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File: Miranda Styles #6.png (339 KB, 577x894)
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Hello! Welcome to Magical Girl For Hire Quest!

You are Miranda Styles, a relatively unscrupulous magical girl currently working for Silver Eye Solutions, a umbrella corporation for magical girl mercenaries such as yourself, located in scenic The Intersection, a dimensional nowhere and everywhere where you rest and get details for your next job. Currently, you're in the middle of a job in a swords-and-sorcery universe to take down a ragtag group of youths call The Longshots that probably have some kind of chosen ones shtick going on- whether it's by convincing them to join your clients, the mysterious Knights of the New Moon, or by outright elimination- the choice is yours.

After discovering corruption in the major religion of Alban, the Church of Orind, you've set out to uncover it and present it publicly in an attempt to utilize it to convince The Longshots to join the Knights of the New Moon- as opposed to simply killing them. You're currently attending a tournament following a medal/award ceremony for several people who made outstanding effort for helping protect Alban during a massive marauder attack in which a Great Creation- an artifact of legendary power, one of several- was used. It's the break before the final match; the winner of this will face whomever wins between you and Adel, one of The Longshots. Sorina and Basil, two other members that helped you uncover said corruption, are missing, and the leader, Tavis, you just found backstage, brainwashing one of the losing contestants (although you're unsure if he's aware it's brainwashing), involving his sword, and a strange red crystal, which you broke after a quick ambush and punch to the face. You then told him Adel was looking for him, took the girl away, and are currently in a small sit down area some distance from the arena, deciding what to do with her.

Previous Thread: >>591020
Character Details: http://pastebin.com/9J70gqM2
Miranda's Techniques: http://pastebin.com/eTu7U2PZ
Twitter!: https://twitter.com/MGFHandler
>>
>>612754
Huh huh.
>>
>>612754
Okay...think a bit. How best to shake someone awake from a mental fog like this? There might be a way you can use mana to snap her out of it, but you're unsure, and you don't want to test it right now. Maybe you can force her to snap out of it herself…but first you need to see if she's even responsive. “Hey. Hey, girl. Can you tell me who you are? You need to focus.”

“Iiiiiii’m Charlotte!” She giggles, “And thank youuuuu! I’lll do it!” It's strange how you say she appears to be. She sways from side to side, and it's as if her bones are made of rubber. “What else d'you want me to say?”

Okay. Right, then. You clap in front of her face without any warning. She simply giggles and laughs. “Oh wooooow… should I try that…?” before you can say no, she raises her hands and loudly claps once. “Woo! That felt so niiiice…what else?”

Okay. Very reactive and responsive, seems to be very susceptible to suggestions, like you figured. If anyone got ahold of her in this state, she’d be probably end up following anything that vaguely sounded like a command instantly...at least until it wore off. IF it wore off. You know it was partway, but you're still not sure how far. She's malleable, but accepting any commands, not specific commands, or been ordered to 'act normal'- because anyone acting like this, you're SURE would have been given an order to hide it... although, thinking of that fact... Hm. You wonder if you could use this. It might be too risky, though. For now… “What do you last remember?”

“A very nice man by the name of Mister Tavis wanted to talk with me!” She answers clearly; no lilt or anything in her voice. “He said he was worried for my spiritual health and wanted to perform an emergency cleansing ritual on me! I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I heard of him before, so I said okay. He pulled out what he called an 'emergency cleansing crystal', and then he told me to focus inwardly on the mana the stone radiated, and to clear my head of thoughts.

Ugh. Figures that’s what he'd say he was doing. Or heck, maybe he actually thought it.

>Did he say anything else?
>Continue trying to snap her out of it.
>Other
>>
>>612803
>Continue trying to snap her out of it.
man, that crystal fucked her up real good.
>>
>>612803
>Continue trying to snap her out of it.
Reiterating trying to get her to focus her thoughts on Voldin and the attendant emotions it would cause.
>>
>>612803
>Did he say anything else?
Specifically about what was being cleansed?
>>
>>612803
>Did he say anything else?
>Continue trying to snap her out of it.
>Other
"Listen, what he did was a very bad thing. Like, illegal bad. If he comes towards you again, scream rape, and run away as fast as you can to someone you trust."

Because it's really hard to look good if you're chasing after a woman who's screaming rape at the top of her lungs.
>>
>>612849
and she's not even wrong!
mindrape is still rape!
>>
>>612803
>Continue trying to snap her out of it.

He's not gonna have told her anything incriminating. We should try to get her back to normal, if we can do so that may help us get others back to normal as well.
>>
>>612803
>>612849
"Not somebody affiliated to the Church."
>>
>>612849
We should tell her that after we've snapped her out of whatever this is. In her current suggestible state, she'd only scream until he yells at her to stop.
>>
>>612803
>>Continue trying to snap her out of it.
>>
>>612858
>"Not somebody affiliated to the Church."
Shit. Should have added that in here >>612849
.
>>
Still trying to get the operator, not an automated helper.

Writing.
>>
>>612893
Just wanted to say, your quips amuse me every time.
>>
>>612905
Aha, thanks.

>>612803
Well. Different tactic, then. Maybe... “Charlotte, remember the baron?”

She's still smiling. “Uh huh…”

“Do you remember what happened to you because of him?” It’s not exactly the cleanest or flashiest way, but sometimes remembering trauma was just the best way to get someone to snap out of a mental cloud like this one.

To your mild surprise, you can see her lips twitch downwards a bit. “Y-yeeaaah..”

Gotcha. Seems like it’s working, then. “It didn't feel nice, did it?”

She's trying desperately to keep smiling. “Nnooo…”

“I want you to focus on that feeling.” and now her face droops as you know she’s practically forcing herself to remember. She starts to speak, shivering slightly, but you interrupt her. “No complaints, just focus on me and that feeling.” She nods as you can start to see tears forming in her eyes. “What's happened to you is bad. But what's happening to you now is worse. You don't want to feel worse than you do now, do you?”

She rapidly shakes her head no.

“Then SNAP OUT OF IT.” You half-yell, giving her a slight pop on the jaw. She squeaks, and tilts over far more than he really should have, nearly lying on the bench face down. Honestly, you didn’t hit her hard at all- even for you. That was barely even a feather tap. Then again, she seems to be the sort with extreme reactions even when not half brainwashed.

It's a minute or two, but she remains face down. You’re starting to wonder what other tactics you might be able to try...but soon you hear gentle sobbing. “I-i-i just wanted t-to try and b-be a good hero…” Ah. At last...

She gently raises her face, now tear-lined. “I-i can't believe I had to g-get saved twice…I must suck at this…”

Well, at least you managed to shake her out of it. “I doubt you expected anything like that. But you have to pull yourself together. I’m working on dealing with this...issue. In the meantime, if he comes at you again...just run. Run and scream ‘rape’ or something. Pretty much what he did to you. And find someone that you trust- as long as they’re NOT from the Church.”

“Wait, why not?” She asks.

“Because they’ll just do the same thing.” She gasps in horror, and opens her mouth to argue against it. “Tavis is well involved with the Church. And he did that,” you interrupt. “Think about it. You’ll see.”

> Bring her to the Prince.
> Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
> Keep her around you personally, as a witness for later.
> Other
>>
>>613051
>Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
Take her to the Prince after our fight, that's when we're blowing this whole thing wide open.
>>
>>613051
>Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
Ask her if she'd be willing to testify, if needed, later, to prevent this sort of shit happening again. For now, no one should know that Tavis' brainwashing failed, or else they will almost certainly try again.
>>
> Ask Geegee to look after her for now.

If we keep her around us a lot, they'll just try to discredit her as a witness. Geegee's a decent enough third party for the moment, and has a good head on her tiny shoulders.
>>
>>613051
>> Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
We put someone martially competent next to someone whose generally savvy. Win-win.
>>
>>613051
>> Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
Still need to find Sorina and Basil.
>>
>>613051
>> Keep her around you personally, as a witness for later.
No need to pool our noncombatants.
>>
>>613098
Kids not a noncombatant, just had a bad string of luck. She's a trained fighter, remember.
>>
>>613051
> Bring her to the Prince.

Geegee ain't back with those potions yet as far as we know, and that'd just make them a big target, that's a no-no. They'd be too vulnerable and 100% reliant on those potions to get out. Plus they could easily accuse Geegee too since she ain't a hume.

Keeping her with us is safe-ish, but also instantly alerts the church that we know basically everything. They'd accelerate their schedule even more, we need everyone back before they strike.

Giving her to the prince and having her explain what just happened is the best option then IMO since he ain't gonna like the idea of the church subverting citizens from his control. This is gonna give us the best shot at more support for discrediting the church.

Plus the prince is in his box, almost certainly somewhat isolated from the masses and guarded, it's the safest she'll be other than strapped to our back.
>>
>>613051
> Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
Best Gobbo waifu on this plane, even if she's not ours.

I suppose she's back from her run, as from her estimates she wasn't sure she'd get to see the finals at their original set time. We healed the girl and Adel has put the tournament on hold.

>>613098
The question is wether we move to intercept Tavis, find Sorina and Basil or something else. Can't have the girl weight us down at these. This would also get a bodyguard for Geegee.
>>
>>613104
She's a trained fighter that just got mind raped and skewered over the course of like 25 minutes. She's a mess right now and isn't gonna be combat capable for some time.
>>
>>613114
Wouldn't be a bad idea to riffle through the Church registers for people with royal bodyguard as their career.
Hell, check for the Prince, the King and consorts.
>>
Random fact: Geegee has considered the possibility of children. She's yet to bring it up with Zarach yet because she's terrified of his possible response, and she's not even sure if it's possible for them to interbreed, let alone the other logistical problems. She has considered adoption as well.

Writing.
>>
>>613051
> bring her to the Prince
Just say she is holding your seat
>>
>>613143
Zarach is a total mad scientist, he will be up for an experiment.
>>
>>613143
Has Miranda ever considered the possibility of children?
>>
>>613051
>Ask Geegee to look after her for now.
I'm torn but this seems to be the safest option.

>>613114
you've got a point, but we don't know if the nobility is in with the church or not. and we don't have enough time to check either, at this point it's too late.
we're better of with sticking with who we know ISN'T a church lackey, and sticking with it, as far as I can see it.

>>613156
!!!
>>
>>613129
Physically, she's completely healed or close to it.
She's on the edge mentally, but she's fully concious. If she needs help right now, it's as emotional support. Geegee provides, Prince does not.

>>613154
I doubt he'd have the boldness to do that. He's (likely) an autist, and from the quips when he described, any experimentation he does is on himself.
>>
>>613174
You're right, especially since giving her someone to protect will probably help her get to herself faster as it'll help her feel both useful and like a hero.
>>
>>613051
She doesn’t seem to respond, instead just curling in on herself a bit more, trying to prevent herself from tearing up. Unfortunately, you don’t really have time for all of this. “Look, I know someone who can keep an eye on you for now...or maybe you could keep an eye on her.” She looks up at you in confusion. “Can you stand?”

She nods, and gets up shakily. Seems like she’s not really all quite there yet. “Alright, let’s get going.”

It’s only a few minutes before you arrived back at the scene. As you look around, you're dismayed Geegee doesn't seem to be back yet. Well, you'd rather not sit around and be the subject of stares and gossip, but you still do have to meet her out here, so waiting it is.

It's a few more minutes before she shows up huffing and puffing with a box under her arm. She skids to a stop in front of you, looking up at you with a petulant scowl as she pants in exhaustion. “You...betta...appreciate this...did…” She pauses to swallow down some air. “Did I miss the finals since you're out here?”

You shake your head. “They're holding it up a bit to allow Adel to find his friends.” You take the small lock box she gives you, and lift the lid to find it padded, and in snug holders are five vials of a silver liquid. You quickly stow them on your belt pouch. “Thanks. I mean that. Now, though, I'd like to introduce you to Charlotte.”

Geegee gasps ask she recognizes the girl in front of her. “Oh, sweetheart! You doin’ alright?” You can't help but notice that her voice seems oddly softer than normal. “I'm not meaning to bring up bad memories, but I can't help but be concerned…”

“I...I'm recovering,” She says. “Ms...Violet, was it? She's helping me.”

You look towards the direction of the Mages’ College. “Actually, I need to go check up on a couple of things. Can you keep an eye on her until later, Geegee?” Honestly, the way she's looking at Charlotte, she hardly needed any convincing anyway. Geegee begins leading her off into the stands casually waving you goodbye as she starts talking to Charlotte, occasionally patting her on the hand reassuringly.

> Wait around for Adel. He has to be back soon.
> Search for Tavis and confront him directly.
> Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…
> Other

Eeey Internet went out so one phone post, and I'm off to bed! Night.
>>
>>613340
>Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…
It would be really embarrassing if it turns out all we nicked were the monthly kitchen budget and Janice from Accounting's boy love slashfiction.
>>
>>613340
>“Ms...Violet, was it? She's helping me.”
Huh. Wait. When did we tell anyone our name, besides using Violet as a fake name when we were in the College?
>>
>>613363
Announced at the medal ceremony.
>>
>>613365
Ah, thanks. It slipped my mind.
>>
>>613365

In short, plot hole that I didn't notice.
In retrospect, I JUST NOW realize another way I could've written that end scene. If you want, I can just delete the post and do a quick rewrite. Sorry, I'm tired anyway, so...slipped.
>>
>>613340
> Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…

>>613349
Very embarassing indeed. For Janice.
We already know it's the register for Church agents, the secretary even told us before a Bonk(tm) into unconsciousness.
The question is, how deep it goes, and how high the parasite vine crawled.
>>
>>613340
>Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…
Get our facts straight, then start flinging accusations.
>>
>>613340
>> Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…

Hopefully they will be fine. They are heroes after all.
>>
>>613340
>Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…

>>613365
Surely we would have used a different public name from the fake one we gave when infiltrating the Mages' College, so it can't be traced back to us as easily?
>>
>>613340
>> Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…
>>
>>613370
I think it's alright if we let it as is. No point in using other aliases, as I'm pretty sure it is the one publicly used in Tenimbaum, such as with the Librarian, Lilian (?) and others.
>>
>>613380
Yeah, probably. Like I said, I didn't think that end scene through, and finding out my net is out gave me a burst of just wanting to put the scene up. I didn't give it my usual once over.
>>
>>613340
>Find a private place to go over those documents you hid in your armor…
It's about time. strange, I figured that we would have at least checked them out before we went to sleep yesterday.

>>613375
murphy's law still applies. everything could go wrong when we don't expect it. as son as we check out the documents, I want to find Adel&co. ASAP.
>>
>>613385
Just retcon it such that we used another name?
>>
>>613380
>>613396
There's likely more than a woman going by the name of Violet in a big city.

In the College, the name has been used twice, once towards a person that only saw us as a cloaked and shy young student and another where we stroke the teach's ego.

>>613392
Yes. Know the enemy (by name and station), then search for the peeps
>>
>>613409
>There's likely more than a woman going by the name of Violet in a big city.
Perhaps, but you'd think someone as overly paranoid as we're playing Miranda right now probably wouldn't take even that risk.
>>
>>613340
Head to the mages college and see how it's going, the tournament is irrelevant compared to exposing the church.

Thanks for running boss!
>>
>>613370
Change the name.
I don't think that Miranda, after more than 70 years of merc life, would be as careless as to use an alias that's been involved in a crime in the same city.
>>
Can't delete the post. Revised scene:

“I...I'm recovering,” She says. “Ms...” she trails off as she realizes you didn’t give a name.

“Meda.” you say. It’s the first thing that pops into your head. Well...part of the first thing.

“Ms. Meda, right!” she nods. “She’s helping me.”

NOW I'm going to bed.
>>
>>613409
>then search for the peeps
for a moment I read that as 'search for the pepes'. I'm in shame.

>>613451
thanks for runnin'
>>
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>>613514
We can still search for them at the Intersection, might find a rare one.

PEPAY!
>>
We should seduce Tavis.
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>>613996
You mean Sorina.
>>
>>613996

Longshot harem when?
>>
So, officially:

Doing some peer review. Writing.
>>
>>614155
Welcome back, OP. How're you doing?
>>
>>614171
Actually kinda sickly. I've already begged off of work later. Hopefully I won't be so messed up as to have to cancel the run, though.
>>
>>614076
Never.

Charlotte and Merida, on the other hand, would make a good start.
>>
>>614184
Oh, that sucks. Sorry to hear about that, hope you're feeling better soon. Just let us know if your going to turn in early if you still feel off and decide to turn in early, okay?
>>
>>614184
Did the interview mess you up that much?
>>
>>614197
Ahaha, nah. Just bad timing.
>>
Well, if the finals are about to happen, then your fight is coming up, and you need to make sure you're ready for the event AFTER that. Hopefully Adel won't randomly show up so you have time to look over those documents.

As you search for a quiet spot, you mentally go over what you have. You know what you have personnel records, and expenses for weaponry- presumably for the church's usage that was hidden from the crown. The first pieces of documentation you got, however, was the mystery. You managed to glance at it before, and you knew that it was some sort of report, but report of what is the question. Hopefully it wasn't anything stupid, like simple meeting minutes. At the very least, if it was, then ideally the minutes were about something horribly incriminating, like explicitly saying that they brainwash people or something.

What you find isn't exactly your first choice. An outhouse isn't what you prefer, but you suppose you couldn't really argue about the situation, and to be frank, you've had to deal with worse.

It doesn't take more than a couple of moments sufficient to get out the documents on your person. A somewhat unexpected plus to having padded armor meant that you didn't need to worry that much about sweat ruining the ink.

As you look over the files, you come to learn that what the report was about was, in fact, a report of recent actions taken by perceived criminals and heretics in the city. There aren't any specific names in the paper, just statistics based on reports and observations. Places where they seem frequent, active times of day, and in some cases money spent at certain stores or facilities. You can only guess that that last bit of information was given by owners who were members of the church. These papers seem to record these actions throughout the last two months.

You had kind of hoped for something more explicitly incriminating, but it'll have to do. Got to just figure out how to-

“Hello! Hey, who's in there? Can you hurry it up? I kinda really need to go!” Rats.

s you exit the outhouse, and the little kid rushes in, you walk your way back towards the front of the Arena. It seems like some people are starting to get antsy, and wondering what's the holdup, judging by what you're hearing.

At least, until you see Adel running back towards you a minute later. He doesn't look particularly happy, however. In fact he looks downright serious. You can't help but notice his jewel is cracked. Really, you'd be somewhat impressed if you already didn't know him a bit. When he sees you, however, he does smile a bit. “We’ll talk about it up in the Box,” he says.

Interesting. Almost as interesting as the fact that there's the smell of blood on him.

When you finally get up there, to many cheers, he turns to you, and in a low voice, whispers.

‘Sooo...There might be some trouble coming soon.’ Well then.

> I take it you found them? Are they alright?
> I'm aware of that. I caused most of it.
> What kind of trouble?
> Other
>>
> I take it you found them? Are they alright?
>>
>>614246
> I take it you found them? I presume that they are alright since you came back alone and only relatively upset. I'm already aware that trouble is brewing and I have been preparing for it on my end.
>>
>>614246
>> I take it you found them? Are they alright?
>>
>>614246
>Other
"I take it you found them. Tavis was doing to that girl what that crystal on your chest would have done to you, I stopped him but he'll probably try again."

Excellent. By waiting, and letting Basil and Sorina get into danger, we let Adel 'come to their rescue at the last moment', and let him realize on his own that the Church really is trying to brainwash everyone using the focusing crystals.
And by telling him that the girl he was concerned over was being mindraped by Tavis, hopefully we'll be able to keep Adel sidelined or on our side when we kill the acolyte.
>>
>>614263
Hm. We should just explain what happened to the girl, that we intervened and how it worked. If Basil and Sorina didn't tell him him about Tavis we'll drop his name at the end of the explanation. That's when he will be the most upset and it will have a greater impact.
>>
>>614263
We actually have no idea what the crystal he had on his chest does. Lets not presume.
>>
>>614271
I suppose that may have a greater impact.

>>614272
I concede that we shouldn't assume, even though signs point towards it.

So just say that we saved Charlotte from being brainwashed, and that it was Tavis doing it, so Adel should be on the lookout for him too?
>>
>>614272
It is perfectly reasonable to presume that his crystal is detrimental either to us personally or to our goal. It doesn't matter what it actually does, even if it's a simple combat buff for him or something more insidous. What matters is that there is a chance it will adversely affect us. Nip potential problems in the bud.
>>
>>614294
Whether it's detrimental or not, I was referring to the assumption that it's mind control. Without active mana flow and the pedestal and someone to provide suggestion, it couldn't work like either of the mind control crystals we've seen the church and college use. So we shouldn't assume it's purpose was mind control. Thats my point.
>>
"You...you said that you didn't like playing mind games..."

