>>3681951
>from prior thread, and I just noticed I fucked the thread title up again.
Henry stared out the window as Rosa fell asleep in his arms. An army of long dead and never alive ghiests fluttered past the window, with one or two occasionally poking at it before being repelled by the angelic runes buried in the lighthouse. The ghiest-tide was generally troublesome but rarely lethal as long as one sheltered in place. Henry had heard that a few homes had been broken into in the shantytowns outside the walls but beyond that it seemed the angelic runes in the city were holding for the time being.

He could see the factories and research centers of the Cult of Progress lit up via massive light runes, all sprinkled along the coast. Among them were certainly places similar to the one Charles had scouted, full of things that the church wouldn’t allow to exist. His employer had plenty of dirty secrets, secrets he could make a lot of money protecting.

Rosa finally drifted off to sleep and Henry followed her shortly thereafter. The morning came rather quickly, as Henry didn’t dream that night.

Waking up Henry did a double take when he found Rosa in his bed. He managed to get up without waking her and went about preparing breakfast. The two of them ate in silence as Henry figured out what he wanted to say to her.

>>3681953
>gonna roll with the name fuck up, too stubborn to try a new thread
Henry coughed a couple times and finally broke the silence.

“Rosa, I’ve been thinking…”

“No its fine, Henry. I’m okay, I’m sorry for being such a mess lately but I’m not really good at opening up to people, as you can probably tell.” Rosa said, staring down at her legs and fidgeting in her seat.

“No, not that, I mean if you want to talk about it with me and Johnny we could probably do something… look I’m getting off track. I want to go to church with you, Rosa.” Henry sputtered.

“What? WHAT?!” Rosa asked, dumbstruck. Her mouth hung agape for a moment before sense returned to her and she awkwardly cupped a hand over it.

“Look, its time, I think.” Henry said.

“W-well, l-lets go after this! I know a lovely little chapel near the ocean. Tad noisy at night, hence why I avoid it, but it’s not too far from here, maybe a mile?”

“Yeah, I could do with a walk.” Henry replied.

The two continued the rest of their meal in silence, neither person knew what to say and both had a lot to process.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Calm Coast Chapel was a small building sat to the side of a square plot of land surrounded by a waist high brick wall. In terms of holy grounds the thing was utterly pathetic. The church seemed to double as the priests living quarters and there wasn’t even a well on site. The only thing the place had going for it was the view, which was admittedly spectacular. Henry could see the entire bay from where he was, the church was pitched on top of a large hill which offered some nice views of the town as well. Rosa had done most of the talking, seeing as she somehow knew the deacon and had allowed them to do a small private prayer session before the morning mass began. They’d have about forty minutes to get everything done, which was fine as Henry didn’t plan on staying in town much longer than that.

Decisions:
1. *find a seat and try to pray, focus on hurting the son of a bitch who keeps saying stupid shit*
2. *pray and focus, try to create a meeting space in your mind to have a nice calm chat*
3. *Henry suddenly feels out of place, he doesn’t want to set foot in the church let alone pray inside of it*
4. (write in)

>>3681985
>4. (write in)
Maybe actual prayer might hurt it the worst, lets try.

>>3682135
roll 1d100 to see if Henry can manage to sincerely pray, also what is he praying about.

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3682236
for the ones he hold precious to be safe

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>3682236
this? >>3682273

File: 80d.jpg (77 KB, 887x1097)

77 KB JPG

>>3682273
>>3682285
>mfw

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>3682290
ONCE MORE FOR LUCK
I hope

>>3682372
doesn't count I'm afraid

>>3682438
Sads

>>3681985
Henry attempted to pray, kneeling down next to Rosa and giving it his best shot, which turned out to be worth jack shit. He couldn’t focus, he felt out of place, he didn’t really want to be here and he felt a bit of guilt for lying to Rosa. Henry expected nobody to taunt him, but no taunts came, not even so much as a whisper actually. Henry felt a bit nervous, waiting for something to go wrong, but all that happened was that he was sitting down like an idiot in a fecking church, he’d gone to church for the first time since he was a kid and he’d made a mess of it.

He turned to Rosa and watched as the woman mouthed out sentences he didn’t understand. It seemed she’d memorized some sort of prayer from one of the books, probably something relevant. He wondered how she could stay so committed to the church. They’d never stabbed her in the back, sure, but from what he’d seen she didn’t have any real reason to stay. She could take care of herself, she knew the roads, yet she cooped herself up in the abbeys. He had some idea as to why, but it still felt a little odd. He didn’t really understand loyalty or camaraderie.

They finished and returned home, Henry began barking orders to the lazy shits who thought that they could avoid work. There was a slight issue though. The kids and Alice, Ophelia had rigged up a decent disguise for the three of them but Henry didn’t know if it would hold. Alice could probably keep her trap shut but when it came to stupid kids Henry had misgivings. It was likely he’d have to split his group up to care for them, and he sure as shit wasn’t comfortable leaving Alice behind alone with them.

He watched as Rosa and Johnny read church stories to them from a couple of books. The kids’ eyes had shifted noticeably and they were now compound eyes similar to Alice. Antenna had sprouted from their heads and parts of their skin had fallen out to reveal patches of exoskeleton, yet overall they still looked pretty human. From a distance you wouldn’t be able to tell something was wrong with them. It was a damned shame he hadn’t managed to save them earlier.

