Digital Devil Worlds [D&D 4e Game Thread]

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Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: Noriko shrinks a little in her chair, not expecting this particular sort of attention! "W-w-witch? Um... it's just the sort of style that appeals to me..." she looks a little embarassed. "it's fun to be mysterious sometimes... and, um, people treat me better, or at least, more like how i want to be treated..." Noriko thinks back to her old school, and the expectations that being an "elegant sister" type brought with it. Being sad or upset or hurt around peers who depended on her just wasn't possible...

: Akio, having finally recovered from that weird vision, reaches for Noriko's hand under the table and gives her a reassuring squeeze. "There's a lot of people at school who like to express themselves like that, dad. So, um, you met at the train station on the way here?"

: "Yes, a strange raven was shadowing her..."

: "Like a pet?"

: "Filthy."

: A raven? That must be her familiar! She brought it with her? "Oh? And then?"

: Father seems a bit concerned. "I think she said sometimes she fed them? Some wildlife get used to people if you do that, you know." Pausing between bites to consider what to say, he opts for the truth. "Well, it swooped down next to us and cawed and.. ah, I threw my briefcase at it." Hanae tactfully hides a big amused smile behind her utensils.

: "Awww, daddy! That poor bird!"

: "You really like animals, Noriko?"

: "Any given bird could be crawling with disease.."

: "You threw your briefcase at it?" Akio can't help it, he bursts out laughing when he pictures it in his head. "Haha! Birds are pretty smart creatures, but I don't think you needed to do that..."

: Noriko gives Akio a bemused look as his dad goes on about the crow. "...it seemed more reflexive than anything... and the bird was fine." Noriko considers how to approach the conversation... "and, um... birds spend a lot of time cleaning themselves, even trash birds like crows." she considers going into a spiel about parasite transmission but it's dinner time so she keeps it to herself. "they get a bad reputation because of the things they eat... so when i feed them i'm really just trying to make sure they're eating well... I'm not going around picking up strange birds or anything." She nods to Reiko. "um, some, anyway. I like birds and cats a lot, and any small animal you can hold in your hands..." realizing she's just talking about witch familiars, she hastily adds "...and dogs"

: Katsuo chuckles and points to Akio: "Hey now, I still got him."

: The sisters seem amused but Hanae is occasionally giving Noriko that glare, as Akio knows it. Eventually Reiko props the conversation back up. "Are you two in any clubs?"

: "Clubs?" Distracted by Hanae's uncomfortable glares at Noriko, Akio is caught off guard by Reiko's question, and has to scramble to think of an answer. An answer that did not involve telling his parents that they were in an occult club! "Ah, um, I'm in the karate club. I mostly joined because some of my friends were already in it, but it's been fun so far. Noriko is in a fencing club at Nekketsu, which is our sister school. There was some bad blood between our schools but I hear it's getting better now... We're also in an, um... foreign literature club together. There's a lot of reading and translating texts from different languages, it's pretty cool..."

: Your answer defuses some heat from Hanae and gets a nod of approval from Katsuo, but Reiko lights up at your last club mention! You remember vaguely your father mentioning their studies... Ruiko, the fashion student, and Reiko, the history student! "Really?! That's great, otouto! What texts are you working on right now?"

: Ah, crap, of course she was going to bite on that! "Um, we're working on a few different French texts right now, actually. Mostly from the years following the revolution."

: Ruiko smells blood and grins. "Which ones? Maybe Reiko could visit your club..." Reiko nods excitedly!

: Akio throws a distressed look at Noriko. "Ah, we should probably check to see if the others are okay with it before we decide on anything?..."

: Noriko tries not to laugh as Akio spills the noodles. "Hmm... right now we're mainly on esoteric philosophy and mid 19th century theology... we're really more of an anthropology club than literature if you think about it."

: "That's such a good period!"

: Hanae's judgement of Noriko seems to soften. "You must be doing wonderfully in school, Noriko. You sound like quite the scholar." Spectacled eyes that probe for weakness.. you're grateful she can't see your scars!

:Noriko nods to Reiko. "the world was opening up, new ideas were flourishing everywhere. it was a very good period." she glances over at Akio for a second and smirks. "you're welcome to come to the club sometime if you want, i don't know how interesting it would be for you, though. our research gets pretty narrow sometimes." Noriko seems flattered by Hanae's compliment. "hmmm... i'm doing quite well this year." (true... this year! ohohohoho!) "scholar...? i wouldn't go that far, but i'm trying, hehe." she smiles. "we'll see if i'm worthy of a title like that someday though."

: Katsuo chuckles. "I look forward to your midterm results with such academic enthusiasm."

: Surprisingly, a little blinding at first, Akio witnesses the first crack in the gloom he's ever seen since meeting the woman. Seeing Noriko get comfortable and then confident, Hanae seems pleased. "Yes, it's wonderful you two can study together. It must be a great club, you're both going to Naoki."

: "Naoki has been good to me so far," Akio grins. It was surprising to see Hanae pleased. Had Noriko really managed to mollify her so easily? If so, that was a huge relief. But at the same time he could feel the mounting pressure to perform well at the midterms... "Ah, I'm sure the midterms will be a piece of cake now that I have someone as intelligent as Noriko to study with!"

: Dinner passes blissfully, Akio's family taking well to Noriko! Eventually Katsuo and Hanae share some unheard words and the two smile to Akio and Noriko, Katsuo speaking: "This has been a wonderful dinner with family, why don't you two get to studying?" An early permission to leave the battlefield... !

:Noriko feels relieved, both because this was deeply distressing to her, and because she really, really needed to study. "thank you, i really enjoyed everything."

: "Yes, thanks for dinner, it was great!" Akio says and stands up to give a polite bow. "Okay, um, let's go to my room and get started." Akio leads Noriko up the stairs to his room and closes the door behind them, and only then does he let out a sigh of relief. "I thought they were going to burn you at the stake for a moment there, but you handled it really well!" He smiles at her, but then makes an apologetic expression, "...I'm so sorry you had to go through that! I didn't plan any of this, I didn't even know you were coming! My sisters tricked us..."

:"you. didn't. lock. your. phone!" she soundly (but playfully) bonks him on the head. "what if i'd.... what if i'd sent you something...." she looks red in the face. "anyone could have seen it!" Noriko holds her own phone out - the lock screen is a swirling series of magic circles, with a passcode entry... in norse runes! what in the world!?

: Akio stares almost mesmerized at the screen. "Wow, that's pretty intense..." He quickly shakes his head to snap out of it. "I left it on my desk as I went to take a shower, I didn't think anyone would come in and take it! Wait..." He looks at her, red in the face, and smirks bashfully, "send me something?"

: Noriko looks away, suddenly embarassed. "i don't know what you're talking about! dummy! and it'll never happen until you put a password on your phone, anyway!'

: Smiling, Akio leans in and plants a kiss the cheek she left exposed. "Hehe, you're the cutest, Noriko. I'll make sure to secure my phone so it never happens again."

: "you'd better!" Noriko blushes, trying to sound as mad as she can manage. "i don't want to stumble into another trap like this ever again! but... your sisters seem really nice. so... i'm glad they tricked me into coming over, at least." she reaches into her bag and starts pulling out her books.

: "My sisters can be a bit pushy at times, but they always mean well. I'm happy that you seem to get along!" Akio smiles, but with a sense of melancholy as he continues. "They're really important to me, you know? After mom died it was mostly just the three of us at home. Dad was working late every day, it felt like I barely saw him. We took care of all the chores together and supported each other..." He turns his head and wipes the corner of his eye with his hand. "It's weird how you can have precious memories in the wake of something so sad..." Looking back at Noriko, he smiles again. "I guess we should start studying for real, lest we anger the holy inquisition." He starts collecting his study books that are strewn haphazardly across the room, some of them left open as if he was in the middle of reading them. "I gotta say, I didn't expect you to gain Hanae's favor after she was throwing those glares at you. I'm impressed!" he laughs.

: "ehhh. i've always known how to deal with parents. hanae probably looks at your performance as an indicator of her success as a stepmother. if i'm a distraction it reflects poorly on her." settling down beside him, she cracks open a book and gets to work. "so i just emphasized my academic merits. i'm clearly not going to drag you down so she has nothing to worry about. though, if we're going to be spending time together, it looks like it's going to be studying for a while..."

: "Huh, so that's why she acts like she does?" Akio frowns thoughtfully as he flips through his book before settling on a page. "Well, I do like the idea of studying with you," he gives her a playful little nudge with his elbow, "so I guess that's fine. I want to do well at the midterms too. I bet they'll be much more permissive if we ace it!"

: You hit the books with gusto, enduring one expected interruption from Hanae offering you both some fresh brewed tea. Surely you would not be caught in the midst of any hanky-panky during this intense study session!?

: Of course not! Like Noriko would take a risk like that with his whole nosey family in the house! Light handholding is the night at it's most erotic.

: It should go without saying that Akio is just as, if not more, afraid of getting caught doing something unsanctioned as Noriko, feeling like he's constantly being watched. He entertains the notion of casting a bunch of warding spells on his room, but knows that that'd just be even more suspicious if anyone noticed.

: Sipping her tea, Noriko enjoys the rest of the evening feeling calm and at peace...

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Fortune arcana...}

Your bonus to Support Personas of the Fortune arcana increases to +2 Attack/Damage/Healing! Akio and Noriko both gain +1 Academics as well.

The evening goes perfectly. The Yamamura's take a shine to Noriko, particularly the two sisters and then some. As Noriko leaves for the evening Hanae whispers to her "Please help keep him in line, Noriko-chan." Akio finds himself seeing his Father alone for a bit before the two retire for the evening, Katsuo giving him a low-key way to go, son.

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Jul 12, 2018

# ¿ Jul 10, 2018 23:46

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:51

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

Thursday 5/7, Early Morning

: One morning before you would head to school early for track pratice, you bump into Kaname in the hall. He looks to be in good spirits though, so you get the feeling this isn't bad. "Takashi, you'll need to stay behind a bit. I've wrangled some time for an associate of mine to see you. You should be on time for school though."

: Trying to cram everything into his brief moments between everything else, Takashi is not surprised to nearly run into his uncle, "Of course, Oji-san, I've always got time," he hopes he doesn't sound too overwhelmed.

: Leading you to his personal study, Kaname steps in ahead of you and you hear polite if stiff words being exchanged. He calls you in shortly and introduces you to an older woman about half a head shorter than you, a severe looking business-type in a crisp, immaculate suit. Conservative style, long skirt, at least mid-30s if you had to guess. You've run into a lot of a lot of older women lately but this time feels more like meeting an administrator from school. "Regarding your continued interest, Takashi, I want to introduce you to an invaluable business partner of mine, and my personal accountant. You'll just need to handle a few legal formalities."

: She gives you a long bow, close to deep but suggesting a bit of distance. She knows Kaname, obviously, but has her own and possibly comparable standing.. "It is nice to meet you, Kurokawa-san." Kaname excuses himself from the room as she offers you a business card from a tastefully gilded case that you think might have an honest gemstone or two as part of the frame-work. Tanabe Ryoko

: At Kaname's initial comment, "Thank you, Uncle," followed by a deep, but not mocking, bow to the unknown woman. It pays to show respect to others until they prove themselves unworthy of it. "Good to meet you as well, Miss," he accepts the card and finishes, "Tanabe-san," he lets her take the lead, since she is obviously here for a specific purpose.

: "If you desire to work with the family, you're of a bit higher standing than the average man, but you're still accountable." She produces a small ledger and a pen. "It's come to our attention that you had an altercation with a gentleman recently, a street dealer... please, tell me about that."

: "Ah that, okay. The guy was scamming a friend of mine, an American diplomat's son, with the help of a girl, in addition to dealing cheap study drugs. I tracked him down and I dissuaded him of his career choices. Physically. I implied that I represented the local gumi, though I never referred to anything by name, because I wanted him to be very dissuaded. I know that wasn't my place, but I can't change what I've already done," he doesn't leave any details out, and isn't trying to hide anything.

: Ryoko spends a fair amount of time taking fastidious notes. "Mmm. At least you're honest." She has a business-like tone that never seems to abate. "As an actual representative of the family, you're aware this won't be your decision to make in the future." She produces some documents from her briefcase and offers them to you, with time to read if you like. Seems to be some simple legal work regarding employing/allowing her to manage finances. A few aren't any you're aware of. There's also a few related to subjects like limited power of attorney and recipients in a will.

: "Of course, Tanabe-san, that goes without saying," he smiles, "but I understand why you have to say it," accepting the papers, Takashi does in fact read them, trying to at least understand what he's agreeing to where relevant, "What does 'managing my finances' entail exactly?" he shuffles the papers slightly, "surely you don't manage everyone's finances, do you?" he remains respectful, but doesn't let the solemnity of the situation prevent him from being friendly and jovial.

: "I manage things important to your father." If you were testing the depths of how much she works, Ryoko doesn't seem to notice. She waits for you to sign a paper relevant to a bank account you weren't aware you had before presenting you with a bank card. "Hmm.. if nothing else, you shouldn't be in a situation where certain resources aren't available to you. We'll notice if you act too greedily, but you are covered in case of emergencies and should the need to indulge a bit come up. There's no denying that you may pursue greater business interests some day.. or even come across unfortunate circumstances. In the case of the worst, everything will be handled smoothly. Anyone you leave behind should be taken care of by the efforts of your labor." You pick up on a few odd verbal tics she has, a very particular way of speaking.

: "Sensible, given the risks," he continues signing documents once he is satisfied he understands them, "I imagine there are a handful of people I am to call on if the authorities are involved in order to protect the family's interests?"

: "You're familiar with the idea that if things get heated, contact an attorney and say nothing? Never speak in your own defense?" She gestures to her business card without pointing directly at you. "It is the same idea. I will take care of it."

: "Again, those things are table stakes. But I appreciate why you have to say them. I'll hang on to this," he taps the card on the table in front of him, "and hopefully never have to call you for anything like that," he signs another document, taking his time with the penmanship of his name, "what are the limits of your intervention, Miss Tanabe-san? I wouldn't want to overstep."

: "You don't have to concern yourself with that." She takes the final document and offers you a polite forced smile. "Were there any other questions?"

: "Not at the moment. Thank you for your time this morning," he stands and offers her a respectful bow again, "Tanabe-san."

: She returns it. "Do not hesitate to contact me if you require assistance." And your little morning interlude ends.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 01:46

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

Saturday 5/9, Evening, Online

Akio: Sometime during the week you inevitably log into DDW and seek out your prize, your build lynchpin, your enabling piece for the beginning of your snowballing magnum opus. If Red Charlotte was an immovable wall of a Swordmage that drew her foes to her, you would be a masterfully mobile one that extended the shielding to your allies. To that end you visit the House of Fortune in the Ecclesia Mindscape and look up available auctions for an "Eladrin Ring of Passage."

-There are no results returned. The item is not available from any player in DDW in the entire world!

: What? Akio scowls inside his VR headset. This makes no sense! The ring should only be useful for a very narrow combination of class, build AND race, it's far too niche to have sold out entirely. There's just no way! Unless... He hangs his head and sighs. Unless someone with seemingly endless resources had bought up the entire market for no other reason than to get to him personally. He distances himself from the large crowds on the Auction Hall floor and glances up at the windows overlooking the Hall, crossing his arms as he focuses his eyes on one window in particular. The one that belongs to Isabelle's office.

-With a series of ratcheting clicks and steady steps one of the clock-work attendants steps up to you in an immaculate bellboy's uniform, offering you a perfect quick-silver tray with a sealed invitation. "Excuse-me-sir. You-match-parameters-for-Ambrose-sama, save-for-discrepency-in-level-range." He offers you the tray and once you've accepted, holds an upturned palm out and waits.

: How he hated being right sometimes. Ambrose nonchalantly drops a few gold coins in the attendant's palm and then proceeds to ignore him, turning away to open up the sealed envelope.

-We Should Talk and the sigils swirling under the simple Japanese kanji line animate and produce an ethereal hand. It curls the index finger to you tauntingly and then whips around and points towards Isabelle's office.

: A silver flame swallows the note in his hand as he deletes it from his inventory. "Seeing as you went through all the effort..." he mutters under his breath and sets course for the elevators leading up to Isabelle's office. The ride up felt agonizingly slow today... What exactly did she want from him, and how much did she know?

=You return to the inner sanctum of the Fortune House, every bit as luxurious and impossible as you remember it. Though the animated Golems remain as door guards and let you pass without incident, the sassy little Goblin doorwoman isn't at her usual station. Pleasant, relaxing music is played through the zone.

: That's odd, why isn't her secretary here? Ambrose throws a glance at one of the high level golems, then shrugs and continues to the door, knocking on it.

-Suddenly an explosion of loud music rips through the room! You could swear that the guards are about to turn on you and strike!

: Feeling threatened, he reflexively raises his magical warding and quickly scans his surroundings, but he doesn't draw his sword.

-Standing perfectly straight and only infrequently flexing their fingers, the enchanted golems aren't moving in response to threats. The absence of even primitive heads makes it impossible to read their facing or even get hints of their temperament. Your knock dislodges an open door, the music growing louder in Isabelle's Velvet Room Office. You can hear two voices inside excitedly murmuring back and forth, the loud music drowning out details.

: Ambrose rolls his eyes, is some music enough to get him to jump out of his boots now? He lowers his wards and pushes the door wide open, then enters the office. "What are you doing?"

: Your words are lost in the midst of the super sweet rising point of The Darkness Nova. Inside the office Isabelle and Braxienne are enjoying the zenith of the climatic battle theme, both sitting behind the desk and focusing intently on a projected Settings Menu for the Mindscape. Interrupting seems a bit out of place. The two share muted quips back and forth until the track winds down. "Isn't that intense? It was always my favorite." A bit of her smugness has been reined in. Is this the true Isabelle?

: "It's better than even the mainline Final Fantasy pieces!" Brax sits on the desk, the saucy dame agreeing with her friend.

-They transition to a less outrageously loud piece and continue.

: Isabelle bunches her hands up and practically squeals. "This track is so perfect!"

: Brax wrings her hands together too, the two looking like schoolgirls. "It's so dramatic!"

: "Setting the stage for when.."

: ".. and then that..." As the elegant track plays, a reminder of simpler times in gaming aesthetics, you witness an unequaled nerding out. "Oooooooh! You should use this one for sure! But isn't that tall weedie guy coming by soon?"

: "Yes, we should get ready. He can't possibly miss my message." The self-assured older woman chuckles.

: Ambrose leans his back against the wall near the door and gives it a kick, slamming it shut with a loud bang. "When it comes to classic video game music I tend to prefer platformers over RPGs, though there's always exceptions I suppose. Either way, I suggest broadening your horizons before you make a final decision. Also, hello."

: The music track slowly decreases in volume as it reaches the end of its final loop. In growing silence the two turn their heads to face the door, Brax gawking and Isabelle mortally embarrassed, her face a vivid red to compliment her bright pink hair. Invoking a circle of dark sigils Braxienne steps out of the room as Isabelle stands up, snatches one of her attendant grimoires out of the air and throws it straight at Akio, impacting his face with a flat WHUMPH "IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT AMBROSE!!"

: As the tome slides off Ambrose's face it exposes an amused smirk. "I'm sorry, did I catch you at a bad time? I assumed, what with the invitation and all, that you were expecting me." he raises an eyebrow, still smirking.

: A low, rising growl is interrupted by a giant ethereal palm shoving you out the door. It closes automatically for a minute. After a sufficient amount of time that you assume is spent in a breathing exercises, the door unlocks and slowly rolls open, revealing the mysterious and majestic Velvet Room Office you entered before. Isabelle sits at her desk with her fingers laced before her, only the slightest strain about her eyes suggesting she was so... relatable a minute ago. You pick up on her nicer "business voice" as she greets you. "Here so soon, Ambrose?" (and although the music has stopped in character, a returning theme for the reader)

: Ambrose looks ever so slightly disappointed as he re-enters the room to find that Isabelle had mostly recovered from her embarrassment, but he soon smiles again, and takes the liberty to seat himself in front of the desk, leaning back and stretching out his legs, resting them on top of each other. "Well, I got the distinct impression that my favorite benefactor wished to see me. Who am I to keep her waiting?"

: "I was infected with curiosity when I heard my damned robo and some others smashed the invincible Fenrir in his own PvP..." Isabelle shifts back a bit to open and remove a thin drawer from her desk. She produces a cushioned jewelery tray upon which sit two dozen rings with similar insignias of Eladrin letters and elusive faeries. She bats her eyelashes at you before picking up one to try on, sharing her hand with you to examine the fit.

: "Hmm, it's always a wonder how quickly word gets around." Ambrose plays along, taking her hand and giving the ring a closer look. He frowns and shakes his head disapprovingly. "Too tight." Letting go of her hand, he continues. "He was foolish, and alone. He never really stood a chance. I hope I didn't cause any harm to ORDER's reputation."

: She laughs and offers a ring to you, shortly followed by her hand so that you may slide it on. "Never stood a chance? How did your head get through the door?" She shakes her head, some strands of hair coming loose. "We're fine. In fact, the king of pvp renouncing his reputation has caused... a boom in business!" With her friend hand she beckons over a pair of tomes that land on the desk and flip open to animated charts of paragon and epic item sales. She lowers her offered hand and beams at you. The smile slowly realigns to a coy, predatory grin. "Now Ambrose, why were you two fighting in the first place?"

: Ambrose plays around with the ring for a bit before he slips it on her finger. "Pretty rings, these." To her question, he simply shrugs. "We ran into each other in a mindscape, our eyes both set on the same target. Only one of us could win, and he wouldn't surrender. So we fought. You haven't asked him about it?"

: Isabelle smirks as you slide the ring on and admires the fit for a moment, then laughs. "He just spews out a bunch of poo poo about honor and valor and other manly code nonsense that means he doesn't really know why he does anything he does. I'm guessing he's like those guys who have to do things a certain way or "it didn't count!"" Hah! She sets the drawer back in the desk and extends you a quick link to a DDW In-Game Mod Download of a light, minimal .exe that runs a Runesigil client in-game, the same little wizard poker game you saw dogs and an idiot raccoon playing in the Lady of White's Forests. "Mmmmmm, he did say something that got everybody's attention. Ambrose, have you ever heard of a Great Game?" She channels some arcane energy and stretches and spreads it out in two quick swipes, conjuring up an ethereal representation of her own Runesigil deck on her side of the deck.

: Ambrose lets out a chuckle. "Heh. That sounds like Fenrir alright, he's not exactly what I'd call a cerebral type. Letting his archaic sense of what it means to be a man hamstring himself so thoroughly... There's no denying his raw talent, but meatheads like him are always going to end up squandering it, don't you think?" Ambrose tenses up as Isabelle brings up the great game, and Akio can feel his heart rate increasing. Breaking eye contact, he focuses on the table in front of him, making intricate gestures with his fingers as he channels arcane energy, summoning his Runesigil deck from a swirl of blue magic essence. He remains silent for a moment longer, considering what to say, then he lifts his gaze to look her in the eyes, and nods. "Yes. I've... been made aware of the game." There's no way she didn't already know, it was pointless to lie. "I'm not sure if I entirely believe all I've heard. The prize sounds too good to be true. But if it is... What did Fenrir have to say?"

: The both of you pass for your first turns and soon take to setting down understatted minions, drawing upon sneaky effects that set traps or build your resources with card draw, passive skill activators for later or granting boosted HP to your Avatars. Isabelle's eyebrow rises just for the slightest second by the end of your second round play, but she segues in smoothly back to talking during her own third round. "He seems convinced it will turn his life around. It does sound outlandish, especially the bit about thinking magic is real outside this game." Isabelle chuckles as she casts down a Mage-King Deck staple, a thick body minion that activates additional magic missile castings when other spells are used while he is active. "Is that why you boys were fighting? Your eyes were both on the same target? What are these targets, exactly?" Her tone is light yet clearly probing, with a touch of caution. You feel like you're suddenly a tentative seller trying to deal with a merchant or investor...

(CONTINUED)

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Jul 11, 2018

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 01:58

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: "Wealth, power. The usual spoils of victory." Ambrose arms his avatar with the Volcanoseed Blade and attacks Isabelle's minion, turning it into a living bomb that will explode at the start of her turn. "I guess I should be grateful to Fenrir, he did save me a lot of grinding after all." He then plays the Arcanist's Jar, a cheap minion that lets him draw extra cards when it dies, feeding it to the flames. Passing the turn, he lifts his eyes from the game. "So you haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary in real life? I'm surprised that a player of your caliber haven't come upon something, if magic is supposed to be real."

: Isabelle politely shakes her head, observing your cards play out with patient grace. She simply entombs everything you've done in a wave of ice that essentially pauses the game for a round. "Don't you think the existence of magic would be a big deal? Anyone who stumbled upon that would be master of the world in due time... or cause a panic, hahaha." She looks up from the frozen field and raises an eyebrow at you. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me you're it?"