"Yeah, but that's a lot different from not knowing HOW. Easier than you think sometimes."

Writing.
>>
How possible is it that Adel has been completely suborned and he didn't save Basil and Sorina, but actually killed them?
>>
>>614341
yo man, loving this quest, was thinking of compiling it into a pdf(and maybe fix up a few of your lack of sleep errors too) or something for people who want to catch up and not having to ctrl+f all the threads, but i might wait till this mission is done
>>
>>614246
“So, I take it you found them?, and they're alright?” you ask. It's fairly clear that he did, or else he would be likely a lot more angry or sad. Still, it's polite.

He nods as the prince announces the finals. “Yeah. They were at the college all right, but they weren't there to enroll. You're probably not going to believe it but-”

“I'm already aware of potential trouble,” you interrupt, cheers going off behind you. “And I've been preparing for it on my end.”

“Wait, you knew about this?” He says incredulously.

“In a sense,” you lightly lie. “But in general, I am entirely aware of the church's...indiscretions.” You turn to him fully after the Prince sits back down. “What you may not be aware of is that I was witness to one of those indiscretions while you were gone.”

Adel’s eyes bug out in surprise. “What? How?” He whisper-yells. The Prince looks back at you both, but otherwise just shrugs and turns back to the arena where they're about to begin the fight.

“Well...as for what, it seems to be an attempt at a quick wipe wipe. As for how…” Oooh boy. “Tavis no doubt could tell you. He was the perpetrator.”

Adel is silent for a solid ten seconds.

“THAT'S BULLSHIT!”

The Prince turns back in a hurry. “Whoa, now, what's going on here?”

Adel looks back between you, and the prince. He definitely looks like he wants to hit something now. “I...it's fine.” He lowers his voice, shying away. “Just a disagreement.”

“On a bet,” you assist. The price raises an eyebrow, but he nods and turns back to the fight. Part of you is annoyed you're missing it, but priorities.

Adel is quick to continue once he's sure the Prince isn't focused on either of you any more. ‘Okay, you know Tavis is like, my best friend, right? Do you have ANY real proof he's been messed up like that? How do you know he isn't playing them from the inside?’

> I suppose I don’t, aside from heresay.
> You don’t think documents showing the church’s membership would be enough?
> Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him…
> Other
>>
I'm just wondering now. Regardless of how this all goes, the longshots are basically finished as a possible threat to KotM.
We're most likely gonna do some serious damage to the church, do some serious collateral damage to the city, or a mixture of both. This could greatly weaken one of KotM's enemis greatly either way, due to this being their biggest source of mages.

So what on earth will they use us for next?
Our big abilities are ourunparalleled mobility and power. Companions will only hamper us in this way, so I assume that this city will either be the end of our time with the longshots or it will end when we deliver them to the KotM.

There's nothing on the horizon for us to deal with, it feels like the end of this plane's arc. We do our job, get the Knights a huge advantage and then leave with a hefty bonus due to our power not being needed at the moment. Then maybe get a call back at a later date if the QM decides that's a thing. I mean I'd imagine they'd love repeat customers or the ability to have magical girls on retainer.
>>
>>614350
Thanks! Go ahead whenever.
>>
>>614433
>> Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him…
>>
>>614433
> Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him…
Keep in mind, if he was raised by the church from a young age and was taught that meditation under those crystals was meant to bring him closer to Orind's grace, he might not realize that what he's doing is brainwashing. But if you need some more proof, I'll bring you to Charlotte. You can ask her what he did to her, at least.
>>
>>614433
>Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him…
>Other: And you think that he couldn't have used this to get Church members to give him the evidence to expose the truth, but he could use it to brainwash the girl I rescued?
>>
>>614433
> Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him… which is strangely similar to yours. He was using his sword to increase suppleness of her mind, we stopped him midway.

We could also ask Geegee to bring Charlotte. She seems good at guessing our intentions.

>>614436
I think that ending it with the Longshots completes our contract. So to the Intersection?
>>
>>614433
>How about you hear it from the victim
Take him to Geegee and what's-her-name. Adel is the hotheaded, womanizer braggart of the team. If there is anything to make him turn on his his best friend it's seeing the traumatized young woman explain to him that said best friend tried to mind rape her.

However I don't know if we'd be able to leave the box now that the matches have resumed. If not then show him the crystal and tell him what Tavis did as well as promise to show him the victim ASAP.
>>
>>614460
I'm sure Geegee would prefer the superior view at the Box. She's our ticket to the city, might as well show her our appreciaiton.
>>
>>614433
> You don’t think documents showing the church’s membership would be enough?
>>614453
>Well, there’s this crystal I retrieved from him…
>Other: And you think that he couldn't have used this to get Church members to give him the evidence to expose the truth, but he could use it to brainwash the girl I rescued?

I don't see how mentioning both the crystal and the papers are mutually exclusive here. No point in hiding either of them from him, we have to hard sell this right now.

>Other: "If this is not enough proof for you, my friend is with Charlotte. We can go to them right now and you can listen to the victim's own account."
>>
>>614436
There's still Horinth to deal with, and the Flameguard, who also seem to be collecting the Great Creations themselves.

The Knights will likely keep us on until both Horinth and Alban have been defeated, or all of the Great Creations are in their hands.
>>
>>614460
>>614466
I don't mind inviting either of them to the box, but we have no idea what Tavis told the prince. If he said something dumb like we were planning to assassinate him or that we have a bunch of unknown collaborators and what not he might get a bit antsy.
>>
>>614433
>I suppose I don’t, aside from hearsay. But from my perspective, these are the details I know:
>He has been raised and trained by the Church, and instilled with the Church's beliefs since birth. He is tied sufficiently with the Church to hold the rank of Adept. And, of course, I personally witnessed him using this crystal to effect mind-altering magic on someone.
>I understand you may have faith in his strength of character, but surely you must realize that it is often those with the strongest, most unshakable morals that will commit the most extreme of acts because of them.
>>
He was blinged out, but girl wasn't dazzled. Man had no chill.

Writing.
>>
>>614480
And geegee has invisibility potions on her, meaning that whatever Tavis told the prince, a search of our new guests would make the prince highly suspicious. Thus why it's safer to just take Tavis to them.
>>
>>614490
he tried to netflix and chill her, the bastard!
>>
>>614495
We have to potions on us. She has none.
I'd prefer having those at a spot easier to get than in the crowd around the church cronies.

Geegee is the one responsible for us, it's an excuse for her to be there. Charlotte seems well-known enough in the Arena to be a top contestant, both a rep a background.

>>614490

Ask again if Adel thinks we could ever be a demon.
>>
>>614515
By "those" I meant the ladies.

>>614501
He tried a Cosby on her.
>>
As a side note, I'm gonna be pissed as all hell if we are cheated out of our arena fight. I've been too pumped for it since it was first mentioned to forfeit it for something so stupid as more important matters.
>>
>>614523
He's going to be traveling with us and given his character he's going to demand rematches constantly.
>>
>>614543
Naw I don't care about Adel, I just want to impress an audience.
>>
>>614543
He'll be lucky if we dont make him carry us on all fours.
>>
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>>614523
>to forfeit it for something so stupid as more important matters
Anon.
>>
>>614433
“Well, if it's proof that you want…” you quickly fish out the broken pieces of crystal that you took from Tavis. “He was utilizing this, as well as his sword in order to make her mind more malleable.” Adel simply squints at the crystal, like he doesn’t believe it’s there. “Although from what I was told, he believes he's doing something else.”

“Wait… I saw a couple of those back with Basil and Sorina. Some sort of ‘heavy study aids’, I think they called them.” You raise an eyebrow, and he explains. “I found Sorina snooping around a couple of the teacher offices. A couple of them had those crystals in a box labeled ‘emergency use only- heavy study aids’.”

“A cute name for what’s more than likely some sort of variant mind control crystal,” you note. “If they're labeled that, then my guess is that they are intended to be a sort of supercharged version of what they normally use.” Although, now you're wondering why they would restrict usage of them. Maybe some sort of dramatic side effect? When you saved the girl in the underground, she seemed no worse for wear. Charlotte, however, seemed to be completely out of it…

“Tavis, man…” Adel shakes his head. You check up on the match- it seems that both the Barbarian and the Staff man are quite evenly matched. Neither of them even really seem to be winded yet. You're sure you'd be impressed if you didn't have to deal with this. “He had to have some kinda plan in mind. He's too strong to fall for junk like this…”

“And he got that from the church, right? Look, I can understand you don't want to believe it, but if you can't, then I can introduce you to the girl who lived through it.”

He looks at you in shock, and you can see his eyes dart around as if he's not quite sure what to say.

So you'll say it for him. “Prince, do you mind if I invite some guests up?”

A minute later, you can see Geegee and Charlotte both being approached by an usher, and pointed towards you. They both nod, and both start heading up. Finally, maybe you can-

“STOP THIS TOURNAMENT!”

...Who the-

Standing across at the competitor’s entrance, with his cloak torn, hat bent, his face having dried blood on it, and surrounded by at least seven other men in that strange armor- including the Baron- is the High Priest.

cont.
>>
>>614634
>“STOP THIS TOURNAMENT!”

I fucking swear...
>>
>>614638
totally agree, corrupt churches are the worse, always trying to get you burned by the stake or what not just for trying to prove they are corrupt
>>
>>614634
Piece of shit. Fuckers are asking for a nebula buster enema.
>>
>>614645
No forget the damn church I wanted to fight our match goddamn it.

At least he's banged the fuck up
>his cloak torn, hat bent, his face having dried blood on it

I bet there's a full scale riot or revolt outside the grounds right now
>>
>>614655
nah, its more likely faked, i bet he is going to say that we did this, when( i think) didn't kill any of the church soliders or monks
>>
>>614655
Hahaha!
I bet that's just cow's blood or plain makeup on the Head Priest's face, and he's going to blame Miranda/Basil and Sorina for being heretics and attacking him.

The only riot is that of the faithful wanting to purge the city of demonic influence.
Because even if the Church is corrupt, most people are still devout followers.
>>
>>614667
>>614672
You forget that Adel smelled like blood when he returned. There is some real shit going down believe you me
>>
>>614655
Unless Adel somehow dies we will get our match after the fact. He's not the type to leave it hanging, especially with the bet.
We will make an intern out of him yet.
Looks like we just have to murder some high ranking members of the ecclesiarchy beforehand.
>>
>>614667
>didn't kill any of the church soliders or monks
Miranda, Basil, and Sorina did kill Church enforcers during the breakout of the prisoners.
They weren't members of the secret police, so they're probably openly members of the Church, and their deaths at our hands will be used against us.
>>
>>614674
>There is some real shit going down believe you me
We'll see.
>>
>>614634
His voice carried over the entirety of the arena; at your guess magically amplified. Just by the way he moves, and his tone, you can tell he’s furious, although speaking as calmly as possible. “I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DEMAND THIS TOURNAMENT CEASE AT ONCE. FOR THERE IS A GRAVE MATTER THAT HAS COME TO INFILTRATE OUR FAIR CITY! A BEFOULER THAT EVEN NOW WHISPERS AND CORRUPTS US- TAINTS US INTO DENYING MOST HOLY TRUTH.”

“What is the meaning of this?!” The Prince yells. “You were not supposed to interrupt the tournament! Is this truly so vital?!” The Prince’s volume is a lot lower than the Priest’s, but it can still be heard in the quiet, at least.

“YES IT IS. AND IT IS DUE TO THAT FIEND BESIDES YOU! THE DEMON IN HUMAN GUISE!” He points squarely at you, and you can see his face. His rage.

Some holy man. Well then, time to-

“HOLD IT!” Oh, okay, so everyone’s interrupting your thoughts right now, fantastic. At least this one’s a bit more welcome, being Sorina and Basil. They’re also a bit bloodied up, Sorina even having some on her cane staff. Wonder what they’ve been through. Whatever it was, seemed like it might’ve been fun, at least.

“He’s...he’s lying! THE CHURCH IS CORRUPT, AND I CAN PROVE IT! HERE AND NOW!” Sorina yells.

"Ohhhh, crap, oh crap oh crap..." Adel's up, and he's looking nervous, inching towards the door and back, as if he's not sure whether to force his way down there or not. You can see two door guards regard him carefully, and bring their swords up to a defensive position when his eyes linger a bit, nearly making a decision.

“THEY ARE TAINTED BY DEMONIC INFLUENCE! DO NOT LISTEN TO HER WORDS!” The High Priest warns.

Oy. You look to the Prince, who’s been looking at you as well. “I...he’d said that there was a heretic, but…ngh...” He looks like he’s not sure what to think, and takes a step back from you as you regard him coolly. Before you can say anything else, the four guards on either side of the room step closer to him, forming a solid barrier between you and he.

"OUR HOLY CHURCH OF ORIND HAS BEEN UNDER ATTACK. EVER SINCE THAT ONE-" he points at you again- "HAS ARRIVED, WORD HAS GROWN ABOUT HER STRENGTH- HER UNNATURAL STRENGTH. STRENGTH THAT IS BY RIGHTS AND BY NATURE ONLY FOR ORIND'S FAITHFUL! SHE HAS COME IN, WHISPERING SELFISH WORDS, AND CAUSING CONSTERNATION AND STRIFE. IN A TIME OF WAR, NO LESS! SHE SEEKS TO DISMANTLE US, TO BREAK US IN TWAIN WITH DEMONIC POWER BOTH SUBTLE AND OVERT!"

"You've already done that!" Sorina yells back at him, her voice still nowhere near as loud. "You've been twisting people using the school into your perfect church mages against their will for...for practically ever!"

"NONSENSE!" The Priest scoffs. "WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS ASSAULT ME IN A PLACE OF LEARNING IN YOUR SELFISH MADNESS! WELL AGAINST THE WILL OF ORIND!"

> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)
> Wait until they've had it out, then reinforce her.
> Try to show the Prince the papers despite the guard.
> Other.
>>
>>614638
Ya know, I don't think we've let rip with our full power yet. Why don't we just burn the capital to the ground and call it a day? Mission accomplished 'n all that
>>
>>614754
Because the capital is east of here- Albania. Tenimbaum is the second biggest city.
>>
>>614762
Right, I forgot.
>>614751
>Other: Enough bullshit, burn it all down
>>
>>614751
>Wait until they've had it out, then reinforce her.
I think that taking her side now would undermine her position.
>>
>>614751
>> Back up Sorina now. Give her the leg up she needs to reach beyond the priests noice.
>>
>>614767
Things have not escalated to the point where putting up with this bullshit is not worth the bonus of successfully recruiting members of the Longshots.
>>
>>614751
> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)
Yeah megaphone her.
>>
>>614751
>> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)

Hell yeah, Megaphone her. SHOUTING MATCH.
>>
>>614751
> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)
>>
>>614771
seconding
>>
>>614751
> back up Sorina
If we can do a cone of silence I would rather do that, but if not then megaphone away!
Ask how Orind would feel about cults in his name based on illegal mind control magics, and also on battles public slander.
>>
> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)

Is anyone up for a ruse? From two threads ago:

>I was struck by a thought just now- magic isn't easy to perform in this world because you need incantations right? What if we use the megaphone spell and ad lib incantations to the moon? Maybe not quite "Moon Prism Power, Make Up" or "Moon Tiara Action" but I can see how this will lend credence to the knights of the new moon.
>The moon is a worldwide symbol, it is something a little fancy rhetoric will be able to rally the more spiritual people around.
They don't seem so big on inventing a new fairy tale religion but we can just lie and say that magic and mana is channeled down to the earth from the moon. Orind was powerful because he stole and denied mana to the common people and that the clergy has knowingly, willingly and maliciously held on to this secret in their pursuit of rulership.
>>
>>614751
>>614789
I like the way you think.
>>
>>614771
True. But on the other hand, who cares? We're not here to expose the church, we're here to recruit the longshots, and having revealed the church's shenanigans to them has essentially guaranteed we get everyone but Tavis, and who wants him anyway?

Let the chips fall how they may. Maybe we can bust the church, maybe we can't, but either way we can certainly evac Sorina.
>>
>>614751
>Back up Sorina now. (Megaphone across the entire arena)
>"You claim she is tainted, yet she herself is but a human, no demon. If her words are false, surely the faithful will see them for lies. If her words are true, then surely they deserve to be heard. If you are as guiltless as you claim, what have you to fear from the truth? Let her speak."
>>
>>614789
Nah, let's just have a shouting match about how they're hypocritical dicks, then murder the shit out of Baron for his sword. Doing a ruse just complicates shit right now.
>>
>>614802
I think that Sorina, Basil, and Adel will be more likely to join with the Knights if we did everything to help them against the Church and they still lose public opinion.
Undermining Sorina may make her and Basil decide to go Independent instead of allying with the Knights.

We're a professional, so don't do half-measures.
>>
>>614814
No
>>
>>614751
> Back up Sorina now. (Maybe Megaphone her?)
>>
>>614822
I think it's less important we expose the church and more important she sees us as supporting her, whatever the outcome. That way she's more inclined towards our faction if she loses her original one.
>>
>>614789
No. First shitting on their god will not go over well with anyone.
Secondly that is just making up too much shit on the fly and is too likely to blow up in our faces.
>>
Make me wanna shout! (In frustration, that is.)

Writing!
>>
>>614826
Back atcha, bud
>>
>>614843
I dont feel its necessary to clarify why your idea was a bad one. I suspect you know it already.
>>
>>614827
Woah Clipboard misfire

Was meant to reply to >>614835 and say sure
>>
>>614838
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj4Heuz3TOQ
>>
>>614853
The idea you are toting as a good idea isn't one because it's literally making shit up on the fly, without any planning or forethought whatsoever. Furthermore, it involves dissing a god that, while the church is doing corrupt shit in his name, a lot of normal, non-brainwashed people are still following. Saying we get our powers from the moon and that Orind stole it's secrets is going to push them away.

Next time, when you want to refute people, don't type out "No" and leave it like that.
>>
>>614890
I didnt say his was good. I just said your alternative wasnt better.
>>
>>614991
Same guy, btw, work ip changed my trip.
>>
>>614890
>>614991
What I don't understand is, instead of making shit up on the fly or arguing like a faggot, why are we not simply preventing the High Priest from talking over Sorina, who seems to actually have some credible evidence, and trying to get the audience to actually consider the merit of her words.
>>
>>615021
Isnt that the point of megaphoning her?
>>
>>615021
We are, the vote wasn't to but in, it was to amplify Sorina with magic to put her on level with the priest and make her voice heard.
>>
>>614991
>>615001
Fair enough. I was going for a smart-ass take on what we were going to do, not what we should do.

You've got to admit, though, that my alternative wrecks an asshole who deserves it and gets us a fancy new sword to bring back as a souvenir. It's still tactically dumb, but there's a silver lining.
>>
>>615035
I dont think anyone could contest that this lot deserves a brutal asskicking. But lets see where sorinas going with all this.
>>
>>615035
Sure, killing the Baron and taking his stuff is something I can get behind.
But I don't want it endangering our potential bonus.
Basil and Sorina don't share our detachment from the ultimate fate of the people of this world, or casually murdering people for money and loot.
>>
>>615064
I didn't think that letting Sorina say her piece and kicking Baron's ass was mutually exclusive. I just figured there was still going to be a fight.

>>615073
Oh believe me, I don't want our meal ticket to bite it at all, especially since Sorina and Basil kind of grew on me.
>>
>>615102
Much as i hate to say it, adel is kinda too. Still needs a beating, but afterwards maybe only work him half to death instead of 3/4ths.
>>
>>615116
I wanna make an intern out of him.

