>>3295084
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>>3295084
The sun dawns on a new day, sunlight creeping through the streets of the City and stealing the cold away. You’re already awake of course, that’s nothing new to you. But you typically wake up before dawn so that you can have your morning jog, something that you try to keep to most days of the week. You’ve been slacking on it a little lately but only because of...certain circumstances.
But this ain’t jogging! It’s nothing nowhere as fun as that!

The sunlight spreading over the ‘abandoned’ street in the middle of Apokalypsis finds you not sleeping or training but sweeping. Your name is Sofia Pseudonym and you are a duellist by trade. A public defender in specifics and a fighter for those who can’t defend themselves. You are, or at least you try to be, a champion of justice. But that’s not everything you are. Like it or not, you’re also a tyrant, your cursed birthright shackling the hearts of everyone you know. Of everyone you don’t know either.
But whether you’re a champion or a tyrant, neither of them are supposed to be doing this right now!

Your hair tied up in a hasty ponytail, still dressed in what you fell asleep in, the champion of justice and unwitting tyrant slowly sweeps out the street. You had protested this part, of course. What was the point of sweeping the street itself? It’s not like you own it!
But Adriana had just nodded and said something about public duty to the community. And that if you didn’t do it, nobody will. After all it was something Adriana normally did but instead the relevant body was still lying in bed.
You could have fought her over it. And it’s not like you were afraid of her using that card, the Drunkard Fortunato, on you or anything. You...actually sort of enjoy it. You chose not to fight her over it because you know it’s the right thing to do. This is something you need to do. It is, in a way, a sort of training on its own. Training not for duels but for life.

There. That’s a good enough job, considering that it’s fucking pavement. Maybe it’s not perfect but it’s just going to get dusty tomorrow as well. You know that this is about the level Adriana is expecting from you too, so she’ll be fine with it. You lean the broom against the wall and relax for a moment, letting the dawn wash over you.

Are you done?


>This is fine. Not perfect but fine. You’ll still have time for early morning training.

>Actually, you can be a bit sloppier than this. Adriana will probably accept it. And that’ll leave you more time for what you actually WANT to do, which is train.

>This isn’t good enough. There’s grime here that no broom can touch. But you can scrub these cobblestones clean. Not even Adriana does that!

>Other (Specify)

>>3295087

>Actually, you can be a bit sloppier than this. Adriana will probably accept it. And that’ll leave you more time for what you actually WANT to do, which is train.

We can't slack off our training. I'd hate to be a crappy duelist because we haven't been keeping up our conditioning.

>>3295087
>This is fine. Not perfect but fine. You’ll still have time for early morning training.

>>3295087
>This isn’t good enough. There’s grime here that no broom can touch. But you can scrub these cobblestones clean. Not even Adriana does that!
Hey guys, remember that time in the last thread where I pointed out that we'll never be a better person in the long run because rather than pick the choices leading to that, we'd do literally anything else because it was more interesting?

I'm glad we're off to a strong start on that with these two choices to do minimum or less effort, ditch our responsibility and get back to training for super fun duels.

>>3295087
>>This isn’t good enough. There’s grime here that no broom can touch. But you can scrub these cobblestones clean. Not even Adriana does that!

Vote called, writing.

>>3295094
>I'd hate to be a crappy duelist because we haven't been keeping up our conditioning.
Our strengths in dueling is mostly based on predicting our opponents, aka what information we have on our opponents. Better to build up some good girl points now so we can spend more time learning about our opponents later.

Other then that, nice to see another thread, too bad I'll have to go to bed right now, don't screw the pooch too badly while I'm gone y'all.

>>3295211
No, I'm crashing and burning this thread while you sleep.

>>3295215
I knew I shouldn't have trusted Ouro's players, Ouro's players were right about you!

Apologies for the delay. Some people wanted to talk.

>This isn’t good enough. There’s grime here that no broom can touch. But you can scrub these cobblestones clean. Not even Adriana does that!

What are you thinking? This street isn’t clean yet! Sweeping only gets rid of what’s built up recently and there’s built-up grime and caked dust here that ignores the broom’s touch. Even Adriana hasn’t bothered to give the street a good and thorough scrubbing and really, why would she? Nobody needs to do that. Nobody’s expecting that of you. It’s going to take hours.
But you want to do it. Not for any concrete goal like training would have. You want to do it because you know you aren expected to do it. You want to make Adriana happy.

So with that in mind you go back into the house and draw up a bucket of water from the well that goes through the floor and into the infinite water that the City is built upon. A little soap and a hard-bristled scrubbing brush later, you’re ready!

You weren’t ready.

You’d be the first to admit that you’re very fit. You exercise every day to fight in duels and you’ve toned your body for fits of incredible and explosive power and speed. But scrubbing a pavement? That uses muscles in ways you’ve never even tried. It’s not just some menial task. It’s an endurance contest, one staged between frail flesh and unyielding stone.

Hours pass, the sunlight grows stronger and you don’t give up. You don’t give up even when your hands start to blister. You don’t give up when it feels like you’ve worn right through your knees to the point that the pavement is digging into the bone itself. Even as the rising heat works you into a lather of sweat, you keep on going.

And you are rewarded, eventually, by feeling the gentle pressure of a boot upon your kneeling back. You don’t turn around.
“Good morning, Adriana.”

“Good morning.”
She pats you on the head. You don’t even have Sabino’s stolen wish activated right now but Adriana has forced you into that state enough times now that patting and tousling your hair has seemed to have become a habit of hers.
For the past few days, by your own demand, Adriana has been your master. She’s given you an induction into the domestic life and, after you ordered her not to hold back, has been using your own trophy to discipline someone who is effectively un-disciplinable. It’s all for your own good. You asked this of her.

Your load lightens as she withdraws her foot.
“I’ve just spent a most relaxing hour. It feels good to only have to worry about taking care of the baby, doing the shopping, cleaning three of the houses and getting everything ready. Thank you, Sofia.”

Even with you doing the work of one her bodies, she still does eight times what you do. But you guess it counts as relaxing for her.
“No worries.”

1/2

>>3295248

She kneels down beside you and you look her in the eye. It’s a dizzying feeling to match eyes with her, knowing what you know. But you fought hard for the right to do so and to stay with her so you’ll do it every moment you can.
“Do you need any help with this? I can spare a few bodies.”


>”Yes, thanks.”

>”Thanks but no thanks. You don’t need to bother yourself with this work. Leave it to me.”

>”Actually, can you finish all of it. I’ve delayed on my training for over an hour already.”

>Other (Specify)

>>3295251
>”Thanks but no thanks. You don’t need to bother yourself with this work. Leave it to me.”

>>3295251
>”Yes, thanks.”
>Other (Specify)
How about just one body? It doesn't need to get finished today, and it's a good excuse to spend time working together.

>>3295251
>>”Yes, thanks.”
>But I doubt this'd get done in any decent timeframe, this requires more labor than any of us can give including you.

>>3295251
>>”Yes, thanks.”

After this we'll have a light lunch and train.

Vote called, writing.

>”Yes, thanks.”

You’ve already swallowed your pride. So what’s the harm in accepting help, willingly given? You shrug off the pain and discomfort and give her your biggest smile.
“Yes, thank you! But you only have to spare one body. We can do more of this tomorrow.”

“But you’re doing such a good job already!”

Hah. She probably doesn’t mean that. You’ve been down on your aching knees working on this patch for ag-
Adriana’s hand brushes up against your chin, propping your head up to look at her.

“I meant what I meant. Now, let me show you how it’s done.”

That’s another effect of having that damn card around, you suppose. She’s becoming a lot more assertive or at least, assertive in the ways that someone like you can be asserted upon. She drops to her knees beside you and pries the scrubbing brush out of your hand for her own use.
“Go get another one.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

It’s annoying but for some reason, you can’t help but feel happy about it.

****

You spend another hour scrubbing with Adriana before another one of her bodies comes with a tray of cold water and tea. Water for the heat, tea for the taste. Sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with your feet in the gutter beside her, you drink both. You’re tired and aching but just like training, there’s a virtuous feeling that lies on the other side beneath it all. You can see the mark you’ve made upon the street today. You’ve done a good job.

‘I agree,” Adriana says simply, still sipping from her cup. It’s good tea too, something you haven’t had a lot lately. Over these past few days, Adriana has insisted that you brew the tea for you and her yourself and you aren’t good at it all. You suspect she’s been making her own when you’re not around.

“I think I’ve missed out on my training today,” you say. “At the very least, I won’t be able to do my jog. It’s nearly noon.”

“Really?,” Adriana asks. “I think you can still do it, jog and all. In fact, I think you definitely should. It’s for your own good.”

“I-”

“Go do your training, please. And make sure you don’t miss out on any of it.”

“Go out jogging, dressed like this, when everyone’s up and about?”

“What are they going to say? You’ll enjoy it.”

“Hey. Just because we’ve got this deal going on now doesn’t mean you get to dictate what I do and don’t enjoy.”

“No comment.”

Somehow you wind up going for a jog anyway. It’s not too bad. You know it’s for your own good. And after that, before you can bathe or rest or anything else, you commit to finishing your training in what is almost the noonday heat with Adriana watching on approvingly with a bucket of water on hand the entire time.

1/2

>>3295397

****

You collapse onto a chair, fresh out of the bath and just changed. Your hair’s still wet and as you try to towel it dry, Adriana plucks the towel from your hands and starts doing it for you. You can’t see any of her other bodies around right now, probably because she knows that speaking with multiple mouths discomforts you.
“How are you feeling?”

“Better. Thanks for being so harsh with me.”

“Oh good. That reminds me actually.”
She drops a book into your lap. Looking down you see the word THREM.
“I got this from your house. Along with a lot of your other books.”

“You went back there?”

“Well,” she says, twirling a strand of hair, “you said you weren’t leaving. And I think it’s not fair on you to not have everything you need here. So I was thinking about moving some of your stuff to my house. Seems fair?”

“Yeah.”

“But,” she says, taking a slightly stern tone. Probably the sternest tone possible for anyone to take with you. “Your set of rooms is certainly interesting.”

Oof. Yeah, she must have seen it. Your home is an absolute mess.

“So here’s what you’re going to be doing for today, sweetie.”
She passes you back the scrubbing brush and the bucket.
“Can you clean that place up? I’m sure you’d do it easily.”


>Agree. These are life skills you need to learn and without her pushing you, you’d never choose to do it.

>Disagree. You still have things you want to do today!

>>3295401
>Agree. These are life skills you need to learn and without her pushing you, you’d never choose to do it.

Bleh, but she's right. Sofia won't get out her manchild years otherwise.

>Agree. These are life skills you need to learn and without her pushing you, you’d never choose to do it.
I have my doubts we're cleaning the pigpen of a sty which is Sofia's apartment "easily".

>>3295401
See: >>3295416
Forgot to link.

>>3295401
>>Disagree. You still have things you want to do today!
Are we seriously letting Adrianna dictate our entire day to us. We didn't do that much training today. Just jogging. I mean, she's used to cleaning all the time, but we are a duelist.

Also, I want to see the punishment she'll inevitable use on us

>>3295401
>>Disagree.
>Tired, hurting and frankly I've exhausted myself. If I keep it up my body is going to go too far the other way and I'll get muscle cramps. That can and will cost my a duel.
>While I appreciate the fervor, this is going too far the other way.

>>3295401
>>Agree. These are life skills you need to learn and without her pushing you, you’d never choose to do it.

>>3295428
She got the rest of her routine done.

>And after that, before you can bathe or rest or anything else, you commit to finishing your training in what is almost the noonday heat

Vote called, writing.

Day 54

My trash has somehow managed to create L-dimensional space. I've cleaned over a kilometer of roomspace and still it does not end.

>Agree. These are life skills you need to learn and without her pushing you, you’d never choose to do it.

For a moment you want to snap at her, to tell her that she doesn’t own your life. But what good would that do. This is something you need to learn and you doubt you’ll choose to do it on your own accord. And besides, you’ve snapped at her before. All she has to do is use the card she confiscated off of you.
And you’re fine with that. Like you said, this is something you want to do. You just need to be shown that you want it.
“Will I have your help?”

“Of course. I’ll spare a body.”

“Then we won’t have any trouble!”

****

You face significant trouble. You and Adriana spend the rest of the day clearing through your old quarters, a seemingly insurmountable task. At first you’re embarrassed because of it and that doesn’t really stop. You just learn to live with it. Just like you learned to live with this squalor. What was wrong with you?

And you’ve got Adriana by your side, helping you. The two of you work together and wind up hideous sweaty messes together too. You take off your coat and as you watch surreptitiously, Adriana unbuttons the top of her dress just enough to let the air in and make things interesting.

“I know you’re staring.”

“Of course you do, you can see yourself through my eyes. Is that a problem?”

“No.”