: "It?"

: "A real wizard." She smirks and ends her turn.

: "I would never make such a bold claim," Ambrose smirks back. He throws another couple expendable minions on the board and passes the turn.

: Humming thoughtfully she surveys the board at the end of the round before unleashing a radiating ice shard, annihilating one of your frozen guys and battering the mooks with AOE equal to its health. "You wouldn't, would you, but it's hard to tell.. the air pressure in the room changes when your big head enters it." Seeking to delay further a big spell-immune taunt hits the board. Your Bomb goes off and clears the chaff. Setting her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm, Isabelle muses. "Is this related to "Joker" or that dead kid?"

: "Joker? I thought he was beneath your notice." With his hand filled to its limit with cards, it was time to put on the pressure. Ambrose plays the Grave Titan, a taunt minion which strength is determined by how many minions died the previous turn, and buffs it with the Sigil of Alacrity, turning the anti-aggro card into a dangerous offensive threat. "But yes, he's still as determined to see ORDER undone as before. Oh, and he plays the great game too, so you might want to take my warnings seriously. As for that dead 'kid'..." He sends his Grave Titan at Isabelle's blocker, crushing it and taking a sizable chunk out of her life total. He narrows his eyes as he looks at her. "I believe someone murdered him using magic. And I believe that person is from ORDER." He passes the turn.

: Unaffected by your dramatic board play, Isabelle freezes the board again. You feel a creeping realization pair with a second as your mind accelerates towards two conclusions: you lost a bit of focus in your original plan to play the Archwizard's Deep Freeze deck, and Isabelle is playing that same deck but with razor precision and no "fun" cards like your lumbering Titan. She peers at you with a coy grin and eyes curving into smug little half-moons. "He was, but you keep bringing these things up that seem to be connected somehow. I ask you to watch Ailuridae, and they seem to have a bad habit of fighting with ORDER. And now you're really cutting down to the bone..." She sets both elbows on the table and leans forward, head in her hands. "If they're from ORDER, are they playing the "great game?" Which one do you think it is? ... If they're killing, should I be worried? Can I be sure you're not Joker?" She passes her turn, watching you intently.

: Ambrose sighs as it becomes clear that Isabelle is running the cookie cutter build. What's wrong with people that refuse to have a little fun? He places two cards on the table face-down, and repeats her questions like he's telling her fortune. "Are they playing the great game?" He flips the first card, Blast Wave, dealing minor damage to all minions on the board and thawing them. "Can you name a full member of ORDER that isn't? Should you be worried?" He flips the second card, revealing Silver Clone, creating a magic immune copy of his Titan. "Without a doubt, I don't think this person intends on sharing their winnings. Am I Joker?" He attacks with both of his Titans. "No, of course not. That's illogical. If I was Joker I would not alert you to my existence. Believe it or not, I'm not that vain." He passes the turn. "As for the murderer's identity, I have no desire to hazard a guess. But maybe you have an idea?"

: Devastating a bit over half of Isabelle's life, you still fail to get even a touch of concern for the gamestate from her. As if expecting this exact scenario to play out she invokes a 0 mana cost board state modifier: Reverse Time. The board state is moved back to when your frozen Titan stood alone, at which point Isabelle plays Grandfather Paradox and oblierates the Titan that cannot resist magic. Although it does not undo the damage to her primary life, this does ripple forward as time catches up and obliterate your Silver Clone Titan as well. From there Isabelle plays the companion Taunt to her original. She smiles politely at you. "Ambrose, you must hazard a guess. If you thought it was me, you would be feeding me information. Therefore, you think it is one of the others. I'm touched~" Her almost trademark taunting voice lilt stings you again as she passes turn. "And maybe you are Joker, and maybe you think it's me, because acting on thought patterns that appear illogical is the first step to propagating a mind game. But I don't want to waste time playing guessing games and hypotheticals with you, so lets focus on what we do know." Isabelle hmms as she examines her thinned hand. "Since I asked you to look into Ailuridae, you've done a lot of good for me. Better than the others apping. And as long as you work with me, we'll both benefit, right? Nobody wants to get killed, if that's the game at play." The touch of concern in her almost makes your heart melt. You reckon that even Barons recognize the value of their own life! "Magic as real, the great game, anything you wish for coming true... that's too much to take in. So I wanted to talk to you about something else..."

: "Hmm, nice play." Ambrose comments as he regards the board with a cool composure. While it looked favorable for him at the moment, such things can change quickly in these matchups. Returning to the original deck plan he plays out the remainder of his hand, summoning two magic missile generating taunts to rival Isabelle's one, then freezes the board with a spell to start stockpiling magic missiles. "Agreed," he says as he ends his turn. "So what do you wish to talk about?"

: As you stockpile your game winning offense, Isabelle enters the late game by summoning the Legendary Elminster, guaranteed to steadily feed her cards from a pool of magical effects so fantastic they're at the same time mythical in power and metaphorical poppycock. The taunt is in the way and he's no slouch for health, enduring long past his prime. Isabelle lets you keep the board frozen as she passes turn and accepts one of his spell cards, playing a card draw from her hand. "You remember your fellow applicants, at Etemenanki? Two of them have been following up with me and they told me a strange story. One way or another they were both defeated in game... casual play, serious dungeons, whatever it was, the important bit is they both reached 0 HP. They say they met a strange NPC in an unlisted Mindscape with a purgatory theme... and he made them a deal." She looks over her cards and then gives you the old raised eyebrow, her grin full of cocky confidence. At the game, or the events? ".. They said strange things started happening in real life and they feel like they're being stalked..."

: "That's disturbing." Ambrose says, leaving it equally ambiguous whether he's talking about the game or the events. He draws his card for the turn and smirks, "I haven't had the pleasure to drop to zero hitpoints myself, as I'm sure you can imagine." He polymorphs Elminster into a pig wearing a wizard hat, then blows it up with a magic missile, filling his hand further with arcane artillery thanks to his minions. "Did they give any details about these deals they made?"

: "They claim they were asked to perform something impossible... and were terrified to tell me what. They said they couldn't share it with one of ORDER's officers." She laughs at the scene of the little pig being confused, then sent rolling off of the battlefield. For her turn she freezes the battlefield once again, bombarding your artillery boys into icy graves with an expenditure of additional power for a more expensive but damaging freeze. "So, I'll need you to talk to them and help them with that. They're very insistent that they hold up their end of this mystery deal." She plays with the specially gilded Elminster spell card she still holds, passing turn without using it as she draws further ammunition for her Hand. Her Taunt smashes your face for a fair bit of damage. "And of course, I want you to tell me all the fine details in the end! In ex~change for that~" She pulls the jewelry drawer open again, picking out five of the precious rings and eyeing you for reaction... like grabbing a treat for a dog.

: Ambrose eyes the rings, then gives Isabelle a dirty look. "What else do your little charts and spreadsheets say about me, I wonder." He laughs. "For you, I'll see it taken care of." He draws his card for the turn and subsequently unloads all his magic missiles, sending them all up top, leaving Isabelle on a precarious life total of one. He regards the last card in his hand for a lengthy moment. "It stings to lose, doesn't it?" He plays it, summoning a weak one drop minion, totally useless in the face of Isabelle's taunt. "It looks like I'm stuck top-decking," he says with a shrug, and passes the turn.

: As you'd except from the deck, Isabelle uses her full resources and Elminster's specially generated total bullshit fireball to lob a lifepoint total's worth of overkill directly at your face! She levitates the five rings, dancing in midair over her flexing fingers, watching expectantly for some last second turnaround. "Hmmmm..."

: "Hmm..." Ambrose leans back in his chair and strokes his chin thoughtfully, then casually walks his fingers on the table over to his lonely minion, and feigns a gasp as he flips it over to reveal its true nature. The trap card Spell Reflect. "Oops."

: Isabelle's deck dissolves to runic sigil strands in thousands of tiny, string-sized lengths and fades away, as does your own as the game ends. She laughs aloud and brings the five rings together, channeling real in-game power to force something. "Do good this time and I think you're a cinch to invite. I could really grow fond of a guy like you as a teammate!" Focusing epic forces into the five rings, they dissolve into their base enchantments and are forcefully melded together, creating a new ring altogether. She summons two of her ledgers and makes notes with dancing animated feather quill pens before telekinetically gesturing the new ring over to you. "I'll give you their contact info and a meeting place. And don't be tardy, they mentioned their benefactor's deals have a deadline..."

quote:
True Eladrin Ring of Passage (Unsellable, Level/Quality N/A)

This delicate pure silver mithral chain-link ring is detailed to the point of legendary craftsmanship. Each link has runic sigils carved into it in such a way that they double as displays of simple scenes myths of the feywild, such as depicting figures clashing, or animals and faeries moving in reaction to one another.

Property: When you teleport, increase the distance of your teleport by 1.
Daily(Teleportation, Move Action): You teleport 8 squares. Line of Sight is not needed. Square must not be Occupied.

Property: When you teleport, you may choose to leave behind a 1/1 + 1/1 Reflection of yourself. It is obviously an illusionary image. It has your Defenses/Attack/Damage, blocks movement, threatens with MBAs and can apply or benefit from your Marks or Interupt Powers, using either yourself or the Image as the starting square for determining distance. Only one Image may exist at a time.

: Ambrose's eyes light up with fascination as he closely watches the ring get crafted. He plucks it out of the air with a grin as she telekinetically proffers it to him. "I dare say this boon far outshines the blade you gave me last time." He holds it up and admires its marvelous ornamentation (and ingame stats, of course). "A dozen times over, at the very least." He slips it on his finger and looks up at Isabelle. "I'll take care of it as soon as possible. Is there anything else you need of me?"

: "Ehhh, could you stand on one leg and spin in circles? Hop up and down as you do it, clap and bark like a seal?" She half-mimes raising her own hands over her head, not feigning enough enthusiasm to clap or enough of a lack of dignity to actually bark. "... I'm kidding. Take care of this really well, alright? If the things you're talking about are true, it's important to put together what's real, isn't it?" She leans forward on her elbows again and smiles. "Ohh... there is one thing, actually..." Her eyes pop open and she tilts her head, looking skyward as she taps her index finger to her chin in a show of thought.

(CONTINUED)

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:04

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: "Don't worry, I don't half-rear end anything. I want to know what's going on too," he replies, then affects a patient smile. "And what would that be?"

: "Fenrir identified four other players that fought him. I think I'm familiar with you, you started out following Charlotte.. now these four." She produces animated illusions of a shining deacon, a gloomy sorceress, a sharp swordswoman and a smoldering wolf. "I've never heard of them before. A few bothered Royal, I think. What can you tell me about them?" She beams. "When Fenrir gives up his little self-declared PvP Godhood this week, everybody's going to follow the guys that pushed him out of the spot." She raises her other hand and produces a swirling display of her ledgers, all showcasing materials costs and projected profits! "Somebody has to sell them the goods to emulate their heroes!" She giggles, her hand naturally drooping for a bit. Maneki-neko!?

: Ambrose lets out a chuckle, but takes a serious tone as he speaks. "Mm, just so we are perfectly clear, I'm not in the business of selling out my allies. But let's just say that I think you'll see an increase in demand of items that boost movement speed, healing, debilitating status effects, and too large swords. Oh, and teleportation." He holds up his hand, showing off his ring, "but you already knew that."

: Isabelle smirks. "I thought you were joining with ORDER? They're your allies now?" She shrugs and affects a very forced sigh. "We'll see how you feel when you get the invite... now go on, get outta here."

: "And I thought this assignment was only supposed to take one month." He winks as he stands up, and then performs an over the top bow. "Adieu, mon ch�rie." He makes his exit.

-As you depart your innate Arcana senses a lingering outline, the shape of the battlefield in the last round of the card game. ... Isabelle could have attacked to check your little spell reflector with her still active, alive and unexhausted hefty taunter. A fluke? As you depart you catch Braxienne hastily withdrawing from obviously listening at the door, which being a video game seems to involve speedrun worthy attempts to enter a sub-pixel wide zone of receiving audio data without actually crossing over to Isabelle's Room! Impressive!

: She smirks as you go, having already taken up an idle animation of filing her nails. "Not bad, kid."

: There's no doubt that Isabelle could've won. Should've won? She'd always struck him as too analytical to make a mistake like that. No matter. Finding himself in high spirits as he leaves the office, he favors the goblin with a smile. "Take care, Braxienne."

---

Akio: Outside the Fortune House you witness the arrival of a magnificent grand procession. A dozen heavily armed and heroically armored Dragonborn/Kobold players arrive, making great efforts to act like official NPCs as they sweep around two members of ORDER zoning into the boundaries of the great auction house. You recognize the top player immediately, of course, but you're not as familiar with the greatest DPS in the world, <Magus-Lord> Thaddeus Dragonsblood, a three foot tall Kobold with the makings of dragonsblood in his lineage. A crowd of players is already clamoring around just to watch the <Dragonsblood Tribe> guildies under Thaddeus put on their roleplayer show, treating the two as royalty and using text means without any weight, force or authority to convince others to "Make way!" To their credit, or perhaps the credit of the two they're escorting, it's working.

: The Dragonsblood troupe of roleplaying clowns elicits an eye-roll from Ambrose, but Charlotte's presence piques his curiosity. What kind of business could she have with Thaddeus? He moves closer to investigate.

-A pair of Dragonborn clearly at the lead of the two party-sized packs step up and brandish full blown olde-style long trumpets, announcing that their procession has fully arrived. Thaddeus seems to be soaking in the spectacle and strikes a dapper little pose, while Charlotte is looking over the crowd with careful thought.

: A bronze man wearing braclets/anklets, loincloth and little else stands beside a similarly savage-looking blue woman and the two announce: "Citizens of Ecclesia! The paragons of ORDER and the honor guard of Dragonsblood are here to group with you!" Their parties dissolve and impromptu auditions begin as excited players offer their desired quests and dungeon runs to the intermediary layer of tribesmen!

: A show of altruism? He'd expected it from Charlotte, but, well, he didn't know what to expect from Thaddeus. For some reason he'd gotten the impression that he was a stuck up jerk, but perhaps he was more amicable than he first thought. While he obviously had no need for someone to carry him through a dungeon or quest, he tries to catch Charlotte's attention, and walks up to greet her.

-A keystone kops moment ensues as four of the dragonborn shuffle around and produce a living wall between the two of you, Charlotte's attention drawn towards hearing a plea from a trio of wet-behind-the-ears in entirely unenchanted gear.

: "Hey Hey Hey!"
: "What's all this then!?"
: "You need help with something, big shot?"
: "Aren't you a bit leveled yourself?!"

: "Ah, yes, I could use some help. I seem to be accosted by four buffoons, would you care to get rid of them for me?"

-"Alright!" "You got it!" "Sure thing!" "Of course." The four ... stand at cardinal direction squares around you, then Ready Move actions to Shift to the Diagonals if you go for them. They 180 and face outwards, striking defensive poses. "If we see them, you're safe with us!"

: Ambrose slowly shakes his head, rapidly losing hope in the future of humanity. "Thank you for your kind assistance, but keep your eyes peeled and don't lose focus, I think they're very close," he says, and teleports past the shell of stupid that surrounds him.

: To your horror, you see Charlotte accepting an invitation to join with the newbies, her impressive array of enchantments and legendary gear bleeding away until she resembles a rosie-cheeked paladin freshly knighted by the church, her gear simple and without ornamentation. They'll depart soon...

: Putting some haste behind his steps, he strides up to her group. "Charlotte, it's been a while!"

: Your appearance sets the genuine newbies, who look like a mix of traditional thief, cleric and sorcerer on edge, whispering between themselves with clear anxiety. As the sole Defender in the group, Charlotte turns and takes one step up to distance you from them. Her expression for you is... much cooler than before. "Ambrose..." Her eyes peer around your side, down to your waist-held blade. "The Black Blade himself." Charlotte's voice is cool and reserved, almost difficult to hear. You feel a bit self-conscious and for the first time aware that your own screen-name has been modified by a title: ^{Ambrose <the Black Blade>}

: "The Black Blade?..." he says, confused. Had he worn that title ever since he defeated Fenrir? He shakes his head and tries to ignore it. "I was in the area and saw that you're offering to help out newbies, I could come with if you need a fifth?"

: Charlotte raises a hand, palm out to politely stop you. "That won't be necessary. Too many overleveled players would trivialize the content. Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

: "I... see," he replies dejectedly. "I guess I shouldn't keep you any longer, then..." Lifting his eyes from the petite swordmage, he turns his attention to her party and speaks to them. "Come visit my mindscape after you're done, the [Bibliotheca Argentea]. I've got several newbie courses and challenge encounters to help you learn the basics of the game, as well as more advanced topics if you feel ready for them." He shoots Charlotte another glance, then turns around and leaves.

Ambrose: pompppf (Passive Perception Failure)

: You crash into the chest of the towering bronze male herald, who seems to have soundlessly stood behind you the entire time. He beams at you with a jagged mouth of friendly teeth before stepping aside, revealing the dapper Thaddeus waiting to address you!

: "Ho there, Defender! Our journey to secure the treasures of a lost Dwarven city are nearly set to begin! Alas.. we are of the scholarly caste, archaeologists and magi. Would you serve as our guardian?" The nature of the entombed city and it's warring factions of cultists, opportunists and the mass of zombies that we're once the Dwarves is a challenging introduction to Paragon tier.

: While he really had no desire to at the moment, it would be useful to get to know Thaddeus better. It'd be interesting to see him in action too. Hopefully he didn't speak like that all the time... Ambrose nods in assent. "Well met, Thaddeus. I accept. I'll keep you safe with my blade and aegis."

: "Magnificent! We're prepared to depart!" He turns to the Dragonborn who watch him with some reverence despite always looming over him. The little red-white wonder raises his hands and calls for a cheer! "Huzzah!" A resounding HUZZAH follows, reluctantly from the other three players from the wild that are joining you, Thaddeus and the bombshell blue herald. Thaddeus is known as the ultimate DPS theorycrafter in Digital Devil Worlds. You might fight him... he doesn't seem to know you... this could be a good opportunity!

: Good opportunity to curry favor with Thaddeus or no, there was simply no way Ambrose would unironically join in on a huzzah. "Well then, shall we?"

-Your dungeon run goes excellently, yielding 3,000 gold in plunder for your share. Observing Thaddeus is humbling. His alpha strike potential even downscaled is absurd, removing chunks of the enemy forces the second Initiative is met. He also supplements his role as "squishy caster" with masterful shielding and long term flight.

: "It's been a pleasure to see you in action, Thaddeus. Your reputation is well earned." Ambrose says at the conclusion of their foray into the lost Dwarven city. "I'm especially impressed that you managed to not stand in fire, a feat that seems beyond the grasp of ninety percent of the player base. Do you often arrange dungeon runs for the public?"

: Thaddeus' entourage and the pubbies regard you with a mixed reception. For a moment you think the Dragonborn are about to let you have it but Thad raises a talon, interrupting the blitz. "Yes, quite often. It is our sincere belief that those at the top must uplift others."

: Ambrose seems to be utterly unconcerned by the hostility from the Dragonborn, but he makes a mental note to perhaps not speak in a way that could be miscontrued as sarcasm when he did not intend it. "I share that belief, I even dedicated my mindscape to it. But I've gotten the impression that not all of ORDER does?"

: "Well... Some are harsher than others. They lead by example, or set challenges for others that better them. I think ironically, Fenrir's followers are the most impassioned. But there's more to leadership than just doing the correct things and giving orders..." Thaddeus' lizard eyes do a good job of peering entirely to one side of his head.

: The Blue Beauty chimes in. "You're insufferable." The pubbies nod!

: Ambrose folds his arms and regards the blue Dragonborn with an icy glare. "And you're entirely forgettable. But it must be nice to be able to go through life criticizing others while hiding in someone else's shadow." He sighs and relaxes his pose, then turns back to Thaddeus, shaking his head to himself. "I suppose you have a point. But I wonder how Fenrir's followers will react to the news of his loss."

: "See for yourself tomorrow." Thaddeus sets his little fists on his hips and glares up at you. "I read once, a little annecdote. About an editor that wouldn't hire writers who didn't like people. That bias always bled into their work. Your attitude..." He waggles a talon up in your face. "It's the same!" Calling the attention of the other mostly quiet black-scaled shaman, the two Dragonborn kneel and let Thad stand on either one's shoulder, the three turning to address the rest of the Dragonsblood that have returned.

: I said you had a point already, I have need of neither additional lectures nor lame second hand anecdotes. Ambrose grits his teeth as Thaddeus turns away, but refrains from talking back to him out loud. He waits to observe what happens next.

-Seems to be more roleplaying, thanking everybody for their exploits today. Charlotte's group is still out, you feel that you're finished online for the day. You've definitely grown closer to Isabelle, if none of the others in ORDER, and your mind is heavy with thoughts of the changing perceptions wrapping around you... the air is heavy as you consider the whims of fate.

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Fortune arcana...}

Your bonus to Saves increases to +2!

-Joining ORDER, being the best, being liked, serving Isabelle or being her partner, the Game and ORDER and the idea that Bishop is in their midst... several contradictory thoughts grab at your attention! Time to call it a night!

: Akio takes off his VR-headset and throws himself down on his bed. He gathers his hands behind his head and stares up at the ceiling, feeling conflicted. He'd never cared about being popular online, only excelling at the game had mattered to him, but it stung when people he looked up to treated him coldly. Where the hell had the 'Black Blade' rep come from? What had Charlotte heard? It was all messed up...

Then there was Thaddeus and his entourage. Insufferable? Well, maybe he was a bit of an elitist, but people that are trash at the game should shut up and pay attention, not cry when told to do better in a group setting where others relied on them. He wanted to actually help them, carrying their dead weight through moderately difficult content would only exacerbate the problem, and make them fat juicy targets for gankers to boot. Maybe that's what Thaddeus was after? No, that didn't seem right...

On to Isabelle... She was dangerous and he definitely couldn't trust her, but he'd caught a glimpse of a different side of her today. It kinda felt like she was the only one of them that understood him, maybe they had more in common than he first thought? Then again...

Ugh, he didn't know what to make of any of it. Time to sleep.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:18

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

Sunday 5/10, Morning

-It is a good Sunday. The sun is rising high and shining in a sky with white clouds that occasionally pass by and grant cooling shade. The wind blows freely, making the steady climb of the heat pleasant. An ancient meme flashes through your mind at the worst time as you unmistakeably see Takano arrive. Wow! Hot a What Baabhabhiat... ... Wearing a casual summer dress of white make with some new-fashion filgree stylings of subdued silver and gold tones(medieval-core?!) and some classy heeled sandals, Takano's gone the extra mile for elegance and is wearing her long hair in a single braid draped over the shoulder so that it rests about halfway down her torso. She looks pleased to see you and joins you.

: Standing when he sees her, Takashi makes an effort to close the distance to her quickly, lest she have to walk any further, "As always, you never stop surprising me, Takano-san," his smile is in full effect, and he cuts a little bow before offering his arm to her, "I feel underdressed all of a sudden. Shall we go now, or can I buy you a drink first?" Takashi is in no rush, so he can roll with whatever she wants to do.

: Well-flattered, Takano accepts your offer for a drink! "Thank you, women have to work twice as hard at it." She seems to be having a bit of fun, occasionally peering out a window. She catches herself and seems embarrassed enough to explain. "I'm a bit excited to see what this surprise is..."

: "As lovely as you are, we're sure to be mistaken for a princess and her faithful knight," he pulls a chair out for her while he goes to get the drink, using her previous order at Owl Night Long as a baseline to find something she would like. Insight 28 When he returns with the drink in hand, he catches her peering out the window, "I actually got the idea to surprise you from something you said. Our lives are so regimented, everything so neat and ordered, that sometimes we need to let loose... but I won't spoil it just yet," he lets her drink at her pace, but the moment she appears restless or shows any signs of impatience, he'll stand up, offering an arm again, "Shall we, my lady?"

: Your Insight strikes true, zeroing in on the strict life one must lead to actually become the Perfect Senpai. Your grace under pressure and your poignant insight leads to a rare moment of the severe girl looking embarrassed. She uses the drink as time to recoup herself and accepts your invitation with matching bravado. "Please, sir knight."

: With her arm on his, Takashi leads the way, always a perfect gentleman. The cafe's location was carefully chosen to take them past a few shrines, very average and tame fare for a young date, but he never so much as pauses near them. He resolves not to talk about school unless she brings it up, instead making small talk about the city around them, "I hadn't been on this side of Kobe in a long time. It has really grown up over the last few years," he points to the signs of a prosperous town, new shops, well maintained streets, and food everywhere, "but I can't help but worry about the parts that aren't doing so well," the subject is maybe heavier than he intended, but it would make the treat of their destination all the brighter.

