October 8th 2019 - Tuesday, 5:35 PM

You peek through the door, drawing the dagger as quietly as you can. You don't want to ruin your sneak attack now!

"But I'm quite bored of this now. I think it's time I finished you off, hunter." as the monster finishes it's sentence, you notice that it's left hand begins glowing with a red energy. It's now or never!

You kick the door wide open, the door loudly slamming against the wall as you launch yourself towards the monster, knife in hand.

Time seems to slow as you fly through the air towards the winged creature. You watch helpless to change your trajectory as the creature turns it's head towards you, staring you directly in the eye as it does and swiftly moving it's huge body out of the way of your attack. But it's too late for it to dodge you entirely, the point of the knife scrapes down it's left arm before piercing it through the elbow of the monster.

Your knife slips from your hands, stuck in the flesh of the monster.

The monster groans slightly in surprised pain before batting you with one of it's wings, slamming you against a wall with incredible force.

You smash against the plaster, somehow, you cling onto consciousness despite the pain. The monster towers over you.

"Arthur!" Shirley screams your name, even through your pain, you take note that this is the first time in your life that Shirley has sounded afraid in front of you. she starts to run towards you and the demon, two fistfuls of knives.

A purple sphere of energy thrown from the demons right hand knocks her a distance backwards before she can reach the two of you.

"Oh? Was this your plan then hunter? A sneak attack? Pathetic. But perhaps your interloper friend here just wished to play the knight in shining armor for you. To use a simple blessed dagger in an attempt to kill a Demon, he must truly be a fool." It laughs savagely. "But I digress it's unimportant, after all. Now he dies."

The monster slowly starts reaching for you, and you can't help but smile. It hasn't noticed the dagger still in it's arm has started glowing slightly. As the monstrous hand is merely inches away from your face, the dagger erupts in a blinding light, you raise an arm to cover your eyes as the demon stumbles backwards.

The demon roars in tremendous pain, the unearthly sound chills you to your core. The light subsides. metres away from you now, It's entire arm is missing from the shoulder. the demons inhuman face is twisted in rage, but then the rage fades nearly immediately. "A good effort, boy. But this sort of damage would never be enough to stop me, now behold, and despair!"

Nothing happens.

The monster's face for the first time takes on one of surprise and fear. "Impossible! The contract was canceled? How?!" The demon is so thrown off by something that it doesn't even notice Shirley racing across the room towards it. In a flash, Shirley is between you and the demon.

"No more healing, huh?" Her voice is cold, and at her declaration, a small ball of fire appears in her hands. "Die." The tiny orb of flame transforms into a torrent of fire, crashing into and engulfing the demon.

It's screams of agony are the last thing you hear before the pain becomes too much to bear and you slip into darkness. Though this time there's no world to greet you, just the feeling of floating in an abyss of nothing.

Eventually you are dragged from the world of emptiness as you awaken. This time, there are three girls standing over you with worried faces. You probably don't want to make a habit of this

"Are you OK, Arthur?" Shirley is the first one to notice your eyes flickering open, her voice unusually soft.

Now that she mentions it, despite the blow you took from that thing, it doesn't actually feel like anything is broken. "It's strange, but I think I'm alright." You unsteadily rise to your feet as you say this, Shirley and Theresia both attempting to help you up while Holly stands to the side.

"Well, it looks like the hotel idea was a bust then huh?" you groan. You'll probably have to find alternative accommodations unless you want to risk sleeping in the hotel and putting everyone in danger.

"Wait!" It's Holly who speaks up. "W-well, I don't know how to say this, but can I go with you three? My apartment is being renovated and I've sort of been sleeping in this hotel. I know it's a lot to ask, and you don't know me. But I don't know about you, but today I just found out that monsters are real and I really don't want to stay here alone." She pleads to you.

Vote for both
>Deny Holly's request, the threat is probably gone now anyway.
>Allow Holly to come with you.
and
>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in
>Sleep in the hotel anyway
>See if you can catch a cab to your Aunt's mansion.
>Write-In...

>>3885932
>>Allow Holly to come with you.
>>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in

>>3885932
>Deny Holly's request, the threat is probably gone now anyway.
>See if you can catch a cab to your Aunt's mansion.
Also, let's make sure we don't leave the dagger behind.

>>3885932
>Deny Holly's request, the threat is probably gone now anyway.
>See if you can catch a cab to your Aunt's mansion.

>>3885932
>Allow Holly to come with you.
>See if you can catch a cab to your Aunt's mansion.
RETRIEVE THE DAGGER

>>3885932
>Allow Holly to come with you.
>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in
Is every woman we come across gonna start following us around? Whatever, the more the merrier I guess. At the very least, she can't be less talkative than Theresia.

>>3885962
The dagger was a one-time thing tho. Might as well get it anyway I suppose.

>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in

>>3886198
It recharges.

>>3885932
>Deny Holly's request, the threat is probably gone now anyway.
But calm her down

>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in

>>3885932
>Deny Holly's request, the threat is probably gone now anyway.
>See if you can catch a cab to your Aunt's mansion.

>>3885932
>Allow Holly to come with you.
>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in

>>3885932
>Allow Holly to come with you.
>Ask Shirley if her organization has any safe-houses that the three/four of you can take refuge in.

>>3886029
>Is every woman we come across gonna start following us around?
I would hope not.
That could lead to some issues.

>>3886344

>Our power was secretly control all along

>>3886365
It turns out that your real power was the friends you made along the way

Anyway
Looks like
>Allow
And
>Safehouse
Win

Writing...

>>3885926
>wielder of the Power of Destruction
But what does it DO?

>>3886413
It destroys, duh

>>3886415
I get that, but I feel like testing out our new superpower is something we should fast track.

>>3886423
We don't have the power of control to control it yet, though

>>3886426
Is that how it works?
I'm pretty sure thats probably not how it will work.
I'll call bullshit if that's how it works

>>3886426
>>3886428
That's not how it works, no.

Looking into Holly's pleading eyes, you consider her request for a moment. After some thought, you decide that it would probably be fine to allow her to stick around for now. You allowed the same for Theresia, who simply kept following you around after you helped her, and Holly was only put through all this because of you anyway, so you do feel somewhat responsible for what she went through.

"I guess you can come with us for now." Your voice lacks any real energy as you accept her request. You hope she won't get in the way.

"Yes!" Holly freezes, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. "I-I mean, thank you." She squeaks out.

But now that you've decided to let Holly come along, you need to decide where you'll actually be going. Staying in the hotel is probably a bad idea, not when they know you're here, it's just asking to be attacked again, while it looks like there were no innocent casualties this time, you might not be so lucky the next.

So that leaves you with only two options you can see, staying at your Aunt's mansion, or seeing whether Shirley can organize some sort of safe-house for the four of you, surely her employers must have something prepared in case of a situation like this.

You make up your mind and turn to Shirley, who immediately notices the look on your face. "What's on your mind, Arthur?" She pre-empts you with a question of her own.

"Ah, it's just that I'm thinking that the hotel probably isn't safe for us to stay at anymore, so we'll probably need to find somewhere else to go. I was hoping that you might be able to get us a safehouse" You won't be going anywhere unless you ask her first.

"Well, there is one I know of... but it's pretty out of the way and kinda... sparse." Shirley pauses for a moment and sighs. "But it's better than nothing at all I suppose." She finishes, sounding disappointed.

"Alright then. Holly. If you're serious about coming with us, go pack your bags. I'm going up to my room to collect my luggage." You turn towards the stairs, Shirley follows you whilst Theresia seems to decide that she'll take the lead, quickly walking in front of you both.

Halfway up the stairs, you feel a light tap on your shoulder, you stop. Turning around you see Shirley, a sad smile on her face.

"Arthur, I just... I just want to say thank you for what happened back there. I would've preferred you to stay out of danger, but I can't deny that you saved me from that thing." Her voice is almost a whisper, to be honest, you thought she might be angry that you disobeyed her order, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Shirley then exhales deeply. "I know you must think I'm only protecting you because I'm being ordered to or something. But that isn't the case. It's just that..." her voice trails off. She sounds reluctant to finish the sentence, her face is pained.

>"It's just what? You can tell me, Shirley."
>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."
>Try to comfort her somehow (How?)
>Simply nod, turn around and continue walking, you don't want to have to deal with this right now
>Write-in

>>3886873
>>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."

>>3886873
>Simply nod, turn around and continue walking, you don't want to have to deal with this right now

>>3886873
>Simply nod, turn around and continue walking, you don't want to have to deal with this right now

>>3886873
>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."

>>3886873
>Simply nod, turn around and continue walking, you don't want to have to deal with this right now
GOTTA WORK THRU THAT CHILDHOOD FRIEND BETRAYAL ANGST GRADUALLY FOR PROPER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

>>3886919
Didn't we thank her for protecting us a little while ago? Isn't this kind of a 180?

