>>44178619
>>Are you alright?
>>If they're all out there, why are you here?

>>44178619
>Are you alright?

>>44178619
Hey guys, I'd just like to point out thanks to you idiots getting Kyla killed we are now looking at a possible XK class end-of the-world scenerio, you've just taken a bunch of man children who crave power and fear confrontation, and put them in a scenerio where they've suddenly become aware that they can be killed ""conventionally"", this means there is a decent chance they may decide all that dank sun created and blood moon mana might not be worth the risk. The easiest way for them to bury the secret of whatever happened would be to destroy the earth and everyone on it, and preferably before any other god figures out what happened. This especially puts the scholar at risk because we all know his autistic ass is studying this.

Believe it or not now we're worse off than ever. Before we were just talking a CK class restructuring event where humanity was no longer the dominant form of life on earth. Still pretty shit but nowhere near as bad.

I don't see a good way out of this other than kill all the gods and do it fast.

>>44178731
Actually, its also possible the gods might get greedy and keep the earth around, to be repopulated by something hopefully less smart or confrontational then us. So in that case we'd just have a Dead Greenhouse Scenario on our hands and not an apocalyptic scenario.

For those of you who don't know, a dead greenhouse is a greenhouse in which all the plants are dead, but the greenhouse itself is still perfectly intact, so, with the right coaxing, things can still grow in it again. In this special case, that greenhouse is the earth!

>>44178619
>>Are you alright?
>>If they're all out there, why are you here?

>writing

"Are you... alright?" You ask.

Tasha turns to you, halfway through taking another sip. She takes the glass away from her lips to respond. "Am I alright?" She asks.
"Yeah. You seem a little... I dunno... tense?" You say.

She ponders your question for a moment, her eyes searching your apartment as though the answer was written somewhere.

"I..." She says, stopping for a moment to consider her words. "I don't think anyone has ever asked me that before"
"Never?" You ask.
"Not that I can think of" She says. "And if you must know, I am not alright. But I've been living for eons now, and a little thing like this won't put a stop to that... probably"

"Probably?" You ask.

"Things have never been as uncertain as they are now" She says. "So yes: probably"
"You think you might die?" You ask.
"Like I said, uncertainty makes just about everything a possibility" She says. "I could die, you could die, this world could die, we could all die. It's all up in the air now"

"And the other gods are out strengthening their positions through alliances..." You say. "But you're here"
"I am" She says.

You raise an eyebrow at her, wordlessly asking her to continue.

"No, keep going" She says. "You're on the right track"

No help from the peanut gallery... Okay. You can handle this.

>Why do you think she's here?

or

>Ask for a hint

>>44179286
>>Why do you think she's here?

She wants to help us? To pick up where Kyla left off?

Smiley mentioned awhile back that one of his routes had Tasha teach Saif magic, if he had forsaken Kyla.

>>44179286
She was too close to Kyla for comfort wasn't she. I'd imagine the scholar is now in a similar boat, only he is too tunnel vision based to notice.

>>44179357
You are very naive, we're a speck of dust to her, she doesn't care about us normally speaking. The only reason shes here now is because she is up shits creek without a paddle due to the fact that she didn't bank on a god dying and throwing a wrench in the entire damn system, and now shes worried that this planet she likes to come onto and flaunt her tits at people on is going to become her grave.

>>44179286
>Why do you think she's here?
Could be that no god wants her, because, surprise, she might stab them in the back.

>>44179377
She might have an idea on how to use Saif, specifically, to fix things.

Don't know.

>writing

>>44179286
Well, she might just think we have a chance to win for some reason. And if everyones scared of humans killing them now, maybe reducing acccess to earth works for everyone? something like that.

Thinking back to the first time you ever looked at the Blood Moon app, the answer becomes clear.

"Nobody wants to team up with the Traitor" You say.
"Bingo" She says.

"But why come to me?" You ask.
"You're a champion without a god" She says. "The moon's mana will give me the edge that I need to last through the time to come, and you need a new patron"

"Do I?" You ask.
Tasha shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not" She says. "Like I've said, this hasn't happened before. Even if you don't need one to enter the arena, if you make it to the end and receive the mana, then what?"

"I make my wish?" You ask.
Tasha chuckles. "No" She says. "We grant the wishes. That sort of magic is well beyond mortal capabilities"
"Oh..." You say.

