon before, you realise, peeking through whatever clouds usually fill the skies.

Now, it would seem your target lies within – or rather beneath – that grand beacon. At least it's easy to know that you're heading in the right direction. No matter how many times you're forced to turn around a vast snowdrift or pile of rubble, you can simply look up and see your destination looming ahead of you. If only everything was so simple. In what seems like no time at all, you reach the ajar doorway and let yourselves in.

Inside, the building is totally hollow – with neither stairs, walls or floors above you. The only thing that IS present is a pillar of fire pouring up from a hole in the floor. The heat is tremendous, and you can't help but smile at the sight of a relieved Elliot throwing off his cold war overcoat. There IS a single staircase here – you were wrong about that – and it curves downwards. Down, into the basement chamber where your target keeps the fires. Shrugging to Elliot – the young man is busy warming his hands at the pillar of fire – you carefully descend the staircase.

The stairs are long, but at least the heat banishes any frost that might pose a danger. At the very bottom, you see the source of the fire – a stone coffin, with a black garbed figure kneeling nearby.

>>43891666
Going to bet Sati.

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>>43891784

When you reach the bottom of the stairs, the figure turns to gaze at you with sad eyes. Neither of you says anything for a long while before you finally nod your head in a respectful greeting, a greeting that the demon returns.

“I greet you, human,” she says, as flames ripple across her body, “I am Sati, and this is the bonfire that I keep. I know why you have come here.”

She... does?

“I can guess,” Sati shrugs slightly, a veil hiding her expression, “Hel, who pretends nobility and calls herself a Lady, has sent you to kill me. Without the fires I keep, there will be nothing to hold back the cold of the night. All demons will cherish the few embers they can find, while she snuffs out all life and brightness.” Her voice is calm, but utterly bleak. “I have expected this for a great many years.”

>Summon a demon to fight her
>Offer to spare her life, in return for her service
>Suggest taking the fight to the Lady
>Other

>>43891908
>>Offer to spare her life, in return for her service
>Suggest taking the fight to the Lady

>>43891908
>Offer to spare her life, in return for her service
>Suggest taking the fight to the Lady
"We don't really like her either."

Yeah, I need you to promise me that if we remove the Lady off the game you won't put the city to the flame or something like that.

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>>43891666
Oh hey, I got Trips of the Beast.

>>43891908
>Offer to spare her life, in return for her service
>Suggest taking the fight to the Lady
"The Lady" Hel a shit, let's get her.

>>43891930
>>43891946
>>43892027
>>43892111

Now wait a minute, you say quickly, you're not here to kill her. It's true, the Lady wants her dead. In fact, the Lady was the one to send you here – but you're not going to play her games. What you were proposing was an alliance. If she enters your service, not only can you spare her life, but you can both take the fight to the Lady herself.

“An interesting proposition,” Sati murmurs, sounds quite surprised, “I had not expected anyone to come here with mercy in their hearts.”

There is one thing though, you add quickly, that you want to know. The Lady isn't some kind of moderating force, is she? By removing her, you're not going to condemn the world to a burning death or anything, right?

“Of course not!” Sati manages to laugh delicately at the idea, “The Lady cares nothing for balance. She would have every flame in the world snuffed out, so that she might never feel the heat on her skin. I merely tend the fires, so that they can be used however demons choose to use them. But to leave this place, even for a moment...” Sati shakes her head slowly. “The Lady must be destroyed, and I will join you in this task, but when the deed is done you MUST release me from your service. Every moment I am not here, is a moment in which Hel expands her influence.”

So you'll be on the clock from the moment you leave here, assuming you take Sati with you. That complicates things. The longer those storms are silent, the more likely the Intoxicating One is to realise something is amiss. If you make your move too early, there might be defences in place when you arrive, even if you use her portal to slip into the fortress quietly.

>Take Sati and battle the Lady
>Leave Sati here for the time being. The fight can wait
>Other

>>43892276
>Leave Sati here for the time being. The fight can wait

Alright how about this plan

We wait til tomorrow night, with everyone regrouped and the full moon out.

