What do you do next?

>Seek the favour of one of the Five (which?)
>Go see Charun
>Just hang out with Lirael, the other stuff can wait
>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?)
>Try teleporting your Warmech
>Activate new psychic power (This pleases Jagganatha)
>Other task (what?)

---
[Metapost]

Questions from last thread.

Charisma of the King of Hell is as follows.

Charisma of the King of Hell 5: You can summon forth a crown of green flickering flames at will, when using this you add you your rank in this power to any check that involves commanding or leading people as well as to all mind-affecting or influencing powers you use, as you summon infernal authority to aid your argument. Once this level is gained you decide upon the shape of your *crown*: It might be a simple band, a literal crown with ornate decoration and jewels, an insubstantial aura, or something else. Once chosen this appearance cannot be changed unless the holder of this power undergoes a shift in attitudes about leadership and authority, whichever appearance is chosen the visual effects of this power are obvious.

The crown is made of green flames but its shape is up for player decision. It will look like its made of green fire but its general appearance can be chosen.

I omitted the mind-affecting boost in error, this has been put back in.

Willpower of the Infinite Mirror costs 5XP per rank, even at lower levels.

[End Meta]

>>37411964
>Go see Charun
How high would be the chance of injury if we go for 3h tour of activatin now?

>>37411964
>Try teleporting your Warmech
If we can't successfully teleport it to the surface,
>Try to fix the lift
At some point in the day,
>Go see Charun

>>37411979
Moderately High

>>37411964
>Go see Charun

What the fuck was going on at the end of last thread? We had such a great run, I go away, and everything goes to hell?
We don't get Psychic Shield, and people vote for that retarded OOC write-in that demeans Lirael and makes Shee announce her intention to be a blood-whore, despite her massive fears about letting someone feed on her sofar?
Who the fuck writes shit like that? How did we not lose favor with Ichor and the King of Hell? Pally is way too lenient with you retards and your inability to read the fucking setting paste.

>>37411964
>Go see Charun
Afterwards we can look for something to protect our mind with.
Will probably have to ask the King of Hell, or risk the activation pod.

>>37412050
>Will probably have to ask the King of Hell
Or Jagganatha.
I'm currently weighting the chances of them interfering on our behalf again, if we fuck up with the pod.

>>37412007
Does the chance lower with each day, or is it the same chance as long as a week hasn't passed?

>>37412114
Lowers each day, after 1 week it drops down to base risk level

“One more round” you say to Lirael “Then we need to be somewhere.”

“Ok” says Lirael as she continues to blaze away. You wonder what she’s going to be like in a few years, that’s all you need, a gun-obsessed little vampire girl.

After Lirael has finished you teleport the two of you back to Dust Town. You head to Charuns shack but he’s not there. You ask around and find him at what passes for a bar in Dust Town – a slightly larger than normal shack with a makeshift bar and a lot of home-brewed alcohol.

Charun is talking to two Hive guys. They probably think they fit right in: they’re wrapped in rags and their faces and hands are dirty, but to you and the rest of the Dusters they still stand out. You and Lirael wait outside until you see the two guys leave, then you go in and sit down at the table with Charun.

“Shee, girl” he says, acknowledging your presence and taking a mouthful of drink “what can I do for you, not getting cold feet are you?”

You look around “I’d be more comfortable talking in private” you say

Charun stares at you for a moment and then gets up, drops a few coins on the bar and says to the man behind it “Your drinks taste like week-old rats piss” and heads for the door, you and Lirael follow him back to his shack.

When you get there he invites you into his shed, closes the door, leans up against his truck and asks “Alright, what’s the problem?”

What do you talk about?

>Your Communications Relay
>The Warmech
>Your powers in the mission (mention which ones?)
>Lirael on the mission
>I’m pulling out of the mission
>Other (what?)

>>37412143
>Your Communications Relay
>The Warmech

>>37412143
>Your Communications Relay
>The Warmech
>I showed the facility to Dev and Rainya

>>37412143
>>37412162
Seconding

>>37412143
>Your Communications Relay
>The Warmech
>Your powers in the mission (mention which ones?) Shee's ability to teleport
>Lirael on the mission
>I showed the facility to Dev and Rainya
And did we already mention to him the project we were invited to work on? If not we should bring that up.

>>37412143
>>37412162
>Bring up the project we heard about
Adding that
We hadn't yet.

>>37412188
He already knows about our teleporting though.

>>37412201
We haven't worked it into the plan yet though. That ability could make Shee a key asset in this mission. If she goes in with the team to capture the comms station she could teleport them out when the fuzz show up and then operate the relay. It'd make the whole operation safer.

>>37412227
Pretty sure Charun has taken it into account for his plan, and the relay plan isn't approved yet.

>>37412236
It's still worth fleshing out such a plan with him assuming that it will be approved.

“I finished the Comm. relay for the mission” you say “It’s all ready to go.” As you talk Lirael wanders around the room, inspecting Charuns shed and its contents, she’s no longer as terrified of him as she was, but she still doesn’t like being near him.

“Good” says Charun, nodding “Good, make sure it’s ready to go, either we can make some higher-ups see sense and it’ll be the main plan, or if not it’s still a good back up plan.”

“Main or back-up” you say “Either way we’ll have some more firepower for the mission, I managed to fix a Warmech I found in the facility.”

Charuns remaining eye widens “Really?” he asks “It works?”

“Yup” you say, nodding “Dev is getting pretty good at piloting it, and all systems are operational.”

“That’ll bring some real firepower down on their bastard Gifted heads” muses Charun “Wait, Dev?” He looks at you sharply

“Yeah” you say casually “I showed him and Rainya the facility, thought it was for the best.”

“Huh well” says Charun “Your choice girl, your choice, but just be careful” he warns “Some of the stuff there is dangerous.” You wait but he doesn’t elaborate.

“That it?” he asks

“For the mission yes” you say “But at work there’s a big contract going on for some sort of high-tech construction: They’re hiring anyone with engineering skills for a weeks-long project and paying four-times market rates.”

“Someone wants something built in a hurry” says Charun “But what?”

“I dunno” you say “I have the skills to apply for a job on it, but it’d take me away for a while.”

“Wise decision” says Charun “Thing like that will have some fae or other supervising. Find out what you can and let me know, but staying away from it personally is likely for the best. Now bringing the Warmech into Dust Town ain’t a good idea” he goes to a box and pulls out a map, spreading it out on the truck bed “Now we’ll be hitting the comm.. station here” he points on the map “And over here is a lot of rocky ground, just boulders and sand, it’s only a few klicks away and its pretty good cover, if things go wrong we may end up retreating through there, good place for you to hide the Warmech for a night.”

“Yeah” you say, “could take me a while to get it there.”

“Ah” says Charun “broken lift?”

“Yeah” you agree

“Yeah sorry about that” says Charun “We broke it when the- anyway, I’m sure you’ll figure it out, was there anything more? If not you probably want to get started on getting the Warmech into position.”

Lirael is hanging around by the shed door and looks like she wants to be away.

Anything else to talk to Charun about?

>That’s everything
>Actually...(topic?)
>Other (what?)

>>37412328
>That’s everything

>>37412328
>That’s everything
Might be best to just apport it to that position, won't take us nearly as long as going to the facility and teleporting it there.

>>37412328
>That’s everything
Will we need to specifically state what objects we store in our Dimensional Arsenal?

>>37412381
You can, or if not then I'll just assume you have some essentials stored there.

>>37412396
I was mainly thinking about Rainyas and Shees slug-thrower guns.

“That’s everything” you say to Charun, leaving and taking Lirael with you. You head out and into Dust Town. As you walk Lirael asks “What are we doing now Shee?”

It’s still early afternoon, you have hours yet before you’re due to talk to Detective Yonsul tonight.

What are you doing now?

>Seek the favour of one of the Five (which?)
>Just hang out with Lirael, the other stuff can wait
>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?)
>Try teleporting your Warmech (default location is the rocky area, or you can choose)
>Activate new psychic power (This pleases Jagganatha)
>Other task (what?)

>>37412407
I'm fine with that, if there are no dissenting voices we'll go with this.

Maybe we should give Lirael a sniper rifle? She's a crack shot at any range in the sims and she's going to be there anyway. Might as well make her useful while still keeping her distanced from most of the action.

>>37412430
>Activate new psychic power (This pleases Jagganatha)
Whatever helps shield Shee's mind.

Like Bleached Mind.

>>37412430
>Try teleporting your Warmech (default location is the rocky area, or you can choose)

>I'm fine with that, if there are no dissenting voices we'll go with this.
I thought its best to do it right before going into the Hive, since she would need it with herself at other times, I just wondered if we would need to state we do it before going there, or if it would be assumed once we get on our way, since it would make sense.

>>37412446
Wrong choice then.

