With the silence, you begin to hum a light song about hunting, filling the church with a light and resonating tune.

The noise makes you feel somewhat better, despite the fact that you could be risking exposure. Hardly anyone in this town visits this church anyway, Why should it matter?

With some time, night falls, and a tired Alice slips inside, singing your song out loud,
" A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go,
Heigh ho, the dairy-o, a hunting we will go!
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go,
We'll catch a fox and put him in a box,
And then we'll let him go!"

With a smile, Alice finishes the song and laughs a bit to herself," Strange, never thought I'd end up hearing a Gargoyle hum something like that."

"Well, I must do something to pass the time."

"Wait, so you're aware while you can't move?"

You feel the night come and your body begin to limber. You move your fingers before moving your body about, as though stretching.

"Well. I may sleep. Or I may stay awake. Sometimes I prefer to stay awake so that I can watch people. Today.. I simply chose not to sleep."

"Well then, I'll be sure to visit you during the day should i drift close to this part of the village."

"Perhaps. Have you found anything about Fae magics that I may use? I... Am having.. very strange feelings..."

Alice tilts her head to the side, in recollection," Hmm... Well.. Some of the more gossipy Fae have heard rumors of Gargoyles that go wild... That is, ones that chose not to serve humans. There have been whispers of some that seek the Fae for understanding, and those that resign themselves to seclusion, not to be disturbed. One of my friends told me that she might know of someone that can help you manage yourself in this very town. Oh, and there are Fae that can charge you with their light and essence should you show a desire to become more like them. . .

Then again, with only moving at night and all, you might be stuck with the selfish, untrustworthy unseelie Fae.

Not many Seelie Fae are active at night..."

Alice seems to frown a bit at this next part," As for the nocturnal Fae, the unseelie that deal with sleep and dreams. My Seelie friends don't know of any more than Queen Mab's servants, the sandmen, or the bogiemen that are meant to be around these parts.

Mab's servants watch dreams, the sandmen grant them, and the bogiemen teach children to fear the dark, and rightly so... Though I still don't like the Bogiemen."

With a bow, Alice heads to her squatting chamber," Excuse me, I'm going to sleep now. Ta-ta, Gargoyle!."

What will you do now?

>[] Check up on Molly. (Troubled little girl)
>[] Head to the western mountains. (Gnome Family, Avalanche, Possible errant Wendigo, Buried Caravan.)
>[] Visit Genn (Mermaid of the Lake)
>[] Seek out Lady Manse. (Regent of Hearthson in possesion of the Seal of Solomon)
>[] (Other)

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Current exp, 0.

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I'll be introducing actual mana next session, but for now, go crazy.

>>24367223
I would prefer to check up on Molly--with our current sensing abilities that we didn't have before, perhaps we could sense the presence of some monsters that we couldn't before? The Sandmen sound like the likely candidates for the dreams...

>>24367412
Though, upon reading the wikipedia page for sandmen, bogiemen are a better fit...

>>24367435

I wouldn't recommend going by a wiki. Performing artistic license on some of these legends. at best, you'll have an idea of what it'll entail.

Woo. I finally don't miss one of these threads. I'll be back in a moment after reading the opening.

>>24367223
Lets go check on molly

christ man this quest realy needs to get some people in it, I think its mostly because the times are rather eradic and inconveniant with the latter being the major culprit which sucks because i realy have been enjoying this quest and would hae to see it fade away but the times are a nightmare.

We should cash in the boon from lady manse ASAP since she explicitly said it wont last forever.
I would ask for ways to strengthen our mind and better control those we eat.

From your beat up, mostly abandoned church, you make your way into the cool fresh air of the night, the moon waxing further, still just over have full. There are sparse clouds in the night sky and the stars are shining brightly. The town seems mostly at peace this night, for what the winds tell you.

However, it is likely that could change at any given moment, as you well know. You hear very distinct howls coming from the east, they get your blood boiling... Blood that you don't have... You've had quite a few odd feelings as of late..

Opening your wings, you've decided to check up on the girl, Molly. She's had troubled sleep, and Cari's freakout last night has you somewhat worried for her sake.

As you sail through the night, you notice one smaller life walking about in this late evening, actually, near twilight hour.

