>>5294441
>Getting drunk, because who is going to stop you?
>Tour the upper city.
>At a local café.
>Getting (more) drunk, maybe some drugs as well.
>Spy on the cult meeting (AKA orgy) taking place in your basement tonight.

>>5294441
>Snuggling with Namara, your girlfriend.
>Tour the upper city.
>With the cultists in the neighboring mansion.
>Getting (more) drunk, maybe some drugs as well.
>See if Namara knows any “tricks” you haven’t tried yet.

>>5294441
>Snuggling with Namara, your girlfriend.
>Go visit the marital aid store.
>With the cultists in the neighboring mansion.
>Practicing your swordsmanship.
>Spy on the cult meeting (AKA orgy) taking place in your basement tonight.

>>5294441
>Getting drunk, because who is going to stop you?
>Tour the upper city.
>In your dark, spooky mansion.
>Getting (more) drunk, maybe some drugs as well.
>Spy on the cult meeting (AKA orgy) taking place in your basement tonight.

>>5294441
>>Practicing your marksmanship.
>>Go visit yet another museum full of curios.
>>At a local café.
>>Taking a train up to the ski resort.
>>Try and figure out what keeps making noise in the attic.

>>5294441
>Getting drunk, because who is going to stop you?
>Tour the upper city.
>With the cultists in the neighboring mansion.
>Getting (more) drunk, maybe some drugs as well.
>Spy on the cult meeting (AKA orgy) taking place in your basement tonight.

>>5294441
Glad noble was picked ! I kinda forgot to reply before the thread fell off...

>Snuggling with Namara, your girlfriend.
Yes.

>Read about subsector economics in the library.
I want us to at least try. Besides, it may teach us more about where we ended up.

>In your dark, spooky mansion.
We've been in a worse place in Groxbridge, was it ?

>Practicing your swordsmanship.
This is probably not going to win, but I can dream, can't I ?

>Try and figure out what keeps making noise in the attic.
Heresy ? Ghost heresy ?

>>5294915
>>Try and figure out what keeps making noise in the attic.
>Heresy ? Ghost heresy ?
Worse, it's the last earnest emperor-fearing soul in House Kijeck (which I assume we're in, now)

Doing work travel for next couple of days, I will be back Thursday

>>5295432
Ok, have fun.

>Snuggling with Namara, your girlfriend.
>Tour the upper city.
>With the cultists in the neighboring mansion.
>Getting (more) drunk, maybe some drugs as well.
>Spy on the cult meeting (AKA orgy) taking place in your basement tonight.

You wake up late morning in your massive bed, intertwined with both the sheets and Namara.

You try to remember what exactly you did the night before, but it is a bit hazy.

It is hard to escape the fact that you are slowly becoming the sort of jaded, degenerate noble you once despised. Due to your past experiences, and perhaps due to the blackstone embedded in your body, very little surprises or excites you, and you find yourself having to venture into more extreme territory just to shake off your ennui.

It doesn’t help that your two closest companions spent three months in a Slaaneshi ruled pocket dimension. Although Evil Rhea clearly made some effort to keep them untainted and sane, both Namara and Audrey have a lot less self control and morals than they once did.

Namara wakes up a little and wraps her arms around you, and you decide to stay for a little while longer.

Namara is an introverted sort, and prefers to let you do the talking, but when you are alone together she can be quite assertive. Particularly in matters of intimacy, she can be very sweet and tender one day, and frightfully domineering the next. Some of it seems to stem from jealousy, some from some sort of kink, and some is an effort to distract you from going down darker routes. Still, particularly given the circumstances of the last year or two, your relationship is surprisingly functional, and probably the only thing keeping you sane.

You call for breakfast to be served to you in bed, and don’t bother getting dressed. The handful of servants in the mansion, attractive women all, but likely not naturally so, are nothing but puppets to the will of the mansion’s dark sentience, and you long ago started treating them as nothing but mindless objects.

Breakfast is essentially eggs, meat, toast, and chocolate, but obviously only of the rarest and most expensive kinds. It is far better than what you ate growing up, but probably not that much better really than what many skilled professionals and minor nobles eat for far less cost.

Feeling restless, you shower, get dressed, and summon a few servants to accompany you and Namara into the Upper City.

Coal Valley is a large, dense city in a mined out valley on the mountainous world of Ravenholm.

