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Here you stand. It’s a couple hours after midnight. The place? Hawksong, the fringes of the great human-led trading metropolis. You lurk just inside the northeast wall. Just beyond it? The small-but-populous slum which festers upon the wall like a fungal growth, popped and spilling out into the countryside beyond. The call this pustule ‘Goblintown’, and for obvious reasons: it plays host to goblins, orcs, and a smattering of other so-called ‘savage races’ whose presence even cosmopolitan Hawksong sneers down at.

None of that is your concern, though. You are a Reptilian Infiltrator, and you’re not here for goblins and orcs—at least, not primarily. Their ilk could even be useful to you someday, as a lever to help topple the humans from their seat of power in the surface-world of sun-and-starlight. No, you’re here for the parasite hiding deep in the wound.

Your contact, a dragonblood reptilian male by the pseudonym of Roth, has been kidnapped (or worse). The most likely culprit? Lady Zivic—or, rather, a shade of the now-dead noblewoman. She approached you as an all-too-knowledgeable potential-ally, and you informed Roth, who in turn burned her manor to the ground with she and her servants inside.

If only that had been the end of it.

But no. No, Zivic was—is?—an occultist. Her spirit found safe harbour in the shadowy talons of a demon. An incubus, a being of pure ambition, who has been forming pacts and alliances across the city since before you got here. She has conspired against you, turning possible allies into deadly foes. Just this very night, her machinations forced you to slay… Someone special. A useful tool. A potential ally. A lover. Maybe even a friend, someday, if you had more time.

‘Alas, poor Foxy, we knew ye barely at all.’

That voice in your head isn’t madness, but Irinnile the succubus. She (It? You’re not sure if the voluptuous form she assumes in your mindscape is really indicative of any sex or gender or just a projection of the intersecting desires of yourself her initial summoner) is a desire demon as well, but a more biddable one. Her presence within you lends you greater command of darkness, seduction, emotion and thought.

‘Plus, ya’ kinda’ like me, don’t ya’ babe?’

<Irinnile Affection: 75%>
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>>5007143
If you’re going to war with an undead occultist and a demon—and the allies they’ve mustered in Goblintown—you’ll need every edge you can get. Luckily, Irinnile isn’t your only tool—

‘Nnf, yeah, USE me baby!’

—you also have martial arts and weapons skills honed over several bloody battles, illusion magic awoken in your daytime study sessions with your arcane-inclined boytoy, your natural aptitudes for stealth and manipulation, and an expanding network of contacts from various walks of life, from the City Guard and the Mages’ Tower to high finance and the nobility, including prostitutes, journalists, conspiracists, technologists, and even (ironically) human supremacist thugs. Best of all, you have the aid of your Dark Gods!

‘Ugh, those guys…’

The Dark Gods Below and Beyond, patrons of your Reptilian Master Race, have turned their gaze upon you! They have leant you access to <The Akashic Record of the Dark Gods>, a time-and-space-spanning record of secret knowledge acquired by their operatives across the eons. Greater still, they have leant you a single <DIVINE FAVOUR> which you may call upon in effort to resolve a situation through their direct or subtle intervention… Though you’re wary to waste it.

‘We don’t need ‘em anyway!’

Despite her bravado, you can feel Irinnile’s trepidation to face the Devil-Zivic directly. You have to admit: it feels like walking into a trap, knowing how the last kidnapping of Roth led you right into a nest of wererats. Maybe your hated foe captured him a gain specifically to lure you into this place?
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>>5007144
[LEVEL UP: You have become better still at mentalism, stealth, and armed combat.

When facing a matter where success is not guaranteed or terribly likely, failure has notable consequences, or I’d feel railroady making you fail or cheap forcing a success, I will roll dice. Currently, that is 1d20 for most tasks. You get to roll 2d20 (taking the highest) for tasks involving intimidation or armed combat. You roll 3d20 for matters related to dance, stealth, seduction or politesse, and arcane studies; where blades are involved, you get 3d20 for armed combat rolls. In matters of illusion, mentalism, or occultism, you roll 4d20. Combining aptitudes, such as seduction and politesse or emotion-affecting illusion, can secure you the coveted 5d20. This is based on choices you’ve made.

You also have an inherent bonus to disguise attempts when relevant, can use human magic items without your Reptilian race’s usual penalty, and you have a decreased difficulty to rolls wherein you fight an untrained opponent hand-to-hand due to martial arts training.

Having formed a symbiotic pact with the succubus Irinnile, you can also shapeshift (including to create wings or natural weapons), sense and influence emotions and even read surface-level thoughts or enter dreams, and you are seemingly immune to permanent injury as a result of fire and mundane weapons.

As a general rule, DCs are 15, but disguise, magic item use, and favourable melees as discussed have DC 10. Thanks to Irinnile’s powers, you also currently have this reduced DC of 10 for nighttime or shadowy stealth checks, seduction rolls, and single-target illusion or mentalism checks.

However, your demonic powers are not without a price: Irinnile has a powerful sense of <WANT> at her core. Every time you use her powers or deny her something she desires, the <WANT> grows stronger, increasing the DC of rolls to control her impulses. Should you fail, she will subsume your personality long enough to satisfy herself, sometimes at the cost of lives and the risk of exposure. However, having both humbled and befriended her to some extent, below a <WANT> DC of 18, she will no longer risk actions likely to get you killed or exposed. Your current level of <WANT> is DC 16.

You have also gained a one-time invocation of your Dark Gods’ <DIVINE FAVOUR>, and access to their <AKASHIC RECORD>, as mentioned before; the DC to access it varies depending upon how long ago the event took place, how far away it occurred, and whether you have a relevant focus.

Rolls will be used when relevant (though not necessarily for every pretty little lie or funny flirtation). Overuse of demonic powers may cause them to be more frequent than they would otherwise. Exhaustion can further impede your rolls, and it should be noted that you haven’t had a proper rest in many nights…]


[ Previous volumes, for those of you just joining us, are at http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm ]
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>>5007146
It’s the moment of truth, with revenge and Roth’s very fate on the line… But it’s also a precarious situation with unknown threats awaiting you.

What do you do?
>You can tarry no longer—ascend on your demon wings over the wall, hopefully avoiding late-night guard attention, and dive into the depths of Goblintown to lay siege to Zivic’s likeliest hiding place
>Shapeshift into a less conspicuous form and attempt to enter into Goblintown and approach Zivic’s hidey-hole more subtly
>Use mentalism and glamour to rally the guards to your aid in uprooting a ‘conspiracy against Hawksong itself’, which IS almost half true
>Hold up—you could use back-up, maybe in the form of those human thralls you ‘befriended’, who were so eager to assault even a law-abiding half-human orc a few days ago
>Forget this “fighting a demon at night on its home turf” business—go get some sleep and come back in the morning, with a better plan
>Write-in
>>
>>5007151
>Shapeshift into a less conspicuous form and attempt to enter into Goblintown and approach Zivic’s hidey-hole more subtly
>Hold up—you could use back-up, maybe in the form of those human thralls you ‘befriended’, who were so eager to assault even a law-abiding half-human orc a few days ago

Might as well call in backup, and I want our WANT satisfied before we go balls deep into Zivic's hiding place.
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>>5007151
>Shapeshift into a less conspicuous form and attempt to enter into Goblintown and approach Zivic’s hidey-hole more subtly
I'd rather not shapeshift, since that will cost us fuel, but if we're doing it, then ask Irinnile to give us a stronger "regular" body and body/face covering "clothes" picrel.
This way nobody can recognize us and we might not have to resort to turning back into a demon/further shapeshifting if things get bad.

>Hold up—you could use back-up, maybe in the form of those human thralls you ‘befriended’, who were so eager to assault even a law-abiding half-human orc a few days ago
Zivic is probably somewhat aware we can come tonight and as such, we should prepare for guards/watchmen standing in our way. Probably enter through a less expected path.
>>
>>5007252
>>5007179
You take a step back from the precipice, such as it is. You cannot act rashly, if Zivic is likely to expect you. Two Reptilian Infiltrators dead or captured is worse than one, after all.

‘Y-yeah, good point, Lispy,’ Irinnile says. You can feel her relief within you, the uncoiling of tension.

She's not off the hook yet, though. As you turn around and head back into town, you begin mentally reviewing your plan—a plan that involves Irinnile at multiple steps.

‘Well, if you're lookin' for someone to make you big and strong like some kinda' ogre, that ain't me,’ she pouts, clearly less than enthused about returning to Goblintown after all. ‘But… yeah. I can shift our shape of course. Makes us all inconspicuous. What are you thinkin'?’

As you head across town to fetch your minions, you are ware of how early dawn comes to Hawksong this time of year. You beat your black-scaled wings faster—if you don't hurry, it will be daylight by the time you strike! Eventually, though, you arrive. Necessarily, you abandon your demonic wings. To your happy surprise, this small reversion in shape doesn't worsen your <WANT> as it might once have done.

‘Your mind and body aren't puttin' up the same resistance that they used to,’ Irinnile says, with a lewd titter. ‘It's like I'm training you to my shape.’

You ignore her innuendo, and knock upon the door of one of your minions: a middle-class adventurer wannabe by the name of Davide. He's a forgettable human in many regards, but reasonably competent with bow and blades. It was he, Joris, Amelie, and their late friend Bros who followed your lead into wererat-infested sewers a few night earlier.
>>
>>5007489
“Kamunu?” Davide asks, surprised at your presence. His nearly-shaved head is hidden beneath a flat sleeping cap, and he is wearing a robe over striped nightclothes.

He looks around rapidly, and steps outside rather than inviting you in. You suppose you must be a startling figure for him to encounter, at his residence where you have never been invited. The last time you and he were together, he'd witnessed a friend's murder and had found himself compelled by overwhelming urges into an orgy with you and those allies who remained.

‘That was a pretty fun night,’ Irinnile reminisces.

“What do you want?” Davide asks, voice low. “I'm… Do you know what time it is?”

“Not too late to help rid Hawksssong of another menacce?” you ask hopefully, your Northern Common tinged by your Reptilian accent—luckily, unrecognizable as such to the locals.

“What?” Davide asks, face going pale. “None of us see you since. Since Bors, and… And now you're back, and the Gods know WHAT hour of the night and you want me to go back into that hell with you?!”

Hm. Less receptive than you'd hoped. What do you do?
>Blackmail him into compliance
>Appeal to his sense of honour, and his obligation to his friends
>Use feminine wiles and glamour to lure him along [lower DC, temporary effect]
>Attempt to meddle with his mind to erase or modify the more troubling memories [high DC, more permament effect]
>Screw it—and him. Seduce him, drain him a little to feed your <WANT>, and try one of his friends next
>Write-in
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>>5007491
>Appeal to his sense of honour, and his obligation to his friends
Won't hurt to try this first.
>Attempt to meddle with his mind to erase or modify the more troubling memories [high DC, more permament effect]

>>5007489
>big and strong like some kinda
Not what I meant at all, actually.
If she can craft fabric out of our skin, then why not also make it thicker or durable for the time being?
Please give us a face-covering hood, at least. I don't want random fags to recognize Ismena's face.
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>>5007491
>Use feminine wiles and glamour to lure him along [lower DC, temporary effect]

Why do we need a permanent effect, he's probably dying tonight? Take the lower DC lol.
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>>5007537
Tbh. I just tend to prefer mental fuckery over seduction.
If he survives we'll have to do mindfuckery, tho. Can't allow them to keep recovering and eventually realize this snake psycho is seducing them into becoming a suicide squad.

>>5007491
Changing my vote (>>5007502) to:
>Appeal to his sense of honour, and his obligation to his friends
Still wanna try reason first, if it fails:
>Use feminine wiles and glamour to lure him along [lower DC, temporary effect]
Tits.
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>>5007551
>If he survives we'll have to do mindfuckery, tho
or just finish him off ourselves, I'm not sure he's worth the WANT
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>>5007589
The chess anon is gonna kill himself if we do that deliberately. Not sure I want him to.
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>>5007732
Chess anon should learn to recognize when a piece should be sacrificed
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>>5007491
>Appeal to his sense of honour, and his obligation to his friends

>Use feminine wiles and glamour to lure him along [lower DC, temporary effect]

>Have sex with him before leaving too, our <WANT> is pretty high
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>>5007491
>Appeal to his sense of honour, and his obligation to his friends
>Attempt to meddle with his mind to erase or modify the more troubling memories [high DC, more permament effect]

We need to make sure he doesn't flake in the middle of the job, which is what I assume the temporary nature of the glamor is all about

>Satisfy WANT, but quickly

>>5007737
It isn't so much about being unwilling to sacrifice as it is about making sure the help doesn't falter from the job. Plus, do need some helpers for our extracurricular activities, such as saving Roth's ass a second time.
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>>5007881
Guys like this are a dime a dozen, we can easily find replacements.

If you're that concerned about not having thugs on call we can look around before leaving Goblintown for some big orcs.
>>
Rolled 11, 6, 4, 14, 16 = 51 (5d20)

>>5007537
>>5007551
>>5007810
>>5007881
Looks like we're leaning...
>Appeal to honour
>Seduction and glamour
>Fuck/feed
Rolling, and will post sometime this evening!

Just a heads up: I have a party to attend this weekend, so while I'll likely post tomorrow morning, I doubt I will in the evening, and I MAY skip Sunday morning if I'm hungover or busy with chores.
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>>5007910
Congrats, and thanks for the warning. I hope you have a great time at the party!
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>>5007910
“Come now,” you say, “do you think Borss wantss to have died in vain? Do you want Amelie and Joriss to face down the degeneraccy of Goblintown ALONE, without your aid?”

“I couldn’t give a shit!” Davide cries, throwing his hands up in the air. “What, you think I hate greenskins so much I’ll throw my life away for it? Goblintown isn’t coming to my neighbourhood, are they? Tell me when they are and we’ll see, but this… It was just a thing to do with friends, right? It wasn’t meant to be a… A WAR!”

“The war’ss coming,” you say seriously. “I have it on good authority that the goblins and orcs are mustering ssome ssort of… OCCULT ritual.”

“Then call the Paladins! The Tower! The fucking Merchant Marines! It’s none of my business.”

Hrm. Well, it was worth a shot, you suppose. Time to turn on the old razzle dazzle.

“Davide, pleasse,” you say, stepping closer and activating your glamour. He steps back slightly, but that just allows you to pin him in against the door he shut behind him. He has no escape as you press your body to his, and cling to his robe. “I’m sscared… I don’t want to let those beasstss get away with thiss, but… I don’t want to go alone. And you’re sso sstrong, and sskilled… I need you there.”

You can hear the intake of breath as he takes in your scent, can feel his heart hammer in his chest as your magic and your natural aptitude for seduction work their talons into his mind and body.

‘You know,’ Irinnile says casually, ‘he wasn’t half bad last time, and I could do with a bite to eat.’

‘Very well,’ you reply across the psychic link, beginning to kiss and nibble at Davide’s neck, and then down his body. ‘Leave him enough energy for tonight. I still need him.’

Before long, you are smuggled up to Davide’s room, and Irinnile is fed. By the way Davide goes to work, it’s as if the young man truly thinks this night might be his last… But when the two of you leave, he has donned his armour.

<WANT: 15>
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>>5007973
With Davide on board, your next stop is Joris’ residence, which is a little closer to street level in physical height and general financial status. Perhaps that has something to do with his greater hunger for conflict, his resentment of foreign and inhuman intrusion into the local society and economy.

“About time we reminded those bastards what we’re all about in this city! No more rats, and no more green vermin either!”

He arms himself and armours up without so much as a sly handjob—something Irinnile whines about, but which is much better for your timetable and maintaining your magical reserves. Of course, there’s still Amelie to persuade—the least forthcoming and most troublesome of the three. She’s also the elast competent in combat, truly more in the ‘adventure tourism’ scene for the fashion (and, you suspect, for Joris) than for the racial animus. Still, many hands make light work…

Do you bring Amelie along?
>Yes
>No
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>>5007975
Along the way, you pretend that you need to go relieve yourself. Slipping into a dark alleyway, you expend a bit of the desire Irinnile absorbed from your quick bout with Davide, and see about a change of appearance.

‘You can manifest fabrics,’ you note. ‘Why not armour?’

‘It’s all about my spheres,’ Irinnile says. ‘I can give you features I HAVE, like wings and horns and claws and shit, right? But my real body doesn’t HAVE big thick armoured skin, so making it is… Tricky. Fabrics are easy, as long as we keep ‘em shiny and leathery, ‘cause… Well, I’m just modifying our skin, really. Maybe if you were one of those Steeltalon guys, like that hunk from the Akashic Record vision…’

You sigh. No such luck, it seems.

‘Hey, come on! It’s not so bad. We’re still immune to mundane weapons…’

‘Well, can you at least hide my face?’

‘That, I can do! Strip ‘em, Lispy, and I’ll give Agatha a run for her money on the tailoring side of things!’

You do as instructed, and with but a little expenditure of Irinnile’s abilities, your skin stretches, warps, and shifts across your body until you are earing a rubbery black catsuit with a tight face-mask and a loose shawl about your hair. She also manifests quite high heels and a thicker rear-end—of COURSE she would—but you find you have no more trouble walking upon this modified lower body than you did upon digitigrade legs and hooves when first you assumed a demonic visage. Only an incredibly close inspection would reveal your attire was actually horrifically-reshaped flesh rather than sexy-and-stealthy suit and, though both Joris and Davide look as if they’d like to give you such an inspection when you emerge from the shadows, you do not give them the chance.

<WANT: 16>

As you approach Goblintown, it is still night for another hour or two—still dark. What is your plan?
>Bluff and glamour your way past the guards at the gate [specify if you have a lie in mind]
>Sneak through the sewers—now cleared of wererats to your knowledge—and enter Goblintown that way
>Use the adventuring gear the others have brought to rappel over the wall between patrols
>Storm the gate, taking out the guards and bringing the pain down on any denizens of Goblintown foolish enough to get in your way
>Write-in
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>>5007975
>Yes

All hands on deck, but I'm not really picky if she doesn't go as well.

>>5007977
>Sneak through the sewers—now cleared of wererats to your knowledge—and enter Goblintown that way
If we can deal with the Tower's wards.

>Bluff and glamour your way past the guards at the gate [specify if you have a lie in mind]
If we can't deal with the sewer wards.
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>>5007975
>Yes
She's the one that most needs to die. If she won't come, we should kill her after.

>Use the adventuring gear the others have brought to rappel over the wall between patrols
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>>5008013
Personally, I want to train our mental abilities on them before any killing (preferably draining them fully to feed our WANT), but I'm curious as to why Amelie must die, more than the others? And I mean a reason beyond just having a Murderboner.
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>>5007975
>Yes
Fingerbang and drag her along.

>>5007977
>Sneak through the sewers—now cleared of wererats to your knowledge—and enter Goblintown that way
Extra caution cause Zivic knows we used sewers before.


I have an idea. Can we use Irinnile to destroy someone's mind during sleep? We could reeally easily deal with Yosefs that way...
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>>5008150
She's always been the most reluctant, and the most likely to get spooked and take everything she knows to the watch.
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>>5007977
>Yes
>Bluff and glamour your way past the guards at the gate [specify if you have a lie in mind]
>>
>>5007989
>>5008013
>>5008420
>>5008508
[It seems you're bringing Amelie, but that you aren't certain whether to try the sewers first or to just bluff your way past the guards. I'll wait a bit longer for a tiebreaker, then roll for that if need be so I can post before I leave today.
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>>5008504
I agree with this, actually. She acts like she's two steps away from ratting on us to the guard unless we break her mind or kneecaps.

>>5008510
NTA, but I think (>>5007989) was a vote for sewers, unless we can't deal with protective magic down there, in which case it'd be back to glamour.
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>>5008517
>a vote for sewers, unless we can't deal with protective magic down there, in which case it'd be back to glamour.
[I counted it as a vote for both, because while you can probably evade wards like the alarm you triggered before now that you know what to look for, you can't possibly know what else might have been done since then without committing to going inside and checking.]
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Rolled 2, 14, 7, 5, 6, 11 = 45 (6d20)

>>5008510
[3d20 stealth, 3d20 arcana]
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>>5008574
Amelie is easily won over—albeit not HAPPILY so—when you arrive with Joris and Davide. She will go where Joris goes, it seems, and between the aggressive young man’s enthusiasm to bust some heads and your glamour, spirits are actually at a relative high point among your minions by the time you arrive at…

>QM COIN FLIP

…The sewers. You might need to abandon this yet, you realize. The Tower has been down here, and the guards, investigating the aftermath of your last foray into the undercity. Who knows what defences have since been erected? However, now you know what to look for. You’re not going in blind, as before, and it’s a good sight better than trying to bluff your way past the guards up top. You might be disguised, but you are obviously so, and none of your cohorts have the same concealment for their identities. You can’t risk them being traced back to you.

As you descend into the stinking depths once more, you lead the charge. Irinnile’s vision—and thus your vision—are not hampered by the darkness as with a human’s. Moreover, your senses are not purely material and physical as theirs are. Almost immediately, you begin to spot the telltale signs of invisible or faintly-etched runes, of lattices of wards and alarms. However, you navigate around them with relative ease—disabling them, perhaps, is a step too far to attempt unnecessarily.

Your thralls, however, have a trickier time of it.

“Ugh, so… I swing my leg over like this?” Davdie asks, assuming an awkward pose to crouch under one arcane array over over another.

“Yess,” you reiterate, “but NOT on that brick there, or any within two bricksss of it.”

“How long do you think my legs ARE?” he grumbles.

“Guys,” Amelie whines, “this is stupid! We’re obviously not supposed to be here!”

You glare at Amelie. She’s going to be trouble, you sense.

“Come on, Amelie. It’s easy! Davide’s just not exercising properly,” Joris taunts. “It’s just like this…”

You jump slightly as you feel the sudden signal-pulse of energy.

‘Oh shit, Lispy…’

‘I see it, Irinnile!’ you shoot back.
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>>5008581
Joris, in fact, does NOT demonstrate a superior prowess. He instead slips on a slick patch of sewage and faceplants through one ward and two alarm spells, knocking himself instantly unconscious and setting him aglow with faerie fire. The other humans scream, jumping back and further activating Tower traps. Amelie, too, is now alight with the eerie glow, and is slapping at her arms and torso as if trying to put the fire out…

“Hu-hey, it doesn’t burn,” she says after a moment, half-whimpering still.

“What the fuck?” Davide mutters, hands on his hand, staring between the two of his companions, and then to you. “What’s going on? What the fuck is this?”

It’s a marker, meant to identify an intruder. A perpetrator, using the now-emptied undercity—a sewage system they perhaps cleared—for purposes which the Tower and Paladins do not know but CLEARLY wish to learn more about.

‘We gotta’ get out of here, babe,’ Irinnile urges.

She’s right, one way or another. The Tower wouldn’t twice make the mistake of setting alarms they were too far away to respond to swiftly.

What do you do?
>Leave the three humans to take the fall, and head straight for your objective
>Drag Davide along, using the other two as a decoy while you beeline for Goblintown
>Attempt to dispel the faerie fire and head topside with your thralls to lay low, and try another approach when the heat dies down
>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by
>Write-in
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>>5008582
>>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by
>>
>>5008582
>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by
Please do it quick and clean, try to make it look like it wasn't backstabbing. Dump the bodies in the sewer if applicable.

This is why I was skeptical about employing cheap thugs. Fox was too dangerous to control, chessanon.
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>>5008582
>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by

>>5008823
I'm not chessanon but Foxy coulda made it past these wards at the very least.
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>>5008582
>Attempt to dispel the faerie fire and head topside with your thralls to lay low, and try another approach when the heat dies down

While I'm not against killing them after this, killing them here and now will just cause futher Tower investigations and autism into our affairs.
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>>5008823
Well, when you kill off the good help, you’re left with the cheap thugs.

If you’re afraid of not being in control when you have access to literal mind control and other occult mentalist tricks, you have unrealistic standards anon.
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>>5008582
>>Leave the three humans to take the fall, and head straight for your objective
>>
>>5008893
They have TRACKERS on them. If we take them out of here, everyone will see them and Tower will also get us.
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>>5009276
What part of
>Attempt to dispel the faerie fire
do you not understand?

I would understand if we failed to dispel the faerie fire and panicked, but not attempting to dispel and just offing them before we face Zivic, under the Tower’s nose?

Honestly, it unthinking shit like this that’ll drive me up the wall.
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>>5008582
>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by

More trouble than they’re worth

Try and make it quick and hide the bodies
>>
>>5008582
Since murder succeeds, make it look like they were chasing somebody, and make it look like the fox-woman did the deed. As much as I want to call it quits, I want Roth back in our hands before the day starts.

I can’t wait for for the murderautism to force us to kill Roth and Edwin btw.
>>
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>>5009282
Oh ffs, my bad. Sorry anon, I must've lost a lot of braincells to get this blind and biased. Honestly embarassing.

>>5008582
Gonna change my shit (>>5008823) to
>Attempt to dispel the faerie fire and head topside with your thralls to lay low, and try another approach when the heat dies down
But if we fail, then
>Enough—slay the humans to ensure they don’t rat you out, and use your demonic stealth to hide until the Tower passes by
...really just shiv them.
>>
[Still hung over and chilling by a lake, but it LOOKS like we're still narrowly leaning towards killing the humans. I'll post later today, one way or another.]
>>
Rolled 3, 16, 8 = 27 (3d20)

>>5008727
>>5008859
>>5008893
>>5009065
>>5009282
>>5009295
[Vote's closed; rolling to tie up loose ends!]
>>
Rolled 7, 9, 8 = 24 (3d20)

>>5009793
You fume silently. You know at least part of the blame lies with you for not spotting every magic trap and trigger. A part of you can’t even help but admonish yourself that, had you been able to keep the fox-woman alive, she might have been more useful for this endeavour… But then, she would also be more difficult to control.

Still, these human pawns are no longer useful, and their continued flailing about and cries of confusion in fact present a serious liability. You need to act fast, to avoid these panicked fools attracting attention and potentially revealing your involvement in the wererat massacre, and thus the other peculiar events around town—maybe even your true mission to subvert the city. That, you cannot allow. You draw you dagger, and set to work.

Davide is so focused on his seemingly-aflame friends that he doesn’t even see you approach with killing intent. He doesn’t even realize the threat until her has already been stabbed twice, and is already being shoved into the sewer. The kill is quick and clean, and by slitting his throat on the way down, you silence any cries. With Joris already unconscious, he is an even easier kill—you stab him once through the neck and, with a solid shove of your organic ‘boot’, you push him off to sail down the sewer with his friend.

Only then does Amelie, now whimpering rather than screaming, look up.

“Hey, where are…”

The female trails off, eyes finding her allies’ bodies. She stares in silent horror at them, and then looks to you, and to your bloodied blade. She opens her mouth to scream…

But the scream never comes.

[Cont., rolling stealth.]
>>
>>5009798
You have three bodies to dispose of, and little time. With your succubus-enhanced stealth, you nevertheless hope you can do SOMETHING to hide what has occurred here from the Tower officials, or to at least disguise the nature of the event. You begin to drag the bodies through the sewer water, shuddering at the feel of the filthy waste-water upon ‘clothes’ that are, effectively, your bare skin.

‘Some people pay good money for this, ya’ know,’ Irinnile jokes.

Somehow, you’re not quite in the mood. You drag the humans to a deeper area and attempt to submerge them, like a jungle predator caching a kill…

‘Ah shit, babe, don’t look now but…’

You can hear the footfalls just as well, hear the voices crying out. There are at least two investigators—you’d wager Inquisitors, and thus combat0tarined mages—headed your way. They can see you, and there’s no way they won’t find the bodies now. You curse your luck, and your late, clumsy thralls…

But your pursuers are human, and you are disguised. They haven’t seen you, and wouldn’t recognize you if they did. You still have a chance to turn this around—to escape, or even to turn this to your advantage.

What do you do?
>Escape, and disappear into the night, leaving this another unresolved mystery
>Take the Inquisitors on directly—if they die, they can’t report what they’ve seen, and you can return to the night’s work
>Shapeshift into a wererat (or the next best thing), to pin this crime on the sewer-dwellers and shift suspicion
>Make it clear that you are a DEMON, and flee towards Goblintown—turn one enemy upon another!
>Attempt to ensorcel the Inquisition, to make THEM into your new minions [DC ???]
>Write-in
>>
>>5009821
>Escape, and disappear into the night, leaving this another unresolved mystery

This is why I didn't want to go through the sewers.
>>
>>5009821
>Shapeshift into a wererat (or the next best thing), to pin this crime on the sewer-dwellers and shift suspicion
>>
>>5009821
>Escape, and disappear into the night, leaving this another unresolved mystery
Leave more question marks

If we reveal ourselves as a demon - they’ll up the anti-demon defences at the Gala
>>
>>5010071
Reveal ourselves as a were-rat, we send them chasing tall tales and dead ends.
>>
>>5009821
>Shapeshift into an orc/goblin (or the next best thing), to pin this crime on the sewer-dwellers and shift suspicion
>Flee towards Goblintown—turn one enemy upon another!
Why not turn their attention towards Goblintown while we're nearby? If possible, make ourselves a face rag so that they can't be sure who they saw.
>>
>>5010259
I'm alright with this also, so +1 instead of >>5009916.
>>
Rolled 2, 17, 16 = 35 (3d20)

>>5009847
>>5010071
>>5010259
>>5010267
[Rolling and posting for wererat disguise + escape!]
>>
>>5010439
Escape is your priority now, and time is of the essence! However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make this disaster of a situation work for you. You are, after all, a bonafide shapeshifter now, which means you can easily frame just about anyone for your atrocities! But who to cast these aspersion upon, you wonder?

Well, what about the wererats? You could imitate their tail, their snout, even their mangey hair… But then, to what end? They were an easy scapegoat, and might yet be, but Boss Leo is dead and his servants slain or scattered. Why frame someone absent and defeated when you can yet turn the Inquisition against an enemy who still troubles you?

You consider transforming into a demon, or mimicking the appearance of Zivic herself, but then think better of it—what if the Tower increases anti-demon defences at the Gala as a result? As a demon-possessed individual yourself, it would through a real hurdle in your way.

<Days to the Tower Gala: 7>

Finally, you settle upon it, and with no time to spare: a goblin or an orc!

‘Goblins’re probably a liiitle outside my abilities, with what you’re workin’ with’ Irinnile says. ‘You’re actually fairly tall, ya’ know?’

‘Then an orc!’ you snap. ‘Hurry!’

You feel the transformation take hold, warping and shifting your flesh slightly to make you blockier, more imposing, with the slight piggish snout of an orc and the tusked underbite to boot. You still have the leathery face-covering Irinnile crafted you, and so you pull this up over your face… But not entirely. You allow your pursuers JUST enough time to cast their magelight upon you, to see your newly-distinguishing features.

“You, orc! Don’t move!”

But, of curse, then you do. You bolt, praying to the Dark Gods as you dodge lighting and fire from behind. You may be immune to mundane weapons with Irinnile inside of you, and even the fire, but magic lightning will still slay you as sure as anything. Luckily, you know these tunnels better than the Inquisition by now, and you know where you’re going. You flee not towards Roth’s home, nor The Pretty Kitty, Engel Manor or anywhere else compromising to your various identities.

You flee towards Goblntown, coming up on that side of the wall.

You take a brief peek topside, at the crowded shanty-town of hand-built wooden and brickwork structures, and take a deep whiff. Your human companions made much of the horrid smell of the place, but after the Hawksong city sewers, it might as well be a perfumed back room at TPK. You haul yourself up and disappear into the shadows between buildings, catching your breath.

<WANT: 17>
>>
>>5010455
Eventually, one of the Tower’s agents catches up with you. A familiar face emerges, newly spectacled once again: the Inquisitor you accosted at the docks! You looks about for you, holding his hand outstretched with fingers flexed and crackling with power. A few goblins round the corner, yammering loudly in an alien tongue, and then catch sight of him and immediately squeal and backpedal. He does not pursue, but casts his gaze about for you. Several times, it passes over your hiding place, and you fear you will be detected—that his enchanted glasses have locked onto you with their tracking magic…

But as he silently fumes and lwoers his hands, you can tell that he has had no such luck in his hunt. Even with that magic, it must have been impossible for him to draw a bead and pinpoint you in the darkness below the city. Still, it doesn’t seem he’s going anywhere… And back-up may arrive any moment.

What do you do?
>Skulk in the direction of Zivic’s hiding-place, to rescue Roth and end this tonight
>Take out the Inquisitor before back-up arrives—this is your best opportunity for the kill
>Attempt to brainwash the Inquisitor with your mental powers [DC ???]
>Stay put and observe, and hope they don’t find you lurking in the shadows
>It’s too risk, with the Tower present and exhaustion in your bones—you must return to Hawksong for tonight [please specify where you choose to rest]
>Write-in
>>
>>5010456
>Skulk in the direction of Zivic’s hiding-place, to rescue Roth and end this tonight
Can't leave our damsel in distress in the clutches of evil
>>
>>5010456
>Skulk in the direction of Zivic’s hiding-place, to rescue Roth and end this tonight

The Inquisitors are not our focus and a dead one would just increase security ahead of the gala
>>
>>5010488
>>5010761
You certainly have no desire to provoke or draw the ire of the Tower's Inquisitors, but nor will you allow their presence to scare you off. You still have a dragon to save from a fearsome damsel, after all.

Irinnile giggles at the thought, remarking ‘Roth ain't living this down. Serves him right, the old prude.’

You sneak out the back of the alley and, not desiring to draw attention, join the other people walking the crowded and winding streets. There aren't many—you recall from your studies of the surface-mammals that goblins and orcs are crepuscular by nature rather than truly nocturnal as humans often believe. Likewise, their darkvision is not so well adapted as that of your mother’s race—nor your own darkvision, with Irinnile's aid. There are no great throngs, and nobody sees you with the clarity to second-guess any failings in you imperfect orc disguise.

Going off of earlier intelligence, you know—or strongly suspect, at least—that the Devil-Zivic bases her operations in an apothecary (or, well, a ‘mycologist’ storefront) and the apartment above. The corvids she uses as vessels for her voice and eyes in the sky—which you have seen none of tonight, Dark Gods be praised—have been seen with a mysterious hooded half-orc who you take for her chiefmost instrument, while she uses goblin thieves, pickpockets, and runners to obtain curious items towards unknown ends from other denizens of Goblintown or Hawksong proper. You scout the building in question, and find no signs of light or life in the lower floors; there is, however, a faint glow as if through or around thick curtains from up above.

You creep closer, casing the entrances and exits: one main doorway, barred; two small windows below and four up above, each scarcely big enough to squeeze through and with the lower ones shuttered; one side entrance, locked and blocked to your cursory inspection; one rear exit, narrow but less defended from the outside than the others.

You see a small greenskinned goblin—female, dirty-fingered and attired as if for labour—step out of this last doorway to take a long drag on a thin pipe with a satisfied wheeze. A shop owner? Employee? Agent of the enemy? Following her smoke upwards from your hidden place in the dark, you see the billows of a chimney as well, puffing despite the unseasonable heat.