Time: 9:05

Closing in on the signal, you perceive it to be Molly. However there's something different about her... Something.. sad? And then the trace of her life vanishes... How odd.. yet familiar..

You find it somewhat odd that Molly's father, no, that the town isn't looking for her.

Children do not wander the streets after dark in this place.

>[] Investigate the last point of detection.
>[] Keep your distance and follow the human search party.
>[] Ignore this predicamend for now, it risks your discovery.
>[] (Other)

Investigate the last point of detection.

>>24367804
but the reason we didnt do it right there and then is because it is very handy to have a favor on hand from the head of the town (who seems to have quite a bit of power), so we dont need to rush getting it as something might come up that we could use it for.

>[] Investigate the last point of detection.

>>24367860
>[] Investigate the last point of detection.
Let's investigate the flickering life signs. It might be a trap, however, so let's be careful and cloak ourselves in shadow as we approach.

>>24367860
Definitely investigate.

Though, 'search party'? Did I miss something?

>>24367860

The choices got fucked up from a last second edit.

>[] Investigate the last point of detection.
>[] Keep your distance and check for a human search party*
>[] Ignore this predicament for now, it seems too risky.
>[] (Other)

>>24367860
Investigate dat suka

>>24367948

I'll go with this unless someone else has another suggestion for how to approach. Also. Does Angel land, or does it stay in the air?

>>24368001
Definitely stay in the air. The only reason to land would be to find a tunnel or hidden door/path, though, so if we can't find any trace of Molly from the air, we probably should land. (Though, unless it's an airtight door, Voices of the Winds should tell us of Molly's presence.)

>>24368001
Stay in the air. We're not very quiet or especially nimble on the rooftops, being stone, so it'd be best to stick to flight for now.

>>24368001
something i just realised about the whole magic tree is that after the whole windego fiasco I think most people are going to want to stay away from anything demon related for fear of empowering it or losing control or possibly something worse .

>>24368135

The wings are actually fairly loud. The Subtlety trait is likely the one thing that keeps everyone from feeling alarmed when you fly over them.

>>24368164
Same would go for traiting in Brutality. It embraces your demonic power and control over it.

>>24368192
The wings going FLAPFLAPFLAPFLAP are to be assumed, but solid marble feet impacting on roof tiles would be much more noticeable as not being a part of the ambience of the night, I would think.

You approach the last point that you felt the life of the young girl. You sense some disturbances in the houses below you as you fly over them, likely due to the noise generated from your flight.

You are relieved however to know that the people only have candles and lanterns to fend off the dark.. Then again, that in itself is also troubling.

As you get closer, you sense the small life of the girl within one of the homes you so recently passed. You turn, following the signature, only to feel it vanish once you close in.

Keeping yourself aloft, you wait for a few minutes, expanding your sense of life and listening to the wind.

You feel a small, seemingly lifeless body moving through the streets, up a wall. Nearing the signature of one that still slumbers.

You feel the life relax deeply for a moment, before being severely weakened. The small body now ignited with life once more, yet slowly fading.

You have time enough to move in before it fades this time, you have a faint lock on the body as it moves through gentle breezes.

>[] Engage.
>[] Tail closely.
>[] Confront.
>[] Report this to someone. (Genn, Clegane, Manse, Alice)
>[] (Other)

>>24368404
>[] Tail closely.
Sleepwalking, or something worse? Let's follow for a while longer and see if there's any pattern to where the flicker is going, then confront it.

damnit, a vampire. Engage.

>>24368404
well this thing (which may or may not be Molly) seams to be going into peoples homes and syphoning their life force but not killing them oughtright but still harming our charges and we canot let that continue so I think we shouldnt waste time tailing it to another victim and confront the culprit as soon as we can.

>[]confront

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>>24368639
>[] Confront.
On second thought, changing vote to confront the strange fluctuating signature. It's almost certainly a vampire of some kind. We need to see if this thing kills our charges by feeding on them or simply sucks an amount of blood and moves on, like a mosquito. Perhaps we can work a deal out with it if the latter and it's sane.

Angel has chosen to confront the unknown.

