>>598343
Chapter Three: High Noon

The cart rattles on through the twilight, the circle of light from the lantern hooked to its side an island of visibility in the dark. The sun is out, for all the good that does these days, having just cleared the horizon a few hours ago. You lean over the side and confirm that the ground beneath the tracks is whole. The network of cracks left throughout the concrete plains by the falling stars has been left behind you, the gray expanse beneath the rune-carven rails unbroken and whole. Normally this would be cause for relief. But the words of the imp prey upon your mind still and you know what it really means. You’ve passed the boundary Zeno marked with the craters and are now well and truly within his territory.
It has been one day since you left the ruins of Augustine and chose the Dis-ward rail. Several times you’ve seen what might be towns or settlements in the far distance but the rail you’ve chosen is one with particularly calamitous intent, angling far from any town and letting the other rails service them as it strikes out in a straight line for the end of the world.

There is something tranquil about the bleak landscape that you currently travel through, the illusion of safety and calm. You don’t let your mind become ensnared by such foolish complacency but you feel yourself relax just a little anyway. You keep your hand steady despite the shaking of the trolley and remain at work. Pen scratches ink on paper.
“There is a certain peacefulness to be felt here, is there not? I don’t trust it.”

“Peaceful?” Beatrice wheezes as she works the pump. “Well thank god one of us has time to...time to fucking ruminate holy shit. Holy shit.”
She stops halfway through her sentence to catch her brief, the witch looking particularly dishevelled and covered in sweat. You’ve left her to power the handcar by herself while you worked on more scholarly pursuits and she hasn’t been taking it well.
“What the fuck is the deal with that book anyway?”

“Just a journal of sorts,” you reply, still concentrating on the little book in your hands as you write. “It occurred to me after the events of yesterday that people need to be better educated on the matter of humanity’s foes.So I’ve begun to write a bestiary filled with what I know so that others might learn from it.”

“Shouldn’t…,” Beatrice takes a brief pause to wheeze uncontrollably. “Shouldn’t I be the one writing that?”

“No, you’re pumping the cart.”

“Yeah okay sod but I mean I know a lot more.”

“In some areas, yes. But I don’t wish to include unreliable sources.”

“Unreliable?”

“How you choose to use that knowledge has been dubious. Even aside from your history, you neglected to inform me that minor Benedictions would not afflict a monster inside a human body.”

1/2

>>598346
Beatrice’s mottled eyes grow wide with the perceived injustice.
“You didn’t even tell me you were doing that! What was I supposed to do, just volunteer that little fact from nowhere? Prick. The least you could let me do is do a little work on the book, scribble some words in. I...oh god holy shit holy shit...I can write pretty good.”

“Absolutely not. This journal will be as a guide to the innocent and the ignorant and I better not catch you even so much as touching it.”

“...Okay.”
The witch lets go of the pump and sinks to the ground, lying down curled up amidst the rags that pad the trolley’s metal floor. She picks up her hat from where it had fallen and places it atop her face directly.
“Writing break is over. Take the wheel captain.”

You frown beneath your helmet.
“I don’t recall telling you to stop.”

“Fuck your permission. Fuck you too.”


>Just take up the pump. It's not worth it.

>Put the book down and get back to work but only if she does as well.

>Give her a little kick to get her back into action.

>Just let the trolley drag to a stop for now.

>Other

>>598352
>>Put the book down and get back to work but only if she does as well.

>>598352
>Put the book down and get back to work but only if she does as well.
>Give her a little kick to get her back into action.

okay this slack is getting ridiculous we let her come along AS LONG AS she pulled her own weight

and there has been a considerable lack of that off the battlefield

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>>598346
>High noon

Remember that Bestiary pastebin I promised at the end of last thread? I don't.

>>598352
>>Put the book down and get back to work but only if she does as well.
>I have noticed you are uncommonly frail and easily winded by Third man or even Witch standards. Why is that?

>>598352
>Just let the trolley drag to a stop for now.
"See this is what happens when you don't pull your weight" then

>Give her a little kick to get her back into action.

>>598352
> just take up the fucking pump, we big strong man on a mission from God! No time to be scratching at paper like a four eyed dweeb!

>Put the book down and get back to work but only if she does as well.

You close the book gently and set it down as you rise, pretending not to notice the witch watching you from beneath the hat’s rim.
“Very well. But you only have my help, I’m not letting you just sit this one out.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“I assure you that I am not. I let you come with me with the assurance that you would pull your own weight. I didn’t just mean on the battlefield. I meant it literally. Now get up and pump.”
You are more than ready to give her a little kick if you have to be. Thus far violence has been an easy way to make her fold. But in the end you don’t have to, the witch getting back up and joining you at the other side of the pump with a foul look upon her face.
“I have noticed that you are uncommonly frail,” you remark as you both get to work. “And easily winded to boot.”

“I wonder where that could be from? I’ve really got no idea!”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic.”

“Too bad. I walk the path of flame and for me that mostly involves feeling terrible and sick all the time even before I have to push the goddamn trolley.”

The two of you lapse into silence as the trolley rattles on and before thirty minutes has passed, the witch spots something along the rail up ahead.
“Is that a town?”

You turn to look and indeed, so there is, the scattering of tamed earth before it to soften the concrete giving it away before the buildings even pull into view. But it isn’t simply close to the rails like most settlements are. It’s on them. The rail goes straight up and down through the main street, buildings clustered on either side.
“That’s a little inconvenient.”

“It’s a godsend is what it is. Just you wait, the moment we set down I’m out. I don’t care what town this is, as long as it isn’t a ghoul-nest or a ghost town or whatever the fuck Augustine was, I’m getting out and I’m settling down where nobody will pay me no mind.”


>Good riddance.

>”This town likely belongs to Zeno.”

>”I’m sure there’s something wrong with it.”

>”I don’t intend to be stopping by for any longer than it takes to light the lamp and refill my supplies so better make it fast.”

>Other

>>598534
>>”This town likely belongs to Zeno.”

>>598534
>>”I’m sure there’s something wrong with it.”
too far towards Dis for it to be otherwise.

>>598534
>”This town likely belongs to Zeno.”

To be honest, i kind of want her to come with us.

If these fragments of the sun dont meld together on their own, we might have to ask her to make a very nasty but neccesary sacrifice. Or help us do so.

>>598534
>”This town likely belongs to Zeno.”
But
>If this town is taint free and untroubled, I wish you luck Beatrice. Despite being lazy in pulling your weight in the trolley you've been helpful in combat.

>>598565
You mean use the power off her explosive death to forge a new God?

>>598565
>>598584
So Basically go through with what Hiss did not?

>inb4 angry bitchy Sun Witch shits on Orion for the rest of his life.

>”This town likely belongs to Zeno.”

You strongly doubt that this town is completely free of taint or trouble, it’s too close to Dis to be otherwise. But you have an even more pressing concern to air first.
“This town likely belongs to Zeno. I’ve seen no reason to believe that we’ve passed out of his territory.”

“First of all,” Beatrice puffs, “That’s not always a black mark. As long as it’s a town he doesn’t give a shit about and the people don’t ask too many questions. And secondly, we don’t even know if we’ve been travelling in the right direction or not!”

“The imp called him the self-styled gatekeeper of Dis so I’d say this direction lining up with his conquests is a given.”

“I’m not feeling great about tangling with a man who can pull the stars down. Does that not bother you?”

“I have faith that an opportunity will present itself.”

“Great. Well if you must seek out his ire please do so while I am not present. For all we know this town isn’t even part of hi-oh fuck never mind.”

There’s a man dressed in black standing in the very middle of the street of the town ahead, both feet planted on either side of the railroad. He has his head down and both hands looped around his belt. And as the town grows ever closer the light of your lantern makes something flash white. Bone.
The hands by his belt are skeletal, seven-fingered claws. The man looks up as the trolley approaches and reveals a deformed horse skull where his head should be, ever-weeping with black acid.

“He’s back already?”

“You know,” Beatrice says weakly as her pumping begins to slow, “When I said he’d be back by tomorrow thanks to his witch I didn’t mean it literally.”


>”Shoot him.”

>Slowly rattle into town and see what the fuck he’s doing here.

>Speed up. If he wants to block the rail then so be it!

>Call out before you reach the town.

>Come to a stop outside and wait.

>Other

>>598631
>>Come to a stop outside and wait.
>You wanted to stop, well you got your wish Beatrice.