What do you do?
>Accost the goblin to interrogate her for intelligence on those inside, and perhaps to have her simply let you in
>Circle around to slip in through a lower window, and to creep upstairs
>Shapeshift wings and crash in through the uppermost window—shock and awe!
>Climb the building and descend the chimney--you're immune to fire, after all, and they'll hardly expect such an approach
>Draw the Inquisition'a attention to the building and let them do your dirty work and provide a distraction for your rescue/assassination efforts
>Write-in
>>
>>5010858
>Accost the goblin to interrogate her for intelligence on those inside, and perhaps to have her simply let you in
>>
>>5010858
>Accost the goblin to interrogate her for intelligence on those inside, and perhaps to have her simply let you in

Wonder how Zivic has manifested
>>
>>5010858
>Accost the goblin to interrogate her for intelligence on those inside, and perhaps to have her simply let you in
Let's try to talk our way in, since we still look like an orc. If goblins use different language, either make Irinnile translate our speech or let her talk directly.

Do we know what types of items Zivic collects in case we need to explain our entry?
>>
Rolled 6, 3, 13 = 22 (3d20)

>>5011211
>>5010926
>>5010863
>>
>>5011297
Since you still look like an orc, you decide you might as well take advantage of this to gather some intelligence, and perhaps to even talk your way inside.

‘Irinnile, I may need you to translate,’ you say, stepping out of the shadows.

The goblin immediately steps back, narrowing her wide yellow eyes and looking you up and down with great scrutiny.

‘Huhwhat?’ Irinnile asks, with a nervous laugh. ‘Babe, I don’t speak gobbo.’

You smile casually, but in your mind you are screaming ‘What do you MEAN you don’t speak Goblin?!’

‘I mean that no goblin has ever summoned me for nookie, or for nothin’ else! Why would I know Goblin?’

The goblin girl spits on the ground and takes another puff, asking something of you in a language you don’t understand, and evidently have no chance of understanding.

“Um…”

“Ugh,” the goblin says in Northern Common-tongue. “Half-orc, huh? Don’t even know your own language?”

‘Oooh!’ Irinnile laughs. ‘That was ORC! I, uh, I don’t speak that neither.’

You fume at your own ill-preparedness, but are grateful at least for the goblin’s creation of an easy excuse for you.

“Yesss,” you say, “I’m half-human. You sspeak common?”

The goblin looks at you with annoyance and suspicion. “Better than you, I’d wager. Who fucking doesn’t, in fucking HAWKSONG? What, you think when guards like you come over here doing ‘building inspections’ I negotiate the bribe in Gob-Lang?”
>>
>>5011306
This is going poorly. You scan her surface thoughts, but they move fast, feel almost disjointed. Suspicion. Irritation. Appraisal. A need for another puff on her pipe. A desire for you to leave. Idle speculation about market opportunities. Fear of something else—some other entity.

You decide to try a fresh approach. “I undersstand there are—”

“Why do you TALK like that? Sstop ssslurring!” The goblin says, barking a harsh laugh at your accent.

“—that there are opportunitiess to earn a bit of coin here.” You finish the thought, ignoring her mockery despite your annoyance. “That ssomeone sstaying here iss willing to pay for the right sstuff.”

“Oh?” the goblin girl asks. “And what have you heard? What ‘stuff’ do you think this person wants, huh?”

“I wass… Hoping you could tell me,” you say.

The goblin girl laughs again, once. “Knew it. Copped you for a fucking guardie. They got themselves a cute little pet half-orc to spy on us, huh? Come back with your helmet, guardie-girl. I ain’t no snitch. Fuck off.”

Ugh. This is going poorly. You need a different approach.
>Get physical, using your greater size to intimidate the goblin into compliance [DC ???]
>Use glamour to seduce the goblin into inviting you inside [DC 13]
>Attempt to knock the goblin out, and use Irinnile’s mentalism to scan the goblin’s brain for details [DC ??? for combat, DC 15 for mentalism, +1 Want]
>Play up the guard angle, explaining that you have the Inquisition on the way to lock this whole place down and ask these questions much more ‘insistently’ if she isn’t going to cooperate with your investigation into the occult [DC 15]
>Forget this nonsense—kill the goblin and walk right in with dagger in hand [DC ???]
>Write-in
>>
>>5011308
>Use glamour to seduce the goblin into inviting you inside [DC 13]
>>
>>5011308
>Play up the guard angle, explaining that you have the Inquisition on the way to lock this whole place down and ask these questions much more ‘insistently’ if she isn’t going to cooperate with your investigation into the occult [DC 15]
>>
>>5011308
>Play up the guard angle, explaining that you have the Inquisition on the way to lock this whole place down and ask these questions much more ‘insistently’ if she isn’t going to cooperate with your investigation into the occult [DC 15]
>>
Rolled 6, 1, 15, 18, 10 = 50 (5d20)

>>5011362
>>5011436
>>5011733
[Intimidation + politesse, with a small bonus for playing to existing assumptions = 5 dice!]
>>
>>5011743
“Fine, you want to play it like that?” you ask, squaring up. “You can play your ssilly little gamess with the Inquissition.”

“What now? The who now?” the goblin asks, straightening slightly.

“What, you think we came to invesstigate an occult enterprisse without tipping off the Tower Inquissition?”

The goblin doesn’t respond right away, her eyes flitting back and forth and shoulders hunching as she instinctively seeks an exit strategy. Her surface emotions all turn to fight-or-flight. You smirk knowingly—it’s working!

“My father wass from Goblintown,” you begin to spin the yarn. “I thought perhapss I’d cut you sslobss ssome sslack, out of ssolidarity—”

“Screw you s-s-sssolidarity!” the goblin spits, but you can feel her fear mounting.

“—but the Inquissitorss have ways of making you talk. Terrible ways, I hear. Your brain iss never the ssame, afterwards.”

The goblin girl’s green skin goes a shade paler, and she drops her pipe before scrambling to pick it up.

“Hey, HEY now, it doesn’t have to play out like that…”

“Oh?” you ask, feigning casual curiosity, while inwardly you feel sadistic glee at the successful manipulation.

“I didn’t know he was doing any illegal occult shit!” she protests. “I just did, you know, some gophering.”

“Gophering?” you ask, puzzled.

“Yeah, you know—go fer a walk, come back with some pretty rocks, or weird chalk, or a half-dead cat. Go fer a bit of thie—borrowing, bartering, begging. Go fer this, go fer that. Gophering!”

“Who hass you doing this?” you ask. “A half-orc, like me?”

“Y-yeah,” she agrees, nodding rapidly. “That’s right! His lip has a scar. Dark blue eyes, human eyes, like yours but… You know, bluey! Real stern, not very talky, with a bit of that ‘big dick’ energy, you know?”

You roll your eyes at the goblin’s crude priorities in the description, conveniently ignoring Irinnile’s metaphysical drooling at the last part.

“Is this half-orc upstairs right now?” you ask.

The goblin nods.

“And do you know what exactly he’ss doing? What he needss all thiss for?”

“Not really,” she admits. “I mean, wo cares? The bruiser pays, he pays, you know what I mean? Questions just get answers. Answers don’t pay bills.”

Hm, curious.
>>
>>5011762

“Did you ssee anything… Esspecially unusual lately?”

‘Heh, guess you can’t just straight up ask “hey, did anyone haul a big-ass lizard with a stick up his ass upstairs tonight”, huh?’ Irinnile jokes.

The goblin shakes her head. “Nah, just swung by to collect my pay and to drop off some reading stone.”

You narrow your eyes, recalling some readings from your time in the library with Lord Bianchi, the occultist whose rendezvous with Zivic you had interrupted just earlier this night. “Ulexite?”
The goblin snap her fingers. “That’s the shit! Yeah! You-lexite! Half-blind old fucks use it magnify shit, right?”

…And some rituals use it to channel a spirit between two vessels. This could be related to Devil-Zivic’s plans to possess Bianchi… But then, it wasn’t present, apparently, when that ritual was in the works. Could it be related to what she has planned for Roth?

What do you do with the goblin girl?
>’Deputize’ the goblin, offering her amnesty if she provides you with aid
>Slay the goblin to cover your tracks, having got what you needed
>Get the goblin’s address to call on her later
>Tell the goblin to scram
>Write-in

And what is your plan for Zivic and her half-orc toady?
>Create a distraction and sneak in by another entrance
>Storm in hacking and slashing
>Head upstairs directly for some hostage negotiations
>Set the building ablaze—it’s the only way to be sure!
>Draw the Inquisition’s attention here, and let them handle it
>Write-in
>>
>>5011763
>’Deputize’ the goblin, offering her amnesty if she provides you with aid
>Get the goblin’s address to call on her later

Use, then succ, but only after Roth's secure.

>Create a distraction and sneak in by another entrance

Sneak snek.
>>
>>5011763
>’Deputize’ the goblin, offering her amnesty if she provides you with aid

>Create a distraction and sneak in by another entrance

these options seem perfect together
gobbo can make a legit looking distraction

burning the building down is also pretty tempting
roth would survive that right? dragon blood?
>>
>>5011763
>’Deputize’ the goblin, offering her amnesty if she provides you with aid
>Get the goblin’s address to call on her later
Might use her to steal shit and get things done, right? Only problem is we will have to change appearance specifically for her or introduce her to real Ismena.

>Create a distraction and sneak in by another entrance

>>5011882
I'm all for setting shit on fire, but that would attract attention of everyone and expose Roth alongside the cult.
We could set things aflame once we locate him and make sure he can escape, tho.

Do we have any idea how to check whether he is possessed or brainwashed? Can maybe Irinnile do that?
>>
>>5012066
>>5011882
>>5011812

“What’ss your name?” you ask the goblin.

“Zi,” she replies quickly. Too quickly. You suspect it’s a pseudonym for nosy ‘guards’ like you.

“Congratulationss, Zi,” you tell her anyway, “you’ve been deputized. You’re going to help me catch thiss blue-eyed half-orc of yourss.”

“What?” she barks. “If I wont’ snitch, what make you think I’ll work with you helmet-headed fuckers?”

You shrug. “Ssuit yourself, but when the Inquissition gets here, do you want them to think you’re the occultisst’ss co-consspirator, or a helpful member of the local community?”

The goblin squirms, chafing at the idea of working for the local law in any capacity but clearly dreading the consequences of NOT doing so… At elast, as you have framed them.

“Fine,” Zi growls. “But if anyone asks, this isnt’ a law thing, right? This is just some kind of criminal takeover, driving the smug half-humie out and taking his shit. Just plain old ambition. Got it?”

You acquiesce to this ridiculous request, and formulate your plan. Zi the Goblin is to return from whence she came, claiming to have been shorted some of her payment for the ulexite, while you will sneak in through another entrance. While a part of you would rather just burn the place down and be done with it, counting on Roth’s relative heat-tolerance to keep him alive, you hardly want to bring the ACTUAL Inquisition presence you drew to Goblintown in your wake down upon your active operation.

Zi begrudgingly enters the building to do her part, while you circle the building and plan your approach. You don’t necessarily want to increase your <WANT> anymore than you already have without good reason—

‘Shame we couldn’t have fucked around with those humans we killed in the sewer before that all went down, huh?’ sighs Irinnile wistfully. ‘Davide did alright earlier.’

—which would leave shapeshifting wings once more seems to be off the table for now. Breaking through any of the lower doors or shuttered windows would unavoidably create noise. However, you DO have rappelling gear, taken from your dead ‘ally’ Joris in the undercity.

‘Rappelling gear you ain’t never used before,’ Irinnile points out. ‘Come on, baby, lemme’ out a little. I promise I’ll be good!’

‘And this has nothing to do with the goblin’s comment about the half-orc’s stern blue eyes and hypothetically large phallus?’ you ask.

‘We-eeeellll…’ Irinnile titters nervously.

You sigh, and command Irinnile to 'Just focus on determining if Roth is... Influenced at all.'

What do you do?
>Rappel in [1d20, DC 15]
>Shapeshift wings and fly in the chimney [No roll necessary except for stealthiness at DC 10, +1 WANT]
>Shapeshift claws and climb in the window [No roll necessary except for stealhiness at DC 10, +1 WANT, gives you a supernatural weapon to wield immediately]
>Screw this, smash your way in down below and hope that the goblin’s distraction is sufficient to preclude and immediate counter-offensive
>Write-in
>>
>>5012120
>Rappel in [1d20, DC 15]
Fuck it, we need to learn to deal with Irinnile shortages.
But also...
>Shapeshift claws and climb in the window [No roll necessary except for stealhiness at DC 10, +1 WANT, gives you a supernatural weapon to wield immediately]
...can we shapeshift claws midair if we fail the climb noncritically?

This vote is awaiting QM confirmation.
>>
>>5012178
[You can try, but there would be a roll to see if you even do it in time]
>>
>>5012240
Then let's try it.
>>
>>5012120
>Shapeshift claws and climb in the window [No roll necessary except for stealhiness at DC 10, +1 WANT, gives you a supernatural weapon to wield immediately]

Rather just go with claws, with only 1 dice rappel succeeding is unlikely
>>
>>5012120
>Shapeshift claws and climb in the window [No roll necessary except for stealhiness at DC 10, +1 WANT, gives you a supernatural weapon to wield immediately]

We should've just drained the goblin, because out WANT just became out of our control, now requiring a DC of 18 not to lose control. Good luck trying to sort this mess out lads.
>>
Rolled 8, 11, 14 = 33 (3d20)

>>5012555
>>5012293
>>5012178
[Stealth roll; post coming later.]
>>
>>5012591
Once the goblin has had enough time—by your imperfect reckoning, at least—to create a distraction, you set to work.

‘Alright, Irinnile. Claws.’

‘Alright, babe!’

‘But behave yourself,’ you admonish her, even as your hands begin to shift and warp into elongated talons, enriched by demonic energy.

‘Aww, come on, not even a little snack? That half-orc sounds DELISH, and I'm staaarving…’

<WANT: 18>

Despite the clawing sensation of Irinnile's appetites at the back of your skull, you ignore both your roiling stomach and your throbbing sex to focus on the mission. You can find a say to sate the succubus later—right now, you need her other aptitudes to recue Roth and end the threat of Zivic. You centre yourself and, with devilish silence, ascend the rickety scaffolding of the goblin built building to the upper windows.

You find only softly-billowing curtains between you and your target, but by the sounds of it he is not alone. You can hear Zi the Goblin's harsh, high-pitched protests of insufficient payment, but the voice which replies is neither that of a half-orc—nor, for that matter, the croaking voice of a bird possessed by the Devil-Zivic. It’s a woman’s voice, but not Zivic’s either. You reckon it human, perhaps—not so shrill as a goblin or deep as an orc. Another acolyte or lackey?
>>
>>5012662
Having the advantage of stealth, you move the curtain aside and peer in. The room within is cast in dim candlelight, but this is no impediment to you of course. You see a familiar array of apparatuses and accoutrement: the arsenal of an occultist laid out on the floor, across a wide blanket. Another blanket, a rich red one, wraps a rope-bound parcel, still as the grave and roughly the shape of a man—or a Reptilian. Could it be so easy—Roth, unguarded?

Looking past him, though, you see the backs of two figures: one tall and broad-shouldered, a hood over his head. The half orc! Next to him is a more womanly—but no less muscular, you note—individual with her greyish hair tied up in a bristly topknot, and her own hooded cloak worn loose. On her shoulder sits that damned devil-bird you have come to recognize as a symbol of Zivic’s presence, her surveillance. Luckily, it is not looking your way. Beyond them, you hear Zi’s arguments weakening.

“Look, come on, that was just a sample. A bit more coin, and I can buy you better shit than I can steal, right?”

“Then why would we pay you NOW instead of THEN, you useless little twit?” the woman demands, ahdns on hips. “We’re busy. BEGONE, filth!”

“Fucking hobgoblins thing you’re so much fucking better than everyone else… We’ll see if I deal with you again. ASSHOLES!”

Despite Zi’s grumbling, her footfalls—so heavy, for one so small—begin to depart. And why not? She was only protesting on your behalf. You’re honestly surprised she got so into the ruse. You suppose she must have decided to see if she could ACTUALLY score some additional money. Still, her distraction is done. You must act fast, to do so before you are spotted!
>Grab Roth and dive out the window, manifesting wings at the cost of additional <WANT> and an Irinnile-control roll
>Take down the woman—hobgoblin?—and the bird first, for Zivic is the truest threat
>The half-orc is the biggest and mightiest opponent here, and the ringleader of the operation as you have heard it, so slay him before he presents a problem
>Stand between the occultists and the Roth-shaped bundle, and amp up your aura of intimidation at the cost of additional <WANT> and an Irinnile-control roll
>Just stay put and observe, to learn what they’re planning and strike when you can inflict maximum damage to their operation; besides, can you be sure that the bundle is Roth?
>Write-in
>>
>>5012663
>Just stay put and observe, to learn what they’re planning and strike when you can inflict maximum damage to their operation; besides, can you be sure that the bundle is Roth?

It ain't that easy.
>>
>>5012663
>Just stay put and observe, to learn what they’re planning and strike when you can inflict maximum damage to their operation; besides, can you be sure that the bundle is Roth?

Finally we can spy on Zivic instead of the other way around
>>
>>5012663
>Just stay put and observe, to learn what they’re planning and strike when you can inflict maximum damage to their operation; besides, can you be sure that the bundle is Roth?
We gotta act fast once we see Roth, though. Don't want them to cast any funny spells before we grab him.

Something tells me, that if everything goes well, a reptilian will get raped later this night.
>>
>>5012814
>>5012786
>>5012684
The half-orc male and the hobgoblin female turn around, and you shift backwards and crawl along the side of the building until you are the next window. Their low-light vision is a threat to your stealth, after all, if you were to just remain in the windowsill with curtains pulled aside. That doesn’t mean you can’t listen in, however.

“Well that was distracting,” the half-orc grumbles, his voice a low rumble.

“Irritating, more like,” the hobgoblin replies.

You peak in, and get your first view of a member of that particular race: taller and more human-like in skintone and proportions than the little green Zi, but with the same wolf-yellow eyes, large pointed ears, and flashes of the same sharp teeth.

“I don’t know,” croaks the bird upon the half-orc’s shoulders. “I think she has her uses…”

The half-orc chuckles. “You’re a dirty old woman, even now, you know that?”

You glower at the familiar sounds, and the association. Lady (Devil-)Zivic.

You observe the two (three?) go about their business, setting up for some sort of ritual. Amongst their preparations is the unfurling of the cloth and untying of the rope around ‘Roth’, or at least the bundle you had expected to be Roth. To your surprise, you see not a Dragonblooded Reptilian, but the dead, naked body of a half-elf woman. It’s no one you can recognize, but the features are as finely-cut and symmetrical as anyone of prominent elven blood; fresh in her dead, she is unblemished by decay.

“You’re sure about this?” the half-orc asks.

“Yes, are you?” scolds the hobgoblin. “Don’t be vain now, demon. I know you prefer to… Cohabitate… With females, but that lizard-man you had me capture is a far more useful body, and transference into a living shell is a far more permanent solution than a corpse.”

You feel your nerves tingle at mention of Roth (and with only a single, small intrusive Irinnile idea about inflicting penetration upon his cloaca as a reward for his rescue).
>>
>>5012991
“No, I think not,” the crow-like bird speaks, with a rattle you take for a sigh. “That creature has no ambition—not even the imagination of such. Not like my current partner. Not even like either of you. It is a slave to another master, and while dominating it would be a trifle, it would be an ill-fitting suit for any occasion.”

You follow the half-orc’s unconscious gaze towards a door on the far side of the room when the hobgoblin speaks.

‘Our peggable dragon-butt is in there!’ Irinnile declares.

The hobgoblin sets about lighting incense and the half-orc takes out a scroll. She takes out a small silken handkerchief and unrolls it to reveal a translucent, whitish stone, which you recognize as the ulexite obtained by Zi for the ritual of spirit transfer.

‘Our best chance at directly striking at Zivic—or the incubus—is right her,e though,’ you reply.

‘What’s the play?’ Irinnile asks.
>Attempt to use the Akashic Ritual and the information you have learned from Bianchi to interrupt the ritual at its apex and to bind the incubus to the ensorcelled scroll-case you took from he fox-woman
>Sneak around the building while the occultists are busy with their ritual, to liberate Roth; he can help with whatever comes next
>Attack now! Destroy the half-elf’s body before Zivic can transfer into it, and then destroy the bird which apparently serves as her demonic patron’s primary host right now!
>Slay the half-orc, and maybe the hobgoblin—she can’t perform the ritual without them!
>Keep watching—you kind of enjoy being the one doing the spying for once in this rivalry
>Write-in
>>
>>5012992
>Attempt to use the Akashic Ritual and the information you have learned from Bianchi to interrupt the ritual at its apex and to bind the incubus to the ensorcelled scroll-case you took from he fox-woman
Time to pull our ace out and then we can deal with real greenskins. My bloodlust is still present, but I'm open to using half-orc as a pawn if you anons so desire.

>roth has cloaca
>rqm compared me to irinnile
darkest point of my life
>>
>>5012992
>Attempt to use the Akashic Ritual and the information you have learned from Bianchi to interrupt the ritual at its apex and to bind the incubus to the ensorcelled scroll-case you took from he fox-woman


The POG move
>>
>>5012992
>Attempt to use the Akashic Ritual and the information you have learned from Bianchi to interrupt the ritual at its apex and to bind the incubus to the ensorcelled scroll-case you took from he fox-woman

It’s what we’ve been training for!
>>
>>5012992
>Attempt to use the Akashic Ritual and the information you have learned from Bianchi to interrupt the ritual at its apex and to bind the incubus to the ensorcelled scroll-case you took from he fox-woman

Time to get this over with.

>>5013011
But Irinnile, the half-orc is too dangerous to work with! Better to preg and be done with it, I say.
>>
Rolled 14, 2, 12, 5 = 33 (4d20)

>>5013011
>>5013098
>>5013214
>>5013279
[Rolling for our uncharacteristically unanimous decision! Post coming later.]
>>
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>>5013315
The half-orc begins his chanting, lifting a burning spring of herbs and waving it through the air as if to trace runes or sigils. The hobgoblin holds back, but bows her head slightly, reverently, and mumbles along with the chant. The bird hops from shoulder to shoulder, its inhabitant unable to contain its excitement. They are utterly absorbed!

This is the moment you've trained for—what all this meddling in the occult has been for, what the Dark Gods gifted you the Akashic Record to accomplish! You pull put the scroll case from your pack—that rune-etched leather tube, taken from the fox-woman upon her slaying earlier this night. Though you do not know the exact ritual to bind this beast with which Zivic's soul consorts, you are no longer an inexperienced amateur—you bound Irinnile, after all—and the Gods’ own record will fill in any gaps in your knowledge.

You close your eyes, entering the trance. It is a struggle, different than it is normally. Irinnile and her frustrated desire, her HUNGER, stand titanic in your second sight. Her burning urges fill this place between realms, like a haze between yourself at the ephemeral tome that you have come to envision as the mental manifestation of the Akashic Record. Still, against the gale-force winds of your distracting passenger's skewed priorities, you open the book and gaze within. Page by page, you laborious sort through eras and continents to find it: the memory of past Reptilian agents, who bound and bartered with demons! From their experiences, you draw what you need for the ritual ahead.

You begin to move your hand, to whisper the incantation. Eyes still closed, reading from the fading memory of a scroll which may well have burned or crumbled to dust in the century hence, you uncap the scroll case. Only then, with the ritual nearly complete, do you open your eyes to behold your triumph…

And look directly into the dark little marbles of the corvid, behind which Devil-Zivic watches you calmly. Silently. Even the chanting has ceased.
>>
>>5013343
‘Oh shit!’ Irinnile cries out within you, but already the half-orc's great hands are upon you. He may be a scholar, but a scholar born with orcish blood can still throw your comparably-slight frame around like a child's doll, and so he does. You hit the opposite wall with a painful thump which leaves you dazed. Before you can get back up, a sandal-clad foot catches you across the face, knocking your jaw temporarily out of palce: the hobgoblin.

“My my,” the bird croaks, looking down at you with tilted head, “is that Miss ‘Kamunu' Rosgard, the reptile spy, who I see behind that shifted flesh? Your kind are resourceful… And you've followed my lead and found a demonic patron, I see! It's almost a shame: it was your shifting of the mystic energies in this place that gave you away.”

You look to where the scroll-case lies upon the floor, realigning your jaw—thankfully an easy task, with Irinnile rendering you largely immune to mundane attacks. Unbidden, you recall the words of the fox-woman: ‘A demon like that one, what it is growing to become, will not be bound so easily.’ You never even got a chance to test the theory.

The bird leans low over you, tilting its head this way and that. It rumbles, almost a purr. “You have changed and grown in MANY ways. I like the new look… And the confidence with which you staged this little rescue attempt. Funny, I’d been led to believe by Tokunbo that your kind weren’t prone to loyalty…”

The hobgoblin stands ready to do battle, even with the bird perched upon her. The half-orc keeps his distance, drawing a warding sigil in the burning herbs and with his fingers, muttering quietly. This will be no easy ambush, now, but a fight.

‘Or we could grab Roth and go!’ Irinnile suggests desperately. ‘Or even, I dunno’, just GO. WITHOUT Roth, even!’

There is that option, too…

What do you do?
>Fight your way to the bird—you’ll shove Zivic’s bird body into that tube if you have to! [specify if you have a specific tactic or order of priority for your foes in mind]
>Negotiate your way out of this [how? Specify a bargain.]
>Make a break for Roth’s holding room, to save the dragonblood and free him from whatever bondage he’s in
>Dive back out the window, and leave this place—you aren’t prepared to risk your life for this misadventure
>Call in the [DIVINE FAVOUR] to smite these heathens with Dark and Godly might!
>Write-in
>>
>>5013344
>Fight your way to the bird—you’ll shove Zivic’s bird body into that tube if you have to! [specify if you have a specific tactic or order of priority for your foes in mind]

We already have claws used to climb the wall, and hob doesn't seem to have drawn any weapons. Rush the orc super quick just to interrupt whatever spell he's casting and make him restart, then tear the hob apart.
>>
>>5013344
>Fight your way to the bird—you’ll shove Zivic’s bird body into that tube if you have to! [specify if you have a specific tactic or order of priority for your foes in mind]

Spook the half-orc with an illusion, break his concentration on his spell, then knock out or kill the hoboblin and shove the bird into the fuckin tube.

>>5013375
It's clear that the hobgoblin is either a mage or a shaman of some sort, hence the lack of a weapon.
>>
>>5013385
As long as she's not casting right now she isn't the priority. Plus between a caster half orc and a caster hobgoblin I'm betting we can secure a quicker kill on the latter.
>>
>>5013344
>>5013375
>>5013391
I'll second this
>>
>>5013391
Should we consider setting Roth's holding room on fire if opportunity arises?
>>
Rolled 10, 20, 18 = 48 (3d20)

>>5013615
>>5013391
>>5013385
>>5013375
>>
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Dark Gods approve of the bloodshed.
>>
>>5013720
>>5013715
Remembering your mixed-discipline combat training, you do as you were taught: take down the spellcaster first! The hobgoblin is between you and the half-orc, but that’s no matter. She advance towards her, cracking your neck and flexing your claws, and she scowls and likewise closes the distance… But as she draws near and swings for you, you duck the blow, roll sideways, and catch the half-orc off-guard. By the rising of his voice’s volume and intensity, you expect that his spell was nearly complete, but that just means he can ill-afford an interruption. You reach out and slash open his calf and calcaneal tendon, and he cries out, thoroughly interrupted.

You start to stand, but your own senses and Irinnile’s voice in your head give you pause.

‘Watch out—incoming hobgoblin!’ she shouts.

You brace yourself with your hands and mule-kick the hobgoblin in the face, using her own speed against her. The force of your attack is such that you lift yourself off the floor and belly-flop right back down, but you ignore the pain and roll onto your back, flip onto your feet, and press your advantage.

The hobgoblin is near the doorway out which Zi disappeared. She is seated on the floor, clutching her broken nose and swearing in a harsh and shrieking tongue you can only assume to be some dialect of ‘Gob-Lang’. In her other hand she holds a dagger which, even at a quick glance, you recognize as a bone blade bearing ritual-affirming magic—something capable of slaying you. Above the hobgoblin: the stairwell. Above her, flapping and fluttering frantically, the possessed bird that runs this operation.

You and the hobgoblin lock eyes. She moves fast, martially trained, but you have the same training and demonic vigor besides. You move faster, dodging a slash of her blade and then kicking it out of her hand. It spins end-over-end and out the window—gone from the equation.

“You BITCH!” the hobgoblin roars, rising and reaching behind her, into her belt.

Another enchanted weapon or tool to use against you? Well, you can’t have that. Luckily, the orc has powered through his pain and is hurling his superior size and weight at you in an ill-advised tackle. You don’t even turn around: you simply wait for the two waves of hostile emotional energy to converge… And step aside. The half-orc barrels into his saucer-eyed accomplice, and they both disappear down the stairs in painful-sounding crunch, followed by a successively-distant series of thumps. You sense that neither has perished, but with their hostility waning, you can only infer that they are unconscious.
>>
>>5013729
Devil-Zivic’s host continues its squawking, but not for long. The corvid’s inner demon sees how the battle has gone, but too late. It beats a retreat towards the window, but you draw your own dagger and hurl it into the bird’s back. You catch the left wing, and send the creature tumbling out of the air.

“Waaaiit…” it croaks, as you retrieve the scroll-case.

“No, I don’t think sso,” you say simply, a you uncap it.

It is a messy business of ruffled feathers and broken bones, but before any further complication can arise, the bird is stuffed in the case, and it is capped. Then, and ONLY then, do you take a moment to breathe.

‘Lispy,’ Irinnile says, ‘if I wasn’t already up inside you, I would jump your bones SO fucking hard right now.’

You smile in satisfaction.

What now?
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure
>Question Devil-Zivic about something [what]
>Transfer Irinnile into the half-elf corpse on the floor—you’d been musing about finding her a host
>Burn this place to the ground
>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening
>Write-in
>>
>>5013730
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure

Mindfuck and drain their ass.

>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening

Grab the corpse and put it on ice. We'll switch Irinnile to it before we go to the Gala, after we calm Mina down, figure out Edwin's dream visitor, and get our Tower thot firmly wrapped around our finger (and maybe try for that Tower secretary as well). Otherwise, that's our main side project largely taken care of.
>>
>>5013730
>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening
Let's free Roth first and foremost.
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure
...then we can drain life from those two if we have time.

So is demon bound to the bird or am I misunderstanding things here? I'm not even sure whether Zivic and this demon are the same entity or separate like Ismena with Irinnile.
>>
>>5013730
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure
>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening
>>
>>5013804
>So is the demon bound to the bird?
It seems to be based upon your understanding, but you have only been studying occultism for a month or two and (while you're a quick study), the fox-woman and Tokunbo both described the demon as something unusual.

>Are Zivic and the demon the same entity?
Tokunbo and the demon itself both described it as a demon that had bound and assumed the soul and identity of Zivic, as part of a pact
>>
>>5013884
>Tokunbo and the demon itself both described it as a demon that had bound and assumed the soul and identity of Zivic, as part of a pact
So Roth zero'd Zivic's benefits from that pact and sent her bare ass straight to the demon? Holy shit, lmao.
>>
>>5013888
Conceivable. You don't know the specific conditions of her agreement with this demon.
>>
>>5013730
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure

I agree with mindfucking them and destroying their asses.

>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening

Don’t worry about the corpse. Lugging that around would be a hassle

>Burn this place to the ground
Just something quick - throw a candle onto a stack of papers before we leave
>>
>>5013730
>Let Irinnile drain the half orc
He can curse his fate for being born male. We can maybe recruit the hob though. Martially and magically trained? No guarantee on the magical but she could make a valuable asset.
>>
>>5013932
Actually based, but only if we pull Roth out of wardrobe first.

>>5013730
I'm (>>5013804) tweaking vote to
>Get Roth and get out of here, before the Inquisition spoil the evening
Again, freeing him is priority in case we have to bail.
>Finish off Zivic’s acolytes, just to be sure
Idk why mindfuck if we're killing them, but definitely steal life energy if we can do it quickly.
>Quick search the bodies for useful items
Horc and Hoblin, not the Helf.
>Burn this place to the ground
Drop a candle, but then also drop Roth's fire breath to make sure fire spreads quickly.
>>
>>5013730
I almost forgot

>Loot the good shit, that magic knife especially
>>
Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>5013744
>>5013949
>>5013945
>>5013932
>Grab Roth (and any obvious loot)
>Kill the acolytes quickly, draining them IF time
>Start a fire on the way out

Did I get the gist? if so: will post later tonight. Rolling for possible event/interruption
>>
>>5014227
Actually, I wanted to check their memory, see if we can gleam any useful intel before we drain them, as well as leave it open to anons if they wanted to turn them into pawns. I personally don't think that the murderanons will go for the pawn plan, but I figured I'd leave the option upen since other anons brought up the pawn bit themselves.
>>
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>>5014259
Most votes seemed to be to mindfuck and/or destroy them, possibly after Irinnile actually fucked the half-orc, and so...

>>5014227
Saving Roth is priority number one. It’s what drew you to this place, after all. With you desire to eliminate and best Zivic sated—well, hopefully sated, if you understand the nature of this devil-pact she’s formed correctly—there is nothing else to focus upon.

‘But what about riding that big, half-orc—’

‘There’s no time, Irinnile.’

‘Aaawwwww.’

Despite the aching <WANT> within, Irinnile doesn’t rebel. Still, it behooves you to feed that particular beast soon. Your mind constantly drifts as you check the door of the adjacent room for traps, fantasizing about the half-orc, the hobgoblin, Edwin, Roth, the bird in the tube, ANYONE. You compartmentalize it all, pushing it down as you were trained. There will be time for that later. Right now, your focus is on the drooling, unconscious red-scaled humanoid slumped on the floor before you.

Roth’s amulet of disguise is gone, and a quick scan of the room reveals nothing. His clothes, too, are half-ruined by the reemergence of his tail and his rough, dragon-like scutes and bony protrusions. He’s clearly been drugged—it only makes sense, given his lack of crying-out during (or active interference in) the previous conflict. You have no super-strength by dint of your pact with Irinnile, not really—she fills you with vim and vigor, but she is no demon of wrath and physical domination. This much larger male is thus a difficult burden for you to heft and carry out of the building. Still, you will not leave empty-handed. You try.

As you exit, you sneer at the ritual circle, the half-elven corpse. You could transfer Irinnile into the body, if only you had the time… But you don’t. With the magic dagger kicked out the window, you honestly see no items of immediate value here… Save the ulexite. You take it, pocketing the clean-cut slab of stone. Then, on a spiteful whim and out of a desire to cover up evidence of your presence, you swing Roth’s limp tail into several still-burning incense candles.
>>
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>>5014303
As the flames begin to spread through the poorly-constructed apothecary, you descend the stairwell which Zivic’s acolytes tumbled down.

At the base of the stairs, you pause.

‘You mean I can…?’ Irinnile chirps hopefully.

‘Take what you can. Quickly, CLEANLY.’

‘So… No waking up Mister Tall-Smart-and-Muscly for a ride?’

“No,” you say aloud, with a sigh.

