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AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.
They took you when you were 12. Probably because no one would care about the disappearance of some hungry and filthy orphan doing whatever she could to survive. They did something to you then. Changed your body and mind in a way you don’t fully understand even now, five years later. Whatever it was, it made you quicker, stronger, sharper and brighter. After the change, you could easily adapt to any situation, read the emotions of most people and grasp whatever concept you tried, no matter how complicated. It also made you a slave. They would never admit it, but that’s what you are now – a slave.

Your handlers back at the island, they change all the time, coming and going, but there is always someone in charge of doling out the essence. They never explained what it is, but you need it. If you spend too long without consuming it, you fall into a hell beyond your wildest nightmares, unable to move, speak or think, experiencing nothing but dull pain and suffocating fear. You know that if you go an entire day without essence you will die.

You have to work for them to get essence. You go out on missions with others like you, about once or twice a month usually. On these missions, you do whatever you are told to: kidnap, murder, threaten, spy, rob, torture, assassinate and more. So much more.

They say your employer is the Shadow Council. You don’t know if that’s true. If it is, you wouldn’t know what to make of it. They never give you any context for your tasks. Most of the time, they don’t even tell you who the targets are – if there are targets – just what they look like and where they can be found. Sometimes, you can guess what the purpose behind your mission must be, but most of the time you have no clue. Some of your partners believe in what you’re doing, saying it’s for a better world, but you don’t know how they came to that conclusion. You don’t share their view.

Most importantly, you hate this. You hate what you have to do, you hate your handlers, with their self-assured expressions and condescending voices, you hate your partners who seem to meekly go along with everything like it’s the natural way of things and you hate yourself most of all. You can’t stand what they’ve turned you into. You can’t go on like this. There must be more to life than being a slave to people you’ve never met.

Throughout these five years, you took every chance you could to learn more about your predicament. Read reports you weren’t supposed to, taught yourself a dead language, been in rooms you shouldn’t know about, stole books that don’t exist and heard whispers that were never said. All for one purpose – escape. You dreamt of breaking free from your unseen masters and making a new life for yourself. For a long time, you went from disappointment to disappointment, as it became increasingly clear that your condition was irreversible – once done it could never be undone. You would be at the mercy of the essence forever.

Half a year ago, everything changed. On the surface, you’ve gone about your life as you always have, diligently carrying out your orders. But underneath that, for the first time after so long, you have nourished a hope. A chance encounter during one of your missions set you on the path you now follow – the path leading to freedom. You’ve spent the past half-year in a strange frantic trance, working towards that one solitary goal, disregarding any risks and uncertainties.

You’ve completed all of the necessary preparations yesterday. All you have to do now is choose the right moment. Once you start running, you can’t stop, no matter what. There is a price to pay for your freedom. A price you would have once considered too high. No longer. No price can be too high for your escape from this living nightmare. You are prepared to sacrifice everything you must, regardless of whether it is yours to sacrifice or not.

There is only one thing left to decide. They will figure out your treachery soon, the question is how soon. Can you afford to wait for your next mission, or should you take the final step now, as the airship makes it’s way back to the island and your partners are occupied with their reports?

Welcome to my second CYOA! My first one is still ongoing, though it’s currently on a long break. This one is intended to be much shorter and more spontaneous – I have some stuff planned, but I don’t know if we’ll even get to it or if the narrative will take us to unexpected places.

The most important thing to know is that this game will end if your character dies. It’s possible to die, and in fact I would say that the odds are against your survival. There will be no retries or second chances. Once you’re dead, that will be it. So, be careful.

You can ask questions about your character and the setting, but be aware that I will only answer what your character herself knows, which isn’t much. I intend getting and properly parsing information to be a major obstacle in this game.

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Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

quote:

I have started a new CYOA and am very curious to see how fast goons can get the player character killed
Take the last step to suicide

sniper4625
Sep 26, 2009

Loyal to the hEnd
I think we can wait

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:

quote:

Ihave started a new CYOA and am very curious to see how fast goons can get the player character killed.

Jump into the waters surrounding the island, swim down, inhale

Nyaa posted:

Take the last step to suicide

gently caress

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
Let's wait!

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


Go now. These people are obviously very well connected and not the types to take betrayal lightly. If we can go, we should go, before they can find us out.