He'd make a good foil.
>>
>>615130
I Hope you're not planning to bring him back with us to the Intersection; then we have to be responsible for him getting a job that pays the rent.
It's all the responsibility of being a parent with none of the rewards, plus he'll just annoy the shit out of our coworkers by hitting on them all the time since we're a magical girl company.
>>
>>615130
More a fan of Sorina, honestly. She's shown some good investigative skills and initiative, as well as a willingness to call people out on their bullshit. Still, hiring them would work for fulfilling our contract.
>>
>>615161
Hmm, well, according the Sal, the profits from the original bargain (of which we've essentially doubled) are going to be substantial enough to up our lifestyle by a good margin. We could scout them/make them into our assistants.
>>
>>615178
Getting a new apartment was before we add to the employee roster.
We have get them housing, food, and new equipment.
On top of those expenses, they'd be starting off getting shit-tier contracts that barely turn a profit, since they don't have the decades of experience or pure magical might of the rest of SES.
>>
>>615191
Plus years of training, lifting magical dumbbells to increase mana capacity and shit
>>
>>615191
They'd probably work jobs around the intersection. I doubt everyone starts out magical powerhouses like us, even there. Even useless kids made it. Plus, Sorina at least has a very unique and interesting skill in her magesight.
>>
I like the Longshots, but the multiverse isn't lacking in people for Miranda to get semi-attached to before abandoning them forever. Better to get our current coworkers some screentime and become friends with them.
>>
Just adding my two cents, I think it is competently fucking stupid to start collecting people from other worlds and making then into "assistants". Why don't you just call it what it is and say you want a waifu.
>>
>>615204
Agreed, but I also can't wait for the inevitable multiverse-scale threat that has Miranda calling on all her past allies and contacts from every single world she's visited in the past (getting peeks at how their worlds have progressed several years down the line) and form a gargantuan army in order to combat it.
>>
>>615212
It's mostly just random musing while we wait for the update. Chill. Amusing an option as it would be, I would never actually vote for taking anyone unless they, like, specifically asked to be taken there.
>>
>>615212
We're waiting for The Big Post, this is the crescendo. We're not in the middle of something we can plan ahead for right now so we gotta jump and discuss stuff for far in the future.
>>
Sorry, I had a sneezing fit and took a breather for some food and medicine. Almost done.
>>
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>>615245
Superman couldn't save you in time..
>>
Ugh. This guy’s starting to get annoying. And frankly, talking over everyone else is just rude. Then again, you can do it too. ...And actually, thinking about it, that might be the best way to give Sorina a helping hand.

Inflicting spells on others isn't as easy as some people might want to believe it is. Especially in cases where the spell was primarily intended only for the user. However, you found it very very useful to be able to cast I still like this on a distant person at will. It was good for situations like this, and in cases where sometimes a well-timed Megaphone could completely ruin somebody's whispered plans.

In this case, however…

“THE WILL OF ORIND?” Sorina yells- and then pauses briefly as she realizes how loud her voice has gotten. She shakes it off, however, and continues, realizing her new boon. “YOU’VE BEEN SUBVERTING THE WILL OF ORIND FOR YEARS! EVEN NOW, YOU ‘MISREPRESENT YOUR STRENGTH!’ REMEMBER THAT ONE?” She’s glaring at him, giving off a thin smile. For a bookish waif of a girl, you’re impressed by the strong posture and body language. “BECAUSE RIGHT NOW YOU’RE LYING ABOUT BEING INJURED!”

He scoffs. “ARE YOU BLIND, GIRL? DO YOU NOT SEE THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS FROM MY BROW? THE BLOOD THAT I SHED TO PROTECT WHAT WE HAVE KEPT SO SACRED?”

“YEAH, BECAUSE YOU SHED IT ON THE WAY OVER HERE! BUT THAT’LL COME LATER.” She’s actually smirking now. “I...LEARNED THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE SCHOOL,” she announces to the crowd. “SO I INVESTIGATED. AND I FOUND OUT SOME VERY INTERESTING PIECES OF INFORMATION.”

It’s only then that you realize that Basil has a knapsack of some kind on his back, that he now slings forward, and starts pulling out various papers, quickly handing them to Sorina.

“I HAVE PROOF THAT THE ENTIRE FACULTY OF THE MAGES’ COLLEGE HAS BEEN MENTALLY CONVINCING PEOPLE TO ONLY OBEY THE CHURCH’S WILL. WRITTEN PROOF!” She holds the documents up high. “HERE!”

The Priest laughs. “YOU ARE DESPERATE IN YOUR EFFORTS, TAINTED GIRL! ANYONE CAN FORGE PAPERS.”

cont.
>>
>>615297
Flew to another universe and vaporized a solar system with a sneeze? OP plz nerf
>>
>>615357
Good old silver age supes. Back when you could turn back time by flying fast enough to reverse the Earth's rotation.
>>
>>615361
That was because Earth was the centerpoint of this universe at the time.
>>
>>615335

That’s when suddenly, Basil tosses something glinting at Sorina, who catches it, dangling it in front of him. Before she can say anything, however, you see a body running into the arena...Tavis. He’s silent, but people do notice...

“Aw, man, now what is he doing!?” Adel wails. Before anyone else can do anything, however, Charlotte suddenly breaks off from Geegee- they’d been frozen in place halfway from the box, watching the drama unfold. Without warning she leaps clear over the barricade, lands in a solid three-point stance, and before Tavis can even get any words out, she absolutely blasts him with an impressive rugby tackle. There’s shouting and yells before you know it, Charlotte’s dragged into a fist fight with Tavis suddenly- but the Head Priest tries to take advantage.

“HOW DARE YOU!” the Priest yells. “YOU COME IN HERE, ACCUSE THE CHURCH OF SUCH FOULNESS, AND THEN HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW ME SOMETHING AS MEAGER AS A HEAVENLY FOCUS CRYSTAL? THIS IS YOUR PROOF?”

“NO.” she says. Then suddenly, she points to Adel. “THAT IS.”

Ahhhhh. You think you can see where she’s going with this. The Priest looks up, but his face remains impassive.

“THAT STONE AND THIS ONE ARE THE SAME MATERIAL. THIS CAN BE PROVEN WITH AN ALCHEMICAL TEST. AND THIS STONE IS USED NOT FOR FOCUS. IT’S FOR DRAINING THE MIND OF THOUGHTS AND SELF, AND ALLOWING IT TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO OUTSIDE INFLUENCE!” More murmuring, and Charlotte and Tavis cease their fight. “It’s true!” Charlotte yells. “THIS guy did it to me, and it was horrible!”

“AND THAT’S NOT ALL,” Sorina continues. “WHAT I’VE DISCOVERED- WHAT YOU JUST DISCOVERED...IS THAT IT CAN HOLD COMMANDS, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.”

Wait. “What?”

Adel stands up. “What?”

The Priest frowns deeply, but says nothing.

“THERE’S A REASON YOU SUDDENLY WANTED TO STOP THE TOURNAMENT EARLY, ALL RIGHT! IT'S BECAUSE NOW THAT I KNOW, YOUR PLAN IS OBVIOUS!” Sorina yells, then looks up to Adel. “ADEL! YOU JUST NEED TO FIGHT, NOW! ”

“NO!” The Priest exclaims. “IF YOU FIGHT THAT DEMON, YOU WILL BE DOING NOTHING BUT GIVING HER POWER!”

“Don’t do it, Adel!” Tavis yells, still struggling with Charlotte. “This is just part of her plan!”

Adel stands unsure. “I got this armor as a gift. The note just said it was from ‘a big fan’...”

The Prince is...wary. “I...I cannot say if I want to risk it, but…”


Sorina looks to say something else, still looking at Adel, but- “THIS CITY, THIS NATION, HAS ALREADY SEEN ENOUGH STRIFE FROM WITHOUT," yells the Priest. "I WILL NOT LET IT OCCUR FROM WITHIN!” And suddenly he points, and his soldiers run towards Sorina and Basil.

Yeah. Real annoying.

> "Alright, then. I won't fight HIM." Intervene physically on Sorina's behalf.
> Keep out of it still.
> Other (Any plans?)
>>
>>615395
>> "Alright, then. I won't fight HIM." Intervene physically on Sorina's behalf.

AWW, YEAH
>>
>>615395
> Encourage Sorina to yell what she has to say!
Sorina has something to say.
>>
>>615395
>Other
>"Adel, you wanna save Sorina?"
>be ready to jump into the arena to back him up in case this goes horribly wrong

How poetic, the command he strapped into the crystal on Adel's chest may just be the one that will destroy his soldiers and himself.
>>
>>615395
> Other (Any plans?)
Can we fire off an amazing pyrotechnic display of never before seen magnitude to make these people sit the fuck down? Like just aim at the sky and make it go boom where it's relatively harmless.
>>
>>615395
>>615431
Change of plans!

>Target the soldiers and the Priest with Orbital Ring. Make them sit the fuck down and play nice, yell at Sorina to keep talking.
>>
>>615431
Iiiiiif you really want to, presuming you mean what I think.
>>
>>615395
>Other: "Don't think you're getting out of our fight, Adel." Clear out the Church rabble so that the arena is clear for a fight with Tavis and/or Adel. "You're eyesores, get out of here."
>>
>>615456
>>615449

Oh. Yeah that's also an option.
>>
>>615429
This. It is fitting way to do this.

But let's do so in a way that shows our power is absolute. So no swords, just fists and magic.
>>
>>615395
> Keep out of it
Let this zealot dig himself into a bigger hole
Maybe offer the Prince your assistance in keeping his favorite heroes safe.
>>
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Literally sitting here with a bag of popcorn.
>>
>>615395
>>615427
Let Sorina explain it to the crowd (and to us), then we'll see.

>>615431
It's likely to make the people panic more than they already do.

>>615449
>>615464
Isn't it too powerful for these plebs?

>>615462
Those Blue balls again? Wait it out, the fight will come.
>>
>>615429
But the command won't go off?
Sorina just said that it's safe for Adel to fight Miranda now, and the crystal is obviously cracked.
>>
>>615456
I was thinking of something like shooting delayed blast fireballs into the sky... another thought, would it be possible to use the megaphone spell to amplify a spell? To make it REALLY go boom?

I think I am leaning towards the Orbital Ring unless people want the other thing. That way we can show off our superiority while maintaining our "nice girl totally not a demon" persona.
>>
>>615449
Support

We get our tourny match, sorina proves her point. Perfect.
>>
>>615480
Sorina said that Adel "YOU JUST NEED TO FIGHT, NOW!"

While it would probably "work" to have him fight us, I imagine depending on the order, if we can persuade Adel into fighting the High Priest and Soldiers the command will go off the same.
>>
>>615478
>Isn't it too powerful for these plebs?

The description only says it was designed for high power enemies, not that the spell itself is a trash compactor.
>>
>>615415
Changing to this >>615449, please.
>>
>>615497
>If it is broken, it unleashes a powerful explosion
If by some miracle they end up breaking it, or Tavis actually runs and dispels the ring, it'll be messy.
>>
>>615481
I think us taking control of the situation will just support the priests case of us interfering.
Maybe we should encourage the Prince to restore order?
>>
>>615496
The High Priest doesn't want Adel to fight Miranda anymore.
Isn't that enough to show that the crystal is broken and it's not going to affect the Church soldiers?
>>
>>615395
>> Orbital Ring
>>
>>615511
Yeah it wouldn't hurt to warn them.

Handler can you clarify? Is Miranda able to adjust the strength of the Orbital Ring and its explosion?

>>615515
We ring them up, turn to the Prince and tell him to stand up and "take charge, we've set the stage"?
>>
>>615518
Maybe I just misread it, but even so this seems like the sort of thing where the less we interfere the better. Adel can probably handle some soldiers just fine.

Better to have the "longshots" vs the church, than Longshots + 1, we give the church less of a leg to stand on by not being involved, while they're busy calling us a demon, Sorina can disassemble their faith without the church properly targeting her.

Using this chance to talk to the prince seems like it's probably a good idea.
>>
>>615529
Only to a certain extent, otherwise the ring itself won't hold together well. As mentioned, she made it for high strength, high energy individuals, not normal folk and the explosion is basically a dead man's switch just in case it fails. It's really fucking strong, though.
>>
>>615395
>Other (Any plans?)
make the prince restore order. demonstrate.
tell the prince that whatever happenes will show who's right.

>>615529
>We ring them up, turn to the Prince and tell him to stand up and "take charge, we've set the stage"?
this would work. agreed.
>>
>>615542
I guess just make sure that they understand that they will turn into bloody mist if anyone tries to break it. Sit still and nothing will happen.
>>
Ring around the...well, they certainly aren't roses. Or have posies.

How about loop de loop. Yeah, that works better. Writing!
>>
>>615551
I think the idea is that the Orbital Ring is incredibly difficult to break even by Miranda's standards. The explosion is just an added "fuck you" to anyone strong enough to do it.
>>
>>615542
How about a cube of light barriers?
>>
>>615560
Yeah, I get that but it's unprofessional to let accidents happen due to oversight or carelessness. Besides, a show of force and intimidation go hand in hand to cow opponents.
>>
>re-read thread
>let's take longshots with us to the intersection!
what?
>>
>>615395
All right, you've got an idea. You quickly clap your hands together and focus your energy into a ring shape. The Orbital Ring it's something you came up with a while back to placate those particular clients who, for whatever reason, want their quarry back alive. It took some effort to do, but that's mostly just because the actual ring was so secure. Ah, there we are. You quickly spread your hands out and a dark blue ring ring appears between your outstretched hands, much to the shock of the crowd.

With a quick gesture, you send it out into the arena, and before they can react, it's widened, placed over the group of soldiers- which at least had the good grace to stay in formation, making it easier for you to ring them- and tightened. Almost as one, they start struggling against their bonds.

“WHAT IS THIS, DEMON?!” The Priest yells. “HOW DARE YOU- AHH!” That last bit is due to him getting looped in his own ring.

Sorina looks at you concernedly, and Adel looks at you with surprise. You meet her gaze easily. “Keep talking,” you say calmly. Then you turn to the captured people. “And you lot, sit down and shut up,” you say loudly. “I doubt you all can break that ring, but I wouldn’t recommended trying. It’ll end messily, and loudly if you do. Sorina WILL speak.”

“VILE DEMON! I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO CASTING YOU BACK TO THE DARKEST OF PLANES-” The man is ranting and raving, and even his hat falls off, revealing his bloody, balding head.

“THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT COULD BE CALLED A DEMON IS YOU!” Sorina yells. “AND ADEL AND THIS CRYSTAL ARE MY PROOF!” Silence.

“IT TAKES MANA TO UTILIZE,” she explains. “YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CERTAIN FREQUENCY TO USE IT...BUT WHEN YOU HIT THAT FREQUENCY, YOU CAN INSTILL COMMANDS THAT ARE RELEASED WHEN A STRONG, CONCENTRATED BURST OF MANA INTERRUPTS THAT FREQUENCY. LIKE THE KIND THAT WOULD BE OUTPUT WHEN FIGHTING.” Here she looks at Adel, who’s glancing at his chest worriedly. “OTHERWISE, THE CRYSTAL RESONATES WITH THE ORDER'S FREQUENCY, AND SLOWLY SHIFTS INTO THE FREQUENCY OF THE CLOSEST SOURCE OF MANA. THIS IS HOW THE CONTROL WORKS! THE PERSON’S NATURAL MANA THEN RESONATES WITH THE CRYSTAL’S, WHICH HOLDS THE ORDERS! AND SOON, THE ORDERS THAT THE CRYSTAL WERE GIVEN WITH THE OLD MANA ARE INTERNALIZED INTO THE RECIPIENT.”

Huh. Complicated. And that makes sense as to why it took so long to work in the normal cases…

cont.
>>
>>615865
“ADEL! YOU NEED TO FIGHT BECAUSE YOUR MANA LIKELY HASN’T INTERNALIZED IT QUITE JUST YET! IF YOU RELEASE IT EARLY, YOU WON’T BE FORCED TO DO IT MORE THAN ONCE!” Ahhhh...Elaborate.

“YOU IDIOTIC GIRL!” The Priest yells. “THIS- THIS IS SLANDER! FALSEHOOD! YOUR LIES ARE AS EMPTY AS YOUR SOUL AND YOUR HONOR IS AS ABSENT AS-”

“YOUR WOUNDS?” Sorina calls. You take another look- and suddenly you see it just as everyone else does. “BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE SMUDGING!”

…Oh wow, it is. You can cleanly see that there’s no scar or anything. “B-BECAUSE I HEALED MYSELF, OF COURSE!”

“THEN WHY WOULD YOU MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?” Sorina calls back. “WERE THEY REALLY SO LIGHT?” Then she lowers her voice. You’re not sure anyone aside from Basil heard it...but you could hear it clear enough. Or at least you could read her lips well enough.

”Or maybe you’re getting a little senile, gramps?”

Seems he heard it too- he suddenly roars and there’s a sudden bright light from him...but then it fades out- sizzling against the bonds. “YOU’RE RUINING EVERYTHING, YOU DAMNED GIRL!”

“ENOUGH!” The Prince yells. “I WILL NOT JUST SIT HERE ON THE SIDELINES!” Huh. Impressively loud, even without the spell. “Soldiers! Remove the High Priest and his men, AND the girl and the boy. Sit them aside! We will discuss this, LATER!” His men move to do so, then he turns to you, heaving a deep breath. “Now...we have to test and see what she says is true. Otherwise, it is as the High Priest says. It’s hearsay and deniable papers. So, then…”

>Anything to say?

I honestly forgot about the Orbital Ring and had a whole thing planned, but y'all cut that off right quick.
>>
>>615888
"I will volunteer for the duel. Could you please hold these deniable papers for me? They'll make for great reading later, if you'd like to peruse them."
>>
>>615888
>Well Adel do you want to give these people a show?
>>
Players: ruining gm plans since forever.
>>
>>615888
>sure. it would be a shame to keep people, and adel, haning.

>>615903
>>615906
wonderful. this too
>>
>>615888
> no, looks like he found his spine
Let's not give him our papers because then he might ask where they came from.
>>
>>615888
Well, that was a mess. Shall we give them a show then?
>>
>>615919
Agreed. Our evidence is be circumstantial at best, whereas we have a method of firmly putting the lie to everything the priest is saying right in front of us.
>>
>>615938
We do have the personnel records, so that the prince could see if any of his own men are infiltrators.
>>
>>615918
supporting,
Yeah, we really don't want to keep Adel waiting if eventually the orders are going to just "become" part of him.

>>615965
We have personell records, we might be able to pull some of the prisoners that haven't left town yet as witnesses, the High priests fake injuries, as well as the spy reports, and whatever Sorina has. There's a bit of evidence heavily piling up, and all the church has is really "that girl is a demon, and we're the church".
>>
Turn up the lights, it's showtime!
>>
>>615888
>"I will volunteer for the duel. Could you please hold these deniable papers for me (weapons expenses)? They'll make for great reading later, if you'd like to peruse them." Add a few names.

What about Tavis? Surely he's to be detained too?

We have read the personnel roster. We should be able to name those directly under the Prince.
The weaponry expenses are a good first read for him. And not much use to us.
>>
>>615965
Maybe we could skip then to the other two accusers, or to gg or someone who could pass then on.
>>
>>615998
Tavis is being addressed in the next update.
>>
>>615998
>What about Tavis? Surely he's to be detained too?
isn't he locked up in a brawl with that girl he tried to mindrape?
>>
>>615888
You look out at the whole mess. Tavis is still trying to get out of Charlotte’s grasp- she has him in a full nelson restraint hold and is hanging on for dear life, while he does his best to shake out of it. Sorina and Basil are both looking on sadly while the soldiers place their hands behind their backs and escort them to a side area, still in view of the field. Soon, a large grouping of soldiers come in to restrain Tavis as well- they strip him of his sword as well, and Charlotte retains her hold on him as a handful of soldiers leads him to an area opposite of Basil and Sorina.

Adel can only still stare in astonishment at the entire proceedings. “This is...this is just unreal. Why did...how…was it all a lie?”He looks lost.

You turn to Adel. “I couldn’t tell you. But now’s not the time for that, I’m afraid.” You motion to his chestplace, the cracked- but still in one piece- gem still there, and ominous. “Come on. Don’t worry about it too much. Let’s go give ‘em a show and prove that if anything, you’re still Adel.”

He nods resolutely. “Right! Let’s do this thing!” As you’re both leaving, Geegee bursts in, bewilderment written all over her face. “What the- who the- why did! What was the-” she mimes a ring. “-and the glowing and the-the…” She shakes her head, lightly slapping it to get herself straight. “Just...what’s going on here?”

“Well, we’re about to have that fight. But I invited you up here earlier, so enjoy the room. It’s all yours.” You wave her goodbye as you jump over the box railing once again, land, and take your position. Adel comes out the normal way...except he cuts down the wooden doors with a quick one-two-three slash of his blades, kicking the pieces away as he steps onto the field.

...Guess he wanted to look intimidating, too. Surprisingly, you can still hear cheers coming from the crowd. Guess they REALLY wanted that fight. Although you can’t blame them.

