In difference to a new, harrowing way of doing things, long desperate cries have persuaded the old scribe to try something . . . different.

>https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K9lcYnZSULKKQoWbbnTvlbbdhtTvEPsRchdaFDb-yWs/edit?usp=sharing

So now instead of hammering you with the artistic design sensibilities of a blind stoat, we're trying ]plainer text. Personally I think it's a fad that won't catch on, but who am I to say but the universal clockwork mechanism?

So peruse the information up and over, and as usual, expect half to be lies and half to be misinterpretation of lies. You should ask questions. It builds character.

But for now, exist. Tell us a little about yourself, maskmate. We have to ask these questions, see.

#Marketmoniker
==Core==
Guard 12
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 12
>bump 1 by +1
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 10
>bump 2 by +2 or 1 by +3
==Style==
1x of Brawling 14, Shatterhands 12, Knot-tying 12, Vanadian Boxing 12, Legionlock 10, Taking Arts 12
>You're going to want to read the rules for these, but if you're not that interested, simply consider them different ways of introducing faces to fists.
==Mask==
1 out of
Plain
Hawkmask (+Glory)
Red Droplet (+Violence)
Wrackwood (+Weird)
Legion Fullhelmet (+Honour)

>There's a discord for skirmishy stuff
>https://discord.gg/p55rVyvw

>There's some other threads, if you're interested. Though they aren't required reading
>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=art%3F

File: Equipment and Other Kit.png (516 KB, 1266x1048)

516 KB PNG

Perhaps if you want to grab something from the arrangement equipment, you can eye it here - there's some tools prepared for out little Ball tonight, in Ratport, wind-torn and distant.

Kit and toolkits have Weight - and if you bring more than your Grit-10, you'll find yourself slowed down tremendously by the weight of it all.

File: Ratport 3A - Go.png (1.21 MB, 1404x1062)

1.21 MB PNG

The plan, in all it's glorious simplicity, is to find the warehouse wherein Rinik and his slicerats store the shipment of Mothdream. And then - much akin to last time - light the whole thing aflame.

But this time, since we know they know we're coming, we know that Rinik will have taken some measure of method to prevent us simply lightning it all up. Bypass that, whatever it may be.

Secondly, and just as importantly as the vagaries of arson, will be to find how it can be that Rinik can be so supplied with Mothdream than we light a warehouse on full flame and here, scant weeks later, we find ourselves doing the same. No man receives such an easy abundance of materials. He's not Noble Cartel shipping magnate, or a Legionaire supply point. The Red Market will pay rather well for any information, and we'll need it further, later, for different deeds. Perhaps a missive, or a memo, or something so simple as a message, will spell out the details. If nothing of that type can be found, rely on your wits and your will and investigate before you arson-ate and perhaps something will leap like insight to the mind.

--

Some of us will intercept and hold off the Slicerats from their initial reinforcement, but this is deep Slicerat territory. They own the streets. It's a matter of time before they rally enough to simply drown us in a tide of fists and feet, and unlikely our last dance at their warehouse, they now know we mean mean business to their meaner business. If you get swarmed by rats, perhaps tonight you'll find out why their moniker is slicerats. Rinik isn't the type to play clean or quick when his empire is on the line.

--

Other than, now is simply the quiet hours for questions, preparations and getting into position ...

--

>Front
Mock
Fourth Dusk
Lagomorpheus
Waxworm

>Interception
Sal
Amicus
Abnegation

>Clever
Klaunn
Riv
Spiders Man

>Foresight Accrued
4

--

Find your Masks.
Find your smiles.
Wear both.
It's a ball, after all.

File: Ratport 1-1.jpg (3.24 MB, 3760x4532)

3.24 MB JPG

For the sort of maskmate willing to ramble in through the front, fists all raised and blood all pumping, it seems that there are one of 3 options.

Simply pick a deployment area, and act from the number. . . !

>>5868113
Gentlemen.

>Deploy 3

Will do the rest of the action tomorrow. Sleep time.

#Tier
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 10 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
!Creative Use Encouraged (Unpenalized improvisation)
!Wear My Kicking Boots (Damage gets +GRIT against prone targets)
!Knuckledancer: Build +1 or drop 1 Aggression / Cunning per major attack.
==Mask==
Mothdiver mask
==Contacts==
The Red Markets - 7
Vanadian Expeditionary Veteran - 8
==Stuff==
16 Bits
125 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth

Rolled 5, 5, 6 = 16 (3d6)

>Spend 11 Cold Coins & 11 Bits asking the mask carvers to carve a symbol of Sprint into my mask (seeking +x to sprint actions. I assume that the downside is a need to go fast, but Lagomorpheus lacks cultural knowledge about the meaning of these symbols. I just pick the pretty ones.

>Deploy from 1 (or wherever the front door is if that's not it)

#Lagomorpheus
==Core==
Guard 14 <- untested
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well?
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 (2) Psyche 12 (2) Grit 12 (2)
Reaction 10 Focus 12/12 - Yay for Naps.
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14 (agi 4 unlocked)
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
Self Control 12? - 1 (SH) = 11
1 Stain. Stained with what?
1 Maskmyth (what to do? Speed? Jumping? Stealing Weapons? Harassing Moths?).
1 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? Unassigned ? The Family ? (?)
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Mothdream Pouches x 6
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 2.0 Mothdream + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 4.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 empty bowl which once held gruel

Rolled 3, 3, 4, 2, 5, 5, 3, 3, 2 = 30 (9d6)

>>5868113
My lady, my Red Lady, bear witness to this bloody tribute!

>Deploy 1
>Mug the Future for 3AP
>Move 44
>3AP+1AGI to BONK the rat with my BONK-KEN
>3AP+2FOC BONK him AGAIN
>3AP+2FOC Pocketpilfer
>1RP dodge (it'll work for sure this time)
>Succumb to the Mask (certainly a good idea)

#Waxworm
==Core==
Guard 11
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All good. Honest.
-Status: Alive?
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 11 Focus 7/11
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Taking Arts 12
!Shadowtheft: [1 AP and Dodge Reaction] - Dodge behind, steal 1 guard
!Mug The Future: Steal AP from your future self. Start next turn with that much Stun.
==Mask==
Stainwood(+Weird)
-2 Maskstains
==Contact==
The Red Markets - 7
Kalcimiri Glass Knight - 8
==Pockets==
-Bent Long Knife
-Bonk-ken
-Brightflash Bandolier
-Exceptional Fishing Gear
-Cold Coins x5
-Bits x6
==Other==
-Rat Mark x1
-Hygean Mark x1

File: supaidaman.gif (2.56 MB, 498x329)

2.56 MB GIF

>>5868113
1 of 3 options? How near sighted, there is an entrance anywhere in this dance we find ourselves in. In this web of Shadows swings Spiders Man. And on this episode to discover what Rinik has planned with all the Mothdream he could possibly acquire he infiltrates the ranks of the slicerats. Spiders man adds another layer to himself and passes himself as one of the members hiding behind the veil of his newly acquired whispercloth to fall in. Enter Spiders rat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1PePr8hAsc

>Clever entry: Hiding behind the veil of the Whispercloth pass myself as a member of the slicerats and arrive with one of the boats filled with stuff and people to enter the area undetected
>A minor accident with the crane will surely influence the environment?
>Lets find out!
>Don't know if I can spend anything on this...

Spider-Man
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 11 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain
==Things==
[Whispercloth] +1 Dodge, +1 Grapple reach
[Wire-Fangs] +1 Traverse, Length 4, Pulls with Str 13 (vs Understand to aim, 1ap to pull self or target)
-Weight 1, Malfunction 16
[Vial of Slapcrete] Sticky...maybe useful for the future of...web slingers?? Maybe someone could help with this
4x[Heartflush Dose]
==Contacts==
Vanadian Trade Correspondent - 9
The Red Markets - 7

>>5868113
>Deploy 2
>{1RP} Parry
>{6AP, Brawling 14} Overwatch 5: Kick if any Rats try anything. [+3ACC (AP) | -2ACC, +2DMG, +1RCH (Kick)] (Total ACC: 15)
>-...Just wait for now while Waxworm does their thing.

(By the way, a simple dropkick wouldn't count as a "high-diving" move, would it? Assuming me and the target were on the same elevation, anyways.)

#Mock
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: 3 Aggression, 2 Cunning, 3 GLORY
-Status: Alive
==Array==
Health 4/4 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Brawling 14
-!Creative Use Encouraged, !Wear My Kicking Boots, !Knuckledancer
==Mask==
Mothdiver Mask {1 STAIN}
-+1 Hit and Effect on high-diving style moves.
-Recover 1 Focus when landing a diving attack.
-Punches are boring...
-+Mothmask effects
-Carving: +1 Hit when diving
==Kit==
Model 73 Boots
-1 Weight
-+1 Raw Damage on kicks
-Feet protection
-*Clonk Clonk Clonk*
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8

>>5868113
#Riv
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
[Health 2] :: [Psyche 2] :: [Grit 2]
[Reaction 11] :: [Focus 11/11]
==Skills==
[Sense 12] :: [Understand 10] :: [Influence 10] :: [Move 14]
==Style==
[Brawling 14]
==Mask==
[Plain]
==Inventory==
[9 Coldcoin]
[8 Bits]
[5 Luperni Jaegerhound FCS fuel cells (Wgt: 1.65)]]
==Contacts==
Legion Quartermaster Contact - 8
==Other==
[1 Rat Mark]
[1 Hygean Mark]
==Lifestyle==
[A Good Bed, A Door That Locks, And Privacy] (Standard)
+ [An Easy Way Out] (Outstanding)
[Bland Food For A Week] (Standard)

> Deploy from 2

>>5868210
> (4AGI) Move [4]x1, [3]x1 [4]x2
> (3AP) Search through the various crates and containers at [3] for anything useful. (Sense 12)
> (3AP) Stack the nearby containers against the wall of the East-most building in a crude staircase arrangement so as to make future attempts to climb to the roof a little easier. (???)

>>5868113
Whoever I was before exists no longer. Only their body remains, and it yearns to build a new self.

>Deploy 1

#Nemo
==Core==
Guard 12
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 13 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter
!Offhander
!Pack Tactics
==Mask==
Plain
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Animist Associate 8
==Pockets==
3x Mothdream Pouch

Rolled 1, 3, 2, 5, 1, 4, 3, 6, 2, 1, 5, 5 = 38 (12d6)

>3 AP - Overwatch a Pole Vault, to be assisted by my new friend Bonk-Kun. Use overwated pole vault if I would otherwise collide with something. Hoping to end up on the building. (mv 14-1 weight). Leaving any self-control rolls up to fate, but I believe that I'm living up to my mask tenats.
>1 Agi - Sprint South (first 3d6).
>1 Agi - Sprint South (second 3d6).
>1 Agi - Sprint South (third 3d6).
>3 AP - Sniff out weapons (fourth 3d6) (sense 12).

Waxworm was a competent explorer. Lagomorpheus decided to let them start the ruckus on their own while Lago achieved a higher state of being and scouted from up above.

==Core==
Guard 14 <- untested
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well?
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 (2) Psyche 12 (2) Grit 12 (2)
Reaction 10 Focus 12/12 - Yay for Naps.
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14 (agi 4 unlocked)
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
Self Control 12? - 1 (SH) = 11
1 Stain. Stained with what?
1 Maskmyth (what to do? Speed? Jumping? Stealing Weapons? Harassing Moths?).
1 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? Unassigned ? The Family ? (?)
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Mothdream Pouches x 6
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 2.0 Mothdream + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 4.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 empty bowl which once held gruel

>>5868113
"Let's get this show on the road."
>Grab a Wire-Fang.
>Deploy 2

#The Circus
==Core==
Guard 15/15
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 14
==Style==
Knot-tying 12
!Painpoints: Stun Dmg Base
!Jointlock: 2x Grapple effect
!Tie in a Knot: Grapple penalty as +hit on followup
==Mask==
Plain
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
==Contacts==
Red Markets-7
==Inventory==
12 Bits
Wire-Fang
125 Cold Coins

>>5868091

>Join to intercept (Running late and happening to meet pack of rats)

"Oh no no no I'm late again. That animist they do damn good job but you also sleep like it was nothing afterwards." Leone ran out and in to alley to don her mask and climb to the roof. From there she kept on running towards the port. "Huh that's a lot of rat moving around right now." She ran until stepping on an loose piece of roof and slipping hopefully landing with more graze than falling leviathan. "AAAAH crap. Look out bellow...."

# Rion 'Leone'

==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 10 Focus 12

==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Shatterhands 12
!One Against: All parry penalties are halved. You can retreat with a parry as well, +3 if so.
!Legwork: Harsh penalties in a grapple or when off balance, dangerous techniques, kicking has less consequences
!Serpent’s Precept: -2 to skill, roll damage twice or make it Piercing (which really hurts)
!Squall: -2, kick hits line 3 (roll once)
==Mask==
Wrackwood (+Weird)
>Ash and Smoke
Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.
Boon: Khorkis, Resplendent Advancer of Great Works Through Bloodied Hands, or, as some call it, the worm that devours the hearts of men with glory.

You can use this Boon with a Focus roll. It rewards tenacity, conviction, courage, self-sacrifice and devotion. Which might seem rather vague, but what is a dream but an unstoppable force given direction? They say belief and Fatih can both move mountains, but it's the dream of hills to become mountains in the first place.

To spend a boon, take an action and invoke it. It helps to invoke it for a purpose the Icon *appreciates*, or they're won't to do much grand good. On the other hand, if you do something that rewards their keen attention to you, the world will resonate with the thrum of their presence.

>17 bits (12 for payout + 5 for wounds)
>135 cold Coins
>1 reputation
>1 maskmyth
guard 13 > 14
Health 12 > 13
Learn !Squall
>add masksmark: Ash and Smoke
Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.

Btw do we keep boons that the wrack mask gave in last outing or are they lost if not used?

>>5868314
"AAAAH crap. Look out below...."

> Deploy 3

> 3 Agility, 1 AP: Move 5, 666
> 1 AP: Sit down on the box
> 4 AP: Relax. Blend in. Enjoy the story. There’ll be time to fight, yet; I’ll partake words offered so freely, for now.

#Fourth Dusk
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 13 Psyche 13 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain (Bloody Tears Flourish)
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8
==Equipment==
Fighting Mitts

>>5868113
>>5868494
Sorry, my links seem a bit strange right now.
Also, I am bringing a bandolier of bright flash grenades.

Rolled 1, 6, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>5868143
>Oh and grab Model 73 Boots. Should apply to my dropkicks, right?

>>5868113
>>5868143
Oh, oh, also
> Pay 14 Bits and Coins for a Carving. Ask the practitioner to carve additional wings and abstract, soaring figures into my mask (+1 additional hit on diving attacks)

Ok, as for the action:
>3 Agility: jump on the wheelbarrow/cart 6, strike a pose
"What-ho! Rats! So many rats! Pray tell, is this some sort of a *port* where they ship in misbegotten sods like you by the bushel? Come up and face me, if you dare!"
>1 RP: Dodge
>3 AP + 3 AP: Prepare to kick off of the wheelbarrow/cart, jumping off and pushing it into attacking rats, provided any come out to attack me, ofc (this could be considered part of me stepping away for my Dodge).

#Tier
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 10 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
!Creative Use Encouraged (Unpenalized improvisation)
!Wear My Kicking Boots (Damage gets +GRIT against prone targets)
!Knuckledancer: Build +1 or drop 1 Aggression / Cunning per major attack.
==Mask==
Mothdiver mask
==Contacts==
The Red Markets - 7
Vanadian Expeditionary Veteran - 8
==Stuff==
2 Bits
111 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
Model 73 Boots (Weight 1)
2 Glory

>>5868322
>>5868314
Boons fade with time, as the attention of the grand Icons wander. They're Distant, mostly, and the deeds that catch their eyes and the acts we do that bind their attention further to the world can fade with time.

