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"Thank you again, Julia." You say, hugging the blonde-haired girl as her arms tighten around you, mere feet from her open door. "I appreciate you looking aft..."

You catch Amara's gaze, a dark eyebrow raised at you from just behind Julia as the diminutive imp sticks her tongue out at you.

"...I appreciate both of you looking after each other for a while." You amend, prompting the little girl to smile wide and grant you a happy nod.

"I-it's my pleasure Shu, t-truly." Julia says, stumbling over her words as she casts a worried gaze into yours. "A-are you certain you all will be alright a-after...after..."

"Yeah, no, we'll be fine. We're good." Rath interrupts a little too loud, turning to Julia from the doorway. “By the way, I've been meaning to ask you; how do you fight, exactly?”

Julia begins to fidget at the question, taking a moment before answering. "Um, so when I touch amalgams, I…uh…I k-kind of turn their skin into spikes, and…s-stab them with the spikes, all at o-once.”

“...Wait, woah, hold the fuck up. You...Julia, are you telling me you turn their own skin into a goddamn iron maiden?” Rath asks, and Julia nods, giving the red-head a weak smile. Rath just stares at her a moment before reaching out and placing her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

“That’s the most metal fucking thing I’ve ever heard, and I am honored to call you a friend.” Rath says solemnly.

“T-thanks, I hate it.” Julia replies with an awkward smile.

"Hey, you coming?" Gina calls from around Rath's slight frame, somehow body-blocking most of the doorway despite her size. You're a little taken aback at the fact that she's refrained from using your thoughtform bond to reach out to you, but ever since you arrived at Julia's it's been a whirlwind of activity on account of Amara's boundless energy.

"Coming." You reply, turning your smile towards Amara as you take a knee, bringing you eye-level with the newly-awakened Daughter. "You take care of Julia, alright? Keep working on your abilities and we'll see you soon, okay?"

"Promise?" Amara asks, and as you glance behind her and up a Julia, you can see the same question in her eyes.

"I promise."

With that, the three of you return to the onyx darkness of the caves that lead to Charon's still-unattended waystation.

(Continued)

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>>3320416

Even as you traverse the tunnels, venturing through the silence of the Shrouded City and finally emerging into the xanthous light of day where a verdant garden once stood, Gina's surface thoughts continue to be a dull grey buzz. Her mind persists in a loop of her interactions with B'ni ever since you met, and you find her repetitive thoughts tinged with an emotion you are intimately familiar with.

Guilt.

“What do your elf eyes see?” Rath asks with a smirk, watching the brunette scan the horizon just above the tree line ahead of you. You watch your resident firecracker grin at Gina as you try to put your finger on the odd set of emotions that you keep sensing from the redhead.

“Couple of noteworthy things, actually." Gina replies, her tone flat. "You see that little raised part on the forest? It’s actually the top of a pretty fancy-looking mansion out there on a hill. Second, feel that wind?”

“Yeah?” Rath says after a moment, her short ginger hair tousled by an errant breeze.

“Funny thing about that. First-off, there’s a storm coming that’s crackling with electricity." Gina continues, nodding towards the darkening horizon above the blue-grey forest. "I’m hoping there’s no acid in those clouds, but static might be an issue. Second, those tree limbs aren’t moving with the wind, they’re totally anomalous. I’m not getting any Daughter or amalgam vibes, but I still don’t like it.”

"Spooky, but I’m game for whatever you two are. Let’s go kick some fucking ass, I'm ready to test out these arms!" Rath says with glee as she turns to you, and she lets slip a wave of what she’s desperately holding back, suppressing with a happy face and fiery energy.

Pain, loss, betrayal, and under it all, something that is near and dear to her heart.

Rage.

She keeps her wide grin fixed on you as she and Gina await your verdict, and you wrestle with what and who to tackle first.

>>Proceed through the Forest, taking the long way around to skirt the edge of the Mansion. It may take a little while longer, but you'll hopefully avoid any prolonged interactions in doing so.

>>Cut a path directly towards the Mansion. It's the fastest route to a vantage point you could use to scout what lies beyond, and something tells you it will offer better shelter from the oncoming storm.

>>Write-In

AND

>>Gina's train of thought just keeps looping, and she's not speaking to you over your thoughtform bond. You feel like she blames herself for what happened at the Monastery, and you want to at least try and ease her mind.

>>Rath's being way too cheerful for the waves of barely-restrained fury you're getting from her. Maybe putting on a mask of cheerful enthusiasm is how she deals with stress, but you know that's not healthy or sustainable.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3320417
>>Cut a path directly towards the Mansion. It's the fastest route to a vantage point you could use to scout what lies beyond, and something tells you it will offer better shelter from the oncoming storm.
>>Rath's being way too cheerful for the waves of barely-restrained fury you're getting from her. Maybe putting on a mask of cheerful enthusiasm is how she deals with stress, but you know that's not healthy or sustainable.
Hard decision, both girls need and deserve our attention, so i went with who interests me more ill admit.

im on time this time though im doing homework at the same time

>>Cut a path directly towards the Mansion. It's the fastest route to a vantage point you could use to scout what lies beyond, and something tells you it will offer better shelter from the oncoming storm.

>>Rath's being way too cheerful for the waves of barely-restrained fury you're getting from her. Maybe putting on a mask of cheerful enthusiasm is how she deals with stress, but you know that's not healthy or sustainable.

anyway going with this ima just chill though

(Voting to close in two hours, Gentlemen.)

>>3320417
>Proceed through the Forest, taking the long way around to skirt the edge of the Mansion. It may take a little while longer, but you'll hopefully avoid any prolonged interactions in doing so.

The Mansion interests me, but I doubt it's unoccupied we aren't yet used to the hole in our squad if the current tenants aren't keen on sharing space for a night.

>Rath's being way too cheerful for the waves of barely-restrained fury you're getting from her. Maybe putting on a mask of cheerful enthusiasm is how she deals with stress, but you know that's not healthy or sustainable.

I'll likely change if someone makes a good write-in for both of them, but Gina's the one we can speak to anytime even while asleep and she can mentally lean on us, so I'm for paying some attention to Rath for the moment.

>>3320462
My arguement for against avoiding the Mansion is that trees are piss poor cover against a storm, and GG said the trees worried her, which means if fucking flesh tree ents or something are in there, if we head for the Mansion we will spend less time in their forest before the storm hits, and wont have the storm helping them sneak up on us.

Yes it is a bug 'if' but at least we can enter the mansion prepared, the storm and forest will make us alot more blind to something coming after us, even with Gina on our side. Plus, again, getting stuck outside in a storm is a bad idea in general, and imagine its effect on our already downtrodden mood if we do get caught outside in it?

Also my respect for Julia only grows. Was wondering how she fights, and damn thats brutal. Wondering if she hardens the spikes tips via scab like methods or callous like methods?

>>3320417
>Cut a path directly towards the Mansion. It's the fastest route to a vantage point you could use to scout what lies beyond, and something tells you it will offer better shelter from the oncoming storm.
>Rath's being way too cheerful for the waves of barely-restrained fury you're getting from her. Maybe putting on a mask of cheerful enthusiasm is how she deals with stress, but you know that's not healthy or sustainable.

This flesh world probably takes a toll for any daughter that were germophobes, hemophobes, omophagiaphobes (fear of eating raw flesh), and carnophobes.

>>3320497
Sadly id imagine they fall to the hunger pretty quickly, maybe almost right out of the pod.

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>>3320497
>inb4 we come across a daughter who's just burning everything she sees because she "needs to make it clean" or something

>>3320541
>she gets with the Cyborg Machine God Technomancer guy who's also best bros with Amalgams

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>>3320417

“Gina, could you take point for a little while and lead us directly towards that mansion? We’re going to need some shelter if we’re going to weather what’s coming.” You say, and she gives you a nod before you open up a direct line via thoughtform.

[Hey, I’m gonna take a second to touch base with Rath, too. I’m getting really angry vibes from her]

{Sure, take your time. I’ll let you know if anything feels off, okay?} Gina replies, trotting ahead of you, her long brown hair trailing behind her as she weaves between the dull grey trees, their cracked bark revealing a network of azure strands just beneath the surface.

[I’d like to talk with you too, about what happened. Maybe we could do it in a dream, or…whatever you’re comfortable with. I don’t like you feeling guilty for something that’s not your fault, okay?] You say, and she pauses, turning towards you, her eyes obscured with the hair that cascades around her bare shoulder.

{…Okay} She says after a moment’s hesitation, and across your bond you feel a tingle run down your arm, like a ghostly caress. You didn’t know she could do that. {I’d like that, Shu}

She leaves you and Rath to bring up the rear as you sidle up to the younger girl, fixing her with a pointed stare when she tilts her head up to look at you.

“So, I was thinking if we both spawn a shit-ton of arms, and GG pins some dumb motherfucker with her magic then we can totally go to town and…”

“Do you wanna talk about what happened?” You ask, her excitable grin faltering as she turns away, glaring at the path ahead of you. “I can feel you’re dealing with a lot, and I wanted to know you’re not alone.”

“God, between you and GG’s brain stuff I’m not gonna be able to keep anything to myself, will I?” Rath laughs harshly, still not looking up at you. “Look Shu, we’re all dealing with stuff. I’m not going to add onto the pile of crap you and Gina are dealing with. I’m not interested in being a burden, and I’m damn well not gonna…”

“If I came up to you saying I wanted to vent about what happened, would you say I was being a burden?” You ask pointedly, and Rath goes silent before she mutters a reply under her breath.

“…No, of course not, man.”

“Okay, so what’s on your mind?” You ask again, and she finally turns her freckled face towards you, citrine eyes hard-set and angry.

“She was our friend, man.” She snarls, dropping the façade as her brow knits together in a furious scowl. “She was your *best* friend, and she straight-up lied to our faces with every single thing she said. I thought she and I…I thought we were connecting, I thought we were cool, and now what am I supposed to think? Was all of that a lie to keep things kosher between us, to keep me off the scent? Plus, I just keep thinking that…”

You watch her hands ball into fists, her knuckles white at her side.

(Continued)

>>3320569

“…I got drenched in acid, man. When I sit down I still feel the new skin fucking creak, I still feel it tingle where it was burned right the fuck off with that wave. You got hurt, Gina got hurt, and she did literally nothing to stop it when she had all the power in the world to make sure we were all okay. I just…that’s not something I can forgive.”

The gently undulating trees open up before you, revealing a stark grey hill gated with a crumbling stone gate, somehow still impressive despite the wear and tear of time that shows upon its tattered brickwork. Rath looks up at it a moment as Gina studies the gate, and she turns to you once more.

“Look, I know she’s your friend, Shu. I know you got one hell of a past with her. Just know that when we meet again, she ain’t no friend of mine. Not after how she treated you, and all of us. I totally get it if I’ve just pissed you off, but I…you and Gina are…”

“Rath, I’m not mad. I’m still trying to process all this myself.” You reassure her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “The three of us, we’re friends…we’re a family, alright?”

“What the hell is that?”

You cock your eyebrow at her as she stares past you, having stopped in her tracks. “…Are you asking me what a family is?”

“Ha, no, I mean that cellar-door lookin’ thing over there.” She says with a chuckle, gesturing over to a vein-covered door set in the ground several yards from the imposing gate. “Hey, GG! What is that?”

“It looks like there’s a series of tunnels that lead underneath the Mansion.” Gina replies, staring intently at the ground as the crystal set in her forehead pulses with a gentle amethyst light. “They’re cramped but they eventually open up into a wine cellar and…something else I can’t place. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like…an engine, or something? In any case, it looks like the tunnels lead up underneath the house, so we can get in through the front door, the servant’s entrance in the back, or through here.”

“I’m not getting any signs of movement, if you’re curious.” Gina finishes, and you can sense she takes just about as much comfort in that fact as you do. You glance up at the mansion, opulent and imperial, gazing down at you from its stoic perch upon the hill.

>>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.

>>Regardless of the existence of any inhabitants, you’d prefer to play it safe by using the back entrance and proceeding with care through the mansion as you weather the storm.

>>The tunnels, while cramped, allow you a good blend of stealth and cover as you sneak up into the mansion proper. Also, you’re curious at what sort of unusual device may lay beneath the aged manor.


>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

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>>3320598
>You glance up at the mansion, opulent and imperial, gazing down at you from its stoic perch upon the hill.
I see you've been playing or watching some Darkest Dungeon. Because I recognize those quotes anywhere.

>>3320598
>>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.