>Ouro will never impregnate you

>>598631
>Come to a stop outside and wait.

>>598685
Pretty sure you can't impregnate a human male anon.

>>598631
>>Come to a stop outside and wait.
>>Other

we should get beatrice to snipe it from a distance while we distract it

>>598631
>Pull sword out, but don't slow down nor attack pre-emptively.
Let him make the first move if he wants to stop us.

>>598631
> Speed up
RAMMING SPEED

>>598631
>Speed up. If he wants to block the rail then so be it!

>>598631

>Speed up. If he wants to block the rail then so be it!

>Other
Set self on fire

>>598769
>>598773
>>598785
>Literally playing into Zeno's and the imp's hands.
Really guys?

>Come to a stop outside and wait.

You let go of the pump, leaving Beatrice to be shaken around by it until she gets the message and lets go as well.
“The last time we met this creature in a town it didn’t go so well. I am loathe to do so again without prior confirmation.”

“I doubt he’s turned them against us. Look.”
You follow Beatrice’s finger as the trolley slowly grinds to a stop just outside the small settlement. The windows are all closed but you can see movement behind them and even pale light, the flickering light of candles whose light has run wan. Every door and every window is closed off and the townsfolk watch cautiously from beyond.
“Looks like everyone’s afraid of him.”

“Nevertheless, he clearly wants us to stop in the town or else he wouldn’t be blocking the rail. So I’m not even going to come close until I see what he wants.”

The witch huffs.
“What he wants? He wants to kill us.”

“Maybe not you.”

“Especially me probably.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to play into his hands again.”

The two of you sit in the cart and watch the imp ahead in the darkness, locked in a stand-off. Should Beatrice just shoot him? Why this town in particular? None of this sits well with you.
Luckily the imp breaks first.

“Oi! Get over here! I come bearing a message!”
When neither of you reply the monster throws his hands up into the air in a despairing motion and starts to walk along the rail right towards you.
“It’ll do you no good if you don’t hear it, these games of yours are worthless!”

He’s out of the town now, the rails shaking with the sound of his long-legged strides.


>”Pump! Now!” Full speed!

>Get out and meet him halfway.

>Tell Beatrice to get out and talk to him. It’s her business after all.

>”You can shoot him from here, right?”

>Set it into reverse and start pulling back away from him.

>Call out to him and tell him to stop. He can relay his message from a distance.

>Other

>>598785
Sorry, this update was already mostly done when your post popped up.

>>598805
>>Call out to him and tell him to stop. He can relay his message from a distance.
>”You can shoot him from here, right?”

>>598805
> You can sit him from here right?

>>598805
>”Pump! Now!” Full speed!
>Tell Beatrice to get out and talk to him. It’s her business after all.
>Other
Set self on fire in case of an immediate need for light/fighting

>>598831
So you're leaving her behind to the mercy of the imp and wasting our wick and burning our cart up? Dude stop shitposting.

Hold on guys, I feel a little sick. My gums are all puffy and bruised for some reason.

>>598805
>Call out to him and tell him to stop. He can relay his message from a distance.
>>598883
You've been sick a lot lately, don't die okay?

>>598805
>Call out to him and tell him to stop. He can relay his message from a distance.
>”You can shoot him from here, right?”

>>598883
>WebMD these symptoms
>auto-immune failure, mouth cancer, deathly allergic reaction, gum disease.

Ouro...

>>598910
It's probably an allergic reaction. Gums don't puff up all of a sudden for the others.

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I really doubt it's mouth cancer but it is true that I've been feeling like crap for weeks on end now. It's really been slowing my updates down. Not to mention unfortunate RL events.
In hindsight, I started this quest at a really unfortunate time. I might take a break.

>>598934
Have you considered seeing a doctor? I know too many people that have waited too long for preventable unhappiness.

>>598934
It might be gum disease. You should probably go to the dentist or something.

>>598934
might want to see a doctor Ouro, almost sounds like you have an infection.

I didn't realise Beatrice was Ouro's self-insert

>>599453
I just realized that her "walking the path of flame" is a false redemption. It's the same flaw that made her seek out the power of the witch, that's making her now seek out the power of the flame.

She should really focus on trying to learn how to be a good human instead of wanting to always be a special snowflake.

>>600264
prehaps it's certainly not something thats truly redeeming her, hell I'm wondering if she'd even be truly repentant if it wasn't get out of jail free card

>>600516
It's not even a "get out of Jail free card" it's swapping one jail for another.

>>600548
okay a REALLY badly thought out get out of Jail free card then

>>598805
>Shoot him then ram him then run him over.

>>598934
Go see a doctor man.

>>600264
Orion did mention this early on. He said that it didn't mean anything if her wick want reignited and that she had to face all her sins, not just the socially convenient ones. She said she was fucking trying.

>>600688
Bullshit, if she was really trying she'd stop eating the gunpowder.

All she's doing is using it to run away.

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>Have Beatrice ready to shoot him at a moment's notice, and have him relay his message from a distance.

>>600741
No shit Sherlock.

Alright, I'm feeling a little better but I also really got to get some sleep. So I'll write the next update now and then we can get started tomorrow when I wake up

The vote will remain open for quite a few hours until I wake up, naturally.

>Call out to him and tell him to stop. He can relay his message from a distance.
>”You can shoot him from here, right?”

You stare at the approaching imp and for a moment stare on right past him, looking through him and seeing only the empty ruin of Augustine and the burning bodies of its townsfolk. An apt reminder of just what kind of creature you’re dealing with here.
“You can shoot him from this range, can you not?”

“Of course. Do you want me to?”

“Not yet. But consider it an option. Imp! Stop where you are! Not a single step closer!”

The imp slows and then freezes, one boot on the rail and the other perched almost comically in the air mid-step. Acid-filled eyesockets stare you down as the monster peers at you.
“It speaks? At last, I was beginning to think you mute from our last encounter. What are you doing with a witch anyway? Particularly that lying whor-”

“Hey bud, great to see you too!,” Beatrice calls out from across the distance. “Nice face. Get to the point and maybe you’ll get to keep it.”

“Refrain from taunting the imp, Beatrice.”

“Oh he hates me already. Imps take things like my offer from yesterday seriously.”

The imp slams his foot down upon the rail and you can feel the vibration.
“Are you quite done? Listen, for I bear a message from Zeno himself, gatekeeper of Dis, lord of the concrete wasteland, feller of stars! And he bids you welcome to the small town of Enoch!”

“What’s this town got to do with anything?,” you bellow. “What have you done to it?”

“Nothing. Not yet. I think you’d like it here Lamplighter. Good people and mostly reverent. But they respect strength more than they do martyrdom and thus they pay monthly tribute to Zeno. There is no faith that cannot be cowed! And so my master has a little proposal for you and the people of Enoch.”
The imp’s voice is unnaturally deep and loud, echoing off the faces of buildings with a deep boom. All can hear it and you doubt he’s doing it for no reason.
“Zeno comes for you, Lamplighter! He will arrive in Enoch today at high noon and there, at the sun’s zenith shall be break you apart and feed you to the crows! All will see the Wheel God’s champion fall in the hour of his god’s greatest strength!”

“That doesn’t seem right,” Beatrice mumbles. “What if we just leave Enoch before then?”

“And if high noon comes and you are not here to face him like a man,” the imp continues, “He will have no choice but to drop a star from the sky upon Enoch and all those within it. The same for if he arrives and sees that you have lit the lamp-post here! Make your choice, Lamplighter. Your life or that of an entire town. Choose!”

“What about my life? Can’t help but notice that hasn’t been mentioned yet.”
At the very least you can always trust Beatrice to look out for herself.

1/2

>>601703
“Zeno will give you to me to punish as I see fit for what you did to me.”

“I see.”
Beatrice nods slowly and then turns to face you, her voice low.
“Orion I think it’s time to face up to the fact that a single town isn’t really all that important in the grand scheme of things.”

Before you can reply to her the imp howls, a screech that shivers the tracks and makes the flame within your lantern flicker.
“Choose now or later, it does not matter! I take my leave of you. Just know that come high noon, human blood is being spilled one way or the other. Consider what that means to you.”


>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”

>Call out to the imp. “Tell him to call down whatever stars he wishes. My duty is of greater importance than any single town.”

>Strike Beatrice for her disregard of innocent lives.

>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”

>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

>Try to extract more information from the imp with casual talk.

>The above but let Beatrice do it, it’ll probably be better. Probably.