****

By the time night falls, your old room might as well be a different world. Much of your clothes, books and games have vanished, taken away by other bodies to your new house with Adriana. What’s left has been packed up and you’ve begun scrubbing the floor to remove the old bird-shit.
“I like the bird,” you say a little defensively. “One of them turned out to be a hot guy.”

“Hrmph.”
Adriana picks up one of the books still stacked out under your bed.
“Imma d’Ambrosio,” she reads. “What are all these?”

Oh no! That’s your private stash. Surely Adriana has seen your predilection for romance novels now but the Imma series, well, that’s an old guilty pleasure. Something you liked a lot more back when you were younger.
“Just a book,” you say. “You know the author, actually. Remember Romina? It was from when we first met.”

“Oh. So these books are quite important to you then?”
She startings leafing through one.
“If nothing else Sofia, cleaning out all these books has given me a good look into your...tastes.”


>Take the book off of her and talk about literally anything else.

>”Oh, it is what it is. They aren’t anything special to me now though.”

>”Are you really reading a book in my bed while I’m scrubbing the floor?”

>Tell her about your history with them.

>Other (Specify)

>>3295607
>Tell her about your history with them.

>>3295607
>Imma felt relatable when I was younger, given her circumstances were similar to mine.
>As for the other books, some people try to distance themselves from something they think they will never experience other read it for vicarious pleasure.
>”Are you really reading a book in my bed while I’m scrubbing the floor?”

>>3295607
>>”Are you really reading a book in my bed while I’m scrubbing the floor?”
>>Tell her about your history with them.

Sofia pretty much made do with puzzles all the times. Or games.

Vote called, writing.

>>3295607
>Tell her about your history with them.
>keep cleaning

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>”Are you really reading a book in my bed while I’m scrubbing the floor?”
>Talk about books.

You crawl over, still scrubbing the floor.
“Are you seriously sitting on my bed and reading a book while I’m scrubbing the floor?”

“Oh? It’s not my room, you know. And you’re good enough to clean on your own for a while.”

“I just thin-”
You stop talking as Adriana swivels along your bed and, without asking, uses your back as a footstool.
“Hey!”

Adriana just sighs.
“I know you like it.”

“I like a lot of things. That doesn’t mean I like it all one way all the time.”
That said, you keep scrubbing.

“So what about these books?,” Adriana eventually says.

“Why don’t you just tell me, since you know what I like so much?”

“Because it always sounds better in your voice, Sofia.”

“Sweet-talking gets you nowhere,” you say, mollified all the same. “I really liked that series when I was younger. It’s about a cursed noblewoman right, left with an awful birthright by her judicial godmother.”

“You identified them.”

“...At a time when I really needed to,” you say. “Life wasn’t great back then. Looking back on it now, the books are pretty...juvenile? But I really got into them at the time. I even wrote my own!”
That last part slips out without really intending to.

“Oh? Do tell.”

“You are not to laugh.”

“I won’t.”

You give up and let her know about the secret chapter you wrote when you were younger, the one you promptly buried. It was all about Imma’s faithful and ever-loyal maid Tamara, who in your mind at least, seemed to love her mistress much more than the endless parade of once-per-book hunks. You’d been annoyed that the author hadn’t even seemed to think of this as a possibility...so you’d written it yourself.

“I think that’s very sweet of you,” she says. “You must have been a great writer.”

You really weren’t. But it makes you feel good all the same.
“The pages are probably still buried somewhere. I was going through some realisations about myself at the time.”

“Uhuh. Though Sofia...a question does invite itself into my mind now. Imma is a lot like you, correct?”

“Sort of. Enough that it made me love her. Though now in hindsight she seems like a bit of a brat. Her life wasn’t that bad.”

“Everyone has their own troubles. But yes, with this character who you thought of as yourself, you desired her to get together with her maid?”

“Oi,” you say, looking up at her. As much of her you can see from down here anyway. “Don’t go projecting stuff I wrote into my real life. You and I are different.”

“Of course, of course. It’s just a little detail that I thought was...cute.”

You keep on scrubbing.

1/2

>>3295856

****

Eventually, you are forced to abandon the job for the night. Adriana takes you back home, your new home. With her. While you’ve been gone, she’s been busy with her other bodies getting all your various stuff in and set up. Now it actually feels like you live here!

You didn’t want any tea afterwards but Adriana did so here you are, brewing up a pot as best as you can. It’s a little better than it was yesterday.

“Say,” Adriana says from the table. “When was your tournament again?”


>”Tomorrow.” It’s going to be a big day.

>”Not for a few days.” You’ll have plenty of time for stuff in between.

>”Next week.” You’ve got plenty of time.

>>3295860
>”Not for a few days.” You’ll have plenty of time for stuff in between.

>>3295860

>”Not for a few days.” You’ll have plenty of time for stuff in between.

>>3295860
>”Tomorrow.” It’s going to be a big day.
Can't have meltdowns if there's no time for them.

>>3295860
>>”Not for a few days.” You’ll have plenty of time for stuff in between.


Not a fan of the 180 Adrianna took. A little help is fine but her dictating to us and abusing the Sabino card so much it permanently rubbing off on both of us is not cool.

>>3295860
>”Next week.” You’ve got plenty of time.

>>3295916
Sofia (and by extension you) can stop this whenever she/you wants. Adriana was asked to take a stricter hand with you.
As for 180, I dunno, maybe it is and I'm not doing it right. But in my mind at least, Adriana has always had somewhat of a controlling side.

>>3295930
Given how anons seem to be desperate for romance, Adrianna could have Sofia lick her feet and anons would do it happily.

Damn near happened in Snake Catcher.

Vote called, writing.

>”Not for a few days.” You’ll have plenty of time for stuff in between.

“Not for a few days,” you say, setting the teapot down on the table and passing her a cup. You got a cup for yourself as well, though you don’t intend to drink much. “We’ve got plenty of time. Fuck, I might even get a job before now and then. That’d be unlucky though.”

“More than enough time to scrub the whole street then,” Adriana says, giving you a brief smile.

“Yeesh. I guess.”

“Are you alright, Sofia?”

“I don’t need to answer that, you can tell. I’m just tired.”

“It’s just that scrubbing the street was your idea. You volunteered.”

“It’s fine,” you grouse. “Like I said, I’m just tired. Been doing hard work all day.”

Adriana reaches across the table and pats you on the shoulder.
“Is this all bit too much too fast? You asked me to be strict with you and to put my foot down but it’s all by your choice. You don’t have to do anything I say, card or no card. If you don’t like this we can stop any time you want.”


>”No it’s fine. It’s a new experience.” For a few more days anyway.

>”I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you to step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you. And you can get your own tea.”

>”And I’m stopping it now. I’ve learned what I need to do, you can take over all the heavy lifting from you. You’re alright with that, right?”

>Other (Specify)

>>3296037
>”I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you to step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you. And you can get your own tea.”

>>3296037
>>”I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you to step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you.
>endurance is good, but maybe I should look into actually winning the duels.

>>3296037
>”I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you to step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you. Also the tea isn’t going to be drinkable at this rate so you might want to get your own.
>and that noon time workout was a mistake I really should not repeat. Bad for me.

Vote called, writing.

>>3296109
>Also the tea isn’t going to be drinkable at this rate

>>3295860
>It’s a little better than it was yesterday.

Progress

>”I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you to step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you. And you can get your own tea.”


You shrug.
“I’m fine doing chores. But if I want you step on me, I’ll say so. Don’t go doing that without me telling you. And that training regime today? Not great. You don’t do that at noon, even if it is fun that you told me to do so. And also you can get your own tea, I’m no good at at.”

Adriana puts the cup down. Had she just been drinking it to be polite?
“I’ve been getting it for myself anyway. I only asked you to make it so you’d get an appreciation for what it’s like.”
The translation for that is probably ‘And now you can actually get it for yourself rather than calling for me every time’.

“Hah. I’m sure that’s the only reason.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’ve quite obviously been enjoying yourself.”

“Is that bad?”
She reaches into her dress and pulls out the card, Fortunato.

“I-I-”

“It’s fine. Here, you’ve earned this.”
She tosses you the card.

You catch the card out of the air and just stare at it for a moment.
“Eh?”

“It was the only thing I had to motivate you. But I think you’re ready now. I trust you to keep up what we’ve been doing without needing pressure. So you can have it back.”

You flick the card between your fingers and smile.
“And what if I choose now to disobey?”

Adriana just shrugs.
“It’s all been your idea. Do what you want with it. But remember that I know what you want. And I’m still willing to hold you to what you want for yourself.”

You grab hold of her hand across the table and give it a gentle squeeze.
“That’s all I want.”

“Now then, shall we get some sleep?”

“Do you mean sleep or ‘sleep’?”

She just smiles.


>Sleep.

>’Sleep’.

>”Actually I’ve got somewhere I want to be tonight. I’ll see you later.”

>Other (Specify)

>>3296190
>’Sleep’.

>>3296190
>’Sleep’.
What did they mean by this? You know, considering Adriana's condition.

Vote called, writing.

>’Sleep’.

Of course you can’t do that together, you think, as Adriana leads you up the stairs. That would be suicide. And you don’t do anything that takes too long, lest her self-control begin to slip. But you can be together for a few minutes. And while anything you do to Adriana will lessen that timer dramatically, the same is not quite true in reverse.

“So how’s Lazario?,” you ask, as Adriana unbuttons your tunic.

“Fine. I just got him to finally sleep a few minutes ago.

“You know, maybe I should help you out with that instead of scrubbing the street. I’m barely a part of his life.”

“If you wish.”

*****

You wake in the early morning, surrounded by Adriana. She’s sleeping on your left and right and like always, you are trapped in their warmth like a boat in the ocean. As you sit up both bodies reach out sleepily and grab hold of you.
“So…”

“...soon?”

“Are you alright? You’re not about to overload, are you?”

Both of her bodies open their eyes at the exact same time. She’s not as asleep as she was acting, which makes sense. When one of her bodies wake they all do.
“Not for…”

“...a while.”

“Mmm. But you know this doesn’t end well. And I have stuff to do.”
Don’t you? But what could it hurt to tarry a little while longer.


>You’ve got scrubbing to do! Adriana entrusted this task with you.

>You want to visit someone.

>You want to use the Phlegmatic Flask. The time is fast approaching after all.

>”Come on, you know I have a lot of work. You don’t need me to entertain yourself.”

>You can sleep in for a bit longer.

>Other (Specify)

>>3296302
>>You’ve got scrubbing to do! Adriana entrusted this task with you.

>>3296302
>You’ve got scrubbing to do! Adriana entrusted this task with you.

Vote called, writing.

>You’ve got scrubbing to do! Adriana entrusted this task with you.

Hold on! What if this is a test? It’s not like Adriana to try and sleep in after all. She’s happiest when she’s doing something. Didn’t you promise her last night that you can regulate yourself now? That you could do it without being asked or ordered?
That’s right! You’re not going to make yourself a liar so easily.

And so the sun rises on you once again, out in the street, on your knees and scrubbing. Sofia Pseudonym, champion of justice, curse-borne tyrant and aspiring domestic master. You’ve got nothing to prove but yourself. In fact, it occurs to you, that just about anyone can say pretty words and do fun things. Getting up before dawn to spend hours scrubbing the pavement of a street isn’t particularly heroic or glamorous but it’s stronger than a lot of things that fit the bill for either of the former.

You eventually become aware of Adriana watching you from the doorway. From three doorways in fact.

“Do you…”

“...want any…”

“...help?”

“Pfft,” you say. “Don’t fuss yourself on my account. I’ll stop when it gets too hot.”

The other two bodies walk back inside, leaving just the one standing in front of you.
“Then come over here and do this part,” she says. It’s not a request. “It’ll be in the shade for a good few hours yet.”

You comply.
“I would have thought of that in a few more moments anyway,” you say. You’d meant to say that you wouldn’t have thought of that but you know how your birthright is.

“I know,” Adriana says and leaves it cryptic whether she is replying to said or unsaid words. “Do you want some tea later?”

“I’ll make my own!”

*****

An hour or so later, you reach into the bucket of water and find something floating in there. When you pull it out, it’s as if it was never wet at all. A scroll.
“Oh come on!”

“I’ve got a bath drawn up,” Adriana says, the first thing she says when you stomp back into the house. “Go have one.”

“Right,” you say, doing as she tells you. “That’s something I can do myself though.”

“You’re going to clean out the tub once you get back from your duel.”

“Oh. That’s fair then.”

****

Adriana has your duelling outfit ready for you when you emerge from the bath and you take it from her gratefully.
“Now, no peeking.”

“If you say so.”

“And no using my own eyes to look at me either!”

“I can’t actually do that Sofia.”

“I just wish it had been a better time,” you say, shrugging your coat on. “How do my legs look like in these shorts by the way?”

“Fantastic and you know it. You also knew that answer. And what time would have been better?”

1/2

>>3296391

“I dunno. Never? At least the tourney’s not for a few days. I’ll have time for this and still be ready for it. But still...just being called up like this is always such a hassle. I can’t plan for anything!.”

