>>5894478
A week ago, you took some nasty cuts in a fight. You've taken some time to recover, and you're feeling much better. Still wearing the bandages, but that's more to make sure the sensitive skin doesn't agitate against your clothes more than anything. But now they're mostly healed, and you're ready to go back to work, but you still have a couple more days of leave before you're set to take up missions again. So long as you don't get into any fights, you should be fine.

You had plans on hanging out with the Chicago Red Dogs - a small three-person mechanized squad from America supervising Katriina's tests on their machines, and as an final backup if the Stormwatch fails to retrieve the stolen tech after enough time. Despite being the very stereotype of "loud-mouth American" that you had imagined every American to be, they seem mostly friendly and easy to understand. You don't very much relate to a lot of people. Stormwatch agents come from different places, speak different languages - English worst of all, Finnish only by necessity, and you've never heard anyone with any dialect anywhere close to your German. It's frustrating.

You hadn't contacted them to set anything up yet, so the choice of venue is still available - assuming they have the free time. They totally should, though. It is the weekend.

>The Red Dog's suite is supposedly really nice and upscale - though the least opportunity for meeting anybody new or exploring the city you barely know.
>Go back to the Brickstone Lehto - a dim, cozy place suited for public conversations.
>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.
_______

a/n:
Hello! A few days late, but better late than never. It's important to mentally stretch your legs-at least, I think.

Here's a Google Doc I've been working on with all the necessary information, including character sheet, trait information, and archived threads (It's still a WIP as I comprehend the rest of the important things things that need to be added):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jhZljN9y7A8w6qFcD8wX_xYaKZP65ZH8EGrmgKQ-nIU/edit?usp=sharing
But here's a list to the archived threads anyway:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Solarpunk%20Cleanup%20Agent%20Quest

>>5894488
>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.
Welcome back!

>>5894488
>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.
Is it this flavor?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_Void
Or is it this flavor?
https://noid.pizza/

>>5894488
>>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.

>>5894488
>The Red Dog's suite is supposedly really nice and upscale - though the least opportunity for meeting anybody new or exploring the city you barely know

>>5894488
>>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.

>>5894488
>>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.
It's good to be back

>>5894488
>With your promotion comes the elevated citizen status that lets you enter that Void place - some rowdy club where your mentor Kiikoinen seems to like slipping away to.

>>5894495
>>5894500
>>5894589
>>5894882
>>5894950
>>5895295
Haha! Of course you want to go out. As much as you like the idea of whatever classy upscale place the Americans have (likely already trashed), you're more eager to catch Kiikoinen by surprise. Giving you the slip like that last time. Rude! You're going to see what it's all about. Maybe you'll leave him to it. Maybe not. It's not your call.

You don't exactly have any "going out" dress, but you look good in your regular office wear of dress shirt and tie, if you do say so yourself!

Either way, you have to go where the Red Dogs are staying. It's nearby - the penthouse of the hotel right next door to the building where the vehicles for the Helsinki police department are stored. That must also be where their Big Red Dog is! The machine the captain pilots. You hope to see that one day when it's sitting in its garage, but you'd love to see it when it's on! Not that you'd want it to be deployed in earnest...

Taking an elevator up to their floor, you enter a stately foyer with modest decorations and a greenwall. With a polite knock on the door, you hear a man behind it get startled. You hear metal clink and clank and a machinelike whirr shortly after Footsteps come to the door, and the light ceases to shine through the peephole. A gruff voice speaks with a smidgen of pleasantness.

"Ah. You're that girl. From the Stormwatch." You recognize the voice. Uh... what was his name? The guy with the big black hat.

"Fiona!" You help him remember. "Kiikoinen's protege."

The door very loudlyunlocks, and the door opens partially to show a rather plain faced man. A rather docile and gentle looking adult with short cut brown hair and tiny blue eyes. Skinny and wiry beneath his enormous, oversized black fur coat that he's still wearing even inside. Now that you're looking at him head on, you can see all sorts of wrenches and tools inside it.

"What're you doin' here?" He asks, his accent having a bit of that southern drawl moreso than his companions. "If it was something serious, your bosses'd have given us a ring."

"Well, I just got a promotion! And I'd like to head on out, if you guys would join me."

Billy looks to the side for a moment, before a villainous sneer crosses his face. "Funny you should say that. And I got a stellar idea. Come on in, I'll have our butler take care of you for a bit while I go fetch the others. D, fix her a drink."

He opens the door wide, trying (and failing) to hide some manner of weapon he had answered the door with behind his coat. It was almost like one of those cowboy six-shooters, but there was this big belt of metal bulbs instead of the cylinder. He was prepared to meet less than pleasant company. Pocketing it and walking away around a corner, you help yourself in and look around for this butler he was talking abo-

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>>5895817
That's.

That's the bloodsucking robot from before.

It's a bit more cleaned up. Scratches on its paint job from its prior use still remain, but it now has a polished sheen. The curtain that drapes from its face has a moist shine, the moisture trickling down to a reservoir in its collar. You assume that's one of the more polite ways it feeds.

"SALUTATIONS; L2 STORMWATCH AGENT, FIONA JARNAFELDT," it speaks, rising to its feet. "APOLOGIES FOR MY EARLIER BEHAVIOR. THIS MODEL IS TRAINED TO OPERATE IN TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT."

However nice the room is, you fail to notice with the death machine walking over to the wet bar. It grabs a glass and a shaker to set them into a clear space in the middle.

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK?"

>Maybe you don't need to bring the Red Dogs after all, you can go to the place by yourself and leave them with their murderous robobutler. You want to get as far away from that thing during its "rehabilitation and reeducation" phase until it's certified to not try and kill random people.
>Tell the machine no and go follow Billy into the deeper into the residence, you don't want to be left alone with that thing
>Politely sit down and have it make you a drink (write in what kind)

>>5895829
>Politely sit down and have it make you a drink (write in what kind)
Single malt, single barrel Whiskey. Neat.

>>5895829
>Tell the machine no and go follow Billy into the deeper into the residence, you don't want to be left alone with that thing

>>5895829
>>Maybe you don't need to bring the Red Dogs after all, you can go to the place by yourself and leave them with their murderous robobutler. You want to get as far away from that thing during its "rehabilitation and reeducation" phase until it's certified to not try and kill random people.

>>5895831
+1; roll with the insanity
We're safe as long as Billy is here, and not getting a drink might be rude

>>5895831
+1

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>>5895831
>>5896116
>>5896295
Glancing at its arms, you see they have been given a new casing; one that covers the slot where blades are drawn. It is not – er, less capable of violence. You don't know why you noticed it, but it calms you to notice they put a muzzle on it.

The engineers who have worked with this thing for far longer than anybody in Helsinki has think that it should be rehabilitated to this role by more casual interactions with human beings. It is a little worrying to be in its presence, but now you feel compelled to sit down for fear of what you might teach it by making your first action to get the hell away.

Reassuring yourself that it did stand down when ordered, even by you, a low ranking rookie of the Stormwatch, you sit down in the exceedingly lush armchair by a crystalline coffee table and think for a moment.

"Whisky, neat." Your father had very singular taste. Before you got that kind of freedom to go and drink with your friends, you snuck some from his stash. You got used to it.

"YES MADAM."

You looked away, almost terrified of the all but certain cacophony it would cause at the wet bar, and let your mind wander for a moment.

This building is quite tall. From where you are, peering out the window, you can see the web-like ball that is the Stormwatch HQ. How its comms and surveillance cables spread out to each building around it, and most certainly below. You're at least partially aware that most surveillance cameras are passively watched in real time in one of the office buildings nearby. You're not sure which. People watch the cameras and if something happens, they send a clip to police or Stormwatch to handle. So there's a lot more put into the security of Helsinki, and the world over, than simply the operational enforcing of the law that you presently do. Up here, you feel like you're looking down at a massive spiderweb.

A clink comes from the coffee table. Looking over, the dark amber drink has been poured. The machine, raising itself gently back, presents its empty hands gesturing to the glass. "MADAM."

Taking the glass and staring out the twentieth story window over the central foot-plaza of Helsinki's downtown, you find comfort in knowing that you are not a bug trapped in its web.

... That's not a good thought to think.

>>5896886
You turn your attention elsewhere. Perhaps casual eavesdropping is a bit more rational than the line of thought you've been following. Along with Black Coat Billy Durant's, there's two voices you don't recognize. One sounds like a total bookish nerd. Male with fragmented way of speaking, speaking words as soon as he can find them. The main programmer of the machine. Another voice was very stately, almost political. The voice alone sounded tall and imposing, gentlemanly in nature, but contemplating in tone. You sip the whisky.

For a moment you derail your entire train of thought to appreciate the simple yet refined taste of the drink you were given. Are you're going to go out and spend money at a club for stuff worse than this?

Of course you are. If it were flavor or whatever you were after, you'd drink alone. At least as young as you are, there's no point in that. You've lived most of your life as almost a peasant. Your childhood home, the home of a poacher hunter and groundskeeper, barely got electric power. In the city, there can be afforded the infrastructure for a higher quality of life, given the amount of people who benefit from it. And that to get the amenities of modern civilization you had to be shoved into a sardine can for all that time makes you a little bit upset.

Ah. Now you know why you prefer the casual beer. Whisky makes you brood.

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>>5896888
"Hey there! How's it hanging?" The lone other feminine voice in this place erupts from behind you. Turning to look over your shoulder, the girl that was introduced as Beth from the night at the Brickstone Lehto comes to loom over your chair. Her tanktop and heavy duty pants are as military grunt casual as it gets. From your drunken conversation, like Mikey is Big Dog and Durant is Black Coat, Elizabeth right here is She-Wolf. Though you've almost certainly heard She-Bitch from the Black Coat at least once that night. "How's Cat 2 treating you?"

"I-it just happened yesterday," you stammer a response from the depths of your thoughts. "I was hoping to get to try it out with you guys, rather than just myself."

"Ah, yeah, it usually snatches you by surprise," she admits, swinging over to the loveseat to lay down and take up the whole thing. "Well, it's cause for a party to me. Just gotta get permission from the Judge."

Wait a minute. "Judge?" Judges, in your rather fanciful imagination, are an American apex manhunter, not much unlike your father. Their responsibilities are many, but they occupy themselves with handling crime personally and seeing that criminals who don't have any chance for redemption are dealt with. The Chicago Red Dogs were deployed to Helsinki, not just with a giant robot mech crew, but with a judge?

"Yeah. Gabby's a stick in the mud sometimes, but he's not evil," Beth spouted, looking at some local Finnish magazine. She could not make sense of it. "He should let us go out."

>>5896890
Fingers slammed against the doorframe behind you as you looked over once again. There's Mikey Riley, clutching onto the wall as if dragging himself from a torrent. "Hey, Fiona. Where were you headed out?"

You have to swallow a bit of your pride. The locale is a bit... off-color than your usual style. Half the people on the line to get in had tattoos. "The Void place Kiikoinen was at."

"Void," the man repeated with all the expression of an increasingly desperate cartoon character. "Got it." And he swung back to go resume whatever conversation he was having for a fraction of a second.

In the mean time, Black Coat came back around and set his curious pistol on the counter. You had half a mind to ask him what the fuck that's all about.

But before you could, Mikey Riley has the stupidest question to ask you. "Hey, uh, in your personal opinion, do you think we could get ol' Acey Deedee past the bouncers the bouncers into the club?"

Not a single word enters your head as you turn to the pompadour having American that is getting most certainly chewed up around the corner.

"Our tech guy thinks the crowd down there will help. Says the increased engagement rate would help it learn friendly and non-friendly interactions faster, and a bunch of drunk buffoons would brush it off as a party trick." Some murmuring from behind the wall demands his attention for a split second, before continuing. "Combat measures off, of course! And even then, our boy would almost be piloting the thing from back here. Watching it like a hawk."

You're holding a drink it made you.

"Just a matter of... if you think we could get it in. If you can't, it'll just be sent back home, but..."

>What the fuck!? Not a chance you want that thing in public.
>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.

>>5896895
>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.
The whisky's shotcalling.

>>5896895
>It's Friday Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PC6KacE1c

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>>5896895
>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.
What could possibly go wrong?

>>5896895
>>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.

>>5896895
>What the fuck!? Not a chance you want that thing in public.

>>5896895
>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.

>>5896895
>>It's Friday night. Bring in the dancing robot.

>>5896899
>>5896901
>>5896904
>>5897003
>>5897694
What a silly thought. You want to make sure he's being serious. "Do you think this is a good idea?"

