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Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
I hope that when we choose to dance the options are: The Monkey, The Twist, The White Dude Awkward Shuffle, That Swimming One and Twerking.

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Automatic Slim
Jul 1, 2007

Get rested.

vetinari100
Nov 8, 2009

> Make her pay.
I catch up with Chen and Ngabe, and walk them to the trolley.

Lord Cyrahzax
Oct 11, 2012

Sleep.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
Dance

AfroSquirrel
Sep 3, 2011

Show the world that we are the Deathless Lord of the Dance.

Ghostwoods
May 9, 2013

Say "Cheese!"
Dance, dance baby.

Bobbin Threadbare
Jan 2, 2009

I'm looking for a flock of urbanmechs.

Probably not a good idea to dance when we're so exhausted. Let's just chat with our friends.

yamiaainferno
Jun 30, 2013

Chat

Lazaruise
Jan 25, 2009

Dance Dance, we're falling apart to half time posted:

You grab a drink first, then hit the dance floor, spinning and shouting and twisting along with the music. You find some good partners. You find some bad partners. But you do find partners, and the rest of the night scintillates and tumbles like broken glass down a dark well.

Interlude posted:

Interlude: Broken

The image slips and fades but the blood remains. You are more than you were. Or at least, you remember more than you once remembered.

You're still falling, in pieces, in this darkness from which you cannot return. More sparks and slivers of falling memory tumble around you.

You grope still for memories, for changes. You passed your first year at the firm. Little decisions altered your world, day by day.

What changes do you grab out of the cascading broken mirrors?

I moved to a new apartment.

I changed how much I saved.


I paid off my student loans. (Current debt: 100000 thaums. Current funds: 2047 thaums)

I didn't change anything.

Stats posted:

John Cavendish
Charm: 69%
Craft: 37%
Cunning: 11%
Determination: 20%
Sleep: 69%
Gunner: 32% Socialite: 68%

Soul: 2047
Debt: 100000

Ngabe: 37%
Chen: 52%
Wakefield: 64%
Vega: 35%
Varkath: 40%
Nebuchadnezzar: 20%
Stone: 20%

A brief guide to the Choice of the Deathless statblock:

Charm: Your personal style, savoir faire, empathy, and social acumen.

Craft: Your facility with the sorcerous Craft, used for magical battles and a range of professional tasks.

Cunning: Your native cunning, wit, and raw intellectual ability.

Determination: Your bullheaded determination, will to power, and stick-to-it-iveness. Everything your hypothetical football coach wanted you to "bring onto the field."

Socialite / Gunner: Are you clawing for advantage, desperate for work experience, eager to gain partners' approval? Or are you more of a people person?

Sleep: The less you sleep, the harder everything is.

Soul: The Craft can accomplish miracles—or great blasphemies—so long as you have the soulstuff with which to fuel it.

Debt: Your student loans are a daily drain on your life and sanity.


These interludes come up periodically so can change how much soul your spending and how far you live away from work. If you guys are happy with what we are doing I can skip them in the future, just let me know.

Readingaccount
Jan 6, 2013

Law of the jungle
Started Saving More

Automatic Slim
Jul 1, 2007

Save More

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
Save more

Lazaruise
Jan 25, 2009
We're already saving the max precentage so I'm just going to say we didn't change anything.

Boom Boom bitch posted:

You stand in a dark room, inside a glowing pentacle, and hold a knife of lightning to your wrist.

Somewhere a clock strikes midnight. You hold back a yawn. Too much work recently. Always too much work. Anyway.

It's time to work. As always.

You press the knife point into your skin. A drop of blood wells up. You pull the blade away, and the blood drop falls, round and reflective, to the floor. And when it splashes there, you fall, too.

You fall into the world of gods.

The material realm breaks around you, and for a moment you feel yourself a gnat passing through a beam of light, revealed to enormous beings who normally would not notice something so small. But in this instant of exposure they might well reach out and destroy you, for their own amusement or only to pass the time.

You leave the light and find your destination. You hover before a wall woven by spiders out of silver webs. Most of the patterns are abstract, but a few resemble faces, the faces of people you know, screaming.

This has been the last three months of your life. Transdimensional Thaumaturgics, your client, contracted with the demonic consortium of Akargath to build an enormous hydro project in the Southern Kathic jungle. The demons then claimed the project was as much their property as TT's, which would give them a foothold in your world, a territory through which they could pass at will from their reality to yours, unlimited by the bonds of a summoning contract. They would stride across the earth like gods.

Obviously, this is a bad outcome.

You've been tasked with document review, and minor ward maintenance. How have you been handling these responsibilities?


I've worked late every day, on my own.

I've searched for patterns in the demons' strategy, trying to work smarter.

I've created an elaborate piece of Craft to do most of the work for me.

I'm working in a team with my colleagues.

