>>5422369
>>Trying to brown-nose your way to a promotion
>>Trying to keep on everyone’s good side even if it puts you in some pretty uncomfortable situations
>>Slowly sliding into degeneracy
This is all 110% Rhea.
>>5422369
>>Lying low and hoping for the best
This is 220% Rhea.
As I recall, Rhea doesn't particularly like Trish, because of the "buck naked on planetary holovision" thing, even if she doesn't bear any particular grudge.
Interesting that Namara, a null, is fascinated with chaos theology, but a bit inevitable considering our career opportunities.
I assume we're checking in on Trish and Tweezette knows and doesn't care?
What drugs? Obscura? Splintermind? Faerun? 'Slaught?

>>5422369
>Trying to keep on everyone’s good side even if it puts you in some pretty uncomfortable situations
>Slowly sliding into degeneracy

>Trying to bail out and return to one of your previous “allies”

Please stop torturing this woman

>>5422539
but it's fun!

>>5422369
>>Learning forbidden knowledge
Maybe hanging around the Sexy Librarian can help us not meddle with the general hedonism, and maybe quell the harassment. And honestly, I can kinda see Rhea picking up that kind of stuff so she has something to talk about with her girlfriend.
Admittedly, a little bit of
>Trying to keep on everyone’s good side even if it puts you in some pretty uncomfortable situations
is to be expected.
>Trying to bail out and return to one of your previous “allies”
Main goal.
>Gain the power needed to rescue your friends and defeat your enemies
But I like to thing of this as a secondary goal. Maybe Samara's talk bore fruit?

>>5422384
Supporting checking in on Trish. And I recall looking this up. Unless I have her confused with someone else, Trish is someone we possessed with the ring in thread 2 and had her fully conscious while we puppeted her body for a few hours and almost had her shoot herself. So she had a very understandable grudge. I think that scores pretty high on the list of fucked up things Rhea has done honestly. It was quite dark re-reading it, even if I think I was one of the people who supported getting rid of her.
l think getting away from chaos corruption is a still a pretty Rhea thing to do, same as with thread 3. I don't see Rhea being willing to fall into degeneracy inside a Chaos environment, not after seeing what it's done to Clone/Evil Rhea. As a noble in a backwater Imperial world, sure. Not in the middle of an overt Slaneeshi cult.

>>5422539
We're trying, but our past decisions and ultimate unwillingness to commit to one subfaction keeps screwing us out of a nice comfy retirement. Remember, we could have become lowly imperial citizens at the end of thread 2, and then joined the Inquisition for real this time. But we didn't. I voted against doing that. I just didn't want to lose what little power we had gained. We hold very little power and aren't willing to let go to grab a bigger quantity of it. And now we're drifting down and down the chaos pit. . Maybe this is better? After all, isn't this what we wanted? I don't know anymore, and I don't think Rhea does either, she just wants to feel safe and loved in a place that isn't trying to kill her or corrupt her too much.

>>5423432
>unless I have her confused with someone else, Trish is someone we possessed with the ring in thread 2 and had her fully conscious while we puppeted her body for a few hours and almost had her shoot herself. So she had a very understandable grudge.
That is Kayla. Trish is the one on the dildo machine we were talking to at the end of the last thread, she was a character from the original archipelagia threads on /tg/ and our main interaction with her was at the end of thread 2 when we're naked on national television and it is her fault.

Kayla is probably our arch frenemy. Almost making her kill herself wasn't very nice, but frankly she deserved it. Though I guess having your own body point a gun at your head and start pulling the trigger until the timely intercession of a titty daemon will probably leave a few scars.

>>5423436
>>5423432
Also it would be interesting to know what exactly our associates thought of us. Trys'ta thinks we're ugly and stupid, but in a cute way. She now has a pet frog thing (an old one!?) that is uglier and stupider than we are, hence why we have such a long leash.
Eivl Rhea was obsessed with us until she got her memories back, and even now we seem to be on good terms with her (as good as they're going to get considering she's probably a Daemon at this point and we're a null)
Evil Namara likes us, and she likes that we love our own Namara. It probably makes her feel reassured that Evil Rhea still loves her the most, even though she has so much else going on.
Kayla obviously hates us. Nikki, her daughter, likes us. It could be worth noting that Kayla is a Tzenchian, so having a null who is as chaotic as Rhea must be absolutely maddening for her since it is an X factor that is totally outside of her patron's view.
Kristoff is interesting because he's the one that kind of says what everyone is thinking, that Rhea is a self-serving mercenary, and kind of terrifying in her own way. It could go a long way to explaining why everyone even tolerates her in the first place. She's unreliable, but she's like a hand grenade you lob at your enemies. At this point, I don't think any of our patrons actually expects Rhea to succeed at her stated task, but they know she'll gum up their enemies enough that they can get things done.

