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Your party files down the tight corridor in a messy row, led on by the pale orange glow of the lanterns that hang from your hip belts and bucklers. AVA leads the front, the BERSERKER with the DOLL on her back in the middle, and you make up the back. You are on the hunt for AVA’s half-brother, the half-wolf MORNE, who seems intent to kill you before you can claim immortality before he does.

Your party continues along in silence. The path is uneven and damp–a strange wetness pools up along the heels of your boots that was not present before. It runs thick and dark. You’d hazard that it’s what’s left of the AUF ARSENE you left behind on your first traverse into the hall.

“..Alphonse.” Ava breaks the silence.
“Yes?” You keep your voice low, your eyes flitting back and forth across the dark of the tight hall.
“Did you come here with a plan?” She does not look back to meet your eyes. “We can’t hope to leap at every shape in the dark and hope one will be my brother.”

>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.
>You’ll continue until you get your first whiff of Morne. You’ll entrust him to Ava and Emilia while you watch over Noelle.
>Maybe you should retreat. Your party is broken in spirit and body, and it might not do well to slay a monster like this.
>Write-In.

>>5268772
>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.

Welcome back, QM!

>>5268772
>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.

>>5268770
Welcome back QM! Hope exams went well.

>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.

>>5268772
>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.

>>5268772
A bit late but can I suggest something? Give our rifle to Ava, her brother is probably out for our blood so my plan is while we distract him Ava can use her telekinesis to get a good one on him. In this darkness her senses are better than us, hence her chances to deliver a crippling/decisive shot are better than us.

>>5268856
Very slick! Please add this to my vote above (>>5268786)

>>5268772

>>5268772
>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF-ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.
Welcome back! Hope everything went alright

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thanks! did well on my finals and sorry for the late start, I got wrapped up with playing the witcher lol

>>5268786
>>5268812
>>5268817
>>5268828
>>5268856
>>5268858
>>5268869

>You’ll continue down the path until you reach where you last got with AUF ARSENE. You at least need to check in for any survivors, or see if Morne has taken any to torture.
>A bit late but can I suggest something? Give our rifle to Ava, her brother is probably out for our blood so my plan is while we distract him Ava can use her telekinesis to get a good one on him. In this darkness her senses are better than us, hence her chances to deliver a crippling/decisive shot are better than us.

“We’ll follow along the corridor until we reach where we were last.” You affirm, hand tight on your rifle. “We need to check for survivors.. or, if necessary, determine if your brother has taken any hostages to goad us with. I’m sure that there are a great many more fates worse than death down here.”

“Very well.” Ava sighs–with a flourish, she tugs her second blade from its hilt and it dances along past her shoulder blades. “..At your mark.”
“Doubt that beast is delicate enough to leave any alive.” Emilia remarks with a scoff. “His blade is the breadth of some men’s torsos.”
You press on through the dark corridor, the blood that runs underfoot so thick it soaks through to your socks. It only takes another few more rounds around strange corners and dark paths to find the grisly scene left behind by the last surprise attack. You raise your lantern for a good look at the aftermath.

The assemblage of once proud monster hunters lie strewn across the hall–some dashed across the floor, some smattered against the walls, others half and half. An assortment of black iron crosses stick from their remains like crows.

“Ugh. Foul..” Ava’s nose wrinkles. “And he still took the time to stick CRUCIFORMS in what he could..”
“..Can’t say any of these look like the small one.” Emilia nudges a corpse, referencing Millicent. “Though, can’t say any of them even look like people anymore..”
“Mmm. Ava. Can you handle a rifle?” You glance to her, your eyes firm on the slick of gore before you. “Think you can land a decent shot on Morne? Catch him by surprise? Your senses are sharper than mine here.”
“A rifle? I understand the principals, sure, but I can’t say I’ve fired one before. They’re ugly weapons.” Ava grimaces. “Can’t manipulate one with telekinesis, either. The mechanisms are too complex to operate with my parlor tricks.”

>Take the time to pluck the CRUCIFORMS from the bodies. Might as well grant them that mercy.
>Someone else can free their spirits for revival later. You’ve got to focus on getting ahead and catching Morne.

>Entrust rifle to Ava and switch to your flamberge.
>Let Ava use her blades and keep your rifle on hand.

>Write-In.

>>5268871
>Someone else can free their spirits for revival later. You’ve got to focus on getting ahead and catching Morne.
>Let Ava use her blades and keep your rifle on hand.
Time is of the essence

>>5268871
>Someone else can free their spirits for revival later. You’ve got to focus on getting ahead and catching Morne.
>Let Ava use her blades and keep your rifle on hand.

No time to waste.

>>5268883
+1 because i'm too lazy to copu on mobile

>>5268871
>Take the time to pluck the CRUCIFORMS from the bodies. Might as well grant them that mercy.
>Entrust rifle to Ava and switch to your flamberge.

>>5268871
>Someone else can free their spirits for revival later. You’ve got to focus on getting ahead and catching Morne.
>Let Ava use her blades and keep your rifle on hand.
We can come back for them.

>>5268871
>Entrust rifle to Ava
>Remove cruciforms before moving on

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>>5268883
>>5268891
>>5268905
>>5268915
>>5268919
>>5268923

>Someone else can free their spirits for revival later. You’ve got to focus on getting ahead and catching Morne.
>Let Ava use her blades and keep your rifle on hand.

“Very well. Then stick with your swords.” You affirm–as supernatural her senses might be, they’re worthless without experience. You mutter a short prayer for the fallen as you step past the scene. “..Come on. Another party can take the time to free them. We’ve got more important quarry.”
Your party continues down the thin hall, the uneven cobbles beneath you haltering your step and forcing you to keep an eye on the ground beneath you to progress. But, in spite of your fears.. the journey is short and quiet. You find no stray beasts behind the corners you round, nor do you set off any more traps. You feel even more uneasy.

You see it soon enough–.. a pale light at the far end of a long, final stretch of hallway. You release an uneasy sigh of relief as you make for the steps forward–
“Hold it.” The berserker grips your shoulder. “..Look a little closer, Von Gundyr.”

You squint–and sure enough, the hall is not the easy break you’d held out for. A fine network of threads web across the dark, just hardly visible in the glow of your lamp light. A lattice of twine..
“Mmmm. Morne’s fond of his tricks..” Ava glares. She examines a string closely. “..They’re tied taut.”

>Attempt to maneuver through yourself. You once won a gymnastics competition in your youth.
>Let Ava fly past in her bat form. She may be able to deactivate some–or at least make out the mechanisms–from the other end.
>Inspect the twine more closely yourself. Perhaps you can try to figure out their trick.
>Write-In.

>>5268963
>Inspect the twine more closely yourself. Perhaps you can try to figure out their trick.
Could be an attempt to split the party and catch Ava alone.

>>5268966
+1, this seems like the case

>>5268966
+1

>>5268966
Support.

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>>5268966
>>5268976
>>5268977
>>5268985

>Inspect the twine more closely yourself. Perhaps you can try to figure out their trick.

You kneel low and inspect one thread close–the cord is thin, a pale, colorless length that runs through the hall. You rub a finger along the top–no liquid coating and it smells like nothing.. You examine the endpoints of the string, where they terminate into the wall. The ends knot around small juts in the stone, but.. there are no mechanisms. You can see where the string ends and starts..

“Bah!” You scoff, raising your flamberge and bringing it down onto the string. It splits in twain and flutters limply down onto the cobble. “They’re meaningless, just diversions. No more than threads tied to stones.”
“Mmm.. so they are.” Ava glances over her shoulder. “So what are they diversions for?”

>Go through with the entire party. He could be behind you, and gaining.
>Tell Ava to go through first in her bat form. Maybe he’s mixed actual traps into the diversions.
>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.
>Write-In.

>>5268991
>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.
A noble leads from the front, and we must press on.

>>5268991
>>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.

>>5268994
+1

>>5268991
>Go through with the entire party. He could be behind you, and gaining.

>>5268991
>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.

>>5268991
>>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.

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>>5269292
>>5269283
>>5269152
>>5268995
>>5268994

>Lead the charge and keep a careful eye on the ground. Perhaps it’ll crumble out beneath you.

“I’ll take point, then.” A noble leads from the front, not the back. You press on through to the corridor’s end, hands tight on the barrel and stock–each footfall brings you another measure closer out of this damnable trap. The strings fall before you like celebratory streamers.