After smog and other pollution made life in the original city uncomfortable, the rich and mighty commissioned a series of massive bridges and linked platforms to connect their rooftop penthouse manors to their hilltop villas and palaces, creating an exclusive realm only for them and their servants. Over time, large parks, commercial districts, museums, music halls, and other amenities were constructed on or between the raised platforms, blocking out the sun of the lower levels in some places.

>>5300039

You wander aimless for a while, taking in the sights. Coal Valley may not be one of the largest cities on the planet, but it is one of the wealthiest, with several major planetary and subsector level noble families having large holdings here. Namara spends most of the time shopping for “toys” instead.

The planet lives up to its name. Ravens and raven iconography are everywhere. Apparently the Raven Guard played a key role in the conquest of this planet, and this fact is commemorated in both heroic statues as well as the introduction of actual ravens, which have thrived in the alpine mountain regions that cover a large portion of the planet.

The clothing and mannerisms of the elite remind you a lot of the Groxbridge nobles, which is not surprising since several major subsector noble clans have strong ties to both planets. Top hats, bowler hats, waistcoats, monocles, moustaches, and walking canes for the men, corsets, dresses, jackets, and decolletage for the women, though thankfully tight trousers are also seen as acceptable for younger women. Black, with some white and metallic colors, are the most popular, but some brighter colors can be seen on women’s dresses as well. Mannerisms are overly formal in public, but morals can be quite loose in private.

Eventually you tire of your wanderings and go visit Nicky up at the Lodge with Namara.

About a twenty minute trip by private train, the Lodge is a former ski resort now used as the official private residence of one of the Daughter’s primary agents in the region, as well as more unofficially a secret cult stronghold. Nicky is a degenerate to the core, but is surprisingly pleasant company. Her eccentric and whimsical personality reminds you a lot of Trys’ta, your unpredictable Drukhari master, who you find you miss strangely enough.

A snowy mountain may seem like a strange place for a coven of Slaaneshi, but the inside of the Lodge is heated with warm steam, thus permitting a non-existent dress code. Mostly on account of the heat, you and Namara strip down to some revealing lingerie, which you once would have been mortified to wear, but now seems like second nature.

You end up staying longer than intended, though not for the first time. Nicky is amusing as always, as are some of the others, aside from Nicky’s current girlfriend, who you once killed (but she got better). Some here you almost consider friends, despite their allegiances, mutations, and/or deviant behavior. Although you still sometimes dream of properly re-entering Imperial society somehow, Ravenholm is a world of secrets and those who want to uncover said secrets. So it is perhaps not surprising you are most comfortable with those who know who you are.

You spend the afternoon and evening at the Lodge feasting, drinking, smoking, and chatting. However, as night falls, you make some excuses and head back to your mansion.

>>5300040

Charmingly known as “Widow’s Leap”, it is a sprawling compound long owned by the sprawling House Kijeck, which you have been adopted into.

Its previous owner was a senior House member who opposed your evil clone’s increasing dominance of House Kijeck, and is now a member of her ever increasing harem.

Tonight you have finally mustered up the courage to spy on certain initiation rituals that occur at your mansion. You have told yourself this is because you want to find out more in case said activities are traced to you by local authorities, but deep down you know this spying is more for your own excitement.

However, as you arrive at the entrance, you are informed that some emissaries of your evil clone are here to meet you, as well as an emissary of the Drukhari, who arrived separately on unrelated.

>Go visit Evil Rhea’s emissary.

>Go visit Drukhari emissary.

>Go spy on the initiation rituals.

>>5300041
>Still, particularly given the circumstances of the last year or two, your relationship is surprisingly functional, and probably the only thing keeping you sane.
It really do be like that. There's a reason me and the other anons have been pushing for it. Beyond the yuri, of course.


Both emissaries have the potential to screw us over if ignored, especially if whoever we meet first wants us to leave with them immediately. With any luck, they are here for unrelated reasons and this is all about not pissing off anyone, but knowing our luck they're both here to have us on their side for another kerfuffle.

>Go visit Drukhari emissary.

Deal with this, make it quick, hopefully. Have the servants distract and entertain Clone Rhea's envoys, they may be more vulnerable to it than the Drukhari and can be stalled without perceiving it as an affront. If they ask, tell them we have been informed and are coming over a party at a mountain estate.