‘Won’t get much, then,’ Irinnile pouts. ‘I’m a desire demon, you know. I need some, ya’ know, PASSION.’

You rummage through the unconscious lackeys’ clothes and find a ring studded with a raw gem which radiates power, and a necklace which does likewise. You pocket both for future examination, and then draw your own blade again. You slay both of them, uttering a short incantation of power transference which you’d planned to sue in a different capacity earlier. It isn’t much, but it allows Irinnile to capture a bit of the soul-terror which accompanies their deaths.

<WANT: 16>

With Irinnile sated, you finally leave…

‘SHIT shit SHIT shit SHIIII—’

…Just a bit too late. You see the familiar spectacled face of your pursuer, and two pointy-capped accomplices. They aren’t immediately focused upon you and the mycologist’s store you’ve exited, but only because those goblins who fled the rooms below at the sound of your conflict above, and the smell of smoke, and running helter-skelter in disarray attempting to muster a militia, fire brigade, or crowd-based funding campaign to rebuild all at once. The chaos has slowed and disoriented the Tower’s agents, but not for long. You are, after all, a talon-handed half-orc, still matching the rough description of the perpetrator the sewer murders, and carrying a red-scaled lizardman slung over your shoulders.
>>
>>5014305
“PSSST!”

You hear an obnoxiously-loud stage whisper pierce the shrieking, swearing, and bemused cheering of the goblin crowd at the spectacle of the chaos and the now-burning building. You turn your head, and see Zi, the goblin you coerced, beckoning you towards some rough-dug basement entrance to a building across the street. You can see that she holds the mystic bone-dagger which once belonged to hobgoblin in her off-hand. This implement, capable of killing you as easily as any non-possessed humanoid, gives you pause.

“Come on, you dumb bimbo!” she hisses. “You think I’m going to just keep waving to you forever? The Tower is here!”

Why is she even helping you, if she still thinks you’re a guard? If she’s pieced it out that you aren’t, why not leave you to your own devices? What if she just tries to stab you and take your loot for herself?

‘Do we have much of a choice, babe?’ Irinnile asks. ‘Plus, she’s kinda’ cute…’

‘There’s always a choice,’ you say.

What do you do?
>Follow Zi the Goblin
>Shapeshift into a less conspicuous form and hide Roth in an alleyway, waiting out the Tower’s agents and escaping when there is an opening
>Grow wings and fly away from here as swiftly as possible—in all the chaos, what will the agents really be able to discern?
>Return to the burning building—you and Roth are both mostly fireproof, and the Inquisitors aren’t
>Write-in
>>
>>5014306
>Follow Zi the Goblin

I want that dagger, and dealing with the goblin while encumbered if more preferable than allowing the Tower to get a read on us with those glasses, as well as letting Roth be seen in public out of his human form.
>>
>>5014306
>Follow Zi the Goblin
Let's get rid of the claws as soon as possible.
>>
>>5014306
>Follow Zi the Goblin
Get rid of the claws though
>>
>>5014523
>>5014393
>>5014314
It isn’t for lack of options that you follow the goblin, you decide, but because it is the BEST option. You look both ways, making sure no great deal of attention is on you, and then you make a break for her hiding place. Along the way, you allow your knife-like claws to melt away to your usual dainty digits.

<WANT: 17>

‘Irinnile, what in hell? I thought your efficiency was improving!’

‘I’m hungryyyYYYyyy!’ The succubus whines, stomping her metaphysical feet on your mindscape. ‘You can’t just expect me to be satisfied nibbling at unconscious souls!’

Well, no matter. You still have control, and you’re out of the street now. Zi scampers ahead of you, guiding you into a basement of small rooms and tunnels more like a rabbit warren. Many rooms are filled with bags, crates, or shelves of assorted goods, stored foodstuffs, or other such things. Many more are full of cots, some on roughshod bunks to allow many goblins to sleep in a small, cramped space.

Zi beckons you along past such rooms which are occupied by goblin-folk doing business or resting, to one mostly unoccupied. Still, you can hear the chattering of Gob-Lang in both ears, echoing in muffled form and interspersed with cracks of laughter, as if from all sides. Only then does she abruptly stop, motion for you to do the same, and turn to face you.

“So, want to tell me what the fuck you have me involved in, ‘guardie’?”

What do you do?
>Lie to the goblin about your purpose here [specify your lie]
>Tell Zi a fraction of the truth—you are here to rescue your lizardman friend from dangerous occultists, and need to avoid the authorities because you are also an occultist
>Offer Zi gold to keep her trap shut and to help you get back into Hawksong in the morning
>Threaten Zi into silence, and warn her about the danger of asking further questions
>Just kill the goblin—you want that dagger and you don’t answer to vermin
>Write-in
>>
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>>5014722
>Tell her we were doing some "gophering" of our own and to keep her gob shut unless she wants the inquisitors to know who helped arrange a demonic ritual in Goblintown
>Offer Zi gold to help you get back into Hawksong in the morning

Goblin has no reason to not snitch if it means extra profit, so we better make sure she knows that we will absolutely drag her down with us if she talks.
So this is kind of a mutual blackmail plus a deal for her to make some gold.

Or we can just demote her from being a potential witness for all I care, but this is hardly a place for it and we have a blueballed demon inside, so.

Did we leave Roth behind?
>>
>>5014773
>Where's Roth
Still slung over your shoulders
>>
>>5014722
>Tell Zi a fraction of the truth—you are here to rescue your lizardman friend from dangerous occultists, and need to avoid the authorities because OF UNRELATED REASONS

lmao we lied
but don't say we're an occultist because we want her to believe if we both get caught she'd be in more trouble. Tell her it's because we impersonated a guard or something.
>>
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>>5014824
>Still slung over your shoulders
He owes us a proper massage for this.
>>
>>5014722
>Tell Zi a fraction of the truth—you are here to rescue your lizardman friend from dangerous occultists, and need to avoid the authorities because OF UNRELATED REASONS

>Offer Zi gold to keep her trap shut and to help you get back into Hawksong in the morning

>Use a glamour to make us appear more trustworthy and seductive to her. A beautiful girl in distress who just wanted to rescue her friend
>>
>>5014722
>Just seduce the goblin, satisfy WANT

First things first.
>>
[Drunk and sad. Rough night. Will post ASAP.]
>>
>>5015221
I'm sorry to hear that RQM. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you mate.
>>
>>5015221
Hope you feel gooder soon, QM. Take your time.
>>
>>5014773
>>5014834
>>5014997
>>5015027
>Offer Zi silence for gold and aid
>Tell Zi a fraction of the truth, but NOT about your own occult dealings

“I lied,” you say with a shrug. You wince under Roth’s weight, and begin to gently set him down.

“No shit!” Zi exclaims. “Yeah, I got that. Guard-girls don’t set buildings on fire or flee the other authorities carrying lizards like big feather fucking boas, do they?”

“I guesss you could ssay I wass doing ssome ‘gophering’ of my own,” you say with a smile, nodding to Roth. “I wass… Retrieving a friend who got in over hiss head with thosse occultisstss. Thingss got carried away.”

The goblin sniffs. “Pff. Gift for understatement, that.”

“That’ss not the only gift I can produce,” you say. “I appreciate the offer of shelter, but I doubt it comes for free…”

“Definitely fucking not,” Zi agrees.

“Well, if you can keep the two of uss ssafe until morning, and then help me get back into Hawkssong with my companion undetected, I can promisse this,” you pause, producing a gold coin from your pack for effect, “and more.”

Zi’s eyes sparkle nearly as brightly as the coin, but she replies: “And if I just hand you over to the wolves up to, let the Tower have you? Bet I’ll get a pretty little reward, won’t I?”

“You were sstill aiding and abetting unlawful occultisstss,” you point out.

Zi throws her hands up. “You have a fucking LIZARDMAN down here!”

“Sso we’ll BOTH be brutally interrogated and locked up forever,” you agree. “Better to jusst keep this between uss and earn ssome eassy coin, yessss?”

Zi hesitates, then tilts her head slightly. “Yeah, alright. You got a flair for this, for a half-orc, you know?”

You raise you head and realize tusks, underbite, and small porcine nose remain. Well, better still—she doesn’t know your real face! Besides, you can’t shapeshift again without worsening the <WANT>…

‘Oh, I don’t know,” Irnnile says with unconvincing innocence. ‘I can think of a couple ways to scratch that itch…’

>Wait out the night—Edwin’s at home, and you don’t exactly have the privacy you need here to properly feed Irinnile
>Rouse and arouse Roth to satisfy your WANT
>Attempt to seduce Zi to satisfy your WANT

Do you do anything else as you await daylight?.
>Chat up Zi, learn about Goblintown and the little goblin herself
>Try to get Roth alert enough for a debrief about his capture
>Rattle the scroll-case and ask the bird-Zivic-demon for more details about something [what in particular?]
>Attempt to banish the demon outright
>Screw waiting—you can evade a few Tower stooges with a bit of help from a native of the slums, and darkness will give you better cover!
>Write-in
>>
>>5015764
>Attempt to seduce Zi to satisfy your WANT
>Try to put Roth in a deeper sleep so he doesn't wake up while we're in Goblintown.
I think it's better to be safe and not irritating Irinnile further is also in our interest.
As for Roth, he isn't gonna like this situation... which on its own would be fine, but not when we look like a fucking orc and have inquisitors nearby. Sure, we could juggle skins, but that comes with the risk of being found out that is hard to justify.

>Chat up Zi, learn about Goblintown and the little goblin herself
Let's try to break her street smarts with seduction to get genuine information, whatever it might be. Ask about the horc, hob (maybe we can score extra points for having killed her) and what the locals thought of the cult. Also where she got the stone from.
Maybe where/when she can be found in Hawksong once we disappear.

How are you feeling, RQM?
>>
>>5015764
>Attempt to seduce Zi to satisfy your WANT

>Chat up Zi, learn about Goblintown and the little goblin herself

Goblintown seems like a great place to leverage as an infiltrator

also make sure zivic is covered up and inaudible because she will totally ruin the mood
>>
>>5015864
>Goblintown seems like a great place to leverage as an infiltrator
Sure, but we gotta make sure that guards or the Tower don't get to the people we hire. Good thing we can use the shapeshifting to be our own proxy now.
>make sure zivic is covered up and inaudible
Yeah give that demon some crumbs and gag her beak.
>>
>>5015877
>Sure, but we gotta make sure that guards or the Tower don't get to the people we hire

Do we? As long as we make sure they can't be traced back to us I don't think it's the end of the world if they get caught. Of course we'd want to protect anyone competent we find but Goblintown should be big enough for a good amount of disposable labor.
>>
>>5015896
>As long as we make sure they can't be traced back to us I don't think it's the end of the world if they get caught.
Yeah sure, but only if we use goblins for inconspicuous, miscellaneous work. If it's something occult and more specific, then tower could build a profile for our operation based on what the goblins tell them. We don't want that.
>>
>>5015908
good point, good point. We'd keep it very need to know in the expendable cases then.
>>
>>5015841
I'll be alright

>>5015225
>>5015509
Thank you for the understanding, and sorry for the delays
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>>5015954
That's good to hear, QM.
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>>5016031
splendid gif
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>>5015764
>Attempt to seduce Zi to satisfy your WANT
>Chat up Zi, learn about Goblintown and the little goblin herself
>Try to get Roth alert enough for a debrief about his capture

Yo Roth, you're gonna need a disguise.

>>5015841
Unless we're planning on date-raping Roth (or more dream-shenanigans, which I would support), we need to get Roth a disguise ASAP.
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Rolled 12, 17, 3, 14 = 46 (4d20)

>>5015841
>>5015864
>>5016247
>Attempt to seduce Zi to satisfy your WANT
>Chat up Zi, learn about Goblintown and the little goblin herself
>>
>>5016349
Goblintown seems like a great place to leverage as an Infiltrator, and so you take advantage of your need to lay low to get the lay of the land… And that’s not the only thing you plan to lay, either. It may be Irinnile’s influence upon you, but Zi is indeed ‘cute’.

“Sso, are you FROM Goblintown, or an immigrant?” you ask.

“Ha! Horky, nobody’s FROM Goblintown, not even if you’re born here. Goblintown isn’t a place you LIVE, it’s a place you work, and do business, and EXIST, and not for longer than you can help it.”

As the goblin launches into an impromptu rant about squalid living conditions, oppressive authorities, backstabbing neighbours, racial tensions, and dreams of metropolitan fineries dying on the vine, you casually pop open the tube containing the avian vessel of Devil-Zivic. The bird struggles weakly, beginning to poke its head out, but you simply stuff a tattered, dirty rag from atop a nearby barrel into the container to muffle any squawks of protest.

“What was that about?” Zi asks, pausing her monologue.

“Hm?” you say. “Jusst didn’t want thiss little pesst I caught sspoiling the mood.”

“Snack for later, huh?” Zi surmises. “Yeah, I get you.”

“It ssoundss like hard living,” you interject. “But… I musst admit, it ssounds like pretty much what I have heard of how goblinss live in their natural environss, anyway.”

“Hey!”

“No offencce meant. I’m beginning to ssusspect that I don’t know nearly as much about goblinss as I thought I did.”

“Pff. Most don’t. We don’t pile up and live on top of each other, for one thing. A village’ll break apart well before it gets to this size, you know? Won’t stay put in one place, either. Filth doesn’t pile up. Tempers don’t flare as hot.”

“Then why sstay here?” you ask.

“Same as everyone else: opportunity. You hear about Hawksong, where the Paladin King says the rules and the laws apply to everyone equally, and we all have a fair shake, and the roads are safe and the food’s plenty, and everyone has more than they need. And it’s true!... Sort of.”

Zi’s tone turns bitter.

“Truer for those inside the walls than those of us outside. And true, just enough, to keep some of us here, hanging on, trying to scrape by and build up respectability, or just to avoid raids, and adventurers, and banditry. At least here there’s always a sucker you can barter with or steal from, and even if you do the second one, he doesn’t get a mob together and light your house on fire…”

You give her a half-smile, and Zi laughs aloud.

“Okay, present company excluded. But whatever you were doing it for, those fuckers had it coming, far as I’m concerned!”
>>
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>>5016390
“Oh?” you ask. “The occultisstss weren’t popular?”

Zi spits, despite being indoors. The floor is hardly going to get filthier anyway, you suppose.

“Fucking hobs can fuck right off, far as I’m concerned. Warmongering, hoity-toity blueblooded slaver pricks, you know the type? And that half-orc…” She pauses, looking thoughtful.

“Good hunk of man-meat, if I’m honest, but seasoned with too much trouble for my liking. A quick copper is a copper I’ll take, but we don’t need that kind of Inquisition-roaming-around heat here. The regular old guards give us enough trouble as is, and every out-of-towner or uppity son of a whore who decides to start doing demon shit here is one more excuse to crack down and start doing inspections and deportations.”

“It sseems I did you a favour, then,” you say. “You’re welcome.”

Zi snorts. “Don’t be expecting payment. I’m already sticking my neck out for you.”

“For gold,” you correct.

“Yeah, well,” Zi shrugs. “Well, yeah. But you seem alright, weird accent and dubious intentions aside.”

“You’re not bad company yoursself,” you remark. The goblin has grit, and gumption. She could be useful. “I find you… Admirable.”

The conversation continues for sometime, as darkness deepens and you wait for dawn. The two of you sit up against a wall, waiting for Roth to awaken and the Inquisition’s attentions to wane. You become increasingly familiar, and as she tells her tale of a life scraping by and seizing every opportunity with greedy, grabbing hands, the tale is equal parts repulsive and impressive.

When Zi sends a runner to fetch him some robes at your request—useful for sneaking him into Hawksong in the morning—you make your move.

“That and the rag are going to cost you extra, you know?” she says.

“However can I repay you?” you ask mischievously, leaning forward and reaching out to rest a hand upon her thigh.

“Woah!” she says. “H-hey, you’re a tall mug of ale and all, but unless you’ve got something, you know…”

Zi uses her arm in an obscene, swinging gesture between her own legs to signifying a male organ.

“…You aren’t my type.”

You want to sigh in frustration, and let he matter rest, but all this flirtation and delayed pleasure has pushed Irinnile just a little too far.

<WANT: 18>

“Actually,” you hear your own voice say, “I have a sssurpsise you might appreciate.”
>>
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>>5016393

You aren’t sure whether Irinnile is speaking to you or to Zi, or perhaps to both. The goblin certainly isn’t the only one surprised when your hand moves—without your conscious will—down between your legs, to open a flap in the tight leather pants Irinnile shapeshifted for you to produce almost a foot of excess material that you’re SURE wasn’t there earlier this night.

“Woah!” Zi says, almost jumping back as her yellow eyes fixated on this new focal-point of all your stifled, demonically-amplified need. You find your own attention pretty focused on it, too, not least of which because of the overwhelming and half-familiar sensations emanating from the obscene and alien organ.

‘Irinnile?’ you call out in your mind, on the verge of panic.

‘Ssshh,’ Irinnile soothes you, with a hint of smugness. ‘I’m the captain now.’

“Where the fuck were you hiding THAT cucumber, green-girl?” Zi asks, eyes flitting only briefly to your face. “Or is ‘girl’ the right word?”

Irinnile shrugs your shoulders, and playfully suggests: “I wass thinking of hiding asss much of it asss would fit insside you. You know, assss repayment for being sso understanding?”

The goblin looks conflicted, confused and alarmed… But her sharp little teeth also chew her lower lip unconsciously, like a starving vagrant staring at a steak dinner.

“Fuck it,” she says eventually, shimmying urgently out of her pants, and licking her lips. “Going to need to lube it a bit first. Fuck, that’s big.”

You don’t even need to use your glamour. As it turns out, at least SOME hearsay about goblins is correct.

<WANT: 15>

By the time dawnlight is upon you, the small amount which shines in the low window to your basement hideaway is glistening off of two sweat-and-otherwise dampened bodies, with Zi’s small, trembling firm clinging to your own.

“H-hhoooly shit,” she whispers.

You can’t help but agree. The experience was… Novel. You have control of your body once more, Irinnile having receded to snooze in your subconscious like a well-fed cat after a successful hunt. Still, you struggle to move. You are stunned by what happened, and the sensations still roil through you.

There is a knock at the door, and another goblin—a female, shielding her eyes and grumbling about freakish indecency in the communal warren—hurls an oversized, patchy brownish-grey robe into the room and slams it shut behind her. You take a deep breath, sitting up and focusing on the mission once more. Zi waddles, bow-legged and hissing quietly as if in pain, over to her scattered clothing to recollect herself and get dressed, and you set about rousing Roth who, gratefully for both of you, slept through this particular sexual awakening.
>>
>>5016396
“Hrrgh?” he says, eyelids and nictitating membranbce sliding open to reveal drug-dulled eyes. “What?”

“There will be time for that later,” you say in your native tongue. “You were captured again, Oh Experienced Infiltration of Many Great Successes. I saved you.”

“Who… What?”

“It is I, ‘Rosgard’. Put on this cloak and stay silent. We are secreting you back to your base.”

He does as you ask, with considerable need for assistance from you, but still—and you look over to Zi and a few of her compatriots.

“You were saying the sewer was out-of-the-question, right?” she asks, recalling your conversations from last night. She avoids direct eye contact, still flushed from your exertions.

“Yess,” you reply. You’re as refreshed as if you had a good night’s sleep, your <WANT> sated, and yet… The goblin looks hardly the worse for wear, aside from obviously needing some proper sleep. Maybe there’s something to the tales of goblin resilience against magic, after all, if you can drain her physically and spiritually like this without knocking her out!

“Alright, then get this cloak on like your buddy,” she says, hurling a similarly-shoddy cloak at you. “And then get topside, and hop in the hamper we have rolling by. You’re going in with the miscellaneous fabric some of our boys peddle to the seamstresses. From there, you’re on your own.”

What do you do?
>Tell her you know someone in that district, actually; loop in Agatha, to help see you and your ‘buddy’ the rest of the way back to his home in Hawksong
>No need to further complicate this—you’ll get Roth the rest of the way to his home yourself
>Offer the goblins additional gold, and maybe future work, if they can smuggle Roth right to his smithy
>Actually, I’d like to go somewhere else… [specify]
>>
>>5016397
>No need to further complicate this—you’ll get Roth the rest of the way to his home yourself

Reduce complication
>>
>>5016397
>No need to further complicate this—you’ll get Roth the rest of the way to his home yourself
>>
>>5016397
>No need to further complicate this—you’ll get Roth the rest of the way to his home yourself

Why would we let anyone else know the location of Roth's smithy? If they wanted to take us all the way I'd have turned them down.
>>
>>5016397
>No need to further complicate this—you’ll get Roth the rest of the way to his home yourself

What just happened.
>>
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>>5016520
>What just happened.
Pic related

Writing!
>>
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>pegging Roth is off-limits
>QM randomly gives female MC a dick and runs a train on goblin because succubus is horny
>>
>>5016409
>>5016415
>>5016464
>>5016520
This honestly works out for the best. You would have refused the goblins had they suggested bringing you any closer to your destination. Why risk such relative strangers knowing the location of Roth’s smithy? You have no particular desire to involve Agatha Johan (your first surface ‘friend’ and a seamstress) in this aspect of your life, ether. It will be harder to move inconspicuously through the daylight streets this way, but you trust your own skills. They got you this far, didn’t they?

‘OUR skills and abilities,’ Irinnile corrects lazily. You ignore her, and she returns to her repose.

You guide Roth to the surface, following the goblins’ lead, where indeed a cart awaits you. It is a smallish covered wagon, full of spools and hastily-folded bundles of all sorts of fabric—off colour batches of off-cuts, purchased from passing merchants who doubted their ability to offload them full-price in Hawksong, you’d wager, as well as things that ‘fell off the cat’ while near Goblintown. You guide Roth in, tucking his sluggishly-dragging tail after him and piling fabrics atop him. You climb in next, nestling close to your highblooded Reptilian cohort out of necessity. He doesn’t complain, surely a testament to his grogginess and disorientation.

Zi steps up to the cart, slapping the side like the flank of a warhorse, and says “Well, how we handling this payment, then?”

She is still having trouble meeting your eyes directly, and a quick empathic scan with your succubus-senses let you know she’s feeling not shame, but a mix of affection and embarrassment FOR that affection.
>Arrange a meeting at the edge of Hawksong for tomorrorow; you'd love to see her again [+affection]
>Ask her to meet with you somewhere in particular, to talk business [write-in]
>Assure her that you’ll find her, and warn her not to come looking for you, or else [-affection]
>Write-in
>>
>>5016755

When your business with the goblin girl is concluded, a burly and hairy brute of an orc grabs the front of the cart and begins to drag it slowly and steadily behind him towards the gates of Hawksong. You duck your head, and stay quiet; Roth does likewise. Your trained mystic and acquired demonic senses alike allow you to keep a figurative eye on things, though, as you roll along.

The guards stop the smuggler at the gate, asking him (perhaps not entirely illegitimate) questions about where he came by the cloth. He answers them with (perhaps not entirely feigned) ignorance—he just moves the cart. The buyers and sellers are both waiting on him at the market. One guard begins to fingers the goods above you, and you resist the urge to stab upwards with your knife—only then do you remember your little green helper still ahs that enchanted, ritual-ready bone dagger. Damn! Regardless, the guard loses interest before uncovering you and forcing your hand, but you’re startled at the intensity of the urge to kill.
<Bloodlust: 60%>

The cart rolls onwards after a time, and you keep your breathing to a minimum, entering an almost meditative state. At least, that’s what you tell yourself. The truth is, you cold go for some torpor. It has been many nights since you rested without gallivanting through dreams and you didn’t even get that sort of half-sleep last night, between Roth’s rescue and Irinnile’s… Captaining of your vessel.

‘Hehehe,’ you hear the succubus titter.

The cart stops, at long last, and you hear the grunt of the half-orc negotiating his rate with chattering goblin merchants, eager to inspect and unload the goods. The voices move away from the carriage—your best chance at escape with a minimum of witnesses.

What’s the plan?
>Sneak stealthily through the backstreets of Hawksong, back to the smithy
>Turn on your glamour and shapeshift to a less conspicuous form, so that anyone who looks too closely at the two of you finds their attention drawn to an attractive human female and not… Roth
>Find Roth a disguise in this area—perhaps a mask or something?
>Find Roth somewhere to hide here, and come back for him when you have a more comprehensive plan and he is more alert
>Purchase a room a an inn--you both need rest
>Write-in

Also, status update:
<Seven days to the Tower Gala>
<Edwin Affection: 91%>
<Irinnile Affection: 75%>
<Shirin supplies: moderate>
>ONGOING MISSION: Destroy the Yosef Bloodline
>ONGOING MISSION: Infiltrate the Tower Gala
>ONGOING MISSION: Subvert the City Defence Program
>ONGOING PROJECT: Establish a Shirin Supply & Distribution Network
>ONGOING PROJECT: Preserve The Pretty Kitty Lounge

>>5016748
When did I ever say pegging Roth was off-limits?
>>
>>5016755
>Arrange a meeting at the edge of Hawksong for tomorrorow; you'd love to see her again [+affection]

I'm gonna need my knife back babe.

>>5016757
>Turn on your glamour and shapeshift to a less conspicuous form, so that anyone who looks too closely at the two of you finds their attention drawn to an attractive human female and not… Roth
>Purchase a room a an inn--you both need rest

Just so we're clear, we didn't leave Roth's place unlocked with the corpse of the fox-woman placed there unattended, right? We're not so retarded as to not take precautions with the wanted corpse in our Reptilian handler's base of operations, ya?
>>
>>5016755
>Arrange a meeting at the edge of Hawksong for tomorrorow; you'd love to see her again [+affection]

>Sneak stealthily through the backstreets of Hawksong, back to the smithy
>Find Roth a disguise in this area—perhaps a mask or something?

why not both
>>
>>5016757
>Assure her that you’ll find her, and warn her not to come looking for you, or else [-affection]

>Turn on your glamour and shapeshift to a less conspicuous form, so that anyone who looks too closely at the two of you finds their attention drawn to an attractive human female and not… Roth
>Find Roth a disguise in this area—perhaps a mask or something?
>>
>>5016755
>Arrange a meeting at the edge of Hawksong for tomorrorow; you'd love to see her again [+affection]
Let her fall for us, at least she won't snitch.
>>5016757
>Turn on your glamour and shapeshift to a less conspicuous form, so that anyone who looks too closely at the two of you finds their attention drawn to an attractive human female and not… Roth
>Find Roth a disguise in this area—perhaps a mask or something?
>Purchase a room a an inn--you both need rest
We should drag him upstairs and if he's still unconscious, leave a letter telling him to stay put and then go get some of his clothes.
Just make sure to ask the inkeeper if guards/tower fags visit the place first. We don't want to end up in a place frequented by members of either of those groups.
How do we get a new amulet for him? Does he keep any spares or is it a more unique thing?

Aaaa.
>>
>>5016783
Supporting this

Also, do we have enough money to pay off the goblin?

Or are we just going to seduce her again and then kill her?
>>
>>5016965
Given she lives in relative poverty, a few gold coins from Edwin's purse should probably cover it.
>>
>>5016965
She lives in gobtown bro, it's the fantasy slums

even >>5016983 seems like a lot
>>
>>5016783
>>5016812
>>5016817
>>5016826
>>5016965
>Arrange a meeting at the edge of Hawksong for tomorrow; you'd love to see her again [+affection]
>Turn on your glamour and shapeshift to a less conspicuous form, so that anyone who looks too closely at the two of you finds their attention drawn to an attractive human female and not… Roth
>Purchase a room a an inn--you both need rest
>Find Roth a disguise in this area—perhaps a mask or something?

You shapeshift into a more human-like form once more, only belatedly adding pointed ears and a paler complexion to further differentiate yourself form your other identities. After all, you don’t need anyone connecting the dots between you, the events in Goblintown, and your more conventional ‘human’ identities as Kamunu or Ismena.

<WANT: 16>

The exertion, and the invocation of your glamour, further exerts you. You decide an inn is best—after all, you arranged to meet up with Zi near the boundary of Hawksong tomorrow. You see no reason you shouldn’t meet with the charmingly-crude and grungy goblin again, be it for business or for pleasure. She’s resourceful, and spunky—

‘And can ride us like we’re the whole damn rodeo,’ Irinnile chimes in.

—and important to keep on-side. An emotionally-invested Zi is a Zi less inclined to sell you out to the human authorities. Anyway, even if you wanted to beeline it for the smithy and head back to The Pretty Kitty or Engel Manor, your partner-in-conspiracy is even more out-of-it than you. In his current state, Roth is both too conspicuous to easily move through the city unnoticed AND too disoriented to make up for this deficit with his infiltration training. Instead, you fashion him a crude face-covering from some stolen cloth and haul him out of the wagon.

The two of you travel as casually as you can, you supporting the weaving dragonblood with an arm and shoulder. He grumbles in a low tone, below audible understanding, but you plainly understand (and enjoy) his humiliation at being dependent on you in this way.
>>
>>5017192
You find the two of you room in a slightly-dingey inn which asks few questions, above an even less-appealing dive of a bar. An Edwin-provided gold coin and a glamorous smile is enough to make the balding male human at the counter shrug along with your explanation of Roth as a doddering old beastman (hence the slight snout) in town to amuse and entertain some up-town rich folk at a party.

“What’s with the face-sheet?” the man asks, not hostiel or suspicious but merely curious, and maybe a little bemused at the foreign wackiness.

“It’ss cultural,” you say. “Bessidess, he’ss really quite hideouss. People tend to sstare.”

The man laughs. Roth doesn’t.

Once you’re upstairs, you command (with no small satisfaction) the male of superior heritage to rest up. Begrudgingly, complaining about the decadent softness of even his lumpy mattress as unbefitting a warrior, he does so. Before long, he is once more in a state of torpor, hopefully recovering.

You yawn, stretch, and lay down in your own bed—you have no energy to peg the poor old male, even if you were so inclined. You have planning to do, after all: disguise amulets don’t grow on trees, but are rather gifts from the Serpent Priests themselves, and Roth can hardly assume his false identity and duties as a contact point without a human guise. Roth plainly has no idea where it is—he’s been heavily sedated and barely knows where HE is.

What do you do (after your nap)?
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet
>Flip through Roth’s little black book of other Reptilian agents and visit one of them to see about sourcing a replacement
>Attempt to access the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods and to perform a ritual to create a new one yourself—after all, you ARE uniquely gifted in illusion magic and occultism among your Degenerate kin, so why not?
>Flag down some goblins, namedrop Zi, and pay them to scour the area where Roth was held for the amulet
>Write-in
>>
>>5017193
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet

Good opportunity to chat about this and other stuff
>>
>>5017193
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet
>Attempt to access the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods and to perform a ritual to create a new one yourself—after all, you ARE uniquely gifted in illusion magic and occultism among your Degenerate kin, so why not?

I want to try my hand at it before we find Roth's old amulet.
>>
>>5017214
[Feel free to specify the other stuff]
>>
>>5017193
>Attempt to access the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods and to perform a ritual to create a new one yourself—after all, you ARE uniquely gifted in illusion magic and occultism among your Degenerate kin, so why not?

We’re decent at this stuff…right?
>>
>>5017193
>Attempt to access the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods and to perform a ritual to create a new one yourself—after all, you ARE uniquely gifted in illusion magic and occultism among your Degenerate kin, so why not?
Sure as fuck. Somewhat fast solution to disguise problem, free experience, way to make Roth seethe over our skillset and humiliate him with an amulet made by a Degenerate with help gifted her by the Dark Gods using demonically enhanced abilities.
But.
>Flag down some goblins, namedrop Zi, and pay them to scour the area where Roth was held for the amulet
We wouldn't want the Inquisition to find a Reptilian disguise amulet in the middle of the street, now DO we?
Get those goblins to work and don't overpay them or we'll quickly become a subject of gossip.
>>
>>5017286
Their life plans from this point on.
>>
Rolled 14, 11, 2, 9 = 36 (4d20)

>>5017233
>>5017214
>>5017359
>>5017372
>Akashic Record, DC 16
>>
>>5017604
lol
>>
>>5017604
You awake from your torpor a short while later—by the incline of light through the window, you estimate it to be early afternoon—and you force yourself up and out of bed. Your mother’s race ‘sleep’ but lightly—present, poisoned company excluded—and you have long been the same. Despite this, you feel as if you could well sue another few hours of torpor. Perhaps you have been overtaxing yourself lately? Duty does not rest, though.

Roth needs a disguise, you conclude, and no crude thing of cloaks and sheets which can be torn away and leave your entire conspiracy exposed. You need an amulet capable of hiding his nature from prying eyes. Luckily, you have the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods! While such amulets are normally the sole purview of the Serpent Priests, they are the very definition of agents of the Gods Below and Beyond, and that means their every activity is recorded within The Akashic Record, if only you know where to find it… And you, by now fairly experienced in navigating it, know where to find it.

Unfortunately, it seems to there is a gulf between FINDING the information on how to make such amulets and employing it. The amulets are a powerful enchantment indeed, but also subtle: they shift the shape of a wearer somewhat, as well as cloaking their identity. Normally, such an amulet would radiate magic outward to cursory inspection, but the amulet ITSELF is in this case cloaked from notice. Both agent and amulet show only the faintest hint of illusory enchantment—too much to stride unbothered into a Tower Gala or other such mage-heavy, high-security events, but enough to get by in the city without attracting undue attention from anyone sensitive to the arcane. Their creation is beyond you—beyond even the Serpent Priests!—except when the stars are aligned perfectly for a ritual to imbue each amulet with the essence of the Dark Gods.

You curse your luck as you open your eyes. There will be no producing such an amulet on your part, not today. However, you ARE able to glean some knowledge on how to produce a more rudimentary, agnostic version of the same illusion… Given the right materials. Iris agate and aura quartz, a night-blooming flower, and water from a seasonal stream trapped in clearest glass, worn as an amulet and enchanted by arcane means that MAY be within your grasp… If only you can master enchantment, a field that you’ve struggled with.
>>
>>5017616
“Dege—Infiltrator?” Roth rumbles, stirring and beginning to rise. “What are you doing? Where are we? I… I recall an ambush, a goblinoid, a cart full of cloth and… What is this on my face?”