>Call out to the imp. “Tell your master that I am willing to give him a chance. He can flee these lands now and I’ll pretend I never heard this.”

>Other

>>601708
>>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

>>601708
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.
>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”

>>601708
>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

>>601708
>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”
>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice."
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

>>601708
>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer."
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

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>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.
>The above but let Beatrice do it, it'll probably be better. Probably.
Why have to tell him anything? Zeno is gonna show up any which way, we might as well just get what info we can and take another one of this fuckers' lives.

>>601708
>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here."
>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

We SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER Zebo with the true lantern right? Beatrice can ward off the Imp and hopefully kill him a final time

>>602291
If the imp told him we raised a star back into the sky, Zeno is probably expecting us to have some kind of awesome trick up our sleeve, so I doubt it will be much of a SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER

but that is the general plan I think, yeah

>>602375
They can't say for certain we didn't know some Ye olden benediction/Flame rite/Rune to raise the star and not a goddamn true lantern that's unbroken and burning bright

I mean yeah they could expect it but hey Zeno's arrogance should be his undoing if we can surprise him with enough tricks

Maybe we could rally the few brave enough to free their town of him to aid us

>>601708
>>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”
>>601708
>>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”
I think I can live with giving up some more of our life to beat 'The Gatekeeper of Dis, Feller of Stars.'

Waiiiiit, what if Zeno's just stalling and wants to bring a star down on us while we wait in the town?

He has the capability...

>>602469
Then Ouro is a jerk
No offense Ouro
I love you

>>602480
You gotta admit, it's a good plan. I think we're going to need more info on Zeno's character.

>>602469
Fair, we could always wait outside town until high noon

>>601708
>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”
>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.
>Try to extract more information from the imp with casual talk.

>Call out to the imp. “I accept his offer. Tell him that I await him here.”
>”It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch, Beatrice.”
>Regardless of what answer you give him, you’ll be taking another of his lives with it. Kill the imp.

What kind of choice is this? You can tell that the imp delights in it, that he wants to cause you suffering. And not just for what you did to him yesterday or even that you are a Lamplighter. The malice he holds for you in his empty eyes would be the same if you were Lamplighter, a mayor or a helpless woman with child. Whether they knew him or had ever even met him mattered nothing to it. Imps are creatures born to hate.

And yet, for you, the answer to his sadistic question is easy. You don’t even falter.
“Tell your master that I accept his offer and that I will await him here.”

“Hey!,” Beatrice hisses. “Think about this Orion! I don’t want to let these people die either but sometimes you have to make a choice.”

She’s tpo close. You stare at her coldly until she cowers back, her hands raised in expectation of a strike.
“It becomes easier every day to see why you chose to become a witch.”

“What?”

“Some choices,” you grunt as you grab the side of the trolley and throw yourself over, landing both feet flatly upon the concrete, “Are never to be made!”

“Yeah, I know, I know. We’ve got to be righteous and al-”

“No you don’t know. Not really. Else you’d never have become a witch.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”
The imp stares at you, looking back and forth from you to the trolley that you had just vacated.
“Get back in the cart!”

“No. I’ve given you a message for your witch. And he can have it when he draws you back up from the ground!”
You charge forward along the tracks.


>Use your wick to burn him from a distance.

>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

>Set your sword alight and just go for the killing blow as quickly as possible before he can do anything.

>”Fire!” Though Beatrice will probably do this on her own anyway.

>Set yourself aflame and tackle him.

>Other

>>604177
>>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

Speak softly, and carry a big stick.

>>604177
>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

That's all for today I'm afraid. One of my out of town friends needs a lift so I have to leave early. This vote remains open until I close it tomorrow.

Sorry about not really being here for either of these days. Tomorrow will be a full session, I promise.

>>604177
>get close to him
>roar fire and burn him to cinders

>>604177
>>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.
gotta conserve dat wick

>>604275
Do as you must, Ouro, I hope you feel better.

>>604177
>Set your sword alight and just go for the killing blow as quickly as possible before he can do anything.
Friendly reminder that Ouro should definitely go see a doctor

>>604177
>>Set your sword alight and just go for the killing blow as quickly as possible before he can do anything.

>>604177
>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.
The imp probably isn't too dangerous in a straight-up fight if we can keep it from using witch-sign, and we're specialised for this.

>>604177
>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

>>604177
>Use your wick to burn him from a distance.
Give the tamed witch a clear shot.

>>604177
>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

>>604177
>>Use your wick to burn him from a distance.

>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt the witch sign.
>>”Fire!” Though Beatrice will probably do this on her own anyway.
Make sure to give her a clear shot, don't wanna get shot on accident

>>606823
Re: shouting out to Beatrice

- I'm already upset enough that we pretty much shouted out the name of our attack.

I don't see what good warning him that the Witch has a gun will do.

>>604177
Why is Beatrice eating gunpowder instead of charcoal? The latter is much safer for a lot of reasons. In reality, it's also useful for soaking poisons in the belly as well.

Probably should ask her that.

>>607138
Do you remember when she shot him in the head before, the last time we met? He knows pretty well that she has gun, I'd say.

>>607624
I'm hoping the charging lamplighter is distracting him from that.

I'd like to propose something for anons to consider: Zeno can't drop stars. Zeno isn't even terribly powerful.

My reasoning behind this traces back to what we know of the world and have seen thus far. First of all, we know that Dis is the city that broke the sun, and since then the power of light and flame has been fading consistently as time went on. Fire itself is fading, and the strength of light that fire creates is dimming as well.

Second, we encountered a fallen star on the way here. It had fallen entirely intact, and when we investigated it, we discovered the reason for this was that it was out of power. Power that we were capable of fully recharging by exposing it to flame - Specifically, a very strong flame. The True Flame.

These stars have been floating around the sky since the second age, and they only started to drop/wink out of the sky with the third age. The major change here is that it occurred after the sun was broken, which would in turn mean that over time they would be able to recharge less and less energy from their solar panels (it's probably more flame/magic specific, but the idea is similar).

Third, at no point have we seen that witch powers even remotely affect flame. They can't draw it out, or snuff the flame outside of physically blanketing it. If anything, flame seems almost anathema to THEM, rather than the other way around, and Beatrice even specifically says that our dead god is more powerful than one of the oldest of THEIR dead gods.

This leads us to the fourth point: Zeno IMMEDIATELY revived a lowly imp and sent him specifically to call out Orion. That's something to focus on, but an important detail included in this challenge was "do not relight the lamp". We can also look at how he calls himself the gatekeeper of Dis, but has never personally set foot in it. Further, we've been travelling along the concrete wasteland, and the only pockmarks we've seen have been the result of fallen "stars". Not once have we encountered a place where this supposedly ridiculously powerful Witch actually broke the concrete to pull up untamed earth to reconstruct the land they supposedly are a master of into something more conducive to becoming a throne of power for a Witch.

In conclusion, this is a sham and we're being bluffed into willingly putting ourself into a weak position. Odds are that Zeno has simply taken advantage of superstition and the naturally falling stars to make himself out to be far more of a threat than he actually is, and is riding the coat tails of dying hope and naturally extinguishing flames to pretend his shadow is deeper than it is.

Following that line of logic, I feel like our best course of action is specifically to relight the lamp of the town. However, doing so will shed a lot of light and is liable to be very noticeable from far beyond the town. It would make Zeno skittish, which may serve to drive him away, but ultimately it would just antagonize him and delay the confrontation.

However, we know that light weakens Witches, and the power of Flame is sacred. If we wanted to make best use of this, I believe it would be ideal to lure Zeno into the city, and set the lamp aflame once he's already committed... Assuming that he, himself will commit. I am willing to bet he will try to use the citizens of the town as hostages against us.

So I present a few possible courses of action:

1. Light the lamp and meet him as a bastion of flame. This will weaken him the most upfront, and likely protect the citizens immediately. It guarantees a temporary victory, but likely won't solve the problem. Zeno is likely to flee, and just wait it out or come back later.

2. Lure Zeno into the town proper and use the lamp lighting to turn the tables abruptly, then make use of that sudden reversal to deal a crippling blow to an already subpar Witch.

3. Obey his conditions and just try to surprise him with the True Flame.

Most of you have been considering the third option, and i feel it's the worst possible course of action to take. You're swinging around a sacred treasure as our trump card repeatedly, and the more public use it gets, the less of a surprise it's going to be in the future. Further, as Zeno is liable to have an escape plan ready (because everything up to this point paints him something of a coward), failure to end him this time will just mean he'll come back aware of our trump card the next time.