: There aren't many students in either school that would have their minds set on as daunting a subject as Civil Service or Poverty Issues. Your own thoughts are born of an altruism largely nurtured. But you didn't have your eyes set on just any student! Takano looks to the shrines thoughtfully. "My family would pass down these streets frequently, before we moved." The change in subject matter brings about a pensive mood shift, the budding Student Council President considering the matter seriously. "My mother has done a great deal of work to better all of the city, Takashi. I hope to continue that."

: Takashi nods along with her, "I know your mother has been a force for good in the city, and I'm glad to hear you share her passion," he smiles and squeezes her hand on his arm, "It has repeatedly struck me in the last few weeks how easy it to get so caught up in our own immediate lives that we forget why we're sharpening ourselves to be the best. My Uncle tries to better the city in his way, but I hope to do better still. I've finally seen that if I want things to change then I need to change them, because no one else will," he raises his fist passionately but then lowers it again to look her in the eyes, "I think maybe just being around someone who understands that has made me see it clearly. Thank you, Takano," the lack of a honorific would be scandalous if his expression weren't so earnest. The conversation proves to be a perfect distraction and palette cleanser because before long the street opens up in front of them into a large amusement complex against Kobe's waterfront. "Surprise," Takashi says quietly, as if sharing a secret.

: Swept up in your passion, she seems pleased to hear your thoughts. As you go for a small gain in intimacy by dropping honorific, Takano grins. "If you're always so serious, it'll work out well. You'll have to meet my mother eventually, right?" She leaves the rest a little ominous mystery as your surprise reveal gets you a delighted hand squeeze. "How fun! Lets go!"

(CONTINUED)

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:35

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

5/10, Sunday Music

: It's an irritatingly hot day with the sun rising at full scope, only a few clouds occasionally granting merciful respite from the uninterrupted rays. A little bit after 12 Noon, your phone dings!!!
quote:
Akane: MEET ME HERE NEXT 2 THIS CAFE ITS TIME 4 THE FLOCK 2 FLY! ( ˙Θ˙(˙Θ˙)˙Θ˙ ) !!!

: Noriko arrives shortly after receiving the text, having already gotten ready for their shadow-date in advance. She knew the people she was stalking so she thought she'd better wear a disguise... She was embarassed being out of the house looking like... a normie but at least she was inconspicuous. Wearing a shoulderless white dress and pulling her hair up in a polka-dot ribbon, she did her best to swallow her self-loathing before approaching Akane. (Art) This could be worth it! "i'm here." she declares flatly. after a moment, a cawwww from one of the rooftops prompts her to correct herself. "...we're here."

: She's had you meet her near a nice looking cafe but the two of you are waiting about half a block away, within line of sight of it and a large carnival yet still outside of range of being casually spotted, meeting at a cozy little bench and park section lovingly preserved in the heart of the busy city. You feel as though you have a lot to learn from Akane, who shows up wearing black jeans short-shorts and what might be one of the finest retro-irony shirts you've ever seen. "Hey Noriiii!"

: "...Akane." Noriko gives her a serious look. "You're conspicuous!" Noriko stands up at once, dramatically straightening her skirt! "all this effort! sunlight on my shoulders. i'll never forgive you..."

: Akane is utterly surprised! "Ehhh? I'm dressing normally!" She immediately reaches forward and pinches both of your cheeks. "Look at you! You're so cute you'll draw a crowd! JEEZ!"

: Ah! The pinching! Noriko tears up! "waaaaah~! Akane! we were supposed to be blending in with the crowd!"

: She lets go and gestures towards the cafe as Takano and Takashi leave holding hands and head up the street. Akane looks to you and grins wickedly! "The chase is afoot."

: Noriko rubs her cheeks and frowns! Seeing their targets on the move, she doesn't have time to pout! "we'd better keep up with them, but try to keep a safe distance. i don't think your sister will have a hard time knowing it's you..."

: "Just give me an illusion, that should do the trick." Akane does keep her distance, the two of you walking on the opposite street and quite far back. She peers to you with a mischievous grin, a bit of awe in her eyes.

: Noriko looks offended! "...I can't just poof somebody into someone else! That's not how magic works!" she crosses her arms. "...and i don't know that particular spell. if she looks over this way we'll just have to think of another distraction."

: "Ehhh.. why be a witch if you can't do that?" She giggles and pats you on the shoulder. Watching the two walk, she gives you a fierce little whisper! "They're hanging all over each other, they won't look around!"

: "Well, I can change myself. Changing the appearance of other people is a bit too specialized for me..." she shrugs. "and you're right... they're shameless! if we need to get up close i can just send Crowley in, Takashi doesn't know him yet so he'll just look like the rest of the trash birds..."

: Fluttering by some of the nice shrines in the area, Crowley and his comrades are shooed away by a sanitation worker with a broom! Akane laughs a bit and then suddenly grips your shoulder, gesturing to you to halt. Takashi and Takano have stopped briefly and appear to be... absorbed in deep conversation?

: Noriko flags down her bird and gestures towards Takashi and Takano, leading the bird to creep over to their vicinity, ostensibly chasing after a fat little beetle, his ear crooked towards the couple all the while

: You overhear a conversation(takashi-scenes channel) that could only occur between two future high society types bouncing their Type A personalities off one another! As you follow the two one they resume moving, you hear Akane getting excited as the amusement park comes into view! She peers over to you and grins from ear to ear. "Lets go!" ... "A-After they do, of course."

: A-an amusement park! Her hairs stand up on end!!!! She glances over at her bare shoulder nervously, before taking some time to hurriedly apply some high SPF sunscreen from a tube in her purse. Taking a deep breath, she clenches her fist and strides forward. As before, Crowley hops along, as they go, this time staying on the periphery of Takano and Takashi. "hrmm... they're talking politics...? heh. weird date conversation..." she thinks about it for a second and smirks. "i bet that's exactly the kind of thing that gets takano going, though, isn't it?"

: Akane gestures to you to share the sunscreen and gives herself a quick once over. "She's really high-minded. I guess that's what it's like when they're young? Uhm, important people, leaders and stuff.." Once Takashi and Takano have well entered the park and joined the crowd, Akane beckons you over to get tickets with her, covering your cost. "What do we ride first!?"

: Noriko looks a little unnerved. "Um... i haven't been to an amusement park since... um. I-in a long time. i'm not really sure..."

: Akane seizes your hand and drags you according to her whims, then. "We'll just ride them all once!"

(CONTINUED)

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Jul 12, 2018

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:41

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: Being able to skip the ticket lines proves to be a real boon, a triumph of foresight, as Takashi leads Takano past a group of waiting patrons directly to the entrance turnstiles. The seaside amusement park opens up before them, almost too many options available, but Takashi knows exactly where he wants to start them. Leading her towards the water's edge, he veers for the swing ride, set up to dangle patrons over the Osaka Bay with each rotation! A vivid sign proclaims "The Windseeker" as they enter the short line. �I always loved this one, and I thought you might too," he says as they wait behind the next group. A few moments later, they are strapped in to one of the few tandem seats (with a rig to allow ladies to maintain their modesty) and away, swinging over the beautiful bay.

: Even several of your guy pals would be nervous or anxious about getting onto any of the larger rides at a park, roller coasters or things that spin and twirl and rotate and the like. Fearlessness is refreshing and Takano joins you with giddy eagerness, the two of you enjoying a day together where neither has to be "On." After many swings over the bay the ride comes to a halt and guests are let off, your date seizing your arm and urging you out at a quick pace. "That was wonderful!" Immediately she points ahead, eyeing a roller coaster.

: Letting her lead the way, they get into line for a ride called the "Meccha," a local word for 'extremely' and the coaster does not disappoint; a thrilling steel rollercoaster that used to be the fastest in the world, the car begins in a dark room. As it takes off, a bombastic countdown warns before bursting back into the sunlight for a near 90 degree climb and drop! If it were not for the speed, the ride would offer a great view of the park below. Takashi holds Takano's hand as they soar above everything.

: Coming off the coaster, most are shaken and need some time to recover. Looking freshly relaxed, Takano pumps your hand and grins. "Are you hungry? I could go for something.."

: "Yeah, let's grab something," once again, Takashi's forethought pays off, leading them to a little food truck located on the Harborland grounds. The menu isn't deep, but it offers enough variety to please most, and the staff are friendly. Using the food tickets he bought earlier, Takashi pays for whatever Takano wants, grabbing himself a skewer of meats and veggies with a frosty lemon drink to wash it down, and then leads the way to a bench and table setup that lets them sit next to each other, but still have a dining surface. Despite his hunger, he keeps his dignity and doesn't make a mess of himself, taking breaks to sip on the lemon beverage, and napkin his face "I didn't expect you to be the rollercoaster type, but once again, you keep surprising me. A boy could get used to this," he smiles at her.

: With a fervor reserved for cheat days your date tucks into the meal with some small loss of dignity. Pausing to clean her face she seems to effortlessly reclaim it, smiling at you. "Nothing ventured, no fun had. You have no idea how nice this is. I've been studying all week.. and then tutoring it to everyone else! I see those books in my sleep..." She brushes her hair aside from the front of her face and takes another big bite.

: "Yeah, I can imagine. None of that here, my lady. This is a book free zone. Only fun, knight's orders," he takes another few bites of his meal and washes it down, looking around for their next ride, eyeballing something a lot like a merry-go-round, only faster.

: "You can imagine? How much have you studied, Takashi?" Finishing her food, Takano isn't in a rush to get moving quite yet. She cleans the leftover trash from the two of you before you can think to do so, exercising a bit of hyper-attentiveness. She sits back down and settles in, watching you with a bit of curiosity and reserved impishness.

: Nearby, a patron gets up to use the bathroom; Shortly after, a crow hops onto the table to dig into their lonely french fries.

: "A lot actually," his smile strays into ironic, "I know I put on a good show, but I'm not the smartest guy in my class. I have to work twice as hard to go half as far when it comes to my studies. And I do. Because I know that my athletics aren't always going to be enough," he thanks her for clearing the food with a brighter smile and a nod, "But I also know I can't change the world if I don't understand it."

: You wonder if one couldn't make cat faces illegal. At least Takano's little curious looks are much more subdued than her sister's. "At least you're smart enough to know it." She laces her fingers together and sits casually, but you get the feeling it is business casual. Has this become an interview? "Change the world? Hmm.. Takashi, do you..." She bats her eyelashes for a moment. "Have a five year plan?"

(CONTINUED)

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:44

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: Noriko feels her blood run cold! If it was anyone else she would dig in her heels and reject, but she doesn't want to look bad in front of Akane! Letting herself get dragged along, Noriko crams down her anxiety as best as she can

: After some waiting in line and a quick shared drink, Akane settles on your first ornerous task, a nightmarish swinging pair spinning device set inside a rotating half curve of brightly flashing electronica! It's like some sort of colossal space-man half pipe...

: "uhhh..." Noriko tries to hide her trembling. I can do this... she thinks, settling into the seat. this is safe, it is designed to be safe.

: Akane grips your hand and laces your fingers between hers, giving you a reassuring squeeze and a fresh smile! "Ready?!"

: Noriko nods warily and squeaks in affirmation.

: The ride starts and the two of you are sent sailing to-and-fro, wildly spinning. Your friend spends most of the ride laughing and cheering.

: At the start Noriko feels herself getting into it, but at the first real lurch in the ride the sensation of being jerked against the side of her seat is just too much. Instantly stuck in a cascade of rumination, she finds herself fixating on the memories of the accident, reliving the sensation of being tossed around the car, being hurled through the air... the worst part of it was the anticipation, she hardly remembered the pain. By the end of the ride she is gripping white knuckle onto the handgrips in her seat, pale as a ghost, cheeks stained with tears. Panting hard, after a moment she seems to catch herself freaking out and scrambles to regain her composure. "...h..heh.... th-that s-s-sure was s-somethin'"

: As everything slows down to a gradual stop, Akane goes from beaming to a look of strong concern. "It was! ... Ah.. Noriko, are you feeling sick?"

: Noriko looks over at Akane, wide eyed and grim faced. She forces a smile. "everything's fine. let's continue"

: Peering eye to eye, you feel a pulse of something. Akane remains concerned, coming a bit closer. "Are you sure? I'll feel bad if I make you sick!"

: "ah!... Akane..." Noriko blushes as she feels her heart... go doki-doki. uh-oh! Noriko leaps out of the chair as soon as the ride opens up. "y-yes! thank you! let's continue!"

: Akane hmmmms loudly before deciding all is well, taking you by the hand at a casual walk towards a new ride. Seems to be a much more relaxing yet still thrilling swinger. No sudden stops or impacts. "Is this one good?"

: Noriko nods. how could this one be worse? i've got to pull it together! "yes! this should be fine!"

: Well.. time to put your stomach and trauma to the test. You're brought aboard, strapped in and can see Akane getting as excited as the kids. Soon the ride starts, taking you on a wild sweep through the wind by the bay.

: The smell of sea air! The rush of wind! These were pleasant sensations on their own but combined they invoke some bad memories! The ride is unpleasant, and she can't stop drifting towards dark places. Still, it's a leg up on the last one! They finish with her feeling mildly agitated, but keeping it together at the end!

: Akane pays extra close attention to you again after the ride. Satisfied, she shares a wicked grin and points over your shoulder. "Can you handle that one?" Meccha! The most extreme roller coaster on the island!

: Noriko looks at the rollercoaster with a thousand yard stare, the sound of sirens wailing in her head. looking over at Akane, she slowly nods.

: (Bluff 18 Noriko) She laughs so hard she has to hold her stomach, pausing to wipe her eyes. "Oh my God, Noriko! You'd totally die if we went on that!" She waggles a finger at you. "The great Akane will go easy on you this time, so lets get something to eat, OK?"

: Noriko lets out a sigh of relief. "...thank you, Akane. i will never forget this." she nods. "sounds good to me."

: "Hmmmm, why're you trying so hard anyway?" You both get in line for some good and trashy fair food.

: Noriko winces at the question. After a thoughtful moment, she mumbles a response. "...i used to like amusement parks... i haven't been able to do this since the accident. i'm not very brave, but with my friends... with Akane... i feel like i can get over my fears. so i want to try... even if it's really hard. so... um. thank you."

: Akane pays close attention to you as you speak, pausing only to order food and receive it. As the two of you sit down she reaches across the table and pats your hand.. pushing it towards your drink before your food. "Ehh, don't worry Noriko! I wouldn't be mad even if you had an accident, lots of people get motion sick, you know?" She shares a winning smile with you for the little bit of heartfelt emotion, her face turning a bit red, though it is very bright and sunny at the moment. "It's nothing, it's nothing! Besides, you're the coolest person I know!" She leans forward a bit and tries to maintain a conspiratorial coolness despite her face being a bit messy. "You're the only witch I know... speaking of which, uhm.. we havn't seen those two for awhile. Is Crowley around?"

: Uncharacteristically, Noriko downs her drink in one pull, letting out a satisfied gasp as she finishes. "ahhhh.... i needed that really bad!" After thinking about it for a minute, she suddenly looks surprised. "ah! i forgot why we were here!!" Shaking her head, she concentrates for a moment. "...hold on... ah. um. he's eating somebody's fries!"

: Akane laughs! "Crowley rules! Can he uhm, spy on them? Or point them out?"

: "mm-hmm... i can hear anything he hears if i try hard enough... i can even make him talk, but i don't want to give us away!"

: Akane looks awe-struck. "Can.. can you focus on where he is? Once you find them!"

: Noriko nods. "he's over there." Noriko points off in the direction she can sense Crowley from. "i'm gonna tune in now..." Noriko is listening intently!

: Akane listens intently to you! "What're they saying!?"

: Noriko wrinkles her nose disdainfully. "...it's going like an entrance interview. he's going over his flaws and strengths and she's asking for his plans for the future. i'm expecting salary negotiations next..." Taking on a haughty undertone to her voice, she pantomime's Takano's gestures. "Takashi, do you..." she starts, batting her eyelashes. "Have a five year plan?"

: Somehow this is the funniest thing Akane has ever heard, as she breaks up into repeated giggling fits. "Oh my god!" She pats Noriko on the shoulder, cracking up. "Prefect! Oh my god! You should've heard it when our mom said that.."

(CONTINUED)

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:48

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: He gives her a quizzical expression, "Not as such, no. I set goals and I achieve them. Then I set more. I've never really sat down and written them out," he gestures broadly, encompassing the park, maybe the city, "Some of my immediate goals are to be a stronger student, distinguish myself in athletics, and," a pause, "...and take a bigger stake in my family's affairs, but that's newer," his eyes focus on hers again, "among other less grand aims."

: Hmmmmm... she looks a bit disappointed but swiftly mollifies it, her expression softening. "Don't you think being a distinguished athlete might require intense focus for years at a time? Or a scholar..." She tilts her head and returns the eye to eye look, feigning some outrage. "Less grand?"

: Takashi laughs at her expression, but its a playful laugh, "I said some of my goals. You don't really think winning the hand of a fair maiden is a less grand affair do you?" he looks off into the middle distance, thinking he's spotted some people he knows, "And sure being a distinguished athlete takes time, probably years. That doesn't mean I have to write that down to know its where I'm aimed. I'm a doer, Takano, I set my sights on something then I go get it. And if the going gets tough, I get tougher," he looks back towards her, "I suppose having a good planner in my life wouldn't be a bad thing, though, if you know of one," he winks at her.

: The genuine compliment school of flattery always works well but concern floats across her face. "I know what you're like Takashi, but my mother expects a bit more.. stability in a boy. She might dismiss you if you're not serious."

: "If your mother's approval of me is important to you," his expression is serious, "then its important to me," he rests his hand on top of hers, "and you know I take your advice seriously," a light squeeze.

: "Takashi, you'll always be a good friend..."

Noriko: Crowley fidgets. Can you really witness two executions in one month!?

: Takano continues, gripping Takashi's hand and lacing her fingers with his. "But I wonder how serious you are.."

(CONTINUED)

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:50

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

quote:

: Akane leans in and whispers impatiently: "What else!?"

: "ehh... takashi sure lays it on thick..." engrossed, Noriko hardly seems to notice Akane at first, until she snaps up. "ohhhhhh!!!! she just said the words 'you'll always be a good friend'! this isn't good! he's about to hit a failure flag on Takano's route!!!"

: Akane cracks up laughing, practically guffawing. "Hahahahahahahahaa!!!" She wipes her eyes. "Oh my goddddd!!! That's my sister! She can't be smooth talked by just any toolbox!" She shares a little conspiratorial monkey giggle with you. "Shishishi... She's got her entire life planned already. She's only got eyes for a guy as good as she is, so I bet ol' blowhard Takashi goes down swinging soon.."

: "ufufufu... i thought he had staying power! one more mistake and he's going to blow out. he'll never make it to 'Tokyo U' now! oh! he's wheeling around! now he's telling her he wants to prove he's serious...!!!" Noriko clenches her fists. "He's walking right into a trap...! She's asking him to commit!"

: Akane sets her hands on the table and extends one finger, set flat. She raises her other hand, held out flat and straight as a mock guillotine blade. She slowly whispers "ka-sshhhhhhh" as she brings her hand down to "execute" the prone finger.

---

: His heart stings when she says friend, but her fingers help pull some of it away, "Ouch, only a friend?" he looks wounded, "But you don't think I'm serious, so I suppose even your friends have to meet with your mother's approval," he squeezes her hand back, "you should know by now that you're more than special to me, my lady Takano. And until a moment ago I thought I was more than a friend to you," he frowns slightly, "so what will it take to prove to you that I'm serious?"

: "This is our second date.. I enjoyed the kiss last time.. but I can't shake a certain feeling.." Although you definitely hear a familiar laugh that is quite a bit closer than you'd expect, even that is drowned out by a rapid flooding of visual static. No longer are you sitting across from a teenage girl but you are attendent before a looming Empress, the avatar of matriarchal authority presiding in her gown of silver and gold, a matching scepter resting in her lap! "I have to.. live, in a certain way. I'm only interested in a boy who can accept that.. I, uhm, don't really have time for fooling around.." She looks a bit embarrassed but speaking solemnly still comes naturally. "If you're serious, why don't you say so?" A reverse kokuhaku situation! The demand of the Empress! Depending on how you answer... is she a saint, or a Bloody Mary?! Judgement could be made at any moment! The strange situation melts away and reality asserts itself, your potential girlfriend still holding your hand and waiting for your reply.

: Takashi keeps his expression very controlled, perhaps even bordering on empty as she talks, "A certain way..." he repeats when she is finished, "you think... you think this is fooling around to me?" perhaps a note of indignation, "I just go out of my way to make a special day for... but okay, you want me to just come out and say it," he shakes his head a bit, "Okay. So be it." He unwinds his fingers from hers, standing, "Takano, I... ... will not be dictated to. I will not be steered. I am not a windup toy for you to set upon a path of your making. You sit there and you doubt me when I have done nothing by demonstrate the contents of my heart," he lets out a hot, angry breath through his nostrils, "I'm going to walk home now. If you decide that you want someone in your life that gets you, and the pressure of being who we are, come find me. If you don't, then I will see you at practice, senpai," he does not fill the title with overt emotion. He makes good on his words and begins walking out of the park.

Takashi: ... You head home without further contact, bringing an early end to your date.

---

: Noriko freezes. "wh-wh-wh-whaaaaaaaaaat?!" Noriko turns to Akane. "...um. i think... takashi just dumped takano?"

: Akane: "WHAT!?"

: "he went on some spiel about not being controlled... um. do you think we should get out of here?" Noriko looks a little concerned. i feel like it would be bad for your sister to find us right now..."

: Completely blowing cover Akane stands up to look around to get her own view of her sister's reaction! It's like she didn't hear you or doesn't care! Takano is finishing her meal without any real loss of character.. did.. did she not hear it? Or care?

: "um. Akane? what do you want to do?"

: Akane whips around to face you and looks incensed! Er, for her! Truly, comically, absolutely upset! "I.. I want to talk to her, of course!"

: Noriko nods. "i understand, but... do you want her to know we were spying on her this whole time?"

: "I don't care!" She heads off on a direct contact route!

: Crowley moves to intercept! Hopping up onto a table in front of Akane, the crow proclaims. "...you're on your own kid. good luck!"
Noriko scrams! Sorry Aaaaaaakaaaaaaaaaane~

: The crow beckoning to Akane causes her to leap back, almost a clear foot off the ground! Her face is a mixture of fear and awe, the latter overtaking the first quickly. Crowley transmits to you a muttered "..sooo cool..." .. And he transmits Akane turning around and reversing course, accelerating after you!

: With his mission complete, Crowley snaps up somebody's yakitori and flies off into the sunset.

: Between the two, Takano is the obvious athlete, with a toned body the product of rigorous exercise and discipline. Akane's love of sweets and lackadaisical attitude suggested to you she would be an opposite... but clearly the two must work together a bit because before you know it Akane has caught up to you and grabs your arm! "Heeeeey! What're you doing?!"

: Noriko looks grim-faced at Akane, the thousand-yard stare of a war veteran! "trying to avoid being murdered."

: Akane looks utterly confused, then laughs. "She won't be that mad, come on! Besides, you're my alibi! We came to the park to have fun, right? And just uhm, happened to.. see her? Yeah!" Manami's tale of Takano's fury is only a week old in your mind. You haven't asked either Hattori about it, only knowing Manami's side of things, the origin of the scar under her eye...

: Noriko takes a deep breath, thinking back to the fate of Nakamura Manami. She considers asking, here and now, but thinks better of it. no. she got between them. that's the worst thing i could do right now. "i put my safety in your hands, akane" she bows. "please take responsibility."

: Akane leads you back with her but the two of you are met early by Takano, who has zeroed in on the two of you. She seems to be happy to see you two, though!

: Takano: "Akane! And.. Noriko? What a pleasant surprise."

: Akane drapes an arm over your shoulders and beams. "Yeah! We thought we'd have a fun day before the exams!"

: Noriko nods. "yeah, hehe, i've been pretty stressed..."

: Takano reads you both sharply for a moment.. but smiles warmly. "What a wonderful idea.. I had a date who felt the same way.."

: "ohhhhhh? how'd that go?" (harsh jump cut back to cell phone logs of Noriko and Akane's earlier conversation, harsh jump cut forward to a police offier dropping a blood-stained cell phone in a baggie marked 'evidence')

: Takano smiles sincerely. "I guess he wasn't the one for me. He just left."

: Akane gawks a bit and then hugs her sister! "Aww!" Takano smiles and pats Akane on the back, the younger sister seeming to take it worse then the elder..