You’ve been kinda looking forward to it, too.

Adel flashes his twin blades, swinging them several times in an impressive display of swordsmanship and intimidation. He’s fast, his movements are fluid, acrobatic. You can tell he’s learned in his art.

As for you…

>Brandish your sword.
>Keep it sheathed.
>Plant it.

I have long waited to write those last three options.
>>
>>616165
>>Keep it sheathed.
We only need our fists for this.
>>
>>616165
Can we cover our hands in mana to protect us from sword-blows or would that come with the armour we're wearing? Either way.

>Plant it

Things are serious, let's not show disrespect by inhibiting ourselves by using a weapon we're not as proficient with. Let's hope Adel can live up to our expectations.
>>
>>616165
>Keep it sheathed.
If he loses control, use shock touch +the sword. It's simple enough to use the weapons and armor natural conduction.

>>616194
And risk losing it? Nah.
>>
>>616220
I mean, we're probably giving it away anyway. We're better with our fists, and we probably can't take it with us back to the intersection anyway.
>>
>>616165
>>Plant it
"Who said I was a swordswoman?"
>>
>>616165
> Plant it.
>>
>>616235
No, OP said we could keep it with us when our contract is complete.
>>
>>616165
>Plant it.
Time for fisticuffs!
>>
>>616235
A few threads ago I think this question was asked.
The answer was that we could.>>616257

I don't want to risk losing the one high-tier item (for its plane) we got our paws one, especially as we got it from the same person that had a Greater Creation .

Another reason to train something, as we've close to maxed the magic power level.
>>
>>616257
Oh ok, must have missed that then. Still a fan of planting it, it's more of making a show.
>>
>plant it

Dont forget its there during the fight tho.
>>
>>616165
Cast Zone Scanner in Geegee's vicinity.
>>
>>616288
Jetstream Sam this and pick it back up mid fight? Also if Adel forgets it's there we can use it for a surprise bonus reach.
>>
>>616296
Potentially. Its also good bait, since we know adel is interested in it, he may make a move for it mid fight. Options on the field will help us not just win, which we are likely to do, but win stylishly.
>>
Swords are fun, but there's something that's just so satisfying about crunching a dude's face in by hand.
>>
>>616274
Worst comes to worst, we can always find another Horinthian General and beat him up.
>>
Writing, of course.
>>
Alright, time to go full Jetstream Sam
>>
goddammit I keep coming back too late to put in my votes.

>>616274
I remember something about this.
there was some saying that if we kept something with us for a long tie, it would be fused with the intersection's energies, and will be absorbed into us as stat boosts. however it would take so long that it probably wouldn't happen withing the span for this quest.
this was the response to a question that if we can return to the intersection to gear up all tactical style with the payment we'll be getting.

>>616323
are we even allowed to do that?
>>
>>616397
>long tie
*long time
goddammit fuck this laggy connection
>>
>>616397
Im pretty sure it would take us a day from any point in the continent to find and beat up a Horinthian general. And they are enemies of our current client. You tell me.
>>
Unsheathing your sword, you take a good look at it. Although it wasn't originally yours, it's served you fairly well throughout the time you've been here. The only problem with it however...

“You know,” you find yourself saying, “you've always struck me as the type to want their opponents to fight at their best. If I'm being honest, I'm not the best with swords.” you admit.

You plant the sword in the ground with a toss to the side, the force of the throw embedding the blade at least an inch deep. Everyone's shocked, letting out gasps of bewilderment, and as you assume a fighting stance, you give him a nod. “So if you want me using my best weapons...well, here they are.”

To his credit, he simply grins and nods. “Hey, whatever you say. Show me what you can do, lady!”

And he charges, his blades immediately going wide to either side of him.

>Meet him head up, use your speed to try and get in on him physically.
>Play elusive, don't let him get close unless it's on your terms.
>Keep at range, try to pepper him with magi-blasts.
>Other

You guys have waited a long time for this, so these entries might be shorter than normal so you have more control over the fight.
>>
>>616457
>>Meet him head up, use your speed to try and get in on him physically.
Let's do this.
>>
>>616457
>Play elusive, don't let him get close unless it's on your terms.
>Keep at range, try to pepper him with magi-blasts.
combination of these two. we should soften him up before risking melee.
he asked us to be at our best. we will respond honestly in a serious, professional manner by doing how we did from before.
>>
>>616457
> Play hard to get
get him all hit and bothered, make him work for it
>>
>>616457
>Meet him head up, use your speed to try and get in on him physically
Let's end this quickly
>>
>>616457
>Play elusive, don't let him get close unless it's on your terms.
>Jump up and over him, then give him a good kick in the back.
>>
>>616483
I like the cut of your jib, sir. Support.
>>
>>616457
While I am a fan of rushing him because starting with both sides just raining high speed blows on eachother at close range would be pretty cool.

I have to put full support in >>616483. Also, we do need to basically have him use a shit-load of mana this fight to fix the crytal's effects.
>>
>>616457
>>616483
Supporting so hard.
>>
Dip, dodge, duck, and dive. I'm pretty sure that's not the whole quote, but I think I'm close.

Writing.
>>
>>616580
Kinda. It's "Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, and... Dodge."
>>
>>616580
If you can dodge a political incident, you can dodge a magical nuke?
>>
>>616457

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fl27wKaGFw

I have to admit, this song fits Miranda a bit better than it should.

You quickly slip the first of his slashes- he’s remembering the rules, so he’s not swinging for the head. His followup doesn’t hit home, either, and you back out of the range of the stab that follows that. He pursues quickly, lunging forward and taking another high slash at you- you bend backwards, letting the swing pass over you.

He seems to cotton onto your tactics rather quickly, however, and his second blade comes in far lower from the opposite direction. You twist, and end up corkscrewing through the air as the blade flies under you. An attempt at a pincer attack has you ducking, driving a quick fist into his gut, right below the crystal, and you use his slight doubling over as an opportunity to leap up, a hand on his head for purchase as you arc over him, and drive a foot into the back of his head- not enough to seriously injure, but it throws him off balance enough for you to gain a bit of space.

He turns around, simply smiling, and charges again, this time spinning gracefully- and bringing his swords in at a horizontal parallel slash. You see it coming, however, and there’s a bit too much space between them…

It’s close timing, but you back handspring through the gap, much to the shock of the crowd, and you deliver another light shot to his side, jumping away as he reorients himself.

“Ahaha...alright, I getcha.” He brings in his blades tighter against himself, one in a guard position, one more outward. “Even as fluid as I am, just swinging won’t do much, huh?”, he says as he begins a much slower- but careful- advance.

>Keep on the defense. Let him come to you.
>Test out his approach.
>Try to go on offense now and crack his shell.
>Other
>>
>>616704
>Test out his approach.
Make him work for it!
>>
>>616704
> test his approach
Since he has two swords like an idiot he will have trouble catching himself if he falls. Can we sweep him or blast his legs and roll dice for a faceplant?
>>
>>616704
>Test out his approach.
>>
>>616704
>>Try to go on offense now and crack his shell
>>
>>616704
>Try to go on offense now and crack his shell.
Hmmmmyes
>>
>test out his approach
>>
>>616704
I guess it's our turn now
>Go on offense and test his defenses
>>
>>616704
>Test out his approach.
>>
>>616704
>Test out his approach.
you need to work for it, boy!
>>
Keep at it, kid. You might get somewhere.

Writing.
>>
>>616704
Now I wanna go back and play MGR:R (not really, I just wanna play the boss fights again), so thanks for that.
>>
>>616704
“Probably not,” you admit. You toss a minor blast at him- to his credit, he tanks it well, the blast being too fast to avoid at that range. He gets pushed back about half a step, but doesn’t falter. Still, he recognizes the danger, and has a sword up, trying to close in. You keep taking hops back, trying to keep him at a good space where he can’t dodge well, but he’s moving a lot more erratically now. Good. He nearly manages to get into striking distance with his serpentine movements, and you’re steady leading him around.

Although, you have to give him credit- you can see what he’s trying to do. It’s not even just a matter of avoiding your blasts- he’s trying to herd you with the occasional leap-in and threat to attack, towards the more narrow end of the arena- the place is somewhat oval shapes, which means there’s two ends that have less real estate for you to move side to side. Smart kid. Shame you’ve got a plan for that.

As you start to get closer to the thin end of the arena, he suddenly quickly jumps to his right again, veering in, and quickly low hops a blast from you- barely avoiding being knocked off his feet by the low blast. He comes in with a wide right inward swing, and you step in with a ducking full sweep, which he jumps- and halfway through the sweep you kick off with your other foot while still in a low profile, cause you to tumble backwards under his arms to get some distance.

As you quickly spring up, you’ve barely righted yourself when you suddenly see him flying through the air, sword outstretched. A quick pivot and movement to the side causes him to sail past you-

-though you clearly hear the scraaape of metal on armor as he manages to hit a glancing blow on your upper torso. You leap back a bit as he quickly lands and comes around with a wide swing- more meant to get you away than hit.

He’s grinning. Seems like he heard it, too. "All you do is dodge, you're bound to get hit eventually!" He quips.

> You guys get the idea by now.
>>
>>616898
>Time to go on the offensive
use the information on his fighting style we gained from the last two turns to completely break his guard and hit him with a few good magical blasts to send him flying.
>>
>>616898
Let him come to you, let him take the bait, then start a full offense barrage of fists.
>>
>>616898
Put the lie to his words
>kamehameha bitch (spelling?)
>>
>>616898
Dropkick him!
>>
>>616898
>Hit and run while backing up to our sword
>surprise attack with the sword disarm him

Let's see if we can work out how he fights with one less sword.
>>
>>616898
time to go on the offensive. juice up the shots with more power, activate the electricity buff we have.
continue doing what we are doing, shooting from range, but when he commits too much dive INTO his reach and start smacking. do not let him gain distance unless we can disengage without taking a hit.
>>
>>616898
>Time to go on the offensive
Let's rise some dust and make him taste him!
>>
>>616898
>Go on offense
Time to show off some real magical mojo!
>>
>>616953
>>616974

I can see it fine...
>>
>>616974
>>616979
Ayup.
>>
>>616979
ffs fuck this shitty internet
sorry handler. deleting.
>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xrpz7syL_s I imagine Miranda might feel something like the scene this music is in, right now.

Writing.
>>
"I was giving you a chance to 'wow' me. Too bad, though."
>>
>>616898

You give him a sideways nod in agreement. He’s not wrong. “Alright, then.” If that wasn’t a call to up things a bit, then nothing was. You shift your stance a bit, and Adel continues his slow approach. You have to wait for exactly the right time for this, and he's not being any more aggressive. However, you do begin to toss a couple of more blasts at him; these pop a bit more, causing the impact when they hit the ground to be more intense and making it so that he's having to dodge further to get clear of the blast radius.

He's realizing the dangers as well, and he's moving a bit faster now in order to not allow you any more shots than absolutely necessary. He finally gets within strike range, and in a shift out of his normal attack patterns, he quickly reverses the grip on one of his swords and tries to catch you off-guard with a feint with his left sword, while he swings true with his right- a delayed reverse swing. You quickly parry the attempt by grabbing his wrist and forcing it up and away from your body, turning into his space and driving your elbow into him before he can get his second real swing going, resulting in the intended stab falling short as he doubles over again from the force. You don't you don't let up however, and connect connect with a solid punch which sends him back stumbling. Before he can raise his head, he's met with two boots into his face, blowing him back even further, from the force of the drop kick.

He manages to just stop himself from tumbling end-over-end too much by planting his swords in the ground, and forcing himself to a stop. He gets up a bit shaky, and you noticed that he's not smiling anymore, instead breathing hard and looking kind of weirded out. A couple of bruises on his face starting to form.

“You gotta be kidding me...” you can hear him you can hear him mumble. As he rights himself, you noticed that the crystal is starting to brighten. Hm. You wonder if that means-

-oh, wait, now HE'S starting to glow a bit. Kind of like you saw before. He looks up at you, more determined now. No red eyes, however...interesting. He doesn't seem to notice, though.

>Keep it up? (Insert tactics)
>Draw attention to it?
>Other
>>
>>617088
>Draw attention to it?
>>
>>617088
>>Keep it up? (Insert tactics)
Try and take one of his swords to change his fighting style, that should piss him off a bit more.
>>
>keep it up
>keep him moving with energy blasts, herd him close
>start infusing strikes with shocking touch.

Need to push him more for that gem reaction. Sorina and Basil will know what to look for.
>>
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>>617088
>>Keep it up? (Insert tactics)
Before we do, just tell him that he's starting to glow a bit, then ask if he wants to continue. When he agrees, let him get in a defensive stance, then try out some airborne kicks on him.
>>
>>617088
>"YES, this is what I've been waiting for! Show me your true strength, you'll need it!"
>Cover ourselves in a "mana coat" too in order to goad him into powering up more.

Gotta purge his corrupted mana, keep him powering up until we're on roughly equal playing fields. Also: If he starts monologuing

>[O] Shut Adel Up
>>
>>617088
>Keep it up? (Blast him)
Zenryoku zenkai!
>>
>>617088
>Keep it up? (Insert tactics)
>Other
before anything, first, point out the crystal acting up.
now that this trick worked once, he should be weary of coming into range. he would be trying to keep enough distance to pull back if necessary.
now's the time we need the sword. pick it up again, and use it defensively to parry blows when needed. use energy channel on it if miranda is feeling that she need to put up a good show. continue what we are doing from last time, but charge the sword with electricity.
prepare to cast light barrier in the other hand. use with the sword to block attacks.
always be weary to not get walled in, and when he's close, continue to charge, and activate shock touch and pummel him.
>>
>>617088
>>617139
supporting
From the looks of it, we'd be using a Sun's Flare from which we hold the charge.

Let the battle flow, don't have his fighting lust be interrupted.
>>
>>617144
oh some things I forgot.
>use energy channel on it
>charge the sword with electricity
use only one of the two.

>and when he's close, continue to charge
along with this, prepare to grapple any feet or arms heading our way. give him some good swings if possible.

>>617118
not letting go of the sword is considered one of the most basic discipline for swordsmen afaik. even if it's a myth, it's easy to assume it's really hard to do so.
>>
>>617144
I think the sword works better as a surprise for when he's forgotten it's there. I doubt he's had a lot of experience in fighting someone unarmed so he's a bit more cautious because of that, if we can wait until he thinks he has our fighting style down, and then spring it on him "out of nowhere" we can take proper advantage of the sword since we're not exactly a swordfighter, and are instead a brawler/mage type. (speaking of which, it would probably do to learn the basics of various martial arts as some point if we haven't already).
>>
>>617156
>we'd be using a Sun's Flare from which we hold the charge.
If we use any incapacitating moves, he might take a grudge to that, not fair ina fight, and all that jass.

>>617167
sure. then we could use dual light barriers until then.
>>
>>617088
> Keep it up
Can we use a bunch of blasts to hide a wave, don't want him getting cocky about dodging

>>617144
Not sure how well electricity would work against someone wearing plate armour
>>
>>617088
btw, hander, how's our mana reserves holding up? still got plenty?
or is that 'can only be viewed by QM-only' type data?
>>
>>617186
Why wouldnt it?
>>
>>617088
>Keep it up
Start going faster, pressuring him an forcing him to launch an attack or be attacked himself, and attack the moment he begins to attack.
Get in close and hit his wrists to strike his hands away and strike his body.
Otherwise flow hands along his attacks in order to redirect the swords and strike at his arms.

Break down his wrists and arms so he starts gettin weaker.
>>
>>617188
You're fine. You'll be able to see it later.
>>
>>617186
>Can we use a bunch of blasts to hide a wave, don't want him getting cocky about dodging
we can actually hold multiple blasts in reserve when we can concentrate.
it would depend on what type of metal the plate armor is made out of, actually. assuming no magical shenanigans.
>>
>>617175
Oh, I meant using the technique in a half-assed way, so it only makes us glow a little. Not using the actual blinding magic, just an otherworldly glow.

>>617186
I'd likely work extremely well.
>>
>>617186
+I still wanna setup his feet out, especially if he does dumb shit like swiping with both his swords in parallel again, I imagine you would be in a precarious pose after that.
>>
>>617194
Faraday cage?
>>
>>617208
So a feet swipe propelled by a magi-blast?
>>
Meanwhile, on the sidelines:

>Basil: Whoa...she's really fast! I've never seen anyone dodge Adel like that...but if if Adel's about to unleash...this might get rough for her.

>Sorina: ...It won't.

>Basil: Huh? What do you mean? She's gotten a few hits in on him, but if he amps it up...

>Sorina: He's not doing it because he wants to overwhelm her. He's just trying to keep pace. You couldn't tell?

>Basil: N-no! What's wrong?

>Sorina: ...She hasn't been using anywhere close to her full strength. Her aura has barely flared at all.

>Basil: No way! You mean she's been toying with him up until now?

>Sorina: I wouldn't put it like that...but so far she's seen no reason to use her full power. I'm not so sure that even if he fully unleashes the Red Wolf, he can...

>Sorina: ...

>Sorina: ...!!! Wait, what if...?

>Basil: Huh? What if what? Hey, Sorina?
>>
>>617215
Do not us real physics to anticipate the behavior of magical lightning
You might as well argue that it wont be effective because the shortest grounding path will be through mirandas own body.
>>
>>617215
Not at all. For one, it'd heat the armor quite a lot.

Electricity will flow through all paths available, the only difference between the low resistance of the armor and high resistance of the body is the amount of current. More than enough energy to stun Adel.
>>
>>617219
uh oh.
whatever that red wolf thing is, it's gonna do bad things along with the crystal, is it?

>>617217
actually, why aren't we using beams?
continuous shots are easier to hit than single pellets, right?
against someone like Adel who can somewhat dodge pellets well, we should throw in beams as well as pellets to make it even ahrder to dodge.
>>
>>617219
I just felt like being anime with sideline explanations. I've been watching Battle Tendency between posts.
>>
>>617219
Wait... Adel is kinda the "hero/chosen one" of this setting right? Don't they usually get the power boost (likely red wolf) as well as some weird/unique "aspect" eventually?

>>617240
Are you trying to turn this into a bullet hell for Adel?
>>
Arc flash burns are nasty...
>>
>>617254
>Are you trying to turn this into a bullet hell for Adel?
hey, we're a magical girl, and if we can throw around laser beams and pellets around, while having an invul. shield for strong attacks, we might as well be a bullet hell boss if we wanted to be one. a hard one at that.
>>
>>617254
Pfft, we arent even trying. We could literally pop energy channel and shock touch to our body and make him KO just by striking us. A minor bullet hell is kids stuff.
>>
speaking of, where did we leave the documents we got from the church?

>>617257
eh. we have potions.
>>
>>617275
I mean, during a fight. Such wounds are debilitating, especially when friction with the wound is involved
>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJqoRaphiEk

A functional "Faraday" armor would need absolute insulation from the skin and have adequate pathings to conductive metal soles, else your heels be burned through.
>>
so. tactics planning.
seeing that our engagement range is all range except mid-range, with beams and pellets for long and melee for short, we have a good advantage for now(him just using sword attack in mid range, and his weariness for closing in forcing him to take measures of distance away from us lest he risk us getting into his face again).
but here's the problem. he hasn't used any of his magical shenanigan blade stuff, and apparently he had some kind of 'red wolf' stuff power thingy. whatever this is, we should be weary, because if this gives him more mobility or reach, or maybe some kind of area effect centered on him, our options for safe engagement range will be diminished.
she should be on guard to detect any magical stuff he might pull out at an instant, lest she get jumped.

>>617278
oh right. those wound will tear, right? ouch.
>>
>>617219
So Sorina thinks that if Adel goes full Red Wolf, he might have a chance at beating Miranda? Is that the hypothetical she came up with?

Or is it some contingency of the crystal's orders?

Either way, I want to taunt Adel to going all out, and then we just tell him that now that he's serious, we'll respond with and equivalent level of effort.
Serious Series, Serious Punch.
And knock him the fuck out.
>>
>>617349
What magical blade stuff?
>>
>>617353
I think she means that red wolf won't conventionally work, but "what if" there's something else that she's suspected about him, or he gains full control over it in the process of the fight or something.
>>
>>617382
Pretty sure shes just worried about its interactions with the crystal.
>>
>>617365
oh wait, my mistake. it's tavis who shot that powered shot at the giant back in thread 2, not Adel. whoops.
>>
>>617088
“Interesting. Getting a little bright there, huh?” you say, motioning to his general person. He doesn't say anything however, he just nods.