Decisions:
1. *who stays and who goes to the town of Rally?*
2. (write in)

>>3682654
>no votes as of yet, if nobody votes I'll select from a preset

>>3682654
Okay so far: the site is a decent sized space near Rally, Henry's seaside hometown. Relatively isolated from nearby places, but there could be escaped slimes roaming the area. There is a queen, and there might be multiple queens. They are weak to puncturing attacks and excessive energy destabilizing their forms, I think? There are multiple buildings full of research notes and loot and other things, and a lot of people might be dead there because the slimes blew them the fuck out. Anything else Henry knows in-character or that you can tell us out of character?

>>3684894
Should we have 2 teams?
A hit team and one to rescue it?
Rosa and Larry and Ophelia be the backup one for ranged and heals, while Henry Charles and Johnny do the fighting?
The backup team not in view of the fighting team

>>3684969
That could work. So Alice and the two bug kids will be left behind alone in the base? I was thinking we could leave Johnny behind to monitor them, since Henry can relay commands and information to him from anywhere thanks to his demonic hammerspace contract. Thoughts?

>>3684991
Hmm
Sounds good, but then we're down a fighter.

>>3685013
Johnny being invincible could help with the slimes, yeah, but I'd rather not leave Alice and the kids alone. What if somebody else tries to contact Henry and co. while they're out? Or they get raided? Or some dumb bullshit happens? The benefit of omni-range one-way contact from Henry to Johnny is good for that because Henry can tell Johnny about ongoing mission progress, as well as issue commands to do on his end. Only problem is Rosa spotting Henry pulling out his contract, but if Johnny were there then explaining away how he's not even injured after a slime glomps him to try to dissolve his indestructible bones would be much more of a shitty situation. Also, slimes could totally dissolve away clothing which would render disguises moot to a significant degree. Get what I mean?

>>3685039
But then we'd have to leave Charles with Rosa and Ophelia while Larry assists us.
And GM who else can we subcontract?

>>3685052
>>3685039
>>3685013
>>3684991
>>3684969
>>3684894
will write tomorrow!

>>3685052
ah subcontractors.

1. Xavier, obviously.
2. Perhaps that merc you rescued from Del Mar might have connections? Maybe Johnny knows his name?
3. Fraz Henderson's might have a son or daughter willing to lend a hand for some coin (the guy who gave you a ride on his giant undead beast in Nirdec Caverns)
4. Perhaps Ophelia or Rosa know someone who'd be willing to help?
5. any cool ideas you guys have.

>>3684894
beyond the basic mission briefing, no. Henry hasn't been to Rally since he was a child, for obvious reasons he hasn't been comfortable going back.

The research facility is located outside of the town itself in the surrounding forest. Henry is going to receive further information during the boatride up to the town. However he does know there is a single slime colony of about 300 workers/warriors/queen, the vast majority of which is harmless worker drones which can be dispatched with little trouble

The research facility is a large re-appropriated fort with several underground areas. The area was selected due to how out of the way of roads or trade routes it is, yet near enough to a town to be frequently resupplied. The area surrounding it has a few dangers, such as zombies, ghiests, the occasional rogue Frank, and the rare banshee. The area isn't patrolled too frequently by angels either. The facility has a decent amount of undead security and they might be willing to lend some out to you if you can convince them you're qualified in their usage.

The Cult of Progress is not providing any real material support beyond the gold and information, they hired you to kill the slimes after all. They don't want anything that could tie them back to the slimes.


Finally, based on your info (which is a few days old now) there have been no deaths attributed to the slimes beyond the initial breakout, and the situation is tense but controllable.

>further questions?

>>3685106
Next post will be traveling to Rally unless any further votes are cast or discussion is made. I will attempt to post tomorrow.

>>3688031
Might as well ask Xavier, he's still a vampire and ought to be sturdy and mildly useful even if he's unskilled in the arts. Plus he'd probably get a kick out of doing a Good Deed, even if it's for the wrong reasons.

Is it possible to mask his appearance so Rosa can't tell he's a vamp?

Is anyone in favour of informing Venser if possible, in person only, that we'll be out of town? No details just a "hey I'll be unavailable and oh i looked into that thing, bad shit huh"? Showing him trust and willingness to share with him even if it's a whole bunch of nothing. Maybe let Johnny do the meeting after we've left so they can't send spies. He knows that Henry is paranoid and shifty so i believe that venser will read a lot into the gesture. May or may not help us down the line.

>>3690076
Agreed, we should inform Venser if possible.

>>3691535
>>3690076
writing

>>3694145
>>3690076
Vampires are actually quite difficult to suss out beyond a slightly pale complexion. Most learn glamours if they can manage it, and Xavior is no exception. He is able to utilize vampiric glamour and can wear clothing to protect himself from sunlight.

As for Venser, I'm going to write about that.

>>3694145
posting tomorrow.

>>3682654
Henry managed to gather everyone around a couple of crates. The man stood on top while everyone else looked on expectantly. Henry explained that he’d be leaving Alice and the kids behind with Johnny to keep them safe while everyone else would be heading to Rally to begin the mission. Rosa asked a couple questions about what it was about which Henry partially answered. Telling her it was an extermination mission was enough of the truth to not be a lie, right?