: Noriko is relieved that Takano isn't the emotional type, but she still feels like she needs to tread carefully here. "...i'm sorry it didn't work out. if you have any desire to place a curse on him, we have literature in our club office." she finds herself blurting out the offer in some feverish moment of improvisation

: Takano dead-pans. "That won't be necessary."

: Akane finishes the hug and beams at her sister. "Why don't we have fun together, hmm?" You get the feeling you may be enduring another ride shortly..

: Noriko resigns herself to the ride. She feels like she just evaded an oncoming train with fractions of a second to spare. How could any amusement park ride compare to such terror?

: As the three of you head to the next ride, Takano asks Akane: "... Were you yelling at a crow, earlier?"

...

: "He started it!"

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Priestess arcana...}

Although the bond with the Empress remains stationary, Akane and Noriko grow closer and the bonus to Support Persona of the Priestess arcana grows to +3 Attack/Damage/Healing!

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:59

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

The Week Before (5/2 to 5/10)

All: The intense need to study is inevitable, yielding +2 Academics. Your parents, your teachers, your friends... everybody pushes you to hit the books! Rumors of your presence at Nekketsu on Friday grant +1 Charm as well.

Akio: You gain an additional +1 Courage and +1 Charm through your club activities. Your family's intrusions during your date with Noriko lead to a bit more focus on self-image and an additional +1 Charm. Your prowess during Karate seems to be growing past the point of continually bringing your back to the canvas, and combined with your usually hidden natural build you're becoming a bit.. less than soft? Kunio compliments your new "aura as a man" at some point but seems unusually distracted, almost... down?

: "... Hmm? Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind."

Itsumi: You gain an additional +1 Charm and Academics through your club activities. You also gain an additional +1 Courage as you introduce Ryo and Madoka to one another and the friendly snoop already seems poised to strike later. The three of you agree to coordinate something after mid-terms, the extra course load causing Ichiro to back off of you for just a bit. You have a tentative ally in Chizuru, another girl Ichiro has worked with, but you get the feeling she'll disappear if your approach is weak.

: "Just focus on the tests for now. I got a great idea for afterwards!"

Noriko: You gain an additional +1 Courage and +1 Charm through your club activities. Ruiko's advice and encouragement restore some of your buried fashion sense, granting a further +1 Charm. You find the Occult Studies club to be a bit unusually vexing as you're forced to be the center of attention and the lead speaker for hours at a time. There seems to be a few very interested students!

: Or maybe the two that actually attend after the first week, leaving the group make-up as Akio, Noriko and the two interested first years, Eikoh and Fransisca. A morbid boy and a foreign girl...

Takashi: You gain an additional +1 Courage and +1 Academics through your club activities. You gain a further +1 Charm as random, misplaced rumors circulate about the unusually curt treatment you and Takano share in the following week... though you find that you're a bit less distracted in some aspects and get a compliment from Mister Adachi, the teacher in charge of the Mathematics Club.

: "Hey, Takashi! That mock-up was perfect! You've got a laser focus, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, yeah? Good luck next week!" The affable and almost-stylish older man has an easy going style with a sharp, results-oriented edge. Almost strikes you as Matsubara's mirror.

Tsukiyo: You gain an additional +1 Courage through your club activities. Your reputation explodes after the events at Nekketsu, granting a further +2 Courage and Charm! Throughout the entire week Genjuro doesn't stop by the house once, though his pal Shou does to pick up some of his things.

: "Ahh, sorry, Tsukiyo. He said he needed a place to stay that wasn't here anymore and.. uh, he won't really talk about it!" He rubs the back of his head and apologizes too many times before departing. Grandmother just seems pleased Genjuro finally did anything, though you catch the concern coming through occasionally. There's stubborn pride to spare in this family!

---

And then it is upon you... the big test in the middle of May!

# ¿ Jul 12, 2018 15:06

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

The Week Of(5/11 to 5/16) Music

Mid-terms are upon you.

quote:

Academics
Akio: Rank 3 (Int +6)
Itsumi: Rank 2 (Wis +4)
Noriko: Rank 2 (Int +6)
Takashi: Rank 3 (Wis +3)
Tsukiyo: Rank 2 (Int/Wis +0)

However! There's more to Academics than simply glaring at text until it commits to memory! This helps a lot but natural intuitiveness... a good flow of energy in the body... and a bit of luck matter all the same! On Thursday(5/14) the results of the grueling three day test is posted!

quote:

1) Ito, Hideaki
2) Kasaya, Itsumi
3) Yamamura, Akio
4) Hattori, Akane
5) Kurokawa, Takashi
6) Taniguchi, Mutsumi
7) Mori, Noriko
8) Dumont, Fransisca
9) Mitsugu, Ryuka
10) Ono, Hiroko

... 11) Nishiyama, Goro

... 13) Tanaka, Eikoh

... 22) Bedford, Felix

... 39) Fujiwara, Miho

... 51) Chavez, Tsukiyo

... 71) Hachisuka, Kane

... 78) Tatsumi, Sato

... 81) Nakamura, Manami

... 99) Kusumoto, Madoka

... Of 112.

(Sato, Felix and Ryuka were former PCs still friendly with the party, Hideaki is the Hermit Social Link, Fransisca and Eikoh are the two mentioned in the last post in the Occult club and Hiroko and Mutsumi are Ryuka's two moons. I may also adjust names later since I'm posting this under a small time constraint

)

Itsumi is #2 in the entire class! The eternally cheerful, hard-working girl on Student Council and Cheer Squad is a powerful scholar to boot?! The class can hardly stand this surprise and cheerful words of praise and excited rumors rapidly spread, granting an additional +1 Charm! Everybody else does admirably compared to their own standards, Takashi in particular earning an additional +1 Academics as he conquers some personal barrier, a goal set and met!

---

Thursday, 5/14

For now your entire class is enjoying the lunch period. Perhaps you could congratulate one another, or socialize a bit!

(Will continue advancing the week and post the lead-in to the next week, the task Isabelle asked of Akio, and other stuff later.)

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Jul 22, 2018

# ¿ Jul 12, 2018 15:48

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

School, Lunch
Thursday, 5/14

Akio: You catch a completely nonchalant Madoka mid-bite of a little convenience store sandwich, looking utterly surprised that anything special has happened today.

: "... Ehh? Did I do bad, Akio?" She chews and swallows before chuckling a little. "Well, I'll just do better next time, alright? That's all it'll take! There's still the rest of the year! Yeah!" Oh! She psyches herself up a little before taking a self-congratulatory sip of water! "Hmm hmm hmm.. heh.. so, how'd you do?"

Itsumi, Noriko: Two familiar faces round the corner, leaving the lunch room. They've already seen their scores, but...

: "This is very unnerving..." The top of the class, Hideaki! You must have really cleared his head after Other School!

: "Stare." Akane says the word out loud as she follows half a step behind Hideaki, glaring a hole into the back of his head. She stops and swivels to greet Noriko, putting on a great smile. "Noriko! How'd you do!? I hope you did well! I tell you, there are truly horrible people in this world, monsters who will stop at nothing to get ahead..." She peers over to Itsumi and flutters her eyelashes. "Kasaya, you.. you.. well done! At least you're honest, unlike all these awful sneaky boys!"

Takashi: Your friends touch base with you. You also feel a cheeky glance on you at some point but can only see a turning head of short black hair swiveling to avoid meeting your eyes.

: "Oh, well done, Takashi! I heard you were cramming in math club, it really paid off, eh?" Your new pal Jun and...

: "What the hell, Takashi!" Your old pal, Masami. "You went this far and... you... didn't even look back! Look! Look at me!" He points to his own placement at 37!

: Hitomi pops in between the two and grins at Takashi. "I heaaaaarrr that not all's well for our hero..." She buzzes with barely concealed glee and looks to you, giving you a chance to speak!

Tsukiyo: Eventually your moons catch up to you.

: "Tsuki! How'd it go?" Miho seems quite pleased with her placement.

: "Ugh, I can't stand being near that drat board and all that hot air they're blowin'... we should skip for the day, boss. I'm sick of these drat exams."

---

Digital Devil Worlds
Friday, 5/15
Music

Earlier, Akio spoke with Isabelle..

quote:

: "You remember your fellow applicants, at Etemenanki? Two of them have been following up with me and they told me a strange story. One way or another they were both defeated in game... casual play, serious dungeons, whatever it was, the important bit is they both reached 0 HP. They say they met a strange NPC in an unlisted Mindscape with a purgatory theme... and he made them a deal." She looks over her cards and then gives you the old raised eyebrow, her grin full of cocky confidence. At the game, or the events? ".. They said strange things started happening in real life and they feel like they're being stalked..." ... "They claim they were asked to perform something impossible... and were terrified to tell me what. They said they couldn't share it with one of ORDER's officers." ... "I'll give you their contact info and a meeting place. And don't be tardy, they mentioned their benefactor's deals have a deadline..."

Akio: You're sent a private message by Isabelle this night with specific instructions.

quote:

: "You're meeting with them tonight. Look for one of those flavor of the month oni girl berserkers, screenname is Redd_Hott. And you'll be doing it in Teufelsbrucke. Lucky you! Now listen close: take your friends. These two need your help for something big that you're not going to solo. Tell Ailuridae you've met players that asked you about strange phenomenon in the game and real life. The purgatory realm, the stranger, odd deals, that kind of stuff. You think it's connected to Joker or that kid he killed. You get the idea, have a tight alibi. I've already spoken to Redd and her friend: they won't mention ORDER or Entemenanki. Do me a favor and don't screw up when you recognize them in front of your friends, alright? And bring me all the details afterwards!"

Akio: Makes sense. If you, Redd or the other messed up then your cover would be blown. As long as those two are in on it things should be easy. But Teufelsbrucke...

^{Teufelsbrucke

or

The Devil's Bridge

Music}

Everyone(Online): Receiving an online lead that sounds like a connection to the same strangeness that befell Noriko in the Ancient Ruins Run you log on and warp to the boundaries of an infamous Mindscape. A dead megalopolis shrouded in mutant overgrowth in a pleasant shade of alien green. The sky overhead is permanently cloudy and in large prominent spots is ripped open revealing the cosmos far beyond, great metallic prongs splitting reality itself. They continually "birth" torrents of energy down to the planet below, infusing massive vestigal hills with energy that makes rampant flora grow wildly, slowly expanding the remains of hewed trees the size of mountains.

This realm represents a state of perpetual combat and limited safety between mid-to-high level players seeking to enter the ransack the ruins, enter the rifts... or to engage in Player vs Player. This is the Devil's Bridge, beckoning players towards their worst impulses. This is the City of Gankers! As you approach the outskirts of the city and begin to walk into the ruined buildings you see something unexpected: life. There are hundreds of players actively socializing, organizing and dueling around the city. Somehow all of the worst have come together in an ad-hoc community bound only by their own absence of online morality. There are even several crafters hawking their wares and showmen offering to take on "any fools" in return for prizes or spots in proven parties and guilds. A cheer rises from the crowd when a team of ten raiders begins an ascent up one of the few intact husks of the massive world trees, connected to an open rift far above...

The sight of your group of powerful players has the shifting crowds already talking and gesturing towards you, discussing the likelihood of your surviving an assault and by who. But for now you're in a peaceful situation. For now. You just need to meet your contact! Redd_Hott, a flavor of the month oni-girl berserker player. Looking around you spot a few flattering imitators of your own distinct styles. Noble healers, lightly armored chargers with big weapons, elementals beasts and fusions of those, over-done necromancers and haughty battle-mages. The general aesthetic of the Mindscape suggests a modern day tech level.

Stepping onto the street proper you pass by the ruined metal base of a statue haphazardly bolted onto the original stone structure, a creation of angry iron and barbed wire standing atop the smashed legs of the previous memorial. Graffiti of a devil brandishing a pitchfork and several leering goats surround a magically blazing plaque declaring that:

^{Yvain <the Lion> reigns}

Everyone: You're free to swap Support Personas, submit your finalized character sheets in the OOC thread if you havn't done so yet, spend gold and to fuse any Personas you want to before the next adventure starts! Once it does you will be locked into your Level 16 Sheets and these choices until this side-arc finishes! You also need to contact Redd_Hott.

Takashi: When you initially sign onto DDW your Mindscape's stewards tell you that there's been a great deal of ferocious, explosive battles on The Drifter this week. Your Velvet Room Attendant delivers messages to you from three angry people, all dated within an hour of the DDW servers coming up after the last weekly maintenance cycle:

quote:

: I can't believe lowbie trash like you would sneak in a KO on a player as great as Fenrir. Watch your tail, lava pup. (<Thunder God> Raijin [PACK])

: What a horrible look you have! You piece of poo poo, could you just come over to the ring sometime and loving die, thanks?! (<Mad> Jubilette [PACK])

: Any Time. Any Place. One On One. (Mr_Grimm [PACK])

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Jul 16, 2018

# ¿ Jul 15, 2018 23:20

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

School, Lunch
Thursday, 5/14

: Eh? Eh? Eh? This big girl who routinely tosses you is looking at you with absolute awe, her eyes lit up and her jaw slackening a bit. "What? THIRD? Wow!" An unironic sugoi! She stands up and grabs your forearm with both hands, looking eye to eye with you pleadingly! "Akio, could you help me study?!"

---

: Akane grins cheekily at Itsumi. "I thought you might not get along with her, but my sister says you're one of the hardest workers on the council. If anybody deserves their spot, it's you, Kasaya. Not like..." Akane reaches over and pinches Akio's nose. "This weasel!" She puffs out her cheeks and widens her eyes in a show of dominance! "You're so good at studying and you don't team up with us?! Ooooh! So it's treason, then?!" She relents and lets go as Hideaki clears his throat.

: "Doesn't Takano tutor you every time anyway?" He covers his mouth and seems a bit bemused. "What pressure? I don't have to help anyone if I don't feel like it. And I just take the same cram school everyone else does, right?"

: "She's really busy! That's why somebody should help a beautiful girl out."

: "Sure, I know some good second-tier colleges." Achieving a rare victory, Hideaki sips from his bottled water with a rare grace, like a falcon rising from a kill-swoop.

: Akane is shocked! Her spirit ascends from her face and departs this world! She hangs her head and sulks over to Noriko's side of the table, resting her head on the table in her arms and rotating to peer up at her friend. "Ahhh.. the pressure, the pressure.."

---

: "But you passed! Won't she be happy for that?" Ah, poor, innocent, naive, wonderful Miho. Too good, too pure for this sinful world.

: "Who gives a poo poo about that? Once you're queen of Kobe you can be whatever you want, boss. Like one-a them pro fighters or lady wrestlers..." And then there's somebody who fits right into that world. She attacks an innocent sweet bread with her slightly pointy teeth and glares over at the table shared by Akio/Noriko/Akane/Hideaki and others. "... Man, nerds piss me off."

---

Teufelsbrucke

A few shifty, arrogant or dangerous gazes find their way back to your group...

You can freely invoke actions, skills, rituals and so on here.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2018 02:28

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

School, Lunch
Thursday, 5/14

Akio: Oblivious yet thankful, Madoka agrees to hit the books with you sometime before the next big test!

---

: Clawing herself up a little, Akane clings to Noriko's other arm and pouts. "But Norikoooo, Tak's gonna get into some top tier and I can't let her go alone..." She sulks a bit until Akio butts in! She gasps! "Noriko! No! We should've studied together!" She lets Noriko go and turns away from you two, looking downcast. "I... I can't believe you're this close already... we could've studied together... but..."

Oh no! The tables may have turned but they continued turning until they hurtled dangerously towards their original facing! Akane withdraws her phone and turns back around, grinning wickedly as she swipes at the screen every few seconds! Pictures of her and Noriko at an amusement park play on a loop! Akane's biiiiiig grin hovers over the top of the phone as she laughs. "We had such a great date, we were too busy to study! I'll be sure we all get together and really hit the books next time! Shishishi.."

: Takashi: "That sounds like fun, can you set us up?" Your friends agree that some karaoke really is due... and Hitomi elbows you between bites, whispering!

: "You can't pass on the deets that easily..." Eventually lunch finishes and on the way out you spot a familiar girl peeling away from little Ryuka and one of the top 10(Mutsumi.) She makes her way over to greet you at one of the school entryways.

: "Takashi! Hiii!" Bubbly, blonde, the sun of the two moons. Hiroko... Ono Hiroko! A surprise #10 spot! And a girl you spent some time with early at the start of the school year. She has an aura like an overly caffeinated sales rep. "It's been a while! Did you want to do volunteer work again? Uh-uhm, with me? Now that we don't have to study so much, hee hee."

: Tsukiyo: Manami deadpans at you before sighing. "... Then why're you banchou of two schools already, dumbass?" Miho seems shocked(shocked!) to realize this as well!

# ¿ Jul 22, 2018 00:37

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

School, Lunch
Thursday, 5/14

Akio: As you finish up this horribly bland lunch you find your feet marching one in front of the other as you approach the tedium of a fresh clash. Your monotonous gray world view is interrupted by a vibrant bit of color splashing in as Hideaki clasps a hand to your shoulder from behind, leaning in like a long time confidant.

: "Hey, it happens. It shouldn't be legal for cats and girls to reside in the same spirit. But take it from me, knowing her since we were kids..." He glances over his shoulder at Akane and Noriko's table. "She must like you if she's messing with you. It's just her way." He chuckles and tries to give you a bit of a cheering up with a pat on the back. Then suddenly, Hideaki grows quite grim-faced.

"But her way is also to like what she likes. She's got a saying I've heard a few times... "A Hattori knows no fear in love."" He shakes his head and gives you a sincere eye to eye look. "Maybe you should watch out..." He chuckles and drops the act. "Now, ah, hey, we should trade study notes sometime. The Elite 3 have got to represent, you know? You walk to school with Felix, right? I know him."

(Feel free to wrap up/continue conversations if you need to, but things are good to go and finished for the most part.)

---

Friday, Saturday and Sunday (5/15, 5/16 and 5/17)
Music

School's much easier for the rest of the week and you've got that lovely day of rest on Sunday. With time to spare and no pressing need to throw down with bikers, shadows or real-life monsters you can actually relax. A few things of note do come up...

Akio, Takashi: On Saturday you catch Kunio during lunch period, sitting at the base of the Nature tree utterly lost in thought, though minus the rosy-cheeked delight you'd associate with a climb. He just seems completely zoned out, lost in meditations that can't yield any productive results. His pal Ken asks if you'd chat him up, just a friendly hello! The boys are a bit concerned as it has been happening all week.

: Kunio seems to quickly recognize you guys and snap out of his daze, smiling. "Hey guys. Good day, eh? Just the right kinda windy..." He seems to recall something and sighs, looking off to the side and into the rest of Naoki's tree grove. After a pointed moment's silence, he looks back to you both and speaks more seriously than you'd ever heard him, the oft-reverent sagacity to his esoteric musings gone, his voice a bit deeper. "We're close, you know. I gotta ask, have either of you ever... been in love?"

The Hanged Man Social Link is almost maxed... if you're willing to help Kunio out, you could max it and form a lifelong friendship... ! (1 Time Slot, Minimum of 3 PCs.)

Itsumi: Tsukiyo wants your help with something!? And you feel that there's something dragging Madoka down, even if she won't talk about it. And most importantly...

: You've finally got a possible break against Ichiro! You just need to see what Ryo's plan is!!!

Noriko: You're the only one that knows it, but...

: Nishiyama Goro, of the crazy Nishiyama family in your neighborhood. He seems to be a deranged neet and his family are happy to play into the image of being crazy as hell. Shiokaze said she wouldn't conduct rituals on the party any further but clearly she and Joker have had some contact with this guy. And now he places #11 on mid-terms while refusing to attend school? You can feel a strange mental tugging, like a strand of fate is tugging...

All: You receive a text from Yuki, Takamura's widowed girlfriend!

quote:

: Hi, I hope everyone is doing well. I don't really want to go alone... the police have finished their investigation and they're preparing Takamura's body for burial. I don't know if your weird medium can do anything, but, uhm.. maybe? Call me if you think it's a good idea.

---

The Weekend

You each have 3 Free Time Slots. How do you spend them?

- Shop (No Time Slot Loss, can purchase Rituals from Jennifer.)
- Grind a significant amount of Gold.
- Call to a Persona (3-4 Star)
- Study (+1 Academics)
- Improve a Social Link.
- Other Social Events (i.e. Takashi with Hiroko or his friends, Noriko with Goro, Akio with Hideaki/Kane/Felix, etc)
- Posture Online (???)
- Extra School Club Event (i.e. Itsumi's Cheer Club, Noriko/Akio's Occult Club, Tsukiyo's Samurai Club/Running for Council)
- Pursue a Lead/Skill Checks (i.e. Contacting known information sources, researching subjects of interest online, etc.)
- Other

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

Ambrose receives a text from Redd_Hott, who is logging on after you guys arrived to meet her! Sloppy, sloppy! It's safe enough to quickly share with the rest of the party!

quote:

Sorry, I had some chores to do! I'm logging in and we can meet at this place, The Unassuming Chest! I'm really happy you're helping me again, Ambrose!

Finding the sign of a treasure chest Mimic waiting to devour a scantily clad woman of generous proportions is simple enough.

You enter a played-run shop, the open door-frames flanked by spindly-limb golems on wound up spring torsos and singular serpentine tails like clockwork naga. They're of a decent level and competent make, arcane power pulsing through the orderly gears that power them and spring-wound arms of curved blades and spiraling drills. They're also coded to be friendly towards you and judging by the absence of other players that isn't always the case! Inside are two players sitting at a table, looking a bit uncomfortable with one another's presence. Or just in general!

: Redd_Hott is a mid-level player of a tall, elegant girl with flowing red hair wearing the classic beads, bandages and tiger-stripe trappings of a Red Oni. Balancing a long, thin but sturdy studded iron club on her shoulder just completes the image as predictably as could be! Her full screen name is ^{Redd_Hott <Rumbler> [CRAB]}, her guild sounding like some classic Rokugan RP-PVPers. She stands and bows at the waist to your group! "Thank you so much for agreeing to help us! It's awful! Really... we need help very badly! We've already lost somebody!" A strange concern is tangible in her voice, as though she was recently mentally racked.

: The other guy is simply ^{Weasel [WYRD]}. Sounds like a slightly higher-minded than usual group of like-minded griefers with a taste for the macabre. Being immensely hunched over hides that he is a tall, lanky man with a wispy mustache and opaque shades, his poorly matching kimono and armor failing to hide bristling arrays of tools and weapons. He doesn't get up and looks over his shoulder to your group, grinning with a few gap teeth. "Nyeehh heh, great! You guys are the really strong sons of bitches that're already fightin' ORDER, ain'cha! Good to meet-cha!" Ambrose notes that against all odds he has reached Paragon Tier as well...

# ¿ Jul 23, 2018 00:58

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Thursday, May 14th, Lunch
Music

Takashi: Your approach here works perfectly! It feels much different than navigating the standing guards of the icy empress..

: "I love that song! That sounds great, Takashi! And I bet you're really good!" She giggles and shifts her weight a bit, fidgeting with her left foot. "I could tell you where to pick me up!" She grins and the two of you agree on plans for later.

---

Friday, May 15th, Akio's House

Akio: After Thursday, Hideaki joins you, Felix and Kane on the walk to school in the mornings. It turns out he just has to get off at an earlier bus stop and he seems very grateful for the company. He already knows Felix and gets along quickly with Kane, who seems to actually amaze Hideaki with his dating site "expertise."

: Friday after school the two of you agree to study together at your place and hang out for awhile. Catching sight of your large home leaves him utterly amazed, but not as much as stepping in and exchanging greetings with Hanae, Reiko and Ruiko. Once the two of you have a bit of privacy in your room and are hitting the books, Hideaki grins between practice questions. "... Dang, Akio. This is a little slice of Heaven." He chuckles and lets you know it's mostly a joke before the two of you get back to it. Sharing tips on studying and scholarly interests between two top of the class is a very fine refining process, providing +2 Academics in an excellent session. Hideaki seems to have a lot of mental exercises on lockdown thanks to an exhaustive prep school. You get the feeling that you two are pretty similar. Bookish, usually alone, suffering the slings and arrows of malicious harpies. It's easy for you two to get along.

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Hermit arcana...}

Bonuses to Supports of the Hermit Arcana increase to +2 Attack/Damage/Healing!

Of course, Reiko and Ruiko will be heading back to university soon, but they're nearby and can visit anytime and you have contact info for them. Ruiko uses Akio to transmit and receive contact info with Noriko, promising her she can "borrow things from her room any time you want as long as you take care of my brother!"

---

Saturday, May 16th, The Tree

Akio, Noriko, Takashi: Kunio looks immensely cheered just to get your support.