>>37412430

>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?) Weapons lockers.
>Try teleporting your Warmech (default location is the rocky area, or you can choose)

>>37412430
>Try teleporting your Warmech (default location is the rocky area, or you can choose)
>>37412439
>Maybe we should give Lirael a sniper rifle?
I think we might be able to afford a rifle for Lirael, once we go out to buy Rainya her gun.

>>37412439
>sniper rifle
Isn't that supposed to be Shee's schtick?
>>37412453
I was thinking of activating a psichic power instead of relying on another gift.

>>37412465
There might be some in the weapons lockers at the facility.

>>37412477
So?

>>37412477
>I was thinking of activating a psichic power instead of relying on another gift.
Bleached Mind is a gift though.
And as it currently stands, asking for a mind-protecting power is less risky then going into the pod.
>>37412479
True.

>>37412489
So two snipers?

>>37412516
Yeah.

>>37412516
Why not?
Its not like sniper is the only thing Shee can do.

>>37412430
Get ammo refill for our needler

>>37412497
>asking for a mind-protecting power is less risky
Depends on what kind of favor the god we ask would demand from us.
King of Hell might not be too bad, no idea about Mirror or Jagganatha, which seem like the most likely to have that kind of thing.

Pally, do we have a way of finding out if a god even has a appropriate gift before asking?

>>37412553
>Pally, do we have a way of finding out if a god even has a appropriate gift before asking?

Yes. If you choose *seek the Favour of one of the Five* you can try praying to them to get their attention and asking them each in turn what gift (if any) they would offer to shield your mind.

Writing teleporting Warmech.

>>37412566
Huh, we might want to do that.
I figure we should try it one of these days anyway, since its good to have a idea of what kind of thing they would ask for.

FUCK YEAH! PSYCHIC REBEL QUEST!

You take Lirael back to your shack and from there teleport to the facility and head to the repair bay, explaining your plan to Lirael on the way.

“I’m going to teleport the Warmech to the rocky patch on the map” you say to Lirael “and hide it there in preparation for the mission tomorrow.”

“Oh” says Lirael, following behind you “Are you gonna get in it and move it? Because that would be cool!”

“Tempting” you say “But no, the Teacher explained this to me: Teleporting doesn’t work on distance it works on how well you know a place or thing – and where you are is always familiar to you. I know the warmech very well because I repaired it, so it’s going to be easier for me to teleport just myself to the place I want it to be, and then summon the warmech to my side.”

In the repair bay you gather several sheets to cover the warmech in, you’re going to want to cover it in dust and sand to hide it and you don’t want it getting damaged.

Lirael screws up her face as she thinks about this “Sounds complicated” she says.

“Yeah” you agree “Now this shouldn’t take long.”

You focus on the rocky area you saw on the map and disappear. You appear out in the wastelands....somewhere, looking around you see a collection of rocky outcroppings perhaps a half a klick away, huh, you missed. Oh well, it was the first time you tried jumping to a place you’ve only seen on a map, so overall, not bad. The wind howls around you, throwing dust and grit and sand at you in waves, you pull your rags up over your face.

You walk over and look around the place. It looks dead, devoid of life. You find several good hiding places for the warmech: overhangs with enough room for you can hide it and relatively clear routes for the warmech to walk out of here.

You pick one you like the look of and concentrate, the sheets tucked under your arm. The Warmech you spend so long fixing, that you know inside and out, it’s here, it’s at your side, it’s not distant, it’s with you right now...

It’s hard, harder than any other jump you’ve done, harder than moving Rainya and Dev and Lirael all at once.
---
Please roll Willpower 1d20+15 and vote on extra psychic energy used (if any). Average of 3 votes will be used and each point spent adds an effective +1 to the roll, you have 19 points.

Rolled 14 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>37412665
9

Rolled 15 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>37412665
6

Rolled 17 + 15 (1d20 + 15)

>>37412665
6

The Warmech appears next to you with a popping noise and you reel on your feet, leaning against it as you catch your breath, damn that was hard, but you did it...

[Psychic Energy 12/19]

Once you’ve recovered you get in it and move it underneath the rocky overhang and cover it with sheets, tying them into place where necessary. Then you spend some time dumping sand and grit on it, until it looks like just another dull, misshapen rock.

Once you’re satisfied you teleport back to the vehicle bay and Lirael.

“Aww” says Lirael “I wanted to see you teleport in it.”

“Maybe another time” you say, patting her on the shoulder.

You have a few hours still before you need to speak to Sergeant Yonsul.

What now?

>Seek the favour of one of the Five (which?)
>Just hang out with Lirael, the other stuff can wait
>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?)
>Activate new psychic power (This pleases Jagganatha)
>Other task (what?)

>>37412708
>Seek the favour of one of the Five (which?)
>Ask them for powers to protect our mind from manipulating or controlling effects

>>37412708
>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?)

Weapons lockers.

>>37412708
>Seek the favour of one of the Five (Each in turn, starting with King, Mirror, Ichor. Jagganatha and Baalzamon if the other three don't have what we need)

>>37412708
>Seek the favour of one of the Five (can we do >>37412566)

>>37412708
>Explore psychic facility (looking for anything in particular?)
Gun and ammo locker we need either more needler ammo or a new holdout just in case.

>>37412708
>>37412720
Adding
>Contact Rainya beforehand to have her buy Needler ammo for us from the black market if she isn't busy right now

>>37412708
>Seek the favour of one of the Five (Each in turn, starting with King, Mirror, Ichor. Jagganatha and Baalzamon if the other three don't have what we need)
>Contact Rainya beforehand to have her buy Needler ammo for us from the black market if she isn't busy right now
This seems sensible.
Maybe she can buy a new gun for herself on the way.
It would be easier to plan if we had more of a idea of the timetable, would we still have time to go to the black market, before meeting Yonsul?

Rainya is at work and doesn't have a comlink, though you could try calling the cleaning company that employs her and getting a message to her.

Rainya will finish work perhaps an hour before you are due to speak to the sergeant. So you could tell her then.

The only contact either of you have had with the black market weapons dealers is at the fair earlier, which was a temporary set-up that will likely be long-gone now.

How will you contact Rainya and how will she find Needler ammo?

Writing contacting the Five in the meantime, will check back.

>>37412832
Well no point getting her in trouble. How long will petitioning the five take? Will we have enough time to go find the gun locker after?

>>37412832
>Rainya is at work and doesn't have a comlink
Nevermind then.
So we have currently no way to purchase new ammo?
I had assumed there is a regular place to purchase weaponry, since we had promised Rainya IC to buy one with her once we found out her aptitude.

>>37412832
>though you could try calling the cleaning company that employs her and getting a message to her
Yeah, no then.
If we have the opportunity to call anyone after the ritual, we can just as well look for that weapons locker instead.

>>37412846
>How long will petitioning the five take?

Contacting them is quick, what they might ask of you afterwards may take time

>>37412853
>So we have currently no way to purchase new ammo?

Not currently, no. Charun probably has contacts in that area though.

>>37412901
>what they might ask of you afterwards may take time
Do we need to do it immediately?

>>37412901
Call boss ask him to get more needler ammo if possible, explain we used it on the Gouger and we're out. We need a hold out weapon in case they get too close after all.

>>37412901
Does Charun have a comlink?
In that case we could ask him.

You leave Lirael playing games on her datapad and you find a private room for you to contact the Five. They are (were?) your gods, how are you supposed to do this? Should you kneel, or ask them to treat you as an equal?

You eventually settle on sitting down, your back to the wall as you close your eyes and recite the verses you found in the books Kate gave you, praising the Five and asking for their aid.
---
You open your eyes, did you fall asleep? All around you is darkness, no this isn’t sleep, this is something else.

Around you in the darkness emerge the Five, surrounding you they each advance until they are close enough to touch, and then they stop.

There is the hideous undersea monster face of the Ichor in the Depths, the vast muscular humanoid form of Jagganatha, the serpentine scaled darkness that is Baalazamon, the silver form of the Infinite Mirror and the red-skinned demon that is the King of Hell.

“Welcome Child” says the King of Hell “you return to us once more.”

“I do” you say, suddenly nervous at being in the presence of your gods “I come to ask a favour of you.”

“And what do you need my love?” asks the Ichor in the depths, caressing your face with the slimy tip of a tentacle.

“I need to hide my thoughts from someone” you say “Either completely, or in a way that makes them think they’ve read my mind, whilst still keeping secrets from them.”

“We all offer gifts that can do that” says the Infinite Mirror in an echoing voice “Which would you choose?”

“What’s the difference?” you ask “And what would I need to do to get them?”

“You would undertake a task that affirms your commitment to or understanding of our natures” says Baalazamon “As for the difference...my gift to hide thoughts is the greatest of all – I can prevent your foes from seeing your mind, or from entering it, or you can allow them to read a false impression of your mind, one cleansed of all secrets you want hidden.”

“My gift does not allow lessers into your mind” says the King of Hell “It uses authority, not subterfuge.”