Stats posted:

John Cavendish

Charm: 72%
Craft: 37%
Cunning: 11%
Determination: 20%
Sleep: 72%
Gunner: 32% Socialite: 68%


Soul: 2447
Debt: 82000

Ngabe: 37%
Chen: 52%
Wakefield: 64%
Vega: 35%
Varkath: 40%
Nebuchadnezzar: 20%
Stone: 20%

A brief guide to the Choice of the Deathless statblock:

Charm: Your personal style, savoir faire, empathy, and social acumen.

Craft: Your facility with the sorcerous Craft, used for magical battles and a range of professional tasks.

Cunning: Your native cunning, wit, and raw intellectual ability.

Determination: Your bullheaded determination, will to power, and stick-to-it-iveness. Everything your hypothetical football coach wanted you to "bring onto the field."

Socialite / Gunner: Are you clawing for advantage, desperate for work experience, eager to gain partners' approval? Or are you more of a people person?

Sleep: The less you sleep, the harder everything is.

Soul: The Craft can accomplish miracles—or great blasphemies—so long as you have the soulstuff with which to fuel it.

Debt: Your student loans are a daily drain on your life and sanity.

Bobbin Threadbare
Jan 2, 2009

I'm looking for a flock of urbanmechs.

I am a team player.

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
Yeah our stats in everything else are abysmal so work with a team

RickVoid
Oct 21, 2010
There is no I in Team.
Meat, yes. Me, right. Mate, okay.

But no I.

Automatic Slim
Jul 1, 2007

Work Smarter.

Lokapala
Jan 6, 2013
I don't think we have enough cunning to do anything remotely smart. Team effort it is!

yamiaainferno
Jun 30, 2013

Work smart, not hard.

Lazaruise
Jan 25, 2009

Well thats just great posted:

Many hands make light work, and one advantage of working with a big firm like Varkath Nebuchadnezzar is that you have many hands available.

Of course, working so closely with others reduces your chance of looking like a hero, but there are more important things than heroism. Success, for example. You spend hours combing through the contract-wall, comparing it point by point to the written descriptions of the deal Transdimensional Thaumaturgics offered you.

This is a bigger version of the classic summoning contract, in the same way a container ship is a bigger fishing boat. The principle's the same, at least. Demons hail from a realm parallel to your own; local laws of physics don't bind them. When offering demons a path into your own reality, a good summoner can define their powers to exceed those of most humans. But if demons could pass into your world without a clear contract, they would lack limits—singularities of possibility striding unrestrained across continents. And singularities are bad. A few demons were unleashed back during the God Wars, and the world still shudders from the consequences.

So you review the deal again. And again.

And, at three o'clock in the morning, you say the words no one connected with the Craft ever wants to say, or hear.

"Huh. That's funny."

You barely trust your own eyes. Fortunately you have another pair to hand. Cass Chen is also working late. "Hey, Cass. Can you take a look at this?"

She flies over from her portion of the wall. These last few months haven't worn well on Cass. She has dark circles under her eyes, and her face looks strained. "What's the problem?"

You show her.

There's a hole in the wall. A tiny hole, but demons don't need much room to wriggle through.

"We need to tell someone about this," she says.

You nod, and rise into the real world.

You stumble back into your own skin. Flesh fits tight after freedom, and your wrist hurts like hell. Mouth dry, world whirling, you turn for the door. Have to grope twice in the dark to find the handle.

You wander down the ghost-lit hallway outside, looking for someone, anyone. Soon, you find Vega: Halcyon Vega y Alatriste, elegant, tall, slim, dark-eyed and vicious, lately of counsel and a rapid climber in the firm. He's in charge of the warding project, among other things.

He seems shaken, perhaps by the look on your face. "What's happened?"



"I found something."

"We found something."

I lie. "Nothing's wrong."

"What's wrong with you? You look tense."

Stats posted:

John Cavendish

Charm: 72%
Craft: 37%
Cunning: 11%
Determination: 20%
Sleep: 72%
Gunner: 29% Socialite: 71%

Soul: 2447
Debt: 82000

Ngabe: 37%
Chen: 52%
Wakefield: 64%
Vega: 35%
Varkath: 40%
Nebuchadnezzar: 20%
Stone: 20%

A brief guide to the Choice of the Deathless statblock:

Charm: Your personal style, savoir faire, empathy, and social acumen.

Craft: Your facility with the sorcerous Craft, used for magical battles and a range of professional tasks.

Cunning: Your native cunning, wit, and raw intellectual ability.

Determination: Your bullheaded determination, will to power, and stick-to-it-iveness. Everything your hypothetical football coach wanted you to "bring onto the field."

Socialite / Gunner: Are you clawing for advantage, desperate for work experience, eager to gain partners' approval? Or are you more of a people person?