"So you win, and when your god- a being who is capable of holding such vast stores of mana -would be granting your wish..." She trails off, letting the implication fill the air before clearing it. "Best case scenario: the mana simply dissipates and fills the air of your world"

"Worst case?" You ask.
"It all goes to you" She says. "Your reserves might be impressive for someone so young, but the moon's energy will burn you from the inside out"

You grimace. "So my only option is to make a deal with a god" You say.
"Not your only option, but it's probably the best one" She says.
"What's stopping me from going to someone else?" You ask.

"You're welcome to try" She says. "The others have congregated around the gods who still have champions. Most of them see you as too great a risk, seeing how you're currently a no-man's-land. They will most likely be avoiding you so the other groups don't see them trying to consolidate more power"

You sigh, lean back into your couch, and stare at your ceiling.

Damn it... this is a lovely fucking mess that Kyla's left you with. "The politics of divinity, huh?"

>I'll keep my options open

>Let me think about it

>You have a deal

>Other

>>44179837
>>You have a deal

We ain't seein Smith or Scholar anytime soon.

>>44179837
>You have a deal

>>44179837
>>You have a deal
fuck it

>>44179837
>>44179865
Well, at least ask her if we get anything out of this, besides a patron.

>writing

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that the one thing that most gods wanted (The Guardian being gone) is the thing that scares the absolute piss out of them when it actually happens?

Be careful what you wish for...

You throw your hands up.

"Fuck it" You say. "I may end up regretting this, but you have a deal"
"I'll do my best to see that you don't" She says.

You look over, and see that she's removed one of her long gloves and extended her hand to you. You take her hand and give it a firm shake. You're not surprised by how soft her hand is, but it still feels kind of nice.

"Now, I have other business to attend to" She says, standing from her chair. She wobbles a bit, so you stand and help her right herself.
"You sure you're okay?" You ask. "You drank like... an entire bottle of wine"
"I'll be fine" She says. "It goes to my tits before it goes to my head"

To emphasize this she cups her breasts. Still a very alluring action, as you are a man, and as a man breasts are on the list of things that you like. But it becomes immediately clear that there is something she missed.

"Right... I forgot that I made them smaller" She says.
"Why?" You ask.
"You didn't seem like a fan of the big fat tats" She says, giving your cheek a pinch.
"So you changed your whole image?" You ask.
"The big tits approach was never gonna work here" She says. "Say, do you mind if I pass out on your couch?"

"Uhh-"

She leans in a gives you a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Such a nice boy, letting me crash like this"
"I didn-"

Without letting you finish, Tasha promptly flops back down onto your couch and passes out.

You let out a long, exasperated sigh.

>Try to wake her

>Drag her to the bed and let her sleep there

>Go see if Claire is here yet

>Head out for a bit

>Other

>>44180375
>>Drag her to the bed and let her sleep there
>>Go see if Claire is here yet

>>44180375
>Go see if Claire is here yet

>>44180375
>>Drag her to the bed and let her sleep there
>>Go see if Claire is here yet

>>44180375
B-but Traits, I like big fat tats....

>writing

"We were just talking about how casual you guys are around me" You say. "Remember what I said about that?"

...

"I'll ask you that again when you're awake. The irony is bound to kill someone" You say. "Maybe it'll kill Harvey. That'd be a nice thing to come out of this"

You lean down and lift Tasha off of your couch. She's surprisingly light, but then she is a goddess. Being light probably has its advantages for her.

You struggle to open the bedroom door with your foot, but it does comes open. You step in sideways, careful not to whack her head off the door frame. Then you lay her on the bed and throw the covers over her.

Once in the bed, she shifts around and gets comfortable.

Part of you wants to crawl back into bed yourself. Not this bed specifically, as nice as Tasha has been, you'd rather keep your distance from her. Even if she does smell nice...

You shake your head and walk back out into the living room. You feel like it's been days since you've slept well, and it'll probably be a few more before you can truly rest.

But right now there are still too many things to do. You'd much rather not do any of them, but they must be done.

The bottle and glass that were on your table have disappeared, which saves you the trouble of cleaning up. So you throw your shoes on and head out.

But on the few steps it takes you to get next door, you come face to face with Claire...

And Julia...

