>>2034849
Interlude

The Inspector-General shudders involuntarily as he leans up against the wall. His formerly pristine suit is stained and dirty. That had been all too close. He had gone in too confident in the ability of his Mistress’ name to protect him from his former master. He had known that the ancient witch would have held a grudge from their last parting and still he went. He very well could have died.

The wall he is resting against is the back wall of a small crypt, the little building half-sunk into the soft soil beneath it. Before him was a massive frozen vortex of black loam, a great valley of the rich soil with the upper reaches dotted with gravestones and tombs. The Inspector hadn’t run thoughtlessly from the golem, he had done so knowing that one of the other people he had to interview was both relatively nearby and able to save him.
This was the Barrow Burroughs, a district of Undertown, a great hole of soft soil that sinks down into the darkness out of sight. It is the traditional territory of the Last Guild , the gravemen and gravewomen who are more cultists than craftsmen. They paid worship to the Old Powers and so would give a witch shelter but it was not them who he had come to see.

The Guild were collectors and sealers of corpses, intent for reasons unknown for every corpse in Dis to be locked away in their perpetual crypts. But they do not hold sole dominion over the Burroughs, just the upper reaches of it. The Inspector’s business was with he who ruled the very bottom depths and was, in fact, the Last Guild’s most mortal enemy.

The Guildsmen would not take him there if he asked. He would have to arrange such matters himself. With clasped hands he made a quick witch-sign and was swallowed by the earth.

>>2034850
Chapter Ten: The Aftermath

You turn away from the Iron Duke’s mangled corpse and leave the containment sphere, the burden on your back filled with mingling twin flames. A spark within your heart is conjured and you can feel newfound power stoke your Flame Internal. You have finally taken the first step upon the road to your goal.
The Duke had been formidable, at times seeming even unstoppable but faith had triumphed in the end.

“Orion!”
Abe’s shout breaks you from your euphoria. There is a desperation to his voice that you don’t often hear. And with that, you remember your rather unfortunate circumstances.

You jump the gap in the broken bridge and land heavily beside Abe, the barkeep kneeling by Beatrice’s prone form. The witch’s skin is an ugly mauve and if blood doesn’t leak from her nostrils as usual it’s only because they’ve gummed up. She reeks of gunpowder and iron and little beads of blood ooze out from spongy flesh wherever it is touched.
She had been absent for most of the fight but you know what she’d been doing. She’d deliberately overdosed just to help you.

“What are we going to do about this?”
Abe’s hands are stained red from where he had been holding her.

What makes this worse is, if you understand her condition correctly, things are only going to get worse. This is Beatrice is her empowered state, it’s only going to ebb away as time passes and be replaced by an equal amount of sickness and frailty. And when that happens, she will die.
And if having one of your companions be in such a state wasn’t enough, the three of you are sealed in the bottom of the basement of the Consortium tower and the only way out is out through the way you came, retracing your footsteps through your wake of devastation. Will there still be soldiers and guards? What will you do about them when Beatrice is like this?

This is just like the witch. Everything has to be about her, doesn’t it? After what she’s done you won’t leave her behind. Not after you averted your gaze from the Sun for her sake, even if it was but a moment.

Several of your ribs are broken and you have more than a few bruises of your own. Pain flashes through your body with every movement and your trusty staff has been broken and your runesword thrown to the flame below. And yet there is always so much more for you to do.

The day is not yet over.


>Attend to your weapons first before you leave. You will need them.

>You need to leave as quickly as possible, your weapons don’t matter! Pick up Beatrice and run.

>Try and force Beatrice to stand on her own two feet. She’s still powered up and none of you can afford to carry her.

>Other (Specify)

>>2034855
>You need to leave as quickly as possible, your weapons don’t matter! Pick up Beatrice and run.
Can we recharge our Wick quickly from the lamp post?

>Tell Abe to pick up Beatrice and run, and search briefly for the runesword

We can find another stick. We probably can't find another runesword.

We won't be more than half a minute behind, if we can't find it by then, we piss off. Normally I'd argue for picking up Beatrice and running, but then we're in a dangerous state of being completely unarmed.

>>2034855
>>Attend to your weapons first before you leave. You will need them.
>Beatrice you have until I find my weapons to get yourself up. Otherwise Abe will have to carry you. I cannot not with my ribs broken.

>>2034868
>leaving behind literally all our weapons

>>2034869
Still better with stick than sword.

>>2034855
>Attend to your weapons first before you leave. You will need them.
Just get the runesword and go. Don't make Abe and Bea go before us, they aren't in any state for combat. Can we heal ourself with the benediction of relief?

>>2034873
Our staff is beyond repair dude. We're gonna be wielding a sword at best. But we're also moderately skilled with firearms and we can use some of Bea's.

>>2034855

>Attend to your weapons first before you leave. You will need them.

>Other (Specify)
If we can, we should cast a Benediction of Relief on ourself.

>>2034868
>Can we recharge our Wick quickly from the lamp post?

Nope. Not the Wick of your Lamplighter's wick anyway. You are free to use the Wick of the lamp post itself whenever you want though it always has consequences.

>>2034874
This, but just a quick search. If we can't find it in thirty seconds or so just leave it.

Though I'm vaguely concerned about other people finding it if we do leave it behind. A witch could use it to scry on us or something.

Vote called. Writing.

>>2034855
didn't someone mention stuffing her full of green fire? It probably won't cure her, but it might buy her time.

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>Attend to your weapons first before you leave. You will need them.

>Wick: 0/10
>Spark: 3 /8

The reserves of your Lamplighter’s wick are dry and though your Flame Internal still burns through the wax seal upon your forehead, it no longer shines all that bright. Fighting the Iron Duke burned through your resources in more ways than one. Now you are injured, your Wick is dim and you are without a weapon.
You can do something about that last one at the very least.

“Hold still, we will be making our escape. Just let me arm myself first and then I shall see the two of you to safety.”

“You don’t look so hot yourself either Orion.”
Abe looks concerned.

You just shake your head and drop off the bridge, landing amidst the waist-deep liquid fire below with enough of your impact that you almost fall to your knees, agony branching through your chest as your broken ribs loosen further. Around you, the blood that had been clinging to your armour slowly contaminates the green flame.

You will not permit yourself to be overcame in the hour of your victory.

You wrench yourself back upright and then stride over to where you dropped your runesword, pulling it free from the fire. The green fire clings to the blade until you shake it free, jamming it home into its scabbard. But what of your staff? That faithful span of wood, both ends bound in iron and your faithful companion before either of the two above upon the bridge?
It is lost. The Duke had broken it effortlessly.

From where will you take your replacement?

>Pull a length of thin pipe free from the wall.

>Take the Duke’s arm.

>Take the Duke’s tail.

>Take one of the joints from the machine, a thin steel bar with a concrete lump on the end.

>You can get a new staff later!

There is also an additional vote:

>Use a Benediction of Relif on yourself to help you heal.

>No. You will need to conserve what’s left of your Spark.

>>2034973
How many joints does the arms or tail have?

>>2034984
The arm has one joint but I'm assuming it you'll pull it free from just above that so it won't have any. The tail has no joints at all, it's just innately flexible.

>>2034973
>Take the Duke’s tail.
>Use a Benediction of Relif on yourself to help you heal.

>>2034973
There was also that thing where we stuff beatrice inside the duke's body as a stretcher.

If everything is on fire outside, Beatrice is going to be one sensitive bomb.

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>>2034973
>Relif

ah fuck

>>2034973
>Take the Duke’s tail.

>Use a Benediction of Relief on yourself to help you heal.

We'll still have 1 Wick left from the spark that can be used for Ignite Weapon

>Take one of the joints from the machine, a thin steel bar with a concrete lump on the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8GGwgI2vGU&t=1m4s

>>2034993
Is that a good thing for a staff?

If so,
>Take the Duke’s tail.
else
>Take the Duke’s arm.

>Use a Benediction of Relif on yourself to help you heal.

>>2034973
>>Take the Duke’s tail.
>Use a Benediction of Relif on yourself to help you heal.

>>2034973
>You can get a new staff later!

>No. You will need to conserve what’s left of your Spark.

Vote called. Writing.

Guys

What if that isn't his tail

>>2035111
Everybody needs a compensator. Orion just lost his.

>Take the Duke’s tail.
>Use a Benediction of Relief on yourself to help you heal.

With your sword now safely stowed away in its sheath, you climb back up onto the bridge around the containment sphere. It’s not easy but you push yourself to do it quickly, no matter how your muscles scream and your body aches. You need a new staff. You will get a new a staff.

Within the inner chamber before the broken excruciation mechanism, you grab hold of the end of the Duke’s whiplike tail and with your other hand, pull the lever again. The broken machine crumples together further, the giant cylinder attempting over and over again to bring itself together even though the Duke is in the way.
Part of the tail is torn free on the third attempt with the crunch of breaking metal and just like that, you have your new staff. What was a symbol of the Iron Duke’s vanity of flesh and petty rebellion against God shall become a mighty weapon for the righteous cause he refused to seek in life. It has no joints and is just a length of innately flexible steel, though what methods were used to cause this you know not. It bends slightly in the air when you swing it and cracks against the floor with enough force to crack skulls and break limbs.
It shall do.

What won’t do however is the feeling of weakness that comes over you with every involuntary gasp of pain. You can’t let yourself fall just yet. There will be time for that later.

Spark: 3/8

White light limns your hands as you call forth a Benediction upon yourself, directing what little remains of your Spark to knit your flesh together. You have always been sturdy and quick to heal, even for your people, so only a little should be needed.

But how little?