>>3886873
>>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."

>>3886930
Oh yeah. my bad

>>3886873
Changing my vote from >>3886919 to
>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."

>>3886919
How dare she protect you for 8 years from things trying to murder you while trying to keep you out of the danger you are now actively putting yourself in by not telling you.
The nerve of it.

>>3886936
It would be a sort of Castlevania logic, I suppose?

>>3886873
>>"It's fine, I appreciate the concern, no matter the reason."

>>3886939
Are you saying that you would've preferred fighting defenceless against the terrors of the night at age 12?

>>3886945
Well it would either kill me or give me a real problem to worry about instead of this eternal depression and non-existence I'm currently living so yeah both are a step up.

>>3886873
>Write-in
Stare Shirley in the eye.
"Explain. It's gonna be something crazy in which I will refuse to believe,isn't it? To tell you to truth,I touched the weird circle and a mysterious stranger gave me the power of Destruction. And i don't know how that works."

>>3886977
Hey, you never know, one of those terrors of the night could've been an Ojou Vampire.
So that's something.

>>3887010
>implying I could ever get with a vampire babe
I thank you for your faith but it is more misplaced than all of the Soviets that went to the Gulags under Stalin's orders.

>>3887010
And that is the backstory of how Arthur B. became a commie.
It is due to the horrid cheesy sound of snotty laughter from a rich kid.
Oh hohohohoho!

>>3887017
But

He is a rich kid?
He's lived in mansions for most of his life.

>>3887017
>ojousama laugh is horrid
I'm sorry about your hearing, anon. I hope they find a cure for bad taste within your lifetime.

>>3887021
Well that settles it. Now we *definitely* have to get with an ojou heroine. Never date below your station, people.

>>3887033
>Never date below your station, people.
Ah so you're one of those "keep it in the family" types. Got it.

>>3887036
If by "it" you mean money and property, then yes.

>>3887033
Rather bold claims to make that Theresia and Shirley are below your station.

>>3887039
We get it your sister is your aunt.

>>3887041
I guess we don't really know about their families yet. Theresia certainly has potential to be an ojou once her voice returns.

>>3887044
So, you assume all wealthy people are related? Come on, anon. Try thinking about the world around you a bit.

>>3887045
I suppose I should say that In-Character, Arthur knows that Shirley is an orphan.

Her mother died a year after they first met and her father either died before they met or abandoned her, she has never talked about it so it's only his assumptions.

>>3887021
Karl Marx is considered a rich kid
but he got class not to laugh like an ojou

>>3887056
Oh, have you ever heard Karl Marx laugh?

>>3887058
Yes, his laugh is a mix of three concepts: communism, writing and beard.

>>3887045
>So, you assume all wealthy people are related?
Nah. Just the ones with their heads up their asses. A rather unfortunate birth defect.

>>3887058
It certainly wouldn't sound shrill and annoying.
with lungs full of tobacco tar.

>>3887073
But why would the laugh of an Ojou Vampire sound like they have lungs full of tobacco tar?
I'm genuinely confused by this thought process.
Vampires don't even need air.

>>3887075
I was talking about Karl Marx laugh.

>>3887075
Are you saying Karl Marx is an ojou vampire? Deepest lore.

>>3887069
I know you're not likely to think too hard about what you say when trying to get a rise out of somebody online, but this is just laughable.

>>3887080
Shoo shoo now little inbred child.

>>3887079
Real deepest lore is that in universe, WW1 was actually planned by Elizabeth Báthory, who was behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand all along.

I'm not even making this up.

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>>3887086
Poor lad.

>>3887069
You know that if you ever meet a vampire in this quest, the odds of them being supremely arrogant are like 100 percent right?
Vampires are effectively the top dog supernatural race in Castlevania.
Especially the more powerful ones, who can even take on Death.

>>3887104
And it's safe to assume they are inbred.

>>3887113
Ok how?
How on Earth do you come to that conclusion?

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>>3887117

>>3887104
This is why we must romance one ASAP.

>>3887123
You say that like it will be an easy thing to do.

>>3887166
"We do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

>>3887173
Some of you guys really want to seduce an Ojou Vampire, huh?

>>3887182
Some anons go into quests with a goal in mind. Doesn't mean it's a practical goal.

>>3887182
You better believe it.

>>3887188
I'm not saying it's an impossible goal, it's just I didn't really expect people to want to try to seduce a vampire in the setting primarily based around killing vampires.

I mean, this quest in particular isn't about killing vampires in particular too much, because there's no Dracula around, but you get my point.

But there will be vampires and there will be ojous and the two might even overlap

>>3887182
For the record I think that idea's asking to get fucking murdered.

>>3887350
Also for the record I think most quests that resort to writing down to anime tropes get kind of boring, and I'd like to have at least 1 regularly-updating vidya quest that doesn't devolve into waifu wars. I can respect wanting to waifu an ojou vamp, but in CV I think that's pretty dumb. Much more likely and interesting in VTM where vamps tend to be in command of fewer monsters and thus need to rely on pawns for power struggles, where CV has more direct conflict/subjugation. The notion of us being taken as an equal/superior to a vamp in this setting is contingent on aiming for a bad end (or villain end), and I don't think those are very fun to play in (but that's personal preference, and I feel that Arthur is being set up to defy Chaos in this campaign based on his pretty average life up until this point, unless some major revelation screams otherwise).

>>3887361
>but in CV I think that's pretty dumb
>The notion of us being taken as an equal/superior to a vamp in this setting is contingent on aiming for a bad end (or villain end)
Not really. Lisa is a thing that exists.

>>3887361
As a guy going for an ojou vampire waifu I'm also going for a villain end. I also can't stand Vampire: the Masquerade. Take that for what you will.

>>3887182
You're god damned right. I'll stake my life on an Ojou heroine.

>>3887350
This is Castlevania, anon. It was the NES Dark Souls. Just booting up the game is asking to get fucking murdered. What we're going to do is take Arthur's power, grow it to its full potential, and power through just like the old games. We'll prove we can stand beside a vampire bride with our head held high!

>>3887191
>>3887191
>>3887450
Now you just make me want to go for killing all vampire waifus.

>>3887450
I don't want him to be a villain though. Not a hero either. Just a particularly badass bystander. Everyone loves good side characters.

>>3887494
You want the protagonist of this quest... to be a side character.
Anon, that's something I really can't understand.

>>3887182
I'm just here because
>It's a fucking Castlevania quest
>It's written decently enough
>The prospect of monstergirls
>I want to see where it all goes
Because fuck, Castlevania has such great designs and all sorts of silly shit thanks to Japan and when Konami was good, that I want someone sane (like Alfred) to react to them and deal with them. Also, there's so many fucking cute monstergirl designs in Castlevania games that I don't even think Alfred will be able to resist going for one, even though they are all technically ultra fucking evil inside... maybe? I mean, if love can bloom on a battlefield as Metal Gear Solid (yet ANOTHER Konami series) proved, then maybe it can apply here???

>>3887516
Who's Alfred?

>>3887525
I meant Arthur, damnit
Geez it's like calling Trevor Belmont "Ralph"

>>3887531
Ralphu Berumondo?

I should also mention I am writing the update.

>>3887635
I stand by what I said before. You strip naked, you climb in, you close the lid except only a tiny opening for airflow, and you proceed to make Descartes proud. Bonus if she wakes up and goes along with it.

...man, I'm afraid of this cancerous shit ruining the quest this early on. Can't QM just write faster so there's less breaks for autism?

>>3887655
I'm trying anon.
Keep being forced away from writing and rewriting what I do have.

"It's fine, Shirley. Really. I appreciate the concern, you don't need to give me a reason. That doesn't matter to me." You tell her in a voice slightly softer than your usual. Shirley doesn't get like this often, in fact the only time you remember her showing weakness like this in front of anybody at all was around 7 years ago, just after her mother died.

Her face goes blank in surprise at your declaration. A silent moment passes between to the two of you "...Really?" Shirley's response is faint, but hopeful.

"Of course. I don't want you to force yourself to tell me anything." You try to reassure her, but you aren't really sure if you're succeeding.

"Thank you, Arthur. That means a lot to me." Then, in a burst of speed, she's wrapped her arms around you in a hug tighter than her lithe build would suggest possible. The embrace only lasts for a second or two before she suddenly breaks off from the unexpected hug and turns away from you, her face hidden from view. "I-I'll wait for you downstairs!" She calls out rather awkwardly as she vanishes from sight. What on earth was that all about?

You feel slightly perturbed by Shirley's rather sudden show of weakness, but decide against following her, you still need to get your luggage and you don't want to leave Theresia waiting outside the room for too long, she doesn't have a key to the hotel room after all.