And I understand Raths position all too well...

>>3320598
>>>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.
Oh, and try knocking first before going in, too. I'm a bit doubtful anything will happen, but I think it's worth a shot.
I'd rather risk alerting a crazy daughter to our presence now than risk getting on the bad side of a sane-ish daughter by crashing at her place without asking.

>>3320598
>The tunnels, while cramped, allow you a good blend of stealth and cover as you sneak up into the mansion proper. Also, you’re curious at what sort of unusual device may lay beneath the aged manor.

>>3320603
Our favorite local man who ruined everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ybSl2c_J8

>>3320598
>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.
Knock knock open up the door it's real with the non-stop pop-pop the stainless steel

(Voting to close in two and a half hours as I close out the work day, Gentlemen. Does an evening of rapid-posting suit you all, starting when I post the next update and continuing with one to one-and-a-half hour posting windows until the close of the evening?)

>>3320637
Go for it

>>3320637
Sure

>>3320603
(I enjoy playing it immensely, yes.)

>>3320643
There better be a Wayne June Ghost in that mansion narrating combat commentary!

>>3320643
Do you use any modded characters?

>>3320647
(I play it on console, since my computer is terrible as alluded to last thread. I'd love to work with mods, if I had the option.)

>>3320637
im down for it.

>>3320649
pssst, desktop master race. build one yourself, the personal touch makes all the difference.

>>3320598
>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.
Yeah This is gonna be some spooky Neuromancer shit this time, or ghosts.

Oh and this song is what I've been listening tp whenever we get into a fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRiBLgOm1mQ
SMT music seems to fit this quest for some weird reason. Btw BHOP whats your favorite SMT game/OST?

>>3320776
The first fight theme I listened to for this quest was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmycdZOvCYo
i think it's at least part of the reason why i can't help but imagine Shu looking like Aya

>>3320777
Damn thats pretty good. I approve.

>>3320780
>>3320777
>>3320776
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nSqs2gr4Mo would play against who?

>>3320598
>>>You’re not interested in being perceived as an intruder by anyone that may be residing in the mansion, so you figure the front door is your best bet.
It worked with Julia

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>>3320598

“Let’s try the front door.” You say confidently, or at least until Rath casts a withering stare your way.

“You sound like the character that bites it near the start of every horror movie I’ve ever watched.” She says as the three of you trudge up the flight of stone steps leading to the front door.

It appears as though the biomass covering the door has been left undisturbed, and Rath quickly clears it away before stepping back and allowing you to try the handle. To your surprise, the front door remains unlocked, swinging open with a throaty, echoing series of creaks. The dim light filtering in through the shuttered windows reveals a mezzanine of distinctly Gothic construction, the walls lined with worn and tattered photographs.

You walk up to one that depicts a family of four, two parents, and two children. The father, all sharp edges and harsh tones, appears in a dark suit, leering down at you disapprovingly from his seat in the middle of the frame. His wife appears slightly-offset behind him, a frail, ashen-skinned woman with a fragile smile. To his left and right appear a teenager and a younger girl, the teen’s face and torn from the frame while the younger girl’s fearful eyes are frozen in time, forever nervous.

The rumble of lightning distracts you from the frame when your arm is suddenly clenched tight in Gina’s hands, her death grip threatening stop the flow of blood entirely.

{S-sorry} She says sheepishly via thoughtform. {I really hate lightning, it’s stupid}

[No worries] You reply, your hand on hers when she hastily tries to release her grasp. [May I ask why?]

{You’ll laugh}

You cock an eyebrow at Gina as the lightest shade of scarlet works its way into her cheeks.

[I promise you I won’t judge]

{Well, it’s really jarring and all, but…where I lived, whenever we had an electrical storm the internet would go out, and I kind of have…hey! You said you wouldn’t judge} She pouts as you stifle a chuckle.

[It’s cute, but I totally get it] You reply, smiling down at her before you look around the colossal rooms that branch out from the equally large entrance. [From what you said the first time we met, a lot of your interactions were online, right? It makes sense that losing power like that would be scary if it meant losing your friends temporarily]

You squeeze her hand lightly as your eyes meet hers again.

[So don't worry about the lightning, 'cause I'm not going anywhere]

(Continued)

>>3320902

Gina stares up at you, her lips slightly parted. She smiles slowly, leaning into you as her hands wrap around your arm, pulling your limb flush with the soft fabric of her dark hoodie.

{I think I'll keep you close, just to make sure} She says, drawing your arm betw...

“This place is huge.” You say aloud after clearing your throat, leading Gina and Rath into the cathedral-esque dining room. “It’ll take some time for all of us to check it out.”

“If you spout some bullshit like ‘we should split up,’ I’m kicking you in the shin.” Rath says, deadly serious as she fixes you with a wide-eyed golden stare.

You have to admit that exploring this place would be easier if you could pair up evenly...a pang of sadness runs through you as you consider your exploration efforts the three of you have available at the moment.

A large central staircase leads to the second floor, and appears to be in good working order, despite an unnervingly large amount of thin, shattered glass and the remains of large dark-hued bottles that litter the path to the second story.

From your spot in the dining room at the head of the unreasonably large table, you also spy a heavy wooden door off the kitchen, which you assume to lead down into the cellars.

>>Explore the first floor in its entirety.

>>Ascend to the second floor.

>>Descend directly into the basement.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting to close in one and a half hours, Gentlemen.)

>>3320776
(That is actually one of the songs I usually listen to for boss fights, well played. I really enjoy the music SMT3 and 4 in particular, with the SMT 2 Sound Arrange Album being my favorite rendition of the Law, Chaos, and Neutral themes.)

>>3320777
(This is marvelous, I've added it to the playlist. Thank you for sharing!)

>>3320907
>>>Ascend to the second floor.
Let's go top to bottom on this. Bottom seems like it's probably where all the action's gonna happen, and my vidya experience tells me it's better to check the unimportant areas for goodies before progressing.

...Then again, my vidya experience also tells me not to trust myself about whether or not the place I'm going to is progress or not, but I'm just gonna hope for the best and ignore that.

>>3320907
>>>Explore the first floor in its entirety.
I generally agree with >>3320918, but my vidya inclinations make me disinclined towards leaving things incomplete and backtracking, since we already started on the first floor.

>>3320907
>"I think we've all seen enough Scooby Doo Episodes and Horror films to know the cliches. But I think it would be wise to examine the environment for the Mansion's history and the history of the family that lived in it. "


>Examine the Family Photos they will be the key to discerning the Master/Mistress of the house should the host come out.

I think the master/mistress of the house is a Wine taster. And an Alcoholic. Booze does wonders to the mind and dull the stress.
Wine Cellars aren't that common in houses except for those high in the social strata. The disturbing amount of broken wine bottles lining the staircase means the Mistress of the house would be the frail woman in the painting.

>>3320907
>Explore the first floor in its entirety.
>Examine the Family Photos they will be the key to discerning the Mistress of the house should the host come out.

I mean, given this is a girls-only apocalypse, it figures it would be the Mistress.

>>3320907
>>Explore the first floor in its entirety.

(Gentlemen, if it is alright with you all, I may close out voting at the one hour mark to keep things moving along, with one hour voting segments opening up after each post.)

>>3320987
I'm okay with that

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>>3320907
>"Let's split up gang!" Just to fuck with Rath and lighten the mood.
>Explore the first floor in its entirety.
>Examine the Family Photos they will be the key to discerning the Mistress of the house should the host come out.

>>3320987
sure, sounds fine to me.

>>3321004
im for this, i mean i already voted for exploring the first floor, but the joke is something we just gotta do, and see how many arms hit our chin.

>>3320987
sounds like a plan, stan.

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>>3320907

"Okay, Rath? You check out the creepy wine cellar, I'll check upstairs, and Gina can..."

You nimbly dodge the three swinging fists that narrowly miss hitting your upper arm, the two extra limbs receding back into Rath's shoulder as she huffs at you.

"You can go check out the fuckin' basement on your own, asshole." She snarls, despite the twinkle in her eye. "I'm staying up here with GG, you go get yourself axe murdered for all I care."

"Aright, seriously though...let's keep checking out this floor a bit, then we can figure out where to go from there." You say, leading the charge back into the mezzanine and into the adjacent living room. An ornate set of couches surround a classical fireplace, almost every square inch of the room's lavishly papered walls adorned with family photos and portraits, all of them depicting the mother, father, and their young daughter.

You note there are spaces of discoloration where you can tell something occupied it at one time, but a cursory glimpse of the floor beneath each void reveals only carpet, the dust having grown thick with years of neglect. Scanning the walls you find the harsh, judgmental gaze of the family's patron boring into you from every direction as a low, rolling rumble lazily makes its way through the clouds above the unwelcoming house.

"Portraits are boring, they should have more cool shit like this." Rath says from in front of the hearth. You turn, following her upturned gaze to the odd picture out in the den of near-identical portraits. A thin, wiry frame holds a decidedly abstract landscape, twisted violet mountains spearing into skies of
seafoam green. Utterly alien and fantastical, you find yourself staring at the unnatural landscape alongside Rath for far longer than you intend, drawn in to the bizarre blend of unnameable colors.

You're unceremoniously snapped out of your artistic reverie when Gina accidentally kicks the edge of an unseen bottle, sending it clattering into the next room and into several other of its kin, by the sound of it. She grimaces at the edge of the next room, and you tread lightly over to her as you enter some sort of sitting room, an artist's easel set up by an open window, boasting a half-finished landscape. The three of you lean in a bit closer, squinting at a pair of figures that appear to be marching across the sapphire landscape. You'd think little of their vaguely human forms, were it not for a curiously-shaped pistol clutched tight in one being's hand...

The high clang of a metallic picture frame on hard stone makes you turn.

"DORA, SWEETIE, IS THAT YOU?"

(Continued)

>>3321068
oh god oh fuck pickman im sorry I kicked your bottle collection

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>>3321068

You stumble back from the edge of the living room you were just in as a thin, twitching figure stoops low in the doorway. Vaguely feminine in form, its skin is a molten, shifting palette of mind-bending hues as it rises to full height in the sitting room you currently occupy. It cocks its head to one side, its face featureless save for a too-wide mouth crammed with needle-like teeth.

"YOU'RE NOT MY DORA. YOU'VE BEEN A BAD INFLUENCE ON HER, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW."

Something like a scream echoes from the creatures body, its skin undulating, rippling like a pool of water disturbed by an errant stone.

"I'LL HAVE TO ASK YOU TO LEAVE." The deafeningly loud yet polite request is followed almost immediately by a downward sweep of her lengthy talons, missing you by inches as her claws carve four gashes into the floorboards as though they were freshly fallen snow.

"Where the fuck did this bitch come from?!" Rath yells, a set of six iridescent arms erupting from her shoulders and back, your hive thrumming with activity. A pair of cords slip from undeneath Gina;s sleeves, her brow knit in confusion.

"I...I don't know!" Gina shouts back, her diadem shining with activity. "This thing, it's some kind of construct. It wasn't active before, that's why I couldn't sense it!"

"YOU LEAVE MY DORA ALONE!" The figure screeches, lunging across the small space directly towards you, its talons intent on shearing your face from your skull.

Shu the Defiant & Gina the Heartbound

VS.

THE COLOR OF MADNESS

HP: 100% (Ignition Gauntlets: Equipped)
BIO: 190% (0/18 Active)
CONTENDER: Empty, Basic Form
RAVENOUS MAW: Primed and ready.
ACT: 2/2
Threat: Close, closing the gap. Room setup: living room behind it, window to your left, path to kitchen to the right, small library to the rear.
GG HP: 140%
RATH HP: 160%

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3321087
>"YOU'RE NOT MY DORA. YOU'VE BEEN A BAD INFLUENCE ON HER, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW."

Hmmm. . . .

>>3321085
>oh god oh fuck pickman im sorry I kicked your bottle collection

You know, that's a helpful reference to point out since Julia's surname is Pickman. Maybe she's connected to this place? Maybe we can talk to this construct as we dodge its attacks?

The main concern is, if Julia was one of the daughters, which one would she be? Do we know her age? I'd assume that if she is one, she's the older one that's been stricken from the record.
BHOP, what's Julia's age range if we don't know the specific number?

A COLOR, UNLIKE ANY SEEN BEFORE-

Anyway, I bet those constructs come from the weird paintings and a new one will show up after we dispatch this one (unless people want to pull a "we're guests" card right now and it works), so we should cover them up/flip them over or destroy them once we have the opportunity. Destroying them will probably upset our host even more, as I imagine artists don't like seeing their works be destroyed.