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


We are outtie 5000.

Even if it does mean our death at least we won't be a weapon wielded by some monstrous-rear end 'people' anymore.

sheep-dodger
Feb 21, 2013

Go now

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Wait, and become the weapon we know we are.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Murder our way to the core of the base or whatever and set everything to self destruct because why the gently caress not. Then kidnap a random innocent hottie office worker on the way out because that's kind of an ironclad law for spy stories.

AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.
It doesn’t take you long to make up your mind. If you think about it, you made up your mind the very moment you laid eyes on the research journal on that fateful day half a year ago. There can be no delay! You aren’t about to throw away your only chance at freedom by pointlessly waiting for some imagined good opportunity. Here and now will have to be good enough.

After briefly checking to see that the others aren’t near, you roll up your sleeve and take out the small vial carefully woven into the fabric of your shirt – not the ideal hiding place but the best you could manage on short notice. You take one last glance at the transparent, purple tinged liquid inside before opening the vial and gulping down the contents.

The world shifts. You feel lighter, then heavier. An irritating ringing fills your ears. You go blind.

After what seems like an eternity, your senses go back to their normal constantly alert state and you are free to think clearly again. You can’t tell if it worked, but if it didn’t you’ll be dead soon anyway, so no point in worrying about it. There is no time to lose.

You quickly make your way to a small door on the airship’s upper level. You knock in your usual way – brief but insistent.

“Come in, Raven. How many times must I repeat that there is no need to knock? You aren’t a stranger here.”

You open the door and find Fox sitting behind her desk with a gloomy expression. It seems she has a while left before she finishes her report.

“Quite a mess we’ve made back there, huh? No matter how I try to spin it, there’s no covering up Viper’s screw-up. You aren’t clear of blame either. I know you like to take your time, but we really could have used that escape route two hours sooner. Hell, you could have done your stuff in half an hour, what the gently caress where you even doing for all that time?”

“If you say so.” you shrug. You doubt she appreciates this setback on her second time ever as field leader. The handlers are sure to taunt her when she gets back, maybe even withhold her essence for a few extra hours if they’re really dissatisfied. Well, that’s one thing she won’t have to worry about anymore.

“How is our captive, by the way?”

Ah, that’s right. The target you were allegedly keeping watch over. You almost forgot.

You hesitate for a brief moment. You were never close with Fox, but she looks to be about your age, maybe a year or so older. Her life was likely similar to yours. It’s not that difficult to imagine her filling your role today if things had turned out differently.

No, you can’t be under any illusions. Given a choice between your life and essence, she would choose essence every time. Just as you would have if you were in her shoes.

“Uncertain. Her breathing is irregular. I think Viper overdid it with the sedative again.”

“Oh, for gods’ sake…” an angry expression crosses her face, “How is that guy still allowed to live? I will personally volunteer to guard him in the Cage this time. No way in hell I am going to suffer alone for this!”

She quickly stands up and heads for the door with frustration and anger evident in her every step. Poor Viper. You don’t quite know what blunder he made this time, but it must have been something significant to make her fall for your ruse this hard. You move out of her way.

A moment is all it takes. Fox has completely dropped her guard. Your dagger is buried in her side before she can react. It doesn’t stop her from pushing you against the door and wrapping her hand around your throat. But her movements are sluggish and incoherent. The fast-acting poison you coated the blade with is blunting her reflexes. She is easily overpowered.

As she lies on the floor, desperately trying to push you off, you stare intently at her face and begin your work. Using your new ability is effortless. Soon, a thin vapor escapes her mouth. Her struggles grow weak and in a matter of seconds her transformation is complete. A shriveled husk is all that remains from the once energetic young woman. She is dead.

You collect the vapor into the small vial you prepared in advance. It mixes with the transparent liquid inside, lending it a deep crimson color. You drink it without hesitation. This is what remains of her soul. Her essence.

You are already free. You were freed the moment that purple liquid went down your throat twenty minutes ago. There wasn’t much doubt, but this confirms everything you’ve learned in the past half-year. Validates all of the effort it took to get this far. You don’t understand how they’ve managed to alter the ancient ritual this much, or how they make their essence, which you were enslaved to all this time. But you managed to bring the ritual back to its’ proper form. Restored the original intent. You can make your own personal essence now, from the souls of others. No price is too high for freedom from your living nightmare. But all of that is behind you now. You are finally free.