>>608023
2 seems best

>>608023
You know what, you are probably right.

When we were at the "border" of Zeno's land we felt witch chill but noted it wasn't particularly strong. It's possible that it was a different witch, but I'm guessing they are territorial and it was semi-recent if I recall. Whoever was at the crash site we looked at, they couldn't mess with the star. That didn't sound like someone who could "call then down from the heavens".

>>608019
Just the fact that he can't take down stars doesn't mean he's weak

>>608023
Pretty solid theory, but it's suspicious to me that the stars fell so close together. Why didn't we see more closer to Sacrament? Or before Sacrament? You'd think they'd be scattered all over the place, and not in any kind of shape that could resemble a border.

Granted, Zeno has kind of been acting funny. He could just have been waiting here himself and ruined our day as soon as we showed up. Maybe someone else pulled the stars down for him.

>>608019
>>608023
Good story, but too many words. Get a fucking editor.

Overslept, update in an hour or so

>>608023
Nobody said we had to be the one to light the lamp, right? Could the Witch do it?

>>608264
I think that since the witch abandoned the way of the flame, she's unable to manipulate true flame in any way.

>Set your staff alight and be ready to disrupt witch-sign.

You hold your staff and wick aloft in both hands as you charge and as you draw ever closer, you bang the wick against the staff and draw forth flame!

Wick: 9/10

The staff wraps itself in holy fire and you drop the wick behind you as you take up the burning staff in both hands. There’s no hesitation in your movement, just you barreling towards the monster as fast as you can. And the imp doesn’t back down either, slamming both his hands together and preparing to make witch-sign.
Can you reach him before he completes it? You think so but you aren’t certain. And this is the way it has always been. Risking death or worse on the basis of something so trivial as how fast you are.
Or it would be, if you had been facing the imp alone.

A shot blows a hole through the imp’s chest, setting his vest alight and revealing a swirling crater of bent and broken finger-bones in the shape of ribs. You slam the staff down upon his fingers just a moment later, forcing them apart and letting you grab hold of his left hand with your right. The imp is light so it is trivial thing to pull him forward off his feet and guide his deformed bony face straight into the path of your staff.

And as it does, a tiny skeletal hand, no larger than that of an infant, worms its way out of one of the imps’ empty eyesockets, still wet with black acid tears, and swipes down right for your face!

>Roll 1d6. The total of the first 3 shall be used.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>608310

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>608310

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>608310

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>608310

>1, 4, 4

Not as bad as it looks thanks to the dice ability that your staff mastery gives you.

>1, 4, 4

You swivel and duck to the side in a desperate attempt to avoid the blow, the tiny claw soaring right by your helmet. Unfortunately doing this slowed your own momentum in the process and your staff doesn’t do much more than tap him on the skull, burning him but doing little else.

The imp staggers forward, less from your attack and more simply because they over-extended themselves. You slam the staff back up and force it beneath his elongated chin, holding it against his neck with hands on either side and forcing his head up.
The imp screams from the flame and you let go of the staff with one hand, letting the now freed end swing around and pivot around the imp’s bony neck. The imp lashes out but it’s already too late. Now that staff is to the side, you simply drive it back down as hard as you can. It slams into the side of his neck and pushes him from the railway and onto the concrete, legs and arms sprawling as he collapses.

The imps shrieks come to a sudden end as you bring the staff down upon his head with enough force to smash the top of his exposed skull open. Black acid leaks onto the ground and you pull your staff back before it can be damaged.

You hear Beatrice behind you, the witch emerging from the cart with smoking gun still in hand.
“Too much to hope for that that was his third?”

“Probably.”

“Hrmph. You’re welcome by the way.”

You don’t reply to her, still studying the imp’s dissolving remains and the town that lies behind them. You can see people peeking through the curtains, doors beginning to open.

“You’re welcome by the way. For the shot and all.”
Beatrice isn’t yet quite willing to give this up.
“Thanks Beatrice! Shooting the imp sure helped me even though I overcomplicated the shot by charging right in front of him. I’m grateful to have her travelling with me and definitely don’t treat her like shit literally all the time.”


>”Are you done?”

>Ignore her, just walk into town.

>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”

>Grab her by the hair again.

>”If you don’t want to be treated as such, stop being it.”

>Benediction of Warmth

>Other

>>608447
>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”

>>608447
>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”
Fucking captcha just took like 5 minutes to load for me

>>608447
>>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”

>>608447
>Ignore her, just walk into town.
>Other
"Nice shot."

Don't directly thank her for it, or bother saying more. We did overcomplicate it by rushing into melee, and it was pretty good aim.

>>608447
>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”

> "It was a good shot."

>>608447
>”If you don’t want to be treated as such, stop being it.”

>>608447
>>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”
>but it was a good shot

>>608477
Yeah, but at some point we're going to have to talk to her about her need to be a special snowflake. First with witchcraft, then with gunpowder.

I can't wait until we can give a sermon to the people of this village about how our powers and the flame are still only of secondary importance to first being good people. That even if the flame dies out it can be rekindled, but there will have to be humans left to do it. Whereas if someone stops being human and gives in to darkness, then the flame won't bring that humanity back. It will just burn the taint away.

Only other humans might have the chance, if it exists, at doing so.

So while we are here to relight the lamp and kill the Witch, the thing that has made us happiest is finding that the people here had held on to their decency and humanity even after the flame went out.

Much better than the last yown we were at.

>>608271
Well, maybe we can get someone else to do it for us.

Preferably once the fight with Zeno starts.

>>608489
I'll second that

>>608545
Yep. We don't praise her for helping, but for her skill with the pistol.

She's pretty narcissistic though, needing praise for doing the bare minimum.

She probably rails gunpowder instead of eating charcoal because of the high.

File: Orion.jpg (104 KB, 700x959)

104 KB JPG

>”You don’t deserve accolades for being a good person, that should be the baseline.”

“Beatrice, do you believe that being a decent person is deserving of special thanks? For acting like any proper man should? That should be the baseline. I expected you to back me up and you did. I would not wish for you to thank me if our positions were reversed. I would not need it.”
You walk a few steps back down the rail and retrieve your wick, the flame upon your staff winking out as you do so. You walk past her and she steps aside without another word.
“It was a good shot.”

The town is slowly coming to life in the darkness as you walk along the rail and set foot upon the dust of their main street. Curtains covering windows are twitched aside and the men and women who had been cowering in their homes from the imp slowly open their doors and emerge to thank their saviour. And to excuse themselves as well.

“Are you truly a Lamplighter?”

“Please forgive us!”

“We pay tribute to Zeno but only for our safety!”

“We don’t worship him or the dark!”

“What are you going to do about the star?”

“Enough!,” you cry and the small crowd grows quiet. “Return to your homes and go about your business. Come high noon this problem shall be dealt with. Where is your mayor?”

“Present,” a man in the back of the crowd speaks and the rest part to let him through. He’s a surprisingly young man, brown-haired and with a thick beard. He has a level gaze and he doesn’t avert his eyes from you.Hopefully this mayor is better than the last.
“Please forgive our people, Sir…?”

“Orion. And no sir is necessary.”

“Orion then. We pay tribute to the witch but we still hold the fire in our hearts. You must understand that. But…”

“But?”

“When it comes between choosing you or all my people…”

“I think I understand.”


>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”

>Attempt to requisition the townsfolk to aid you.

>Light the lamp.

>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”

>”Stay in your homes.”

>Ask about Zeno.

>Other

>>608574
>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”
>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”

>>608574
>Ask about Zeno

>>608574
>>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”
>Ask about Zeno.
>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”

>>608574
>>Light the lamp.

>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”
If she wants to leave so bad let's make it easy

>>608574
>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”
>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”
>Ask about Zeno.

>>608579
I don't think it's a good idea to just shove Beatrice into their town in case things go well. I wouldn't want our savior to just drop someone in our settlement looking all shady, especially if we were paying tribute to a Champion of Soil.

>Ask about Zeno.
Specifically, what they've been paying as tribute

>Light the lamp.
Anybody think we should evacuate the town temporarily if we decide to light the lamp?

>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”

>>608579
>>608599
>>608604
Isn't lighting the lamp the first thing we should do. I'm sure people will feel more inclined to fight once they have light

>>608614
True, but what kind of strategy should we use against the forces that Zeno brings?

Same plan as Augustine?

>>608574
>Light the lamp.