>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

>3. There is no sense in not being the strongest you can be.

>>2035168
>>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

>>2035168
>>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

>>2035168
>2. Leave 1 wick behind

We're cutting and running. If we get into a fight we need one more wick for we've fucked up bad.

>>2035168
>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

Vote called. Writing.

>>2035168
>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

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>2. Leave 1 Wick behind.

>Spark: 1 /8

It’s tempting to pour what little you have left into this Benediction but you force yourself to hold back just a little. Just this should be enough to keep you on your feet for now, the rest can be saved for later. You’re hoping you won’t need to use that last little skerrick of flame on your ascension back up through the Consortium Tower but there’s no use in wasting it just yet on a little physical absolution.

You can feel your body slowly piece itself together as you bless yourself, bruises fading and skin thickening as your broken bones find one another once more. You’ve always been a quick healer and the Benediction of Relief multiplies that base tendency. It doesn’t stop the pain but if you’ve learned anything in the past thirty years, it’s how to live with that. The rest of you will hold together until you are free to rest elsewhere.

You rejoin your two companions with your newfound staff in hand, Abe picking up Beatrice as you do so. She’s got her hands weakly wrapped around his shoulders, leaving the rest of her to dangle down his back. The bottom of her feet knock feebly against the back of his shins and knees as he rises.
“I’ll be fine bearing her,” he says. “But we need to go now.”

“You’ll have no objection from me.”

The two of you march down the bridge as fast as you are able and leave that blighted machine-chamber behind for good. The sluggish river of flame beneath the tunnel outside is already beginning to dry up.
“What do you think Dis will do when they can’t get anymore of this stuff?”
If Abe is showing any exertion from Beatrice’s weight, he isn’t showing it.

“That won’t be our problem.”

The little elevator screeches as you all crowd into it and and ride it up to the vault door that connects this internal hellish chamber to the Firecrafting Works beyond. The Firecrafting Works that you ignited on your first journey through this tower. Hopefully there’ll be few servants of evil waiting for you there.

You reach for the door but it doesn’t easily budge, having been jammed into place by Beatrice to stop anyone from following you. It’s far from unpassable but it may take you some time.


>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

>Rouse Beatrice to open it herself while she still has the power. It was by her hand that this was done after all.

>Wait for someone to force it open from the outside and ambush them when they do so. This is very dangerous.

>Other (Specify)

Remember the dark souls gargoyle tail weapon? That's what I'm picturing.

>>2035377
>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

>>2035377
I doubt I'm going to get support for this, but:

>Use the lampost. Burn through the door and whatever's waiting outside, they will be too busy cowering afterwards to stop us.

>>2035377
Can we go up higher in this elevator?

>>2035404
Our companions are in an enclosed space with us and are both far more vulnerable to its heat than we are. They'd be burned alive.

>>2035410
the door is in a fairly large corridor, and immolate has never had that problem before.

>>2035406
I'm afraid not. This little elevator is just a cage that goes down diagonally the thirty feet drop between the vault door and the tunnel to the shard chambers.

>>2035377
>>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

>>2035377
>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

>>2035377
>Rouse Bea.
She's at +6, and the Collective effort will take time and effort we can't spare.

>>2035557
I'd vote for that if she hadn't already incurred massive amounts of damage from all her exertion and gunpowder is already. Right now we gotta reduce further damage to her while racing against the clock to get her medical treatment

>>2035377

>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

Vote called. Writing.

Apologies for the delays, I’ve been sluggish all day long thus far.

>You and Abe can work to get it open. This will start a Collective Effort roll, which will eat up time and possible other costs.

“Abraham, help me out with this.”
You grab the door by the side where it was jammed in in such a way that it’s a little misaligned with the wall it’s supposed to slide into. This would be a lot easier if you got Beatrice to help but you’d rather keep her safe from any further harm as she is already on death’s doorstep.
No, this will take time and effort, neither of which you can really spare but it’s better than asking her to kill herself more for your sake.

You grab hold of the outer edge and with Abe doing the best he can with Beatrice on his back, you begin to pull.

>This calls for a Collective Effort
>Orion and Abe shall be participating. The target number is 13.
>Roll 1d6. The first 3 of which shall be used for Orion’s roll.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2035656

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>2035656

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2035656

If you need a break Ouro, take it.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2035656

Okay, I won't bother asking you to roll for Abe or to use any functions of the bargaining step since it's impossible to fail the roll from this point. Nice.

Writing.

>>2035688
Hell yeah. Orion strongest there is. Orion smash. How'd he get so big anyway? All those reps while using that man-powered rail car for 30 years? Or is he just a genetic freak?

>>2035712
Orion was always predisposed to being a big dude from birth, in addition to Third Men just being naturally muscular. But yes, his lifetime spent lugging around a lamp post and operating the railcart certainly have contributed.

>>2035712
He got swole so he could smash a tiny redhead qt

And then he did smash her but not like he thought he would

>>2035728
2sad4me

This update will be a little longer since I'm eating lunch. I ordered some delivery from where I used to work.

>>2035744
I used to work as a pizza cook and it took me years to be able to enjoy pizza again. I still won't order anything from that particular restaurant though. Thank god I was able to leave the food service biz

>6, 3, 2
>11

You strain against the door and the jam slowly clears, the vast metal mechanism moving ponderously to the side. With Abe’s help the two of you manage to shift it aside. Beatrice contributes as best she can by spitting up jellied blood down Abe’s shirt while the two of you are working.

More hot air floods in as you do so, a dry heat that steals the moisture from the air and the sweat from your skin. It feels like a blast furnace.

Beyond is the vast cavern of the Firecrafting Works or at the very least, what is left of it. The river is burning bright with true flame and a thousand smaller blazes dot the various scorched platforms above. The upper walkways are in disarray, some of them hanging free from broken chains or have fallen down entirely and crushed a lower platform.The lowest level, the burning line that was serviced directly by the river, is now a blackened ruin dotted with the corpses of hundreds of workers.
The air is thick with smoke and the stench of burning human flesh. Where once there was an omnipresent clattering din there is now the slow-burning sound of the pyre.

There are still soldiers in here however, wearing blackened uniforms or wandering in dazed horror. The sound of the door grating open draws some of their attention. Fingers are pointed, dry and tattered voices raised. These men have little life in them and the same could be said for the three of you.

“The elevators,” Abe pants. “We need to get back on one of them.”


>Go for the elevators. It’s the easiest option and you don’t want to hike up so many damned levels of stairs right now. Unfortunately the closest one is between you and some guards.

>Go for the stairwells. They’re closer and at least they’re guaranteed to still be working.

>Other (Specify)

>>2035792
>Go for the elevators. It’s the easiest option and you don’t want to hike up so many damned levels of stairs right now. Unfortunately the closest one is between you and some guards.
We got this. Abe needs to hang back and make sure to keep Bea safe.

>>2035792
>
>Go for the elevators. It’s the easiest option and you don’t want to hike up so many damned levels of stairs right now. Unfortunately the closest one is between you and some guards.

Fuck it we're tough enough to kill them, right? We don't need any wick to break apart some crispy crackers.

>>2035792
>Go for the stairwells. They’re closer and at least they’re guaranteed to still be working.

The elevator probably wasn't built to sustain damage or be on fire very well. We would be risking ourselves with freefall by taking the elevator.

>>2035792
>Go for the elevators. It’s the easiest option and you don’t want to hike up so many damned levels of stairs right now. Unfortunately the closest one is between you and some guards.
If we run past any chunks of flame during our charge toward them pick it up and throw it at them. Or use their wick to ignite our weapon.

>>2035792
>>Go for the stairwells. They’re closer and at least they’re guaranteed to still be working.

The fire could break the elevators.

>>2035792
>Dive into the river while Abe takes the stairs. You need to keep all their attention on you and not him.
If we kill everyone who's seen Abe, he should go unseen as the reinforcements take the elevator.

>>2035825
Seconding River of Fire.

>>2035792
>Go for the stairwells. They’re closer and at least they’re guaranteed to still be working.

>>2035825
>>2035832
>Leaving Abe and Bea to fend for themselves without weapon on future levels.

FUCKING WHY?


>>2035800
>>2035803
>>2035813
You realize that the fires will have snapped the lines for the elevators right?

>>2035839
>You realize that the fires will have snapped the lines for the elevators right?
No. We don't know that. They're worth a try. I'd rather fight a few wounded guys unnecessarily than climb up countless flights of stairs unnecessarily.

>>2035839
>You realize that the fires will have snapped the lines for the elevators right?

We have literally no reason to come to that conclusion at present.

Also I want to kill as many of these people as possible, not out of a need for blood and guts or anything, but because the fewer people see us the better we can hide in the shit storm that comes after.

>>2035839
same reason as >>2035849

If the elevator still works, then we can catch up to them will zero risk of harm to Abe.

>>2035845
Sorry but I've been conditioned by all the warning signs to never use an elevator during a fire.

>>2035917
No worries man. It might even be a bad idea but Orion hasn't ever seen any of the warning signs we've seen our whole life as far as I know. Everywhere else but Dis is pretty low tech.

>>2035933
I judge it more as him distrusting it after getting caught out once already by it stopping unexpectedly. We can't control the elevators.

>>2035933
Oh and they did mention previous elevators that were counter-weight systems. There were other cities than Dis and the 2nd age technology wasn't lost so much as no longer economical to use.

Although they probably didn't have fire warnings either.

>>2035849
Thr old guy we spared has seen Beatrice's face and can describe her as an 'ugly witch.'

>>2035832
Changing to elevators.

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Vote called for elevators. Writing.