Obviously, having the two meet strikes me as a particularly terrible idea.

>>5300041
>>Go visit Evil Rhea’s emissary.
>>Go visit Drukhari emissary.
Why not meet them both at the same time?
>>5300071
>Deal with this, make it quick, hopefully. Have the servants distract and entertain Clone Rhea's envoys, they may be more vulnerable to it than the Drukhari and can be stalled without perceiving it as an affront. If they ask, tell them we have been informed and are coming over a party at a mountain estate.
>Obviously, having the two meet strikes me as a particularly terrible idea.
I dunno it's probably going to be the thread theme, whichever we go with. Also, Trys'ta and Evil Rhea get along just fine.

>>5300041
>>Go visit Drukhari emissary.

>>5300041
>Go visit Evil Rhea’s emissary.

>>5300041
>Go spy on the initiation rituals.

>>5300171
>Why not meet them both at the same time?
>Also, Trys'ta and Evil Rhea get along just fine

They did. 3-6 months ago.
When we had our "waifu pick" moment last thread, most of the present factions had at one point been allied to one another. Past accords don't mean anything once enough power is on the line. Now we have two factions, maybe more, interested in a pseudo-null. Again. One that can handle mcguffins without succumbing to the temptation of their power or exploding. We're also dealing with Drukhari and Slaneeshi cultists, something that really doesn't help.

If we have them meet, it may very well result in a firefight which will leave our mansion ruined, our cover blown, one side pissed off that we killed their messenger, and the other mad at us for leading them into a trap.

We can consider a joint effort once we know more. And you've said it yourself, it's very likely we will have to pick one, so let's not put them in direct line of sight of one another. Especially in our house/current hotel suite placebo.

>>5301133
Having them occasionally fight each other is still within the bounds of getting along fine.

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>Go visit Drukhari emissary.

You decide to go visit the Drukhari emissary first, while you get some of the mansion’s servants to “distract and entertain” Evil Rhea’s emissaries.

You follow another servant through the mansion to the parlor where the Drukhari emissary got sent.

“Widow’s Peak” seems even bigger on the inside than the outside. Its hallways and rooms are laid out in seemingly the most maze-like way possible, and even after three months here, you struggle to find your way places on your own. No doubt parts of it are actually sections of pocket dimension, particularly the halls that lead to underground Webway Gates far from the mansion.

The architecture is Old Gothic, and generally poorly maintained, with some sections all but ruined. The raven symbols popular elsewhere on this world are rare here, instead, most paintings, carvings, and sculptures feature a mix of angelic and daemonic figures, many feminine, along with lost souls of both genders being punished and tormented, or caught within the act of some sin. Some of the female faces look somewhat similar, and you come to think of them as the face of the mansion’s spirit itself, watching you. It is not a pleasant feeling...

You were informed from the beginning that the mansion has some sort of sentience, no doubt daemonic, that controls the servants and no doubt does other things as well. However, you haven’t been able to develop any sort of rapport with it. It simply directs the servants to follow your commands, and will occasionally answer a question asked to a servant via said servant, but only if it is information it wants you to know, otherwise it simply ignores you.

You tend to think of the sentience of mansion as somehow linked to the long dead widow for whom the mansion is named, but you have no way of verifying this.

The Drukhari emissary is none other than Paula, though you may not have recognized her if it weren’t for her distinct scowl.

Her make up, hair braids, and small bits of jewelry are all of the highest quality, and she could have been mistaken for a nobleman’s harem girl if it weren’t for the fact her attire is distinctly Drukhari, as she is only clad in an uncomfortable looking collar, thong, and high heeled sandals, all made from Drukhari metal and festooned with spikes.

You wince a bit, Paula came to the Drukhari’s attention partially because of you. Paula’s six months of service to Dren should be up by now, or very close to it. You would ask her but she doesn’t seem thrilled to see you.

“Trys’ta says HYDRA IX has steered some Inquisitional attention your way. They still aren’t happy with you, and neither am I.” - States Paula.

She promptly gets up and leaves the room, giving you a rude gesture on the way out.

At least she still has some spunk, you think to yourself. Hopefully Dren is treating her okay...