You hear it first just steps from the end–the scuttle of steel-like claws against the stone floor. You whip your head back. The wolfman has chosen to charge you from the back, it seems–the strings must’ve been meant to slow you down and confuse you enough for him to get the jump on you.

You move first. You cock the rifle’s lever back, a silver round in hand–but there’s something off about his movement. It looks like he holds something tight in his claws, just in front of him. You can’t quite make it out.

>Shoot first. You can’t hesitate.
>Take just a second to determine what it is. You’d prefer to avoid shooting any bombs–or human hostages–if you can.
>Write-In.

>>5269735
>>Take just a second to determine what it is. You’d prefer to avoid shooting any bombs–or human hostages–if you can.

Fuck no, not gonna shoot a human and let the Auf Arsene find it.

>>5269735
>Take just a second to determine what it is. You’d prefer to avoid shooting any bombs–or human hostages–if you can.

>>5269735
It's obviously using someone as a human shield.

>>5269735
>>Take just a second to determine what it is. You’d prefer to avoid shooting any bombs–or human hostages–if you can.

>>5269735
>Shoot first. You can’t hesitate.

>>5269735
>Take just a second to determine what it is

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>>5269751
>>5269759
>>5269760
>>5269781
>>5269810
>>5269823

>Take just a second to determine what it is. You’d prefer to avoid shooting any bombs–or human hostages–if you can.

You hesitate. You’d rather not run the risk of lighting up any AUF ARSENE he’s got in his clutches; you can’t imagine they’d react well upon finding a corpse ridden with your bullets, even given the immortality spell. The wolf capitalizes on that moment of hesitation as he rips his claws forward and into your lantern light. You note that his barbed greatsword is nowhere in sight.

“Shit–..” Ava curses, swinging back and pointing her blades up.

He holds a long barrel RIFLE in his hands–one of the AUF ARSENE’s, it seems–his claws so large that he hefts it up as one might a pistol. He pulls the trigger once and light bursts from the barrel’s end and illuminates the corridor. The boom of the bullet in such a tight space is deafening, the projectile tearing forward and into your dhampir guide. She stumbles forward and into the arms of your berserker, already held up with the doll.

“They use silver rounds.” Morne speaks, his voice a cold, smooth snarl. He slinks near the far end of the hall, the rifle now pointing at you. He clutches something in the other hand, hidden behind his back, but you can’t make out what that is either–hopefully not another gun. “More useful than I thought.”

>Fire off at him now.
>Demand to know what he intends. He can kill you all as much as he likes, he’ll have no true revenge down here.
>Ask Emilia if she can charge him while you tend to Ava.
>Write-In.

>>5269835
I'd like to fire, but would we be able to kill him or something?

>>5269835
>Fire off at him now.
it'll be a proper shootout.

>>5269835
>Demand to know what he wants
>Appeal to his reason and his emotion -- we have no time for this
"My doll is dying! A true death, irreversible! You play at brutal monstrosity down here, where there are no true consequences, but I know about your daughter. You have a good heart somewhere in there -- a nobleman's heart. Let us pass, or a good woman's blood will forever stain your hands."

>>5269835
>Demand to know what the fuck he wants
>Fire off at him if he starts talking.

>>5269835
>Demand to know what the fuck he wants
>Fire off at him if he starts talking.
Yeah it is back.

>>5269835
>>Write-In
Do we still have the booze? If so turn it into a molotov, then assuming Ava is still conscious ask her to use her telekinesis to throw it at him, it must be simple thing enough for her to do and while he's on fire we would have a way to target him better than in full darkness.

>>5269835
>Ask Emilia if she can charge him while you tend to Ava.

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>>5269855
>>5269858
>>5269866
>>5269868
>>5269921
>>5269962

>Demand to know what the fuck he wants
>Fire off at him if he starts talking.

“What the fuck is it that you want from us?” You glower, your voice low. A mercurial pool of blood begins to dampen the ground around the dhampir, who the berserker holds along with the doll.

“You–” The wolf begins as you pull the trigger. A crack of light peels from your barrel’s end and toward him. He moves, quick, just as you thought–but the hall is too thin and limits his movement. The bullet grazes his torso’s side. You move for another shot, but he motions for pause. He begins to speak again.
“Corner a dog and it will bite, I suppose.” He acknowledges you before he turns his gaze toward his fallen sister. “Look at them, Ava. A cripple cavalier. A dead knight. A broken doll. You expect to make it to the bottom like this? You see what’s been made of them with just a little foresight, a few tricks?”

“...” While the dhampir doesn’t respond, her eyes seem seem cast down in shame.

“You continue this worthless journey down and I will kill them all again as many times as it takes. Know that their agony will amount to nothing. They will die because of you.” Morne continues. “Do them a favor and lead them back up. Go home.”

>Fire the rest of your shots off. Try to aim a little better.
>Warn Ava that he’s merely trying to worm his way into her head.
>Try to tend to Ava while Emilia slashes at him.
>Write-In.

>>5269995
>Warn Ava that he’s merely trying to worm his way into her head.

He has a big mouth for a dog, let's play the same game.
>Write-in
>Last I checked it's 1x0 for us, we reached this point together and we're going to reach our goal together as well. If anyone should go home is you, your child is waiting, listen your sister and go stay with her rather than look for something which might destroy your family bonds forever.

>>5270003
Support.

Point out that, if we return to the surface as-is, the berserker and doll are as good as dead anyway.

>>5270003
+1

>>5270008
+1 to this. Let him know that the moment either of these two set foot out of the gate, they're probably going to keel over on the spot.

>>5269995
>Warn Ava that he’s merely trying to worm his way into her head.
It's a common tactic to try to make your enemy give up without a fight, also she promised to take us down, she's not some dirty oath breaker is she?

>>5270003
+1

>>5269995
>Try to tend to Ava while Emilia slashes at him.

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>>5270154
>>5270144
>>5270066
>>5270044
>>5270024
>>5270008
>>5270003

>Warn Ava that he’s merely trying to worm his way into her head.
>Last I checked it's 1x0 for us, we reached this point together and we're going to reach our goal together as well. If anyone should go home is you, your child is waiting, listen your sister and go stay with her rather than look for something which might destroy your family bonds forever.

“Bah! You needn’t listen to this meaningless drivel. He’s only trying to worm his way into your head.” You shoot at the dhampir. “And might I remind you that you lost a duel, fair and square? You’re to lead me to the bottom whether you like it or not. Both your name and mine are at stake here.”
Ava’s eyes fall. “I’d.. rather not..”
“And you. The dog.” You turn your attention back to the wolf. “We’ve still beaten you back more than you have us. We got to this point together and we’re going to see it out to its end. If anyone should return home, it’s you. You have a sick daughter, do you not? My companions’ lives are at just as much risk as hers. Maybe you ought to listen to your sister and spend what time your kid has left at her side rather than slaughtering men in her name.”

“I won’t watch my daughter die. I don’t care what it takes, or who I have to kill.” Morne replies plainly. He flexes the arm behind his back. “.. Think it’s done.”
“What?” Emilia echoes, eyes on the beast man.
“Heed my warning, Ava. For your sake, I hope we don’t see each other again.” Morne snarls. He extends his back hand–in it, he holds a strange, rough black mortar stone, bandaged with rags and dusted in powder. You recognize it near instantly and maneuver to pull the dhampir and doll backward as he flings it down into the ground before you.
An explosion rocks the corridor, light blinding you and boom deafening you. The already cobbly, misshapen ground before you crumbles before your feet. You make the wolf’s shape disappear back down the hall as you slip into the dark below.

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You awaken. Your back is damp–no, soaked–and your head is howls in pain.

You slowly raise your head–rather than the strange, upside down architecture of the block you’d grown familiar with, you appear to be in an endless, cavernous maw of crags and fog. The ground beneath you is flooded in ankle-deep water. You make out your companions a short distance away, weapons and bodies strewn out across the rock plane. You narrow your eyes–the lot still breathe, but all three now appear unconscious.

You can also hear faint splashing in the distance. Must be someone else.

>Attempt to wake your companions.
>Investigate the splashing. Maybe you can manage help–or at least protect your fallen party.
>Write-In.

>>5270275
>Attempt to wake your companions.
We can't leave them alone again.

>>5270275
>Attempt to wake your companions.

>>5270275
>Attempt to wake your companions.

>>5270275
>Attempt to wake your companions.

>>5270275
>>Attempt to wake your companions.

>>5270275
>Investigate the sound

>>5270275
>Investigate the splashing. Maybe you can manage help–or at least protect your fallen party.