: "I'm blessed to have such good friends. Alright.. I'll tell you what got me." He peers off to the side as Noriko descends. "We all had a good run at Nekketsu, yeah? That scene in the bar was something else... you like 'em big, don'cha Takashi?" He chuckles and slaps his knee. "But when I was there at Nekketsu, I saw someone that made my heart freeze. This was the coolest chick I've ever seen, man. Dignified, powerful, cute as hell." He looks skyward now that it's dignified to do so! "Every woman in the world is a beauty to treasure, man.. how I always thought, but here I am and I can't stop thinking about that Nekketsu girl. I don't even know her name and it's engraved in my heart. It's driving me crazy!" He stands up. "Ya gotta help me! You guys did good over there, you know the school, yeah? I gotta meet her!" His eyes burn with an unusual intensity. Perhaps the raw sincerity seems misplaced for such a strange boy. "If a guy goes through life without laying it on the line, he'll whither and die inside, man. I gotta do this!"

The ultimate blessing of the Hanged Man Arcana! Help Kunio meet the Mystery Girl at Nekketsu High!

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

: All the aggression doesn't go unnoticed, the hunched over fellow cringing in his seat for a moment. "Calm down, wouldya? This is a friend's spot. Gankers are like jackals, they don't want a real fight." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder to gesture back to the NPC door guards. "And we got a real great reason to ask ya here. Can't be many other places." The Kansai accent is THICK!

: "You can trust us, we don't want to pick fights with the Ailuridae." She holds her hands up, palms out and emotes a friendly sweatdrop. "Ambrose, Sergei(Runepriest) stopped logging in about two weeks ago..." As Ambrose has Redd and the Runepriest on his friendlist, this is true. "Before then we've all partied together as friends at times. Recently we've noticed.. strange things, I guess. I don't know how to describe it. There have been times we've died in the game and gone to a very strange scenario, like a sort of Hell. Or Limbo? Some quest giver gave us very odd and specific instructions.. like inciting guild drama, or even suggesting we do odd things in real life. And they had time limits. Long ones.. warning us against not taking care of things within about a month."

: "Sergei said he wasn't going to bother. He said he'd seen it before and was tired of it, heh. Must've missed his last mark and.. poof." After the inappropriate chuckle and quip, he sweats profusely! "Uh-uhm, l-look, Ambrose, Redd, uh, you guys, the resta you guys. We came to you because it happened to us and.. and.. this guy, The Devil, he says to us we been running high tabs. He wants things interestin'! He asks us to..."

Redd and Weasel share a look.

: " "To raid one of ORDER's Core Mindscapes." " The two seem sincerely worried! Redd peers over your group and lingers on .attak and Ambrose's new titles for a while. "... Are you the same? We heard you cleared out Fenrir..."

: "Whatever reason ya did it, yer the only guys who are doing well messing with the big dogs." You catch a sly grin at .attak. "We can't afford to mess around with backdeals here. Separation like that against the big fish... we'd all get wiped out! So if you got the guts, we're in this together, to the end!"

Ambrose: Isabelle told you she that these two couldn't share the details of their deal with devil with her. Now they've confided in you and you can see why!

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Jul 25, 2018

# ¿ Jul 25, 2018 23:14

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

(This begins or resolves most of the time slot choices made. Noriko's "Occult Club Activity" and Takashi's "Assist Yuki" will not be counted against them and will be brought up a bit later or next in-game week.)

Friday, May 15th, Phone
Music

Takashi receives a reply that he can share with the others to plan for investigating Takamura's remains...

quote:

: Any time next week is fine. He didn't have much family so there's not really.. a time table or a rush or anything... it's so sad. I might be the only one. I'm so glad you'll come with me, at least. Tell me when you're ready! xo xo Takashi~

Maybe not that last bit!

---

Saturday, May 16th, The Tree

: "Sorry, I don't know either of them. Maybe if I saw her face to face? You guys seem to have some pals at Nekketsu."

An independent plot arc not anchored by the constraints of time(similar to the current Teufelsbrucke arc) has begun! Akio, Itsumi, Noriko and Takashi are determined to help Kunio meet the girl of his dreams! All you know is that she goes to Nekketsu...

Akio has a terrible reputation leftover with the student body.
Noriko and Akio know Anne, a red-head who told them off for stealing her uniform jacket!
Noriko attends Fencing Club at Nekketsu.
You all know Shiokaze, though Itsumi is a bit closer to her than the others.
And you all know Fujio, Nekketsu's Banchou and the player of Mr. Heart, a pretty honorable guy.

How do you approach Nekketsu? At least you won't have to break in this time! And you could rope Tsukiyo into helping... she knows Miyuki the best.

---

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)

Itsumi: You find that you're throwing yourself into doing additional Student Council work! What started as sharing elbow space with a conniving ice witch and a blackmailing bastard seems to have turned into genuine enthusiasm for managing the affairs of the three classes?! As you work diligently at the end of the day, you hear your Senpai approaching... always moving at a steady, stately rhythm, as though announcing herself.

: "Kasaya-san." She waits for you to look up to greet her and gives you a cordial nod and smile. "I was very impressed to hear about your placement after mid-terms, and further still to see you working so hard here. Do you mind if I join you?"

---

Sunday, May 17th, Tsukiyo's House

Itsumi, Tsukiyo: Tsukiyo's "house" is a full sized traditional Japanese home with an adjacent structure, a small dojo! A fenced yard, a shed and even a peaceful little garden with pond! And she lives here, all by herself with only her Grandmother!? The two of you are left undisturbed as Grandma Clara addresses a "special student" alone in the dojo. Itsumi gains +1 Academics for her diligent efforts and Tsukiyo gains +2 Academics as a smarter head helps her catch up rapidly. As the two of you relax between time hard spent hitting the books, your conversation drifts to Tsukiyo's outrageous lunch-time meeting with Takano and Akane...

Tsukiyo: You have no idea how to run for Student Council. You'll need a Skill Check to even begin basic research into it. You can't imagine Takano would help you either... but you are studying with Itsumi and she's on the Council! It's a start! And you gain an additional +1 Academics for your disciplined solo efforts over the weekend! Studying is its own reward!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Inner City Kobe

Takashi: Gathering your friends old and new together, you hit the town! You notice when picking up Hiroko that she lives on the second floor of an expanded storefront, the first floor being a beautiful family-owned gardening store. The artisanal flower beds speak to the mastery of her family and staff and draw a steady amount of foot traffic on a popular suburban street corner. And the two of you had another pleasant street clean-up early in the morning... now the five of you are sharing a room and belting out the most popular bawdy teen ballads to celebrate the end of a challenging last week.

And now is the promised time, when you belt out <My Bad Romance>.. it has a duet part! You can already see Hitomi with a raised hand pointing down impatiently at her own grinning face. Masami waves you off and Jun seems indifferent to who does it. Hiroko is waiting patiently with her gaze averted slightly.

---

Sunday, May 17th, Kobe Suburbs

Noriko: The last few times you dealt with the Nishiyama household their younger children helped hex you, the older son blasted you out of a window and the mother gave you the creeps. How're you going to approach it this time!? The mystery of the strange pig-headed son excelling at school has caught your attention! At least you can guarantee he'll be home!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Bibliotheca Argentea(Online DDW)

Akio: You log into your Mindscape, deciding to relax a bit at the end of the night on your free day. You haven't had a chance to see how well the cloud-riding spires of your great library have done with the common player. As you zone into the outskirts of your area to survey it, you're surprised to see a steady line of low-to-mid-level players lining up for the challenging little tests you've devised in your "Tutorial Dungeon." An equally steady line of adventurers is departing at a steady clip, eagerly examining their hard-won loot. There seems to be a communal chat point at the main foyer where a crowd of people listens attentively to somebody speaking:

: ".. And this one's just a simple Tower of Hanoi with a teleporting piece gimmick, you can solve it in this order ^{<shift, shift, shift, blink, shift, shift, blink, shift, blink>}. That one's a combat challenge, you taunt the Knight and kite him only one square outside of his range at a time, don't stand diagonal to the Priests or at cardinal directions vs the Brutes. It's just Chess, right? And then this one..." The luxurious Tiefling Warlock <Miss> Mapple is sitting with her legs crossed high at the knee on the front desk of your grand library, reciting a clearly memorized list of special information to everyone about to enter! Seems she has gained a few levels but still has nothing on Ailuridae's explosive growth.

A few people from the crowd turn and gesture at you and either hide their laughter or feel a bit awkward and hustle into the challenges or even out of the Mindscape entirely.

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

: Weasel is absolutely riveted as Mori speaks! When she finishes he gestures rapidly, sweating all the more! "Yeah! Like that! I get creamed and this guy says ta me, he asks if I wanna get stronger, I say yeah, sure, and he asks me for weird stuff, like manufacturing some guild drama or somethin'! Even gives me ideas and targets and the like! Says uh, I better not be late on giving back to him.. I did it by the end a' April and I'm already Paragon, y'know?!"

: "It was worse for me... I fell in a dungeon while acting as Defender and was so embarrassed I wanted to die! I enter that weird place and he says he can make it better. All he'd want is me to go to a place and fight somebody.. easy, right?" Redd seems very demure all of a sudden, for a tall fit oni lass. "He had me arrive and join somebody else in a King of the Hill style map. He wiped this trio of lowbies out, totally crushed them and won. He seemed to be satisfied with that... they were totally dejected afterwards." She sighs and rubs her upper arm, looking away. "It felt cruel, like I killed their interest in the game."

: "Well.. we're stuck in it now and those were the easy prices, yeah? Things get harder and we both dropped and now we got this tall order and we're sharin' it! But we gots some leads. He's always got leads.. like ya said, funny how that works out, huh? And Ambrose said he knew ya, uh, Mori. That somebody else he'd heard of saw this stuff."

: Redd seems a bit more chipper and interested in Mori. "Hmm.. have you just not fallen since that time? You guys are pretty strong. That's good. Here's my plan. ORDER has a few leaders who like glory more than others, ya know? Fenrir never streams, Bishop has his dungeons, they got that weird RP group for Thadd. That kinda stuff. Royal streams and she's been advertising her first "real" Mindscape. She's working with Bishop to make a proper Dungeon instead of a hang out spot... that means if we head there before she "officially opens" it, we can be some of the first to run it. If Bishop's helping it'll be tough in design, but you guys are ready for that, right? And it's better than just going to the Towers of Destruction or something like that..."

: "Nyehhh-heh, Bishop just gets happy when folks run his stuff. Watches 'em, rates 'em. Like a voyeur or somethin'!"

: "Necropolis, a city of the damned and dead. <Princess> Royal_Boner is a powerful Bard and she loves to summon monsters, mostly undead. I think everybody knows that, yeah? Makes choosing Personas a bit easier. Necrotic and Poison Resist at minimum."

: Weasel dips his glasses long enough to roll his eyes before letting them bob back into place. "Chehhh-heh, if ya like easy."

: "I like living!" She scowls at Weasel, fangs glinting.

: "Look, that ain't th' only way we can go. You don't get a group of guys this strong all th' time." He grins at you all! "And you guys fought freakin' Fenrir. You're the real deal. I've been thinking about this one for months... ya know the House of Fortune? Mage_Isabelle's auction house! Not many guys know th' game system like I do, but I can tell.. it's a Dungeon 'Scape! I mean, ya can't spawn a Boss as tough as ol' Headcount as party of some tinny decorative guards, right?" His grin doubles in size, such that it might overtake his face. He sweats a bit more as he chuckles! "Heh heh heh! Whaddaya say we run that one?! Can ya think of a better prize than the freakin' Auction House?!"

You do know a bit about the full six of ORDER's "world best" elite. Raiding Bishop's dungeons alone doesn't seem like a good way forward, but embarrassing him and Royal would do the job. Most of you don't know Isabelle at all aside from the general rumors of the biggest Auction Baron in the game. And .attak can certainly recall the colossal doorman that guards the House of Fortune. It'd fit the Devil's requirements, at least!

Fenrir's Mindscape is best known as a pure PvP zone, a living disaster area. You've also already earned the fame for defeating him! You know that Thaddeus has a full crop of roleplayer nerds and they must have an equally esteemed Mindscape to ransack. And there's always the idea of going straight to the top and trying to figure out where Charlotte rests her crown...

You've got time enough to do a little research(alternate skill use summary.) The choice is yours to make.

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Jul 28, 2018

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 00:57

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, The Tree

: "!" Kunio is startled to see that Itsumi has joined the conversation suddenly! He cups his chin and enters a state of deep thought, looking down to the ground for a moment. He smiles with a sincere appreciation. "The sunflower of the freshman year, Kasaya Itsumi. Am I truly so lucky...?" ... "Ah, if you could introduce me to anyone you know, that would be a big help."

---

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)

: Itsumi: Takano sits and returns your smile. "Please, you can call me Takano-Senpai." S-she didn't drop the honorific! Like a visit from a boss, her eyes dance across the little busywork you're doing. (Feel free to ad-lib.) "I thought it would be nice if we became friends, Kasaya-san. What are you working on there?"

You may just be doing the standard checks and busy-work of the Student Council, or you may be stuck with work Ichiro should be doing! He's on the Council too and must answer to Senpai! Revealing the truth of the matter would definitely get you on his bad side... but what of the side of the President?!

---

Teufeulsbrucke

: "You've been there? I guess that's why she redid it. And with Bishop's help it'll be pretty much brand new."

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 14:45

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Sunday, May 17th, Bibliotheca Argentea(Online DDW)

The crowd separates as things are clearly about to get good. Mapple stops speaking as you cut in and deliver some coy remarks... she crosses her arms and sighs.

: "Of course you did. There's nothing quite like your discipline." She bounces one foot impatiently up and down, her right leg crossed over top her left. "And after we last met I just had to come here and see you..." Why is everybody looking between the two of you like that!? "After last time... I really need you to take responsibility." Mapple keeps her arms crossed over her chest and raises one hand to her mouth, anxiously biting a fingertip.

Now the rumor mill is in high gear as everybody is chatting, staring and occasionally emoting. Lots of blushing and big grins!

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Jul 28, 2018

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 18:33

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)
Music

: Takano's gaze ever so pointedly crosses from your face, down to your hands, down to your papers. Before you can even consider the likelihood of it being seen at that distance and angle she's speaking! "An upperclassman? ... You're very kind, Kasaya-san. There can be a lot to do on the Council, that's why I try to keep it organized and fairly divided. I would not want you to be exhausting yourself with extra work."

---

Sunday, May 17th, Bibliotheca Argentea(Online DDW)

: As you grab her wrist Mapple lets out a flushed sigh that makes you a little too aware of how realistic VR can feel. "Ohh~ho~ I can't wait for more discipline, daddy~" You teleport out to the feeling of utter social awkwardness as the crowd murmurs anew! ... Once you're in the confines of your own most personal sanctum, an extension of your preparatory Velvet Room into your new Mindscape, Mapple snaps her hand out of your grip and crosses her arms again, her expression 180ing to one of deadpan amusement. "You're a funny guy, Ambrose. So, you want to talk, great, me too." She smirks at you. "The last time your group kicked our asses it really got us bent out of shape." ... ! <Miss> Mapple's screen name is missing the [GANK] call sign of Gank Inc.! "I wanna join Ailuridae."

---

Sunday, May 17th, Kobe Suburbs

Noriko: As you learned in Other School most assuredly, Hideaki plays <Darling> Pohl in Digital Devil Worlds...

You're friends with him but you feel like maybe explaining to him that you're stalking his weird friend who threw you out a window might go over poorly, somehow. Shadowing his online activity seems a lot easier! You pick up on him partying a few times with names you don't recognize... but consistently with a Runepriest. Patiently reading through the game wiki you deduce that Goro attacked you with an at-will from the same class!

Entelodont! Quite a strange name, and the same brutish pig-man theme. At least he's wearing a dignified set of heavy mail this time. You could try to contact him directly in game and confront him!

But you've got a wide open weekend it seems and do a bit of snooping with Crowley as well. Sitting in a dark brush line in a street near the Nishiyama household you find yourself becoming a little too good at this: you've got a bottle of convenience store tea and some chips and remember to wear a coat so that you can lounge without getting covered in dirt and plant burs. A few birds loiter around the area, some brother ravens and an early bird brown owl, but nothing that interferes with your familiar. Crowley has difficulty making out anything going on inside the perpetually dark house, but it is later in the evening on Sunday that you detect.. two distinct voices, speaking in a muffled manner inside? You've established the pattern by which you can tell that the elderly woman is out, so you know it can't be her! There's a window that is half open to let the cooling evening air in, but it's still too distorted and quiet to hear from outside! Would Crowley risk peeking inside?!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Inner City Kobe

Takashi:

: Success!!! Hiroko accepts the mic and looks a little relieved!? She waits for your part to finish before adding in the complimentary duo singing!

""I really like it dangerous,
Live in his memory.
Follow his memories
I live his memory
Find a memory
Find your memory
It was my kind of bad romance"

And so the two of you continue for the whole song... having a great deal of fun and a lot of plainly obvious chemistry, like two stars granting each other confidence on stage! Once the song is over and Hiroko has excused herself to get a drink and wipe sweat from her brow, Masami gets close and whispers to you, his long-time bud:

: "drat Tak, you're still the best. ... Huh, though I thought you were down with uh, Hatoi-sama or somebody?" Over the top of his head you can see Hitomi regarding you very carefully.

---

Ambrose, Streetwise(Teufelsbrucke): Ever since you had the chance to get in you've been lurking every drat thread on ORDER you can find. Recaps of events, real and roleplayed, posted recruits, excited babbling about their elites like plebes talking about their favorite "e-celebs".. you've read it all and got a pretty good handle on how ORDER structures itself!

ORDER itself only grants the tag to their esteemed elites. Anyone with the tag is Epic level or closing in on it and they've had the greatest availability of amazing gear and powerful Personas, radically altering their capabilities beyond their class. Even if you know the base class, you can't rely on just that to know their true strength! This is doubly true inside home field Mindscapes, where players spend their resources to create terrain and NPCs to assist them or empower themselves. Each ORDER elite seems to have a gang of fans that follow their general design and gameplay choices to either emulate or reinforce those, though these separate guilds clearly aren't making the high standard cut of ORDER itself.

As was mentioned to the others way back when, Royal is a powerful summoner who is actually based off the Bard class. She isn't the highest level in ORDER but is still hailed as the "world's best Leader" since their streamed raid against Princess Sekja, where she demonstrated an ability to use small but vital tools from other Leader's kits. She's obviously an undead-themed character and as a Leader aims for long-term wins, buffing her team and debuffing her enemies. This extends to her followers, the Radical Skulls or [RAD]. They're about as goofy and vapid as you'd expect from the fanboys of a rockstar zombie queen but any incremental gain engine that hits critical mass will secure a win from that point. The Undead themes share a lot of gimmicks that reinforce Royal's gameplan: regeneration, survival at 0 HP or less and tons of Necrotic and Poison Damage with Radiant Weaknesses.

Thaddeus' flunkies are the Dragonsblood Tribe [D-Born] and seem to be a cut above the regular fans. They tend to follow the templates of the classic Chromatic Dragons, or Fire(Red), Lightning(Blue), Acid(Black), Poison(Green) and Cold(White.) Thaddeus is the World's Best Striker and anyone from the tribe will likely have a generous helping of elemental damage to go with explosive burst or consistent above-average damage dealing. You're not sure how they'd compensate for the obvious problems of pure DPS teams so you can safely assume they will not run those but rather leverage their Defender, Controller and Leaders to create and exploit weaknesses for even more damage. You could see sinister shenanigans like Elemental Mafia teams in the future against them...

Charlotte's Knight Templars [HOLY] (thus, [HOLY] [ORDER] when teamed with ORDER itself...) emulate her habit of helping other players and emphasize being able to do more for teammates as well as incredible toughness to survive doing so. However, they will generally act for the betterment of the team before simply being very survivable. They seem to be a very rare breed, possibly owing to the actual selflessness needed to make this a game-time focus!

Bishop's kind are even rarer, dedicated to no set grouping of characteristics other than a desire to understand and recreate the best of Mindscapes. Somebody who is not excellent at PvE cannot understand what makes PvE good or bad, so above all the members of the [ARCH] tag are not only architects in their spare time but some of the wisest leaders in the game, capable of directing focus trains or dungeon raids expertly. Although they have no unifying aesthetic, they are almost all monstrous to some degree, emulating at least that much from Bishop's Avatar...

Fenrir doesn't have anyone he acknowledges other than ORDER itself. The wolf [PACK] that follows his exploits and loiters around his Mindscape or PvP hotspots seems to be made of those egotistical enough to think they can impress or surpass him without invitation.

And most curiously, you're not even aware that Isabelle has any followers. Or maybe she does, and as you sit at the table across from Redd and Weasel, you wonder if Isabelle is old school enough to only work with those on her own private friends list... maybe like yourself?

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

Ambrose receives a private message...

Weasel to Ambrose PM posted:

: "Heeeyyy, guy, calm down. Chill out. You're gonna give yourself away!" Hearing his goofy voice directly, privately! "Besides, we just gotta raid any 'scape, right? And we don't wanna die, so all that matters is a good target! They're all gonna be hard... don't tell me yer feelin' soft on Mage or somethin'? Hah!" He sneers as he laughs, sweating a bit all the same. "Look, we's been workin' our asses off for weeks now and ain't got NOTHIN' to show for it! Not one piece-a-loot! Like we're ever even gonna get that invite. So I's says, this raid is the pay day we give ourselves. Ya hear me?"

: Weasel laughs after Mori's big spiel! "Nyeeheheheheh! Yow! You got the right attitude, Missy! If we're gettin' in trouble, gotta go big, right?! What're they gonna do, wipe us twice?!"

: ".. This is serious! If we get wiped out, are we really gonna have time to try again?! Something awful could happen to us!" Redd fumes a bit. "I want to agree with Ambrose... but.. well, what IS the difference? They're all so strong.. maybe we really can sneak into Fortune House?"

: Beaming with pride, Weasel clears his throat twice! "Nyeh-hem. Hem Hem. Now do ya think I'd suggest this without a good plan? Not only did I figure out the secret of the House.. but I know the secret of their doorman, Headcount! I know that too! It's easy once you know.. you can't let him hit the same Defender twice in a row in melee. But! BUT!" He holds his hands up to demand a pause, relishing the attention granted him a bit as somebody who has special knowledge. "He attacks at Range too! And it's the same trick! You need to cycle who takes the Melee strikes AND who gets his attention outside that too.. they can't take hits back to back, they need a round to clear. See, it's doable. That's th' game. If it's part of th' game, it has to have a way to beat it, or it wouldn't be in, yeah?"

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Jul 30, 2018

# ¿ Jul 30, 2018 02:40

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)
Music

Itsumi: Your instincts sharpen into focus, your spine stiffens with a chill, there's a small outbreak of goosebumps on your hand.. this is what it means to fall under Senpai's true scrutinizing stare!

: "Kasaya-san, is something the matter?" Her tone is formal and cold during a sympathetic inquiry. "Who gave you this work, hmm?"

---

Saturday, May 17th, Tsukiyo's House

Itsumi, Tsukiyo: As you finish up your studies and discuss the particulars of Student Council the room closest to the outdoor dojo slides open, Tsukiyo's Grandmother Clara stepping in flanked by a familiar student in a traditional Chavez style gi that probably belonged to Tsukiyo at some point as an extra or when she was younger and smaller. They're talking casually and with friendly familiarity, Clara finishing a small story that has her student laughing a little.

: "That's so cool, Sensei! It's really amazing!" Manami covers her mouth as she grins, exercising unusual politeness. She drops it and makes a casual half-wave to Itsumi and Tsukiyo. "Hey Boss."

: "This is tonight's true battleground. Itsumi, was it? How is she doing?" To say that Clara was less than pleased about Tsukiyo's results would be an understatement but placing at the halfway mark was at least worthy of not receiving direct discipline!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Bibliotheca Argentea

Akio: Mapple laughs as you recount her antics.

: "I know, right? Wasn't it funny?" She finds another priceless magical antiquity to sit and relax on, soon crossing her legs again. "Ah, it was right after we were beaten in the forest. Heart faked something IRL and logged off just to get away when ExeQT and Hero started yelling at one another. I got pretty mad too. It's like we were just messing around while real players were rocketing ahead of us..." She glances to the side and cups her cheek with one palm, rolling her eyes. "But seriously.." She looks back to you. "Hero thought we were "holding him back" and it led to an awful fight. We split up the same night..." She sighs and focuses a potent glare upon you! "It's really your fault, you know? I lost 3 friends thanks to you. What're you going to do about it, eh?"

Passive Insight: Your instincts and her mannerisms warn you of something.. maybe you're becoming too accustomed to feisty, sneaky women, but Mapple clearly wants something else that is left unsaid.