>>5303149

A moment after Paula leaves, Vances and Delores barge into the room. Clearly the servants were only able to hold their attention for so long. You wonder if they saw Paula, or maybe if they somehow discerned her presence by communicating with the mansion's sentience.

However, as you fully take in their appearance, you lose your train of thought and wince again.

After all, you played a minor role in getting them to return to the Daughters, which resulted in their corruption.

Vance has become large and fat, but his most obvious mutations are his oversized genitals, and feminine breasts. He has been elevated to the “Dark Selunites” since you last saw him, and wears a pig mask of black leather with metal studs and a body harness of black leather straps and blackened metal hoops that serves no obvious purpose.

Delores seems to be a pet of sorts now, wearing only a collar, for which Vance holds the leash, plus some piercings, and her old glasses, which Evil Rhea must have found somehow. She has hooves, small horns, large breasts, a pregnant belly (not uncommon among the Daughters), and a long, seemingly prehensile tongue.

Vance does all of the talking. Delores alternates between licking things and striking poses.

Apparently Evil Rhea wants to see you back in her private realm. Vance refuses to say why. He promptly leaves as well, dragging Delores along with him.

You breath a sigh of relief. No need to chose between vindictive patrons yet, and there doesn’t seem to be any urgency in Vance’s message, given Evil Rhea’s realm is the last place you want to be, though perhaps when dealing with Evil Rhea, it is better to play on the safe side...

>Go visit Evil Rhea.

>Try to make contact with Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

>Go spy on the cult initiation ritual as originally planned.

>Try to find out more about the house, it seems a bit more urgent now.

>>5303152
>>Go visit Evil Rhea
If the Inquisition is heading our way, it could be a good time to take a vacation in a pocket dimension run by our evil clone.
If it's Annika, she'll probably get lost in the mansion and be reduced to a mess of tears by the time we get back.
Or we could contact Trys'ta and play along with the investigators. The mansion might have fun with them.

>>5303152
I'd like to communicate with the house before taking off to see Clone Rhea, but that may not be possible. But having the house on our side so the Inquisitorial team doesn't find the cult rituals in our damn cellar would be good. Maybe we can just tell the mansion to maybe do that and say that if the Inquisition find out, they may try and burn the building down. That may convince it to help us, even if only by helping itself.

What we can and should do in any case is inform Nicky and the others to deny involvement with us and cover their track while we go and spread rumors that we're "visiting our sister" or something. I'd rather not cause others to garner Inquisitorial attention, that could cause some bad blood.

>Try and communicate to the house that it should prevent the Inquisition from gathering evidence of corruption, for both its sake and ours.
>Tell everyone we're being targeted by the Inquisition and they should take their precautions while we leave and hopefully lead the investigators away.
>Go hide at Clone Rhea's place for a diplomatic visit or something.
>Grab Namara on the way. Obviously.

>>5303152
>Go spy on the cult initiation ritual as originally planned.

>>5303531
Honestly if it's another Annika arc I'm down to stay at home and fuck with her. Especially if she ends up needing our help just to get out of there alive since we're blanks

>>5303152
>>Go spy on the cult initiation ritual as originally planned.

>Go spy on the cult initiation ritual as originally planned.

You decide you should go spy on the cult initiation rituals. You might as well get a better handle on what kind of trouble you may end up in if the Inquisition starts poking around.

One of the reasons you haven’t done so yet is you weren’t sure how to so without getting caught, but two nights ago, somehow sensing your desires without telepathy, the mansion sent a servant to inform you that there was a room where many other rooms could be spied upon. So assuming the mansion doesn’t snitch on you somehow, you should be able to pull this off without being caught.

A servant leads you and Namara to a room you have never been in before, with elaborate mirrors which when looked through closely, allow you to look upon another room in the mansion. On the way there, you try warning the mansion that the Inquisition is potentially on its way, but it is unclear if the message is received.

The servant directs you to look through certain mirrors.

The first one shows new recruits from Ravenholm’s nobility taking part in an orgy. Drugs, wine, masks, sexy lingerie, “toys”, the whole package deal. Not particularly shocking to you anymore, probably not even that unique for the nobles involved, such things are not uncommon among pretty much any city with a large number of nobles and other ideal wealthy.

The next room looks a little more hardcore. Several well trained individuals are tending to the “needs” of each of the dozen or so recruits present. Probably individuals who seems bored with the orgies and were approached to try something more interesting.