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>>5270424
>>5270415
>>5270397
>>5270350
>>5270347
>>5270289
>>5270277

>Attempt to wake your companions.

You pull yourself up by your (now waterlogged) bootstraps and slog through the water over to the closest–the berserker, a mountain of muscle that lies in a jumbled heap in the water. Your greatsword lies just by her beneath the pool’s surface. You shake her just once or twice, but that’s enough to rouse her well enough.
“H-huh–?! Ah.. shit.” Emilia shoots up and nearly knocks you down as she does. “..Not a shrine, huh?”
“The explosion wasn’t fatal. We’re still in the block proper.” You affirm as you pull her up with a heave. “Can’t say I know where we are exactly, though..”

“The dhampir make it out?” Emilia proffers. “She ought to get us out of here, right?”

You wade to your guide, who lies on her back in the water. The half-human’s stillness is punctuated with short, sharp breaths. You kneels at her side and attempt to rouse her just the same as your tank. “.. Tcch. Looks like she’s still out. The silver must’ve done a number to her.. and she’s feverish.
“Yeah. Can’t say that fall did the doll any favors, either. We’ll need to get her help.” Emilia grimaces, now at the side of the porcelain handmaiden–her now soaked-through dress splays out in the water around her, a translucent membrane that pools up about her. What you can make out of her body is rife with cracks. The berserker slowly raises her up in her arms.

You raise your head to the sound of splashes, closer now than before. You glare into the thick fog of the immense, water-laden plane ahead-.. you can make out a small, dark, blurry shape in the fog.

>Call out to the shape.
>Wait for it to approach.
>Raise a weapon and get close.
>Write-In.

>>5270484
>>Call out to the shape.
>Write-In.
She's a Dhampir, maybe some blood will help her, maybe use our sword to make a small cut and drop a small amount of blood on her.

>>5270489
Her mouth I mean.

>>5270484
>Wait for it to approach.
This is very suspicious...

>>5270484
>Wait for it to approach.
Please don't be another psycho or another sibling of Ava

>>5270484
>Raise a weapon and get close.

>>5270489
Support. Do this and have Emilia stand guard.

>>5270484

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>>5270499
>>5270497
>>5270493
>>5270490
>>5270489

>Wait for it to approach.

You maintain your distance as the blur nears your fallen party–another monster hunter, sword-wielding madman, or monstrous half-sibling? Your company is beaten and worn, both physically and mentally. You’d rather not take to another fight if you can avoid it. The berserker warily raises her blade.
You watch the shape slowly stumble forth in an uneven gait–pale, smooth skin stitched and stained with blood, innards that trail from an open wound on its gun, and a brain sloughs from its head. A cleaver is held tight in one hand. You release a quiet sigh of relief.. just an undead, a fodder monster.

“Aw.. what?! You guys are still alive?” The undead groans, annoyance creeping into her tone. “God, that sucks. Was getting kind of hungry..”

>Warn the undead to back away. Some of your party may be out of commission, but you’ve still the means to kill her.
>Demand to know where you are. Are you still in the CORPUS DELICTI? What part?
>Ask if she knows how to aid your dhampir.
>Write-In.

>Demand to know where you are. Are you still in the CORPUS DELICTI? What part?
We need to find the nearest shrine - we have to repair the doll.

>>5270541
>Demand to know where you are
>Ask if she knows how to qid your dhampir

>>5270541
>Demand to know where you are. Are you still in the CORPUS DELICTI? What part?
>Ask if she knows how to aid your dhampir.

>>5270541
>Demand to know where you are. Are you still in the CORPUS DELICTI? What part?
>Demand to know how she can get hungry with no biological processes

>>5270541
>Demand to know where you are
>Ask if she knows how to qid your dhampir

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>>5271044
>>5270574
>>5270572
>>5270562
>>5270556

>Demand to know where you are. Are you still in the CORPUS DELICTI? What part?
>Ask if she knows how to aid your dhampir.

“You there. The corpse.” You demand the undead’s attention. “Where are we? Is this still the CORPUS DELICTI block? ..What part of it?”
“Gyahaha! Like I’d tell you human bastards–..” The zombie’s words die in her mouth as your knight raises her blade–she clears her throat and attempts to regain her composure. “..A-ah, well, we’re in the COUP DE GRACE of the CORPUS DELICTI.. the birthplace of all MONSTERS in the CATACOMBS. The water of the womb where beasts claw their way up. And you foul humans won’t last a second down here when the proper monsters come to hunt!”
“I see.” You grimace–you're momentarily down two party members and in the midst of a monster nest. That doesn’t bode well. “Then.. might you know how to heal a dhampir? She’s been shot by a silver bullet.”
“Bah.. you associate with a dhampir?! The sub-monsters are vile beasts.. what kind of weirdo would bed a human?” The undead remarks haughtily, hands on her hips. “But if she’s been shot by a silver bullet, then there’s not much more you can do then wait. If she still breathes, she’ll recover. It merely takes more time than some pathetic sword stroke. You humans are a creatively vile bunch.”

Your guide is out of commission and your doll nears death. You don’t think you much have the time to wait for recovery amidst a monster den..

>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.
>Attempt to take the plunge yourself with Ava in tow. You have no need for aid.
>Ask Emilia to stay by the two while you move forward and find the right path yourself.
>Write-In.

>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.

We can't let Noelle keep bleeding out. No more waiting. Also, have we dug the silver bullet out of Ava yet?

>>5271115
>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.

>>5271115
>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.

>>5271115
>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.

>>5271115
Try removing the bullet and giving Ava blood

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>>5271117
>>5271120
>>5271128
>>5271135

>Appropriate the undead as a temporary guide. You’ll use her to lead you out of here.

“..I see. Then, I must assume that you’re familiar with the COUP DE GRACE?” You posit.
“Tcch–you think me brainless?” The brainless undead snorts. “I know the path all the way out to the final block. Not that you twits will ever reach it..!”
“Then you’ll be our guide.” You settle. This one seems less feral than most. “And that’s not a request.”

“A-ah.. what?” The undead stutters.

[...]

You follow close behind after the undead, a rifle at her back as she shambles through the waterlogged crypt. Your berserker trails behind with the doll slung about her shoulder and the dhampir held tight at her side. You’d made for a cursory look at your injured companions before you set enough–the dhampir fares well enough, the bullet passed clean through her back, but the doll’s artificial breath has crawled to a scary slowness.
“Can you not hurry it up?” You scowl, jamming the rifle into the undead’s spine. “We’re a bit pressed for time.”

“Hey! Watch it back there! And I’m going as fast I can, bastard human.. Getting an awful feeling of deja vu here.” The undead whines. “What are you even trying to make it to the bottom for? Hoping for immortality, riches, ploughing the lich?”

>You’re here first and foremost for the noble title and reclamation of your family’s honor, which means the lich’s head.
>You’d like to claim the supposed immortality for yourself or your companions if necessary.
>While you bear no real interest in whatever reward awaits you, you’d like to know what lies at the bottom to sate your curiosity.
>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.
>Is the lich really that attractive? Maybe..
>Write-In.

>>5271279
>>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.

We did come here for family honor and all that jazz at first. But now that we're in this deep... I think aiding our companions is the goal that ought to keep driving us forward.

>>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.

>>5271279
>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.

>>5271279
>Is the lich really that attractive? Maybe..
someone's gotta pick it

>"I came here to find honour for my family and a wife to carry on the bloodline, but..."
>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.

>>5271311
This, though i'm not sure we should admit this right in front of the girls.

>>5271311
Support buy say the wife part in lower voice.

>>5271279
>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.

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>>5271281
>>5271291
>>5271294
>>5271297
>>5271311
>>5271312
>>5271315
>>5271322

>If there’s any way to help your companions that’s not immortality, it’s in the journey to the bottom, not necessarily the end.
>"I came here to find honour for my family and a wife to carry on the bloodline, but..."

“My.. traveling companions are in some dire straits. And if there’s a means to help them, it’s in the journey to the bottom, even if not necessarily its end.” You affirm before you lower your voice. “And.. I came here to find honor for my family and a wife to carry on the bloodline, but..”
“Bah!--finding a wife down here?! Are you mad?! Gyahahaha..!” The undead begins to laugh. You grow hot in the face as she cackles. “You’ll find no more than monsters, madmen, and hunters down here! You can’t be serious? Are these your women? Are you trying to build a harem?”