“Mine allows you to hide your thoughts elsewhere” says the Infinite Mirror. You already have an idea of how the Infinite Mirrors works.

“Mine uses emotion” says the Ichor in the Depths “you drown those who enter your mind in love, or hate or something else and they cannot see the secrets you want hidden, the emotion stains your thoughts and theirs for a time after.”

Jagganatha laughs “I need no protection against mind-reading” he says proudly “Instead my gift would protect against all magic – by ripping it asunder!”

“Unsubtle” says Baalazamon.

“But mighty” counters Jagganatha “this is a powerful gift though, more powerful than the others, I would ask a harsh task of you to earn this.”

“And what tasks would you each ask” you say “specifically?”

Baalzamon laughs, a dry sound “You do well” he says “but you cannot play us against the other, we will not name a specific task for you, instead you must choose one and commit to their task or refuse it, once refused then that one will not offer you their gift to shield your thoughts for...some time.”

“Alright...” you say “Do I need to do the task now?”

You need to ask Charun to get you some more Needler ammunition after all. Maybe you can do it after this...prayer? vision? or whatever it is ends.

The King of Hell shakes his head “Of course not” he says “but you will need to undertake the task once chosen, until you do, then whichever of us you ask will offer no more favours until it has been completed.”

How do you respond?
>I’m ready (options in next post)
>I no longer want to do this
>Ask question (what?)
>Other (what?)

Unless write-ins request otherwise it is assumed you will be contacting Charun before undertaking the task.

>>37413047
>I need to hide my thoughts from someone
Thats not really what we needed, we needed something to protect our mind from hostile influence overall, not from mind-reading.

>>37413057
>Ask the King and Ichor if their gifts would also protect us from attempts to control our mind

>>37413057
>>37413071
Seconding this
I'm more conerned about Gifted and Vampires using telepathy abilities against us.

>>37413057
>Ask the King and Ichor if their gifts would also protect us from attempts to control our mind
>Ask the Ichor how obvious the influence is to the target, could we use it against a royal fae without her noticing the influence?

>>37413098
She was a Noble Fae, not a Royal, IIRC. Still, good question to ask.

>>37413057
>>37413098
Ah yes, pardon. Noble fae. Thats actually a difference.

>>37413057
What worries me about Ichors gift is how unreliable it is against some enemies.
Like, drowning Quinns mind in love probably isn't a very good idea, Yandere Quinn is just as likely to attack us as regular one, I'd wager.

And I'm not sure if we can drown their minds in apathy or something like that.

“Hiding my thoughts is only part of my concern” you say “I also need to protect myself against mental forms of attack, mind-control or attempts to harm me. King of Hell and Ichor in the Depths, can you offer me this?”

“I can” says the King of Hell “After all, I give orders, not take them, and my powers protect against mind-control and give some resistance to damaging mental attacks.”

The Ichor in the Depths smiles, a horrible grin “With my gift any attempt to sway your will might work, for a much shorter time, but in return you will be able to plant your own influence in their mind.”

Well that sounds like it could be useful “Will it work against a fae” you ask the Ichor “even a noble?”

“If your will is strong enough it shall” responds the Ichor

“Would they notice it?” you ask

“It depends upon your skill” says the Ichor “if you were clumsy they might realise that what they felt came from outside themselves, but would still feel it.”

[voting time extended by 10 minutes from this post]

>>37413057
>I’m ready (options in next post)

>>37413057
>I’m ready (options in next post)
Have to go with King on this one. Ichors sounds amazing, but its "they will work for a time" is way too unreliable for our current purpose, but we definitly need to keep it in mind as a gift purchase later.

>>37413057
>I’m ready (options in next post)
Why is Ichor so best goddess?
We need to pamper Lirael more to get favor with her.

>>37413226
>Why is Ichor so best goddess?
I have no idea why you would even have that opinion.

>>37413256
Basically all of her favor options have been great ideas sofar. All of her gifts are good. She saved us from getting crippled in the activation pod.
Seriously, what negatives does she have?

“Alright” you say “I’m ready to choose”

“Then choose” says the King of Hell, with a confident smile. You turn in a circle, observing each of the Five and say “What task would you require of me...”

>Baalzamon
>Ichor in the Depths
>Infinite Mirror
>Jagganatha
>King of Hell

>>37413299
>King of Hell

>>37413284
King of Hell's have all worked with one minor adjustment to one of them. Most of her gifts aren't that good, like the way to protect your mind that doesn't actually protect your mind. Jaggantha would've done the same thing for us, he even purposefully exploited a loophole in domains to try and help us.

>>37413299
>King of Hell

>>37413307
I'm not saying King is bad, just not quite as great as Ichor, sicne some of his favor options aren't great ideas, which hasn't been the case even once yet for Ichor.

> Most of her gifts aren't that good
Blood Control, Wishcrafting and Limbs aren't good? They are at least as good as any other. Sure Kings are good too, but not better.

For once, Baaaaaalzamon is the optimal choice.

>>37413299
>King of Hell
Sorry Ichor. We'll make it up to you, promise.
Baalzamons is probably good, but I don't even want to know what his task is.

>>37413299
>Baalzamon
Great mind protection. Kae is not a lesser to shee, so the King should be out.

>>37413347
Pretty sure he just means lessers, as in, everyone. I don't think there is a difference in rank that would be important, afterall, it hasn't been for Charisma.

>>37413299
>King of Hell
Mirror not what we need right now. Baalzamon a shit. Ichor good but not good enough. Jagganatha sounds too costly.

>>37413347
That, uh. That might be true. Just seeing Kae makes Shee want to submit to her. That's like the perfect counter to the King's gift.

>>37413299
>Baalzamon
Picking this guy for now.

>>37413299
>Ichor in the Depths

>>37413347
Its not intended for Kae to begin with.
For her, Ichor would be the best choice.

>>37413299
>King of Hell

>>37413390
>Just seeing Kae makes Shee want to submit to her.
We overcame that influence on our own, actually. So even if it would work like that, which there is no reason to think it does, it wouldn't count for Kae.

>>37413390
Far more important, is the Kings gift Willpower or Fellowship?

>>37413330
Blood Control and Limbs are middling. Wishcrafting is only good at higher levels, which can be said of most of the powers that have a high number of degrees, it doesn't seem exceptional.

Ichor's domains have just been in-line with what we want when they've shown up, for the most part. I'm sure there will be a stupid idea when they aren't perfectly in-line with our desires like Baalzamon's have been when we don't want to lie to or betray someone.

>>37413431
>Ichor's domains have just been in-line with what we want when they've shown up, for the most part.
Which was exactly my point.
Sofar, every single time Ichors favors were exactly what we wanted to do.

>>37413430
If it is Fellowship based, hopefully it's based off Command/Leadership, so we'd get the same mod. Assuming it even works like that in the first place.

>>37413416
Considering it was thanks to a roll, I have doubts we will do that again. And now Kae is not as friendly, maybe fully hostile, she might actively use that power to force Shee to submit. Which will most probably mean a much higher DC.

>>37413467
>she might actively use that power to force Shee to submit
What makes you think her doing it on purpose will have more effect then not doing it on purpose?
No power we have seen is weaker in passive then in active use.

>>37413467
Then the King of Hell's power would block it.

>>37413306
>>37413313
>>37413345
>>37413380
>>37413405
Guys, not being allowed into someone's mind is fucking obviously a magic of some kind. Which isn't good for us

>>37413299
>Baalzamon

>>37413497
>Implying we want it for Kae

>>37413497
I don't choose this against Kae. This is against hostile Vampires and Gifted.
I have no problem letting Kae into our mind to gain her trust and have no intention to risk that on an attempt to hide something as trivial as that conversation with Sara.
When Kae reads our mind, she will instantly know we never intended to betray her to begin with. Problem solved.
She already knows about our dealings with the gods, and her knowing better about it, is actually good for us.

Lirael is the only thing we could want to hide, and we have waaayyy too many memories of her.

>>37413516
What do we want it for then?

>>37413526
>This is against hostile Vampires and Gifted.
Which giving them a false impression of our mind is always more useful in every situation? Even in combat we can trick them into traps if they try and read our mind. King? Nada, fucking nothing. Only tells them they're up against a stronger opponent than they realized

>>37413542
>Which giving them a false impression of our mind is always more useful in every situation?
Except in situations where they don't try to read our mind to begin with? We take precautions against mind-control, not mind-reading.

Sure, baalzamons is good, but the simple fact is, all his favor options have been terrible ideas sofar. I don't want to know what his offer is, and rather wait until we find some good favor options so we can pick that power up on our own. Which we couldn't if we see his task is shit and reject it.

>>37413299
>>37413299
>>Baalzamon
By the way, anyone else see The Five as a bunch of drunks outside a pub giving allowance to a three year old or something?

>>37413542
Enemies controlling our mind is a greater worry then reading it sofar.
King can protect us from both, Baalzamon only protects us from reading.
King > Baalzamon
From a defense point of view.