Sleep: The less you sleep, the harder everything is.

Soul: The Craft can accomplish miracles—or great blasphemies—so long as you have the soulstuff with which to fuel it.

Debt: Your student loans are a daily drain on your life and sanity.

Readingaccount
Jan 6, 2013

Law of the jungle
We

Automatic Slim
Jul 1, 2007

There is no I in "team", but you sure as hell can't spell it without "me".

vetinari100
Nov 8, 2009

> Make her pay.
We found something.

Bobbin Threadbare
Jan 2, 2009

I'm looking for a flock of urbanmechs.

We already gave up the chance to look like a lone hero.

Ghostwoods
May 9, 2013

Say "Cheese!"
We.

100 HOGS AGREE
Oct 13, 2007
Grimey Drawer
Lie

Dav
Nov 6, 2009
Hey, guy whose screw-up we might have just found, why do you look so tense?

Added Space
Jul 13, 2012

Free Markets
Free People

Curse you Hayard-Gunnes!
I have to think about myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eDXscSwjo0

Lokapala
Jan 6, 2013
What's wrong with you, Mr. Potentially Taking Credit for my work?

Lazaruise
Jan 25, 2009

Hur Hurr Hurr Hurrrrr posted:

"There's a hole in the web," you say. "Looks like the contract isn't as complete as we thought."

You didn't think his brow could furrow much deeper. "Does it look like the demons know?"

"No."

"We'll bring it up at the morning meeting," he says. "And. John. Good job. Get some rest, okay?"

"You could use some, too."

"Thanks."

"I'm not leaving yet. There's still work to do."

Stats posted:

John Cavendish
Charm: 72%
Craft: 37%
Cunning: 11%
Determination: 20%
Sleep: 72%
Gunner: 27% Socialite: 73%

Soul: 2447
Debt: 82000

Ngabe: 37%
Chen: 52%
Wakefield: 64%
Vega: 35%
Varkath: 40%
Nebuchadnezzar: 20%
Stone: 20%

RickVoid
Oct 21, 2010
Summarily dismissed after finding something really dangerous in the thing this guy has been working on? Not suspicious at all.

I'm not going anywhere, thanks.

Bobbin Threadbare
Jan 2, 2009

I'm looking for a flock of urbanmechs.

We could all use some sleep.

Readingaccount
Jan 6, 2013

Law of the jungle
Keep grinding. Sleep is for the dead.

Maylo
Nov 5, 2010
You could use some, too

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
Keep going

Automatic Slim
Jul 1, 2007

Keep going.

Lazaruise
Jan 25, 2009

Sleep is for the weak posted:

"Fair enough," he says. "Well. Looks like I need to prepare for the meeting tomorrow. I'll see you then."

He walks off down the hallway, leaving you alone, with your work.

The next morning you meet the client in a nightmare.

It's a straightforward nightmare as these things go: an immense scaly thousand-footed beast lies belly-up, and a table rests on a stretch of its stomach. You and the others sit on the beast's upturned feet.

Everyone's here: Damien Stone, the name partner in charge of the case, a heavy, dark Craftsman in his late sixties; Vega, in pressed suit jacket; Cass Chen; you. Not to mention the client himself, an executive of Transdimensional Thaumaturgics, a thin pale man in a black suit. You know him only as John Smith.

The world warps around him, and the stuff of nightmares bends

The meeting wheels through old business to new. Smith watches with cold black eyes, and seems almost bored, not at all as if your work is the only barrier between his firm and demonic invasion.

At last, Stone clears his throat, leans forward in his chair, cracks his knuckles, and asks if anyone has new business.

"In fact," Vega says. "Last night, I discovered a weakness in the contract. A minor hole, related somehow to definitions of ownership. I'll send you the details. We will need any documents you can provide connected with this manner."

"Of course," Smith says. Smith's voice is so ordinary you don't so much hear his words so much as assume them. "I'll have the documents sent."

And that's all. No mention of your discovery. No mention of Cass. Across the table, you see Chen swell with rage. Vega's taken your thunder, and hers as well.

She opens her mouth.



I stay silent. Let Cass hang.

I correct Vega's claim myself.

I try to distract her.

Stats posted:

John Cavendish

Charm: 72%
Craft: 37%
Cunning: 11%
Determination: 20%
Sleep: 65%
Gunner: 34% Socialite: 66%

Soul: 2447
Debt: 82000

Ngabe: 37%
Chen: 52%
Wakefield: 64%
Vega: 35%
Varkath: 40%
Nebuchadnezzar: 20%
Stone: 20%

Bobbin Threadbare
Jan 2, 2009

I'm looking for a flock of urbanmechs.

Let's see if our stats mean we can politely correct Vega and get away with it.

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paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
Distract her Nothing good can come from arguing in front of a client while one of your bosses is in the room.

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