“Well, that’s–” You glower, stumbling over words.
The berserker’s face reddens behind you, but she remains silent.

“Ah.. oh, hmmn. Would you look at that?” The undead suddenly pauses, near stumbling into her. She motions off to a tall, dark shape in the dark–you make out a chamber of crumbling stone and twisting brick, a strange, old ruin that lies eerily still in the mist and water. There are large, open holes in its face, and you can make out dark within. “You lot want to stop there or not?
“What is it..?” Emilia challenges the undead.
“It’s an IMPERFECT SHRINE. An old, half-broken one, not kept well and fallen to the elements. Maybe you’ll find a healer in there.” She sneers. “But, if you happen to die, don’t expect to resurrect proper.”

“What do you mean resurrect proper? How is it imperfect?” You ask.
“Mmm.. I don’t know. They break differently.” She shrugs noncommittally. “Maybe it’ll forget to bring back a leg, or a couple ribs. Maybe it’ll turn you into a monster. Maybe it’ll mix you up with someone else. Who knows? But it's safer for you humans than out here, though.”

>Stop by the imperfect shrine.
>Continue forward.
>Write-In.

>Stop by the imperfect shrine.
We need to find a healer for the doll immediately

>>5271332
>>Stop by the imperfect shrine.

>>5271332
>Stop by the imperfect shrine.
I'm ready to kill ourselves after becoming a filthy mutie
Only to respawn again even more twisted

>>5271332
>Stop by the imperfect shrine.

>>5271332
>Stop by the imperfect shrine.
She’s clearly jealous of our Amazon, Shortstack, Tsunflat trio.

Tfw the undead is literally Ingrid’s mom

It’s not a case of just being a reused sprite, right?

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>>5271334
>>5271339
>>5271349
>>5271407
>>5271493
>>5271503

>Stop by the imperfect shrine.

“We’ll stop by, check in.” You jab the undead’s back again. “We don’t need to worry so long as we don’t die, do we?”
“Gah! That stings..!” She whines. “I get it, I get it..”

You lead her along through to the imperfect shrine, plodding through pooling water and clambering onto the feature’s stone surface–even if crumbling beneath your very feet, a dry surface is a welcome relief from the cold blue swamp all about you. You poke the undead forth as your companions trail along behind.
The shrine much resembles that of those prior–a stone, circular room, laden with ash and waxen candles that flicker gently in far cold corners. But this shrine is falling apart, features decaying to the block around you and the roof an open, gaping maw to a black void above. And, unlike those prior, it's largely empty save for one slender figure that sits atop a stone coffin in the center.

“..My. More travelers.” The cloaked one whispers. “I’m afraid I’m fresh out of GRAVE GOODS..”

>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.
>Ask who came before you to buy out all the grave goods.
>Write-In.

>>5271556
>>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

>>5271556
>>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

>>5271556
>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

>>5271556
>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

>>5271556
>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

>>5271556
>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.
>Ask who came before you to buy out all the grave goods.
>Ask why she hangs around this dump
>Ask if the lich is super hot
>Ask to exchange diaries in the traditional courting method of the VON GUNDYR family.

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>>5271749
>>5271714
>>5271580
>>5271578
>>5271572
>>5271561

>Ask if she’s familiar with dolls, and if she might heal the one you have with you.
>Ask if she might tell you how broken this shrine is.

“You there.” You motion for the GRAVE GOODS merchant–willowy and pale, she tilts her head at your approach. “Might you be familiar with dolls? We’ve one with us that’s been hurt, and she’s begun to deteriorate quickly..”
“Mmmm.” The merchant examines you with a quiet sigh. “Yes, I’m somewhat familiar with them. I suppose I could look her over for you.. for some pent.”
The berserker tends to the dhampir while the undead sulks in a corner. You set the doll out atop a coffin lid–you haven’t much had the chance to get a good look at her since she was first cut down, but she looks far worse for wear than you recall. Her face is so waxen–her body so still–you might assume her dead were it not for occasional shaky breaths.

The merchant examines her, peeling back her dress and prodding arms and wounds, almost as one would autopsy a corpse.

“So..” As she looks her over, you strike up conversation. “Do you know how this shrine is broken? What we lose if we die?”
“Ah, curious..? Well, if you must know, this shrine does not properly bind the mind in resurrection.” She looks close at the doll’s chest. “If you die, you’ll come back fully, physically, at the cost of memories.”
“At the cost of memories?” You echo. “To what extent?
“Well.. who knows? For some, it was what they had for breakfast. For others, it was their very names, identities.. or loved ones.” She shrugs. “Don’t die if you’re fond of your mind.”

[...]

You wake with a start, half–dozed off at the seat of a nearby casket–the merchant stands before you, hands folded.

“I’ve gotten a good look at her. Her organs are waterlogged and wounded, the preservatives diluted. She’s likely to die.” The merchant speaks with the bedside manner of a bull. “I haven’t the skill for the extent of her injuries.. But if you’d like to try to repair her now, you’ve got two options. You can attempt to replace her injured organs or switch her to a new shell. What do you suppose best?”

>Ask about replacing her injured organs.
>Ask about switching her to a new doll shell.
>Write-In.

>>5272356
>Ask about replacing her injured organs.

...Fuck. I think we know what we have to do.

>Write-In, ask about the preservatives too. The fluid is important, no?

>>5272356
>Ask about replacing her injured organs.

>>5272356
>Ask about replacing her injured organs.

>>5272356
>Ask about replacing her injured organs
Alright I guess we’re going organ harvesting

>>5272405
Reckon we can pay people? Hey dude. For this amount of coin, we want your organs. We'll bring all your shit back to the shrine for you.

If it can't wait, I was thinking that we might have to offer up our own organs, and receive the punishment of the incomplete shrine. I don't think Alphonse is quite ignoble enough to go taking other people's organs by force.

>>5272356
>Ask about switching her to a new doll shell.

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>>5272361
>>5272379
>>5272392
>>5272405
>>5272408
>>5272411

>Ask about replacing her injured organs.

“So.. what, then?” You fold your arms. “Would you have us cut down random passersby and harvest their organs?”
“Well, you won’t find too many live humans in the COUP DE GRACE..” The merchant murmurs. “If you’d like, you can head out into the block proper, look for corpses to rent organs from. There’s plenty of bodies about the water. But.. that’s risky. You can’t tell who a person was from a carcass. If you sew in a new heart or new innards without care for who they once belonged to, you may drastically alter the personality and memories of your doll. Or..”
“Or what?” You echo.
“You could kill yourself.” She responds matter-of-factly. “You’d resurrect here. We’d have a fresh body to harvest from and a reliable memory and personality to sew into her. But, of course, the shrine is imperfect.. so while she might benefit from your memory, you’d lose some of yours. Maybe you’d even forget her.”

>Ask about the replacement of her shell.
>Proceed forward with killing yourself.
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.
>Write-In.

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>>5272436
>Write-In. Ask how much time she has left, by the healer's estimation.

If we don't have enough time to risk a failure, then there's no choice. Hopefully we do, though.

>>5272436
I feel like we should at least check the organs. I mean, surely one of the Auf Arsene fell down when he blew up the whole thing, right? I really don't want us to kill ourselves and end up forgetting our sisters or something.

>>5272436
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.
Sacrificing ourselves for the doll is a last ditch option.

>>5272436
>Ask about gender differences, we're a man and she's been using woman's organs till now, won't that be a problem.
Else
>Emilia please do it quickly.

>>5272436
>>5272544
Wait changed my mind, ask her about Ava, see if she knows any way to speed up the process of her healing.

>>5272436
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.

>>5272436
>>Ask about the replacement of her shell.
> Do the organs have to be fresh-ish ? Or could something from an undead work ?

>>5272436
>Ask about the replacement of her shell.
Might as well check both of our options

>>5272436
>Qsk about replacing the shell

Guys, she wants to change her appearance ANYWAY.

>>5272436
>Ask about the replacement of her shell.

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>>5272656
>>5272651
>>5272629
>>5272621
>>5272614
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>>5272510
>>5272451

> Do the organs have to be fresh-ish ? Or could something from an undead work ?
>Ask about the replacement of her shell.

You tap your chin. “Do the organs have to be fresh-ish? Or.. could something from an undead work?”
“..H-hey!” The undead protests from the corner. “What are you talking about?!”
“An undead’s organs are bound to its being by black magic.” The merchant smiles. “That sort of witchcraft does not play well with dolls. So, unless you’d like to create a monster, you may want to refrain from that line of thought.”