>>37413593
The vote has been over for a while, anon.

>>37413564
Baalzamon is all about lies, missirection and manipularion. There are plenty of opportunities for it, you just are too much of a pussy to do it.

>>37413628
If that had been a vote, you'd have gained favour with him for that.

>>37413628
Lying for the sake of lying is retarded.
Every single time he encouraged us to lying it would have been stuff that would have backfired hard on us in the long run.
Lying to your allies about shit they would find out anyway is stupid as hell.

>>37413628
Baalzamon needs to learn that misleading truths are better than blatant lies.

File: mistletoe crown.jpg (137 KB, 736x577)

137 KB JPG

>>37411964
Could we come to a consensus on the crown's shape? I believe once it's chosen it's chosen for good, unless that's changed since?

I'm in favour of it looking like a crown of mistletoe myself. Like this but thicker.

>>37413542
I don't really want to know what Baalzamon would ask. That fucking betrayal domain.

The false impression would either still contain information we don't want them to know unrelated to the trap (e.g. personal attachments, mission objective) or be suspicious due to the utter lack of real secrets.

Them not having a false impression might put them more on-guard, but it wouldn't preclude traps. Not that traps are exceptionally likely against mind-readers due to the fact that our allies do not have the same protection, although King of Hell might have a peripheral to let us shield our allies minds as well due to being a leader.

>>37413628
You forgot the Betrayal domain.

>>37413678
I was just hoping Pally would decide something. I'm sure he'd pick something cool and I don't particularly feel like having an appearance vote, at least not mid-thread.

>>37413654
What makes youthink they would find out in the end? Does it even matter? Some lies are expected to be told or are perfecty excusable, like hiding Lirael's nature. If anything, just lie again and use his gifts to ensure the others don't suspect anything.

Heck, there was that chance to lie about meaningless and inoffensive stuff and another bad write-in ruined it.

And really, worry too much about the unimportant weaklings. They are not good allies or real friends, at most tools for ends we have alternatives for. You just need to stop worrying so much

>>37413678
I'm still saying we should just stick to Crown of green fire.
I'm not hot on the idea of having to discuss the exact shape.

“King of Hell” you finish.

The King of Hell steps forward, only inches from you “Your mission with the rebels” he says “You have a plan, which they may not approve of.”

“I do” you say “What-”

“Use it” he says simply

“What do you mean?” you ask

“Use your plan” he says “Not theirs”

“I intend to convince them that it is better than theirs” you say “After all, I don’t think they’ve considered all of the options.”

“That would be acceptable” says the King “but if they decline...you implement your plan anyway.”

Your eyes widen “I’d have to steal the recorded message and I’d lose their trust, people could die.”

“Only if they do not accept that your ideas are better than their own” notes the King of Hell.

“Wait” you say “So I’ll need to wait until tomorrow to complete this task?”

The King considers this “As this is the first Gift you have requested, I will accept your word that you will implement your plan over theirs no matter what. If you accept I will bestow my gift now.” he leans in “if you cheat me, I will strip you of all of the gifts I have given.”

“This could compromise the mission” you argue.

“It’s not about the mission” points out the King of Hell “It’s about authority, and who has it, do you accept?”

Do you?
>Y/N

>>37413722
Baalzamon get out.

>>37413722
>there was that chance to lie about meaningless and inoffensive stuff
Care to remind me of which one?

I mean the rest of your post is already Bait: The Musical experience.
But I'm honestly curious about which one you mean here.

>>37413706
You forgot the Betrayal domain
I'd consider that a sub-domain of the manipulation domain. Still, that's good to know, we should get plenty of favor once we get rid of the others.

>>37413746
>Y
Its the better plan anyway.
We just need to amke sure everyone is on the same page on that.

>>37413758
Welp. I guess I'm never voting for anything related to worst god from now on.

>>37413746
>Y
Thats a LOT more harmless then I thought it would be.
Good thing we convinced Rainya and Dev already.

>>37413746
>Y

>>37413746
>Y

>“I’d have to steal the recorded message and I’d lose their trust, people could die.”
Why would you need to steal it? You were supposed to put it in in the first place. They will just hand it to you.
And people could die just as well for going with their retarded plan that won't work.

>>37413750
IIRC it was during the get together with the others in the facility? With the talk about the mission and people's opinions about the Fae and the past in general.
I might be mistaken, though, my memory can be awful sometimes. I will scourge the archives for the opportunities we had when I have the time.

>>37413746
>Y

>>37413746
>N
Surprise change of plans will lead to disaster.

>>37413812
Ah, I remember.
The issue with that one was that we had no idea what we would lie about. And some of that stuff was no inconsequential.
And there was no write in.

>>37413768
Well, that's Shee's loss.

>>37413872
I consider having allies better than betraying them to please a dick that hasn't realized after millennia that blatant lies are the worst form of deception.

>>37413872
To be fair, Pally said he wanted to make Baalzamon more about actual deception and subterfuge, and less about lying for lyings sake.
So we hopefully will get more opportunities in the future. He has been rather mono-dimensiona.

>>37413860
Still a perfect opportunity missed. Indecisiveness is a bad excuse.

>>37413911
That was not a perfect opportunity at all. It was the same lying for lyings sake problem we always have with him.
No idea where you get indecisiveness out of this, we were pretty decisive about being honest about stuff that isn't sensitive to us.

>>37413903
Why not start with those right next to us? They don't need to know everything; if there still are things they don't know, that is.

>>37413959
Only Lirael and Rainya come close to knowing everything, actually.
We keep everyone else in the dark to varying degrees and on different topics, depending on how much they are likely to find out on their own or would be inconvenient to hide from them.

>>37413940
From
>The issue with that one was that we had no idea what we would lie about.
>no writein
It was a perfect opportunity to get favor, regardless of it being lying for lying's sake. The fact it wasn't sensitive to Shee is more reason to not need to be honest.

“Yes” you say to the King of Hell “I accept”.

The King smiles and lays a clawed hand on your head, you feel intense heat bordering on pain and then it disappears.

“It is done” says the King simply.

[Favour of the King of Hell +1

Royal Dominion
Others do not affect your mind without your permission. Anytime anyone uses magic or other powers to read or affect your mind you may negate the effect as reaction.
You make an opposed Willpower check against the person trying to affect your mind.
This costs 1 point of psychic energy if you equal or exceed their Willpower check. If you fail to equal or exceed their Willpower check then the cost of this ability is increased by the difference in your checks. You always know when someone is trying to affect your mind, though you don’t always know what sort of affect it is, or who is doing it. Those whose powers you negate with this ability know that their attempt failed but not why – to them it seems as if your will is too strong to be easily subverted.]

The Five retreat into the darkness and it fades as you open your eyes. You pull your comlink out of your pocket before you realise you don’t know Charuns comm. code.

You quickly teleport back to Dust Town and head over from your shack to Charuns, you find him fooling in the engine of his truck.

“Charun” you say “I realise I don’t have your comm. code.” Charun pulls his head out of the engine and grumbling, fetches an old and battered comm. from a box and recites his code.

“Anything else?” he asks

“Yeah” you say “I’m out of Needler ammo, I’ll need some as soon as possible.”

“Right” says Charun, going back to working on his engine “I’ll give it yer tomorrow.”

With that done you head back to the research facility, Lirael is still engrossed in her video game. You have just over an hour before you’re due to speak to Sergeant Yonsul. You could go in person and probably get there in time, or you could have another hour doing what you want to do and just comm. her.

What’s it to be?

>Go in person
>Comm her (doing what in the meantime?)
>Other (what?)

>>37414005
>regardless of it being lying for lying's sake
No exactly not. Lying for lyings sake is something you do to people you don't meet on a regular or longterm basis.

>The fact it wasn't sensitive to Shee is more reason to not need to be honest.
You must be the worst lier ever.
You don't lie to people you meet daily about trivial shit, because thats another thing they could find out, making your other lies less effective.
Blatant lies are a absolute last resort, or for people you won't be seeing again.

>>37414059
>Go in person

>>37414059
>Go in person
Comm isn't save.

>>37414059
>Go in person

>>37414005
>You should lie just because you can even if it doesn't benefit you in any way and can only bring you in trouble
You sound like some kind of kids movie villain.

>>37414059
>Go in person

>>37414064
Didn't you say they were not inconsequential/trivial? Anyway, in a place where mind affecting magic exist, enforcing others to ignore the truth and embrace the lie shouldn't be impossible.
But we'd probably need more favor for that, of which we have none.

>>37414091
>You should lie just because you can even if it doesn't benefit you in any way and can only bring you in trouble
Now you are plain wrong. It does benefits us by giving favor, which grants us more powers in turn.

>>37414165
>Didn't you say they were not inconsequential/trivial?
The topics were not inconsequential, we had, as I said, no idea what the lies would be and it was very possible they could be about stuff that would be bad for us to lie about.
Which is why our hosen option about being honest about the trivial stuff, and just not mention the important stuff, was better.