You try to put Shirley's actions out of your mind as you ascend the rest of the staircase, but they do weigh on you, regardless. If she meant what she said, about not her orders being the reason, then why? You said that her reason didn't really matter to you, but it would be a lie to say you weren't at all interested in what motivates her if it isn't her duty.

You bury the thought upon reaching your floor. You can think more about this later, there's no use dwelling on it right now. There's way too going on to worry about things like that and you'll just end up with even more questions.

You push open one of the double doors leading to the floor 6 hallway, turning to see an impatient looking Theresia tapping her foot outside of the locked room, when she notices your arrival though her face lightens up.

"Sorry for the wait, Theresia." You apologize to the girl, but she doesn't seem upset at all anymore, simply waving and smiling at you happily as you approach. It seems she isn't as upset at being made to wait as you expected.

You put the key in the door, swiftly unlocking and opening it. The two of you enter the room, it's exactly as you left it, thankfully. Theresia looks longingly at the television while you grab your luggage bag from the foot of your bed.

The journey down feels far swifter than the journey up to your room, and it's not long until you're back in the lobby with Shirley and a rather out of breath Holly dragging around a fairly overstuffed looking suitcase.

"OK everyone, the trip to the Safe-house I have in mind is kind of a long one, and we'll have to walk it, we can't risk taking a cab." Shirley cheerfully tells the group the bad news, being met with a quiet groan from Holly and no visible reaction from Theresia.

As you step outside, you notice that the weather really has taken a turn for the worse, as the cold autumn air sends a chill through you. A few minutes into your journey, in which Shirley takes the lead and demands the group go through dark back alleys and barely used subways in order to keep out of sight so that they aren't spotted, you see that Theresia is shivering.

Of course she would be, she's only wearing that cheap looking t-shirt and some jeans after all.

>Stop and give her your jacket
>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear
>Ignore her shivering, she'll just have to wait until you reach the safe-house
>Write-in...

>>3887740
>Stop and give her your jacket

I'm calling it now, Holly is totally an agent of that organization that's hunting us. She's way too sketchy not to be.

>>3887740
>>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear

>>3887740
>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear
A spare jacket
>Write-in...
"Lead the way Shirley."

>>3887741
Poor Holly. First her life is flipped upside down and she's nearly murdered but now she's being accused of treachery too!

>>3887762
You have to admit her behavior is super unnatural. If she isn't a spy, she has some other hidden motive for following us.

>>3887763
>some other hidden motive for following us.
She has a hero fetish.

>>3887785
I mean, maybe, but if that's her only reason it'd be pretty bland.

>>3887798
she is either the character who will die horribly or become a hero

>>3887798
That would be rather bland.
I wouldn't write a character that shallow.

>>3887813
But you didn't say she doesn't have a hero fetish.

>>3887740
>Stop and give her your jacket

>>3887823
I didn't say she wasn't a spy either.

>>3887827
Eh everyone is a spy. If you have the right leverage at least. I'm not too concerned about it.

>>3887740
>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear

>>3887740
>Stop and give her your jacket

Just asking real quick...
How far are the vampire/monstergirl supporters willing to go to get a chance at seducing them?
We talking "I reject my humanity" levels here?
Or just "I would buy them a drink" levels?

>>3887901
It's worth going to "I reject my humanity" levels, I'd say.

>>3887902
Only if it's a vampire ojousama or vampire loli, though. No rejecting humanity for dominatrix Carmilla or some random snakegirl.

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>>3887907
Not even for an Alura Une?

>>3887901
Brought this up last night, but my ID's changed so I'll say it again. I want to reject Arthur's humanity, and also want to seduce a vampire. Good thing they're complimentary goals.

>>3887901
The answer to that is..
Be a good casanova. Be that charming person.

>>3887913
Nope. Inferior monsters may be worth chatting up, but only a top-tier vampire girl deserves the full measure of Arthur's devotion.

>>3887901
"I reject my humanity" levels for someone really good and who can go through actual character development, maybe. Like that blue snake girl from MGQ
Regular charming for all others.

Vampires are shit-tier waifus but top-tier husbandos. If you disagree you're at the bottom of the list for taste.

>>3887927
But Alura Unes are all effectively just plant-vampire girls.

>>3887938
See, it's the plant part that downgrades them.

>>3887901
Imma put my two cents in here and say that, if we had strong, actual motivations that clashed with having a vampire gf they wouldn't give her the time of the day.
People tend to overestimate the impact waifutism has on quest because of the more extreme cases (PGQ comes to mind) but in practice, anons are lazy fucks that can't be arsed to put any effort into a relationship unless the QM throws them a bone and if given the choice they do slightly more fun, slightly less shallow stuff like grinding.
First example that comes to my mind is Nukaloha, where the 2 love interest gave for some discussion and then promptly got ignored and died. And there was a certain quest where my pairing won and anons bitched but did fuck all to stop me.
All I'm saying is, this quest is slow as fuck and we need something to do to get some actual discussion going on, please, I beg you.
>>3887936
That's some patrician taste right there.

>>3887901
I'm with >>3887933; I will reject my humanity ONLY for an Alice-tier girl.

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>>3887951
>strong, actual motivations that clashed with having a vampire gf
At this point your motivations could really go either way on that front, honestly.
Though you have taken a step towards one route now.

>>3887936
Get out of here Lisa, you're supposed to be dead.

>>3887987
>Get out of here Lisa, you're supposed to be dead.

>[brooding alucard noises]

>>3887951
So, there are two ways to read what you're saying. If we had strong motivations that clashed with a particular girl, I can see where you're coming from.
If, on the other hand, we had strong motivations that clashed with the very idea of seducing a vampire (which seems to be what you're suggesting) I'd probably drop the quest. HFY Van Helsing type protagonists are something I'm just not interested in reading about.
Of course, dropping the quest can be interpreted as doing fuck all, so I guess you'd get your way in that context.
Of course, I'm just speaking for myself.

>>3887998
To be fair, had I wanted a quest where the players just went around killing everything supernatural in sight...

I probably would've made you a Belmont.
Or a Lecarde
Or a Belnades
Or an actual vampire hunter.
And thrown you straight into Dracula's Castle.

You'd always be playing second fiddle to both Alucard and Julius if you went the full on vampire hunter route anyway, and I don't really think anybody wants that.

>>3888008
Yeah, I didn't think that was what you were going for; just wanted to make my views clear, since anon was theorizing on what the vampire romance supporters would do.

>>3888009
>>3888008
I should clarify,
I'm not saying you have to take the evil route or anything.
I'm just saying the "DIE MONSTER, YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD." thing is kind of overdone in setting with every single protagonist except Soma and maybe Alucard.
Not saying you can't be a good person here.
Just that going full Belmont on everything would be a little odd, given what you are.

>>3888014
But if you guys really do want to kill everything you meet be it hostile or otherwise, then I guess that's up to you.
I don't want to railroad anybody here, but it would just be a very strange path for Arthur to take, to emulate the Belmonts.

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>>3887998
It could be either way really, if by the time we find said character we have no aim.
If we do, then it's a question of whether spending time with said character takes away from the then main selling point of the quest, not necessarily it being opposite to our motivations. And if said character is worth spending time around too, of course.
Anyways, I wouldn't be too worried if I was you, it seems like the Qm is rather interested in this theme.
Me, I'll just be around and see what's sticks and if it is endearing..

>>3888024
So is Julius the last Belmont for you or do you consider Kokoro canon?

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>>3888043
I'm not quite sure what I consider Kokoro, anon.

>>3888008
Hey, isn't Julius amnesiac right now?
That plot point made very little sense, why did no one tell him his name? Fucking thank you, Arikado.
Well, I guess is to be expected, Castlevania was never a story driven series.

>>3888035
Or consider that by spending time around certain characters, Arthur's own perceptions and character can be altered especially through choices? So far Arthur is an odd mix of suicidally reckless (kicking doors down TWICE, choosing Power of Destruction, attempting to knife the blue demon thing), a bit dark (some humor and perspective narration here and there, resenting that his parents kicked him out, initial sourness towards Shirley), and slightly eccentric (literally picking up Theresia off the street, bringing her to a cafe for a date, then taking her and Shirley to a hotel right afterward). I could see him being a different sort of Dark Lord Candidate honestly, when compared to shit like "I want to see my own limits, so fight me" Dmitri, "BURN BURN BURN HAHAHAHAHAHA" Dario, and "fuck you for fucking with my girlfriend, I'll kill you all" Soma.

>>3888089
What about "I am a fucking god you ants" Graham?

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>>3888053
Yeah, Julius is currently probably wandering around, randomly beating things up. Arikado just felt like being a dick again, I guess.