“Then, what of the replacement shell?” You prod her further, deep in thought. “I presume that’d entail ceding her organs from one doll body to another?”
“You’d be correct. Her body–-which can naturally heals organs by means of magic–is damaged.” The merchant continues. “If you transferred the organs to a functional shell, its magic would restore her to working order.”
“Then could you craft a new shell?” You ask. “Or do you have one already?”

“Well.. I am a doll.” The merchant lowers her head, and a font of silvery locks slip from the cloak’s hood. She smiles. “If you wanted to, you could kill me. Then you’d have a fresh shell.”

>Proceed forward with killing yourself.
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.
>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.
>Continue forward. You’ll just find Ava’s brother, Yorrick. Maybe he can fix Noelle without unnecessary killing.
>Write-In.

>>5272680
>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.

There's gotta be a catch. And it seems that doll lives matter way more than anyone else's down here, since they can't benefit from the resurrection. Let's not just gib her.

>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.

>>5272680
>>Write-In.
Ask if it's possible to fix the shrine

>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.

>>5272680
>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.
>And also if she has no spare shells because being a doll herself makes that way more likely

>>5272680
>>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.
>>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.

>>5272680
>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.
Her face looks cracked, so I'm not too sure (unless I'm misinterpreting an eye"

>>5272680
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.
She looks like a cutie, I don't want to kill a cutie.

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>>5272687
>>5272737
>>5272743
>>5272752
>>5272756
>>5272783

>Ask if she’s really willing to kill herself for strangers like that.
>Proceed with hunting down a corpse to use as a base.

“And you’re really so ready to throw your life away for a handful of strangers?” You raise a brow.
“I have my reasons. And.. I am a doll.” The merchant smiles elusively. “We are built to love humans. You humans love God, do you not?”

“Hmmph–more tripe..” You wave a glove hand haughtily. “We’ll just trawl for corpses. I’ll not sacrifice another for this.”

[...]

When you first came to the dungeon by train, you thought of glory; of beating back monsters in the dark with blades and bullets, of exploring trap-laden ancient crypts by torch light, of sharing meat and whiskey over a fire with hardy companions. You did not imagine trudging through knee-deep water, shrinking back from dark shapes in the mist, and dragging monster-ravaged corpses over your shoulder whilst yelling at an undead to hurry it up.

You come to a slow stop at the broken shrine, your face pale with sweat as you heave one last corpse onto the dry ground stairs.

“Sh-shit.. Are they still coming after us..?” The berserker glances over her shoulder and the undead clambers along after you.
“No. They’ll stay away from the shrine..” You gasp for breath as you pull yourself up–you’d not like to waste any time on fights with monsters and you’re already down two companions.

You look the corpses once over–of the few you found afloat in the COUP DE GRACE’s water, even fewer were intact enough to drag back. To think that you’d one day be defiling corpses just like the grave goods merchants you’d been so spiteful of.. and all in the service of resurrecting an inhuman, like some noble Frankenstein. You shake the thought from your mind.

The first body is that of a mysteriously headless woman. Her hands and ankles are cuffed.
The next body is dressed in an assemblage of black, soaked gun at his side and crumpled black hat atop his head–an AUF ARSENE, one that MORNE had slain above and fallen down with you.
The final body is a pale woman in noble wear–her wrists and body are inked with strange symbols and imagery. Witchcraft, perhaps.

>Use the prisoner woman.
>Use the Auf Arsene.
>Use the witch woman.
>Just continue past the shrine. Maybe you’ll find another means to fix the doll later.
>Write-In.

>>5272875
>Bring all of them.
Let's use the best of each of them.

>>5272875
>Auf Arsene
No. She's going to wake up wanting to kill herself.

>Prisoner woman
We mercy killed her last thread, so I think we're at least entitled to her organs, right? But she was imprisoned for a reason, and that could manifest in Noelle.

>Witch
No idea what sort of wickedness those organs could cause, same as the prisoner.

>Write-In
I think we should use ourselves after all.

>>5272884
If we die here we lose our memories, we might forget not only Noelle but everyone else. We could ask if there's a way to fix the shrine when we return but priority is Noelle.

>>5272891
I have an increasingly bad feeling about continuing to put it off and carry her dying body around. We've wasted an incredible amount of time already, she's going to die for real if we keep trying to evade any amount of loss. I seriously think we ought to take the L.

>>5272897
That's why we take all the bodies and use the best of each, Noelle will get bits of each but the amount of each will be small enough so her original personality doesn't get swayed by the original owners too much.

>>5272900
Huh. That's a really good idea, actually. Diluting it. We should consult the Doll lady to see if this will turn out badly, and how to identify these best parts. I don't want to turn her into a schizo. I'm changing my vote to your option.

>Write-In (On top of Bring all of them)
Cut the hair off the bodies first. Noelle deserves a present when she wakes up.

>>5272906
Good idea, but we should bring it up to the doll lady to ask if it would work

It could either make each weaker, or it could end up being worse and just turning it into a giant mess

>>5272875
>Bring them all for the merchant to analyze
>Cut the hair of the two with heads

>>5272875
>>5272900
>Take a little from all three.
It's probably the best idea we've got apart from just killing ourselves.

>>5272875
>Bring them all for the merchant to analyze
>Use the best bits of all of them
>Cut the hair of the two with heads

>>5272875
>Use the prisoner woman.

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>>5272920
>>5272915
>>5272909
>>5272906
>>5272883
>>5272935
>>5272936

>Bring them all for the merchant to analyze
>Cut the hair off the bodies first. Noelle deserves a present when she wakes up.

“Here.. lend a hand. We’ll take all three in.” You settle with a nod to your companion. You kneel by one, flamberge out, and begin to sheer locks from the hair–might as well grant her a gift upon her recovery.

[...]

“You want to use all three?” The cracked doll echoes, incredulity in her voice.
“Yes.” You walk along the length of the dead, each set neatly atop flat stone lids on the ground. You’ve got the organs and hair ready–now, you need only put them to use. “If we harvest select organs from each, then we could dilute any foreign organs such that her person remains intact. Is that a problem?”

“..It’s a kind sentiment.” The merchant shrugs. “But.. you needn’t worry of your doll suddenly donning a black mask and swearing herself to killing monsters, or speaking in tongues and practicing witchcraft. We’re not to replace her entire person here, only some vital organs. She may come upon a new personality trait or two, or perhaps a skill or want, but she’ll mostly retain herself no matter what. But mix in all three and matters grow more complex. She may truly end up a mess of people if things go wrong.”

“..I see.” You grimace, hand on your chin. “Then, what are your thoughts on what I’ve produced here for you?”
“My thoughts? Well.. they’re corpses. I see the same thing as you.” She tilts her head.

>Use the prisoner woman.
>Use the Auf Arsene.
>Use the witch woman.
>Use all three.
>Just continue past the shrine. Maybe you’ll find another means to fix the doll later.
>Write-In.

>>5272947
>Use the Auf Arsene.
Probably should use someone who's less of a weirdo.

In that case, i'd say it might be better to use the prisoner, right? The Auf Arsenes is a no no, because it's a bda combination, and while the prisoner MAY have some dark things, the witch is CERTAIN to have a dark thing.

So let's use the prisoner woman

>>5272947
>Use the witch woman.
Magic doll!

>>5272952
>>5272953
C'mon guys the doll already explained she will remain the same, she will mostly get a new skill, I vote for the witch because it will do good to have some magic firepower in our party. Everything can be given to the doll or the zombie guide as a thanks.

>>5272957
Oh yeah don't forget to cut their hair for Noelle, is about time we keep our promise.

>>5272947
>Use the witch woman.

>>5272957
Support.

>>5272947
>Use the witch
>Offer the remains of the others to the merchant and zombie

>>5272947
>Use the Auf Arsene.

>>5272947
>Use the witch woman.

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>>5273476
>>5273057
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>>5272952

>Use the witch woman.

“..Then, the witch woman.” You settle. You have doubts about the ambiguity of the prisoner and the monster hunter seems.. contradictory. At worst, the doll may come upon a new passion for frog brews and black cats. “I presume this operation will mend her in full?”
“You’d be correct. An organ graft like this will allow for the gradual reparation of her shell. A doll is a system that feeds upon itself–outside heals inside, inside heals outside. We’re not unlike humans, I suppose.” The merchant smiles wistfully as she approaches the witch’s corpse. With a flourish, she pulls a long, thin stiletto from her cloak–a MISERICORDE. “You may want to look away. This could get gruesome.”