There's a free college scholar who recently published a work on xenozoology who has a few interesting words on the attention span of an Icon and a mathematical model she calls the Fishbowl Transform for Threshold Observation Dynamics, but, Leone, reading Free College papers is how one learns too many things and too little all at once.

>>5868496
>>5868494
How volatile. Thank you for telling the world. We'll be sure to let you know when your bandolier of precious fluids in fragile containers clink together and cook off.

Rolled 1, 6, 3 = 10 (3d6)

>>5868091
> Run Interception

%Sundancer
==Core==
Guard 12
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 13
==Skills==
Understand 12, Influence 12
==Style==
Brawling 14
==Mask==
Plain

Rolled 5, 6, 3, 5, 3, 6 = 28 (6d6)

>>5868224

>Move 5, face 5
>1AP: Watch and [Sense] what's going on with the crowd...
>Hmm... Interesting display, isn't it?
>1 AP: Try to [Understand] what it is they've gathered around for.
>1 RP: Dodge. Best to not let this sight catch us off guard.

#Nemo
==Core==
Guard 12
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 13 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter
!Offhander
!Pack Tactics
==Mask==
Plain
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Animist Associate 8
==Pockets==
3x Mothdream Pouch

>>5868623
what's 'resilience'? Two of the styles use it and only one of them has a move to make any

Rolled 3, 2, 4, 6, 5, 3 = 23 (6d6)

>>5868113
>It was just a prank, deploy from 3.
>3AGI Move 111
>3AP Haggle for some g o o d d e a l s with any merchants nearby. (12 Influence)
>3AP+1AGI Observe the entrance to the building to the west. (10+1 Sense)

#The Circus
==Core==
Guard 15/15
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 14
==Style==
Knot-tying 12
!Painpoints: Stun Dmg Base
!Jointlock: 2x Grapple effect
!Tie in a Knot: Grapple penalty as +hit on followup
==Mask==
Plain
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
==Contacts==
Red Markets-7
==Inventory==
12 Bits
Wire-Fang(Traverse+1,Length4,Str13Pull)
125 Cold Coins

>>5868670
>>5868623
Someone punched the scribe really hard last time, you see, and so she messed up and wrote Guard and Resilience as interchangeable. Resilience is Guard and Guard is Resilience. There's another reality in an entirely different ... place... where people with guns care a lot about there Resilience.

But we're not there right now, and so, you should just assume that if something says Resilience it's meant to say Guard, and also, that we've gotten the Scribe to go back through their stuffed and to solve all that, by word and deed and quick pass for glaring flaws. Apologies for the confusion.

Ah, now it seems everyone is more or less aligned, array'd, armed, armored and advancing. Let's . . . get on with it, shall we, maskmates?

>Passed on the previous thread. Is there no more rolling for Guard/contacts?

Fang-Pierced Philomel
==Core==
Guard
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array==
Health 12 Psyche 13 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10 Understand 12 Influence 12 Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter: +hit/+effect against targets = half unshared penalties
!Offhander: 1AP roll vs Grit/Reaction for a penalize target
!Pack Tactics: Major attacks cost -1AP against target fighting an ally
==Mask==
Blank !Canvas

Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d3)

rollan

Rolled 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 2 = 20 (6d6)

>>5868113
>>5869351
>Deploy 3
>3AG Move 566
>2AP Have a smoke before shit goes down
>4AP Stare at the hound intently, form a bond. Fill it with emperor's fury in hopes it will bite the balls of one of the guards next to it (Influence 12)
>1RP Get ready to dodge

#Cardinal Sin
==Core==
Guard 13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
Status: All well
Status: Alive
==Array==
Armor 1 + Health 12 [3] Psyche 12[2] Grit 13[3]
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12[Agi=3]
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter (+hit/+effect)
!Offhander (1AP)
!Pack Tactics (AP discount)
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet
!Reduce Terror by Grit (1AP)
!Armored Advance (+1 Armor)
!Paradeground Performance

File: Stories and Stars 1.png (1.04 MB, 1182x834)

1.04 MB PNG

In the quiet parts of Ratport, the Storyteller flourishes their long cape and prepares to spin a yarn of ancient old deeds, grand stars and distant thefts - the most popular story in all of Pyther, that of the smart and clever and cunning and quick Theurges in the distant city of Sareth, who plucked a star from the high heavens and made of all the world the joy it is today. And as he starts the first verse...

File: Stories and Stars 2.png (644 KB, 1248x774)

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. . . a man in a mask stained with twisted wood and stranger deeds comes barreling down the low road at a sprint, a long blunt training tool for the fine arts of poking holes in other people clenched in their hand, and the crowd is rather distracted on account of the vast amounts of violence that follow.

The surprised Slicerat guard throws up his arms in a deft defense and takes the initial flurry right dead-end.

No slouch this pack-leader, squaring off and glaring at the new arrival...

File: RatPort 1-1-2.jpg (4.59 MB, 3760x4532)

4.59 MB JPG

[I]Our front-seeking ferocious doorkickers arrive like the tide following a twist in the path of the high heavens, too sudden and too quick to avoid. The slower members of our little band will trickle in now, but that's the way of things - the ones who pledge to go very first go very fast, and get the glory, but, alas, the danger in equal measure.

Which is all to say: It's good to see so many new masks for this particular Masquerade, and you will be joining quite shortly, but, if you did not opt to rush in as the very first feet last time, you can't join the flash-advance right now. How would you? By definition, it's already left, faster than you!

So Lagomorpheus, Mock, Waxworm and Fourth Dusk find themselves alone on the field for one full spinning of the gyre and then the rest of our storied band can arrive. No doubt in the very nick of time, for judging by the stance of that door-guard, these Slicerats know how to fight. They're not simple ruffians in Rinik's long employ. No, look at them. They're... trusted men. Handpicked rats. Well-fed rats. Little scavengers, banners and bandanas and bloody hands from menacing mean work.

That one near the door, glaring off against Waxworm, takes the first hit on his raised arms and then with his other, clear for the moment, he draws a knife. His opponent is armed. It's only the fairer way of the world.

Waxworm, entirely focused on the battle at hand, decides to ...

... Immediately lower his guard and get absorbed in the fluttering of the story-tellers cape? Well, it's a tactic, perhaps, although not one apt to leave your lungs in one piece given the precipitous speed of a knife-fight.[/i]

--

[ WORLD PHASE ]

File: Ratport Interception 1-1.png (1.16 MB, 1406x1056)

1.16 MB PNG

The Slicerat Patrols that prowl these distant shanties and twisting warrens shift and move.

From the distance, a... courier group? arrives. That one moves with intent. Each turn, they'll move 1 closer, until they finally arrive in Ratport.

Our Interceptors have a choice to make.

You can Intercept a given Patrol. Their Strength is in Red and their Number is in Teal. When you intercept, this is a Style Roll, opposed by the Slice-Rats Patrol-Strength +10. For each positive Margin, you reduce their Strength by 1.

Because you can plan this, when you opt to Intercept, you can roll 6d6. The first 3d6 is your Style. The next 3d6 is the Slicerats. This allows others to figure out how well (or how poorly) you did, and that way, you can coordinate a little. They might want to sprint to your aid, or not. Because...

... For each margin by which the Slicerats win, everyone involved get a little trounced, taking some bruises, losing some guard, suffering some damage.

If you want to push yourself, you can get +1-4 to your Style by accepting a level of danger. This is a skill roll, taken at that penalty (1-4), before your Style roll. If you succeed, you get to add that much bonus. Do describe how your skills help. Skills can also alter the land-scape around here a little bit, blocking off paths, setting things in motion.

A Slicerat Patrol reduced to 0 is functionally out of the scrap, fleeing, and won't show up in Ratport later or be there to harass you if you need to leave at speed.

If the Slicerats are uninterrupted, well, they wander, and if someone reaches them from the Warehouse, they'll come sprinting over at speed.

Speaking of sprinter over at speed, Patrol 5 has wandered in to the Ratport Warehouse Tile, and will arrive at the *end* of next Player Phase / start of world phase. Unless, of course, you intercept them.

... But if you'd rather not keep the byways and alleyways clear, and since our first fierce frontal fighters have kicked in the door, you can instead opt to deploy...

>>5869606
How would people aiding an intercept work? Does each interceptor roll their own margin to try to beat the enemy margin, and the margin difference either reduces strength or hurts interceptors?

File: Inside View 1.png (896 KB, 1382x926)

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From Lagomorpheus perch, he can just about Sense the vague outline of a room below him. Not... with any great detail, but enough to know that this is indeed a Slicerat warehouse, there's about 5 people inside... no... five armed people... but there's more people inside... and it has two major rooms. One is a small office, that's the door closest to Lago, and the other is the actual warehouse. Something about this building is also odd. It doesn't... feel architecturally sound.

>Sense Margin 1
>Very, very rough picture.

File: RatPort 1-2.jpg (5.06 MB, 3760x4532)

5.06 MB JPG

The Packleader, the Slicerrat, shakes his head. Masks. Always the heroic times, aren't they? Too many glory seeking errant-questers in this line of work. He should have stuck with where he had a good thing going, Legion deep recon wasn't exactly the worst job in the world if you liked mud and blood and other people's insides. And the food was nice and the uniform fit. He shakes his head. He draws his knife. Somehow, the simple gesture is infused with menace. And then instead of attacking, striking, instead of grabbing Waxworms soft vulnerable throat and bringing steel home to roost, he snaps his fingers and barks a command and all the Slicerats previously distracted and occupied by the words of the story spinner mumble and groan and complain and roll their shoulders and square off, joining the fray.

Oh.

Waxworm backpedals as the first attack comes in, dodges it, and clears space between himself and the sudden seven-on-one fight and then, out the corner of his eyes, he spots a mischief of pyre crows. It is said they warm you in winter, if you ask nice. It is said they make their nest from spun sunlight and stray sparks. It is said when the Theurgic Council have a vast and world-spanning decision to make, they let a Pyre Crow loose in their high chambers and if it settles there, the decision is weighty enough on the spirit of our fair city that they should debate it then. And if the Pyre Crow unruly flits away, they should table the motion for later.

Of course, that's all rumor now. The Theurgic Council and their ways was kicked from the city on a wave of accusations that they sought to burn us all, and people don't feed the Pyre Crows as many scraps as they used to. Maybe they resent that. Crows have long memories. The streets might belong to the rats, of the scurrying and the human kind, but the rooftops are still the kingdom of crows.

Waxworm thinks about all this as he hurls his bokken at the Pyre Crow, for no other particular reason than it would be sort of interesting. Spur of the moment impulse. They happen sometimes.

The Pyre Crow and its seven beady looking friends do not seem so amused or apt to entertain fancies.

--

Fourth Dusk gets accosted.
Lagomorpheus sniffs out the local terrain.
Mock squares off.

--

The terrain shifts a little, patrols opening, things cutting in and out.

Scrap if you like, and if you're quite done running interception, you can deploy from a listed point and take a turn. Although the price of arriving a little later after Intercepting is you might be a little off-balance or out of breath.

--

>Mask Phase!
>Deployed Masks can act
>Interceptors can Intercept and deploy

>Clever Types can attempt to play their tricks now, as the first fight of the night is gearing off, or hold it for later, building up to something bigger.

Clever Tricks pick a point.
Act from there.
Roll a trick.
Minor penalties the closer you are to current deployments (you took the long way around, see)

>>5869625
Having friends help, so unless you'd specifically wait nicely in line and go at them one by one, the total effort against one target just tallies up. It's why its useful to have friends. You'll do your thing. They'll do their thing. And all your friends will do their thing against them too.

Though, of course, they do get to resist individiually. But with some effort, you'll wear them down pretty quick.

>>5868143
>>5868184
>>5868210
>>5868224
>>5868275
>>5868314
>>5868623
>>5869286
>>5869364
Right then, so it goes. If you'd all feel free to partake in the throw down now, you should find it a whole lot readily easier. Intercept as you please, stick around to do it persistently, or rally around to deploy at the end of intercepting.
As for tricks, well, you can try now them now that the advanced party has gotten themselves tangled into all kinds of trouble.

As for words to the wise and other such things, let's take it in order:

>>5868184
You can spend as much bits and coinage as you like, Spiders, Man!?, and and you'll find that although no currency conversion or precise measured amount exist, it does make it easier to arrange industrial accidents if you bribe the right harbour foreman.

>>5868207
A simple drop-kick? No. Your target is on the same elevation as you. Now, an advanced drop-kick, against someone below you? Now that's... high diving.

>>5868501
Diving is, in point of fact, a storied tradition (and rather apropo of a Moth, besides).

>>5869286
Once the adrenaline high of an initial contact wears off, the rolling is less neccessary. You can follow Nemo's quite apt situational read and simple pick a contact now and enjoy the benefits of knowing your friends. You do still get +1 stat, which I see you've put into Psyche (and that'll come in handy tonight, tha's a promise), a skill boost, which you have, and - ah - your Guard would be *12*.

Ensuring later comers roll a little less random exposure tends to make them fighting fit. Welcome aboard.

>>5869351
Whatever for, friend?
>>5869364
Oh, that-ever-for, well, perhaps we'll accept it just this once. Though, one should point out that you're free to simply pick a friend, now that they've all been revealed. Good to have you. Was worried we'd have a lack of steel spinal columns and marching dedication around here.

>>5869640
The Circus meanders through the assortment of barrels and cargo, as if drawn toward something by an invisible thread, waves to 4th Dusk as they pass by.

>Deploy from 3
>4AGI Move 5665
>6AP Move 566 666
>RP Dodge

#The Circus
==Core==
Guard 15/15
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 14
==Style==
Knot-tying 12
!Painpoints: Stun Dmg Base
!Jointlock: 2x Grapple effect
!Tie in a Knot: Grapple penalty as +hit on followup
==Mask==
Plain
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
==Contacts==
Red Markets-7
==Inventory==
12 Bits
Wire-Fang(Traverse+1,Length4,Str13Pull)
125 Cold Coins

>>5869641
If they get to resist each individually, then wouldn’t they just be accruing margin for every mask that enters the fray to try and stop them? That sounds like the opposite of helping if each and every mask isn’t very professional read: lucky. Indeed, I wonder how we would be expected to stop any but the weakest of these patrols if this is the case.

>>5869653
What a wonderful view, of distant waves, salty seas, ships shippings, cranes craning, fishers fishing, and that bush is rustling a little, isn't it? Huh. There's...

Oh, no it was nothing at all! Just the mind playing tricks on you, softsoul. Strangest thing. It looked like a fluttering set of long cloth stained with time a man with a smile like the armortisation of a long, long loan. Huh.

No probably nothing.

File: Evening Strolls.png (661 KB, 1398x1038)

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>>5869657
Are you expected to, maskmate? Or are you expecting to because you expect that the world expects it?

Perhaps trying to prevent a gaggle of weary wiery wired up rats with knives a sort of reward all on its own, and no small bones if it pays only in bruises because they're bruises you'll recieve anyway when they come a-prowling. To intercept them early, well, dangerous work, rewards unsure.

The only type of hero who wins a war, one man against eight and more coming, is a Rebus Agent, one of those distant and storied Vanadian folkheroes with their multitools and their multitude of talents, and the Legion, grand and high. The rest of us mortals, masks or not, might just have to make do with our fists, feet and focus. You're not walking away from an eight on one fight without a bruise or two. But if you remember how things work around here, yeah, then even successful defenses tend to leave a mark, so you would probably do something even if you won't single-handled throw-off an entire warband of scurrying rats.