>>3888054
I don't quite know who you're talking about, do you have any more info?
Unless you're talking about Shanoa, but she's neither a nun nor is she a Belmont.

>>3888089
Don't forget "I'm Dracula now because I'm sitting in his chair" Graham.

>>3888095
>Yeah, Julius is currently probably wandering around, randomly beating things up.

>"A skeleton! GRAND CROSS!"
>Breaking news, anorexics being targeted by elderly man with dementia

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>>3888094
I literally forgot about him lmao. What a meme.

>>3888095
>"I'm Dracula now because I'm sitting in his chair" Graham.
Check out pic related. I only feel bad about not screencapping it when Dracula was right there looking at Hector doing this.

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We are tied right now, by the way. I think.

>>3888099
Graham is such a piece of shit.
>"I could send you all home right now."
>"Cool, well, can you do that now then?"
>autistic screeching ensues

>>3888089
But yeah, how Arthur develops is really up to your choices.
Door kicking is fast becoming a new hobby, it seems.

>>3888106
I am perfectly fine with door kicking becoming a set-in-stone character trait for Arthur if this happens more times.

>>3888106
>for some reason Arthur starts to knock on doors with his feet instead of his hands
>he is often heard mumbling about the durability of door handle construction
>frequently watches videos of police entering locked buildings on the internet

>>3888095
>I don't quite know who you're talking about, do you have any more info?
Couldn't find anything about it.

>we're tied
Fug
>>3887740
>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear

>Stop and find something in your luggage for her to wear
Alrighty then.
We have a winner.
Anything in particular you want to give her coat/jacket/whatever or shall I pick?

>>3888170
Give her an oversized sweater with sleeves longer than her arms, that will look cute.

>>3888170
How about a wool cardigan?

>>3888170
>>3888173
This one.

>>3888170
this >>3888173

>>3888170
Something that fits her, if we have it. Intentionally giving her an oversized sweater just seems like a dick move.

>>3888170
Fine, do >>3888211 first.

"Everyone, hold up for just a second" You call out to the group when you pass under another empty underpass, you can't just leave Theresia in the state she's in, the poor girl must be freezing.

"What's the problem, Arthur?" Shirley questions your decision, there's some amount of confusion in her tone.

"It's Theresia, she isn't really dressed for this sort of activity, you know. I'm going to see if I've got anything that might fit her." You start rummaging through your bag while Theresia looks on with an unreadable expression. The majority of your clothes will be too big for Theresia, you realize. In fact, most of your clothing would look ridiculous on her. but then you find something that might work, a large woollen sweater, it's not an ideal situation, you know, but it ought to work for now.

"Theresia, wear this." You pass the oversized sweater to the girl, who holds it for a second before lifting it over her head to begin putting it on.

The sweater is obviously too large for Theresia, the sleeves totally covering her hands. Though when you see her face again, she doesn't seem at all concerned by this, in fact, she's smiling again. Though it isn't long before Shirley's voice snaps you out of it.

"OK, break over, we do really need to get moving now everyone!" Shirley's voice has a hint of worry in it, maybe she really does think that you're being followed.

You quickly pack up your bag and start following after Shirley again, you notice that Theresia is following you closer than she was before, while Holly matches your pace at the back of the group.

After what feels like an hour of ducking through alleyways and underpasses, Shirley stops at a dead end, standing just in front of a manhole cover.

"Please tell me you took a wrong turn, Shirley." Now you are beginning to understand Shirley's own trepidation towards staying at this safe-house.

Shirley shakes her head, before bending down and lifting the manhole cover, revealing a dimly lit ladder. "Don't look so down, it's not like it actually leads to the sewers, now after you." you shrug, climbing into the hole in the ground and start descending the ladder. Theresia rolls up her sleeves and enters after you, with Holly requiring some amount of coercion from Shirley to start climbing.

The ladder is deceptively long, after what feels like two minutes of descending it, you finally reach the bottom, you have no idea just how deep underground you are now, but you certainly weren't expecting such a long climb down. Holly is the only one that seems to share your sentiment though, she's actually out of breath. Theresia and Shirley however don't seem to have been bothered at all by the impromptu exercise.

Though looking around at your surroundings, you just find yourself in a very poorly lit concrete sphere, the floor slightly damp. "Is... Is this it?" It's not really much of a safe-house.

>>3888170
Something warm that fits her. Let her look for something she likes.

"Of course it isn't! I doubt any of you three could sleep on concrete anyway." Was that a boast? While you wonder what she meant, she walks over to one of the wall and cuts her finger with a dagger pulled from seemingly nowhere, one of her sleeves you presume. Planting the cut finger on the center of the wall, she mutters something below her breath.

To your surprise, the wall begins to shift slowly downwards into the floor, revealing a hidden room. The room in question though, is as sparse as Shirley said. It's fairly large, it seems to be a dining room and kitchen with individual bedrooms behind doors, in the far corner, there seems to be a fairly high tech looking set-up, multiple monitors and machines that you couldn't guess as to the function of. This isn't a safe-house at all! This is a bunker!

"Well, here we are, the single most secure location in the city that I know of. This place was designed with basically everything magical in mind. It's cloaked against most of the magic they might try to use to track us down, as well as countermeasures should they manage to find us and try to break in" She says quite proudly "though honestly, it is a bit much isn't it? The ladder climb is always a pain, even when you're used to it. I guess it's useful for us now though." As she finishes her explanation, she wanders off, apparently to check on the bunker's state in her absence as she starts inspecting various gauges on the wall.

You are getting fairly tired though, today has been fairly exhausting. Holly is looking at the monitors in the corner, with a fascinated expression on her face. Theresia meanwhile has managed to locate a television and is now staring at some news broadcast. It's impressive that there's even a signal all the way down here.

>Talk to Shirley (About anything in particular?)
>Talk to Holly (About anything in particular?)
>Interact with Theresia (How?)
>Get an early night's sleep
>Write-In

>>3888346
>Talk to Holly (About anything in particular?)
So yeah, magic is real. Monsters are real. How are you holding up?
>Talk to Shirley (About anything in particular?)
So uh... I broke the magic circle spell thing by reaching out to the crystal. I feel pretty weird now though. Almost stronger, if that makes any sense? I was wondering if there was a training room in here or somewhere I could try to do something?

>>3888346
>Talk to Shirley
I got the power of destruction, do you know anything about how to use it?

>>3888346
Supporting >>3888365
Also waifufagging quests are worst quests.

>>3888346
Supporting >>3888352. I actually feel like we should interact with Theresia more, but I'm at a loss for what we'd say to her, given her problems communicating. Maybe make small talk about the TV, her inexperience with modern gadgets, etc?

>>3888595
There's a certain difficulty in writing a character that can't properly communicate back.
Obviously, the problem goes for you guys interacting with her as well.

>>3888352
Support.
Theresia a best btw.

>>3888713
>Not going for the patrician option of the childhood friend

>>3888717
>going for first girl the liar
Why tho

>>3888719
She only lied to us because she loves us.

>>3888346
>Talk to Shirley (About anything in particular?)
"Holy shit,Shirley! I didn't know the Ninja Turtles are real !"
>Write-In
Inspect the gold coin Theresia gave us. There must be some clues to her origins.
>Get an early night's sleep
Lie on the bed. Start screaming. We had the most exciting day ever. Curl up and cry ourselves to sleep. Start rationalizing all the bullshit we saw. Fail. Impossible non science things!

Should I make a Character Sheet Pastebin, do you think?
Just as a place to jot down your current inventory/abilities/weapons.

>>3888792
If you think it would be useful. At the moment I feel like we don't need one, and that'll stay true if you go for the realist "carry 1-3 things on your person" model. If we're going to be picking up and carrying the kind of inventory load metroidvania protagonists tend to scavenge, though, we'll want a way to keep track.

>>3888346
>>Talk to Holly (About anything in particular?)
"I just found out about the whole magic and monsters thing too. How you holding up?"
>>Talk to Shirley (About anything in particular?)
Ask if there's a place to train.
>>Write-In
Invite Shirley, Theresia and Holly to watch us train.

>>3888803
Going for the sweat-on-muscles appeal, huh?

>>3888731
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, anon.

>>3888352
I think this one wins.

Writing...

>>3888803
>>3888827
I mean, I think anon means more training their new magical ability.
Not actual physical excercise

>>3888889
Why not both

Deciding it would be best to first have a conversation with the newest member of your little group, you take a walk over to the corner towards Holly, who is too busy admiring the assortment of monitors and machinery to notice your approach.

"What's up, Holly?" You casually remark to the girl still intently staring at the assortment of technology, who promptly jumps in shock at your sudden question.

"O-oh, It's Arthur, right?" Holly readjusts her glasses, which were shaken slightly loose by her sudden movement.