You don’t respond right away, still trying to plan what you will do. You could source the ingredients—maybe the goblins would be helpful—and hope you are able to produce such an enchantment with concerted effort. But what if you fail? Is Roth to just stay here, in this room, perhaps for days? Or perhaps the captive demon could be useful, by telling you where the old amulet is, where the goblins might look for it? It would certainly be a blow to the secrecy of the cause if a Tower Inquisitor found such a uniquely-enchanted item…

What do you do?
What do you do (after your nap)?
>Ask Roth where you might acquire an additional amulet for him
>Flag down some goblins, namedrop Zi, and pay them to collect the necessary ingredients to make Roth a DIY enchanted amulet
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
>Leave Roth here for now—you have other matters to attend to, and cannot waste your whole day cleaning up his mess
>Write-in
>>
>>5017618
>Flag down some goblins, namedrop Zi, and pay them to collect the necessary ingredients to make Roth a DIY enchanted amulet
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
>>
>>5017618
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
I already wanted to do this even before OP brought up how bad it would be if the tower found it.
>>
>>5017618
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
>>
>>5017618
>Flag down some goblins, namedrop Zi, and pay them to collect the necessary ingredients to make Roth a DIY enchanted amulet
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
Both in case we fail again or they are unable to recover the og. Also
>Get a debrief about Roth's capture

Tell him we thought that this particular rag really brings out his bloodshot drugged eyes and that he got pegged during the demonic ritual. Cackle at his reaction and only then tell him the truth.
>>
>>5017618
>Interrogate the demon in the scroll case about the whereabouts of Roth’s amulet, and have the goblins seek it out
>>
>>5017634
>>5017637
>>5017638
>>5017734
>>5017876
You motion for Roth to wait with his questions, a gesture which causes his nostrils to flare and smoke slightly as if taken aback. Still, he doesn't protest outside of annoyed grumbling, which you honestly derive more pleasure form than even his compliant silence. It helps to give you the confidence you need as your attentions settle upon the scroll case, and the entity therein.

"Demon," you speak allowed, shaking it slightly, "do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Ismena," comes a voice--not a raven-croak, but a human voice, female, familair. "But why so formal? Are we not friends and associates? We've all been through so much together!"

You shiver slightly at the slight wrongness to the voice. "Fine then, Demon-in-a-Zivic-ssuit."

"Are you a succubus wearing the skin of a Reptilian Infiltrator, then?" the scroll-case asks, in Zivic's bemsued voice.

You don't dignify the question with a response--you are YOU, of course, and Irinnile is but your servant--

'Sexy secretary,' Irinnile corrects.

--and what you encountered in your dream after Zivic's death was, if anything, the polar opposite. But that is neither here nor there. Your cocnerns this day are more practcial than philosophical quibbles of identity, and who steers whom.

"What did you do with my comrade'ss amulet, when you captured him?"

Roth's grumbles quiet. He wishes to know, too, obviously, and is just as aware as you are of the consequences of its discovery.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the Devil-Zivic says. "And then what? You'll slip back into Goblintown and retrieve it, with all the eyes of the Inquisition on you? I'm not ignorant of goings-on outside this prison, you know..."

You are silent.

"You and that goblin had quite the night, didn't you?" the demon inquires, then chuckles quietly. "Maybe you'll send her as your 'gopher'?"

"Sspeak, or be banished." It's a simple offer, but direct and to the point.

"What banishment are you capable of, to preclude my re-summoning?" the demon asks, as if genuinely curious. "You can't think that I was the demon's only servant, or those two you killed in the mycologist's?"

"Or maybe I'll keep you as a paperweight?" you muse aloud.

The scroll-case rattles with laughter. "You think I'm helpless in here?"
>>
>>5018145
"The beast bluffs," Roth snarls. "It would have struck while we slept, if it was going to."

"My murderer speaks truly," the Zivic-voice replies, taking a harsher tone. "I could have killed you while you slept, if I was so inclined... And I might have, for what you've done to me, to my plans for the future. All in spite of my offer to work together!... But I'm not able to do so."

You are silent.

"...And since I can't slaughter my way to freedom, I'm not inclined to give up my only leverage."

"You have no leverage here, ape-witch! Demonic filth!" Roth is furious, and you are forced to shush him like a hatchling.

"How much longer do you think it will take the Inquisition, scouring the area for the Terror from the Undercity and discovering the remnants of an occult ritual site in Goblintown, to find the amulet if you don't first?" Zivic's voice asks. "Free me, and I will return the amulet. I'll even make a pact to that effect."

"We will not treat with lowly, parasitic scum masquerading as a surface-worlder," Roth spits.

But will you? Can you afford not to?
>Take the deal
>Counter-offer [Make your proposal]
>Attempt to use Irinnile to overpower and dominate the demon, binding it to your will entirely [RISKY to Irinnile, and maybe yourself, but effective if successful]
>Take the demon to Bianchi for his aid and expertise in managing this affair
>Screw it--leave Roth here and travel to Goblintown to handle this yourself!
>Write-in
>>
>>5018146
Demons are bound by pacts, right? I want to add the condition that it can never again act against us or the reptilian race as a whole without a reasonable level of further provocation, and before escalating to violence it must first make an attempt in good faith to resolve matters diplomatically in case of misunderstandings.
>>
>>5018146
>Counter-offer [Tell me now, and I'll promise not to destroy your soul. You're in no position to bargain, and if the Tower finds out about us, it's you who'll suffer death first.]
>If the counter-offer fails, take the demon to Bianchi for his aid and expertise in managing this affair

You're in no position to bargain, bird.

>>5018156
We ain't freeing freeing Zivic without securing her and the demon's knowledge of the Reptile Conspiracy in totality, and definitely not with the provision of letting them retaliate at any level, because what we and the demon determine as reasonable are two different things.
>>
>>5018146
>Attempt to use Irinnile to overpower and dominate the demon, binding it to your will entirely [RISKY to Irinnile, and maybe yourself, but effective if successful]
I'm feeling particularly retarded and this Zivifuckery just makes me anxious from the lack of control or understanding.

In case of tie between other anons, I'll support >>5018228. Not doing pacts anymore.
>>
>>5018146
>>Take the demon to Bianchi for his aid and expertise in managing this affair
>>
>>5018413
>>5018347
>>5018228
>>5018156
>Counter-offer
>If the counter-offer fails, take the demon to Bianchi for his aid and expertise in managing this affair

"Tell me now, and I'll promisse not to destroy your ssoul” you counter.

“Oh?” the vice whispers from the scroll-case. “Do you even know how to do that?”

“I’m a fasst learner,” you say. “You're in no possition to bargain, and if the Tower findss out about uss, it'ss you who'll ssuffer death firsst."

“Ah, but death is nothing new to me… And I already know well what you two will do to a game-piece once it is no longer required. How about you take me back to Goblintown, and once we’re there—”

“Superior One,” you interrupt the Devil-Zivic to address Roth in your own tongue, “remain here, and remain unseen. I have paid enough to secure this lodging for some time. I will retrieve the amulet.”

“What?” Roth asks, confused. “Where are you going?”

“I have cultivated a contact who may be some assistance in mastering this demon,” you reply.

You wrap your robe around yourself again, snatch up the scroll-case, and leave the room without further ado. Lord Bianchi can be a short-sighted and greedy fool, but he is also a man in possession of many an occult tome, and with a certain sort of expertise in the field… For an amateur. Between his private library and the Akashic Record, you should be able to find a way to bend the demon to your will… or at least make good on your promise to destroy it.

It is a long trek across town, but the demon in the scroll-case has the common courtesy not to speak around others. At first, you fear you will need to find a more effective way to muffle the possessed bird, but you suppose being outed as a demon would do your foe as little good as it would do you. This isn’t to say that the dark entity remains silent the ENTIRE way: when you are both in relative seclusion on a stretch of street, Zivic’s voice pipes up again.
>>
>>5018556
“Do you ever wonder how many of your problems—myself included—could have just been avoided by not trying to brute-force your problems by listening to your fiery cohort back there?”

You say nothing.

“We could still be good together…” she muses. “You know, my patron is not unkind to his brides and grooms. Even now, he could easily shed my soul, lock it away and stop pursuing my goals, but he is keeping both letter AND spirit of our pact. He would surely do likewise for you.”

‘We’re flattered, but she’s already taken,’ Irinnile snaps back, though only you can hear her.

“I’ve been checking in on you, from time to time. You want more than your Serpent Priests are prepared to offer you… We both know it.”

“I am chosen of the Dark Gods themselves,” you say, finally, unable to take this blasphemy.

“Oh?” she says. “And what promises did they make you?”

None, you suppose, but then what promise would you make to even a most useful gecko, as a great crocodile? What meaning would such an unenforceable promise hold? They have gifted you knowledge, power, purpose! What more do you need… Right?

“We’re here,” you say, instead of interrupting.

Indeed, you ARE here: you have arrived at Lord Bainchi’s manor. You shed your elf-like disguise to adopt your true form—give or take Irinnile’s augmentations—and make your presence known. The servants of Lord Bianchi know you well, after last night, and you are swiftly let in and, before too much longer, guided to Lord Bianchi’s room. There, the young nobleman is still recovering from having a bookcase toppled over upon him in the midst of a demonic ritual—by you, in fact, though he believes you to instead by his savior.

“Miss Rosgard,” he greets you, raising his eyebrows. “Back so soon?”

What do you do?
>Ask Bianchi to pay a visit to his library
>Ask Bianchi directly about rituals to bind, banish, and destroy demons
>Ask Bianchi about the nature of demonic pacts, and the selling of souls
>Offer Bianchi the demon in the scroll-case as his new slave, if he can help master it
>Write-in
>>
>>5018558
>Ask Bianchi directly about rituals to bind, banish, and destroy demons

Option 4 would just give us possessed Bianchi
>>
>>5018558
>Ask Bianchi to pay a visit to his library
>Ask Bianchi directly about rituals to bind, banish, and destroy demons
>Ask Bianchi about the nature of demonic pacts, and the selling of souls

Frankly, I'm not opposed to working with Zivic, but we clearly need some control over her and the situation, whether they be safeguards or assurances, for anons to even remotely consider the posibility of working with her and not simply murdering her on the spot. It's also best that we gain more info on demons, how they operate, and how to deal with them properly.
>>
>>5018558
>Ask Bianchi about the nature of demonic pacts, and the selling of souls
>Ask Bianchi directly about rituals to bind, banish, and destroy demons
>Ask Bianchi to pay a visit to his library

>>5018611
Afaik, Zivic is dead and this demon is basically pretending to be her while speaking about itself. All the while proposing us nice pacts despite knowing we've backstabbed people in the past.
Not the most trustworthy creature, I'd say.
>>
>>5018558
First!
>We wanted to check up on him and make sure he is okay

Then
>Ask Bianchi to pay a visit to his library
>Ask Bianchi directly about rituals to bind, banish, and destroy demons
>>
[Expect a late post tonight--RPG with friends!]
>>
>>5019103
Nice!
>>
>>5018859
>>5018666
>>5018611
>>5018585
“I wanted to check in on you, of course!” you say. “Wass the doctor any help?”

“Somewhat,” Bianchi says dismissively. “But don’t play coy, Rosgard. The library, right?”

“Maybe,” you admit, with a small smile. “But I wassn’t lying about wanting to check on you, either. I would love to dissscuss ssome matterss of demonology with you while I read. May I keep you company?”

Bianchi huffs, and shrugs. “It’s not as if I have anything else to occupy me.”

You can sense his pleasure at your presence, though—his appreciation.

“Just make sure the servants do not see which books you fetch,” he instructs, and so you are careful.

“’Commande and Controlle of Foule Fpiritf’?” reads Bianchi. “’The Oaths Which Bind?’ ‘Exorcism Rites of the Ancient Northwestern Shamans’?”

You nod and smile. “I wass hoping you could guide me on a fact-finding mission. I need to know about… Demonic pactss. The sselling of ssoulss. The binding and banishment of demonss.”

“Ismena,” Lord Bianchi says, leaning forward with a wince. “Is this about… The demon from last night? Did you find something?”

There is a muffled sound, perhaps a “why, actually, yes,” which emanates from your bag. Both your gaze and Bianchi’s snap to it, and then you turn back to meet his eye.

“Did you find a way to entrap the demon?” Lord Bianchi asks, torn between a sort of envy and admiration. You sense fear, too—where before he saw opportunity, he now senses danger. He defers to you, and to caution. “Are you certain this is safe, Miss Rosgard?”

“Not ccertain,” you answer. “Not yet. That’ss where I need your help.”
>>
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>>5019250
Lord Bianchi, motivated by a desire to profit from the occult without now directly risking himself, is eager enough to help you in your studies. Of particular interest, perhaps, is his learned theories on the nature of demonic pacts and soul-bonding. The selling of a soul, he reasons from his readings, is not so different from the bond one might form with a demon through any other pact.

“When summoner and spirit—or demon, but any spirit really—are one, the ancient shamans would say that one is ‘riding’ the other: one is dominant, directing actions, supplanting the other more easily than vice versa. The complete selling of a soul is simply a pledge to commit one’s energies, and sublimate one’s will, to the other soul or spirit in that partnership.”

‘Mmm,’ Irinnile murmurs. ‘Ride me ANYTIME.’

And yet… Irinnile does seize control quite readily, doesn’t she? Perhaps what Zivic is doing is merely an extreme form of this same power dynamic, where the incubus she has bound herself to may allow her escape—or deny it—from its own will as it sees fit?

“As for banishing a demon, or binding its will, I have many such rituals for that… Though most are a difficult thing to do without multiple pairs of hands, and preparation. One person to serve as a conduit, others to speak the incantation and maintain barriers, as we did with the succubus. And just as the succubus, these rituals can be sued to banish a demon as well.”

Irinnile titters nervously. ‘Haha, yeah, imagine if you had just, like… Not done that, right?’

“We had its truename for that,” you note aloud.

Lord Bianchi nods emphatically. “It’s vital, to ensure the success of the spell. Without a true name, the spell requires more powerful focuses, and renewal. With it… A demon may be rendered helpless. Destroyed, even, rendered utterly inert or without any free will or mind of its own until the end of time.”

Irinnile’s silence this time is one of a deep discomfort.

“What do you have planned for the demon you’ve ensnared?” Bianchi asks, intensely curious.

>You wish to subsume it, to bind it to yourself as a source of further occult power
>You seek a demon slave—a servant you can direct, with little to no will
>You seek an ally, to perform tasks you yourself cannot, to advise you on secret matters, and to serve as a proxy
>You wish only for a single one-off deal, and then its banishment
>It’s too dangerous to allow to live—it must be destroyed
>Write-in
>>
>>5019254
>You seek an ally, to perform tasks you yourself cannot, to advise you on secret matters, and to serve as a proxy
with a blend of
>You seek a demon slave—a servant you can direct, with little to no will
But only when concerning matters (or people) directly related to us and the Reptile conspiracy. I don't want to subsume it (at least until after the Gala if finished with), and I only really care about her not fucking with (harming/revealing) us, our people, and the Reptile Conspiracy as a whole). Otherwise, I could care less what she does in her spare time.

I will ask however, what do we gain if we subsume the demon?

And how did the RPG go mate?
>>
>>5019254
>You wish only for a single one-off deal, and then its banishment
We already have Irinnile. Besides, this incubus is a big player in the city which leads me to believe he has more brains and resources to fight back than our horny and somewhat obedient succubus.
>>
>>5019254
>>It’s too dangerous to allow to live—it must be destroyed
>>
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>>5019254
If my vote doesn't get support, I'll support (>>5019474).
Whether it's banishment or assisted ego death, I wanna clean this mess up and put the incubus out of the picture once and for all.

Also tell Irinnile we don't plan on fucking with her. She isn't a threat to us or waving pacts designed to trap our soul in front of our face unlike certain other individuals.
>>
>>5019254
Assuming no one want to work with Zivic (given our loner murderhobo tendencies), consider my vote switching from >>5019300 to supporting >>5019467, as getting the amulet back is more important.
>>
For future reference, I do consider not using the captured demon to our advantage a waste. This murderautism is starting to grate on my nerves.
>>
>>5019527
>>5019537
Sorry anon. I swear this is not about killing, but paranoia that those individuals were gonna be problematic and come back at some point. Cutting ties is just like the cleanest solution.
I admit the fox was too far, though.
>>
>>5019300
>I will ask however, what do we gain if we subsume the demon?
Power, and access to the demon's network and resources if you can impersonate it successfully or earn its cooperation.

RPG night was short, but good.

>>5019503
>>5019474
>>5019300
It seems we have a three-way tie, but the contingency vote at >>5019503 leans in favour of destruction. Writing it up!
>>
>>5019608
“Desstruction,” you say. “It’ss too dangerouss to let live. Look at what it did to you!”

Lord Bianchi, despite all the reasons you’ve given him to fear and hate the creature trapped within the tub, looks to it almost wistfully. He still can’t help but see the Devil-Zivic as a path to power… But it’s a testament to your psychic and emotional manipulations that he does not argue the point.

“You’d need its true name to affect real destruction,” he reminds you. “Do you have it?”

You don’t… And you aren’t certain even an exploration of the Akashic Record would yield useful intelligence. This demon has only seemingly become a big player recently, in Hawksong, and its only known involvement with agents of The Dark Gods are engagements with yourself and Roth.

“What about banishment?” you ask, while you mull over your options for destruction. “There is a question I have for the demon, but after that… I want it gone, and a guarantee that it won’t come after… Uss. After you, or me, or anyone elsse either of uss may care for.”

“Well you could certainly try to make a bargain with it,” Lord Bianchi notes. “Demons are bound by their word, true-name or no. Out in the Southern lands, there was a practice among learned men of bottling demons in vases or lamps, as gifts to royalty. Even a novice or one without time to set up necessary precautions could then extract concessions from the demon in exchange for their freedom, and the demon would be obliged to follow through on their end of the bargain… But only until the task is complete, as I understood the legends.”

“Sso no lasting guarantee of peace?”

Bianchi frowns. “Not without further rituals, or a true-name. A banishment would work, but…”
>>
>>5019621
“But what?” you press.

“But someone summoned it, or it otherwise found its way here. Summoned a second time, it could return immediately—albeit weakened—if it was not destroyed.”

Hrm. Troubling, but it liens up with the Devil-Zivic’s own boasts. You glare at the scroll-case inside your backpack. If only you could negotiate openly with the demon inside! However, to allow it to speak in this mixed company was to potentially reveal your darker, more subterranean secrets to Bianchi…

>Do it—you need Bianchi’s aid in this matter still, and you can attempt to wipe or alter his memories once more when you’re done
>Ask Lord Bianchi to stay in bed, for his recovery and safety, but ask to use his ritual room to attempt a more in-depthpact with the Devil-Zivic [specify a trade, ie. location of amulet and silence on the reptilian conspiracy for freedom, etc.]
>You need privacy to do your work. Find an abandoned storehouse or other such building and make a simpler pacts [specify terms, ie. amulet for freedom]
>Enough of this—banish the demon and let the Dark Gods sort it out!
>Keep the demon sealed away—it can do little harm there, and you will find the amulet yourself
>Call in your [DIVINE FAVOUR] from the Dark Gods to gain the demon's true name, enabling true mastery and destruction
>Write-in
>>
>>5019537
Anon, if you can present a plausible play to solve this imcubus situation without leaving anything up to the fate, then I'm up to doing with the incubus as you please.
Myself I have a bit of problemsolving paralysis, because we lack the information about origins of this demon and all the things he managed to achieve in the city.
The solution would be to turn Hawksong upside down to find that missing info of course, but if he really has an ace up his sleeve, he might interfere or escape meanwhile.
In all honesty I really dislike dealing with demons in this quest and that's why I aggressively tried to shut it all down.
Hard to admit after doing it for so long.
>>
>>5019622
>Do it—you need Bianchi’s aid in this matter still, and you can attempt to wipe or alter his memories once more when you’re done
or
>Ask Lord Bianchi to stay in bed, for his recovery and safety, but ask to use his ritual room to attempt a more in-depthpact with the Devil-Zivic [location of amulet, silence on the reptilian conspiracy, not becoming problematic or creating problems for the reptile conspiracy, and a favor for freedom]

Destroying a demon that's also subverting Hawksong just feels like we're doing the Tower a favor, especially if we can cut a deal, enslave, or subsume the demon. Beyond knowing about the Reptilian Conspiracy (and Roth's autism triggering most of this fallout), do we even have opposing goals? Honestly, we're throwing away not just the power, but the network potential as well. Just consider it a moment before we decide to throw it away.

>>5019655
I can respect you coming to terms with that. I guess the main question is, if you want to deal with more demons and the occult. If that answer is no, then I can respect that, and am willing to let this fall to the wayside just to make things more comfortable for y'all. I just wanted to understand your position and give our options a fair shake.

Frankly, the only way I see you being comfortable with keeping the demon alive is if you have total control over him. Personally, I'm fine with making the bargain of keeping him quiet and not causing trouble for us in the future, but I think that'll just drive the paranoia into overdrive here.

So it just comes down to whether you think using our [Divine Favor] is worth enslaving the demon to our will in totality, beyond question. We'd need to get his true name first, but after that I'm sure it'll be enough for the [Divine Favor] to work it's magic.

Again, this is only if you decide you want to dabble with demons more instead of focusing on other avenues of subversion, and whether you consider the [Divine Favor] to be worth the price of not leaving this up to fate. If that isn't how you want to play this quest, that's fine, I just want to make sure we clear the air, here and now.
>>
>>5019682
>Frankly, the only way I see you being comfortable with keeping the demon alive is if you have total control over him.
Yeah, either this or having him genuinely on our side like Irinnile. But we're dealing with a mf that controls who knows how many people and has others depend on his power to grant their wishes.
Based on the last update, we'll probably have to uncover his summoning pact to get to the roots of the problem.
>Personally, I'm fine with making the bargain of keeping him quiet and not causing trouble for us in the future, but I think that'll just drive the paranoia into overdrive here.
You're correct, unless we know who and how summoned and bound that incubus and on what grounds he's seemingly free to do as he pleases. That way we could ensure that he has no way to circumvent what we say.
>So it just comes down to whether you think using our [Divine Favor] is worth enslaving the demon to our will in totality, beyond question.
Nope. We're saving that for seducing the king, kek.

My last nitpick about striking a pact with capital-subverting demon is that we aim to weaken and eventually boot the mankind to let reptilians take over. Letting him roam (somewhat) freely in Hawksong would be a problem for lizards that come, if our pact doesn't specify he is to gtfo when masster rase comes.

>Destroying a demon that's also subverting Hawksong just feels like we're doing the Tower a favor
It also means they invest less in antidemon measures that also have an effect on us. It also puts them on a higher alert in general.

>do we even have opposing goals
We have 0 idea on who summoned this manhoe and how he got out of control. He could still be working for his summoner and be told to lie about it, for all we know.

I'm starting to realize it'd be wiser to restrain the demon as much as we can and go after the source and uncover the whole story and people behind it. At least the very one/s who brought him to Hawksong.
>>
>>5019622
>Ask Lord Bianchi to stay in bed, for his recovery and safety, but ask to use his ritual room to attempt a more in-depthpact with the Devil-Zivic [specify a trade, ie. location of amulet and silence on the reptilian conspiracy for freedom, etc.]

Pretty much the same deal as I suggested before, freedom in exchange for amulet as well as letting go of the grudge - it can't act against us or any other reptilian unprovoked, and even when provoked it would have to try and talk things out before escalating. Obviously spreading word of the reptilians would be acting against them, so that would be covered.

I know before people were concerned that Zivic might be overly liberal in what it considers provocation, which is why there's that attempt at diplomatic resolution in there. If you guys want you could try for can't act against us under any circumstances but I don't think Zivic would take that deal, as it would be left even more helpless than it is now.
>>
>>5019622
>Keep the demon sealed away—it can do little harm there, and you will find the amulet yourself
>>
>>5019622
>Ask Lord Bianchi to stay in bed, for his recovery and safety, but ask to use his ritual room to attempt a more in-depth pact with the Devil-Zivic.

Specifically:
- assistance in recovering the amulet (more useful than just its location
- eternal silence on the reptilian conspiracy
- a vow to not act against reptile conspiracy or it’s agents
- a vow to leave Hawksong and never return

All in exchange for freedom.

I want this pest to leave us alone forever, but for him to help us before he leaves
>>
>>5019622
>>Keep the demon sealed away—it can do little harm there, and you will find the amulet yourself
Short term solution and a possible weapon to be used at the right time
>>
>>5019622
>Enough of this—banish the demon and let the Dark Gods sort it out!
>>
[We seem to have a slim preference for leaving Bianchi in bed, and attempting to make a pact for the amulet, non-intervention, and mutual conspiratorial silence on one another's affairs. Is this correct?]
>>
>>5020113
Sounds good to me
>>
>>5020113
Also if others are willing and the deal goes through I'd want to offer Zivic some help getting back on it's feet in exchange for knowledge of what it told Mina about us, as well as who else it talked to about us/reptilians and what exactly it said.
>>
>>5019723
It seems like you're more worried about the original summoner than the demon itself, and as it relates to the demon, he can keep the humans after we take over. I see the demon as a useful destabilizing agent in Hawksong, and if we let him go a distraction from our own goals. If we enslave him, we'd have his power, but I'm more interested in his network, as we need some assets to assist us, and larping as demon could be the skinsuit we could be comfortable with, given that it protects the conspiracy.

But seems that this won't change your mind. If you can devise a way for us to get the information of the amulet out of the demon in a way that doesn't give it freedom' I'd support it. But the amulet is time-sensitive, and I won't tolerate the Tower investigation the Reptile Conspiracy, even unknowingly.

We're going to need Yosef's glasses after this.

>>5020113
While that is correct, I'd prefer to resolve the paranoia that will cause us to kill this demon in spite of the deal. If we do get an update this post, just add it's true name to the deal. If we can't resolve the paranoia, we can gain some measure of control if we need it.

>>5020136
Why not have it as part of the original deal then?
>>
>>5019682
>>5019723
>>5019799
>>5019806
>>5019845
>>5019987
>>5020047
You dwell on the implications of the devil’s destruction—if you could even accomplish this—let alone its (temporary) banishment, or even keeping it bottled up while the Tower draws ever closer to finding Roth’s lost amulet. Is its true name worth the [DIVINE FAVOUR]? Even with its annihilation would you be safe from whatever force summoned it to this city?

“Ismena?” Bianchi interrupts your thoughts.

The interruption forces you to stop circling the same course around your skull. As always, an Infiltrator knows when to act, and the time ahs come.

“Sstay here,” you say sweetly. “I have a plan, but jusst in case… Well, you sstill have healing to do.”

“Are you scheming without me?” he frowns. “I am perfectly capable of…”

Lord Bianchi pauses as you rest a hand on his arm. He meets your eyes, swallows, and nods.

“Be discreet,” he says. “I need no rumours spreading, undermining my own efforts.”

“I always am,” you say brightly.

Internally, you are less cheery, less confident, but you at least know your path froward. You descend into the bowels of the ritual room, which still faintly smells incense and deadly violence. Locking the door behind you, you pocket the key, open your pack, and extract the scroll-case. It stirs, shakes, but the bird and the beast within remain trapped.

“Not sso fasst,” you say. “Devil, Zivic, I have come to negotiate.”

There is a brief spell of silence, and then two voices—one rumbling, low, distant, one distinct, feminine, refined, and familiar. Both say:

“Oh?”

The eagerness in the entity’s the gives you hope, lends you confidence. You stick out your chest, raise your chin and your voice, and say: “I am going to erect a ccircle, becausse I am no fool, and then we are going to make a deal.”

“Take your time,” taunts Zvic’s voice, once more alone. “I’m sure the Tower’s inqusiitors aren’t in any hurry, either.”

You force yourself not to rush. You can afford no mistakes. Between the Akashic Record and your studying with Bianchi, you know what to do—you just need to make sure you do it PROPERLY, and with thoroughness.

“Don’t forget the second-outermost circle,” Zivic chimes in, condescending in her helpfulness. “That protects against the mental assault we have planned.”

You narrow your eyes and hiss in irritation, but you do indeed make a couple minor corrections to the patterns within that circle before gingerly stepping inside, setting the scroll-case down as if it might explode, and loosening the cap.
>>
>>5020336
The bird begins to worm its way out, crushed wings spreading and knitting, croaking in relief, but you are already outside the circle and ready to make your bargain.

“You’re free from your prisson,” you say, “for NOW. But not thiss basement…”

“…And you can just as easily send us back into the tube.” The crow hops out of the scroll-case, knocking it over and hopping as far towards the outside rim of the circle as it dares. “I recognize the runes well, Infiltrator. State your terms, if you please. Neitehr of us has all night.”

“Freedom for non-intervention,” you say simply. “You abandon Zivic’ss venegancce against myself, my ally, ad the Reptilian race. We keep each other’ss ssecretss, sstay out of each others ways, and we will commit by PACT to ssettle our conflictss without violence or ssabotage.”

The bird tilts its head in silence.

“You’ll also guide me to the amulet,” you add awkwardly. “Obvioussly.”

“And in exchange, I go free?” the bird asks.

“…Yess.” You pause. “But you may find that, when the masster race comess, this ccity iss not sso welcoming. I recommend you leave.”

“Ah,” the Zivic-voice speaks, “so you ssee the loophole, too. Your Serpent priests and Dark Gods and whoever else can still move against me. My agents, likewise.”

You grimace. You ahdn’t even really thought about it, but the revelation that you could have gotten such a thing by the demon—and didn’t—stings.

“Let’s close that loophole,” Devil-Zivic suggests. “Then… You have a deal!”

You are a little taken aback by the eagerness to take the deal, even with that amendment, but you start to speak your agreement.

“Unless you’d rather pursue a more… Intimate alliance?”
>>
>>5020341
You narrow your eyes.

“Think about it,” Devil Zivic says, the corvid it wears taking another hop forward and spreading its wings. “You’ve already found such success with a pact with a-no offence meant—lesser demon. A sad little leech, with no ambition but to suckle at the teat of your own ego, to fuck and frolic. Am I wrong?”

Irinnile grumbles, but doesn’t even try to contradict the characterization.

“I admire your ambition. A Degenerate, yes? A low-caste member of your prestigious and eminent race, and yet in such a short time you have worked your way into so many halls of power, avenues to your advantage. You’ve become a mage, a skilled occultist, a mover and shaker in major companies! Imagine what you could do with our network? Our skills? Our shared desire to advance, ascend… To climb higher, and be more?”

You say nothing.

‘…Hotstuff?’ Irinnile says, her voice just a little fearful in the back of your mind.

“The succubus is a hanger-on, an albatross with urges you can’t control,” Devil-Zivic says. “Join us, and we will RULE this town, at the behest of the Dark Gods or otherwise.”

What do you do?
>Take the modified version of your proposal—non-intervention and assistance for the amulet, nothing more, nothing less
>Accept the counter-proposal—this could be a golden opportunity, and if you can’t master the demon yourself, you still have the [DIVINE FAVOUR] in your back pocket
>No deal—demand extra concessions [list ‘em]
>No deal—they have offended you, through blasphemy or insults to Irinnile
>Write-in
>>
>>5020342
>Take the modified version of your proposal—non-intervention and assistance for the amulet, nothing more, nothing less

I am pretty offended by the blasphemy but not enough to reject the deal. We are a PIOUS ambitious snek. Gtfo with your otherwise Zivic.

We don't have authority over our serpent priests and certainly not our gods, so the deal prevents us from requesting Zivic be taken down but not those guys taking Zivic down independently? Same for the underlings, Zivic can't ask them to merc us but they can spontaneously decide to do so? I can live with that, as long as Zivic can't do a roundabout hint hint I hate this snake bitch party if she mysteriously dies.

I'd be open to taking the counteroffer if anyone has a good argument for it, but I know at least one anon hated working with demons. Plus as seen with Foxy people are nervous about working with non-reptilians not subordinate or inferior to ourselves. Obviously once our goals are both met we'd be betraying each other for full control....what are Zivic's goals? Ruling the city, or did it just say that to appeal to us? Acquire as much power, influence, and wealth as it can? If we take the counteroffer confirming that should be high priority.
>>
>>5020342
>Accept the counter-proposal—this could be a golden opportunity, and if you can’t master the demon yourself, you still have the [DIVINE FAVOUR] in your back pocket

This favors my thoughts on the matter, though I won't be mad if you lads decided to not deal with the demon or just take the modified proposal, giving the distaste for devil dabblings.

The reason why I want the counter-proposal is really the network, though the skills would be neat to test out. Imagine how easily we can complete our other objectives with such contacts? Our shirin distribution would be assured, and we can derail the City's Protection Program with more ease than just an operative and her pet no offense Irinnile.

Another interesting thing I noticed (with the help of Irinnile), is that this demon is enthusiastic at the prospect at working with us, not just getting free. I don't think this is a manipulative ploy, but a genuine desire- I believe this demon is attracted to our ambition, and I think we can manipulate him through it than the other way around. After all, our loyalty to the Dark Gods is absolute, is it not? We won't be lead astray here.

These are my two cents on the matter. I think it would be a interesting play, and am naturally curious at how this demon's abilities differ from Irinnile's, but I'm not gonna be heartbroken if you lads want to go a different way, given the general distaste for occult dealings in this quest.
>>
>>5020390
I don't think betrayal is in the cards necessarily. This is a demon of ambition, not power, and I don't think the distinction is meaningless here. I think ambition is the main draw of this demon, the main desire. I think when it has achieved it's power-mongering, or fulfilled it's ambition, it's desire wanes and he then seeks another source of ambition. It's not power for power's sake, but the thrill of the pursuit of power that drives him. Hence him keeping to the spirit of Zivic's deal, instead of absorbing her soul.

That's how I understand it, at least.
>>
>>5020390
Supporting this.

Honestly, working with one demon is enough - and I ultimately don’t think are ours goals are compatible.
>>
>>5020342
Supporting >>5020390
plus
>ask what a demon with such a network even have from our modest endevors
>make sure the pact is worded in such a way, that it gives protection to us, our accomplices, human contacts and operations
>amulet is found in a way that won't reveal it to the Tower or anyone who could recognize it's not just an ordinary necklace
>double check the circle and the pact-related texts we have
>check how's the demolished bookshelf doing

>>5020451
Sorry anon, but just making this deal in the first place means we'll have to mind his and potentially his master's network in the future endevors.
The genuine eagerness to help us make the pact doesn't fill me with confidence either.

Also keep in mind that we killed 3 powerful followers/helpers of his, stopped his plan to possess Bianchi and put Zivic in the elf's body and he was openly hunting us in the past. Suddenly he acts like it all doesn't matter to him at all and gives us ritual tips.
Either he wants to stab us in the ass or for some reason the lives of his pawns/accomplices have no value to him. No matter which is the case, we have to watch our tail.

Should probably mention, that if my distrust proves to baseless, I'll be open to dealing with him in the future, if we have similar goals. Better than competing.

A part of me still wants to toss a knife at this feathered fuck and chase the incubus out of the city.
>>
>>5020556
I doubt he has a master, but if he does we should put it in the proposal as well.

Also, I’m pretty sure that it’s our ambition that really entices him about us, and we can’t exactly claim the high ground on the dealings of pawns/accomplices either anon.