What will he say to it? Otherwise, defaulting to SOP

"1. If it is hostile, mindless, or seeks to harm our people kill it outright with no negotiations.
2. If it appears reasonable and non hostile give the following spiel:
"I am the Guardian of this place and its people, both humans and the non-hostile inhuman"
"I mean you no harm so long as you mean no harm to my charges"
"Who are you? what are you? and what are your intents?"

>>24368880
yup

>>24368880
The confront and ascertain nature of entity in relation to health of the Gargoyle's wards idea is supported from me.

With a gust increasing your speed on the dive, you target the flickering life before it vanishes once more into the peace of the night.

Witnessing the small form of the entity as you close in on it, you do in fact realize that it is Molly, the girl that... used to visit you.

Her eyes are wide with a faint yellow, her schlera as inky as the space between stars, her skin, as pale and fare as the moon.

She stares at you upon your descent to the nearest rooftop, like a scared animal ready to flee at the slightest provocation.

You hear a whisper within your own mind.

'A child no more...' sobs Cari, gently filling you up with a small measure of sadness.. Yet you know not what this... this monster is before you.

Wrapped in your tattered cloak, you speak down to the... creature, even as its life flickers into near nothing.

"I am the guardian of Hearthson, to all peaceful inhabitants. The human and not.

What intent do you spread among my wards?"

The child-like monster continues to stare up at you, seemingly afraid, yet not entirely.

After some moments, it regains its composure and smiles, teeth like daggers," Oh, I'm sorry, You didn't feel familiar before, friend. That's pretty funny, that you protect this place." The voice of the girl is almost sultry, yet still inherently child-like.

"I'm just feeding here, this poor girl was so sad that she actually let me in." The creature giggles, and smiles, almost appearing like a normal human girl, save for the unnatural eyes.

How will you deal with this... thing?

>[] Speak to it(Write in)
>[] Attack it.
>[] Leave it be.
>[] (Other)

>>24368404
>Life sense
>Wind sense
>No earth sense
Did you forget about earth sense or is she not registering on it?

>>24369314

Need to touch the ground for it to work, they chose to stay aloft.

>>24369215
What are you feeding on?

>>24369409
Might as well ask that question

>>24369655

Any other questions/actions?

>>24369215
"What have you done to the girl..."

Well looks like we are either going to have to get the pastor for an exercism, if even possible, or kill her as unfortuneate of a conclusion as that is.

also I feel like we have been rather preasured throut this whole quest with things like "shit towns burnin and wolves are tearin shit up but WAIT here comes a banshee to fuck things up more WHACHA GONA DO BOUT IT" and situations where there are 2 or more things happening and we have to chose what to deal with and let the rest become problems, such as what Moll is now, I assume would have been preventable had we vuisited her but other more important issues kept arising that we couldnt avoid dealing with just to check on 1 villager since the village as a whole could have come to harm. Im not realy complaining but it just feels like thatits a pick what you want to become a problem later kind of situation. I realy do enjoy this quest and realy apreciate you doing it.

>>24369215
What are you?

>>24369215
>>24369692
What the creature currently inhabiting the child's body is (including whether it is Fae or something seperate) and how much it takes when it feeds and what any side effects of its passing are. It's obviously going to try and trick us, however, so best prepare for that.

>>24369696

There were some periods of time that Angel could have checked on her. without other crap going on.

But that's part of my point in the current quest, and a point in quests that I know people enjoy. The things that happen where the character isn't.

I know what you're saying though... But some of those events were connected, such as the Banshee entering the scene before the impending deaths of the villagers, or what you've fond out from Cari, when the child was killed by the Mayor and his wife.

The creature thinks that you're an ally, you decide to capitalize on this for now.

"What are you feeding on, my dear... friend?"

The child-like creature regards you with a keen yellow eye before shaking her head,"Nah, I shouldn't be telling you. Might get interested. My food is mine, I won't let you have it. You respect my territory, and I'll respect yours."

You growl out with burgeoning ferality," What are you?"

The child-monster points to itself," Me? What am I?" It rolls into a fit of giggles," No, see, I'm starting to wonder what you are. Not much like any... Friend... I've known. "

You feel a pang of guilt within you a moment, as you feel Cari's influence within you.