"Yeah, I just came to ask you how you're holding up, I mean, magic and monsters both being real is a lot to take in, trust me, I know." Honestly, you do find it a little strange with just how quickly you've come to accept the existence of magic and monsters yourself. Only this morning did you find out they were real and you immediately accepted it as truth.

"I'm doing a little better now, It's just, I can't believe that I was living my life completely unaware of all this stuff going on... it's kind of mind boggling." Holly has her hand to her chin, deep in thought. "So who exactly are you guys anyway? Some sort of monster hunter group?"

You hesitate for a moment before answering her question, thinking of the best way to phrase things. "Actually, I'm sort of like you. I only just recently found out about all this supernatural business myself, I'm not quite sure on the specifics. If you're that interested, you'll have to get Shirley to tell you."

"Shirley? So what, she's the leader of this little group then?" Holly's innocent question shouldn't, but it bothers you quite a bit. It's of no fault of Shirley's, but for some reason, a part of you deep down seems to rage at Holly's implication that you're Shirley's subordinate, especially because it's practically true. You try to stop your thoughts from taking this dark turn by changing the subject.

"So, why did you want to come with us anyway? I mean, you must've realized that it would probably have been safer to stay at the hotel then to come with us, right?" You ask her the first thing that comes to your mind.

"W-well, I um... I k-kind of..." The girl starts sputtering in a panic, trying to find the words, before stopping for a moment to think of her response. "Well, fine, alright. I was scared, yes. But I was mostly... interested?" Her response is unbelievable.

"Interested? You'd put yourself in danger just to satisfy a simple curiosity?" Surely she can't be this short-sighted.

"It's not... It's not just a simple curiosity!" Her shout is unexpected, but she lowers the volume as she continues. "I don't know if you felt the same, but today has shown me the world in a new light. The supernatural, magic, those monsters, It's like I'm seeing the truth for the first time, how could I want to go back to living a normal life after that?" Her outburst has forced you silent for a moment, what a strange girl. To willingly throw herself into mortal danger out of some desire to find out the truth

"I... I see. Well, while I don't entirely see things in the same light as you, I suppose I can see your reasoning" You walk away from the bizarre girl. So she did have some personal reason to follow you after all, albeit not a malicious one, thankfully.

After a moment's consideration, you decide to find Shirley, you haven't had a chance to talk with her about what went on with that crystal yet, and it's been weighing on your mind rather heavily.

You explore the rest of the bunker, looking for Shirley. Other than the barely furnished living room and kitchen area you were in, the other rooms you go through are all completely empty, it's really rather jarring, the size of the place. It's huge! After some exploring, you eventually find Shirley, on the far side of the bunker, still inspecting it.

"Arthur? What are you doing all the way back here?" Her voice a mixture of confusion and concern, though she doesn't turn her back to you.

"Looking for you, actually." Your short response is enough to make her turn around to face you.

"Why? Has something happened?" The worry in her voice becomes more pronounced.

"No no. It's nothing like that. It's just.. back at the hotel, there was what I can only assume to be some kind of magic circle. Holly said that the monster we fought came out of it." Shirley's eyes widen at your mention of this, but she lets you continue. "I... tried to shut it off somehow, but nothing seemed to work. Until I touched this strange jewel fragment floating in the middle of it, for some reason, it exploded... and I was knocked out." her face is now one of regret, but still, you continue your story. "But, there was something strange in the dream. A man, he offered me power."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a normal dream?" You notice the anxiety in her voice increase further.

You shake your head. "No. After I agreed to his offer, I woke up, but I felt... different somehow. Do you have any idea what this might mean?"

Shirley sighs. "It doesn't really sound like any cases I'm aware of... But you may have accidentally agreed to some sort of contract with a demon." You nearly choke at her sudden statement. "But the only way we can know for sure is if I can see you use this so called power, follow me."

After regaining your senses, you begin to follow Shirley. Contracted with a demon? Could you have really done something so foolish?

Before long, you find yourself in a rather poorly equipped gym, for it's size. A few punchbags hang from the ceiling, and there are a few exercise mats scattered about the floor in a haphazard manner.

"Ok, Arthur. I need you to see if you can access this power somehow, if we're going to get to the bottom of this." She states gravely

>Draw upon the power of destruction and punch one of the bags
>Punch one of the bags without trying to draw upon the power of destruction
>Try using the power of destruction in a different way (how?)
>Write-in

>>3889647
>it's really rather jarring, the size of the place. It's huge!
In fact, just walking through it, it feels like you're creating a mental map of endless boxy rooms...

>>3889649
>Try using the power of destruction in a different way (how?)
Try to attack a bag with the Power of Destruction without touching it. See if we can destroy it from a distance.

>>3889649
>>Draw upon the power of destruction and punch one of the bags

>>3889656
Support.

>>3889654
Purely coincidental.

Remember, Castlevania protags don't suffer fall damage. So if we are ever concerned over whether or not we're special just jump out of an eighth story window.

>>3889837
Someone hasn't played the original games.
Fall into a deep pit? Die.
Fall into harmless water? Die.
Fall off the screen into an area you just climbed up from? Die, die, die.

>>3889843
The pit is bottomless you just fall forever. Ya bois the Belmonts forgot to take swimming lessons. Obviously on the previous screen are infinite medusa heads on the entire screen, they just assume you die and be done with it.

Jeez guy come on what is this amateur hour?

Seriously though Belmonts you nearly lost your bloodline because you decided swimming wasn't an essential skill. It is.

>>3889847
they ate devil fruit and they can't swim.
also imagine a belmont swimming in a pond of holy water

>>3889649
>Punch one of the bags without trying to draw upon the power of destruction
>Draw upon the power of destruction and punch one of the bags

>>3889656
Support.
Let's get some ranged attacks going. Melee is boring.

>>3889837
Well I remember Soma falling through like 15 floors in a boss battle. I don't think we should rely on game logic that much though, otherwise we need to stock up on food for instant hp.
Maybe we'll find a relic or something.

Only 5 votes?
Guess that's what I get for updating only once and way later than usual to boot.


I'll call for >>3889656 in about an hour unless we get some more votes in that change things.

>>3889649
>Draw upon the power of destruction and punch one of the bags

>>3890091
Some people run with 3 voters.

>>3889649
Support >>3889656

>>3890103
I know, I'm just wondering if the reduced number of votes from the last few is due to the update time.

>>3889649
Support >>3889656

>>3889724
I would unironically enjoy this quest more if Arthur actually made it a habit to keep mental maps of the places he's been to, and it's basically Igavania maps in his head.

>>3890018
Gergoth battle.
>Relic
What, like Lament of Innocence? Those were pretty nifty.

>>3889656
Is the winner
I'll get to writing

>>3890145
>Igavania maps
I was considering doing something like that, actually.
Making them might delay the updates a little though.

I was considering potentially including relic style items.
There's quite a few interesting magical items you can find in Castlevania.
It's not just in Lament, they are often used as progression items in a lot of Metroidvania style games.
And it's not just because I want to give you the one that tells you an enemies name so I don't have to keep referring to everything as "creature" or "monster".

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>>3890157
Here's what the bunker might look like if it were in an actual game!
Obviously, you haven't explored it all yet.
You're in the large bottom right room right now

>>3890245
>forgot a single door
God damn it.

>>3890245
>>3890247
Are you going to use an igavania map generator or something?
>the map is in shades of red as opposed to blue, because Arthur is a Dark Lord Candidate and not a real Castlevania protag
I love this detail

>>3890260
>igavania map generator
I looked for one.
Ended up making it by hand.

>>3890245
neat. I like it

>>3890245
Kickass, QM. Great detail.

>>3890280
Are you going to take actual ripped igavania map assets from online and use them for the authentic experience too?

>>3890337
Well fuck, I couldn't find any. You might have to actually rip them by hand yourself from high quality screenshots or youtube videos?

>>3890353
I did manage to find a near complete one from Dawn of Sorrow. So I might just be able to, if it's relevant.
Here it is
https://imgur.com/a/Hbk7t

Also managed to find a complete SotN map here
https://revned77.github.io/maps/Castlevania%20-%20Symphony%20of%20the%20Night/Dracula%27s%20Castle.png

>>3890370
That's interesting, and all, but personally I prefer the look you have going now, with it reflecting the in-game maps. It's less work for you to put in as well as (I think) looking better.

>>3890370
see >>3890415, because sometimes simple is best, like here in this situation

When are we going to meet a helpful but greedy librarian?

"Access it? Alright then, I'll see what I can do." You close your eyes, intending to draw upon this power somehow. You immediately notice something is wrong as you do. It's far too dark for you to have merely closed your eyes. Upon opening them, you find yourself in the same dark landscape from your dreams yet again.