Alright, then. Time to add a new wrinkle to things. You fire off a few more blasts in order to get him moving. It works, and you're not surprised to find that he's moving faster now, weaving between the shots with little space. At the rate you're firing, he quickly manages to reach you, however, one of his swords coming in for a quick slice to take to take advantage of his increased speed.

Exactly what you were hoping to happen. Whenever folks power up, they always get too eager to use it straight away. At the very least, you'll have to step up your game a bit as well. Which is why which is why you let your own energy flow through you much more freely, shaping it around you. It's not exactly a power up, but it does help immensely.

By the time his sword reaches you, you’re in place to parry him, grazing the blade off your armor intentionally, and swiftly move in on his position, although he easily turns with the movement of his blade in order to attempt to dodge. Although he manages to avoid the punch somewhat, you can hear him hiss at the close proximity due to the slight mana burn, and he doesn’t avoid the blast you send afterwards when you open your outstretched fist, twist your hand to the right, and let loose, sending him sprawling away a few feet as you regain distance.

To his credit, Adel doesn’t stay down, immediately righting himself on his feet and charging again.

Alright, yeah, he’s not getting to do that again, though. You give a quick swipe with your hand, releasing a wave of mana- and to your surprise, he suddenly swipes with his sword, doing the same, only his is red and smaller. “RED FANG!”

Oh. He still names his attacks.

Poor boy.

They both collide and explode with each other, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that obscures your vision somewhat. At first you’re wondering what he’s about to do- before you see an odd swirl of dust and a flash of movement.

Of course he jumped. They always jump. You run into the cloud, and sure enough, he’s nowhere to be found. You hear a thud from where you just were- and as the dust settles, you notice he’s looking around in confusion. You tense your legs, and spring forward. He barely turns around before your covered fist impacts him yet again, and yet again he springs up rather quickly, despite blood starting to form around his head. The light on his chest is shining brighter, too, and NOW you can start to see a red tint to his eyes as he growls a bit. “Wwwhy can’t I HIT YOU!?”

>Call out to Sorina, ask her is he okay.
>Just keep going at him.
>Taunt him. Maybe it’s a thing.
>Other
>>
>>617396
>Taunt him. Maybe it’s a thing.
"Because I dont want to be hit"
>>
Iiiii need to get to bed.

What's going on with that mysterious red crystal?
Will Adel manage to defeat this incredibly powerful stranger, who's turned his world upside down in a matter of days? Or is he too outmatched?
And what of Tavis, who has been forced to watch as the people who raised him have been accused of corruption?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DRA-UH, MAGICAL GIRL FOR HIRE QUEST!
>>
>>617396
> taunt him
"I guess you still have a lot to learn."
This is what he gets for taking shit for days.
>>
>>617396
>Other
>Just keep going at him.
"Oh, yeah, no offense, but you've got to start watching that 'naming your attack' thing. It's hard, I know, but it's better in the long run."
>>
>>617396
>Taunt him. Maybe it’s a thing.
well, to be exact, we need to make him exert as much juice as possible.
if this rage thing helps in making hime fight harder, the n it might be helpful. but just to be sure,
>Other
>Activate megaphone, ask Sorina if the apparent anger management issue is supposed to happen.

>>617410
about time.
>>
>>617396
>Taunt him. Maybe it’s a thing.
Might as well give them a little more rope to hang themselves with.
>>
>>617396
>Taunt him. Maybe it’s a thing.
"Might want to get back under an actually competent mentor."
>>
>>617396
>Other: Taunt via professional critique.
"You're telegraphing your motions, and your attacks are predictable. They're far too obvious because you're jumping at the optimum action to take in reaction to my attacks, not forcing me to attack as a reaction to your actions.
"Your angles of attack are off by several degrees, your grip is still too tense, your elbow and upper arm muscles are flexing too hard and introducing a slow-down in the entire arc of motion, your stance is too wide by three inches, and you shift your weight in one direction to try to build up momentum for a lunge but it's actually just slowing you down.
"In short, you're too inexperienced, and much too slow."
>>
>>617430
top kek, supporting
>>
>>617396
>taunt him
"You're acting like a wild animal, but even wolves know how to use tactics."

I kinda wanna offer him one free hit, I'm curious what his damage output is right now.
>>
>>617454
there's no point on risking it however.
>>
>>617430
Sure. Going with this.
>>
>>617430
supporting
>>
Oh yeah, before I go, random piece of trivia:

Miranda's favorite junk food is Chicago-style deep dish pizza, and her favorite toppings are meatballs and jalapenos.

In terms of more healthy fare, she enjoys grilled fish, of nearly any style, and carrots.

She heavily dislikes peaches. Even she doesn't know why.

Her favorite drink is cream soda.

Okay bye.
>>
>>617454
>I kinda wanna offer him one free hit, I'm curious what his damage output is right now.
Oh, like let him get in a free double overhead slash to our shoulders, and just stand there have no reaction when it connects? Then bat his swords aside with one hand and telling him his grip is too tight and and the snap of his wrists off-timed so that he's losing nearly an eighth of the power of his swing when his strikes connect, and now we'll show him how it's really done?
>>
>>617459
in-character? Definitely not.
Me personally though, I kinda wanna see us get punched through a wall due to our own curiosity at this "hero".

>>617469 Wasn't my idea, we don't want to demoralize him in case he starts slowing down and losing his power up, which we want him to be doing to burn off the effects of the crystal. But after that's done? Sure, when we know he's not affected by the crystal we can go full "overpowered mentor" on his ass.
>>
>>617474
>Me personally though, I kinda wanna see us get punched through a wall due to our own curiosity at this "hero".
if that's the case we might as well pick up some junk and throw it in his way when he attacks. at his current state it would surprise me if he didn't smash through it headfirst.

>we don't want to demoralize him in case he starts slowing down and losing his power up, which we want him to be doing to burn off the effects of the crystal. But after that's done? Sure, when we know he's not affected by the crystal we can go full "overpowered mentor" on his ass.
I can agree with this though.
>>
>>617468
>Cream Soda
Aw yeah.
>>
>>617474
Look at the state he's in, he isn't gonna get discouraged, hell get even more mad if we treat this like a training session.
We're basically making a fool out of him in front of the entire town and denying him any sort of release in this fight, via denying any dort of hit. We are basically doing thr fight version of cockblocking right now.
Doing an in depth analysis of his skills will just puss him off more and make him go even harder.

Now if we tank a hit and just brush it off, that could discourage him. He'd have all the release of landing a hit on someone he realy, really wants to beat, but then the second the dust settles and his senses come back a little, the sight of his opoint just ignoring it will basically destroy him. It is the perfect way to end the fight, but we're in the middle of it right now.
>>
>>617695
>It is the perfect way to end the fight
Let him get the hit in, and watch his expression of triumph turn to confusion as Miranda looks to either side at the blades that have slightly scuffed her shoulderguards. She gives out a tired sigh of disappointment and says, "I expected better."
And then knee him in the gut, smashing his armor, and then give him two half-power hooks, and finish with a half-power uppercut.
>>
>>617695
That's why I was hoping for a "punched through a wall" situation, where we're visibly affected by the hit, but it's really just a call for us to properly gauge him.

It's definitely a show stopper to just tank his hits until he realises he isn't doing anything to us, and (if we do, I think it's a kinda bad way to end a "show" fight like this) we can "put him out of his misery".

I reckon he's got a couple tricks up his sleeve yet though, I think he'll surprise us.
>>
>>617738
okay. before we go on I want to say something.
as far as I can see there has been a running trend for suggestion on how to act. which is very specific actions.
of course, Miranda is leagues more powerful. but this is not the attitude to take a fight in. you don't just set up a plan on the assumption that it works, that's just asking for something to go wrong.
if we want to take a hit without harm and impress the crowd then we should be smart about it and take the blade with a great barrier. not with out fucking body. taking a hit with a body means we can be hurt, even if ineffective.
a barrier impenetrable by any means possible would not only establish how useless Adel's efforts are but also displays our level of sorcery.

this is assuming on the suggestion that we take the hit at the end of the fight where Adel has burned of a substantial lot of his juice to burn away the crystal's influence.
>>
>>617769
But it wouldn't be as funny.
>>
>>617773
counterpoint: Miranda is a professional on a mission.
>>
>>617779
counter-counterpoing: We've seen a whole lot of "professional on a mission" Miranda, I wanna see the "professional" crack a little, just a tad. As she either showboats a bit (pragmatic showoff, we need stories to spread of our unstoppability), or she's taken off guard.
>>
>>617769
I agree. It ends the fight with a showcase of our power and makes sure he can't protagonist bullshit his way into somehow hurting us.

It'll get the audience on our side via a great way to end the tourny AND showcasing our orind-levels of power for all to see.

Seems like a great way to finish up this arc and hopefully the contract.
>>
>>617790
>we've seen her be in character, but she's a tab bit boring, let's loosen her up a bit.
I would have agreed if only this wasn't a combat situation.
If you want miranda do loosen up and buddy up with her friends or recently known friendlies on ofttimes, I won't object to it.
But that's not now. we can do plenty of charter building later when we nail the coffin. bring the longshots to the moonguy's fortress, have a chat later, sure.
but again. that's AFTER we crush adel.
>>
>>617790
We don't really want that on the mission. A fuck up could still easily cost us a lot at this point. We can relax, goof off, and all back at the intersection with our associates.
>>
>>617797
>makes sure he can't protagonist bullshit his way into somehow hurting us
exactly.

In addition, I also want to point out that we should not use up our mana reserves willy nilly.
yes. we are superior in every aspect, mana capacity, skill,experience, whatever. but until the clergy is completely neutralized and behind bars, constricted with whatever prevents them suing some fancy magics, we should be ready to put them down in case they attempt any kind of last ditch effort.
>>
>>617816
I'm not really talking about a "fuck up". Just a "we underestimated Adel, and didn't have our barrier powered enough and he got through just enough to nick us with his sword" or a smirk when we put him in his place after all his hitting on us because he's so used to being a "hero". Just the very slightest display of fallibility.
>>
>>617822
>Just the very slightest display of fallibility.
okay. just stop and and answer this.
why?
>>
>>617825
To be honest it's more of a why not than a why. And there's probably not too much reason for it considering we'll probably have Adel & Longshots carting around behind us for a bit when we beat him, and ordering Adel around like a lackey probably works better to that end to be honest.

It was just an idea that was on my mind that I figured would be pretty harmless and possibly funny I guess.
>>
>>617822
Shouldn't we then use Light Barriers to preserve mana rather than a Great Barrier?
Also, we have to ask Handler if there's a difference in how quickly Light and Great Barriers can be put up; the margin for error has probably decreased now that Adel got some speed boosts.
>>
>>617822
We don't know what his magic does and he's basically going berserk. What if his stuff saps magic or makes even the lightest wound crippling.

If he gets a lucky hit that somehow hurts us and is then forced into the compulsion and it's something we're unable to stop due to a wound?

We are dealing with a shonen hero with unknow protagonist powers in basically THE spot where the protagonist turns it around with a lucky hit due to his opponent's hubris. Let's not fall to textbook plays. There are too many unknowns here to be acting stupid.
>>
>>617833
>It was just an idea that was on my mind that I figured would be pretty harmless and possibly funny I guess.
welp.
I'm sorry anon, this might sound a bit harsh. but this is the definition of the 'lulrandumb' attitude.
I'm glad that you realize it's not really supported, but again, this is really out of character.
sure, quests are done to have fun, but we should at least consider what we are doing plot wise.

>>617838
from pastebin:
>Great Barrier
>A magical sphere barrier that is capable of stopping short even point-blank explosions, but it takes focus to maintain, and it is ABSOLUTE. Can be extended to others, at a cost.

>Light Barrier
>A simplified Barrier similar to Great Barrier, but only stops attacks from a specific direction. Takes the shape of a simple flat glowing square panel. Can be extended to others at cost.

so light barriers are effective WH40 Imperium Knight shields, while Great barriers are your typical D&D dome shield juiced up to 11, but takes focus to maintain.

>>617842
>We are dealing with a shonen hero with unknow protagonist powers in basically THE spot where the protagonist turns it around with a lucky hit due to his opponent's hubris. Let's not fall to textbook plays. There are too many unknowns here to be acting stupid.
this guy gets it.
>>
>>617850
>so light barriers are effective WH40 Imperium Knight shields, while Great barriers are your typical D&D dome shield juiced up to 11, but takes focus to maintain.
Yeah, that's obvious from the text, but what's not obvious is the mana usage and rate of mana usage for keeping either barrier up.

Do you think the ABSOLUTE barrier is worth the mana drain?
>>
>>617850
>effective WH40 Imperium Knight shields
*effectively WH40K Imperial Knight walker's directional shield
uuugh
>>
>>617855
seeing how handler mentions it in >>617203, I believe we have more than enough. and we should not take chances unless there is no other option.
>>
>>615888
>I honestly forgot about the Orbital Ring and had a whole thing planned, but y'all cut that off right quick.

Haha, sorry! I was staying up late enough to nearly pass out in my chair because I figured I shouldn't miss the update. Looks like I was right on the money.

I'm curious what you had planned though, will you give a summary of it later?

>>617430
>>617469
>>617769
>Combine these
Set up a great barrier and start critiquing him and let his attack dissipate harmlessly against us as we don't move a muscle.
Put our hands in our pockets for added effect?

>"Let me show you how it's done." Cast Energy Channel on our whole body to make us glow with magic and also enable Shock Touch at a decent level, grab and hold him until he is forced down on the ground.

>>617825
>>617850
Not him but I can imagine that showing just a hint of fallibility means that when we make him our mook for a week he is going to hype himself up like nothing else, training and improving himself to beat us. We're going to be the his summit of power instead of an impassable mountain?
Are we ready to assume that our recruitment drive is a done deal, that they'll come with us to the mooners? If a simple, fake and inconsequential slip up will drive him to greater heights then we are grooming a force multiplier asset to become even stronger. That has to be beneficial to our employer.
Of course Adel seems to be more than likely to drive himself like this even if we just show him that we are an immovable object of pure physical and magical power.
>>
>>617865
all we have to tell him is that he just has to train as long as we did to reach our level of power.
we don't have to tell him that we're literally a 92 year old granny though.

and like what >>617842 said, we don't know his limits yet. when dealing with unknown , we should be ready for every possibility that can jeopardize our plans. if he is too down on his mood after the fight then we can offer to train&spar with him during the travel. he would definitely appreciate it.

if despite all efforts, the longshots refuse to aid the moonman, then we can just kill them all. no bonus, but hey, by that point we tried everything we could.
>>
>>617842
Aren't we kind of the character who no-sells the 11th hour power up, and basically exists to foreshadow the power up when it happens in the actual 11th hour and the hero controls it? Of course, that is a risk that's probably not worth it to wait and see if we're the "rival", "Mentor", "Insurmountable wall" character as opposed to just being an enemy for the hero to fight. So far we're pretty close to the "wandering stranger" that puts us pretty close to "insurmountable wall" territory, but you're right in that it's probably not worth the risk to go out of our way to cause it to happen for shits and giggles.

>>617850
Eh, I'm going to blame rewatching the Asura vs Augus fight scene from Asura's Wrath mostly for my current ideas.

I will say I am enjoying our "dark knight" thing we have going on, that isn't helping to waylay my feelings of Miranda's seeming invincibility and that at his current level, even Protagonist Power up #12 (effective level x2) will just mean we have to pull out a finisher, and it'd probably be a nice end for how much Miranda has been looking forward to beating him leading up to this, either a split second of "wow, that's unexpected" or "Fights over now, this punch is what I've been waiting for". I mean, I can probably come up with better ways to explain my thought/opinion, and justifications, and different angles for it until my fingers fall off, but if we're getting him as a lacky for a bit I guess it can wait.
>>
>>617875
No, we don't kill them all. We kill all but one, then use a mind control crystal to find out the location of the centerpiece piece they have.

Always be thinking about the bottom line.

Now that I think about it, I wanna see Miranda get hired by a group of joke-tier villains to help them be successful.
>>
>>617877
you know what? I don't know if anyone's realized this, but if we wanted we wouldn't have need any kind of this covert ops bs.
the moment we realized the presence of mind control magic we could have just beat up all of the longshots, grab a mind control crystal, brainwas- I mean *Persuade* them into realizing that true way lies in the path of the moon. of couse, the were 'convinced'[by the suspicious activity of the church, no shady business here.
>>
>>617883
damn. you're right. I almost forgot about that.
>>
>>617884
Eh, I feel like we'd have to figure out how it works and it'd take a lot longer than just ambushing them in the middle of the night and blowing them all away in a burst of magic light.

Unless mind control stuff is literally just "stare at crystal, obey orders" that we literally don't require any training in which case we probably could have. But destabilizing the enemies of the moon is also "probably" going to be part of our job. Just don't tell them we revealed the corruption in the church until after they give us that as a mission (and offer up the dosh that comes as a reward).
>>
>>617875
My vote is to put up our barrier.

I'm not agreeing with tanking an opponent's trump card, I was only thinking out loud in case it had any merit.

>>617877
>finisher
In my mind, forcing him to submit by simply holding his hands after he uses his most powerful attack is going to be funny as fuck, like I said in >>617865

Another idea would be if we can jump and use magic to hover or fly (maybe we can actually set up a great barrier beneath our feet while in mid air?) and put him through a danmaku. Could be real fun too.

>>617884
Part of me hopes that the next mission lets us be evil.
>>
>>617898
If we're going to do that then when he's about to leave our service as a lackey we should probably fight him again, and when we no-sell all of his attacks we should kiss him on the cheek and tell him "can't win 'em all I guess" before jumping away, leaving a note with his friends telling him how old we are. Let's see if we can make him go a little insane for a bit.

>After all that training... I still couldn't even touch her...
>OH SHIT SHE KISSED ME?!
>... I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE WAS JUST FUCKING WITH ME!
>>
>>617907
*could
not should. It's funny as a joke, but PRETTY out of character for Miranda (like, a different Post Code out of character).
>>
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>>617907
Haha, you're evil
>>
>>617907
Just stop man. Just stop.
>>
>>617907
...
>>
>>617914
>>617911
Hey, that was VERY pointedly not a serious suggestion. Just taking another anon's idea to it's upper limit as a joke. If we did follow the original suggestion, it shouldn't even be considered during this fight, with the whole "church in the process of crumbling" and other important stuff going on.
>>
>>617894
Sorina already told us how it works. And we seen to be able to manage those kind of vibrations based on how we do healing magic.
>>
>>617919
dude, with you suggesting things like deliberately taking hits just for fun value, people WILL think you're serious.
>>
>>617907
This isn't a lolrandom character nor quest, so this shit didn't belong. Pretending to be retarded is still being retarded.
>>
>>617929
I don't think I was ever into "taking hits for fun", my first input in that regard was a vague "I kinda want to give him a free hit" because I was curious about how strong this power up made him, and I was pretty quick to point out it was "definitely not" in character, but had it's uses to gauge his power, and was mostly because I like the "unexpectedly punched through a wall trope" and because it felt safe to use this chance to satisfy my curiousity and get that all in one.

It wasn't even until I mentioned "maybe this will be a split second of weakness for Miranda, and that could be interesting" that it seemed to be taken that seriously, instead of just having fun with the hypothetical. Of course, those aren't things we can actually control, despite everything we've seen showing that we're probably at the top of this planes level scale, we can still only control Miranda and don't just get to make the decision "and then we no-sell his ultimate attack".

Also that's what the second post after the joke was for, because I realised that it didn't necessarily read well as a joke, despite it being pretty out of character, in a hypothetical discussion about it happening a long ways down the road.
>>
>>617948
well I'm sure it wasn't what you're intending, but apparently it didn't turn out like you intended, right?
I mean, look at >>617945, he thinks you're serious. your actions convinced at least three people in this quest that you are some kind of 'lulrandumb' player(again, regardless of your intentions).
at this point I think it would be better if you just start off the post with a clear indication of it being joke, or just outright not post things like this.
>>
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I believe this image is quite relevant to the situation at hand.
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>>617956
Yeah, they were fun conversations while they lasted at least. Before everybody started taking them so seriously.
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>>617898
>Part of me hopes that the next mission lets us be evil.
Me too, I want to establish Miranda as 'unscrupulous'.
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>>617966
The thing is we'really at the climax of this arc, so nobody wants to fuck it up, which is what the joke suggestions sound like.