It would be funny if Annika ever finds out about our backstory. It would probably give her a huge headache.

>>5423579
About the pseudo null interfering with Tzeenchian abilities, I always thought us not being a proper null caused issues. We only have an effect at close range, so I'm not sure how scrying and other stuff would work. I mean, we have been included in at least one prophecy, so maybe our fate can be tracked, and we're just a massive headache to predict because we're still the same hapless indecisive not-quite a guardswoman we were since the first thread deep down? And our allegiances are so changing and fucked in a way even we can't really keep track of. It may just be a case of nobody being able to tell what our plan is because we can't either!

>>5423631
I would assume we're a negative space. Like, the pseudonull ability isn't powerful enough to totally block things out, but they can't see Rhea and Namara. Instead they can see the consequences of our actions and the reactions other people have to us. So you get a vivid picture of some absolute mayhem and Evil Rhea looking like she has a migrane (because she does) and acting like she's seen the most bafflingly stupid thing in her entire life play out (because she just did) without actually being able to see Null Rhea per se. We can only affect things around us when it comes to most psychic abilities but for Scrying I'd suspect that the concept of distance works a bit differently.

>Trying to keep on everyone’s good side even if it puts you in some pretty uncomfortable situations
>Trying to bail out and return to one of your previous “allies”

Uuugggghhhh.....

As you have more often than not over the past few weeks, you wake up with a killer headache and a bone dry mouth.

You passed out naked on a divan in your front lobby sometime last night, your clothes are on the floor nearby. You don’t bother questioning why, probably drunk/high Rhea from last night thought either the lobby was too warm, or the divan was smoother on your skin than your clothes.

You grudgingly roll off the divan, shamble over to the clothes, and put them on. It is a revealing small top and long skirt combo of green silk with gold trim. It is rather rumpled and smelling of stale sweat, but whatever, at least it makes you look important. You also notice some snake-like markings on your skin, but luckily they are henna, not tattoos...

As you rub dried drool off your face, you contemplate how you ended up in this latest dilemma.

Having made contact with Trish back on Archipelagia, you returned to your hotel room, only to be jumped by Kayla.

Next thing you know, you wake up on an entirely new world, Gomorrah.

You haven’t quite figured out the timelines yet, but apparently Kayla managed to make it back to HYDRA IX not long after Samara dispatched you to make contact with her in captivity. Kayla then apparently volunteered to be the one who extracted yourself, Namara, and Audrey from Archipelagia and bring you to Gomorrah, as initially promised by Samara back on Ravenholm. You have no memories of how you got to or from Archipelagia, but you increasingly suspect that HYDRA IX controls its own portion of the Webway for moving people between worlds. Probably their own network of pocket dimensions too for moving unseen once on a particular world.

Since arriving on Gomorrah, you have been living in a small palace and in theory have no further obligations to HYDRA IX, so basically what Samara promised. But in practice, Kayla somehow got herself assigned as your handler, and uses it to pressure you into all sorts of compromising positions every chance she gets. From invites to wild parties, getting dragged on expeditions out into the harsh back country, meetings with all sorts of terrifying entities, or front row seats to disturbing experiments, it has all been less than fun.

>>5424117

Gomorrah itself isn’t great either.

A harsh, tidally locked world, it has harsh deserts on one side, lightless wastes on the other, and only a few small oasises in between. Chaos apparently won here, and HYDRA IX and their allies call the shots, though some orks and necrons still roam the wastes. The population is generally of darker skin, like Namara, though many of them are already showing at least some signs of mutation. Tzeentchian and Slaaneshi mutations are the most common, sometimes both. There were apparently some Khornates and Nurglites early on as well, but apparently there was a falling out and most of them got exiled or sent on suicide missions. The only ones left are also dedicated to Slaanesh and/or Tzeentch as well.