>>37414191
We're not going to vote for stuff that can harm us just to get favor.
Thats what leads to these prophecies of us getting everyone we care about killed.

>>37414165
The lies themselves would've been about inconsequential things, that's why there was no point to lying. Lying itself can still give us trouble if it's found out and either alienate people or just make them not believe us in the future.

We aren't mind-fucking our allies. We wouldn't need favor for that anyway.

>>37414191
I'm not going to choose a stupid option just for favor, not for any of the Five.

“Time to go Lirael” you say “You can spend some time with Rainya tonight.”

“Ok” says Lirael, putting down her datapad “But why not bring Rainya here?”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be” you say “I might be back late.”

You teleport the two of you back to Dust Town and greet Rainya as she gets back from work, leaving Lirael in her care. You get on the bus and head into the Hive, aiming for your regular meeting place with Sergeant Yonsul.

As you go into the cafe you see her sat at a table, you head into the back and she follows you.

“Well?” she asks

“It’s done” you say “I can keep my secrets safe from prying telepaths.”

“Alright” says the Sergeant, nodding “you ready to go out tonight?”

“In this?” you ask incredulously, indicating your everyday clothing “besides, I can go another night, Kae could be anywhere right now.”

Sergeant Yonsul gives a very faint smile “You can buy clothes” she says “And someone has seen Kae at a club recently, she is probably still there.”

That’s....suspiciously fortunate given that your previous plan was just to search the entire Hive for Kae.

How do you respond?

>Fine, let’s do this
>No, I’m not going tonight
>I can protect my secrets now, so tell me what you’ve been keeping from me
>Other (what?)

>>37414247
>We aren't mind-fucking our allies.
Not without reason, anyway.

>Fine, let’s do this

>>37414259
>Fine, let’s do this

>>37414259
>Fine, let’s do this
Don't forget, we do not actually have the ability to keep secrets from Kae without pissing her off, if we want the square answer from Yonsul, we will have to ask her AFTER convincing Kae.

>>37414259
>Fine, let’s do this
I assume we got our gun stored away in the Dimensional Arsenal?

>>37414289
I'm ok with that, yes.

>>37414289
That thing cans tore 140kg currently, we could store a actual Arsenal in there, at this point.
We need to look for that weapons locker tomorrow.
Having all those spare guns and ammunition will be important.

>>37414259
>Fine, let’s do this

“Alright” you say “Lets do this.”

Sergeant Yonsuls smile widens “Thatta girl” she says, handing you a wad of cash and giving you an address to a club called the Dyson “Make it quick” she says “Me and Zasky will be in the area if you get into trouble, just give me a call.”

With that you each leave the cafe separately and you head out to buy some more clothes. With time being a factor you don’t spend long putting an outfit together, just something that looks good on you and then you catch a taxi over to the club.

Inside the Dyson it’s like a club anywhere: loud music, flashing lights, hot and full of people. You search through the place until you see Kae dancing with...Quinn and his group of buddies.

Damn, and you don’t have any back-up this time. Still, you could wait until Kae is alone, you could approach then when they’re all together, you could wait until Quinn is alone and maybe approach him – if you get him to fall in line his buddies will too. Or you could try this another evening.

And then you realise that there’s too many vamps with Kae for it to be just Quinn and his buddies, the moving bodies shift and you realise Ashley is with them as well, that complicates matters...

What do you do?

>Approach group
>Approach Kae is alone
>Approach Quinn is alone
>Approach Ashley is alone
>Leave it for tonight
>Other plan (what?)

Approaching anyone alone will involve waiting for the right time.

>>37414429
>Ashley is still hanging out with Quinn
Fuck that guy.

>>37414429
>Approach Kae is alone

>>37414429
>Approach Kae is alone

>>37414429
>Approach Kae is alone
We are going to have words with Ashley once this is done.
Can't risk a scene now, but this shit needs a REALLY GOOD explanation.

>>37414429
>approach Ashley
He can get Kae to leave Quinn for a while and to give Shee another chance, they're still in good terms.

>>37414429
>Approach Kae is alone
We need to speak to only her anyway, if we can't get her to talk to us alone, then we have no chance anyway.

Approaching Kae directly is a bad starting move. Probably.

>>37414475
Hahaha, no, we are not. You fags avoid him even in friendly situations and pushes him away.

>>37414429
>Approach Kae is alone

>>37414475

I'm gonna bet Kae met him and dragged him in and he is way too much of a spineless coward to say anything.

>>37414505
Its a difficult choice, I give you that.
I think, if Kae would freak out at the mere sight of us, we have no chance anyway. And starting with Quinn, will just give him a chance to block us out or start shit. Starting with Ashley woulkd drag him into our dealings with kae, which given the demon magic thing, isn't a good idea.

>>37414524
We have not once avoided him. What are you talking about?

>>37414553
He is just butthurt.

>>37414537
If Kae met him and dragged him in, then that's the best chance we have. She should remember he and Shee are friends, I think she'd understand if he tried to fix things between the two.

And honestly, I think Ashley has not had many chances to show what he can do. He's restricted by the Hive's society and can't fight against Quinn, but he could have helped a lot in finding Lirael and fighting the Gouger. I think we should try to rely on him to help deal with Kae.

>>37414595
>If Kae met him and dragged him in, then that's the best chance we have.
Considering it means he was willing to put up with Quinn after all this shit, I don't see how that would indicate a good chance unless Kae mindraped him into it.
Even worse, if we try to make Ashley fix it between us, Kae is guaranteed to talk about our "pacts with demons" in his presence. And that would be bad for the negotiations.

>>37414595
>but he could have helped a lot in finding Lirael and fighting the Gouger
We didn't have time to call for help so far away for Lirael, and we didn't need his help for the Gouger, we had enough help there.
I doubt Ashley can even use a gun, and Lirael only worked because she can fly.

Ashley is very restricted by his position in society, he would help us best as informant and for non-shady social stuff, but he is obviously not content with that.

You frown, why is Ashley hanging around with Quinn and his group of assholes? Maybe Kae dragged him along. Either way, dealing with Kae first is the best option, Quinn would just take a shot at you and you don’t want to get Ashley involved.

You keep an eye on the group but keep your distance, fending off attempts by drunken strangers to get you to dance until at last you spot your chance: Kae is going to the ladies without any of the female vamps in tow. You head over there and going in after her, waiting n another stall until she’s finished and is washing her hands. You step up to the sink next to her and say “Hi Kae I didn’t realise you wer-”

The rest of your sentence is choked off as Kae spins around, grabs you and slams you into the wall with one hand, she raises the other hand and you see a ball of multi-coloured fire held between her fingers.

“You’ve got some nerve coming near me again demon-worshipper” she hisses “Quinn says what happened was an accident but I know what I saw. Now you can explain to me why you’re here or you can get out!”

What do you do?

>Teleport out of her grasp
>Go with Quinns story: it was an *accident*
>Hit her (this pleases Jagganatha)
>Ok, I’m leaving
>Other story (what?)
>Ask her to read your mind
>Other (what?)

>>37414673
>Ask her to read your mind

>>37414673
>Go with Quinns story: it was an *accident*

>>37414673
>Ask her to read your mind
>It was no accident, I overreacted in fear. You were THERE when he attacked me. Read my mind if it takes that to make you trust me, I want to be your friend Kae.

>>37414673
>Ask her to read your mind
Now or never.

>>37414673
>Ask her to read your mind
>We both know it can't have been an accident. I know letting you read my mind now, doesn't look as good as it should, but if you see what I show you, I think you will know I'm not hiding anything more.

>>37414673
>Go with Quinns story: it was an *accident*

>>37414673
>Ask her to read your mind
Going with Quinns story is the worst option possible. It makes us look bad, because she knows we used magic, and makes Quinn look good for "covering" for us.

>>37414665
Hmm, we had enough help for the gouger only recently. When we first set out to track the beast, Ash had offered help, and we went to look for it alone.

>>37414673
>>Hit her (this pleases Jagganatha)
>Other (what?)
"For ONE moment you had not even thought to listen to my side of the story had you? You callous bitch, despite listening to you, protecting you from the police, even being your friend."

"And yet what? I get this? I get you trying to almost murder me every time we see each other, over something you didn't even THINK to ask me about. Why am I even bothering trying to settle things with you? All I've ever done with you has been FOR you!"

>>37414673
>>37414714
Changing to
>>37414739

>>37414791
I would really want to do this, because its completly true. But sadly Kae doesn't seem anywhere near reasonable enough to accept that.
Except for the part of listening to our side of the story. She did actually offer that, with the mind-reading.

>>37414818
It's not like she read Quinn's mind or anything.

>>37414673
>>37414680
Changing to
>>37414739

Mind reading plus a bit of a write-in, ok

>>37414829
Thats true of course.
Its not like the write-in is wrong in its accusation, I just don't think we will actually get to say it.