And it's not like ya got to be serious all the time, hell look at the discussion, there's plenty of stuff about killing and/or mind controlling the longshits, but it's framed as idle chatter instead of as a vote for action.
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>>617966
well, I hope you understand. we've invested about 4 thread's worth of time(with each thread being around 700 posts), and with the finish line so close to our sights, people WILL be goddamn serious to prevent anything go wrong. that entire time we've been doing our very best so that we don't get fucked over, and unfortunately, your posts were a bit 'disturbing' in the current mood of the thread.
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>>617968
I'll support if it is absolutely certain that we profit more during that timeframe.
forces of evil tend to have really dumb faults that will screw them over in the final battle, or they might try to not pay us after the job is done. even if they don't they just haver a lot of catch to their plans that would require more work than normal.
one advantage of working with 'good' guys is that thy are unlikely to not pay up when the job is finished. if they don't keep their promise, they aren't 'good', they have much to lose.

so if the following checks out I will agree:
1. Payment is upfront& is the highest we can take at the time. (As in, highest Dosh/day spent levels.)
2. they must be sensible, or at LEAST have a proper working plan that has been cut down as simple as possible to make it easy. fuckers will just try to plant elaborate mazes and passwords that can be beat with some sense. that shit needs to be pulled out and thrown out for proper defenses or no deal. same with that doom laser sequence. just let it fucking fire with a press of a button. and it should have an emergency battery inside it in case enemies cut the power.
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>>617970
>>617971
I'm not sure we are nearly done. If we discredit the church in this town and with the longhorns then that us great. But the knights won't rule here, they will still have their armys, might not be for the knights just because they are against the church, the royalty is presumably mind controlled (if not then how fucking useless is the church) and there is still the other country to take control of before they take advantage of the mess in Alban.
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>>617970
I mean, the session was over, nobody was voting anymore, it all seemed pretty idle-chatter to me. But I guess I was reading things wrong, re-reading I guess the mistake was >>617790 where I mentioned wanting to see a little more than just professional Miranda regarding combat, and didn't exactly vocalize my understanding of >>617809, instead just mentioning that I was interesting in "the very slightest/just a tad" of fallibility or overconfidence when fighting Adel.

>>617971
I get it, and I'm not really upset about it, it just sort of suddenly hit me when I realized that I was trying to explain it and defend what I figured was just following the flow of conversation because people seemed interested in talking about it.
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>>617975
well, the primary objective is to eliminate/persuade the longshots. as far as it stands, we can drag them off to the moonguys if we win against Adel, and be done with it. I'm sure they set up some special brigs in case things go wrong with the conversation.

>>617977
ok then.
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>>617975
We'll have fulfilled the objectives set out for us, caused major instability in Alban's main force multiplier (since this is where they get their mages) and set up KotM I'm a major position of strength by removing the longshots as a potential problem via recruitment or just breaking the party. KotM are now in control of the iron golem, so they basically hold the strongest weapons in the land now.

We've basically set the stage for them to bully the other two countries into some sort of cease fire due to the overwhelming power KotM is gonna have at their disposal.
We are a macro level problem solver, and this seems to be only other big scale problem remaining at the moment.

Not to mention it feels like a good spot to call the mission. We'll have accomplished ou mission and had fun with a neat cast of characters. If we stick around much longer we'll reach the problem of 'we've been working with all these chars for a while, but the second we finish the mission we dump them all and I don't want that given the time we spent on them' which isn't the greatest position to be in.
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>>617985
Mm, if it drags too much we'll be stuck in this fantasy land forever. So long, planewalking. I want to check out a sci-fi world, wild west, colonial native bullying or something
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>>617985
to be fair, realistically they wouldn't be able to keep up with the power levels of our mercenary work even if we wanted to take them. like it or not, long or short, we would have been leaving them regardless, for their own good or preventing our headaches.

>>617988
I can't wait to get to the intersection to pick up better/useful gear. although we already have substantial firepower we can always use more tools and tricks.
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>>617991
oh shit yeah, one thing I want to point out.
I want to grab a 1911 when we get back. unless she already have one back at the intersection that is.
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>>617973
Not sure we should volunteer extra help, that costs extra.
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>>617999
pardon? I didn't say anything about helping someone without payment, as far as I'm concerned.
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>>617973
>forces of evil tend to have really dumb faults that will screw them over in the final battle, or they might try to not pay us after the job is done
Miranda noted that Evil paid better, and she didn't particularly care whether she worked for the good guys or the villain.
If she has no particular preference, then whatever villain contracts she was on, they didn't negatively affect her opinion of them much, meaning that they must have paid on-time.

>2. they must be sensible, or at LEAST have a proper working plan that has been cut down as simple as possible to make it easy
Sure, if we're hired to make sure that they win. But sometimes we get called in just to defeat the hero and his party, not ensure final victory of the villain.
Professionalism and looking out for the client's interests can take them far, but I don't think we should let ourselves get pulled into doing too much out-of-contract work.

>>618001
The extra help comment from >>617999 is probably in reference to you requiring that plans be made simpler and easier to implement, so that final victory is more certain. That's beyond the scope of the contract if the client only requested that we defeat the good guy party.
If we kill the hero, we shouldn't be helping the villain make his plan easier to implement or removing inefficiencies from his overall strategy; we just collect our payment and let him make a mistake with his Doom Citadel that ends up with him torn into component atoms.
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>>617865
Yeah, sure.

Anyway.

"I shall taunt you now."

Writing.
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>>617964
we should put that on our business cards and hand it out when we get hired by particularly naive good guys.
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>>618298
Miranda does feel a teeny tiny eensy weensy bit bad for making the bad guy win. She's just really good at rationalizing it. So she probably makes Evil pay extra.
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>>618692
>Miranda does feel a teeny tiny eensy weensy bit bad for making the bad guy win
Never been indicated in in-character text, so that's just wishful thinking on your part.
>>
Scratch that, NOW I'm writing, still sick and had a bit of a 'moment'.
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>>618738
Get well soon!
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>>618761
Thanks, took some pills, and they're kicking in now.
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>>618692
Wut?
Did you miss the 'unscrupulous' part?
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>>618767
Just dont go the way of Vox, there lies madness...

and ulcers, mostly ulcers tough.
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>>618721
No it's not, she makes a point of rationalizing it, if she didn't care one bit, she wouldn't have bothered saying that there are a lot of dimensions, what's one more, evil pays well, and it's not like she sticks around anyway. If she entirely didn't care, she wouldn't have bothered.
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>>618817
How do suppose she feels about the point of view that there is no absolute good or evil, and that the majority of people are simply acting in accordance with their own self-interest as limited by their circumstances, or for their own gratification in accordance with the morals that have been instilled in them?
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>>618817
It's not a point of rationalizing, it's just an internal monologue to build up the setting.
If she didn't expand on why she doesn't care anymore, it would have been more difficult for us to learn about the setting and for Handler to provide that information in-character.
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“Well, there’s a lot of reasons for that,” you answer. You know he didn’t actually expect one, but considering the situation- that gem seemed to keep lighting up the more frustrated he got- you felt it was prudent. “You’re doing a lot of things wrong. For one-” You quickly jump to the side to dodge an incoming slash. “- you’re telegraphing your attacks too much. That and your attacks are predictable. You launch another wave, which he manages to dodge, and comes in for high diagonal cut, which you slip past, then twist your upper body to avoid a follow-up stab, double-checking how his arms move. "Your angles of attack are off by several degrees, and your grip is still too tense, too. If you flex that hard, your muscles overtense, and that reduces your optimal attack speed and range of motion.”

“I know how to fight!” He growls out as you parry his next three slashing, but you notice that it’s less Adel yelling at you, and more a growling, snarling statement that you halfway think is aimed at himself just as much. You can see the gem glowing brightly now, and when he leans back to attempt an upward slash- trying to bleed off the momentum of another parried strike into another attack- you let it sail past, grabbing his extended arm, pivoting, and hurling him sideways back to near the center of the arena, to the raucous crowd’s yells and cheers.

"That’s another thing. You’re trying to build momentum by shifting your body in one direction, before releasing, but that’s just slowing you down.” He just slowly picks himself up.

“Basically, you're just inexperienced, and much too slow. It’ll come with time, thou-" wait. He’s not responding anymore. The gem is glowing, yes, as is his aura, but…

“I...must...win…” Hm? “Must...win...for his holiness.” Oh.

Suddenly he spreads his arms wide and shouts to the world. “IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY CHURCH OF ORIND, I WILL VANQUISH YOU!”

...Hmmmmmmm.

> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
> Break the gem immediately.
> Let it play out, maybe.
> Other
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>>618886
>> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
>> Break the gem immediately.
>>
>that proof enough? Because I think its well past time I finished up.
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>>618886
> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
If yes, swift kick to the gen.
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>>618886
>“That proof enough, Sorina?”
I don't want to break it before all evidence is collected.
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>>618886
> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
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>>618886
> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
> Break the gem immediately.
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>>618878
No, see, the inference is that if she did need to stick around, if Evil did not pay well, then she wouldn't do it.

>>618886
>Win absolutely. Crush Orind's champion.
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>>618844
I'm sure she would espouse a view like that, it's not as if she needs to stick around in Evil Dimensions.
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>>618886
> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
> Let it play out, maybe.

Let's hear some more of his righteous monologues.
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>>618886
"Fine, I'm a demon, so I'll have to use my hellish ways to make you stop being and idiot."
>>
"Right, enough of the cutesy foofy crap. You're interfering with my job, and that means I get to enjoy beating your face in waaaaaay more than is healthy."
-Miranda, after dealing with 3 solid days of 'Sugarheart Clementine, the Magical Mouse Girl.'

Writing!
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>>618960
Bad idea.
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>>618983
Did she bleed rainbow blood when we beat the sparkling shit out of her, or did she just explode into a cloud of glitter?
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>>618886
>> “That proof enough, Sorina?”
>> Break the gem immediately.
>>
>>618886
You quickly turn to Sorina, who’s standing slack-jawed. “Hey, is that enough proof!?” Before she can answer, however, you quickly sense movement- and immediately jump to the side as you tilt your head follows Adel rocketing past you in a blur of red.

Huh.

He seems to pivot near ninety degrees in a snap, and bullets towards you again. This time, you charge forward to meet him…and then shift to the side, maybe a foot, dodging his stab, and your bring your forearm around at about half-strength.

The boy flips end over end like a pinwheel, spinning in the air for what you estimate is a solid two seconds before he crashes to the ground. You turn back to Sorina. “Because I really think I should end this about now.” She just nods frantically.

Good.

Adel scrambles up, coughing, but it’s clear his eyes aren’t his own. “I WILL DEFEAT-”

His sentence is stopped cold when you dart forward and ram your mana charged fist into his centerplate; the already cracked gem shatters like glass, and you can feel the impact to his chest underneath. You actually had to put some pep into it, that time.

All at once, the lights go out- the aura, and the glow in his eyes. Your fist is still embedded as he grunts, groans, and finally topples over on top of your arm, unconscious. There’s silence…

...And then the crowd goes wild.

You turn to Sorina, placing Adel on your shoulder as you walk up to her and Basil. “So. Me and him had a bet...and I still wanted to talk to YOU TWO about that little issue from this morning.”

Sorina looks worried. “Oh dear…”

Basil just looks flabbergasted.

At least Geegee’s cheering like a loon.

--------

As you walk out of the building, you think on the recent events. The Head Priest has been taken into custody, as well as his followers. The school is planned to be checked over, and according to the Prince, all the faculty is going to be investigated, although you’re unsure how much good that’ll do them now. As for Tavis, he’s also being tried, and his sword has been confiscated...somehow, Charlotte managed to get ahold of it. Everyone’s being ushered out of the Arena....all that’s left is to deal with the remaining Longshots. Fortunately, Basil and Sorina are nearby, and they seem to be discussing something. They both seem somewhat depressed, but you’re not surprised at that.

“Ah, Ms. Meda!” Oh. Right. The Prince. “Thank you so much for your help! I honestly had no idea that...that...this kind of thing was happening. And to think the Baron...” he shakes his head. “Ah, nevermind. If there’s anything I can do for you, name it!”

> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
> “Tournament didn’t have a cash prize...”
> Other.

>>619020
Bled glitter.
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>>619178
> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
> And maybe a personal souvenir as a sign of appreciation?
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>>619178
> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
> "Also, you might want to read these papers."
> "Finally, mind if I get Baron's sword? An amateur wielding something like that is a danger to others."
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>>619178
>“Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
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>>619178
>> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
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>>619178
>> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
>> And maybe a personal souvenir as a sign of appreciation? Maybe Baron's sword?
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>>619178
>“Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”
Haha
oh wow
We didn't even need barriers. I guess I was too paranoid.
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>>619178
> “Horses. I’ve got people I need to get places.”

Maybe we can even sell the horses later!
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Giddyup. Also you're apparently starting a collection. (Yes, you picked the Flamebringer back up already.)
>>
Doesn't there still remain the possibility that Tavis could break out and try to get the Great Creations with another team from leftovers of the Church?

I don't think we should leave the job half-done, but killing him may cause Sorina and Basil to not join up with the Knights.
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>>619258
We'll need a trophy wall back home
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>>619258
Wait, thought Tavis was the one with the special sword, not the Baron?
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>>619278
Actually, if we really are starting a collection, might as well take both of them.
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>>619258
We Dancer of the Boreal Valley now.
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>>619278
I'm just referring to a sword collection in general.
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>>619278
>>619286
Those are pieces of the centerpiece, we can get another bonus for that.

Unless he suddenly had a change of heart...
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>>619294
Actually, let Charlette keep it, kid needs a boost of confidence.
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>>619178
You look back at Basil and Sorina. “At least three horses. Possibly four.” His eyes widen in surprise slightly. “I have places I need to be and I’m hoping to take some people with me.” He smiles and claps his hands in apparently understanding. “Ah, of course. Not really the sedentary type, are you? Always have to be traveling, out there doing something. Of course, we’ll make sure they’re fit for travel.”

“Also, the Baron’s sword.” He quirks an eyebrow in curiosity. “Consider it a souvenir as a sign of appreciation.” He doesn’t quite seem to understand, but he nods in agreement. “That’s about it. Now if you’ll excuse me…” and with that you part ways to walk up to Basil and Sorina. They both just look at you solemnly. There’s a brief silence, before Sorina speaks up first. “We...we’re not entirely sure what to do now. We’d thought we’d be traveling throughout the continent, righting wrongs and hopefuly fixing the world, but...at this rate, all this internal strife is going to mess with Alban hard...I’m really worried, now.”

“Yeah, things just keep gettin’ worse.” Basil adds. “At this rate, Horinth’ll just waltz in and be done with us…”

“Have you considered the Knights any further?” you ask. They both still look uneasy, but Sorina speaks first.

“I’m still not sure...but...are you SURE that they’re not as bad as they claim?” she asks.

You just shrug. “They certainly seemed decent enough when I interacted with them. I still think that the one you encountered merits a bit of looking into.”

She sighs. “Well...maybe...maybe we can talk something out. Do you know where they are?”

Fantastic. “I’ll lead you right to them. Shouldn’t take more than a few days on horseback.”

“Hey!” you turn around to find Geegee- surprisingly counting a bit of extra coin. “What’re alla you talkin’ about?”

“We’ll be leaving soon,” you mention.

Geegee lights up at that. “Wait, leavin’ where? Back west? You think I can-”

You nod. “I’m even seeing to it we have horses.”

Geegee whoops. “Finally, I can see my Zeezee again! And we can get the heck out!”

"Get the heck outta where?" Adel asks, limping up. "Geez, my head's killing me. Someone mind telling me how the fight ended? Sorta ends up being a blur after a little bit..."

>Any remaining business to attend to?
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>>619383
Well, there's an opening in the Longshots now, see if Charlotte wants to join.
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>>619383
>> Ask what happens Tavis
other than that nothing comes to my mind
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>>619383
A quick good bye to that bard, at least.
How much gold did Gg win on the bets?
We still have to replace our cloak.

>>619403
Sure, she might be game, considering what just happened she might not want to stay in the city or even the kingdom.

>>619406
This too
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>>619383
Ask what's going to happen to Tavis; he's a loose end. I want to know how likely it is we'll have to tie it up in the future.

Find Charlotte. She's a local asset, and it's professional to take care of local assets until it's time to burn them.
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>>619383
Oh, yeah, tell Sorina she did a good job with her investigation.
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>>619383
Find out how they will take care of tavis. We need to confirm he's out.
And ask sorina to tell him how the crystal mindraped him.
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>>619383
>Congratulates Sorina on her investigation
>see if Charlotte wants to join (the Longshots)
>Ask what will happen to Tavis ( I don't think we could deprogram him, after all)
>Ask if we should go get the retired Longshot member to show her the Way.

Now would be a good time to give the papers (Weapon expenses and church roster, not sure about the target list). The Knights wouldn't need it, and it'd help separate the Church easier.
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>>619511
>Now would be a good time to give the papers
No.
The Knights, when they take control, will be a much better force to purge the Church.
We still don't know if the royalty was using the Church to help keep the people in line, and they're just feigning outrage when the Church got exposed, or if this really was a surprise to them.
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>>619511
This works. I'll agree with this.
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>>619294
You sure?
>>
this is the end, my friends...

Writing!
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>>619383
>Get Tavis' hook-sword.

I want it.
>>
You know it would be a dick move to remove a key to the Centerpiece from the plane, we should do it.
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>>619541
And get paid to bring it back?

(Seriously, though, I'm not convinced it's part of the Centerpiece.)
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>>619553
well if theres one they dont want to use or dont want used, also wasnt even talking about barons sword.
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>>619553
Well, Sorina and Co would know what is their part of the Centerpiece.
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>>619593
Yeah, let's not get greedy and piss off our temporary allies.
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>>619383
After you proceed to tell Adel about the end of the fight (to his disappointment and subsequent swearing that he will get stronger), you spend the remaining hours taking care of some other business. The first thing to do is catch up with the Prince, and give him your own documents. He’s a bit miffed that you kept them so long, but he does agree they’ll be instrumental in sniffing out collaborateurs.

First thing on your mind is finding out what's going to happen to Tavis. While the Longshots aren't sure, you manage to reach an officer who does inform you- Tavis will be will be tried by a Royal Court, and he will be scanned and investigated by top minds, in order to see just how deep his brainwashing goes, and if there’s anything that can be done about it. He’ll likely be kept under strict lock and key in the meantime. Sorina implores them to try their hardest.

The next thing is convincing Basil and Sorina that Charlotte might be a worthwhile replacement for him. It takes some time, but they both agree that there's strength in numbers, and that Charlotte was a pleasant enough girl. This was really reinforced when they actually manage to go up to her and ask her, to which she replies with a giant hug to both of them. It’s honestly kinda funny how Basil squeaked at the squeezing of his ribs. You then proceed to get yourself yet another cloak, and everyone else buys traveling rations and gear (Charlotte seemed oddly eager to get out of Tenimbaum…).

Before the end of the day, your four horses arrive (one of them with the Baron’s sword strapped to it, which you take quickly) though it's a bit late for travel. You end up spending one last night at the Lazy Bear Inn with your traveling companions- Geegee, Basil, Sorina, Adel, and Charlotte. Lillian Laudwick is there as well, and apparently she was witness to the entirety of the tournament. She’s been sketching down lyrics and song ideas pretty much non-stop since you and the others walked in.

“Sorina,” you mention before she clambers up to bed, one of the last ones. She looks back in surprise. “Those were impressive investigation skills you showed.” You nod to her. “Good work.”

She smiles wanly, nods, and heads on her way.

“So, out ta the frontier...” Geegee walks up behind you, also heading to bed. “I hope it’s interestin’ out there. After I get my Zeezee back, we got a whole lot ta do, startin' from nothin.”

Adel yawns as he brings up the rear. “It better be exciting. Or at least be a good place to train.”

cont.
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>>619626
Pick up the cernterpiece part instead of leaving it in Alban's hands. Pissing off people comes after that, right before leaving the realm..
>>
Oh noooo, the glowing hooked sword is now forever out of our collection!
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>>619640
Damnit, those documents should've gone to the Knights so that they could effectively purge the Church, not left that job to a government that can't be trusted to do it competently.
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>>619699
We're not going to stay long enough for it to matter. If the Knights are in a position to purge the church from a city in a foreign nation they are at war with, then our job is done.
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>>619686
We can come back to get it, by force.