Riley makes some rather fence-sitting gesture before delivering a more confident answer. "I mean, yeah. I trust our capacity to control it. We've worked with this kind of drone for years. This one just has... a new taste. Before, we cut the connection because we didn't want them to track us or find out the specifics on how we communicate with it, you know. The confidential stuff. So it was operating solo. But this is going to be in public. Everyone's gonna have eyes on it, so no point in taking ours off. And like I said, the tech guy and operator will be able to take direct control of it if shit hits the fan."

Hmm. While they are persuasive on whether or not it will go haywire, there's still the question of if they would let it in. You mean, you haven't been there. What you do know is that there seems to be very few limits there, so long as you are able to get home. Kiikoinen comes into work with a gods damned IV drip after his nights out. And what else you're aware of is that governments are not so stringent on recreational drugs as they were back then. You don't know what they have available there, but you do know that there are some out there things. A robot guest would probably be the least of their worries when they have people doing shrooms.

Honestly? When you put it like that...

"The humans are the ones the bouncers would be worrying about," you answer. "We could get that robot in.

Mikey Riley grinned. "Great."

Looking around at the other Red Dogs, they almost seem unphased. Durant is taking a dozen things out of his coat (that he most assuredly could not bring into the venue) and setting them on a chair beside the wet bar, and Beth is just seems to be trying to make heads or tails of the magazine she's been peering at. They are really casual with this robot. They don't view this as anything worth raising alarms about.

They must have done something like this before.

>>5900372
It's not long before you all head on out. The downtown in twilight Helsinki is a rather pretty sight, compared to its usual sterile color. Leds and other low-cost low-exhaust lights paint the compact city footroads all sorts of colors past the navy twilight blue; lime green and cherry pink are two of the favorites of the businesses that light the streets. Your companions seemed to be quite familiar with the space, and you look almost as out of depth as the machine. There's so many people. So many windows. Tenebrous corners. Eyes are everywhere, and hopefully you can forgive yourself for feeling a bit uncomfortable like this. There's a certain unease in this space, this dense jungle of man and its creations. A knife can hide in the most inconspicuous of places.

And though the streets are busy at this hour, you remind yourself it only gets more crowded later with a more strange sort coming out in the wee hours. The Void in particular gets the worst of it, from what you saw. Long lines of people, a few of which are absolutely vile looking. You think they're wearing stickers for tattoos? At least you hope they're stickers and not actual permanent tattoos - they glow in the dark and are completely tasteless. It is an affront on your senses and your country girl mind. You can't tell if it's city culture or just a club thing. But thankfully for you and the whole of Helsinki's native population, these creatures have yet to crawl out of their holes and flood the streets, and the brave men and women of the proper Helsinki police force will have to handle them when they finally do, bless their souls.

Until that witching hour rolls around when die schlackenschlampe come on out to scare the children back to bed, the Void is free of their kind, and a line for that matter. The bouncer had leveled a perplexing look upon you from down the street.

You stepped ahead and eagerly flashed your new credentials as a citizen who is allowed to enter the place.

The Bouncer did not break eye contact.

"Ma'am, what is that?"

H-he's expecting you to speak. The others haven't caught up yet.

>Let the Red Dogs do the talking. Wasn't your idea, not your robot, so on.
>Introduce yourself as a Stormwatch agent helping them test a robotic assistant that needs large crowd stress testing. Which isn't a lie! Just a funny way to say the truth.
>Tell him it's a dancing robot these guys want to show off.

>>5900381
>Tell him it's a dancing robot these guys want to show off.
Dost thine eyes deceive thee? Tis an ordinary dancer in a masque! (No robots here, nooooope.)

>>5900381
>Tell him it's a dancing robot these guys want to show off.

>>5900381
>>Tell him it's a dancing robot these guys want to show off.

>>5900381
>Introduce yourself as a Stormwatch agent helping them test a robotic assistant that needs large crowd stress testing. Which isn't a lie! Just a funny way to say the truth.

>>5900381
>Introduce yourself as a Stormwatch agent helping them test a robotic assistant that needs large crowd stress testing. Which isn't a lie! Just a funny way to say the truth.

>>5900381
>Introduce yourself as a Stormwatch agent helping them test a robotic assistant that needs large crowd stress testing. Which isn't a lie! Just a funny way to say the truth.

>>5900381
>Tell him it's a dancing robot these guys want to show off.
Blast https://youtube.com/watch?v=Im3JzxlatUs

god this took too long
>>5900442
>>5900474
>>5900494
>>5900763
You've never met a bouncer, but this guy looks like he has a very short temper and a shorter tolerance for bullshit. It's best to not slap him with a wad of of bureaucratic red tape and slip this one in under the radar. "Ah! Yeah! These guys have a dancing robot they want to test out."

Riley jogged up behind you. "Ah, Fiona!?"

The bouncer, a large almost pot bellied bear of a man with fluffy pale blonde hair and a bushy beard, cocked his head in curiosity. "A dancing... robot?"

The Red Dog's leader walked up, very thankful he was wearing his shades. "Well. No, Fiona, that's not what I told you it was. It's a drone, for our pal, Jerry? You know, Jerry, with the broken legs?"

The comment had you stunned for a second. But just for a second! You have the cunning of your own to catch onto him. Playing the fool, you reply in somewhat earnest. "B-but you said it was going to be a dancing machine..."

Sighing in frustration, the American turned to the bouncer. "Hi. One of our guys couldn't show up today... in person." The commander turned to the static drone and took off his aviator shades. His manner of speaking slowed. "Thankfully the man's a genius. Right now, it takes a special kind of smart to remotely control a drone as well as he can, from just brain waves." Casting a glance at you, clicks his tongue. "And yes, he is a dancing machine."

The machine stood still for a moment, before breaking into fluid motion. With this sudden burst of vitality came an unexpected voice - a natural, if a bit squeaky, human voice erupted from its speakers rather than its robotic chirps. "I-I'm sorry, I had myself muted. Hello! Hi, hi, I'm Jerry. I am piloting this drone, from my residence."

With eyes filled with caution yet not totally without amusement, the bouncer turned to the commander. "Is it armed?"

"Completely," Mikey replied. "And it's not a hassle to move around should anything happen. Fiona, pick him up."

The drone was about your size and clearly made with several metal parts, and girding your pantlegs you were prepared to spend great effort into lifting it. As you grasped the groin and chest and lifted up, it almost slipped from your grasp with the speed of which it rose. The machine must have been thoroughly stripped since your last encounter with it, because this featherweight is not what broke free from your grasp. There still remains a hefty center of gravity in its core where the battery and bioenergy converter system likely remain, but you're almost ashamed to say it's lighter than you once it had its pneumatic jets and whatever else it had stripped out.

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>>5901837
Walking around with the drone in your arms with pride and the awkward engineer panicking in a VR set on the other side of the connection, the bouncer plucks the machine from your grasp by the shoulders. He sifts it back and forth, considering its weight. He inspects the machine further, examining slits and compartments for hidden weapons.

Unable to find anything hazardous, judging the machine as easy to remove from the premises, and giving a basic balance check by shoving it to see if it would trip, the bouncer finally nodded. "I'll have to tell my crew about your, ahem, disabled nature. But you're allowed in."

Flashing your updated credentials, you're allowed in. Eager as you are, you leave them in the dust.

From deeper within the bowels of the building echoed a tense rhythm, drowning out the sound of your footsteps through the almost featureless black hallways. Streaks of light pulsed on to doors to bathrooms, closets, and offices, as you drew closer, the noise less like a casual tone and more of a bite into your ears. When it reaches the point you struggle to hear footsteps at all, you finally find a dance floor.

The club is flooded with a strong sky blue light that graces the heads of the modest crowd occupying right in front of some manner of musician. You recognize a few of the instruments at his disposal, but his actions and sounds that echo from the speakers seem totally remote and alien. Flanking the dance floor are mirrored aquariums dividing side-booth areas and bars from the interior. Stairs immediately as you enter take you up to a second floor, where you find billiards tables and secluded booth couch areas. From up here, you spy that one of the bars was not as it seemed. The workers handle money and then just... touch the person's tongue.

There's so much stuff you have never heard of. So many things you've yet to experience. Perhaps this is too much... You can wait for the Red Dogs if you like, but you're no kid anymore.

Choose up to two things to do. A casual amount of drinking is a given and inconsequential, but more can be decided later with your actions which will affect things such as rolls.
>Wait for the Red Dogs to catch up to you. There's a level of safety of having a combat robot as a chaperone.
>First thing's first, you're going to try and find Kiikoinen if he's here. That slippery dog.
>Investigate the place where the workers at the bar-like fixture touch your tongue. What strange indulgences does this city have?
>Check out the billiards table. A very honest and subtle game for such a wild and loud place.
>Do you see people playing cards? There's no money on the table, but there are bottles of liquor.

>>5901839
>First thing's first, you're going to try and find Kiikoinen if he's here. That slippery dog.
>Check out the billiards table. A very honest and subtle game for such a wild and loud place.

>>5901839
>>5901842
+1

>>5901842
+1

>>5901842
+1

>>5901839
>First thing's first, you're going to try and find Kiikoinen if he's here. That slippery dog.
>Do you see people playing cards? There's no money on the table, but there are bottles of liquor.

>>5901842
Support

>>5901842
+1

>>5901842
>>5901869
>>5901903
>>5901920
>>5902365
>>5902485
Now you didn't check if Kiikoinen had left, but you know he goes out often. With a work protege out of commission and nothing for him to do at home, he has to be out and about. The only question is if you can pick him out of the crowd. There's a bunch of people here now, and it's only going to get worse as the night goes on... But thankfully, you've picked up some skills from working with Sigrun and Saemus.

You're going to walk up to this fucker and... you don't know, buy him a drink or something.

This is a loud, unfamiliar environment with a massive crowd of people and various attractions, but you have picked up a few tricks that are quickly coming into utility, albeit for a casual situation. Two anons, roll 4d6, success threshold unknown.
a/n: I will update tonight after I get some rolls, hopefully.

Rolled 1, 2, 4, 3 = 10 (4d6)

>>5902727

Rolled 1, 6, 1, 6 = 14 (4d6)

>>5902727

>>5902733
>>5902736
Lalli might be big and tall and a wall of meat, but he is also Finnish and this is the general population of Helsinki, not Stormwatch HQ. The Stormwatch might import people from the world over to fight, but it also contributes to almost half of the migrant population. Countries in the current era are very homogenous, and while you are certain you could pick Kiikoinen out of a crowd of Finns, there might be a couple slip-ups you might run into.

Like from up here, looking at the dance floor, there's three candidates it could be. The details are blurry in the lack of clean light. And even then, there's so many sequestered areas you'd have to check.

Hell, perhaps he's not even here yet. Though you know his routine; he usually eats at the Lehto after being here. So you should be in the time slot.

Like a hunter, you will have to check where you imagine him to be. After a cursory search of the big crowded areas.

The dance floor is too packed and filled with taller people (you're five foot eight) to look around from the ground itself, but thankfully its recessed below the floor elsewhere, so from a simple vantage point you're able to start identifying people. And you can clearly tell that nobody there is Kiikoinen. Those close calls have faces too round, hair too short. He's more of a sleek kind of man, deceptively lengthy hair pulled back over his head.

And the bar and surrounding stands had nothing there, either. A more casual crowd of more relaxed people lurk here, as the aquarium helps soundproof the area. As you walked over to the stand where the employees were placing something on the tongues of patrons who approached, you walked past someone who was wide-eyed out of his head, staring behind you like there was some animal following your trail. After seeing that they had cigars and shelves of things that were very much not drinks, you've begun to realize this is where they sell drugs. You've zero experience in that regard and Kiikoinen doesn't strike you as the man who would dabble in it.

Checking upstairs again, you find a bunch of people playing some form of card-based drinking game. There's one man bearing a passing resemblance, but the frazzled blonde tipped hair and spirited attitude tell you that is certainly not him. Getting a curious empty gaze from a couple of the girls in there, you decide to slip on away.

>>5903092
There's a couple of guys playing at the pool table. They're wearing baggy pants, tanktops, and these fancy red tinted spectacles with round and small lenses that just barely cover their whole eyes. They have a style to them, but something tells you that if you ever set your drink down within twenty feet of them, you should get a new drink. There's also a girl, with a black ponytail and heavy eyebags and a large coat, from whose dour expression and slow drinking you divine to be the mostly-sober tardwrangler of the two least trustworthy men in the club. They all have thick accents, which makes it somewhat hard to understand them. Lalli is clearly not currently here, but you suspect this is where you expect to find him. He's definitely the kind of man who would enjoy pool. Rational, calculating sort.

The two continue their game, giving you only glances between their shots. They're pretty alright at it, at least you think they were until they knock a black ball into one of the halls on the backspin. You're not too familiar with the rules, but that he screwed himself over was plain. The ponytail girl noticed you idly looking around.