Yes, now is the time to stop beating around the bush. With that voice of yours, betwixt god and demon, you growl down to the monster," What... Have you done with the girl?"

The creature stiffens and its face contorts into a scowl," Not any friend of mine now.. Are you?"

"Answer the question," You bellow dryly.

Hardly growing meek, the small, child-like monster seems to squirm and move about as though it just got in trouble, hands behind its back,"You want to know what I've done with her? I just... Filled the hole in her heart... left by the pain of her mother... and the absence of God." The creature locks its eyes with yours, deadly serious now, it seems ready to attack if need be.

>[] Let it carry on.
>[] Speak(Write in)
>[] Attack it.
>[] Cast Spell.
>[] (Other)

>>24370121
Well we've lost the element of Surprise..

And this beast has devoured Molly...

It must die.

Could we cast a spell to keep the beast from being too Squirrelly?.

>>24370121
"You are in my town and have been "feeding" from those I watch over, stop speaking in riddles or give me a reason why I shouldnt destroy you right now."

>>24370396
>>24370350
I guess I'll change to this.

Use our Earthmancing powers to trap her feat into the ground, if we must..

Only inherently hindering spell is Gust. Or you could try using lightning to strike it.

>>24370480
>>24370472
I'm dumb, ignore.

>>24370121
Unsheathe the silver dagger, show the beast its heft and the blade. Firmly remind it that blood must be spilt sometimes in the pursuit of peace. Can we roll to grab the child-monster, so that the...point...really sinks in?

We could potentially beat it with our bare hands and bring it to pastor clenge and alice to see if its possible to save her and if not eat him then and there.

>>24370573
To clarify, beat it NOT to death. Just enough to limit mobility and then grapple.

>>24370488
i was going to say lightning as a joke, because she wouldnt be moving around much, but thought it would be best not to.

also we are not shooting lightning at her.
>>24370541 or stabing her, atleast not before we finish chating and even then we could take her to the pastor maybe.

>>24370628
I wasn't suggesting stabbing her, or was at least not meaning to, but the stupid pun was too tempting to pass up. Just scare the monster into submission, as it would appear to have inherited at least some of the traits of its vessel's former owner.

>>24370675
Its a lithe fae with good hiding ability in the body of a little girl and it ... moves funny.
Scaring it will cause it to escape not submit.

I suggest we grapple it and drag it to the pastor with as many bruises as are needed.

>>24370675

Didn't even notice the pun, that's almost not terrible. Almost.

Going with the nonlethal attack/threat unless there's any other input.

Going to give it another few minutes and then challenge roll.

Rolled 7, 12, 3, 6, 14, 11, 1, 15, 16, 20, 3, 4, 1, 18, 8, 3, 3, 6, 5, 19, 8, 7, 5, 13, 17 = 225

Close Quarters Capture.

Monster-child is nimble, and flighty. +20 to roll.

Striking nonlethally. Max roll for gargoyle down to 1d90.

Rolled 25, 100, 65 + 20 = 210

>>24371095

Let me try that again without fucking up.

Rolled 74, 3, 59 = 136

>>24371095
>>24371109
Rolling dice+3d90

Rolled 86

>>24371109
>100
its over

Rolled 29

>>24371109
we are going to get our shit kicked in by this little bitch

Rolled 47

>>24371186
can we just take the first roll from this post so it counts as a 1d90

>>24371259

Yes

You descend upon the small terror, your own self a shadow sweeping in along a powerful gust, blowing out the lights of the lantern-poles as you close in on your target, that stands defiant.

At the last moment, it springs back and launches a flare of black flame at your body, only to be parted by a sudden and fierce gust as you advance, taking the monsters by surprise and swinging out a stony fist to put the thing down.

You feel the nimble body crumble from the blow, even as you hold back. It falls to the ground, seemingly limp before twisting itself back up, seemingly black blood leaking from its face as it glares on, calling forth more black flame that tears through your barrier of wind, feeding upon it and searing your cloak.

You feel something inherently off about the magic as it seeps into your marble, dying it or burning it black, you don't quite know.

You feel your body begin to melt from the assault, and yourself unable to see anything amidst the flame.

After some time, of slow melting, your now black body regains some of its composure, your regeneration noticeably halted for now.