>>619699
The Knight's forces are nowhere near the manpower level of Alban nor Horrinth. Unless using the Greater Creations, and even then, it'd take a lot of time to to a full frontal assault and win against the main cities of Alban.Long enough for the documents to become irrelevant.
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>>619727
I'm referring to the fact that the Knights are planning on toppling the government and that they would have preferred to do the job of purging the Church from the kingdom in order to ensure that it's done right, rather than leaving it in the hands of an ineffective government controlled by a corrupt and lazy monarchy.
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>>619748
>Long enough for the documents to become irrelevant.
Not really, since it shows who was a member of the Church and their ranking, so it's still useful to know who can't be trusted and who needs to be purged.
If it was documents about their operations and what they were planning, yes.
But the documents detail their membership, and that information is still going to be useful in wiping them out regardless of the amount of time that passes.
>>
>>6197549
We know nothing about the monarchy, they could be terrible or they could be meh, the church was the biggest problem. Hell doing this is actually good.

They will have to spend their own time and resources to clean house. This means they won't be as effective at fending off the Knights.

But again this isn't our issue as our job is done.
>>
>>619640
You all leave early the next morning. A few hours later...you’re still in the fields that indicate Alban territory. You’re...you’re honestly not used to this sloooow going. You’re personally walking next to the horses- Geegee and Charlotte both share a horse, while Sorina, Basil, and Adel all have one to themselves. They all seem to swap stories- Charlotte is apparently the daughter of a soldier and baker from Corinth, and she just had a lust for adventure after hearing all sorts of stories. She signed up for the military when the war started, but she wasn’t permitted, so she took to adventuring.

You make it very clear you’re not sharing past stories. They at least accept that.

There’s honestly not a whole lot that happens during what ends up being a four-day trek to the Moon Fortress. The worst that happens is you get attacked by a marauder remnant that gets repelled rather quickly after you eliminate their scout. Geegee, of all people, even gets one kill in after she managed to trip, then shank a bandit in the neck after he tries to cripple one of the horses. She’s not exactly happy about the experience, but she doesn’t at least freak out or anything.

Eventually, however, you do see the familiar image of the lone fortress early in the morning. They quickly open the gates for you, knowing your general outline, although they’re surprised at the people following you. Introductions are made, and the Longshots talk with the residents, all of them being somewhat on guard. Geegee simply takes the opportunity to ask about frontier life. After they tell everything that’s happened, however, the Knights are quick to warm to them, particularly the commander you spoke to before. He seems especially happy to hear the news about the church.

The commander’s quick to write you a letter of recommendation and a detailed report, informing him of all that you’ve done, and stating that The Longshots as undersigned confirm it all happened, and are willing to look into joining forces. You...

> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
> Let a runner do it over the next two days. If you have anything else left to handle…
> Other
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>>619849
>Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
If there's more objectives they want handled, the better to learn about them now.
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>>619849
>> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
This would give us an opportunity to ask about Velan and what his deal is.
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>>619849
> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.

I can't think of any business that calls for delay.
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>>619849
>> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
>>
>>619849
>Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
>mention about Velan attacking the longshots
>be ready to point out the relatively light payment of turning in great creations
>>
Doing it yourself, then.

Writing!
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>>619849
>> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
>>
>>619849
>> Take the missive yourself to the main HQ.
>>
>>619958
This is something we should talk to Sal about, not them, since hes the one who handled price negotiations for this job.
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>>619958
>be ready to point out the relatively light payment of turning in great creations

No. It's pathetic to whine about your pay after you've accepted the contract.
>>
>>620001
>It's pathetic to whine about your pay after you've accepted the contract.
Well, let's be clear here.
While generally you're right, and I agree with you in this case, if the client tries to bring in extra out-of-scope work, work conditions were not as specified, or misrepresented the amount or difficulty of the work, then it's also professional to request a renegotiation of the contract.
>>
>>619849
You elect to take the missive yourself. Plenty of daylight, and it’d be good to actually move at a traveling speed you’re more comfortable with. You at the least get a quick meal, where you inform everyone of the situation.

“Ah, this is as far as we go withcha, huh?” Geegee seems to get the drift, although she doesn’t elaborate. “Well, Blake’s Landing ain’t but about a day or so’s ride away. I suspect I can at least get one a’ you to ride with me far enough where I can walk back, right?” She turns around to the rest of the Longshots. “Zeezee and me should be fine from there.” Charlotte in particular nods. “Welp, then I’m settled,” she says. “It’s been one wild ride, gal.”

“Have a safe trip,” Sorina says. “You’re...something else.”

Basil waves. “Good luck out there. Although it’s probably whoever you square up against that needs the luck…”

Adel claps. “Thanks for the tips on the way over here! Hey, don’t be a stranger! I still want my rematch!”

You simply nod, and with a leap, you’re off.

It feels good to have the wind blowing past you again. The Frontier’s a lot less iffy to navigate than the Wildlands, and in a matter of hours, you’re back at the HQ. The dragon from above looks at you carefully, but does nothing as you walk back in. As you reach the hidden courtyard, you don’t see any of the major Knights. Hm. Guess you’ll have to-

“Ah, hello there.” Hm? That wasn’t a familiar voice...you turn, and from out of a nearby hallway is a man dressed in major Knight gear, scaled, with a bald head and thin face. His eyes are narrowed, but smiling. “I’m afraid I’m not entirely certain who you are…?”

“I’m the hired help,” is all you say.

“Ahhhh! So you’re the infamous demon that we paid out good money to!” He chuckles. “Beg your pardon- I am Knight Velan. I just got back recently myself from an excursion to the north. Some interesting rumors up there, you see, and I was sent to scout them out. I take it you’re looking for Argus? I’d be pleased to show you the way.”

> ...No thanks. I'll find it myself.
> Actually, funny coincidence. You ever fought a group with a small mage girl, a giant guy, a knightess, a cocky dual-wielding swordsman, and a paladin?
> ...Sure.
>>
>>620050
> ...Sure.

Observe. Don't tip our hand

>>620034
Yeah, that's fair.
>>
>>620050
>> ...Sure.
>>
>>620050
>...Sure.
>Although I am not a demon. Completely different Plane.
Get ready to knock this guy the fuck out.
>>
>>620050
> ...Sure.

Let's get on his good side first, have him chat with us, then tell his boss about the issues Valen's actions caused. This is a personnel issue and it's the higher ups job to deal with it, not the hired help. It's not our problem and could only cause strife between us and our employers if we bring it up with Valen.

Let's get paid and get out.
>>
>>620050
> ...Sure.
Anyone want to try out our new sword?
>>
>>620050
>> Actually, funny coincidence. You ever fought a group with a small mage girl, a giant guy, a knightess, a cocky dual-wielding swordsman, and a paladin?
>>
>>620050
>> Actually, funny coincidence. You ever fought a group with a small mage girl, a giant guy, a knightess, a cocky dual-wielding swordsman, and a paladin?
>>
>>620050
> ...Sure.
>>
>>620050
>...Sure
Then give then both a lesson in PR because going around convincing people that you are a bunch of nutters that want to dance on the ashes of the world won't help with recruiting.

Also I am sad we never got to fight a giant.
>>
>>620050
> ...Sure.
>>
>>620050
>...Sure.

If it turns out that Velan is actually representative of the Knights of the Moon's philosophy, what do we do?

I think it should depend on whether we got paid and have our recommendation in hand yet.

If we have everything, then we destroy the KotM. If we haven't gotten paid yet, we let the KotM do whatever they want. Okay?
>>
>>620050
>...Sure
>>
>>620284
>Destroy the KotM
Not if they uphuld their end of the contract, moralfag. You're still projecting your personal morals on Miranda.
If we have "everything", we go back to the Intersection.
>>
>>620284
We will do nothing to the Knights.
It doesn't matter if they really want to destroy the world or not; what matters is if we're paid. And if they continue to pay, then we will help them destroy the world. And once the contract's over, we go back to the Intersection and leave them to a dead world.
>>
>>620284
No. Thats not how we work. What do we care? The only way we end up fucking the Knights is if they straight up renege on our deal.
>>
That said, the Knights had no reason to lie to us.
>>
>>620284
Are you high? We're a mercenary, and what's more we're in a contract right now. What we "do" is fulfil the terms of that contract, get paid, and then move on without a second thought.
>>
>>620050
> Actually, funny coincidence. You ever fought a group with a small mage girl, a giant guy, a knightess, a cocky dual-wielding swordsman, and a paladin?

I'd like to get his side of the story here.
>>
>>620284
We get paid and leave.If the try to reneg then we call back and get our bosses to force them to cough up the dough.
This is just another plane, there are infinite numbers of them, and it's not like we'll ever be back.
So we do what we are paid for unless it goes against the contract or is ridiculous and/or harmful to us or the company, so shit like sacrifice ourselves for their death ritual or whatever.
>>
hello?
>>
>>620050
Boss? Boooss?
>>
[worrying intensifies]
>>
I tripped at the finish line. Or rather got a bad case of the 'I need to lie downs'.

Also now my sleep schedule's probably shot.

Writin!
>>
Well, now, if this guy wasn’t setting off all your alarm bells. Still… “Sure. Lead the way.” ...it’d be interesting to see what might come of it, if anything.

He simply smiles a familiar smile, and beckons you through the halls. “Commander Argus and several of the rest are currently in a meeting discussing plans to move forward thanks to some of your work. I must say, recovering two Great Creations in such a short time period? Rather impressive. You do good work. Very, very good work...yes.” He trails off a bit there, and you see his face twitch slightly. Kinda looked funny.

The hallways aren’t exactly familiar to you, but you recognize them somewhat regardless, and...you have to think that there’s been a bit of a mix-up. You’re fairly certain that where you and they last met wasn’t in this direction. In fact, this was a part of the complex you’d not seen. Far more...roughshorn, and in general dilapidated. Kinda curious where this leads to, really.

"You'll have to excuse the current mess. This part of the headquarters is rarely used, you see- only for the most secretive of meetings, you understand. I'm sure Commander Argus will be more than happy to receive the good news of your completed mission." He chuckles a bit. "He's just been so wrapped up in making sure our little freedom force runs smoothly, he's practically locked himself away. Quite funny, really."

> Keep following him.
> Stop. Turn around, walk away without even breaking stride.
> “Are you about to try and do what I think you’re about to try and do?”
> Other
>>
>>621896
>Keep following him.
>Other, prepare to throw up light barriers
my paranoia senses are tinglin'
>>
>>621896
> other
Put him in a light ring and investigate on your own. This guy is clearly from the counter-counter-insurgency.
>>
>>621896
>Keep following him, expecting him to spring his trap on us.
Prepare to set up Light Barriers, Sun's Flare, and Energy Channel.
>>
>>621896
>>621978
this
"Wow how deluded can you be, anyone can see from a mile away that you are a suspicious"
>>
>>621896
> Other
"...Are you fucking kidding me, boyo? I mean, are you actively trying to look suspicious, or are you actually JUST THAT INCOMPETENT at being a double agent? I mean, shit, I could tell just by looking at the meeting place that you were going to pull this shit. Either that or try to molest me, anyway."
>>
>>621978
you mean Orbital Ring?
>>
>>622039
Yeah, or just taze him...
>>
>>621896
>> Keep following him.
Pretty sure we can fuck him up when he tries something.
>>
>>621896
> Stop. Turn around, walk away without even breaking stride.
>>
>>621896
>>622079
Changing to
>Grab him by the scruff of the neck, drag him to Argus.
>>
this might be paranoia but it's entirely possible that the moonguys are trying to remove us due to being so otherworldly strong using some kind of strong safety measure
yeah, I know, it's highly unlikely, but everything could be possible at this point until we meet up with the leaders again.
>>
Okay, judging by the general consensus, I think this can accurately sum up the plan:

"I'm going to play along with this until it stops being mildly amusing."
>>
I'm a lurker who has been following on and off. I think I must have missed something. Do we know why he's out to get us?
>>
>>622235
The only thing we know about him is that he has been misrepresenting the knights of the moon and is acting suspicious like. He may be trying to undermine the knights or he may just be the weird edgelord night that they try keep away from other people.
>>
>>622235
We think he's either a spy or a psycho, and he's quite obviously trying to lure us somewhere to kill us so we can be fairly sure he's not on the level.

personally I think he's just bugfuck crazy rather than an infiltrator. The knights haven't been having the kind of issues a spy would cause, and most of what we know he did wrong was raving about how much he liked killing things, though I could be wrong.
>>
>>621896

Hm. So, whatever was up with this guy, he’s probably someone infiltrating the group, or maybe someone trying to use it for his own ends. And you’ve heard countless similar lines in your time, so you knew exactly what he unintentionally told you- Argus was locked up somewhere, and he was- presumably- in charge at the moment. And he was probably trying to find some way to dispose of you or something. He wasn’t here initially, and from what you’re aware of, if he just got back, chances are he had no clue about you aside from general knowledge.

He leads you down a set of damp steps, and motions to the door. No noises, either. “They’re right through there,” he motions. “After you-hey!” That last bit was you snatching his arm before he could fully turn to leave. You’ve already opened the door- kinda broke it, really- and look in. Yeah, there’s nothing here. “Question.”

He looks a touch worried, to say the least. “Y-yes?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” You’re not even looking at him.

“I...beg your pardon?” You can detect a slight waver in his voice.

“I said. ‘Do you think I’m an idiot?’ Answer the question.” You’re still not looking at him, but you can feel him tug at your hand, to no avail.

“Well-of course not! I mean, to be considered worth Argus’s- AAHGHGHH!” That was you twisting his wrist harshly.

And now you deign to look back at him a bit. “Are you being honest right now? Because I don’t think you are.”

“Let GO of me!” He yells, and swings for your with a clawed gauntlet. You snatch it out of the air calmly, and being applying pressure to both wrists. “Agh! I...said...LET...GO!”

You sigh. “Do you even realize how incompetent you must be? How suspicious that was just now?” you shake your head. “Possibly not. What are you, some Horinthian spy or what?”

“I AM NO SPY! I AM THE NEXT LEADER OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE NEW MOON AND I WILL HAVE YOU FLAYED FOR THIS!” he yells. Mhm.

>Ask him questions?
>Just restrain him, and cart him around until you find the Knights.
>Other
>>
>>622349
>Other
Cart him around, with periodic zaps from Shock Touch, look for the Knights while giving a running commentary on how stupid he is, how his ruse might fool naive kids like the Longshots but is just plain insulting to a real professional like ourselves, and that apparently he wasn't paying attention when he was told what we are capable of if he thinks that anything on this primitive plane of existence could match us.
>>
>>622349
>Just restrain him, throw him into the room first. If he survives, cart him around until you find the Knights.
>>
>>622349
"Let me explain something to you. My agreement was with the previous leader of the Knights. A change in leadership means a change in the deal. Which means I may not get payed all that I am expecting.

And intereuptions in my payment mean I kill everyone involved. Everyone.

Consider this the sword at your throat until I've satisfied myself."
>>
>>622349
> just drag him around
Give him a shock whenever he gets too mouthy. Because this is the funnest option.
>>
>>622349
>Just restrain him, and cart him around until you find the Knights.
Casually apply gradually increasingly intense torture while slinging him over our shoulder and loudly interrogating him about where Argus is and what he's done to him.
>>
>>622349
If you're trying to become the leader of the Knights of the New Moon, maybe don't tell random adventurers how you're going to "Wipe away the dirt and filth" like a firebreathing Church of Orind zealot. Shit like that gave me an extremely hard time trying to hire the Longshots."
>>
>>622349
>>622378
"Oh, flayed for this? Really? I am able to hold you in place without even trying, I defeated that team of kids that you couldn't, I beat Veryn with barely any effort, and you think that you have anyone here willing to listen to you that can defeat me? Do you know how easily I can kill you right now? Some of my superiors might even call what you tried to do a breach of contract. Do you know what happens to those that cross them?"
>>
"Hey, wanna know what you and a bag of potatoes have in common right now?"

Writing.
>>
>>622440
Oh right, there is a question we need to ask him.
"Where's Argus and the other Knights?"
>>
>>622440
keked heartily

>>622456
maybe grabbing a mind control crystal intact would have been a good idea...
>>
>>622440
>"Both are brown, rather dirty, and really need to lose weight"?

>"Both are delicious when roasted over a fire"?

>"Both have far more eyes than I'm comfortable with; and while I don't have a bag of potatoes to rectify that on, at least I can start with you"?
>>
>>622349
so it looks like he's a psycho. guess we don't have to worry about intelligence leaks.
>>
>>622485
Last one mad me laugh. Good job.
>>
>>622485
Okay, that last one is pretty good.
>>
>>622349

You punch him in the gut. It’s not your hardest hit by any means, but it does dent his armor sharply, and crumples him over. Before he can react you hoist him over your shoulder. “Honestly, this was about as stupid an idea as you could have. You really didn’t learn anything about me aside from the basics, huh?” As you talk, you cue up your electric charge. It soon courses throughout your body, but you focus it into the hand holding him steady on your shoulder like he’s a limp sack. “Otherwise you’d have known this was an idiotic idea that may well have killed you. I HATE it when I don’t get paid. I mean...HATE it.”

You keep this up for several minutes, shocking him intermittently, wandering around the complex with the man on your shoulder until- a soldier rounds the corner with a bucket of water in hand.

“You!” Velan slurs. “Boy! Tell the Knights...that this girl has gone mad and seeks to destroy us!” Velan yells. “Hurry now!”

“Or don’t,” you quickly interrupt. “I just need to talk with them. About this joker here, getting my payment, and leaving.”

The young soldier looks between you both hurried, before shaking his head and running off further down the hall. “M’LORDS!”

Fantastic. You follow him rather easily, and eventually you find out where everyone is- there’s a large underground auditorium area- very familiar actually- and Commander Argus, along with the rest of the Knights, is giving what appears to be a mass lecture on infantry tactics… you can see a person sized figure of some sort, made of straw and clay and metal...and it looks somewhat familiar…

Commander Argus soon turns to the source of the commotion...and when he sees Velan over your shoulder, all he can do is sigh.

cont.
>>
>>622671
Hoho, if this was a prank, he made the absolute worst decision of his life.
>>
>>622671
>and when he sees Velan over your shoulder, all he can do is sigh.
I'm assuming that this isn't the first time Velan caused an incident.
>>
>>622671
"I need an explanation, please."
>>
>>622671
The Longshots are going to want to kill this guy when they see him, and after this display I don't see why they should be stopped.
>>
>>622671

“To tell the truth, we had somewhat anticipated this,” Argus says once back in the comfort of his proper command chamber. You’d told him your end of the story and given the letter, which he was immensely pleased about. But... “Velan was always rather ambitious, and we tended to send him on solo missions so that he could both feel useful and keep the rest of us unburdened. He hadn’t made any particularly overt movements toward usurpation, but I suppose he felt your presence here was threatening. Or perhaps he just felt like it. He was always a bit crazy, to be frank, but his fighting prowess and skill with stealth made him too valuable an asset to simply eliminate.”

“He nearly cost me your new recruits. Apparently near killed one of them and sent the other into retirement.” you note.

“And blast him for that!” Argus says, slamming his desk. “He’d informed us that they’d managed to best him thoroughly and that he needed recuperation time. To think he may have prevented such potential being realized…but I suppose his plans did not pay off, all things considered." He sighs. "As much as I am loathe to say it, it seems he's becoming a bit too much of a burden. We will...see to his permanent disassociation.” Ah. Welp. So much for him.

“Yes, well, speaking of pay…” you let the sentence dangle there, and Argus nods in recognition.

“You’ve done us excellent service, Ms. Maladis. Although the entirety of the Longshots weren’t possible to acquire, it seems you’ve taken pains to gain as many as possible!” He chuckles a bit. “With Tenimbaum in turmoil, that’ll be a major blow to their operations. Horinth will undoubtedly try to take advantage of them...but perhaps WE can find a way to take advantage of Horinth, eh?”

“So, do you want my help with that, too?” you ask. “It’ll be extra, but...”

He waves you off. “No, no. While your offer is generous and appreciated, we’ll handle it from here. The Crystal Dream, and the Iron Golem both in our hands, along with a portion of the Centerpiece, at minimum? We’ll change the face of this continent yet.” With that, he stands up, tall and proud. “Consider your contract fulfilled. We’ll send the final payment along with you.”

After the last chest of gold is placed on the alter you came from, you look Argus in the eye, and you nod. As he salutes, you send- and feel- that familiar mental ping. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

And then you're gone.