And if enough friends do something, perhaps it all works out a lot better than you think it would.

But then again, you might simply opt to not get involved in that kind of back-alley brawling. It's apt to be dangerous, if one doesn't work together.

>>5869665

>>5869666
Well, I am expecting it to do *something* seeing as it was presented as a viable option to pursue instead of deploying. Especially with the tone of urgency about reinforcements arriving and couriers going about bringing swarms of rats should they reach their destinations. Sure, I might expect bruises from deploying and fighting normally, but at least there I can use my wit, circumstances, and abilities to tip the odds in my favor. With an interception attempt, it looks like all I would accomplish on average is taking damage without so much as slowing them down. At that point, I have to ask, why am I trying to intercept in the first place?

Maybe if some other people commit to the same target so that this “something” incurred even on a successful defense might come about, I might go help an interception, but right about now I find myself regretting not joining the forward team.

>>5869674
And it is urgent. And they will get there if no one tries to stop them.
Moving with intent, those couriers, and there's a rather a lot of them, all knives out and skulking through the tight streets. Rinik must be worried about someone ambushing his little rats as they scrample. You can get in their way or stay out of their way.

The choice is yours.

If you do get in their way, then yes, it would be easiest with friends. Otherwise, perhaps an easier target might still do some good, if you don't feel like risking it. That's the unfortunate and fortunate nature of risk. Sometimes, you can pick your exposure. Trying to get the drop on a full convoy of criminals is, after all, rather a lot of risk.

But as for wit, circumstance and ability, you'll find plenty of that, with the skills, training and tools you have available. Might just take a while for you to remember how or why or when. That's alright too, we're here for a job. Heroics are, as always, a a bonus, salacious.

>>5869648
>Well I've got 38 Cold coins left over so lets pay off. How about... 15 coins for the right harbor foreman.
>Lets get ourselves in. Disguise at the ready...
>Enter Spider-Rat

Spider-Man
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 11 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain
==Things==
[Whispercloth] +1 Dodge, +1 Grapple reach
[Wire-Fangs] +1 Traverse, Length 4, Pulls with Str 13 (vs Understand to aim, 1ap to pull self or target)
-Weight 1, Malfunction 16
[Vial of Slapcrete] Sticky...maybe useful for the future of...web slingers?? Maybe someone could help with this
4x[Heartflush Dose]
==Contacts==
Vanadian Trade Correspondent - 9
The Red Markets - 7

Rolled 1, 4, 6, 3, 2, 6, 1, 1, 3, 1, 2, 6, 5, 1, 4, 4, 6, 1, 4, 4, 2 = 67 (21d6)

>>5869640
"Continue to spin, wordweaver! This Mask listens, and is inspired - tell Waxworm of this blade that could steal much and more! And my dark-winged, flamehearted audience - accept this bright and flashy tribute to your majesty!"

>Mug the Future for 6AP. Working with 12AP this turn, no AGI.
>1AP, egg the storyteller on, inspire me with that myth. Influence?
>1FOC, appease the pyrecrow flock with an excess of brightflash. Influence?
>3AP, chuck my entire brightflash bandolier at the nearest rat pack (Shock mode). AoE1 shouldn't be... too big?
>1AP, step 5.
>1AP, grab my BONK STICK.
>1FOC, analyze Slicerrat's stance. Look for a gap. Understand?
>3AP, bonk Slicerrat (Range2).
>3AP, slap my stun onto the ratpack to my 6.
>3FOC, pocketpilfer the ratpack to my 6.
>1FOC, step 2.
>RP, dodge.

#Waxworm
==Core==
Guard 11
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Stun 3
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 11 Focus 4/11
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Taking Arts 12
!Shadowtheft: [1 AP and Dodge Reaction] - Dodge behind, steal 1 guard
!Mug The Future: Steal AP from your future self. Start next turn with that much Stun.
==Mask==
Stainwood(+Weird)
-2 Maskstains
==Contact==
The Red Markets - 7
Kalcimiri Glass Knight - 8
==Pockets==
-Bent Long Knife
-Bonk-ken
-Exceptional Fishing Gear
-Cold Coins x5
-Bits x6
==Other==
-Rat Mark x1
-Hygean Mark x1

Rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4 (3d6)

>>5869703
oh.
yes.
that will do nicely.

Rolled 3, 2, 6, 5, 1, 1, 2, 5, 1 = 26 (9d6)

>1 AGI - hop down to my 4. [dice 1 - 3, mv. 14]
>2 AP - attach 2 pouches of mothdream to Bonk-Kun, one at each end
>1AP - Ignite those 2 pouches
>1AGI - Hop up to my 1 [dice 4-6, mv. 14]
>3AP - Fire Dance and Sing to cause a distraction. (dice 7-9, mv. 14, inf 10, using fire as a prop).
>2 Focus - Carve into my soul the idea that Bonk-Kun is not a sword. After all, a sword cuts.

Lagomorpheus had been thinking about this dance for some time now. Was it reasonable to dance in a cloud of ignited moth-dream? Lago, wasn't worried, the voice had told them that they were inflammable. And something about being with a flagon ration. Lago didn't get that part, especially since the first part was in foreign. But Lago would be fine. Time to let the soul dance and the song project and the message be delivered. Let those bird-brains hypocritically judge if they wanted to. Lago saw the fire in their eyes, the blazing windows to their souls. Well Lago wouldn't hide their light under a basket. Lago would let the light shine bright like a star. In Sareth Far they cut a Star from the Sky. Would they so too excise the en-flamed Lagomorpheus?

“Come one, come all and see the show. See these cowardly rats, so slow. See this hero high and strong, challenging the lowly throng. So come one come all, and enjoy this impromptu brawl!”

Historical Commentary: For an age the ravens had judged the rabbits, casting shade upon those whose lofty ambitions had led them to leap above their station. For that same age the lagomorphic leaders had ignored said judgment and carried on with their hare brained ambitions. Why was this so? Perhaps it was survivor's bias. Perhaps the universe just found it punny.

==Core==
Guard 14 <- untested
AP 6 Agility 4-1 RP 1
-Status: All well?
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 (2) Psyche 12 (2) Grit 12 (2)
Reaction 10 Focus 10/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
+[Fleet Carving]: +1 to move fast or fluidly
Self Control 12? - 1 (SH) - 1? (FC) = 10?
1 Stain. Stained with what?
1 Maskmyth?
1 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? Unassigned ? The Family ? (?)
* Bonk-Kun * - Flaming Friend, bedecked by tiny stars
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Mothdream Pouches x 4
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 2.0 Mothdream + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 4.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 empty bowl which once held gruel

Rolled 2, 3, 2, 2, 5, 5, 1, 4, 4, 6, 2, 2 = 38 (12d6)

>>5869640
>{3AP} Grab one of the barrels to my 1
>{1AGI} Move 5
>{3AP, 1AGI, ???} Chuck the barrel at the closer of the two groups of rats
>-Knuckledancer: +1 Cunning (If I can use Knuckledancer on an attack like this?)
>{3FOC, 1AGI, Brawling 14} Kick the group I tossed the barrel at [+1ACC (AGI) | +2DMG, +1RCH, -2ACC (Kick) | +1Min.DMG, -1 Guard (1 Aggression) | -1DMG, +1 Guard (1? Cunning) | +1DMG (Boots)] (Total ACC: 13)
>-Knuckledancer: +1 Aggression
>{3FOC, 1AGI, Brawling 14} Kick them again! [+1ACC (AGI) | +2DMG, +1RCH, -2ACC (Kick) | +2Min.DMG, -2 Guard (2 Aggression) | -1DMG, +1 Guard (1? Cunning) | +1DMG (Boots)] (Total ACC: 13)
>-Knuckledancer: +1 Cunning
>{1RP} Dodge 2

(Also, did our statuses really reset between maps? I guess it makes sense for Aggression/Cunning, but man, I would've sold my two GLORY last time if I knew *that* was going to reset too.)

#Mock
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: 1 Aggression, 1 GLORY
-(Previous status: 3 Aggression, 2 Cunning, 3 GLORY)
-Status: Alive
==Array==
Health 4/4 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Brawling 14
-!Creative Use Encouraged, !Wear My Kicking Boots, !Knuckledancer
==Mask==
Mothdiver Mask {1 STAIN}
-+1 Hit and Effect on high-diving style moves.
-Recover 1 Focus when landing a diving attack.
-Punches are boring...
-+Mothmask effects
-Carving: +1 Hit when diving
==Kit==
Model 73 Boots
-1 Weight
-+1 Raw Damage on kicks
-Feet protection
-*Clonk Clonk Clonk*
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8

Rolled 1, 2, 2, 1, 6, 2, 4, 6, 3 = 27 (9d6)

>>5869606
Time to try out these clonkers...

>Skill Check for +2: (Understand 12 (-2 = 10)) I observe the rats closely before striking, finding gaps and weak points in their attention and guard to land quick and devastating knockout blows.
>Style Roll (Brawling 15 (+2 if first roll is successful) to intercept Group 7
>Group 7's roll (vs 13)

#Sal
==Core==
Guard 15
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
==Mask==
Red Droplet

A Legion Quartermaster (8), known partially for graft and partially for a darling ability
to deliver unmarked crates of boots and other requirements at almost no cost save a favor, some other time.

13 Bits
9 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth

A Bed to rest in, and the House its in
-A Convenient location
-Physical Security
-A Bedroom
Bland food for a week

File: 1684427926989926.jpg (22 KB, 600x333)

22 KB JPG

Rolled 5, 5, 3 = 13 (3d6)

>>5869640
#Riv
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
[Health 2] :: [Psyche 2] :: [Grit 2]
[Reaction 11] :: [Focus 11/11]
==Skills==
[Sense 12] :: [Understand 10] :: [Influence 10] :: [Move 14]
==Style==
[Brawling 14]
==Mask==
[Plain]
==Inventory==
[9 Coldcoin]
[8 Bits]
[5 => 0 Luperni Jaegerhound FCS fuel cells (Wgt: 0)]]
==Contacts==
Legion Quartermaster Contact - 8
==Other==
[1 Rat Mark]
[1 Hygean Mark]
==Lifestyle==
[A Good Bed, A Door That Locks, And Privacy] (Standard)
+ [An Easy Way Out] (Outstanding)
[Bland Food For A Week] (Standard)

> Clever trick. Attach 1 LJ-FCS fuel cell to one side of southern cranearm's rotational axis. Attach 4 LJ-FCS fuel cells to the cargo which it is currently lifting. Leveraging a disciplined mathematical rigor and nuanced comprehension of applied physics - which are two qualities that he definitely possesses - Riv calculates the specific timing required to realized his plan: overloading the first cell to cause the crane arm to begin spinning wildly, then after sufficient centrifugal momentum us built-up detonate the remaining cells would detonate - snapping the cargo container loose from its restraints and propelling it on a trajectory towards the Rat's warehouse, crashing through the southern wall in spectacular fashion. Yes, indubitably, every possible variable had been measured out and all contingencies accounted for in an exacting manner, the steely bands of cold logic enmeshed in the construction of this devious ploy are frankly indominable, impenetrable, and utterly incomprehensible in their elaborateness. Riv most definitely didn't just eyeball the problem for a few minutes, shrug his shoulders, haphazardly stuck the cells wherever felt right, set the timers randomly, then took a power nap beneath one of the nearby piers - no, this was a carefully choreographed cerebral feat of herculean proportions that most assuredly could not backfire in any way. (not sure what skill this would be)

Rolled 2, 4, 1, 5, 6, 6 = 24 (6d6)

>>5869606
#Abnegation
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 9 Focus 13/13
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12
==Style==
Shatterhands 13
!One Against: All parry penalties are halved. You can retreat with a parry as well, +3 if so.
!Legwork: Harsh penalties in a grapple or when off balance, dangerous techniques, kicking has less consequences
!Serpent’s Precept: -2 to skill, roll damage twice or make it Piercing (which really hurts)
!Stormspin: Roll Style, add margin to next kick
==Mask==
Plain
===Contacts===
The Red Markets - 7
Animist Associate - 8
===Things===
0 Bits
8 cold coins
1 Reputation
0 Maskmyth
[A Library, For Personal Perusal]
[A Place To Practice, In Peace]
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Amicus, and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]
Carving, +1 to Stormspin

>Style Roll to Intercept Group 6, vs 13
>Group 6 retaliation roll, vs 18 (ouch time)

>>5869796
Not much glory in a day job, Maskman, and more's the pity because if the City gave you your due you'd likely live like a prince, honored and honouring. But alas, with time, it all fades.

Though you're free to presume you pawned it off rather than simply lost it to the mundane bludgeons of getting up, clocking in, filing reports.

>>5870017
>Though you're free to presume you pawned it off rather than simply lost it to the mundane bludgeons of getting up, clocking in, filing reports.
(Oh. Yes, I think I'll take that option then. Thank you.)
>Sell off 2 GLORY for 6 Bits
>Total Bits: 12 (6+6)

Rolled 4, 2, 6, 4, 1, 2, 5, 1, 1, 3, 2, 3 = 34 (12d6)

>>5869640
(Botting for Fourth Dusk as they can't post right now.)
>1 AP: Steal the barrel lid.
>3 AP: Throw it at the Rat [1, 1] of me. (3d6)
>1 Agility: Advance 1
>6 Focus: Punch Rat 1 of me twice. No Disorient- just Blunt.
>2 AP: Snap kick the pile of wood 2 of me into the other rat. (3d6)
>2 Agility: Move 6, 1, putting my back to a wall.
>Reaction: Block


‘……’

A sword….

….no.

Too much, even for me.

#Fourth Dusk
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 13 Psyche 13 Grit 12
Reaction 9 Focus 6/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain (Bloody Tears Flourish)
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8
==Equipment==
Fighting Mitts
Bandolier of Brights

File: Like a string of sleeping suns.png (836 KB, 1410x1086)

836 KB PNG

like a string of sleeping suns, resting across your chest

File: Sunstroke.png (1.18 MB, 1408x1022)

1.18 MB PNG

Waxworm knocks out himself, a sizable section of the street and a few windows in the bargain.

>>5870065
At least he's in not the center of explosion this time!

File: RatDocksA1-2.jpg (5.07 MB, 3760x4532)

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Fourth Dusk flings a lid like a discuss as a much distracted Slicerrat and then steps into the fray, one, two, solid, good punches and the Slicerrat should be... Woah, he's still standing, if woozily wavering on his feet! These ones have endurance!

Mock considers throwing a barrel but, you know, there is such a thing as too much all at once.

Lagomorpheus lights highly volatile chemicals on fire after carefully attaching them to the one material known for its ability to resist fire: wood. Then he starts spinning these burning pouches full of drugs around himself in a deft, daring display of grace!


>WORLD PHASE

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Sal gets the drop on a group of Rinik's followers, and they barely have time to counter-attack before a few shows of prowess scatter them off.

Abnegation tries to jam the courier in an intersection but the woman barks a command at her retinue and they peel off to fend Abnegation away. Has to lose them in the alleys and duck through a workshop to shake the more stern of the lot.

Patrol 1 spots the commotion as the Courier and her one remaining Ratguard sprints around a corner and barrels past the cafe they were in and they holler and grab gear, spreading out to block off the street.

Patrol #1 is *Reinforcing* Courier #6. They'll take any interception for them, acting as a blocker, until they're dispersed.

Distant patrols merge and wander.
Patrol #3 wanders.

Patrol 5# arrive in Ratport, drawn by the fading echo of a booming bright detonation...

>Sal accrues 1 Maskstain for knocking out Patrol #7, and have enough time to riffle 4 Bits from their various pockets.