“Ah–one more thing.” You clear your throat. “There’s a matter about her hair..”

[...]

You rest from a distance at the far end of the IMPERFECT SHRINE. The berserker combs her mane of hair into neat lengths whilst the undead gnaws at some leg you took from a spare body. The dhampir still sleeps by a fire you’ve set, her breaths more even than before. You preoccupy yourself with drying out your first edition ACTION SERIAL, unfortunately now soaking wet after your tumble down into the COUP DE GRACE.

“..I’m done.” You nearly jump at the merchant’s sudden announcement and appearance before you–she snuck upon you like a ghost, her cloak now smattered with speckles of red. “The organs are fitted.. as well as the hair you’ve requested.”
“Bah! I bet that one’d die..” The undead scoffs.
“Is she awake..?” You ask. “How does she act? Is she strange..?”
“Well, her eyes are open. She breathes. She hasn’t spoken much, though.” The merchant shrugs. “Maybe she plans to cast a spell on us.”

You follow after the merchant with the rest of your party–and undead–to where the doll lies. She breathes gently atop a flat stone lid, her white dress speckled light with red, the floor around her smeared so thick with blood it sticks to your boots. A font of long silvery hair cascades about her, over her eyes and beneath her–you can make out a dark, open eye between bangs. It follows you tiredly upon your approach.

>Tell her to get up. You’ve got business to attend to.
>Ask if she plans to turn you into a newt.
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Write-In.

>>5273561
Ask If she likes her new hair

>>5273561
>>Welcome her back to the world of the living.

>>5273561
>>Welcome her back to the world of the living.

>>5273561
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

>>5273561
>>Welcome her back to the world of the living.

>>5273561
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

>>5273561
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

>>5273561
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

>>5273561
>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

Best girl is awake.

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>>5273657
>>5273651
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>>5273613
>>5273597
>>5273582
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>>5273574

>Welcome her back to the world of the living.
>Ask if she likes the new hair

“Welcome back, Noelle.” You extend a hand to her.
The handmaiden takes your hand slowly. You take care to lift her up–she moves slowly, steps shaky as she stands and leans her weight against you. Her eyes have a certain spark of life about them not typical of her. “.. Is your hair satisfactory?” You ask, unsure of how to progress.
“Ah–..” Noelle looks between yourself and your party as she bows her head. “I love you, Von Gundyr.”

>Leave at once. You’ve no time for pleasantries and you’re hot in the face.
>Flub your words.
>Attempt to think of a response of some sort.
>Write-In.

>Attempt to think of a response of some sort.
QUICK, TRY TO REMEMBER SOMETHING FROM OUR COMICS

>>5273702
>Flub your words.
>Blush and lose your composure.
>Retreat.

>>5273702
>Attempt to think of a response of some sort.

>>5273702
>Leave at once. You’ve no time for pleasantries and you’re hot in the face.
First prompt. First instinct. First shot.

>>5273702
>>Attempt to think of a response of some sort.
Hold your maccheroni Von Gundyr.

>>5273702
>Flub your words.
She's a doll of course she loves us.

>>5273702
Write-In
>jaw drops to floor, eyes pop out of sockets accompanied by trumpets, heart beats out of chest, awooga awooga sound effect, pulls chain on train whistle that has appeared next to head as steam blows out, slams fists on table, rattling any plates, bowls or silverware, whistles loudly, fireworks shoot from top of head, pants loudly as tongue hangs out of mouth, wipes comically large bead of sweat from forehead, clears throat, straightens tie, combs hair
>Flub your words

>>5273702
>Flub your words.
wow way too sudden

>>5273702
>Attempt to think of a response of some sort. Fail completely.

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>>5273702
>Flub your words.
I blame near-death experience for lack of inhibitions.

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>>5273741
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>>5273800

>Attempt to think of a response of some sort.

“Ahem-.. well..” You clear your throat. “There are procedures, and customs, when it comes to noble courtship rituals like this.. And, of course, you’d have to inform the estate, so-..”
“You needn’t answer now. I only thought to let you know.” Noelle smiles, her hands folded behind her back. “..Thank you.”

“Bahwahwah–very cute, yes, yes.” The undead steps in between you and the doll, flapping her arms and brushing the two of you aside. “Are you done with the lovey-dovey nonsense? Can I leave yet, or am I to continue leading your horrid parade out of here?”

“..The fanged one’s still not responding.” The berserker sighs–perhaps, feeling like a pack mule with the doll and now the dhampir . “But I don’t suppose we can wait here as we have any longer. The monsters have begun to inch closer and closer out of the fog.”

>Press onward. Bid the broken doll adieu as you leave.
>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
>Ask if the undead bears any interest in such romance.
>Write-In.

>Press onward. Bid the broken doll adieu as you leave.

>>5273806
>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.

I wanna see Ava wake up.

Also I really wanna see how Ava reacts to this undead. That'd be genuinely interesting story wise.

>>5273806
>Press onward. Bid the broken doll adieu as you leave.
>Offer to share some of the heavy lifting with the Berserker. Should be good exercise for us.

>>5273806
>>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.

>>5273806
>Press onward. Bid the broken doll adieu as you leave.

>>5273561
>Tell her to get up. You’ve got business to attend to.

>>5273806
>>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
>Ask the doll about herself why is she here?
>Ask if it's possible to fix the shrine?
She helped us out, let's see if we can do something for her.

>>5273806
>Tell Ava to get up, for you have business to qttend to
>Donate blood, because it's in you to give

>>5273806
>>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
It would do us well to have our actual guide along with us.

>>5273806
>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
We can give Ava a minute.

>>5273806
>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
>Ask if the undead bears any interest in such romance.
if so, good luck finding it uggo lmao

>>5273806
>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.
We've done it, now to keep her alive until the end

>>5273806
>Ask if the undead bears any interest in such romance.

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>>5274071
>>5273850
>>5273846
>>5273840
>>5273835
>>5273825
>>5273823
>>5273822
>>5273820
>>5273814
>>5273810
>>5273809

>Wait just a bit more. You’d like to carry on with a full party.

“We’ll remain for just a little while more. We ought to carry on with a full party, shouldn’t we?” You shoot a look at the undead. “And a proper guide.”
“You try getting plucked from the middle of nowhere and forced to shepherd some idiot rifleman and his whores.” The undead barks back, her face hot (or, at least as red as her foul blood can muster) with embarrassment. “It’s trying both your and my patience, you know..”

“Oh, dear. You plan to stay?” The cracked doll sighs. “Then you’ll make a real mess of my shrine..”
As if on cue, the clangs of steel against stone draw your party’s attention. You make out stray masses of dark shapes that cut through the fog from an open wall of the shrine, figures pulling themselves aloft from the water and clambering onto the stone surface of the shrine’s floor. The doll grasps your sleeve whilst the berserker draws her sword. The undead crawls behind you.

The first to arrive at the shrine’s front is a skeleton. It’s stuck in a dripping suit of armor with a blade of shining red–with each step it makes toward you, armor clanks against bone.

>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.
>Ready your rifle and fire off a shot.
>Tug the dhampir up to it. Perhaps the smell a monster girl will wake her.
>Write-In.

>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.
Ready the rifle in case the thing shoots you

>>5274172
the thing attacks you*

I don't wanna mess up the doll's shrine after she saved best girl noelle

>>5274170
>Ready your rifle and fire off a shot.

>>5274170
>>Ready your rifle and fire off a shot.
If a monstergirl was enough to wake Ava then she'd have been up already considering we've had the zombie replace her for a while now.

>>5274170
>>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.

>>5274170
>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.

>>5274170
>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here

>>5274170
>Attempt to use one of Ava's patented seductive one-liners to disarm the skeleton warrior

>>5274170
>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.
>Tell the doll that we’ll visit on the way back to pay her back after we meet the lich.

>>5274170
>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.

If the smell of a monster girl would wake Ava we should just have her sniff the zombie
The foul mouthed zombie

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>>5274258
>>5274229
>>5274209
>>5274204
>>5274198
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>>5274182
>>5274172

>Retreat with the dhampir in tow for now. You wouldn’t like to make a mess of things for the poor doll here.