Except it's quite different from before now. Instead of just an endless expanse of that strange pitch black substance the floor seems to be made of, there are now dark gray columns rising from the ground, the majority of the columns are cracked or destroyed. In some places, you can even see slabs of black stone overlaying the bizarre liquid that seems to make up this world.

Before you can properly look around though you find what you came here for. A black rift, vaguely spherical in shape, through which nothing is visible. Hovering mere metres away from you, it feels as if it's trying to pull you in, though despite the gravity it feels like it's exerting upon you, you stay rooted to the ground

You take another step towards the rift, then another. The effects of the unnatural gravity seem to increase as you get closer, the strength of the pull by all rights should be enough to break your bones. Yet still, the effect is has on you is minimal. Then a strange, alien notion takes hold of you. This power is yours and you will not be threatened by it!

You stand in front of the malevolent portal now. Without even thinking, you thrust your hand into it, as if some unseen force guided your actions. As your hand enters the rift, there's a brief jolt of pain as something seems to begin to flow into you, nowhere near the same level as before, but enough to make you feel significant discomfort.

This discomfort does allow you to clear your mind of whatever has come over it however, and you snap out of it, pulling your hand away from the malicious rift, the world fades to white.

Slowly, colour returns to the world, you're still in the gym, standing in exactly the same place you where when you entered what you can only call your "inner world" at this point, Shirley still looking at you expectantly. It's almost as if no time has transpired at all since you attempted to draw upon the Power of Destruction and were dragged into that mindscape.

You feel a familiar pain in your right hand, unknowingly clenched into a fist. However when you take a closer look at it, there seems to be no visual cue that there's something amiss at all. Focusing further, you find that you can somehow move the pain, shifting it around your hand. It's like manipulating some strange invisible substance, you mentally command it coil around your arm, then you shape it into a ball in the palm of your hand with another though. Though it still causes you pain wherever it touches, you find yourself able to bear it as you continue to control the substance.

"Well, aren't you going to do something then? You're probably going to need to spend a few hours meditating to find out whatever that power that you were offered is, You know?" Shirley, getting the wrong impression, tries to help with some well-intentioned advice.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Shirley." Before she can ask what you mean, you hold your palm out, willing the ball to fire forward, towards the punch-bags. The ball obeys your command, the moment it does though, you begin to feel yourself growing drowsy. It punches a hole straight through one of the bags, leaving no debris as it passes, then it punches through the one behind that, not stopping until it disappears through a wall, leaving a tunnel as wide as a tennis ball bored into the wall. As you admire your handiwork, you begin feeling lightheaded and sluggish. Shirley quickly moves over to you while you attempt to get steady.

"Arthur, what the hell did you jus- Whoa!" Before she can finish her question, an attempt at moving has led you to start collapsing backwards. Luckily before you can dash your head open on the concrete floor, Shirley catches you, grabbing your hand just before you impact the floor.

"I... I used the Power of... Destruction." You barely manage to breathe out, it feels like your entire body is drained of energy, is this a side effect of using the Power of Destruction?

"Try not to talk, OK?" Once again, her voice is worried. "I'll carry you to a bed." Shirley stops, taking a moment to consider something, before eventually hoisting you onto her back, putting you in an awkward piggyback hold. She doesn't seem at all bothered by your weight, even though you're heavier than she is by a fair amount.

Shirley mercifully doesn't carry you through the living room, your incredible ability to incapacitate yourself is one that you would rather have as few people know about as possible. She instead sets you down in a bedroom just outside of it.

"As much as I want to know what happened in there, you need the rest. All I can say for now is, just, try your hardest not to use that ability again. It's far too dangerous, whatever you did nearly killed you." Shirley slumps down in a chair, still facing you. Now she just watches you, resolutely, a tinge of regret shows on her face.

Unable to respond to her, or even move, you feel yourself begin to drift off, your eyelids growing heavier and heavier until eventually, you succumb to exhaustion.

You are back in the darkness. Looking around, you can see a throne with 5 statues surrounding it, each with a different pose. One wears a face of crazed madness, laughing manically. Another of uncontrolled rage, posture showing a readiness to leap into a fight . The third wears an expression of smug glee, arms held wide. The fourth is crouched down, hands covering their face. Perhaps the most interesting though, is the fifth, it's expression neutral, a dagger held behind their back however, indicates something far more malevolent. You reach out to touch the throne, but just as you are about to make contact with it, you are pulled backwards into the darkness by claws that dig deeply into your skin.

October 9th 2019 - Wednesday, 7:00 AM

You wake with a start. You seem to be able to move now, though your body still feels rather sluggish. You force yourself out of bed, looking around the dimly lit room, it seems that Shirley left the room some time after you fell asleep.

>Explore the Bunker, see if you can find anything interesting lying around.
>Check the living room, see if there's anybody else awake.
>Write-in.
AND
>Decide on a new outfit

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>>3891829
>Check the living room, see if there's anybody else awake.
Outfit on the right.

>>3891829
>One wears a face of crazed madness, laughing manically.
Dario Bossi
>Another of uncontrolled rage, posture showing a readiness to leap into a fight.
Unknown
>The third wears an expression of smug glee, arms held wide.
Dmitri Blinov
>The fourth is crouched down, hands covering their face.
Soma Cruz
>The fifth, it's expression neutral. A dagger held behind their back however, indicates something far more malevolent.
Unknown

One of the two unknowns is Arthur Bernhard, if not any of the five assuming Dario Dmitri and Soma are excluded from all this entirely. Which one will it be, I wonder?

>Check the living room, see if there's anybody else awake.
go with >>3891852 I guess
brown coat, blue dress shirt, blue pants

>>3891861
Wait no, Dario would be the second because he's always in that weird gorilla hunchback pose thing except when doing his fire moves. I guess Soma could also be the first one too, maybe, because of his evil sprites. I just assumed Soma would be the one crouching and covering their face because I thought he did that at one point.

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>>3891829
>Explore the Bunker, see if you can find anything interesting lying around.
>Decide on a new outfit
Wear the jacket on our hips and put on a vest over our shirt, maybe we can pull of the Nathan look.
Speaking of Nathan, the Hunter Whip must be around somewhere, right? Having a near perfect replica of the Vampire Killer would do wonders against some of our enemies.
>>3891864
I think the first one is Graham and Soma is the one with the dagger.

>>3891829
>Explore the Bunker, see if you can find anything interesting lying around.
>New Outfit
I'm going to keep voting for the same "black wool coat, white shirt, and slacks" combo I suggested earlier until we get access to something that properly evokes Soma, Alucard, and Dracula (i.e. long, goth, and expensive).

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>>3891890
Oh yeah, Soma has that in artwork doesn't he? And I forgot about Graham AGAIN. That means Arthur is
>The fourth is crouched down, hands covering their face.
Which I guess could also be interpreted as a symbol of anonymity and obscurity, since he's technically controlled by anons from a meta-perspective.

So, this quest takes place in the present day, and Aria of Sorrow takes place in 2035, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be sort of weird for the dark lord candidates from 2035 to be showing up in our dreams, 16 years earlier? And demonstrating their future personalities?
I feel like these are statues of original characters, personally.

>>3891913
I mean, I'm pretty sure Fate is a thing in this universe. The whole reason Graham went to the eclipse is because of a prophecy that said the new dark lord would reclaim the castle or something, us dreaming about the candidates isn't too farfetched.

>>3891897
Dude stop forgetting about Graham. He's got a baller suit. White of course in opposition to Arikado's black suit. Because the Dracula / Alucard dichotomy isn't apparent enough.

Well we're tied right now. And currently, your outfit is going to be spicy keys.

As for the statues, they all appeared to be around the same age.
You're also pretty certain none of them looked like you.

I might have to roll a dice if we don't get a tiebreaker in the next hour and a half or so.

>>3891913
I should mention that all of the Dark Lord Candidates were born at the exact same moment.

Soma is a special case among candidates in that he wasn't.

>>3891829

>explore the bunker

>voting a regular suit for outfit. dark grey will do.

>>3891829
I'll change my vote to supporting a dark grey suit for our outfit.

Right well
Exploring the bunker it is.

I'm gonna go with the Dark Grey Suit for outfit because it's a little more in character than jeans, a light blue shirt and a poor quality beige coat

Do you want to wear a tie?

>>3892645
Yes. Dark blue would probably work best for our character, with his eye color. It's a good combo with a grey suit anyway.

>>3892645
agree with >>3892669

>>3892645
>>3892669
>>3892672
>Castlevania /fa/ quest

Stretching your tired limbs, you spot your luggage bag by the entrance to the room. Seems that somebody decided to bring it to your room while you slept.