>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”

>Ask about Zeno.

>>608606
>evacuate the town temporarily
I would like to say yes, but we don't really have anywhere to evacuate them too. If Zeno brings ghouls or something we just sent them off to die in the open

>>608614
Zeno is threatening to destroy the town with a falling star if we light the lamp before he arrives

>>608639
Fuck him and this town

>>608643
Hold on

Can we have Beatrice stall for a few minutes, while we light the lamp while Zeno is in town?

Have the villagers stand beside her or something, so that they look like a giant group of people

Then, after the lamp is lit, everybody rushes Zeno before he gets any signs off.

>>608574
I think we should light the lamp, say, 5 minutes before high noon. If he even can bring down a star, maybe it will put him in a vulnerable position while channeling.

>Address the crowd. “Zeno will be arriving by noon and he will probably not come alone. If any of you wish to stand by my side and help fight for your town, please seek me out before then.”
>”This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well. Please take her in.”
>Ask about Zeno.

“”Now, what can you tell me about Zeno? How will he arrive? What does he look like? Mayor..

“Edward.”
The mayor shakes his head.
“I’ve never seen him in the flesh. Don’t think any of us have. But I’ve heard he travels the rail and that he can call the stars from the very sky with his witchcraft.”

The rail? That’s unusual. How does he do that? But aside from that interesting little detail, the mayor doesn’t seem to have much for you.
“Does he have any other servants beside the imp that you know of?”

Mayor Edward looks cautiously from side to side before slowly raising his hand and pointing to the town hall, a steepled building that seems to double as the local church. At the very top of the steeple, sitting on the holy wheel itself, is a fat crow with knife-like talons.
Ghoul.

The monster caws and takes into the air as you see it, spiralling up further and further and then a shot rings out and it is sent tumbling to the ground.
Beatrice walks into town behind you, her pistol still held out.

“This is Beatrice, my travelling companion. She might be staying here if all goes well.”
Should you tell them about her being a witch? It would be the right thing to do but it would also doom any attempt she makes to settle down here. Do you really want to trap her with you?

Beatrice blinks, evidently quite surprised by your words. She pulls her hat lower and cringes a little as everyone looks at her.
“Hi,” she croaks, her voice like broken glass. “Uh...any help would be appreciated also.”

The mayor looks like he doesn’t quite know what to make of her. He must have caught a glimpse of her blotchy face in the dark before she hid it.
“Pardon?”

“She’s right,” you say. “Zeno will be arriving at noon and he will probably not come alone. I will face him regardless of whatever happens but he has come prepared to kill me. If any of you would like to stand by my side and help fight for your town, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Silence falls.

You look across the crowd one by one, noticing how none of them wish to look you in the eye.
“Very well. Anyone interested should seek me out before noon. And for now, I go to my duty.”
You can see the central lamp-post sitting by the town hall, still protected by its runes. But should you light it? Would you be calling Zeno’s bluff or simply calling down his wrath?

“Please, Orion, stay your hand!”
Mayor Edward moves between you and the lamp-post.
“We all heard the imp. If that is lit, we all risk death!”

1/2

File: lamplighter4.png (175 KB, 249x372)

175 KB PNG

>>608703
“Hold on, Beatrice says. “Can’t you just all leave Enoch? Evacuate?”

“Where to?”
The mayor spreads his arms to encompass the concrete horizon.
“We would be run down like dogs before the ghouls. Enoch is our home and our safety. It cannot be threatened.”


>Light the lamp now.

>You’ll avert from your duty for now.

>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?

>Other

>>608710
>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?

>>608710
>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?
If he knows he is weakened, he will bring reinforcementsss otherwise not used.

>>608710
>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?
Even though I feel like our trap is going to trap us somehow
watch it be a lamplighter using his power for evil

>>608710
>You’ll avert from your duty for now.
Idk how we could sneakily light it

>>608710
>>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?

>>608710
>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?

>>608710
>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?
Starting to suspect that Zeno is someone ELSE'S flunky. Possibly stalling for the folks in Dis.

>Perhaps you can light the lamp later as some kind of trap?

You look up at the lamp and slowly shake your head. It is your sacred duty to keep them lit but even in these cases, even today, practicality must win out. The only crime you have seen of these people thus far is weakness and if Zeno is even as remotely powerful as he claims then they can hardly be blamed for choosing to pay tribute. You will not endanger them unduly.
“I shall light it after Zeno’s blood stains the concrete.”
Practicality also demands that you should not always be entirely honest. You might be able to use this lamp later.

“Thank you Orion,” the mayor says. “By no fault of your own you have already brought calamity upon us. Please do not invite more.”

“Fear not. I promise you that I do not come only to bring bad omens, Edward. You have my word that I will leave Enoch brighter than it was before my arrival.”
You stare up into the sky, able to look directly into the sun without your eyes even feeling it. A sad reminder of just how much the flame has diminished perhaps but also a reminder that you have several hours before noon.

“I see a pub,” Beatrice speaks up from behind you. “I’m going to get something to eat, maybe talk some people up into helping us. You coming?”

“I do not drink.”

“You can do other things in pubs.”


>Go with the mayor to try and round up townsfolk to help you.

>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.

>Maybe you can break the rails?

>Try to get people to evacuate regardless.

>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.

>Meditate upon your wick.

>When Beatrice is gone, tell the mayor that she is a witch.

>Other

>>608778
>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.

>>608778
>>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.
>Meditate upon your wick.
Refill the sun lamp

>>608778
>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
If we die because we have 9/10 wick I'm going be to sad

>>608778
>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
Ask Beatrice to grab some food for us

>>608778
>go around giving people benedictions
It may not necessarily root out spies, but a bit of goodwill goes a long way

>>608778
>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
>Meditate upon your wick.
>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.
Plus >>608826

Ugh, sorry guys. My head feels very stuffy and kind of painful, makes it hard to write. I think I need to get some more sleep if I'm going to be in any proper shape to work tonight.
I'll continue this tomorrow.

>>608857
thanks for running boss.

>>608857
All good, thanks for running! Feel better

>>608857
Get rest. Hope you feel better tomorrow.

>>608778
>>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.
>Meditate upon your wick

Could we see about purchasing a spear for extra reach and leathality against mortal cultists without the need for using our wick

>>608936
I really like keeping up with our staff that we have mastery in and a bonus to.

Some throwing weapons might be nice though. A hatchet or two would probably be better than knives, easier to make and use and still disruptive even if you fuck up the throw.

>>608778

>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.

Then

>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.

And

>Meditate upon your wick.

While your staff is being fixed.

>>609379
I'm fairly certain that Staves and pole-Arms are of the same category

>>609408
Let's see what Ouro has to say about it first. Because they're two completely different things. It's like claiming axes and swords are the same thing.

>>609478
Not as different as you think. Especially spears vs. staves.

So we're basically hoping that either
A) Zeno doesn't have the power to bring down stars
or
B) Zeno isn't a liar willing to bring down the star on top of us and the town together without a fair fight
aren't true?

>>609860
Basically, except it's less that I'm trusting him less to be honest enough to not kill us all, and more to be proud enough to want to kill us all personally

>>610390
But see, you're trusting him without a single clue about his personality. All you have is the imp's word for it. It would be one thing if we got info from him that he didn't know he was giving us (facial expression, body language, Freudian slip) but we're believing what he told us outright. That's a bad plan.

Sorry, I overslept. Session continues in an hour

>>611575
Sweet, thanks Brouro

>See if you can find a blacksmith. The metal capping your staff has been etched with acid.
>Go buy some rations. You don’t have any money but you doubt you’ll need it.
>Meditate upon your wick.

You leave Beatrice to canvass the locals in the pub, you have more pressing matters to attend to. The metal capping the end of your staff has been etched with acid from caving in the imp’s skull. It’s not destroyed but you’d rather not let such small damages accumulate if you can help it.
And while Enoch might be small, it is not a town that has been in want as of late. There is a smithy still present, a large man bent over a pale flame, the tools of the trade scattered around him.

“Smith! I would have you fix my staff if you are able.”
You hope that he isn’t going to demand payment.

“Able?”
The blacksmith coughs.
“That’s the problem there, friend. I’ve done my best to keep the embers up and the forge lit. Sacrificed countless nights. But the flame simply cannot hold any longer.”

You tap your wick against the bundled-up lamp-post on your back, drawing strength and heat from that. You swing the wick down into the firepit and the dwindling flame re-ignites with a faint roar. The smithy is lit properly once more in shades of orange and yellow.
“Consider this payment.”