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Is that... a spark? I smell fire.

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Oh so I see.
Rinik wasn't all wrong.
Maybe I should scorch and scold him less.

Fascinating.

Mistil snaps her fingers.
Things get a little warm.

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Drawn by the fading echoes of an entire bandolier of brightflashes firing off all at once, the Slicerats inside the warehouse stop their work, put down their tools and poke their head out the -- MASK MAN. BUST HIM UP, PEOPLE

And Mock finds himself staring down a nine on one. Find one more Rat somewhere and those are odds fit for a hero!

--

Lagomorpheus breaks the chains that curl around their physiology, breathing in too much moth-dream. Then they consequently seem to catch fire. The odds of a dust-detonation increase precipitously.

Fourth Dusk is harassed by a Slicerat with a knife, but the smoke-drug-cloud throws off his aim and the pain itself fades like a dull memory almost as soon as a blink. It's getting a little heated around here though. Wasn't Mothdream sort of a volatile chemical? You lit it all on fire last time and the fire spread throughout. If there's two pouches of the stuff on fire right behind you, and all this old wood and timber and warehouse around, what are the odds that some sort of conflagration is apt to occur?

You'd work out the odds but you're distracted keeping the knife from your stomach.


>Mask Phase
>Interceptors can deploy on the available avenues, if desired

Rolled 5, 5, 2, 3, 2, 6 = 23 (6d6)

>>5870140
#Abnegation
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 9 Focus 13/13
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12
==Style==
Shatterhands 13
!One Against: All parry penalties are halved. You can retreat with a parry as well, +3 if so.
!Legwork: Harsh penalties in a grapple or when off balance, dangerous techniques, kicking has less consequences
!Serpent’s Precept: -2 to skill, roll damage twice or make it Piercing (which really hurts)
!Stormspin: Roll Style, add margin to next kick
==Mask==
Plain
===Contacts===
The Red Markets - 7
Animist Associate - 8
===Things===
0 Bits
8 cold coins
1 Reputation
0 Maskmyth
[A Library, For Personal Perusal]
[A Place To Practice, In Peace]
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Amicus, and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]
Carving, +1 to Stormspin

>Style Roll to Intercept Group 6, counter-intercepted by Group 1, vs 13
>Group 1 retaliation roll, vs 14

Abnegation definitely knocked at least half of those people out. One probably got their head bounced off an anvil or some other cartoonish and yet astonishingly somehow not lethal manoeuvre. She doesn't dwell on it, straight back to tracking down the courier like a hound.

Rolled 2, 4, 5, 5, 1, 4 = 21 (6d6)

>>5870086
>Cardinal pursues Group 6, which gets him intercepted by Group 1.
>Style roll vs 10
>Retaliation roll vs 13 (Group 1 was weakened by 1 in >>5870145)

#Cardinal Sin
==Core==
Guard 13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
Status: All well
Status: Alive
==Array==
Armor 1 + Health 12 [3] Psyche 12[2] Grit 13[3]
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12[Agi=3]
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter (+hit/+effect)
!Offhander (1AP)
!Pack Tactics (AP discount)
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet
!Reduce Terror by Grit (1AP)
!Armored Advance (+1 Armor)
!Paradeground Performance

>>5870145
Sure enough, the courier has more flunkies to throw at Abnegation. A quartet of slicerats see a masked figure pelting down the cobbled street and spring at it, blades out. A twirling elbow knocks one off balance, then a front kick sends one sprawling into a fruit stand. She makes to stand back up, but a hard, heavy nut from overseas rolls off an off-kilter shelf and cracks onto her head. The other one gets back up, and Abnegation is backpedalling before a flurry of stabs and slashes.

Rolled 5, 5, 6, 4, 5, 2 = 27 (6d6)

>>5870140
>{1RP} Parry. (I'm sure this can't go wrong when they've got drawn knives and I've got my bare arms.)
>{2AGI} Recover 2 Guard
>{3AP} Tap In Waxworm
>{3AP, 2AGI} Try to shove one of the rats punching me into their slicerat "commander" with a boot to the chest. [DMG = Push (Shove) | +2DMG, +1RCH, -2ACC (Kick) | +1Min.DMG, -1Guard (Aggression) | +2ACC (AGI)]
>-Knuckledancer: +1 Cunning
>{3FOC} Do the same for the rat to my 4, trying to kick-shove him into his knife-wielding buddies. [DMG = Push (Shove) | +2DMG, +1RCH, -2ACC (Kick) | +1Min.DMG, -1Guard (1 Aggression) | +1Guard, -1DMG (1 Cunning)]
>-Knuckledancer: +1 Cunning

#Mock
==Core==
Guard 8/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: Deaf, 1 Aggression, 1 GLORY
-Status: Alive
==Array==
Health 4/4 Psyche 2/2 Grit 1/2
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 10(12-2), Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Brawling 14
-!Creative Use Encouraged, !Wear My Kicking Boots, !Knuckledancer
==Mask==
Mothdiver Mask {1 STAIN}
-+1 Hit and Effect on high-diving style moves.
-Recover 1 Focus when landing a diving attack.
-Punches are boring...
-+Mothmask effects
-Carving: +1 Hit when diving
==Kit==
Model 73 Boots
-1 Weight
-+1 Raw Damage on kicks
-Feet protection
-*Clonk Clonk Clonk*
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8

Rolled 5, 2, 6, 2, 4, 1, 1, 3, 1 = 25 (9d6)

>>5870086
> 3d6 Understand 12-2(danger): Complex Ambush
> The courier must be taking a shortcut through that complex to get to rats port if they're going directly south. Shim open some shutters, hide inside and hope it isn't actually a fishery.
> 3d6 Brawling 14+4(focus): Intercept Group 6 (and 1)
> 3d6 Slicerat Response

%Sundancer
==Short Stats==
G 12/12 || F 9/13
Understand 12, Influence 12
Brawling 14
Plain Mask

>>5870196
I... cut myself on some broken glass, or there were hidden rats inside that place and I get an extra sharp thrashing tonight.

Rolled 1, 3, 4 = 8 (3d6)

>>5870140
>Deploy 7
>3 AP: Catch my breath
>2 Agil: Move 55
>3 AP, 1 Agil: Have the rat 66 contribute to my rendition of Pyther’s national anthem (kick him in the back of the head)

#Sal
==Core==
Guard 15
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
==Mask==
Red Droplet

A Legion Quartermaster (8), known partially for graft and partially for a darling ability
to deliver unmarked crates of boots and other requirements at almost no cost save a favor, some other time.

17 Bits
9 cold Coins
1 Reputation
2 Maskstain
1 Maskmyth

A Bed to rest in, and the House its in
-A Convenient location
-Physical Security
-A Bedroom
Bland food for a week

>>5870206
Also
>1 RP: Parry

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5870206
(Red Droplet damage reroll)

>>5870206
You know maybe it wouldn’t be wise to be right next to the… industrial accident in progress.
>Focus 2: Move 11, face 5

>>5870215
It does seem as something quite awful is about to happen.

>>5870159
... Mock?

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Rolled 2, 6, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 6, 2 = 25 (9d6)

>>5870159
GET HIM

Rolled 2, 6, 3 = 11 (3d6)

>>5870140
Since I'm on interception I'm going to intercept:
>Intercept Group 6, rolling vs 15


#Tier
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 10 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
!Creative Use Encouraged (Unpenalized improvisation)
!Wear My Kicking Boots (Damage gets +GRIT against prone targets)
!Knuckledancer: Build +1 or drop 1 Aggression / Cunning per major attack.
==Mask==
Mothdiver mask
==Contacts==
The Red Markets - 7
Vanadian Expeditionary Veteran - 8
==Stuff==
16 Bits
125 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth

>>5870265
I think we got him. See any rope around here? Roll one more set for the slice rats, then you'll know how badly they scuffed you up in return. They got me with a knife, I can feel it.

Rolled 6, 5, 5 = 16 (3d6)

>>5870265
>>5870273
Alright, rolling once more for the slice rats.

>>5870238
Am I… am I free to act?

If so,
>Succumb to the mask
If not,
>Phase 2 with 0 focus
>Succumb to the mask

#Waxworm
==Core==
Guard 0
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Stun 9?
-Status: KO?
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 11 Focus 0/11
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Taking Arts 12
!Shadowtheft: [1 AP and Dodge Reaction] - Dodge behind, steal 1 guard
!Mug The Future: Steal AP from your future self. Start next turn with that much Stun.
==Mask==
Stainwood(+Weird)
-2 Maskstains
==Contact==
The Red Markets - 7
Kalcimiri Glass Knight - 8
==Pockets==
-Bent Long Knife
-Exceptional Fishing Gear
-Cold Coins x5
-Bits x6
==Other==
-Rat Mark x1
-Hygean Mark x1

Rolled 5, 6, 2 = 13 (3d6)

>>5870140
>Deploy 7
>3AP: Catch my breath
>3 Agility: Move 166
>3AP: Grab something heavy from the pile next to me and throw it at the slicerat 666 (Influence 12, does Sword Hunter apply?)

#Amicus
==Core==
Guard 11
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 11
!Unfair Fighter: Adds ½ of any penalty your target is suffering that you’re not also suffering as +hit/+effect.
!Offhander: 1 AP to roll against Grit or Reaction to try a Trick (which penalizes targets)
!Pack Tactics: Get a 1 AP discount on major attack actions if target is fighting an ally of yours.
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet (+Honour)
+Ash and Smoke (Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.)
+Swordhunter (Roll vs Sense to sniff out nearby weapons. +1 base effect against armed opponents.)
-Carving (A bonus when helping a friend in danger.)
2 Maskstain
1 Reputation
+1 Reputation (Temp)
==Kit==
Total weight: 4
Model 73 Boots
Wire-Fangs
Brightflash Bandolier 6/6
Jaegerhound Fuel Cell System Fuel Cell x3
==Contacts==
Veteran's Association - 8
The Red Markets - 7
==Things==
Association Membership
Correspondence with distant friends made during the war
Memento of a dream choked in blood
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Abnegation and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]

>>5870330
>1 RP: Parry
Almost forgot

>>5870140
>>5870140
>Nice distraction Foreman
>Deploy as [Spider-Rat] what a sweet disguise
>Act from 3,2 off of Mistil (Wow who could expect a fire Hazard)
>3ap: "Oh wow I don't think a port crane is supposed to do that"
>3ap: Assume the Disguise. SPIDER-RAT
>3Agi: Sneak/Disguise my way into the warehouse 6,6,1. I totally belong here. (face towards 4?)
>1rea: Dodge (reminder dodge +1?)


Spider-Man
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 11 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain
==Things==
[Whispercloth] +1 Dodge, +1 Grapple reach
[Wire-Fangs] +1 Traverse, Length 4, Pulls with Str 13 (vs Understand to aim, 1ap to pull self or target)
-Weight 1, Malfunction 16
[Vial of Slapcrete] Sticky...maybe useful for the future of...web slingers?? Maybe someone could help with this
4x[Heartflush Dose]
==Contacts==
Vanadian Trade Correspondent - 9
The Red Markets - 7

>>5870140
#Riv
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
[Health 2] :: [Psyche 2] :: [Grit 2]
[Reaction 11] :: [Focus 11/11]
==Skills==
[Sense 12] :: [Understand 10] :: [Influence 10] :: [Move 14]
==Style==
[Brawling 14]
==Mask==
[Plain]
==Inventory==
[9 Coldcoin]
[8 Bits]
==Contacts==
Legion Quartermaster Contact - 8
==Other==
[1 Rat Mark]
[1 Hygean Mark]
==Lifestyle==
[A Good Bed, A Door That Locks, And Privacy] (Standard)
+ [An Easy Way Out] (Outstanding)
[Bland Food For A Week] (Standard)

> (1AP) Awaken
> (1AP) Stand up and stretch
> (4AGI) Casually stroll [1]x1, [6]x2, [2]x1, side-stepping the stacks of crates obstructing the path.
> (4AP) Walk [1]x2, [6]x1, [1]x1.

Rolled 2, 6, 3 = 11 (3d6)

>>5870140
Hmmmm, it must have been that imaginary sort of thread. Just having a nice little stroll.

>3AP+4AGI Move 661 161, stepping over the sparse barrels and around the cloth.
>3AP Take a look at the masked individual next to the building under the tarp. Is he guarding some alternate entrance into the warehouse?(10 Understand)

#The Circus
==Core==
Guard 15/15
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 12/12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 14
==Style==
Knot-tying 12
!Painpoints: Stun Dmg Base
!Jointlock: 2x Grapple effect
!Tie in a Knot: Grapple penalty as +hit on followup
==Mask==
Plain
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
==Contacts==
Red Markets-7
==Inventory==
12 Bits
Wire-Fang(Traverse+1,Length4,Str13Pull)
125 Cold Coins

Rolled 5, 1, 5, 1, 3, 5 = 20 (6d6)

>>5870086

>Intercept patrol 3

"Ups Hey all sorry to drop in like this no hard feelings right? No? Okey wow that's a lot of knives. I guess this is how it goes down then."

==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 10 Focus 12

==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Shatterhands 12
!One Against: All parry penalties are halved. You can retreat with a parry as well, +3 if so.
!Legwork: Harsh penalties in a grapple or when off balance, dangerous techniques, kicking has less consequences
!Serpent’s Precept: -2 to skill, roll damage twice or make it Piercing (which really hurts)
!Squall: -2, kick hits line 3 (roll once)
==Mask==
Wrackwood (+Weird)
>Ash and Smoke
Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.

Rolled 2, 2, 4 = 8 (3d6)

So beautiful. So this was what it meant to be inflammable. To join with the roaring flame. ENJOY. I WILL RESOLVE THIS.

>2AGI, 1AP - Move 2 to the 3 to get out of the hot air, spinning moth-dream all the while
>1AP - Breathe in the cool breeze
>0AP - Drop all moth-dream. It is too great a burden for me to carry where I'm going.

FLAMEWRIGHT, YOU HAVE ABUSED YOUR INSIGHT AND OPENED A DOOR IN A STORM. YOU HAVE SEEDED THE WIND, NOW WE REAP THE WHILWIND.

>11 AP + 7 Focus (Taking Arts 12 + 14 = 26) - Take advantage of Mistil opening her soul to the world to draw out her inner flame. She is trying to use her connection to the flame as a weapon to hurt people. Time to take that weapon away. Tug the thread of her soul she left trailing there and gather that thread into myself, leaving her a cold, empty, lonely husk. The consequence of using your soul as a weapon in a place where such weapons are doubly banned banned. We're also in a cloud of burning moth-dream where the stabilizing chains of reality are much more fragile. *SNAP* indeed Mistil, *SNAP indeed. [dice 1-3]

>2AGI - Sprint (MV 14 +1 from mask = 15) SW and S to try and hop into the water. I am highly motivated to succeed. Swimming in the Ocean is good clean fun after all. [you roll]

DO NOT give in to the mask. Things are too crazy, who knows how mask would handle this. Honestly, probably by running around screaming in pain.

If I badmathed somewhere please use my residual focus to pay of the badmathdebt.

P.S. - If it looks like I am becoming one with the Ocean, would one of you mind helping me out again? Thanks.