Henry sent Johnny to meet up with Xavier and a generalized deal was struck. They came to an agreement on pricing and Henry even managed to save some coin by trading some human blood, which Xavier explained he didn’t normally have access to. Apparently he could subsist on rat blood but required human blood once a month or so to stay healthy. He much appreciated the fact that he’d gain access to a steady supply. Henry noted that this would give him some control over the man and made further notes to figure out if he could abuse this in the future. The vampire showed up in a dirty hood and worn clothing, most of his body covered to avoid damage in the sun. The man would be well suited for the tunnels in which the slimes resided, however.

Henry left a few notes at the Order of Lanterns headquarters, mainly explaining to Venser that he wouldn’t be in town, and updating him briefly on his activities, those that he felt comfortable sharing of course.

Now that that was out of the way, all that was left was supplies. That and Alice, the woman had wanted to discuss something with him. She explained that she didn’t feel comfortable simply sitting on her behind and doing nothing for him, necromancer or not. She explained that she felt like a tick, which Henry found hilarious given her condition. Of course Alice took that wonderfully. Johnny managed to smooth things over but the issue remained, Alice wanted to travel with the group to avoid being a burden.

Decision #1: Alice:
1. Take her with, her flight and scry magic could prove useful
2. Leave her behind, she’s too much of a liability

Decision #2: Supplies:
1. (write in)

>>3696682
>Take her with, her flight and scry magic could prove useful
Johnny is OP enough to defend children and the base, and never needs to sleep ever. Kids can hide safe in the loft while Johnny kicks ass if he has to.
>Supplies
Medical supplies to treat things but especially burns, acid burns because slimes.
Water because fighting slimes or anything at all gets people thirsty.
Bomb runes, flamecaster, and easily flammable liquid because slimes and high temperature is usually not very good?
Anything else we need? Would rather get more input from other people, including cool write-in suggestions for custom shit. We have craptons of gold for it anyhow.

>>3696786
Remind her we're doing a job for the cult of progress and if they see her they'll try to take her for experiments.
Promise her we'll take her on other gobs where there's less of a chance for her to be kidnapped and effectively tortured.

Medical supplies to treat things but especially burns, acid burns because slimes.
Water because fighting slimes or anything at all gets people thirsty.
Bomb runes, flamecaster, and easily flammable liquid because slimes and high temperature is usually not very good?
Anything else we need? Would rather get more input from other people, including cool write-in suggestions for custom shit. We have craptons of gold for it a
All that is good
And rats if we're going to use the bone shrapnel idea.

>>3696890
>>3696786
writing

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3696890
>>3696786
flipping a coin for Alice

1 = stay
2 = go to Rally

>>3696682
Henry, considered his options when it came to Alice but was ultimately on the fence about it. Eventually he had a short conversation with Ophelia in which he was convinced to bring the woman. Apparently her and Xavier had been talking and working on a glamour spell while the man had been living inside the warehouse. It wasn’t completely done but Ophelia was fairly confident she would have it ready by the time they finished their little boatride. She explained that it would require blue and black mana, and either Henry or Xavier would need to contribute. Henry considered what the woman was saying and decided it was worth a shot. Alice thanked Ophelia profusely for some reason, and the matter was settled. Henry would just need to keep her existence hidden from the cult, but honestly he figured that would be pretty easy, just don’t bring her to meetings.

The next task was securing supplies, something that Henry and Charles handled. The two consulted with Rosa before gathering necessary medical supplies. Nothing too particular beyond stuff for treating acid burns, bandages, gauze, alcohol for wounds, that sort of stuff.

>Medical Supplies gained
>Acid treatments gained
> -5 silver

Another thing that the two got was whale oil. Ophelia had managed to get the remaining flamecaster off of Ticky. Apparently the first one had been cut in half when Del Mar had slashed her, and it was probably the reason Ophelia was still alive. The woman seemed rather attached to the thing, and Henry decided to let her hang onto it, it would prove rather useful for the mission. Henry gathered a good deal of whale oil, bomb runes, flame runes, and even managed to secure an inferno rune from a black market contact. The thing was VERY powerful and could easily incinerate a house on its own. If they doused the lair in the whale oil they’d be able to cause quite the blaze.

>10 bomb runes gained
>large amount of whale oil gained
>Flame Caster acquired, in Ophelia’s possession
>3 Flame Runes gained
>1 inferno Rune gained
> -65 silver

Henry checked over the supplies one last time, and then wheeled them back into the warehouse with Charles’ help. It was around eleven in the morning and they needed to be gone by noon. Henry checked the map of the city he’d laid out on the table and found that everyone was more or less ready to go. Larry had something fun to show Henry, however.

Apparently the man had used two of his gold coins to enhance his flame blade. The man explained that it could now generate a projectile slash and he hoped it would allow him to slay something real nasty. Henry noted that the man seemed uncomfortable about something and continually looked at Charles. Beyond that he hardly cared, a better weapon was perfectly fine with him.

> - 2 gold (technically Larry's gold)

Final Decision before departure:
1. *talk to someone*
2. *head out, times a wasting*

>>3697186
>*talk to someone*
Alice and Xavier. They need to be supported and pep talked right now because they're new. Briefing them about the slimes and shit if they don't already know about what we're going into.

>>3697186
also ask Larry what's with Charles - we caught him looking, what's eating at him?