>>2035971
Luckily she now has a face mask of blood oozing from her pores to hide her.

>9/47
>The Consortium selects to overexert their Internal Security to make sure that the Firecrafting Works are safe. This adds an additional dice roll to the Firecrafting Works roll at the cost of leaving the upper sections of the tower undefended and severely undermanned.

>Go for the elevators. It’s the easiest option and you don’t want to hike up so many damned levels of stairs right now. Unfortunately the closest one is between you and some guards.

You take the lead wordlessly, following Abraham’s suggestion and making a beeline for the closest elevator you can see. It’s up on one of the lowest platforms, its doors a little rectangle of unblemished steel amidst the scorch-marks on the concrete all around it. Getting there will require you to cross a section of the lowest production line. You gesture at Abe as you begin to run, keeping a slow enough pace that he can keep up even with Beatrice on his back.

Neither of you can get too close to any of the flame right now. It’s not just Beatrice, as dangerous as she is, it’s all three of you. Both you and Abe are coated in her blood. Making contact with any of the real fire dotting the Firecrafting Works could be disastrous.
You jump down from the vault platform onto the production line, your boot caving in a charred skull as you land. When Abe lands, he actually has to spare a moment to look away from the scene before him.

You remember the production line around the river being crowded with workers before the conflagration. Well, as you had noted just before, it still is. Fortunately you are all too well-acquainted with what a human looks and smells like once they’ve been burned through but to Abe you imagine this is somewhat of a new experience.
Still, he pulls himself together moments later and two of you traverse the makeshift crematorium while you keep an eye on the scattered guards left throughout the complex. Most seem unwilling to go anywhere near the river of fire so your only issue should be the three surviving soldiers standing by the elevator platform you intend to use.

It’s not just them you have to outpost either. The floor of the production line is incredibly hot and even though Abe is wearing boots and Beatrice isn’t touching it, they must surely be feeling the waves of heat that radiate up from the burning steel. Not five seconds go by without hearing a snap or a pop as drops of Beatrice’s blood ooze down behind Abe and explode like miniature firecrackers the moment they touch the boiling ground.

Despite the widespread ruin and their own blackened armour, the three guards by the elevator don’t run or scatter or even try to talk. The only sound you hear from them are formless and hoarse warcries as they draw their swords and charge forward at the one responsible for the carnage.

You run ahead to meet them, newfound staff held out in the best stance you can still manage. You won’t allow Abe to fight, not while he’s holding Beatrice. You’ll need to take care of all three of them by yourself.

>Roll 1d6. The first 3 shall be used for Orion’s roll.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2036109

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>2036109
big money no whammies
just had to solve seven captchas for this post. I may be a robot but at least I'm a learning robot.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2036109

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2036109

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>2036109
Is a flexible tail really a staff?

>>2036123
So. I hope you learned a valuable lesson about taunting the dice gods today.

You would think the 7 captchas to be a sign.

>>2036123
fucking captcha. I blame it for this roll.

>>2036131
It's staff enough. Writing.

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>>2036137
The RNGesus is a cruel lord indeed.

The best bet is to avoid his mocking gaze entirely.

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>5, 1, 2

You’re already bringing the tail around in a wide spring as they charge you, catching the first of them on the chest and spinning him around into the river of flame behind you. His screams are quickly cut off and the two guards slow considerably.
You can feel your Relief-boosted body really beginning to pull together as you move past him. You should be able to handle these without much issue.

You spin your staff over your head as you step forward, keeping the momentum building while remaining ready to bring it down hard upon the head of the first one to enter your range. It’s a little hard to think right now but you have the superior reach, you should be able to keep the two of them at bay fairly easy.

They charge in at the same time and you bring your staff down in fr-the tip of staff slams into the ground by their feet, cracking like a whip as it bounces. You missed! You step back and hastily try to pull your staff back to defend but it’s too late. The first sword bounces off your breastplate and only leaves a scratch but the impact alone is almost enough to stagger you, as weak as you are. You bring your staff up to parry the last guard’s attack but when you do so, he simply kicks you back instead!
You teeter back and take several more quick blows as you do so, none of them penetrating your armour but easily keeping you dizzied and off-balance. If you’re not careful they’ll be able to run right past you and attack Abe and Beatrice!

What will you do?


>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

>Spend your last Wick to ignite your staff and deal with these two.

>Try to grab hold of both of them and fall into one of the river’s tributaries.

>Can’t Beatrice help?

>Other (Specify)

>>2036211
>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

>>2036211
>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)
HULK OUT

>>2036211
>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

>>2036211
>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

>>2036211
>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

>Go on the offensive again! (Will require another roll and you will take injuries if you fail)

You catch yourself just before you fall, swinging your staff down into the ground to hold your weight for just a moment before you take a step forward and regain your ground.
If these two want anything to do with Abe and Beatrice, they'll have to go through you!

>Roll 1d6. The first 3 shall be used.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2036256

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>2036256

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2036256

>>2036259
>>2036262
>>2036267
Fuck yeah. All those captchas were worth it. Really though I've had to do tons of them for each post lately. Anybody else?

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2036256

>6, 5, 4

You let out an abrupt cry as you lunge forward with the tail, jabbing the tip into one of them and knocking them off their feet. You raise the staff just in time to catch the blade of the other guard and with a quick twist, knock it free entirely from his lax grip. He steps back but you’re already advancing, matching him step for step while you keep your staff moving, pelting him with blow after blow.. After receiving five such strikes he falls to the ground with his hands held up high to shield himself. You turn around to see the other downed guard on his feet and fleeing.

Good enough.

You leave the kneeling guard to his own devices amidst the charnel house that is the production line and start climbing the stairs up towards the elevator. Abe is right behind you now, Beatrice mumbling something unintelligible. Neither of you say anything in response, you’re both much too tired and much too intent on finally making good your escape from this house of blasphemy.

The elevator is already there when you pound on the doors, apparently unharmed and still functioning. You’re not particularly learned in the function of such machines but it appears sound.

Abe gently lies Beatrice down at the bottom of the cage, massaging his hands all the while.
“Where are we going?”

That thought stops you for a moment. Where are you going? You had only thought about it to the extent of you leaving the tower but just how do you plan on doing so? Should it be the way you came, through the shipping vents to Greenside? Would the fire have really emptied out that marketplace enough that the three of you could successfully disappear? Wouldn’t there still be blackcloaks about?

Your finger hovers the elevator buttonpad while you think about it, each second passing painfully. Should you just try to leave through the main entrance? Surely nobody would be expecting you to do that! Or you could take the elevator to one of the exits in the Maze but you know enough about that layer of Dis to know that it would be impossible to escape scrutiny there. There are people everywhere.
Could you simply ride the elevator up past all of those and ascend into the upper offices? That’d be the last place they’d probably look but you’re not sure how you’d actually leave. Through the roof?

“Just press one you moron!”
Beatrice is coherent again it seems and her rudeness is undiminished.


>The main entrance.

>The shipping vent to Greenside.

>Hide yourself in shipments and try to sneak out with a shipment.

>One of the entrances in the Mazes.

>Head to the upper offices.

.Other (Specify)

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As you may have noticed by my writing speed and quality, I have been feeling really damn out of it today. I'll be sleeping now and I'll come back to do some updates later tonight.
This voting window will remain open until then.

>>2036312
>The shipping vent to Greenside.

>>2036314
Have some rest. Thanks for running Ouro!

>>2036312
>Head to the upper offices.
Maybe we can get to one of the sky rails.

>>2036312
>The main entrance.

>>2036312
>>Head to the upper offices.

>>2036312
>The shipping vent to Greenside

Reasoning for this being that there might be a significant draw of observers curious about the chaos, but by my reckoning they'd be near the main entrance, and not in the midst of the most dangerous place. I'm also going to presume that we've made enough noise that everybody knows we're not in the marketplace or anywhere else, but in the factory.

Going out to the upper offices would be the place with the least traffic, but if there's a railway line there, that's a reason to avoid it, since the railroads are presumably how people like the black cloaks move quickly around the city in times of emergency. We want to avoid the enemy's lines of communication, not try and use them for ourselves.

I don't think hiding in the shipments will work out in the long term either because what'll happen immediately after the area is secured, by my reckoning, is a search, and the very first place they'll search is the building we fucked up to make sure we're not still there.

We have the Starbreaker on us, we can use it to tell where our enemies are mustered.

>>2036393
>>2036312
Can we do this?

>>2036405
Bea used the targeting function on the sleeper rail to show us the tracks ahead. Dis has a satellite over it.

>>2036312
>The main entrance.
The Greenside is full of blackcloacks trying to establish order, and the security might have laid an ambush on our infiltration path. Meanwhile we can pretend to be evacuating wounded and just try to march out.

>>2036393
We dont have the starbreaker right now, its a hefty control box.

>>2036312
>>The main entrance
We can still do that thing where we light more lamposts and draw attention away from abe.

>>2036515
>We dont have the starbreaker right now, its a hefty control box.
You think we would have left it in our rooms? I doubt it.

>>2036547
My bet is that Ouro forgot about it, and itll end up with alex/hammerspace

>>2036553
I think it would be logical for Abe to be carrying it.

>>2036562
I would've left it with the cultists.

Sorry guys, the Starbreaker entirely slipped my mind! In my defence it's been a good few months. I'll just rule that Orion gave it to Alex and told her it was significant and secret without actually telling her what it was.

Voting window will remain open for another thirty minutes or so, I'm a little busy right now.

>>2036553
>>2036578
caaaaaaaaalled it

>>2036578
Isn't it better to just say that Abe's carrying it? No retcon needed.