==Core==
Guard 14 <- untested
AP 6 (except this turn it's 12) Agility 4 RP 1 (except this turn, it's 0)
-Status: All well?? Everything is fine. Fire's not dangerous! I'm inflammable!
-Status: Alive, I'm Burning, I'm Burning, I'm Burning for You.
==Array=
Health 12 (2)??? Psyche 12 (2)??? Grit 12 (2)???
Reaction 10 Focus 4/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
+[Fleet Carving]: +1 to move fast or fluidly
Self Control 12? - 1 (SH) - 1? (FC) = 10? (? ?)
1 Stain. Stained with what? (ash and moth residue probably. Maybe liquefied fat. Although that might have burned off)
1 Maskmyth?
1 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? ? The Family ? (?) (Look, it's an honest honorable action disarming this psychopath. Not my fault they chose to use their soul as a weapon)
* Bonk-Kun * - Flaming Friend, Twirling and Dancing in this Blazing Cosmos
Lagomorpheus. Moth-dream can really help one get to know themselves, you know?
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Mothdream Pouches x 4 - 4 = 0 (leaving original number here this turn for book keeping)
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 0.0 Mothdream (dropped) + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 2.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 empty bowl which once held gruel - pre-heated

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Forgot flavor image.

>>5870140

> Raise Guard by 3 to 13 (3 Agility)
> Move 333 334 (6 AP)
Reaction: Block

Strangely, I feel like I shouldn't be standing here.....

(Apologies for very feeble turn, but I'm kind of grounded.)

>>5872396
No such thing as feeble in your fine company, friend.

>>5870206
Ahem, my *boots*.

#Sal
==Core==
Guard 15
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus (10/)12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
==Mask==
Red Droplet

Model 73 Boots

A Legion Quartermaster (8), known partially for graft and partially for a darling ability
to deliver unmarked crates of boots and other requirements at almost no cost save a favor, some other time.

17 Bits
9 cold Coins
1 Reputation
2 Maskstain
1 Maskmyth

A Bed to rest in, and the House its in
-A Convenient location
-Physical Security
-A Bedroom
Bland food for a week

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Oh, a maskmate! I love you! Hey do you have a maskmoniker tell me about your mask did you make that uniform yourself??

It's a little drab but I think you have potential. I actually need some help with a small, err, dance? Yes it's a dance isn't it? M-maybe you can help me with something Maskmate? You can even get to add an Eye to you mask, to mark you as a friend to all Watchers? We can--

File: I am watchering you too a(...).png (1.2 MB, 1390x1074)

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. . . Oh, you're that kind of Maskmates. Siiiiiiigh.

Please stop disturbing the public peeeaaaceeeee, citizen and also you're on fiiireeee, I'm legally required to tell you that burning alive is banned by Senate Commitee Seven Eight Dash Two Nine Four, Subclause Six, Paragraphs Ten to Twelve, following the adjustment to public displays of faith and fervour. The Empyreal Eye is our grand beacon and guardian and friend but you do not need to bring yourself so close to it.

Please cease burning.

File: RatDocksA4-1.jpg (5.24 MB, 3760x4532)

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Circus spies a Redmask, a fellow Maskdancer, on a task, quietly leaning against a tree. Curious eyes peer out from under their mask. No hidden entrance to the warehouse here, but for some strange cosmic reason Circus gets the SENSE that there ... is one around here.

--

Mock wards off a flurry of blows and although one shove goes awry, he sends a whole gaggle of awkwardly exposed Slicerats tumbling and stumbling. Maybe that's the trick against their pack tactics? Packed in as they are, someone being forced to Stumble through a Shove will hit allies and drag the whole lot down with them in a pile of limbs!

--

Amicus and Sal join the fray, surprising the Slicerats ganging up on Lagomorpheus and Fourth Dusk in a sudden flank. This distracting opening lets Rats?!-Man skulk behind Mistil and into the warehouse that the rats were guarding...



[ WORLD PHASE ]

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Spider-Rat-Man, of eutomologically dubious provenance, slips inside the Slicerats warehouse. This is a well built place, bearing all the hallmarks of Cestipheron's quiet craftsmanship. Meant to recieve grains or feedstock or other large bulk supplies, the simple warehouse holds something else as Spider-Rat-Man's eyes scan across the shelves and corners.

Crates.
Rows upon rows of crates, each stamped with a sigil of a distant, foreign-place. Vanadia.

The air inside here is... fuzzy, somehow, coarse, it tickles the back of the throat as if it violent potential is held in abeance by the observation of protocol. What could these crates hold? Every slice-rat working here has been drawn outside by Waxworms thunderous self-flagellation via concussive alchemical grenado, and so, no quick way to understand what project they were engaged in.

But the doors are unbarred and the place is quiet. The sound of the skirmish outside barely intrudes past the threshold.

Tools. There are tools are. And there, on the table in the other room, a long object in a state of half disassembly, something that almost looks like the renowed pathfinder rifle of the Legion scout core but isn't... quite. Cruder, somehow, more bulky. A small pouch rests nearby, an ocean of tiny grey powdery pellets spilled across the table.

[ WORLD PHASE ]

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Despite the efforts of the slice-rats trying to form a cordon around their courier, the brawlers get them cornered in an alley and in the ensuing throw-down, the Slicerats are beaten so profoundly they shatter completely. The few of them that can still walk hobble away...

The Courier, rather too beaten to put up much more of a fight, throws the satchel he's guarding our way and Sundancer can rip it open to scan the contents as Abnegation kicks the last recalcitrant Slicerat defender through a market-stall...

[1 / 2 ]

File: Do Kick The Messenger.png (281 KB, 1206x534)

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Mistil,

Up the dose by two-fifths. We have results in the manor. The ones in the dock are expendable now.

Once you finish, get the crates shipped and then burn the place to the ground.

Finally, take the contents of Bearer-Code Spear-Sigil-Sign-Gladius-Grand and give it to our friends as a sign of our appreciation of their dilligence. Ask them if they're looking for work.

--

Sundancer and Tier are left holding a letter, penned in the quiet professional hand of a man who manages an empire by distant decree. Rinik never gets his hands dirty. It's an odd quirk in a man who built an empire on a reputation for having ready knives at beck and call, but Rinik sees things. He thinks. He has his marked men and women for the hands-on stuff, and so it is with Mistil.

No need for a mask for Mistil the Flamespeaker.
You would recognize her countenance in any street at any time, a hot-flash whisper of red hair, green eyes and a heat-shimmer.

No one knows how she does it. Some say she's the Favored daughter of the Empyreal Eye, an ascendent, an Accordist, one of the rare few who have found how to draw the attention of an Icon by act and thought and deed. Some say she's just a trickster, it's all flashpaper and alchemy.

She spent six years in Aikan Interior, walking the Golden Path, searching for a distant lost city, and when she returned to this place, she couldn't sit still. She tore through the Moth Circuits like a wildfire. The Watcher's kept her locked, under bar and key, and she melted her way our through the walls of Station Twelve. Or so the rumour goes - perhaps it was just a bribe, or a smile, or smoke and mirrors?

It's said the Theurges hunted for a while, for presumed trafficking with Icons unknown and Oaths banned, but Mistil, like an ember left behind after the forest is scourged, simply went to ground and made friends with the Rats. Became Rinik's favorite little firestarter, enforcer, face-breaker.

Useful for us, this trust between them, because look: a bearer-code for an account with the Leviathan Bank. Walk in, give the number, smile, and all of Rinik's coins will fall to us.

Rinik doesn't need the money.

File: Crane your neck.png (1.74 MB, 1416x1068)

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A crane-lift line snaps with a crack like a thunderbolt as Riv's industrial ploy comes to fruition. Industrial quantities of Mothdream slam into the ground like a comet, wooden fragmentation flechettes exploding out and scytching down nearby bystanders, a few slice-rats simply bowled over by the cascade of collapse and in the lingering, volatile haze left behind, the world itself blurs and bends a little at the edges...

File: Open and shut crane, err,(...).png (1.2 MB, 1420x1070)

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The local Firewatcher raises on long, slow eyebrow and briefly considers if he should give the poor burning maskmate a hand by shoving him into the ocean, but, on the whole, given the highly likely probability that this burning man trailing a long run of foreign drugs from the pouches he has tied to the end of his practice sword is somehow related to the industrial scale sabotage that has just occured, it might be more parsable that he burns.

The Watcher turns one long slow half turn and cranes his neck to give Riv the once-over.

Sighs.

Shifts the grip on his spear.

I actually really like you Maskdancers, but I suppose "not meeting your heroes" is a saying because it's true.

Breaks my heart, maskmate. Breaks my heart.

File: Sixteen to One.png (1.05 MB, 1308x976)

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Swordsaint Sato of distant Rikovol plants his feet and squares his stance and knows, in the way a swords knows, that some things are worth dying for.

Swordsaint Sato loses his arms and learns to fight with his mind.

Swordsaint Sato cuts the river

Swordsaint Sato dodges the wind

Swordsaint Sato takes twenty Vulpes in an open field, armed with nothing but his own wit

Mock is not Swordsaint Sato.
Somewhere around the eight Slicerat throwing a punch at his face, it gets a little hard to stay on his feet.

File: RatDocksA5-2.jpg (5.09 MB, 3760x4532)

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the shimmering haze of the mothdream, caughtin the wind, spreads. People find freedom.

The Firewatcher takes on sniff of the air, scoffs, and simply decides that freedom without responsibility is anarchy, and the grand city of Pyther is not served by its public defenders decrying duty as a burden. The only chains one should abide is the chain of command and the duty-forged links of every man on the Watch and the Vigil, thank you very much and no thank you.

Then he does something *really* complicated with his stance and sends Lagomorpheus flying into the water[/i

[ WORLD PHASE 1 / 2 ]

File: RatDocksA6-1.jpg (5.07 MB, 3760x4532)

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Mock is restrained
Waxworm is restrained
Lagomorpheus is d(r)owning

Riv is put in a spear-related grapple, as the Watcher slips his spear under Riv's arm and locks it against him.

>Strength 4 Grapple.
>Reminder, you can reduce grapples by 1 per Agility or simply fight them off if you know how, taking a major action and dealing damage to the grapple or the attacker.

Every increment of your Grit is -1 to... everything, so at present, Riv is at -2.

It seems the Watcher uses a variant of LegionLock, which would imply that his likely follow-up to a compromised target is a takedown pin. Long experience in brawls and alleys suggest this is not something Riv might wish to feel, face-first.)

--

Mistil the Flamespeaker decides understanding what is going on is overrated and so defaults to her default option, starting a fire, hoping for the best. Fourth Dusk feels a bloom of heat.

--


The Slicer-Rats in the north section of the warehouse clock on to the fact that they're being attacked. They prepare to form a tight perimeter and prowl until they gut every menace and claim a bounty for the deed from Rinik, their sly leader. Knives start appearing from pockets as the bandleaders being organising their crew, and what a crew it is. Bombardment, industrial sabotage and drugs? Time for a street-war, then, and if the Masks want to dance maybe they'll find the slice-rats quite ready and willing.

The Slicerats claim every territory we don't control. They block off the alleys. They guard the approaches. They lock this port down.

The only viable ingress point that remains is near Sal, Amicus and Fourth Dusk on the SE quadrant. Deploy on any of them as a 3 AP action, if you so desire.

It might be time to pack up and get out, fade away into the city streets and find some other plan. If so, simply reach the side of the map by any means and roll Move, to attempt to escape.

Anyone on Intercept duty can attempt to clear a path out, either by skill, style or other means. If you spot a friend failing to escape, you can aid them too.

... Unless you wish to chance it, maskmates? Because it looks like the Slicerats have a taste for blood now, and they'll know we're coming, and in the subtle calculus of a street-fight "trying to kill us all by dropping crates on our heads" voids any attempt at diplomacy.

If you stay, well, maskmates

If you stay, this is now a killing ground.

>MASK PHASE.

Rolled 1, 3, 4 = 8 (3d6)

>>5870349
…wait, what was that?
>Sense 12

File: 45573EF2-E21B-4E7D-8C6E-4(...).jpg (306 KB, 750x374)

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>>5870349
Hey, it’s me
your spider senses
well do you even have those?
maybe

but hey
hey listen
hey

this wall isn’t a real wall.
there’s… a basement to this place

Rolled 4, 5, 3, 2, 5, 6 = 25 (6d6)

>>5873648
>{9FOC} PHASE II [+9ACC (FOC)] (Total: 15)
>{3AP, Brawling 14} Shove the rat to my north out of the way [+1Min.DMG, -1 Guard (1 Aggression) | -2DMG, +2 Guard (Cunning)]
>{3AP} Grab Waxworm's body
>{4AGI} Get the hell outta dodge!

#Mock
==Core==
Guard X/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: Deaf, 1 Aggression, 2 Cunning, 1 GLORY
-Status: 4 Wounds, K.O.
==Array==
Health 0/4 Psyche 2/2 Grit 1/2
Reaction 9 Focus 9/12
==Skills==
Sense 10(12-2), Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Brawling 14
-!Creative Use Encouraged, !Wear My Kicking Boots, !Knuckledancer
==Mask==
Mothdiver Mask {1 STAIN}
-+1 Hit and Effect on high-diving style moves.
-Recover 1 Focus when landing a diving attack.
-Punches are boring...
-+Mothmask effects
-Carving: +1 Hit when diving
==Kit==
Model 73 Boots
-Weight 1
-+1 Raw Damage on kicks
-Feet protection
-*Clonk Clonk Clonk*
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8

>>5873648
#Riv
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
[Health 2] :: [Psyche 2] :: [Grit 2]
[Reaction 11] :: [Focus 8/11]
==Skills==
[Sense 12] :: [Understand 10] :: [Influence 10] :: [Move 14]
==Style==
[Brawling 14]
==Mask==
[Plain]
==Inventory==
[9 Coldcoin]
[8 Bits]
==Contacts==
Legion Quartermaster Contact - 8
==Other==
[1 Rat Mark]
[1 Hygean Mark]
==Lifestyle==
[A Good Bed, A Door That Locks, And Privacy] (Standard)
+ [An Easy Way Out] (Outstanding)
[Bland Food For A Week] (Standard)

"Ah! A living, bleeding avatar of Justice are you - an upright scion of civilization's social contract and honored Law - an unblinking manifestation of the uncompromising monolith of Order - a very serious man in a funny hat?!"
"How positively spiffing, and I am even blessed with frontrow seats to the dispensement of righteous arbitration."
"Though: opaque, rigid thing that you are, you fail to understand that the blameless effortlessly slip all forms of judicial enmeshment, no matter how literal. Nor can you perceive the dreadful perils of accruing a karmic toll through unsubstantiated accusation and apprehension."
"With all due deference, heed my words ocular one: You are the Eye. You are cast in the role of an observer. Disrupt not the Dance."
> (4AGI) Negate Grapple Strength.
> (6AP) Prepare Redirection Parry. In the event that the watcher makes any further attempts at apprehension, nudge him off course with shifting heel, guide him towards disaster with twisting palm, misappropriate the soft downpour of gravitational force, the shrieking skid of friction, the strain of building tension, all forces leashed to the Watcher's lashing might and scouring spite and bend them inwards in service to his misfortune. (Brawling14+3AP)
> (3FOC) Prepare Dodge. To be utilized in the event of any external threats or retaliation from the Watcher. (Reaction11)

>>5873740
You can dodge for RP instead of spending focus

>>5873648
>>5873737
(oh, and)
>{1RP}: Parry (Brawling 14)
(just in case it helps somehow.)

>>5873754
(Oh, right. Been a bit. Thanks for the heads up,)

>>5873740
Don't mind me.
Just editing my action a little.

> (4AGI) Negate Grapple Strength.
> (6AP) Prepare Redirection Parry. In the event that the watcher makes any further attempts at apprehension, nudge him off course with shifting heel, guide him towards disaster with twisting palm, misappropriate the soft downpour of gravitational force, the shrieking skid of friction, the strain of building tension, all forces leashed to the Watcher's lashing might and scouring spite and bend them inwards in service to his misfortune. (Brawling14+3AP)
> (1RP+3FOC) Prepare Dodge. To be utilized in the event of any external threats or retaliation from the Watcher. (Reaction11+3FOC)

>>5873601
Mistil, great, but she doesn't do explosions. What the hell are they doing in there?