And I don’t see any reason why we should work toward the Tower’s benefit to our own detriment, especially if we’ve just bargained for peace here. I swear, this should be Inquisition Quest with all this animus toward demons, the occult, and the general cleaning of Hawksong’s Underworld that we’ve been doing.
>>
>>5020342
>>Take the modified version of your proposal—non-intervention and assistance for the amulet, nothing more, nothing less
>>
>>5020173
>It seems like you're more worried about the original summoner than the demon itself
I just tried to get to the root of the problem in case we wanted to yeet this incubus.
>I see the demon as a useful destabilizing agent in Hawksong, and if we let him go a distraction from our own goals.
No offense, but it's funny how you wrote this and then voted to join forces with him which would tie us together.
>I'm more interested in his network, as we need some assets to assist us, and larping as demon could be the skinsuit we could be comfortable with, given that it protects the conspiracy.
Even if you joined powers with him and demanded access to his resources, there's no guarantee he won't keep hiding things, lying and working against you indirectly. There's countless ways for him to not-technically break oaths and work around whatever we say unless we write a fucking law book for him.
>>5020589
>I doubt he has a master, but if he does we should put it in the proposal as well.
Agreed, but it's just something I keep in mind.
>Also, I’m pretty sure that it’s our ambition that really entices him about us
The same way that Zivic's ambition enticed him about her? Heh.
>I swear, this should be Inquisition Quest with all this animus toward demons, the occult, and the general cleaning of Hawksong’s Underworld that we’ve been doing.
We're not the vermin here, anon. The rats smelled of shit and raped Ismena because the old cripple's feelings were hurt or something.
As for demons, it's been mentioned in the past that reptilians don't deal with them at all. We're already pushing it.
>>
>>5020595
If you’re so worried about him sabotaging our efforts, we can just put that in the pack as well. Also, I assume being an ally means more in the spirit of the pack rather than the lawyer word games you seem so worried about.

And whatever excuses you make, it doesn’t change the fact that we seem to be doing the Inquisition’s job better than the Inquisition itself. We’re supposed to be creating problems from them, not helping to solve them.
>>
>>5020610
>excuses
You make excuses, too. I just don't trust a demon we know nothing about.
>>
>>5020617
You don’t like any demon, you mean. And it doesn’t change the fact that our underworld actions of late are more in line with an Inquisitor than an Infiltrator.
>>
>>5020623
>You don’t, you mean.
No, I simply can't trust a demon we know nothing substantial about.

>And it doesn’t change the fact that our underworld actions of late are more in line with an Inquisitor than an Infiltrator
Why is this so important now?
>>
>>5020633
How you gonna learn about them if you keep shunning the opportunity? Dislike makes more sense.

It isn’t in the grand scheme of things, I just find it funny that anons are trying to play Inquisition Quest instead of Infiltrator Quest. QM must’ve done a real number on you lads to make you so paranoid all the time.
>>
>>5020646
>How you gonna learn about them if you keep shunning the opportunity?
Working with him ≠ learning about him
We will find a way if it becomes necessary.
>Inquisition Quest
Please stop this meme already. We are serving our master race and Dark Gods. Dealing with demons is considered blasphemy and just because we have Irinnile doesn't mean we're gonna go balls deep into occultism.
>QM must’ve done a real number on you lads to make you so paranoid all the time.
I don't even remember what it was. All I know is that I'm trying to always pay attention to the tiniest details after he used things we neglected against us.
Go check my Irinnile summoning autism, lmao.
>>
>>5020342
>>Take the modified version of your proposal—non-intervention and assistance for the amulet, nothing more, nothing less
>>
Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>5020741
>>5020390
>>5020451
>>5020556
>>5020593
“Guide me to the amulet, and do not meddle in our affairss,” you say. “I will not warn my ssuperiorss and fellow agentss to target you, nor direct my inferiorsss to do sso, and you shall likewise oblige. Nothing more, nothing lesssss.”

The bird croaks, almost sadly, but Zivic’s voice is cheery enough when it says: “Deal.”

You speak the incanatation to seal the pact, and the lines and circles of chalk between the two of you begin to glow faintly in the barely-lit dark of the basement. You meet the bird’s eyes, reflecting the light and blank of readable intent. You suppress a shiver, and complete the pact.

The possessed corvid hesitates, then hops over one line. It hops again, almost cute in its joy to be free, and flutters up to land on your shoulder. You wince slightly, drawing a croaking laughter.

“The pact is sealed, Ismena,” it says. “No need to be so jumpy.”

“Many people who thought ME harmlessss have learned otherwisse,” you note.

The bird tilts its head and croaks again. “That sounds like a difficult way to live.”
>>
>>5020803
You pay a visit to Bianchi explaining—in vaguest and least-revealing terms—that you have guaranteed his safety from the demon. The young lord licks his lips slightly, eyes constantly flitting to the corvid on your shoulder.

“So we are… Allies?”

He bird cocks its head, not speaking. It seems the devil is taking non-intervention seriously: nothing positive, nor negative, nor even direct interaction. Good! Any aiding of Lord Bianchi could serve, indirectly, to undermine you. A part of you worries that this, not being part of your actual letter of the pact, could be used as a loophole in the future… But you hesitate to even speak such a fear aloud, lest you give your demonic frenemy ideas.

You say your goodbyes and, wrapped in your cheap goblin-made garment and with a large black bird on one shoulder, you depart. You are self-conscious for the first time in a while, very aware of how much you really LOOK like an occultist in this attire and company, but time is of the essence. You MUST get to Goblintown and to the amulet!

It is late in the afternoon—almost evening—by the time you sneak through the gate and back into Goblintown. Guards are posted everywhere, tensions high, and a ‘human’ like yourself draws glares aplenty. You can still smell the smoke of last night’s fire on the wind, even over Goblintown’s other… Colourful odours. Luckily, as you draw nearer, you find that the Inquisition’s presence is greatly diminished—gone, even! Some city watchmen mill about, including a pair of half-orcs, likely local boys—but they are easily evaded.

“I wonder…” you hear the bird on your shoulder croak.
>>
>>5020865
You sneak into the building, following Devil-Zivic’s guidance. You note that the bodies of the demon’s acolytes have been removed, a path cleared. The building at first seems structurally-sound, mostly intact, but the upper story is badly charred in many place and the downstairs apothecary reeks of smoke. You notice the stairwell has leaned in one direction. You step gingerly, fearful of collapsing the whole place on top of you as you creep up the stairs. The bird on your shoulder flutters down and lands on a nearby dresser, and croaks quietly.

“Oh dear,” it says, pecking at a broken lock on one of the drawers.

“What?” you demand.

“Open that drawer, if you would be so kind,” says Zivic’s voice.

Wary of traps, you scan it for magic, but your sixth sense detects nothing amiss. Slowly, grudgingly, resenting the instruction, you do so…

And find an empty drawer.

“Oh dear indeed,” Devil-Zivic croaks.

“What iss it?” you snap. “Whereisss the amulet?!”

“I fear they found it already,” the corvid crackles.

Your stomach drops.
>>
>>5020868
“Well, I kept my end of the bargain—I guided you to the amulet!”

“You in fact did NOT,” you correct, furious. “You guided me to this dressser, but if you have even the SSLIGHTEST inkling of where the amulet iss—”

The bird is already on the wing though, beginning to fly away.

“Wait!” you shout, before remembering yourself and going quiet. There is, after all, still a guard presence, and you are at a crime scene.

Besides, you both know where it most likely is: with the Tower. Who else would know to look for it, would know there were even valuable magic items to look for here?

‘…The goblins, maybe?’ Irinnile suggests, hopefully. Come on, Lispy, no need for doom and gloom yet!’

“It wass all a wassste…” you lament.

‘Naw, babe! You got that asshole of an incubus off of both our backs!... And I really appreciate you… You know, sticking by me.’

You can sense the succubus fidgeting within, almost as if… Embarrassed, or flustered? Your not trading up to the incubus clearly meant a lot to her, even if your motivations were more based in trepidation about the other demon than loyalty to your current one. You have no time to tease her, though: your entire conspiracy is in imminent danger!

What do you do?

>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not

>Head for the Mages' Tower, to spy upon your foes and find out what they know as best you can

>Hurl a dagger at the bird before it gets too far—as far as you're concerned, the pact is over and Devil-Zivic must pay for this!

>Find another operative and get a replacement amulet for Roth—his original is out of your grasp for now, alas

>Demon problems require occult solutions—summon one of the demons whose names you acquired through the Akashic record several nights ago [which one?] to help track down the amulet

>You need time to think, and to plan… And anyway, you have a shift tonight at The Pretty Kitty

>Write-in
>>
>>5020869
>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not
>Head for the Mages' Tower, to spy upon your foes and find out what they know as best you can
>Demon problems require occult solutions—summon one of the demons whose names you acquired through the Akashic record several nights ago [Imp] to help track down the amulet

I ain't fucking around if the Tower does hold the amulet, we need this shit locked down yesterday.

List of demons from the Akashic record btw.

>A weakling imp of a creature which feeds on degradation and filth
>A fallen princeling of dark realms, manipulative and cruel, but savvy
>A savage beast, brutish but direct when fed on blood, and loyal as a hellhound may be
>An incubus, manipulator and tormentor of the desirous, with succubus-like hunger but a darker design
>>
>>5020869
>Request Irinnile change you into a new orc
no face mask ofc
>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not
If there's even a slim chance that Tower got the amulet, then confirming it is more important than Roth. He can stay in the inn for a bit. Bet he'll agree with this, too.

Oh by the way, we can tell Mina she is likely free from Zivic's visits and tell her that her old mistress'(?) soul does no longer belong to her.

Learning about the incubus' origins by investigating third parties without taking any steps to meddle with him or undermine his standing is technically not against our pact, right? We'd be just collecting data for ourselves. Please confirm or refute this QM.

>hurl dagger
kek
this would make a few anons leave
>>
>>5020926
>Learning about the incubus' origins by investigating third parties without taking any steps to meddle with him or undermine his standing is technically not against our pact, right?

That would require knowledge of said third parties, and our only source is flying away, likely not to be seen again unless it decides to try to tempt us further.

The only thing that'll make this crisis worse is breaking the pact we just made and getting Zivic on our ass again, especially considering that mundane weapons will have no effect whatsoever on Devil-Zivic.
>>
>>5020968
You're projecting your scenarios, anon. Big time. We don't have to hunt and fuck that bird to stalk our friendly incubus friend through Akashic Record or browsing Bianchi's superneutral library.

Anyone feels like leveling up our enchanting and playing duck hunt with succubus flesh daggers?
>>
>>5020869
>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not

>Find another operative and get a replacement amulet for Roth—his original is out of your grasp for now, alas

unless we find it with the goblins - forget part 2 if we do
>>
>>5020869
>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not
>Head for the Mages' Tower, to spy upon your foes and find out what they know as best you can
>Demon problems require occult solutions—summon one of the demons whose names you acquired through the Akashic record several nights ago [Imp] to help track down the amulet
>>
>>5020869
>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not

>Find another operative and get a replacement amulet for Roth—his original is out of your grasp for now, alas

Going to the Tower now will accomplish nothing
>>
>>5021010
And how do you suppose we do both without its true name? Hell, we don't even know the name it uses as a pseudonym.
>>
>>5020869
>>Scour the area and question the locals—Irinnile might be right, and you may need further goblin aid if she is not
>>
>>5021708
I'll let you figure it out, anon.
I believe in you.
>>
[Will post today. I have a bit of a hangover. ]
>>
Rolled 10, 19, 16 = 45 (3d20)

>>5020887
>>5020926
>>5021233
>>5021518
>>5021606
>>5022107
>Scour the area and question the locals

You can’t say for certain that the Tower has the amulet, and you aren’t certain how you’ll approach that situation if they do. A demon—perhaps the imp you learned the true-name of during your occult rituals?—could make a good spy, without risking detection yourself. Would any demon be competent and trustworthy enough to handle such a mission without further alerting the Tower to demonic threats, however? You consider your options as you exit the burned-out building.

‘Irinnile?’

‘One orc-y disguise comin’ right up, babe!’

<WANT: 17>

By the time you exit the building, you have regained the upturned nose, faintly greenish hue, and tusked underbite of the other day, albeit not the same attire. In this guise, you draw no stares or attention on the streets, as you go about making some ‘inquiries’. You’re admittedly not the most well-versed in the local cultures, and you’ve had little cause to refine your lower-class black-market infiltration repertoire—your surface experience has become dominated by parties and more upscale business meetings, when it is not occupied by demonology or murder. Still, you’re not without training in this realm of spycraft. It is always useful to know how to navigate the underbelly of an enemy civilization, to find and acquire information and materials which official channels do not provide, and one such economic ecosystem is much the same as any other.

[Rolling...]
>>
>>5022402

You certainly can’t be that rusty, because by the time the sun has begun to set, a few silver coins and your silver tongue have led you from one goblin ‘gopher’ to a seller of ‘lost and found’ goods. He, in turn, steer you towards a pair of goblin siblings who were enterprising enough to slip in under the Inquisition’s nose to loot what they could from the smoking wreck of the occultists’ hideout. After all, if was an open secret that they were employing locals to acquire a small cache of valuable materials, and why should it all go to waste, being stored in some evidence locker somewhere when it could be returned to the local economy?

Unfortunately, that is where the trail takes a detour towards the troubling. The goblin fence doesn’t know what those siblings found, but it was something that the local economy wasn’t suited to, by all indications.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“They went into Hawksong,” the goblin says, leaning forward over his little makeshift desk, polishing an antique corkscrew to a shine with a cloth as he continues his gossip. “Wouldn’t even show me what they got. Means they thought I’d want it, enough to make it an issue for them, but also they didn’t think I’d pay as much as someone in the city proper, yeah?”

You nod, following the logic. “Ssomething valuable. Ssomething humanss, and humanss with deep pocketss no lessss, would pay more than anyone in Goblintown can afford.”

“Something magic,” the goblin merchant says.

‘The amulet!’ Irinnile exclaims.

The fence leans back and looks away with a deliberately, artificially casual air. “Just what I’m guessing though. Who knows?”

You pay the little green male for the tip. Goblins are surprisingly cheap to buy, and you are beginning to suspect you pulled an Edwin and overpaid by dropping a gold coin for Zi’s shelter and aid the other night.

And speaking of Zi… In all the disarray of the day, you entirely forgot about the meeting you’d arranged with her! However, you’re still in the middle of an important mission, AND you’re almost certain to be late for your shift at The Pretty Kitty even if you were to begin your trek right this instant. There are too many conflicting priorities before you. Not for the first time you wished you had a network of minions and useful idiots as the Devil-Zivic seems to, as you ALMOST had in the wererats. If only you could find good help, which you could trust to do their jobs without creating complications!
>>
>>5022411
What do you do?

>Head to The Pretty Kitty—the looters won’t be selling the amulet in the middle of the night, when most businesses are closed and humans asleep or in their homes

>Find Zi—you have a meeting to keep, and you could use her help, and that of her own little network, to track down the amulet tonight

>Return to the Engel Manor—Edwin is surely missing you, and you could perhaps use his resources to attract and even pay the looters for the amulet, since they are looking to sell

>Summon an imp to track down the amulet and its current holders while you attend to other matters—delegation is a skill you could stand to develop

>Shapeshift wings and seek out the goblin looters personally—you have learned that, if you want something done right, you unfortunately must do it yourself

>Write-in
>>
>>5022412
>Find Zi—you have a meeting to keep, and you could use her help, and that of her own little network, to track down the amulet tonight
>Pay one of goblins to tell Mina one of her dancers won't be able to make it tonight
If Zi gives is nothing:
>Summon an imp to track down the amulet and its current holders while you attend to other matters—delegation is a skill you could stand to develop
What the hell.

We tried to keep out attendance at TPK and this is a matter of utmost importance. Especially since the next time she sees us we can say we've been defusing the Zivic situation.
>>
>>5022412
>Summon an imp to track down the amulet and its current holders while you attend to other matters—delegation is a skill you could stand to develop
>Find Zi—you have a meeting to keep, and you could use her help, and that of her own little network, to track down the amulet tonight
>>
>>5022412
>Find Zi—you have a meeting to keep, and you could use her help, and that of her own little network, to track down the amulet tonight

Damn our perfect attendance
I think we could stand to start delegating for sure, but this seems important enough to attend to personally.
>>
>>5022412
>>Find Zi—you have a meeting to keep, and you could use her help, and that of her own little network, to track down the amulet tonight
>>Summon an imp to track down the amulet and its current holders while you attend to other matters—delegation is a skill you could stand to develop
>>
>>5022487
>>5022736
>>5022787
>>5022791
You need to start learning to delegate. You know this—very few Infiltrators of any note do all their own dirty-work. Most employ networks of agents, collaborators of some sort though nearly always ignorant of the true nature of their employer. But how, HOW, can you be expected to trust any of these conniving surface-wretches?! Even the lowly wererats, literal vermin, sought advantages and concessions, and even deigned to press you into the indignity—most repressed—of sexual service before you slew them. You need minions who know their place.

To that end, you take advantage of the ease with which you can break into the dilapidated hovels of the Goblintown mammals, and you prepare to summon a minion who you know you can trust: another demon, bound by its true name. Once inside, and once you are certain you are alone, you hastily slice open your hand with your knife and, before Irinnile can mend the wound, you hastily draw a circle of blood. It is not as polished as the chalk or charcoal sigils you have used in the past, but the blood itself lends potency to the ritual, and the true-name does the rest. Closing your eyes, you focus upon the Akashic Record, skimming through the metaphysical volumes to a familiar footnote:

>A weakling imp of a creature which feeds on degradation and filth

You speak its name aloud, the apex of a lengthier incantation: “Yemrep, Yemrep, YEMREP!”, and so Yemrep appears. With the ritual somewhat rushed, you see only a shade of the creature, as if a spectre or mirage: a stub-horned, potbellied, long-limbed, and drooling wretch with reddish skin and bulging eyes, with ratty wings and piglike hooves.

“Mistress calls in such a soft and silky voice, like a sharp knife through f-f-fleeessshhh…” Yemrep wipes away its drool on its arm, and hovers until it is at eye-level with you. “Yemrep answers.”

You bind this imp to your service, albeit temporarily for now, instructing it to find the goblin siblings who looted the amulet and to return to you with their whereabouts.

“And if you are spotted—and do NOT be spotted—you are to flee. If captured, you are NEVER to reveal who sent you, or why.”

“I have no choice but to obey your every whim, you every petty desire,” Yemrep wheezes, and titters. “It's ssoooo degrading. Yemrep will enjoy this.”

You shudder slightly as the creature sinks away into the shadows at the corner of the room. Then, magically, Yemrep is gone, off to fulfill the task to which you have set the gross little demon.

Now then: for your OTHER little friends: Zi and her goblins.

[Cont.]
>>
>>5022879
Goblins are ideal, if you are to begin working with others in earnest. They do not know your true identity or face. Unlike the wererats, whose leader aspired to a greatness he simply could never achieve in his degraded state, they know their place in the local pecking order. You do not need to rely on the predatory aura of your Reptilian heritage to keep them in line, but can simply pay them, and you can cut them off without cutting throats and drawing further attention in a pinch.

‘And Zi has that GRIP! Nnf, wouldn’t mind growin’ you a third leg again and having another go-round… Ya’ know, if we can find the time.’

You don’t respond to Irinnile. That entire experience was fundamentally a weird one, full of unfamiliar sensations and a lack of agency over your own body that leave you uneasy… But if also felt incredible in the moment. You feel aroused just thinking about it, though the fact that you’re not sure how much of that physiological response can be chalked up to Irinnile compounds your internal conflict.

When you arrive at the arranged meeting place, the edge of Hawksong, ZI is… Not there. Well, that makes sense—it is well past the time at which you’d planned to meet. However, you know her hideout, and when you come aknocking, the goblin who provided the very robe which you still wear is the one who answers the door, opening it a crack and looking up up and down.

“Oh, you,” he sneers, then turns around. “Get Yen-Zi! Her… friend… is here.”

He slams the door in your face, not inviting you in, and you are left waiting.

‘Maybe theyr’e, uh, not so ideal?’ Irinnile quips, reflecting on your rpeviosu estimation of the goblins.

‘They’re simple creatures,’ you say, unwilling to yet give up on your new pet project. ‘Simple, spiteful, greedy, but without aspiration or ambition. Desperate, hungry. Easily manipulated, if you have the talent for it.’

‘Riiiight,’ Irinnile says, not sounding convinced.

When the door re-opens and Zi steps out in a patchwork dress—snug in all the right places, as if tailored—Irinnile quickly changes her tune to a wolf-whistle.

“Huh, so you DIDN’T welch on your side of the deal,” Zi says. “Good thing I didn’t sell you out to the Inquisition then.”
>>
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>>5022919

You smile. “It’ss good to ssee you again. Yen-Zi, iss it, then?”

The goblin grimaces. “JUST Zi.”

“Well ZI, it IS a good thing… But I ssomehow doubt you’re inclined to work with them, anyway. AM I wrong?”

Zi scoffs and looks away, crossing her arms in a way that draws your eyes to the low cut of the dress. You clear your throat.

“I don’t have much more coin on me” you admit, to her groaning displeasure. “BUT, only because I’ve been attending to an urgent matter all day. My lizardman friend… Something of great importance to him wass sstolen by the occultisstss. I came back to retrieve it, but when I arrived, it wass gone.”

“Wasn’t me,” Zi interrupts quickly.

“No, but it WASS a goblin, or a pair of them—”

“Don’t know ‘em,” she says. “Don’t know nothing about ‘em.”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes at the automatic defensiveness and dodginess of her response. Instead, you say “That’ss a shame, because if you DID have any idea what pair of goblin ssiblingss took it and carried it into Hawkssong, and if you could help me find them and retrieve it… Well, there would be more gold in it for you.”

Zi blinks once, and then without missing a beat, says, “Alright, I’m gonna’ get changed and talk to some guys.”

She turns around, hurrying off, stopping only to look over her shoulder. “Well don’t just stand-there, green-girl. Get in here!”

You smile, and oblige her request, ducking your head under the low doorframe.

When Zi returns, she is dressed in more practical clothes again, more like human menswear, but with a great deal more exposed, green skn. A part of you wonders if the dress—and is that make-up?—was for your benefit.

“I think I know the pair. Got-Gi and Qee-Kil. Twins. They were skulking around the area. They make a living on looting accidents and ‘accidents’. Burned-out buildings included.”

“Exxxcellent!” you say, clapping your hands together. “And you can—”

“Yeah yeah yeah, “ Zi waves away your question, meeting your eyes with her piercing, hungry yellow ones. “First, payment.”

“Time is of the essssencce,” you say, trying to keep the irritation from your voice. “Besidess, I came back, didn’t I? You can trusst me.”

“Mama didn’t raise twelve little pumpkin-headed fools, and as number thirteen I ain’t going to be the fucking first.”

You sigh, and produce your remaining coin, which she snatches up and pockets almost instantly.
>>
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>>5022923
“Nice advance, I’ll admit,” she says. “Alright, what’s the play?”

What do you do?
>Go to the twins, once your imp returns, and negotiate the amulet’s return
>Send a messenger to them, asking the twins to meet you here for a payment or exchange tomorrow, when you have the coin
>Arrange a meeting, and then ambush them and take the amulet by intimidation or force
>Follow the twins, to see who exactly they plan on selling the amulet to—there might be some value in knowing who is interesting in buying such a thing
>Write-in
>>
>>5022924
>Send a messenger to them, asking the twins to meet you here for a payment or exchange tomorrow, when you have the coin

We can pay Zi and maybe also buy the ammy back if the price isn't too high.
>>
>>5022924
>Follow the twins, to see who exactly they plan on selling the amulet to—there might be some value in knowing who is interesting in buying such a thing
>Go to the twins, once your imp returns, and negotiate the amulet’s return

I say we seduce them, and maybe if they get another magical artifact or two, they can come to us first next time instead.
>>
>>5022924
>>Send a messenger to them, asking the twins to meet you here for a payment or exchange tomorrow, when you have the coin
>>
>>5022924
>>Arrange a meeting, and then ambush them and take the amulet by intimidation or force
>>
>>5022924
>Send a messenger to them, asking the twins to meet you here for a payment or exchange tomorrow, when you have the coin
>(if it's not tooo late) Send someone to tell Mina one of her dancers won't be able to make it tonight

>>5022942
What if they're dudes?
>>
>>5023342
>What if they're dudes?

I think it's safe to say the Infiltrator is pansexual

>>5023342
>>5022987
>>5022958
>>5022942
>>5022941
[Will post later--nice chill Thanksgiving weekend morning with my fiance today.]
>>
>>5023642
>I think it's safe to say the Infiltrator is pansexual
Not what I meant OP. If we seduce (and fuck) them, we better use the dick or we risk Zi finding out we have transformable genitals.
And if they're dudes, they're probably not gonna like the idea so much.
>>
I'm 2 steps ahead, sorry.
>>
>>5023342
>>5022987
>>5022958
>>5022942
>>5022941

“Ssend them a messsage. Let them know that I’ll have the coin for them… And for you, of coursse… Tomorrow. I wish to buy what they’ve acquired.”

“Alright,” Zi readily agrees. “I’ll see if I can get someone to send a runner.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a pair of luminous eyes and the faint, thorny outline of the imp Yemrep.

“Pardon me a moment,” you say. “I may have a leave on their location.”

Zi looks confused, even suspicious, but she doesn’t follow you as you step outside. Instead, she is already organizing her fellow green-skinned short-folk. Not for the first time, you wonder at the social structure of these goblins, living together in this partly-subterranean network of dug-out storerooms and bunks. A clan? A criminal syndicate? Perhaps both? Zi certainly seems to have sway amongst them, but you don’t get the sense in how they interact that she holds actual, formal authority. That’s something to explore late,r though.

“Yemrep,” you command, “report.”

“Nnffff, yesss, talk to me in that commanding tone my mistress!”

You roll your eyes, and wait the actual report.

“The two goblins you seek hold an amulet in their clutches,” Yemrep says. “They have secured lodgings in an apartment a wealthy quarter in this human habitation. Far from squalor, and filth…”

Yemrep sighs, as if disappointed, then brightens. “They have become quiet inebriated and made a mess of the room, however! Here was some vomiting. A great deal of urination, as they passed the fluids which they—”

“Yemrep,” you groan, “get to the point.”

The imp grumbles at you, criticizing your lack of refinement beneath its breath, but it gives you the directions you require. To your mild surprise, the wealthy quarter where the twins found their temporary residence is NOT adjacent to the Initiates’ Village and the Mages’ Tower, which had seemed to you the most logical place to fence such magical goods. Perhaps a private buyer has shown interest, or a magic item shop outside the direct sanction and supervision of the Archmage?

“Yemrep,” you say the name again, causing the imp to stand to attention and wheeze a little, “go forth once more, and follow the twins. Learn who it is that they are dealing with.”

“Yes, my mistress. I will watch them intently…” The imp begins to drool. “They haven’t yet defecated. I hope I have not missed—”

“GO,” you command, and so Yemrep does.
>>
>>5023820
When you return to the goblins, Zi has already arranged a messenger. Seeing the sheer mass of short green-and-yellow mammals arrayed before you, however, another idea strikes you: perhaps you could send another runner to The Pretty Kitty? Of course, even if you don’t speak of your role as a dancer, let alone your identity as Kamunu, it would make obvious your connection to the establishment, potentially compromising your anonymity…

Do you request a runner to tell Mina about your absence?
>Yes
>No

Either way, there is much to sort out with Zi, including payment. The goblin-girl demands quite the exorbitant sum, at first, but spending the day navigating (and bribing or parleying) your way through this slum-dwelling community has given you a better idea of the local economy, and you are able to haggle her quite readily to a more reasonable amount that shouldn’t so much as set back Edwin’s monthly stipend from his wealthy father. Of course, you still need to ACQUIRE that funding, and so you make to leave.

“Wait, so you’re just going to go?” Zi says, a little surprised.

“…Yesss?” you say, confused.

“I was kind of thinking that, you know…” Zi trails off and looks away. With a huff, she says “Nevermind. Just a stupid fucking idea.”

‘Aww,’ Irinnile coos, ‘she likes you. You know… I’m getting a little pent-up in here…’

Which is to say, your <WANT> is simmering at a high of 17.

“Look,” Zi says, “I can’t just keep calling you nicknames. What in the Hells is your name?”

What name will you give her?
>Write-in

And what will do you?
>Bid Zi and Goblintown farewell for now, and leave for the Engel Manor to pay Edwin a visit and to secure funding for tomorrow

>You'd love to stay... But you actually miss your gold-dispensing bed-warmer [+ Edwin affection]

>You cannot spare the time to entertain this green street urchin… But a quick fuck in the storerooms could be a good way to burn some <WANT> off and to keep Zi personally loyal [-affection + hedonism]

>You can spare another hours or two for a proper date; Zi is cute, in a goblin-y way, and she DID get all dolled up for you [+affection]

>Mock Zi’s easy affection; you don’t want her getting too familiar, or forgetting her place [???]
>Write-in
>>
>>5023822
>No
You win, RQM. I give up. No connections.

>I'd rather save my real name to myself, got any ideas?
We have no idea what orc names are like and Ismena/Kamunu/Mary Sue are out of the picture.

>You cannot spare the time to entertain this green street urchin… But a quick fuck in the storerooms could be a good way to burn some <WANT> off and to keep Zi personally loyal [-affection + hedonism]
>You'd love to stay... But you actually miss your gold-dispensing bed-warmer [+ Edwin affection]
We need Edwin's infinite energy to calm the WANT, but let's keep Zi loyal as well.

I'm positively surprised with how well that imp is performing. I'm even gonna ignore QM's weird fetishes.
>>
>>5023822
>No

>Zithra

>You'd love to stay... But you actually miss your gold-dispensing bed-warmer [+ Edwin affection]

>You cannot spare the time to entertain this green street urchin… But a quick fuck in the storerooms could be a good way to burn some <WANT> off and to keep Zi personally loyal [-affection + hedonism]
>>
>>5023822
>No
>Robby
>You'd love to stay... But you actually miss your gold-dispensing bed-warmer [+ Edwin affection]
>>
>>5023822
>No
>Mi
>You can spare another hours or two for a proper date; Zi is cute, in a goblin-y way, and she DID get all dolled up for you [+affection]

If the date doesn't get any support, I'd be fine with a quick fuck and a promise for a proper date tomorrow, to get our amulet and our knife back.

Also, no chance on making it to our shift? We were really diligent on that front, it's a shame to see it fall to the wayside, however pressing this crisis was.
>>
>>5023822
>[???]

You know, that makes me wonder if Zi is a sub that would get off on this sort of thing, because I can't see any other reason for mocking her leading to [???] instead of [-affection].
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>>5023880
>QM's weird fetishes.

Yemrep is a demon who enjoys degradation and filth. ;_; It isn't an author insert.

>>5023910
>Also, no chance on making it to our shift?
Alas, no, it's about 2 or 3 AM.

Which reminds me....

<Six Days Until the Tower Gala>
>>
>>5023822
>No
>Give something unpronounceable to the goblin tongue
>You'd love to stay... But you actually miss your gold-dispensing bed-warmer [+ Edwin affection]
>>
>>5023822
>No

>You cannot spare the time to entertain this green street urchin… But a quick fuck in the storerooms could be a good way to burn some <WANT> off and to keep Zi personally loyal [-affection + hedonism]

if those imps are as poor off as imp reports we might just want to steal the amulet back right now
>>
>>5023880
>>5023884
>>5023905
>>5023910
>>5024005
>>5024174
>No TPK runner
>Quickie and then get going because you miss Edwin [- Zi afefction + Edwin affection, + hedonism, - WANT]

I'll post later, but that still leaves the matter of your new alias. Will your orc-like identity be known as...

>Zithra
>Robby
>Mi
>Mary Sue
>>
>>5024205
>Zithra

The least cringey
It's an orc like name right?
>>
>>5024205
>Mi
>>
>>5024205
>Zithra
>>
>>5024289
>>5024286
>>5024242
>>5024205
“Zithra, you answer. “That’ss my name.”

“Hm. That an orc one, or a humie one?” Zi asks. “Well, whatever. Not like I know the fucking difference.”

There is an awkward silence before you answer her other inquiry.

“If you want your coin, I’m afraid I can’t sstay,” you say, not unkindly. It’s an explanation the greedy little green goblin will find difficult to argue with, you suspect, with the added benefit that it’s true.

“Ah, yeah,” Zi says, shuffling slightly. “I get that. Whatever.”

[-Zi affection]

Still, as much as you miss Edwin—and, somewhat shamefully, you must admit to yourself that you do—the goblin IS cute, and the sensations which Irinnile’s ‘modification’ produced last night were… Novel. Even addictive, you imagine—it would explain many of Kamunu’s clients’ actions. And why not keep the little wretch on-side, and reduce your <WANT> at the same time.

“Even sso,” you say, voice low, “I can sspare a BIT of time…”

Zi snorts, and looks a little conflicted… But it isn’t long before you have her on her back, atop a crate in some back-room, and her face is contorted in an entirely-different expression.

<WANT: 16>

You can’t spare TOO much time, alas. You DO, after all, have to secure funding for your Goblintown adventure. Legs wobbly and mind still swimming with and unfamiliar flavour of afterglow,you exit the goblins’ warren. Zi is still laying on her back, catching her breath with legs slayed wide, when you leave her. Your impression is augmented, your need sated. You depart, and shift your shape back once you are clear of goblin eyes.
>>
>>5024476
It is nearly dawn when you arrive at the Engel estate, greeted by a familiar human servant and brought inside the boxy, overly-modern nuevo riche estate. To your surprise, it really does feel like a homecoming; perhaps that is simply the lack of comfort and rest I the goblin hovels and dodgy hotel rooms you’ve enjoyed since. Despite a harsh childhood of sleeping on a thin futon or a rock shelf, you have begun to take for granted the pleasures of the surface world…

[+ Hedonism]

“Izzy?” Edwin of Engel asks, rubbing his eyes when he meets with you, welcoming you ‘home’. “It’s been a couple days… And it’s quite late, even for you.”

You’ve also grown fond of other… Amenities. Edwin is a sight for sore eyes. No amount of unconventional sexual interactions with tiny green women can ever replicate the uncomfortable-yet-welcome palpitations which your three-chambered heart experiences when you see this awkward bookworm look at you with relief and affection. Plus, he’s so WARM, and you never sleep better than when in his bed, in his arms.

[EDWIN AFFECTION: 94%]

“It’s been busssy at work,” you lie.

“The Pretty Kitty?” Edwin asks. Immediately, his tone tells you something is wrong.

“Yess?” you reply, unable to hide uncertainty from your voice.

“But they said you hadn’t been at work tonight…”

You freeze, forcing a seductive and bemused smile into place to cover your silent alarm. “Checking in on me, Edwin? I’m flattered… But you know I’m a big girl.”

“I was… Hoping to, you know… Give you a ride home after the show.”

“You’re ssweet,” you say… And you mean it.

“Izzy,” Edwin says, stepping closer. “You know you can trust me, right?”

You say nothing, feeling cornered by this normally-passive man’s serious expression.

“What’s going on?” he asks, resting hands gently on your shoulders and meeting your eyes.

What do you do?
>Attempt to seduce and glamour your way out of a direct confrontation, and then to sex Edwin to sleep before you can recall his concern
>Lie to Edwin, spinning a tale of woe [specify any details you’d like included]
>Tell Edwin to mind his own business, but politely
>Spill the beans—somewhat, keeping the Reptilian race and your purpose here secret, but telling him of a complicated few days trying to get a stolen ‘family heirloom’ back from goblins and occultists
>Write-in
>>
>>5024482
Dammit Ismena stop fucking daydreaming. How could we not react to his tone and surface thoughts in time? Just say fucking "N-No... acksshully I've been polishing a sspear, w-was so big it took me all night!"
We sure as fuck can't mention Goblintown because the fire and stolen amulet (if news ever gets out) are too obvious.
And telling him we were clappin cheeks for some private businessman on the side after lying about being at TPK will be met with serious displeasure and we don't even have anything to prove it.