Namara was pretty devastated to find out how far her home world had fallen, though you are pretty sure she always assumed something like this had happened. Much to your concern, she has taken a strong interest in the so-called “Four Saints”. You hadn’t thought about the Four Saints much lately, it has been a while since you have seen any of the highly tainted propaganda featuring them. But apparently faith in the Saints is alive and well on Gomorrah still, which you suppose makes sense as all four of them are from here, and likely the corrupting pamphlets you first encountered back at Camp Xenos were conceived here as well. Unfortunately Namara seems to have gotten it in her head that her home world has been somewhat corrupt all along, and therefore allying with Chaos isn’t quite as unpalatable. She spends much time researching the Saints, apparently trying to discover the extent of their influence on her world before its fall.

Audrey has unfortunately been MIA since early on. Kayla has hinted a few times that they are now “dating”, which knowing Kayla, isn’t likely to be pleasant at all. Audrey has been an adequate companion, but definitely not as close to you as Namara obviously, so you haven’t had the guts to do anything about it yet.

Long story short, you have yet again been forced under duress to do a task in return for a “reward” which has many drawbacks, and probably a few strings attached as well.

You decide your best option is to try to bail and return to one of your old “allies”, though you aren’t quite sure how to do that yet. Perhaps you can research the Webways and pocket dimensions more, or try to volunteer for a mission and then defect (again).

>Try to return to Ravenholm, your haunted mansion, and semi-reliable ally Nicky.

>Try to return to Archipelagia, make contact with the Daughters, and push for a spot there where it is degenerate to the core, but at least familiar territory and seemingly safe.

>Try to return to the Frozen Heart Kabal, you have had enough Chaos for the time being, even if Trys’ta isn’t the most sane or safe person to be around.

>>5424118
>>Try to return to Ravenholm, your haunted mansion, and semi-reliable ally Nicky.
I thought the Ravenholm plotlines sounded like they could have been interesting, before they got a tad interrupted by our trip to archipelagia. I am not sure what an Archipelagia mission would involve at this point. Frozen Heart could be fun as well, but Trys'ta can probably find us on Ravenholm as well.
Are we going to try to get Audrey back? She and Nicky got along well.

>>5424118
>>Try to return to Ravenholm, your haunted mansion, and semi-reliable ally Nicky.
Yeah, we should probably grab Audrey on the way out. Rhea would feel bad for not trying. Agree that Trys'ta can come find us if she gets bored, and screw Archipelagia for the time being. Being back even shortly was enough to see how bad the place got. And now there's not even a giant clusterfuck going on to excuse the madness.

>>5424118
>>Try to return to Archipelagia, make contact with the Daughters, and push for a spot there where it is degenerate to the core, but at least familiar territory and seemingly safe.

>>5423419
:d

File: Your Palace.jpg (312 KB, 1200x675)

312 KB JPG

>Try to return to Ravenholm, your haunted mansion, and semi-reliable ally Nicky.

You decide to try to find a way back to Ravenholm. Sure the Daughters are even crazier than HYDRA IX, but at least Kayla isn’t there. And you aren’t entirely sure where things stand between HYDRA IX and the Kabal, so going back to Ravenholm is probably best in that regard as well.

Your first task is to get Namara on board.

You figure she will probably be in the palace’s library, reading about the Saints.

The palace (more like an urban mansion) is a reasonable sized structure with three floors, two basement levels, and thirty odd rooms. It would actually be pretty comfortable if it weren’t for the sand, heat, Kayla’s harassment, and your discomfort around being associated with a new faction of heretics. Namara seems to have adjusted to it better, and you feel a bit bad trying to convince her to leave her home world, even in its current state.

You find Namara in the library and make sure no servants are around. As HYDRA IX may also have arcane or technological means of spying in the palace, you invite her out for a walk around the city (also known as Gomorrah).

You make small talk for a while, not sure where to start. As you do this, you also take in the sights of the city. It is a relatively low tech city by Imperial standards, but expertly crafted. From what you heard, it started as an oasis town, and grew into a major trade hub. You can see why Namara misses it, it is way better than your own lightless factory shithole of a homeworld.