>>3697243
>>3697292
These
Larry first, followed by the other two
If there's not enough time for all 3, just larry
We can talk to Xavier and Alice on the way

Yeah both sound good

>>3697463
>>3697434
>>3697292
>>3697243
postin tomorrow

>>3697186
Henry decided to ask what was going on with Larry. Charles seemed nervous and explained he’d promised the man to keep it secret, and that it wouldn’t have any impact on the mission. Despites Charles’ pleading Henry decided to go address the issue with Larry. The man tried to lie about things, badly. Henry eventually pressed and found out that Larry had run away from Del Mar during the fight. At first Henry was consumed with a calm fury, until he learned the circumstances behind it. It had been after Del Mar had hurt both of them. Larry felt ashamed that he hadn’t tried to do anything. The man couldn’t bring himself to look at Henry, of course. Henry simply explained that it was better that he ran at that point rather than throw his life away. Otherwise he’d have died for no reason. Retreating was the best option, and he shouldn’t feel ashamed at feeling fear, it just showed he was human. Henry’s only point of critics was that he’d been overwhelmed by it. His sage advice was to make sure it ‘didn’t happen again.’

Coming off of that meeting Henry gathered Alice and Xavier into the warehouse for a private discussion, mainly to bring them both up to speed. Alice eyed the vampire nervously while Xavier took in all the information he could. He asked a couple of questions about the time it would take to deal with them, what time of day they’d be attacking, etc. Alice didn’t really have too many questions, beyond how the slimes actually functioned. Henry explained to her that he didn’t really know the exact science behind them, only the danger they posed. He accepted her request to grab some to study, and dreaded the idea of her and Ophelia teaming up for anything other than rune making.

Xavier mentioned he might be able to utilize vampiric glamour on Alice, to give her a look somewhat like a normal person, but he’d need blue mana as well as his black mana to do it. Luckily Alice had plenty of blue mana to spare and he left the two of them on that project in the meantime.


Decisions:
1. Lump Ophelia into the glamour Project (gives +15 bonus to rolling, however it gets Ophelia involved)
2. Have a talk with Charles about the stray boy he’s been feeding. Having an outsider that close to the warehouse makes Henry nervous as all hell.
3. Talk to Xavier about his fighting experience, you can spare a minute
4. Talk to Nina and Mark, they’ve been hiding up in the loft for a bit.
5. Head out, you’re done here
6. (write in)

>>3703137
>Talk to Nina and Mark, they’ve been hiding up in the loft for a bit.
Gotta have them being OK while we're gone.

>>3703137
4. Talk to Nina and Mark, they’ve been hiding up in the loft for a bit.
We should look into bringing them back something, like a toy for each of them.

>>3703822
>>3703254
writing

>>3703137
Henry headed up to the loft to check on the children. Funnily enough they were only a bit younger than Charles but they acted far more like he’d expect children to than his apprentice ever had. He sighed and shook his head. He’d probably had more of an actual childhood than Charles had, funnily enough.

He found Mark sitting next to a couple of crates, his head covered with a couple pieces of cloth. Beyond that nothing else seemed out of order. The boy stiffened up when he noticed Henry approach and tried to shy away.

“What?” He said, finally.

“What’s with the cloth, and why are you hiding up here?” Henry asked.

“Nina doesn’t like looking at my face, she keeps saying its ugly. She’s over there hiding if you want to talk with her, she kicked me out of the fort and won’t let me back inside.”

“The fort?” Henry asked.

“The boxes? Not like I can have any fun in this building cooped up all day.” He continued.

“Right, look, I’m going to go talk to Nina and figure out what’s going on, stay there.” Henry said.

“Whatever.”

Henry walked over to a small pile of boxes that had been stacked up in a ring. There was a small stack of boxes on one side which formed a miniature tower of sorts. Beyond that the construct lacked any defining features beyond its rickety nature. Nina was huddled inside crying softly to herself.

“What’s wrong?” Henry asked, not really comfortable with dealing with a crying child. Lot of bad memories there.
“I’m ugly!” Nina said.

“Well, no. Not really. You’re perfectly fine, stop worrying about something you have no control over.” Henry said.

Henry continued to console the poor girl, stepping into the ‘fort’ and huddling down next to her. Eventually Nina opened up and sat down besides Henry, still hiding her face with her hands.

“You can’t go around calling people ugly, it’s a bad habit.” Henry said, trying to joke about the situation.

“Alice said…” Nina explained.

“Oh, great… well let me have a nice little talk with Alice then.” Henry said, cutting her short and rising up off the floor. That explained why she’d been so keen on leaving to Rally.

“No!” Nina said, “Don’t hurt her!”

“What I wasn’t going to.” Henry said, taken aback.

“Mark says you hurt people! Don’t hurt Alice! She’s kind, and caring!” Nina said, frantic.

“Alright I won’t hurt her, I promise.” Henry said. “What did she say.”

“She said she was ugly… when she thought we wouldn’t hear. She doesn’t think she’s pretty anymore, and we look like her now right? So aren’t we ugly too?” Nina asked.

Decisions:
1. “No of course not.”
2. “Well, she didn’t mean to call it ugly.”
3. “There’s nothing wrong with being ugly.”
4. “Yes, obviously, stop crying about it.”
5. “She’s just confused.”
6. (write in)

>>3706244
>6. (write in)
"It's more like a scar, a battle scar. It's not your fault you got scared up right? It was that shi- 'bad' man that did it, no fault of your own."