The final room seems to be the end state. Recruits have been paired up with daemonettes, who are dominating them in ways scarcely imaginable even for you, given you have definitely seen some crazy stuff in the past year or two. No doubt they will get sent to Evil Rhea’s realm if they become too mind-broken, or fanatically loyal agents if they keep their wits about them.

It takes you a while to pull yourself away from the final mirror and gather your thoughts. Although you wonder how certain things you saw in the final mirror are physically possible, the real concern is the fact that the disappearance of nobles heading to Evil Rhea’s pocket realm can probably be traced back to this mansion.

>Go visit Evil Rhea, maybe lie low there for a bit if possible.

>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach.

>>5306514
>>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach.

>>5306514
>>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach
Nicky seems like an alright sort considering who her mother is.

>>5306514
>>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach.
Let's make sure we bring our bags along so we can disappear to other Rhea's place without needing to go back and potentially running into the Inquisition.

>>5306514
>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach.

>>5306514
>Go visit Evil Rhea, maybe lie low there for a bit if possible.

File: Nicky.jpg (1.04 MB, 1796x2500)

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>Go warn Nicky and the others of the Inquisition’s approach.

Having satisfied your curiosity regarding the initiation rituals, you decide to go warn Nicky and the others at the Lodge next.

You grab Audrey and Namara, pack a few items, and take the train up to the Lodge.

You fill Audrey in on some of the details on the train ride, not that you think it will help you much. Never particularly reliable since you first met her, Audrey has gone downhill ever since she spent three months in Evil Rhea’s realm. No doubt she would be thoroughly corrupted by now if you hadn’t somehow extracted a promise from Evil Rhea to leave her alone. Still, thanks to all the stuff she has been through, she has some pretty weird pastimes, and isn’t entirely sane these days.

The village outside the Lodge is surprisingly festive for this time of night, and it takes you a bit to remember today is a moderately important local religious holiday. The villagers are of course Daughters and their minions incognito, but keeping up appearances never hurts.

You head up to the Lodge, but Nicky finds you first. In a winter coat and in some sort of play fight that involves throwing hard candy at each other with some minions, she looks surprisingly normal, with only the fox mask in her hands, and her tall boots providing hints to her true nature.

After some cursory greetings, you head up to the Lodge, where she ditches her coat and fox mask, revealing her more usual attire of tall boots, netted stockings, and black leather straps. A mutant slave hands her gold trimmed black leather fox mask, the mark of a senior Dark Selunite, but Nicky hangs it from her belt rather than wears it. You have noticed she rarely wears masks.

Audrey turns a bit red in the face, and it is not just from the warm steam of the Lodge, she has a strong crush on Nicky (and Vance, Evil Namara, and Jones among others), so you rarely bring her to the Lodge.

You spend some time updating Nicky on everything you know about the Inquisition as well as HYDRA IX. Nicky doesn’t seem too surprised, and provides some information of her own.

There is a rival Slaaneshi cult on the planet which is believed to have ties to HYDRA IX. Also, there are rumors a woman making Annika’s description is poking around, while a second group containing some HYDRA IX agents posing as the Inquisition has also been spotted.

You are not thrilled with this news, but at least Nicky seems confident it is nothing to worry about yet.

>Go visit Evil Rhea, maybe lie low there for a bit if possible.

>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

>See if Nicky needs any help with the rival cult, the Inquisition, or the “Inquisition”.

>>5308320
>>Go visit Evil Rhea, maybe lie low there for a bit if possible.

>>5308320
>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

>>5308320
>>See if Nicky needs any help with the rival cult, the Inquisition, or the “Inquisition”.
Could be fun
>>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.
This could be helpful, but it might also be a complete waste of time. Then again she probably wants us to safeguard her webway passages

>>5308320
>>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

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>Contact Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisition.

You decide to try and get in contact with Trys’ta to see if she has any additional details she perhaps didn’t share with Paula, or that Paula simply didn’t tell you.

The problem is of course that you don’t actually have a direct means by which to contact Trys’ta, she shows up when she feels like it, and on other occasions sends emissaries for quick messages. You know that sections of the pocket dimension lead to a corrupted portion of the Webway, but you doubt wandering the Webway alone will turn out well.

You instead decide to try and send a message via one of the Cold Trade fences you know Trys’ta does business with sometimes.