“But you’d never give the job up.”

You look at her as if she was crazy.
“Of course not! For starters, if it wasn’t for this job I never wouldda met you. But more importantly, there’s nothing better I can do with my time than this. I might complain but I know it is.”

You inspect the scroll again, looking for the time. You’ve still got time, no doubt due to getting ready much quicker than usual.


>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

>Wait for proper appointment. You want to spend more time with Adriana.

>Other (Specify)

>>3296394
>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

>>3296394
>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

Lifestyle BDSM Femdom is cool and all, but I'm pretty ready to do some swording by this point.

Vote called, writing.

>>3296394
>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

>>3295943
Some of us enjoy that, you know

I return from my slumber.

>Anons upholding the tradition of arriving early
Good work, lads. I'm proud of you all.

>Go right away. There’s never any harm in being early.

You’re lucky in that the location is quite close, within Apokalypsis itself. You’re unlucky in that the location is quite close, within Apokalypsis itself. Fortunate that you won’t have to walk far. Unfortunate that your client and the issue they’re entangled in are all going to be the kind of people who live in this madcap district.
Wait, doesn’t that include you now? You technically live in this district too now. You’re practically a fascina!

You keep to the sides of the canals as you walk, evading past the usual bothers, commotions and harassments of Apokalypsis street life. There’s always something going on. The crossroads up ahead is abuzz with activity, blocked off by a pile of seething urchins constantly falling apart and remelding into larger, more menacing forms. Knowing this district, someone probably let them loose to find enlightenment in their cannibalistic apotheosis.

“Hey,” you say, tapping an onlooker on the shoulder. He turns to reveal an angular chunk of red quartz sticking instead of an eye. “What’s going on here?”

“We are distilling them,” he says. “One of them will emerge supreme in the end, with all the others a part of its vortic consciousness. Within it will twist a single grain of Truth.”

“Neat. Nice to see that I was completely right. Have fun.”
You’ve never fought on an urchin’s behalf before and might never, considering that you have no idea if they could ever possibly count as a citizen or even a person. But if they do, you’ll probably wind up representing one anyway.
And with that in mind, you approach your destination with your fingers crossed for only an acceptable amount of weirdness.

Your client’s home doesn’t look as if it will live up to this modest expectation however. It’s a twisted tower at least three stories too and yet thin enough that none of the stories can hold much room at all. It actually reminds you of Vespa’s place a little! But something about the twisting makes you feel vaguely ill. Is that...is that hostile architecture?
That has to be illegal, right?

It’s also none of your business.

You knock on the door and as it opens, you say “Buongiorno! I’m looking for a Signorina Fulvia Rocchi-”

“You came!”
You are nearly bowled off your feet as a young woman, or young-ish anyway, tries to bodily tackle you in what could only be called a ‘hug’ in the way that a violent murder that could be called a ruckus.

“Excuse me,” you say slowly, aware that it would he bad form to physically harm your client. “Could you please let go? Thank you. Are you Signorina Fulvia Rocchi?”

1/2

>>3296635

“Currently. Come in, come in. Mi casa etc etc.”
She is a sprightly woman, barely more than five feet tall, her dull brown hair tied in a messy braid that goes down to her waist. She’s wearing a bright red and baggy man’s tunic belted across her waist and beneath that, a long plaid dress. She gives the impression that she is faintly vibrating at all times.

“My name is Sofia Pseudonym and I’m your public defender.”
Despite offering to come in, she hasn’t budged from the doorway.
“Can you uh, get out of the way?”

“Oh dear. I do forget myself sometimes, I really do! Come in, come in. Mi casa etc etc.”
She bounces inside.
You follow her and find yourself standing in what looks to be the bottom landing in a spiral staircase so wide that it takes up the entirety of the tower’s space. This single stair-room is the whole of it. Much of it has been messily converted into living space, furniture giving the impression of having grown around the stairs like a fungus.
“Oh and…,” she says. “Watch yourself when you look up. It gives some people vertigo.”

You look up.

Nearly half a minute later, you tear your gaze back down to stare at Fulvia.
“Well,” you say, “It’s not the worst it could be. Bigger on the inside, eh?”

“But only vertically.”

“I’ve seen it before, just not to this...extent. How far does it go?”

“They say it’s a thousand stories high. I’ve never been all the way up but I’ve been told such by some of the higher tenants or the explorers. Not that I don’t explore that is but what I’m looking for is mostly in the first few hundred I think.”

“Huh.”
It had been dizzying. The stairwell goes up seemingly forever. Up high in the distance you can see what looks like clotheslines stretched across it.

“It’s a Valentini,” she says, as if that explains everything. “You know, Saturnino d’Valentini? Fantastic architect, even if his ideals were too radical for his time. When I heard that the bottom two floors of the Thousandfold Stair were available for rent, I simply had to come live here!”


>”I’ve never heard of him. What did he do?”

>”So what’s all this about? Why do you need a public defender?”

>”Can we have this talk literally anywhere else?”

>"You aren't planning on shrinking me and trapping me in a bottle or anything, are you? Anything weird like that I should know of ahead of time?"

>Other (Specify)

>>3296643
>”I’ve never heard of him. What did he do?”
Can't resist that sweet, sweet worldbuilding. It's not like we're running out of time to gather info anyways.

>>3296643
>”So what’s all this about? Why do you need a public defender?”
Is he the bloody stupid johnson of Ouroworld?

>>3296643
>”I’ve never heard of him. What did he do?”

Vote called, writing

We Should negotiate with Adriana foto exchanging housechores foto training or extra duels to win the tournament. I mean, we would be subjecting us to a training from hell directed by our former master and getting into extra duels to get good techniques (like Gloriana's Gain some distance, which has treat synergy with Still Waters) and It would be all for the good of the city, since we are going to give the prize to the lawyer.

If we dont win the tournament, dozens of lives could be ruined by the Handprints, so surely this is a good deal.

>”I’ve never heard of him. What did he do?”

“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him. What did he do?”

“What?”
Fulvia drags the word longer than is strictly necessary.
“You’ve never heard of the Saturnino d’Valentini? Th-”

“No I haven’t. Who was he?”

“He’s an architect! Or was, anyway. And he did a lot of designs. And most importantly, he designed for the sake of art! The use of it as an artpiece is more valuable than mere function!”

“Oh, I see. Hence stuff like a thousand story tall spiral staircase that doesn’t actually go anywhere?”

“Yeah!”
She says it fully sincerely, apparently unaware of all the problems with this.
“Let me tell you, it gets pretty wild up there once you get a few dozen floors up. There are whole tribes of people up there that haven’t touched the street outside for years.”

“So you decided to live in a big staircase because you’re an architecture fan?”
Architecture is a dangerous and mystical field but there are worse things to be fascinated with, you suppose. And yes, you’re pretty sure she’s some sort of fascina. If she isn’t, she’s damn close.

“Oh no, this is a lesser hobby. I first heard about Saturnino through my true one pride and joy, fountain-watching. He made quite a few fountains, you know? You probably haven’t heard of them however, most of them were dismantled for public safety reasons. But still!”

Speaking of dangerous hobbies! Motherfucking fountain watchers. As Sabino learned to his own peril, it doesn’t pay to look deep into the network of fountains that channel both the water, the coin and the power of the City. A lot of them are man-made but just as many have no record of ever being built. As far as esoteric structures go, fountains are the pinnacle. They’re not something an architect should mess around with and try to build.
“I see.”

“There are a few fountains that he’s really famous for. One is the Lethe Pit. Do you know of it? Probably not, probably not, it’s not something the government would tell you! They say that he built a dark fountain whose waters dissolve people. And when it does, nobody in the world remembers that you existed. But of course the lawyers hushed it up and hid it away deep beneath the High Court. They use it to unmake people.”

You sigh and hold your hand to your forehead.
“The High Court doesn’t need a fountain to make it so that somebody never existed. They can do that just fine themselves. Also...I’ve seen the High Court and it literally floats above the City. It doesn’t have a deep beneath it to hide anything.”

Fulvia just taps her forehead knowingly.
“Architecture. Anyway, the other d’Valentino fountain to be really well known is the Wishing Well. Have you heard of it?”

1/2

>>3296862

“You mean that old story?”
Of course your know of it. Everyone knows that fountains can grant wishes. It’s just that some are more reliable than other and most of them only ever grant one specific form of wish. Like the June Moneta, where all wishing-coins deposited in other fountains eventually flow to, only answers the wishes of public servants desiring a salary. You’ve thrown a hundred wishes for love into the fountain by your old home. You’ve wished upon the Court of Swords on many an occasion, for knowledge if nothing else. And of course, back when you were younger, you drank of the Sangadonna and it drunk back. And so many more beside that. You know how fountains work.
And that’s why the Wishing Well can’t exist. A fountain that always grants any wish, all for the usual price of a single coin...Something like that can’t exist in the world as it is. If the world is real, the Wishing Well isn’t.

“It’s linked to Saturnino, I just know it!”

“I mean,” you say, “If such a fountain really exists, people would know about it.”

“That’s a fair point. But still, I know it’s real. And I know it’s here.”


“Eh?”

“As you climb these stairs, you can find little fountains carved into the walls. I have reason that one of them is the Wishing Well itself, the one that Saturnino wrote about. He saw it in his dreams. It was as if he was carving something that already existed, it just needed to be shaped. I’ve got it narrowed down to a general section of the Thousandfold Stair but...searching is long and hard. I can’t go up there myself these days and the seekers I’ve hired are slow. I mean, makes sense! It’s a tricky business, testing fountains!”


>”Does this relate to the duel in any way?”

>”Seekers? Who?”

>You want to believe that such a thing exists. “Could you tell me more. What writings do you have?”

>”Why can’t you go up now?”

>Other (Specify)

>>3296864
>This is very interesting miss, but I am here to do my job. What did you need a public defendant for?

>"-a dark fountain whose waters dissolve people. And when it does, nobody in the world remembers that you existed."
Getting some strong chekhov's gun vibes with this and the repeated mentions of the wishing well. Also could this somehow be related to our last fight, considering nobody seemed to know the handprint duelist?

>>3296864
>”Does this relate to the duel in any way?”

>>3296852
We shouldn't negotiate shit.
We asked Adriana to help us pressure ourselves into personal growth, but ultimately the decision on what to do is ours. If we decide training is more important, we do it.

>>3296864
>”Why can’t you go up now?”

Vote called, writing.

>”Does this relate to the duel in any way?”

You raise a hand, trying to stem the tide of words. You get the feeling that Fulvia can talk for quite some time on this subject if you let her. But you’re on the clock here and you need to keep things moving.
“Right, right, I understand. But what does this have to do with the duel I’ll be fighting for you?”
You hope that it’s relevant in some way at the very least.

“A lot, a lot, I promise you.”
Fulvia bounces around the room, a motion that would be a lot more annoying to look at if it wasn’t for the effect it had with her proportions.
“I’m being falsely accused to stop my search! It’s all Luisa’s fault!”

“Luisa? Is the challenger?”

“Yes, yes, yes. You could call her a roommate of mine. She lives on the second floor and she’s asleep right now. She’ll be here soon enough, soon enough. Luisa Ardizzone is trying to get me evicted because she knows that my seekers are close to finding the Well and she wants to steal it from me! If she gets her way, I’ll be out on the street and she’ll be able to use my research to claim the Well for herself!”

“...Is that really her motivation?”

“Listen! This is serious. The Wishing Well can define reality! My battle of intrigues and clash of wits with Luisa over the years have been a struggle for the fate of the universe itself! But now, at my moment of victory, I am on the precipice of defeat. We cannot permit her victory in this, the most important battle the world could ever have!”

“A fight for the sake of the world itself...fought between two random women...who live in a stairway...over a stairway.”

“Well where else would it be fought? You’re not going to find anything important out in the open.”

“Right.”
You’re not sure what would be worse. That you’ve got this fake business on your lap when you could have been on Adriana’s instead or...that it’s actually real and everything is awful and reality is a soap bubble. Great. You love it. And yet, nevertheless, you must fight.
“So why is Luisa asleep right now? She’s going to have be here soon for the negotiations.”

“She’ll wake up when they start,” Fulvia says with absolute confidence. “We’re going to be taking turns.”

“Eh?”

“Well we can’t very well be in the same place, can we? And if possible, can we do the negotiations out in the street? I don’t trust her in my part of the stair. We had to start going to sleep on different floors just to prevent us from fucking with one another’s stuff.”

“Alright there’s something here you’ve forgotten to tell me. Something very important.”

1/2

>>3296974

“Really? I don’t think I’ve saiiiiiiiiid-”
Her voice trails off, deepening into slurred nonsense as she just stands there, staring blankly into space. A moment later she refocusses and takes a step back, moving much more slowly and sensibly. Even her posture is different, far more straight-backed than she had been before, though she’s still a very small woman so it doesn’t make a lot of difference.
“Who are you?”
The voice is the same but something is immediately off about it. The diction and tone are different.