>>3321101
(Julia is twenty years old.)

>>3321087
huh, Ginas name is there now. also nice lovecraft reference, finally understood a reference haha!

>SHU; Armor up, Raths gauntlets and all. Attempt to lap up its leg with your tongue, pulling it off its feet.

>RATH; Use your enhanced strength to toss an extra arm at the creatures head, using boils built up on the back to turn it into a sorta rocket fist, to help aid Shu in knocking it down. dont go too wild with the explosives though, were inside and its a wooden structure.

>GINA; if the othe girls knock it down, jack in and see if you cant scramble its connection to its owner, or at least hold it down.

>SHU; once its down, if Gina has stunned it, spawn two Banelings and have them ride along your fists, as you rush up the things chest and slam both gauntlets and both Banelings down on its throat, to try and sever its head.

>RATH; have your Stringy body ready to toss and and pull Shu to safety if things go south.

>>3321131
At least based on what we know about the setting, if the paintings have anything special about them, Gina should probably be able to tell unless it's based on an alien Relic or something.

We should probably try opening with "we're guests." Maybe we can just tell her we don't know a Dora, so she doesn't need to attack us?

>>3321087
THE COLOR OF MADNESS

DARKEST DUNGEON INTENSIFIES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzJYa9Z15-I

>>3321131
>>3321157
im fine trying to rationalize with them first, but worse case i like my plan for if it does come to a fight.

(Writing now, Gentlemen.)

>>3321177
I'd say you're fine other than the first Rath part. both because of physics and because any explosion will probably cause a housefire because of her the way her boils work now. I'd suggest focusing on multi-arm and tensil limbs. IIRC, she can use the tensil as razor wire now, which can be very useful in enclosed spaces like our current location.

That and add to Gina's to-do trying to figure out who the owner is/where she is if there's an active connection.

>>3321231
And, as always, I should have checked for updates before posting . . .

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>>3321087

"We're guests!" You say, platelings crawling their way out from within your hive, slowly covering you in armor. "We don't know any Dor..."

Vermilion claws are deflected mid-stroke by the armor that slides into place on your head, completing the Chitinous Stalwart in the nick of time. A glowing fist rockets by your head at the same instant your stomach splits open vertically, a lightning-fast tongue lashing out from within your second maw and tearing the construct's left leg from its body.

It barely has time to process the missing limb before Rath's fist makes contact with its chest, burying knuckles deep inside its sternum. There's a throaty pop, and the living room is suddenly splattered with iridescent liquid as the rocket punch detonates within the creature's amorphous body.

Razor-tipped talons claw frantically at Rath's tensile strands to no avail, the red-head smirking to herself just before Gina's cords sail past you as the construct drops to its knees, GG's tether strobing with Amethyst light.

{Shit, it doesn't have a proper nervous system, and it's too liquid to...wait, I think I...}

Her cords are suddenly severed by a sweep of its nails as the creature's rapid regeneration continues, its severed leg bubbling as colors shift and contort to reshape it. You don't have a second to spare as you dash forwards, leaping atop its chest as a pair of Banelings take flight and land on the thing's chest.

You bring your Baneling-reinforced Ignition Gauntlets down on its head, your brood's corrosive payload jettisoned directly into the being's gaping maw. Its face boils, foul-smelling liquid pouring from its semi-solid skull as it flails wildly before you dismount, getting out of the way of its claws as you watch it slowly begin to pull itself back together, the droplets splashed over the adjoining room crawling back as it reforms.

"ARE YOU HERE TO BULLY DORIAN AND MOMMY?" calls a high-pitched voice from the room behind you. You turn, revealing a smaller though no less grotesque version of the construct, taloned hands on psychedelic hips as she fails to wait for your answer.

"YOU'RE JUST LIKE DADDY. THEY'VE BEEN BULLIED ENOUGH!" She screams, charging at you with claws at the ready. "BROTHER JUST WANTS TO PAINT, SO LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

{Shu, the Daughter controlling these things is in the bedroom upstairs} Gina says, the larger of the two constructs slowly rising to its feet. {These things are persistent and I have no idea how many more there are, but we just need to clear a path to the stairs and down the hall and we can reach the source}

HP: 96% (Ignition Gauntlets: Equipped, Chitinous Stalwart Active)
BIO: 187% (4 Platelings, 2 Banelings Active 6/18 Active)
CONTENDER: Empty, Basic Form
RAVENOUS MAW: Primed and ready.
ACT: 2/2
Threat: Close, regenerating, flanked. Room setup: living room behind it, window to your left, path to kitchen to the right, small library to the rear.
GG HP: 140%
RATH HP: 157%

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3321245
RATH; Toss out Two Extra limbs, Razor Stands aiming to trip up the two Constructs.

>EVERYONE; dash for the stairs/hallway once the constructs are down.

SHU; Have two Double Sized Swarmlings hide on the opposite side of the door to the room, so once the Constructs follow they can swoop down for their faces, keeping them further off our trail.

>RATH; Keep Fists ready to hard toss at our foes at the back, the goal to keep them back if they manage to keep on our tail.

>GINA; lead the way, if both Rath and our Traps cannot keep them back, try Cancer Bombing the big one, as Constructs are pure BIO so it may be enough to end it, at least long term.

>>3321245
this this this >>3321260
Also BHOP, I feel like this video clip is super fucking appropriate for this situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjHGTeTtaac

>>3321245
>Shu: Spawn 2 elite Swarmlings, configure contender into Lion Heart Sabre. Load up the B.33 Special. You'll guard the rear.

Gina: House is made of wood. Wood is Bio. Terraform the floor/doorway so that so that the painted constructs are forced to take the long route. Give us directions.

>Rath: Take point. Your punches could probably one-shot the paintings.

>Everyone: Up the stairs.

Looks like she's the scared daughter of the family and misses her family. And she's a generator type.
>>3321245
BHOP. What's the Camo Shroud's condition? Did we get it repaired?

>>3321311
(Yes, it automatically repairs itself between session unless a session ends mid-combat.)

>>3321314
you answered the second half of the question, but not the first. what is the shroud's condition?

>>3321320
(Ah, my apologies. It is fully repaired and ready to be used.)

>>3321311
i kinda like parts of both our ideas, with one exception being i just cant see wood being enough to slow the big one down at all, considering it ate into the floorboards like it was paper. i just feel Gina trying to plug the route over other actions might be a waste. this is assuming old world Wood and Flesh is the same as the Fleshscape Biomass, considering our bodies were specifically changed to fit the new world and be interact able with eachother, i do actually wonder if old biological materials are compatible with our abilities?

>>3321245

"Get down!" Rath yells, and both you and Gina duck a half-second before she flings an additional two limbs out on razor-thin strands. You watch as they wrap around the legs of the little girl and the torso of the larger one, Rath's glowing arms gripping the strings three at a time. They give a single, impossible powerful tug, and the smaller figure's legs are instantly shredded between the merciless wires, the other's torso cleanly diced as it collapses into a formless puddle on the floor.

"Run bitch, run!" Rath howls, and neither you nor Gina need extra prompting as you help your friend to her feet. The three of you tear out of the room as fast as your legs will carry you, even as the two constructs begin to pull themselves back together behind you. Another, large pair of Banelings awkwardly tear free of the gaping holes in your spine, flying off to flank the threshold between the sitting and living rooms as you all race up the stairs.

You feel your over-sized Banelings detonate, the screams of the constructs echoing through the house as you crest the top of the stairwell.

"End of the hall!" Gina pants, struggling to keep up with you and Rath's frantic pace. "That big door, right there!"

You're the first to reach the ornate door in question, your hand on the knob when Rath roars from behind you.

"MOVE!"

You jump back and out of the warpath as she rears back, four fists that surging forwards as one and effortlessly tear the door from its hinges.

(Continued)

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>>3321358

The door clatters against a massive four-poster bed, around which is strewn a countless assortment of bottles that are shattered the moment the oak board crushes them beneath its weight.

"Mrph, just a few more minutes."

A figure stirs on the bed, slowly waking on top of the covers. Its arms and legs appear similar to those of the constructs you fought past to get here, but as opposed to the mad, schizophrenic jumble of eye-grating colors, this one's hues are more subdued, a clear distinction between laguidly shifting tones. The figure rises lazily from the bed, and you hear something splatter on the stairwell behind you.

{The constructs...they stopped} Gina says, her gaze unblinking as the Daughter smooths wrinkles out of the stark white suit they wear, tremulous limbs ending in half-formed hands. They suddenly become aware of your presence, turning to look at you with half their face a spiral of color, the other half androgynous.A single, dazzlingly sky-blue eye stares at you from behind stands of light silver hair, utterly dumbfounded at your entrance.

"Oh...oh my god, it's a people."

They scramble out of bed, kicking aside several bottles in the process of attempting to make themself more presentable.

"Hey, hello, oh shit, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Gardner. Dorian Gardner, at your service." He says, bowing low, limbs drooping slightly from the effort as he struggles to maintain balance. Whether from the alcohol or his unusual physical form, you're not quite sure. You reach out to Gina across your bond with the question that's on your mind, ever since you scuffled with the amorphous creatures in the lower part of the house.

{Daughter} She replies with certainty. {There's no doubt about it. I can tell this person had a hand in the constructs too, they have a similar vibe}

"Hey asshole, were those things downstairs yours?" Rath demands angrily, only to be met with a befuddled and hungover stare from Dorian's single eye.

{I legit don't think they know what we're talking about, Shu}

"Um, no? Hey, are you hungry? I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of food..." Dorian mumbles, squinting around the room as he continues to brush the wrinkles out of his suit. "I really haven't needed to eat the past two weeks, so that's pretty cool. But, ah...oh, here we go."

His right limb snakes out, snatching a sealed bottle from the window sill and bringing it back to the front of his face, where he squints at the faded label for a moment before he shoots you a satisfied grin.

"I have no idea how old this is, but the last bottle that had this label was fantastic!" He says, extending the bottle to you with an earnest smile. "Wanna share? I think I can scrounge up another glass or three, whadd'ya say? We could have a toast to surviving the end of the world!"

Combat: Ceased?

You are, for a moment, at a loss. Whatever you were expecting to find at the top of the stairs, this certainly wasn't it.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Gentlemen, I shall be pausing here for the evening. I shall be round for another hour or two to address questions, comments, and criticisms, and thank you all so much for your participation. I shall resume in approximately twelve hours, and take care.)

>>3321369
my guess; Daughter who either really cared for her brother so took on his persona, or something went amiss in the Daughterfication process due to him being near her, maybe even in direct contact with her when the pod formed.

>"Uh, sure? I mean...ok. Dorian? were fine being friendly and all that, but you gotta know, we just got attacked downstairs and my friend here, Gina, has some pretty nifty powers telling us they were under your control, or at least are connected to you in some form. im sorry to be accusatory but we kinda wont be able to not feel on edge if you dont reel them in, or if you cant, well, im sure you can understand our concerns?"

>stay prepared but lets try and be friendly here. they might just not be all there, dealing with grief of drunkenness or something.

>>3321369
Why the fuck are Rath and GG using they/it pronouns.
>>3321395
Backing this but maybe try and slide in some way of asking if they're a dude. Like who knows, maybe Dorian Grey- I mean Dorian Gardner might be the shiny version of Julia just because they're a dude. They've got the psychedelic colour scheme down already.
Or maybe they're a reverse trap. pleasepleaseplease be a reverse trap.

>>3321373
have a good night BHOP. fun time as always. also what is with Generators and having such a lack of control over their bloody creations? even Rath can be argued to fall into that category, considering the chaotic nature of explosives.

>>3321373
Goodnight!

>>3321369
backing this >>3321395

>>3321369
>To Gina [A boy? I thought all the boys were gone in the apocalypse. Either she's secretly a reverse trap, a Transgender, or actually a boy.]

>"Now now Dorian, Toasting to our continued survival of the apocalypse isn't simply enough, one can't properly toast if you can't brag about how long you've survived."

>>3321395
Well the context clues are there based on the construct dialogues. We need to play detective as to how long Dorian's been awake.
Let me gather some context clues.

>>3321442
she did say she hasn't had to eat for the past two weeks, which considering so far, despite what it staves off, most dont consider consuming the same thing, its a pretty clear implied timeline in my opinion for how long she has been awake.

>>3321412
>>3321418
Here's what I've pieced together so far.