“Mmm–then, perhaps not. Would hate to make a mess.” You heft the dhampir back over your shoulder–she’s the weight of a handful of feathers, really–and sling your rifle back over your arm with a sigh. “You.. the doll. My thanks for your kindness. If you’d like, on the way up, I might stop by to pay you back? I’m rather well-off.”
“You need not. You’ve given me enough pent. Just treat yours well. They fall into disrepair when left alone–cracks and fractures, you know. You have to tend to them.” The merchant jangles the handful of coins you’d given her prior. “And for your sake, I hope we never meet again.”

You break from the shrine with your uneven party in tow, the soaking wet assemblage of skeletons hot on the trails after your uneven party–a noble, doll, berserker, and dhampir with an undead at the head.

[...]

You’ve fallen into another rhythmic march forward, each step forth accompanied by the jingling of blades and armor. The mist is thick and set in, the water about your boots. The undead still leads the way, loudly bemoaning her misfortune and snapping at anyone that dare complain of the trip’s length. You suppose you have some downtime before you break from this watery hell.

>Speak to Noelle.
>Speak to Emilia.
>Attempt to rouse Ava.
>Speak to the undead.
>Write-In.

>>5274323
>Speak to the undead.
>Attempt to rouse Ava.

>>5274323
>>Speak to Emilia.
Let's talk to her a bit.

>>5274323
>Attempt to rouse Ava.
Her brother must've convinced her that she's leading us to our deaths or something, she's actually a big softie.

>>5274323
>Speak to Emilia.
>Attempt to rouse Ava.

>>5274323
>>Speak to Emilia.

>>5274323
>Speak to Noelle.

>>5274323
>Attempt to rouse Ava.
let her sniff the zombie

>>5274323
>Attempt to rouse Ava.

>>5274323
>Speak to Emilia.
>Attempt to rouse Ava.

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>>5274700
>>5274648
>>5274466
>>5274454
>>5274430
>>5274384
>>5274344
>>5274337
>>5274336

>Attempt to rouse Ava.

You decide to keep to yourself and your charge for now–perhaps you might rouse her from her feverish dormancy in the meantime? You can’t hope to count on an undead’s “kindness” for the rest of the trip down, and the dhampir ranks among the most capable combatants of your party.

Ava rests in your arms, still just as astonishingly light to carry as when you’d first fought her.. and almost annoyingly picturesque, even after a painful fever and a silver bullet through the back. Her breaths are slow and easy, more like slumber than the initial staggered fits after she was first hurt. It should probably be alright to wake her up now..?

>Drop her in the water. A cold water shock usually works to rouse your sisters.
>Cut yourself on your flamberge and pour some blood in her mouth. Dhampirs drink human blood, don’t they?
>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one.
>Write-In.

>>5274833
>>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one. And many skeletal ladies coming as well.
>Mentally ponder why the only monsters in this place are female only.

>>5274833
>Cut yourself on your flamberge and pour some blood in her mouth
While we do, whisper to:
>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one. And many skeletal ladies coming as well.
Meanwhile:
>Mentally ponder why the only monsters in this place are female only.

>>5274833
>>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one. And many skeletal ladies coming as well.
>Mentally ponder why the only monsters in this place are female only.

>>5274833
>>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one. And many skeletal ladies coming as well.
>Mentally ponder why the only monsters in this place are female only.

>>5274863
+1, Best combo.

>>5274863
Support.

>>5274863
+1

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>>5274909
>>5274877
>>5274863
>>5274858
>>5274928
>>5274941

>Let her know there’s a monster girl in your presence. A very attractive one. And many skeletal ladies coming as well.
>Mentally ponder why the only monsters in this place are female only.
>Cut yourself on your flamberge and pour some blood in her mouth

“Oy. Ava.” You shake her. “There’s a.. ‘monster girl’ in your presence, you know. A very attractive one. And a whole horde of skeleton ladies on the way as well. You’ll miss them if you don’t wake up.”
You ignore the undead’s gawping. You did, once, find it curious that so many monsters are born women rather than men–males are not unheard of, but they’re few and far between. But there was an actual reason.. the knock-on effect of some centuries-old curse, the handiwork of a long dead vampire queen.. you don’t recall the specifics. But you do know it’s led to a number of heretical monster-man romance books that the church tends to burn en masse.
In response, she turns over in your arms, drooling all over your fine coat. “Just.. five more minutes, papa..”
You roll your eyes–what, a nice dream? Bah, is she even still hurt? You decide to hasten the process yourself. You remove your glove with your teeth and run the back of your hand along the edge of your flamberge. A shallow streak of red opens up along your skin. You hold the cut above the dhampir’s mouth and allow the ichor to flow down to her lips.

Ava’s eyes flutter open in shock the instant your blood seeps past her fangs. She begins to hack and retch, kicking her feet and thrashing her way out of your grip, tumbling down into the cold water below. You take a step back as she gags out red in a dramatic outburst of disgust. Your party’s march drags to a halt.

“..Is my blood really that foul?” You ask, a bit offended.
“All human blood tastes foul.” She spits, wiping a sleeve over her mouth. “Like sewer swill..”

As she recovers from your “foul blood” with Noelle’s aid, you let Ava in on the goings-ons of your party since she was shot–of how you fell into the COUP DE GRACE from the CORPUS DELICTI, your encounter at the IMPERFECT SHRINE with the CRACKED DOLL, and your revival of NOELLE with WITCH’S ORGANS. She half-listens, still clearly a bit dazed and confused.
“It couldn’t have gone much worse than that.” The lady shakily stands with the doll’s aid. “I can scold you for your stupidity once we’ve found a shrine to rest at. Really–stopping at an imperfect shrine, sewing in random organs so haphazardly..”
“And what else were we to do?” You begin to challenge her, but she continues.
“I’m glad that Noelle’s alright, though. And.. you, Alphonse, and Emilia..” She adds under her breath.
“..Hmmm.” You raise a brow.

>Ask of your progress through the CATACOMBS. You’re surely near the end, aren’t you?
>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>Ask if her dream was pleasant.
>Write-In.

>>5274951
>>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>>Ask if her dream was pleasant.

>>5274951
>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>Ask if her dream was pleasant.

>>5274951
>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>Ask if her dream was pleasant.

>>5274951
>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.

>>5274951
>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>Ask if her dream was pleasant.

>>5274951
>>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>>Ask if her dream was pleasant.
>>Ask about dhampirs and drinking blood. Do they do so? If not human, then what kind does she prefer?

>>5274951
>Ask of your progress through the CATACOMBS. You’re surely near the end, aren’t you?

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>>5275120
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>>5275035
>>5275004
>>5274966
>>5274963
>>5275152

>Inform her of her brief undead substitute.
>Ask if her dream was pleasant.

“..Had pleasant dreams, I presume?” You fold your arms. “Because it certainly seemed like it. You drooled all over my coat.”
“Bah. I’ll cover the cleaner’s fee.” Ava rolls her eyes. “And my dreams were wonderful. I was in my childhood bedroom atop a tower, where I need only worry for what I was to have for dinner and what to read before bed–no more stress over the welfare of any troublesome nobles or knights or dolls.”
“Is that so? Then it’s a good thing I plucked you from it before you refused to leave.” You reaffix your glove to your cut hand. “We’d have been stuck with the zombie for the rest of the trip down.”

“An undead?” She raises a brow.
“We had to appropriate one as a short term escort. If you want her, she’s all yours.” You point out the undead, who has begun to (not so sneakily) slink away from the party whilst you took care of the dhampir. The corpse nearly shrieks in surprise as you point her out again.
“Bah! What is it now..?!” The zombie whines, hands furled up in frustration. “Your guide is awake! Can’t I go already..?! I’m getting sick of all your flirting..”

An indescribable look washes over the dhampir’s face at the sight of her. “..That’s–your–..” Ava stutters, unable to string together the right thing to say. “..That’s one of my father’s wives. Ingrid’s mother.“
“Ingrid? The half-zombie?” You echo, eyes narrow–the mature, mysterious, dark-eyed sorceress cultist? “That’s her mother? She’s picking her nose.”
“Yes, well.. it’s not like she’ll know about her. Or my father, or me. Her time has long since gone.” Ava averts her eyes. “We should leave her. It’s not right to drag her around like this. She’s just a stranger now.”
“What are you whispering about?” The undead places her hands on her hips. “Are you done?”

>Maybe you should bring her along. She could prove useful with dealing with Ingrid.
>You should to leave her behind. Toting around Ingrid’s mother like some bargaining chip is only sure to make her spiteful.
>Write-In.