>Keep walking

>Stop and talk

>Acknowledge them, and go back inside

>Other

>>44180977
>Keep walking

>>44180977
>>Acknowledge them, and go back inside

Wait til they're done, then they can come over.

Incidentally, Julia gets a look of disdain.

>>44180977
>>44181024
Bitch butchered Boss. If we're talking to Claire, SHE stands outside, before we beat her ass.

>>44180977
>>Acknowledge them, and go back inside

Just lost internet for some reason. Posting this from my phone.

If it comes back within the next half hour I'll keep going. If not I'm gonna have to call it a thread here.

>>44181162
Oh come on that is the worst timing

>>44181162
Awww...

Well, hopefully things can stay on track.

Good news! Connection's back, so i can start writing. So without further ado...

>writing

>>44181345
You sure you're in the right thread?

File: Freddie.png (126 KB, 600x749)

126 KB PNG

>>44181378

"Oh, you're already here" You say to Claire, intentionally giving Julia the cold shoulder.

You can't be outright hostile here, no matter how much you want to. But even then, you can feel it bleeding off of you.

"Yes" Claire says. "Is... Is Sarah still here?"
"Should be" You say. "Jessica's sister is a bit paranoid, but I let her know you'd be coming"

Claire nods, and wheels herself to Jess's door. You turn and head back to yours.

"Feel free to come over here when you're finished" You say. "Just. You"

As your hostility becomes harder to contain, you slip back into your apartment. Your hands are shaking, and you clasp them together to try and get a hold of it.

"That fucking..." You say.

No Saif. Keep cool. There's only one reason why Julia would come here, and that's to get under your skin. You let her in, you let her win. Cool your head, calm your nerves, roll with the punches.

You're better than this. You're better than her.

But so help her if you meet in the Arena.

...

Okay, you're good. And you have a bit of time to kill. You don't really know how long Claire will be, so you-

>Contact Abby

>Train/blow off steam

>Relax

>Other

>>44181711
>>Train/blow off steam

>>44181711
>>Train/blow off steam

>>44181711
>Contact Abby

So I'm not actually criticizing but we could've brought up "so just trust my sister to do the wish after Harvey's dead" when the traitor was making her pitch.

>>44181711
>There's only one reason why Julia would come here, and that's to get under your skin.

Well, that and the family would probably rather her stay around Claire as often as she can. That's the impression I've picked up, anyways.

But, seriously, she was picked by a god called THE BUTCHER. She is more than likely that sadistic, regardless.

>>44181711
>Train/blow off steam

>writing

>>44181881
Not criticizing you in turn, but I personally wouldn't want to give the mana to a bitch that chose a thrall that she didn't give a shit about, all for the sake of bum rushing my goddess.

>>44182029
Nah I actually think we made the right decision, but it would've been kind of nice to say "I know that you're not actually presenting all of the options"

>>44182051
I gotcha, dude.

I gotta wonder... are we gonna get the Traitor's Beads? Probably not, but that would be pretty pimp.

>>44180375
>"Fuck it" You say. "I may end up regretting this, but you have a deal"
>"I'll do my best to see that you don't" She says.

Uh... guys... was she saying she'll do her best to make sure we don't live to regret this, or that we don't regret this?

>>44182107
Yeah I THINK that would be against the rules? Doesn't hurt to ask I suppose.

>>44182151
There are no rules where we've gone. They made this game to explicitly avoid gods dying, as such there are no rules regarding orphaned champions.

>>44182128
Well, we didn't SAY "I'll probably live regret this" so there's not really any reason whatsoever to think that's what she's responding to

>>44182182
Yeah, which means there's probably not an "orphaned champion exception" to a general "don't go extra-empower someone else's champion just cause yours died" rule that probably exists

You call up the archive, and extract a training dummy from it. It's made of the same material as the training dummy that was destroyed in the explosion.

With a bit of work, you anchor it to your floor. Then you get to work on it.

There's less room to swing your sword in here, but that suits you just fine. You won't always have perfect conditions. It's best to train for those times.

You hit the dummy with your sword for a solid half-hour, before putting the sword away and working with your fists.

Your sword is a trump card, and it needs to stay that way. Right now your body will be doing most of the work. You continue working at the dummy, practicing the timing of your strengthening magic to match the timing of your strikes.