“Oh I think I get it. Signorina Luisa Ardizzone, I assume.”
Oh please no.

“What, are you Fulvia’s duellist? We do seem to be in her room after all.”

“Yes. I’m a public defender.”

“That’s what I thought. Yes, I’m Luisa. The original owner of this body.”

“Neat. Cool. Very cool. Fantastic. What a great case. Glad we can all have a normal time.”
You almost want to scream.


>”So what the fuck is going on?”

>”I’m not sure if I’m supposed to talk to you if you’re the opposing client. Might work differently here.”

>”What do you mean the original?”

>Go outside and rethink your life for a few minutes.

>Other (Specify)

>>3296975
>>”What do you mean the original?”

I have to ask Ouro... Is the number of weird cases that we happen to get normal for a public defender? Or is it just us since the City has an interest in us doing the equivalent of X-Files because we'll take the case seriously more than anyone else?

>>3296975
>”What do you mean the original?”

>>3296975
>”So I assume you hired a duelist?"
>Could I ask why YOU are currently living in this stairway-building?

Vote called, writing.

>”What do you mean the original?”

“So,” you eventually say, after recollecting yourself. “What do you mean the original? Can you fill me in on your side of the story?”

“Sure. I mean exactly what I mean. This thing that she’s been flouncing around is my body, the one I was born in. And for the longest time, it was just me. Which was nice.”

“So what happened?”

Luisa looks a little embarrassed.
“I got caught. I used to be a smuggler, boating all sorts of stuff out to the Lesser Realms. Had a lot of business with the Soissfolk, not that I expect that term means anything to you.”

“You’d be surprised. So you dragged up to High Court?”
Smuggling is somewhat of a gray area. It’s not outright banned under High Law due to principles and the fear of what such a City-defining law would do trade but it’s certainly frowned upon. Some things aren’t supposed to leave the City.

“Yeah and let me tell you, they weren’t happy with me wasting their time. I got community service. Specifically, I got drafted into being a prison.”

“We don’t have prisons.”

“Whatever you want to call it then. Say, do you have anything to smoke? Fulvia refuses to let me touch the stuff ever since she moved in.”

“I’m afraid not. So this Fulvia girl, she’s a prisoner?”

“More or less. She was found guilty of ‘esoteric crimes’, whatever that means and got consigned to be mostly non-existent. But she’s apparently been a good girl since then and they’ve gradually been allowing more and more to re-exist.”

“I think I get it. I know a woman who only exists at certain hours of the day from a similar sentence. But she also got her entire identity replaced as well.”

“As far as I can tell Fulvia didn’t get that last bit. She’s still the same person as she was from when she committed a crime that is apparently impossible to describe with words. There’s just...less of her. And yeah, after she worked her way up on good behaviour, she was permitted to re-exist almost entirely. Just without her body. And that’s where my community service comes in. If she lasts five years in my body without any black marks she gets to move on up to whatever the next stage of her rehabilitation is. I hope she’s reborn as a baby or something. I can punch a baby.”

“I take it there’s no love lost?”

“You could say that. I’m a very private person. Or at least...I was. I think they chose this community service knowing that. And I’m so sick of it. But now I’ve got her. I’ve finally got a way to throw her out that doesn’t violate my sentence.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

If she looked embarrassed before, she now looks outright humiliated.
“Do...do I have to say it?”

“She’s my client. I’d like to know all the details.”

1/2

>>3297020

“Fine,” she says and looks confused at how readily she agrees with you. But, unknowing of your curse, she has no choice but to believe that it’s her own choice.
“When I woke up last week, I found that she had been...halfway...through the act...of masturbation.”

“Oh. Well...that’s awkward.”
What the fuck else can you say to that?

“It’s worse than that, it’s a violation! It’s not her body to touch! And it’s against the rules. She’s supposed to respect the body while she’s in here, not molest me while I’m unconscious. I’ve figured she’s been doing it for ages but this was the first confirmation. Problem is...it’s pretty hard to prove. I can’t get her thrown out in High Court under breach of contract. Or at least, I might but if it doesn’t work I could just get punished more for wasting their time. But it is an accurate basis for me to challenge her! She’s disrespected and broken her tenancy contract and it’s time for her to be evicted!”
She scrunches up her face.
“If this works, I’m not breaking the terms of my own sentence. I can finally be rid of her and...her touch. And all my duellist has to do is fight you and lose. Wait, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s a problem. I don’t really lose duels. And no matter your story, Fulvia is my client. I have to fight for her as best as I can.”

“I...respect that decision.”
You very much doubt that was what she intended to say.

“So you don’t want to have her evicted so that you can claim her fountain research for you own and unlock the Wishing Well/”

“What? What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It’s what she told me.”

“She’s also nuts.”

So who do you believe? They both can’t be telling the truth. For all you know, none of this might be true.


>”So uh, how is it? Sharing a body?”

>”Where is the duellist you hired?”

>”You wouldn’t happen to know Giuseppina, would you?” This sounds a little like her.

>”I’d like to talk to Fulvia please.” You need to check in with her story of events.

>”So why are YOU in this place?”

>Other (Specify)

>>3297021
>”So why are YOU in this place?”
>”You wouldn’t happen to know Giuseppina, would you?” This sounds a little like her.

>>3297021
>”So why are YOU in this place?”

Vote called, writing.

Welp, it is another episode of 'fighting for someone who most likely is in the wrong'. Welp, sucks to be this lady because as Sofia said, we ain't gonna be in the business of losing (hopefully).

Sorry for the delays today by the way. I've come down with a summer cold.

>”So why are YOU in this place?”

Yes, there’s a few things in Luisa’s story that doesn’t make sense to you. And while it’s not your job to get to the bottom of it, you’d rather know everything before hand. For your peace of mind if nothing else.
“So why are you here?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I understand why Fulvia would choose to live here. She strikes me as a little obsessed. But why would you agree?”

Luisa’s face freezes for a moment before it cracks into a massive smile.
“Oh dear, that’s true. Alright. Maybe I have a little interest in this Wishing Well nonsense. But my story is still true. Ask any lawyer if you want. The truth is...when Fulvia left me a note asking me to move, I was hoping that it would cause her to show her true colours.”

“What, hoping for a repeat of whatever she did before?”

“Exactly. I’ve been basically daring her to do something criminal regarding the fountains. Then I can get my body back. But that’s not happening. So I’ve got to catch her with this instead. I can’t ask you to understand but trust me, I’m sick of sharing my flesh with another. Particularly someone so handsy.”

“Right. So how do you afford a duellist? I’m assuming that Fulvia asked for a public defender because she couldn’t afford a pro with whatever money you two had left. So how can you afford one when she can’t?”

“You’re right. But I’m lucky. I found someone who was willing to do the work pro bono.”

“Is that my queue?”
The voice echoes down the stairwell. You briefly look up and regret it. It’s not a vista that gets easier on the eyes. But as you do look up, you see someone jump from the stairs several rotations up above you, a shadow against the ethereal light streaming down the central spiral. You don’t see how but they land right in front of you, collapsing atop one of Fulvia’s broken couches.
“Hey there, Sophie! It’s been a while!”

Only one person calls you Sophie. You groan.
“Really? Back again?”

“Back by unpopular demand,” Gloriana says. She looks a little different as she rises from the couch. She’s wearing a pair of smoked glass spectacles not unlike those of Vespa’s that hide her eyes completely and she’s traded out the green streaks in her hair for neon blue but really, when you get down to it, she’s still exactly the same as she ever was. Her rediculous excuse for a duelling outfit is the same, her painted sword is the same cheap piece of shit as ever and she’s still the same pathetic excuse for a duellist.

“I thought we were over this,” you say. “I thought we’d made up. We had a talk and everything.”

1/3

>>3297092

“We did. This is just business. I heard she needed a duellist willing to work for loose change and I happened to be in the area already so I figured, why not. I’m always happy to lend my skills to challengers who are in need. Think of me as a public offender.”

“That doesn’t mean what you think it does.”
You turn to Luisa, doing your best not to give Gloriana the satisfaction of checking her out.
“I’m afraid you’ve been tricked, Luisa. This woman preys on people like you for, as far as I can tell, her own amusement. She’ll deliberately sabotage your terms and she won’t even fight well. The last time we fought I had her on the ropes in an instant.”

“The last time we fought...was that before or after you were practically setting up your home address in my tits? Oh, don’t give me that look Sophie. It was an eye-opening experience for both of us.”

“Uh,” Luisa says. “What is she-”

“It doesn’t matter,” you say hastily.

“Not until we get a repeat performance anyway,” Gloriana says. “But hey Sophie, I see you’ve been busy.”
She reaches down into her ribbon-tied vest and pulls out a certain booklet. The fake Sofia winks back at you for all to see.
“I have to say, the artist did a wonderful job. Really captures your essence.”

You are just going to ignore that and hope against hope that Gloriana does too.
“Come on Gloriana. I really want to like you. I thought we connected. And you’re still messing around with the duels like they’re just a game? If you want to fight me again, that’s fine. But you should have given this lady a chance to hire a legit duellist.”

“Like I said,” Gloriana says slowly. “It’s been a while. And you’re not the only one who can change.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I have to admit it,” she says, her hand toying with the ribbon at the top of her vest. “I really am just a piece of trash compared to you. That’ll always be true. But even so, that last fight really got me good! Being toyed with so effortlessly, as if...well, you know what….it sparked something. It made me feel subhuman. So let me tell you Sophie, I’ve been hard at all sorts of work. And all for the impossible dream of one day beating you.”
She pokes out her tongue.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so soon though. Say, do you still have that lock of my hair?”

“What if I do? And I don’t care what you’ve been doing, Gloriana. Do you really think you can beat me?”

“Of course not. I’m just a changeling child. I’m not a magic princess like you. And I thought I was fine with that. I didn’t care how many times I lost.”
And with that, she makes a gesture at her scarred legs.
“I know you were looking anyway. But now...that loss couldn’t be laughed off. And now I actually want to show you all my new tricks.”

2/3

File: Ressagna_ceg.jpg (893 KB, 733x1100)

893 KB JPG

>>3297093

>”You’ve been training? With what?”

>”Just in the area, huh? I don’t believe you.”

>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”

>”Just for the record, I’m in a relationship now. There won’t be a repeat of...that stuff.”

>”Can we all just forget about La Ressagna Mensile already?”

>”Do you want to do another round of drinks after I beat you?”

>You’d like to speak to Fulvia.

>Fine then. Get negotiations going.

>Other (Specify)

>>3297097
>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”

>”Do you want to do another round of drinks after I beat you?”

>"Man that sword still is and always will be an abomination. (Booklet)

>>3297093
>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”
Oh fuckings boy, Gloriana redemption arc incoming, Im scared lads.

>>3297093
Oh it's this bitch again.
God, I'd be more happy to see Terenzi than her.

>”You’ve been training? With what?”
>Ignore the booklet and any reference to it.

>>3297097
>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”
Praise be to Gloriana!

>>3297097
Also going to support
>”Do you want to do another round of drinks after I beat you?”

Also, in case Im gone for the relevant vote, no reason to wait with the duel if she's changed anyways. I doubt we'll find out her new tricks before the duel, so we might aswell get it over with so we have time to do other things.

>>3297097
>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”

>You’d like to speak to Fulvia.

Vote called, writing.

I’m staying up because my cold is making it very hard to sleep properly.

>”Well...I’m happy for you. I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”

You doubt she means to sound as nice as your curse is making her right now. Her real meaning is probably something along the lines of ‘I can’t wait to crush you’ and you’ve got no problem with that. How much stronger could she have possibly gotten?
“I’m happy for you, Gloriana and I mean that sincerely. It’s about time you started to show some real spirit.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong. I’m still an absolute piece of shit who thinks that the duels are a joke. I’ve just switched up my tactics, is all. Done all sorts of things to do it too. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ll have my big chance to show off in the duel itself.”

“Right. As long as you’re actually trying to win, you can use any method you want.”
You have to wonder what kind of methods she’s been using however. It’s been some time but not that long and the way she phrases it makes it sound like she’s been through more than just training.
“So what kind of tricks are we talking here?”

“Desperate for the good, huh? Not just yet.”
You grit your teeth as she continues. Whatever she’s changed, being around her is still like having sandpaper applied to your nerves. She could say anything and it’d probably still work.
“But I know you’re about to be a busy girl, Sophie. Attending the upcoming invitational and everything!”

“How do you know about that?”

“My master told me. He’s a part of it too.”

“You have a master? Since when?”

“Since you kicked my arse, of course! But don’t worry, I’m not the kind of gal to ape a style. I just picked up a few pointers and used that as a base...along with some other things...to make my own stupendously unique display. It’s just as my own style as the first only I’ve built it off what you’ve shown me.”

“What other things?”