>>37414791
>despite listening to you
>protecting you from the police
Drawing a blank on these.

>>37414862
Remember when the police came and Kae didn't want them around? We listened to her and didn't call them.

>>37414829
Its not like she needs to read his mind to know he is an asshole and we have legitimate problems with him, she was there when he attacked us.

>>37414862
We did protect her by not telling them we saw her just a few minutes ago. And we do this in part so we can make sure that she won't come to harm from this whole deal.
And we did listen to her when she told us she accidently mindraped us.

>>37414886
He's the worst kind of asshole. The kind that can pretend to be a decent person, at least for a while. I think she left early enough that Quinn could've managed to pass that off as a mean joke.

>>37414949
I assume that is what happened, that she is willing to hang out with someone who considers that a joke, is still very telling of her character.

“Read my mind!” you say

“What?” says Kae, pausing

“Read my mind” you say “We both know it can't have been an accident. I know letting you read my mind now, doesn't look as good as it should, but if you see what I show you, I think you will know I'm not hiding anything more.”

Kae looks at you strangely “What is going on with you?” she asks, the ball of fire in her hand gutters out.

“I’m not trying to hurt you” you say “I want to clear this up, and I want to be your friend, but it wasn’t an accident, what did Quinn say?”

“He said” says Kae, letting go of you and stepping back “That your parents were worshippers of the Five, particularly the King of Hell, that you likely made several pacts with demons before you knew what you were doing. He said you were past all that now, and were trying to put it behind you” she continues “And he claims he scared you a lot when you both got arrested, that it was his fault for being aggressive when you spoke the other night, so you lashed out in self-defence.”

Ok, what the hell, why is Quinn of all people trying to cover for you?

“If you look inside my head” you say “You’ll see the truth.”

“That’s an advanced spell” says Kae “And not one I have readied right now, I can’t do it.”

Welp, there goes your plan.

“But what I can do” she says “Is enter your dreams and read the truth there.” Kae puts a hand on your head “This is just to forge a strong enough connection to help me find you, and if you take the sleeping pills, well don’t for the next few nights ok?”

You feel something trying to affect your mind. Will you use the King of Hells Gift to block it?

>Y/N

And how do you respond verbally?

>Ok, I guess I’ll see you in my dreams (leave)
>Try to convince her to trust you
>Claim Quinn is lying
>What’s Ashley doing with you?
>Other (what?)

>>37415001
>N
>Won't that make me vulnerable to other fae, if you don't come to me?
>What’s Ashley doing with you?

>>37415001
>N
>What’s Ashley doing with you?
>Won't that make me vulnerable to other fae, if you don't come to me?


Okay, I fear I know whats going on here.

>>37415001
>N
>Ok, I guess I’ll see you in my dreams (leave)

>>37415050
Share with me your fear, anon. I want to see if it matches mine.

>>37415001
>N
>Ok, I guess I’ll see you in my dreams (leave)
Looks like Quinns grandpa is "in-the-know".

>>37415050
>>37415022
Second

>>37415072
Quinns attitude suddenly changed when he had a talk with his grandfather about attacking us.
I bet our name came up too.
Our dad tried to kill the King himself, I doubt he operated alone.
I think there is a group of old dudes like Charun around, who conspired together back then, and Quinns ancestor is part of that and told him to leave us alone.

>>37415072
>>37415111
In addition, I think that is also why Quinn hangs out with Kaelyn and what riles up Yonsul so much.
Quinn is supposed to spy on Kaelyn for his side. He probably knows we spy on Kaelyn for Yonsul too.

>>37415111
His father, sorry. The other anons comment, derailed me a bit.

Geez, seems that attacking him back then was a bad decision.

You resist the urge to block her doing....whatever it is she just did.

“Won’t dreaming make me vulnerable to other fae?” you ask “If you don’t come to visit?”

Kae considers this “Yes” she says “It would, it’s a risk you’ll have to take, unless...no, it’s a risk you’ll have to take, alright?”

“Unless what?” you say. Kae stares at you hard.

“Unless I mark your dream realm as mine” she says “a few are favoured servants of high-ranking fae, interfering in their dreams risks the wrath of their owners, but to take a...a demon-worshipper as a servant, ugh!” She shakes her head in disgust.

You change topics “What about Ash?” you say “Why is he with you?”

Kae makes a dismissive gesture “Oh he’s one of Quinns followers” she says “I guess he was on the outs when we first me, he follows Quinn now, are we done?” She turns to go.

What now?

Dreams
>I won’t leave my dreams vulnerable, find another way
>Ok, I’ll risk it
>Mark my dream realm as yours
>Other (what?)

General
>Claim Quinn is spying on her
>Ashley would never follow Quinn!
>We’re done (leave)
>Other (what?)

>>37415228
It was a stupid decision even if Quinn isn't on our side.

>>37415228
No, I actually don't think so.
If our theory is true, then attacking him was actually a better decision then previously thought.

>>37415250
>Mark my dream realm as yours
We gotta trust eachother, Kae. I'm not going to leave myself vulnerable because you haven't prepared a spell. I'm already risking alot with trusting you like this.
>We’re done (leave)

>>37415250
>What would that marking entail, anything anyone else could see? Would they know who and where I am?
If not
>Mark my dream realm as yours
>We’re done (leave)

>>37415250
>Mark my dream realm as yours
>We gotta trust eachother, Kae. I'm not going to leave myself vulnerable because you haven't prepared a spell. I'm already risking alot with trusting you like this. You can remove it afterwards, one way or the other.
>We’re done (leave)

>>37415250
>Ok, I’ll risk it
>we're done
Ok, no marking, please. The King wouldn't approve of it.

>>37415250
>What would that marking entail, anything anyone else could see? Would they know who and where I am?
>Mark my dream realm as yours
or
>I won’t leave my dreams vulnerable, find another way
>Don't tell anyone we met here

>>37415351
If we didn't get disfavor for that shitty write-in at the end of last time, this won't do it either.
And there is a reason why we don't just follow one God. We need some flexibility.

>>37415250
>>37415317
Seconding

>>37415351
>The King wouldn't approve of it.
We do a lot of stuff he wouldn't approve of.
Considering how much Favor we already have with him, I'm not worried about that.

“What would that marking entail, anything anyone else could see? you ask Kae “would they know who and where I am?”

Kae shakes her head “Anyone trying to access your dreams would see my own mark, if they entered your dreams, I’d know the next time I visited. I can’t use it to track you, nor can others unless they’re using a spell that could find you anyway.”

“Ok” you say “do it.”

Kae shakes her head “No, why would I?”

“Because you want to know the truth” you say “We gotta trust each other, Kae. I'm not going to leave myself vulnerable because you haven't prepared a spell. I'm already risking a lot with trusting you like this.”

“Fine” says Kae “fine! But if I find out you’re playing me” she warns “I’ll turn your head inside out, that I *can* do.”

She reaches for your head again and you feel...something.

Block mind-affecting power using Royal Dominion?

>Y/N

And verbal response?

>Ok, now I guess I’m joining you and everyone tonight
>That’s everything (leave)
>Discuss something else with Kae (topic?)
>other (what?)

>>37415515
>N
>That’s everything (leave)

>>37415515
>N
>That’s everything (leave)

>>37415515
>>Ok, now I guess I’m joining you and everyone tonight
Should talk to Ashley and Quinn, AND HOPEFULLY try to mend things with Kae.

>>37415515
>N
>That’s everything (leave)
I think everything else, including washing her head thoroughly, will have to wait for our dream meeting.

>>37415567
>>37415546
>>37415538
Shouldn't we stay and try and make a good impression?

>>37415557
Seconding that

>>37415515
>N
>That’s everything (leave)
Sofar, so good.
Hopefully our dream meeting runs just as smooth, and we don't do anything too bad on our next mission.

>>37415579
We really won't be. Meeting Quinn now will just upset things, he knows too much, and I don't want him running his mouth about our demon worshipping next to Ashley. And dealing with Ashley, is also another matter that I don't want to do in front of Kae.

>>37415579
>Shouldn't we stay and try and make a good impression?
Right now? We should count ourselves fortunate and leave before anything upsets our success here.

>>37415595
>And dealing with Ashley, is also another matter that I don't want to do in front of Kae.
Or at all, if you ask me.
I told people they were silly when they gave Ashley shit for still hanging out with Quinn, because I assumed he just met him to tell him off once, and has otherwise severed his ties.
But now?
Fuck him.
If Kae would have dragged him in, I could have understood it, but he actually is still part of Quinns crew.

>>37415683
I'm not willing to draw any real conclusions based off what Kae said.

>>37415699
I'm willing to draw conclusions from the facts that are visible and at hand.
He hangs out with Quinn. Kae wasn't responsible for it.

>>37415712
We should probably try and find out the reason for that then.

>>37415717
I'm personally not interested.
If others want to bother hearing his excuses, feel free. Not gonna waste time on it, we can leave him a comlink message.