--------------

JOB COMPLETE

-PRIMARY SERVICE RENDERED- PRIMARY PAY DELIVERED IN FULL

-SECONDARY SERVICE PARTIALLY RENDERED - BONUS PAY DELIVERED IN PARTIAL

-TERTIARY SERVICE RENDERED - BONUS PAY DELIVERED IN FULL

= TOTAL LOCAL CURRENCY TO MOTE EXCHANGE: ESTIMATED 15 MOTES (LARGE)
>>
Yay, monies!
>>
>>622765
GAIN BROUZOUF
>>
>>622765
Sal better kiss our feet on getting back after a job that well done.
>>
still surprised that motes are used directly as currency, given how even a small mote seems to be equivalent to a few dollars you'd think they would have a mote backed currency that can be divided more finely than small motes.
>>
>>622808
They have one city. Is it really worth the effort to set something like that up when they could do something productive with their time?
>>
>>622803
One might assume that those 15 motes are our cut. Presumably it's an appreciable fraction, but you could imagine how much is going to him, and to his bosses.

Looking back on the mission, I'm not entirely sure what stat lineup we should run next time, if we're going to keep this same characterization. We chose full Intimidation this time, but it didn't exactly pan out the way we expected.
>>
>>622829
true. I believe a generalist approach would be better with how we are rolling right now. since we tend to diverge a lot during missions for the extra dosh.
>>
>>622829
Yeah I'm keen for using mad skills to be intimidating some of the time rather than being all scary all the time.
>>
>>622829
Its best tailored to the job. We find out the job details from Sal, and tailor our bonuses.
>>
Okay, thanks everyone! I learned a lot going through this arc, and I can tell you some changes for the next one:

-As you already know, there's going to be a mana meter you'll have to keep an eye on now, in a sense. You'll still have plenty of the stuff, but...

-You'll also have to keep an eye on the plane's mana recharge rate. This will be a locked 'X per day' thing, that'll refill when you go to sleep. Of course, if the plane has some method of mana regen, you can use that.

-I'll remember anything else as it comes. For now, ask questions! I'll be taking a breather from running for a couple days (unless I really get the urge) and probably be back Tuesday.
>>
>>622855
What would we have needed to do to recruit Tavis?
>>
>>622855
Have the Dealmakers encountered any other civilization capable of inter-timeline travel?
Is there any kind of protocol for how to handle contact with such a civilization while on a mission?
>>
>>622860
Break his legs, bring him with.
>>
>>622855
What were the most enjoyable parts of this arc for you?

Did we go off the rails at any point, and force you to write shit you hadn't planned for? What about things you had planned out, expecting us to go for it, only to turn around and fuck off elsewhere?

Will we ever see these characters again?

What happened to the swords we picked up?
>>
>>622855
What will the swords we stole turn into when we bring them back to the Intersection?
>>
>>622843
>>622847

Plainliness all the way, if it were me. Problem is, her baseline is D. At Intimidation B, there was an easy way to optimize gear-wise.

>>622855
Is there a possibility to meditate to regain a little mana? Like, a short rest instead of a long rest (sleep)?
>>
>>622855
I want clarification on buying equipment. If I remember correctly, back at the end of thread 2, someone suggested grabbing gear from the intersection. and another anon said it'd be useless since bought items would just be absorbed into us the moment we used them. is this true?

was it possible to snag a mind control crystal by ourselves?

how often does Miranda do joint operations with other mercs?

has the intersection been invaded in the past?

in the grand scheme of things, did we earn a lot?

would magical technique/technology work outside of their native plane/other planes without problems, or would it break down? is it a case by case business depending on how different each dimension's physics are like?
>>
>>622906
>I want clarification on buying equipment. If I remember correctly, back at the end of thread 2, someone suggested grabbing gear from the intersection. and another anon said it'd be useless since bought items would just be absorbed into us the moment we used them. is this true?
Handler, I know you've answered this question before.
You should add it to your pastebin so that when it crops up again, you can tell the poster to read the pastebin.

>>622897
Plainliness has it's own set of problems. Handler originally mentioned that if we take actions that break the expectation created by our stats/gear, then people will have extreme reactions.
>>
>>622947
I don't know if extreme reactions would be too threatening to our position though.
>>
Optimize for cute like she's 55 suffering a midlife crisis again.
>>
>>622822
yes. Remember that scene where a single small mote was enofgh to buy a full carton of cupcakes? Assuming baked goods are not super cheap that puts a single small mote in the 3 to 5 dollar range.

keep in mind the deal makers are supposed to be eldritch merchants, they know how important granularity in currency is. Then again, maybe they just don't trust there own kind not to abuse something like that.
>>
>>622860
Confront him personally, then privately with evidence, beat him around the head a few times, then show more evidence privately...he was intended to be a hard sell from word go, honestly. No malice intended, I was just curious if you'd do it or not. If you'd chosen to go inside the Church at any point before the actual break-in, you'd have found him there.

>>622868
Nothing quite like they can. There are other entities that can cross dimensional planes, and timelines within one plane, but not quite like Deal-Makers. It's like Hopscotch. Most people with that kind of power can hop from one square to the other. What the Deal-Makers can do is not only hop on the squares, but walk on the lines that make up the boundaries of the squares as well. If that makes sense.

>>622875
the Adel fight scene. The Marauder fight scene. I enjoyed Sorina blubbering, despite how weird it came off to some.
I didn't expect you to investigate Blake's Landing so soon and meant for it to be a later thing. That's why the barricade was there. And like I said earlier, I had this big giant fight ala Sanctus Diabolica in DMC4 for the High Priest, where there'd basically be an all out melee between the Church + Tavis + the Baron, the Longshots, and you. Aside from that, I honestly just kinda wrote as I felt, though.

Maaaaaybe. I honestly don't know yet. That said I honest to god thought you guys were going to try and bring Geegee and Zarach along.

They're still on you! You can use them wherever it's feasible to have a sword, now. New gear, basically.

>>622879
Nothing for some time. Eventually, the Flambringer will morph into a +1 Intimidation / +1 Otherworldly, and the Baron's Rapier is +2 Intimidation.

>>622897
Yes, depending on hours rested. you sorta did that under the bridge that night.

hold on, answering more.
>>
>>622982
>Nothing for some time. Eventually, the Flambringer will morph into a +1 Intimidation / +1 Otherworldly, and the Baron's Rapier is +2 Intimidation.
Will they remain swords?
>>
>>622982
>the Flambringer will morph into a +1 Intimidation / +1 Otherworldly, and the Baron's Rapier is +2 Intimidation
Well, that sure is a lot of Intimidation we'll be getting.
>>
>>622906
-Like >>622947 said, I've answered this before- and yeah, maybe I'll put it in a pastebin since I'll be elaborating more here: Equipment you buy at the Intersection has two 'flavors': Attuned and Non-Attuned. Attuned is Stat Boosts, and will merge into you once you leave the Intersection. Non-Attunded is 'as is', and you can use the equipment as it was meant. For example, right now both swords you brought back are Non-Attuned, so they're just swords with perks. Eventually, they'll be Attuned, and give you stat boosts.

-Yes. Several times, actually.

-Not exceptionally often, but it's by no means unknown to her. She's worked with Izumi a few times and Lorelei once or twice. It's how she knows their pros and cons. Incidentally, you CAN request a partner for a mission in the future, but obviously, it'll cut into your payrate depending on the cut said partner wants. You can haggle if you dare.

-Never.

-A surprising amount, yes.

-Magical tech works on a case by case-depends on the physics. You're fine just about anywhere you go.

>>623029
Yes, but they'll just merge into you during transport. I mean, you can wear them around when you're in the Intersection and people will notice...who knows? Someone who likes weapons might enjoy seeing them...
>>
>>623029
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the story of when Miranda started her sword collection because reasons. Before long we'll have all kinds of swords littering our apartment and Sal won't be able to sneak in without cutting himself.
>>
>>623040
I tend to make them 'what makes sense' to me. Intimidation I kinda view as how other games view Strength stats- easy to get, but sometimes you need other stuff.
>>
>>623049
>maybe I'll put it in a pastebin since I'll be elaborating more here
yeah. this kind of things will help a lot.

>A surprising amount, yes.
seeing >>622969, are the prices in the intersection incredibly inflated, or were those cupcakes just really expensive?

>Magical tech
I was asking in the sense whether if we could use science-based technology/equipment in a magic world, or vice versa. I guess that works though.
>>
>>622982
>New gear, basically.
Like the five vials of invisibility?

I kind of prefer the Flamebringer for its utility as a Thermal blade/lightsaber (cut through material), but oh well. In the mean time, it's a nice tool.

>>623082
I would've thought that the Rapier had all statpoints in Otherwordly.
>>
>>623100
Oh, and a potion of Aqua Lung too.
>>
>>623088
>seeing >>622969, are the prices in the intersection incredibly inflated, or were those cupcakes just really expensive?

The answer is I hadn't actually worked out a consistent scale of money. Like someone said, they were in the 3-5 dollar range in my head, but my financial knowledge isn't the best.

>>623100
I literally typed in +2 Otherworldly then deleted it and changed it. I've already forgotten why.
>>
>>623120
how are the stats spread out gear wise? I mean, if it was attuned. for example would hard science tech equipment be more mundane than a mythical magic spellbook(when attuned)?
>>
>>623049
Are motes transmutable back into universe-specific currencies?

If so, are there people who run multiversal trade routes to exploit varying supply and demand of goods in various universes in combination with differing mote valuations of their currencies? Or are there laws in place against this sort of thing?
>>
>>623120
you could make using the motes that there carried mony turned into directly be a common mistake people new to the city make. Then add a mote based currency used for small day to day purchases that exists solely in the background since big purchases are often made with motes anyways, and Miranda has taken personal offense that the money change takes a small cut of her motes when she exchanges them for currency resulting in her making a point of only using motes.
>>
>>623146
Nope.

>>623148
Yes- and that's what the Deal-Makes essentially did/do. They're literally interdimensional traders, always looking for something with higher value, so they can make more motes to make more tangible space for them and everyone else. Transplants don't usually get that honor or skill, but there are one or two...
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>>623194
How easy is it to revisit a plane? With or without a Deal-Maker's help?
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>>623194
Nice to know. I was under the impression that they basically provided services rather than goods (which would have slightly less questionable effects on the overall entropy of the universes they work in).
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>>623194
can we request specific type of mission/clients for sal to focus on finding?

since some people seemed to be interested in bringing longshots with us(whether if it was done jokingly or not) asking for future's sake.
if somehow, by some weird mood swing or favor, a vote passed to bring an entity to the intersection, are they expected to work on their own with no support? not just material support, but no brokers, no nothing? are they expected to figure out those things all by themselves, or does the administrative building process that kind of influx autonomously?

a suggestion, maybe collecting all these answers in a pastebin would help, at least it would prevent any headaches later when someone asks for info.
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>>623230
Yeah, a pastebin of Questions Asked Again seems necessary, since the same questions keep getting brought up, even though they've been answered in-story and with direct QM posts before.
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>>623218
Without a Deal-Maker sending you to and fro, you're stuck. Period. They're your transport system. Revisiting one, however, isn't...trivial, but it's not hard either. It's less 'difficult' and more 'lot of red tape unless you're there for a job.'

>>623227
Uhhh...yeah? (Is that good or bad?)

>>623230
-If you want, but he may not find much or anything depending on the criteria.

If you wanted to bring someone to the intersection, there's a 'startup' organization to help them understand where they are and how things are expected to work, as well as helping them with job placement- much like the Care House for children. It's optional, if highly recommended, however. And everyone who ends up in The Intersection is 'known about' by the Deal-Makers. Doesn't matter who you are.

Again, I was really expecting you to work at dragging along Geegee, so I was prepared to explain all this.

and yeah, might as well start gathering questions and whatnot.
>>
>>623272
Why would we have taken gg and Zach with us? Because of alchemy or because of qt goblin?
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>>623272
final question.
seeing how most gears get attuned and is absorbed to the mercenary when jumping into other worlds, I figure that tech based, sf-origin mercs are rare or nonexistent? since eventually their guns/tech-based weapons and high tech gear and whatnot are attuned and absorbed, they wouldn't have much left to fight with, unless they pickup martial arts or magic.
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>>623296
weird. If anything I would have expected anons to take Sorina though, since that's the opinion I've saw frequently during this arc(with Adel as 2nd most mentioned).
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>>623306
Handler has said that it's possible to get equipment that's specially treated so that it won't become Attuned.
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>>623296
Alchemy. There's a lot they could likely do here.

>>623306
There's a few. There's always some new weapon coming into the Intersection, so most just manage to adapt really quickly. There are ways to keep weapons 'fresh', however, as stated by >>623328 and remembered that yeah I actually have something in place for that. The thing is, it's expensive.

The reason sci-fi heroes don't often show up in the Intersection, though is for different reasons, related to the way the Intersection itself works.
>>
>>623328
ah. thanks.
>>
this is a bit morbid, but whats the most fucked up thing miranda has done/is willing to do for money?

like if someone offered her twice her normal rate to raze a village and kill every man woman and child would she refuses? do it and feel bad? or do it and sleep like a baby on a pile of money?
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>>623272
>'lot of red tape unless you're there for a job.'
Would it then be possible to have someone from there request us for a nominal payment to bypass that buraucracy? Some kind of contractual vacation...
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>>623344
She'd do it, but she'd be efficient about it. She also wouldn't feel too bad, no. She's well aware there are far worse fates.
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>>623355
Yep. Good luck getting someone to ask to do that, though...
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>>623339
>The thing is, it's expensive.
It's always money, isn't it.

>>623357
so you're saying that she's been requested to do real fucked up shit from certain clients to certain, unfortunate targets.
>>
>>623357

so she's fine with anything morally north of soulsteel production then?

if you're not familiar of exalted soulsteel is made out of eternally suffering souls.
>>
>>623420
Ow, the edge.
>>
>>623365
Has Miranda given or been given Team Fortress 2's Sniper's "Professionals have Standards" speech or a variation of The Boss' "Believe only in the mission" speech modified for contracts?

What are some of the bigger merc companies, and are there any famous names among them that Miranda knows about, since she's been working in the industry for decades.

Oh, and you never answered if there's a protocol for First Contact with another civilization capable of multiversal travel, and what it is.
>>
>>623445
yeah, it's about a step past sensible really, but it's the first profitable to induce state worth than death that came to mind.
>>
>>623455
what about just burning souls for fuel? I know I've seen some examples of this somewhere before.
to be specific, something like this: throw soul in, soul is disintegrated into energy, collect energy type of deal.
>>
>>623368
Surprisingly, not that often. Most clients who go through the trouble of hiring an extra-dimensional mercenary are usually in the mood to just have the problem dealt with asap.

Miranda DOES have a very loose set of morals- she's not the type to kill for the sheer thrill of it or anything, but she has no qualms whatsoever about doing it for a client. As for other stuff...

>>623420
Yes. One of the few things she'll refuse to do is anything involving the annihilation, capture or securing of someone's soul. Killing them is fine, she's even tortured a few folks. But once they're at rest, let them rest. Fortunately, that's an EXTREMELY rare occurrence for her to encounter- usually even the most vile of villains that bother to ring her up just want the targets dead, as mentioned. If she's contributed to soul pain, she is entirely unawares.

>>623451
Not really. Miranda isn't big on fancy speeches.

-I mentioned these, too:

The top dogs are Interdiction, and there are at least 20 MGs working under them, with a lot of other various sorts. They're jacks of all trades.

Flashpoint is another, and as their name implies kinda, they're mostly search and retrieval, focusing on speed. If you want 'mysterious suppliers that tell you about or drop an ancient artifact in your lap', that's Flashpoint.

Dynamic Methods is actually very similar to a traditional mercenary corporation in that they tend to operate in squads, are lower powered peoples that still want to be outgoers, and tend to be the ultimate in deniable assets.

-There is no protocol aside from 'see if they want to trade. If not, leave them alone, and if they get aggressive, throw all our weapons and stuff at them.'
>>
>>623501
Oh, as for big names? Yes but I'll get back to you on that.
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>>623501
>she's not the type to kill for the sheer thrill of it or anything, but she has no qualms whatsoever about doing it for a client.
well, I expected that from a professional.

>(spoiler)
well I'm thankful that the intersection has never been invaded in the past.
are there any records of previous victims/employers hunting down mercs that went to another dimension for a mission unrelated to them?
also all these responses are continuously making me wonder things, despite me saying that I would question no more. it seems that there's a lot to learn .
>>
>>623478
yeah that would proably have been less edgy. been on a bit of exalted kick of late though so it was already on my mind.
>>
>>623550
I'm not sure what you mean in that spoiler.
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>>623618
I meant, assume if a merc attacks a faction in the first world for a contract, completes it and goes off into a different second world for more work. are there instances where the previous attacked faction sends attacks to this second world to take vengeance against said merc?
>>
>>623650
>sends
*sending
dammit. I should really go to sleep.
>>
Arc was a lot of fun, gonna enjoy continuing it on tuesday or whenever.

So I'm thinking. We know that Miranda has one character flaw or quirk that is real out of line with the rest of her character as far as we are aware.
So it's most likely a fear, vice, or love that wildly breaks from her professional persona.

I'm guessing it's a fear or vice, something that humanizes her in a way compared to the layman.
The question is what. I guess we'll probably have a chance to learn when we hang out with friends at the intersection. I mean I know we've got coworkers and associates, but we do have friends, right?
Those two kids we helped aren't friends, they're tutorial NPC's.

Also concerning Geegee, I dunno, I guess it didn't really occur to me to bring anyone back, I mean they've got a place on their plane. What are the thoughts and best practices for bringing back outsiders?

Also what are people gonna think in that dimension since we kind of made a huge impact and then just disappeared. We gonna be seen as some sort of mini-orinth to the common Alban folk?
Sort of curious lkke an epilogue about the characters we met and their world after our stint there.
>>
>>623889
I'm more interested in how their history books will treat this event, actually.
speaking of, I realized that it's possible to find suspected planeshopping merc involvement when we go to other dimensions and investigate history books.
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>>623902
they know about other plains. the Knights of the new moon might admit that they summoned a mercenary from a distant plane. If not she will go down as a powerful and mysterious mercenary who vanished from history once her contract was completed.
>>
>>623939
Perhaps if the "demon" title remains, some cult will eventually spring up trying to summon her with huge amounts of money. I wonder how that would be handled.
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>>623951
it's obvious. they accidentally contact sal, he haggles for a good contract, and if the deal is good we take it.
if it isn't worth it for the amount of work we do, we don't. simple.
>>
Has Miranda ever had a client break the deal before? Is modus operandi then to take payment by force or to approach the opposing party?
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>>623939
Sal appeared as a mysterious old man, they might not know anything other than that.

>>623889
Maybe her secret fear is simply the natural enemy of magical girls everywhere: tentacle monsters!
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>>624029
>natural enemy of magical girls everywhere: tentacle monsters!
what?
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>>623889
She's a recovering chuuni. "Nebula Buster" lol
>>
I hope to god you never get tired of this quest op, it's already in my daily routine
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>>623618
Oh, are there such things as multiversal business cards?
Small one-way communication devices that let the Deal-Makers know that someone wants to do some repeat business?
>>
>>623963
Oh yea, you're right! I don't know why I thought that would be any different, to be honest.
>>
>>624001
Yes. Generally if a client renegs on payment, she is immediately released from the contract, and is free to take whatever toll she deems fit from the contract breaker that she considers worthwhile compensation HOWEVER she deems fit. She still has to pay her share of whatever she gets to her bosses, however. If it's a matter of payments not coming through after the contractor's left, the handler is liable to take care of it as necessary.

So for example, if the Knights had stiffed Miranda, she'd no longer worry about dealing with the Longshots, and would likely raid their coffers quite literally, and take extra, like say the Crystal Dream or the Centerpiece portions or other such valuables.

>>624797
They're not really needed- if you really want to get in contact with one and they you, you will- but there are 'call chips' that some Deal-Makers give to 'preferred customers'. These chips aren't always chips- they can take the form of anything from the size of a poker chip to as big as a full length mirror. They're pretty much as you say, and are tough to make thanks to the transient energy of The Intersection. They also tend to require a slight portion of the Deal Maker in question to allow that connection. So not everyone gets one.
>>
hello?
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>>633566
Handler is busy with his job, he can't run today. Check his twitter, for stuff like that
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>>633616
I checked his twitter some hours ago. I guess I checked too early then.
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>>634647
>>634647
>>634647

New thread! Come in when you can...no rush.



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