Gloriana just chuckles infuriatingly and, looking right at you, lowers her odd spectacles for a moment. You get a glimpse just behind them and her eyes are...well, for a moment you think they’re gone. But no they’re there but the sclera has gone completely ink-black. Tiny yellow irises glint in the darkness.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m still getting used to it so you’ll have to be patient. But my duel with you will be an excellent unveiling. And then you’ll beat me into the ground like you always do.”

“Pfft. It’s going to take more than just some freaky looking eyes to get anything on me, capiche?”
That said, they’re freaking you out a little. Training under a master is obviously just the tip of an ominous pyramid. What did she do to herself?

1/2

>>3297155

>”Then let’s start. You ready to negotiate?”

>”I’d like to talk to my client first.”

>”It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with how you just happened to be in the area, would it?”

>Walk up to her and inspect the eyes close up.

>”I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

>Other (Specify)

>>3297157
>”I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

>>3297157
>”I’d like to talk to my client first.”

>>3297157
>>Walk up to her and inspect the eyes close up.
>>”I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

>>3297157
>Walk up to her and inspect the eyes close up.

>>3297157
>Walk up to her and inspect the eyes close up.
>”I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

Vote called, writing.

>Walk up to her and inspect the eyes close up.
>”I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

You can’t help it! Your curiosity gets the better of you. Ignoring your would-be clients, you walk across the room to Gloriana and, craning your head up in order to do so, look her right in the eyes.
“I hope you didn’t trade away anything important for those.”

“Hold on,” Gloriana says, taking a single step back. “Where are you? How close did you get just now?”

“What?”
Ignoring her, you look into her eyes. They’re pure black and the bright yellow irises aren’t just far smaller than normal, they’re also angular. Diamond-shaped. As you watch they seem to flicker for a moment, shrinking in and then dilating back.

The moment they do, Gloriana tilts her head down enough to train them both on you.
“Ah, there you are. You got me confused for a second there, Sophie. It’s why I need to wear these glasses.”

You really are very close right now, the top of your head almost grazing up against her chin. Shit. You’d forgotten just how much taller than you she is. Nine inches is an awful lot when you’re this close. But all that is to the side right now as you try and make sense out of what she’d just said.
“So...something’s wrong with them then? For a moment there it seemed like you couldn’t see me.”

“Hah, sort of!”

“Well then...now I just feel bad for you. What’s the point of them if they’re that easy to fool?”

“...Oh, I’m not the one being fooled right now.”
And with those words she shoves you away fairly easily, sending you stumbling back.
“Anyway, what are we waiting for Sophie? We’re both here. Let’s begin the negotiations!”

“Name your terms.”

“Should I win, your client is being lawfully evicted from my client’s head. Where she goes from there is up to the High Courts but wherever it is, it’s no longer my client’s concern! That’s all.”

“Huh. You’re not even going to slip in a clause that screws over your client?”

“Nah. Like I said, I’m keen to get to the fighting. I haven’t lost my sense of fun though, don’t you worry.”

“Well obviously when I win my client will get to stay in the body. But to match your terms…”


>”Your client will be the one evicted, for trying to force through a frivolous duel. She’ll have to find a new body!”

>”Your client will be charged by the High Court as if they had attempted to illegally break the terms of their sentence!”

>”Your client will cede a much bigger share of the body’s time to my client, effectively giving her almost total control of the body!”

>Other (Specify)

>>3297200
>"Your client will give up all attempts to look for the Wishing Well"
If Luisa does have ulterior motives, this should block her. If she doesn't, she's screwed enough as it is.

>>3297200
>>”Your client will be charged by the High Court as if they had attempted to illegally break the terms of their sentence!”

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Well I was hoping to spend this period of insomnia actually getting a lot of quest work done or at least get to the loadout vote before I fell asleep but if the vote's a 1-1 tie the vote's a 1-1 tie. It's 4:30 am and I'm going to bed.

Vote will remain open until I wake.

>>3297200
>"Your client will give up all attempts to look for the Wishing Well"

It hurts too much to sleep. Vote called and writing.

>"Your client will give up all attempts to look for the Wishing Well"

“...your client will give up all attempts to look for the Wishing Well.”
There. Not an ideal set of terms but you now have your doubts about Fulvia and you don’t want to punish Luisa for just trying to escape her shitty situation. This way, if Luisa really does ulterior motives she’ll be stopped but she won’t be punished for it. And you’re sure as hell not giving Fulvia a permanent lease on this body!

“Really?,” Gloriana asks, staring down at you. “You’re not going to ask for more than that?”

“No, that’s all this needs. And with this, the negotiations are over.”

“Good choice,” she says, forced to agree. “So when are you going to call it for? We’ve got the whole day ahead of us.”

You pace the room, wondering if you’ve made the right decision in being so lenient on Luisa. But in the end you’re stopped by a hand on your shoulder. It’s Luisa, the slightly taller woman favouring you with an uncertain smile.

“...Thanks,” she says. “I know you could have been a lot harsher.”

“It’s no big deal. Just because I’m going to do my best to fight for Fulvia doesn’t mean I don’t have a sense of justice. And as for the time? That’s easy. We’re going to have the duel…”


>”Right now!”

>”Tonight!” Should give you some time to prepare, though you doubt you’ll learn anything.

>”Tomorrow morning!” Should give you even more time to kill between now and the duel.

>Other (Specify)

>>3297356
>”Right now!”

>>3297356
>”Right now!”
More time to get over our inevitable defeat.

Vote called, writing.

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>”Right now!”

“We’ll have the duel right now!”

Gloriana pulls her scabbard free from her side, fingers drumming across the hilt.
“No preparation then?”

“Since when I have ever needed to prepare for a fight with you?”

“As always you lay me low,” she says, towering over you. “I can only assume that someone as smart and perceptive as you has figured out what’s going on.”

“Pardon?”

Her smile slowly widens.
“What I’ve done to you. Oh well, not that it matters. I’m sure you’ll triumph no matter what Sophie!”

What the fuck is she talking about? Is she just trying to throw you off? But whatever it is, it probably doesn’t matter. You’ve grown so much since you last dumpstered her. No matter what she’s got, you’ll be ready.


>Choose your loadout! You may select one Ability and six Techniques from the following list:

ABILITIES

>Professional Provocateur: [ABILITY]At the end of each round, if you have successfully performed a Trick and have not lost any Composure dice, the single lowest die in your opponent’s Technique Pool is moved to their Strike Pool. If there are no dice in your opponent’s Technique Pool, the lowest die in their Composure Pool is moved to their Technique Pool instead.

>Test Your Luck: [ABILITY]You’re a pro at games of chance and other such swindles, no matter how well they’re performed. Once per thread you may either reroll a single dice or automatically succeed at a game of chance.

>Phlegmatic Flask: [ABILITY]You are shielded by apathy. At the end of each full queue, move your single lowest Technique dice into your Composure Pool.

Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]You can’t help but be timid and vulnerable in a way that attracts all sorts of possessive attention that you can’t deny. It also means they let their guard down around you. When your Composure is Broken by an opponent’s attack, a retaliatory strike is made against that opponent with Strike dice equal to the Strike you just took. This retaliation cannot bleed the opponent and doesn’t trigger the effects of anything that counts attacks.

>>3297414
TECHNIQUES

>Brute Strike: [STRIKE]Siphon the lowest value dice from your Composure Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.

>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.

>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]Move the highest value die from your Technique Pool to your Composure Pool.

>Elegance: [FLOURISH] Declare either Strike, Flourish, Trick or Stance. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. When your opponent makes their next move, if it is the same category of move as declared, generate a die of equal value to the lowest value dice in your Composure Pool.

>Unassailable Rookie: [STANCE]Once this Stance is active, all dice that your opponent rolls out of their Strike Pool take a -1 penalty to their final result. Can only be active while you have a d4 in your Composure Pool.

>Underhanded Deflection: [TRICK]Lower the sides of all the dice currently in your opponent’s Technique pool by 1.

>Crushing Grip: [STRIKE]Siphon no dice. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. If no Composure dice are destroyed as a result of this, whether through damage or through an ability, destroy the single highest value die in your opponent’s Technique Pool.

>Circle Guard: [TRICK]Your opponent cannot siphon dice into their Strike Pool this round. If they attempt to, destroy the single lowest die in their Technique Pool. This Technique cannot be used if your Technique Pool is empty.

>Skin Unthorned: [STANCE]Once this Stance is active, any Strike pool targeting you cannot roll d4s. They remain in the Strike Pool unrolled. Can only be active while you have a d6 in your Composure Pool.

>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. Damage from this Technique is dealt first to your opponent’s Strike Pool, treating the dice within as if they were Composure dice for the purposes of destruction. The difference between the highest dice value in the Strike Pool and the damage rolled is then dealt to the Technique Pool in the same fashion. And if the damage continues to overflow, the remainder is inflicted upon the Composure Pool in the same way.

>Still Waters[STANCE]: When an opponent attempts a Strike, ignore all dice equal to or lower than the lowest value dice in your Composure pool; these dice remain in the opponent's strike pool. This stance is broken when the opponent makes no strikes in a queue.

Ooooh shiiiiet

>>3297414
>Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]
>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]
>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]
>Elegance: [FLOURISH]
>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]

and then two more...
Underhanded Deflection and Still waters might go well together, although Flashing Steel could also work with Still Waters well....

>>3297451
Meh, tired of doing math in my head, let's try something a bit new and funky.
>Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]
>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]
>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]
>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]
>Elegance: [FLOURISH]
>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]
>Still Waters[STANCE]:

Flashing steel for getting rid of the strike dice still water blocks incase we can't manage to take out Gloriana for whatever reason. Helpless beauty because it's the ultimate trap card. The rest is obvious.

>>3297416
I'm too sleepy to vote responsibly, so I won't. Don't let me down, anons.

Regarding Gloriana's eyes, her height advantage is mentioned every time in connection to them. I think Gloriana might be employing some sort of a perspective trick.
Case in point:
>she’s still a very small woman
>It’s Luisa, the slightly taller woman favouring you with an uncertain smile.
Gloriana has shrunk us and we didn't even notice.

Also, Happy Birthday, Ouro.

>>3297522
Us being shrunk again is a definite possibility, anons voting to study her eyes walked right into an obvious trap by the seems of things. Let's see how it affects the duel and work it out from there, nothing we can do about it now.

>>3297522
>>3297529
Also yeah, adding on to my vote
>>3297510
>Realise she's shrunk you... damnit!

>>3297416
>Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]You can’t help but be timid and vulnerable in a way that attracts all sorts of possessive attention that you can’t deny. It also means they let their guard down around you. When your Composure is Broken by an opponent’s attack, a retaliatory strike is made against that opponent with Strike dice equal to the Strike you just took. This retaliation cannot bleed the opponent and doesn’t trigger the effects of anything that counts attacks.
>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.
>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.
>Elegance: [FLOURISH] Declare either Strike, Flourish, Trick or Stance. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. When your opponent makes their next move, if it is the same category of move as declared, generate a die of equal value to the lowest value dice in your Composure Pool.
>Underhanded Deflection: [TRICK]Lower the sides of all the dice currently in your opponent’s Technique pool by 1.
>Still Waters[STANCE]: When an opponent attempts a Strike, ignore all dice equal to or lower than the lowest value dice in your Composure pool; these dice remain in the opponent's strike pool. This stance is broken when the opponent makes no strikes in a queue.


Flashing Steel is kinda niche and it only does limited damage to dice pools. Grtitted Teeth is good but I was thinking using Ud to try and whittle dice down to make Still waters work.

>>3297570
Helpless beauty is an ability, you have 1 more technique slot open so you can easily put in gritted teeth.
Also gritted teeth is monumentally important for us and should never be left out anyways.

>>3297570
Also, underhand doesn't actually work well with still waters at all. Still Waters make it so their dice stays in the strike pool, underhanded deflection can only target dice in the tech pool.

I would have liked to hace more time to prepare. We beat the fisherman by obssesively preparing and anticipating his movements, not by fighting him inmediately. This was pretty stpid anons, especially agaisnt an opponent that has been preparing SPECIFICALLY to kick our arse

>>3297414
We can play dirty too

>Uncap the bottle of the Phlegatic flask and splash her in the face with it. With some luck, she will absorb some of it.

>>3297610
Prepare how, exactly. How many duels do you think she has been in showing off her moves specifically meant for us? We already know her old moves, we wouldn't get to know her new moves anyways. I guess we could have gone on a wild goose chase and attempted to find out who her master was, but I doubt we would in time.

>>3297600
yeah but it can reduce the tech dice so they end up fubar'd.

>>3297570
Also meant to include Crushing Grip.

>>3297625
>Professional Provocateur: [ABILITY]At the end of each round, if you have successfully performed a Trick and have not lost any Composure dice, the single lowest dice in your opponent’s Technique Pool is moved to their Strike Pool. If there are no dice in your opponent’s Technique Pool, the lowest dice in their Composure Pool is moved to their Technique Pool instead.)