I guess... fuck it, let's try to make him too pleased with Ismena to care. Corrupt his mind a little. After all, we're not doing anything against him.
>Attempt to seduce and glamour your way out of a direct confrontation, and then sex Edwin to sleep before you can recall his concern

Mfw we missed a ride home. Modern tragedy.
>>
>>5024482
>>Write-in
Tell him all about the Reptilian Conspiracy in the most deadpan manner possible, then laugh if he believes it.
>>
>>5024482
>Spill the beans—somewhat, keeping the Reptilian race and your purpose here secret, but telling him of a complicated few days trying to get a stolen ‘family heirloom’ back from goblins and occultists

Maybe not occultists, just goblins
>>
>>5024614
>>5024833
>>5024919
Awaiting a tiebreaker!
>>
>>5024919
We can't tell Edwin we were in Goblintown, period. That could easily lead him to realizing we are tied to the occult shitshow, should he decide to investigate for whatever reason.
>>
>>5024949
Wasn't the point of all the orc shapeshifting and fake names to ensure people couldn't easily realize we were tied to any of that?

How is Edwin even going to know there was an occult shitshow? You think the tower is just going to announce details of its internal investigations?
>>
>>5024482
>Attempt to seduce and glamour your way out of a direct confrontation, and then to sex Edwin to sleep before you can recall his concern

WANT.

>Spill the beans—somewhat, keeping the Reptilian race and your purpose here secret, but telling him of a complicated few days trying to get a stolen ‘family heirloom’ back

Leave out our misadventures and the strange company we keep, it will only worry him further.
>>
Rolled 3, 9, 19, 19 = 50 (4d20)

>>5024614
>>5024833
>>5024919
>>5025021
[Rolling and writing!]
>Spin a half-truth about trying to retrieve a stolen family heirloom
>Attempt to seduce and glamour your way out of a direct confrontation, and then to sex Edwin to sleep before he can recall his concern
>>
>>5025025
“It’ss been a hectic couple dayss,” you admit. “I didn’t want to worry you—you know how you worry—but… I’ve been trying to retrieve a family heirloom.”

“Family heirloom?” Edwin says, a little skeptically. “Izzy, you don’t have family around here. You told me as much…”

“And yet thiss amulet—it’ss been in my extended family for generations, and wass thought lost—turned up in Hawkssong. I went to work last night, but got a tip-off as to where it wass, and… Well, I guess I lost track of everything elsse.”

Edwin doesn’t speak right away, and his aura is a difficult read. Uncharacteristic skepticism and suspicion, but mainly concern, radiate from him.

“It must be very important to you, to forget about work, even,” he says. “What about the shirin project?”

Which is to say: what about your little pet project together? Edwin has little cause to care for your drug distribution scheme, save for the time you spend together in pursuance of it. For all Edwin of Engel’s mounting worry about your whereabouts, his main motive seems to remain affection, maybe even jealousy for your time. That, you can work with.
>>
>>5025040
You suppress a smile, turn on the charm—figurative and literally magical—and step closer.

“I’m ssorry I worried you,” you whisper, as the human male’s arms unconsciously move into place around your waist. You nuzzle into his chest and neck, taking in his familiar scent and the safety and comfort warmth. “I get ssingle-minded at times. But it meanss a great deal to know that you’re here for me.”

“I…” Edwin is disoriented by the charm offensive, by your physical proximity and the power of your aura. “I just want to help. To be there for you.”

“I know,” you soothe him, kissing and nibbling at his neck, squeezing your body against his. “And you do. More than you know. In fact, I think I know jusst how you can help…”

You slip your hands down to squeeze his rump with a smirk, and as one you and Irinnile both say: “But That can wait. It’ss late… Let’ss go to bed.”

Edwin seems at first as if he wants to protest, to discuss the pressing business of your heirloom hunt or some other such matter, but it takes only the taste of your lips and the guidance of his hands to your breasts for the male to fall into line. You practically pull him to his bedroom by his manhood, and safe your want in an altogether different and more intimate and familiar way than any goblin gangster or desperate pawn can provide.

<WANT: 15>

Only after Edwin has been thoroughly knocked out, and you are nestled atop his larger frame in his undersized bed, do you allow yourself to think about the day head. Even as you slip into torpor—desperately-needed, unavoidable at this point and with the haze of pleasure suffusing mind and body—you scheme your next move.

What will you do when you awake?
>Bring Edwin along to negotiations
>Ask Edwin for money to ‘buy back’ your ‘family heirloom’, but insist he not come along [roll to convince will be needed]
>Simply slip some money out of Edwin’s purse and abscond—the less he knows, the better
>Acquire the necessary funds by some other means, to keep the Engels out of this matter entirely [write-in]
>>
>>5025042
>Have the imp report on the current condition of the goblins - if they're still mid bender/recovering, just go there and steal it back.
>>
>>5025042
>Ask Edwin for money to ‘buy back’ your ‘family heirloom’, but insist he not come along [roll to convince will be needed]
>>
[If the tie is broken tonight, I'll post before bed; otherwise, I'll roll for it in the morning and follow up.]
>>
>>5025042
>>5025042
>>Have the imp report on the current condition of the goblins - if they're still mid bender/recovering, just go there and steal it back.
>>
>>5025453
>>5025189
>>5025079
You don your day’s attire. Enough of this ragged cloak you’ve been wearing! You’re ready for a proper dress again. With that out of the way, you decide a situation report is in order. You step outside and, once satisfied that there are no witnesses, you mutter a recall spell and trace the sigils associated with Yemrep in the air. Then, you speak the unpleasant little creature’s name.

“You rang?” wheezes a voice, a bit too close to you.

You jump slightly, and turn about to face the flickering manifestation of Yemrep.

“What’ss happening to you?” you ask. The demonic entity is hazy at the edges, even moreso than before, and seems incredibly indistinct. Only when you look directly at the imp can you make out any fine details.

“I am without host, vessel, or nourishment, my mistress,” Yemrep explains. “The spell must be renewed or strengthened if I am to remain. Else by noon, I will melt away and return to darkness.”

‘Good riddance,’ Irinnile murmurs.

“Well, before that, I have a quesstion,” you say.

“The goblins have defecated. Both of them. I, mmm, I think their dinners and drinking did not agree with them. It was—”
>>
>>5025527
“NOT that,” you interrupt sternly. “YEMREP, are the consciouss? What sstate are they in? Are they sstill recovering?”

“I think it would be safe to say that the goblins are not at their finest,” Yemrep acknowledges. “It was the fish.”

“But they ARE conscious?” you ask again, a little disappointed. A part of you had hoped to simply steal the amulet back without further ado.

“Yes, mistress,” Yemrep says. “They are also traveling to meet with an elderly human man, to discuss an opening offer for your amulet.”

“Oh?” you say. It makes sense—they’d travelled to speak to a prospective buyer and, even if they’re to entertain your offer as well thanks to Zi’s messenger, it can only help their haggling position if they have a back-up offer at the ready. Maybe they even hope to spark a bidding war? “A wizard, a collector, a ressseller? Who iss thiss human?”

“A merchant, and a noble both,” the imp answers. “A Lord Yosef.”

‘Ooooh shit,’ Irinnile gasps.

You can feel the beginnings of panic welling up inside you as well. How did Yosef hear of the events in Goblintown? How did he guess at any connections to his pet conspiracy theory?

‘We-eelll…’ Irinnile suggests, not entirely helpfully, ‘it WAS a big fire on the edge of Hawksong, kinda’ like how his kid died in a big fire on the edge of Hawksong. Right?’

You fume at this further, unnecessary complication in a week that has already been off to a thoroughly unpleasant and exhausting start. And with the Tower Gala so close! But then, maybe this is a blessing from the Dark Gods in disguise—an opportunity to retrieve amulet and end Yosef’s threat for good?

What do you do?
>Ask Edwin for money to buy back the amulet, and head out on your own, in shapeshifted form
>Send Edwin to bid on the amulet in your stead, and trail him covertly, better to avoid connections between you and the amulet
>Forgo disguise, subterfuge, and even payment—you will attend this meeting with dagger drawn, to bring a bloody end to this farce
>Wait for the transaction to conclude, and anonymously mug the goblins—or Yosef—as they depart with their prize
>Write-in
>>
>>5025532
>Wait for the transaction to conclude, and anonymously mug the goblins—or Yosef—as they depart with their prize

I’m tired of this bullshit, I knew I should’ve summoned the beast to deal with this shit instead, we would’ve gotten our amulet back by now at least.

I also don’t want to kill the old man yet, we need those glasses secure damnit!
>>
>>5025532
>(If we can do it quickly enough) Perform the ritual to get another day of Yemrep subscription
>Shapeshift into someone else
>Tell the imp to lead the way and try to intercept the goblins together, BEFORE they get to Yosef
That old fuckface is paranoid about our race which means he will have means to defend himself or bring some mercs along.

If that fails
>Wait for the transaction to conclude, and anonymously mug the goblins—or Yosef—as they depart with their prize
In case Yosef has it, use Yemrep. We should avoid letting the old man see us, just in case.

>>5025543
Yeah, we definitely don't want him dead yet.
>>
>>5025532
>>Wait for the transaction to conclude, and anonymously mug the goblins—or Yosef—as they depart with their prize
>>
Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>5025748
>>5025595
>>5025543
You could renew your pact with Yemrep. An extra pair of hands, even unwashed and unpleasantly damp ones such as those of the imp, could be quite handy for what is to come. However, the light of day excoriates such dark rituals, making them more difficult outside, and INSIDE the Engel manor you risk discovery. There is no time to find a second location to perform the ritual, either—not if you are to be traveling on foot, and if you hope to arrive in time.

With a sigh, you begin towards the property-line and the fence. Taking advantage of your knowledge of the somewhat-lax patrols by the groundskeepers and gate-guardians whom Fynn of Engel employs, you easily escape scrutiny, exiting into Hawksong proper. By the time you haul yourself over the fence, you no longer have your own face, nor that of the hermaphroditic half-orc Zithra, but instead a subtly-shifted and rough-shod human woman with greyish-tipped brown hair and a lighter complexion than you normally boast.

You start across town, driven to speed by your urgent mission. Yemrep gave you the neighbourhood (Roastwren Hills) and the landmark they’ve coordinated their meeting around (the chapel to the god of ochards and brewing, Apothis). You try to time your arrival so as to avoid the meeting altogether, to intercept the goblin twins on their way there…
>>
Rolled 6, 14, 15 = 35 (3d20)

>>5025801
…But by the time you catch up to their own, much shorter journey, the goblins are perched on a bench before the green, tree-wreathed temple, and Yosef is there as well. He is flanked by two burly-looking young men in functional—albeit over-detailed, and somewhat tacky—half-plate. The armed attendants are clearly putting the goblins—a male and female, both with flashily-dyed hair and matching overbites—into a state of unease. So, too, does old Lord Isaac Yosef’s habit of placing peculiarly-lensed, antique-looking glasses upon his face to survey them, as well as anyone who draws too close to their meeting.

‘The magic glasses!’ irinnile exclaims.

‘I see them,’ you reassure her with only a little irritation.

The grey-haired, haunted old human plutocrat is indeed carrying his accursed magic glasses, said to see through all manner of illusion and shifted shape to the true form underneath. These are a grave threat to your people’s purposes here, of course. They may even prove more dangerous than the amulet’s discovery! But the two in tandem, and by a man possessed of no desire greater than your race’s destruction?

‘Yeeeaah, it sounds not so great,’ Irinnile admits. ‘I mean, for you guys.’

‘Nor for shapeshifting demons who desire to have a good time,’ you point out.

‘…Aw, fuck.’

You watch for a while, cautious about drawing near while Yosef remains on high alert… But so early in the morning, crowds are thin, and eventually his paranoia abates as it seems no Reptilian agent is coming to thwart his bargain. Ha! If only he knew you lurked, even now…

Still, the conversation does not go as the wealthy human had intended. No, old Lord Yosef becomes quite irate, loud enough for you to hear even from your more distantly-encamped position across the street.

“But I HAVE the money HERE!” he cries, jangling a heavy bag full of coin, to the consternation of the men there to protect him and to the bug-eyed stares of the cloying goblins. Still, after chattering amongst themselves, the twins make some sort of counteroffer. Yosef rummages in his pockets, wheels around to discuss with his hired help, and produces a few more coins…

But the goblins shrug and, though hesitant and clearly conflicted, they leave without a deal. Some form of kin-loyalty, perhaps, demanding they at least hear the counter-offer of one who sent a goblin runner to request a bargain.

Unfortunately for them, their loyalty is not to be rewarded: they are headed straight for you!
>>
>>5025812
You shift back slightly, duck low, follow the two goblins for a time. When they are far enough away from the road, you spring your trap! With a heavy kick to his side, you send the male tumbling with a screech. With blade drawn, you then advance on the female.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!”

“Give me that shiny amulet you had there,” you say. “And any coin you have.”

The goblin spits at you, and scampers backwards, drawing her own knife, but she is two slow. You bring your blade down, catching her fingers. She clutches a bleeding hand with a furious wail, and her knife clatters to the ground.

“Your valuablesss!” you hiss.

“M-my brother has—”

“Don't lie,” you admonish her. “I watched you pocket it.”

Beaten and humiliated, but not so prideful or foolish as to risk her life for even an expensive bauble, the female goblin produces the amulet. You reach down to take it from her… But only then do you catch sight of her brother, lurking in your blindspot and with a bone dagger in hand, ready to strike.

‘Lispy, you don't think…’

You have no time to listen to Irinnile—he lunges!
>Strike back with lethal force
>Attempt to parry the blow, but leave these two urchins alive [harder roll]
>Dodge the strike and flee—your work here is done
>Tank the blow, counting on demonic resilience to protect you, and then strike while the goblin is close [easiest roll]
>>
>>5025825
>Dodge the strike and flee—your work here is done
>>
>>5025825
>Theatrical "fuck!"
>Dodge the strike and flee—your work here is done
Let's at least pretend.

If this is all we have to do here, then also:
>See if the amulet we got is real
>Lose the potential followers
Includes not just goblins, but whoever else might be following us.
>Shapeshift and beeline straight for Roth's house and then the inn
Let's get him some human clothes.
>>
>>5025825
It doesn't look like we got the chance to take the amulet from the sister so
>Strike back with lethal force

If we do have it in hand I'm down to dodge and flee
>>
>>5025825
>>Strike back with lethal force
>>
>>5025825
>Strike back with lethal force
>>
Rolled 20, 7, 10 = 37 (3d20)

>>5026203
>>5026162
>>5026158
>>5025909
>>5025866
>Attempt to seize the amulet and flee [DC 16]
>Lethal force if you don't succeed [DC 15]

Will write a post when I have time!
>>
>>5026400
Thinking quickly, you snatch the amulet from the female goblin’s clutches. Waiting until the last moment, you sidestep the plunging overhead stab of her brother, using the chain of that same amulet to entangle and wrench on his wrist. He cries out, dropping the dagger, which you catch in your other hand.

‘I knew it!’ Irinnile exclaims.

You hold the bone dagger up to your eye level squinting at it. Indeed, it is enchanted after the same fashion as the one which Devil-Zivic’s pet hobgoblin had wielded against you in your rescue-raid two nights ago. It’s a good thing you didn’t allow the goblin the chance to strike you with it; better yet, it’s yours now!

You release the male goblin’s wrist and allow his own momentum to carry him backwards. Then, with his sister still clutching her hand and wailing, you make your escape into the busy streets. You disappear into the crowd, and out the other side. When you turn back around, there is no sign of goblin pursuit—or, for that matter, pursuit by any others.

‘We lost ‘em!’ Irinnile whoops.

You look down upon the amulet with satisfaction, the enchanted dagger already spirited away into your thigh holster. The amulet, too, you tuck away—into your pack, in that case.

‘Where to?’ Irinnile asks. ‘I bet Roth would do an-EEE-thing we asked for this sucker… Heheheh.’

>Visit Roth’s home to obtain some clothing for him, the bring him his amulet
>Return to the Engel manor; you still need gold to pay Zi, if you’re not going to spoil another alliance
>A change of plans: you’re going to follow Lord Yosef home, to learn what he is up to and perhaps score his magical glasses
>You’re famished—time to celebrate with some food
>Write-in
>>
>>5026513
>Return to the Engel manor; you still need gold to pay Zi, if you’re not going to spoil another alliance
and
>Visit Roth’s home to obtain some clothing for him, then bring him his amulet
>>
>>5026513
>>Visit Roth’s home to obtain some clothing for him, the bring him his amulet
>>
>>5026513
>Return to the Engel manor; you still need gold to pay Zi, if you’re not going to spoil another alliance

Make sure the amulet is hidden

Were we disguised upon attacking these two goblins?
>>
>>5026513
>Visit Roth’s home to obtain some clothing for him, the bring him his amulet

We've kept him cooped up long enough
>>
>>5026739
>>5026726
>>5026708
>>5026633

Only once you are well clear of the area do you drop your disguise and assume another. With the amulet in your pack and your face changed, there is precious little but your dress to connect you to the mugging in the alley. At that point, you can travel confidently, head held high.

<WANT: 16>

As for where you travel… Well, as much as you’d like to leave Roth to stew a little longer, you think he’s probably been cooped up in that room long enough. You head for his smithy and home-in Hawksong. There, you find it much as you left it: locked tight, with the fox-woman’s body the home’s only inhabitant.

‘That explains the smell,’ Irinnile notes.

She’s not wrong—as you unlock the back door and step inside, you are hit by the waft of decay, centred upon the swaddled bundle of the fox-woman’s corpse. You ignore the stench as best you can, focused on obtaining some human attire for your dragonblooded ally. Someone with fire-breath is better suited to clean up that mess, you reason, and you’re about to fetch such a personage.

As you leave, the back door locked once more of course, you take a moment to glance at the front. There, you find a letter in an envelope, addressed to ‘Roth the Blacksmith’. This, too, you bring with you to the inn where you left Roth. You had the foresight to assume the same elf-like countenance as you had worn when you dropped him off, and so are recognized by the bartender and innkeeper there.

“Here to pick up your pet?” he says brusquely.

“Yess,” you say. “He hassn’t been too much trouble, I hope?”

The bartender scoffs, and informs you that Roth ahs been eating him out of house and home. You feign deference and apology, but your own stomach rumbles at the thought. You’ve hardly eaten in days! Still, you’re not finished your mission yet. You apologize for the inconvenience, but not TOO much—you know the gold you paid for privacy should also have bought Roth whatever nourishment he needed to recuperate himself. You promise that the ‘beastman’ upstairs will be leaving with you today.
>>
>>5026813
Once upstairs, you find Roth eager for a report, and provide him the gist.

“Then you have my amulet?” he asks eagerly.

“Yes,” you acknowledge, pulling it from your pack and dangling it before him.

Roth grabs for it—not so much as a ‘thank you!’—and you snatch it away and stow it.

“What is the meaning of this?” he growls.

You cluck your tongue at him and waggle a finger. “A cloaked beastman enters, and ‘Roth the Blacksmith’ exits, both in the company of the same young elf-blooded woman? Come now, Superior One. Use your head.”

Roth grudgingly acknowledges the point, donning his more mundane disguise once more so the two of you can leave. Only when the two of you find a moment of privacy—and a conveniently-situated outdoor latrine—does Roth get the opportunity to replace his amulet and his attire.

Do you return the letter as well?
>Yes, obviously
>Only after reading it—you’re nosy
>No, not yet

“I must return to my base of operations,” Roth states. “We must also plan what to do about the ‘Devil-Zivic’. This… AFFRONT will not stand, and the danger of such an entity working in this city with knowledge of our own activities is too dangerous, pact or no pact.”

What do you do?
>Persuade Roth to honour the pact
>Cede to his point, but ask to handle it after the Tower Gala
>Agree that Devil-Zivic is priority number one
>Discuss this and other matters over lunch—on Roth, of course, as you are broke
>Write-in

What is next on our docket?
>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi
>Pay a visit to Lord Yosef in your usual form--it's time once again to check on that craft codger
>Go to The Pretty Kitty to apologize for your absence and to discuss matters with Mina
>Write-in
>>
>>5026815
>Only after reading it—you’re nosy
>Discuss this and other matters over lunch—on Roth, of course, as you are broke
>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi
>>
>>5026815
>Yes, obviously
>Persuade Roth to honour the pact
Fighting it has gone really poorly for us so far, he's been kidnapped twice, and demons are literally bound to their word by the pact.
>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi
>>
>>5026815
>Yes, obviously

>Discuss this and other matters over lunch—on Roth, of course, as you are broke

>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi
>>
>>5026815
>Yes, obviously

>Persuade Roth to honour the pact
>Discuss this and other matters over lunch—on Roth, of course, as you are broke

>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi
>>
RPG night, so expect a late post.
>>
>Yes, obviously
>Discuss this and other matters over lunch—on Roth, of course, as you are broke
>Leaning towards persuading Roth to honour the pact
>Visit Edwin to secure funding for Zi

“Let’ss discusss thiss over lunch,” you suggest in the local human tongue. “You’re buying!”

Roth scowls. “What, why me?”

You give him a look and, perhaps realizing how much he owes you or just unwilling to force the issue, he demures.

“Bessidess,” you admit as the two of you walk side by side towards a nearby restaurant, “I’m out of coin until I revissit my… Uh, thrall.”

The two of you naturally gravitate towards a protein-ich establishment, choosing some sort of ‘steak house’ which specializes in thick cuts of fairly rare-cooked meat. Roth, stingy or already full, orders a fairly small cut, whereas you hungrily devour a whole slab. If your table manners or lacking, or the bill too high, Roth says nothing about either.

“Sso,” you say between mouthfuls, “I’m not sso ccertain we should further provoke our adverssary.”

“How can you say that?” Roth grumbles. “The trheat is clear, present,a dn real.”

“Iss thiss about your wounded pride?” you ask, smirking a little. “Our engagements HAVE gone especially poorly for you.”

Roth slams a fist on the table, withdrawing his anger only when the gesture draws stares.

“It is about protecting our secrets,” he says in a low whisper, reverting to your own language once more to speak freely, “and defending our pride as a race, and as servants of the Dark Gods.”

“I have become… Ssomewhat adept in these matterss,” you say, continuing on in Northern Common-Tongue. “Our rival iss bound by the agreement I made with her. I told you of thiss.”

“You think that dem—that such things are not adept at worming their way out of ‘agreements’?” Roth asks, seemingly still unconvinced.

‘We ARE pretty good at weasel-words,’ Irinnile adds, seemingly unperturbed now that you are out of immediate danger and happy to play devil’s advocate for a bit. ‘This steak is pretty good, though, huh?’

You sigh and finish your steak—it IS quite good—and consider your options. You and Roth agree to hold off on any unilateral action, and to discuss the matter later. The wisdom of breaking the pact so soon, and without provocation, still seems dubious… But then again, if the pact IS to be broken, it is better you do so on your terms, isn’t it?
>>
>>5027514
It is afternoon by the time you return to the Engel Manor, and Edwin is nowhere to be found. Fynn, however, is busy at work. You find him in his office, and ask him of his son’s whereabouts.

“Hm? Edwin?” he looks up for only a moment. “The library. Where else, the fairy-addled fool…”

He pauses, then sighs. “I don’t mean that, of course. You know how he is, though. No head for practicalities. I assume your own matter with that ‘shirin’ spice is bearing better fruit?”

What do you do?
>Dodge the question and go find Edwin at the library, to get some money for Zi
>Request money from Fynn, to further advance your (of course very successful and top of mind, cough cough) shirin business (and totally not to pay unrelated debts in Goblintown)
>Actually, maybe these goblins COULD be useful in matters shirin-related… They have mycological experts among them, and no doubt some druggists who could prove useful, and they’ve also proven adept as couriers…
>Write-in
>>
>>5027515
>Actually, maybe these goblins COULD be useful in matters shirin-related… They have mycological experts among them, and no doubt some druggists who could prove useful, and they’ve also proven adept as couriers…

We can finally go back to the half-elf and check out our shirin dealings before we apologize to Mina.
>>
>>5027515
>Dodge the question and go find Edwin at the library, to get some money for Zi

>Roth slams a fist on the table,
Based neurotic lizard.

If you don't mind the question, how long have you been DMing/writing quests for, RQM?
>>
>>5027515
>"Yes absolutely."

If we involve goblins it can't be linked, as this would be under our main guise.
>>
*
>>
>>5027522
>>5027751
So this looks like a tie, and...

>>5027774
I'm not actually sure what course of action this is a vote for? To keep talking to Fynn, perhaps? Please clarify. I'll post after work.

>>5027751
>spoiler question
DMing for 15 years now, QMing for two or three... If you count this one and my sole other attempted quest, Amican Loyalist Quest
>>
>>5027800
>15 years
Yeah, that shows. Got any experience writing before /qst/?
Asking because you have some of the best quality writing/storytelling and form I've seen on the board, personally.
Although my experience is a bit short, being just about 9-10 months.
>>
>>5027515
>>Dodge the question and go find Edwin at the library, to get some money for Zi
>>
>>5028059
>>5027774
>>5027751
>>5027522
“Oh, you know how a bussinessss' early dayss are… Traveling back and forth acrosss town, esstablishing connectionss, making dealss…”

‘Hehe, all technically true. You ain't half-bad at weasel words, yourself!’ Irinnile observes.

“That explains why you haven't been using your room these last few days…” Fynn looks up, brow arched and face hiding obvious amusement. “And the rather loud reunion this last night.”

You smirk and shrug. “What can I ssay? I missssed him. Sspeaking of which, I really don't want to MISSSS him again, and I have my other work tonight, sso you'll have to exxxcuse me.”

Thus extricated from any further explanation, you begin walking towards the city centre and the Royal Hawksong Library once more… Only to stop and stare one of the Engel-emblazoned company carriages. As a defacto member of the household, it is an easy thing to comandeer a driver for it, and as a result you save easily an hour of travel and considerable exertion.

When you enter the library, it is still quite early in the afternoon. It is a simple thing to find Edwin, too, increasing your feeling of efficiency and accomplishment. It doesn't hurt that you feel your heart warm at the sight of the scruffy bookworm plugging away at his reading, as ever. Maybe it's his hopelessness that endeared him to you, like the clumsy skittishness of a hatchling? Or perhaps it is his doggedness, his determination despite inborn disadvantages, reminding you of your own struggles as a Degenerate half-breed?

“Izzy?” he says, noticing you suddenly. Rather than annoyance at your disappearance this morning, after days away, he smiles wide and beckons you over. You smile back, and accept.

Maybe it's his kindness?

What is it you like about Edwin of Engel, anyway?
>His aura of adorable uselessness
>His keen mind and dogged determination
>His kindness and soft heart
>His money, his dick, and his warmth, and his mana [+hedonism, -affection]
>>
>>5028302
>His keen mind and dogged determination
>His kindness and soft heart
>>
>>5028302
You sit down with Edwin, and discover that he has an unusual book for his narrow field of special interests: dream interpretation. This raises alarms with you, given certain mysterious happenings in your last visit to Edwin's sleeping mind.

“Exxxploring new avenuess?” you ask innocently.

“Oh, this?” Edwin laughs, though you sense a wobble of embarrassment in his aura. “Just a passing fancy… I’ve had a few odd dreams is all.”

You somehow doubt it’s a coincidence… But yo have an appointment in Goblintown, which you can’t exactly take the company carriage to attend, and then work at The pretty kitty. You don’t have time to massage the information out of him.

What do you do?
>Dismiss dream interpretations as pseudo-magic, debunking it so thoroughly as to hopefully embarrass Edwin away from further explorations entirely
>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
>Divert his attentions to more conventional magical studies
>Flirt with, tease, and even seduce him if that’s what it takes to get him away from that subject
>Don’t stress it—he’s a curious guy, you have money to deliver and jobs to do, and you can always dream-delve later and settle it then
>Write-in

>>5027866
A lot of text-based roleplay, some creative writing courses, and a fair bit of schooling in marketing and sociology. Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you're enjoying the ride!
>>
>>5028302
>His keen mind and dogged determination
>His kindness and soft heart
>His money, his dick, and his warmth, and his mana [+hedonism, -affection]
I mean.
>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
Let's try to get any information on what's happening in his dreams. Diverting his attention from it could potentially be harmful if he's just looking how to shield himself.

Np, thanks for the quest!
>>
>>5028302
>His keen mind and dogged determination
>His kindness and soft heart
>His money, his dick, and his warmth, and his mana [+hedonism, -affection]

>>5028306
>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
>Flirt with, tease, and even seduce him if that’s what it takes to get him away from that subject
>>
>>5028302
>>His aura of adorable uselessness
>>His keen mind and dogged determination

>>5028306
>>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
>>Flirt with, tease, and even seduce him if that’s what it takes to get him away from that subject
>>
>>5028306
>His money, his dick, and his warmth, and his mana [+hedonism, -affection]

>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
>>
>>5028306
>His keen mind and dogged determination
>His kindness and soft heart

>Entertain the discussion a little while longer, in the hopes of learning more about his experiences—that way, you know what you’re dealing with
>>
>>5028742
>>5028717
>>5028651
>>5028648
>>5028571
>>5028305
“Tell me about these dreamss,” you say eagerly. You may not have MUCH time to spare, but this is important—you have learned the cost for letting such phenomena slip beneath your notice when you get busy.

“Well, I…” Edwin pauses, his face going red at the cheeks.

You smile slightly, recalling for a moment the lewd little ‘visit’ you and Irinnile had with him. Of course he’s not so eager to talk about that one, even after all this time—even after having had a threesome of sorts with you in the waking world! To talk about such things must seem terribly presumptive and gauche to someone with such a soft heart.

[Edwin Affection: 96%]

Still, Edwin is defined more by his mind than his heart—or, well, at least equally. He may not be a mage by nature, but he has the scholastic mind and insatiable curiosity of one, and he respects it in others. It’s part of what drew the two of you together—that, and his determination to make something of himself.

“I saw…” Edwin clears his throat “I saw My mother.”

You raise your eyebrows, not recalling THIS part of the dream. “Oh?”

“Indeed… A couple times now. Saw her, spoke with her.” Edwin looks away, flipping through the book in front of him once more as he continues. “Ghostly visitations aren’t unheard of, but usually not just… Unprompted, without any effort on the living person’s part. And she didn’t bring up any unfinished business.”

“What did she sspeak with you about?” you ask.

“Magic, mostly,” Edwin admits. “How to improve my skill, to actually cast spells. “

You stifle a laugh.

“I know, I know. It's very… Typical for me. . I considered that it might be a sort of manifestation of my passions, but…”

“But?” you prompt.

“There was something else to it. I can't remember all the details, but she said things I didn't quite understand, including theories and recommended readings I wouldn't have known to look for. And lately, I've felt… Different. Closer to actually achieving… Something.”

You and Irinnile exchange a psychic glance, remembering the way his aura almost GLOWED with a powerful wellspring of mana after intercourse a few days ago.

“I think you're achieving quite a lot already,” you say gently, leaning against his shoulder. “You have been a great help in making thiss exxxcavataion opportunity a reality. And the shirin matter!”

“Thank you, but that's not quite what I—”

“And you've been a great comfort to me, perssssonally.”

You cuddle still closer, sliding a hand up his chest.

“In sso, ssso many wayss,” you whisper. “Welcoming me into your home, your bed…”

“It's, um…” Edwin squirms under your attentions, nervously glancing about as you kiss his jawline and your hand moves back down his body.

<WANT: 15>
[+Hedonism]
>>
>>5028840
Suffice it to say, he doesn't get back onto the subject of his dreams anytime soon. You slide out from beneath the desk and lick your lips. That particular manoeuvre has become considerably more enjoyable with the advent of your possession by the succubus, and you're reminded again of ANOTHER reason you like Edwin so very much. Still, duty calls, and a male is never more pliable to request for coin than when freshly ‘fed upon'. You bid him farewell, but Edwin stops you.

“Will you be home tonight?” he asks, still a little wobbly on his legs as he follows a short distance after you.
>Yes, for him [+affection]
>No, probably not
>No promises
>Admonish him for being clingy [-affection]
You are forced to expend some of your stored energy to shapeshift back into your Zithra identity. This, and a desire to avoid revealing connections between Zithra and Ismena, is what mandates that you travel all the way across the metropolis on foot., so that it is early evening by the time you arrive. For goblins and orcs, however, this is a time of peak activity, such that you must jostle through rude throngs of the greenish mammals to make your way to meet with Zi.

“I'm here with the coin,” you tell her.

“Uh, yeah, about that…” Zi scuffs a boot across the dirt. “Those assholes who had your amulet bailed on us.”

You affect surprise.

“Lousy little shits say they were mugged… And maybe they were. One of them was pretty badly hurt, lost a finger. Still wouldn't put it past that bitch to bite a fingertip off to cover for having already sold the thing…”

Zi pauses, squinting her eyes in a half-hearted effort to affect a n intimodating glare.

“Still, that doesn't change all the legwork we did, or that you still owe me for it. We crystal on that, Zithra?”
>Pay her what she's owed for sheltering and smuggling you, but not a copper coin more
>Pay Zi what she's owed, with a tip for her troubles for the failed amulet hunt
>Pay her the whole amount anyway, in the hopes of building a lasting partnership
>Agree to pay her, with the condition of a date tomorrow [+affection]
>Agree to pay her, and a little bit extra for another quickie [++hedonism]
>Write-in
>>
>>5028842
>No promises
>Agree to pay her, with the condition of a date tomorrow [+affection]
>Agree to pay her, and a little bit extra for another quickie [++hedonism]
>>
>>5028842
>>Yes, for him [+affection]
>Pay Zi what she's owed, with a tip for her troubles for the failed amulet hunt
>>
>>5028842
>No promises

>Pay Zi what she's owed, with a tip for her troubles for the failed amulet hunt

dang, I was hoping they'd be here in person so we could talk about how we were willing to pay a hundred gold for that amulet but oh well they lost it too bad
>>
>>5028902
>>5028893
>>5028871
>No promises
>Pay Zi what she's owed, with a tip for her troubles for the failed amulet hunt

Just as with Edwin—with whom you are far closer and to whom you owe far more—you deem it best not to let Zi get TOO comfortable with your favour. You pay her what she’s owed… With just a tiny bit extra, in deference to her troubles trying to source the amulet. You hardly desire any ill-will with the goblins, either. They may yet be useful, after their fashion, but you’ll not have them know you as a spendthrift any more than as a miser.

“It’s a shame that those goblinss weren’t able to hang onto their prize,” you note, as casual as can be. “I would have paid handssssomely.”

Zi winces at the lost revenue—perhaps, in their strange little satellite community, a loss for one is a loss for well. All the more incentive for them to stay on your good side, you reason!

With you matter with the goblins handled, you leave, allowing your half-orc disguise to melt away and to reveal the Infiltrator underneath… Or, at least, her human façade. But what comes next?