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

Weasel and Ambrose PM posted:

There's a prolonged silence, the sort of beat only caused by somebody analyzing words to carefully choose their own, or to be sitting in shock at what they've read. Eventually it breaks:

: "Nyeeehh heh heh. What're you so mad about? If you're such a true believer maybe ye should go tattle to mother, eh? It'd suit ya."

: Looking between the feuding viewpoints of the group, Redd seems swiftly overwhelmed and confused. She sweats a bit herself before throwing her hands up! "OK, OK! Uhm, there's five of you, so... Mister Attack, what should we do!?"

The Tie Breaker!!! All eyes fall upon Takashi's lil' molten pup Avatar!

# ¿ Aug 2, 2018 01:19

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)
Music

Itsumi: You can't even think to try lying about it so you aim for omitting details. This seems to work well enough.

: "Hmm. He shouldn't." She accepts the win in the field of social graces and reaches over, picking up the document and giving it a quick look. She keeps it. "Especially as treasurer, it is negligent to spread these figures too far." She gives you a very small but warm smile. "It's his fault though, I will talk to him. He should teach you better if he's eyeing you as a replacement..." The door to the room opens!

: "Takanooo~" Her younger sister, Akane! You two don't really chat often, although you did see each other at Other School and you know she shadows Noriko constantly. The younger Hattori skips over to the table and sits down next to her sister, openly chewing some bubble gum. She gives you a little wave. "Hey poindexter."

: "Be nice!" Takano pinches her sister's ear, leading to Akane exaggerating a wince and pawing at the table while nodding. Takano sighs and adds the paper she took from Itsumi to her bag as Akane delivers it. "Are you done for the day? We can leave soon. Thank you for your hard work, Kasaya-san." After standing Takano pauses for a moment, then looks to Itsumi again. "Kasaya-san, I was wondering if you might help my sister sometime. The two of you could study together, perhaps."

: "Ehhh, really?! Do I have to!?" Akane seems irritated by the idea until Takano gives her a stern glare. Akane rolls her eyes and gives Itsumi a sneaky smile. "Well gee, I guess I could go to your house sometime. Sunflower field, hippy commune or little corner church?" Akane shuffles to the side to evade Takano's reach, laughing.

---

Saturday, May 17th, Tsukiyo's House

: Clara gives Itsumi an almost unusually warm smile. "Thank you, Itsumi." She covers a small laugh as she regards Manami for a moment. ".. Nakamura, I expect you to take those extra exercises seriously. The first Technique demands a lot from the wrists. I won't care if you tear anything, you hear me?" This sounds familiar to Tsukiyo...

: "Y-Yeah, Sensei! I've got it!" Manami waves to Tsukiyo and Itsumi. "Well, see you on Monday, Sensei! See ya, Boss!" She departs.

: "Hmmm..." Clara watches Manami go. "Almost makes up for your brother's obstinacy.."

---

Sunday, May 17th, Kobe Suburbs

Noriko, Online:

: "Like a gold ring in a pig�s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." With that simple rebuke, Goro blocks you!

Noriko, IRL: Feeling frustrated trying to contact him online, you feel better about resorting to spying on him. You didn't become a witch so that mere physical, digital or societal barriers could get in your way. Acting with profound sneakiness, Crowley successfully perches on the window sill and peers into the room.

O-o-o-o-o-oh dear! Goro is sitting at a computer desk with an ancient LCD monitor and an open-framed toaster running something, what you first assume is a tragically low settings version of Digital Devil Worlds. As you take in the unmuffled sounds coming from the speakers you realize it is something altogether tragically low...

"A cleansing flame of absolution rises deep within me~"

You're not entirely sure but you believe these attractive women in provocative poses with luscious figures have no reason to be naked while wielding such dazzling flame. They may also be related to some IP associated with a far flung future and a heavy metal aesthetic. Crowley is also unfortunately alert enough to detect that Goro's pants are unzipped and a few inches lower than his waist would be.

Nobody said going deep would be pleasant. Do you continue snooping?!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Inner City Kobe

Takashi:

: Masami grins in a positive reaction to Takashi's encouragement then turns red in the cheeks, unable to meet his friend's eyes. "H-h-h-h-hey, you make it sound so easy, you know? Talking to girls and all.."

: Hitomi comes in for landing, joining the conversation. "You talk to us all the time!"

: "That's different, I don't like you..." Masami starts! "UHM, what I mean is, uh, uhm, I like you as a g-great friend, Hitomi-chan! B-but I don't like you, uh, that way, yeah!" Hard swerves and lots of shaking and rattling but he pulls up at the last second...!

: "Yeah, you're kinda short anyway. Thanks for being a great friend, Masami-chan." She elbows him in the ribs and lets him crash and burn on the karaoke booth cushioned seating as she glowers at Takashi. "... Wellllll? Are you just gonna seal it away forever?! What happened, Takashi?"

: "Yeahh... I thought it was going well? And you know.." Masami rotates and sits properly after his fumble. "I didn't know you knew Akane too? I thought... well.."

: "Hee hee, yeah. Everybody in their middle school knows it. You cross one sister, both hate you." Somehow just knowing this bit of gossip and reciting it seems to fill Hitomi with a self-assurance. And a little bit of smug satisfaction.

---

Sunday, May 17th, Bibliotheca Argentea

: Mapple brightens up too early in the middle of your cunning little speech. "Oh, Ambrose, I'll get started right away!" She peers up at you with a face full of vibrant enthusiasm...! And then scowls, her tail wavering back and forth and making little pointed thrusts. "Why don't you cut the crap, Dull Blade!" She brandishes a finger and repeatedly points, jabbing it into your chest! "You think everybody's too stupid for you or something?!" Jab! "A pack of losers in some chill baby guild rocket up an entire tier in two weeks?! Who're you trying to fool, huh?!" JAB! Right in the chin! Mapple whirls around and crosses her arms, gripping her own shoulders. "Mark my words, Ambrose..." Venom drips down every syllable! "I will figure out your secret! And Ailuridae's! And why some dumbass dog guy beat the best PvPer in the game a god drat month after deciding that maybe there's more to life than resisting the temptation to drink something with a skull on the label!" She doesn't wait for your reply before storming off to the teleporter pad and poofing right out!

---

Teufelsbrucke
Music

Ambrose PM with Weasel posted:

: "Nyehhh, you ever heard yourself talk?" The conversation terminates.

Ambrose PM with Isabelle posted:

You don't receive an immediate reply. After a tense few minutes as your group goes over preparations and team formation, Isabelle replies.

: You don't know how pleased I am that you came to me with this, Ambrose. I feel like I can really trust you. Maybe for the first time?

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Fortune arcana...}

Your bonus to Support Personas of the Fortune Arcana increases to +3 Attack/Damage/Healing!

: Hahahaha. I should be the one scolding you. Would you really turn down a useful asset just because you personally dislike it, just a bit? That is immature. Besides, he is a first rate sneak and creep! *a little laughing Isabelle face emoticon, hand covering mouth* Who else could do things I personally dislike?

Ambrose. If I feel I can trust you now, maybe I can admit to you that I sent you to see these two because I am worried they are telling the truth. I am worried that somebody in ORDER would kill for unknown reasons, and that places me in danger. You can understand, I hope, that I can't exactly depend on that same ORDER to tell me the truth, or to investigate itself, yes? And if you're right about all these strange things and this "Joker", they aren't even the only threats? All I can trust right now is myself and you.

If I ask you to keep working with me, do you accept using our partnership to keep each other safe?

Ambrose PM with Isabelle posted:

: "Ever since I learned about Takamura's death I've been worried that there's an evil force lurking within ORDER. And, well, I've had my doubts whether you are part of it or not. But I... think I can trust you too. I accept."

Ambrose PM with Isabelle posted:

: Wonderful. Hitting the House of Fortune will hurt the others too. Make them move around a lot. I'll cut my losses, this is a nice chance to power up some allies. But you guys... you can't just waltz in with the keys. You'll need to defeat Headcount at the front door to show you're serious. He shows up at the last vault if you skip him. Oh, and Ambrose. This is very important. A lot of people have seen Headcount Wipe Videos. It was a short-lived meme for a few weeks. Everybody is well aware of his Diminishing Strike and Magic Missiles, the stacking debuff, that kind of thing.

The real trick is that you can never kite him for longer than a single round. Got that? If he can't release energy on two targets per Round for too long he'll supercharge. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself.

I'll be logging off for the rest of the night citing my work. Can't argue with real life, right? Good luck. I'll leave you enough to steal.

: "It's risky, but there's not really a choice that doesn't fit that bill. I'm in." Redd tentatively offers her extended hand, face down.

: "We're in a lotta trouble, but opportunity, trouble, they kinda look alike to th' meek. Let's take 'em for all they're worth!" He does the same, setting his hand atop hers.

The rest of them look to you to join in... (I'll be making another Teufelsbrucke post with the first map and prompt for Overseer choice with updated Overseer stats on Sunday night.)

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Aug 4, 2018

# ¿ Aug 4, 2018 00:19

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)
Music

Itsumi:

: "He's my subordinate. I will correct this issue." And that's the end of trying to cover for Ichiro!

: "An old house? Those are the best kind! Is it run down? Any fire damage? Maybe it's really old and you've got people buried there!? That'd be so creepy.. and so cool.. believe me, Itsumi, I'm a real connoisseur of lovely houses!"

: Takano breaks kayfabe for a moment to laugh at Akane's comments, then clears her throat and shifts her business face back on as she tidies up the room and gathers her personal belongings. "It was nice talking with you, Kasaya-san."

: "Tomorrow's Sunday, we should do something!" Akane laces her fingers together into a little pleading gesture.

: With a soft sigh, Takano looks away from her sister. "I don't know... I don't think I feel much like it..."

: "Eh, why not? Is something wrong?" Akane drops the pleading as curiosity wins out instantly.

: "N.. No." Forced out into the unfamiliar, it's almost pitiable how bad she is at lying.

: Akane gets in her sister's face and waggles a finger! "You're so obvious! Are you still thinking about that guy!? Well, it can't be helped! He's just a little kid and he can't handle a formidable woman like you, and then you'll find someone who can!" Speaking with earnest sincerity, it proves to be infectious and Akane's smile spreads to Takano, who looks back to her sister for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ack!"

: "You're right Akane, thank you."

---

Saturday, May 17th, Tsukiyo's House

Itsumi, Tsukiyo:

: Grandmother fixes another firm glare upon Tsukiyo. "She what, hmm? She was a lovely little hooligan, but she had sense enough to use dogeza." She perks up a bit and walks over to the table, looking over your school work. "See to it that I don't ask the same of you, Tsukiyo."

# ¿ Aug 7, 2018 02:18

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Sunday, May 17th, Inner City Kobe
Music

Takashi: Listening intently to another riveting Takashi tale of love and loss(there seem to be a few of these over the years...), Hitomi eventually breaks out laughing, stuck in non-stop belly laughs as she clutches her side and repeatedly fails to keep her composure. Masami looks off to the side and nervously chuckles while Jun snickers openly. Hiroko has rejoined the group in time to hear the story and seems to be holding a very polite and reserved absence of judgement, smiling awkwardly.

: "HAHAHAHAHA! Eee-hahahahah! Hahahaha! Heh-hee.. heh..! Heheehahahahahaha! Oh my God, Takashi!" She clutches her stomach with both arms and pitches forward, finally bringing herself down to a giggling fit. "I've never seen anybody so good at getting dates blow so many of them!" She sits up and snickers, grinning. "D-dohaha.. Don't you know anything about girls?!"

: "Ehhh, Takashi, didn't she just want you t..." Hitomi leans over and covers Masami's mouth with her hand!

: "Boys are supposed to make the first move! Hahahahaha!" She lets Masami go and leans over on the couch, still having a little fit.

: ".. The queen? Aren't you just two kids on a date? Heh heh heh.. that's really funny, Takashi." Somehow Jun has gone the whole night without singing. He's a cagey fellow!

: "Eto..." Hiroko Uhms. ".. I thought it was a cute story.. and a mature separation.. if they're not interested in each other that way?" The others peer over to Hiroko with a bit of interest, which makes her more self-aware and blush a bit. "... Well, it's a lot nicer than the story I heard about Takashi-san..."

quote:

: : "Are you for real, Tomi-chan?" Takashi looks at her entirely seriously, not even a blush from being he center of attention or being mocked by his friends, "You're serious? With that 1990s <bullshit> about women being the fairer sex and the man must always go first? You!?" he spares a glance for the room, "I mean... next you'll tell me that boys must always open doors for girls, and pick up every check," he smirks, running his hand over the growing stubble on his face, a result of having put off shaving since the Other City, "or is this perhaps a double standard?"

: Not one to be bothered by your wit, Hitomi lets out a sly new line of fresh giggles, covering her mouth and peering over her hand at Takashi to gauge his reaction. "Oh really? And you believe girls to tell you what they want? And yeah Hiroko, it's not what I heard at all."

: "Honestly, I'm relieved! I didn't want to think you were that kind of pervert..." Hiroko can't look Takashi in the eye for a moment, then works up to it and smiles warmly at him. "It didn't seem like you, those rumors, I mean.. but.. uhm.. is it true you were intimidated by her?" There's no malice, but it's a malicious subject.. !

: "No way! And that bit about leaving in tears can't be true! Tak'd rather die than cry!" At least Masami has your back, even if some unknown malcontent is trying to stab it!

# ¿ Aug 8, 2018 03:02

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Teufelsbrucke
Music

(If you have not posted a finished Level 16 Character sheet in the OOC thread, please do so. Please finalize your choices of Support Personas, Weakness Bonus, any purchased loot and so on.)

Whether or not you participate in the team building exercise, you've agreed upon striking the House of Fortune, or Fortune House. The Auction House! Or the largest one at least, firmly under ORDER's oversight and in their shared Mindscape. You can now select up to 3 Overseers at once! However, today one of them must be either Redd or Weasel and the other will join your party! (Overseers have been upgraded for Level 16.)

quote:

Redd: Hot-Blooded(Passive): Gain Fire and Cold Resist +10, adding to existing Resistances.
Hercules Swing(Daily): Starting at Range 3 from Any one Ally, make a 1d20+22 Attack vs Fortitude on one Enemy. On a Hit deal 3d10+18 Damage and Push 5. On a Miss deal Half Damage and make a Bull Rush (1d20+22) vs Fortitude with Push 1 on a Hit.

Otherwise, Redd is a Hybrid Warden/Slayer. She can freely apply Marks, is sturdier than most and can deal average damage.

Weasel: Shadow Sneak(Passive): Gain Poison and Acid Resist +10, adding to existing Resistances.
Seditious Spread(Daily): Within Close Burst 3 from any one Ally, select up to 2 Allies and up to 2 Enemies. Rearrange them as you please. Targets that cannot be Pushed/Pulled/Slid are not moved.

Otherwise, Weasel is a Hybrid Rogue/Assassin. He has a toolbox of esoteric utilities and can deal decent damage.

Headcount looms over the whole of the Auction House, as per usual. Entering the House of Fortune you immediately see your target standing in his default starting position. Every so often he is known to patrol the massive grand lobby of the Auction House, humming with energy as he performs unknown checks on his surroundings. He will not show aggression until he identifies somebody else doing so or attempting to do something "illegal." (Though not illustrated on the maps below...) There are a large number of player held stalls and merchants haggling for their wares under the glorious golden decorations of the House. Along the same wall that Headcount stands guard at are the windows for the clockwork attendants to provide the Auction services. You could even purchase goods before you begin the heist! It seems nobody is aware of your impending criminal activities... you will dictate the start of the battle!

You may move as you please and perform any number of checks or preparatory actions until somebody chooses to strike, at which point you are all locked into place and have a Surprise Round!

Bright Purple Lines indicate Walls that break LOS.
The Large Circle is 10 feet high, a display stage.
Silver Pillars block Line of Sight at squares Adjacent to their Base.
The Chandelier is 50 feet above the ground.

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: ???, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Energy Charge: 0/???
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Weaknesses: ???
Immunity: Force

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Oct 31, 2018

# ¿ Aug 12, 2018 01:25

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday, May 16th, Student Council Room(After School)
Music

Itsumi: Your gentle approach works well, as Akane favors you with a warm smile and Takano nods to you.

: "I went on a second date with a boy in your year, Kurokawa Takashi. I thought things were going well..." She sighs, her voice a bit strained as she continues. "We had a disagreement and he walked out on me.. right there.." Takano looks to Itsumi and it's at this moment you realize that she was never even aware of your feud. "We've barely spoken since."

: Akane gets even further pumped up and hugs Takano quickly, then pulls back and grabs her shoulders for a big pep talk! "He's an idiot! He'll realize what a big mistake he made some day!" She grins cheekily. "And Tak, if you want, I'll rough him up.." She brings up her fists in a little mock fighter's pose, exaggerated for comedy. She pitches her voice like some cheesy day-time crime drama star! "Trash like him, I leave 'em sprawled out on th' curb!"

: Takano laughs joyfully and smiles, grabbing Akane's foremost fist with both of her hand owns. She grins at Itsumi. "It's the weekend, we should do something fun, you know? Mmm.." She considers for a moment, but by the sidelong glance she gives to Akane, you get the feeling they had something in mind already. The two sisters look to Itsumi as Takano continues. "Do you like karaoke?" Akane looks to you expectantly and nods rapidly as a suggestion.

Itsumi: You can join the two and spend your Saturday Night in a karaoke club, singing your hearts out. This won't consume any time slots!

---

Sunday, May 17th, Kobe Suburbs

Noriko: Looking up the line, you come across the most obvious source, the original Warhammer 40k wiki, attributed to the Sisters of Battle. Adding a few keywords reveals that it is tied to a few esoteric doujins, a flash porn game and an animated cartoon series portraying ludicrously out of character sexual encounters between ferociously rugged men! Is this... bara?! The battle cries of the attractive yet clothed Sisters are simply part of an overly elaborate battle scene that against all odds leads to a battle between a thick Ork and a powerful Space Marine, and as the Marine declares that "an open heart is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded" and they're shirtless and a Waaaggh is imminent... Goro closes the program and composes himself. Crowley may be a bit baffled by what he has witnessed but his animal instincts sharpen as a new possible threat enters the scene, the door to Goro's room sounding with a quiet knock.

: "C-Come in!" Goro looks up, a bit awkward due to his most recently viewed media for sure, but clearly expecting this guest.

: Crowley involuntarily hops to the side and peers upon the room at the most reserved angle, shocked to see the shadow-wrapped figure of the boy from Other School step into the room! Even in real life Joker is wearing his fox mask and openly channeling magical power. He stands at a polite, formal distance from Goro, who remains seated. "I'm glad I could meet you today, Goro. Have you thought about what we discussed last time?" His voice still crackles and hisses occasionally but the effect is far more subdued. You can make out a low young man's voice, spoken by somebody not used to projecting from their chest, thus making their words sound a bit more airy, like wind is just leaving his throat without personality.

: "Expecting you, should've come sooner. I remember your deal. Too bad though. Not confident in it." Goro leans forward, elbow set on his chair's arm rest, pointing at Joker as though to make a point.

: "There's not a lot of confidence in this game... the others are too strong, moving too directly. Guys like us have to stick to the sides, hit them where they're weak. It's not safe to confront them directly, really." He sighs, occasionally gesturing with a hand to emphasize something said, but lacking the energy to raise it above where it rests by his waist.

: "Haha, yeah, well, have to disagree. I've picked a side. The game sounds good. Always knew it. Always knew, you know. Stuff in the world we can't see, parallel to everything, like there's a normie-verse and the real world."

: ".. You've picked a side? I hope you've put some serious thought into this... we can be allies. We can remain friends. Goro, I need more help." He takes a step forward and raises both hands, making angry, frustrated fists, his shoulders hunching as he clenches them. "They killed my brother.."

---

(Before I forget, Takashi gains +1 Courage from the Karaoke scene.)

# ¿ Aug 14, 2018 03:03

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Plutonis posted:

Flagelo - Casino

Staying at D-5 for a while if problem arises, going to stay "undercover" much like .attak.

Also voting Drusilla/Redd but going with Masami instead of Ryuka

# ¿ Aug 14, 2018 03:38

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Overseers are Ryuka, Felix and Redd. Weasel will be on the field.)

quote:

Felix: Execution(Passive): Attacks that reduce a target to 9 HP or less instead reduce them to 0 HP.
Ninjutsu(Daily): All PCs may Shift up to 6 Squares this turn. Movement lost if not used.
Ryuka: Blowhard(Passive): +4 to all Damage.
Greater Fireball(Daily): 1d20+19 vs Reflex in Ranged Burst 2(5x5), deals 4d6+11 Damage to Enemies
Redd: Hot-Blooded(Passive): Gain Fire and Cold Resist +10, adding to existing Resistances.
Hercules Swing(Daily): Starting at Range 3 from Any one Ally, make a 1d20+22 Attack vs Fortitude on one Enemy. On a Hit deal 3d10+18 Damage and Push 5. On a Miss deal Half Damage and make a Bull Rush (1d20+22) vs Fortitude with Push 1 on a Hit.

quote:

Initiative

Akio 13 + 12 = 25
Weasel 7 + 17 = 24
Headcount 8 = 16 = 24
Tsukiyo 3 + 16 = 19
Itsumi 6 + 13 = 19
Takashi 3 + 14 = 17
Noriko 1 + 14 = 15

---

Weasel comes up on the other side of Headcount and deftly thrusts and slashes across the smallest of gaps in the massive golem's ankle, ripping a bit of arcane force out of a severed gizmo for a reduced 17 Damage(+4 Ryuka)! .Attak's brutal blow craters in a small plate adjacent to Headcount's knee, drawing the same burst of ruined magical power for a reduced 11 Damage(+4 Ryuka)!

A panic erupts as every player who isn't familiar with the guardian of the auction house reacts with confusion and fear, loudly exiting the area to the South and fleeing! There are several Avatars that look amused or even smug but depart without any delay, passing through walls of shimmering force that permit those not involved to leave one way. You figure such courtesy won't apply to your group...

With ominous hum Headcount raises his hands to a preparatory position, fingers flexing and ready to seize and halt. He floods with power from the single item embedded in his torso, an artifact weapon serving as a power source, the torrents of violet energy igniting the featureless eye that serves as his head. A business-like, masculine voice with some pleasantness rises above all other sounds in the empty House of Fortune:

: "These actions are unapproved by any lawful entity, company edict or developer command. Prepare to die, vagrants."

One of his fists clenches and surges with power as the elbow is drawn back and the arm is raised... !

Akio wins Initiative and can act before Weasel and Headcount do!

Bright Purple Lines indicate Walls that break LOS.
The Large Circle is 10 feet high, a display stage.
Silver Pillars block Line of Sight at squares Adjacent to their Base.
The Chandelier is 50 feet above the ground.

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: 28, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio), Prone
Energy Charge: 0/???
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Weaknesses: ???
Immunity: Force

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Aug 31, 2018

# ¿ Aug 20, 2018 13:11

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody is up! Headcount and Weasel go Wednesday Night!)

To your sudden surprise Headcount completes his swinging motion, his fist brought overhead for a hammering stance a split second before it crushes and annihilates the Mirror Ambrose, his hand phasing through the illusion for a moment! It wavers heavily before reforming as Headcount raises his fist, revealing a brutal crater beneath the flickering spell. In a small nod to his legs being "Proned" and having descended by a foot or two he creaks and stands back up to his full height with a quick shift upwards.

: "Illusion identified. Rerouting power. Ranged threat identified. Applying strong deterrent." Headcount pulses with power that reinforces the violet outline of energy around him, his head rotating an unnatural amount to face Itsumi before budding waves of rippling power congeal into magic missiles that batter Sunbright for 30 Force Damage!

Headcount is building and brimming with excess power, so much so that he leaves some blasted into Itsumi! Sunbright is involuntarily surging with arcane power! She has One Diminishing Seal(Ranged) and is Marked... and she gains a +6 Bonus to Attack and Damage!

: "Multiple Threats In Melee. Proximity Attack Queued." Weasel attempts to keep the pressure up but his knife plinks off of the heavy armor plating. He sweats a bit more and Shifts. He can handle his own but you can call on him to do specific things...

: Your party chat rings as Redd Overseers with you. "Don't forget the videos, he uses a lot of AoE! Reach isn't going to cut it alone!"

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: 76, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio)
Energy Charge: 3/???
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex
Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: ???
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Aug 31, 2018

# ¿ Aug 21, 2018 03:37

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday Night, May 16th, Kobe City
Music

Itsumi: Agreeing to join the sisters for a friendly outing the three of you head into a nice part of the central city where Takano covers any expenses, insisting you spoil yourself a little. The upscale karaoke room serves drinks and even small meals for guests. The two sisters are regulars of the hobby, Takano sticking to a few tried and true popular bits that she can sing competently... and Akane rocking out with a very practiced and effective singing voice to a few grungy alternative taste hits. Nothing too underground but she's the clear "winner", as it were.