>Gain Some Distance: [TRICK]Destroy all dice in your opponent’s Strike Pool. If it was already empty, generate a d4 in your Composure Pool and your opponent is prevented from siphoning dice to their Strike Pool this round. You must then activate a valid Stance in this same action. You cannot use this Technique if you already have a Stance active.

>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. Damage from this Technique is dealt first to your opponent’s Strike Pool, treating the dice within as if they were Composure dice for the purposes of destruction. The difference between the highest dice value in the Strike Pool and the damage rolled is then dealt to the Technique Pool in the same fashion. And if the damage continues to overflow, the remainder is inflicted upon the Composure Pool in the same way.

>Unassailable Rookie: [STANCE]Once this Stance is active, all dice that your opponent rolls out of their Strike Pool take a -1 penalty to their final result. Can only be active while you have a d4 in your Composure Pool.

>Underhanded Deflection: [TRICK]Lower the sides of all the dice currently in your opponent’s Technique pool by 1.

>Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

>>3297631
She also had Crushing Grip.

>>3297627
When has crushing grip ever helped us against Gloriana? I really, really wouldn't drop gritted teeth for crushing grip since that torpedoes our amazing ability to come back from broken.

For the first point sure, it can do that, but Still Waters hardly is the perfect defense. The moment you pop it it's just a delaying tool, there is gonna a time where they'll be able to use all the dice we trapped in strike pool, and if we haven't killed her by then, which I'm afraid her new special moves might prevent us from do, she'll be able to use them, and we will be fucked. Flashing Steel lets us clear out those dice if we can't, for whatever reason kill her, and that could be a real lifesaver all things considering.

>>3297631
>
>>3297636
noted

>Crushing Grip: [STRIKE]Siphon no dice. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. If no Composure dice are destroyed as a result of this, whether through damage or through an ability, destroy the single highest value die in your opponent’s Technique Pool.

>>3297631
Thanks for posting her old techs.

Also, Gloriana probably doesn't have tempered counting coup so she wouldn't be unbleedable while using it. Probably.

>>3297570
Gritted Teeth+Helpless Beauty+Tempered Countin Coup = Murder Shield

Besides, she will fuck up with our Compusture die, in order to delay this as much as she can. It was how she won the first time we met her. Gritted Teeth is a great Tool agaisnt that.

Anons, how about the trick with the bottle? Instead of just doing that, we could try to use helpless beauty to make her defenses fall and offer her a drink, slipping a bit of the mixture there to throw her off. >>3297619

>>3297653
GT, tCC, HB is indeed an amazing combo.

Also I would honestly drop any attempts to slip her drugs, I seriously doubt it'll work anyways and it will make us look like a right proper tit if we try, which is Glorianas schtick not ours. Even if it does work I doubt the effect will be anything but negligible at best.

Honestly I'd rather drop Elegance then drop gritted teeth at this point. (I would rather not drop either, but seriously don't fuckings dump gritted teeth it's our get out of BROKEN free card)

>>3297676
OKay, and what about the using our Luck ability to do the same deal we did with the maste of the Rose Ring? Anyone who wins on a coinflip, gets the first move unpposed. I doubt Gloriana will honor her part of the deal, but this will allow to get an extra technique out of her, even if we lose.

>>3297682
I mean, we can give it a try, but Gloriana already hinted heavily at knowing about our Monkey Paw thingy, so I doubt she'll just give us her secret technique for free like that. Wouldn't hurt being a cheeky cunt and trying anyways, but it's a pipe dream.

>>3297685
Err, Monkey Sight.

Actually, thinking about it, how bad would it be dropping elegance? Until we start losing composure it will only generate d4's, and Gloriana pops d4's easily while rarely touching our composure pool... Then we could grab something else like Underhanded Deflection or Crushing Grip(why tho?) or something else I guess.

>>3297707
if she's going to go after us to win she'll need to pop those d4s, and frankly unless her comp has gotten even higher we stand to be able to pop her with 2 elegances that connect. Elegance is great because it's a super ramp.

>>3297726
If she's really going after us to win she'll be breaking us, not popping our d4's in composure. Getting two elegances and then trying to snipe her composure is a valid tactic though...

However, think how much mindfuck we could get by dropping elegance for something else. Chances are she's somehow build to counter us in some way, and elegance is definitely one of our core moves. If we drop it for something else that could change up the game entirely. So, if we have something like:

HB [ABILITY]

FB
FS
tCC
GT
UD
SW

This might allow us to just fuck Glorianas groove up real bad. SW to screw with her gimping potential, FS to get rid of the dice trapped in her strike pool, UH deflection I guess to gimp her even more, although honestly we'd need 2Underhandee deflections in a row to get d6s under the d4 limit and 4 UD in a row to properly gimp d8s, so I'm still iffy on that....
What would crushing grip then.... an ability to take away her d8's which she rarely keeps around for long enough anyways...

Hmmm... Honestly nah, I'd rather keep elegance for that cheeky snipe as you mentioned. I'm standing by my original proposal.

Oh FUCK dudes I just noticed something. We can totally use Glorianas professional provocateur against her by using it to bleed off our own composure!

>>3297776
Alright, if we use my build here:
>>3297510
>Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]
>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]
>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]
>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]
>Elegance: [FLOURISH]
>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]
>Still Waters[STANCE]:

We can use Still Waters and Flashing Steel to gimp Gloriana and bleed off our own tech pool until the end of the round, and when provocateur procs we won't have any dice in our tech pool, and the lowest die in our composure pool will be siphoned off to our tech pool. After just 2 rounds of that Still Waters will be blocking d6's too, and Elegance will give a d6 for predictions instead of d4's. After just 1 more round of that still waters will be blocking d8's too, which is the max she would be able to generate unless she upgraded her flourishes. After that we pretty much have her in the bag as we can just counting coup / elegance up without fear of her doing ANYTHING to us until we unleash the perfect attack at the last moment and wreck her.

Unless she's changed majorly, which she seems to have hinted no at since she says she'll still be her same infuriating gimping self this will be perfect. Even better, we're both using her own ability against her AND her own style against her, and instead of just fighting to a standstill we'll actually be building up to a victory. This could be a bigger slap in the face for her then our last fight was.

So, anons... You with me?

As long as we take helpless beauty I'm happy. Mostly for the flavor text and interactions, but also because it completely shits on flashing steel. Her strike that has to go through all our pools to touch our composure is immediately reapplied directly to her own composure.

>>3297800
You sound like an autist, but hopefully not the one from two threads ago. Sure, I'll second your list and give you the benefit of the doubt.

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>>3297854
>You sound like an autist
>This entire combat system

>>3297854
>>3297857
Thanks for the vote of confidence, and yes, I'm not that guy. I just had a flash of brilliance (autism).

>>3297800
>>3297416

I have no idea what sort of techs Gloriana has replaced. I was hoping we would have some time to prepare against her. She probably has changed quite a few of her techniques if she's gotten serious.
I don't quite see why we need two strikes but I'll go with this.

I'm awake! Calling the vote now and writing.

>Helpless Beauty: [ABILITY]
>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]
>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]
>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]
>Elegance: [FLOURISH]
>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]
>Still Waters[STANCE]:

Making sure Gloriana is watching you, you pull out the weighted ribbon that you took off of her in the last battle and tie it around your waist.
“Hey, remember this? Do you think I’ll take another one?”

“Hm. Hey Sophie, how tall are you again?”

“What? Come on, you know as well as I do that I’m five foot.”
Something’s weird. Was...was that always the case? It was, wasn’t it? If you were a pro instead of a public defender, you’d be one of the shortest professional duellists in history.

“Oh right. Yeah. And yet you fight so well despite that.”


“Shut it.”
After a moment’s thought, you take Marzio’s red tasselled belt as well and wear it like a sash. If you wore it like a belt it would have nearly encircled you twice over. There’s just one more trophy that you need but to wear it against Gloriana...you’re not envying this.

You pin the Drunkard card upon your lapel. There. Let her assume what she wants of you. You’ll catch her in this trap.
“I hope you’re ready to los-”

The rest of your comment is muffled as Gloriana strides over and, without missing a beat, wraps her arm around your shoulder and shoves your face into her bosom. She toys idly with your hair while you struggle uselessly.
“It’s already Sophie. You’re going to be practically living in here soon enough. And...were you always so cute?”

You glare up at her, looking her right in her black eyes as her pupils contract and dilate. Even if you weren’t being subdued by Sabino’s ability, you probably wouldn’t be able to break free. Not when your head barely comes up to her chest.
“Whoops,” she says. “I can’t really control it. Sorry.”

She pushes you away and Luisa catches you before you can fall, your head bumping into her chin as you do. You can feel her breasts pushing into your shoulders and the back of your neck as she holds you up.
“Don’t worry darling. I’ve got you.”

“C-can you let go of me? Please?”

She does eventually, leaving a lingering touch on the side of your cheek. Blushing furiously, you draw your sword and do your best to look intimidating.
“Let’s get this started already.”

“Has anyone ever told you incredibly adorable you are?”
That’s all Gloriana has to say.

But even that’s enough to send you into a stutter, your face burning even harder.
“S-shut up. Now get outside and fight me.”

And so you and Gloriana take it outside, your opponent patting you on the head in the process.
“You know, after all this is over I might take you home and keep you. Is that okay?”

“N-no!”
You chose to wear the card. You’ll just have to deal.

1/3

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>>3298200
The two of you stand together for a moment in the canal outside, a small crowd already gathering. It must look very silly, you think, considering that she’s over a foot taller than you. Like a child challenging an adult. But you’ve dealt with that your whole life, haven’t you? ….Haven’t you?
“...Something’s wrong.”

The two of you kiss blades, your beautiful sabre running across the side of Gloriana’s grotesque neon-green monstrosity. She’s...She’s just the same as ever.

>Sofia’s Composure: 3d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d12

>Gloriana’s Composure: 5d4, 1d10

“Is something the matter?,” Gloriana whispers, leaning over you. “Whatever could it be?”


“I-I….Wait am I fucking 4’6?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the master duellist here after all.”

“I thought I was 5’0. W-wait!”
And just like that, you see through everything. False assumptions are ripped from your mind and evaporate and the height gap between you and her rapidly closes from fifteen inches to nine to just three. You stare her in the eye.
“How did you fool me into that?”
Somehow...she made you think you were six inches shorter than you really were. And then, after that, a whole foot!

Gloriana just winks and runs a finger down the side of your face.
“It was your fault really, for confusing my perspective like that. But you’ll see more of it in this fight, don’t you worry.”

The two of you walk apart and though your back is turned, you can hear Gloriana speak.

“Representing the challenger, I claim right to offense! Should I win, which I won’t, the challenged must leave my client’s body and find legal residence elsewhere! If she fails to comply, she will be punished under High Law!”

You swivel right after she’s finished.
“Representing the challenged, I claim right to redress! When I win, the challenger must give up all attempts to uncover the Wishing Well! Failure to comply will be punished under High Law!”
That draws a reaction from the crowd. They must be wondering why you’re duelling over a mythical object.

Gloriana dances giddily from one foot to the other.
“Alright Sophie, let’s do this!”

Both of you raise your blades and, as you stare deep into your own reflection, you watch it close its eyes.
“See and be Unseen!”

You See.

The world evaporates, people and buildings rising into clouds of dark black vapor that freezes in a perpetual ascension towards the boiling sky. The water beneath is a flat plane of glass through which the terrible right above is reflected. And there, behind you, is the tower. An endless dark tower rising all the way up to that which cannot be seen. The only true building in a City of shadows.

You are Unseen.

2/3

>>3298211

Two people stand there alone on the glass plane, surrounded by the smoky remains of mere mortal folk. Two women. One woman is red, a wretched figure soaked in burgundy essence that constantly drips into the glass below. Her head is broken open like clay at the top and stars spill out. The other woman is a much more heroic figure, a vibrant blue-skinned creature with green undertones to her skin and hair. Her eyes are portals into the howling void.
You would...you think you are the second girl. She seems about righ-

*!

Fuck off! As if you’re Gloriana! You revert to Sofia, to the You that you cannot forget more than temporarily.
“That little perspective trick won’t work on me anymore, Gloriana!”
It reminds you a lot of what Giuseppina once showed you with her invisibility. How she could reach out and touch people or interfere with them and, if their minds weren’t elevated, their own minds would come up with reasons to explain it away. She could pull a ribbon from a woman’s hair and that woman would just think that she must have forgotten to wear one today. Oronzo could do something similar but much less effectively and he needed a tool to do so. But you, you can see through both of them. And you can see through Gloriana’s trick too if need be.
“I’ll see right through it.”

“Just like you saw through that bottle thing, right?”
Gloriana cackles, her tongue finally somewhat unchained now that you’re in the Wake. She pulls off her glasses and without even looking, tosses them into the distance! They phase through what remains of a building and vanish.
“It’s not your perspective that matters, you cute little thing! So see through whatever you like!”

“What are those eyes supposed to be, anyway? And don’t tell me that they’re a technique your master taught you!”
Bullshit. You’re the only person who can learn like that.