>You walk up to one that depicts a family of four, two parents, and two children. The father, all sharp edges and harsh tones, appears in a dark suit, leering down at you disapprovingly from his seat in the middle of the frame. His wife appears slightly-offset behind him, a frail, ashen-skinned woman with a fragile smile. To his left and right appear a teenager and a younger girl, the teen’s face and torn from the frame while the younger girl’s fearful eyes are frozen in time, forever nervous.
Family of Four. Mother, Father, Dora and "Dorian".
Father seems to be the man of the house who rules with an Iron fist. Mother seems to be barely keeping it together. Teen's face torn from the photo implies that the Father disowned the son. Daughter is frightened of her own family.

>An ornate set of couches surround a classical fireplace, almost every square inch of the room's lavishly papered walls adorned with family photos and portraits, all of them depicting the mother, father, and their young daughter.
That's strange. "Dorian's" Portrait is missing from the living room. Something happened that caused a falling out.

>They scramble out of bed, kicking aside several bottles in the process of attempting to make themself more presentable
>A large central staircase leads to the second floor, and appears to be in good working order, despite an unnervingly large amount of thin, shattered glass and the remains of large dark-hued bottles that litter the path to the second story.
Dorian's a wine enthusiast alright. But he ain't no Sommelier (a wine steward.) He's a painter first and foremost.
>YOU'RE NOT MY DORA. YOU'VE BEEN A BAD INFLUENCE ON HER, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW
Mother construct dialogue, 'Mother' is protective of Dora. Presumably the 'Daughter (Dora)' of the family. Dorian (the son) presumably had a falling out with the parents.
>ARE YOU HERE TO BULLY DORIAN AND MOMMY? YOU'RE JUST LIKE DADDY. THEY'VE BEEN BULLIED ENOUGH! BROTHER JUST WANTS TO PAINT, SO LEAVE HIM ALONE!
The paint constructs that have appeared so far is the Mother and Daughter. Which leaves out Dorian and the Father. Dora loved Dorian and her mother, but hates her father. The father is a great source of stress in Dora's life pre-Crucible. Dorian apparently despite the rich philanthropist lifestyle he grew up in wanted to be a painter. Something that did not sit well with Dora's father. Dora's mother deemed Dorian's painting hobby a "bad influence" on Dora as apparently it seems Dorian is implied to become a family hermit.

>Dorian's Image filename: Dorain Gardner; Artist, Philanthropist, Wine Enthusiast.
Artist checks out, Philanthropist implies the mansion setting, Wine Enthusiast waves a red flag.
Dora's core abilities is a Generator type. She makes constructs out of bio-fluid that have the closest consistency to paint. She's taken on Dorian's Body form with the Bio that she has to honor his memory.

>>3321499
>>3321450
>>3321412

Dora's been binge drinking. To drown out his/her sorrows and to kill time until the hunger claims her. With the amount of wine bottles strewn about the mansion. I can deduce her daily routine so far.
>Wake up. Hungover.
>Deal with the hangover pain. Rage at the memories the drinking has triggered. Rage at the dreams you've had that you wished you never dreamed.
>Spend time faffing about in the mansion, going over habits of the life before the apocalypse
>Honor her dead brother by painting.
>Get triggered by a catalyst in the house that triggers an unpleasant memory.
>Rage. Throw insults at nothing in particular.
>stomp down to the wine cellar and pick a bottle.
>get shitfaced, drink until the bottle's empty then smash the bottle on the stairs or drop it carelessly because drunk
>crawl into bed
>sleep the drunk off.
>dream about all the horrible family events while subconsciously making constructs that protect you while you sleep.
>wake up hung over.
>rinse and repeat.

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>>3321369
>>3321373
>>3321395
>>3321412
>>3321418
>>3321419
>>3321424
>>3321442
>>3321450
>>3321499
>>3321523
Hold the phone.
>body of eye-catching multicolors
>design incorporates white as well
>has an extreme fondness for wine
>bishie and androgynous as fuck
Pic related?

>>3321552
SMT Context stat!

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>>3321559
...What?

>>3321568
I don't know how Dionysius acted in Digital Devil Saga.

>>3321523
well, thats no way to live. looks like someone needs some FRIENDSHIP in their life.

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>>3321571
He's just an SMT demon design, dumbass. You don't even encounter him as an enemy in either DDS game.
https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Dionysus

>>3321587
what is with you DDS fans and being jackasses?

>>3321571
>>3321587
(Actually, I didn't even realize how much Dorian's design reflects Dionysus' until you mentioned it. It's incredibly appropriate, though.)

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>>3321590
>what is with you DDS fans and being jackasses?
>you DDS fans
lmao
it's just me

>>3321590
(While this isn't a defense of some SMT fans' behavior, it is an incredibly niche series that certainly garners die-hard fans for its incredibly unique story telling elements and twisting storylines. I would recommend either the main SMT series, starting with Nocturne, or staring with the Digital Devil Saga series, or the Avatar Tuner novelizations in pdf format if you don't have the time for watching a Lets Play. If you enjoy this quest or Joker Quest, I would say you might enjoy the themes present in the series.)

>>3321628
nah i mean, fair enough im sure its a good series, its just not exactly the best method to garner any attention or love for something via constantly treating anyone unfamiliar with it like garbage like a few anons have done is all.

>>3321650
(Agreed, as >>3321621 alluded to.)

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>>3321650
Alright I guess. You could just emulate it yourself, or go watch a non-commentary youtube playthrough. Your choice.

>>3321654
Yeah yeah...

>>3321499
>That's strange. "Dorian's" Portrait is missing from the living room. Something happened that caused a falling out.
Maybe they're a FtM trans. It would explain how they appear male if the daughterification process just checks chromosomes.

>>3321675
you assume i have the time to do that, or interest to do it over other things i already wish to allocate my free time to.

>>3321710
(That's fair, anon. I don't have half the time I'd like to allocate to things I'd like to pursue, so I understand. Time is a precious thing, so that just makes me all the more appreciative that you spend time participating in this quest. I appreciate your time, and thank you for being awesome.)

>>3321724
take your credit where its due, as you give me something worth sinking my teeth into, as the saying goes. im otherwise just another green man among the crowd. or well, i guess the I.D.s are mostly yellow-reds this time around.

What were Maron's relics?

>>3321702
If that's the case, maybe we should avoid asking him about his gender, then. There's no telling how close he is to the tipping point and whether or not bringing that up could push him over that point, especially with how the only things left on the planet are girls and eldritch horrors.
It'd basically be telling him that the world itself doesn't give a shit about who he wants to be, he's a girl and that's that.

>>3321702
I'd been wondering what became of trans people here, though I was a little reticent about bringing it up.
Alright, the clues and the similar names make sense now.

>It'd basically be telling him that the world itself doesn't give a shit about who he wants to be, he's a girl and that's that.

I agree that we should wait to bring it up, but I do feel the urge to mention that, while the setting may be uncomfortable (because it basically means he can't pass), from what I know trans people generally don't try to "be" the opposite sex, just "be" their gender, which has no bearing on chromosomes (which is why it's called transgender). My point is just that this setting doesn't make him some kind of tragic quasi-trans.
Actually, in some respects this might be a good setting for him in that he has a lot of leeway with altering his physical shape to be what he wants it to be, depending on what powers he has access to. We should introduce him to Julia.

>>3321369

"Uh, sure?" You reply, taking off your helmet as you step into the room, careful of your footing. "Listen Dorian, we're fine being friendly and all that, but you need to know that we just got attacked downstairs and my friend here, Gina, has some pretty nifty powers telling us they were under your control, or at least are connected to you in some form. I'm sorry to be accusatory but we'll be a little on edge if you don't or can't reel them in. I'm sure you can understand our concerns?"

Dorian's expression falls, the bottle hanging limp in his grasp as he struggles to comprehend what you've just said.

"I...I'm not sure what you mean...I'm so sorry you were attacked, but you're saying I was responsible? I don't...I'm so sorry, but I don't understand what you're..."

"Dorian, how long have you been awake?" Gina asks gently, stepping ahead of you as she picks her way through the sea of empty bottles. "How long has it been since you woke up to the world like this?"

"Um...about two weeks. It's kind of hard to remember since...yeah." He replies, casting a guilty look at the bottles surrounding the four of you. Gina turns to you and Rath, motioning to Dorian's bed as she sits on the edge.

"Dorian, as someone who's been awake a little longer than you...I think you'll want to hear what we have to say."

The three of you tell him the cliffnotes version of what he's missed, cooped up in this secluded manor. He takes it well, all things considered, his eyes misting over only once or twice as you tell him the hell the world has descended into, his sapphire eye glinting with hope as you describe what you're trying to accomplish with what little you have left.

He thinks on it for a long moment, punctuated by sips from his wineglass until he finally speaks.

(Continued)

>>3322495

“That’s…wow, that’s a lot.” He says, a humorless chuckle on thin lips. “Could, ah…could we go down to the dining room? It’s a little less messy, if you don’t mind?”

He leads the three of you back downstairs as you continue to be slightly on edge, though it’s abated somewhat by Dorian’s slightly awkward manners. You and your allies wait patiently as he pulls out chairs for you all before sitting down himself opposite you, interview style.

“I…I'm still just amazed anyone managed to come here.” He says, running a hand through silver hair with a heavy sigh. “I have to ask, how did you all make it through the forest?”

“Uh, we walked?” Rath replies, much to your host’s confusion.

“I, uh…I watched those trees take hold of people that got too close and never let go.” He says, his single eye reflecting on a sight he’d much rather not recall as you and Gina share a worried glance. “It’s part of the reason I haven’t been able to leave this place, so…”

He clears his throat awkwardly, half-smiling as he runs his hand once more through his hair, his multi-colored arm leaving not the slightest trace of liquid behind.

“Listen…please feel free to stay as long as you like.” He says finally. “It’s the least I can do since you filled me in about what happened, and…you know, it’s nice to know there are still nice people putting around in the end times.”

He smiles weakly at you, as a lull begins to grow in the conversation. You can tell he’s still struggling to process everything, so maybe bringing up something about himself will keep him from going lower than he is right now…then again, what he said about the trees has you worried, now. You thought getting here was a little too easy...

>>Ask him about his family.

>>Ask him about the house, and where the cellar leads.

>>Ask him about his art and inspirations.

>>Go back outside and investigate the trees.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3322496
>>Ask him to explain in more detail about what happens to people when trees grab them. Do they get absorbed? Taken somewhere?
>>Has he ever seen someone not get grabbed?
>>Ask about the house, and where the cellar leads.

(Gentlemen, voting shall close on one and a half hours. Today looks to be somewhat busy, so it will be a moderately relaxed day of posting as much as I can. Thank you so much for your patience, once again.)

>>3322496
This >>3322501

>>3322496
>>>Ask him about his art and inspirations.
Specifically, ask him about the half-finished painting we found before getting attacked. While we're talking to him about it, try pulling out the contender (base form) and just kinda fiddling with it, see if he notices/recognizes it.

>>3322501
Ill back this up. I knew the trees were bad jews, but im wondering why we weren't grabbed. Maybe something to do with the nuromancer like strands under the bark and Gina?

>>3322496
>open up that empathy channel. Calm reassurance.
>"Hey, I know it's hard to deal with the apocalypse we're in. I myself woke up a few weeks ago. Gina's been awake for several months. Rath was awake for a few months. We're all struggling together Dorian."

>>3322496

"Hey, I know it's hard to deal with the apocalypse we're in.” You say softly, opening up the empathic channel to Dorian. When your aura reaches out it prompts a quiet gasp from his lips as you send calm waves of reassurance across the circuit. “I myself woke up a few weeks ago. Gina's been awake for several months. Rath was awake for a few months. We're all struggling together Dorian. We may be struggling, but at least we’re together."

Your gaze meets his bight azure eye, and some of the nervous tension seems to leave him. Gina’s hand finds yours under the table, giving your fingers a quick squeeze of companionship.

“Dorian, I know you probably don’t want to think about it, but could you tell me what happens to the people when the trees grab them?” You ask, leaning forward. “Do they get absorbed or taken somewhere? Have you ever seen someone not get grabbed?”

“They, um…the trees just grab anyone that gets too close, usually pulling them between several different trees until they…they can’t take it anymore, and uh…yeah.” He explains, swallowing hard as his actual skin goes a shade of sickly green. “Then the…pieces…are sucked into the bark. I hope this…helps, I guess?”

“What about the cellar? Where does that go?” Rath inquires, fidgety in a chair that’s a little too large for her.