Wick: 8/10

The blacksmith drops to his knees before the firepit with his hands held out to warm himself against it.
“What can I do to repay you?”

“Do not let it go out. And also fix my staff, I need one of the metal caps redone or replaced.”

You give him the staff and he nods, still unwilling to take his eyes off the fire.
“Aye. Come back later and I’ll have this ready for you, I swear! Thank you!”

You leave the smithy satisfied and walk back down the main street towards the general store. You can see the people in the corners and at the windows or clustered outside the town pub. You can feel the stares and hear the whispers. And not all of it is nice.
Is it fair for the people of Enoch to resent you for Zeno’s ultimatum? No. Is it natural? Of course.

The general store is run by a husband and wife and at first, all goes well. You procure a steady supply of rations and other small supplies, all of what they are willing to give you without payment. But then talk naturally turns to noon.

“It’ll be dangerous,” you say. “Can I trust you to lend me aid?”

Their expressions turn cold.
“I’m afraid not.”
“You brought this down upon our heads. If you die that’ll be a tragedy. But if you die and Enoch goes with you because we chose to help you...that’s worse.”

You leave them without another word.

The people watch as you walk back out down the rail to the handcar and settle yourself within it. You’ll linger here for the time being, get the time to recharge your Wick.
The shattered sun climbs ever higher in the sky.


>Recharge the lamplighter’s wick as per normal.

>Try to charge the broken lamp-post.

>>611972
>>Try to charge the broken lamp-post.

>>611972
>Recharge the lamplighter’s wick as per normal.

>>611972
>Try to charge the broken lamp-post.

>>611972
>Recharge the lamplighter’s wick as per normal.

>>611982
>>611998
we're at 8 we're good, mostly.

>>611972
>Try to charge the broken lamp-post.

>Try to charge the broken lamp-post.

You sit cross-legged in the trolley, alone and enclosed. You set your long handled wick down beside you and take the wrapped post from off your back, balancing it across your knees.

Wick: 70/100

It still hasn't recovered from what was lost when you used it to recharge the fallen star. You must admit that you really don't know how the fragment within works. Can you recharge it like a proper lamplighter's wick? Will it not recover its own flame over time?
Or will it always dwindle and never re-ignite?

What difference can you make to such a mighty source of power? Surely you are nothing more than a drop in the ocean to this thing.

>Roll 1d6. The highest of the first 3 will be chosen.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>612060

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>612060

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>612060

>>612067
You're doing the wheel god's work anon

>>612067
woo best result!

>>612072
thank you anon

Sorry about the delay, was eating lunch.

>6

Regardless of your worries, let it never be said that you did not pursue your duty with conviction! You keep the lamp wrapped so that it does not burn you and do your best to flow power back into it.

Wick: 76/100

It was as you expected, little more than a drop. But when the time comes it might prove to be the difference.

You wander back into time and see that the dull sun has nearly reached the highest chamber in the sky. No doubt Zeno finds great joy in making the wheel god's corpse the messenger of doom.
But whose?

You return to the smithy, expecting to see him finishing up with your staff or to see it already completed. Instead you see it propped up against the wall, acid marks still etched upon the metal at its top.
You look the smith in the eye and you can see guilt.
"What is the meaning of this?"

"Look, I'm grateful for the fire, I really am. But as I was working some blokes came by and they talked about some things."
The blacksmith is clearly uncomfortable though he has been no doubt preparing for this conversation.

"Talk about what?"

"About what...what might happen if Zeno kills you. What if he goes about asking us if we helped you and finds out that I did? I don't want to die or have a star fall on the town. Sorry."


>Say nothing. Take your staff and leave.

>"You don't deserve this forge."

>Force him to do it.

> "I understand."

> Other

>>612184
>Say nothing. Take your staff and leave.

>>612184
> Other
Explain to him what the stars actually are. If one of them fell, they would do minimal damage. Say we will fight at our peak capacity.

>>612184
>A man dies but one death, a coward dies thousands. May the flames of your forge offer you some safety when the beasts of the dark come to claim you.
>Take your staff and leave.

>>612184
>Say nothing. Take your staff and leave.

>>612199
>minimal damage
Did you forget the massive crater that we found the last one in?

>>612184
>Say nothing. Take your staff and leave.

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>>612230
Retracting my vote, I am retarded

>>612218
This

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>Say nothing. Take your staff and leave.

You pick up the staff and inspect it in front of him while saying nothing. In your mind your play through half a dozen retorts and then stop. What use is telling him any of them? You might as well just let it drop for now. Silence is all he deserves.
You take your staff and leave without another word.

Your exit back onto the main street of Enoch is well timed for you are just in time to catch a disturbance outside the local pub.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”
A slow and dreadful realization is already creeping over you before you recognize the voice.

Beatrice stumbles out of the pub, pushing patrons away from her and clearing space. Her hat has been pushed up on one side and sits unsteadily, half her disfigured upper face out in the open for all to view. She pulls her dirty-blonde hair to the side in a vain attempt to hide it.
“You’re all cowards! What, you think you can just sit in your homes and wait and hope the witch politely passes you by? You’re not just yellow, you’re all fucking morons!”

It looks like Beatrice’s attempt to recruit the townsfolk inside the pub didn’t go well.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
The doors swing open as another man steps onto the steet, tall and lithe with dark hair. He’s almost as large as you and exceptionally hairy.

“Eat shit and die.”
Beatrice’s hands move and for a long terrifying moment you think she’s about to somehow summon witch-sign once more. But no, it is a far simpler and far ruder gesture.
“I’ve left the pub. I don’t want anything to do with your pub. You’re probably all inverts anyway.”

“No. I’m going to ask you to leave this town.”
The man steps forward and cracks his knuckles.
“You’re putting us all in danger just by being here. Walk up the rail and meet Zeno as he comes. I’ll not have you endanger Enoch and insult it.”

You can see Mayor Edward in the crowd behind the man, the mayor trying in vain to make himself heard.
“Abe! Stop this! You’re only gonna-”

“Stay out of this Ned! I was willing to stay quiet when they brought death to this town but I’ll not have this bitch stand in my pub and call us all cowards.”

“I’m not in your pub,” Beatrice says, backing away from the encroaching crowd. “And it was a pile of shit anyway.”
And then she reaches into her coat and pulls out her gun.
“Go ahead. Try and throw me out.”

This has gone on long enough.


>Grab the gun off of her before she starts something stupid.

>Take her side.

>Just interpose yourself and try to talk this out.

>”Beatrice, go back to the cart.”

>”If you want to fight her, you’ll have to fight me too.”

>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”

>Other

>>612383
>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”

>>612383
>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”
>Just interpose yourself and try to talk this out.

>>612383

>Grab the gun off of her before she starts something stupid.

>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”

>>612383
>Grab the gun off of her before she starts something stupid.
>”Beatrice, go back to the cart.”

>>612383
Its odd how readily you would fight those who would free you from darkness when you refuse to fight the darkness yourself.

>>612383
>Grab the gun off of her before she starts something stupid.

>>612383
>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”
Taking her gun will not go well.

There's a bit of misarchival going on apparently so I'm just going to archive this thread now.

>>612425
add this to
>>612405
this

>>612441
S'cool. Everything ok?

>>612383
I'm gonna go with
>”If you want to fight her, you’ll have to fight me too.”
Beatrice is right.

>>612684
doesn't matter if she is if we're killed by an angry mob before we can even face the witch whats the point?

>”We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”

The crowd goes silent as Beatrice pulls out her pistol, people slowly backing away from her as she points it at the barkeep. Her finger is thankfully not on the trigger but still…
“Not so loudmouthed now, are you? Where’s your gun? So ba-”

“Beatrice.”
You push your way through the crowd, wick and staff still in hand.
“What are you doing?”

“He threw me out-”
“She’s been causing tro-”

“Be quiet!”
You don’t quite shout but it’s enough to make yourself heard. You raise your hand and point towards the sun.
“We don’t have time for this nonsense. Both of you should be ashamed.”

Beatrice adjusts her hat but you can still see her frown.
“But Orion…”

“But nothing! Are you a child? So the people here won’t help us. That is sad but you will put that gun down and rethink your actions. You are too easily goaded.”

The barkeep, Abe, nods his head as Beatrice stares at the ground.
“Thank you.”