"You wanna play?" She asks.

Lalli might not be here for a while.

>Cordially accept, just being there for the game and staking out to catch Lalli.
>Gladly take up her offer and hang out. Talking to Finns will help you comprehend the language much better, adjust some more.
>Go find the Red Dogs. You NEED to see some people's reaction to the robot.

>>5903093
>>Gladly take up her offer and hang out. Talking to Finns will help you comprehend the language much better, adjust some more.

>>5903103
+1

>>5903093
>>Cordially accept, just being there for the game and staking out to catch Lalli.

>>5903093
>Cordially accept, just being there for the game and staking out to catch Lalli.

>>5903093
>Gladly take up her offer and hang out. Talking to Finns will help you comprehend the language much better, adjust some more.
Practicing fluency is important!

>>5903093
>Gladly take up her offer and hang out. Talking to Finns will help you comprehend the language much better, adjust some more.

>>5903103
>>5903181
>>5903307
>>5903573
Before anything else, this is you celebrating. You're going to try and enjoy yourself. Kiikoinen can be here, or he might not be. You might like this place and come back, or you might not. Whatever you do, you need to actually experience it first.

"Yeah!" You reply in a pleasant tone, taking a stick and doing your best to get through as much of your drink as you can.

As if learning a whole new language for this job was not enough of a burden, the dialects you've heard in this city are diverse enough to rival entire regions of Germany. There's nothing you can do but train your ears and your mouth with listening and speaking to improve. Besides, with this investigation Sigrun is spearheading, it's very important you understand the crooked accent of the undercity dwellers. Your operator could repeat what they might say, but still...

Being newly made Cat-2 Citizen, there might be some insights they could share with you.

You are familiar with billiards but have not played yourself. It is a game of raw visual calculus and the dexterity to put it to use. A manhunter's forte, but it's a game. Two anons, roll 3d6.
In addition, choose up to two topics to talk about.
>Talk about work. Nothing about the investigation, you're not that stupid.
>Tell them about Germany! Your cozy little forest hamlet home feels rather idyllic.
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.
>Listen to what they talk about.
>Write-in.
As an author's note, no update Friday because I'm going to be busy all day.

Rolled 1, 4, 5 = 10 (3d6)

>>5903838
>Tell them about Germany! Your cozy little forest hamlet home feels rather idyllic.
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.
Share stories, compare and contrast!

Rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10 (3d6)

>>5903838
>Tell them about Germany! Your cozy little forest hamlet home feels rather idyllic.
>Listen to what they talk about.

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

>>5903838
>Talk about work. Nothing about the investigation, you're not that stupid.
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.

>>5903838
>Tell them about Germany! Your cozy little forest hamlet home feels rather idyllic.
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.

>>5903838
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.
>Listen to what they talk about.

>>5903838
>>Tell them about Germany! Your cozy little forest hamlet home feels rather idyllic.
>>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.

>>5903838
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.
>Listen to what they talk about.

>>5903838
>Ask them about things to do in Helsinki. Besides drinking, drugs, and violence.
>Listen to what they talk about.

>>5905113
My votes last 16 hours typically, sometimes 24, so this can't be included sadly.
t. qm at work

File: 1705544755588169.png (248 KB, 1000x1268)

248 KB PNG

Rolled 4, 2, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2 = 17 (7d6)

I'm back from my extended weekend and boy howdy do my legs hurt
>>5903856
>>5903912
>>5904013
>>5904117
>>5904181
>>5904313
Helsinki and Germany are the winning votes! And I'm taking the first two dice rolls.
2 Successes - A perfectly competent new player performance. Let's see how well she fares.
Writing.

I missed a day; I must now commit sudoku to restore my honor.
>>5908028
You let her go first, seeing as she knows what she's doing. She doesn't get any in on break, but there's some easy shots lined up for you.

But the game is just background noise. Something to do. As you land an easy shot and nearly sink the cue ball in, you speak up. "What's your name?"

Playfully bitter about flubbing the first move, she delivers a quick answer. "Aamu." She passes a nod to one of the other shades wearing men, a sort of long-headed man sporting a tank top underneath a coat and beanie hat. "Rohk." She points her stick at the other, a broad jaw and scraggly beard. "Kulla."

You introduce yourself, and they ask what you're doing in Helsinki since they can clearly tell you're a foreigner. Thinking it prudent to not mention you're from Stormwatch to citizens in your free time, you simply say you're here for work and you're from Germany. You tell them that it's much more covered in growths and forested than Helsinki. There, the streets are beaten dirt and cobblestone. Buildings are old and show it with brick and wood - they're not ancient, but you'd be forgiven for thinking they were. And your papa works as a groundskeeper in the Hercynian Forest, so that's cool. He taught you stuff like-

"Hercynian Forest?" Aamu suddenly chimes in. She cracks a sly smile that comes crawling across her face at a speed you notice. Her self-imposed challenge of drinking every shot she misses is not working out well. "We know an old man who lives there. You think your father's ever met him?"

Oh! Finally, someone with at least a German connection. And somewhere local, too!

>>5909352
>"We know an old man who lives there. You think your father's ever met him?"
Oh no, he's a poacher, isn't eh? papa merc'd their friend. Calling it.

>>5909352
But you haven't much to say. "Papa doesn't talk about his work much, aside from having taught me how to scare off bears and wolves. So I am not sure. He might have? How would you know anybody in Germany?"

Aamu gives a light nod and begins to explain, her slow speech a sign of how long she's been drinking tonight. "I'm a naturalist. I keep track of what kinds of animals and aberrations run around the wilderness. Make note of migrations, find out why. All the masters of the field are old as dirt, and close friends. They call each other different kinds of mythical woodland... things. I don't know why. Maybe when you get old you just want to live alone in the woods and talk like you're a tree. I haven't heard my Master Leshy refer to his friend down in Germany by anything other than Methuselah. I've sent letters back and forth to him, but never learned his real name."

Neat. After the next few rather easy shots and a frustrating miss, the ponytail lady takes her turn and you return to your thoughts, staring off.

There's not much that you know about your dad, really. You don't know what kind of friends he's made. What kind of life he's lived. What he's had to do to get it all. Now that this path is ahead of you, a path so similar to his, you can't help but feel curious. Find his tracks.

You pipe up. "Should I ask my father if he's met Methuselah?"

Your new friend seems to have a lot to say about that train of thought, but is trying to concentrate on a shot. Though she aimed for her ball, when she struck she grazed the eight-ball and sent it directly sideways into a pocket. A pained sigh escaped her teeth. "I... I'll do you one better. I am going to ask Leshy if Methuselah's ever brought up your father. If they're friends, you're a friend, too."

You write down your papa's name on a napkin so Aamu can have a way to remember it. And given how she towed it and hurried off to a restroom after guzzling down some more, it seems like she'd need it in writing.

While Aamu left to the restroom, you ask the two hooligans what they like to do in their spare time, that isn't swinging by this place. Kulla seemed very detached from the conversation, but at least Rohk was amicable.

"You should try hiking. I do it all the time," The man with the funny shades says. "And it's pretty safe, though I do bring a weapon. Definitely beats spelunking downstairs."

The man tips his lenses down, and peers around. Aamu hasn't returned from the bathroom, vomiting her guts out. With a cheeky sneer, Rohk leans in like he's letting you in on a secret.

>>5909372
"I've actually caught the old fella she keeps talking about on my hikes," he whispers. "He's something else, I tell you what. I saw him tell off some government suit. Some lady came crawling up and talked to him, and left fuming. Takes a special person to get away with doing something like that. You might be able to see him yourself."

A resourceful person who might know your father? That holds a high position and knows a lot about aberrations? An excuse to get out of this colorless place? Maybe you should pick up hiking. Even without the old man, you might find aught else out there.

Besides that, Rohk mentions Katajonkka island is a nice place for more wholesome activities, like sauna, music, and cute little stores. "And its further away from Stormwatch," he adds. Why does that matter, you ask? "Politics." Distance from the people you don't like is a good way to avoid brawling with them, you suppose.

Your kind isn't very much appreciated here.

The night grows older.

Downstairs, the Red Dogs and ACDD have been encircled by a crowd of fascinated guests. Your new friends are opening up a bit more. Kiikoinen still hasn't shown his face. You feel heat emanating from your cheeks.

A sane person would go home.

However.

Further celebrations beget further inebriation, which will begin to impact dice rolls. Choose up to two.
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.
>Keep hanging out with your new buddies, all three of them might be useful contacts.
>Whatever drugs they serve at a pseudo-bar have to be, you know, safe to try out at least once?
>Write-in
>Leave before you make some horrible mistake.

>>5909408
>Keep hanging out with your new buddies, all three of them might be useful contacts.
>Leave before you make some horrible mistake.

>>5909408
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.

>>5909408
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.
Our robo friend must be KILLING it on the dance floor

>>5909408
>>Keep hanging out with your new buddies, all three of them might be useful contacts.
>>Whatever drugs they serve at a pseudo-bar have to be, you know, safe to try out at least once?

>>5909408
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.
>Keep hanging out with your new buddies, all three of them might be useful contacts.

>>5909408
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.
>Keep hanging out with your new buddies, all three of them might be useful contacts.

>>5909723
Chicks dig dancing robots.

>>5909408
>Swing on back down to the Red Dogs, you feel guilty for not checking up on them.
>Whatever drugs they serve at a pseudo-bar have to be, you know, safe to try out at least once?

Oh, to hell with it! You're here to REVEL! And you're going to.

You bid a temporary farewell to the people you were hanging out with so that you might catch them all at a more silly point in the evening. Rohk gives you a farewell, while Aamu seems more interested in some conversation she wants to have with her friends to really notice you leave.

The Red Dogs seem to have amassed at least a dozen people interested in the machine. They've crashed on a couch, and there's a convenient open spot in the middle of them for you to swoop on in. You do so with pleasure, after grabbing a fancy tasty cocktail that you cannot taste the alcohol in.

"Fiona, you and your big mouth!" Riley's voice is very audibly not pleased. "The guy back at base was supposed to take control for emergencies only. There's a huge delay, we can't have him controlling the whole time. And it bets in the way of the machine learning." His rather disappointed stare shattered as he clenched a smirk. "But we're here. Acey's taking a liking to the crowd."

The crowd of people are taking their time to try and see what they could possibly teach it, and yes, it is learning. It takes some time to do so, because even though it measures the the general movements, the finer adjustments take some time to be recognized. And in between its attempts, it stops and looks around, gazing at the crowd. Evaluating their intent.

Much like Riley is right now. Beth is chatting up a mixed crowd of guys and girls, Durant's shooting the shit with the boys, but the Big Dog himself is coolly watching the scene and keeping an eye out for trouble.

"He's getting a good feel for who's nice. And who's not." Riley talks in a more controlled manner than before, and has noticed that you realized. "For me, Acey, and Jerry, this is a mission. You? It's your party. Just don't get in the way."

>Ask Durant what the funny thing he was holding when he answered the door was
>Chat with Beth about the high level agent they've been rooming with the whole time, that "Judge Gabby" fellow
>ACDD got modified by Katriina, right? You're working with her. You're working with it. Is there any other things she tried to shove onto it?
>Try and teach ACDD a German tavern dance

>>5911458
>Try and teach ACDD a German tavern dance
Drindl twirling dance?

>>5911458
>>Try and teach ACDD a German tavern dance

>>5911473
+1

>>5911458
>Chat with Beth about the high level agent they've been rooming with the whole time, that "Judge Gabby" fellow

>>5911458
>Try and teach ACDD a German tavern dance

>>5911473
+1

>>5911458

I was rereading the thread waking up today and noticed a funny typo
>>5901837
>... the bouncer turned to the commander. "Is it armed?"
>"Completely,"
It is *DISARMED.* I swear the more I edit the more I miss.

>>5911710
Lol, I figured that's what you meant, no worries. Running on a site with no edit function be like that.

>>5911473
Supporting

>>5911458
>ACDD got modified by Katriina, right? You're working with her. You're working with it. Is there any other things she tried to shove onto it?

>>5911473
>>5911493
>>5911500
>>5911618
>>5911692
>>5911807
Haha! Well! If he wants to be tested, then test him you shall! It wants chaotic social interaction, you'll give it! You and the girls back home used to hop atop the tables and - well, less explaining, more doing!

Polishing off your drink so you can get moving, you come to realize it was a sneaky little bugger. A couple more would really make things wild. The last one would kill you - metaphorically. The trick is to not grab that one, whichever that might be. Anyway!

The robot had reached something of an impasse with another dance, having learned some modern city moves, you grab its hand. It turns to you with an urgency, but it ceases as it recognizes you. "JARNAFELDT?"