>>2036583
it's big, heavy, relatively fragile, and pointy.

If abe was carrying it right now, Beatrice would be perforated and the starbreaker would be covered in blood. Assuming the blood doesn't fuck up the inner flame circuitry, turning it on at all risks exploding it.

Also, Abe was hanging off the bridge earlier. It would have fallen and possibly broken.

Vote called for main entrance. Writing.

>>2036585
Where did it say it was pointed? I've been imagining it as basically a laptop. Not something that would inconvenience a Third Man.

>>2036597
I recall it still has antennas and bits sticking out, like ye olde radio transceivers.

>>2036601
>The other man finally manages to undo the clasp on the steel briefcase shackled to his wrist.
>The case unhinges in a strange way, the entire contraption seamless and gleaming in a way you don’t think Third Age metalworkers ever really understood. Which means…
It’s not actually a briefcase at all, not really. There’s no hollow inside. It’s the outer case of some kind of machine that folds out, one side swinging open to show a slab of metal set with flashing lights and thick square buttons with the other side being nothing more than a glass screen within which lights and numbers dance. >Constellations.

It's larger than I imagined, but probably not that fragile or spiky.

>The main entrance.

You waste precious time in considering the best location, unsure just where you could go. The Mazes is an obvious wrong choice but the rest all present tempting possibilities. But no, surely the Greenside Markets are still awarming with blackcloaks and you have no idea if the upper offices have any exits at all. It’s a bold choice but there seems to be no better way than simply leaving the ravaged tower through its main entrance.
You tell Abe as much when he sees you press the button, the doors of the cage closing around you as the elevator’s now-familiar screech echoes up the shaft.

“There’s a lot of ways that could go wrong,” Abe says.

“True. But we just don’t know how things are right now. Any of those choices could have been wrong and we could not have known beforehand. The main entrance should, at very least, be crowded with just about everyone coming to investigate. It seems the natural choice.”

“Isn’t it also the first place they’d set up a cordon?”

“Hopefully the havoc in Greenside is drawing all of their attention. At the very least, the Blackcloaks should still be down there.”

“And what are we going to say? We kind of stand out!”

“Easy,” Beatrice gurgles, still lying on the floor between the two of you.”We were working and we got injured in the ruckus. ‘S true.”

Abe shakes his head.
“And if they ask us for worker’s cert like that old man did? We still don’t have that!”

“We can say we lost it in the explosion or the like,” you say, keeping close watch of the elevator’s ascension. It would not do to be stopped halfway.
“Beatrice needs medical care and she needs it before the effects of her current consumption wear off. Posing as victims will get us that at the very least.”

Beatrice’s face changes, though you are truly unsure what her new expression is.
“This can’t be treated normally. Think we’ll need those Workshop freaks and they’ll need to know the truth. Also one of my wrists is broken, that doesn’t make any sense with this story.”

“If we can find a Tangle Workshop representative, we may be able to buy their temporary silence with an offer to examine Bea,” Abe says. “They seemed very interested in anything unusual like that, or at least they did when they were treating me.”

Beatrice coughs, shakes quickly turning into a full body spasm. What comes forth is not blood but instead tiny shredded flakes of wet gore. You’re not entirely sure what it is but you suspect it to be the lining of her throat.
“I don’t want those creeps examining me.”

“I also don’t like this idea,” you tell Abe. “There is a very good chance that someone or something related to the Tangle Workshop is one of our targets, if not the entire organisation itself.”

1/3

>>2036609
“Yeah, they’re dubious and trust me, I don’t like the idea of giving Beatrice to them any more than you do,” Abe says. “What else can we do? Your armour is going to stick out no matter what we do.”

“Those black-cloaked impostors were wearing similar runeplate,” you say. “I could be one of them.”

“Not sure that’ll work twice,” Beatrice says. “Or even once really.”

“Then what can we do?”

“I don’t know. Ow. Maybe nobody will be there?”

The doors swing open with a ding as the elevator stops and opens right into the Consortium Tower’s public lobby, a large and ostentatious chamber right before the main entrance. And to say Beatrice’s hopeful supposition was wrong would be an understatement.

The area inside just past the vast steel doors is crowded with men, women and children. Many of them are injured and the crowd is thick enough that people are jostling together in a great mob. That is as you supposed and would be helpful if it weren’t for those that stood before the doors.
Six people stood in a loose line before them, their mere presence keeping the crowd at bay. Three men and three women, all dressed in soft black tunics and breeches with the only hint of their allegiance being the bright green pins shaped like stylised flames that they wear upon their right breast. Behind the six is a tall woman in the green tabard and armour of the Consortium’s security forces but without the helmet. She’s sitting in a small chair just by the door and seems to be examining a small group of random citizenry. As you watch she gives a nod and lets them pass. At the same time, one of the six standing before her beckoned another three people closer and let them pass for examination.

Just how they’re doing this isn’t immediately known to you but their intent is obvious. They’re checking everyone attempting to use the main entrance to leave. They aren’t blackcloaks but they’re pretty clearly some sort of private force owned by the Consortium itself.
And to make things worse, everyone has seen the elevator’s doors open. If the three of you were to just close the doors back up and take the elevator elsewhere you’d be immediately suspicious.

Abe catches your gaze and then nods at something at the far end of the large hall, at a small group of people set up around what was once some sort of receptionist’s desk. There are four of them, three of them bearing a familiar tangled sigil while the fourth is a large man encased in black wooden armour, a kind you’ve seen several times before. Some of the worst-looking people are being seen by them, the most injured being ushered behind the desk to lie on a makeshift bed or, as is occurring right now, are outright picked up and are transported through the cordon to waiting men of the Workshop outside. Everyone else just seems to be receiving small finger-sized bottles of that strange tonic that Beatrice loves so much.

2/3

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>>2036610
You cannot deny it. Abe was right. The Tangle Workshop is here to tend to the wounded, no doubt called into action by what you suspect are very close ties to the Consortium. They’d have to be close if your hunch is correct. And what’s more, they seem to have some sort of arrangement with those guarding the door that lets them transport those in urgent need of care out.

“This is our chance to get Beatrice out,” Abe hisses.

“What? But what about you two?”
Beatrice sounds as awful as ever, if not more so. He’s already picked her up again.
“I guess they could take me, I do look pretty bad. But neither of you look that bad. You’ll still be stuck here.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Abe says.

“No. You’ll get stuck and you’ll be hurt or you’ll fucking die.”
She’s still keeping her voice low but you can tell it’s a struggle.
“Orion, I’m sorry. This is all my damn fault. You didn’t really need my help back there, I did something fucking stupid and now I’m paying for it and I didn’t even need to do it. Don’t...if you have to leave anyone behind, leave me. I won’t let you get fucked because of me.”


>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.

>Just approach the cordon first. Maybe there’s another way all three of you can get out.

>Looks like all three of you will have to be in need of urgent medical attention then…

>Regardless of anything else, tell Abe and Beatrice to get away from you. If you do get discovered you don’t want them to be associated with you.

>Just get back in the elevator and go to a different floor.

>Unveil the lamp-post.

>Other (Specify)

>>2036611
>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.
then
>Just get back in the elevator and go to a different floor.

Just taking care of a severely wounded person, nothing inherently suspicious about that.

I don't think we're realistically getting through the cordon without a fight, Orion isn't the best at bluffing.

>>2036611
Okay I had a possibly better idea. We could possibly rig an explosion in the elevator with some of Bea's blood and our last bit of Wick with a delayed flame. This will start mass panic and probably a stampede that we could use as cover to leave.

>>2036611

>>2036620
Seconding, though if this is done we'll have to move quickly to avoid being trampled

>>2036611
>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.

>>2036620
Oooh this could work. Support if feasible.

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Boy I hope the Duke's tail doesn't look suspicious.

How far away are we from the tangle workshop? Would we be able to get Bea there in time if we don't let the medical team here take her? If possible we should take her to the medical team during the delayed flame period.

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>>2036620
Yes this could work. Just recall that both of you have her blood all over you and that if the explosion so much as touches Beatrice you're in for a bad time.

>>2036632
You're pretty far from the Thorn itself but the Workshop has branch-offices all over Dis.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep. The voting will remain open until I wake. Good night anons.

>>2036611
>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.
>Just get back in the elevator and go to a different floor.
>Delayed explosion as we're heading back in the elevator
We're having Abe bring a severely wounded in and heading back to bring more wounded, that's the story. The explosion will help him get through the cordon and stay with beatrice, while we're the most suspicious individual.

We'll leave through the upper floors, supposedly by getting on the rails if what the other anons said is right.

We might want to blow our last non-lamp Wick on a Benediction of Succor on the doctor while we try to bribe him. It does have the bliss effect, and there's no way we could hit three guards with one Wick.

>>2036611
>Didn't Beatrice basically save us by shooting the Duke?
>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.
>Leave Abe with her.
>Take the elevator to the upper floors and cause a distraction.

>>2036657
In theory, she could have accomplished much the same by pulling out pipes and throwing them with +4 stronk, long enough for Orion to do the Detonate thing.

But that's only hindsight, neither we nor beatrice knew what would have worked at the time.

>>2036604
alright, maybe not perforated. I forgot that it folded into a case.

Fragile is a relative term. Cellphones are pretty sturdy, but a fall at a bad angle can fuckem up pretty bad. Same with the starbreaker: it could probably be used as a blunt instrument, but that's no reason to take it into a stronghold when we could avoid it.

>>2036611
>>2036619
this

>>2036611
>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.

>Just get back in the elevator and go to a different floor.