: During a bit of downtime Akane sets aside the can of pop she's ordered to whisper to Takano, openly looking at you and even doing a little bit of pointing. Takano waves her off with a disapproving look before adding you to the conversation. "This has been a very fun evening, Kasaya-san. I'm glad you joined us..." Akane sits beside her sister, practically leaning into her shoulder. Takano continues. "We'd been meaning to talk to you for awhile." There's no music playing but things are still suddenly too quiet. Takano looks very serious now. "... About what you did at the school that day. When we all went to some other space." And now the topic is very serious! The two sisters are watching you with full attention and you suddenly get the very strange feeling that you're not sure that either was ever less focused than the other.

---

Sunday Evening, May 17th, Goro's House
Music

Noriko: They're both startled immensely, though Goro is clearly much more bewildered than Joker! The masked boy tenses up, then relaxes almost immediately, recognizing something.

: "It's her! The witch! I told you, there are kids acting out in real life!" Goro gestures impatiently at Crowley, removing something from his pocket that can be plainly seen as a gaudy decorative cross made of cheap metal.

: "... Yeah. You heard me, so you should know. Takamura was my brother." He draws a simple pocket tool, deliberately taking his time to pull out the practical knife tool. This isn't cheap and serves as an excellent inch long blade. "But giving out anything else is dangerous. You say you don't want to be enemies... can you prove it? When people act outside the game, when it's easier to kill somebody who is human, instead of facing them as the wild mania of all their confidence and dreams..." He doesn't hold his knife in any sort of combat stance and seems relaxed, though his legs are tensed a bit, his shoes arching against the position his feet hold, ready to spring away. "If you're here on good faith, trade me something valuable. What's your name, and why are you part of the Game? Your real dream, if you win."

---

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody is up, next Round is Sunday Night!)

With a loud bewildering bellow Weasel rushes the great golem and joins in on your group's excellent coordinated assault, dealing a critical strike for 25 Overall Damage after resists! He looks to the rest of you and pumps the dagger he's cradling in both hands, looking thrilled!

: Then everything goes to Hell. "EXECUTING ANTI-FLANKER PROTOCOL." With a calamitous, ear-ringing, teeth-grinding slam Headcount's fists surge with impossible power that he commits to the ground in a mighty hammerfisting slam, an exploding wave of arcane force ripping through Akio's Mirror Image and destroying it with the residual power crackling through the crater that tears at the illusion even after it survives the impact. The tangible Tsukiyo and Weasel take 33 Force Damage and are infused with +1 Diminishing Seal(Melee)! This energy pulses painfully through their bodies and does not remain, ripping through them and passing back and forth between the spot of impact in the floor, not granting either of them the boon of an energy charge.

Itsumi: Your Energy Charge and your Ranged Mark fade.

Headcount straightens his back out and prepares a fist, his head beginning rotation to select a target. "ERROR! ERROR! Action Priority Queue interrupted! Sorting..." It seems Dazes limit Headcount's actions... but as his frame grows every more full of dangerous magical energy... it seems this also delays his energy output! Turning and drawing a fist up for a moment, Tsukiyo barely has time to twitch before his fist comes down to crush her! She is able to evade it, fast but unerring, utterly predictable! The impact drains some of the power from Headcount's frame but he still burns brighter than before!

: "Debilitating maladies identified. Priority: Hexer. Screamer Protocol selected..."

Purple Aura: Enemies treat as Heavy Cover
Blue Aura: 16 Force Damage if Entered or Ending Turn Inside

Bright Purple Lines indicate Walls that break LOS.
The Large Circle is 10 feet high, a display stage.
Silver Pillars block Line of Sight at squares Adjacent to their Base.
The Chandelier is 50 feet above the ground.

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: 257, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio), -2 Defenses(UEOMNT Itsumi)
Energy Charge: 5/???
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex
Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5

Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: ???
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 48/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24
Diminishing (Melee, 1)
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Sep 4, 2018

# ¿ Aug 31, 2018 04:21

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday Night, May 16th, Kobe City
Music

Itsumi: Akane whispers to Takano, who turns her head slightly and nods before returning full attention back to you.

: "It was as you saw. We were transported suddenly and I had us wait in a relatively safe spot.. I felt responsible for the other students with us. Mitsugu-san and Tatsumi-kun were nearby as well." She sits at ease but still looks a bit stiff, her hands held together in her lap. Strikes you as almost business casual. "Then you and the other students came in and fought that thing... and we spent the rest of that time in the room with the others. Several students were locked in place and a few others were not. Bedford-san was active as well."

: "And you five went upstairs! Then uh, Inoue came back down after awhile.." Inoue Masami, Takashi's guy pal. Akane is grinning because she finds the topic unbearably interesting. "He said you guys were attacked by some flying demon."

: "If we can skip ahead and agree that what we all saw was real, what did the five of you do? We waited until at some point things returned to... normal..." Takano seems a bit irritated and glances down at her hands, her thumbs fidgeting. She steadies herself and looks to Itsumi in a very serious manner... as an equal. "Itsumi-san, if there were people doing bad things, at the school, you'd tell me, wouldn't you? If somebody got hurt that time..."

---

Sunday Evening, May 17th, Goro's House
Music

Noriko: As you speak you feel a subtle loosening in your chest, as though you had been holding your breath for so long you became used to it. You can feel the raw power and energy you can channel in the shadowy Other spaces beating alongside your heart. As you finish speaking it still feels ultimately.. restrained. That you only let it free for a moment.

: "... Relax." He gestures to Goro, who lowers his symbol. Joker pockets his knife and shrugs, chuckling at your points. "... It's a ritual, Mori. Like some bad self help ideas, but when you try them things actually happen. And since you're bad at them.. I can trust you. I know you're not one of them... or that you attacked my brother." He points at the crow with profound intensity! "You're a slave of societal mores!" Goro seems amused and chuckles incredulous, Joker just continues. "Think about it. This is a contest of wills. And you're worried about looking good and noble. That's not your will! Ending poverty? Ending hunger? When you really force somebody to tell the truth... they don't care about that too much." He holds his hands up and palms out, waving off the inevitable knee-jerk counter. "Look, I get it. Good folks would rejoice if it happened. If somebody else did it. But everybody can tell you about their best side. Most people die and never get a chance to show it. Your will is smothered by what you think others want to hear you say. Brittle confidence, pandering to others..."

: "T-that's why.. heh.." Goro speaks up! "That's why you can't fight for real." He waves his cross at the crow, clearly referring to when he ah, hit you with what would be categorized in DDW as a simple At-Will with a Push component. But in real life these actions would send you flying... or if he wasn't a controller? A Wizard could set you on fire. A Fighter could expertly eviscerate you. Moments of extreme danger always seem to lend themselves to entering the Shadows of the Other though, giving you a chance to fight. "The guy we're after can. So.. So... So it can't be you. You're just a horrible g-girl. What a relief!"

: "Hmm.. Mori. As long as you can't truthfully answer this question, you're at a disadvantage. If you could have anything, your true selfish desires granted, what would it be? Me..." He flicks out the pocket-knife again. "I've already settled on vengeance. And that is a burning desire! There's nothing I want more than to remove the disgusting state of a world where the powerful get away with... with that. With killing a little guy that swings upwards!"

---

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody is up, next Round is Thursday Night!)

: "DEPLOYING SCREAMERS." Half-expecting a terrible internet prank to attempt to startle you, Headcount instead brings his upturned palms to the front of his torso and concentrates for a moment, raw magical power condensing between the two nebulous points. This arcane phenomenon proves potent enough to gradually form new and exciting laws of physics and draws in debris from the area around it, metal and stone flying into the mystical haze. The energy is imbued into the frames that take on crude but practical frames and Headcount throws his hands skywards one after another in a few waves, dispersing the newly animated creatures. They land and shift about as though they were trying to determine a direction, seemingly inert or slow. But they're quiet for now. Too quiet.

And they pulse with the same raw energy as Headcount does, the wildly overflowing kind like the anti-flanking smash. You get a distinct feeling that learning why they're called Screamers will be unpleasant.

: "ERROR! Processing..." The ambient hum of energy builds dramatically as Headcount is unable to strike anything near him or unleash missiles upon anything further out. Creating the smaller entities has barely taken the edge off the now palpable energy coursing through him, his entire frame and interior lit with a deadly violet hue that is almost perfectly and uniformly filled out. He fails his Save against Visions of Ruin and waits.

Weasel clears out of the damaging aura with a tic of damage for his troubles and tries to gouge out one of the charged orbs(should be +18, typo), barely missing! He snaps his fingers and curses before invoking a strange youkai over his shoulder to try to zap them with lightning, bursting out into a panic sweat as he misses both disastrously! His luck has vanished as the little pulsing scrap orbs dart between the lightning with perfect reflexes!!

Tsukiyo, Weasel: Diminishing Seal x1(Melee) fades from both of you.

Blue Aura: 16 Force Damage if Entered or Ending Turn Inside(Once Per Round)

Bright Purple Lines indicate Walls that break LOS.
The Large Circle is 10 feet high, a display stage.
Silver Pillars block Line of Sight at squares Adjacent to their Base.
The Chandelier is 50 feet above the ground.

quote:

Screamers: 1/1, AC/F/R/W 25/25/30/25
Immunity: Force

Headcount: Damage Taken: 352, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio), -4 Attack UEONT(Itsumi), Visions of Ruin(DC14)
Energy Charge: 9/???
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex, Minimum Range CB3+
Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5, +2 Saves

Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)
Screamer Protocol: Creates Terrible Beings

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: ???
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 65/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24
Diminishing (Melee, 1)
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jan 12, 2019

# ¿ Sep 4, 2018 03:35

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody's up, next round is Monday Night!)

As Headcount reappears within the same space as the pillar his overwhelming size displaces and shatters it, sending debris flying and removing any possible cover it provided. This doesn't seem to impede or even affect him.

Itsumi: (I cannot see a way at Speed 7 to reach E5 without triggering an OA.) As Sunbright dashes past the nearest screamer, figuring it must be mindless or simple, it lets loose an ear-piercing EEEEEEEEE and accelerates wildly, almost instantly closing the distance and crashing into her back! The Screamer instantly dies in a violent explosion of force that deals 24 Force Damage and painfully wracks Sunbright's body with Headcount's energies, afflicting her with Diminishing Seal(Ranged) x1!

Tsukiyo: (Moving away from second target triggers OA. Moved to D6 because D-6 isn't applicable.) The next jilted Screamer goes flying after Tsukiyo in a screaming fit and flies wide, exploding between her and Noriko just narrowly!

Takashi: (Earlier actions of Itsumi and Tsukiyo remove these targets before you can reach them. Assuming your approval, transferring actions to A/B row Minions instead, where they're neatly and safely cleared.)

Noriko: (Auto-Pilot requested.) Noriko uses an auto-hit on Winged Horde(+26 to attack vs Will 25) to clear the Screamers off Weasel, who responds with a whistling emote and a biiig thumbs up as he draws his bow and runs over to the center platform, burning his Second Wind as he goes to top off.

Headcount's mighty fist crashes down where Akio's Mirror Image was, neatly evading the attack. In the wake of the crashing blow energy is discharged and the Mirror Image gains Diminishing Seal(Melee) x1!The rotating top of the golem identifies the earlier called target and fires a straight and narrow volley of missiles at Noriko. Though skilled enough to deflect them few even reach her at all, most spattering against the wall in a wide leading line as they try to accommodate for the obstacle mid-flight.

: "Target lost. Resetting Range Priority. Battle of Attrition detected. Deliberating... Error. Energy levels insufficient. Engage Anti-Flanker Protocol." You have a feeling you know what's coming next. In light of the strikes against the two targets Headcount's frame still pulses with energy but slightly less so.

: "You're really threading the needle there, is there a way you can force him to spend more energy? And these Overseer challenges are ridiculous, I get the feeling Isabelle doesn't like many people! Uhm, here's what info I can give you for now!" Mission command lends you some aid, reflected in the known Combat Stats.

quote:

Screamers: 1/1, AC/F/R/W 25/25/30/25
Kamikaze: CB 1, +22 vs Reflex, 1d8+22 Force Damage and Diminishing Seal(Ranged) +1
Immunity: Force

Headcount: Damage Taken: 379, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio)
Energy Charge: 8/10 Level 1 Charge, ??/?? Level 2 Charge, ??/?? Megatona Furioso
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex, Minimum Range CB3+
Fully Armored: DR 15, Speed 5, +2 Saves

Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)
Screamer Protocol: Creates Terrible Beings that Suicide Bomb those near them and spread Diminishing Seal(Ranged.)

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: None
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24 [X] Second Wind
Diminishing (Melee, 1)
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Sep 8, 2018

# ¿ Sep 8, 2018 23:13

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Saturday Night, May 16th, Kobe City
Music

: Takano listens to you carefully, then replies with a simple sincerity to her tone. "If you could tell me more details about the boy, we could review some of the student records with an administrator."

: Akane is giggling. "A tengu? Whaaaat?"

: Itsumi gives a brief description of Joker's physical appearance, including the injury he sustained before replying to Akane, "Yeah... a tengu. I could barely believe it myself... I ran into her again when we were investigating Nekketsu to find Joker, since we thought he went there... we got told by their Vice Principal that he likely goes to Naoki though!"

: "Ehh? You ran into the tengu at Nekketsu? Uhm, didn't she stand out?" She leans forward and swats your knee. "Didn't you stand out?"

: "Going to both schools? .. Maybe a transfer?"

: Itsumi replies, first to Akane, �She was disguised as a Nekketsu student. I didn�t think they existed in real life but I guess they do. And um... we were disguised as Nekketsu students too...� She then turns Takano, �That�s a possibility, though the tengu was dressed in one of their uniforms, I wonder if she may have gotten one for him? A transfer does make more sense though!�

: "You'll have to tell me about your being disguised at Nekketsu sometime." She gives you a friendly smile to suggest that it's not to grill and scold you. "This was fun, Kasaya-san. We should do it again sometime."

: "Yeah! You can invite us to your house sometime!" Weathering a secretly bad suggestion with your trademark good attitude, eventually the night on the town ends!

---

Sunday Evening, May 17th, Goro's House
Music

: Joker palms his knife and crosses his arms, obscuring it entirely as Noriko forms into the room. Goro just whispers "Witch!" in awe of the teleportation. "... Yeah, I've been. I don't like the idea of you or anyone else going through his things." As he speaks you can feel that distinct swelling of power growing stronger within your chest, pulsing with your heartbeat. "If I thought you might still be the killer, you wouldn't get away with being here. You don't want to hear a lecture, I'll be blunt. It's a contest of wills and anyone who is unsure or ashamed of what they want is weak."

The air feels unusually heavy and you hope it's not due to the ah, grosser aspects of Goro's shut-in nature. But you can feel the removal of tension of an epiphany as your own guardian spirit Avatar waits inside your shadow.

^{Bring revelation to the ignorant masses... reign over them as Enchantress.}

You gain a universal +1 Bonus to all Support Persona Actions other than Hanged Man, whose bonus for using a Persona of that Arcana increases to +2. And... you can use your full class features in the real world, from at-wills to dailies to passives.

: Goro sighs. "ORDER is.. a bit frightening. Some of them are w-wretched, really. But you know... after you guys fought us.. ... I haven't heard from G-geitar in weeks..."

: "we only did it so we could get closer to finding out who killed him. i didn't mean any disrespect to takamura, or you. i'm sorry." Noriko bows as briefly as she feels is polite. "i was wondering about Geitar... i know you and Pohl were already out by the time he took control of the mindscape... did you see what happened at the end?" she frowns, crossing her arms. "he did something weird. i think he broke the rules of the game, and he got punished for it. his death in the game was really strange..."

: "... Have you seen the devil yet?"

: "We... knew he was doing w-weird things, but uh, we thought it was you know.. straight hacking. Like external programs and stuff.."

: Noriko nods to Joker. "...probably around the same time you did, i think. you remember what you did to Pohl? i was the one who set him up to have the meltdown in the first place. i manipulated a girl he liked into rejecting him, those were the terms of my contract. that makes sense... maybe the game doesn't care if you're just botting or whatever, but... this isn't just some normal game, all ones and zeroes. Philemon, Nyalarthotep, the literal, actual Devil... i think the game is just as alive and aware as they are. when it's a conflict between two groups of Players... the real sort... i can see the game enforcing it's rules harshly in those cases."

: Joker extends a hand and waves dismissively. "No.. you didn't believe me at the time, but as I told you, I wasn't responsible for what happened to Pohl. Me and Shio, we just took advantage of it. And wherever strange things happen, I think that outsider is pulling to make it happen.

: ".. Well, it'd be crazy to think a hack is that good, but I just want to.. find out what happened." ... He clears his throat. "... And to win." He grins awkwardly.

: Noriko sighs. "hmm. i believe you. and you're right... but i wonder why, and for who? Philemon told us this was between him and Nyalarthotep... is he working with one of them, or is he another outside force? and, um... Takamura seemed to have his own patron he'd cut a deal with. this is all so convoluted... i'm with you on finding out what happened, Goro. um... do you know anything about him? i can help you track him down."

: Goro clears his throat! "W-Well, no.. we were friends online. But.. Actually, uhm, Joker, that video you told me about, I recognized the figure." Is he suddenly in his element!? This confidence! This sudden attack of posture! This could only be a nerd in his element! "The one-eyed horseman would be the old folk tale of "Yagyou-san", or Mister Yagyou-San, or the one-eyed wanderer. I believe in the instance of all you've told me he might serve as an enforcer for a greater evil, especially a.. classical personification of a Western Satan."

: "ohhhh?" Noriko seems impressed. "i was kind of stumped... most of my esoteric studies are in mediterranian and european mysticism... i had some vague idea but wasn't really sure on any details. that's helpful!"

: Goro beams, the first time he's expressed any happiness in your presence.

: Joker just stares straight ahead, his deadpan helped immensely by a mask. ".. Well, you just have to put together what info you can find. Anywhere you can find it, anyway you can find it. But.. Mori." He drops his arms, his hands open but the knife not dropping or anywhere in sight. He points to you. "When we get to the end of the game, you can't win, you know that, right? But I wouldn't kill you for it. Just watch out for Bishop. Watch out for those who would kill." He moves to leave, leaving you with Goro.

: "heh. i'll say the same thing to you... and, um. be safe. we can't be rivals if either of us are dead."

: A bit of awkward silence reigns as you and Goro aren't actively condemning each other. He drums his fingers along his knees for a bit, then looks to you with a grimace. "I.. guess you're.. not.. the WORST girl I've met.."

: "heh. and you're not completely insufferable, i guess." she smirks. "i saw you did really well on the finals. i was a little surprised, since you're never in class."

: He mumbles. ".. Friend brings me papers.."

: "well... if you're ever around school grounds and have any interest in the occult, you're welcome to stop by our club. i think you'd fit in pretty well." she smiles slightly. "and, um, i'll try to find out what i can about what happened to Geitar. i don't know how far i can get on just a character name and his online footprint, but... maybe i can get to the bottom of it?"(edited)

: Goro's eyebrows shoot up and he seems shocked.. shocked!! as you extend the hand of friendship to him! He averts his eyes and rubs the back of his neck. ".. Yeah.. uh, I'll.. k-keep that in mind."

An unusual friendship, yet close to your home and perhaps close to your own soul, the shut-in homebody hiding a bright mind in darkness. A bit hard to admit. A bit rough to recognize. But somewhere is something similar to yourself.

^{Thou shalt have the blessing of the Star arcana...}

The final +1 to Attack/Damage/Heal is unlocked for Supports of the Star Arcana! And everyone in the Soulshell gains +1 Attribute Point that cannot be assigned to a Primary Stat! (Secondary/Tertiary is fine.)

: Goro looks to you sheepishly and points to the window. "... Uhm... if you could.. not let my mom see you leaving.."

: "heh, that shouldn't be a problem. see you around, goro." Noriko turns towards the windowsill and her shape seems to shrink and warp; she leaps up onto the windowsill as a bat, stretching her wings for a moment before turning to give Goro a wave with her wing. She leaps out, Crowley following close behind.

---

New Week
Monday, May 18th and Tuesday, May 19th
Music

The new week begins with plenty of sunshine and the first hint of real heat, the air a touch humid. You're developing big reputations online but the needs of school keep intruding on your power struggles and murder mystery!

Everyone: At some point Noriko tells you a bit more about Joker and that he is Takamura's brother. An oath of vengeance against those who killed his elder sibling! And you're all due to meet Yuki at the police station morgue this week. You'll be able to see Takamura's body, perhaps?! You should take(and will have) some time to prepare for that, endowed as you are with real magic.

Akio: It is Tuesday Afternoon, after school. You've been doing some intense intermediate drills in Karate to commit vital motions to muscle memory. It has been a less taxing session than normal... every time you'd usually be hounded down by Madoka for some sparring she has instead politely inquired as to how you're doing. She almost sounds like she's addressing a superior, but you did agree to tutor her and there's a mile between the two of you as far as exam rankings go.

: "Hey!" You're ambushed from behind as an ice cold, fresh from the vending machine can of Chirpy Cool OJ(with the tiny cicada mascot with shades) is mercilessly pressed against the space between neck and shoulder. "Hahahaha! Stay cool for your health, yeah! Later Akio!" She gifts you one of the two drinks she got and waves you farewell for the day, heading out a bit early. The rest of the class is finishing up their last spars or drills.

: "Hoh..." As you've come to learn over the last two weeks, Kane is an avid fan of the martial arts. Appearing like a vengeful specter he slaps a hand to your opposite shoulder, patting you on the back. "It must be nice, Akio, ol' buddy, ol' pal." He watches Madoka go and sighs wistfully.

Itsumi: You have an unpleasant encounter during lunch on Monday, giving an early bit of bad color to the week.

: "HEY, KASAYA!" Brandishing the now greatly crumpled set of papers that seem very familiar, Ichiro catches you alone in a hallway at the start of lunch period and baps you on the forehead as though scolding a puppy. "You're a real idiot if you get caught out like that! Only a moron would set Hattori-Senpai on a warpath, yeah?" Quite a bit of contempt there! He sneers and flicks the papers out, scattering them around you. "Botch it like that again and everybody'll get to know the real Itsumi, you hear me?" He pats you on the cheek like an overly familiar mentor/boss-type and smirks before heading off.

This disgusting bit of your least favorite blackmailer lights a fire within and after school you've contacted Madoka and Ryo, agreeing to meet in the School Newspaper room. Looks like they let Ryo work an old desk top(Windows 10?!) in the small photography studio the school has.

: "This better be good, since I still think kicking this guy's rear end would go a long way and be a lot easier."

: "Hmm.. hmm.. heh. How's this for good?" Ryo produces a large neatly sealed packet envelope and makes a great to-do about undoing the bendy clip at the top that seals it, unfurling it and sliding out a set of decent photographs printed on fancy laminated paper. They depict Ichiro creeping on at least three other girls at Naoki in the same set-up as with Itsumi: presumably alone, met in hallways, and with enough plausible deniability between large crowd movements during big period shifts(before school, lunch, after school.) Each girl seems anxious or frustrated. "Well.. this is my start. And you said you met that Chizuru already, right? The trick to beating a conspiracy or a blackmailer is undeniable proof. Now uh.. well, for now, we know Ichiro is a giant creep. But if you bomb him with that he'll take you down with him."

: Madoka swings an arm around Ryo's neck and pulls him into an affectionate headlock and hair ruffling. "Wow! Nice find, Itsumi! I like this boy already!"

Noriko: Your Monday Fencing Club goes as expected, an uncharacteristically tough workout for the shut-in spooky girl. Working up a sweat in the rigorous stance drills is not something you're used to but there's some distant appreciation one can find in the intelligence necessary for the fighting style vs say... sports.

But then blessed Tuesday Afternoon comes and after school you find yourself with your small club(Akio optional, his choice) reviewing one of your own personal tome purchases, preparing small bowls of simple ingredients. Salt, distilled water, ash from the spot where everybody knows students secretly smoke. Today you want to show them a real summoning circle for a lesser spirit or demon. Of course your recent developments within the Great Game make you worry that doing such a thing might actually work, leading to shenanigans untold.

But with Akane, Eikoh and Fransisca here you figure you can pass the final rites to one of them and nothing will happen. As it is they're riveted by the anticipation of the set-up...

: "This is so cool, Noriko!" Akane is helping you set lines with chalk, paying exceptional attention to her own and moving painfully slowly to set perfectly straight lines.

: "Ah, if I could, I'd ask for knowledge of the future! Maybe a lesser pact boon..." The thoughtful first year Eikoh looks and sounds like he should be graduating soon, his voice deeper than most boys his age.