It's less taxing to use strengthening magic in short bursts rather than sustaining it for longer periods. The timing takes a bit to get down, but after another hour or so you feel like you've just about gotten it down.

If you get the chance, you'll have to see if you can work in your slow-time over-charge trick. But for now, you're satisfied with where you stand.

You step away from the dummy, and catch your breath. Sweat pours down your forehead, and your body is really feeling the work you just put in.

"Maybe I overdid it..." You say, as you step around and collapse onto the couch.

You lean back and get comfortable, finding that your eyelids are getting pretty heavy...

Oh... screw it. Claire'll knock... hopefully.

You close your eyes.

>[1/2]

Someone shakes you.

"Saif!"

Do you ever get to sleep?

"Saif!"

Why the hell did you take on all these responsibilities? All they ever do is get in the way of sleeeeep.

...

"Fine... I'm awake" You say, groaning as you crane your neck forward to see Claire leaning out of her wheelchair.
"Honestly..." She says, as she sits back down. "You invited me 'ere, and zen decided to take a nap?"

"In my defense, I didn't sleep all that well last night... or the night before, or the night before that" You say.
"I felt magic coming from 'ere... what were you doing?" She asks.

"Practicing" You say. "See, there's this girl. She's got a big fist, packs a hell of a punch, and seems adamant that I fight her to the death. So I'm trying to get better at not dying"

Claire has no response to that.

Not that you were waiting for one. In her position, you wouldn't have a response either.

>You know that I have to kill Julia now, right?

>So... what the hell?

>How'd it go with Sarah?

>I'm sorry about Jess

>Other

>>44182524
>>How'd it go with Sarah?
>>I'm sorry about Jess

First things first.

>>44182524
>You know that I have to kill Julia now, right?
>So... what the hell?

>>44182524
>so, you said you wanted to talk to me, what about

>>44182524
>How'd it go with Sarah?

>I'm sorry about Jess
These as an icebreaker

then
>>44182575

>>44182524
>>How'd it go with Sarah?
>>I'm sorry about Jess

Oh and not really at this point in the conversation but I'd like to ask how tied to deals she made when she's not an a murderous psycho she feel's as a murderous psycho, for instant could we try to get her to kill Harvey before safi if we die before that and give safi the chance to surrender.

>writing

>>44182666
Oh, I bet she plans on killing Harv, regardless.

>>44182704
Yeah, but safi won't be allowed to surrender if Harvey's still alive, and killing Harvey WITHOUT first killing safi will probably take some extra effort.

>>44182704
>>44182730
I understand, I just meant that we probably won't have too much of a problem working a deal like that out.

>>44182794
Yeah that's why the real concern is whether psychomurderclair would hold to it (and as a side benefit gives us some intel on that state we almost certainly wouldn't get if we just asked for it)

"How did it go with Sarah?" You ask.
"She's... not alright" Claire says. "Losing 'er mother and leaving 'er 'ome all at once is taking it's toll..."

...

"But she's a strong girl" Claire adds. "She'll 'eal in time"

"And you?" You ask.
"What about me?" She asks.
"Are you alright?" You ask.

"No" She says. "Jessica was the closest sing to I 'ad to a sister, and Harvey will pay for what 'appened"

"Then we're on the same page" You say.
"No we're not" Claire says. "You lied to my face. I'll not be trusting you again"

Claire is... really on guard. You doubt that you can change that now, but it still makes her hard to deal with...

>And Julia murdered my father

>Was it really that bad?

>What did you come here to talk about?

>Tell her about what's happening with the Gods

>Other

>>44182953
Fine, you can leave.

>>44182953
Well I'm not any more happy about not getting told "oh hey I moonlight as a murderous psycho" no matter how good the reasons for not telling me may have been

>>44182953
>>What did you come here to talk about?

>>44182953
in my defense I didn't realize you were an insane bloodthirsty mass murderer at the time

>>44183004
Oh but yeah also "what did you come here to talk about"

>>44182953
>>And Julia murdered my father
Though
>Own up

Yeah... it probably looks like Saif used the fact that SHE believed that they were still together to manipulate her into staying out of the arena...

Not to mention how it began. I mean, Saif refused Abby like 3-4 times before he eventually gave in due to A) Being exhausted and B) She just wasn't stopping.