“And as for you! I’m not taking your side. You readily fight those who would free you from the darkness even though you refuse to fight the darkness itself. I will not force you to do so. I will not force any of you to do so. I understand why you would not. But Zeno will not simply stand by idly either! If you don’t fight him then you let him win! Whatever darkness he throws over Enoch after my departure will be entirely upon your own head. Think of that before you insult someone who is actually willing to fight.”

You grab Beatrice by the arm and leave, not walking in any particular direction, just away from the trouble.

“Orion…”

“Yes? Have you thought about your actions?”

“I can’t believe you actually took my side!”

“No I didn’t.”

“Get fucked cowards!,” Beatrice yells as you drag her away. “The Lamplighter agrees with me!”

You pick her up and throw her over your shoulder and promptly march off before she can make any more trouble.
“Calm your temper or I will leave you behind.”

“That was the plan!”

She has learned nothing.
You dump her on the ground and she curls up into a ball. But you don’t kick her as she is so clearly expecting. You just keep on walking and leave her there.

******

Time stretches on and high noon arrives all too quickly. You plant your staff atop the concrete and take up the position the imp once had, standing across the railway that bisects Enoch. Your wick is lit, your sword by its side and the lamp-post across your back.

Standing off to the side and a little behind you is Beatrice, the witch looking profoundly uncomfortable about being out in the open like this. She has her pistol held loosely in one hand and her small barrel of gunpowder by her foot.

1/2

>>612791
And the two of you are alone. Nobody in Enoch has come to help you. They hide in their homes and in the pub, curtains flicking across windows and doors locked shut. Just you and the witch.

The sun is at its zenith.

“Orion,” Beatrice says. “Since we’re both about to die now anyway I figure I’ll say I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For that thing earlier? For being what I am? For whatever else I do that apparently pisses you off constantly?”

“You don’t anger me.”

“Oh come on I’m about to die because of you, the least you can do is not lie.”

“Your choices anger me. The person you chose to become angers me. I’m sure Beatrice the Collegiate flame artist was a nice enough girl, albeit tragically weak-willed. But to talk so often to her corpse disturbs me.”

“Consider the apology retracted.”
She doesn’t sound as angry about it as you expected. Mostly just tired.

Before you can say anything else, the sound of rattling begins to echo in the distance. A grinding shriek, the sound of metal on metal. The rails shake beneath your feet.
And over the horizon, a sight you never thought you’d see again. A train, an honest to God locomotive forged from blackened steel. An engine and a smokestack at the front, wheels grinding across the tracks, three small carts the size of your pump-trolley pulled behind it.
A sight from a better time. A better world.

But there’s no smoke, no whistle. The chimney is dead. There is no fire aboard this train. The wheels move but only barely, grinding against the rails as if the entire thing was simply being dragged forward by an invisible hand.
The small train grinds to a stop just outside of Enoch, the rail behind it a straight line heading towards the horizon and passed it, express to Dis.

The door to the front carriage swings open and a black leather boot stamps a footprint upon the dusty concrete. A man steps out wearing an old formal suit from better days, black and white with a silver bolo tie around his neck. He doesn’t look anything like you expected, a young-seeming man with glossy black hair and a neat moustache. And as he draws his suit-jacket back you see something even stranger, a pistol glinting silver at his side.
Why would a witch have a gun?

“Howdy boys,” Zeno says. “I’m glad you’ve taken the time to wait for me. I hope you don’t mind that I brought a few friends.”

Two more men step off the train, wearing plainer and more practical clothes. One of them is carrying a black suitcase, one forged from seamless metal and handcuffed to his wrist.

Is that all? Two more men? Are they witches? Imps in disguise?

Your train of thought is cut off as the doors to the other two carriages slowly open. And bursting from them in a gust of rotten feathers, bloated tongues and sewed-off wings, is an entire flock of crows.

Alright, I'm still feeling a little sick and work has been super stressful as of late so I'm going to stop here again.
Lamplighter will resume tomorrow.

Apologies for cocking up this whole thread so many times.

>>612813
Thanks for running! No worries man. Go see a doctor though for real.

>>612813
Thanks for running Ouro. See a doctor mate.

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>>612798
aww hell looks like we're in for a hell of a brawl

WHATS IN THE BOX ZENO?!

>>612813
thanks for running and for gods sake see a doctor man

>>612813
Ouro, we are very grateful for your fantastic quest. Please go see a doctor, being ill constantly is not normal.

>>612859
Wanna bet he has a sun shard?

>>612882
I'd say its more likely to be something that allows him to pull down the stars but its a possibility

>>612899
If he can draw a sympathetic link between the Ur-fire of the Wheel God and any other lesser fire, it's let him make a star fall, or power a train from ashes, or a gun. I am positing he's cheating along the lines that Beatrice is, but using the weight of his earth based witchcraft to do it.

>>612912
>If he can draw a sympathetic link between the Ur-fire of the Wheel God and any other lesser fire, it's let him make a star fall, or power a train from ashes, or a gun.I am positing he's cheating along the lines that Beatrice is, but using the weight of his earth based witchcraft to do it.

Speculative at best but entirely possible, I guess we'll find out soon enough

>>613074
However if this is true it means that potentially Witchcraft magical theory is more advanced than anything lamplighters have considered and potentially that at least some of the most well-read and knowledgeable witches have come into possession of some powerful Reliquary

>>613153
>Witchcraft magical theory is more advanced than anything lamplighters have considered
If we take anon's general trend towards proclaiming everything HERESY to be indicative of general Lamplighter protocol, then that's pretty much guaranteed. In fact, the Witchfinder sect of Lamplighters were specifically stated to have been founded in an effort to better combat their enemy by understanding, rather than just bashing them down with a stronger god.

If you drew classical similarities between Lamplighter/Witches and the old Religion/Science conflict, it's pretty obvious that the Lamplighters in general would rather just close their ears and burn everything that didn't make sense in their doctrine, rather than try and understand what was happening. The fact that the Witchfinders exist tells me that there's likely to be quite a bit of witch based research and science/understanding which could have been equally used by either faction, and Beatrice herself has confirmed that concepts held between Lamplighters and the Witches are fairly similar.

To be completely honest, the only thing keeping the Lamplighters afloat is the fact their god had a bigger stick - Much like how heavily religious factions historically only won battles against emerging scientific method and development due to having a much more potent grasp on society. Now that the flamegod is dead, it only stands to reason that the people who have - for who knows how long - been actually studying and progressing their understanding of how the world works would start gain ground at a rapid pace.

When it comes down to the question of "Has witchcraft magical theory advanced beyond anything Lamplighters considered?", I feel the answer is invariably a resounding 'Yes'. Lamplighters in general, outside of the Witchfinder sect, evidently never considered anything at all. Even the Witchfinder sect has willfully stunted its own study based on cries of heresy.

In some cases that's valid. For example, the dank meme god signs are legitimately dangerous knowledge just to know.

In almost every other case though, it's certifiably stupid to not take advantage of every piece of information available.

...wait. How come nobody called to light the lamp post as soon as they saw the train?

>>613661
1. we didn't know Zeno had a helltrain
2.this town is full of cowards

>>613676
but the point wasn't really the helltrain. As soon as we noticed that he was close by, we start the lamp post.

>>613678
dont recall that being the plan people came up with anon

>>613696
I remeber it

>>613696
Here anon
>>608778

Ready for this fight, Ouro. Shit is about to get hectic.

>>613701
>>613724
woops looks like I missed it, thanks for pointing it out

looks like Zeno is going to use a couple of plans

A)swamp us with his Carrion in the hopes of Burning out our wick

B)Shoot us once we are spent against his crows

C)If that fails he'll likely bring out whatever in that Briefcase AKA whatever brought down the stars and try and end us with that

plan A is easy enough to deal with if we Ignite ourselves on fire, it will allow us a level of immunity to the Carrion and possibly even use it as cover to avoid getting shot long enough to actually take care of Zeno and plan B is contestable as long as Beatrice cam keep him preoccupied in a gunfight unless he directs the Carrion at her.

That just leaves plan C

>>613770
igniting self won't get rid of the crows. We'd have to rush him down.

Which is fine, but that probably leaves Beatrice just running around as the carrion goes for her.

Couldn't we just light the lampost though, and get rid of all the carrion in one swoop?

>>613787
>igniting self won't get rid of the crows.