We've got some time until that monster patrol Ab spotted is a problem. We could... we could all hit patrol three, head in and see if they need help.

How about it? Ab, Tier?

>>5873737
>>5873755
It always helps to ward off your foes attempts to bar your path with able hand and keen eye, gloryseeker.

Rolled 6, 6, 2, 1, 5, 1, 5, 6, 1 = 33 (9d6)

>>5873648
>>5873659
Warehouse. Lots of boxes marked VA...Vanadia? Wonder what's that angle coming from...This room is not all there is. Air is running around but it seems to continue and channel over there?

>3Agi+1ap: Move 1,6,5,5
>1ap: Try and Understand and figure out what's going on this table and all this Vanadian stuff. This...the VA's don't use our Pathfinder rifles and use this grey stuff. This powder that ignites easy...
>1ap: Get some of this stuff on the table. Search and grab quick. Tools, Instructions, Powder. Don't mix them yet.
>1ap: Get on the fake wall and figure out how it opens. Open it.
>3ap: Interact with the wall. Try not to get surprised and enter. Hopeful
>1rea: DODGE. Don't get spotted


Spider-Man
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 11 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain
==Things==
[Whispercloth] +1 Dodge, +1 Grapple reach
[Wire-Fangs] +1 Traverse, Length 4, Pulls with Str 13 (vs Understand to aim, 1ap to pull self or target)
-Weight 1, Malfunction 16
[Vial of Slapcrete] Sticky...maybe useful for the future of...web slingers?? Maybe someone could help with this
4x[Heartflush Dose]
==Contacts==
Vanadian Trade Correspondent - 9
The Red Markets - 7

File: Reigndeer.png (144 KB, 1224x792)

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Rolled 2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 5 = 18 (6d6)

>4 Focus - Phase 2 (12), I can't stand up, but Bonk-Kun and Lago can swim away. Big feet. [first 3 dice]
>1AP - Holster Bonk-Kun. He can be a bit scary sometimes.
>4AGI - move 4 north.
>1AP - Extinguish the purple flames on that poor burning person.
>4AP - Mollify the Watcher with an Apology, and cast shade at that naughty wizard (influence 10) [dice 4 through 6]

HMMM. THAT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER.

Here, let me help put out these flames. Oh Watcher, sorry about the fire. I was hired to put on a show and found this pretty purple powder lying around and thought it would help. And it is pretty, but also appears to be very flammable and mind altering. Anyway, I was putting on a fire dance and this lady with green eyes came up to me and snapped her fingers and the fire went crazy out of control. Also, that mask there didn't start any fires. I think that they were here for fisticuffs and, in hindsight, counter drug smuggling (you should have told me that stuff was drugs!!!). Umm, sorry. I'm new to this mask business. Am I supposed to go beat her up?

>Give in to the mask. Here's hoping that it goes better for me than it did for Wax. What's Mask gonna do? Dive for pearls? Try to disarm a disenchanted officer of the peace? Heroically race towards danger?

==Core==
Guard 14? <- untested?
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: KO! I'm Inflammable!
-Status: Alive, I'm Burning, I'm Burning, I'm Burning for You.
==Array=
Health 12 (2)? Psyche 12 (2) Grit 12 (2)?Reaction 10 Focus 0!/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
+[Fleet Carving]: +1 to move fast or fluidly
Self Control 12 - 1 (SH) - 1? (FC) = 10?
1 Stain. Stained with what?
1 Maskmyth?
1 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? ? The Family ? (?)
* Bonk-Kun * - Through Fire and War, Over Water and Law
Lagomorpheus. Moth-dream can really help one get to know themselves, you know?
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 2.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 empty bowl which once held gruel, now holds a very tiny Ocean.

Rolled 5, 1, 6 = 12 (3d6)

>>5873648
>Deploy 3
>3AP Try to scare the rats with my surprise appearance from the bush, yelling something about unpaid taxes and breaking safety regulations (Influence 12)
>1AG Move 1
>1RP Get ready to block

#Cardinal Sin
==Core==
Guard 13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
Status: All well
Status: Alive
==Array==
Armor 1 + Health 12 [3] Psyche 12[2] Grit 13[3]
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12[Agi=3]
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter (+hit/+effect)
!Offhander (1AP)
!Pack Tactics (AP discount)
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet
!Reduce Terror by Grit (1AP)
!Armored Advance (+1 Armor)
!Paradeground Performance

Rolled 5, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2 = 15 (6d6)

>>5873648
Finally. Back from (ip-banned) work. Time for one more cheeky interception.

>Intercept group 2, rolling vs 15.

#Tier
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 10 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
!Creative Use Encouraged (Unpenalized improvisation)
!Wear My Kicking Boots (Damage gets +GRIT against prone targets)
!Knuckledancer: Build +1 or drop 1 Aggression / Cunning per major attack.
==Mask==
Mothdiver mask
==Contacts==
The Red Markets - 7
Vanadian Expeditionary Veteran - 8
==Stuff==
2 Bits
111 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
Model 73 Boots (Weight 1)
2 Glory

Rolled 2, 5, 1, 3, 2, 5, 3, 1, 2, 6, 1, 1 = 32 (12d6)

>>5873648
> Raise Guard by 2 to 14 (2 Agility)
> Move 1 (1 Agility)
> Pocketpilfer the closest knife rat, twice. (6 AP, Taking Arts 13. Knives it is!)
> Punch closest rat to my 6 (4 Focus)
> Snap Kick Mistil (2 Focus)
Reaction: Parry with my new knife. If I do not have a knife, Parry anyways. Do I not have gloves?

>>5874412
Sadly, you do. We still all wish you'd take them off. It's... It's just undignified, alright.

Rolled 3, 3, 1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 5 = 45 (15d6)

>>5873648
>1AP: Hold Breath
>2 Agility: Move 66
>3AP: Throw Brightflash 122 (Influence 12, Shock)
>8 Focus: Aim Wire-fang at Mistil (Understand 10+5)
>2AP: Pull Mistil to me (STR 13+1)
>1 Focus: Offhander Mistil (Grit 13)
>3 Focus: Punch Mistil (Legionlock 11)
>1RP: Parry

#Amicus
==Core==
Guard 11
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 0/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 11
!Unfair Fighter: Adds ½ of any penalty your target is suffering that you’re not also suffering as +hit/+effect.
!Offhander: 1 AP to roll against Grit or Reaction to try a Trick (which penalizes targets)
!Pack Tactics: Get a 1 AP discount on major attack actions if target is fighting an ally of yours.
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet (+Honour)
+Ash and Smoke (Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.)
+Swordhunter (Roll vs Sense to sniff out nearby weapons. +1 base effect against armed opponents.)
-Carving (A bonus when helping a friend in danger.)
2 Maskstain
1 Reputation
+1 Reputation (Temp)
==Kit==
Total weight: 4
Model 73 Boots
Wire-Fangs
Brightflash Bandolier 5/6
Jaegerhound Fuel Cell System Fuel Cell x3
==Contacts==
Veteran's Association - 8
The Red Markets - 7
==Things==
Association Membership
Correspondence with distant friends made during the war
Memento of a dream choked in blood
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Abnegation and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]

File: Glorious advance.png (723 KB, 872x998)

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Discretion is, as they say, the better part of valor. And what is valor but the oft-misunderstood twin of glory?

Mock runs, a dying waxworm slung over his shoulder...

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... could you all stop standing around and letting the masks escape?

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Spider-Rat-Man eyes the wall. The faint trace of salt in the air, a low wind. It's a fake, somehow, it must move, and if it must move then it can move, and... yes. With a subtle click and the locking of cunning mechanisms, the wall rolls aside.

Faint light from below. The sound of distant waves.
A tunnel, but more, vaster, not quite a cave. Something water-slicked and salt-licked. The ocean must have carved it from the rock and the Slicerats taken over, turning what used to be a little crack in rock into a small, hidden rat-hole. Look, planks, industry, rats in...

... Masks? Not like ours, no, but masks, of a kind, filter-slung and thick. Corrosive resistant. They wear aprons. They have *clipboards*. They check things, and mutter, and in the distance against the far wall, something metallic hums away with gentle noise. And below all that, a low moan. There are people here not so allied with Rinik at all, and as Spider-Rat-Man leans and squints into the place, he senses them. Unfortunate souls, slumped against the far wall. They seem well fed, neither wretched nor hurt, but for all their able-bodied physique they sit listlessly, staring out the world with eyes that don't see. The light on the inside is missing.

This is no place of honor. What are Rinik little rats doing here?

File: See, it takes place under(...).png (911 KB, 1402x1038)

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Checking his numbers one of the chemicae rats approach a wide-eyed citizen slumped against the cold rock walls. Double-checks. Taps his clipboard. Nods. Yes, this one will do.

From the sputtering machine built into the distant rockface, opposite Spider-Rat-Man's looming entrance to this rocky horror show, another chem-rat adjusts some dials. Pulls a switch. And from the inside, with reverent care, extracts a philter of something sort of hard to see, shifting between blinks, a fluid that is not, a storm in a bottle...

This can't be first time that these poor people have been fed whichever it is that Rinik's dieticians demand they subsist on in this place. And yet: would standing by and watching the Slicerats force it on people not be a kind of crime? The Rats wear masks, yes.

Something only done when handling volatiles that one wishes to mimimize exposure to. If this was all so beneficial, why the protectives and the secrecy?

Spider-Rat-Man, what... to do?

Rolled 6, 4, 5 = 15 (3d6)

>>5873648
I'm not late, you're late

>2 Agil: Recover Guard
>1 Agil, 3 AP: Move 211 1
>3 AP: Shove a rat into another rat

#Sal
==Core==
Guard 15
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus (10/)12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
==Mask==
Red Droplet

Model 73 Boots

A Legion Quartermaster (8), known partially for graft and partially for a darling ability
to deliver unmarked crates of boots and other requirements at almost no cost save a favor, some other time.

17 Bits
9 cold Coins
1 Reputation
2 Maskstain
1 Maskmyth

A Bed to rest in, and the House its in
-A Convenient location
-Physical Security
-A Bedroom
Bland food for a week

>>5874590
>1 RP: Parry

>>5873801
I'm down. Your style number is higher than mine, so you should go first. Unless one of the other available interceptors has a higher number and feels like participating.

File: RatDocks 5-1.jpg (5.09 MB, 3760x4532)

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Mistil leaps like a spark from foot to foot, red hair swaying, green-eyes like chemical fires locked to us. Some chivalric instinct compels her to offer the possibility of retreat. Perhaps she knows something. Perhaps she waits for something. Well, the Courier will never arrive and Mistil will never know, and so we step in. Fourth Dusk steals a knife from out of hand of a Slicerat, and Amicus dives left into the swirling smoke, holding to his soul.

In the distance, Riv slides like water out of the Watcher's grasp, twisting, and tries diplomacy - as Lagomorpheus clambers from the ocean, dripping wet and faintly out of breath. A thankful fisher is saved from the burning sting of clinging purple-tinged fire, and in the doing, Lagomorpheus feels the pull of the most dangerous instinct of all

Altruistic generosity.

[ WORLD PHASE ]

>>5874587
>Play it as it lay. Play it cool. Play it like a bigshot who belongs here. Just got to know what's happening.
>Go in, close the door.
>"Alright rats, we got a bit of a situation upstairs but it's being dealt with. Though we're short on time might need to extract. Who am I? Your temporary observer whilst the ratlings upstairs square away the disturbance or don't comeback with word. Although Rinik didn't exactly have time to brief me. I swear that spitescorp is getting more and more impatient these days. What's the happs? What are we doing and I need a report ASAP. Don't leave me hanging. Show me that notepad...Ok I kind of fibbed that one what does this squiggly line mean?"

File: Rat Hunter 1-1.png (1.26 MB, 1408x1086)

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Tier gets the drop on a distant group as they round a corner, swinging, tackling - and the Rats, for once, don't break and scatter but form up, shout and start pulling knives. Tier clocks a few of them, and one of those grunts won't stand up again for a while, but their collective front wards him off.

As Tier dips down an alley and shakes his pursuers by clambering up a convenient roof, he knows that now that the Patrol has been intercepted, they've begun ACTIVELY SEARCHING.

They respond other events within their movement range. Luckily, nothing we need is of any particular concern and the great mobility of our interceptors allow us to easily bypass these more in depth patrols. It'd be worse if we had something in their search area we needed to protect or if we had wounded who are too slow to easily hit and run--

Mock sprints away from Ratport, a wounded Waxworm slung in a grip, boots bounding on the muddy pavement and a *score* of very well motivated Slicerats on the prowl, right behind.

Weighed down like this, Mock doesn't benefit from the free-range mobility of our interceptors. He has a place to go and a need to get there.

Mock, you can drop your cargo at any time, and fade away into the city with a simple Move-Check. That moves you to the Interception layer, where you have more flexibility.

If you don't wish to drop your cargo, you have a Tactical Move of 1.

You can perform a Move-Check to move a further 1 *or* do some other action. Your particular cargo, Waxworm, is bleeding profusely from knife-wounds. He won't die just now, but if we don't get that patched - if you don't get patched - he won't be much help to anyone.

Or you can stand and face your pursuers, rolling an Intercept as normal against anyone in range.

But that group of RAT HUNTERS looks *fierce*. Attacking them head on is not in our favor. They too have tactical movement range of 1, and will pursue you. But luckily, if they tried to sprint, they'd lose members on the way, bleeding strength. They'll likely move as a group.

Any interceptor can use a skill roll, contacts, or some other clever cunning thing to try and alter the situation. This is the action you take *instead* of intercepting, and it's been possible this entire time, but perhaps it's useful to tell you the truth of it: You'd apply your skills, your cunning and your contacts towards carrying something out. Block routes, arrange distractions, slow down Rats, find a doctor that can tend to friends. When doing this, you naturally don't get to Intercept a specific group, but you could work together to split larger formations up, block pathways, such things.

The Rat Hunters are apt to simply be too many people to adaquately fight all at once, especially as they're being lead by their banner-leaders.

[ WORLD PHASE ]

File: images (19).jpg (58 KB, 571x400)

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>>5874612
So we're all agreed that we bumrush Rat Hunters 1?

File: Little Lights.png (394 KB, 1406x1044)

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Rolled 2, 6, 3 = 11 (3d6)

Mistil glares and stares and pulls her knife back in twitch-cut at the air that leaves *sparks* and the red-hot blade vibrates in her and and Amicus, through his helmet, through his uniform, feels a sudden bloom of sheer incalcuable malice as Mistil spits sparks

and then she's forced to breathe, too winded from the punch to avoid it.

All flames need oxygen

and then her green flash wildfire eyes go very, very wide

File: RatDocks5-2.jpg (5.15 MB, 3760x4532)

5.15 MB JPG

Sal is the victim of a brutal assault and as the knife finds purchase, she finds herself nothing so much as enraged by the whole endeavour. Alright. Someone wants to get violent? Sal can get . . . violent.

>Sal's Mask triggers, in retributory violence.

--

Lagomorpheus spends his time patting out the gentle fires and providing the succour the confused fishermen need to get their bearings back to this place.

The Watcher eyes the pair of Riv and Lago, first in suspecion, then, slowly, with an almost mild form of appreciation.

>Lago's Plain Mask is stained with the water and marked by the wind

>Mask: Sunlight Dewdrops:
!Nourishing: +2 Reputation, mostly positive interactions, friendlier world.
!Indiscriminate Sunlight: Self Control 12 to avoid Compulsive Charity,

--

Amicus watches someone... change. Temperature fluctuates. Heat blooms. The wind rolls sudden frost-icicles in a spate of hail. A knife melts.