“That door over there leads to the wine cellar, but there’s a door in the cellar itself that originally led to the docks behind our property, but I have no idea if that’s still true.” Dorian answers with a shrug, prompting Gina to arc one full eyebrow.

“What do you mean by that?” GG asks, tucking a strand of brown hair behind one ear.

“I tried leaving that way early on when I realized what the trees had become, but the tunnel’s brickwork had gotten twisted, wrapping in on itself and going deeper into the earth than they ever did.” Dorian explains, looking fearfully at the cellar door just off the kitchen. “It’s become something different. The old stones are now these hard, black things, all sharp angles and glossy, and…I heard screams, and the rumbling of something huge from somewhere deep below. I grabbed as many bottles as I could and kept the second door locked tight. I haven’t gone down there since.”

You nod, and you decide to work on a hunch you’ve had since you saw the half-finished painting in the other room. You gingerly unholster the pistol-form Contender, placing it on the table as you open your mouth to speak.

Your question is interrupted by Dorian’s sudden exclamation.

“Oh my God.” Dorian gasps, eye wide. “It…that’s…from my dreams.”

(Continued)

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>>3322618

Rath’s eyebrows shoot up, and Gina’s mind is a flurry of activity as you lean back, considering the implications.

“Dorian, if I may...could you tell a little about these dreams you’ve been having?”

“Absolutely.” He replies excitedly, shifting in his seat as he tries to sort out how to begin. “So, every time I go to sleep I’ve been having really vivid dreams. I was never a huge dreamer before all this, mind you. When I did manage to get some sleep it’d usually be me just sleeping straight through until my alarm went off, but now…it’s amazing. My art was always abstract, but the things I’ve seen are just…it’s absolutely incredible. It’s a whole other people group, an entirely different way of life, so much stuff I’ve never imagined before.”

Dorian leans forward in his seat, marveling at the bio-organic weapon before speaking again.

“The dreams are pretty random each time I go to sleep, but it always has me following two people, and one of them…”

He nods at the Contender.

“…uses that.”

{I’m sensing something weird super deep below the house, but it doesn’t feel like a waystation or anything like that} Gina says, her mind troubled. {Whatever that thing is, I don’t like it…something feels wrong, in a way}

You and Gina share a glance, the open kitchen looming behind her as you look to your right.

{Maybe whatever’s down there is influencing his dreams?}

You glance into the kitchen towards the locked cellar door, somehow ominous in the utter silence that has settled among the four of you.

>>Ask more about Dorian’s dreams and the two figures he’s seen. They’re too familiar for any of this to be mere coincidence.

>>Try to lead Dorian off the property and to Julia. They’re both artists, and you get the feeling with all the empty bottles around that leaving Dorian to his own devices here isn’t going to end well.

>>Whatever is wrong with this place, you know it has something to do with whatever’s below this house. Explore the cellar and what lies beyond.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting to close in roughly one and a half hours, Gentlemen.)

>>3322623
>>>Ask more about Dorian’s dreams and the two figures he’s seen. They’re too familiar for any of this to be mere coincidence.

And hopefully it might do something to clarify about the constructs. Otherwise, we should probably ask him a little more seriously about them.
There's also the matter of his mother and little sister. What happened to them?

>>3322623
>Write-In
>>Tell Dorian you would like to help him, and you have a place, with a friend whos a fellow artist, who may be over thrilled to have his company.
>>But before you help him get past the trees to safety, you want help him gain better control over his powers, so he not only can help Julia out, but wont accidentally be a threat to, well, anyone.
>You would also like the key to the below, he doesn't have to come with, but his dreams point to someone you would like more information on, and the below might hold such anwsers.
>>You would prefer to check out the below before heading back to Julias, but if he feels too uncomfortable waiting we can lead him through first.

>>3322634
>>3322644
Seconding both of these.

>>3322618
>>3322623
>"When did you start having these dreams? Did they start after you went to the cellar or did they start after you woke up?
A thing that must not be named hidden under a mansion with a dark secret? That one darkest dungeon quote? This has darkest dungeon written all over it.

>>3322623
Seconding >>3322634 and >>3322644
Those must be visions of the current Mother and Charon back in the previous ayylien world's Crucible, wherever that is.

>>3322674
As long as it's not as lengthy and tedious as DD tends to be

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Speaking of Darkest Dungeon, I hope pic related doesn't happen to anyone anytime soon. ;_;7

(Writing now, Gentlemen.)

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>>3322623

“Could you tell me a little more about the figures from your dreams?” You ask, and you get the feeling Dorian doesn’t get asked about his thoughts all that often. He reminds you of another artist you know, in that respect.

“O-of course! So, the one with that gun is really cool and tall, and defends the other person as if their life depended on it. Seems to prefer close-range stuff, but will use the gun on occasion. The other one doesn’t seem to need much protection, though. They’re really hand-off, they just whisper to the environment and it does what they want, it’s incredible to watch.”

“Can you make out what they’re saying when you have these dreams?” You ask, and you’re met with a shake of Dorian’s head.

“No, though I really wish I could. It would help me a lot, but even just with context clues I’ve been able to figure out a little bit. It seems like they set out to save their world, but it was like they were expecting the end to come. Almost like their whole civilization was banking on something coming to them, or maybe they called it to them? I’m not sure, but in any case things went south and they’re on their own, and everything’s breaking down around them. They’re the best of friends though, thick as thieves. They’ve known each other their entire lives and they’re unstoppable together. Most of the dreams come to a close when they find something from their old world, something that was meant to be used early on and then lost, I think. It’s…hard to describe, but it always ends with them arguing for the first time, fighting over whether or not to use it, or how to use it, maybe? Every time I have those dreams though, I get more of a ‘feel’ for what the thing is for.”

“And what’s that?” You ask.

“It’s an engine for making a champion.” He replies simply.

“So what about the two paint-like constructs that we encountered earlier?” Gina asks pointedly, redirecting the conversation back towards the waking world. “One looked kind of like an older woman, and the other took the form of a little girl.”

“Those things you fought…I think they may have been...” He pauses, taking another long drink to finish his cup off before he continues. “I’ve been dreaming about my Mom and my sister, too.”

“You don’t seem to like it here.” Rath says, the bluntness of the question tempered by her uncharacteristically kind tone. “What are you doing in this old place? Were they here with you?”

Dorian’s face falls, just a fraction.

(Continued)

>>3322960

"I, uh...my old man kicked the bucket about a month before the world became like this. He was a grade-A asshole, but that didn't stop Mom from having a breakdown when he died. My little sister Estelle, she...she was always so supportive. With me, with Mom's mood swings...so when I dropped out of Cranbrook to come back home and help out where I could, God help her, she was trying her best. She was always...she always t-tried to...I'm sorry, p-please excuse me."

Dorian pours himself a too-full cup before offering some to each of you in turn. He swallows hard from the chipped glass, and stares into the dark red liquid for a moment before speaking once more.

"It's funny, you know? Dad wanted a son. He got one, just not the way he wanted." Dorian says with a harsh bark of laughter. "Mom begged him to not disown me, and he decided to shuffle me off to art school instead. I was happy with that sort of banishment...I got to do what I loved, and it was better than being cut out of the will entirely, I guess. So I was off doing what I always wanted, too far away to realize what was going on until it was too late. I still can't believe Mom never called to tell me what was going on."

You watch him take another deep, full sip from the glass, half-choking on the sheer amount as he struggles to continue his dijointed tale, a tale you realize he's giving voice to for maybe the first time.

"He was always so stubborn, always so...he just ignored all the signs, content to just get sicker and sicker until he just up and fucked right off, leaving us to pick up the pieces. I came here to help, and I...guess it didn't work out the way I hoped."

The words spill out of him as he rambles, speaks like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. It hits you across the empathic channel that he’s not scared of dying alone up here, in a mansion full of soured history and fetid memories. He’s afraid he’ll just disappear, another story no one’s ever read, a painting that never sees the light of day.

You see him in that moment, and you think you may be the first person that ever truly has.

Dorian swirls the wine around in his glass, bringing it to his lips, then swirling it again. It's a loop of hesitation that ends when he sets it down hard on the table, scooting it away before turning to face you.

"I came back to this shitty house to try and do some good, and that isn't going to change. Mom and Estelle may be gone, but I know exactly what they'd want me to do." Dorian says, voice hard as he utters the most sober thing he's said since you arrived. "You know this world. You know what it needs. So my question to you is a simple one."

A single, determined azure eye fixes on you.

"What can I do to help?"

(Continued)

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>>3322967

You think on it a moment, and an idea hits you. You tell him about Julia, how you met and the kind of person she is, passionate and ceaselessly kind. You tell him you’d like to bring him past the forest and back to meet her, but before you can do that you want to help him get a better hold of his powers, and he’s incredibly eager to do so.

“But before we can do any of that,” You say, casting a glance into the kitchen. “I want to investigate whatever is beneath this house. You’re welcome to join us, if you’d like.”

“I appreciate it…and don’t get me wrong, I really want to help, but…” Dorian begins, and you feel a wave of guilt brush past you from within him. “…you were right when you said I really don’t have a full grasp of what I can do yet. I’m worried I might get in your way, or worse.”

“Hey man, don’t sweat it.” Rath says with a toothy grin, slapping a hand on his shoulder. “We’re a well-oiled machine of pure kick-ass, you just chill up here and we’ll be back after we wreck face, ‘kay?”

He matches her smile with one of his own, placing the cellar’s ornate, aged key into your open palm.

You have the means and a team at full power. How will you tackle what lies beneath, and is there anything else you want to ask or attend to before you do so?

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3322973
>Bid Dorian farewell, you'll be back soon. Maybe give him a hug, that always seems to help people.
>Rath at the front right, Gina middle and back, you to the front left if room, back left if not. Be prepared for something strong to he guarding this place, or for it to be one big death trap. Each step taken with care. No words, only thoughts.

>>3322973
>Have Dorian show you what he can do with his power and try training him a little, just to get him started.
>Find out a little more about the trees by making a swarmling and sending it to attack a tree to see what happens.

>>3322973
>"Do you have a map of your Estate grounds? The place may be twisted, but there will always be hallmarks of familiar landmarks. You are the young master of the house. But we're not so familiar with your home."
>Do what you can to help Dorian discover his Bio abilities. Give him tips and tricks regarding the possible Bio-ability that you have deduced so far.
>"Your abilities seem to revolve around your hobby: Painting. Specifically manipulating the paint liquid to make creations of your will. Do what comes natural when you paint, but be aware of what you are doing. Your abilities are yours, you have control. And please, as much you are a sommelier of wine, you're better off sober when you test your powers."
>Send two swarmlings, one to test the forest. Another to check the cellar.

>>3322973
this >>3323016

>>3322973
>>3323016
Supporting this.

>>3323016
>>3323021
>>3323023
Wait. He might be a flesh artist as his base class, but the "flesh" he manipulates takes form of paint. Paint pigment back in the olden days were made from crushed herbs and colorful plants. Essentially Bio material.

(Gentlemen, voting shall close in one and a half hours as I close out the business day. Thank you, and take care.)

i just got here and noticed that we are talking to a guy? is this the first sane male weve met :? just curious. i may have misssed a few things skimming through but i found it intresting weve encountered a male

>>3322973
>You’ll help us by giving us what information you have on your home and the place it was built upon. We’ll help you by teaching you the ropes in surviving the cruel new world.

>>3323072
>"It's funny, you know? Dad wanted a son. He got one, just not the way he wanted."
I'm pretty sure he's trans and it seems the daughterification process cares more bout genetics than identity.

>>3323072
(Welcome back Gen. >>3323088 is correct in that the Crucible determines eligibility for Daughters by a strict biological criteria. The anon who spoke earlier about the dream he had regarding someone essentially 'glitching' into being a Daughter is entirely possible, given that the system has no regard for the participant's emotions or identity.)

>>3323091
so you’re saying it’s possible for someone who sexually ID’s himself as male while genetically identified as a female to be “glitched” into the Crucible even after the trans-surgery.

>>3323091
>>3323102
in that case, what template would the system take when reconstructing the daughter? the original “girl” template or the “male” template post-surgery?

>>3323091
wait. that means that boys do exist in the world post-crucible. but the boys aren’t actual “boys”

>>3323102
>>3323107
>>3323111
(It is entirely possible, yes. The template would reconstruct the Daughter as they were physically just before the world is shifted into the Crucible state, whatever that may be.)