The monster's vanished. It's vanished without a trace.

You listen to the wind for answers, you feel no distinct reply relating to the monster.

You sense for life, and unsurprisingly, come up with nothing.

You feel the earth, and either your sense with the earth is too limited, or this thing is too light on its feet to be detected without a keener sense.

The Molly- Monster is gone. It will live to feed another night, much to your dismay.

You could always check her house, however it's unlikely that it would return there...

>[] Visit the Smith's house.
>[] Visit Alice.
>[] Visit Lady Manse.
>[] Visit Genn.
>[] Head for the Western Mountains.
>[] Clean up and rebuild the church.
>[] (Other)

Time 10:07

>>24371526
The black fire and "lack of god" comment screams demon, so I don't think Alice knows anything about it.

Go check the Smith's house I guess. (That is Molly's dad, yeah?)

>>24371526
go to the pastor, tell him we got a problem.

also i need to get some sleep man, suns coming up. Real shame about the time this runs hat, cripplingly inconveniant

>>24371686

Good night man. I could start this 3-4 hours earlier tomorrow if Sunday's good for you guys. Granted, I know it's late in comparison to where I am vs you guys.

>>24371526
We should go pay a visit to Alice and see if she's familiar with some kind of body-stealing vampire. If anyone would know, it would likely be her. We should also try and talk to Clegane in the morning about the encounter we had, for sure.

>>24371680

Yes. Molly's Father is a Smith. Surname is actually Smith, same trend for most of the other Villagers.

Check out the Smith's first, definitely

>>24371686
actualy it might not be the time, it might just be that people just dont know about it or maybe that it just to similar to 2 currently running quests that involve a supernatural being that is heavily shadow based with one of the main characters being a little girl who they protect. those quests also are more frequent than this which doesnt hurt or might be why.

>>24371759
The more frequent the better even if i might not be able to make it but ill try.

>>24371759
Sunday is fine, especially at a better hour.

>>24371876

Started off being almost every night, but then I was literally inbetween jobs with having quit one and having another lined up for the following week. I didn't think it'd be so difficult in terms of run-times.

Tomorrow's a day off so I can start much earlier than I would after work.

After regaining your ability to articulate, and with the "girl" fleeing, you open your wings, or rather what's left of them from that molten flame, and take flight.

Molly's house is the Smith's house.. You will check the room of Molly Smith, and her father, perhaps it will yield a clue?

Your body feels... in short terms aweful as you fly. The black fire that seeped in makes you feel... weaker than normal... and your body is still dyed black, yet slowly regaining faculty of its regeneration.

In moderate time, you find your way to the town square and the Smith house.

Time 10:45

Peering through the windows, you check on Molly's room, to find that it remains empty.

Nearby, you find that there's a fairly weak Life-force within the house. Finding a window to get a view, you find that it's Molly's Father, passed out over his Anvil, seemingly from falling asleep during his work into the night... However his life-force tells of a different story.

With how weak it is, you determine that he suffered from that creature's "feeding."

So, it either originated here, attacked Prior, or returned to feed.

Whatever the likelihood, the monster is not here right now.

You take another look into Molly's room, you could always enter the house and do some investigating, possibly pick out some weapons from the forge...

>[] What will you do?

(Turning in for tonight, replies will go into tomorrow's thread. Will begin at 4:00P.M. Pacific, 1600.

1900 server time.)

Sunday

Archived

Rolled 33

>>24372162
We already have weapons, no need to steal mundane ones. I say we talk to the pastor about this. His extreme life-force worked well against the last life-destroying enemy. However, he might just be an awesome and highly noticeable snack for her. Either way he should be informed, we can't really do anything else at the moment.

What I find interesting is that the creature didn't kill Mr. Smith. This implies she doesn't want to kill humans, be it out of some concern for them or because she wants to feed several times from the same individual. Either way she doesn't seem to have killed any humans nor pressed her advantage over us which should color our judgement of it.

Back in the morn, looking for any additional input.

>>24372162
Couldn't hurt to take a closer look at her father, might reveal something useful.

>cloak then investigate her father, I bet he's going to be out for a while so there won't be too much to wory about but better safe than sorry.