But things have clearly gone badly here as well. You don’t know all the details, but apparently some rival HYDRA IX factions managed to coordinate and take down the planet while the token Guard and PDF forces were busy with the feral orks and necron. Sensing another defeat, Imperial High Command pulled what forces it could from the planet to send to Happy Ending and Damnatum Lutum while declaring victory against the orks. They then cut off contact with Gomorrah for morale purposes. Namara managed to get off world as a camp follower for a hastily formed regiment but never found out the fate of her world until now.

>>5426695

Since then the population has converted to the “Four Saints Faith”, weaving together aspects of the existing interpretation of the Imperial Faith with aspects of Chaos worship. Mutations associated with Slaanesh and Tzeentch are fairly common, though it is hard to tell the difference between the two since there are few types of mutation NOT associated with Tzeentch, and although many Slaaneshi mutations are sexual in nature, they are more diverse than those you have come to associate with the Daughters. Clothing is also pretty diverse, but Tzeentchians favor whites, blues, greens, while Slaaneshi favor pinks, purples, and blacks. Clothing is generally light and loose, as one would expect for a desert, though many Slaaneshi still favor black leather, and some of both wear metallic masks. You can’t help noticing though that their society seems a lot more functional that what you have seen from the Daughters lately, and has apparently been this way for several years.

You eventually decide to start by guilting Namara into trying to rescue Audrey, and then from that angle try to work in the idea that the “Four Saints” are fundamentally evil. The second part doesn’t really work and rings pretty empty even to your ears, but Namara seems to accept for now that you should rescue Audrey and fall back to Ravenholm, but you aren’t entirely sure you will ever be able to fully trust her again when it relates to matters of the Four Saints or HYDRA IX.

You start discussing various plans for rescuing Audrey and getting to Ravenholm, but realize you haven’t though that far ahead yet.

>Sneak into Kayla’s palace and break Audrey free via stealth and perhaps a bit of violence. Then seek a patron who could get you to Ravenholm.

>Try to convince Kayla to let you go on a mission to Ravenholm, then use the goodwill generated from doing so to ask for Audrey’s freedom.

>Try to convince Kayla that you are interest in learning more about Chaos to get access to more parts of her palace. Eventually try to get her to send you to Ravenholm.

>>5426698
>>Try to convince Kayla to let you go on a mission to Ravenholm, then use the goodwill generated from doing so to ask for Audrey’s freedom.
I guess this could work. I am generally oposed to Rhea using violence because she's not particularly good at it. Also Kayla is kind of scary. Does Kayla even know she has a daughter? Let alone that her daughter is in the same line of work she is?

>>5426733
+1

>>5426733
+2

>>5426698
>>Try to convince Kayla to let you go on a mission to Ravenholm, then use the goodwill generated from doing so to ask for Audrey’s freedom.

>Try to convince Kayla to let you go on a mission to Ravenholm, then use the goodwill generated from doing so to ask for Audrey’s freedom.

You decide to try and get Kayla to let you go on a Ravenholm mission.

You heard Kristoff is planning some sort revolt there, so you figure you can maybe get some goodwill by helping out.

You head over to Kayla’s palace.

As an active senior operative of HYDRA IX, Kayla is given considerable resources to work on her own pet projects. You are kind of surprised they gave her such a senior position so early, given she was working for the Daughters up until recently. Perhaps her knowledge of the Daughter’s operations makes her useful.

Kayla’s palace is a fair bit bigger than yours, and has a distinct Slaaneshi vibe despite HYDRA IX preferring Tzeentch. The tapestries and other decorations are very lewd, every room or free space seems dedicated to intoxication, orgies, or bondage, slaves and servants were picked for looks and/or sexually unusual mutations, and the dress code seems to be black leather, gold chains and piercings, and emphasizing naughty bits rather than covering them. Once you would have been aghast at such a display, but it borderline normal for you these days unfortunately, and a part of you is actually quite intrigued. Something about the nullstone embedded in you seems to be increasingly dampening your emotions, and only the new and risky seems to invoke much of a reaction in you lately.

You feel a strong pang of longing as you get a whiff of obscura and the sensation boaster “silk knife” from nearby hookahs, which switches to mild panic as you realize you were here last night and don’t remember anything about it.

Some eunuch guards lead you to Kayla, who is relaxing in one of the orgy rooms, observing the proceedings from a pile of cushions while smoking a hookah. Clouds of obscura and the gentle but entrancing melody being produced by a small cluster of musicians make it hard to focus.