***

The pilot’s chamber is empty. You can tell despite his effort to hide it with the door locked form the inside.

No, Viper won’t steal this from you. You haven’t come this far just to be foiled at the last moment. You won’t let him. You won’t let him take your freedom away from you.

You walk up to the door as if nothing was wrong and knock in your usual way. You wait for the sound. You know what to do.

There it is! Behind you, almost drowned out by the soft hum of the engine. The sound of a trigger being pulled. You leap out of the way and throw your dagger at exactly the right angle. The all too familiar sound of a body falling over, accompanied by the loud clang of a miniature crossbow hitting the floor. A widening pool of blood around his throat.

No. This isn’t…You rush to Viper’s body. It’s too late. He is already dead.

Well, there goes your supply of essence for tomorrow. It’s fine. You’ll make it up somehow. It will slow you down, but it’s fine. All that matters is that you’re free.

***

You have never piloted an airship before, but trial and error go a long way. You are fairly confident you managed to direct it to the nearest coast, far from both the island and the city you took off from. You can only hope your reading of the map is correct. You haven’t had any chances to study aerial navigation before.

As you exit the pilot’s chamber, many thoughts go through your head. You try not to look at Viper’s corpse as you pass by.

In truth, you have no plan for what to do now. All your efforts were concentrated on getting to this point. They have born fruit – you are free – but you gave very little thought to how your new life would look like. At the very least, you’ll have to figure out where to get more essence before tomorrow.

Another thing you need to decide on is a new name. They called you Raven, but there’s no reason to keep going by that after your escape.

You enter one of the storage rooms in the lower section of the airship. Your target… no she is no target of yours, she is no one to you now. She is sleeping soundly, under the influence of a powerful sedative. She looks about two or three years younger than you. As far as you know, she is the daughter of a duchess.

What should you do with her? No doubt she will be a liability if you keep her alive, and she can serve as your source of essence for tomorrow. On the other hand, a part of you wants to talk with her, to try and find out what they wanted with her. Maybe even set her free just to spite them, though that’s likely going too far.

While she still sleeps, you should decide whether to keep this airship or not. The ability to travel privately wherever you please could be crucial, but if you’re not careful it can serve as their lead.
Whatever the case, you should try to think of a plan, however vague, for what to do after landing.

You can last 24 hours without essence, but your state will start to rapidly deteriorate once you pass the 15 hour mark.

Current Status:

* Hours without essence: 1

* Essence in reserve: 0

AFancyQuestionMark fucked around with this message at 11:37 on Feb 8, 2018

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
Drain the prisoner, essence is everything.

Leave the ship and set it to fly for a few hours and crash into the ocean.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Silace Dubois.

Obviously we're going to need resources. We can look and see if there is a reward for her safe return, if not then we ransom her back. If we don't come across someone we can gank for essence before the 14 hour mark then we use her instead.

Sell the ship, resolve prisoner situation either way, then disappear into the general populace. Look into the possibilities for plastic surgery. Become vampiric murder hobo.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
What if drinking too much mess up our soul?

only drink after 10 hour, always living in the edge of pacifist desth. :getin:

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Can we distill the girl now and save the essence for later? If so, do that before we get to know the girl.

Then the rest of plan Blasphemaster.

AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.

Deadmeat5150 posted:

Can we distill the girl now and save the essence for later?

Absolutely. That's what essence in reserve is all about.

sheep-dodger
Feb 21, 2013

Name: Spectre
Prisoner: Keep her alive for now, find out who she is and see if she has anything of value to offer us, either in expertise or abilities
Plan of Action: Use the aircraft to fly to the closest equivalent of Manhattan or Hollywood, any concentration of rich assholes will do

The plan is to use our abilities to drain the essence of the dregs of humanity: financial elites. Our time may be short, but they will know fear, as a Spectre is haunting Europe America.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
What if we are like a vampire that can give her essence to make her our minion?