>Work, of course—you’ll not miss another shift at The Pretty Kitty
>Uptown, to the Yosef manor—you want to check in on that old man and his vengeance-quest before it foments further
>The Tower—you plan to investigate their defences and to learn more about the Iniquisition’s findings
>You could stand to track down Devil-Zivic, and to ensure the incubus and its ring are keeping their end of the bargain
>Write-in
>>
>>5029373
>Work, of course—you’ll not miss another shift at The Pretty Kitty
If Mina tries to roast us, tell her we were having a friendly tea with Zivic and the heck should be gone now for now. Also let her know, that if Z comes again, we'd like to know.

Can't wait for Roth to calmly tell us how happy he was when he discovered a decomposing body in his house.
>>
>>5029373
>>Work, of course—you’ll not miss another shift at The Pretty Kitty
>>
>>5029373
>Work, of course—you’ll not miss another shift at The Pretty Kitty
>>
>>5029686
>>5029552
>>5029498
You don’t want to miss another shift at The Pretty Kitty—certainly not if Edwin has further worried Mina and the girls by checking in on you. Besides, you and Mina may have matters to discuss. Traveling on foot, and at a good clip, you are able to arrive with almost a half-hour to spare before your usual shift begins.

“Kamunu!” Felia greets you warmly, shuffling over on her heels to give you a warm embrace, which you stiffly accept.

“Ssorry about missing work yesterday,” you say. “It wass an emergency.”

Felia looks at you sternly. “Do you know how worried we all were? With all those bodies found in the sewers lately, and Estellia going missing… And then that nice young mage you’re staying with showed up and HE didn’t know where you were, and…”

Oh Gods Below and beyond, she’s tearing up. At a loss for what to do, you gently stroke her hair. The awkwardness of the gesture seems to snap her out of it, at least. Felia pushes you back gently spins you around, and gives you a slap on the rump.

“Well, don’t just stand there! You know we’re understaffed as it is! Get dressed!”

And so you do, changing from your green dress—lightly speckled with goblin blood, you notice with a frown—into the silk, lace, and jangling coins of your exotic ‘Kamunu’ identity. Kamunu, Ismena Rosgard, Isabelle Romanov, Zithra Half-Orc… Truly, you have become a snake of many skins—a true social chameleon. Still, none of them is truly ‘you’. You haven’t heard your true name spoken in what might be years—even your superiors do not sully their mouths with the name your mother gave you, preferring to address you by your Degenerate bloodline or your role as Infiltrator. You stare at your reflection in a basin of water for a moment, reflecting on this…

‘Lispy?’

You shake your head, snapping out of your reverie. What’s come over you? Perhaps you’ve been getting too attached to the peoples and pleasures of this mammal-stained surface world…
>>
>>5029906

‘Lispy, you have company…’

You look up, and see Madam Mina waiting in the doorway, her stony feline face unreadable as always, her tail sweeping in long, low arcs in an uneasy fashion. You open your mouth to apologize, but Mina beats you to the punch.

“Where were you?” she demands, perhaps a little harshly for one nigh of absence… But then, she ahs unique reason to be suspicious of your absence for reasons other than purely personal concern. She is a friend—or victim?—of Zivic from before her demonic transformation, and SINCE that incubus took possession of the occult noblewoman’s soul, Devil-Zivic has visited Mina at least once to tell her of your true nature and dark dealings.

What do you tell her?
>Nothing—you had a family emergency, of a sort, and that’s all it was
>That she need not worry—you and Zivic have made peace
>That YOU know that SHE knows about the Reptilian Conspiracy, and that you would both best be served by her continued silence
>Write-in
>>
>>5029909
>Nothing—you had a family emergency, of a sort, and that’s all it was
>>
>>5029909
>That she need not worry—you and Zivic have made peace
Also tell her to let us know if anything Zivic-related happens since that'd mean breaking the pa- the peace.
>>
>>5029909
>That she need not worry—you and Zivic have made peace
>>
>>5029909
>>That she need not worry—you and Zivic have made peace
>>
>>5029909
>That she need not worry—you and Zivic have made peace
>>
>>5030206
>>5030183
>>5030085
>>5030001

“You don’t need to worry yoursself any longer,” you reassure the cat-woman. “Zivic hass been… Handled. We have made peaccce.”

Mina freezes, even her tail’s movement’s stopping, and her ears fixated upon you. “What did you say?”

You hesitate. This isn’t… Quite what you were expecting. “I ssaid—”

“How do you know about… Lady Zivic and myself?”

Your mind races. You can sense the hostility radiating off of Mina, but she doesn’t move. Not yet. A part of you wishes to reach for your dagger, anticipating an attack… But you are not so hasty.

“Your brother, Cuggi, told me… Ssomething of it.” You decide not to tell her about your spying the other night. Something tells you that won’t exactly help the situation.

“And how did you know that I knew that you and she were connected?” Mina snaps back.

‘Welp,’ Irinnile says. ‘So much for keeping that little secret!’

You say nothing, simply standing your ground. “You were cagey lately. I came to sspeak with you, and… Overheard.”

It’s a simple half-truth, an easy lie to manipulate towards truth or greater falsehood. And yet… Mina’s anger is not wavering, not abating.

“So what Zivic told me—that you killed her, killed Estellia, hid this from me… That you’re using MY business as a staging-ground for some sort of war on the humans… Is that all true?”

Mina smiles, but you understand her kind well enough by now, and her expressions in particular, to know that a baring of fangs is no sign of mirth or good humour.

“You know,” Mina says, levelly, “so long as we’re being open and honest?”

What do you do?
>Own up to the Reptilian Conspiracy, and ask what she plans to do about it
>Deny, deny, deny—she has bad history with Zivic, so it should be easy to convince Mina that the demon lied to her about everything
>Knock her out and go to work on her mind with Irinnile’s abilities
>Call her bluff—walk past her and go to work
>Write-in
>>
>>5030421
>Deny, deny, deny—she has bad history with Zivic, so it should be easy to convince Mina that the demon lied to her about everything

She's smart enough to anticipate an attack now, but we'll definitely need to mess with her head later.

Also Roth killed Zivic, not us. So that actually is a lie.
>>
>>5030421
>Call her bluff—walk past her and go to work

Frankly, I'm not gonna touch this mess y'all made for yourselves. Can't wait for the overcorrection though.
>>
>>5030421
>Call her bluff—walk past her and go to work
Goddamit, this got all too complicated for my stupid brain to remember.

>>5030447
That could break the pact since we'd be setting Mina against the incubus.
>>
>>5030580
Did you sleep over the voting period?
>>
>>5030608
I dunno - our side of the pact was about our serpent priests and dark gods. Mina isn't even our subordinate, plus Zivic really did lie to her so can it really be considered setting her against Zivic if we're just being factual? I think we're good.
>>
>>5030901
>>5030616
>>5030447

“I only did what I had to,” you say, “and I wasssn’t the one who killed Lady Zivic.”

You say this—a simple, fundamental truth—and no more. Drawing a deep breath as subtly as possible, you step past Mina and through the doorway. Your every muscle is tense, anticipating a strike. You’d never get away with talking this way to a handler or superior agent without being brutally put back into your place.

But… No strike comes.

Perhaps it’s weakness, or kindness, or fear of retribution from those same brutal and disciplined superiors whom you represent in this place, but Mina doesn’t so much as say another word. She lets you pass by and go to work.

The evening’s dancing is hardly the stress-relief it normally is—not with Mina watching you from behind, and the inflated City Guard presence in the lounge area. At the very least, you seem to have those guards on-side. They whoop at your arrival on the stage, and tip generously. Better yet, they keep the rowdier of the usual rabble in-line: you notice a substantial downturn in hecklers and handsy males, apart from a few of the guards themselves.

Better yet: each and every guardsman has ordered at least some of the new dining menu: meat kebabs, fried tubers and vegetables, and more decorate their tables, in addition to more drinks to wash it all down. You smile a little. How can Madam Mina stay mad, when you’re bringing in such business?

What do you do after the dance is done?
>Go entertain the guardsmen, and learn the newest gossip about your escapades in the process
>Catch up with the other dancers, and have a few drinks with the girls back-stage
>Check in on your half-orc chef, to see how he’s keeping up with the new gig
>Sneak out—that earlier encounter with Mina stressed you out, and you need to centre yourself with some spycraft
>Write-in
>>
>>5030934
>Catch up with the other dancers, and have a few drinks with the girls back-stage

I think this option would look the least sus to Mina
>>
>>5030934
>Catch up with the other dancers, and have a few drinks with the girls back-stage
>>
>>5030934
>Check in on your half-orc chef, to see how he’s keeping up with the new gig
>>
>>5030934
>>Catch up with the other dancers, and have a few drinks with the girls back-stage
>>
Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>5031018
>>5031007
>>5030940
>>5030939
You decides that it is best to fly low the rest of this evening, avoiding Mina’s watchful eye and ire. This, to you, means catching up with your coworkers.

Helga evinces the same worry for you that Felia had displayed, while many of the others express some combination of relief or amusement. It was only a night, but an unexplained absence in the midst of a wave of macabre violence isn’t something any of them—except maybe ditzy Vivian—took lightly.

“Me, I just figured you had yourself a new ‘private client’,” Manuela LaPert says, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Robin guffaws, perhaps a bit too loud; she is already at elast as drunk as any patron, as is her wont.

“If it was that, be careful,” Helga warns. “Mina frowns on moonlighting, let alone going off alone to some unvetted client’s right now.”

It turns out that, as perhaps you might have suspected from Felia’s comments and concern, word has spread about the dead bodies found in the sewers two nights ago, just at the outskirts of town. Curiously, the fire in Goblintown has not made as much of an impact—perhaps for the same reason that this ghetto outside the walls hardly factors into any other aspect of day-to-day conversation in Hawksong proper, in that it is beneath the notice of most humans. The continuation of the sewer murders, however, has only stirred up further fear of shapeshifting wererats marauders from below.

“Heard the guards talking about a fucking CURFEW, if you can believe it,” Red Annie intimates.

“I hope not…” Grendelia mumbles. “But do you think it would help?”

“I don’t think they could pull it off if they tried,” Helga says boldly. “Not enough manpower.”

You catch Mina hovering at the edge of the room, listening intently. Her tail is flitting anxiously. Surely SHE knows who has killed those people in the sewers, or at least has unique reason to suspect you. You hurriedly—insofar as you can hurry it without attracting suspicion—change the subject to the more vapid matters of the new half-orc chef, who Manuela at least considers ‘the tastiest dish on the menu’. This leads to a much more manageable conversation, largely gossip about the handsomest clients, or prospective paramours in general.

Inevitably, the drinks are plied, and you indulge a little for the sake of appearances…

[Constitution roll, DC 12]
>>
>>5031187
And one drink leads to another. Before long, you’re feeling it hit your system with its usual potency, but you stay steady long enough for the end-of-show conga line. After that, however, you find yourself a little wobbly, giggly, and more than a little tired.

What do you do?
>Take a bump of shirin to increase you alacrity and mental faculty, and continue to carouse—you’ve earned it!
>Take your leave, to head back to the Engel manor
>Slink off into the night to go do some spycraft [specify a target]
>Confront Mina, and sort this matter out to your lasting satisfaction
>Write-in
>>
>>5031189
>Take your leave, to head back to the Engel manor
Should've drank water and pretended it was vodka. Goddamit snek.
>>
>>5031189
>Take your leave, to head back to the Engel manor

I'm hoping we could investigate Edwin's nightly visitor.
>>
>>5031189
>Take a bump of shirin to increase you alacrity and mental faculty, and continue to carouse—you’ve earned it!
>>
>>5031189
>Take a bump of shirin to increase you alacrity and mental faculty, and continue to carouse—you’ve earned it!

Partay time
>>
>>5031337
>>5031356
>>5031374
>>5031443
[Holding out 'til after work for a tie-breaker, or else I will combine these prompts.]
>>
>>5031189
>>Take your leave, to head back to the Engel manor
>>
>>5031189
>Take your leave, to head back to the Engel manor
sadly now is not party time
>>
>>5031635
>>5031516
>>5031443
>>5031374
>>5031356
>>5031337
As your inhibitions lower and the euphoria and warmth of athe acohol seep through your body, you begin to genuinely relax and enjoy yourself and the company of your coworkers for a time--on a superficial level, if nothing else. Mina's watchful eye makes it so you can never fully let down your guard, however. perhaps that's for the best, for you know in your scaley soul that it is not the time to revel.

[-Hedonism]

Instead, you stumble out the door, blowing kisses to the female mammals as they do likewise.

'Want me to take the reins, Lispy?' Irinnile asks. 'You're, uh, still kinda' a lightweight.'

"No need!" you reply confidently, and out loud. Catching yourself, you revert to your mental channels. 'I have this under control.'

'Uh huh,' Irinnile says, sounding as bemused as she is unconvicned. 'You know, you really ought to take a break every now and again, and have a proper evening off with the girls. or guys. Or really anyone.'

'An Infiltrator is always working,' you affirm.

'That kinda' sucks, babe,' she replies.

You ignore the heathen spirit's criticism, firm in your purpose... Which was... Wait, crap, you know this! Or at least you'd better determine it quickly, as you are very nearly 'home', with the gates of the Engel Manor looming before you atop a small hillock.

What is your plan tonight?
>Dream-delving, to settle once and for all what is going on with Edwin
>Sating some <WANT> and sleeping off this inebriation
>Discussing your shirin-dilution scheme, better to appease Mina and get her back on-side tomorrow
>Write-in
>>
>>5031811
>Dream-delving, to settle once and for all what is going on with Edwin
>>
>>5031811
>Discussing your shirin-dilution scheme, better to appease Mina and get her back on-side tomorrow

Mina can't possibly keep her guard up the whole time, and Fynn's getting on our case about this too.
>>
>>5031811
>Get some water and meat
Dilute this poison in our veins so we don't ramble about reptilian conspiracy on accident.
>Discussing your shirin-dilution scheme, better to appease Mina and get her back on-side tomorrow
Was gonna go wuth Edwin, but green anon is right.
>>
>>5032209
Supporting
>>
>>5032392
>>5032209
>>5031920
>>5031815
Once the servants have let you in—with well-hidden embarrassment for your state of dress and inebriation—Edwin is delighted to see you. He attempts to mute his surprise and excitement as well, but he is less practiced than are his household staff.

“Izzy!” he greets you. “You, err, made it home tonight after all.”

“I did,” you agree. “But I think I could do with ssome water and ssome meat, if you pleassse.”

Edwin looks to a wall-clock, then back to you, and raises an eyebrow. It is, by the reckoning of the surface beasts, ‘an hour past midnight’. Still, if there’s one thing he knows about you, it’s that you keep your own, rather peculiar, hours. The staff don’t question it, at least not aloud, and before long the two of you are seated at the breakfast table.

“Sso, I’ve been thinking about our shirin situation,” you begin, apropos of nothing.

“Oh?” Edwin asks, caught off-guard and perhaps a little to amused by your drunken enthusiasm. “Do tell.”

“I’m sseriousss!” you protest. “It’ss important!”

And it is! In addition to your desire to win back Mina’s trust, Fynn’s comments this morning have continued to eat at you. You HAVE been letting this matter fall by the wayside, with everything else going on…

“I’m listening, I am,” he reassures you.

Satisfied, you continue: “When we last sspoke with Qicerysss at The Enchanted Grove boutique, she’d ssaid… She’d ssaid…”

“…That we could substitute fireweed for one of the ingredients—though it has some, um, other properties,” Edwin helpfully finishes.

“Yesss! That’ss a good pet!” you reach across the table and ruffle his hair, which he takes with good humour. “But… She alsso ssaid that the other ingredient wass ssomething she’d need to analyze and ssynthessize…”

“And that it wouldn’t be cheap,” Edwin points out. He may have a poor head for finances, but he clearly has an ear and a memory for when someone else deems something expensive—he is, after all, his father’s son.

“No, I don’t ssuppose it would be that easssy, would it?” you grumble.

The two of you pitch options back and forth through the night, sometimes in rather circular arguments and sometimes in tangents. Ultimately, very little new or novel comes of it, alas. Your options are much as they were before:
>>
>>5032472
>Agree to use the herbs recommended by Qicerys to best retain the shirin’s effects, despite the cost
>Ask for harmless filler materials which might dilute and stretch the shirin for less money, while likely reducing the potency
>Inquire about other medicinal herbs which might have other, complementary effects—maybe you can sell shirin in tandem with something more local, expanding your product offerings?
>Attempt to seduce Qicerys into reduced rates and favourable terms
>Offer Qicerys something else in lieu of full payment [like what? Specify]
>Go elsewhere to find a solution

…Though as far as ‘elsewhere” goes, you now have another possibility or two. Thanks to your little rendezvous with Paula the Tower janitorial worker, and your visit to Goblintown, you have two other avenues for high-grade magical supplements and advice OR for a quick-and-dirty supplier of questionable (but cheap, and potentially illicit) goods that ‘fell off the cart’.

While you’re considering matters, you find yourself drifting off. Edwin, ever the gentleman, attempts to carry you to bed… But, never the strongman, has to settle for guiding you to your room, where you pull him down to the mattress and refuse to let him go until dawnlight.

Eventually, though, the blissful warmth and alcohol-induced euphoria fade to darkness, and even darkness must give way to dawn. You open your eyes, stretch, and take a moment to appreciate the charming, almost cute ugliness of Edwin’s sleeping face mashed into the pillow. Then, it is time to set to work. Shirin is not, after all, going to dilute and market itself.

[Choose one of the above options, and if you choose to source materials elsewhere, please specify through whom. Write-ins are also acceptable.]
>>
>>5032473
>Inquire about other medicinal herbs which might have other, complementary effects—maybe you can sell shirin in tandem with something more local, expanding your product offerings?
Good dealers offer a variety of experiences
>>
>>5032473
>Agree to use the herbs recommended by Qicerys to best retain the shirin’s effects, despite the cost
I want the quality to stay high.
>Attempt to seduce Qicerys into reduced rates and favourable terms
3some.

I'm impartial to selling multiple products.
>>
>>5032473
>Agree to use the herbs recommended by Qicerys to best retain the shirin’s effects, despite the cost
The good shit.
>Ask for harmless filler materials which might dilute and stretch the shirin for less money, while likely reducing the potency
The shit for gobs and poor clientele.
>Inquire about other medicinal herbs which might have other, complementary effects—maybe you can sell shirin in tandem with something more local, expanding your product offerings?
Diversify our products.
>Attempt to seduce Qicerys into reduced rates and favourable terms
Don't tell Edwin, but we are totally doing this.
>>
>>5032473
>Ask for harmless filler materials which might dilute and stretch the shirin for less money, while likely reducing the potency

Let's get the cheap stuff running and profitable, then we can look into local substitutes and high end variants.
>>
>>5032473
>Agree to use the herbs recommended by Qicerys to best retain the shirin’s effects, despite the cost
>Inquire about other medicinal herbs which might have other, complementary effects—maybe you can sell shirin in tandem with something more local, expanding your product offerings?
>>
>>5032528
>>5032821
>>5032641
Three for medicinal herbs with complementary effects

>>5032549
>>5032641
Two for the recommended, expensive substitutes

>>5032641
>>5032703
Two for harmless fillers

>>5032549
>>5032641
Two for seduction for a discount

And it seems like most people want at least a few tiered offerings. Writing with this in mind!
>>
>>5033093
Your recollection of last night is only a little hazy—despite your low tolerance, even you can’t black out on only a few shots of hard liquor. What you do remember is a resolution to acquire a variety of options, for customers of all varieties. .. Or at least a few. It also gives you flexibility: if one fails to catch on, you haven’t committed your entire supply of shirin.

You decide to emphasize a combination of shirin cut with other useful herbs, which have differing effects on mind and body. Relaxants, other stimulants, psychedelics, maybe even some aphrodisiacs since it acme up as a good supplement for the fireweed root. It could certainly be a good way to further enrich a brothel with this trade. However, you have precious little of your current supply to spare in experimentation.

‘We could see Cuggi and them beastie-boys about more?’ Irinnile suggests.

‘They have been embroiled in the Tower investigation, however,’ you note.

‘Doncha’ think that Goblintown fracas might have, ya’ know, redirected focus a little?’ Irinnile speculates hopefully.

What do you do?
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys
>Get more from Cuggi and his men
>See if the goblins can procure some shirin form other travelers for you, though it may take longer
>Attempt to generate more through Bianchi’s dream ritual, as he recreated his ancestral staff
>Write-in

What will you focus upon in producing new shirin admixtures?
>Aphrodisiacs, to stimulate TPK business
>Psychedelics, to make minds vulnerable to your intrusions and increase the exoteric popularity of the drug
>Relaxants, so that you can also use it as a tool of the trade
>Stimulants, to increase the central effects, and maybe even augment yourself further with it
>Write-in

Looking to peaceful, sleeping Edwin, you resist the urge to reach out and run your fingers through his hair. It IS very nice hair, very soft and slightly curly. And he’s so warm, and so… Untroubled.

‘We could bring him?’ Irinnile says.

But then, his style isn’t always yours. It could get in the way of what you plan to do…

>Leave Edwin at home for today
>Wake him and bring him along
>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first
>Write-in
>>
>>5033109
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys
It's not like we need it for much, but also:
>Attempt to generate more through Bianchi’s dream ritual, as he recreated his ancestral staff
Turn flesh to drugs and see what happens. Shed shirin skin.
We can do this later when alone.

>Relaxants, so that you can also use it as a tool of the trade
I'd much prefer the drugs to remain simple relaxants and be mostly a money/prestige/connection thing.
>Psychedelics, to make minds vulnerable to your intrusions
Could get some psychedelics for our personal use, aka rapid mindrape dust.

>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first
We can read some books or talk to Fynn to increase our business stat meanwhile. Edwin is pretty much involved in the druggie thing, so let's not leave him behind.
>>
>>5033109
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys
>Attempt to generate more through Bianchi’s dream ritual, as he recreated his ancestral staff

>All, but we'll focus on Aphrodisiacs an Psychedelics first

>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first

We will get to Edwin's Dream visitor tomorrow, after we finish scouting the Tower first.
>>
>>5033192
+1
>>
>>5033109
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys
>Get more from Cuggi and his men

>Psychedelics, to make minds vulnerable to your intrusions and increase the exoteric popularity of the drug
>Relaxants, so that you can also use it as a tool of the trade

>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first
>>
>>5033109
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys

>Psychedelics, to make minds vulnerable to your intrusions and increase the exoteric popularity of the drug

>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first
>>
>>5033109
>Use your existing supply to experiment with different admixtures with Qicerys

>Aphrodisiacs, to stimulate TPK business
>Psychedelics, to make minds vulnerable to your intrusions and increase the exoteric popularity of the drug

>Stay a little longer, and wait for him to wake up so you can discuss your plans with him first
>>
RPG night, but will tally votes and post when I can
>>
>>5033552
>>5033454
>>5033424
>>5033386
>>5033211
>>5033192

>Use your existing supply to experiment
>Discuss your plans with Edwin
>Psychedelics & Relaxants

You take the opportunity of the early morning to pick out an outfit and to have the servants brew the particular tea you’ve observed Edwin to favour after a late night. Moreover, you plan the particular approach you will take with your limited supply of shirin—you don’t want to risk acquiring more in the midst of the Tower investigation. What if it draws further scrutiny to Mina or, worse still, to your other activities? Perhaps with the fox-woman dead and thus absent, their attentions will wane… But for now, you will make do with what you have.

“Psychedelics?” Edwin asks, a couple hours later as he sips at the tea.

“Yess!” you say. “To exxxpand the percceptionss, and to add an additional element to performanccess at The Pretty Kitty. Esspecially mine. Can you imagine it—my illusionsss, in ssuch an altered state?”

In reality, you suspect this admixture would be most useful for an entirely different application of your magics: your mentalism and glamour, enabling you to more easily manipulate the melting minds of minions and malcontents.

“Psychedelics are…” Edwin pauses. “They’re not illegal, but ‘spice’ isn’t the best way to describe most peoples’ view of them. This isn’t medicine or a helpful stimulant like tea that we’re talking about, now. It’s… Absolutely a street-drug.”

He seems concerned about this to a degree you hadn’t anticipated. Did he really not understand shirin’s nature as a subversive substance? Why should stimulants and hallucinogens or psychedelics be viewed so differently by Hawksong’s people? Then again, Kamunu’s sphere is not one of upper society, and if it’s not illegal, is it really of any relevance.

“I also plan to sstill ssell the pure sstuff,” you say, reassuring him. “Thiss iss… Jusst a sspecial something, for clientss in a particular environment. Requesssst only.”

Edwin nods, seemingly accepting the explanation.
>>
>>5033940
“I alsso thought mixing it with a relaxxant might work,” you say, pivoting.

This seems to confound Edwin even more. “A stimulant and a relaxant at once? It sounds counterintuitive?”

“Not at all!” you say. “Relaxxxing the body while sharpening the mind? All the mental acuity and sharpnessss without any jitterinesss?”

Edwin seems to have some trouble grasping the concept but, admittedly, he’s also never actually TRIED shirin. IT’s tough for him to imagine its effects, you notice. Aside from drinking lightly, and the sort of ‘high’ he gets in your presence when Irinnile is in an eager mood, you’re not certain Edwin has ever taken a mind-altering substance at all! You’d call this charmingly innocent but, in all honesty, your own experience was limited before Hawksong. Such dabblings don’t behoove a weapon of The Serpent Priests, and Degenerates are not permitted frivolous luxury.

Still, Edwin’s understanding of herbalism and alchemy have been useful, and he also has easier access to Engelson carriages. You bring him with you to go see Qicerys at The Enchanted Grove Alchemical Boutique. There, the timid and high-voiced half-elf in question is as startled as ever by your boisterous entrance, but not entirely unprepared.

“You’re here about that, um, herbal concoction, right?”

“Yesss,” you say with a smile. “We’ve decided to go with you after all… And we have ssome ideasss.”

Though you are quick to fix your particular plans for the ‘spice’ as the foundation of the conversation, it rapidly evolves beyond your ability to follow; here, Edwin shores up your relative ignorance. He and Qicerys talk in a mixture of the common tongue and an educated elder-language, used (as you have noticed) my alchemical and arcane circles in reference to martials, biological orders, and certain mystical principles. It seems to hold a certain precision that the more common labels and turns-of-phrase do not, and by this precise language and the consultation of several ratty biological tomes and faded scrolls in Qicerys’ possession, the two of them are able to narrow down a few likely additives to achieve your desired effect. IT will take almost your entire shirin supply and a day or two to even determine which of them will achieve the best effect with the fewest side-effects, however.

>Take the full two days and use as much shirin as necessary to create a reliable array of products
>Speed things up—you’ll give Qicerys the full supply of shirin, save your last few grams of personal spice, but only one day
>Do it up quick and dirty, and you’ll do the ‘laboratory testing’ yourself, in the field
>Write-in
>>
>>5033942
As you and Edwin leave the shop, you also realize with a start—thanks to a passing comment which your pet not-wizard makes—that you have only

<Five Days to the Tower Gala>

You have precious little time to prepare, and so much yet to do! You know only the foggiest details about the Tower’s defences, their research facilities where items and instruments key to their defences program might be located, or the newest developments in their Inquisition’s investigations. What if security has changed in regards to the Gala in response to the rumours and very real threats you have brought to Hawksong’s attention? Or maybe you’re overthinking things—you have an invite, after all, and four more nights to investigate whatever matter you so desire through dream-delving and old-fashions kulking-about. Edwin, for his part, seems to believe the two of you are on a date day.

>Relax for now, and enjoy a nice date day with Edwin at the library [specify a field of study, if you care to]
>Suggest another date with Paula, the Tower Staffer, so you can fish for information AND keep Edwin happy
>Sadly, you must cut things short to go attend to other matters [Yosef? Investigating the Tower? Consulting the Akashic Record? Other?]
>You know… You don’t actually know how to dance outside of EXOTIC dancing—maybe that would be useful for a Gala?
>Write-in
>>
>>5033942
>Take the full two days and use as much shirin as necessary to create a reliable array of products

>>5033943
>Suggest another date with Paula, the Tower Staffer, so you can fish for information AND keep Edwin happy
After
>You know… You don’t actually know how to dance outside of EXOTIC dancing—maybe that would be useful for a Gala?

Frankly, I was hoping for more time to get our shit together. The whole Roth-Zivic situation really ate two days with nothing really progressing with our main missions and the Tower Gala.
>>
>>5033942
>Take the full two days and use as much shirin as necessary to create a reliable array of products
>>5033943
>Suggest another date with Paula, the Tower Staffer, so you can fish for information AND keep Edwin happy
AND
>You know… You don’t actually know how to dance outside of EXOTIC dancing—maybe that would be useful for a Gala?
We won't be giving Dumbledore a lap dance, kek.


>>5034004
>get our shit together
If you have any ideas, please share.
>>
>>5033942
>>Speed things up—you’ll give Qicerys the full supply of shirin, save your last few grams of personal spice, but only one day

>>5033943
>>You know… You don’t actually know how to dance outside of EXOTIC dancing—maybe that would be useful for a Gala?
>>
>>5033943
>Take the full two days and use as much shirin as necessary to create a reliable array of products

>Sadly, you must cut things short to go attend to other matters [Yosef? Investigating the Tower? Consulting the Akashic Record? Other?]
either murder yosef or investigate the tower
formal dancing is hardly a concern
>>
>>5034004
>>5034048
>>5034287
>>5034362
>Take the full two days
>Learn to dance

You have two days now before you can even get a start on your ‘spice trade’, and precious little else to do until then… At least, not in the light of day, with a city on high-alert. Irinnile’s power is considerably more limited when exposed to sunlight, and your diurnal targets more alert. Now, if ever there was a time to pursue something as frivolous as dancing lessons, it’s now.

But then… Is it so frivolous? You will hardly be giving the Archmage a lapdance, and maintaining respectability and reputation as the entire reason for developing multiple identities to begin with. It isn’t Kamunu who will attend the Tower Gala, but Ismena Rosgard, on the arm of Edwin of Engel! If you need to make powerful friends and talk your way into private areas, it will not be through the same set of skills which have served you well on the stage or the streets… At least, not right away. You cannot afford to stand out like a sore thumb.

“Dancing lessons?” Edwin asks, seemingly not sure he heard right. “But you’re the best dancer I know!”

The praise makes you feel… Some kind of way. Nevertheless, you rpess on: “It’ss not exxactly… The ssame as the ssort of danccing one does at a formal event, though, iss it?”

“Mmm… No, maybe not,” Edwin acknowledges, bless his innocent heart. “Well, I mean… I know a bit, from my schooldays.”

“Really?” you ask, a little surprised. Though Edwin has his virtues, you would not have thought grace or timing to be among them.

“Ha, well, maybe I’m a little out of practice… But yes, dance and choir or an instrument are concerned a part of a young man’s education at the sort of schools Father thought best.”

“Sso…” you smirk. “Which wass it, choir or an inssstrument?”

Edwin blushes and averts his eyes, coughing and avoiding an answer.

What do you do?
>Practice with Edwin
>Seek out a professional tutor—Edwin can afford it, and you won’t settle for anything less than mastery
>Maybe you can use the Akashic Record to access such information on your own?
>Write-in
>>
>>5034701
>Practice with Edwin
it was choir

>Maybe you can use the Akashic Record to access such information on your own?
why not both?
>>
>>5034701
>Seek out a professional tutor—Edwin can afford it, and you won’t settle for anything less than mastery
We should get a good grasp on this.
>Drag Edwin along to practice together
Say that we both could use a tutor, since he basically admitted that he's rusty.

I'm impartial to Akashic Record. We can check it if we have time, otherwisse a human trainer will do. I mean tutor.
>>
>>5034701
>>Practice with Edwin
>>Seek out a professional tutor—Edwin can afford it, and you won’t settle for anything less than mastery
>>
>>5034701
>Seek out a professional tutor—Edwin can afford it, and you won’t settle for anything less than mastery
>Practice with Edwin
>>
A post is forthcoming. I just have minor seasonal affective disorder and it screws with my energy levels and motivation this tkme of year. Expect a post late tonight!
>>
>>5035303
>>5035177
>>5034874
>>5034749
You’ve never settled for anything less than mastery since you discovered this concept of ‘dance’, and you aren’t about to begin now. That goes double for Edwin—a plaything of yours isn’t going to undermine your efforts by being slopy or, as he himself terms it, ‘rusty’! It’s not as if he can’t afford the tutoring.

“I actually might know such a person,” he admits, under mild duress.

“Then let’ss go ssee him!” you declare.

As it turns out, it is not a ‘him’, but a ‘her’: a human female of late-middle age. Dame Albacete is apparently the house-mother of a preparatory school for young noblewomen, but also served as a tuyor to young men of similar academies for young men at times. It was in this capacity that she taught Edwin what he knows of formal dance, and it is this connection which he calls upon, when you arrive at her home.

“Ah, yes, I remember you…” she says. “Elaine's son, yes? And… Master Engelson, was it?”

“Just Engel,” he says, reflexively apologetic in tone. “Engelson is the company. It confuses a lot of people.”

“Right, right! Of course, dear,” Albacete says, patting Edwin's arm. “I was so sorry to hear about your mother's passing…”

Edwin clears his throat and awkwardly shifts topics, clearly eager to move away from that on. He begins by introducing you.

“Ismena Rossgard?” Dame Albacete asks, raising an eyebrow. “An unusual name, and yet, familiar somehow… And you're here to learn to dance?”

“A more formal ssort of danccing, yesss,” you answer, not bothering to correct her pronunciation of ‘Rosgard’—she’s saying it as you do, after all. “I think you'll find me a quick sstudy.”

“Is that so?” she asks, a curious twinkle in her eye.

You elbow Edwin in the side and he adds “I'm a little out-of-practice myself, and we have a gala at the Mages' Tower to attend at week's end.”

“Well then!” Dame Albacete says, clapping her hands. “It seems there is no time to waste! Come inside, won't you?”
>>
>>5035963
The interior of her home is smaller than that of the Engels or Lord Bianchi, but that is no surprise—you deduce during the course of their conversation that ‘Dame’ is a title of respect more than one of formal nobility, as it is used in this context. Still, once she has had Edwin push some furniture into the corner, a spacious floor-plan allows for a great deal of space to dance.

“You know, those oversized robes are hardly conducive to dancing, Young Master Engel,” Albacete admonishes Edwin. “And do take off your hat in my home, will you?”

“Ah, sorry,” he says, obliging. “This was… Sort of a spur of the moment thing.”

“Well, in future do try to wear something more appropriate.”

“Future?” you ask.

“Why, yes, Miss Rossgard!” she looks at you with a stern expression. “I hope you didn’t think one single lesson would bring the two of you up-to-speed, as it were?”

This is becoming perhaps a bigger commitment than you anticipated or were prepared for… But, for today at least, you are already here, and you will learn what you can. Rather than the two of you dancing, the older woman takes each you and Edwin in-turn into the centre of the floor while the other watches from near the wall. With Edwin, she placed his hand on her hip and the other in her own, and she skillfully guides him in ‘leading the dance as the dominant partner, repeatedly correcting his footwork.