"Jahwohl! I've a jig for you to learn!" You belt, as you begin to hop up and down, one foot to the next. You'll see how agile this thing is.

With a few stomps and a slap on the thigh, you get it to begin mimicking you. When you jump and clap your heel, it stops dead in its tracks as it parses what it has to do in order to replicate that move. With a goofy spring that belies its lifeless shell, it launches a foot or two into the air to slap its foot before coming back down. You can't contain your toothy grin. And as you continue the dance, part by part, it becomes more and more adjusted to the motions, its acts less exaggerated and explosive and far more precise.

It's actually pretty good at this.

This thing is very agile, and has the potential to jump very high- at least when it is not burdened with so much weight. The speed of which it moves also tells of its potential for strength, even without pneumatic jets and their fuel augmenting its movements, and it is impressive. You imagine guess how strong it is with all of its parts, when it's not tied up and not complying.
Success thresholds against this form of ACDD are 4.

>>5912573
And once you get a pattern it recognizes, it's able to sync up with you! Beth tried to join in but gave up after merely half-assing, but Acey Deedee is doing it well! He's just missing the drunken swagger. But aside from that, you're kicking and hopping in a dance with someone else just like back at home! Just no punting glasses off the table, they aren't tankards.

These club goers are looking at you like you're a clown, but to hell with them! You're going straight up! It took you a few months to get here, imagine where you'll be in a year!

After some time you stop dancing, and watch it pick up other moves for a while. Figuring it's been a while, something like forty minutes, since you checked on your new friends, you'll swing on back, see how they're doing.

Heading up the stairs, you see them all looking over the railing at the Red Dogs. Kulla breaks his silence to you. "You know those guys?"

>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.
>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

>>5912582
>>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

>>5912582
>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

>>5912582
>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

>>5912582
>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

File: 114562965_p52.jpg (562 KB, 981x1013)

562 KB JPG

I'm shortening the vote timer for today because I want to publish an update at a time that isn't 5AM. Rather than the typical 16 hour timer, I'm taking votes until 5PM EST.

>>5912582
>Avoid answering; what's it matter to them? The talking robot is cool. They can go see it if they like. Maybe they can line dance on the table with you. (Cunning: 6d6 t2)

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

Cheeky little tie. If I don't get a tiebreaking vote by 6:30 I'm just flipping a coin.

>>5912582
>Yeah, you know them. You met them in a bar for reasons completely unrelated to work. And that's not a lie! Just don't mention how you found their bloodsucking robot.

>>5913368
Alright, thank you. No roll needed.
Writing.

You're very split on this, but whatever you do, answer quickly. "I met them about a week ago at the Brickstone Lehto," you tell him. "Loud Americans, but they're fun people."

The quiet Finn tilted his head. "Brickstone Lehto?" You nod. "And they brought that thing of theirs there, as well?"

"Nope! They decided to bring it along today. They call it Acey Deedee.."

After you go to get another drink, the others have questions of their own. Aamu was the first to pipe up. "What's it do?"

You're not drunk enough to start spilling beans on its exact details, so you brush it aside. "They're a military unit. It probably does military tasks. But it might just have something in it that they don't want to lose, and they just act as a chaperone while it does tests."

Rohk steps up to the balcony and peers over. "And how long is it going to be here?"

Now they're prying, and into the wrong person. "I don't know! They didn't tell me how long they're staying. Just that they brought a couple cool robots with them. They're right there. You can ask them yourself."

The Finns look at each other before Kulla speaks up. "We couldn't ask directly without landing ourselves on some watch list. Outsiders don't trust us."

That line of logic confuses you a bit. "But I'm an outsider? I'm fine, but they're not?"

"If your pa is on speaking terms with that old oak, you can't be that bad," the girl answers. "At least better than military... American military."

This conversation is agonizing. Any further talk about this would just lead down pointlessly antagonizing lines of thinking. People shouldn't be afraid to ask, but that's just how it is. Especially with how big of the problem is down in the stormdrains, at least. How does a nation with an army, police, and full control of its upper half somehow not have much control of what's beneath it?

A worry for another night. You wipe the frown off your face, and the buzz lightens it up to a stupid grin. Ah, well. This is this and that is that.

>>5913619
Hours pass. Drinks come and go. The creatures, they who have made clubbing less of a hobby and more of a life-style, begin to crawl in. Slathered in eyeliner and covered in glow-in-the-dark tattoos, they evoke a bodily reaction of visceral disgust within your little country bumpkin soul. Where these people come from, and why they are like this, you don't know. What you do know is that no underdweller could possibly think this is an acceptable usage of their exceedingly limited resources, and that if you slap one of those ladies hard enough her makeup will fall to the ground like a mask and your hand will be caked in putty for days. That's a good a reason as any to avoid contact or conflict with them. Just ignore them.

You've beaten Aamu at the many rematches she has got you to do. She kept wagering drinks on her billiards skills and she kept screwing up. You're gonna rub it in her face next time. Instead, one of the guys from the card game came out from that little nook - the dirty blonde haired big guy? He doesn't say much, but he's a lot better than Aamu at pool. Guy must come here a lot.

Just as you were considering what to do next, the Big Dog taps your shoulder. "We're headed out. You coming along? Get you home safe?"

>Quit while you're ahead. You've work tomorrow.
>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.

>>5913623
>Quit while you're ahead. You've work tomorrow.

>>5913623
>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.

>>5913623
>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.

>>5913623
>Quit while you're ahead. You've work tomorrow.
We can always come back next time

>>5913623
>>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.

>>5913623
>Quit while you're ahead. You've work tomorrow.

>>5913623
>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.
It's fine as long as we don't drop dead

OP you ok?

>>5913623
>Tell him to get lost and stay here, Stormwatch is only a couple blocks away, anyways.
Night's still young!

File: PARTAAAAY[sound=files.cat(...).jpg (353 KB, 1283x587)

353 KB JPG

>>5913684
>>5913833
>>5914027
>>5914361 (tiebreaker)
"Ah, schwirrt aaab!" You groan, batting Riley's hand away. You don't even realize you've stopped speaking English. You continue speaking in German. "I'm a grown ass woman, I only live a few blocks away, I'll be... I'll be fine..."

The American man cast a judging eye at the people keeping you company. First the group of pool players, then the blonde stranger, then back to you before finally nodding. "Whatever you say," he spoke back to you, before leaving.

You are NOT a child. People have tried to kill you and failed. You'll do the same for the next dozen to come up.

The blonde guy comes over and sits beside you. Green eyes, taller than you by a head and shoulders. Strong enough to have been Stormwatch. Before you can examine him any further, a glass of water is shoved into your face.

"Drink," says the man in a calm, collected manner.

... Nnnnein. Nein! You refuse! And you won't drink water, not from this guy! The last thing you need is to take drininks from strangers. He looks at you with these flat, bothered, dead-inside eyes before finishing the whole glass in front of you.

You jump from your seated spot, and grin ear to ear. The muzik is loud, but you're starting to like it! It's your party, and you WILL party with these strangers you found. This guy can join too, but he will stop trying to moderate you. Yuou are-YOU are NOT to be STOPPED.

Unless your fall for the common mistake of hyperbolic drinking - or worse comes to worse, fail to endure it.
Roll Cunning: two anons, roll 3d6. Target 4.
Failing that and if needed, you will roll Strength: Two anons, roll 3d6. Target 3.

Rolled 5, 3, 6 = 14 (3d6)

>>5917491

Rolled 1, 1, 5 = 7 (3d6)

>>5917491

Rolled 1, 4, 2 = 7 (3d6)

>>5917491
Uh oh. That means it's the nuclear option then?

>>5917546
I am now taking Strength rolls, yes, and yours are the first 3/6. If you're talking the nuclear options, Tilting Windmills will be accepted for this second check if both anons who roll for it (in this case, You and another anon) agree to do so. You may Tilt Windmills at this check rather than the first because both outcomes are functionally the same and the Strength check has the better odds.
To clarify on the gravity of the fail condition: Fiona will become blackout drunk, but you will not lose control of Fiona. Instead, you will make actions and rolls totally out of context. In addition, being drunk makes Brave attacks and other reckless engagements receive 2 dice to their pools. Otherwise, you lose no features.

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

>>5917572

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

>>5917572
AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>5917604
Just barely late anon, but know an anon above you gave all he could and got just as far.
>>5917546
>>5917603
With only one singular success, Fiona would become blackout drunk. Are you two anons okay with that, or will you push it?

>>5917607
I for one feel like it would be a good learning experience

>>5917607
It is what it is.

>>5917621
Alrighty then.
When I run today (in about 5 hours), there will be numerous back to back votes and rolls. These voting sessions will have a shorter timeframe; either simply one hour or until any vote reaches 3 votes, whichever is shorter. Rolls will be resolved immediately as they come up. This will continue until you are sober enough to have a stream of consciousness.

>>5918093
Fun

Here's to a big step up! Prost!
Here's to new friends! Prost!
Here's to a good ffuture! Prost!
Here's rto yuor health! Pros-aaah scheiße you spilled some on you.

As you lift the glass to pick up where you left off, the clean blue lights go dim. From the ceiling are lowered chandeliers of a modern prismatic glass design, lit by candles dancing in the lights.

They're closing, huh. Brown out hours already. Time flew.

They can't take this drink out of your hand. You raise your glass to your lips and stare into its bottom.

Here's to a night to remember.

...
...
... ... ...
Cold air.

Roll Attunement: Two anons, roll 3d6. Target unknown.

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

>>5918478

Rolled 6, 6, 4 = 16 (3d6)

>>5918478

File: guy.jpg (94 KB, 379x531)

94 KB JPG

Rolled 6, 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 3, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 4, 5, 1 = 54 (15d6)

>>5918481
>>5918483
cold stares

...

???

two

Misanthrope. Simmering, seething, impotent rage, achieving nothing but violence. Rolling for an ally's attack: 15d6+2 success.
>Standard engagement (6d6, t2)
>Brave engagement (12d6, t2)
>Steal knife (8d6, t3)

Rolled 1, 5, 2, 5, 4, 1 = 18 (6d6)

>>5918515
>Standard engagement (6d6, t2)

Rolled 2, 3, 4, 5, 2, 4 = 20 (6d6)

>>5918515
>>Standard engagement (6d6, t2)

Voting and rolling at the same time would lead to people not voting for what they want because the person who voted first made a bad/unsuccessful roll. The above rolls are not counted.
>>5918524
>>5918543
Roll to engage: One anon, roll 6d6. Two successes.

Rolled 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4 = 14 (6d6)

>>5918568
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
CHANGE MY PITCH UP
SMACK MY BITCH UP
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13tav

>>5918586
How are these rolls? I don't know the system this quest uses for them

>>5918515
>15+6
Kiikoinen?
>As a L3 Trollslayer, Lalli Kiikoinen's engagement has a base dice pool of 10d6. Taking a Brave stance, this attack is trivial up to three successes.
>Rolling for his brave engagement, at 15d6.
Yeah it's him. That's from thread 1 when we cornered the Hiisi

Rolled 2, 1, 5, 1 = 9 (4d6)

>>5918613
Rolls of 5 and 6 are successes - that roll had zero. Check out the Google Doc in the second post; it has a short write-up on rules.
>>5918586
...

gentle press on your side

thud

...

in your warm sleep, you toss and turn.

Rolling an ally's cautious engagement: 4d6+2: target 3.

>Brave engagement (12d6)
>Standard engagement (6d6 t2)
>Run to find help from any authorities.
>Run home.

Rolled 1, 3, 3, 2, 5, 2, 6, 1, 1, 3, 4, 6 = 37 (12d6)

>>5918654
>Brave engagement (12d6)
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON
GO IN GO IN GO IN GO IN GO IN GO IN

Rolled 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 4, 1, 3, 3, 1, 4, 3 = 29 (12d6)

>>5918662
THESE DICE SUCK
GO GET ME NEW ONES

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>>5918665
It's so over

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>>5918662
>>5918665
>>5918670
Okay one, lmao, do not roll gacha for this lunar year you are cursed
Two, hold your horses on the dice pal >>5918568
>Voting and rolling at the same time would lead to people not voting for what they want because the person who voted first made a bad/unsuccessful roll.
And three https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jhZljN9y7A8w6qFcD8wX_xYaKZP65ZH8EGrmgKQ-nIU/edit#bookmark=id.de8ffk3mxmvw
>Any roll with a probability of failure equal to 10% or less is considered Trivial and a guaranteed success. On trivial attack rolls, you are guaranteed at least one success, and not rolling any successes does not punish you.