>>37415734
You remind me of the guy that wanted to try and abandon this entire plot thread from a single setback.

Once again you let Kae do what she needs to do to your mind. She steps back, with a satisfied nod.

“I guess I’ll see you in my dreams” you say as you leave. Kae gives an amused snort.

You head back home to Dust Town after sending Sergeant Yonsul a quick text telling her and Zasky to stand down for the night.

Back in Dust Town you pick up Lirael from Rainyas place and take her home, dozing on back due to the late hour.

As you prepare to go to bed, for the first time since you can remember, you don’t take your sleeping pills...
---
You wake the next morning feeling refreshed, until all the memories come rushing back and you realise that last night, despite not taking the pills, you didn’t dream. Maybe you need to be off them for a few days before you start dreaming?

You rise and go to breakfast after feeding Lirael. You sit with Rainya, Dev and Rhydian as you eat, there’s a sense of anticipation in the air, after all, the mission is tonight. Rhydian in particular seems antsy, snapping at people and twitching. You’re calm and happy and content, your usual frame of mind after being bitten.

Work passes as normal, you file several more work orders about the big engineering project but don’t manage to find out anything else about it. At the end of the day you get on the bus and start fidgeting, your mind on the mission ahead, and your promise to the King of Hell.

As you get off the bus and head home you try to think of anything else you need to do before you head to Charuns.

Is there?

>Yes (what?)
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)

>>37415753
Since I'm not advocating to abandon any subplots because of a setback, I have to assume that must be a very flimsy connection.

>>37415787
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)

>>37415787
>Yes (what?)
Retroactively don't get on the bus and find Kae

>>37415787
>Yes (Text Ash about his reasons for hanging out with Quinn again)

>>37415787
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)

>>37415802
No, it's more the part about him wanting to cut ties with Kae. He developed a preconceived notion of a character based off a few actions he found disagreeable and decided that was enough of a justification to try and avoid any further interaction with them or inquire about why they did what they did.

>>37415787
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)

>>37415787
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)
Lets get the show on the road.
We still need to tell the other guy about teleporting.

>>37415787
>No (head to Charuns, start mission)
I assume we can't get any guns now anymore?
Would have been nice to call in sick and search for that locker.

>>37415831
>He developed a preconceived notion of a character based off a few actions
I think you have a misunderstanding about what the word "preconcieved" means.
If someone bases his opinion based on several actions a person takes then it isn't "preconcieved. Then its having formed a opinion of that person.

>>37415896
You're right, I misused the word. It's still foolish to judge a character based off a singular action or small number of actions and refuse to investigate their reasons for doing so. More so than usual in this case.

>>37415925
>It's still foolish to judge a character based off a singular action or small number of actions
I would consider keeping a association with someone more then a small number of actions.
Kae didn't know Quinn, and as far as we know as no real idea about what a terrible person he is. Her short impression of him, could very well be explained as a joke in bad taste, its still not speaking very well of her character, but thats why she really needs better friends. Being "on-the-run" to a extent.

Ashley on the other hand knows exactly what sort of person Quinn is. He knew it when we first met him. And knows it now. He knows it better then we do, in fact.
Him being friends with Quinn AT ALL was already a mark on his character, but you could assume in his favor he wasn't quite sure if Quinn wasn't largely rumor and hearsay. Now he KNOWS what a utter asshole he is, and he STILL hangs out with him, despite having had a fight with him afterwards.
He didn't just not sever his ties, he actively reconciled with him.

>>37416013
We don't actually know his *reasons* for continuing to hang out with Quinn. It's possible he's not entirely willing due to some external factor or doesn't want to be there. That's what I want to find out and why nothing you said is a valid argument against him until we do.

>>37416047
>and why nothing you said is a valid argument against him until we do
Considering he didn't bother to inform us of this development, I'm going to go ahead and assume his reasons aren't very good.
And even assuming he can not avoid hanging out with him for some reason, that means we can't actually associate with Ashley at all anymore, since doing so would risk stuff getting back to Quinn.
You think he deserves to be prompted to explain himself. I don't.

You pick Lirael up from school, head back to your place to make sure you have everything you need, including the comm. relay and then the two of you head to Charuns. Once everyone is assembled Charun closes the door and spreads out the map in the back of his truck “We’re meeting up with the others here” he says, pointing to an area of the map “Before we get there, Dev and Shee are getting off here and are going to pick something up” he points to a place close to the pile of rocks you hid the Warmech in “And then they’ll join us at the staging point, once we’re there we’ll go over the plan again, including any last minute changes” Charun shoots you a glance “And then we start tonight at 8pm. Ok let’s move.”

You all pile into the truck and head out, eventually Charun pulls up and you and Dev climb out, Lirael goes to follow but you shoo her back inside saying “Stay with Rainya for now”. You and Dev locate the warmech and you both clean it off. As Dev climbs in he says “Wow, it’s really happening Shee, we’re going to make a real difference to the rebellion”

“Yeah” you say with a smile “We are.”

Dev powers up the warmech and heads off, with you clinging to its back. You make the meeting point: There’s a number of trucks there and about 30 people all told. Everyone watches as Dev bring the warmech up and you climb off. You head over to what looks like a meeting of some kind: a bunch of older guys with their heads together, talking, before you get there it breaks up. The people here are a ragged bunch: all dusters with all sorts of weapons, but they look determined.

>>37416078
>I'm going to go ahead and assume his reasons aren't very good.
Just as possible he has a reason to not tell us his reasons.

One of them calls for order then says “Ok, many of you won’t know me, I’m Six. You’ve all been told the plan, but there are some last minute changes” he gestures to the Warmech “After we take the station and start the recording, the warmech and a few others will take the central area in front of the station: we expect most of the counter-attack to come through there. Everyone else will cover the sides and the rear, any questions?”

Charun steps forward “One of my team has had an idea” he says, he lays out the basics of your comm. relay plan. Six listens and then shakes his head “No” he says “It could be interrupted or blocked or something, we’ll stick to my plan” wow he seems to want to get people killed.

“My team” says Six, waving a datacard in the air “Will plant the recording and hold the comm. station from the inside. Let’s go.” Everyone starts getting ready, checking weapons and psyching themselves up.

What do you do?

>Get ready (you can get the datacard later)
>Go talk to Six (convince him to try your plan)
>Other (what?)

>>37416111
>Go talk to Six (convince him to try your plan)

>>37416105
In which case talking to him won't do any good, now will it?
>>37416111

>Go talk to Six (convince him to try your plan)

>>37416111
>Go talk to Six (convince him to try your plan)

>>37416123
Confronting him about why he keeps hanging out with Quinn in spite of him being a prick could get him to reveal the secret, and we lose little, if anything, by trying.

>>37416111
>Go talk to Six (convince him to try your plan)
If they can interrupt the relay, they can interrupt the signal from the comstation just as well.
Assuming they figure out there IS a relay fast enough at all. And then they need equipment to interrupt it.

>>37416155
>and we lose little, if anything, by trying
We betray we have been getting into contact with Kae, which then means Quinn can hear about it.

Could we focus on the delicate operation we have ahead of us?
In the likely event he keeps refusing us, we need to find a way to go through with our plan in a way that won't get people killed.
I mean, yes, reationally speaking it can't possibly get more people killed then not doing it, but I just know drama will be fabricated from it regardless.

Please roll Fellowship 1d20+7

You get 4 rolls for this, because of Charisma of the King of Hell.

>>37416241
There isn't anything to figure out.
He either submits to our authority, or we get the datacard and use the relay anyway.
We will need people manning the station either way, to keep up the illusion its being sended from there, it just means we won't have to fight to the death to hold it.

And thanks to our teleportation, we can reinforce the station guys at any time.

Rolled 13 + 7 (1d20 + 7)

>>37416288

Rolled 18 + 7 (1d20 + 7)

>>37416288

Rolled 11 + 7 (1d20 + 7)

>>37416288

Rolled 1 + 7 (1d20 + 7)

>>37416288

>>37416326
Ugh. I don't think thats enough.
Could we retro-actively learn Domination?

>>37416371
you have 8XP unspent.

You can if you want to

>>37416399
I'm not sure yet if I was serious. Our argument is pretty good, our plan is basically their plan, just allows for more flexibility.

>>37416241
Yeah, I'm stopping for now. Going to post my reply at the end of the thread, though.

>>37416424
Hell, we can easily do both plans.
Upload the message into the stations computer, then put it in the relay, when they shut down the message, but not the computers, we just use the relay to keep sending.

>>37416459
I'm still not sure how this system works that we can't send with the relay directly, without the station.
What prevents us from just tapping into the frequency ourselves if we shut down the regular broadcast?

As everyone else gets ready you head over to Six, who is giving his team a last few words of encouragement.

“Six” you say, he turns to you with what he might think is a charming smile “Hello there Miss, glad to have you with us, don’t you worry about this mission: me and my boys here have it all under control.”