>>3706244
this >>3706298 but also
>"Besides, there's plenty of people out there. Some might think you're ugly. Some might think having bug parts instead of human parts is appealing. The best you can do is accept how you are and move on with your life."

>>3706305
Not many people can claim they have armor for skin

>>3706366
>>3706305
>>3706298
writin

>>3706244
“It’s more like a scar, uh, a battle scar. It’s not your fault you got scarred up right? It was that shi- ‘bad’ man that did it, no fault of your own.”

“Woah.” Mark said, his head peaking over the side of the boxes. Nina tossed a piece of wood at the boy who barely managed to duck in time.

“Besides, there’s plenty of people out there. Some might think that you’re ugly. Some might find that beneath all those bug parts is a sweet little girl. What you gotta do is be comfortable in your own skin.. er, and move on with your life.

“Thanks Henry.” Nina said, wiping away tears. “I guess that weird man also has something he wants to hide.”

“Oh Johnny, he’s a great guy. He’s going to be watching over the two of you while the rest of us take care of some business stuff.”

The two children nodded and shared a look. Henry could’ve sworn there was a trace of blue mana between the two of them but it only lasted for a moment and it was incredibly faint. For all he knew it might’ve just been some dust from one of Ophelia’s private projects.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The boat that had been selected for their trip was fairly plain. A wooden construct with several decks and a couple masts. Ophelia grumbled about how the cult couldn’t have spared an ironclad. Everyone else figured she just wanted to study one. Rosa muttered about how there was something wrong with the way she viewed the world, and that Henry had a tendency to surround himself with such people.

Larry finished his tasks and plopped down onto the deck before getting yelled at by a couple of crew members. Larry managed to convince them that he was the reason this trip had been arranged and to show a bit more respect. Henry wasn’t sure if that was a sign of the man’s charisma or the sailors gullibility. Either way the two sailors found their way to other parts of the deck and Henry and Charles ensured their cargo was loaded. The two personally oversaw the loading of the whale oil and runes. One to ensure that they wouldn’t have any accidents, and two to make sure nothing went ‘missing.’

Rosa seemed to be rather popular with the crewmen to Henry’s chagrin. He knew damned well that having a healer on board a ship brought good luck. But he had some rather violent thoughts due to the way the sailors oogled her. Normally Larry would tell him to relax but Charles filled the roll this time.

Ophelia managed to find her way into the lower decks before being thrown out by an annoyed looking first mate. He told Henry in no uncertain terms that they would not go into the cargo hold of the ship, or he would see to it that they were thrown overboard. Henry knew better than to argue with an officer on his ship, and let the matter drop.

With little fanfare, the ship departed towards Rally Province.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

>>3707051
A small nondescript farmhouse in Avignon Province stood amidst a field of cabbages. Inside a rather interesting meeting between groups of interesting people was taking place.

Inquisitor Agatha looked down at her notes and back up at the masked Paladin sitting across from her. Every single document, every scrap of evidence, and every single member she’d talked to from both of their orders had all confirmed that he was indeed Noblis Paladin Venser. One of the highest ranking members of the Order of Lanterns and a living legend at that. Still, not being able to see a person’s face and being expected to believe that they were who they claimed set the woman on edge. She checked to see that Inquisitors Barstow and Regwal had arrived and then cleared her throat. Paladin Ashur stood at attention behind him. The man had taken an understudy, one who’d proven to be ‘adequate’. An above average aptitude for spellcraft, a decent ability to follow orders and improvise, steadfast loyalty, and not much more. The man’s new seals and displays of his title gleamed brilliantly. He’d gotten them the prior evening and hadn’t let even a speck of grime or dirt mar their surfaces.

“So why have you decided to call this meeting with me and my team out of the blue like this?” Agatha asked, deciding that the direct approach would be the best course of action.

She could sense Barstow and Regwal tense up, babies. So what if he was a legend, he’d come to them and now they were wasting time with a meeting when they had important work to be doing. If it had been anyone else she would’ve slammed the proverbial door in their faces, she’d done as much to the damned archbishop a month prior. Though the writ of silence from the Lunarch had helped that matter.

“I understand you plan to conduct an operation tomorrow evening. I wish for me and a few of my paladins to take part in that operation.” Venser said simply.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to but even if I did it would be COMPLETELY out of the QUESTION.” Agatha boomed.

“Inquisitor, we’re well aware of the target, the general timeframe, and the fact that the inquisition has been investigating the cult of progress for some time now, and it’s of our opinion that you’ve been doing a fantastic job at it, however I need to inform you that certain factions within the cult have taken notice of you.”

>>3707153

“We’re well aware of that. Regardless, I’m not going to have some unknown factor get involved.”

“Well how about this, I’ll allow you to ask me a couple of questions, using truth divining spells, at your leisure.”

“Sir?” Ashur asked, concern in his voice.

“It’s quite fine Ashur, I am in good health and my mind is in top shape, I can handle it.” Venser explained, trying to put the man at ease

“You’d go that far… this is personal, then.” Agatha asked, scratching her chin and leaning forward, her curiosity stoked.