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


sheep-dodger posted:

Name: Spectre
Prisoner: Keep her alive for now, find out who she is and see if she has anything of value to offer us, either in expertise or abilities
Plan of Action: Use the aircraft to fly to the closest equivalent of Manhattan or Hollywood, any concentration of rich assholes will do

The plan is to use our abilities to drain the essence of the dregs of humanity: financial elites. Our time may be short, but they will know fear, as a Spectre is haunting Europe America.

Yes... ha ha ha.... YES!

Switched to Plan Pirate downthread

Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Feb 8, 2018

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


sheep-dodger posted:

Name: Spectre
Prisoner: Keep her alive for now, find out who she is and see if she has anything of value to offer us, either in expertise or abilities
Plan of Action: Use the aircraft to fly to the closest equivalent of Manhattan or Hollywood, any concentration of rich assholes will do

The plan is to use our abilities to drain the essence of the dregs of humanity: financial elites. Our time may be short, but they will know fear, as a Spectre is haunting Europe America.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
Wasn’t the highest concentration of rich rear end in a top hat locate at the W- *Censored*

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


Nyaa posted:

Wasn’t the highest concentration of rich rear end in a top hat locate at the W- *Censored*

... yeah, but if we're going to make that trip we need to stock up.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
You can practically find salt all over America.

JesterOfAmerica
Sep 11, 2015

sheep-dodger posted:

Name: Spectre
Prisoner: Keep her alive for now, find out who she is and see if she has anything of value to offer us, either in expertise or abilities
Plan of Action: Use the aircraft to fly to the closest equivalent of Manhattan or Hollywood, any concentration of rich assholes will do

The plan is to use our abilities to drain the essence of the dregs of humanity: financial elites. Our time may be short, but they will know fear, as a Spectre is haunting Europe America.

YEEEEEESSSSS

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


Amendment: We should probably dispose of the airship. I can't imagine it'll be long before its state-recognized owners start to miss it and once that happens we'd just get lanced out of the sky.

This doesn't necessarily mean burn it to the ground: if we can find someone who can refit it so it doesn't get recognized as the old ship (and also they aren't The Rich or one of their jackboots or cat's paws) then they can have it for favors or something.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


Actually, upon further thought, how does keeping the airship and becoming an air pirate sound? We're gonna be forced to live outside the law and kill people no matter what, so let's choose a career uniquely suited to our talents and needs. I initially thought that this was set in the modern era and keeping the airship would be suicide because the Powers That Be would just see it on a satellite photo and have us nailed within 12 hours, but knowing that the setting is more steampunk it's probably actually a benefit to keep it so we can move faster than reports of our presence can travel.

Now, apparently air piracy as in pirating other airships isn't a thing in the setting, but there's always ocean-going trade and ocean-going pirates that prey on it. If we can find our way to a notorious pirate port and get a crew together, we can tear the shipping lanes up - an airship is probably great at chasing down and stealing poo poo from ocean ships. And whatever essence we can't acquire in the course of our day job, well, notorious pirate ports are dangerous places, nobody will notice if some random deckhands go missing at 2 AM.

So, Plan Pirate:
Keep the airship
Head towards/find a major maritime city
Hang around the pubs/docks and pick up leads on where NOT to go
Go there
Become notorious vampire pirate-queen


Somewhere in here we probably have to ransom the prisoner for starting funds, or eat her as a last resort, but I don't want to hard commit to any one course of action with her until we land somewhere and get our bearings.

Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Feb 8, 2018

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
I support pirate plan.

Magnusth
Sep 25, 2014

Hello, Creature! Do You Despise Goat Hating Fascists? So Do We! Join Us at Paradise Lost!


Plan Pirate! YAAARGH!

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

I would prefer not to be a pirate. Ships need a crew, and the time needed to get a group of dudes/dudettes we trust to even the least degree will pale in the time it takes for Those Guys We Betrayed to find their airship. Sell it. Trade it for a favor, something other than owning a highly visible hole in the air we pour money into.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


I figure if we're gonna have to spend our whole life on the run, it makes sense to build it around a base we can pick up and move at any point rather than needing to get a new identity and place to live every week

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

Blasphemaster posted:

Those Guys We Betrayed to find their airship. Sell it. Trade it for a favor, something other than owning a highly visible hole in the air we pour money into.
That’s our original plan in the chat, but gm shot it down by pointing out we are a complete lab rat that have zero influence and hardly know much about the outside world.