To remind you since you seem to be a new reader, Brave Engagements *do not clash against attacks an enemy makes.* Brave Engagements simply hit them first, and if it does not kill and/or incapacitate them, you still take damage. Standard engagements do clash against attacks.

>>5918654
>Brave engagement (12d6)

>>5918662
>>5918693
...

vacancy
sudden

a stirring

you have to do it
right now

Roll to make a Brave Engagement: Two anons, roll 6d6.

Rolled 4, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4 = 18 (6d6)

>>5918707
Planet piss side project!

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

>>5918707

>>5918752
>>5918711
tremors through your leg
through your body
into your head

vibrations under your heel

...

knuckles, sinking in

blood rushes

for a moment, your eyes clear

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Rolled 1, 2, 6, 3, 4, 1, 6, 4, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6 = 54 (15d6)

>>5918772
... what are you doing?

You're pummeling the shit out of some unbathed freak with red goggles on the ground. You don't recognize him. Where did he...?

Blood is on your hands. Yours?

Planting a hand on his neck to buy yourself seconds, you look around.

You're at the mouth of an alleyway.

A man is tossing another around. Kiikoinen? No. That stranger from before. Never said his name. He has a knife. He took it from the guy beneath you now. Leaving the knife in his assailant's chest, he starts slugging his huge hands at the rogue. Your friend came to help you.

You look up. Camera. If you were assailed, it was on footage. Legally, you're safe.

The man punches your sides trying to get out.

You don't let go of his neck.

And you slip away again.

...

Rolling for your ally's Brave Engagement. 15d6+2. Success is trivial.

>>5918788
...

warm darkness
for a time

a cacophony of voices and murmuring

faces, swirling, churning

cold creeping in your gut

somewhere your daughter cries

...

boles and boughs of wood and steel

blinding pale light, sterile

staggering, stumbling

...

door

...

bed

...

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You wake up in the morning feeling like you came crawling out of the womb. In pain, about to cry, and not remembering a single thing. You don't want to get up, your bed is so cozy, but rolling around in bed you notice a stabbing pain in your side.

Giving yourself a begrudging once over, there's a very, very visible red stain on your shirt. What the fuck?! You pull your shirt up and, curiously, there's a palm-sized band-aid on it. God damn it you were just finishing recovery. On further examination, it seems to be a shallow cut. Nothing to the severity of your arm injuries from the raid, thankfully. There's also a handful of similarly sized bandages in your breast pocket.

Despite appearances and what others might imagine, you actually feel pretty fine. You recover quite well from drinking! The scratch honestly bothers you more.

What happened that you don't quite remember bothers you the most. What the fuck was all that? Just random muggers? Helsinki is better than that. Are you in trouble? You think the police got involved after the fight, but... just hazy flashing faces are all that remain in your head. You're home and not in a jail cell, so you're not in big big trouble. Perhaps being Stormwatch has something to do with that...

Getting dressed in proper clothes and uniform, you arrive to your office space and see Lalli Kiikoinen. He's on his IV drip, so you better not hear anything from him about what you did last night. You are expecting a chastising for the fight. Extraprofessional activities are likely not given all the same safety nets of what you are and aren't allowed to get away with versus when you're in uniform.

But surprisingly, Lalli doesn't mention it. He speaks as if nothing in particular happened. "Fiona, I received a letter from the office of Ms. Jousten. You agreed to trial prototypes? She would like to start with that as soon as you are willing. She did not describe it, but claimed it is low priority. I have standard missions that need doing, if you would prefer."

Choose one.
>Tell him about what happened and your injury.
>Pry and see what Kiikoinen knows of what happened, if he does.
>Do not talk about what happened last night. That's between you and the gods. And maybe Sigrun.

Choose one.
>Take a standard Stormwatch mission.
>Go see what Katriina Jousten has for you today.

>>5918515
>>5918654
>>5918680
>>5918707
>>5918772
>>5918788
>>5918798
So basically, Fiona left the bar blackout drunk. Two fags tried to assault her, but the blonde guy in the bar followed and is way too robust to be some nobody. He assisted in us kicking their shit in. Did the guy whose face we were caving in stab Fiona in the gut? Is that what
>cold creeping in your gut
>somewhere your daughter cries
means? If she's infertile because of this now, she's going to go on that killing spree and I will vote for it. Though it seems we somehow made it to Stormwatch alive and into bed safe-ish?

>>5918823
>Tell him about what happened and your injury.
We trust our Meursault
>Go see what Katriina Jousten has for you today.
What does the old hag want from us this time?

>On further examination, it seems to be a shallow cut. Nothing to the severity of your arm injuries from the raid, thankfully.
OK the womb is safe!

>>5918823
>Pry and see what Kiikoinen knows of what happened, if he does.

>Go see what Katriina Jousten has for you today.

>>5918823
>Pry and see what Kiikoinen knows of what happened, if he does.

>Go see what Katriina Jousten has for you today

>>5918823
>SSSS quest
Reading through the archives now. Incredibly based taste QM. I'm still salty that Minna became a born-again christian and ended the webcomic.

>>5918823
>Tell him about what happened and your injury.
>Go see what Katriina Jousten has for you today.

>>5918823
>Do not talk about what happened last night. That's between you and the gods. And maybe Sigrun.

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>>5918828
>>5918905
>>5918833
>>5919110
General queasiness, morning grogginess, and considering the options laid before you are good cover for your inability to decide how you want to talk to Kiikoinen about your revelries. You're mad about it and all, but at the same time it's embarrassing. You want answers and at the same time you want to forget about it. You almost don't want to talk about it, but you feel like you have to.

Swallowing your pride because it's important to let somebody know, you begin to speak. "Uh, Mr. Kiikoinen... last night-"

Your mentor interrupts you. "I am aware. I have a report from the security team, a statement from the police - and if that wasn't enough, it's on the news."

It-

Wha-

"Huh?! My stabbing made the news?"

"It was more than just yours," Lalli said as he fished out a paper from a different area on his desk. A very colorful news article, and a few photographs of people - including a rare image of Sumika's eyes.

"Last night there were numerous attempts on the lives of Stormwatch agents across Helsinki," he explained. "The first reported was on L4 Nonoka Sumika. She is fine. Some agents were simply beaten before the attackers were driven off. A few were killed. A good number of attacks were rebuffed by the agents and nearby good samaritans. Most of the targets are Level 3. You are the only L2 to be struck - and I would add that unless their reports on agents status is in real time, they'd have no idea you were L2. Perhaps you were with another higher level agent."

Huh. Kiikoinen seems to be alluding to something. So that man from last night-

"Or perhaps you were with someone who had caused some trouble elsewhere in the world," Kiikoinen is quick to cut off your train of thought. The sincerity of the suggestion couldn't be called into question before he continued. "Sumika claims that her would-be assassin traveled from Nippon to fulfill a contract set by one of Akihabara's underworld clans, a faction totally independent from typical stromdrain squatter activity. The attacks were clearly a majority by squatters, but perhaps other groups had a hand in it."

>>5919825
Freyja's tits. Stormwatch employees have multinational backgrounds specifically to cut down on baggage, but apparently their past can hit hard when it does. You shake your head, and are a bit grateful things turned out the way they did for you. Whether you were targeted or not, you had some good help.

With an exhausted sigh of a man who has gotten too little or no sleep at all, Lalli flips open a folder of proposed tasks. "I have a mission for you from Sigrun, on going through an entrance these suspects were seen coming out of and following the trail to what you can find. And of course, the Stormwatch is looking to expand the secure territory further with patrols."

Hearing those propositions, your choice wasn't as certain as it was before, but it's still obvious. "I shouldn't ignore Katriina's request," you answer.

Nodding, he shuts the folder. "Understandable. There are a few L1 agents without their shadowing partners. I can work with them instead."

"I'm s-sorry."

"Don't be. That is just this line of work goes." Your mentor carefully removes the drip from his arm and slides a bandaid over it. There's no thrill or urgency to his movements. He isn't unbothered, just... accepting. Accepting the routine. Rising to his feet and looking to get out, he gives a farewell. "Stay safe... And please stay hydrated. These IV drips are quite expensive, and even for your sake I will not share."

Your face flashes red for a moment in painful embarrassment. "Y-yes sir!"

>>5919829
Briskly making your way out of the standard office space and onto the executive floor, you find that Katriina is waiting for you in the elevator lobby. Saemus Fahy is with her. His badge is decorated the same as yours; he is now L2 as well.

The director's voice is pleasant on the ears and her greeting is very casual for her typically refined speech. "Fiona. I hope you are feeling well this morning."

"What a mess you got yourself into, eh?" The Irishman spoke in a low, encouraging tone, sending playful jabs at your flank. "I heard you beat the devil out of the runts."

"They only scratched me. I've a cut on my side, that's it." Fahy immediately stops his jabs and stammers incoherent apologies. "No, the other side." He let out a frustrated groan before shutting up.

Katriina begins to lead you onto the elevator and into the Stormwatch's underground lair of recycling, production, and technological research. En route, she begins to explain. "For today, I have a fascinating weapon system I would like you two to try. As it has always been, larger enemies such as Lorppo are an issue for agents to take down with standard weapons, such as the standard issue pneumatic axe and volt machetes. Some creatures are exceedingly long, and girthy as well. While larger handheld weapons make for more effective options in comparison, the issue is still present."

The director leads you further into the facility. The black and gold guards in their pneumatic suits are present, though few. Large baskets of used and broken weapons and material are shuffled across the halls. Heat can be felt from the doorways as you pass by rooms filled with glass melting furnaces. Through doors opened for only a second, you see chemists observing the progress on the treatments of wood that will be made into breastplates and armor, and others grinding unsalvagable lignum vitae equipment down into simple wooden chips for some other usage.

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Rolled 5, 1, 3, 5, 2, 1 = 17 (6d6)

>>5919832
Before too long, Katriina opens a pair of double doors and leads you into a rather spacious area that reminds you of a gymnasium. Padded floors and walls are positioned and tilted in various angles reminsicent of typical stormdrain interiors.

On a table in front of you are a trio of strange gauntlets. It has a large bulbous pack that seems to surround the wrist, and some form of compartment opening at the knuckles.

Katriina continues. "So, the best solution is to use a weapon whose damaging element is not something you carry and swing around. We had flamethrowers - we still have flamethrowers - but these are generally large, clunky weapons reliant on a stream of flammable liquid. This makes them unable to use melee weapons and run into trouble in close quarters. So I proposed an answer. A solution, if you would." She pauses for laughter, but her audience of German peasant and an Irish gutter rat were never going to get it.

Tossing her coat to the floor to reveal a tailored track suit, Ms. Jousten approaches the table and begins to don one of the mechanisms. "At my behest, our chemical research division has created an acid that slowly neutralizes as it is exposed to water. The process takes a few minutes depending on the quantity, but in the vast majority of stormdrain territory, the acid should diffuse by the time it reaches the bay outlets. I verified the authenticity of these claims by having the lead chemist step in a puddle of it every time they claimed it was completed. Thankfully for all involved, they are honest and competent men and women who did not lie to me."

Flexing her fingers in the gauntlet and in front of the table, she raises a clenched fist to her shoulder and rapidly slings her arm out. Little beads fly into the air, the thin membranes tearing up to the air resistance and spilling a green misty payload in a mist fifteen feet away.

"These are loaded with a dyed water solution for the duration of this training exercise," she clarifies. "Other munition types besides chemicals are in development. In the mean time, I would gauge your ability to grasp the technology. If you are successful, then we may move it forward to proper deployment."

Moving up to the table and fitting on one of the gauntlets, you peer at the curious device. Her instructions on its use fill your ears, but the makings of this device are captivating.

More than just a simple trigger you press to make something hit harder, the operation of this gauntlet is closer to the volt machete, but relies on some odd gesture in order to open the valve-like doors and launch these paintball-style beads. Grasping its use is going to be tricky. Looking over at Fahy, it seems he's not quick to get it either, despite his training in computers and technology.

Roll for Esoterica: Two anons, roll 3d6. Rolling for L2 Fahy in the same manner.

Rolled 6, 2, 6 = 14 (3d6)

>>5919846

>>5919847
What's the 10% it won't diffuse in?

Rolled 3, 2, 2 = 7 (3d6)

>>5919847

>>5919825
>Huh. Kiikoinen seems to be alluding to something. So that man from last night-
That's L4 Arsi Hotakainen, based on what ACDD said when we first met him.