“Not this location, but it borders personal matters.” Venser continued. “If you decide to carry through with this operation, then well. It cause quite a few problems for our people. The Cult has been very intrusive into the orders matters for some time now but only recently they’ve been trying to insert pliable members into our ranks. Something you’d perhaps be familiar with.

“Watch your tongue.” Barstow said, speaking up for the first time.

“Enough, I’m going to ask my questions.” Agatha said, readying a white mana spell and casting it over Venser. The mage offered no resistance.

“Are you or any of your handpicked paladins affiliated with the Cult of Progress.” Agatha asked.

“No, quite the opposite.”

>>3707155
“What would you gain from your involvement in this operation?”

“A cover story for being on location, currying favor with the inquisition to be redeemed at a later time, and dealing a massive blow to the cult of progress.”

“A cover story? Why would you require something like that?”

“The cult tracks our movements now, if we tried stepping foot anywhere nearby, we’d face severe sanctions.”

“The Archbishop has no authority.” Agatha said.

“They don’t need direct authority to put pressure on us, the cult of progress controls a great deal of this city, and this is where most of our people are.” Venser explained.

Agatha asked a bevy of further questions, their responses either yes or no. By the time she’d finished she seemed rather satisfied and had even warmed up a bit to her fellows shock.

“I have one final question for you before I accept or decline your offer, Venser.” Agatha explained.

“Let’s hear it.” Venser said, his jovial tone indicating that he was rather enjoying this game of twenty questions.”

“What are your personal feelings towards the cult of progress.” Agatha asked.

“Why would you need to know that?” Ashur asked, grimacing once he’d realized he’d spoken that out loud.

>>3707160


“Because, boy, If I’m going to have someone involved on anything involving my oversite, I want to ensure I understand their mindset. You will never need to understand that, I can assure you.”

“Seething unquenchable hatred, creeping dread, unending despair.” Venser said, matter of factly.

“No need to dress it up, I get the point, you have a vendetta. That could be useful. I’m going to take it under consideration and get back to you in a couple of hours, you’ll know when you’ve received it. I’ll have to figure out something to ensure you don’t get tracked. The extra manpower will be extremely helpful.” Agatha said, ending the spells effects and ending the meeting.

As Ashur and Venser took their leave. As they walked Venser couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

“Sir?” Ashur asked.

“They needed our help more than they wanted to admit, yet weren’t able to ask. The inquisition to a T.” Venser explained.

“Sir that’s not so different from the two of us.” Ashur continued.

“We aren’t doing this because its our job or because we have to, Ashur, we’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do, never forget that.”

“I haven’t sir! But is it really that funny?” Ashur said.

“I didn’t dress up anything I said, Ashur. My hatred for the cult is absolute and unyielding. I found it quite funny that the inquisitor didn’t take that of all things at face value.”

The two walked off, back towards the city. They had a lot of planning ahead of them.

============================(End Of Chapter)=================================

>>3707164
Thanks for running!

>>3707343
no prob

>>3707164
Thanks for running! I missed it because the title was wonky though!

File: 220px-MrNanny.jpg (23 KB, 220x314)

23 KB JPG

>>3696786
>Johnny is OP enough to defend children and the base, and never needs to sleep ever. Kids can hide safe in the loft while Johnny kicks ass if he has to.


Oh no. Somebody didn't have the chance to experience "Badass Babysitter" movies in the 90s.

Johnny can handle a sword, he can handle monsters, he can handle mages - but can he handle two blue mana pubescent teens with antennas?

>>3709193
>>3708021
I'm on my phone, so just pretend I sloppily photoshopper Skeletors head over Hulk Hogans here.

>>3709173
yeah, I kinda fucked that part up.

>>3709193
>this entire post
I have half a mind to run a sidequest with their shenanigans, shame my schedule is so fucked at the moment

>>3710014
I mean.

We're in an intermission period, if your schedule is fucked than isn't this the BEST time to run a oneshot of their shenanigans?

Just rip the plot right out from various 80s/90s movies wikipedia summaries. People love nostalgia, even nostalgia
they're technically too young for.

============================(Chapter Start)========================

The trip to the town of Rally was fairly short, only lasting for about three hours total. From what the first mate told him, they made trips frequently between the town and Avignon. When Henry pressed him for further information the man became skittish, and attempted to rapidly change the subject. What little Ophelia could tell him indicated that they transported live cargo as well as some magical components. Henry figured the cult would be collecting the dead slimes for further study, and transporting them back to Avignon. Not really his business after he’d killed them.

Rosa sat down next to Henry and the two tried to sit as still as possible while Charles sketched them. The boy complained that the boat was swaying too much to get anything good out of it, but Rosa continually encouraged him while Henry chided him and explained that the seas were extremely calm right now. Larry and Ophelia were sitting together with Alice and Xavier and were discussing the ins and outs of the glamour charm. Ophelia had explained to Henry that she had a fairly good idea of what she needed to do and gave the charm about a 75% chance of working. For the time being Henry had decided to throw on one of Johnny’s old helmets and try to pass her off as a small framed man. It seemed to work well enough, none of the sailors really cared.

When the town finally came into view Henry’s jaw dropped. The terrain was all the same, but the hamlet that he remembered from his youth was gone, replaced by a sprawling town replete with a large set of docks. From what the first mate told him, the town had become a frequent stopping point for cargo moving down the coast or for ships sailing out of Avignon. Henry could hardly recognize any of it anymore. He gripped the railing until his knuckles went white, and only stopped when he noticed Rosa staring. He felt a profound sense of loss from all of this yet didn’t really know how to put it into words.