You make up some excuses to Nicky as to why you don’t want to go visit Evil Rhea right away, and instead make your way to the Follies.

Formerly the government district of Coal City back before the Upper City was built, the Follies consists of decaying but grand buildings with patches of overgrown parkland.

It still attracts some decent sized crowds though, and it is not as lawless as it looks, there are several seedy but profitable businesses here that pay the local gangs to keep some level of order in the streets in order to ensure wealthy patrons can visit without too much extra protection.

Trys’ta’s contact is a flamboyant business woman by the name of Barbara Witherwine, who helps Trys’ta and her agents get in contact with noble houses with an interest in xenos artifacts and other strange items.

It is a bit of a long shot, as like yourself, Barbara is probably only contacted on a need to know basis, but neither the Inquisition nor HYDRA IX are people you want to tangle with, so every little bit of information helps.

However, as you approach the storefront, you recognize two individuals approaching from the other direction. The swordswoman and the female squat. You last saw them working for HYDRA IX, posing as members of an Inquisitor's retinue. No doubt that is their cover here as well. Both are dressed up as locals, but moderately attractive squats are a rare breed, and it is hard to forget someone who sliced off your arm, no matter how briefly you previously met them.

>Duck around a corner before they see you, head back to the mansion.

>Duck around a corner before they see you, try to sneak into the back of Barbara’s place to warn her.

>Open fire, maybe you can get a drop on them before they notice you.

>>5310294
>>Duck around a corner before they see you, try to sneak into the back of Barbara’s place to warn her.

>>5310294
>>Duck around a corner before they see you, try to sneak into the back of Barbara’s place to warn her.
Opening fire would be a bad idea since there's a bunch of gangers hired to shoot back by the local businesses. Running away might be a good idea, we don't know if Barbara can be trusted

>>5310294
>Open fire, maybe you can get a drop on them before they notice you.

>>5310294
>Duck around a corner before they see you, try to sneak into the back of Barbara’s place to warn her.

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>Duck around a corner before they see you, try to sneak into the back of Barbara’s place to warn her.

You decide to warn Barbara of the impending danger. You don’t her well, but Trys’ta probably won’t appreciate her proxies being smashed, and besides, Barbara might tell them some things you don’t want them knowing.

You duck behind a corner, and navigate the filthy back alleys to get to the back of Barbara’s store.

Strangely, a back window has been left open, and you crawl inside, then help Namara and Audrey get in.

The store is a maze of small rooms that once consisted of several different adjacent properties, but is now one big rambling structure.

Each room is packed with all sorts of items and trinkets from dozens of different cultures. You wonder how much is just junk. Given how lax the security is, you doubt Barbara keeps anything important here.

After three rooms, you find Barbara in a small room in the center of the building, but the swordswoman and the squat arrive from the other direction at roughly the same time.

The swordswoman reacts first and hits Audrey with some sort of dart gun, hopefully non-lethal.

In retaliation, you fire a few blind shots with your laspistol, and everyone scatters for cover.

>Flee building.

>Get in shoot out.

>Stall and hope Barbara has some sort of hidden security measure.

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>>5312544

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>>5312545

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>>5312546

>>5312544
>Get in shoot out.

>Stall and hope Barbara has some sort of hidden security measure.

Plink off shots to keep them from flanking or poking their heads up, hopefully long enough for Barbara to get some manner of useful trinket or security equipment. Just hit something in their general direction once every second or two. That should be within our abilities.

>>5312544
>>Flee building.

>>5312544
>The swordswoman reacts first and hits Audrey with some sort of dart gun, hopefully non-lethal
Is she ambulatory? If she is, we should break contact.

>>5312922
Don't think she is. I think this means more "she's down and not moving, so hopefully it was a stun dart and not a neurotoxin", unfortunately.

>>5312989
Well, we're not leaving her. Defeats the purpose of bringing her along in the first place

>>5312544
>>Get in shoot out.
>>Stall and hope Barbara has some sort of hidden security measure.

Is QM kill?

>>5319377

I have just been busy with other stuff lately, hope to get back to it soon

>>5319785
Gotcha. Best of luck.

>>5319785
Good luck ! I'll be waiting !

>>5319785
Have fun

>Get in shoot out.
>Stall and hope Barbara has some sort of hidden security measure.