>>5919855
Blood, duh

>>5919855
It will diffuse anywhere that has water and being a stormdrain that's basically everywhere, but if it's used too close to the outlets it won't diffuse by the time it enters the filters that the Stormdrain outlets have. In small amounts, it will probably damage the filters and let all the runoff chemicals into the bay. Spill a whole barrel too close and parts of the bay will be highly toxic for about 3 minutes and will dissolve any algae, seaweed, fish, children and small dogs that happen to be nearby before it the chemical bonds fall apart and become its base elements.
>>5919877
Now hold your horses
>>5918910
Thanks anon, I look forward to your readership. Artists losing sight of the fact that they can include things in their works that they don't endorse or even agree with is a very frustrating part of fictional works these days and it's exhausting that it happens to artists with a good vision like Minna.

>>5918910
>>5919894
>SSSS
>webcomic
Huh?
>born again Christian
Literal mind and personality poison in our time. Disgusting.

>>5920264
Stand Still Stay Silent is a Post Apoc webcomic with heavy Nordic myth seasoning.
You see a lot of Project Moon art in this quest, but SSSS is one of the primary inspirations - halfway because of the art, halfway because of the setting, and a lot because I lift names from it since I don't want to use loaned names from other languages -the MNP doesn't approve of Finns named Benjamin- and finding traditional Finnish names that are divorced from modern western global culture requires a bit of creativity. The art is fantastic and I've used it multiple times when depicting the trolls.
http://sssscomic.com/
I would also recommend her other, older comic, a Redtail's Dream, which is much more of a fairy tale.
http://www.minnasundberg.fi/comicindex.php

familial shenanigans have prevented and will continue to prevent me from writing today; i'll be back with something cool Friday

>>5920904
Thanks for the heads up, QM!

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Is this Fiona's endgame?

>>5921008
No she needs to be pregnant

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oh haha yeah about that friday update
god
I will have to draw something for the monday one
have this goober

Life is out to get me this week. I will not be able to make proper updates Thursday and Friday, and I am not going to have access to my personal PC. But I can phonepost on mobile data.
>>5919851
>>5919861
Pulling your fingers one by one until you find that special gesture, you push and pull. Push and pull. Watch the valves open and shut. Like flexing a new muscle, is the best way to describe it. It is hard to wrap your head around it, and hard to remember it's there. The action is simple, adding it to your mind isn't.

She directed you and Fahy to try and change the angle beyond a simple horizontal flare. Slinging them vertically is tricky, but you manage after a couple tries. Then she tries to get you to do it at specific angles. And then shapes - motions in the shape of a Z, T, and P. She is clearly more adept at the device; she must have decades of experience with all sorts of weaponry, and this is likely her design.

As testing continued, men brought in these large props. They were pipe frames and tarps that bore an appearance to some fleshy creature of indistinct nature. A stand in for some writhing, slug-like variant of Jotunn known as Levita - "sprawl." They also brought a variety of sparring weapons - they brought numerous kinds out, but you stuck with the standard sized axe.

Katriina had you and Fahy try your best to coat the target as much as you could given five seconds from various positions around the target; from in front of it, from the side, above on a platform. The exercise is completely understandable, but moving and using this weapon is a lot harder than it seems. It's clunky, awkward. The fact you're holding a weapon in your other hand adds to the clumsiness of its use. Fahy has no exceptional luck either. His experience dual wielding offers some edge, but nothing really groundbreaking.

The gauntlet is a struggle to use, but at the same time it's your first day using it. You don't believe it was Jousten's plan for you to be a master of it.

>>5924424
>Monique
Imposter sighted

fuckin phone autocorrect on my name in the previous post lmao
>>5924424
Running a few more trials against the mock-up Levita, Katriina smiles and offers to personally demonstrate.

Taking an imitation boar spear from the armory the assistants brought out, Katriina he casually moved into position in front of the target. Trying to coat the mockup from the front was definitely one of the more challenging positions as it is shaped like a worm; to coat it properly, you have to run to the left or right to get a better angle, and there's not enough time to move to a spot where you can land the entire spray on target. Some of the beads don't pop in time, others fizzle into limp mist and lose all their momentum before falling short of the target.

When Fahy started the stopwatch and said "go," the lady changed from mature executive lady, into the L5 Director of the Stormwatch. This exercise is a trivial manner to her.

Shrinking into the ground with the blunt side of the spear on the ground, L5 Jousten sprung forward at the beast. Gripping the lugs of the spearhead, she launched herself upward. She cleared the head of the beast, and slashed her gauntleted arm at the fiend below. The pellets launched and their fragile coating tore much earlier from the frightening speed which she slung them out. With the target coated, Jousten adjusted her grip on the spear, and with a clean landing on the pipes that formed the spine of the slug sank it into the folds of the tarp, over and over.

The stopwatch hit five seconds. "Stop!" Fahy yells with bemused enthusiasm. You can't help but let out a little cheer of excitement yourself.

Ceasing her movements, the director turned to face the two of you. "I realize your choice of weapons are not well suited for advanced movements or striking creatures of this size. Your aptitude with the tool lies in expected range."

>>5924436
Katriina leaned forward and jumped directly at the ground beside the Levita, and rolled straight to her feet. As casually as rising from a chair. "Now, the researchers expressed concerns when making this device that it would not work well in groups - citing chaotic nature of a close encounter as something that might draw friendly fire." Her lips pouting and lolling her head to the side, she went on. "Though I can see that being a clear issue, I believe that it is simple to work around. To test this, I want you both to try to splash me with it."

"You serious?" Fahy asks.

A gentle nod was returned from the black-haired woman. "Both of you try to hit me with it at once until you run out of ammunition. I will evade them. This exercise should expose you to the situation they have proposed, and I want to see if our new agents are capable of avoiding flagging each other in such a manner."

"Yes ma'am!" You say, stepping around. This thing is a broad brush; Like they said, it's very easy to hit Fahy. But you'll be able to hit Katriina, certainly!

____
Having got some practice with these devices, you and Fahy still lack the natural knack for technology as Jousten does. But, you are flanking her (+1d6), making Brave engagements (*1.5d6), and the gauntlet's broad attack pattern (+2d6), giving you several bonuses for a total of 12d6. Fahy may not be able to make Brave engagements, but as a L2 Manhunter he gains a bonus to attacking humans.
Rolling for Fahy's engagement: 11d6.
Roll to engage: Two anons, roll 6d6.

L5 Jousten is a Stormwatch Agent and makes engagement rolls. The total successes between you and Fahy set a DC for her to beat in a subsequent roll.

Rolled 5, 6, 3, 5, 2, 3 = 24 (6d6)

>>5924441

Rolled 6, 4, 5, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5 = 47 (11d6)

forgot to roll for Fahy, hold on

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

>>5924441

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Rolled 3, 3, 1, 4, 1, 2, 2, 5, 3, 3, 2, 6, 2, 5, 4, 1, 6, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 6, 3 = 78 (24d6)

>>5924499
>>5924500
>>5924510
12 Successes out of 23 rolls between you and Fahy! That's an impressive count. Well done.

L5 Director Katriina Jousten is the head of the Stormwatch with decades of dedicated experience in all manner of combat situations under her belt. She goes to the greatest extremes.
With 12d6 Base Dice from being a L5 Stormwatch operative, she gains +2 against all human and aberrant targets, she gains +2 from being Fast, and taking Advanced Evasive maneuvers to gain half her dice for evasion only, she has makes this contest with 24d6.
Rolling for the Black Swan's engagement. Rolling 24d6, target 12.

>>5924515
The odds of rolling as well as you did was about 5%. The odds of her rolling this low was 5%.
The fates conspire against this woman.

>>5924535
Better heat up that teapot, Binah

No update tonight because my lazy ass never wrote stats for several cool pieces of gear. Tomorrow I should be able to post from home.

>>5925795
and boy will I be glad to be free of mobile data, I feel filthy posting from new poster ids

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I'm so back and I did some shit
>>5924499
>>5924500
>>5924510
>>5924515
"I like your gusto, Fiona," the director lends a gentle compliment. Giving a polite bashful laugh in reception, you notice the cool demeanor had melted a bit. Instead, she looked at you in silence for a moment. Turning over to your compatriot, she continued. "Does that sound good to you, Saemu-"

Her voice was interrupted by a faceful of mist. Fahy had mastered an underhanded motion of tossing almost the entire load of pellets at a single spot. The technique was impressive, and you make note of it, but Katriina was not happy about being a practice dummy.

"I did not yet say to start," she elaborates flatly.

The man gave an awkward shrug. "I figured the likes a you would have had eyes in the back of your head." Ms. Jousten did not humor the comment with a response.

After a more traditional beginning to the exercise, you find her movements rather lackluster compared to before. She managed to pull shocking rolls underneath some of the projectiles mid-flight, but just as often you had the idea to feint, faking a launch and then sling it sideways to catch her after she would jump. As she was hit, she would give a mild praise, before turning dashing toward you to make it harder for Saemus to land a hit. He had similar success, able to use the broad strokes of the gauntlet's projectiles to catch her. It was tricky to not hit each other, but with the right positioning, you were able to use yours to deny her a path and force her into a less advantageous position. There was, of course, times where neither of you could attack her as she was directly between the two of you, and in those times she would evade the attacks. She never got close enough to hit you or Fahy with the prop spear she was carrying, but it didn't seem like such was her intention to from the start.

As you watched her, it became clear she was not in a right state of mind. Her mood is soured from the start, obviously, but besides that, she seems distracted. There's moments where she's just lost in thought, either looking at you or Fahy or nothing in particular.

At some point she just stops, and ceases attempting to dodge. Her hair is visibly damp, and though she is panting, she doesn't seem terribly exhausted. It was bothersome for you to perform these attacks yourself, but likewise you're not drained. For a second you think something might have been wrong, but you realize she had seen what she wanted to see and was going to move on.

That doesn't stop Fahy from splashing Jousten one last time. A stern gaze was enough to get him to take the glove off and leave it on the floor.

>>5926461
When she collects her thoughts, Katriina walks over to return her weapons to the table and weapon rack. "Very good. You have well exceeded even my own expectations. With little training, you've buried the fears of those researchers voicing concerns. And, you two came up with crafty techniques yourself. I will be sure to include them in training when this gauntlet is ready to deploy."

Following her actions and trailing behind her to the door, you feel some admiration of your own deserved. "You're really agile, Miss Jousten! I didn't imagine that people could jump that high! But the technique with the spear haft was... cool!"

She provides a flattered smile. "Against larger beasts, a pole is helpful for mobility in some of the terrain you will find," she explains. She leads you out of the Gymnasium and to the door of a nearby room. "And the creatures you practiced against today are one such beast. Levita start out at small trolls, but once the troll finds a spot in the stormdrain that receives nutrient rich waters, such as sewage or simple soil erosion, it can sit in that place and soak it all up. It never moves, so it never makes a trail, so it's quite hard to find without stumbling on it directly."

"Though they are the easiest of all Class 3 Aberrations to kill... the removal of their bodies has been an issue for some time. It would take an industrial effort to remove, and most of it is inedible to humans. But rodents infest their corpses, and rodents are eaten by underdwellers, making Letiva lairs hotly contested areas of the Stormdrain even after their death."

Pardon you, what the hell? "I-I'm sorry, they eat rats?"

"Rat meat balls are unfortunately common. Served with human breast milk cheese."

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW

Katriina was quick to bury the subject. "With this acid, we can start to dispose of the Letiva bodies without burning them. Smoke coming from the drainage grates would raise a few questions when such are not needed. Which is where I would like to test next. Lab tests against simple piles of meat are nice and all, but we need to see its performance against its primary target."

With a brief pause in her speech, she opens the door.

File: 11+-+Justice.png (577 KB, 897x1497)

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>>5926464
It is one of the primary armories of the Undercroft.

A bored clerk in the back sits in a room filled with exotic equipment and weapons with the most confoundingly disinterested look on his face. Swords, spears, axes, and crossbows of all sizes sit along the wall, dark Behind glass panels sit armor of both Katriina's Undercroft guard fashion, and-

Is that... Dullahan armor!? You gasp in glee.

A full set of knight armor fashioned from shaped chemically treated wood! Fashioned from the legend of a green knight and used all throughout Bretony and the Celtic Isles, it's effectiveness and resilience mark it above the standard plate armor you get! It takes much time to make and ah, requires training to use... But! Trollslayer was the right choice if you wanted to get to try some out as that's their primary use! Certain trollslayers of the highest order earn the privilege to use this armor! You just need to go and find out who you can talk to in order to get training.

"Because the Letvia corpses are a major source of food for anything in the Stormdrain, from rats to trolls to squatters, we need to come prepared." She flicks her hand overhead as she casually walks to the secretary. "Grab whatever weapon that pleases you. Feel free to try something new out. If you get into trouble, I will be there to help."

You stare longingly at the wooden suits behind the glass. Fahy, being a boy of Eire descent, shares your fascination, but moves on quicker than you do.