Then we pick up Sati with everyone and head to the Lady's domain and catch her off guard. Then with Lady dead or recruited we use her tunnels to infiltrate the Fortress and attack.

>>43892276
>Take Sati and battle the Lady

>>43892276
>>Leave Sati here for the time being. The fight can wait

>>43892386
>>43892276
Going with this. Gives them almost no time to prepare, gets rid of the storms permanently, and a gives us an attack route. Just gotta be patient.

>>43892386
>>43892459
>>43892461

You were prepared to storm off and take the fight straight to the Lady, but this new information changes things. You'll need to be subtle about this, and plan your next moves carefully. Tomorrow, the night of the full moon, you can team up with Sati and attack the Lady. You'll have the advantage of numbers, as well, with everyone else together. When the Lady stands defeated – dead, or forced to surrender – you can march into the Intoxicating One's fortress before he has any time to prepare his defences.

All your plan needs to work is a little patience. That's fine with you – you can wait.

When you tell Sati what your plan is, she doesn't bother to hide her relief. “I am glad,” she tells you, “That this world will suffer as little as possible. It may not mean much to you, but the Lady's reign would be a terrible thing for all who live in this world. Even the Intoxicating One himself would suffer although I must admit, I would shed few tears to hear of his downfall.”

Then you'll leave her be, you tell Sati, and return tomorrow with the rest of your group. Together, you'll be able to put the Lady out of the storm business for good.

“Farewell, human,” Sati bows, the fires that ripple across her body dancing with the motion, “May the fires warm you, forever.”

Those words rings in your ears as you climb back up the stairs and rejoin Elliot, who you need to tear away from the radiant warmth Sati's flames have to offer. Griping and complaining all the while, he bundles himself into his overcoat and, together, you enter the Gateway to the human world.

>The next post will return to Mia's perspective.

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>>43892828

Once again, a miasma of tension has sunk over your house, various conflicts souring what was, once, a warm and friendly atmosphere. The first one was silly really, just a brief moment of awkward silence when Petra proudly displayed her new cloak of feathers. The reaction was not quite what she had expected.

“Very nice,” Amelia had admitted with a cold voice, before weighing in with an accusation, “But what in God's name... I mean, what on earth did you do to my bird?”

“Nothing!” Petra had protested, “I wasn't the one who did it!”

The argument – more of an affectionate squabble, really – had continued back and forth for some time. Then Joseph had arrived back, with his face swollen, bloodied and fixed in a dark scowl. He refused to tell you exactly what happened, only claiming that he had gotten separated from Leon and, in the process, injured. He would say nothing more on the subject, not even as you were carefully washing out his wounds. You were certain that there were parts of a boot print marking Joseph's face in mud and darkening bruises, but he merely shook his head at the idea.

Leon himself came back, pretty drunk, several hours later – after Cassandra and Elliot had returned with their news. He wouldn't say anything about what happened either, merely laughing with a kind of drunken mania. The sound of his laughter had drawn the blood from Joseph's face, and the scholarly young man had excused himself quietly not long after.

The mood, you mean to say, is not good. Things will be better tomorrow. Things have to be better tomorrow.

>I'll have to end things here. Next thread on Tuesday, and I'll stick around for a while. We'll continue with Mia's perspective next time, as well

>>43893024
Thanks for the run boss.

We kicking off the assault on Tuesday?

>>43893108
>We kicking off the assault on Tuesday?

That's the plan!

>>43893024
Thanks for running!

Joseph going to tell anyone what happened?

>>43893137
So what kind of weapon did Mastema offer?

Did Joseph talk to Amelia about Leon when he stepped out?

>>43893169

He'll be having a little word with Amelia at some point. He didn't want to worry Mia, that's all!

>>43893185
>So what kind of weapon did Mastema offer?

A very poisonous dagger, just the thing to deal with pesky thugs!

>>43893204
>A very poisonous dagger,
Samael's poison? Like the gun in the last cycle?