My issue with sending Bea to the Tangle workshop is that we can't trust them to free her afterwards and it's super hard to even see their patients for a visit. We need to all stick with her while she's treated too.

>>2036824
>we can't trust them to free her afterwards
Especially if she's identified. She's a really suspicious character, very distinctive, and no one will know her.

Once her records are in, once they know that an ugly witch was found in the Viridian Consortium right after the assassination of the Iron Duke, we won't be able to have her healed anywhere else, either. We won't be able to have anyone take a look at her Wick.

>>2036833
> Giving the QM ideas on how to screw us.

Vote called. Writing.

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>Take Beatrice in for medical treatment.
>Just get back in the elevator and go to a different floor.

As you stare out into the crowded lobby, there’s one thing you know for certain: You can’t fight your way out of this one. There’s too many people, too many variables, too many injuries on your part. Certainly isn’t enough Wick left to balance out all of that.

“I’m afraid Abe’s right, Beatrice.”

“No.”

“I don’t like it but the Workshop seems the best place for you. It’ll get you to safety and they might be the only people in this city who can get you what you need. I know I can’t.”

“No! That leaves you two behind! Come on Orion, you can abandon me happily can’t you? That should come east to you, of all people. Do it!”

“I don’t take orders from a witch.”
She falls silent and with that done, you lead Abe through the lobby towards the Workshop men. People part before you, perhaps seeing Beatrice’s condition or the still-sticky blood that covers all of you. You’ll drop Beatrice off and then you’ll leave again, taking the elevator to a different floor. You’ve no desire to actually sacrifice yourself for her sake and you should be able to use her as a cover, claiming that you’re going back to collect more survivors.

One of the doctors barely looks around as you approach.
“I’m sorry sir but we only have tonic left for ser--oh. My word.”
He takes off his spectacles when he sees the state Beatrice is in, polishing and placing them back on his nose to peer at her.
“What happened to her?”

“You tell me,” you say. “We found her like this after the explosion. Be careful touching her, she’s bleeding through her skin.”

“Which part?”

“All of it.”

Another two doctors cluster around and it’s obvious that none of them have ever seen anything or anyone in Beatrice’s condition before.
“Shouldn’t she be dead of blood loss?”
“She stinks of sulphur!”

The first doctor shakes his head.
“I don’t know what we can do for this one. By all rights she should be dead already.”

“But she isn’t so you can do something about it can’t you?”

“I’ll try.”
He leans in close, lowering his voice to a whisper.
“What is she? Anyone who lost this much blood should be dead. Nobody’s blood should be acting like this period.”


>”I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

>”She’s a witch. I think something’s gone wrong with her transubstantiation.”

>”I think she’s been cursed. At least one of the attackers must have been a witch.”

>Tell him Beatrice’s situation and offer him and the Workshop first rights to investigate it if they keep it a secret.

>Other (Specify)

>>2037265
>Tell him Beatrice’s situation and offer him and the Workshop first rights to investigate it if they keep it a secret.
And ensure that we have the right to know where she is, visit her, and have a say in her care.

>>2037274
This.

We should also make sure we don't mention anything about "attackers" or the attack at all really. They're in a state of confusion right now, if we reveal something they didn't know it's going to be obvious who we are.

>>2037265
>”I think she’s been cursed. It sems there's a hostile witch out there.”

>>2037265
>>”I think she’s been cursed. At least one of the attackers must have been a witch.”

>>2037265
seconding >>2037274

If anything, it could be our way deep into the Tangle. There are few things that could really stop us once we're in there and reveal the lampost.

Beatrice could MAYBE talk her way out of this, but she can't really be trusted to keep herself alive long term.

Vote called. Writing.

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>Tell him Beatrice’s situation and offer him and the Workshop first rights to investigate it if they keep it a secret.

You barely have to think about your options here. You need to make sure the Workshop will set her right no matter what and for that, you may need to incite their curiosity. Beatrice is genuinely an unique existence, a stunted prodigy that probably doesn’t exist anywhere or anywhen else. You don’t know the Tangle Workshop’s goals but if they really are what they say are, this should be an opportunity they can’t afford to let pass.
You look around to make sure nobody else is listening in as Abe carries Beatrice past the receptionist’s desk.

“She is...unique.”

“Orion!”
Beatrice glares up at you before you lose sight of her.

The doctor, if he indeed is one, ignores how.
“How so?”

“She is a witch.”

“That is not so unusual. I have attended to witches before and none of them behaved like this.”

“No, she’s from the outside. She was branded.”

He winces just a little, a reaction you don’t think you’ve seen before. Normally when you tell someone about a witch-brand they react in fear or disgust but...it seems you must always be on your guard here. It won’t be the grand difference of Dis that trip you up and ruin your guise anymore but the little foreign details like that.
“I’ve heard about those things. Absolutely barbaric. But I also heard that they don’t work anymore.”

You do your best to hide the gritting of your teeth as you reply.
“Before the brand stopped worked, she apparently began to consume gunpowder and used that instead. A different flesh of a different god.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Beatrice groans from out behind the counter. “Fuck it, just tell everyone. My blood hates me doctor, it’s trying to murder me.”

“But why would she do such a thing?”

“I’m an idiot obviously.”

“I don’t know,” you tell him, doing your best to ignore Beatrice’s contributions. “I haven’t known her for very long. But she’s in a bad way and she needs attention and she needs it without too many people knowing.”

The doctor is silent for a few seconds and you can practically see the calculations running behind his eyes.
“I see. Very interesting. Sir, I think the Workshop will be very interested in your friend here. Do you want any payment?”

“Pardon?”

“A finder’s fee.We always pay a bounty for genuine medical rarities. I could say that just taking her and helping her is fee enough but I don’t want to take advantage of her situation.”


>”I’ll take the payment later if you don’t mind.”

>Take the payment. You might as well.

>Request an alternate form of payment. Perhaps you could be given a tour or something similiar one day?

>Refuse payment. You’ll not take tainted money.

Also, an additional matter to vote on:

>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>Keep Abe with you. You might need him.

>>2037632
>>Request an alternate form of payment. Perhaps you could be given a tour or something similiar one day?
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

On one hand if we get found out, money will be useless.

On the other hand, we might still be in a position where we're not infamous enough to be hounded wherever we go, and thus we could use some coin.

I suppose it depends on how much is being offered. What we'd buy, I have no fucking clue, but it'd be better than causing a ruckus stealing things we might need.

So just in case:

>Take the payment. You might as well.

And for the other

>Send Abe with Beatrice

He can go roll snake eyes somewhere well away from us

>>2037632
>Request an alternate form of payment.
>A guarantee of her safety, just so we're clear you don't harm her in the pursuit of knowledge. We'd like to visit her later to confirm this, is that alright?
>As for a tangible reward, a few bottles of Tonic will suffice. We didn't exactly bring her here to be sold, after all.

>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>>2037661
forgot the mention: we still need to figure out what this Tonic stuff IS, so now is as good a time as any.

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Sorry guys, I think I'm going to go back into hibernation for another little bit. I'll probably be back later in the day. Voting will remain open until then.

>>2037632
>Take the payment. You might as well.
A tour might be nice, but if we're discovered for who we are here we might kiss it goodbye. The money at least will be at our disposal regardless.
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her. Leave the reward with Abe as well.

>>2037632
>Request an alternate form of payment. Perhaps you could be given a tour or something similiar one day?
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>>2037703
this. though we should tell Abe where to rendezvous later

>>2037632

>Request an alternate form of payment. Perhaps you could be given a tour or something similiar one day?

On the one hand, Bea is going to stay alive, yay!
On the other, Abe is going to have to intercept all paperwork pertaining to the circumstances under which she was found.
This might be the best time to try to make friends with the unlawful elements of Dis, they might be able to untangle us.

>>2037632
>One of my friends is looking for a job...
Stick a fanatic in the Tangle, we need spies.

Abe is settled, here's the rest of the vote count:
Tour x3
Tonic x1
Fanatic x1
Payment x3

>>2037632
>Request an alternate form of payment. Perhaps you could be given a tour or something similiar one day?
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>>2039281
I don't get why people are voting for money. Orion doesn't give a shit about money. He just cares about his mission. And getting into the tangle workshop is a surefire way to make progress in that mission.

>>2039349
Orion knows money can buy supplies, equipment and allies.
And if the Tangle Workshop finds out that that big guy in armor was actually the one behind the attack, do you think we'd still get that tour?

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Sorry for not returning when I said I would guys. In truth, I've been pretty nastily sick this last few hours or so and it probably won't be any different in the morning. My apologies.

>>2039349
I don't get why people are voting for money. Orion doesn't give a shit about money. He just cares about his mission. And getting into the tangle workshop is a surefire way to make progress in that mission.
We need to travel around Dis, trains aren't free. Lodging isn't free, bribes aren't free. We need money for the mission. We're currently homeless and have no transportation.

>>2039355
>And if the Tangle Workshop finds out that that big guy in armor was actually the one behind the attack, do you think we'd still get that tour?
Sure. They'd just meet us with a cohort of witches, maybe a troll. Or the vegetarian equivalent.
I fully expect someone to figure out that Bea's one of the attackers. We didn't kill that old guy in Shipments... Our luck is that she's interesting enough that she won't be turned over to the authorities, though they probably won't be as nice to her as they would otherwise. We did kill a lot of people.

>>2039512
It's fine, Ouro. Rest a lot, try to lower your energy expenditure so you can avoid crashing.

bump. Just finished reading the archives. This quest is one wild ride.

>>2042694
Which was your favorite scene?