File: file.png (43 KB, 190x254)

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this fucking image is cursed it ruins everything i try to attach it to i swear to god
>>5926474
Just as you turn to glue your eyes to your choices you are allowed to take, she stuffs something into your hands. Looking down, it's a different color palette of the standard Stormwatch Fatigues, denoting that you're affiliated specifically with Stormwatch's R&D, the Undercroft.

That's nice and all but... aaa~! There's much to choose from!

For the next sortie, you may equip yourself with gear beyond your standard issue.
Your current equipment is:
>Undercroft Experimental Gauntlet (mandatory for this sortie)
>Primary Weapon: Pneumatic Handaxe
>Armor: Lignum Vitae Breastplate

Because of your great deal of options, I will give you time to review the newly added roster of Equipment in the Google Doc.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jhZljN9y7A8w6qFcD8wX_xYaKZP65ZH8EGrmgKQ-nIU/edit#bookmark=id.46hbiickh1ed

There will be no vote today or tomorrow as I will be preoccupied, and I encourage you all to discuss what equipment seems most useful. A vote will be posted late Friday Night. If you have any questions, I'm free to answer them as I can, but I'll likely be doing so from work.

>>5924515
>Rolling for the Black Swan's engagement.
I GET IT NOW
IT'S BECAUSE THE GAUNTLETS FIRE GREEN ACID SLIME

>>5926483
Thanks for running, QM!

I'm lenaing towards Stormwatch Crossbow and Pneumatic Maul, personally.

>>5926773
what did you mean by this

>>5926893
https://tiphereth.zasz.su/abno_pages/Hod/13/
https://tiphereth.zasz.su/cards/9903516/
https://tiphereth.zasz.su/cards/9903513/

>>5926910
I was not consciously thinking of this.

File: d67cca145f121222d9b62d003(...).jpg (124 KB, 1139x1729)

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Alright, voting time!
For this series of votes, due to the number of options, you're going to be allowed two votes for worn equipment and three for weapons. You must place two worn equipment votes and three weapon votes. The first vote you cast in each category will be listed as your primary vote, and the subsequent will be a regular vote. In case of a tie, whichever option had more primary votes wins. Hopefully, this system reduces whatever issues you might have with what is chosen and helps reduce the odds of hard ties.
In addition, "No Weapon" is an option included to allow Fiona to focus on speed. This being the winning option will not make her enter bare-handed, it simply denotes a weapon slot is empty and she will only bring the highest requested weapon. For example, to vote for her current loadout of just her Pneumatic Handaxe, you would answer "Pneumatic Handaxe and No Weapon." Worn Equipment does not have this option as the Fatigues are the lowest form of protection available to you.

Pick up to two Worn Equipment:
>Stormwatch Fatigues
>Lignum Vitae Breastplate
>Lignum Vitae Kit
>Turnout Gear
>HAZMAT Gear

Pick three Weapons:
>No Weapon
>Pneumatic Handaxe
>Volt Machete
>Searing Knife
>Kimmo Blade
>Stormwatch Pilebunker
>Undercroft Pilebunker
>Pneumatic Battleaxe
>Volt Bardiche
>Stormwatch Flamberge
>Pneumatic Maul
>Stormwatch Crossbow
>Stormwatch Longbow

>>5928304
>Stormwatch Fatigues
>Lignum Vitae Breastplate
Mobility.

>Pneumatic Handaxe
>Pneumatic Maul
>Stormwatch Crossbow
Cool factor.

>>5928304
>Lignum Vitae Kit
>Stormwatch Fatigues

>Stormwatch Crossbow
>Stormwatch Longbow
>Stormwatch Pilebunker

>>5928304
You know what, I wanna go full bulky charge this time around
>Stormwatch Fatigues
>Lignum Vitae Kit
into
>Stormwatch Pilebunker
>Stormwatch Flamberge
>Stormwatch Crossbow

>>5928304

>Stormwatch Fatigues
>Lignum Vitae Kit

>Pneumatic Handaxe
>Searing Knife
>Stormwatch Crossbow

Fire GOOD!

>>5928304
>Stormwatch Fatigues
>Lignum Vitae Kit

>Searing Knife
>Pneumatic Battleaxe
>Stormwatch Crossbow

File: sake good.png (898 KB, 937x1056)

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Alright, votes are tallied!
>Fatigues
Clear winner for worn equipment, present in every vote and primary in most of them.
>Crossbow
Present in every vote.
>Pneumatic Handaxe
Tied with the Pilebunker and Knife in count, but squeezes out on top because of the Primary vote system.
Speed, distance, and singular strikes is what you all seem to be gearing for. You'll find it.

As an aside, I will likely be unable to write this coming Monday due to work shenanigans. The quest resumes Tuesday.

After swinging into a locker room to change, you find the quality fabrics the fatigues she gave you were very nice. It's also an appealing design, if fit to Katriina's gaudy taste. The breastplate can get a bit stuffy sometimes, as snug and protected as you sometimes feel with it. You'll forego it, for the time being. She said she is going to be present with you, so you can't imagine you will need it.

She mentioned that it is a hotly contested, guarded area as well. You figure that if you would be able to help, you are going to need to contribute from a distance. Taking a moment to familiarize yourself with how the Stormwatch compound crossbow operates, you realize it is deceptively complicated. Almost needlessly complicated. You had expected to find a switch for changing the drawstring tension or some a battery compartment, but neither could be found. It is simply a crossbow, reinvented and made from exotic composites and materials, by some strange person who decided a standard hunting crossbow made of perfectly replenishable wood and rope just was not good enough. Besides that, if you do need to engage in melee, a pneumatic axe has proven itself to be serviceable and powerful.

Having taken all but two minutes selecting your equipment, you look over at Fahy, doing the straps on his Turnout gear. He makes his progress between remarks and complaints about the weight. Besides him on the bench is a Volt Bardiche.

Katriina returns with a some manner of swordstaff. A long one-sided blade of brass coated steel atop a pole, with some manner of gizmo right before the blade began. A pulling handle not dissimilar from your crossbow's was present, but it seemed to serve a spring-loaded function instead. She is also wearing a set of heavy armor quite a like to the guards in the pneumatic suits, but it is a clean black and without the pneumatic jet functionality. She wears no helmet, but instead a sizable gorget.

>>5931708
Once Fahy gets the jacket on, you're all clear. A quick elevator ride upstairs and a call later, and an armored vehicle awaits you outside in the heavy downpour. The vehicle takes you to the north of the city, to the Workshop District, Kapyla. Factories were a thing of an overindulgent and self-destructive past, so materials made en masse are made in workshops by hand. The northern reaches of Helsinki is hotly contested, mostly in the Stormdrains, but also above ground as underdwellers rob trains for imports for materials and produce.

Pulling up and getting out in the funny smelling neighborhood, you see a red fortress of old in the rain standing out from the surrounding modern construction.

A Stormwatch outpost with a sizable crew resides here in charge of stewarding the drain in this backstreet neighborhood. While it's a tough and sturdy building made of a much more pleasant brick that reminds you of home, it's a very visibly worn building that's hundreds of years old, surrounded by buildings of more modern architectural design. It's in too much constant and necessary use to go through reconstruction. The insides are also reminiscent of home, though much of the old wood has been sealed under heavy varnish. This is more like what you expected Helsinki to be like.

They were not expecting a visit from the Director, and when she requested access to the stormdrain beneath, they complied quickly. They hand you a respirator mask; Katriina can't wear it and can "bear the miasma" in her own words, and Fahy already has one. Then they lead you to an elevator platform that's clearly better maintained than the building proper and that which sees the most usage.

File: Letivas[sound=files.catbo(...).png (409 KB, 1080x1080)

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>>5931712
It goes down an expected amount, sealing behind you with a chainlink fence style grate before arriving at a thick metal door that could stop everything trying to get through it. Everything, everything except the stench.

The stench down here is vile, and you put on the mask immediately. It didn't quite smell like what was on the street, but Freyja's tits. The mask makes the air you breathe smell more like plastic, a far more agreeable smell.

The door opens.

Ah.

Miasma is an accurate term.

Gargantuan creatures, over ten feet tall and up to a hundred feet long, lie strewn across the wet stormdrain floor, obstructing the flowing of water and sprawling up the pillars. They're all dead, and you consider their potential for being disgusting while alive before you consider to thank the gods for that. Patches of rot and mold and even flora like mushrooms grow on the corpses of these masses of sparse flesh. Portions of their bodies have been feasted upon and harvested by the "local wildlife," offering gaping views into their spilled innards and the rats partaking in them. The storm on the surface brings a surfeit of water, which is enough to work its way around the bodies and flow past. Blood mixes with whatever stormwater makes it past and carries it away to parts unknown.

"How can something grow this big?" You wonder aloud voice muffled through your respirator mask.

Katriina breathes deeply, her voice struggling but overcoming the wretched smell. "One wouldn't ask this question about trees. From our observations, Letiva quite similar to plants. Simply made of flesh. Layers and layers of water, fat, and stored nutrients to supply the vital organs in its center. They rarely grow muscle necessary to move, but when they do, they can be quite dangerous."

Fahy is too stunned to say anything.

Taking the lead, she approaches the graveyard of dead Letiva. "There's two L2 agents posted here. They are perched up in the catwalks, and their job is to maintain visuals and direct their teams. They won't be able to assist in fighting.

The Miasma attracts all sorts of carnivores. Hunters and gatherers both. Roll Attunement: Two anons, roll 4d6.

Rolled 4, 6, 3, 5 = 18 (4d6)

>>5931725

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

>>5931725

>>5931747
>>5931862
Rainwater falls from the far-flung ceiling, falling apart into clouds of mist as it races toward the ground, floods rush in from floor-level grates at the bottom of the dividing walls. Air is pushed and pulled by the new forces pushing themselves into the massive cavernous stormdrain. Vacuums filled and created. Even down here, however weak they may be, gales blow. Waters flow. Despite appearances as a cold, lifeless place, the gods breathe life into this place. However deformed some of its denizens might become...

Your mask inhibits your capacity to smell, and for that you are initially grateful, but you begin to realize the shackle this mask is on you. It is a cap on your hunter's sense. Your eyes and ears are unclouded, but you've lost one of your crucial hunter's senses.

But, you should be grateful. You have the eyes and ears of three other L2 agents, and the most seasoned veteran of the Stormwatch herself taking in all the sights and sounds and smells, gods preserve her.

"Let's begin," she speaks loudly, as if her voice could scare away the smell. "We'll work on this one in the middle. It is the closest to the water. Watch the airflow."

With a simple wave of her hand, she disperses a flare of those green paintball like beads, which explode into corrosive mist. It keeps a little bit of its momentum, pushing forward above the rotting giant like a fell spring dew.

As it settled, a gentle hiss could be heard, slowly growing in volume. Intensity. It turned to bubbling. Boiling. The meat was visibly changing shape; it was a great mass of flesh, so one spray was not going to completely liquefy it, but Ms. Jousten's grin could not be contained.

"Haha! At long last. These creatures can finally be out of our sight..." She spoke with an infectuous satisfaction. You were only vaguely familiar with this type of aberration before today; you're simply happy because she is. Her sudden outbreak of coughs cut that short. "Well, it will take time. There is only so much one can throw around before it starts staying in the air." She clapped, and gestured around. "Fahy you take this end. Fiona, the tail. I will clean up the middle."

The task is simple enough, after your resounding success in practice. Noting the airflow, you managed to adjust to avoid hitting anything important with the acidic mist, and over time, the giant had melted away by a significant amount.

>>5932616
This is boring work, you must admit. This formless creature is messing with your mind, you swear it's still alive, squirming, writhing, seething. To pass the time and to bat away these illusions spawned from monotonous boredom, you do have to ask. "How many more of these are there? It's nice that this was made and all, but... you needed to invent something to do this faster, and that time spent coming up with this was better than just getting rid of these normally?"

"Such is flawed rationality that does not value the convenience it provides," Katriina notes. "It is not a matter of how many there are presently that necessitate this device's creation. It is a matter of how many more of these creatures we will have to remove in the future. This could be a great many number. This could be not many at all. The future is well worth investment." You're about to take that as a good enough answer, but she actually goes on. "But there are perhaps five... maybe twelve more Letiva in the Stormdrains, besides this main breeding ground."

Twelve more of these all across Helsinki? You count perhaps six here, so that's a relie-wait a minute.

Fahy finds the strength to speak. "Pardon me miss, but didja just say breeding ground!? These are bodies. And uh, I don't see a dick on any of these fellas besides."