Kayla is in good spirits and compliments you for your creativity last night. You realize you are blushing for the first time in ages.

You hope she is just taunting you, but probably not. You see Namara briefly glaring at you out of the corner of your eye.

Off balance from the jibe and the various distractions in the room, your poorly rehearsed explanation of why you want to aid Kristoff on Ravenholm is even more jumbled than usual when you try to lie or bluff your way through a situation. Perhaps that is why it works though. Bits of honesty slip in like wanting to be around Kristoff, wanting to take risks to shake off ennui bordering on depression, and wanting more leverage within HYDRA IX to get more unspecified “stuff”. Kayla probably attributes the rest of your blathering to drug-addled confusion.

>>5429607

Kayla states that the mission is outside her control, and to get involved, you will have to go talk to Elizabeth Durnham, one of HYDRA IX’s pet Inquisitors / daemonhost. You are less than thrilled with this, bluffing a daemonhost is several levels more dangerous than dealing with Kayla.

>Go visit Elizabeth Durnham.

>Try to sneak Audrey out and get offworld another way.

>Wait a few weeks and see if another mission to Ravenholm crops up.

>>5429607
>>Go visit Elizabeth Durnham.
Let's see what the daemonhost has in mind.
Also the numbness is a common side-effect of obscura addiction, so it might not be just the blackstone implants.

>>5429608
>Go visit Elizabeth Durnham.

>>5429608
>>Try to sneak Audrey out and get offworld another way.

>>5429608
>>Go visit Elizabeth Durnham.

File: Kristoff Masked.jpg (99 KB, 720x720)

99 KB JPG

>Go visit Elizabeth Durnham.

You decide to stick to the plan and go visit Elizabeth Durnham.

You have met her on a few occasions and are less than thrilled with the prospect. Apparently she was a radical Inquisitor who messed around with the wrong artifact and got possessed by a strange daemon known as Fleshfire who is somehow part Daemonette and part Horror.

You head over to the HYDRA IX compound where she commands operations from.

It is a frighteningly efficient example of how Chaos can be used under the right circumstances. Operatives, officers, and psykers in a wide array of blue and green clothing use warp altered devices to communicate with other worlds or scan potential futures. Two Alpha Legionnaires and a few xenos you don’t recognize are also present.

Elizabeth Durnham is the real show stopper though.

Each time you have met her she looks completely different. Today she looks like a floating, twitching, bound mutant woman whose face was mostly replaced with a single large eye, a beak for a tongue, two more large eyes growing from her torso, and four unnaturally long arms growing from her back. She has a few Slaaneshi mutations as well, but today seems to favor her Tzeentchian side, she practically crackles with barely constrained energy.

The operatives who escorted you in don’t let you near her or any of the equipment for obvious reasons.

The conversation ends up being very short.

“Speak” – says Elizabeth/Fleshfire.

“I want to join the mission to Ravenholm in return for....” – You begin.

“Accepted” – says Elizabeth/Fleshfire, cutting you off, and already turning away as she/it says this.

You can't help but wonder if she just doesn't see you as worth her time, or if she knows your motives and has incorporated them into some sort of convoluted plot.

You get led out of the compound and to some sort of vehicle garage.

This time you are barely surprised when everything goes black and you wake up on a different planet.

Apparently HYDRA IX still doesn’t trust you with whatever method they use to travel between planets.

You are in some sort of grandiose but long abandoned dining room. Judging by the architecture you are back on Ravenholm.

Kristoff sits at the head of the table. He looks basically the same since the last time you saw him, with dark robes, a skull printed mask, and a glowing ring on one finger.

Namara sits across from you, but she is still passed out.

There are a few masked and armed henchmen and women patrolling the room.

>Try to convince Kristoff you have ambitions in HYDRA IX and want a senior role in the operation.

>Try to convince Kristoff you are here somewhat unwillingly, but are still curious as to what he is up to.

>Try to convince Kristoff that he should help you for old times sake.

>>5432688
>>Try to convince Kristoff you are here somewhat unwillingly, but are still curious as to what he is up to.
we don't want to make it too obvious that we just did this to get off planet and away from Kayla, but I doubt anyone would be particularly surprised.