“My master? Oh. I only learned one technique from that bozo. These things? I worked for them. Ever since our last fight...our last experience before that. It woke something in me. I wanted to be able to force my perspective on the world too!”
She shrugs.
“It’s a bit hit and miss normally. I didn’t even mean to diminish you, I just lost track of perspective and thought you were closer than you were. You know how closer objects look smaller? But here in the Wake they’re another thing entirely shortstuff!”

You hastily check yourself. You’re still 5’6.

“Had you worried for a moment there, didn’t I?”

“Ugh. Shut up.”

She probably won’t. That’s why you’re going to shut her up personally with this.

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>>3298217
It's time for the opening blow! Choose one Technique.

>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.

>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]Move the highest value die from your Technique Pool to your Composure Pool.

>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. Damage from this Technique is dealt first to your opponent’s Strike Pool, treating the dice within as if they were Composure dice for the purposes of destruction. The difference between the highest dice value in the Strike Pool and the damage rolled is then dealt to the Technique Pool in the same fashion. And if the damage continues to overflow, the remainder is inflicted upon the Composure Pool in the same way.

>Still Waters[STANCE]: When an opponent attempts a Strike, ignore all dice equal to or lower than the lowest value dice in your Composure pool; these dice remain in the opponent's strike pool. This stance is broken when the opponent makes no strikes in a queue.

>Elegance: [FLOURISH] Declare either Strike, Flourish, Trick or Stance. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. When your opponent makes their next move, if it is the same category of move as declared, generate a die of equal value to the lowest value dice in your Composure Pool.

>>3298227
>>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

I guess we should get started with this.

>>3298227
>>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

Here are my predictions: We CCx4 and Gloriana does something, and then we FB and win. It's a flawless plan, and Ouro should close the vote before the elegancefags come back.

>>3298227
>Elegance: Flourish

I don't want to show her TCC yet, she doesn't know about the can't lose portion. I think.

Also I hope this perfect waifu wasn't shaken too badly by our last fight. I hope she didn't do anything drastic to herself. Even if she can't win the Sophiabowl anymore she deserves true happiness.

>>3298251
Didn't elegance do very well last time because we predicted her perfectly?

Vote called, writing.

>>3298272
I think maybe that's because we knew her moves. That might have something to do with it. Just a guess, I don't really know.

>>3298266
Gloriana is our best frenemy. Not truly a friend, and not truly an enemy.
She's sort of like an annoying cousin who annoys the fuck out of us... and Sofia always ends up taking the bait.

>>3298277
She said she only learned one new move. I'm guessing she has a new ability to go with the eyes.

>>3298294
Then I'll be an elegancechad when we see it.

>Tempered Counting Coup

Stepping forward, you unsling your coat and ready it for its usual use. You’ll whip it into her face and when she’s distracted, you’ll gain the advantage!

You step forward and at the same time...Gloriana lowers her sabre.

“Eh?”

>TEMPERED COUNTING COUP

>Gloriana uses a Flourish called Open Guard!

>Open Guard: [FLOURISH]Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. If you have a Stance active, deactivate it and generate a d8 instead. This does not count as breaking your Stance for the purposes of effects.

You flick the edge of your coat up at her but she’s already stepping back and as she does so, she swivels and lashes out with a kick! Her boot knocks your coat out of the air and almost flicks it right back at you!

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 1d4

>Gloriana’s Technique Pool: 1d4

“There you go sweet thing,” she stays, still holding the high kick pose for unnecessarily long as you stumble back. “You looked so curious I decided to show you the little thing I picked up from my master.”

“Should have figured. It was too graceful for you.”

“Aw, don’t be mean! You seem stronger too Sofia, you don’t have to be jealous. But everything else you’re going to see from this point out is a Gloriana Morello original.”
She licks her lips.

Well, at least you know your card is still working. If all else fails you can use the helpless attractiveness that you learned from Sabino to turn the tides. And is that really all she has? It doesn’t seem that bad.

>Duel Status: https://pastebin.com/Y3kbwCx0

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>>3298305
Choose three options for the first queue!

>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.

>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]Move the highest value die from your Technique Pool to your Composure Pool.

>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. Damage from this Technique is dealt first to your opponent’s Strike Pool, treating the dice within as if they were Composure dice for the purposes of destruction. The difference between the highest dice value in the Strike Pool and the damage rolled is then dealt to the Technique Pool in the same fashion. And if the damage continues to overflow, the remainder is inflicted upon the Composure Pool in the same way.

>Still Waters[STANCE]: When an opponent attempts a Strike, ignore all dice equal to or lower than the lowest value dice in your Composure pool; these dice remain in the opponent's strike pool. This stance is broken when the opponent makes no strikes in a queue.

>Elegance: [FLOURISH] Declare either Strike, Flourish, Trick or Stance. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. When your opponent makes their next move, if it is the same category of move as declared, generate a die of equal value to the lowest value dice in your Composure Pool.

>>3298294
So you think she switched out Professional Provocateur for the eyes then?
If that's the case, then one of the techs have been replaced.
Gain Some Distance, Crushing Grip, Flashing Steel, Unassailable Rookie, Underhanded deflection, counting coup.

I think she got rid of crushing grip and replaced it with something. But we won't know until we're further along.

>>3298312
Ooooh nooooooo

Now we'll be still in gain some distance and open guard hell

it synergizes well!

also I told you guys we shoulda gone with elegance: flourish. I had that gut feeling.


>Elegance: Trick
>TCC
>Elegance: Flourish

>>3298315
I'd have dropped UD. Sucks, especially without the PP synergy.

>>3298287
Gloriana is a PERFECT WOMAN and the knowledge that she isn't real drives me to tears every night.

>>3298312
>Elegance: Trick
>TCC
>TCC
If she dropped underhanded deflection for open guard, then she'll be going for gain some distance
she gains a d4. Then stance, which open guard will take advantage of gaining a d8.

>>3298312
>Elegance Trick
>Elegance Strike
>Tcc

Vote called, writing.

>>3298312
Last minute vote swap to autism man >>3298338
. He's got his head screwed in right.

>Elegance: Trick
>TCC
>TCC

>>3298338
My thinking exactly
Except I see no reason why she wouldn't use open guard at the end of the round to prep gfd next round, hence Elegance 2 at the end.

>>3298362
>>3298363
bro...

>>3298363
Alright then. The vote is called for this.

>>3298363
Who knows, I might be terribly wrong... like with Alba. Conking out for a bit, waking up 10 minutes all confused and exhausted... and then going "hey, let's take this totally unknown combo that some anon suggested even though I had written down what to do and not to do".

>>3298376
That reminds me, we should probably use the template we had used to reason out what need to do.
>action
>action
>action

>vs. Gloriana x3 action
explanation why

In any case, it's late. I'm going to bed.

>Elegance: Trick
>Tempered Counting Coup
>Tempered Counting Coup

You know exactly what she’s going to do. Those new moves of hers gave the whole game away! She’s going to jump back and disengage, taking advantage of her new fluidity to reject and assume her defensive stances over and over as convenient for her.
Does she even know how obvious it is? So in that case, you’ll feint a slash to make her gain some distance and then close the distance immediately after! You can see it laid out clear in your head. She’s going to do that. And it’ll end with you in a position of hopeless advantage over her.

You feint and just as predicted, Gloriana disenages and leaps back!

>Gloriana uses Gain Some Distance!

>Gain Some Distance: [TRICK]Destroy all dice in your opponent’s Strike Pool. If it was already empty, generate a d4 in your Composure Pool and your opponent is prevented from siphoning dice to their Strike Pool this round. You must then activate a valid Stance in this same action. You cannot use this Technique if you already have a Stance active.

>Gloriana’s Composure: 6d4, 1d10

Gloriana jumps back but as she dances across the glass floor, she doesn’t assume the stance you’ve seen her take many times before. Instead she just holds her sabre out ahead of her and locks you in her gaze! Her tiny yellow irises swell until they’re filling most of her eyes with burning diamonds. It’s like staring into a pair of lanterns!

And as you take your first step forward to close the distance as you planned, you feel everything around you grow just a little more elastic.
“It is done,” Gloriana says, her voice breathy and excited. “So help me, I’ve gone and done it.”

>Gloriana chooses a Stance named Warped Perspectives!

>Warped Perspectives: [STANCE]Once this Stance is active, at the end of each round, if a duellist chose a Trick they gain a stack of Big. If a duellist chose a Flourish, they gain a stack of Small. Big and Small stacks cancel each other out. For every stack of Big a duellist has, they have an effective +1 to the sides of all dice in all their dicepools. For every stack of Small a duellist has, they have an effective -1 to the sides of all dice in all their dicepools. Dice are still treated as their original sizes for the purposes of effects that target or require dice. Whether this Stance is active or not, stacks of either status are completely cleared by using a Strike. Is only active while you have a d4 in your Composure.

What’s going on? The ground seems to slip under your feet for a moment but you don’t let that slow you down. So maybe her stance is a little odd and her eyes are creepy, so what? She’s still doing exactly as you predicted!
You close the distance and…

>ELEGANCE: Trick

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 2d4

>Elegance Prediction Bonus: 1d4

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 3d4

1/4

>>3298498
And we're fucked.

>>3298498

>At the end of the round, Sofia gains 1 stack of Small for choosing a Flourish!

>At the end of the round, Gloriana gains 1 stack of Big for choosing a Trick!

...and you nearly run right into Gloriana’s kneecaps.

“Wait what?”
You jump back, doing your best to disengage from the towering girl! Your head is barely level with the hem of her skirt. And above it all, her eyes continue to burn like fire.

“Do you get it now, Sophie? I’ve changed the rules of the world! So now you’re a little less than 3 feet and I’m a 11 and a half! Didn’t you learn from before? Running up to me like that just makes you smaller.”

“I...I…”

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 3d3 (1 Small)
>Sofia’s Composure: 3d3, 1d5, 1d7, 1d11 (1 Small)

>Gloriana’s Technique Pool: 1d5 (1 Big)
>Gloriana’s Composure: 6d5, 1d11 (1 Big)

“Thanks for giving me the idea last time we met, with all your cute little wriggling!”

Still in shock, you take another step back but not quick enough. Gloriana kicks, your head being a little too low for her sword, and her steel-plated sole takes you right in the chest! The force of the blow sends you flying back like a doll, bouncing and skidding across the glass.
“But don’t worry,” Gloriana calls out. “It doesn’t work entirely like it should. If this had been in reality, one kick should basically kill someone like you. But in the Wake...it’s hard to say but I think you can still fight despite being all small and cute. You just can’t fight very well.”

>Gloriana’s ability, Professional Provocateur, activates!

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 2d3 (1 Small)
>Sofia’s Strike Pool: 1d3 (1 Small)

You rise to your feet and gaze up at the monster before you. You’re not going to give up. You’re not going to lose!

And then Gloriana is there in front of you again, her strides covering the distance of four of yours. She’s not even bothering to lift her sabre, her intent clearly showing that she no longer considers you worthy it. Instead she’s pulling a weighted ribbon free from the top of her vest!

“Yoohoo~”

>Gloriana is using a Trick called Smothering Submission!

>Smothering Submission: [TRICK]If your opponent is at least one increment smaller than you, lower the sides of all the dice currently in your opponent’s Technique pool by 1. Additionally, if an opponent is at least four increments smaller than you, negate their Technique this turn. At the end of this round, if your opponent is at least ten increments smaller than you, destroy all dice in their Composure Pool.

You raise your arm to guard just in time, stopping the ribbon from slapping you across the face! But even so, the corded metal inside is now heavy enough to send an awful pain crashing right up through your shoulder!
“Augh!”
Tears rise up unbidden.

2/4

>>3298502
>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 2d2 (1 Small)

>TEMPERED COUNTING COUP

You throw your coat up at her face to block her vision and she doesn’t even bother to stop it, letting it drape across her face.
“Oh dear. Is that really it, Sophie?”

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 2d2, 1d5 (1 Small)

And as you watch, the distance between the two of you grows as she doubles in size once more and you diminish even further. You’re now standing in between her ankles and looking up gives you a decidedly unwanted view.
Above, Gloriana peels your coat off her face. It’s smaller than a handkerchief to her.

>At the end of the round, Sofia gains 1 Small for using a Flourish!

>At the end of the round, Gloriana gains 1 Big for using a Trick!

“Oh noooo,” Gloriana says. “Come on Sophie. I told you that I’d trained up a new style to beat your usual tricks against me and...and you go for the standard stuff anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be my rival?”

>Gloriana’s ability, Professional Provocateur, activates!

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 2d1, 1d4 (2 Small)
>Sofia’s Strike Pool: 1d1, 1d2 (2 Small)
>Sofia’s Composure: 3d2, 1d4, 1d6, 1d10 (2 Small)

Gloriana looms over you, an impassable wall.

>Gloriana’s Technique Pool: 1d6 (2 Big)
>Gloriana’s Composure: 6d6, 1d12 (2 Big)

You’ve got to do something! You can still fight!