>>5275193
>You should to leave her behind. Toting around Ingrid’s mother like some bargaining chip is only sure to make her spiteful.

Ava makes the call here. It's her half-mother after all, or something. I'd much rather worry about how far we are to the next area.

>>5275193
I'd like to leave her behind, but will she be safe?

>>5275193
>>Write-In.
Let's test her theory, tell her we just gonna ask her 3 questions and she's free to leave if she wants.
1 The name Ingrid jogs her memory?
2 Did the memory of a human male with a penchant for undead woman makes her fell anything?
3 Does she has no shame going around not using any sort of bottom garments whatsoever?

>>5275218
>2 Did the memory of a human male with a penchant for undead woman makes her fell anything?
Sorry wrote that badly, I meant did the fact a person in my group with a taste for undead woman made you feel anything?

>>5275193
>You should to leave her behind. Toting around Ingrid’s mother like some bargaining chip is only sure to make her spiteful.
We don't even know if Ingrid still remembers her mom, and if she did her current state might make her double down on trying to reach the lich to avoid the same fate that struck her mom.

>>5275193
>You should to leave her behind. Toting around Ingrid’s mother like some bargaining chip is only sure to make her spiteful.

>>5275193
>Maybe you should bring her along. She could prove useful with dealing with Ingrid.

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>>5275287
>>5275235
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>>5275218
>>5275210
>>5275202

>You should leave her behind. Toting around Ingrid’s mother like some bargaining chip is only sure to make her spiteful.

“Then.. on your mark.” You settle on the dhampir’s request–even if she proves advantageous against her sorceress half-sister, to use such a pitiful situation to your benefit sets a pit in your stomach. You turn to the undead and send her off with a flourish of your glove. “You’re free to go. We’ll leave you be.”
“Bah! Finally! I was getting sick of all your flirting and complaining and fighting. And, for your information, I was friends with some of those skeletons!” The undead proclaims. She continues to rant even as your party breaks away from her–loudly shouting you off, voice growing quiet in the distance. “To think I’d be stuck leading you through some block! And starving the whole time, too! You know, you could’ve at least allowed me just one bite for my troubles..!”

The undead yells you down all the way through–at least, until your party’s silhouettes disappear into the mist and the last ripples of your footfalls in the water dissipate.

With your disappearance, the zombie pauses, takes a deep breath, and releases a quiet sigh of relief. For some reason, tagging along with a human and some monsters like that had wrought a terrible feeling of melancholy in her guts. What unluck! She wipes any stray tears from her eyes–now she might finally have some peace.

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[...]

“..We’re set to leave the CORPUS DELICTI very soon.” The dhampir pipes up from the front, a hand on the rapier at her side as she cuts through the mist. “In some ways, we were lucky to fall through to the COUP DE GRACE–this route is a great deal shorter than the actual block, even if it is riskier. And we’re far less likely to run into any other contenders for the lich down here, whether it be stray monster hunter or one of my half-sisters..”
“I’ve never been this deep..” The doll murmurs, hands gently plying at her new font of hair. “What is the block after this like, Lady Ava..?”
“The block after this is the CORPSE. It’s the last true block–the one after that is very small, the lich queen’s domain. And the shrine ahead should be the very last shrine of the trip.” Ava recounts. “The CORPSE is.. unlike any other block before. A true apogee to the CATACOMBS. You may doubt your eyes when we first reach it.”

“I doubt much could make me doubt my eyes anymore.” The berserker mutters.
“Yes, well, we’ll see.” The dhampir sighs. “Ah.. here. There’s a split point.”

You raise your head up from your march and gasp–you’d not kept your head up, so to see such a sudden dramatic fall right before you all at once throws you off utterly. The waters of the COUP DE GRACE seem to converge here, a vast, black maw into which all the water of the block seems to flood down into an endless pit. A rickety wooden bridge hangs off one end of the ravine and into the fog ahead.

“We could take the route across the bridge or walk around the circumference of the drain here. If we go around, we’re wont to run into stray hungry monsters–likely far more dangerous than that undead earlier. If we take the bridge, we’ll have to avoid falling down, and.. just try not to fall off. You’ll drown if the waters if the waves don’t dash your body against the rocks.” The dhampir sighs.

>Take the bridge.
>Go around.
>Write-In.

>>5275375
>Go around
Monsters can be killed, gravity? Not so much.

>>5275375
>Take the bridge.
How hard can not falling be?

inb4 morne cuts the ropes behind us

>>5275375
>>Go around.

>>5275375
So potentially falling into the water (with someone who can't swim), or deal with more monsters.
>Go around

>>5275375
>Take the bridge.

>>5275375
Go around.

>>5275375
>Go around.
We have two hefty party members, might be better to go around.

>>5275375
>Go around.
I'd like to be that deep inside Noelle you know what Im sayin

>>5275375
>Go around.
With morn unaccounted for, better safe than sorry.

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>>5275392
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>>5275870

>Go around.

“Very well.” You decide with one glance at the rickety suspension bridge before you. “We’ll go around.”
“Yeah. Seems more.. safe, doesn’t it?” Emilia agrees.

“Fine, fine. I certainly wouldn’t want you two breaking anything and making a mess for future travelers..” Ava twirls her rapier along her fingers–perhaps more apt to the bridge, she acquiesces to your request out of respect for your “heftiness” and follows the path along the circumference of the sinkhole.
You keep a ready distance from the pit’s edge–the water mires from the edge and cascades over the side in a smooth deluge. The misty haze is so thick about it you can make out neither the depth nor breadth of the abyss that the waters of the COUP DE GRACE empty into, but it “feels” incomprehensibly vast and deep, nearly cosmic in size.

“Don’t throw up. Or at least, not into the hole.” The dhampir seems to pick up on your discomfort. “You’ll wake up the Unfathomable One that sleeps down there.”
“Unfathomable One?” You echo, agape.
“Just kidding! Relax.” Ava scoffs, waving off your concern (and paling face). “The Unfathomable Ones sleep in the moon. You’ve nothing to worry about down here.”

Her refusal to answer any more of your questions does not ease your concern. But your worry shifts to more urgent matters soon enough–the water before you begins to bubble as a pale, mercurial liquid curls up from beneath the surface, twisting and contorting into a gelatinous shape. The dhampir takes a step back.

“My. A mimic!” The dhampir places a hand on her cheek. “They’re rare, you know.”

>Take charge yourself with your rifle.
>Allow the dhampir to handle it.
>Allow the berserker to take care of it.
>Allow the doll to handle it.
>Write-In.

>>5276058
>>Allow the dhampir to handle it.

>>5276058
>>Allow the dhampir to handle it.

>>5276058
>Allow the dhampir to handle it.
She'll be the more experienced one

>>5276058
>Allow the doll to handle it.
if it recreates their abilities, Noelle should in theory be the easiest to counter.

>>5276058
>>Allow the dhampir to handle it.

>>5276058
>Allow the doll to handle it.

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>>5276065
>>5276075
>>5276083
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>>5276101
>>5276109

>Allow the dhampir to handle it.

“Then, can you handle it?” You afford the dhampir a wide breadth with a step back into the water. “You’ve the experience here.”
“Aha. Yes, of course.” Ava takes a step forward, the rapiers at her sides, and clears her throat. “I’ve never bedded a copy of myself before, so–gah!”

A bullet-like projectile of solidified slime arcs toward the dhampir’s chest, a spike of hardened mercury that she just narrowly sidesteps and, in turn, flies toward you. It halts just inches from your nose before it recedes back into the slime–its shape gradually undulating, ooze warping and splaying out into a thin, membrane-like dress that flutters over porcelain skin.

“Oh. Hmm. I didn’t know Noelle was so fast..” The dhampir observes nonchalantly, as if she hadn’t just been nearly speared in twain.
“A-ah..” The doll gasps. “I didn't know my legs were so stubby..”

The mimic doll cracks and twists limbs into strange movements, a slime “limb” angling up at her side and twisting into the shape of the doll’s knife. She wobbles uneasily, as if in wait for the dhampir to make her move.

“How curious. You know, father wrote that mimics copy memories of the person to imitate them, but I’d never thought they could pull memories of others..” Ava places a hand on her chin. “Well, I thought to flirt a little, but I don’t want to encroach on your territory, Von Gundyr, so..”

“Are you done?” You ask in exasperation.

>Let Ava take care of her, even if it is a little weird.
>Take charge yourself with your rifle.
>Allow the berserker to take care of it.
>Allow the doll to handle it.
>Write-In.