>>43893225

Exactly that. Not an easy thing to cure, by any stretch

>>43893257
How many strings attached?

>>43893257
Had we hunted Leon, would we have been able to find him or did you have another encounter in mind while searching?

>>43893269

Absolutely none!
But if, say, everyone else learned that he was running around with a weapon like that, Joseph would probably find himself with very few friends. He might need to shack up with Law just to survive!

>>43893279

I had planned for his search to lead him back to Gabriel, who would have offered him healing and, perhaps, rekindled some of his faith
Leon was long gone though

>>43893315
Ah damn. Kinda regret not hunting him. Oh well.

>>43893315
Dammit I wish other people had voted for it then. Amelia talking to Gabby when?

>>43893358
>Amelia talking to Gabby when?

It won't be easy, short of getting Gabriel into the human world somehow. The demon world has a restraining order against Amelia!

>>43893418
>short of getting Gabriel into the human world somehow
Wait, couldn't she disguise herself as a human like she has in the past and catch a ride with someone's Gateway port?

I mean if she wants to of course.

>>43893449
Might shatter the barrier given her status.

>>43893478
Yeah possibly. Not really sure about what makes more cracks in the barrier and what doesn't.

>>43893449

Now I think about it, there isn't actually anything stopping that from working. Interesting!

>>43893500

Basically, anything passing through the barrier leaves a hole. Gateway is designed to minimise the damage, but demons have no such care. The more powerful they are, the more damage they do.

>>43893527
How big a hole does Gabby leave, even with her lower status now?

Does putting demons in the DSP mitigate the damage so its only like a human coming through?

We...really need to get Marco to help with all this don't we?

>>43893598

When a demon is in storage, it doesn't cause any extra damage. Essentially, it travels through the same tiny "tunnel" that Gateway opens.

>We...really need to get Marco to help with all this don't we?

It can't hurt, he's a pretty smart guy!

>>43893642c
How about getting This iteration of Carnby?

>>43893660

This time around, he never branched out into occult research to the same degree that the old Carnby did. Much safer this way - I wonder if somebody had a quiet word in his ear?

>>43893725
Amelia get her Mom and her baby other self killed too?

>>43893725
Did he never meet Lydia this time around?

>>43893745
That would be.. Fucked up.

>>43893762

Actually, he met and married her.
Then she died. One of the few things in this world that wasn't Amelia's fault though!

>>43893791
Hypothetically could there have been another Amelia walking around had that not happened?

>>43893820

It would have been possible, yes. I don't think the universe was ready for two Amelia's though!

>>43893864
They'd argue so much.

>>43893886

>New!Amelia sets out to kill God
>Learns that she IS God
>Directed by M. Night Shymalan

>>43893959
Has Petra told Amelia about Carnby yet? And how Titania is her step mom? Or is she saving that for after the Fortress?

>>43894244

She hasn't dropped those particular bombshells yet. Better to give her the sensitive details when time isn't a sensitive issue. I can't say I blame her - especially considering the Titania issue!

>>43894323
I've missed the last three threads, Moloch. Has there been any important votes related to the enchanted rope for me to sperg about?

>>43894323
You gotta do that part on screen or in a write up. Its going to be hilarious.

>>43894353
We've been using the rope to get down into the tunnels. No real votes related to it though, its pretty much a given.

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>>43894374
K, good. I told you all we could use some enchanted rope.

>>43894244
Now I think about it, did we ever get confirmation that Carnby died? Scathach said something about how he doesn't visit the archives anymore but that's pretty vague.

>>43894445
I'd assume old age, but no I don't think there was confirmation.

>>43894374

I can't guarantee it'll make it into a write up, but who knows what could happen in the future?

>>43894445
>>43894457

Well, humans don't live forever you know! It could be that nobody likes to talk about a painful subject, especially to people who knew him

>>43894510
So if we go through with the tunnel plan like we probably will, for Cass to get revenge on the Guardian she'll have to the front of the Fortress AFTER the rescue and before the full moon goes away right?

>>43894780

That seems to be correct, unless the party splits up and attacks on two fronts.