We don’t know what form of government existed or if telephone is a thing.

AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.

Nyaa posted:

That’s our original plan in the chat, but gm shot it down by pointing out we are a complete lab rat that have zero influence and hardly know much about the outside world.

We don’t know what form of government existed or if telephone is a thing.

That's not quite right. You know almost nothing about the outside world, but you do know about the telegraph from some of your past missions, and would have known about telephones if they existed.

Anyway, a lack of knowledge shouldn't prevent you from at least trying to find someone to sell the airship to, if you want.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Outrail posted:

Drain the prisoner, essence is everything.

Leave the ship and set it to fly for a few hours and crash into the ocean.

Nothingtoseehere
Nov 11, 2010


No pirates, get more essence (interrogate her for a bit before though, like 25 minutes)

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


I'm torn between Plan Pirate and sheep dodger's Plan Eat The Rich

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:
If you want more time to decide, you can vote pirate to cause another tie to hold it back a little.

super sweet best pal
Nov 18, 2009

Pirate :yarr:

AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.
After mulling things over in your head for a bit, you decide that the best way to increase your chances of survival in the near future is to keep doing what you know – cornering and killing people. It might not be particularly pleasant, but you already have plenty of experience in the matter, and murder for essence has been a central part of your life these past five years. At least now you’ll be able to pick your own targets.

Speaking of picking targets, if you remember right, Nivoa isn’t very far from here. You have been to that city many times on missions, so it shouldn’t it be too hard to find your way around its’ sprawling marble streets and overhead walkways. There are plenty of potential wealthy and powerful targets there, if your past experiences are to be believed.

There are many details left to be fleshed out, but this is the general direction you have decided on for the time being. Who knows how all of this will turn out? Regardless of what happens, you are free, which is all that really matters.

You decide to use the remaining time before reaching your destination to rest, while you still can.

***

As the airship nears the coast, you check on your captive again. One look at her tells you that the sedative has almost worn off. This is the perfect time to interrogate her, before she fully regains her senses. It shouldn’t take you long. You know how it will end. You need to build up a reserve of essence to have any hope of survival and she will be a major liability if she lives.

You’ve delayed long enough. In a single motion, you empty the bucket full of cold water you've brought with you onto the sleeping girl. Her eyes snap open and she looks around wildly, clearly confused and disoriented.

“Stand up.”

She stares at you blankly, struggling to grasp the situation.

“I said, stand up. Don’t make me repeat myself again.” you say in a tone as harsh and detached as you can manage.

Despite the lingering influence of the sedative, she shoots up quickly, her face contorted into an expression of pure, primal fear.

“W..Who are you? What do you want with me?” she spits out, her voice barely rising above the hum of the airship’s engine.

“You can call me Spectre. You don’t get to ask questions now.”

You like the sound of that name. It meshes well with the concept of “elusive threat” you see yourself embodying in the near future.

You walk up to her with heavy, deliberate steps. She is too frightened to say anything or move a single muscle.

“Give me your name, occupation, and everything you remember from the past few weeks.”

“What?...I…”

You glare at her. Straight in the eyes, not letting her look away for even a single moment. You can see the exact moment she gives up. Completely. On trying to process her situation or thinking about anything other than following your demands. You know her current mental state all too well.

“Okay…” she takes a deep breath, “Okay. My name is Amelyn de Rissete. My mother is the Duchess of Lower Delna, which is probably why I am here. I am a second year student at the Haidern Academy of Statecraft in Felcair. The last month was winter recess, I spent all of it back in Lhistair with my mother. I only returned to Felcair two days ago…plus the time that passed since you captured me. I was never involved in the political games Mother has been playing, so there isn’t much I can tell about the Syndicate or the tensions with the other duchies.”

While still frightened, she has clearly calmed down a little. There is little point to intimidating her further.

“Doesn’t matter. Tell me all you know about your mother’s affairs.” you say in a calm but detached tone.

You don’t know anything about any Syndicate or the relations between Alluvian nobles. Now is as good a time as any to educate yourself.