The Crows are ghouls, they wont have shit all to do with fire even if it's a self-immolating witchfinder

>Couldn't we just light the lampost though, and get rid of all the carrion in one swoop?

no gurantee they will scatter, their master is right in front of us and intent on our destruction if they are anything like regular ghouls they won't scatter until he's dead and they are without true purpose

>>613790
you are arguing both sides of the point.

If they hate fire, the lampost will get rid of them.

If the master tells them to do it anyway, self-immolating won't necessarily scare them away, especially with their possibly suped up funky witch poison.

>>613791
Depends on how much control over the ghouls the master has, if they will scatter due to the lamp post.

I'm surprised nobody remembers that the last witch was borrowing power from Ur.

So maybe we can mock him for stealing another's power as well and being too weak on his own.

>>613791
>If they hate fire, the lampost will get rid of them.

no it won't not unless the witch is killed, the Ghouls will not shrink from the lampost, if we are Ignited in fire they cannot touch us with out at least being partially destroyed

>>613793
>Depends on how much control over the ghouls the master has, if they will scatter due to the lamp post.

Remember that ghouls of this size are uncommon maybe even rare, Beatrice remarked that she didn't think they could be made do precisely, it's likely Zeno excels in necromancy and simply posses something that allowed him to mess with stars thus the briefcase

>I'm surprised nobody remembers that the last witch was borrowing power from Ur

I'm like 99% certain that was how she was casting her shadow over Sacrament and obscuring the central lantern

>>613796
I'm not really sure what you're talking about anymore. I'm going to wait until Ouro confirms where this fight is happening relative to the lampost.

>>613793
>I'm surprised nobody remembers that the last witch was borrowing power from Ur.
this seems like a different deal. Or at least, a different god that doesn't play by the same rules.

>>613724
You don't spring your trap when the person is standing outside, you wait for them to be actually effected by it. If we light it before hes engaged he just shrugs his shoulders and drops a satellite on our heads.

>>613894
you assume dropping the satellite is as easy as snapping his fingers, and that it will be similarly easy and quick to light the lampost in the middle of a fight without him noticing what we're trying to do.

>>613813
Where did you get the inkling he worships a different god? I haven't seen any indication one way or another, just some minions and some crows and a box.

Also I feel like if we light the lamp now the birbs eat everyone.

>>613910
Well Ur was a lot more imposing and upfront with his gigantic shadow thing.

This one, if it even is a god, seems more content with acting through the train, and more through a pulling action rather than a "punch through concrete and raise the dirt" action.

>>613916
I just figured that was the difference between the witches. The first one didn't really need a train, sacrament was right next to the soil, and we had just fired up the lamp so the shadow was her counter to that. This guy doesn't think he needs a shadow, he wants to kill us under the noon sun to make us look bad, and I think the ability to move the train is just one of many things he can do with his magic.

I could be wrong though. We could both be wrong. I don't think we really know enough to fairly judge his power still. I'm really hoping we can get him to do a bad guy monologue before the battle.

If we can recharge a shard of the sun, does that mean that we can recharge the sun itself?

Maybe that's why Dis fell. They tried to use the power of the sun to attack something, but gathered too much energy from it.

Is OP dead? Ouro? <\3

Session resumes in an hour.

The sun shines directly overhead, its pale light casting more shadow than it illuminates anything. The people of Enoch cower behind closed doors and curtains as you stand before the small train. The central lamp-post, still shining with faint twilight radiance, lies further down the street behind you.
And the sky is thick with ghouls.

Sewn together crows spiral through the air, dozens of them, hundreds even. Each one has their talons replaced by bristling stacks of bone knives, ghoul-claws at the ready. There’s enough of them here to annihilate the entire town if they wished. And yet they do not attack. They just linger in the air like a foul smell.

Zeno is still just standing there, black jacket pulled back to show the gun by his side. What use would a witch have for a gun? His two companions stand silently behind him with the metal briefcase. The air grows thick with cast-off feathers and the stench of rotting corpses.

“I’m surprised that you acquiesced so easily, Lamplighter,” Zeno drawls. “Surprised but not ungrateful.”

“I wasn’t going to involve a town of innocents in my fights,” you say. You half expect Beatrice to say something snide about Enoch itself in response but she’s quiet, keeping her hand on her gun and swallowing repeatedly.

“Fight? I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Zeno’s left hand drops to the pistol holstered to his side.
“I haven’t come here to fight. I’ve come here for an execution. Drop your weapons and kick them over to me! Now!”

Beatrice stares at you for confirmation.


>Do as he says.

>Do as he says but tell Beatrice to fire when he’s distracted by you doing so.

>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.

>Keep your weapons in hand. “Whose execution however, remains to be seen.”

>Ask about the ghoul-birds. Try to get him to talk.

>Ask about the stars. Try to get him to talk.

>Ask about the imp. Try to get him to talk.

>Ask about Dis. Try to get him to talk.

>Other

>>615137
>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.

>>615137
>>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.
>>"Nice ride, you wont mid us taking it when your dead."

>>615137
Now even I have no idea what this trap is.

>Walk towards him to distract him. "Or what?"

>Ask about the pistol. Try to get him to talk.
I fear no weapon of fire, yadda yadda.

>>615137
>>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.
>>Keep your weapons in hand. “Whose execution however, remains to be seen.”

>>615137
>>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.
>Keep your weapons in hand. “Whose execution however, remains to be seen.”

>>615137
>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.
delayed flame for the win

>>615137
>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.

>You’ve set a trap with the lamp. Now would be a good time to spring it.

As you noted earlier it is often best to be practical over being honest. You chose not to light the lamp upon your arrival but you did so with the notion that you could use it as a trap later when you saw fit. But Zeno’s threat of calling down a star wasn’t one you could take lightly. Not when you’ve already seen several of the craters involved.
But now that he’s in town...surely he wouldn’t drop a star upon himself?

You slowly kneel just a little, bending as if you’re about to place your staff upon the ground at his request. Zeno nods, his gaze flicking across you and then to Beatrice. His eyes linger on her longer than they should.
“Drop your gun too, girl. You’re not part of this and you’re kin in a sense. Just stand back and I’ll let you live. I’m only here for the Lamplighter.”

Beatrice doesn’t move.
“No.”

“Stocks has told me of your situation. Drop your gun and I won’t just spare you, I’ll help you with your brand. Even if you don’t like me, surely you can see that doing that is the lesser of two evils here.”

“Choosing the least of two evils is still choosing evil.”
Beatrice nods her head to the town around her.
“Plenty of people here have already chosen that anyhow. I don’t want to be seen with them.”

And there it is. Enough time has been bought for you to set off your trap. But what manner of trap did you set?


>You lit the lamp just minutes ago but delayed the flame. Holding a lamp’s flame like this is risky however.

>There’s a thin line of gunpowder leading from near your foot to the base of the lamp-post and up its side to the open lamp. You should be able to transmit a lamp-lighting this way.

>The entire lamp-post has been doused in precious oil taken from the townsfolk and just awaits a spark. Crude but the post itself shouldn’t be damaged.

>Who said you set it with THAT lamp-post. Throw the package on you back to the ground and let it unravel.

>Other

>>615276
>Who said you set it with THAT lamp-post. Throw the package on you back to the ground and let it unravel.

>>615276
>You lit the lamp just minutes ago but delayed the flame. Holding a lamp’s flame like this is risky however.

>>615276
>You lit the lamp just minutes ago but delayed the flame. Holding a lamp’s flame like this is risky however.

>>615287
>>615284
>>615276
Actually let's do this. It's extra sneaky in that we didn't light the town's lamp.

>>615291
>>615276
Wait. No. Let's do both. That's the best plan. Two lamps!

>>615284
dis.

>>615298
>>615302
Wait. No. Let's do both. That's the best plan. Two lamps!

dis.

>>615284
>>615291
>>615302
Unless he, you know can fuck up our sun piece.

>>615276
>There’s a thin line of gunpowder leading from near your foot to the base of the lamp-post and up its side to the open lamp. You should be able to transmit a lamp-lighting this way.
We still have the sword, so....

ask about HIS gun

>>615276
>Who said you set it with THAT lamp-post. Throw the package on you back to the ground and let it unravel.

>>615276
>>You lit the lamp just minutes ago but delayed the flame. Holding a lamp’s flame like this is risky however.

Anything to stop idiots from spending the sun shard like water.

>>615276
>Other
We also set a small piece of cloth of on fire, and it is currently smouldering underneath our clothing. Expose it to the air and set ourselves on fire.

>>615363
>wasting our wick that way.
Fuck off meme voter