Convenient, because yesterday's outfit is really in no position to be worn ever again, taking a look at it in a mirror. The jacket is torn in various places from where you were thrown around yesterday, the same is true of the pants, a rip beginning to form on one of it's seams.

You look through the bag for a moment to find a new outfit. Eventually, you decide on an expensive gray suit with a white dress shirt, this suit did cost a fair amount to purchase, and you're fairly certain your family would've denied the request normally, but it was at your aunt's behest, so they eventually complied. Quickly changing out of your ruined clothing and into the suit, you grab a blue tie from the luggage bag to complete the outfit.

Finished changing, you step out into the hallway. The lights just outside your room are quite blinding, coming from your dim room, forcing you to flinch away from the light before you adjust. Aside from the faint hum of the fluorescent tubes in the brightly lit hall outside your room, you briefly consider checking to see if anybody else is up yet, though it is fairly early so you decide to spare yourself the effort of checking.

Instead, you decide to explore what you can only assume will be your new home for the next few days, if not weeks.

You head over to the ladder you climbed down to reach the gym with Shirley yesterday, but you decide to keep climbing till you reach the bottom of the ladder. Going down four more floors before reaching the bottom, this place is unbelievably huge, you ponder just how much it would've cost to create such an underground fortress. Shirley's organization must be powerful indeed to be able to afford to create a bunker such as this one and then seemingly leave it in disuse.

Continuing your exploration, you find yourself in a colossal room, metal and wooden crates are stacked all the way to the ceiling, at least 15 foot high. On closer inspection of the crates, it seems that parts of them are glowing ever so slightly, namely the strange lettering that is inscribed on each one seems to hum with a blue light. You decide against breaking into the crates for now, the idea of doing so makes you feel strangely guilty, and who's to say that the clearly magical lettering isn't some anti-theft countermeasure?

File: BunkerExplore.png (2 KB, 758x373)

2 KB PNG

You keep looking around the huge room for a while, checking to see if there's anything other than the copious amounts of crates. As you look around the rest of the room, you find a desk at the far side of the room, hidden away from your view as you walked in by a stack of boxes. There's a fallen chair in front of the desk. On top of the desk, there's a letter and an envelope. Your curiosity gets the better of you as you pick the letter up from the table, It's addressed to Shirley, though your attempts at reading through it any further are foiled immediately. Not through some magical privacy countermeasure though, instead, the content of the letter just isn't written in English. It's some Eastern script, Chinese or Japanese, you imagine. You haven't really got any experience with either country to actually tell though. After some thought, you place the letter back where you found it

Eventually, you're satisfied with your exploration of the huge room, and head back to the room with the ladder. Checking the side rooms, you only find more storage, with the same assortment of crates packed tightly into the far smaller rooms, each only the size of your bedroom.

That leaves only a single door left to go through. Though as you open it and the door from the small connecting room you find yourself in yet another connecting room. However, the door in front of you now isn't a simple metal one like the rest of the Bunker's doors. Instead, it seems to be some highly fortified vault door. you can see all sorts of warning signs plastered over it. 'Top-Level Personnel only!' 'Warning! Danger of Death!' in particular are repeated far more often than makes you feel comfortable. Though you find yourself dangerously interested in what could be behind this door.

>Try to open the door
>Try to open the door, even if you have to rely on the Power of Destruction
>Back away from the door and heed the warnings
>Write-In

>>3893661
>Try to open the door
This is where we find out how powerful we really are. Let's save the Destruction for the boss monster inside, though.

>>3893661
>Try to open the door

>>3893661
>Back away from the door and heed the warnings

>>3893661
>Try to open the door.
>Examine the locking mechanism, any hinges or ways the door would open.
Could there be a way to open it from the control room section from before?

>>3893661
>>Try to open the door

>>3893661
>Back away from the door and heed the warnings
Let's not be an idiot.

>>3893692
>>3893695
>>3893718
>>3893901
No door left unkicked.

>>3894066
Oh and
Writing...

Despite the apparent danger, you cannot resist the temptation to find what lies beyond the heavily fortified door. You try first to turn the metal door handle, but you have no luck. It refuses to even slightly budge, no matter how much strength you put into it. Though you feel like you could probably put more strength into it, there's really no cause to, even if you did have the physical capability to force open the door, all it would likely end up doing is breaking the handle off before actually breaking the locking mechanism. You give the hulking behemoth of a door a swift kick, but there's obviously no effect, all you end up doing is slightly hurting your foot from the impact.

If you're going to get through this door, you're going to have to go about things in a different way. You stop for a minute and think. Surely, this door must have some sort of opening mechanism? You start investigating the door. There are no visible hinges, meaning it must open inwardly. But there's no locking system visible. No keyhold, no combination lock or even a keypad. Just a slab of metal, painted in metallic red with the aforementioned warnings.

There must be some way for this door to open. Perhaps the mechanism is hidden somehow? You take a closer look around the room, looking for any sort of discrepancy. At first, there's nothing obvious, but as you inspect every corner of the small room, you notice something slightly off with one of the walls, it's faint and hardly visible, but there's a small rectangular patch of the wall that is a slightly different shade of gray than the rest of the concrete walls.

You scrutinize the strange off-colour patch further, reaching out to touch it. Though as you make contact with the wall, your fingers pass straight through it, instead making contact with cold metal instead. Is this another illusion then? The false image of the wall flickers away, leaving you staring at a small alcove, within it, a metal shutter.

It seems that whoever designed this door is obviously either insane or way too fond of puzzles, potentially both. You can't be bothered to find how the metal shutter is supposed to open, instead you simply try once again to force matters with brute strength, it only looks flimsy, you wouldn't be surprised if a punch or two can bend the metal out of shape enough for you to be able to lever it open from a gap in the bottom.

However, what does surprise you is your punch busting straight through the metal, the impact of your punch immediately making the shutter give way to your fist. What the hell sort of low quality metal did they even use for this shutter?

Taking a hold on the shutter through the newly created hole, it only takes a single yank to tear it away entirely, you toss it away and hear the mangled metal clatter on the floor behind you.

Now you can see what the shutter hid, and it is quite the rewarding sight indeed. A single red button, with 'EMERGENCY DOOR OVERRIDE' emblazoned on a sign above it. Just as you reach out to press the override, you hear a familiar "Ahem." from behind you.

Turning around, you see Shirley staring directly at you! "Just what is it that you think you're up to? Arthur?" She taps at one of the many warning signs "I know you can read." Her tone is sharp and she seems pretty angry, you're going to need to think of a way to explain this to her, and fast!

>"I was curious as to what could be so 'dangerous' in a place that is supposed to be the 'single most secure in the city' though I may have been going a bit too far in my curiosity."
>"For some reason, I was unnaturally interested in opening it, it almost feels as if I was meant to open this door. Sorry, I don't know what quite came over me."
>"Honestly, I was just seeing if I could open it, I wasn't actually going to go ahead with it." (lie)
>Write-In

>>3894164
>Write-In
"I don't read! YOLO!"
Smash that red button!

>>3894164
>"For some reason, I was unnaturally interested in opening it, it almost feels as if I was meant to open this door. Sorry, I don't know what quite came over me."
It's called Anonitis.

>>3894164
>Write-In
>"I was curious as to what could be so 'dangerous' in a place that is supposed to be the 'single most secure in the city'

>>3894164
>"I had to, or the voices wouldn't stop!"

>>3894164
>"For some reason, I was unnaturally interested in opening it, it almost feels as if I was meant to open this door. Sorry, I don't know what quite came over me."
>"Also, the shutter felt surprisingly flimsy. As if it was meant there for me to smash through. Not to mention the illusion being a different color than the wall. Almost as if it was intended to be found. How do you explain this clearly intentional design, Shirley?!"
CASTLEVANIA PROTAG AUTISM GO

It would be hilarious if Arthur was born with this eccentricity. Maybe he crawled all over his aunt's mansion as a kid and got to like 90% map completion for it? Wait, could Soma been this way too?

>>3894164
>"I was curious as to what could be so 'dangerous' in a place that is supposed to be the 'single most secure in the city' though I may have been going a bit too far in my curiosity."

>>3894245
support.

>>3894164
>"I was curious as to what could be so 'dangerous' in a place that is supposed to be the 'single most secure in the city' though I may have been going a bit too far in my curiosity."

>>3894246
>Arthur's trying to get behind the paintings looking for secret passages again!
A maid's life is hell.

>>3894341
You don't want to know how many candlesticks he's broken over the years

>>3894362
He'd been keeping the local candlemakers in business, clearly.

>>3894164
Switching >>3894201 to >>3894245 since they're similar.

Made a character sheet to help keep track of things.
https://pastebin.com/zZKZAjgU

>>3894531
Nice. The item descriptions really have the feeling of the ones from the games.