You decide to stall for a bit in hopes that Barbara has some sort of plan. You aren’t going to leave Audrey behind, and you aren’t really comfortable leaving Barbara to fend for herself either.

You fire a few more blind shots with your laspistol. It is an old antique pattern weapon with a strange handle, and despite some practice with it, you still find it non-intuitive.

The swordswoman fires back with her dart gun and nearly hits you. Her reflexes are unnaturally fast.

No one else is shooting. Namara and Barbara are pinned, and the female squat’s heavy revolver probably isn’t much suited for taking people alive.

However, the squat also has some sort of energy rod that may be non-lethal and suitable for capturing people. You figure as long as she stays out of melee range, you may have a chance at prolonging the stalemate, but in order to do so, you need to fire off the odd burst, and it is a miracle you haven’t been hit with a dart yet.

As you contemplate your options, the skylight above a nearby stairwell shatters in a blizzard of broken glass.

It takes you a moment to recognize Trys’ta, as she is wearing fluffy slippers, a thong, and a loose fitting t-shirt. By the time you do, she has already knocked your two assailants onto the floor with forceful swings of what appears to be a pillow.

The swordswoman rises first, a thin blade appearing in her hand from nowhere, though it was probably tucked in her sleeve. Despite the swordswoman’s unnatural speed and skill, Trys’ta disarms her on the third sword thrust, partially disrobes her with three precision slashes with her own sword, then stuns her with lighting fast finger jabs to the throat, kidneys, and groin. The squat turns to flee, but Trys’ta picks the dart gun off the floor and shots her in the backside.

The whole thing lasts about four to five seconds, and you have to play it back in your head to piece together what happened.

“What are you doing here?” - You ask, rather shocked.

“Meh, I forgot to tell Paula to warn Barbara about the Inquisitional activity, so I came over myself.” - Replies Trys’ta nonchalantly.

She scoops up the swordswoman and the squat and dumps them in a sarcophagus, then pushes the heavy lid shut.

“They will probably find a way out or get rescued, if not, well I tried to be nice. Trade relationships and all that...” - Explains Trys’ta vaguely.

You assume she means her Kabal has trade relations with HYDRA IX. There are few shady factions in the subsector the Kabal doesn't have relations with.

“Inquisition is coming, the real ones too, you may want to lie low for a bit.” - Trys’ta says to Barbara, then heads for the door like nothing happened.

>>5328727

>Ask Trys’ta for sanctuary until the Inquisition thing blows over.

>Ask Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisitorial presence on the planet.

>Ask Trys’ta why she is dressed up for a pillow fight.

>Go visit Evil Rhea, as per her summons.

>Go visit Nicky and update her on the situation.

>>5328729
>>Ask Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisitorial presence on the planet.
Its Annika, isn't it?

>>5329003
probably, Nicky already told you that someone resembling Annika is poking around

>>5328729
>>Ask Trys’ta for sanctuary until the Inquisition thing blows over.
>>Ask Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisitorial presence on the planet.

>>5328729
>Ask Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisitorial presence on the planet.
>Go visit Nicky and update her on the situation if Trys'ta gives any useful info, then have her arrange our trip to Rhea's.

>If Trys'ta is completely unhelpful, just go visit Rhea directly.

>Remember to pick up Audrey off the floor, please.

Welcome back, QM!

>>5329887
>>Remember to pick up Audrey off the floor, please.
Yes

>Ask Trys’ta for more information on the Inquisitorial presence on the planet.
>Ask Trys’ta for sanctuary until the Inquisition thing blows over.

You decide you don’t really want to be left without powerful allies, or without some more information.

You dart after Trys’ta before she leaves the building and bombard her with some questions.

She doesn’t seem particularly inclined to answer them, but this time around it is probably due to a mix of laziness and busy-ness rather than because she is being deliberately evasive.

You are able to convince her to wait long enough for Namara to go scoop up Audrey and then bring the three of you to lie low in Trys’ta’s quarters for a bit.

Trys’ta gets up onto the roof with just a few leaps and flies her Venom back down to ground level just outside the building entrance. Evidently this is how she got here. Not surprising, as you have seen Eldar vehicles flown through urban areas more than a few times without consequence. Between their speed, maneuverability, advanced counter-tracking measures, and (in some cases) holofields, it is rare for Imperial authorities to even notice as they zip from one location to the next.