>>2037632
>Take the payment. You might as well.
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>>2037632
>Take the payment. You might as well.
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

>>2039555
We need to stay off the grid, in the lower places. Buying legit lodging, riding on trains that are most likely well regulated by the guard, and I don't even know why you think we'd get enough money to bribe anyone when the bounty on our heads is gonna be much higher if we are found out. We need a way to get in to the tangle and at the very least gain info about it to get the shard. That place was secure as fuck. And we have to do it ASAP before word spreads about us from our attack on the consortium.

Vote called. I am feeling a little better and will do an update tonight and then go to sleep. Regular thread running will resume in morning.

>Take the payment. You might as well.
>Send Abe with Beatrice to watch over her.

You don’t see any downside in taking the money if he’s offering it. Commandments not to parley with servants of darkness are already interpreted a little loosely by Witchfinders and when you’re doing it all for a witch’s sake in the first place you’ve no doubt already stepped out of the range in which they’re applicable.
“I’ll take whatever the usual payment is, I didn’t bring her up here for that.”

“Right. And you don’t know her very well, correct?”

“I’m afraid so. If you want the details on her condition, you’ll need to get them from her yourself.”
You can only hope that Beatrice will be in any state to talk in an hour’s time. Unless the Workshop can truly work miracles, she should die the moment her gunpowder wears off.

“Here.”
He counts seven golden coins into your bloodstained palm, each one a little disc with a small hole punched through the center and the long scrawling script of the First Men around the edge. They’re probably not actually gold but even still, just one would be worth a rare prize on the other side of the world and thirty years ago.
“That’s the usual. We’ll take her to the local branch but I imagine someone like her will be getting the express straight to the Thorn right after. You’ll have to book an appointment if you want to visit her there.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The armoured woman standing behind the cordon has finished screening another small group of survivors and is now staring directly at you. Is it just because you stand out or is it something more sinister? Either way you don’t intend to ever find out.
“I’ll be going back down then, there are still more survivors yet to find. Abe, go with them and make sure everything goes fine.”

“Aye.”

“Uh,” Beatrice groans. “Bye?”
She sounds like she’s about to say something else instead but she either swallows it or her voice gives out once more. You’ll never know the answer for you are already turning your back and marching back towards the elevator. The doors are still open and from there it should be simple to pretend to be searching the tower for more survivors when in reality you’ll be heading upwards to where the security is least and finding another way out.

“Stop!”
The voice echoes through the hall just as you are standing before the open elevator with your back still to the crowd. The muttering, whimpers and general blabber of the crowd dies to nothing almost instantly. You don’t have to turn around to know who is calling and to who.
1/2

>>2042860
“Turn around and come over here please. I want to check you before you go back down.”
It’s not a request.

“There are more people that need my help,” you say, grasping the side of the doorway with one hand. “There is no time, I will come back later!”

“This won’t take long. Turn around and come over here!”


>Acquiesce.

>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.

>”Under whose authority?”

>Try to set off an explosion as soon as Beatrice is carried clear outside.

>Do as she says but once you get to close to her, attack!

>Other (Specify)

>>2042808
Our fanatics' faces aren't known, they could be our bribe-givers. The trains may or may not be regulated, it's a big city, we might need to rent a horse or something. Either way, having some money is better than having no money.

>>2042862
>"Check me for what? We don't have time for this! The Firecrafting Works are about to explode!"
>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.
Hopefully we spark a panic.

This is tricky. There's no way we're going to pass whatever test she has, and starting a fight isn't going to do any good (especially in our current state).

Something like this
>>2042869
is probably best. Then we just appear as a zealous rescuer instead of an assailant.

>>2042862
>Try to set off an explosion as soon as Beatrice is carried clear outside.

>7 coins
Well that was a huge mistake.

>>2042862
>"Check me for what? We don't have time for this! More explosions are happening in the Firecrafting Works!"
>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.

>>2042873
7 gold coins. I don't think that's a small amount. And it doesn't connect our reward to the Consortium Fire.

If we want to infiltrate the Thorn, we can use proxies.

>>2042862
>"Check me for what? We don't have time for this! The Firecrafting Works are about to explode!"
>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.

There are holes all over our story, but it's not as if she has time to think it over, and the audience won't care.

>>2042862
>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.

>>2042862
>>Try to set off an explosion as soon as Beatrice is carried clear outside.

Vote called. Thread will resume in an hour.

>"Check me for what? We don't have time for this! The Firecrafting Works are about to explode!"
>Just get in the elevator and leave. Neither her or her six cronies should be able to make their way through a crowd in that time, no matter what they are.

Whatever test this woman has in mind, you’re almost certainly not going to pass it. You could try to fight your way out depending on just what the woman and her entourage are, this could be a fight beyond you even on your best day and you are far from that. Your best option is to attempt to deflect it entirely and while you don’t have the time to think of a flawless excuse, you do your best with what you’ve got.

“Check me for what?”
You let your voice rise into a shout.
“We don’t have time for this! The Firecrafting Works are about to explode!”

“What?”

You don’t give any of them time to react, stepping into the elevator and slamming the doors behind you. If any of them want to give chase, they’d have to make it through a suddenly panicking crowd of people and you don’t think there’s anything that can do that in just a few seconds.

You’ve done it. You’ve gotten Beatrice and Abe into safety, albeit of a dubious kind. Abe should keep watch over her and hopefully, Beatrice may yet still live. That just leaves you. How are you going to get out of here?


>Take the elevator up.

>Take the elevator down.

>>2044106
>>Take the elevator up.
we should be ready to get out and walk the rest of the way.

>>2044106
>>Take the elevator up.

>>2044110
this. they might be able to call it back down or something, we should get off asap

>>2044106
>Take the elevator up.

>>2044106
>Take the elevator down one floor, exit and take the stairs up.
If the elevator can be stopped mid-course, it should also have an indication of which way it's travelling. And since we said we're going back for more wounded, we have to go down if we want our ruse to hold up.

>>2044106
>Take the elevator up.

>>2044130
oh fuck. did we notice if there was a floor indicator above the elevator door?

Vote called. Writing.

I'mma little worried about how people got suspicious at us at the very last second, considering how Beatrice is in their hands now. What if something happens to her? We'd be fucked.

Sorry for the delay on this one. Felt like shit.

>Take the elevator up.

The little cage trundles up the shaft with its usual whine as you do your best not to pace about inside. There’s nothing for you below, you know that and it should be the upper floors where security is least right now. But you also don’t know of any exits or entrances higher than that of the main and it is there where you go now. If you are pursued, this could be a dead end.
But you have seen a little of Dis now and knowing what you do, you doubt the actual offices of the Iron Duke or his subordinates would not have a way out. This entire city is like the webs that are spun by unseen predators up above its smog-clouds, it’s all connected to one another. You doubt that those at the top of the tower would go all the way down to the main entrance every time they wished to leave. Failing that, there’s always the hope for a window with a bridge or a street not far below it.

That said, you’re not going to take the elevator all the way up. You don’t fully understand how these machines work and they could be tampered with or tracked with means beyond your knowledge. You stop the elevator when it reaches the bottom floor of the section marked ‘UPPER OFFICES’ and get off. You’ll take the stairs the rest of the way. Before the doors close, you tell it to go all the way back down to the Firecrafting Works again.

You’re now standing in a corridor, one that is a far cry from the concrete and steel monotony of the lower floors. The walls and ceiling here are paved with tiles of black stone that is cut through with flecks and long twisting veins of white. The floor is covered in a thick blue carpet, thick enough that you can feel your boots sink almost an inch with each step. Green lanterns set along the walls fill the hallway with faint light and twisting shadows.
There are metal doors here, spaced quite far away from one another and each one bearing a small plaque. Said plaques are full of all kinds of mysterious and arcane titles such as ‘Subordinate Marketing Director’, ‘Personnel Manager’ or ‘Shipments Over-Supervisor’. You don’t know what most of these mean but you get the gist. These few floors up here are the haven of the Consortium elite and judging by the complete lack of people or sound anywhere, they’ve all been well and truly evacuated and what’s left of the security is still busy with the chaos in the Works.

Lacking any immediate ideas, you try the closest doorknob. It’s locked.


>Try all the doors, if one is unlocked you could investigate or hide in it.

>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it’ll be mostly unused.

>Just try and find a way out already!

>Other (Specify)

>>2044359
She was likely to die without their immediate treatment so we really had no choice. Plus the guards coming after us and the doctor we gave Bea to work for entirely different organizations.

>>2044383
>>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it’ll be mostly unused.

>>2044383
>>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it’ll be mostly unused.

>>2044383
>Try all the doors, if one is unlocked you could investigate or hide in it.

>>2044383
>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it’ll be mostly unused.
Snag a lantern

>>2044383
oh shit, >>2044416 this guy has the right idea.

>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it'll be mostly unused

We can see if there's something up on the roof easier this way too.

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Vote called. Writing.

>Ascend up the stairs to the highest office. If your suspicions are correct, it’ll be mostly unused.

You don’t have the time to meddle with the offices of the lesser elite. If you’re going to find a proper exit anywhere, you’d wager it would be on the highest floor in the highest office. And considering what the occupant of said office would have to be, you’re guessing it will be mostly unused. You’re making somewhat of an assumption here with the idea that the Duke’s office must be the highest one but you think it’s well-founded. People have always placed great importance in height, desperate hands forever grasping upward for the Sun. You have no reason to believe that the Iron Duke is any different, even though his true workplace is down in the depths of the Consortium’s lowest floor.
He was a proud man and in the end, still all too human for your taste. There’s no way he doesn’t have an office even if he must almost never use it. It’s a symbol of authority and he seemed like the kind of person to care for such things.