>>3894245
So
"Sorry, but no seriously, why is your secret door override so poorly hidden"?

Technically wins.
I think?
Because somebody had an altered vote.
Good grief, poor Shirley...

Writing...

>>3895135
Here's my tally.

Unique votes:
>>3894243
>>3894196

Unnaturally interested:
>>3894245
>>3894399

Curious what could be so dangerous
>>3894217
>>3894260
>>3894320

It seems to me like the curious option wins.

>>3895144
You missed
>>3894316
Supporting unnaturally interested

And >>3894217
Slightly altered his vote to remove "going too far"

It's a 3-3 tie sort of.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3895159
Ok fine.
I'll flip a coin
Curious is 1
Unnaturally is 2
Just to let me start writing.

>>3895312
>autism denied
A shame, really.

>>3895320
I mean, she does think there might be some kinda possession stuff going on, so do you really think that saying you felt unnaturally interested in the very dangerous door before questioning it's defences would've been a good idea?

>>3895312
>autism denied
Welp, I guess he doesn't quite have the same sort of Igavania autism Belmonts and CHARLOTTE/JONATHAN and Shanoa and Soma would have. Soma has it because he's a Castlevania game protag, despite being the reincarnation of Mathias Cronqvist a.k.a. human Dracula. I guess here since Arthur is neither a Belmont or a game protag, his Igavania autism shit is extremely subdued instead. That's fine too, I think I'd prefer that for this quest.

>>3895334
>there might be some kinda possession stuff going on
Yeah - by Anonymous from another reality.

You match Shirley's angry gaze, defiance in your eyes. "Oh? I was just curious as to what could be so 'dangerous' in a place that is you described as the 'single most secure in the city'" You break away from her glare awkwardly "But... I might have gone a little too far in my curiosity."

Shirley covers her face with her hand and sighs. "Am I seriously going to have to keep reminding you not to put yourself in danger?" she seems to ask herself. "Look, I know you think you can handle yourself, but you've been incredibly lucky so far, you know? Anyone else that found themselves in even one of the situations you put yourself in yesterday probably would've ended up dead. It's honestly a miracle that you're still alive." She sounds genuinely upset.

"I-I uh." You don't really know how to respond to that.

"Look, let's just... forget it for now." resignation in her voice. "I shouldn't really be congratulating you at all, but I'm pretty impressed that you managed to find out how to open this ridiculous door. How did you do it?" Her somber tone is gone, and now she takes on a rather interrogative personality towards you.

"W-well I first, uh..." Totally taken off guard by her sudden change, you stumble over your words before regaining your composure. "Well, first off, I tried looking at the door itself for any sort of way to open it, but saw nothing. It was at that moment that I decided to look around the rest of the room too."

"And that's how you found this, right?" She says, taking a closer look at the mangled metal shutter on the floor as she does. "You really did a number on this thing, huh? So what, was the way to open this door behind it then?"

Her sudden revelation baffles you. "You mean... you didn't know?"

"Nope!" her response is strangely cheerful. "I don't exactly count as 'Top-Level Personnel' you know, even if looking after this bunker is one of my responsibilities. I've never figured out how to open that door. You know, I have always been a little curious myself about what lies within, the warning signs always warded me off from looking too seriously. Though just because I know how it's opened, doesn't mean I'll do so. There could be anything in there, the potential danger is far too great and the consequences could be deadly. If even the brass didn't tell me, it's obviously safer we leave it be, whatever it is."

"So, you truly don't know what's behind it either? Now there's a surprise!" How intriguing, so even the guard is unaware of what it is they are guarding? Whatever lays beyond that door is a total secret, and you would be lying if you said it didn't make you want to uncover just what it might be even more. With Shirley right here though, it's obviously impossible. You also can't get it out of your head that maybe she is right, what if opening that door leads to everyone in the bunker's death somehow? It's not really a thought you can abide. So for now, you put the idea of opening the door out of your mind

"I think we've talked enough about this door anyway. We need to discuss what we're going to be doing today. That weapon I ordered for you should have arrived today, and we... we did get the location of those alchemists."

Shirley's right, you need to decide on what you're going to do now.

>Go have breakfast, help Shirley cook while you wait for the others to get up.
>Wake the others up early.
>Skip breakfast, go straight to the alchemist's hideout.
>Skip breakfast, go with Shirley to get that weapon she mentioned.
>Write-In

>>3895520
>>Skip breakfast, go with Shirley to get that weapon she mentioned.
Muh 'quipment.

>>3895520
>Go have breakfast, help Shirley cook while you wait for the others to get up.

>>3895520
>Skip breakfast, go with Shirley to get that weapon she mentioned.

>>3895520
>Go have breakfast, help Shirley cook while you wait for the others to get up.

>>3895520
>Wake the others up early.

>>3895520
>Go have breakfast, help Shirley cook while you wait for the others to get up.

>>3895520
>Go have breakfast, help Shirley cook while you wait for the others to get up.
Do not split up the party.

>>3895339
>Belmonts
>Igavania autism
I mean, outside of like Juste, most Belmonts just walk forwards until they kill Dracula. Simon doesn't really count because while Simon's Quest is just him wandering around aimlessly being given wrong directions while trying to resurrect Dracula to kill again, in Castlevania he just takes the most direct route.
But yes 100% map completion isn't really a good motivation for a character.

>>3895520
>Write-In
"Also I found a letter on a desk addressed to you."
Lead her towards abandoned desk with moon-runes letter.
>Write-In
Help her cook breakfast. Nothing bad can go wrong with doing normal household stuff,right?
(Flashback to Valen lord quest. 2 fire elementals for a sandwich.)

>>3895543
>>3895593
>>3895744
>>3895814
Hope you like canned food, MREs or powdered food.
You are kind of in a bunker, after all.

Writing...

Though if you do have any input on what you can prepare for breakfast, please suggest it.

>>3896662
Spam,powdered eggs,hardtacks,koolaid powder juice,beans and hostess twinkie cream cakes made in 1960's to 1980's
Also grab some ancient discontinued candy .

File: Rotten_Meat_AoS_Icon.png (4 KB, 50x50)

4 KB PNG

>>3896662
Only the most succulent protein. What, you don't have Flesh Golem soul yet?

>>3896662
Candied Eggs, Candied Yams, Candied Cod, Candied Beats, Candied Bread, Candied Coffee, Candied Beef.

>>3897157
Are you sure you don't mean "canned"?

>>3897167
No, I do not.

"Fine then, let's go make breakfast the, shall we? Oh and by the way, is anyone else awake yet?" You ask Shirley, realizing that with her usual schedule, she probably woke up way before you did even today.

"Well..." Shirley pauses "I don't think anybody else was up when I heard you start walking off down the corridor, so I can't really say. But breakfast? Well, if you're certain, but I'm not sure just how well that's going to go for us." You briefly wonder the meaning behind Shirley's words, before she starts walking back towards the ladder heading up. Naturally, you follow.

The climb back up to the top level of the bunker is a fairly long one, your thoughts for a moment flicker back to the imposing sealed door, you were only moments away from opening it. But what could be considered so dangerous that it would need to be sealed like that? If Shirley has never seen it open, then whatever it is, it seems likely to be some form of weapon, it's highly doubtful that it's something alive.

When you reach the top floor once more, you make your way back to the kitchen. You ponder on what you could make that will satisfy everyone, perhaps an omelet? Shirley seemed to enjoy hers well enough yesterday, and you aren't quite sure what sort of ingredients you'll have to work with. You open up the fridge... and find it completely empty.

"Yeah, I don't come here all too often so I don't really use the fridge much... or at all." Shirley is quite apologetic about the lack of anything in the fridge. "One of these days I'm going to finally get them to install an elevator instead of that stupid manhole and ladder." Her muttering is just audible enough for you to catch.

"So, do we have any ingredients here, Shirley?"

"Well, of course, but..." she opens one of the kitchen cupboards, revealing dozens of simply labelled tins and various silver colored packets of various shapes and sizes. "This is a bunker, remember?"

This does make cooking anything far more of an issue, as you search through the myriad of freeze-dried, powdered and tinned ingredients.

Looking through the shelves, you find all sorts of bizzare packages and jars, though there aren't any that are of significant interest to you right now.

Eventually, with Shirley's aid, you manage to collect everything you'll need in order to create omelets, and the two of you set about cooking the meal, the preperation for the ingredients to be ready to cook with takes far more time than merely cooking the dish, however.

As you work on the meal, you notice Theresia quietly enter the room, still wearing your oversized woolen sweater from yesterday, you'll have to remember to make sure she gets some new clothes at some point today, she can't just keep wearing that outfit.

Theresia rubs her tired eyes with the sleeves of the sweater, her hands hidden from view by the garment. before taking a seat at the dining table.