>>3323115
Then why didn't Shu wake up as a bloody pulp?
Nah, I get what you mean, I'm just fuckin' with you.

>>3323116
And, now that I think about it, there very well could be actual story-related reasons for that that would be too spoiler-y to reveal...
Or maybe not. iunno.

>>3323115
>>3323091
>>3323102
>>3323111
Not gonna lie, I'd rather have Dorian be a reverse trap instead.

>>3323125
(Then a later character should please you greatly, Anon.)

>>3323091
>>3323088
thanks thats what i thought guys i just wanted to confirm. sorry im currently in class so couldnt speak imidiatly but ill be lurking around

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>>3323126

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>>3323091
oh joy, my dream was canonly possible. hear that guys? just scarf down hormone tablets and get various kinds of cancer and you too can survive the end of the world! fool proof plan nothing could go wrong with it.

>>3323169
That's the opposite of what is being said. It's not about your anatomy, whatever surgical or hormonal changes it might have undergone, but genetics. That's why Dorian is just Dorian (plus the BHQ mutation), because he's genetically female but seems to have had surgery/hormone therapy, so he passes now like he did just before the apocalypse.

>>3323180
(I would like to point out that multiple ways exist to subvert the election process of the Crucible, but I am afraid I cannot go into more detail than that at the moment.)

>>3323180
i was mostly making a joke based on him mentioning my dream and how the scenario that allowed the man to survive in it was far from worth the cost, but okay.

well id probbably end up as a daughter in this universe funnily enough

same situation as dorian in a way

but thats not cheating the system really then though

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>>3323126
>(Then a later character should please you greatly, Anon.)
AW SHIT REVERSE TRAP CONFIRMED

>>3323189
(In a stunning turn of events, blocks of tofu became Daughters. The prevailing theory is that this happened because they contain phytoestrogen, which has "estrogen" in the name, and that means they're girls, right? When we asked Charon, another divergent Daughter, about this strange phenomenon, he only gave us a string of numbers and letters. We attempted to reach Mother for an interview to learn more about this apparent record-keeping error, but She declined to comment.)

>>3323213
>body horror quest: tofu survivor

>>3323213
>>3323216
ok but like, imagine being fucking tofu and suddenly your entirely sentient and aware of how the world works, except you also know you were just a pile of fucking tofu before.

THATS some fucked up mental trauma right there.

>>3323220
I think there might even be another layer, because the conversion process makes everything "compatible," which I think might involve going from being onions-based to whatever the closest analogous animal feature is, like a soft tissue with high liquid content.
So the tofu wakes up as a sentient rectangular prism of fat. What class do you think she'd be?

>>3323251
Generator or Flesh Artist.

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>>3323251
>>3323253

>>3323251
fibromancer? closest i can think of to controlling ones own fat.

speaking of, if i had to guess, id say hemomancy or something blood related is one of the class types we have yet to encounter, if i had to guess. its just about the only body part i can think of that doesn't have a class. well, and maybe organs, though some could be rolled into other classes.

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>>3323260
There's also Skeleton anatomy manipulation. It could be a subcategory of Calcite Armory/Vitruvian, but it would mainly involve manipulating the skeleton of an organism and rearrange it into an entirely different animal. Like Animorphs.

>>3323257
sigh. . . .
I probably should have thought that one through.

>>3323260
I'd assume that blood powers are under Generator like Rath's explosives coming from bodily fluid. That's just a guess though.

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>>3323268
I'm still waiting on that totally-not-a-necromancer daughter that just has a goddamn skeleton army

>>3323268
i can see the logic, but it does feel like it would be rolled into Calcite Armory, or if there is one, a class fully based around full body manipulation, which technically we have not seen, though i suppose combine most of the class types and you get that more or less anyways.

>mfw turns out certain ability/class combinations unlock hidden unique/special class types and we have utterly missed the opportunity at least once already.

>>3323273
maybe, but generator seems very all encompassing and much less specific than other class types. if you can generate it, its generator class, unless it falls under another class type, is how i have so far seen it. though actually out of the three generator types i think we have seen two have been constructs, with Rath being the odd one out.

or maybe not, if you take into account potential level upgrades, or just want to be utterly disturbing in implications.

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>>3323278
>tfw hindsight said that B'ni was the best candidate for such a class.
the break up still hurts my soul.

>>3323276
dead master from BlackRock Shooter anyone?

>Calcite Dart/Arrow power
>At high levels, the development paths are either increasing the speed they're fired and the number of projectiles by reducing the BIO cost per shot for a bone machine gun, or increase the range and damage/crit rate for a bone sniper rifle.

(Headed home, and I shall post when I arrive, Gentlemen.)

>>3323292
>mfw finger guns of doom
i love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZIM_ySFcpI

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>>3323292
>firing fingerbones at extremely high velocities at your enemies
YES

>>3322973
>Search the Mansion for any relics. There may have been some family heirlooms that have been turned into Crucible World Relics.

>>3323318
Oh, good point.

>>3322973
this too >>3323318

>>3323318
>>3323325
>>3323326
(I shall address this after the next section since voting closed a little while ago, Gentlemen.)

>>3322973

After inquiring after a possible map of the grounds and being met with a disappointed shrug from the master of the house, Dorian and Gina move to the living room while you hang back in the kitchen and Rath moves to the front door.

You unlock the cellar as a pair of swarmlings rip free of your back, one flying off into the dark while the other flits out the front entrance. Rath shuts the door behind it as a much louder peal of thunder rumbles overhead, the windows trembling in their panes.

"Your abilities seem to revolve around your hobby: Painting.” You say once you join everyone in the living room, watching Dorian shake out his limbs in advance of a demonstration. “Specifically manipulating the paint liquid to make creations of your will. Do what comes natural when you paint, but be aware of what you are doing. Your abilities are yours Dorian; you and you alone have control, never forget that. And please, as much you are a sommelier of wine, you're better off sober when you test your powers."

He smiles sheepishly before closing his eyes, his limbs splitting into a multitude of tendrils, each one stretching out and plucking a picture from the wall before rearranging them in different spaces.

“I can see through any one part of my paint, to a degree.” Dorian explains, his limbs shrinking as they rejoin his core. You watch as he tosses a little glob from his arm onto the carpet, and you marvel as it contorts into a little person and wobbles around the room. “It doesn’t have to be directly connected to me for me to maintain control, either. I, uh...I admit I’ve been using it to get art supplies and stuff from other rooms.”

“That…that’s amazing, Dorian.” You say, in awe of the possibilities his ability opens, both in and out of combat. His face lights up at your compliment as Gina whistles beside you, speaking into your mind via thoughtform.

{He’s versatile as all hell} She says, impressed. {His power is like Julia’s, only with a more liberal notion of what constitutes ‘flesh,’ I’m guessing. I thought his powerset was sort of like Bella Nervosa’s at first, but I’m starting to think that something else if affecting his abilities when he sleeps}

[If I was a betting kind of girl I’d put money on it being the same thing that’s giving him those dreams] You reply, switching your vision back to the swarmling in the depths. A chill runs down your spine when your eyes adjust to your swarmlings’, hovering in the dark wine cellar in front of an open door, a pile of chewed metal shavings the only evidence a lock ever existed.

A scream of horror echoes up through the tunnel, and your swarmling darts into the abyss.

(Continued)

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>>3323403

You push onwards through the nigh-pitch blackness of the obsidian tunnels. Snatches of dialogue between two parties echo up from below you, as you spiral down, deeper into the void. You finally emerge into a wide, cavernous chamber at least ten meters in height and thrice as long, at the heart of which lies something…other.

It is a thing comprised of seven disparate monoliths, hewn of abyssal black stone and marbled with gleaming bismuth. You think for a moment that your eyes deceive you as you watch the stones shift, churning in place, contorting into impossible angles before resuming their semi-solid form.

The moment your gaze fixes on the workings of the device, you feel the Contender shudder at your hip with something like revulsion.

Before the machine looms a towering figure, its three meters of height cloaked in a shawl of crudely woven skin, bits of hair still stuck to the scalps of screaming faces. In a single meaty fist squirms a terrified young woman, frail hands straining to free herself from fingers as big around as each of the youth's six insectile legs. Her hoarse, pleading cries issue from a throat run raw with screams.

“It is a fine thing indeed, to be fuel for a god.” A calm voice echoes from beneath the shawl. “Do not cry. Refinement takes pain, pain leads to progress, progress to...something more."

Heedless of her final, frantic scream, the towering figure flings the girl into the center of the device where she's suddenly floating, suspended mid-air by forces unseen. The pillars move as one, swiftly and without mercy as the girl's skin is ripped from her body without hesitation, muscle strands, veins and arteries unraveled from the spool of her skeleton and drawn into the angles of stone. Her innards are plucked free, leaving her bones an empty cage as organs are compressed into ruby-like stones, her skeleton reduced to a fine dust, until only the nervous system remains floating between the seven cold spires. Neuron by neuron, thread by thread, she is undone until there is nothing left what she once was. The base of the machine yawns open to reveal a bright scarlet undulation, from which emerges a quintet of what appear to be rubies. They thrum with the being, the very essence of the girl sacrificed to the machine.

You know she felt every moment of her death, for it was a thing made for the raw material to feel what it becomes.

The five glittering stones hover in the center of the device for a mere moment before they are plucked from the air by the girl's executioner, and absorbed into her massive palm.

{Shu? Shu, what's wrong?!}

Gina's voice is faint and far away, a seething rage welling up within you as the Contender burns white-hot in your shuddering grip, and you're not sure when you drew it from its sheath. A name for the blasphemous machine reverberates in your mind, the name of a device of incredible power and terrible cost.

The Sparagmos Engine.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3323417
>"FUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUU!"
>Load Contender with one of our three bullet types
>Fire at the Engine
>Rinse and repeat until fired six times total
>Slash its remnants to bits with the Contender

>>3323428
Shu isn't physically present. She' spying through a swarmling.

>>3323435
I'll still vote to do it if we ever reach it in person.

>>3323428
(Shu is currently still in the house with her allies and Dorian. She is watching through her swarmling's eyes, though I certainly appreciate that level of gut reaction to the Engine.)

>>3323417
im guessing the trees are part of this. i...fuck. this feels like looking at the face of pure, refined evil itself, but, can we even do anything about this.

>Tell the others what you saw, and what it is. let them know about the contenders reaction.
>let your anger out as you do.
>You want to destroy that device, but you do not know if you are strong enough to face this thing, or the beast that guards it, but you wont deny putting the option on the table.
>Suggest perhaps getting more firepower, both in allies and gear, before you try to take this on, or simply going the round about route of caving the cave in on the thing, burying it and the monster in rubble, though to do such a thing would still require alot more then you have now.

kinda both giving a Write-In and spit-balling at the same time.

(Gentlemen, voting shall remain open for two hours as I attend to some business this evening.)

>>3323417
>>3323439
okay fine, backing this >>3323443
We might as well say "fuck this" and come back to this later. This makes Location #2 to backtrack to for future exploration so far.

>>3323417
>Get your swarmling out of there quietly. You don't want to alert the thing that runs the Engine.
>Relay the information to Gina via Crimson Cord or through a physical jack. The group needs to see this.
>To the group: "I found what's causing the screams. It's the engine that Dorian described in his dreams. It rips daughters apart and turns them into purified biomass as FUEL for MOTHER. This gun remembers the engine. It wants the engine destroyed."
>*Any rage that you feel, channel them into a tranquil fury.*

>>3323428
Anon. We're looking at the scene through a swarmling. we're not physically "there yet.

>>3323447
what was the other one? i may just be being forgetful but i cant think of a place we have not gone back to so far. the only two i can think we did that for was Kosis city and the Shrouded Town, both now visited, and funnily enough, waypointed.

>>3323457
The other one is the bunker the Sororitas were in, as well as Mara's crew were prepping beforehand to take on Kosi. We never explored down that elevator shaft into the lower levels.

>>3323417
Connect with Gina and Rath, let them feel every ounce of revulsion and rage that we are experiencing.

"Something's down there. Two things. A monster, and an engine. It... it fed a woman to the engine, to make something. It unraveled her into her atoms, and she felt every moment."

Raise the Contender.

"We need to destroy them both."

>>3323461
ah, yes thats fair. damn that feels like forever ago though now...

>>3323455
is it fuel for mother? the creature seemed to eat it itself. i mean, it could be some work around process sure, but for all we know this is just a highly mutated Daughter, or highly advanced Amalgam, or something new entirely, who just thinks itself a god and is acting independently using a left over artifact of immense power. simply saying it feels like jumping the shark to go that route with so little information.