Katriina sighs. "I reiterate, Letiva are not unlike plants. You would not judge a tree so for sprouting seeds. Though perhaps a tree is the wrong analogy; in this regard, they are much more like an apple. Where an apple falls, it rots, is eaten, or taken by the ground... but one day a seed grows."

H-huh? This thing is filled with... L5 Jousten's words mixed with your hysteria reignite your delusions of the Letiva still moving. You double your pace and chuck more and more acid upon the giant corpse.

The muffled moans from within the melting carcass politely inform you that it is not a hallucination.

Katriina groans. No fear, no anger. She's just tired. "Ah. Orpo."

A mound of flesh atop the Letiva begins to bulge, as some foul creature begins to escape. As it makes headway, its moans grow louder and louder. Clearer and clearer. More acid would only help it get through, you decide, so you shoulder the crossbow and take aim right where it will stick its disgusting, vile head, and when it finally does-

>>5932618
An angel has put aside their wings and decided to grace the Earth with their presence for a time. From deep within a mother long departed, a hand pierces the firmament of an all-encompassing darkness that was all it had ever known. It reaches out, grasping, feeling at this strange new world, full of mystery and unknown. What things it would do, you wonder. It could explore. See new sights. Take in new things. Find its place in the world to settle down. In this moment, it is a being of pure potential.

Pulling itself into the world of the light, a child breathes its first breath, and lets out its first cry to the world. A harrowing wail, a song sang of love and longing for their mother, a song that has been sung a trillion times before, and will be sung a trillion times again, gods willing. One day, you hope to hear such a song sang for you.

The creature lies in your sights, but you cannot bring yourself to pull the trigger.

Not on an orphan breathing its first breaths of life.

Gracelessly, the Orpo pulls itself from the slit it had emerged from, tears runing down a deformed face. You and Katriina watched in silence and inaction as it rolled behind the Letiva and out of sight.

Fahy sprints over. "What happened!? Did you kill it already?"

"Not yet." Katriina gazes upward. You sense a measure of frustration behind her expressionless face. "Miellikki, you whore."

File: Orpo.png (1.04 MB, 700x904)

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>>5932621
Without a word, she leads you two around the colossal carcass, and up to the Orpo.

It is a Troll, with all certainty. It is the same size of a fully grown Hiisi, yet freshly born. Only, it has no experience. It has no skill. No thoughts. It only weeps. It weeps, and it sulks, curled into a ball. It already misses the womb, on this cold wet blood-stained floor.

"If we get rid of the corpses, Letiva Orpo would not be born. And nobody would have the job of killing them," Jousten remarks.

You consider the creature, for a moment. The Hiisi, you did not feel bad about slaying. It was grown, it made choices, it had its chance. This... you watched its birth. It had no choices. No chance to escape its fate. It is a creature devoid of sin, and it is your duty to kill it.

After a long and painful moment occupied only by its pitiful whimpering, you realize nobody has made a move to kill the orphan yet.

>Ask Katriina if she is going to kill it.
>Steel your heart and execute it yourself.
>Don't do anything. Watch the poor creature and wait for orders.
>Write-in.

>>5932623
>Steel your heart and execute it yourself.
This baby dies so ours can live, I guess. Eurgh.

>>5932623
>>Steel your heart and execute it yourself.

>>5932634
+1
This is no Goblin Slayer moment

>>5932623
>>Ask Katriina if she is going to kill it.

>>5932623
>Steel your heart and execute it yourself.
Hope the heavens do not strike down our baby daughter for this

>>5932623
>>Steel your heart and execute it yourself.

>>5932634
>>5932662
>>5932732
>>5933001
>>5933120
Quite unanimous on that. Writing.

Rolled 2, 1, 1, 5, 2, 5, 2, 6, 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 6, 1, 6, 4, 4, 5, 6, 5, 1 = 81 (22d6)

Oh, and don't mind these rolls.

File: 111460032_p2.jpg (798 KB, 1209x1356)

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You look around at the massive creatures that lie dead all around you.

There's many excuses you can have to rationalize your decision. The food grown from the Letiva fills the bellies of the armies of darkness. Such creatures, perhaps not Letiva but something like them, exist in all troublesome undercities, from Rome to Chicago to Akihabara, and to not cut on their numbers when their affect against authorities such as yourself will hurt you later. You hear tell that in the ancient days culling was performed on industrial scale, with thousands of little chicks slaughtered in factories every day. The director of the Stormwatch is present with you, watching your performance, judging your soul, measuring your worth and loyalty, and to appease her will ferry you quicker into the social strata you seek to be.

In the light of all of these facts, killing one Letiva orphan seems easily justified.

They don't make you feel any better, though.

You step forward, axe coming from its loop on your belt. The creature cries, and cries, and cries, squirming, shaking. A steadying hand on its shoulder halts its livid convulsions, and its howling breaks down into stifled moping. The creature, humanoid, is not beautiful in the physical sense, but your heart is shaken by its wet blue eyes as they look up at you.

"So quickly condemned to a cage of ice." Katriina comments.

You raise your axe.

Its flesh was so much softer than a man or troll, and offers no resistance. Only your heart got in the way. Pneumatic jets gave your axe enthusiasm that is not found in the hand that wields it.

Po

>>5933468
After a moment of silence, you rise to your feet.

"I would not have blamed you, had you lacked the stomach," Jousten remarked.

This isn't what you expected the Stormwatch to be.

"It's just an abber," Fahy chimed in.

He missed the whole point.

About to return to melting the Letiva until she ran out of acid, she suddenly froze, her face tensing up. She was visibly straining her ears, turning her head outward past the barricades. She looked up toward one of the lookout on the catwalk.

"I'm hearing something. Report," she called out.

"Hiiden huurta," the L2 watchman yelled back. "Three?"

The level of exasperation that overwhelmed your superior's face could not be understated. Hiiden Huurta, "Hound of Hiisi." Hungry beasts (though from what you've read, some grow to such size they are instead classified as Trolls) had heard the Orpo's cries. The child's first cries had drawn the attention of predators, ensuring its doom. Jousten once again insults Miellikki, but with words so archaic you cannot understand them.

When she is done with her colorful damnations, she speaks clearly to you and Fahy. "I will cross the barricade to face them. If you climb on top of this one here, you can get a vantage with your crossbow. But, well. I don't think either of you can make L3 without some serious experience, now can you?"

Fahy takes what she suggested as an order. "I'll assist, ma'am."

"Good boy."

The Irish boy cannot get a clean word out in response.

>Join her post out front. That's what you're used to, after all.
>Take the position on the Letiva. Play to the strengths of your equipment.
>Suggest to ambush them while they are eating. The stench is strong and the cascading stormwater is clamourous, your presence should be hidden very well.

>>5933470
>Join her post out front. That's what you're used to, after all.

>>5933470
>Take the position on the Letiva. Play to the strengths of your equipment.

>>5933763
+1
Fahy has the heavier melee shit, so this time we play backup and he takes point. Back at the hospital it was the other way around, so it's only fair

>>5933470
>Take the position on the Letiva. Play to the strengths of your equipment.

>>5933470
>>Suggest to ambush them while they are eating. The stench is strong and the cascading stormwater is clamourous, your presence should be hidden very well

>>5933763
>>5933795
>>5933974
Without answering, you rush up to the fleshy mass and attempt to scale it. Your first attempt flounders, but for your second you sink your axe into it like an ice pick, and though you could feel it tearing under your weight as you pulled yourself up, it holds enough for you to reach a crest of the giant. Up here is as poor footing as a mountain of pillows, but you can find a spot that lets you sit still as you work the crossbow.

The draw is easier than you'd have imagined, and setting the bolt on its nook, you can begin to see where the innovations lie. You've handled a crossbow once before, and it felt like a weapon. This feels beyond that, this feels like a well oiled machine. There's something to appreciate in the smoothness of its operation.

Looking over at the barricade, you see L5 Jousten and L2 Fahy approach the gate. Fahy is enjoying the heft of his Volt Bardiche, and Katriina is operating that contraption on her swordstaff.

It is obvious that Jousten's weapon features some manner of projectile launcher. From a pouch she withdraws a hefty looking bolt, setting it in a rivet along the back of the blade, before grabbing that once so curious lever from before and cranking it back, locking the bolt into an alcove that likely protects it from flying off when the staff is swung as well as serve as its ready to fire position.

Having been unable to hear what caused alarm to Jousten and the watch, you figure that whatever it was must have been heard coming from a ways away. And from your position, you don't see much anything in the distance. The stormdrain is almost well lit. A good line outward from this barricade has functioning lights. You keep an eye out an-

A baby's cries startle you. Before you can beg the powers that be for mercy, you realize that the sound came from... above? Up there, in the catwalk, you see the agent keeping watch with a strange tool in her hands.

"Waaah, waaah." She takes her mouth away to breathe, before going in again. "Waaaaaah!"

You feel a tinge of pain in your chest. A hunting horn meant to sound like a human baby. A caller lure for demons.

File: DAS KINDERSCHREDDER[sound(...).png (214 KB, 516x728)

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>>5934355
Promised the flesh of the innocent, they come.

Shadowy silhouettes saunter from behind the pillars, blotting out the light-covered spots of the floor in the distance. Three of them, as called. The beasts are massive, certainly Troll-grade. Besides the absence of light, their fur is dark, and their emaciated form belies their immense hunger. Seeing those at the gate, they pause, reckoning their mettle.

You've heard tell of these monsters. The boys of your village would tell you them to scare you away from the woods as they went to explore it. A foul monster that eats children. With such a silly name they gave it, you didn't think it could be real.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A flood of drool spills from their mouth at the sound. Their low growls rip into bassy roars.

Das Kinderschredder cometh.

You and L5 Jousten have ranged weapons and engage immediately in an uncontested manner. Smarter enemies may use terrain to evade attacks; but these hounds are large monsters that rely on their raw mass to withstand it.
Rolling for L5 Jousten's attack; 16d6.
Roll to make a ranged engagement. Two anons, roll 4d6.

Rolled 4, 6, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 2, 2, 2 = 57 (16d6)

>>5934366
oh it would actually help if I actually rolled for Jousten

Rolled 5, 6, 2, 5 = 18 (4d6)

>>5934366

Rolled 4, 4, 1, 1 = 10 (4d6)

>>5934366

sorry for the exceptionally late update
>>5934372
>>5934376
The crossbow's sights are perfect for this situation. The glowing green reticle helps you measure how far away the creature is as it's approaching. They're nasty hounds, five feet tall on their fours, and who knows how long. You take aim and line up your perfect shot.

Jousten casually levels her weapon and looses the large bolt at the Huurta leading the pack. The bolt sinks into the neck, but the beast does not stop. You line up your crossbow to try and nail it in the ey-

THUNDER

The people of the nearest undercity stop and look around in confusion. The orphans stop their incessant questions to their caring keeper, letting her grab her hat. A tree turns its head, jealous of the immediate and certain ushering from this world without harmony.

Accompanying a blood red cloud of viscera and smoke, an explosion shatters your ears and echoes across the whole of the corridor and beyond. The charging hiiden huurta clears the cloud, but did not go very far without its head before slumping onto the concrete floor. The two remaining hounds were knocked to the ground, more stunned from the blast than actual damage. One slipped behind a column to recuperate, while another rolled onto the ground in your sights.

Totally unphased, L5 Jousten reloads her bomblance.

Shaking your own rattled nerves off, you notice you've a great shot on the terrible beast. Aiming for a lung, you send a bolt flying toward the staggered kinderschredder. It lands with a less explosive fanfare, and a pained and troubled yelp escaping its vile maw. It's a longer lasting wound; it should struggle to live with a bolt like that, but it is not yet incapacitated.

Fahy rushed over behind the column, keeping an eye on the one that slipped out of sight. Jousten stood in the light, calmly walking over to the downed beast.

>Reload and fire again at the injured huurta (8d6t2)
>Wait to get a shot at the one that slipped behind cover to assist Fahy (8d6t4)
>Hop down past the barricade to get in close help in melee, though it will take time

>>5937272
>Wait to get a shot at the one that slipped behind cover to assist Fahy (8d6t4)
Stick to our guns! Well, to our crossbow, and our advantaged position.

>>5937272
>>Wait to get a shot at the one that slipped behind cover to assist Fahy (8d6t4)

>>5937289
+1

>>5937272
>Wait to get a shot at the one that slipped behind cover to assist Fahy (8d6t4)

>>5937289
>>5937366
>>5937411
>>5937582
Seems quite unanimous. In the interest of finishing this encounter before the thread is over, lets get a roll going.
Roll to engage. Two anons, roll 4d6. Target: 4 Successes.
As a reminder, you may use Tilting Windmills if all involved in the roll agree to reroll after seeing the results.