You pluck one of the green lanterns from the wall as you pass it. You’ll not pass up light in such a situation, not even this twisted creation.

You pass the other doors without a second thought and make your way to the wide stairwell at the far end of the corridor. You can’t help but notice that the stairs are large and shallow and the roof up above is more than high enough to accomodate any man. They were clearly designed with someone else’s proportions in mind.
The next floor is the same as the first, more hallway, more door. It won’t be here.

The third and highest floor of the upper offices isn’t a corridor at all but instead a completely deserted atrium paved in polished white stone, the circular room containing several low couches for supplicants to sit. The elevator doors are set into the wall right next to the stairs but that only draws your attention for but a moment until you see what lies beyond.
Framing the atrium are two sets of stairs, each one rising from the floor opposite to one another, hugging the gilded walls as they rise and then meet in the middle before a pair of massive double-doors carved from glossy black metal and inlaid with swirling gold filigree. In the very center of the door’s dizzying pattern, meticulously arranged emeralds form a mural of a green flame curled around a black sphere, the Consortium’s brand of commerce.

1/2

>>2044759
There is more wealth on display here, in the mere doorway to the offices that lie beyond, then there had been in entire cities back home. No doubt any single one of those gemstones could feed an entire neighborhood of those down in the Mazes or the Undertowns for years. If the containment sphere at the bottom of the tower had been the Duke’s true home and the source of the Consortium’s production, this room was its dark twin, measuring the prizes won through the selling of the tortured flame and all piled high and dedicated to a set of rooms that were almost never even used as if it were a meaningless altar to an absent god.

You climb the stairs as best you can, these steps even larger than the ones leading up to it. They were clearly made for the Duke’s convenience and for absolutely nobody else. The handles for the door are above your head and as tempted as you are to try and use your sword to pry out at least one of the emeralds, the crest is at the very top of the door and you have no hope of reaching it.

Lacking any other means, you step up close to the immense doors and do your best to push them open. The doors open inwards and seem to be entirely unlocked but their weight alone is enough to make it a challenge.
They slowly give way before you, swinging soundlessly and smoothly as you lean into them. And just as you do so, you hear a familiar screeching rattling up through the tower. An elevator is approaching! If it’s coming up all the way here you could be in trouble.

Already halfway through pushing the heavy doors open, you can’t bring yourself to stop now. What else can you do? There’s nowhere to hide in the atrium and you can’t afford a fight right now. Your only hope is to try and open the doors in time to get inside and hide there!

>Roll 1d6. The first 3 shall be used.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2044764

Rolled 4 (1d6)

Commence limp-wristed roll

The three stages of this roll are: Opening it, closing it behind you and doing so without noise. A success in any of these stages gives +1 to the stage after it.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>2044764

>>2044784
>Orion tries to close the door
>EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>5, 5, 1
Writing.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2044764
I WAS thinking about cutting the elevator behind us, but I figured we didn't need to bloody Orion's hands quite that much.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>2044764

>>2044803
shouldn't it be 2 since we succeeded on the second stage?

>>2044820
This!

>>2044820
Nope. As detailed in the dice rules that I really should pastebin at some point instead of just being content to have dumped in one thread only, 1's cannot be increased by any sort of modifier.

And besides, a 2 is the same degree of failure anyway. A 1-fail is the same as a regular fail except that you can't mitigate it.

>5, 5, 1

The elevator doesn’t sound like it’s slowing down so it’s almost certainly heading right here, the topmost floor! You’ll have to act quickly and silently and if all goes well, the elevator doors will open to reveal a seemingly undisturbed door.

You lean in all your weight on one of the doors and swing it open just wide enough for you to slip through. You do so and as you do, you catch the door behind you and let it slowly swing shut. As long as you can get the door shut before the elevator arrives you should be fine!

But in your haste you lose your grip on the door and it slams shut behind you with a loud boom. You suppress a groan and shake your head. That wasn’t ideal but you don’t have time to be dwelling on it now.

You survey your surroundings as best you can. The office is high-ceilinged and while it is technically split into several rooms, there are no doors and the doorways are almost as wide as the walls in between them, the internal walls being little more than partitions to create the illusion of multiple rooms.
The central chamber seems to be purely decorative, a wide circle with a trough going out behind it in a wide semicircle. The trough is filled with liquid green flame and circles out behind a large metal bench in the center of the room. Some sort of desk? There are windows in the back from which one might use to look out all over Dis’ dark cityscape but leaping from them is useless, there are no bridges or streets or sky-rails anywhere near them. You half-wonder if that’s intentional, that any such projects could be ceased or diverted to keep the view from this particular office clear.

Through the window you can see that Dis’ smog clouds are unusually thin today and high above you can barely make out the shattered shape of the sun and the feeble twilight light it still casts. A long time ago you could have called this midday.

There are three more rooms, all budding off from the main office and are all extremely visible from it. One seems to be a large bedroom thought for what purpose you know not, the furniture within all covered in thick white dust-sheets that look they haven’t ever been touched. As far as you know, the Iron Duke can’t even sleep in the first place.
The second and the smallest room looks to be some sort of forge, an empty furnace pit taking up most of the space. You can’t help but notice the faint glint of a silver ring set within the center of the pit, a twin to the same ring that was containing the shard in the midst of the Duke’s excruciation mechanism.
The third room is filled with all sorts of collected items, fine paintings and tapestries sharing space with weapon racks holding swords, polearms, rifles, pistols and even a massive hammer that could only have once belonged to a First Man. Below them are littered small safes and lockboxes, all closed and locked. The entire collection is pristine and must be cleaned by someone regularly.

1/2

>>2044948
You hear footsteps coming up the stairs beyond the doors. You don’t have time to be gawking! They might know you to be in here somewhere but you are currently beyond their sight and the advantage, theoretically, remains yours.
Unfortunately you don’t see any means of escape anywhere.


>Hide!

>Out the window! You can try to climb down the outside of the tower until you find a nearby street.

>Stand beside the doors and prepare to ambush your pursuer.

>There must be a secret exit somewhere! Search frantically.

>Take advantage of the collection to arm yourself.

>Other (Specify)

>>2044954
>Other (Specify)
Take the ring and go out the window

>>2044954
>>Out the window! You can try to climb down the outside of the tower until you find a nearby street.
the ring would be nice, I guess, but going out quietly would be better.

Well, as quietly as "dripping blood all over the floor" can be.

>>2044954
>>Stand beside the doors and prepare to ambush your pursuer.
>Take advantage of the collection to arm yourself.

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285 KB PNG

>>2044948
>>2044954
>Other
Hide under the Iron Duke's bed!

>>2045005
>Open window and splash blood all over the sill
>Hide under the bed anyway
I don't think Orion is capable of this much subterfuge.

>>2044954
>Take advantage of the collection to arm yourself.

>>2044985
Changing my vote to this.

>>2044954
>>Stand beside the doors and prepare to ambush your pursuer.

Voted called. Writing.

Abe is still wearing Internal Security armor and their.tabard.

>Stand beside the doors and prepare to ambush your pursuer.
>Take advantage of the collection to arm yourself.

You don’t know if you have the time to both take something from the collection and to set up an ambush but it is obviously the best of a bad lot when it comes to your options now. You don’t know what is coming for you but you’d prefer to face it with a weapon in hand, one more reliable and dangerous than the Duke’s shorn-off tail.

You hurry to the third room, the archway far above your head. This room, as are all the other rooms here, are built for something at least three times your size. You step around the lockboxes as you approach the back wall and the truly intimidating array of weaponry that has been placed there, much of it high enough on the wall that it is entirely out of your reach.

Off to the side you can see the wall with the paintings, none of which stand out for you save one. The largest painting, a great wide canvas, is of nothing more than a blank blue sky above an unbroken concrete plain and with the sun as it was nothing more than a bright yellow dot in the cloudless sky above. Unlike the others, all portraits and landscapes of obvious artistic skill, this painting is done with a crude, simplistic and almost childish hand. And yet the colours are bold and bright enough still to turn your head. The lockboxes below it seem to have been specifically arranged so that quite a large spot beneath it is clear, more than enough room for something very large to stand before it. None of the other paintings or tapestries have been given the same privilege.

You turn back to the wall with the weapon collection, racks having been nailed into every conceivable inch to support a truly impressive collection. There are swords of all kinds as well as spears and javelins collected in urns in the corner. The firearms also run the full course of history. You recognise several rifles and revolvers that were made by your people, the Second Dominion, in the Third Age. Still more are entirely foreign to you and you suppose them to be Dis models from when the sun still burned. The spout-rifle numbers among them. And beyond them, even further up the wall, you can make up the gleaming silver of Second Age design, long and slender multi-barreled rifles designed to maximise firepower while staying as lightweight as possible. Heavier variations of the same kinds exist, giant clunky cannons that certainly couldn’t have been wielded by any Second Man but must have been intended for their famous metal men.
Alas, all the guns appear to be empty of any sort of ammunition, none of which you can see elsewhere. They are useless to you.

1/2

>>2045245
There are no staves either but there are several halberds, most of them familiar to you but you can also spy a thin silver one with wire-thin blade at the very top of the wall. You’d have a hard time reaching it, even with the little step-ladder tucked away in the corner for the use of whoever must clean the entire collection regularly.

Several of the assorted weapons have plaques beneath them, little burnished plates inscribed with their name and details. Most of them seem to be dedicated to simply listing name of former wielders and ancient dates, none of which mean anything to you. A few plaques stand out however.