“Well, she never tells me anything. All I know I heard from third-hand rumors at the academy and some of my friends back home. Everyone’s saying Mother worked out some deal with the Syndicate, to let them operate freely in her territory as long as they don’t make too much trouble for the locals. The other Dukes say that Lower Delna is turning into a major smuggling and trafficking hub where criminals can operate with impunity, serving as a base from which the Syndicate may act to force the entire eastern half of the kingdom into its’ network. They are banding together against her. There was even a request for intervention raised in the Queen’s Court, though weak as she is she is unlikely to respond. There are a lot of people saying another war is coming. Everyone is very angry about this in Felcair. Mother even wanted to end my studies, but I…I managed to dissuade her…and now I am here.”

She takes another deep breath, looking at you uncertainly.

Some sort of vague picture is forming in your mind. The point of abducting this girl was to pressure her mother into backing down. You don’t know why your former masters would want that, but it seems to be the most plausible explanation.

“What do you know about the Shadow Council?”

She seems taken aback by the question.

“The…Shadow Council? I only know what everyone knows. My only sources are the occasional sensational story in the papers and history class.”

“What does everyone know?”

“Well, they are intended ‘watch over the people’ and ‘strike down tyrants and all others who seek to bring the people harm’. I don’t think they are doing that too well, though. Frankly, I always thought every one of their Acts in the last century was done by unrelated groups who wanted to lend their own threats and crimes an air of legitimacy. If they still exist, I know nothing about them. I really, really don’t.”

You’ve encountered those words before in your many attempts to learn more about your condition. They never lead anywhere. Everyone seems to think the Shadow Council is long gone. Maybe that’s true and your former masters are just hiding behind their name to feed their own egos. There’s no way to know one way or another. Especially since you don’t know much about the “genuine” Shadow Council in the first place. You briefly consider asking your captive, but think better of it. You’ve spent enough time on her. You can look for a history book later.

Without wasting another moment, you leap on her and pin her to the ground. Aside from a reflexive and futile attempt to push you away, she doesn’t struggle. She looks more confused than anything. You start the process, which already feels as natural as taking another breath.

“But…why…?” she mumbles as the color drains from her face and vapor spills out from her mouth. You don’t bother acknowledging her words. Instead, you hold out a small vial filled with translucent liquid. It doesn’t take long for it to gain a shade of deep crimson. It’s over. She is dead and you have another day’s worth of essence. That’s all there is to it.

***

There. The new course is set. The airship should fly out over the ocean and keep going until fuel runs out. Ultimately, it should plunge into the water and break apart from the impact, its’ components later drifting in different directions. While you were tempted by its’ mobility, keeping the airship is simply too great a risk. You have no doubt they will be looking for it before long.

As you exit the pilot’s chamber for the last time, you bask in the joy of freedom once more. This is better than you could have ever imagined. For what feels like the first time in your life, you have the luxury of making decisions on your own future. No matter what happens from here on, everything was worth it just to experience this feeling of control over your own fate.

There is no time to linger. The airship is rapidly gaining altitude. You open an exterior door and jump out into the night.

***
Hiking through thick forests isn’t your forte. At least two hours pass before Nivoa finally appears on the horizon. Its marble spires tower over the surrounding area, with their bright lights visible from afar even on a night like this, when thick clouds block out all three moons entirely. Only twenty minutes more, and you will easily slip into the city under the cover of darkness.

What then? There are many things you need: food, shelter, money and a reliable method of quietly hunting your targets are the ones that immediately spring to mind. No doubt there are many other aspects to consider.

You’ve been in this city plenty of times, but you are far from knowing it like the back of your hand. On the contrary, there are entire districts you’ve never set foot in. Worse still, you don’t know anyone here. You aren’t safe. You need to do something, while it’s still dark. The only question left to answer is what.

Current Status:

* Hours without essence: 6

* Essence in reserve: 1

AFancyQuestionMark fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Feb 10, 2018

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


We need to locate a temporary location to sleep/work out of so we have a safehouse. That way we have a roof over our heads while searching for more long term lodgings and scouring the seedier taverns and places of entertainment for easy work. Once we have a bit of cash, a bit of rep, and a bit more knowledge of current events and the general state of the world we've only dipped our toes into on command before, we can worry about hunting the Shadow Council.

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AFancyQuestionMark
Feb 19, 2017

Long time no see.
Does anyone else want to weigh in?

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