>>3323417
This calls for BOSS MUSIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6cSbof7Pik
>>3323428
Backing this, I say firing the Bursting Bullet.

>>3323417
>Giant proportions
>Magic stones
>Sacrifices for a "god"
So, is this Meat Thanos?

More seriously, I say we take full advantage of the fact that Shu and Rath both have a strong incentive to prepare ahead of time. Shu should generate a full swarm (including armor and using combining because of the cap) and both she and Rath should generate as many arms as they think are practical, before feeding on whatever biomass is around to try to get back to full.
Gina can try and help Dorian figure out a little more about his powers, because if he can have a construct come with us while he stays in a safe spot, an regenerating paint banshee could be very useful.

>>3323494
This is good.

>>3323465
>>3323417
I like this speech. It's simple. It's succinct. it gets the point through while retaining all of the horror that befits the world.

>>3323465
this but also connect Dorian

>>3323478
(Your choice of music concerns me, as this was the exact track I had as the theme for this character.)

(Gentlemen, before I proceed; are you all voting to armor up and venture into the chamber with the Sparagmos Engine and attempt to destroy it, or wait until you are at a higher level?)

>>3323777
(It seems to be the former, but I just wanted to make sure before I start writing.)

>>3323777
I think we would like to vote on it not hastily rush into it and consider our options.

(Tell you what Gentlemen, I'll leave voting open for an additional half hour to help resolve the issue, as engaging this enemy would be a considerable challenge, though not without equivalent rewards.)

>>3323804
compared to Hecaton, is it more challenging or less?

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>>3323756
This song used against an appropriate enemy in Body Horror Quest when?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fylg8zp4Pzo
>1:04

>>3323777
I would rather tell everybody the rundown about what we saw and the situation, then decide to leave it to a future assault when we've grinded further. This is pretty fucking close to the Shrouded Cityway station anyhow, so it's easy to get to. Better to take Dorian with us as we leave to go wherever.

>>3323806
(Much, much more so, though not outside your ability to conquer at your current status given careful planning and forethought, alongside a little luck. I am afraid that is all the spoilers I can give at this point, Gentlemen.)

>>3323811
(While this write-in did lean heavily towards a challenge, I did wish to confirm with you all before proceeding. I hope that is alright with all of you.)

>>3323777
the most voted option >>3323465
does not specify, but the emotion behind it would imply going now to destroy it, while i think mine had two to put the option of waiting to our allies >>3323443 (You)
and this one was just to plan before we go down there now >>3323494

so it seems going down now is the winner, but split between rushing in or planning ahead, unless my vote would wrap around to win out planning first?11

>>3323819
nah i get it. i think maybe a good middle ground would be simly explaining the situation to our allies, which all votes were for, then letting the team IC decide? i mean, on one hand, this is a powerful enemy, we just lost a teammate, and if we wait just a wee bit, we can double our party size theoretically, if we come back.

ON THE OTHER HAND, we wait, it grows stronger, more potentially innocent daughters get killed. which sucks in double ways, and makes even me hesitate to leave.

>>3323804
>>3323819
>>3323777
>>3323784


I hate to say It guys, but with how BHOP Is repeatedly trying to give us an out here I say we take It. Let's come back after a fight or seven. He's proven to me by now that he's not afraid to fuck us up If he needs to.

>>3323832
heres my thought; as much as it suck to leave this alone and leave more daughters to die, we do no one any good sacrificing ourselves in a fight we cant win either.

lets do this;
>Leave, etch a note into the cellar door and other places warning of what is down there, it wont do much but it might stem the tide.
>Go the monastery, warn MOTHER SUPERIOR and Sister Uzu so they can spread the word to avoid the place as too hostile.
>Take Dorian to Julias, explain to the group as a whole we wish to destroy it, together, once our newer and less blooded members feel up for it(Dorian, Mara, and Julia obviously, Julia being strong but not used to exploring or team fights.)
> Vistis the Monestary, talk to Uzu about a more potent forge, so we can search it out and get better gear, it gives us a goal and were gonna need said gear.

Just an idea though.

>>3323819

>>3323686 Changing my vote to >>3323443
Or to something that implies that Shu and friends powerlevel or prepare for the Engine Raid. I'm not one to rush in like a foolharded fellow.

>>3323859
I don't think the Engine is a viable forge. It's a forge that works only when one sacrifices a living daughter in order to create essence gems. Charon's Contender wants it destroyed.

Aside from Talking to Uzu about selling the idea of the The Sparagmos Engine as another potent Forge which I generally disagree on after seeing what that THING did to an unwilling daughter, I'm all game for this general plan.

>>3323417
Also, have that swarmling gather more information while keeping quiet. if it's going to sneak away, do it slowly.

>>3323883
What? I never implied it was a forge, only that we should ask the only fleshsmith we know if she knows where a higher level one is.

>>3323887
oh.

>>3323859
While not a bad idea, here's a thought about the ramifications of your vote.

We tell the Monastery about this place and what lurks within, and no one goes near as to not feed the place. Word gets around. Time passes, and a certain someone returns. Someone who frequents the monastery and has a gargantuan amount of power. By the time we return to the place, she's already found out about It and solo'd It, taking the power for herself. Maybe not the worst outcome, but are we *sure* that's what we want?

>>3323905
I cant see her going back to the monestary at all actually, and i kinda wanted to tell Superior and Uzu so they could somewhat control and decide how to hand out the info, rather then letting rumors run wild.

(Writing now, Gentlemen.)

>>3323905
>>3323909
or wait, do you mean Marrow Dragoon? if so, id still rather her get it than someone we dont know, or B'ni like i thought you meant.

>>3323417

You take a deep, shuddering breath, readjusting your white-knuckled grip on the Contender as you recall your swarmling without incident.

[Patch me in to Rath and Dorian. They need to know what's down there, Gina] You say, and she looks up at you with concern even as a pair of jack snake out from her sleeves.

You show them exactly what happened with the help of GG's cords, and while Dorian's hand flies to his mouth in horror, Rath's face is a mask of cold fury. You raise your sidearm, staring at it as it thrums in your hand with a furious pulse.

"Every inch of me is screaming for me to destroy that thing down there, and the Contender's happy to oblige." You say, finger caressing the trigger. Slowly, and with utmost care, you lower the gun and take the deep breath you so desperately need.

"But as much as that thing and its guardian deserve to die, I'm not willing to risk your lives to make that happen." You say, giving equal care to the focus you give each of the three sets of eyes trained on you. "We're going to get stronger, and we are going to come back here and destroy that thing once and for all."

(Continued)

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>>3324045

You turn to Rath, putting a hand on her shoulder that seems to snap her out of the anger-fueled spiral she was falling into within herself. "Take this key and go lock the cellar doors. Mark them up to say there's something best avoided down there, and maybe we can spare some wanderers a meeting with the Engine, alright?"

Rath runs off as you turn your attention to Dorian. "Mr. Gardner, pack your things. If it's all the same to you, I have some people I'd like you to meet and I'd much rather not leave you here. Are you alright to come with us?"

Despite the horrors you've just shown him, or perhaps because of it, he beams at you, racing back upstairs to gather his belongings and leave this house of gnawing memories. You turn to Gina, aware that she's been clasping your hand tight in hers ever since you witnessed what the Engine is capable of.

{Shu...please talk to me, are you going to be okay? What can I do to help?} She asks, reaching up and pressing a soft palm against your flushed cheek. You feel the Contender slowly begin to cool in time with your own leveling pulse.

[Yeah, I...I'll be alright] You say, managing to smile. [We just need to get Dorian out of here and get stronger. I'm not going to allow things like the Sparagmos Engine to exist if I can help it]

You're not sure how many more Daughters will be sacrificed to that infernal machine...but at least you can be certain it won't be any of yours, today. Right now, the only thought that needs to be on your mind is the best route to take in gathering power, while being mindful of the resources available to you.

To that end, you know where you need to go next.

>>Take Dorian to Julia and Amara. You think introductions are in order, and this might be an opportunity to see if Amara would like to join you for the time being.

>>It would be worth it to go ahead and take Dorian to the Monastery. He needs to know there are more good people out there, and you can get some valuable information there and inquire about stronger forges to tackle the Sparagmos Engine's guardian on your own terms.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Gentlemen, I shall be pausing here for the evening and resuming in approximately thirteen hours from now. Thank you all so much for your continued participation and for being fantastic. I hope you all rest well, and take care.)

>>3324050
>>Take Dorian to Julia and Amara. You think introductions are in order, and this might be an opportunity to see if Amara would like to join you for the time being.

Time to Join the club, kid.

>>3324050
>>Take Dorian to Julia and Amara. You think introductions are in order, and this might be an opportunity to see if Amara would like to join you for the time being.
>>It would be worth it to go ahead and visit the Monastery. you can get some valuable information there and inquire about stronger forges to tackle the Sparagmos Engine's guardian on your own terms.

i mean, he can visit the Monastery sure, but i dont think that is as important as checking him in with the rest of the group, then checking up on a better forge. he did say he wanted to help us, not blend in and get lost among the Sisters of the Monastery afterall.

>>3324053
have a good night BHOP, this was certainly a tough decision to have to make. hopefully not too many daughters succumb to curiosity...

>>3324073
(Thank you for the well-wishes, Anon.)

(Gentlemen, I shall be around for a short while to address questions, comments, and criticism as always, and take care.)

>>3324157
so, it was said by Gina that Dorians Class type was Flesh Artisan. while i understand its probably a heavily spoiler based question, to at least SOME degree, can you explain, or say, just how hard coded or loose the rules for how something is classified is?

it seems pretty loose in the rules, at least with what we know about them so far is all, and while i understand you wont explain them all in detail or anything, id like to at least know just how broad the definition is, if that makes any sense, not that such info will help much without knowing the rules behind them haha.

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>>3324050
>Take Dorian to Julia and Amara. You think introductions are in order, and this might be an opportunity to see if Amara would like to join you for the time being.
>It would be worth it to go ahead and visit the Monastery. you can get some valuable information there and inquire about stronger forges to tackle the Sparagmos Engine's guardian on your own terms.
I just want all the Daughters back at the Monastery to swoon and faint the moment Dorian struts in and poses, smiling so perfectly his paint body gleams and sparkles, straight out of anime.

>>3324169
(I will say that Flesh Artisans, Generators, and even a few types of Neuromancers will appear similar at early levels, which I believe has led to some bleed-over between classes at first glance. However, when you actually look at their skill trees and they start getting up in levels, their differences become apparent.)

(Without going into egregious detail, their general themes can be summarized as follows. Generators are a class of extremes. They take and inflict more damage, and innately have a higher critical hit and critical failure threshold with their abilities. In addition, while most skill tree augmentations offer slight modifications, Generators' augmentation will often wildly alter how their entire system works, as you've already seen with Rath's Cystemic Burn Augmentation.)

(Flesh Artisans on the other hand are more akin to monks in the more recent D&D mechanics. They boast a solid balance of offense, defense, and mobility, and their skill sets are often coupled with either devastating burst abilities or a selection of minor debilitations that can be tacked on to their regular attacks. However, that comes at a cost of perception and more esoteric resiliences, making them vulnerable to more indirect forms of attack as they are prone to getting in their own heads about things, which serves as a Neuromancer's playground.)

>>3324206
(This is beautiful.)

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>>3324210
SMT 1 Hero had a hard life.

How convenient is it that not long after B'ni leaves we find a new ally.

>>3324218
(Hello Anon, my apologies for not replying to your earlier comments about Mara's relics. She has several on her person at all times, though I'm afraid that going into details would be spoilers st this point.)

(Also, you were already pretty close to Amara's awakening, and Dorian's been planned out for a while as potential party member, so it all worked out better than I anticipated in all honesty.)

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>>3324210
ah, that makes sense. honestly im the type who would absolutely love reading the entirety of the Class Types descriptions like it was a Players Manual, but i understand its too chock full of spoilers sadly to allow that as of yet. maybe, someday...

this also really helps explain how the CONSUME ability has ended up working, aswell as even some of the inconsistencies in standard Tree Upgrades, at least a bit, considering just the difference between those two. neat, and thank you.

>>3324218
as i said earlier, the daughter we just so happened to spare has the perfect ability to join a team of willing protectors and happened to wake up three days early after we lost b'ni, SUCH COINCIDENCES, RIGHT BHOP?