By The book:
It's probaby going to be egregiously harmful to anyone's health to be within 3 tiles of Mistil.

Sense, 3:
... Touching that? With your *hands*?! Might as well stick them straight into the jaws of a stonedog. No way.

--

Mock is pursued.
Fourth Dusk squares off.

--

Embers-Before-The-Fuelshifting stance, not quite so hostile
. . . Don't dance with the Uninvited, alright? I'm watching.

--

Circus feels the world go dark as somehow they get a whole dense fishing net thrown over them.

--

[ MASK PHASE ]

>Cardinal Sin finally arrives proper. Feel free to act from any Mask (except Circus)

>>5874590
Sal, that rat stabbed you something fierce. It seems the violence only made you adrenaline-surge uset. You have 2 bruises, but the Red Droplet indicates a willing and a will for violent things. More poor fool the Slicerats for escalating.

Against that one rat in particular, holding his knife, you don't have to hold back - so you hit harder. And the Mask itself compels you to red endeavours, so the Wounds you would normally actuely be feeling have already been Powered Through (the Mask did it... for you)

Rolled 6, 3, 4, 2, 5, 5, 1, 2, 5 = 33 (9d6)

>>5874662
I see... hehe, now this little rat has made it personal. Well, while he waits for whatever Mistil is cooking, he can sit here and *choke* on his ambitions for thinking he could stab SAL and get away with it!

>>5874653
>Recover 1 Focus for failing self control (11/12)
>3 AP: Improvise a Trick on the knife rat's Guard. Feign taking a bigger hit than I really did, bend over in pain, make him let his guard down.
>3 AP: Explode into a knee drive straight into his groin (-2, Stun).
>3 Focus: Punch him straight in the throat (-2).
>3 Agil: Move 443, face 6
>1 RP: dodge

#Sal
==Core==
Guard 15
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus (8/)12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
==Mask==
Red Droplet

Model 73 Boots

A Legion Quartermaster (8), known partially for graft and partially for a darling ability
to deliver unmarked crates of boots and other requirements at almost no cost save a favor, some other time.

17 Bits
9 cold Coins
1 Reputation
2 Maskstain
1 Maskmyth

A Bed to rest in, and the House its in
-A Convenient location
-Physical Security
-A Bedroom
Bland food for a week

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5874677
Red Droplet damage reroll

Rolled 1, 5, 2, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 5, 6, 6 = 47 (12d6)

>>5874653
>1 Agility: Move 6, into the furnace. I cannot allow this to play out right in front of my eyes. Not again.
>3AP: Grab Mistil, power through the heat and inevitable pain
>3AP+1 Agility: Aim and snapfire wirefang at the crane or whatever seems sturdy enough to pull us both to the south
>1 Agility: Move check, run with Mistil into the water and away from the innocent bystanders
>Let the mask take over and carry us the rest of the way to (everyone else's) safety according to Legion regulations and best practices

(I think that's enough dice. Carving bonus should apply to all my rolls for this)

#Amicus
==Core==
Guard 11
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 3 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 9 Focus 0/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 10
==Style==
Legionlock 11
!Unfair Fighter: Adds ½ of any penalty your target is suffering that you’re not also suffering as +hit/+effect.
!Offhander: 1 AP to roll against Grit or Reaction to try a Trick (which penalizes targets)
!Pack Tactics: Get a 1 AP discount on major attack actions if target is fighting an ally of yours.
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet (+Honour)
+Ash and Smoke (Roll vs Influence to add Fire or Smoke to next action *or* inflict it on the environment. +1 per Focus spent.)
+Swordhunter (Roll vs Sense to sniff out nearby weapons. +1 base effect against armed opponents.)
-Carving (A bonus when helping a friend in danger.)
2 Maskstain
1 Reputation
+1 Reputation (Temp)
==Kit==
Total weight: 4
Model 73 Boots
Wire-Fangs
Brightflash Bandolier 5/6
Jaegerhound Fuel Cell System Fuel Cell x3
==Contacts==
Veteran's Association - 8
The Red Markets - 7
==Things==
Association Membership
Correspondence with distant friends made during the war
Memento of a dream choked in blood
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Abnegation and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]

Rolled 4, 5, 5 = 14 (3d6)

>>5874653
#Riv
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
[Health 2] :: [Psyche 2] :: [Grit 2]
[Reaction 11] :: [Focus 8/11]
==Skills==
[Sense 12] :: [Understand 10] :: [Influence 10] :: [Move 14]
==Style==
[Brawling 14]
==Mask==
[Plain]
==Inventory==
[9 Coldcoin]
[8 Bits]
==Contacts==
Legion Quartermaster Contact - 8
==Other==
[1 Rat Mark]
[1 Hygean Mark]
==Lifestyle==
[A Good Bed, A Door That Locks, And Privacy] (Standard)
+ [An Easy Way Out] (Outstanding)
[Bland Food For A Week] (Standard)

Riv sinks into a shallow bow and taps his brow in a sardonic salute to the Watcher.
>(1AGI) Move [4]x1.
>(3AP) Procure a pair of large, preferably empty, buckets from the pile of odds-and-ends stored by the dockside @ [3].
> (2AGI) Hop and skip over the gaps between the crisscrossing boardwalks, moving [4]x2.
> (3AP+1AGI+1RP) Slip over the edge of splintering wood and swing down to the piers underside, perching upon one of the spraysoaked and saltstained support crossbeam hanging over the sighing tide below - stooping down Riv dunks both buckets into the foamy brine of cresting waves filling both near to their brims with salt water. (Move14+1AGI+1RP)

Rolled 4, 6, 5, 6, 6, 3 = 30 (6d6)

>>5874653
The Wax is melting, the Worm is being revealed! Leaking, he's leaking - surely this was to be expected. Waxworm *plans* to be stabbed, to detonate a brightflash bandolier on himself, to dance on the edge of death.

>Contact: Red Markets - Waxworm knew he'd end up near death mere steps into this dance. Surely he hired a doc off map, or an animist seeking fresh and exotic conditions, or at least packed some quikclot or a slap-patch.
>Contact: Glass Knight - Cleansing the streets? Toppling tyrannies? Slaying rodents of unusual size? Sounds like a quest, and I know just the knight-errant to cover our retreat.
>Willing to take on a DEBT to my contacts in exchange for their immediate and impactful support.

#Waxworm
==Core==
Guard 0
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Stun 9? Some amount of bleed? Surely a number of wounds?
-Status: KO
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 11 Focus 0/11
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Taking Arts 12
!Shadowtheft: [1 AP and Dodge Reaction] - Dodge behind, steal 1 guard
!Mug The Future: Steal AP from your future self. Start next turn with that much Stun.
==Mask==
Stainwood(+Weird)
-2 Maskstains
==Contact==
The Red Markets - 7
Kalcimiri Glass Knight - 8
==Pockets==
-Bent Long Knife
-Exceptional Fishing Gear
-Cold Coins x5
-Bits x6
==Other==
-Rat Mark x1
-Hygean Mark x1

Rolled 3, 3, 4 = 10 (3d6)

>>5874653
>{1 TAC-MOV} Move 1
>{Move 14} Move 1 [-1ACC (Burdened)] (Total: 13)

#Mock
==Core==
Guard 1/13
AP 6 Agility 4 RP 1
-Status: Burdened (4? Weight), Deaf, 1 Aggression, 2 Cunning, 1 GLORY
-Status: 3 Bruises, 1 Wound(?)
==Array==
Health 0/4 Psyche 2/2 Grit 1/2
Reaction 9 Focus 0/12
==Skills==
Sense 10(12-2), Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Brawling 14
-!Creative Use Encouraged, !Wear My Kicking Boots, !Knuckledancer
==Mask==
Mothdiver Mask {1 STAIN}
-+1 Hit and Effect on high-diving style moves.
-Recover 1 Focus when landing a diving attack.
-Punches are boring...
-+Mothmask effects
-Carving: +1 Hit when diving
==Kit==
Model 73 Boots
-Weight 1
-+1 Raw Damage on kicks
-Feet protection
-*Clonk Clonk Clonk*
==Contacts==
The Red Markets 7
Outlander Contact 8

File: Stepping past the threshold.png (846 KB, 1402x980)

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Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>5874606
Spider-Rat-Man, sneaky as a spider, ratty as a rat, slides down the stairs with imperial air. Think crooked thoughts, maskmate, because these people think at orthogonal angles to the material world. It is easy to tell their type: scientist souls.

Here, in our grand city, we'd call them Bonded, the ones who Bond, from their high House teeming with smart artifice, each and all one of those curious madmen who see the world not for what it is but what it could be.

As the saying goes, when one wishes to end an empire, send no soul: send an engineer.

But... as the Chemicae-Rat opens his mouth and speaks muffled words half-chokd by a mask, Spider-Rat-Man experiences a flutter of the heart and soft sensation of the world not quite as it should be. Because this man, with his intense eyes and his graph-polluted clipboard and his sentence just now which was something along the lines of trinary binding process in the noospherical value inset, oh, this man, is... not a slicerat. The protective mask might hide it, maskmate, and his thick chemical stained leathers warp his countenance but ... no, listen, listen, oh soft soul,

the way he rolls his R
the soft drop at the end of a sentence
this man speaks with an accent

and he speaks with an accent because he is not a slicerat at all, no, this man is a proud citizen of a distant forest-choked republic, pale and clever and with ideas grand, and a little too vain for his own good.

this man is vanadian.

And... what is he talking about it? If only you could understand...

File: Understanding Far Too Much.png (590 KB, 1404x882)

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>>5874606
>>5874707
Oh Rinik.
What have you done?

The Vanadian scientist, Free College trained and taught, approaches the only barely conscious man slumped against the wall. Talks a few words with him. Checks his interminable clipboard once again, for numbers and notations and calculations and the very stuff that heresy is made of.

But then, again, is it truly heresy if one approaches Divinity from the angle of a plumber? It's all leaking Potential and Possibility, and the Other is just an ocean, with flora and fauna so different from us that it defines taxomy itself and the concept of conceptualization.

One cannot commit heresy against things one does not even consider divine in the first place. Science, *proper science*, the real stuff of world-shaking, threshold pushing, paradigm shattering advancement, what place has that for sacred and sombre and something so positively backwards thinking as mere traditional respect? The only icon a proper scientist needs is the labeling on their equipment.

Spider-Rat-Man understands, in a flash, what is being attempted here. There are stories about this kind of thing. And not the stories told to happy children and delighted seekers by twitching tongue and fine cape, above, no, not the joyous stories of myth and man and ancient deeds

Find a soldier, in some tavern
ask them what they saw

Ask them about the Threshold Project, and watch, in their eyes, years hence, as terror like a shark swims across their memories. Ask them about the Rook. Ask them about Gerean's Gremlins.

There are certain things no soul should engage.

Oh Rinik, you mad little rat.
You want to feast on the stuff that gods are made from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n41I_sc2r08

File: Free Thinker? Sure, but o(...).png (551 KB, 1418x756)

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Rolled 6, 9 = 15 (2d10)


>>5874730
Their graphs are fine. Spider-Rat-Man understands it, not the science or the art or the getting grubby paws on things best left in their quiet places, but the shape of it, the curve, it's like every exponentiality ever devised, look, start slow, and go to the right with you eyes, and even though the Vanadian in the protective gear uses a phrase "neo-morphic linkage integration with exonomic thoughtforms, biased by the affordances of the human substrate", what the little *rat* soul is *saying* is:

We corrode the very thought-stuff that makes a human human, and in the void, before something else can slither in, we put a little shard of something that thinks in terms inhuman, and so we hope that our pet little spriteling is bound by civil laws and tamed by twenty years of its new-flesh ambulating through the city streets, and we thought this was a grand idea of forensic theology because frankly we hadn't thought to consider why the Theurges for three hundred years of feast and fire and charitable public donations made every public in every public school repeat, repeat, repeat, the words:

Swear no oath
Make no deal

There are Thought-things out there
To whom you are a meal

The Free Colleges, for all their institutional capacity for advancing engineering and making wonders of agriculture could do with a little schooling of the Theurgic bent. Not much for teaching your free thinking, sure, but you can study that in university, and if you had spent ten formative long years in a Pytherii Empyreal Emissary school, maybe you'd leave the fundamental substrate of the world well enough alone.

And look at what you've gone and done...

The lab-rat opens his eyes and now they are sharp and clean and blue and focused because some Other thing is staring out.

The world shudders a little
A crate slips off its perch

The Vanadian scientists nod and cheer and make a few notes on their clipboards, as if the worst thing in the world hadn't just happened.

Rolled 6, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1 = 28 (12d6)

>>5874598
Tier and Cards slid off so it's just you, me and that small army stumbling our way, Abs, and it looks like they're after one of ours! The masks are off and the blades are out already. And we didn't even get to join!

> Burn one Foresight: Escape Formation B!
> Influence 12: Deceive, Misdirect
> Steal some rat colours from the fallen and join the ratpack, running ahead of the rest. Lead them down a false trail once Mock breaks line of sight.
> Understand 12: Supporting skill, accepting danger
> Half are deafened by the flashbangs, the other have been marinating in mothdream for hours and all their blood is up. Surely, they can be misdirected!

%Sundancer
==Short Stats==
G 12/12 || F 9/13
Understand 12, Influence 12
Brawling 14
Plain Mask

What are the chances that everything explodes on the main map at precisely the same time? Mistil going nova, whatever's happening in the basement...
That pyromancer exploding is going to spread that mothdream cloud all over, or light it up brighter than anything we've seen yet.

It'll be a massive signal flare for any other Rat patrols out there. They'll be coming straight for us, me and tier and abnegation won't be able to stop them.

Basically, get out!

>>5874900
This place does seem volatile and full of odd intent. We know the Moth-dream burns, and if Mistil is about to act cataclysmic or pyroclastic or worse, this waterfront might experience something poor and painful indeed.

Though things near Spider-Rat-Man seem to have settle into slow after-shocks and some twisting in the walls, the rocks, the planks. Space is... disjointed. Things feel closer and too far away.

But not explosive.
Not yet, certainly.

Rolled 6, 3, 5, 2, 3, 3 = 22 (6d6)

>>5874653
>March out from behind Sal, stand 6 of his position, FACE THE ENEMY.
>1AP (Offhander): Pretend to help Sal to make knifeRat (4) lower his Guard even further (3d6 vs 12 Grit)
>2AP (Pack Tactics Discount): Crush said kniferat's windpipe, just like in the training manual (Unfair Figher): Use knifeRat Guard penalty to gain +hit (3d6 vs 10 Legionlock)
>3AP (Offhander): Feign a kick on the Slicerat (5) to weaken his Style, stomp the ground instead (3d6 vs 12+2 Grit)
>1RP Stand my ground, get ready to parry the blade/s

#Cardinal Sin
==Core==
Guard 13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
Status: All well
Status: Alive
==Array==
Armor 1 + Health 12 [3] Psyche 12[2] Grit 13[3]
Reaction 9 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12[Agi=3]
==Style==
Legionlock 10
!Unfair Fighter (+hit/+effect)
!Offhander (1AP)
!Pack Tactics (AP discount)
==Mask==
Legion Fullhelmet
!Reduce Terror by Grit (1AP)
!Armored Advance (+1 Armor)
!Paradeground Performance

Rolled 6, 1, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>5874932
Dropped the dice

Rolled 4, 6, 4, 4, 5, 4 = 27 (6d6)

>>5874691
>Spend 2 foresight to reroll my second and fourth roll

>>5874932
…his?