Xavier asked where they’d be spending the night and Henry explained that while the cult had offered room and board he’d decided to go to a private inn. He still cautioned everyone about not revealing or saying anything they didn’t need to.

The arrival in port was met without fanfare as the team departed. Henry sent the supplies ahead to the compound along with a regular resupply. From what he’d been told the compound was far closer to the burrow than the town was, so this would save time. A group from the cult of progress was already waiting at the docks and an additional half wagon of supplies didn’t seem to bother them too much.

Decisions:
1. *take the time to explore the town, your birthplace*
2. *see if your home is still there* (take others?)
3. *Head out to the compound along with the supply train.*
4. *head out to the sight of the infestation to do scouting*

Optional:
1. Delegate tasks? (write in)

>>3716112
> 1. *take the time to explore the town, your birthplace*

Show Rosa around.

>>3716112
this >>3716870
time for sad nostalgia

>>3716870
Supporting

>>3716952
>>3716925
>>3716870
writing

>>3716112
Henry spent around an hour walking through the streets of a place he’d once known. The town was massive now, when he was young there had only been a handful of buildings including the church. None of which had a second story. Now there were several streets full of shops. He actually recognized a couple of people but ducked away before they caught him staring. Rosa walked with him, asking him questions and trying to be supportive. The woman had insisted on coming along, he wouldn’t have allowed anyone else other than maybe Johnny.

Charles had voiced some displeasure with being left behind of course, but Henry couldn’t show him this side of him. A scared little man with nowhere to return to. Henry placed his hand over the wall of the church’s holy ground. The stone construction was a far cry from the timber work that he remembered. Even the streets had changed, paved now and bustling with activity. It all made Henry’s head swim. This was really the hamlet of Rally?

Henry sat down in a nearby park, one that had been built only five years prior. The salt air was the only thing he could recognize, everything else was too foreign.

“Are you alright Henry?” Rosa finally asked. The woman had grown increasingly worried with Henry’s uncharacteristic behavior.

Decisions:
1. “This isn’t the place I grew up, I don’t know what it is.”
2. “I don’t know what I expected to find, something familiar? I don’t know.”
3. “I’m fine Rosa, just a bit out of sorts.”
4. “No, I just need some time to myself.”
5. “I… I need to check on something, the home I grew up in, it was outside of town, overlooked by a cliff. I want to… I need to see if it’s still there. Don’t tell the others, please.”
6. *say nothing*
7. (write in)
8.

>>3718289
>but Henry couldn’t show him this side of him. A scared little man with nowhere to return to.
Maybe seeing that would give Charles some more sense and humility and maybe convince him not to go full retard ambition with necromancy and black mana?
>“I don’t know what I expected to find. Something familiar? I don’t know anymore.” Rub forehead to alleviate the incoming slight headache from becoming a bigger one. "I'm... I'm at a loss here, Rosa. I don't think I've ever felt like this before, except..."
>Remember the house. Remember BEFORE that day, not during or after it. Before.
>“I… I need to check on something. The home I grew up in, it was outside of town, overlooked by a cliff. I want to… I need to see if it’s still there." Look at Rosa. Try not to look desperate, like a bereaved man clinging at scraps of the pure past. Fail utterly. "Don’t tell the others, please. You're the only one I can trust with this much."

>>3718315
do you want to roll for it?

>>3718438
Sure why not

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>3718438

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>3718438
>>3718873
12 sucks

>>3718964
OH FUCK

>>3718964
Well.

>>3718964
That doesn't.

>>3718964
gonna do something special for this

>>3719979
ok goodnight

>>3718964
>>3718315
writing

>>3718289
“I don’t know what I expected to find here, Rosa. Something familiar? I don’t know anymore.” Henry said, rubbing his forehead to alleviate the rapidly incoming headache.

Rosa bit her lip and tried to think of something to say, but she was at a loss for words.

“I’m at a loss here, Rosa. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before, except, maybe…” Henry said, realization dawning on him.

Without a word Henry stood up and began walking away. Rosa followed after him, while muttering a couple of prayers. Henry remembered everything, the house, all of his time growing up. His time spent sailing with his father after he’d gotten old enough, having to tell his brother to wait a couple of years to join him. Something that never happened. He remembered how his mother used to knit on the front porch, sewing together second hand clothes they’d been donated from other families or relatives. Henry remembered one year he’d been given a pair of proper shoes and it had been the most amazing gift. He remembered all of those evenings sat around the fireplace. He remembered climbing and racing around the cliffside with his younger brother. He had to see if it was all still there, he had to know.

“Where are you going Henry!” Rosa cried, racing after the man.

Henry realized he’d been running and slowed down. Causing Rosa to plow into him and stumble backwards. The woman began to fall until Henry grabbed her arm and pulled her back from the brink. They were standing at the edge of town now.

“I’m going home, Rosa.” Henry said. “My old house, I think it might still be there, at least the foundation, maybe. I want to see if anything is left. I need to know.”

“Okay, Henry.” Rosa said, drawing close, trying to ease the man’s fears.

“It’s outside of town, overlooked by a cliff, it’s been… over fifteen years now, I think. I need to see if it’s still there. I…come on.” Henry said, turning away and trying to hide the emotions spilling out over his face. He shouldn’t have come back to this town, he shouldn’t have taken on this job.