Saif doesn't REGRET the time he's spent with Abby, but the least he can do is own up to the fact that, yeah, he betrayed her trust.

>>44183050
Nah I'm pretty sure we actually did that. I'm honestly not sure she realizes that they weren't together anymore, as opposed to saif two-timing

>>44183050
Speak for yourself. I liked her best from the start and voted they way I did for that reason.

>>44183050
>>44183069
I ain't saying anything about liking one character or another, I'm just saying that Claire's not wrong.

Owning up to it should at least make it a bit easier to talk to her, is what I mean.

>writing

>>44183050
Worth a shot.

>>44183104
Well, she might be wrong, if she thinks we simply never broke it off with Abby, which we very well might. If she DOES understand the actual situation, she's wrong but we still wronged her just not in the way she thinks

>>44183154
>which we very well might
Which SHE very well might. Phoneposting, sorry

>>44183170
S'all good.

>>44182953
> Own up

> And Julia murdered my father

> And every other person I've ever known or cared about is either a fucking slave or dead, and your family was apparently in bed with them and there's all this fucking magic BULLSHIT that I got dumped on me when you came and KILLED ME for the first time

> But yeah, I'll try not to do that again, if we can have a truce on the whole killing me thing.

Seriously, I think we're handling this pretty well by which I mean we're in shock.

"For what it's worth, I was done with Abigail" You say. "It wasn't until after I found out about you that things changed"

Claire winces, but says nothing.

"You KILLED me" You say. "Me, and how many other people? Was I just supposed to put that behind me? Forget how getting my head crushed feels and move on?"

"I didn't kno-"
"And that's just supposed to make it better somehow?" You ask.

...

"And now you add on to that the fact that Julia killed my father, and most of my other friends and family are all either dead or enslaved" You say, "Every time I try to solve one problem, another blows up. When I try to protect one person, another dies... and-"

You stop, and take a breath.

"And that's it for my rant" You say. "What did you want to talk about anyway? I somehow doubt that you came by to make small talk"
"I..." Claire struggles with herself. You can see the conflict all over her face, but after a moment she smiles sadly. "Nevermind... I sink I understand you a little better now. I wanted to ask you somesing, but I sink it would only insult you now"

"You wanted me to surrender" You say.
Claire sighs. "Yes..." She says.
"You're right. That would have been insulting" You say.

Claire nods, and backs her wheelchair up. "I should go" She says. "I'm down for a truce to take down 'Arvey, but as soon as he is gone it's off"
"Fair enough" You say.

Claire wheels her way to the door, stopping short and turning back to you.

"And your Papa was never Julia's target" She says. "He died defending Abigail"
You turn to face her, but she doesn't wait for a response. By the time you're anywhere near formulating one, she's gone.

After a second, you stand, strengthen your fist, and get right back to smashing your training dummy.

That's all for tonight!

Next thread will be... fuck I don't even know. Work is busy as hell and will continue to be busy until Christmas. I'll try to run again next time I have the time/energy, but it might be a little while again.

As always I'll be sticking around for questions and suggestions

Man. We gotta see if we can get in touch with the time-god somehow. Talk to Tasha about how you would go about contacting gods.

>>44183527
Goddamnit smiley, see ya next time

>>44183489
Feel like we could've also worked in "oh and then when you learn that I learned there's not even a 'sorry' or any other attempt to explain things just oh 'oh good I don't have to feel guilty about my fucked up murderboner anymore'"

>>44183527
Great thread, Smiley! Lookin' forward to the next one!

>>44183535
wouldnt know anyway,considering even the god of knowledge didnt even wonder if maybe it existed, let alone where or who it was.

>>44183535
Yeah, The Fool's the key to solving this thing, I'm sure of it.

>>44183571
>>44183618
The fool being time related is only a hypothesis. A more "actually exists" timegod is supposed to be the witch but that's not really an option as we know

>>44183654
Well, she's a goddess of magic in general, from what's been implied; she knows about Time Magic, but isn't a time god.

>>44183749
Ah yeah that would make more sense than my reading

I guess as a minor plus Tasha probably won't get pissed off at an intent to wish for time travel, since apparently she's the one god better off in a guardian-containing world and even if it doesn't work, hey, she still got the boost this time around. Reassure her that last time we time traveled didn't destroy the universe and we're all set.