Trys’ta flies from the underlevels of the city to a cave network a fair distance away, where a Webway gate was already active somewhere in the maze of tunnels. From there, you travel a short distance through the Webway to reach the Frozen Heart, the gloomy, sprawling fortress of Trys’ta’s Kabal. The irregular shaped structure, tens of kilometers in diameter, and suspended in a massive void where many Webway tunnels meet, never fails to impress you.

The whole trip takes less than 20 minutes or so.

Trys’ta brings you back to her quarters, where she is apparently having one of her “ladies night slumber parties”, which you already sort of guessed from her attire. It isn’t the first time she has done something like this, but it is one of her rarer gimmicks.

Dren is there, along with Naph’thala (aka Surfer Girl), Dumb and Dumber (you can’t remember their real names), a white haired female you don’t recognize, and Trav’vis (the only male present, though he is in the far corner using some high tech equivalent of a grindstone to sharpen knifes).

No one else is dressed for a slumber party, but there are a lot more pillows around than usual.

Paula is there serving drinks, while nude. You doubt she will be happy to see you.

Some other unfortunate slave is tied to Fluffinator, the incredibly ill-tempered gyrinx that Trys’ta sometimes babysits for her boss. It is hard to tell if the slave is supposed to be walking the gyrinx, anchoring it in one location, or is merely bound to it to focus its ire in one location.

Also present is that massive, fat amphibian Trys’ta adopted on Malrog. You are strangely jealous of the amphibian, it seems to have displaced you as Trys’ta’s favorite ugly and dumb lifeform.

>>5332908

Having once lived in Trys’ta’s chambers as a glorified pet for several months, you know these parties can get a bit out of hand. Luckily there is a maze of storage rooms beneath Trys’ta’s chambers you know from past experience you can go hide in.

After enduring some teasing, poking, and prodding from the Drukhari present, you drift towards one of the stairwells leading downstairs the minute it seems their focus is turned elsewhere.

Audrey is slowly waking up by this point, and is less than pleased to be back in Drukhari territory.

Once you are in one of the storage rooms, and (theoretically) out of earshot Audrey comments on how one day Trys’ta will go on an extreme drug bender, or get overthrown, or simply lose interest in having marginally useful human pets, and then bam!, the three of you will get turned into a human centipede or something. You retort the same thing could just as likely happen spending too much time with Evil Rhea’s clique, though Audrey notes at least it wouldn’t be the painful kind of human centipede.

She has a fair point though, however, you aren't sure you want to disentangle yourself from either Trys’ta or Evil Rhea’s influence, given they are at least sort of friendly for now, while many others in the galaxy are openly gunning for you, or would if they realize what you are.

You spend the next two days or so in Trys’ta’s quarters, during which time thankfully nothing eventful happens (by Trys’ta standards).

You eventually get some useful information out of Trys’ta. HYDRA IX has promised not to interfere with the Kabal’s operations on Ravenholm, though Trys’ta notes they have so many expendable proxies on the planet it is a borderline meaningless promise.

The actual Inquisition’s presence on the planet is limited to Annika and a few other acolytes, but they have the authority to mobilize decent numbers of local Imperials if needed. They seem to have some idea of the Daughter’s operations on the Ravenholm, and are getting increasingly close to “your” mansion, and Nicky’s operation.

Also Trys’ta has gotten a message from Evil Rhea, who is pissed you haven’t come seen her yet. Trys'ta warns you though Evil Rhea is becoming a bit erratic.

>Go see Nicky and provide her with the latest information.

>Go visit Evil Rhea.

>Continue lying low at Trys’ta’s.

>Go back to your mansion and try to communicate with its daemon spirit, maybe it is time to get a new ally.

(going on vacation for next couple of days, will start a new thread when I get back)

>>5332910
>Go visit Evil Rhea.

>Trys'ta warns you though Evil Rhea is becoming a bit erratic.
/sigh/
Welp, time to go give a stern talking-to to our slightly off-her-rocker chaos-infused clone while standing in the middle of a pocket dimension which she has absolute control over. Come on, it'll be fun!
Let's maybe try and talk to clone Namara first. She is most likely a bit saner and the only one who as any sort of hold over Rhea (in both cases). Hopefully. Though I doubt we'll get the chance.