A two-handed greatsword with a relatively thin blade and a jagged, almost broken edge. It isn’t runed or possessing of any other magic that you can discern but the entire blade has been scorched black. The plaque beneath it simply reads ‘Spoils of War’.

An empty bracket that despite having nothing there, bears a plaque beneath it all the same. It reads ‘Agatha’s runesword and glove (Reserved)’. It’ll certainly be no use to you.

And of course, that mighty hammer that you had been able to clearly discern all the way from the main room. It’s larger than you and is hung upside down upon the wall so that it’s massive rectangular head nearly touches the ground. It is crudely hewn and though the head is a solid and chipped block of stone, the handle is spiralled and seems to be made of some sort of black glass fused solid and unbreakable long ago by an incredible heat. The head is half-covered in an ancient black stain.
The plaque simply reads ‘Hammer of Xystus.’ The date listed is simply ‘1’.

Whatever the providence of this thing, it is undoubtedly a weapon of the First Men and an incredibly holy relic. What was the Duke doing with this?


>Take a sword.

>Take a halberd.

>Take the burned blade.

>Grab one of the fancier pistols to see if Beatrice can figure something out about it later.

>Other (Specify)

>>2045247
>>Take a halberd.

>>2045247
Would we get our staff bonus with a halberd?

>>2045247
Halberd if staff bonus, gun if not

>>2045245
>Take the burned blade
Lets stand before the painting. Perhaps it is a trapdoor that will take us to the Batcave.

>>2045274
Yes.

>>2045247
>>Take a halberd.

>>2045247
>Take a halberd.
>Grab one of the fancier pistols to see if Beatrice can figure something out about it later.

Why are halberds better than the Ducal Tail?

The secret passageway is probably behind the huge crude painting. It has a clear space in front of it so nothing blocks the way.
>Check behind the painting. Hide there.

>>2045326
I just don't like the tail replacing our staff, really.

but fuckit.
>>2045247
change >>2045273
to

>Grab one of the fancier pistols to see if Beatrice can figure something out about it later.

>>2045326
The tail is pretty good but it wasn't actually designed to be wielded and used as a weapon. Halberds are.

It's purely a matter of taste for some, of course.

>>2045339
>>2045341
Iron tails ripped off a transhuman dragon duke are inherently cooler than other weapons.

>>2045341
Ouro is there any chance if we spared the duke he might of gone on to join us? And fight to restore the sun.

>>2045335
This. Supporting this.

>>2045385
He felt absolutely no remorse for what he did, had no reason to want the sun back, and was a giant asshole. The chances of him joining Orion in his quest I think are roughly that of the Golemnist doing the same.

>>2045385
I think even the remotest chance would require leaving him for like 3rd or 4th, elevating the chapel back into a church, and for priest guy/alex to give a shot at talking him down.

Although it would probably be surprisingly easy to convince him if we could prove that gathering sunshards made Orion physically tougher, or flat out change Beatrice back into a Flame Artist.

>>2045247
>Take a halberd.
> Take one of the smaller guns for Bra

Why not both? At least she gets a backup gun

>>2045437
chance of successful ambush decreases

Still here Ouro?

>>2045474
Yeah, I've been writing but I forgot to post that the vote was called and that I was doing so. My bad.

>Take a halberd.

The Duke’s severed tail has a mighty heft to it, you’ll admit but it wasn’t designed to be used as a weapon for mortal hands. These halberds might not have the same weight but they were at least made for this purpose and have a blade beside. And while a halberd isn’t the most innocuous thing you could wield, it’s certainly a damn sight better than letting someone recognise that you’re just carrying around the Duke’s tail.
You snatch the closest halberd off the rack, a black-wood pole with a blade almost as long as your runesword at the end. This should serve your purposes quite nicely when it comes to a decisive ambush.

You quickly take up a post just next to the large doors in the main room, halberd at the ready. You won’t waste any times on moral issues this time, you’ll stab whoever walks through the door no matter how human they might seem or be. This has become a matter of pure survival on your part and considering the duty that only you can do, your survival could be a virtue in itself. You’re sure Belle would say something like that anyway.

You stand there and wait as the seconds tick by and then, the door slowly glides open as someone pushes up against it in the same way you had. You catch just a glimpse as they stumble through, it’s one of the people that the armoured woman had had forming the cordon in front her. A dark-haired woman dressed in black with the Consortium’s symbol as a jewelled pin opposite their heart. You only catch a glimpse because after that you thrust, burying the polearm’s blade into her stomach hard enough to bend her double, folding in the middle like a ragdoll.
She has time for a faint gasp but nothing more as you drive the halberd down, slamming her upon the ground and impaling her. Blood wells up from where you’ve rent her tunic and torn open her stomach. Knowing that this could be far from a fatal blow you pull the halberd free and then bring it down upon her throat, crushing it and slicing it open in equal measure.
Her watery eyes latch onto yours for just a moment before they close and she stops breathing.

There. If she was a human, it was a regrettable but still moral, humans who labour under darkness are ultimately just complicit. And if she and her friends had been witches as you suspected...well, for all their dark powers, witches are ultimately still just as fragile as any other Third Man. What kills one kills the other.
If you had the Wick for it you’d burn the body just to be sure. You doubt the green flame encircling the office is anything as concentrated as that down in the containment chamber so it won’t provide the flame you need either.

Crack.

1/3

>>2045494
The sound echoes through the room and you instinctively back up, pulling your halberd free to defend against another threat. And it’s then that you notice that the bloodstained blade atop has been broken in half. It’s not a clean break, the top half being torn free and the metal bent and distressed in a semicircle around the break. Like teeth…

You duck to the side just in time as a piece of bloody metal shoots right for your head! It whirs right past you and strikes the wall of the room behind you, the missing top half of the halberd’s blade now embedded in a tapestry.

A shriek tears the air as the corpse convulses and you jump back several more steps in case you need to dodge any more projectiles. The woman gets back up, her once fine clothes sodden with her own blood. Her head lolls back, exposing and widening the tear in her throat. And hidden within the red gorey mess of her throat you can see gleaming teeth in the darkness. It had bitten the blade in half and spat it at you!
For a moment you think ghoul but that’s obviously wrong. Ghouls look and act far different, they can’t pass for human. Furthermore, the cuts you leave on a ghoul outright become new mouths, they don’t have them hidden within them. No, this is something else, something using the dark absences inside the human body as a hiding place and you know exactly what it is.

“Imp. For how long have you possessed that woman?”
You spare no thought for the human woman whose corpse the Imp now inhabits. Whoever she was, she was likely dead long before and even if she hadn’t, it had been her choice to give up her body. That’s how imps work, it’s always by someone else’s choice.

The imp doesn’t reply, which is a little unfortunate. You had hoped to distract it somewhat with the sound of its own voice so instead you settle for holding your halberd ready and pacing around it. It likely knows witch-sign so you’ll need to be ready for that. It probably won’t expect you to be trained in disrupting such techniques so when it goes to do so, it’ll be making an opening only you know about.

Instead of forming a witch-sign however, the possessed corpse just starts to cough and retch, its head rolling back and forth atop its ruined neck like a spring. What is it doing? Does it wish to unsettle you with mere desecration of the dead? If so, it’s in for a nasty surprise. Still you don’t know what exactly it’s doing and imps can be tricky so you keep your distance for now, waiting for it to attempt witch-sign.

2/3

>>2045496
And then the corpse’s head loses all structure with a loud pop! as it, mouth, nose, eyes, scalp and all, collapses in on itself and becomes a shapeless thing. The throat bulges grotesquely at the same time, lines of blood streaking down it as splits in several places. You scarcely have time to react as something large bursts forth from the mouth inside the throat in a spray of blood!

You swing your halberd up and manage to block the projectile, deflecting it into the ground with the pole. This does nothing to stop the blood of course and it settles upon you in a fine spray, joining the rest that already covers you. You can’t stop yourself from looking down at the thing it had spat at you.
At your feet lies an intact human skull, shining red with blood.

It spat it’s own skull at you.

The imp wails and lunges forward, taking advantage of your momentary disbelief and driving the possessed corpse right into you! One of her hands grabs hold of your arm with a strength far surpassing that which she should rightly have while the other goes for your throat! You pull back as best as you are able, her hand scrabbling futilely upon your armour as you do so. You push her away and bring the halberd back to bear as the corpse falls to the ground, boneless head flopping over the imp’s mouth in her throat like a macabre hood.

It then distorts as the jaws latch onto it and bite it in half, spraying you with blood and brain and pulped eye-flesh. You stumble back to avoid the attack you expect to be coming but instead the corpse just stands up again, with her slashed open belly and ruined throat and boneless half-missing head. It extends an arm and within the gore of its stolen body, the imp’s teeth flashes once more. All you’ve done is mangle its human body and you haven’t yet forced the imp to reveal its true one. Until you can drag it out, it won’t really be hurt.

But now what? What’s with that hand? If it wishes to make witch-sign upon you, you’ll welcome it. If it wishes to try and unnerve you further to get a surprise attack, well, that won’t work again. Does this wretched beast have anything else, any further horror to try and unleash upon you?

The rip in the throat stretches ever wider as the teeth masticate themselves free, the motion dislodging the corpse's last dangling eyeball and knocking it to the ground. And then it speaks.
“Intruder. You are under arrest for trespass, murder, suspected murder, vandalism, suspected theft and the assault of an officer of the law. You will comply or else you will face summary execution under the law. You have a right to a cell, you have a right to a trial, you have a right to a public defender. Put down your weapon.”

You hadn’t been expecting this.


>Attack!

>Try to flee.

>Speak (Specify)

>Comply.

>Ignite your halberd.

>Other (Specify)