>>3721827

Rosa grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug, in full view of a few other townsfolk.

“Henry, I’m here, it’s okay.” Rosa said steadfast and caring.

Henry stared down at her, his emotions clear. Rosa was a bit misty eyed too, the raw emotion of the situation rubbing off on her. He looked desperate, like a bereaved man clinging to scraps of sanity. Of a time that maybe existed, a place he might have once been to. He tried to maintain his composure and failed utterly.

“Just, don’t tell the others, not even Johnny. You’re the only one I can trust for this.” Henry said.

Rosa bit her lip again and nodded, her eyes maintaining the same fierceness that they had when Henry had touched the corpse on their trip to Blaise. He still remembered the way she’d hit him.

The trip took about thirty minutes. The two wandered past hillsides and a small forest that Henry vaguely remembered, much smaller than during his youth, stripped for timber. There were several farms out here now, all new. He continued until he came to the familiar cliffside pass. The same one he and his brother had raced down during that fateful day. Henry’s hands trembled and his breath quickened. Only Rosa’s presence allowed him to keep his composure.

He continued down the cliffside path with her. There were bits and pieces of it missing now, gone to the elements, but it was still safe enough to transverse. At the end, he saw it. A small dilapidated fishing shack. With a rusted out symbol of the eye of the church on a rod in the center of it, a memorial of sorts. Henry walked through the rotting wood and sagging stones and saw the husk of a boat, his father’s boat. He waded into the cold water and ran his fingers along a piece of worn wood, gasping as it crumbled away at his touch. He returned only when the numbness in his legs became painful. He could see Rosa staring at him. The woman had a hand over her mouth as she surveyed the ruins that held no meaning to her.

“What… what happened here?” Rosa finally asked.

>>3721837

“Something terrible, Rosa.” Henry replied. “Something that I can’t share with you.”

He watched as a shadow moved its way over the cliffside. Even here, he was being watched by HIS shades. He grit his teeth and watched as the shadow lazily merged into the natural shadow of the cliffside. He didn’t have the energy to care.

“There are graves over there, Henry.” Rosa said, pointing to a small forested area resting against the cliff itself.

On a small grassy hill lay three tombstones, and a hole where a forth had once been. Henry didn’t need to be a necromancer to know that they were empty. The bodies having never been recovered, and would never be. He walked up to them and fell to his knees. He felt the memories of that night pressing down on him. Oh god he shouldn’t have come here.

>-50 sanity

“I’ll… uh… I’ll wait back by the path, Henry.” Rosa said.

Decision #1:
1. *let her leave*
2. *ask her to stay*

Decision #2:
1. “Hey mom, dad, Will… I uh… it’s been a while, hasn’t it.”
2. “I… I haven’t gotten the people who did this yet.”
3. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
4. *Say nothing*
5. *break down and cry*

>>3721843
> 2. *ask her to stay*

> 5. *break down and cry*

+ hang on to parents like you're drowning.

>>3721843
this >>3721867

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>3721843
Roll for additional san loss

>>3721870
DON'T, WE NEED OUR SANITY TO KEEP CONTROLLING HENRY AND SO HE DOESN'T AN HERO
>dubs
AW COME ON

>>3721867
supporting

>>3725501
>>3721880
>>3721870
>>3721869
>>3721867
writing

>>3721843
“No, please stay, Rosa. I need someone here.” Henry said. He was afraid he’d do something stupid.

Rosa knelt down next to him and pressed herself up against him, wrapping an arm around him and offering him some degree of comfort. Henry appreciated it although he didn’t know how to admit it.

Henry thought of everything that had happened, how he’d wanted to get justice, then revenge, then simply some degree of closure. He couldn’t get anything. He’d given up after hurting a bunch of innocent people. He’d lost the new family he’d made with Sophie, now he was making yet another one with Rosa, Charles, and the others. Oh god he was going to get them killed, wasn’t he? What was he doing?

Henry began to break down. He shouldn’t have come back here. He had nothing to say beyond apologies. Completely useless apologies. He was sobbing, wretching and begging forgiveness from those he’d killed. Maybe he should’ve died back there. Better that then living like this, right?

>-100 sanity

He couldn’t die, he’d made Johnny a promise, yet the weight of everything was suffocating… warmth. He felt warmth from Rosa, the woman had cast some sort of white mana spell on him. He felt safe. Rosa’s eyes were misty and she was holding Henry in a death grip. He was terrifying the poor woman, he had terrified her.

>+150 sanity, Rosa’s care

“We should leave.” Henry said, standing up slowly and leaning on Rosa a bit more than he would’ve liked.

“Bad memories I assume. Come on Henry we need to get you washed up, can’t go back to the others looking like that, right?” Rosa asked.

Henry washed off his face in the ocean as best he could and returned to Rosa, and the two made the slow trek back to town.

Decisions:
1. *say something to Rosa*
2. *collect your thoughts*
3. *think back to the family you tried to have with Sophie*
4. (write in)

>>3726069
>2. *collect your thoughts*
>4. (write in)
Calm down some more

>>3726069
This >>3726171. We have Rosa with us as a much-needed shoulder. Henry needs to focus and recover from what he just felt.

>>3726069
Supporting>>3726171