>>5432688
>>Try to convince Kristoff you have ambitions in HYDRA IX and want a senior role in the operation.

>>5432688
>>Try to convince Kristoff you are here somewhat unwillingly, but are still curious as to what he is up to.
Yeah, he knows us, so this is to be expected. Don't think we have that friendly of a relationship with it, unless Rhea got very; very drunk or high once, so let's not ridicule ourselves further.

>Try to convince Kristoff you are here somewhat unwillingly, but are still curious as to what he is up to.

You decide to play things fairly honestly and hope for the best.

“Sooo, you may be wondering why I am here, meddling with your brilliant plots, again...” - You begin, trying to break the tension.

Kristoff doesn’t seem too impressed, but it is hard to tell with the mask.

He guesses you are here to avoid Kayla and sneak back to a faction you see as less demanding, which is fairly accurate, though he missed the parts about trying to rescue Audrey or keep Namara from messing around too much with Chaos knowledge.

You acknowledge you want to avoid Kayla, but try to express some enthusiasm for learning more about Chaos rituals. Too bad Namara is still passed out, since she may be genuinely interested these days. On second thought, perhaps it is for the best she is still passed out...

Kristoff likely doesn’t believe you, but decides to fill you in on some details anyways.

He is planning on doing another of HYDRA IX’s corruption pamphlet gambits. You have seen similar rituals on Damnatum Lutum and on Archipelagia at the start of your very short-lived career with the Guard. The Camp Xenos Hunter incident still stings, and the look of displeasure on your face earns you a brief lecture on how HYDRA IX’s brand of ruthlessness may be the salvation of mankind, while the Daughters and Drukhari only enslave others to feed their own self-centered degeneracy.
You concede the point, but aren’t completely convinced.

Kristoff then explains the nature of the pamphlets a bit. Apparently the trick with the pamphlets isn’t the intensity in which they are Tainted, which they often aren’t particularly so, but the ability to draw people in by making connections to figures they are already familiar with, most of whom are in fact daemons who managed to insert themselves into the cultures of various Imperial worlds as a part of slow moving schemes. So the Gomorrah Saints for Gomorrah, and the folklore boogiemen for Damnatum Lutum, etc. However, sometimes HYDRA IX and their dark master don’t have enough time to lure locally relevant daemons into an alliance, and sometimes the corruption needs to occur quickly, so like at Camp Xenos Hunter, pamphlets designed for a different world are used, and infused with extra Chaos energy for quick but unstable results.

Long story short, Kristoff’s plan is to corrupt a bunch of Imperial citizens near “your” mansion, which is a key Daughters holding on Ravenholm, and hope the ensuring pandemonium draws the attention of the Inquisition and/or local authorities.

But since you are here now and apparently willing to help out, Kristoff proposes adding an extra layer to the plan, whereas you and Namara pretend to switch sides, then sabotage the Daughters from within.

>>5437883

>Agree to sabotage, actually do it.

>Agree to sabotage, then switch sides back to the Daughters.

>Try to get a less dangerous mission that doesn’t involve taking sides.

>>5437886
>>Agree to sabotage, then switch sides back to the Daughters.
We should probably let Nikki know what's going on. Kristoff is going to shit in our back yard. We want the area around the mansion, in particular, to be quiet and uneventful. Possible solution: take Kristoff into the mansion. Possible drawback: it becomes Kristoff'a mansion.

>>5437886
>>Agree to sabotage, actually do it.

>>5437886
>>Agree to sabotage, then switch sides back to the Daughters.
Feeding him to the mansion could be interesting, but is also very dangerous.
We still need to figure out a way to get Audrey back, though. But let's not go against the Daughters, it'd be counterproductive, I think.

>>5437886
>>Agree to sabotage, then switch sides back to the Daughters.

>Agree to sabotage, then switch sides back to the Daughters.

You decide to agree to the mission for now, but then warn the Daughters of Kristoff’s plans. Pissing off the Daughters doesn’t seem like a good idea, and Nicky is one of your few remaining allies despite her degeneracy. You aren’t quite sure yet how you will get Audrey back, but hopefully something will come up.

Kristoff’s plan is fairly simple really, you and Namara return to the mansion, make some excuses for not making progress against the Inquisition, then try to steal something known as the “Part-Nemow”, which is apparently a golden egg looking thing somewhere in the heart of the mansion.