: "How do you know it'll work? If you mess it up we'll all die." These musings don't stop Fransisca from trying to draw her own chalk circles and invariably having to erase the sloppy work and try again.

Using one of the upstairs classrooms that would otherwise lie empty your group has taken care to close the windows and draw the shutters, turn off the lights and work by candlelight, provided by a single strawberry scented one that Akane volunteered for club use. Noriko is nearly finished when an unexpected knocking comes from the classroom door, polite yet loud!

Takashi: By the time the Monday school day begins you can feel something in the air. Practically smell it. A bit off, the barest hint of something foul. You keep hearing the ends of conversations when students recognize you passing by, and more than one of the more social girls or tougher boys has shot you a stink-eye. Despite all this on Tuesday Morning you have an excellent run at Track Club and even receive some sincere praise from Takano for it. Perhaps the two of you can stay friends after all. As you settle into some problem sets in Math Club on Tuesday Afternoon, After School...

: Masami has joined you, as his own scores are only as strong as his dedication to studying remains. He's doing decently, if needing the occasional extra explanation. While you two are reviewing each other's works and occasionally quizzing the other he cuts in with some guy talk. "Hey Tak, we're pals, right? And uh, you know I wouldn't think bad of you. But I uh.. I guess I get a bit worried." Some guys really can't open up at all but by God does he try. ".. So like, you gotta hear some of that stuff they're saying, right? There's no way you'd hit on another girl in the middle of a date, you're way too good a guy for that!" His concern is painfully obvious. "But uhm, I guess.. what're you gonna do?"

Tsukiyo: As you try to mastermind the start of your plan to seize the Student Council, you run into the small roadblock of having no idea where to start. As you sit at lunch with your friends you decide to brainstorm with them...

: "Uhm.. you'll need to find out when they have the election, Tsuki." Ah, gentle Miho, your kindest and smallest friend. Her simple, sensible answer lights a path in the darkness. Surely just asking some of the school teachers or administrators would sidestep dealing with The Harpies Hattori.

: "Just kick her rear end. You're tougher than she is." A nice compliment from Manami given her history with Takano...

: "Hahahahahaaaa, I'd looove to see that. She's such a stuck up bitch." Ah, your circle grew again! You recognize these two new moons from when you and Itsumi fought Manami in the girl's bathroom. They ended up inside coffins but were pretty willing to gang up on you before things got metaphysical. The blonde is Emiri, who seems to perpetually be waiting to watch something horrible happen.

: "We've got your back, Chavez." The other is a sporty-looking girl named Naomi, whose mere presence sitting next to Miho is making her a bit nervous.

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Oct 5, 2018

# ¿ Sep 11, 2018 02:11

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody's up, next round is Sunday Night!)

Provoked by a barking dog, Headcount lashes out violently in an OA and smashes Takashi for 47 Physical Damage and afflicts him with Diminishing Seals Melee +1 and Energy Charge +1(+6 Damage/Attack)! (Headcount's Energy drops to 6.)

As the turn begins two things happen: Headcount unleashes the Anti-Flanking Protocol slam and energizes the area around him, annihilating Akio's Mirror Image and blasting Akio for 33 Force Damage! (Will tic again if Akio Ends Turn inside the zone.) And Tsukiyo's sniping destroys the central chain holding up the massive ornamental chandelier, dropping it directly onto the towering titan! A muted crash that spares your ears sounds off as the huge frame actually knocks Headcount off his feet, debris flying everywhere and sudden discharges of arcane power atomizing things at random! The impact deals a Reduced 85 Damage and strips much of the Golem's Damage Reduction!

: "ERROR... ERROR.. Structural Integrity compromised." Seizing and casting aside the rest of the wrecked lighting, Headcount rises to full height, now absent a great deal of his heavy protective plating. The exposed "skeleton" is thick and intimidating, covered in intricate carvings of flowery runes that serve as passageways for the energy pulsing through him. The pulses begin to accelerate as he announces "Threat acknowledged. Threats deserve greater attention than vandals. Activate True Sight. CHARGING." At various nodes at Headcount's largest joints and across the front of his small head node appear bold runes of wide open eyes!

The great golem then turns to his only viable melee target and looms over Akio, a swift moment passing as his massive hands telekinetically disassemble to spread out yet hold their overall form. Encased in raw energy Headcount leans forward and strikes rapidly at Akio, each blow flooding him with energy! Akio gains Diminishing Seal(Melee) +2 and Energy Charge +2(+9 Attack/Damage!) Skillfully evading Headcount's sudden improved assault, Akio finds his game UI is wildly pulsing and even shaking in some parts! There's a loud energy humming around everything, threatening to overflow! (Headcount's Energy drops to 2, then builds to 7 at end of turn.)

In a sudden movement Headcount's top-most observing node sharply 180s and zeroes in on the only ranged assailant available before firing a rapid volley of missiles at Tsukiyo, the arcane swirls drawing together into one burst that critically blast Tsukiyo for 52 Force Damage and knock her Prone! She gains an Energy Charge(+6 Attack/Damage!)

Loud clamoring is rising from the crowd of former patrons outside the gate to the South! It's as if this was expected! The always inevitable Headcount power-up! Weasel moves up with his bow drawn and Readies an action, but was too far away to do much this Round.

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: 519, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30 (-2 Fort UEONT Noriko)
Marked(-3, Akio), Can't OA(UEONT Noriko)
Energy Charge: 7/10 Level 1 Charge, ??/?? Level 2 Charge, ??/?? Megatona Furioso
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

2x Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC, Energy Drain 2x2
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex, Minimum Range CB3+, Energy Drain 0
Unarmored: DR 5, Speed 9, +2 Saves, , Modifies Energy Use, Energy Gain +5/Round
Critical: +5d6 and Prone

True Sight: Sees through all Illusions, sees Invisible/Stealth
Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)
Screamer Protocol: Creates Terrible Beings that Suicide Bomb those near them and spread Diminishing Seal(Ranged.)

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application.

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: None
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24 [X] Second Wind
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Sep 22, 2018

# ¿ Sep 13, 2018 14:36

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody's up, next round is Wednesday Night!)

Weasel lines up a shot and fires an arrow that sails over the top of Headcount. Whoops!

Seemingly unfazed by your concentrated assaults, Headcount stands tall. Looming, menacing, oppressive. Pulsing with power! You can practically hear the strange groans of metal as hollow laughter as the great guardian brings his hand down for a strike upon the real Akio, unerringly following him through each blink through thin air! Two great swings neatly shatter the ground around the swordmage! The hum of energy in the air continues rising and in a split second crosses from 0 to 60 in an ear-splitting burst of pure arcane force! Gaining the third Seal causes Akio to overload and rupture down to his very soul, suffering 42 Force Damage(Surge Value) and reducing his Max HP by 42(Until End Of Encounter!) The experience warps his body and vision painfully, reality itself tearing and ripping around him before forcefully reasserting itself. His Seals and Energy Charges fade away. (Apply Damage, then reduce Max HP, final value should be 95/111 HP.)

: Dazed, Headcount is unable to fire off a ranged volley. His voice cordially rings out with promised malice: "Queuing. Preparing Piercing Protocol. Screamer Protocol following." Headcount's top-most node and his fists are imbued with a new violently bright hue of light, shifting rapidly between blues and purples. The intensity reminds you of laser effects.

: "Ohhh, good job! He still hasn't hit first charge! But I think I'm at the end of what I can do here.. and uh, be careful, you guys! I think there's a sneaky trick here.. !" Your stat sheet is upgraded slightly, reflecting the effects of gaining too many Seals of one type and the troubling portent that Headcount is not yet Bloodied?

: "Nyeh-eehhh! I thought you guys were strong?! W-what do we do?! I still got some tricks, ya know!" Thinking fast, Weasel switches back to holding his dagger!

quote:

Headcount: Damage Taken: 856, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked(-3, Akio)
Energy Charge: 8/10 Level 1 Charge, ??/?? Level 2 Charge, ??/?? Megatona Furioso
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

2x Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC, Energy Drain 2x2
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex, Minimum Range CB3+, Energy Drain 0
Unarmored: DR 5, Speed 9, +2 Saves, , Modifies Energy Use, Energy Gain +5/Round
Critical: +5d6 and Prone

True Sight: Sees through all Illusions, sees Invisible/Stealth
Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)
Screamer Protocol: Creates Terrible Beings that Suicide Bomb those near them and spread Diminishing Seal(Ranged.)

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application. Seals add +11 Damage to Headcount's follow-up attacks!

Diminishment: Gaining 3 Seals of the same type causes an explosion that deals Damage and afflicts Maximum HP Reduction(Until End of Encounter.)

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: None
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24 [X] Second Wind
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, Mark from Self, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Sep 22, 2018

# ¿ Sep 17, 2018 01:57

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

New Week
Monday, May 18th and Tuesday, May 19th
Music

Akio: Kane pops his hat up a bit for a rare glimpse of his serious eyes as he gives you a look of maximum incredulity!

: "You can't be that dumb!" He shakes you slightly. "You're datin' Morticia and you got the gall to be flirting with that girl too?! And here the rest of us are, dying of thirst.." He pulls his cap back down and lets go of you, stepping around to a few paces in front of you. "You don't trade sparring partners too often, do you? That'll stunt your growth." He grins and strikes up a pose. "Why don't you let Kane-Sensei give you a few pointers?" He holds his arms in a combat stance and beckons you forward with a two-finger flick. If you fight you can use any Courage Skill here and add the Charm Bonus to it as well, just this once!

Noriko: The rest of the group seems a bit on edge as you lead them through what to expect and when the door is knocked upon everybody practically jumps.

: "Please, no! My name is Mori, Noriko!" Taking your advice to heart, Fransisca bows to the circle and sells you out!

: The door opens and... one of the English/History Teachers is waiting, a very friendly young woman named Sawashiro. Dressing modestly and holding a tray of tea cups and a pack of store-bought cookies, she looks like somebody's mother checking up on them. "Hello, Noriko. I thought your club might like some refreshments! Oh, it's so dark in there! Is everything alright?" She motions to opening the door to come in, a ray of sunlight meddle meddle meddling with your delicate gloomy atmosphere.

Takashi(Tuesday): Calm, cool and collected. That's Takashi, baby. The problems are challenging yet doable, just a steady workout for mind instead of body.

: "Hoo, there you go! What a way to see it. Man, that's cool, Takashi." Ah, to inspire confidence in others. That's truly manly. Masami follows along with the problems with you as well, Math Club continuing as normal until a small interruption at the door.

: "Hey, hey, there's young minds at work here! What is it, what is it!" Mister Adachi answers the door and cows a group of older girls into quick respectfulness, interrupting at least two conversations in short order! A few girls bold enough to reply remain and you get the distinct impression they're talking about you! Adachi cuts them off and waves them off. "Save it for tomorrow, this guy's a future national scholar!" Somebody almost vaguely familiar glares over the teacher's shoulder into the room, but it seems they're going to relent.

Tsukiyo(Monday): You hit up the Teacher's Office Suite!

: As you step in one of the Math Teachers greets you with a teasing grin. "Woah there kiddo, want to give us a chance to call for back-up? I didn't think Naoki's Boss went after teachers!" Mister Adachi chuckles and hears you out after Miho stammers out something along the lines of Tsukiyo is a very nice girl and wouldn't beat up a teacher without good reason! "Hmm, Student Council? I guess in about a month or two you could put your name up for that, yeah. They usually like 2nd or 3rd years, you're appealing to the entire school, right? It can be hard for a 1st year to make an impression on that many people." He crosses his arms and plucks at his chin with thumb and index finger, eyes skyward as he thinks. "Hmm.. well, just clear it with us at the start of June, it's a lot of responsibility so we can't vouch for anybody who's a bit ah.. shady? Hah hah. Hmm. You know, I had my doubts, Chavez, but that thing with Nekketsu was pretty good on you. Great moral character!"

He shakes his head. "But you need to study harder! Kids like Hatori are straight out of horror series. They use that inhuman intelligence to lead you to your own doom! Now what I can offer you is an invitation to a club that practices exam-level mathematics and equations, usually a supplement to those students already using prep schools..." Ah, he's going on and on!

# ¿ Sep 17, 2018 02:30

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music

(Everybody's up, next round is Monday Night!)

(For order of operations, assuming Itsumi strikes and moves before Takashi pushes Headcount. Noriko moved to H3 to account for the move.)

: "Flagelo, he's capped at Level 25 with Boss Stats! I told you, something's fishy!"

Attempting to fire his laser from his head, Headcount stalls out for several seconds before the built up energy fades. He does turn and bring both hands down in a massive slam that generates a shockwave of pure energy, ripping through Akio, Itsumi and Noriko for 49 Force Damage! All three are afflicted by Diminishing Seal Melee x1 and gain Energy Charge x1(+6 Attack/Damage!)

Regarding the rest of those gathered before him, Headcount pauses as his single lens passes over you, scanning for a target. With a hard twist it turns to Akio again and raises both of his hands for a double strike.

Howls, cheers and shocked gasps rise from the crowd to the South. The air in the Auction House is pierced by the sound of thunder falling twice and bouncing off itself as Headcount utterly annihilates Akio. A blurring pair of strikes is launched, a Critical hammer blow followed by a Critical palm smash that pastes the stoic Ambrose into the ground. A moment later the build-up of excess ambient energy rolls Akio over to 3x Marks of Diminishment, overloading and violently tearing through him again.

In total, Akio suffers 120 plus 42 Damage before a 42 Damage Diminishment that reduces his Max HP to 69. There is some small solace in that his ability to survive is related to his original 153 Max HP... but it is not enough. Akio hits -109 HP and Dies Permanently. The sounds of the crowd fade away as Headcount straightens up, hands crackling with energy that he uses to weave life into the debris he has made by crashing through the pillars around him. He casts his hands from side to side wildly and generates a new set of six Screamers, throwing them around you to areas he has line of sight to.

: "Make whatever premortem rituals are necessary to your culture before your predicted demise." Raw terror(Fear Keyword) affects Itsumi, Tsukiyo and Takashi as cold goosebumps criss-cross their arms IRL. In more tangible in-game terms they suffer Weakened(Save Ends DC 10) owing to a psychic compulsion broadcast by the guardian on a successful kill! Headcount holds his hands out in his typical looming nightmare of a giant's stance, ready to seize, smash and crush before suddenly shorting out and standing totally idle. Great swathes of his runes flicker randomly and trails of energy pass through in spurts.

With a hard shudder, the golem reboots. Energy sputters and sparks fly from the great cracks and broken seams along his exposed frame. Bits of debris and exposed material of a strange crystalline rebar crumble and fly off in waves of dust with each malfunctioning burst.

Headcount saves against Slumber of the Court. His outline illuminates perfectly as he attains his next level of Charge! A dreadful humming fills the room as lines of completed runes begin to waver and shift impossibly, his movements becoming looser and yet all the more deliberate. With a hard turn and a bit of Human-like posturing he turns to face Noriko and assumes a looser brawler's stance with a slight squat. "Identifying new target... priority Hexer. Engage Catch-Up Protocol." His voice quakes and wavers, the air around his head distorting with each syllable!

: "Nyeh.. nyeh.. nyehhh?! Th-that lovely cocky guy.. y.. ye can't be dyin' like that! What kinda guy shoots off his mouth an-and does that?! Hrmmmpphhhh! Heeyahh!" Rushing up to the Screamer behind Tsukiyo, Weasel takes advantage of a desperate flank to barely execute it with a swirl of shadow drawn taut, splitting it in two before it can burst. Then he brandishes his knife in a cocksure little sleight of hand and flick of the wrist and casts it at Headcount, an ethereal copy flying off and phasing into the energy-bound titan. Headcount is Marked by Weasel! He whispers over party chat while sweating profusely. "R-regroup!" Blasting through an Action Point, he makes a tactical decision to... activate Swift Climb and scamper in a Move Action to the West! During this movement he vaults onto the center stage and onto one of the props, the utility greatly boosting his Speed!

You hear a terrible rumble and the air distorts again. "Priority Target override. Priority Kiter. Engage Catch-Up Protocol." As before in charge up to the Anti-Flanking Protocol, Headcount's fists begin to build energy.

quote:

Screamers: 1/1, AC/F/R/W 25/25/30/25
Immunity: Force

Headcount: Damage Taken: 996, AC/F/R/W 33/30/30/30
Marked (-2, Weasel)
Energy Charge: Level 1 Charge Activated, 0/?? Level 2 Charge, ??/?? Megatona Furioso
Size: Huge (18 Feet Tall)
Reach: Melee

2x Slam: +27 Melee, 2d8+33 vs AC, Energy Drain 2x2
Magic Missiles: +24 Ranged, 2d6+22 vs Reflex, Minimum Range CB3+, Energy Drain 0
Unarmored: DR 5, Speed 9, +2 Saves, , Modifies Energy Use, Energy Gain +5/Round
Critical: +5d6 and Prone

On KO(Fear): +24 all in LoS vs Will: Weakened(Save Ends DC10)
True Sight: Sees through all Illusions, sees Invisible/Stealth
Piercing Protocol: Melee Shockwave Blast 3, Ranged Laser Shot vs Fort, Spreads Seal (Melee Shockwave, Ranged Laser.)
Anti Flanking Protocol: 33 Force Damage in CB2. Leaves Damaging Aura(16 Force Damage for Entering/Ending Turn in.)
Screamer Protocol: Creates Terrible Beings that Suicide Bomb those near them and spread Seal(Ranged.)

Diminishing Seals: Headcount's Melee Strikes stack a Mark that increases damage taken from his Melee Strikes. Headcount's Ranged Blasts stack a different Mark for further Ranged Blasts. The entire Stack is cleared by any Mark clearing effect or at the End of His Next Turn since the last application. Seals add +11 Damage to Headcount's follow-up attacks!

Diminishment: Gaining 3 Seals of the same type causes an explosion that deals Damage and afflicts Maximum HP Reduction(Until End of Encounter.)

Energy Charge: Destructive power transferred through Headcount's Attacks. One dose adds +6 Attack/Damage. Energy Charge is lost if Diminishing Seal/Headcount's Mark is lost.

Weaknesses: None
Immunity: Force.

quote:

Weasel: HP: 81/81, AC/F/R/W 26/24/29/24, Speed 6, Initiative +17, Atk +18/Imp +15, 1d4+11 Dam
Acro+22, Ath+15, Stealth+22, Thievery+24 [X] Second Wind
Cues: Flank, Melee, Ranged
Encounter Cues: Dazing, Blind 1, ~~Action Point~~
Daily Cues: Blind CB3, Mark from Ally, ~~Mark from Self~~, Difficult Terrain Burst 2

---

???

Akio: Needless to say, your Diminishing Seals and Energy Charges fade away. Your surroundings begin to darken even as you lie face-down, utterly crushed, and you feel the sensation of your body shifting somehow, the familiar weight of your VR headset conspicuously absent. In but a moment your vision clears from the gaudy, golden, glorious House of Fortune to...

Clawing at each other in the ruins of modern society, the failed remains of humanity seek only to find something that will distract them from their misery. They voluntarily shuffle into the maws of golden idols to seek it, several of them cast down and crushed by the mass of the lines, those that advance rapidly becoming inhuman before your eyes. Flickering red lines of static draw your attention towards the side of the nearest monolith, an entryway hidden at the base of the skull, an inky black void leading to the unknown, a distant figure that you instinctively recognize by Noriko's recounting of him...

You feel alien compulsions to advance. There can't be any other choice. There's no other option. You need to return. You need to rest. You need to live. You need to die. You need to win the game... as you take your first step, a hand firmly grips your shoulder from behind. It is the first sensation of warmth you've felt since the cold-sweat realization that Headcount struck you down. The hand gives you a second to realize what's happened before turning you around without hesitation, but with no sense of malice. Standing behind you is a translucent older guy wearing a black kimono with popped collar, smoking a cigarette with a relaxed grin.

: "I don't remember this one.. but ya've done good by 'em. Try ta keep your head on next time, kid. Folks that're always looking up tend to trip on poo poo they can't see. And.. thanks." His eyebrows shift up a bit and he peers over your head, then grins and gives you two pats on the shoulder before shoving you skyward. "Can't linger in these places. Peace." He waves you off as you catch your breath and...

You wake up at 0/69 HP, your Support Persona destroyed. You are Prone. Your Soul Shell has lost the protection of the Death Arcana. You could act if you got a bit of help... but for now it's just a down in the video game. Just a down... for now...

Doomykins fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Sep 22, 2018

# ¿ Sep 22, 2018 00:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:51

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

House of Fortune
Music Change

Following a sobering down your team unites for a combined assault after dutifully clearing the Screamers! Repeated waves of psionic shadows and the might of a greater Persona crashing into Headcount from the front before Tsukiyo's ancient family technique tears into the core of the golem's torso from below! Gentle .attak rides clamps to the back of Headcount's shoulder, ready to follow up and bring the hurt...

: But for all your might, Headcount still stands!? He continues to warp the air around him, his sound waves briefly visible as ripples as he announces: "Executing Catch-Up Protocol." Akio alone would recall Isabelle's warning not to kite the giant guard for more than one turn at a time... with an explosive discharge of energy, Headcount forces anything near him back several squares and turns to zero in on Weasel unerringly!

His first motion is to leap a baffling 50 feet straight into the air! He travels in an impossible, almost sluggishly slow arc that clears half the distance between him and his target, at which point he lands in a crouch, slamming a fist to the earth for an immediate discharge of his Anti-Flanking field! And without hesitation he repeats the motion...

But this time only his upper torso is launched forward as his legs separate and collapse in opposite directions! Headcount flawlessly sails to close the distance to Weasel and assumes the landing stance again! This time on impact the torso splits and the arms and head come crashing straight down with a terrible cacophony, repeated sounds of heavy metal and strange dissonances ripping out in one final burst before reverberating several times! In the wake of the collapse a single brrzzzrrrmmm... powers down and a tink-tink-clatter-krinkle-shatter lets you know that the magical artifact powering Headcount has fallen out of him. Inside the remnants of his headcase you can pull out a tangible wave of instability. A point in reality where the universe has solidified into something living hands can manipulate, a by-product of the highest arcane arts.

quote:

Fabric Of Reality (+6 Starweave(+2 AC) Artifact Cloth Armor. Cannot Be Sold.)
Wearing a metaphysical concept is a matter of willing yourself to do so. Draw the remains of the wispy, ethereal gap in space around yourself, concentrate for a moment and believe you have successfully donned it. You should be wearing an illusion manifest of how you wish to appear. The defensive qualities are uniform no matter what the appearance. This could only be drawn from the remains of the perfect arcane guardian of the House of Fortune.
Encounter(Minor): Until the End of your Next Turn, any Enemy that hits you with an Opportunity Attack is Blinded(Save Ends.)
Daily(Free): As Part of any one Move Action, Teleport the same distance instead.
Passive: Resist 15 Radiant, Resist 15 Force
Granted At-Will Power: Level 21 Magic Missile(Wizard), using your Class Primary and the Enhancement Bonus of your Main Hand.

: "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" Weasel falls over and lands on his rear before scrambling away backwards on his hands! After a moment he stops sweating and nervously peers up, regarding the wreckage before hopping up. "Yoooo! You did it!" He hops up and down in a bit of jubilation!

--

House of Fortune
New Music

(SHORT REST)

The crowd is dispersing with cries of admiration, fear and raw wonder. Those sticking around seem to be swiftly separating based on whether or not they think they can survive becoming the new target of your attention, seeing almost everybody in Heroic tier clear out save those brave or clueless enough to stick around just to watch...

: "Yooooo! You guys, way to go!" Your Overseer happily cheers in right before a loud swell rises from the crowd outside! "We... we gotta head further in!" The ethereal fields of power separating the "Boss Encounter" have dropped and almost everybody is fleeing... a few players brazenly enter the House of Fortune and are trying to interact with the area for things to swipe! They all give you a wide berth!

Akio would be familiar with the path to the North that enters further into the private halls of the House of Fortune. However he is only aware of passage leading upwards to Isabelle's private chambers and Velvet Room. There are high-level guardian golems posted outside it, and would it still be tangible without the player present? And there's the possibility of the secretary Braxienne being present.

Passive Perception(30+): A pair of larger figures are watching the interior of the House very carefully from opposite sides of the Southern entrances, but not stepping across the boundaries. Instead they are part of the neutral ORDER cityscape still. One is a giant lump that bears an [ARCH] tag and seems to share similar perceptive powers, stepping aside to break line of sight as soon as anyone looks too closely at him. The other watcher is strange and inexplicably shrinks to smaller than the rest of the crowd after a shorter time spent peering in. Their heightened stealth reminds you of griefer tactics.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2018 04:03

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Game Room > Digital Devil Worlds [D&D 4e Game Thread]

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