Rolled 4, 6, 4, 6, 2, 2 = 24 (6d6)

>>5875011
Bountiful tidings, maskdancer - in this particular reality, rerolls aren't merely simple shakes of the dice. Oh no, friend, you get to pick the best. . . of 3 sets.

Let the universe rattle those extra bones for you, and otherwise, our fair and fine eyes spot a 14 and a 13, to slot in, as you like, as you please. The long and longing benefits of Foresight, indeed.

>>5875020
The universe does not seem to like me very much at the moment

>>5875028
It does seem ornery. Almost as if some kind of ... infraction... against the order of things have occured.

Rolled 6, 5, 2, 6, 5, 3 = 27 (6d6)

>>5874653
I'm not one to leave a job half-finished. Especially when doing so threatens a fellow mask's escape. Just when they think they drove me off...I'm diving back in!

>Intercept group #2, roll vs 15.

#Tier
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: 4 Bruises
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 3
Reaction 10 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 12
==Style==
Brawling 15
!Creative Use Encouraged (Unpenalized improvisation)
!Wear My Kicking Boots (Damage gets +GRIT against prone targets)
!Knuckledancer: Build +1 or drop 1 Aggression / Cunning per major attack.
==Mask==
Mothdiver mask
==Contacts==
The Red Markets - 7
Vanadian Expeditionary Veteran - 8
==Stuff==
2 Bits
111 cold Coins
1 Reputation
1 Maskmyth
Model 73 Boots (Weight 1)
2 Glory

Rolled 6, 6, 5, 3, 5, 6 = 31 (6d6)

>1 AGI - Move to the 4

>1 AP - Hand the Watcher a soaked letter from someone's Aunt. I was told that it was for "Derrick, that Watcher down at the docks that the Slice-Rats have been running".

>1 AP - Call out to the transparent purple ghost people to watch out for the likely imminent fireball from an exploding willworker with an unchained will. [roll if needed, INF 10]

>1AGI - Sprint to my 3 (MV 14+1, dice 1-3)

>1AGI - Overwatch an inertial redirect at the point 3 spaces to my 4 (the hex just north of the barrels and just SE of Riv). Redirect my motion to the 2 direction. I would say to try and get that dazed slicerat away from the imminent roaring flames, but I'm aware that we don't do conditionals around here.

>4AP - Think about where I left that med-kit. Daddy wanted me to learn medicine so much that he had me patched with an auto-Doc, so might as well make use of it. [Family ? + 3 Rep; Dice 4-6]

To the Watcher: "Oh, by the way, are you Derrick? I have a letter for them from their Aunt Julia. If they have a different shift can you pass it along? I have to run. Thanks, bye!.

*Wave arms in air* "Hey you lot. Watch out, that purple cloud is about to ignite. Take cover".

Cough. Maybe I should stop smoking.

Run Rabbit Run. Don't worry about those rats on your tail. If they catch you they might kill you, but first they must catch you, and none of them have the Grim Ambition to run after you.

==Core==
Guard 0 <- untested?
AP 6 Agility 4-1 RP 1
-Status: Waking Up to Ash and Dust I'm Breathing In the Chemicals (-1 Agi
-Status: Alive, 4 bruises.
==Array==
Health 12 (2)? Psyche 12 (2) Grit 12 (2)?Reaction 10 Focus 4/12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 10, Influence 10, Move 14
==Style==
Vulpes Taking Arts 12
==Mask==
[Plain] w/big ears
+[Sword Hunter]: Roll Sense to sniff out nearby weaponry
+[Fleet Carving]: +1 to move fast or fluidly
+Sunlight Dewdrops: !Nourishing: +2 Reputation, mostly positive interactions, friendlier world.
!Indiscriminate Sunlight: Self Control 12 to avoid Compulsive Charity,

Self Control = 9
1 Stain. Stained with what?
1 Maskmyth?
3 Reputation
==Contacts==
The Red Markets (7)
? ? The Family ? (?)
* Bonk-Kun * - At Rest
Lagomorpheus. Moth-dream can really help one get to know themselves, you know?
Sal - That girl who likes to hurt people.
==Things==
Gross Loot (1 set abandoned boxing gloves)
Weight: 1 (bonk-kun) + 1.0 Sewing Kit = 2.0
+Exceptional sewing kit
20 Cold Coins
1 bowl which once held gruel, now might hold a very tiny Ocean.

>>5874653
> 2 AP: Hurl two Brightfires, twice, for a total of four- directly at the hostile hound 1 of me. (Taking Arts 13, 6d6)
> 1 AP: Loot a fire charred crate lid on the ground. Find the handle, wield it like a heated- sorry, heater shield.
> 1 Agility: Leap over the Crate 6 of me, all heroic like, to land on firmer footing on the other side.
> 3AP, 2 Agility: Stab the slice rat! (3d6)
Reaction Point: Shield block!

Guard 14, Health 2, Focus 0
All seems well.

Rolled 5, 1, 1, 1, 5, 3, 5, 1, 5 = 27 (9d6)

>>5875220
In my dreams of stolen valour, I forgot my dice!

File: supaidaman.gif (3.3 MB, 498x331)

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Rolled 5, 6, 6 = 17 (3d6)

>>5874744
>5AP: Push through and CALM THE HECK DOWN. Think of other things or concentrate to organize all of this information. Of the phenomenon that happened. All of this...is bonkers yes.
This is insane Rinik. What broke you so that you had to call the monsters of Vanadia to aid you in this madness? That you need puppets wielding the power which brought Pyther low? The Moth-Dream is or was phase one and the fact that it worked so well in creating...that. But why? Why do you need so much? How much more will you need? How much will ever be enough? These people...I can't judge them for choosing the path of forgetting themselves through narcotics. Saving them from their own chosen and forced fate is well over my power. Do they even want to be saved?... Questions and questions. But what is Rinik fighting that he needs all this? Or what is he trying to acquire that requires all this power to bear? Whatever it was...it remains to be seen if we'll have to come to stop Rinik or stop whatever he's trying to stop. Your truest intentions Rinik, will come to light eventually but for now... there is a choice that can be made here. A leap of faith to undertake. Hopefully for the good of Razorwind.
>1AP: "Hey bondman, do you perhaps accept volunteers? I think I can maybe give it a try with some conditions attached..."
Spider-Man
==Core==
Guard 14
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 12 Psyche 12 Grit 12
Reaction 11 Focus 12
==Skills==
Sense 12, Understand 12, Influence 10, Move 10
==Style==
Taking Arts 13
==Mask==
Plain
==Things==
[Whispercloth] +1 Dodge, +1 Grapple reach
[Wire-Fangs] +1 Traverse, Length 4, Pulls with Str 13 (vs Understand to aim, 1ap to pull self or target)
-Weight 1, Malfunction 16
[Vial of Slapcrete]
4x[Heartflush Dose]
==Contacts==
Vanadian Trade Correspondent - 9
The Red Markets - 7

Rolled 5, 3, 2 = 10 (3d6)

>>5875493
>>5874744
>Spend 1 Foresight to reroll this Push Through

>>5875017
Knife rat wasn't the only one Sal tricked this turn. She's a natural.

Rolled 1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 5 = 23 (6d6)

>>5873648
#Abnegation
==Core==
Guard 13/13
AP 6 Agility 3 RP 1
-Status: All well
-Status: Alive
==Array=
Health 2 Psyche 2 Grit 2
Reaction 9 Focus 13/13
==Skills==
Sense 10, Understand 10, Influence 12, Move 12
==Style==
Shatterhands 13
!One Against: All parry penalties are halved. You can retreat with a parry as well, +3 if so.
!Legwork: Harsh penalties in a grapple or when off balance, dangerous techniques, kicking has less consequences
!Serpent’s Precept: -2 to skill, roll damage twice or make it Piercing (which really hurts)
!Stormspin: Roll Style, add margin to next kick
==Mask==
Plain
===Contacts===
The Red Markets - 7 - Unused in prep - Unused in mission
Animist Associate - 8 - Unused in prep - Used in mission
===Things===
0 Bits
8 cold coins
1 Reputation
0 Maskmyth
[A Library, For Personal Perusal]
[A Place To Practice, In Peace]
[A Bed To Rest In, And The House It's In - COMMUNAL with Lagomorpheus, Amicus, and Waxworm, 50 Cold Coins Floating (?)]
Carving, +1 to Stormspin

>This mind expected trouble around Ratport, and connected with its Animisr Associate to prepare some kind of contingency if somebody were to become grievously injured, be that an elixir of some kind, personal aid, or anything in that range.

Every child knows not to stick their hands into the fire.

But if we fear the heat too much, how will we ever be reforged to sharper things?

File: Starcatcher.png (775 KB, 1234x1048)

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>>5875574

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Material reality shifts, things buckle, a crate - shutter-step - reasserts itself. A man in a mask opposite Spider-Rat-Man makes a soft "hm" as if witnessing entropy negated is much like making breakfast, the sort of thing expected, but he can be shocked. Surprise is the last thing to die because you will always find it, there, in your mind, hidden, springing out as a, well, take a guess.

As Spider-Rat-Man volunteers for things unknown - unknowable - the Threshold Scientist eyes him up, sharp, quick, flicker-fast, and Spider-Rat-Man feels the weight of his intention shifting, changing, assessing the man before him like a morsel at a market. Good stance, developed physique, self control high, inhibition graduated through practice, abnegation personified, a penchance perhaps for glory-seeking, awash with the symbolism of the Mask, and though this Vanadian doesn't quite understand the full truth of the Dance, he does understand the nature of symbols.

Iconography.

And what is a Mask but an Icon one wears to show one's True Face? To be, in fact, free of the flesh but bound by the soul that one deigns to wear, for an evening out at town, in search of deeds grand and designs intricate?

Perhaps.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Every other avenue tried, tested, experimented, the trails turned to ash and fears and burning facilities and screams, and what man tires not of being chased by militia and hunted by goons of a government that wishes to burn the very memory of your war-winning designs to the ground? Perhaps a new breed of subject could be useful. Desirable. The twin-bound impulses of the Imbued, the Refification Process, the Threshold-Tresspasser Paradigm, we've tried loyalty, we've tried Service, we've tried nationalism, patriotism, desperation and - here in Pyther, in the grand city of fire, we're trying now again with theology, mystery and a cleaned slate.

But maybe.

What if.

What if we *really* need is simply an anchor. A design, already described in the mind of the man who is to become something Other? They wear a Mask. They Dance the Dance. But a Mask can be an Icon of many things. He taps his clipboard. And Spider-Rat-Man can sense his long, lingering smile. Little dreams of grand goals, but little dreams are all one needs, to anchor a design on.

>>5874700
Chase that darkening sky and outrace the sunset, maskmate! Don't stop until you reach the ferryboat.

>>5875493
I can't believe spiderman is trying to get superpowers at a time like this. The mission! The mission! Also, you need to roll another dice set, its three rolls not one. Want me to do it for you? My rolls are on fire today.
Also also, that's all our foresight spent! Instantly! As soon as I remembered you had it and spend the first point! Also also also, that stuff they're doing is killing their souls and replacing it with other things, I don't think you really want them to do that to you, spiderman.
Also also also also, it's not a cool exciting maskmyth if you run in thre and guzzle all the superpower vials on purpose. It's supposed to be accidental, or enemy action, or as a result of deep, meaningful personal struggles against internal darkness! That's how maskmyths work!

That blue glowing eye guy? Imagine how good he'd look in a mask. He'd be very popular. The glowing eyes thing is very 'in', and he got his powers from cruel and unusual experiments inflicted on him for weeks in a secret underground facility full of evil scientists with funny accents! And he's had his soul stripped off of him and he has AMNESIA and IS HE REALLY EVEN A PERSON ANY MORE and WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EXPERIENCE LOVE AS A FRAGMENT OF DIVINITY and it's not the *same* if you run in and ask those evil scientists to please give you all the superpower juice.

Anyway, I sure hope nothing explodes right now because we're on our ownnnnn.

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I need you to sign this waiver. And we'll have to get you measured for a Memory Supressant.

Oh, I see you brought your own. You call it... Mothdram? Poetic, but, you know they don't actually make it from moths, right? It's a flower.

>The man, pale, eyes locked on Spider-Rat-Man, proffers a clipboard and a pen and a line to sign.

>The particular legalese is remarkably straightforward, and reads, in full and in completeness, in Vanadian, Reikain, Kalcmiri, Pytherii and even a dialect of Uthani Wasponi:

I Assent

>And so all that's left is... the signing, it seems. And whatever series of steps to come.

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Rolled 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4 = 19 (6d6)

Fourth Dusk vaults over a wagon, grabbing a half-cold, half-warm plank to serve as an impromptu shield, as Sal and Cardinal Sin square off against the slicerats, less nimble on their feet. They clash, one going down in a flurry of blows and Fourth Dusk's new dirk drawing less blood but more terror as the Slicerrats finds himself on the recieving end of the one thing he probably fears more than anything: someone else coming for him with a knife and then he squares off and tries to counter--

and--

the world stops working correctly
wind shifts, hail slaps down and turn to mist and vapour, flames sputter and flicker, a sudden sunlight beam scytching through the clear skies, everything too hot, too cold, too warm, too quick, too *unchained*

In the eye of the storm, Amicus locks eye with Mistil the Flamespeaker, who is trying to speak, but as she opens her mouth her tongue is a incandescent candle and sparks the word that fly and her flame-red hair is, for once, a literalism.

The Full and Unbound Attention of the Empyreal shines down on the city streets.

In the distant days when the Theurges marched with the Legion, you'd see this. The Kindling. They draw too deep on the reservoirs and mingle their thoughtforms too closely with the benign attentions of the Near Icon of the Empyreal, the grand and becoming Eye, and the Other loves nothing so much as being here and only chains of self-control and will keep it at bay. Shocked and surprised and sometimes simply willing to let down their wards, their guards, their will, theurgic acolytes ride the starlit high of the unadultered, unfiltered attention of the High Eye.

No known material of man's make has ever been able to hold the full weight of the focus from the Icon of Fire.
Bodies don't so much disintegrate as simply... unravel.

Acolytes who live to become Theurges proper ward themselves and guard themselves and mind themselves because they know the ever-burning sensation like an ember slumbering in their souls. It would be so easy to go starmad.
To become one with the flame.

Rumour is the Theurge tried to circumvent the bonfire that becomes of a being who thinks thoughts too fulminant. That they strove to build an engine to move our world closer to the Sun itself, to bask in the Eye without, as ever, flash-vaporising in a Kindling Cascade. Because it is the most joyous thing of all, to have the undivided attention of an Icon.

And yet.
Mistil, teeth like fire, tongue like sunlight, icicles sprouting from her fingernails, is not escatic.
The Flamespeaker looks sad.
A tight-wound chain of self-control wrapped around her sense of self, slipped, for a moment, and now the temple that is her body will be ash.

Amicus puts his arm around her - Amicus loses an arm, every nerve deadening as the legion plate that makes his uniform buckles and runs like a river and against more pain than most can reasonably image, he spins and aims and shoots ...

>>5875785
You want an accident? How about this for an accident! Watch and witness this Sol dancer. I'm about to show more then just the art of failure and of rising from it's ashe- was that an explosion?

>>5875788
>Sign the waiver 'S. Rat-man'
>Mothdream? Mem Suppressant pch, how about you add something new to the mix too
>See this thing? Its called [Heartflush] here. Probably also a plant or idk spitscorp pheromones. I'll let you do the math but contrary to what you may think but we're going more then just the distance
>(Inside voices here) Alright Mask, lets see what we got. For today, you're about to shine close to the star the Theurges pulled at Sareth
>Lets dance boys