>Gloriana uses Smothering Submission!

She sinks down to her knees, still far larger than you and twirls her ribbon across the ground. It sweeps you off your feet and as you struggle to your feet, a pair of giant fingers close around your leg and lift you into the air. The world spins out around you as Gloriana rises with you helplessly trapped. Her shining eyes meet yours and, perhaps a little bit too late, you think that perhaps you don’t want to appear helplessly seductive right now.
“Hey Sophie...don’t feel too bad. It’s going to be just like old times.”

And just like that, she drops you down the top of her vest. And you find yourself, once more, in a very familiar predicament, trapped between two walls of flesh that each weigh more than your entire body. Your sword-arm is pinned to your side!
‘What do you think?,” Gloriana asks, her volume and the warmth of her body drowning out all other information. “You made such an impression on me last time! Why not a repeat?”

You are starting to regret using Sabino’s wish for this. You’ve only made her worse.

You try to escape or at least, to wriggle into a position where your arm is free. But what’s the point?

>TEMPERED COUNTING COUP

>Smothering Submission negates Tempered Counting Coup due to at least four increments of size difference!

Just as you thought. You’re helpless.

>At the end of the round, Sofia gains 1 Small for choosing a Flourish!

>At the end of the round, Gloriana gains 1 Big for choosing a Trick!

3/4

>>3298506

And then, what had felt like an impossible prison of flesh swells and grows further and the only thing you can do is slide deeper down. Are you still getting smaller? This makes what happened with the bottle look like a joke!
You reach out with your free arm as you sink but in the end darkness closes over you.

“What’s wrong?”
You feel her voice through the medium of flesh more than you hear at this point. Every word, every breath, sends you tossing and turning.
“I thought you enjoyed this. Better luck next time?"

>Gloriana’s ability, Professional Provocateur, activates!

>Sofia’s Technique Pool: 1d0, 1d3 (3 Small)
>Sofia’s Strike Pool: 2d0, 1d1 (3 Small)
>Sofia’s Composure: 3d1, 1d3, 1d5, 1d9 (3 Small)

>Gloriana’s Technique Pool: 1d7 (3 Big)
>Gloriana’s Composure: 6d7, 1d13 (3 Big)


You have trouble thinking for a moment, the massive drumbeat of Gloriana’s heartbeat drowning out coherent thought.
Anger boils inside you but what can you do? You’re helpless. So it’s nothing but an empty frustration that turns to poison inside your gut. Why is this happening? It’s not fair!

It’s just not fair.

Duel status: https://pastebin.com/P65LpyZC

Choose three options for the next queue!

>Focussed Blow: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage.

>Tempered Counting Coup: [FLOURISH]Sofia cannot be defeated during this turn. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. Next time you use this in the same duel, upgrade it by 2 sides. This caps at d10 and if done again afterwards, resets back to d4.

>Gritted Teeth: [TRICK]Move the highest value die from your Technique Pool to your Composure Pool.

>Flashing Steel: [STRIKE]Siphon all dice from your Technique Pool to your Strike Pool. Roll all dice in your Strike Pool to inflict damage. Damage from this Technique is dealt first to your opponent’s Strike Pool, treating the dice within as if they were Composure dice for the purposes of destruction. The difference between the highest dice value in the Strike Pool and the damage rolled is then dealt to the Technique Pool in the same fashion. And if the damage continues to overflow, the remainder is inflicted upon the Composure Pool in the same way.

>Still Waters[STANCE]: When an opponent attempts a Strike, ignore all dice equal to or lower than the lowest value dice in your Composure pool; these dice remain in the opponent's strike pool. This stance is broken when the opponent makes no strikes in a queue.

>Elegance: [FLOURISH] Declare either Strike, Flourish, Trick or Stance. Generate a d4 into your Technique Pool. When your opponent makes their next move, if it is the same category of move as declared, generate a die of equal value to the lowest value dice in your Composure Pool.

>>3298513
Well we lose automatically now.

If we had crushing grip we might stand a chance, but without it to clear effects? We autolose. Especially since small and big will affect Helpless beauty.

>>3298519
>FS
>FS
>TCC
To not instantly lose. But yeah, we lost.

>>3298521
Them's the breaks, I guess don't pick the wrong loadout based on no knowledge next time nerd! :^)

>>3298529
It is what it is. Though Gloriana did more or less mention that she'd trained to stop the old method/loadout that beat her.

>>3298521
Not entirely. After Gloriana Strikes once, she loses all of her Stacks.

Oh shoot, I didn't expect a whole new moveset designed just to counter us. That's dedication.

>>3298519
I thought dice couldn't be reduced below 1, was that just underhanded deflection?
Shit, she can just smother us every round and win.

Actually I want GTx3 this round.
>GTx3

>>3298519
I honestly have no idea how we're going to counter this.

We picked the exact wrong set up for this duel.


>>3298529
Fuck off I picked a set up that would have worked but got told it was bad cause it did not make us invulnerable.

>>3298528
Why FS twice? The second one does NOTHING. We'd have spent all our dice on the first to no effect.

>>3298538
and we'd still have nth degree of small stacks on us making helpless's return useless. Assuming she does not just spam trick to autokill us.

>>3298541
Won't help. She's just going to build stack and smash us anyways and we'll have no dice to counter. Worse she can null TCC so this battle is over. Especially we picked a trick we need tech dice to use instead of UD.


honestly Ouro should just save his time and call the match. If she plays smart we literally cannot win here.

>>3298548
>Smothering Submission: [TRICK]If your opponent is at least one increment smaller than you, lower the sides of all the dice currently in your opponent’s Technique pool by 1. Additionally, if an opponent is at least four increments smaller than you, negate their Technique this turn. At the end of this round, if your opponent is at least ten increments smaller than you, destroy all dice in their Composure Pool.

FS or FB doesn't matter. It's to reset our Composure dice size.

Yeah for the record, Warped Perspectives works off what Techniques you *choose*, not what Techniques you use. So if it's negated it still counts for the purposes of status stacks.

That applies to Strikes as well, I just miswrote it.

>>3298553
and the double reset won't do shit.

She's going to keep spamming Submission and null or strike anyways. She has us stunlocked. She's going to keep us stunlocked. Trick takes priority so she can keep spamming trick until we lose. This is basically the same shit The Rose Ring mistress did.


She's going to trick 4 more times, keeping us stunlocked and win. oh nvm.

>>3298556
It only clears ours not hers yeah?

So she'll still have 4 big on us or more.

Would we lose tech dice to comp if a GT got negated?

>>3298541

And then she just uses Open Guard to stance break, and we sit there gritting our teeth like an idiot while she builds up dice for a full queue, failing to gain any size because her stance is broken?

And remember, size is a lot more of a swing on offense than on defense. +X gets applied to every single die you roll on attack, but effectively only applies once to comp dice because of how they break.

To be honest, if she's making a read on us and planning to go for dice generation this queue, assuming we'll sit around tricking like a moron...

We should probably get our TCCs in this round. We have a d8 and a d10 coming up the pipeline. I seriously doubt she'll just keep sizing up on us.

Regardless though, spamming Gritted Teeth is also bad because until we clear out these Smalls, it's just gonna be running on the treadmill. Gritted Teeth clears one Small, while a FB or FS clears three.

But yeah, I think that she's expecting us to Trick Grind this round, and it's gonna just get us nowhere. We should be working on Dice Gen this round.

TCC/TCC/FB might even be an option. It'd at least break her d4s in comp and set her back a bit. Then it'd just be a matter of hoping we can get her to PP a dice into our Strike so she HAS to use flashing steel before she GSDs again? It's not 100% clear why she'd be dumb enough to do that I guess, but I think that trick grinding this turn is just a trap.

>>3298562
>It only clears ours not hers yeah?

Correct.

>Would we lose tech dice to comp if a GT got negated?
No.

>>3298519
>Fs to her Smother
>Elegance Flourish to her Open Guard
>FB to her FS

>>3298564
But if she keeps spamming SS she kills us with those plans

Hey guys, I know this looks sloppy but I'm administering a mid-duel patch after I realised that Gloriana technically has a hard-lock that is impossible to escape from. One where she just slowly jiggles you to death until Professional Provocateur runs you out of Composure dice.

I'm fine with Gloriana winning but this is an interaction she's not supposed to have.

So with this in mind, from now on, Smothering Submission now needs 6 increments of size difference to negate a Technique.
Gloriana was just using it stronger than normal in the first round because it's still so fresh and untested for her!

>>3298592
We have 6 increments of difference anyway now, so it's moot.

>>3298592
I think you made her too strong Boss. She could wipe just about anyone with how she is now.

>>3298592
To elaborate on how I think that.

She can literally spam one move to make a death spiral with her PP and stance. It goes into a stunlock REALLY fast if she catches someone trying to build dice with flourishes. And from there she can spam trick and win easily. She continuously makes herself harder and harder to harm by trick spamming while her opponent is either nulled or pisses away their dice trying to futilely harm her. With GSD she can even keep setting it up. ad nauseum until she autowins and no one can stop her.

>>3298599

But a strike will clear 3 of those, so even if she grows again the gap will only be 4.

The biggest problem is that Gritted Teeth is the WORST trick for this loadout. With any other trick, we could let her generate tech/strike dice for us with PP while tricking to match her growth, since Big is stronger as an offensive bonus than as a defensive bonus. It's the downside to her build, it potentially empowers her opponent to blow her out with a big strike by accelerating their dice while they Big up to multiply that roll.

We just happened to pick a trick that stalls out PP. Which is... unfortunate, and is probably going to lose us the duel at this point.

>>3298607
With a more informed loadout, we could just use her trick against her and blow her out, in all likelihood. She doesn't seem OP, we just got quagmired in the opening queue because we dueled immediately and had no data on what she could do.

At least nothing important is at stake.

Don't forget how Gloriana seemed unbeatable in our first duel, but then in our second duel we crunched her almost instantly. She's a gimmick duelist, and we got cheesed again. Live and learn.

>>3298621
In essence she only needs
GSD, her stance and SS and she will beat ANYONE not explicitly specced to beat her like she did us.

>>3298623
Issue is if she spammed trick we'd need to do so as well or else our dice would just do nothing. and she will always take the lead on that. Moreover we literally cannot build dice and keep pace with her, only one or the other and by the time we build enough dice to break her, she'll have gotten to big she won't fall to it.

>>3298519
>FS
>Elegance: Trick
>GT

This is expecting her to go for more tricks. Elegance gives us 2 dice, GT consumes one, so this way we at least slow down size ddifference increase while genning Tech. Hopefully we can gen enough to destroy her d4s

If she strikes, the better - HB will proc and hopefully break her d4s, and we have enough tools to come back from broken.

Note for next time we fight Gloriana: Load Crushing Grip and Underhanded Deflection instead of Flashing Steel and Gritted Teeth. We'd be in a strong position to blow her out immediately if we could queue both of those this round.

>>3298627
The only way she's really beatable is if someone gets a dice gen tech that starts off with a d6 or even d8 and builds. D4 starts means we won't get it big enough to do anything with how slow elegance and CC are.


>>3298628
What do you expect from her queu? Run us through your reasoning?

>>3298631
I did and got told it's bad cause we'd not be invulnerable...

For the record, I don't think Gloriana is at all unbeatable for anyone who knows about her beforehand. You guys couldn't have known and wound up in the worst case scenario, that of a triple Flourish queue running into right into it.

Will write when the tie is broken.

>>3298632
>What do you expect from her queu? Run us through your reasoning?

I expect trick spam or a big strike somewhere.

>>3298638
Ok.

That's vague and half assed. Literally no one has explained what the expect her to do this turn except me. Give us a turn by turn of your expected queu for her. That's the only way we'll stand a chance of beating her, not vague what ifs.

>>3298632

Well you made a smarter vote than the anons who won, then. The real problem right now is that we can't trick or strike without siphoning away our dice.

If we could just build up our Big with trick while letting her PP give us dice for the Big to buff, or if we could clear Small (and destroy HER d4 composure/tech dice) with Crushing Grip, without blowing our whole tech pool, we'd be in a much better situation here.

Silent Waters and Helpless Beauty won't help us if she just gets big enough to stunlock us and drain our Composure to 0 with PP.

So basically our Loadout is exactly the worst one we could've picked for this particular fight. We had no way of knowing that, but I do think people are overestimating her a bit. She's not generally that strong, her build is just totally cheesy as all hell.

>>3298654
We use a strike to clear our small (which we can do since she negates our technique's effects but not the strike clearing itself.)

I kinda expect her to get one more SS in and then Open guard and smack us for a lot of hits.


Circle guard would also work to deal with her big stacks if we have a tech die.

>>3298628

Backing this

>>3298674
Why?

Vote called, writing.

>I fuckings fell asleep.

Ah tits, sorry mates. I wasn't there to work my masterful plan, my bad. Let's see if we can't fix this dumpster dire then.