>>3324235
(Haha, I'm the same way in reading the player manuals over and over. It's my pleasure to help, and I appreciate your interest. And regarding the timing of your newest allies, I'm never fond of leaving my players without options for very long, so you got me there.)

>>3324233
But at what cost? That is the question.

>>3324268
(You'll soon see, Anon.)

>>3324265
nah its fine, and it was in a way a good story moment. lose an ally, but have our mood uplifted with a new friend, and reminder of why we are doing this. it was nice, and a oddly warm tone to end the last Vein on. she was also a cute kid, but man, i can tell shes gonna be a slight brat and an handful, which is gonna be great entertainment.

now the interesting moment, will be, even if only temporary, when we get all six of our party together for a fight. i wanna say itll be a sight to behold, but at the same time i just know when that moment comes it wont be against anything easy to take down, regardless of our numbers or teamwork.

>>3324050
>>>Take Dorian to Julia and Amara. You think introductions are in order, and this might be an opportunity to see if Amara would like to join you for the time being.

With the very important addendum that we need to know how to stop his powers from creating autonomous killing machines when he falls asleep! If we can't find a sure conclusion to that at the shack, we should take him to the monastery, where they'll definitely have a holding cell for him while he learns to not be a constant death threat.

>>Also, tell Julia and Amara that they need to tell Mara about this if she ever reappears in the shack so she can destroy the Engine if we haven't yet.

I think the best bet might actually be to backtrack to landmarks near waystations that we skipped over before so we can gain levels while still being easy to contact by Mara if she gets back and wants to collaborate. [We might also be able to get volunteers from the monastery, in which case the same idea applies.]

>>3324363
i like your second bit, but im still of the notion trying to find a better forge, or the process to upgrade the monasteries, is a better and more useful goal, and certainly one in which Mara would still be able to find us, through her contacts at said monastery.

>>3324064
which i am also minorly amending my vote, to be willing to help Uzu upgrade the Monasteries Forge, not just look for a better one. whichever option is possible or can work of course.

>>3324387
Oh, yeah, assuming there's even a basis for improving it, that might be more viable busy work. My main concern is that it might also lead to a fetch quest, which might make us harder to find again.
While there are probably other things we can do for the monastery, I'm concerned that it won't help us gain any kind of advantage against the Engine.
Our best hope for efficient progression is if there's some rat-amalgams-in-the-basement RPG tripe that lets us level up while staying nearby and also help the monastery.

>>3324437
i am 10000000000000000000% positive whatever method we are given to upgrade/find a better forge will involve combat and a chance to level up. and honestly, the gauntlets were pretty good for being a level one forge, so id imagine even a single higher level would give us plenty to make to gain an advantage.

>>3324363
>>3324387
You know. I think this warrants us reserving a few hours of our time maintaining and upgrading our social links.
Dorian needs to sort out his mental nightmares. If he subconsciously creates paint constructs from his nightmare/dreams with his mother and sister, then some company in his dreams should help lessen that.
Gina needs a one-on-one to calm her growing guilt.
I think both of these can be addressed by doing some dream therapy on Dorian while giving Gina some heart to heart on her guilt.

>>3324454
Thank you for pointing that out

I think the list of priorities is:
>Alert people about the Engine
>Get Dorian's problem resolved or contained
>Gina pow-wow (since the dedicated part should be fast but will fester horribly if we ignore it)
>Be accessible for coordinating with Mara/volunteers
>Gain power
>Help the monastery

I think availability is definitely more important than power, because getting help from Mara or even a few of the monastery refugees would represent a greater increase in our ability to destroy the Engine.

Maybe it will be worth looking into the arena now.

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I just had a thought.
B'ni was (supposedly) awake for 2 years or so, right? That means the crucible's been going on for
at least 2 years, and nobody's finished it yet.
That means that either A) a lot more daughters are unwilling to play, like the ones at the monastery or B) we've REALLY got our work cut out for us.

>>3324865
It could also mean that C) The Crucible is too brutal.

>>3325066
>>3324865
There's also the problem that there's only so many people still on Earth during this Crucible. Daughters and Amalgams are finite unless there's a biogenerator or something that manages new Daughters/Amalgams being created somewhere else? A form of Fleshscape Recycling of those not CONSUME'd?

>>3325129
Nah Charon said there was a limited number, in order to force a winner eventually no matter what.

So for leaving the Mansion after the storm.

We can try to brave the trees, though I don't think the second swarling Shu sent reported anything out of them yet.
Or we can navigate through the underground to that dock Dorian mention, sending swarmlings to explore and map out a path for us while having one or two other spy on the Sparagmos Engine's Keeper to avoid her as we're navigating.

Then we can either go back the way we came or forge ahead to the next Charon Station.

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>>3324050

When Rath completes her task and Dorian slides down the bannister to your side, you open the front door to the quick-moving storm still buffeting the land, rumbles of thunder and flashes of azure lightning darting through the clouds. Given its trajectory and your best guess, you’ll arrive at Julia’s place just when the storm is about to hit there too, but at least you know it’s not as obviously destructive as the acid monsoon you weathered about a week ago.

“Shu…the trees.” Gina breathes at your side, clutching your arm tight. You look to see the limbs have formed a tunnel-like trellis, shielding the path ahead from the wind and lightning.

You’re on even greater guard as you slowly make your way down the stone steps and to the forest’s edge, and it’s then that you notice something that must have escaped your notice when you were conversing with Rath the first time through here. The tree limbs that aren’t shielding you from the storm are straining towards you, reaching out before being gently rebuffed by a steady pulse. A quick shift of vision to your swarmling scout reveals that the covered trail extends all the way to the forest’s exit, an unnervingly neat and tidy path to your goal.

You readjust your grip on your weapon, realizing with a start that the pulse keeping the limbs at bay beats in time with the Hexane Contender’s own rhythmic thrum.

You look at Charon’s old weapon, the spaces between its bone-plate exterior glowing with a faint sapphire light. Glancing up, the blue neuron strands just beneath the tree bark glow with a similar hue. The bark, the core…you wonder if these things had some part in the creation of Charon’s favorite sidearm, and if you should linger for long enough to find out.

>>Investigate the trees up close, with the Contender at the ready. The Contender is connected to them in some way, and you’re starting to realize that maybe it was the reason you weren’t torn asunder like the other Daughters that tried to brave it.

>>Hurry on through to the Shrouded City’s waystation and then on to Julia’s. You don’t want to waste any time getting Dorian in a better headspace, and you really think he and Julia could hit it off. What’s more, you want to hit up the Monastery and ask a few questions about the forge.

>>Use the entrance near the gate to try and get to the dock Dorian mentioned, and cross the River of Tears Uzu alluded to. You don’t trust this forest, and you’re sure you’ll find another waystation on the other side of the shore.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3325202
>Hurry on through to the Shrouded City’s waystation and then on to Julia’s. You don’t want to waste any time getting Dorian in a better headspace, and you really think he and Julia could hit it off. What’s more, you want to hit up the Monastery and ask a few questions about the forge.
>Talk to the weapon. "Finally came home after all this time Contender? Don't worry, we'll come back here later to kill the engine lurking beneath the forest floor."
>Announce to the Trees in the forest. "I'm no Skin Talker, but thank you. We'll be back later to kill the engine that Contender despises so much."
The forest and the Contender are sentient/self-aware to a degree. We should treat them like a person instead of a tool. Charon had put her heart and soul into crafting this magnificent relic.

(Voting to close in two hours, Gentlemen.)

>>3325202
This >>3325220
Contender has been based so far, and we might as well treat them like another party member too.
WAIT CAN'T WE HAVE GINA PLUG INTO THE CONTENDER? WE JUST DISCOVERED DAUGHTERS TURNED INTO RELICS ARE STILL SENTIENT IN THERE FOR FUCK'S SAKE

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>>3325250
>WAIT CAN'T WE HAVE GINA PLUG INTO THE CONTENDER? WE JUST DISCOVERED DAUGHTERS TURNED INTO RELICS ARE STILL SENTIENT IN THERE FOR FUCK'S SAKE
oh fuck
We should do this once we get back to Julia's.

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>>3325220
Thirding

also, meme

>>3325220
Ill support this.

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>>3325274
nice meme

The Sparagmos Engine
>Sparagmos (Translates into Greek meaning "to rend", "to pull apart")
>The Forest Literally tears daughters and amalgams apart.
>The Contender was made from the wood of the Forest.
>At the sight of the engine, The Contender burns white hot with rage.
It seems that the forest is Corrupted by the Engine's activation and Contender wants to free its kin.

>>3325286
Or the contender has the consiousness of one of the engines victims, and they want it dead.

(Writing now, Gentlemen.)

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>>3325202

There’s too much you want to accomplish to get bogged down here any longer, but when you walk up to one of the alien elms and press your palm to the metallic bark, you feel a reassuring calm come over you from arbor and weapon, both.

"Finally home after all this time?” You say, whispering to the gun held firmly in your right hand. “Don't worry, we'll come back to kill the engine lurking beneath the forest floor.”

You turn to the trees, their willow-like branches caressing your shoulders as your allies stand close by, buzzing with nervous energy.

"I'm no Skin Talker, but thank you. We'll be back soon, I promise." You say, and you turn back to your allies to say something that tumbles off your lips as easily as breathing.

“Let’s head home.”

You only have to knock once on Julia’s door before it swings open, the smell of bergamot wafting pleasantly through the air. Julia turns from the stove and waves, and you look down to see Amara beaming up at you.

“Miss Shu, you’re back!” She chirps happily, looking from you to Dorian before thrusting out her hand. “Hello new friend! I’m Amara!”

Dorian kneels down and takes her hand with a smile, and the little girl looks absolutely thrilled with Dorian’s abilities, marveling at the shifting hues of his arms.

“It is my sincere pleasure to meet you, Lady Amara!” He says gallant flourish. “These fine warriors have regaled me with tales of your incredible powers, and it is an honor to meet you.

Amara is just eating it up when Rath sticks her head around the corner behind you and Dorian.

“Yeah, I told him you were fuckin’ awesome, kiddo!” Rath pipes up with a cheeky grin just before getting elbowed in the ribs by Gina, who murmurs something about watching her language.

“And you must be…” He begins, faltering as Julia steps into the light of the open door, curtsying gracefully to your newest ally. “…I, uh…h-hello, Miss…”

“P-please, call me Julia!” She says with a warm, inviting smile, and you realize he’s been completely disarmed of whatever auto he was trying to project as he just stares at her in awe.

Huh.

“So what brings you back so soon?” Amara asks from your waist, and you become aware of the Contender in your grasp along with your new ally by your side.

>>You’d like some time alone with Gina to address the feelings of guilt that still plague her mind. She’s been incredibly supportive and you want to ensure that support remains a two-way street.

>>Ask Gina to patch you directly into the Contender. You’ve been treating it like a tool, but you’re beginning to understand that this work of art is so, so much more. It’s time you had a chat face-to-face.

>>If you’re going into Dorian’s mind and try to get at the root of whatever’s causing his powers to misfire, you may as well try and talk with Gina while you’re both in the dreamscape. Two minds, one stone.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3325681
>>If you’re going into Dorian’s mind and try to get at the root of whatever’s causing his powers to misfire, you may as well try and talk with Gina while you’re both in the dreamscape. Two minds, one stone.
>>Make sure you explain to Julia and Amara what you encountered and what is goin on too though. Allies dont keep allies in the dark, and they deserve to know that however nice Dorian is, he still is a potential hazard, and we cant guranteed one mind session will fix his woes.

(Voting to close in two hours, Gentlemen.)

>>3325681
>You’d like some time alone with Gina to address the feelings of guilt that still plague her mind. She’s been incredibly supportive and you want to ensure that support remains a two-way street.
Rath's anger has been addressed from the get go.
Dorian's nervousness have been relieved since Julia and Amara have entered the picture in his life. So he's fine for now. But the issue still remains.
Also, Kek. Dorian found himself a "waifu".

That leaves Gina. We have time for ourselves and shelter. After helping her de-stress and vent about her guilt we can then go talk to Contender.

>Write-in: "A spooky mansion in the middle of a haunted forest Amara, where a monster kidnaps daughters and feeds them to a terrible machine that corrupts the forest. Mr. Gardner woke up two weeks ago trapped his mansion in that very forest with a dark secret."

>>3325681
BHOP, none of us voted to go see the docks, so I don't know why you've started showing us a new ship!

Their collaborative art will be terrifyingly gorgeous!