“Actually” you say “It’s about the plan. Using a relay will save a lot of lives: we can send the recording from another location and we won’t need to fight the reinforcements when they arrive.”

Six chuckles “I know it might seem scary” he says “But Charun and I discussed the relay he found and it’s not in good condition you see, it could fail at any moment. I won’t bore you with technical details you wouldn’t understand girlie but-”

“Actually” you say, pulling the comm. relay out of your pack “I built the relay and it works just fine. Look, I know I’m asking you to change the plan last minute but this will work.”

One of Six’s team bursts out laughing and Six just stares at you for a moment before saying angrily “Well either way, the plan is final, get back to your group girl.”

What do you do?
>Fine (go back to your group)
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
>Other (what?)

Use Hells Crown? (Charisma of the King of Hell 5)?

>Y/N

Use Domination? (5XP)

>Y/N

The King of Hell would likely approve of either or both of these.

I'm fine with players spending XP at any time, plus psychic powers can easily develop in stressful situations

>>37416504
Signal strength. This station will be handling a lot of signals for a good part of the planet. Your portable one can't reach that far.

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
Hells crown is probably a bad decision.
And I have the feeling that he got something to ward against or sense psychic powers.

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
>Look, we don't even need to cancel the original plan. Just let me upload the message into the station, then I can put the card into the relay, and we can keep sending in case they shut down the message in the station. We don't need to fight it to the death, we can just delay them for a while, and then it will be too late for them to realise we got backup. If they shut down the entire station, they can do that anytime anyway, and your plan would be doomed to failure from the start.

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)

Use Domination? (5XP)
>Y

No crown, too obvious.

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
>Look, we don't even need to cancel the original plan. Just let me upload the message into the station, then I can put the card into the relay, and we can keep sending in case they shut down the message in the station. We don't need to fight it to the death, we can just delay them for a while, and then it will be too late for them to realise we got backup. If they shut down the entire station, they can do that anytime anyway, and your plan would be doomed to failure from the start.
>Use Domination? (5XP)
>Y

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
>Look, we don't even need to cancel the original plan. Just let me upload the message into the station, then I can put the card into the relay, and we can keep sending in case they shut down the message in the station. We don't need to fight it to the death, we can just delay them for a while, and then it will be too late for them to realise we got backup. If they shut down the entire station, they can do that anytime anyway, and your plan would be doomed to failure from the start.

>Hells Crown - Y

>>37416544
Don't we also need Mental Contact to use Domination?

>>37416689
It works with Line-of-Sight as well.

>>37416544
>No, listen to me dammit! (keep trying to convince him)
Use Domination? (5XP)
>Y

This is a terrible idea, but all other options are even worse.

>>37416714
Eh, Hells Crown could end well enough. Our father was a former rebel leader and he probably pulled used his gifts all the time.

>>37416544
>>37416577
Changing
to
>>37416666
Here goes nothing

Writing Listen to me + write-in

Domination is 3 for, out of 6 votes total.

Extending Domination vote by 2 minutes from now

>>37416714
Domination is the worst option if he has a way to detect and/or negate psionic disciplines. Which he very well could, since we're going to be fighting Gifted.

>>37416742
Never mind, Domination is a go

>>37416728
We should have asked Charun if the other rebel leaders know about the Old God worship like he does.
We had no indication that was accepted enough to pull our crown of green flames out here.

>>37416760
Crown is worse, really. They don't even need powers to realise weird shit is going on here.
I'm not saying Domination won't spectacularly backfire, because it will.
But at this point, everything we do will.

Ok, please roll me 2d20, first is to convince him, 2nd is for domination.

If the first roll succeeds and you convince him, the Domination will not be used.

Rolled 20, 16 = 36 (2d20)

>>37416790

Rolled 1, 19 = 20 (2d20)

>>37416790
Would it still be purchased?

>>37416544
Why don't we use Suggestion instead? It is a lot more subtle.

Rolled 16, 1 = 17 (2d20)

>>37416790
Still best of four for the convince part?

>>37416800
Good start anon!

Rolled 13, 9 = 22 (2d20)

>>37416790

>>37416824
>>37416801
two ones?

>>37416801
>>37416824
Oh wow. That was close.
Thanks god those are different rolls.

I actually don't think 20 will be enough, so we will find out if he had any protection.
Of course he will.

>>37416824
>Still best of four for the convince part?

Yes. Interesting rolls, writing

>>37416848
Different dice pools.
Technically we would have to roll twice three times.
Its shortened here, its still two seperate rolls.

>>37416848
Yes, but only a single 1 in each of the rolls, so we're good. Barely. Well, we won't critfail at any rate.

>>37416875
We have a 20 and a 19. The only reason we are fucked is because we tried to use cool powers in a important moment.
That NEVER ends well.

>>37416820
True, but I wasn't sure if we get either to begin with when Pally asked, and Suggestion only implants a course of action, that would require alot more fine tuning and implanting then simply Dominating him and tell him "follow my plan".

>>37416890
Yeah, I know. I said barely in regards to how close we were to critfailing.

The comment after that was hinting at exactly what you said, namely that we're fucked but we did it to ourselves rather than the dice inflicting it on us.

>>37416918
Honestly I would find it rather weird, if suddenly everyone had Psychic powers, considering how rare they are supposed to be.
Even if they HAVE a Chamption. The chances of them having a champion that can detect mental influence are more then tiny.
If it weren't for the narrative.

>>37416947
Well... let's kill the narrative!

>>37416963
You should get Favor from Jagganatha for that.

>>37416947
It doesn't seem that odd to me that a high-ranking rebel leader would have as much protection from psionics nearby as possible when he knows there are going to be Gifted fighting against his forces in a very short amount of time.

It would be pretty irritating to have psionics but have using them out of battle fuck us over in most cases, though.

>>37416963
Use Hells Crown on the narrative.

“No, listen to me!” you say, explaining “Look, we don't even need to cancel the original plan. Just let me upload the message into the station, then I can put the card into the relay, and we can keep sending in case they shut down the message in the station.” You take a breath “We don't need to fight it to the death, we can just delay them for a while, and then it will be too late for them to realise we got backup. If they shut down the entire station, they can do that anytime anyway, and your plan would be doomed to failure from the start.”

Six just stares at you for a moment before shrugging and saying “Ok, I guess we can use the relay as a back-up plan in case the main plan fails, have it ready just in case girl.”

No, not good enough, your deal was that your plan had to be the main plan, not the back-up plan.

You focus your will on him, you can’t back down now, he has to do what *you* want him to do.

Six twitches slightly as your will overwhelms his. You feel his fear and confusion as he is pushed to the back of his own mind, and you take control

“On second thought” says Six, speaking as you direct him “The Relay idea is a good one, change of plan boys, this young lady has a point, we’ll be going with her plan.”

Six’s team look surprised but don’t argue, everyone else is far enough away that they didn’t hear the exchange.

You focus, it’s hard but you manage it, everything Six says or does is now under your control, but you need to keep him in sight or the power will fail, and you need to stay focused, if you get hurt or distracted, this could fail.

[Domination gained, 5XP spent]
[Cynicism +1]
[King of Hell Approval +1]
[Baalzamon Approval +1]

“So what?” says one of Six’s team “We take the place, upload the message and then keep the relay open in case there’s too big a counter-attack and we need to flee?”

>>37416998
>as possible
Thats the issue. They are rare as fuck. It isn't really possible for him to get any. They aren't available.
A rebel crew can't rely on having a guy around with specific mythic superpower for their entire rebel business.
If they try to deal with mind-influencing gifted, they act in group, Domination and the like only work on one, the others just shoot him first.

What does Six say?

>Yes, that is the new plan
>Actually....(what plan?)
>Other (what?)

For now at least, you are in control of this whole operation, through Six. Feel free to write in any plan you want.

Accept the Gift of the King of Hell?

>Y/N

[Vote will be delayed if accepted, to avoid confusion.]

>>37417031
>[Baalzamon Approval +1]
Now I feel dirty.
Its a good kind of dirty.

>>37417050
>Yes, that is the new plan

You guys are playing with fire wow.

Also Six is gonna be pissed when we have to drop this. Hope you enjoy explaining how all these awesome powers come from a pack of ancient gods you have to appease and if you didn't do this shit you'd be smote the shit out of or something.

>>37417050

>Yes, that is the new plan
>Y
>Find your team, make sure Rydhian knows about our teleportation power


[Baalzamon Approval +1]

>>37417096
What are you talking about? Why would we explain our powers to anyone?
If we reveal our teleportation here, then the answer is us having Champion powers. Siple as that. Since Champions only have one power, it will also serve to obfuscate our domination even further.

Question! Can we make Six forget we did this to him. Or is he going to remember it? Do we need to get him killed during this?

>>37416910
And now we have to guide him during the operation and when we release him rebellion will fuck us up for mind controlling one of their commanders.