“When you grow up as big as you have, Young Master, you must learn not to TREAD upon the poor girl! Miss Rossgard has the feet of dancer, so let’s keep them in good shape, shall we?”
Next up is you, and for this dance, Dame Albacete takes the role of the male in this curious, close-quarters courtship ritual. She’s taller than you, if only slightly, which she informs you should help. Taking your hand in her strong grip and placing her other on your hip, she pushes you along backwards in weaving circles. It is a slower, more methodical affair than you are used to, but still curiously intimate. The lack of music is made up for—albeit awkwardly, poorly—by her metronome-like count of:

“One, and two, three, four AND ONE, and two, three four, AND ONE…”

Imagining it with music makes it easier for you, but even then, it must be very different music than that which Laskar Endingray plays at The Pretty Kitty. For the first time in a while, you feel culturally out-of-your-depth once more, as when you first arrived in Hawksong. It’s frustrating, especially now that you have come to think of yourself as a gifted dancer, to be treated (perhaps rightly) like a fresh initiate.

‘At least she’s got a nice pair on her,’ Irinnile notes.

You keep your eyes fixed straight ahead, and your mind on mastering the steps.
>>
>>5035966
“Well,” Albacete says an hour-and-a-half later and a little winded by her exertion. “Miss Rossgard, you ARE indeed a quick study. And Young Master Engel, you aren’t quite so rusty as you said!”

Edwin blushes at the praise, but nods his thanks.

“I would suggest coming by here each day until the Tower Gala for lessons, even so!” Dame Albacete reminds you both.

You suppress a frown. You feel you have the basics down—not true mastery, admittedly, but enough to get by. Is that enough? There are so many other things to do before the Gala…

>Agree to this schedule
>Refuse it—this one lesson was enough
>You would really prefer flexible drop-in lessons to such a schedule…

Now that the day’s lesson is done, it is mid-afternoon. Your stomach reminds you that you haven’t eaten, while your years of conditioning remind you that you have been sadly unproductive at advancing the grand conspiracy of your race.

What do you do?

>Grab lunch with Edwin [specify if you have any sort of establishment or food in mind]
>Part company with Edwin for the day—you have work to do! [specify which aspect of your mission you are focusing upon]
>Propose the two of you go grab some lunch with Paula, the tower staffer
>Write-in

>>5035554
Apologies for missing my own deadline. Had writer's block something fierce. But the quest yet lives, and won't be abandoned!
>>
>>5035967
>Agree to this schedule
But only if you can keep the track, RQM. We players have no sense of time as proven time and time again in the past.
Otherwise
>You would really prefer flexible drop-in lessons to such a schedule…

>Part company with Edwin for the day—you have work to do!
>See if the Akashic Record can tell you anything about this Albacete.
She seems to either know too much or be a possible Rep in disguise.
If that brings us nothing
>Visit Roth to ask about Albacete and clear your mind by trading human for reptilian company.

Yeah I know we got Bianchi shirin ritual too, but that's not related to our main cause.
>Apologies for missing my own deadline.
Issokay. Hope you're doing better now, QM.
>>
>>5035967
>You would really prefer flexible drop-in lessons to such a schedule…

>Propose the two of you go grab some lunch with Paula, the tower staffer

maybe this time peer pressure will succeed
>>
>>5035987
>>5036285
[Will wait 'til tomorrow for a tiebreaker, or post in the morning!]
>>
Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5035987
>>5036285
>>
Rolled 12, 1, 11, 18 = 42 (4d20)

>>5036916
“I keep a busy sschedule,” you say. “I’m not ccertain that we can commit to—”

“So sayeth everyone,” Dame Albacete says, interrupting you, “but to get ANYWHERE near ready for a Gala in under a week, you really MUST commit.”

You frown. You have so many irons in the proverbial fire that you really have no idea if you can reliably attend dance classes every afternoon.

“We will try our bessst,” you say.

“Remember, Miss Rossgard: mastery comes with dedication and practice.”

You narrow your eyes. That seemingly-obvious advice… The way it was phrased…

Your thoughts are interrupted as Edwin thanks Dame Albacete as the two of you leave.

“Well… I enjoyed myself,” Edwin says, once the door is closed. “I don’t know about in the long term, but I think a week of this could be alright.”

“Sso long as I doesssn’t interfere with our more important bussinessss,” you say.

Edwin frowns a little, so you give his arm a squeeze.

“You know how busy I get. I just don’t want to commit to anything before I know what my sschedule lookss.”

Edwin only nods, but you have no time to smooth this over. Something about this ‘Dame Albacete’ rubs you the wrong way. The way she phrased that advice was almost identical to how you would translate the admonishment of one of your handlers, offered during childhood training. And that look in her eye…

You make an excuse about some personal business calling you away—only serving to underscore your point about the difficulty of scheduling, of course. Then, once Edwin’s carriage has departed, you begin searching for a private place to access the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods.
>>
>>5036930
Eventually, in the shade of two close-together homes, you nestle in like a lizard under a rock and settle your mind to silence. Then, you open the ‘third eye’ and gaze into the space between spaces, where secrets lay buried. There, you find the Akashic Record of the Dark Gods: a history of your people, your fellow faithful agents of their will, across time and space. You focus the fog of countless memories into the shape and conceptual framework of one ‘Dame Albacete’. To your surprise, the threads of fate lead you directly to… Your own proximity!

Your eyes snap open as you grope about for your knives, nut you see no dance instructor poised to strike. Instead, you find your mystically-augmented intuition guides your gaze to your own backpack. You unbuckle it, reach inside, and pull out Roth’s little black book of agents and targets. Flipping through it, you indeed find Dame Albacete’s own residence in short order.

‘So is she one of you guys, or a target?’ Irinnile asks, looking over your should from the depths of your inner world.

‘I don’t know,’ you admit.

‘Well, if Roth has her in the book and HASN’T burned that place to the ground, it’s gotta’ be the first one, right?’

And yet, you remember no amulet upon her, nor any other obvious item which might be enchanted to substitute for it and to provide her a disguise. Perhaps it was hidden in her petticoats? You shut your eyes again, summoning the Record and submerging yourself in the currents of its knowledge once more. There, you find images, like shadowed mirrors of past events. Lacking context, you nevertheless see Albacete at her work, instructing young surface-apes in their peculiar and methodical movements a she did you. You find her meeting with others in her home and elsewhere, though at no point do you catch a glimpse of Reptilian scales—not even as she meets with Roth in his human guise, or with…

‘Hey!’ Irinnile exclaims. ‘Ain’t that the snakegirl that was banging Yosef’s brat before he got lit up like a candle?’

Indeed, you do see Albacete sitting down at a table, sipping water and speaking of… Something, something faint and distant, with the Infiltrator of decades past who led Lord Isaac Yosef’s son to his doom. It was she that set the old man on his crusade against your people through emotional entanglement and sloppy spycraft.

And yet… You cannot make out what she and Albacete were speaking of, except that in broad strokes. The timing, the clear dismay in the agent—Izirina, was it?—leads you to believe that this meeting must have taken place roughly within the same time-frame as your last glimpse of her in Yosef’s daughter’s memories. Is it about Hirschel Yosef’s death? About the child she was apparently carrying? You struggle to dredge up clearer memories, but to your frustration, they pass through your fingers like so much mist.
>>
>>5036955
You conclude that it is time to pay Roth a visit. After all, some proper Reptilian company will help clear your mind regardless. You set out for his home, arriving just before evening. You knock upon the door repeatedly, until you hear the telltale unlatching of a dozen locks. Only then does Roth glare through a crack in the door.

“Are you going to invite me in?” you ask.

“Does it matter if I do or don’t?” he counters, opening the door wide even as he grumbles about it. “I only hope you haven’t brought me another ‘dead animal’ to dispose of.”

‘Oh shit, we DID leave foxy’s body in there for days, didn’t we?’ Irinnile laughs.

You step inside, sniffing the air. The overpowering odour of perfumed herbs fills your senses, no doubt masking the smell of decay, or of a dragonfire cremation. The last of the fox-woman—lover, mentor, companion, betrayer—is gone. The thought fills you with… Something, an emotion that is hard to identify. You bottle it up. You are here for other matters.

As soon as the portal is shut you start in on Roth about Albacete.

“Why do you need to know about her?” Roth asks in the True Speech of your people.

You relate your day’s experiences with her, explaining that you need to know whether to be wary and watchful of her.

Roth laughs, a rare sound. “You should be watchful and wary at all times, always, Infiltrator. Especially around THAT one.”

“Then she is of our race?” you press.

“She is,” Roth acknowledges.

“What is her purpose here?” you ask. “What is her mission.”

“Again, I ask you: why do you need to know?” Roth meets your eyes. “This female’s tasks are not your own. Her role here is not relevant to your mission. Surely you have not forgotten the importance of compartmentalization?”

What do you do?
>Press on, demanding more info in the name of the Dark Gods, who have favoured you
>Ask Roth something specific about Albacete [write-in]
>Ask Roth about something else [write-in]
>Leave for work at The Pretty Kitty—you’ll be a bit early, but perhaps that will give you time to get some food or to talk to Mina about your advancements in shirin production
>Return to Dame Albacete’s residence—you MUST know more about her purpose here
>Write-in
>>
>>5036958
>Tell Roth we only left the body because he was kidnapped
>...and that he'd probably get possessed if it wasn't for our immediate intervention

>Agree with Roth on compartmentalization
He is right about it... but Albacete spoke to Izirina, who IS related to OUR task given directly by one of the fucking Serpents to us.
>Ask what does he know about her job in Hawksong (as an agent) and whether he has any idea what was Izirina's business with Albacete

Won't hurt to clear things up and ask the lazy dragon while we're here. We can stay at her place tomorrow to get the details.
>>
Will post tomorrow, hopefully with more votes but either way.
>>
>>5036958
>>Press on, demanding more info in the name of the Dark Gods, who have favoured you
>>
mfw most quests I play currently have qms flaking and then there's RIQ where the players are flaking
>>
>>5036984
>>5037639
“Superior One, surely YOU have not forgotten the blessings and responsibilities bequeathed to me by The Dark Gods Beyond and Below?” you snap back.

Roth hesitates, so you press on.

“Nor do I imagine you have forgotten that my acquisition of knowledge beyond my mission has one two occasions proven instrumental in saving your life?”

Roth scoffs, annoyed but unable to argue effectively against this truth.

“Fellow Infiltrator,” you say more kindly, “are you aware of an ‘Izirina' among our agents in the past?”

Roth's posture and attitude shifts immediately back to his usual puffed-chest, stiff-backed arrogance.

“Ha, yes. A female Infiltrator tasked with a simple mission, who sabotaged herself through degeneracy.”

“What was her mission?” you ask.

“It was prior to our current program of active undermining,” Roth explains after a brief hesitation. “She was tasked with gathering information on what passes for a social elite among these mammalian scum, and documenting it so that we could form a more comprehensive picture of their so-called culture and their hierarchy.”

You nod. This lines up neatly with what you know of her… Though it does mean that Hirschel Yosef's discovery of her and death was part of no great gambit, but was truly just sloppy fieldwork.

“And what of her dealings with ‘Albacete’?” you ask next.

Roth stiffens. “I do not know of any dealings between these two.”

Your skepticism and frustration must show, for Roth continues after a moment, saying, “The one who uses the name ‘Albacete' has a similar role to my own, as a contact hub and senior operative. I was only called upon by her when the ‘Izirina' infiltration threatened to expose us, our race and our forward base in the mountain-caves near Sparrowton. This has been my only direct dealing with her or with the agents who she coordinates.”

You sigh, and nod. Well, at least this Albacete can be trusted, it seems… And may yet prove useful in your destruction of the Yosef bloodline.

What's your next move?
>Ask Roth something else [write-in]
>Go see Albacete [to ask her what? Write in]
>Carry on to The Pretty Kitty—you won't miss yet another shift!
>Pay Lord Isaac Yosef a visit, to learn more about Izirina and his family
>Write-in
>>
>>5037820
Woops, forgot my trip.
>>
>>5037820
>Carry on to The Pretty Kitty—you won't miss yet another shift!

We'll get to Yosef tomorrow... maybe.
>>
>>5037820
>Carry on to The Pretty Kitty—you won't miss yet another shift!

>>5037833
Tower comes first. I'd rather limit our Yosef family investigation to Albacete for now.

Inb4 Izirina's our mother and our fuckery with humans deals to detection just like hers.
>>
>>5037820
>Carry on to The Pretty Kitty—you won't miss yet another shift!
>>
>>5037820
>>Pay Lord Isaac Yosef a visit, to learn more about Izirina and his family
>>
>>5037820
>Pay Lord Isaac Yosef a visit, to learn more about Izirina and his family

and then murder
>>
>>5038012
>>5038006
>>5037952
>>5037845
>>5037833
Though your curiosity may eat you alive, Lord Yosef and his brood must wait until at least tomorrow. Tonight, you must pay Kamunu's dues to The Pretty Kitty.

“I still wish to speak further on the pressing matter of the ‘Devil-Zivic',” Roth insists.

You wave off his concerns as you leave. That, too, can wait. You have a pact, after all! There is no imminent danger from that quarter. Your cover identity's work, however, is time sensitive… And anyway, you've made some real progress on your shirin-related schemes. It would be a shame to let it go to waste!

You arrive at The Pretty Kitty in the nick of time, hurriedly saying your greetings to Felia and shoving into the bathing room to get changed alongside Grendelia, who covers herself in embarrassment as you barge in. Even if you were bothered by naked female mammals—you are decidedly not—you would have little choice. The show begins soon!

What do you do?
>Case the crowd for suspicious characters
>Take Mina aside to talk some shoo
>Lay low and try not to ruffle feathers for tonight
>Attempt to flirt with Grendelia a little—why not?
>Write-in
>>
>>5038266
>Attempt to flirt with Grendelia a little—why not?

talk to mina after work
>>
>>5038266
>Attempt to flirt with Grendelia a little—why not?
>>
>>5038266
>>Take Mina aside to talk some shoo
>>
>>5038266
>Case the crowd for suspicious characters
Let's not get distracted
>>
>>5038511
>>5038506
>>5038317
>>5038312
You can’t help it—you’re distracted. You’ve seen Grendelia with very FEW clothes, but never naked before. The combination of her strong, toned body—clearly not just her ancestor’s orcish genetics, but actual hard work—and her blushing embarrassment at your intrusion gets to you. It makes you feel something. It makes you want to…

Bully her a little.

“Hey, Grendelia,” you say, looking her up and down.

“…Yeah?” she replies, uncertainly.

“Jussst a thought, but maybe you should wear attire which showss off yours legss more. I never realized quite how toned you were!”

“Oh. Um… Thank you,” the quarter-orc dancer says, looking away and fidgeting.

“I take it you musst have quite the exxerccise routine, outsside of work?”

“I don’t know… There’s this place I go to, a sort of women’s self-defence studio that my mother ran… I guess that’s probably it?”

“Maybe we can go together ssometime,” you suggest. “I’d love to ssee you in action.”

Grendelia clears her throat. “That sounds… Nice, actually. The show is about to start, though.”

“Of courssse,” you acquiesce. Even now, you can’t tell if Grendelia inferred your tone in the slightest, or picked up your hints. Her fidgeting and blushing could be interest, or genuine discomfort. The invitation seems genuine, though, and the thought of some sweaty, close-quarters combat DOES fire you up a little… Maybe another day.

For now, the two of you take to the stage. You nod respectfully to madam Mina as you pass her, and warmly greet the other females. They good-naturedly tease you about your handling of your alcohol the previous night. Then, niceties and bonding activities out of the way, you begin the usual routine: one by one, you each take to the stage, while the elven bard Endingray plays his curious array of instruments in ways tailored to each of you in-turn.

The crowd isn't exactly packed, but the continue presence of city guardsmen—troubling in other ways, of course—helps bolster attendance. Janus Zika—young heir to the Zika Excavation Company and a client of yours on other evenings—has attended as well, and brought a couple of his rowdy compatriots. With a chill, you also spy a familiar, bespectacled face at the back of the lounge: the Tower Inquisitor who you mugged at the docks. You were disguised, of course--there's no way he could know it was you… Right?

What do you do?
>Just dance--there's no reason to get paranoid, you already knew The Pretty Kitty was under investigation
>Leave your magic out of your performance, lest connections be made
>Warn Mina about the Inquisitor, so she can be prepared
>Hobnob with the guards again, to divert suspicion
>Pay Janus a visit, to pump him for information about his father's investigations
>Approach the Inquisitor directly, to seduce him into letting down is guard
>Write-in
>>
>>5038639
>Warn Mina about the Inquisitor, so she can be prepared
But start by simply asking whether she knows that we have an Inquisitor around tonight, so we don't come off as antagonizing or scary of the demon-beaters right off the bat.

Now, there might be a chance that she is well aware, talked to the Inquisifuck already and even let him know Kamunu has some magical abilities, so if that's the case:
>Ask Mina whether we should use illusion tonight

If she doesn't tell us to do it like the usual, then:
>Leave your magic out of your performance, lest connections be made
Just in case, but try to make up for it by other means. Would be awkward is someone started complaining there was no magic so let's not give them a reason to be upset.
>>
>>5038639
>Just dance--there's no reason to get paranoid, you already knew The Pretty Kitty was under investigation

We're already well known as an illusionist, not using it would be very suspicious
Just focus on the pretty lightshow - make it clear that it can't be used for subtle work
>>
>>5038639
>Approach the Inquisitor directly, to seduce him into letting down is guard

Yo.
>>
>>5038639
>Just dance--there's no reason to get paranoid, you already knew The Pretty Kitty was under investigation
>Warn Mina about the Inquisitor, so she can be prepared
>Approach the Inquisitor directly, to seduce him into letting down is guard
>>
Rolled 2, 10, 13, 3, 16 = 44 (5d20)

>>5038656
>>5038679
>>5038693
>>5038859
>Warn Mina about the Inquisitor, so she can be prepared
>Just dance--there's no reason to get paranoid, you already knew The Pretty Kitty was under investigation
>Approach the Inquisitor directly, to seduce him into letting down is guard
[4 dice for seduction and a MYSTERY DIE. Post incoming.]
>>
>>5039139
You decide it best to notify Madam Mina, lest she be caught off-guard and do something reckless, or give the game away. Besides, would this not showcase your cooperation?

“The Inquisition?!”

…Not quite the reaction you’d been hoping for, but you suppose you can understand where it’s coming from. Sill, Mina reacts poorly—no second outburst, but she paces like a caged tiger, claws unsheathed on her otherwise human-like fingers.

“This is not good, Kamunu. Not good at all!” her voice is a snarl. “First the City guard, which was bad enough but profitable. Manageable. The Inqusition, though?”

“I don’t understand,” you admit. “The Tower’ss agents can also be managed, yesss?”

Mina wheels around on you. “I don’t want to MANAGE them, I want them GONE!”

You’re a little taken aback by just how upset this new development makes the feline madam. But then… Perhaps there are aspects of her youth, her time with the now undead-and-demonic Lady Zivic, which she doesn’t want them to uncover? Or maybe she simply fears the consequences if they discover YOU, a snake in the proverbial grass of her enetrprise…

“How do you recognize him, anyway?” she asks suspiciously, interrupting your reverie.

Do you…
>Tell her the whole truth
>Tell her only vaguely that you have had ‘run-ins’
>Tell her nothing
>Walk it back—pretend it was merely conjecture on your part
>Write-in
>>
>>5039177
Regardless, you have no reason to believe this bespectacled investigator for the wizardly authorities of Hawksong suspects YOU, and you don’t plan to feed into any such notion. You consider not even wielding illusory ability, but think better of it. Surely if he’s here, he’s done his research, and knows that Kamunu the Desert Princess weaves rainbows, sparkles, and streamers of glorious incandescence in her dance? Even if he doesn’t, surely someone in the crowd might find it noteworthy if you abandoned your signature gimmick—what then will a suitably-suspicious agent such as he begin to suspect, that you conspicuously hid such a talent in his presence?

So it is that you go about your routine with your usual aplomb… And maybe a bit of extra attention to his corner. Bedroom eyes here, a particular angle there, a sparkle of attractive glamour at an opportune moment… Nothing major, nothing that would give you away, but whatever madam mina says, you have yet to meet a male mammal you couldn’t ‘manage’.

When the show is done—and to your consternation, his crunched expression hardly shifted during your performance—you decide to scoop a drink from one of the serving-girl’s trays and head over to his table to try some more direct diplomacy. Maybe what he needs is that PERSONAL touch?

“Yes?” he asks. “Kamunu, right?”

“That’sss right,” you say with a smile, sliding into place next to him and offering him the drink, on the house. He takes a polite sip, grimaces slightly, and sets it down with a perfunctory thanks. “And you are…?”

“Felman,” he says, and nothing more.

“Well, Felman, what bringss you to The Pretty Kitty?”

Felman sighs quietly, and adjusts his glasses. “Just the same as brings anyone else, I would wager.”

You somehow doubt that. Certainly, though, he is paying YOU no special attention, something as annoying and insulting to your professional pride as it is reassuring—at least he doesn’t seem to believe you a threat or suspect!

“Really?” you say, affecting a smirk and squeezing your Irrinile-augmented assets together a you lean forward. “You don’t really give me that impresssion, somehow.”

Inquisitor Felman steals a glance, but it is a dispassionate one. Still, your persistence seems to force him to acknowledge you, or at least to recognize that you are not going to go away without an answer.

“I’m writing a book,” he lies. “I’m here for… Research.”
>>
>>5039179
“A book?” you say, pretending to believe him, and to me impressed. “What ssort of book?”

“A book on the… Darker spots of Hawksong.”

You look around at the laughing, cheering and jeering patrons, the cat-festooned pink lights. You take in Laskar’s merry, nautical tunes and Red Annie’s high-flying, high-kicking, panty-flashing cabaret.

“It hardly sseemss dark to me,” you say, and it’s true enough.

“Maybe not at first glance,” he admits. “But… Has anything strange happened here? I’ve heard things… I thought I’d see if they were true.”

“What ssortss of things?” you press.

“Rough crowd. Disappearances.” He meets your eyes. Gauging your reaction. “And the owner IS a beastwoman… Like the wererats. And there’s been some… Rumours of new arrivals of her race, attacking travelers at the waterfont.”

‘Rumours’ such as the guise you wore when you mugged Inquisitor Felman for his last pair of glasses, his badge, and the contents of his memory.

“So… Let me ask you, Miss Kamunu, is there any truth to those rumours?”

It’s the most interest Felman ahs shown in you all night, and you’re not sure you appreciate it.

>”Nothing to see here, except the girls.”
>Make up outlandish rumours to throw him off the scent
>Feed him just enough of the truth, mingle with misinformation, to manipulate and delay his investigations
>Throw Mina to the wolves—aim Felman at her, as a scapegoat for your own activities
>Ask him to meet with you, alone (and vulnerable) after the show, so you can tell him the dark truth (but actually so you can attack him)
>Write-in
>>
>>5039177
>Tell her only vaguely that you have had ‘run-ins’
Tell her we saw him on the streets in the past and recognized his face now. He's sticking out like a sore thumb, which brought our attention.
>”Nothing to see here, except the girls.”
>Feed him just enough of the truth, mingle with misinformation, to manipulate and delay his investigations
Mix of both and get a bit offended on behalf of madam Mina and Estella (without mentioning her name). After all, we are supposed to be like a weird family of sorts (or at least having each other's backs) and no inquisitor will be insinuating our Mina could be involved in any of those awful events. Beastwoman or not.
>>
>>5039181
>>Tell her only vaguely that you have had ‘run-ins’

>”Nothing to see here, except the girls.”
>>
>>5039181
>”Nothing to see here, except the girls.”

>Tell her only vaguely that you have had ‘run-ins’
Specifically that you saw him snooping around on occasion when you visited her brother for those sweet sweet drugs
>>
>>5039177
>Tell her nothing

>>5039181
>”Nothing to see here, except the girls.”
>Make up outlandish rumours to throw him off the scent
>Feed him just enough of the truth, mingle with misinformation, to manipulate and delay his investigations
>>
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>>5039550
>>5039548
>>5039456
>>5039327
Just as you sought to protect Mina from the compromising and alarming truth of your assault on this Inquisitor—only telling her that you’d “had some run insss” with him in the past—so too shall you shield The Pretty Kitty from his suspicious prying. You don’t know what he might find here, aside form you, so you give him only the least helpful and least interesting of answers:

“As interesting as that all ssounds, I’m afraid there’ss nothing to ssee here… Well, exxccept the girlsss.”

“That’s not what the chef was saying,” he notes, looking down and scribbling something with a charcoal pencil in a little black tome.

You stiffen, but fastidiously maintain your smile. “Oh?”

‘Oh?’ in this case meaning ‘Oh? What did that half-orc oaf Konrad Brugaghson say to you? Why did you even have dealings with him? What are you up to?’

“Hm?” Felman looks back to you, then down at his book once more. “Oh, it’s nothing. A few bright young people had a public disagreement of sorts with your chef. People took notice, and mentioned they’d also been seen here. And now I’m hearing they’re missing… It just made me curious about this place, I suppose.”

You laugh. “That ssoundss like ssomething out of The Grey Pressss!”

“You read The Grey Press, do you?” Inquisitor Felman asks.

“Ssome of the girlss are fanss,” you hedge.

“That’s a very interesting accent you have,” the Inquisitor notes. “Where are you from?”
>>
>>5039913
You almost stumble at the sudden change of topic, your reply unintentionally coming out as more of a question than you intended: “A distant province…?”

“Which one?” he asks.

“Jusst thiss little sslice of wildernesss, really… The southern bordersss of the Paladin King’ss networksss.”

“Hm. Well, I read The Grey Press from time to time, yes.” Felman looks up at you. “I’m been taking particular interest in how they broke the infamous story of the wererats. And now with more bodies in the sewer…”

He gets up, leaving rink and thought unfinished and tucking away his book.

“Leaving sso ssoon?” you ask solicitously.

“It’s a little too noisy to write in here. And besides, you’re right. There are other, more sinister places I really should be visiting if I wish to get good material. Maybe I’ll start with a visit to The Grey Press.”

You try to get a read on him as he leaves, but you can’t—his aura almost seems muted, shielded. An enchantment? A magic item? And what was his purpose with that last series of comments—does he suspect you after all, and seek to put you on-edge or to goad you? Is he hoping that you will pass word along to Mina, or whomever drew his attention here, and provoke a reaction from them?

‘Seems like he’s piecing SOMETHIN’ together…’ Irinnile acknowledges.

It’s true: those disposable hoodlums and Konrad, your attack on him and your connections to Cuggi and Mina, and the sewers, The Grey Press… He might not know WHAT connects all these threads, but it’s clear he knows that the deaths in the sewers—wererats and humans alike—have some connection to The Pretty Kitty, and to someone here.

What do you do?
>Finish up your shift as normal—no need to tip the inevstigators off as to something being amiss by acting strangely now
>Call an emergency meeting with Mina, to decide what should be done and to get your stories straight
>Go to the kitchen, to speak with Konrad Brugaghson and learn what he said to Felman
>Follow Felman, stealthily, to spy on him and to perhaps end his investigation permanently
>Leave and head for Roth’s home—this calls for some coordinated Reptilian conspiring
>Write-in
>>
>>5039915
>Finish up your shift as normal—no need to tip the inevstigators off as to something being amiss by acting strangely now
>>
>>5039915
>Finish up your shift as normal—no need to tip the inevstigators off as to something being amiss by acting strangely now

fuck
>>
>>5039915
>Finish up your shift as normal—no need to tip the inevstigators off as to something being amiss by acting strangely now

oh no the investigators are consistently competent
>>
Running late this morning, but expect an update this evening sometime, and one or two tomorrow... Then a dry spell as I attend a few Halloween parties!
>>
>>5040277
You gonna go as a reptilian disguised as a human, RQM?
>>
>>5040314
You're supposed to dress differently than you normally do, though.
>>
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>>5040506
then wear a dress, idk
>>
>>5039915
>>Finish up your shift as normal—no need to tip the inevstigators off as to something being amiss by acting strangely now
>>
>>5040549
>>5040267
>>5040185
>>5040127

There’s no need to trouble Mina, nor even Brughaghson. After all, to even consult with them would potentially further indict them in the Tower’s watchful eyes, not to mention yourself. You play out the night as you would normally—cool, calm, collected, professional, and appropriately seductive when required.

Perhaps you do a bit TOO good of a job, though. When the nightly conga-for-coin line-dance is done, you find Janus Zika and his friends waiting for you. They’re more than a little tipsy, and Janus is more than a little handsy as she enters your personal space.

“Hey there ‘Kamunu’,” he leers. “Long time no see. Looking as good as ever though, I see…”

“Janusss,” you reply, a simple acknoeldgement.

“Now that the show’s done, Iw as thinking, you know…”

The inebriated merchant’s son jangles some coins before your eyes—a rather hefty sack of them—and grins. “Me and the boys, in the old room. What do you say? Just like old times…”

The other two men with him both stand by, one a little nervous at how forward his friend is being, while the other is already gripping his groin with anticipation and eyeing your breasts. You already know from past experience to guard your rear entryway against the head brigand of this band, and that the three of them are unlikely to take turns or be gentle…

What do you do?
>Take him up on it—you could use the welcome distraction, the food for Irinnile, and an excuse to exit the most likely area to be surveilled for a time [+hedonism]
>Use the excuse to have them sample some of your remaining shirin—as good a time as any to build up some clientele
>Refuse them—you have more important work to attend to tonight
>Refuse them—you have a better mate waiting at home {+Edwin affection]
>Accept, but only to lure them into private for nefarious purposes—Janus needs to be reminded of his place [+bloodlust]
>Write-in
>>
>>5040753
>Use the excuse to have them sample some of your remaining shirin—as good a time as any to build up some clientele

no butt stuff
>>
>>5040753
>Take him up on it—you could use the welcome distraction, the food for Irinnile, and an excuse to exit the most likely area to be surveilled for a time [+hedonism]
Don't drain them too much.
butt stuff
>>
>>5040753
>Use the excuse to have them sample some of your remaining shirin—as good a time as any to build up some clientele
>>
>>5041036
>>5040924
>>5040816
You eye the three of them appraisingly, eventually shrugging.

“Why not?” you say casually.

Janus grins widely, and his two friends advance with him as he follows you into the back of The Pretty Kitty, up the stairs and to the room where you once stayed, and which you still may sue for ‘entertaining’.

You settle onto the bed, feeling its familiar give beneath your rear and your hands as you lean back. Janus’ more hesitant friend closes the door behind the three males as they form a semi-circle around you.

“Ah ah ah,” you tut at them, slowing their overeager approach. The boldest of the three is even already unbuckling his belt!

“Oh? Something special in mind?” Janus teases.

“You’re not wrong,” you say, producing your small pouch of shirin—your stash for personal use.

“What’s that?” the nervous human asks.

“A bit of sspice, for an essspecially flavoural evening,” you say vaguely. “Now, money on the table, boyss!”

Whatever misgivings they might have about ingesting a strange white powder, normally, they cannot long resist the offer: not drunk, not under the influence of your seductive arts, and certainly not when you give them the opportunity to lick it from your breasts. You take a quick hit as well—it’s YOUR shirin, and you’ll be damned if you’ll let them use it up without getting a little yourself! The amplified sensations augment their hands and mouths all over you, and they set your body to trembling in surprisingly good time.

‘Woah!’ Irinnile remarks. ‘That was soemthin’ else. We shoulda’ tried this a while ago!’

You can’t help but agree, and as the clothes come off your three clients’ bodies, you discover that even WITHOUT any libido-enhancing aphrodisiac component, shirin-powered sex is an experience of intensity and surprising duration. One by one or all at once, these men feed your <WANT> again and again.

<WANT: 12>
>>
>>5041179
Even shirin is no substitute for the mana you and Irinnile sap from them. They had no overabundance to begin with, as Edwin does, nor the magical resilience of your goblin acquaintance Zi. You stretch, refreshed, empowered, and still electrified by the spice, but the three males sprawl limply, breathing laboured and hearts hammering upon your mattress and disheveled sheets.

“W-wow…” Janus mutters, eyes fluttering.

“You liked that?” you tease. “That wass jusst a ssample. There’ss more where it came from, in a few flavourss.”

“Can hardly wait,” he moans, and you can tell he means it. You may just have scored your first few shirin clients.

Normally, you’d be too tired for much spycraft after a lengthy romp like you just had, but between your own shirin dose and Irinnile’s energy-drain abilities, you feel ready to take on the world! Your stomach rumbels with the need for more substantial, material sustenance, though.

What do you do?
>Meet with Mina to discuss your next move, and the matter of the Inquisition
>Head to the Initiate’s Village to gather intelligence on the Inquisition and the Tower
>Regroup with Roth to plan your next move
>Head to The Grey Press to ensure they only share what info you WANT shared
>Do some dream-delving [specify your target]
>Return home to Edwin and Fynn—you may still be observed, and you need to keep suspicion off of you
>Write-in
>>
>>5041181
>Grab something off Konrad's stand
>Return home to Edwin and Fynn—you may still be observed, and you need to keep suspicion off of you
>>
>>5041181
>Meet with Mina to discuss your next move, and the matter of the Inquisition
and maybe some brainwashing
just a little bit
>>
[If a third vote comes in by the time I head out to the party, I'll post again. We'll probably archive this thread here after that, and start a new one in November!]
>>
>>5041181
>>Meet with Mina to discuss your next move, and the matter of the Inquisition
>>
>>5041181
>Write-in
Do more butt stuff
>>
>>5041191
>>5041259
>>5041622
As much as you’d prefer to keep your lives as an Infiltrator and as Kamunu of The Pretty Kitty secret, you cannot. The worlds are colliding, overlapping. Mina knows Zivic, who knows your true nature and your occult aptitude. The Inquisition is HERE< at your place of work. This calls for extraordinary measures. This calls for a meeting.

…Right after you snag a bit of meet from Konrad Brugaghson’s stand. Slipping out behind the building, you’re confronted with the rather unsanitary realities of the ‘kitchen’: the half-orc has merely moved his food cart operation into the alley behind The pretty Kitty, where he toils in the darkness between it and a neighbouring bar. As you open the door, the light reflects off of the tapetum lucidum at the back of his eyes, causing them to shine eerily.

“Kamunu?”

You consider pressing him for further details about Inquisitor Felman’s interaction with him… But then again, perhaps not. Mina’s ability to keep a secret is self-evident, given how much she is privy to. What of Brugaghson, though? You hardly know him, or his history.

“Jusst grabbing a kebab!” you say, snatching up a stick of meat and returning to the building.

You devour your repast, hungrily and without much grace, as you head up the stairs. Once there, you rap thrice upon the Madam’s ornate door. There is a shuffling, and Mina opens the door cautiously. Smoke billows out from her chambers, carrying the familiar scent of her vice, and thus her evident anxiety over the night’s developments. She says nothing, meeting your eyes with an expression equal parts weary and wary.

“Missss Mina,” you say, inclining your head. “He’ss gone.”

“And he suspects nothing?” she asks, a tiny note of hope in her raspy voice.

“…I think we should talk, privately.”

Mina’s ears flatten, but she invites you into her office—her den—and shuts the door.
>>
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[Archived at http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/5007143/. Thanks for playing, and we'll pick this up with our next thread in a few days'' time! As always, feel free to discuss events, plan your next move, or critique the thread below.]
>>
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New thread is go! First vote incoming.

>>5044429



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