Namara has awakened by this point and agrees to the plan. The two of you are given some more cultural and climate appropriate clothing to change into, then head out into the city.

You reach the mansion without incident, and find it guarded by a few Dark Selunites, as promised by Evil Rhea a while back, including Ursid Mask, Rabbit Mask, Fox Mask, Feline Mask, Vance, Delores, Jones, and the Sexy Librarian.

From there, you pass on word of Kristoff’s plan to Nicky.

And then you wait...

Nicky arrives with a few reinforcements, but doesn’t really have any sort of plan other than wait for further instruction from Evil Rhea.

No one seems to know what the Part-Nemov” is, or has heard of an object matching that description.

Many hours stretch by before Nicky starts getting nervous that HYDRA IX may be trying to entrap the mansion in some sort of ritual. Suspicious activity has been noted in a few nearby buildings that should be vacant.

>Volunteer to scout out one of the vacant buildings where strange activity has been spotted.

>Try to delve deeper into the mansion and look for hidden places among its many pocket dimensions where this “Part-Nemow” can be found.

>Try tipping off the Inquisition of Kristoff’s activities.

>Get drunk and go mess around with Namara, this is someone else’s problem now.

>>5440175
"Part Nemov"
"vomeN traP"
"Women Trap"
Yeah, I'm thinking Kristoff isn't a complete idiot and either saw our switching sides coming or used us as bait.
>Inform Nicky of the possible name pun and your worries about this being a setup. Insist we shouldn't all stay in the house.
>Volunteer to scout out one of the vacant buildings where strange activity has been spotted.
Get the fuck out of the immediate vicinity and take Namara with us. Then yeah, go investigate a building, preferably on where there doesn't look to be too many people. If it's a ritual, disrupting one point could be enough, but it also means they would all be well guarded.

>>5440175
>>Volunteer to scout out one of the vacant buildings where strange activity has been spotted.
>>Try to delve deeper into the mansion and look for hidden places among its many pocket dimensions where this “Part-Nemow” can be found.

>>5440273
>woman trap
Good point. Actually, we should all fucking run.

going on work travel again, probably won't post for a few days

>Volunteer to scout out one of the vacant buildings where strange activity has been spotted.

You decide that you should be proactive for once and go on the offence.

There is something about this whole “Part Nemov” thing that seems a bit off to you, but you can’t quite put your finger on it.

The Sexy Librarian has been looking at the sighted locations of HYDRA IX activity and think they may be trying to create some sort of pentagon within a circle with warp magic. Apparently it is a common trick within HYDRA IX since an encircled pentagram, AKA pentacle is significant to both Slaanesh and Tzeentch. Something about the number six and a bunch of other number stuff apparently.

You and Namara manage to get yourselves attached to Nicky’s scouting group along with two low ranking Dark Selunites that you don’t know. The group arms itself with some silenced autocarbines, and assorted sidearms and melee weapons.

Your group heads to its objective, an abandoned manse a few kilometers to the east, located in a patch of forest, with its own private cemetery.

You are already getting strong Damnatum Lutum – Liamhelm flashbacks even before you see the first group of opponents, a HYDRA IX operative overseeing a several strange mutants as they mutilate a struggling woman nailed to a tree. The mutants have a strong resemblance to the Pumpkin King, one of the boogiemen featured in the Damnatum Lutum themed Chaos pamphlet, but unlike the crude masks you have seen in the past, these individuals have somehow become mutated to resemble the Pumpkin King more literally. Hands, feet, and other body parts have become green, gnarled, and thorny, like vines, but the most obvious mutation is the heads, which literally have been transformed into hollowed out pumpkins, complete with carved faces and lit from within by guttering warp-flame. You aren’t sure how they are even alive, but if the warp can animate ghosts and zombies, this isn’t much of a stretch really.

>Recommend attacking pumpkin-things

>Recommend sneaking around and investigating the house

>Try to do as little as possible so that you don’t piss off HYDRA IX

>>5451039
>>Recommend sneaking around and investigating the house

>>5451039
>Recommend sneaking around and investigating the house
Yes

>>5451039
>>Recommend sneaking around and investigating the house

>>5451039
>>Recommend attacking pumpkin-things

>Recommend sneaking around and investigating the house

You manage to convince Nicky to leave the pumpkin heads alone for now and enter the manse by crouching and crawling behind old stone walls and patches of overgrown bramble.

The group manages to reach the manse without incident and sneak into a side door.

As you travel, you try to remember everything you can about the pamphlets. Apparently these ones only had Tzeentchi and Slaaneshi involvement. Not as powerful since they don’t appeal to all aspects of human nature as quickly, but more reliable as HYDRA IX’s Khornate and Nurglese allies are loose cannons at the best of times. Most of the Slaaneshi options are different aspects of a Daemon Prince known as Erotomortia with a focus on sadism and sowing fear, while most of the Tzeentchi options are different aspects of Thypptyklpt, the primary patron of HYDRA IX. The Pumpkin King is one of the lesser aspects of Erotomortia, hopefully you don’t run into one of the more powerful ones.

The first few rooms and halls you explore appear to be decrepit and long abandoned, though there are some signs they have been moved through recently.

But in an old dining room you make a shocking discovery.

At least a dozen bodies hang from the ceiling. Their heads have disappeared and their necks meld seamlessly into the ceiling. It takes you a few moments to remember where you have seen this before, back in the Wonka Land laboratory...

You shout out that everyone should keep close to you and Namara, but it is too late. Fish-Mask, the one in the latex body suit with strategic openings, suddenly jerks up into the air and joins those hanging from the ceiling. His limbs flail about wildly and he fires his autocarbine several times before dropping it. Dog-Mask, the nudist with the porn-star body, tries to flee for the door, but ends up in the ceiling herself a moment later.

Only Nicky is save, and likely only because she was standing near you already when you yelled out.

Even your enhanced eyes struggle to make out the ghost-like daemonette thing as it hovers near you for a moment, its near transparent face expressionless as it flickers in and out of reality. It then departs the room by flying through one of the walls. Presumably it was foiled by the null zones generated by yourself and Namara and has now gone to inform others in the manse of your presence.

>Retreat from the manse.

>Keep looking for some sort of ritual site.

>>5453795
>>Keep looking for some sort of ritual site.
Very, very quickly. If every site has things like this, we have to assume the other teams are gone, meaning it's up to us. Stay close together, find the ritual site, deface it, hope it's enough to disturb the greater ritual scheme around the mansion, then promptly get the fuck out.

>>5453795
>Keep looking for some sort of ritual site

>>5453795
>>Keep looking for some sort of ritual site.
Nicky probably wants her minions back

Checking in, any eta on the next update?

>>5459562
I have been pretty short on inspiration lately, but hope to start posting again soon

>>5467966
Maybe it's time to wrap everything up? I would kind of like Rhea's story to have a real ending instead of just heading away. She's a good girl and she deserves that much.
(Last post is Rhea sitting in a folding chair while all the other characters clap)

>>5468284
I guess I can wrap it up if that is what people want

Any more ideas on how it should end? It probably won't be an entirely happy ending because 40k

>>5472706
I mean, I don't necessarily want it to end but if writer's block is kicking in, at least an end time might be inspirational, and part of me is concerned that if there isn't a deliberate ending it'll just kind of fade away. As far as "happy" endings go, I'll be mostly satisfied if Rhea and Namara make it through. Maybe they end up getting kidnapped by Trys'ta, whose on the lam from the Frozen Heart, and they wind up in an Aeldari corsair fleet? Maybe Evil Rhea ends up becoming a Keeper of Secrets?

>>5472706
I'll echo, it may be time for a wrap up, or an open ended ending going into a hiatus, if you want to try your hand at something else again.

As for ending, yeah, something simple and sweet would work, with Rhea and Namara enjoying a somewhat peaceful retirement away from trouble (maybe an imperial world with no Inquisition, real or otherwise, or too big of a Slaaneshi cult for once?), however short that retirement may be, until there comes a time for Hapless Retired Guardswoman or something of the sort!

No matter what, I'll say this has been great to follow ever since I got marooned on quest over a year ago. Not the most stable schedule, but you stuck with it in the distance, which already places you among the better QMs out there. Also, your style of quest has been pretty recognizable, but maybe you should get a trip if you're going away from 40k and your usual character creation setup?

Since it looks like this is going to the archive soon, i will say that I'd like to see one more thread to wrap things up if QM would be willing