"You'll answer my questions before anything else, Doppelgänger." This creature has been quite a bother to you. No doubt she was the one behind releasing those slug creatures, and that trap against those gigantic wolf creatures could easily have proven fatal had you not thought to use the Power of Destruction to make your escape.

Casting your mind back to those giant animals, you now realize that they've likely gone on a rampage on the floors above by now. Something else to deal with later on, you suppose. But for now, you have a more pressing matter to deal with in the form of this shapeshifter currently taking the form of a girl quivering in fear as Sophia looks at her, disinterest evident in her red eyes.

"Q-questions? O-of course! I just... I don't want to die!" For something that was so confident mere minutes ago, this Doppelgänger sure has changed it's tune quickly the moment it realized that things were no longer going to go it's way.

"Then you'll tell me the truth and won't give Sophia or myself any additional reason to execute you by attempting to obfuscate it with lies." You can hear the small girl audibly gulp at the mention of killing her. Of course, it would leave a bad taste in your mouth to kill it while it took the form of a child, but it's likely just a trick to cause that exact reaction from you. "What happened to Grigori. You took his form, but how long ago did that start? Is the real Grigori dead? How exactly are you able to use his magic, anyway?" You'll get to the bottom of this deception, and finding out if Grigori even existed in the first place seems like an important first step.

"Grigori? He... he should still be alive. I didn't kill him at least. We Doppelgängers are only able to mimic a basic appearance if we only go off of sight, so I needed to use some of his blood from the battle he had with that plant woman in order to get a more perfect copy of him down. That's all, he's not dead!" She's quick to deny killing off Grigori. Well, now you kind of feel bad for making all those assumptions about his character when you had thought he was behind this betrayal. "But... I found that I could manipulate his ice magic when I ingested a sample of his blood and assumed a perfect copy of his body. It must be something to do with people who have magic naturally..."

"So then, you were to one who launched that ice spear at me then? Was that an attempt to kill me?" It makes sense, you suppose. If she was inexperienced with Grigori's magic and still attempted to use it against you, then her missing a vital point and killing you might have been more accidental than anything else.

She's silent for a moment and refuses to look you in the eye. It takes a while before she finally gives her answer. "...Yes. It was. I'm sorry for trying to kill you." An admission of intent then? So she was trying to kill you? If she's trying to convince you to spare her, she's not exactly doing a good job.

"Why were you trying to kill me in the first place?" She can't have been targeting you alone for no reason, surely? It seems that you've been something of a focused target of hers, considering both of the times she's attempted to kill anybody, it has been you.

"It's because... I... I hate humans." The girl opposite you bunches her hands into fists as her previously panicked face turns into a scowl. "Throughout all my life, you humans have done nothing but cause me misfortune, even my own father, he started my misery." Come again? Noticing the confusion on your face, the girl stops and offers an explanation "Doppelgängers can reproduce with practically any other lifeform in order to create another Doppelgänger, though unlike with pure Doppelgängers, the offspring will have two separate forms that it considers it's true self. One belonging to their non-Doppelgänger parent, and the other is inherited from the shape-shifter of the pair. I doubt you want to see that form."

"Oh, I think I understand now. Please, do go on." You allow yourself a quick glance at Sophia, who's actually looking somewhat interested in where the Doppelgänger's story is going now.

"Well, on the day of my birth, my mother decided instead of just taking me and fleeing, she would confess the truth of her identity to my father and reaffirm him of her love. She didn't want to keep having to live a lie, I think. Our species was on the edge already, only a few years after humanity triumphed over darkness." She chokes up a little as she keeps talking. "My father was... less than pleased. He got into an argument with my mother and soon stormed out of the house in a rage after she revealed the true nature of her existence to him. Then, it was quiet for about an hour, while my mother just held me. She was crying, I remember. That's when smoke began to fill the room, in mere moments, the entire house was a blazing inferno. My mother tried to escape with me, before she had her lower half crushed by a falling wooden beam. She barely had enough strength to throw me through an open window into the hedge outside the house. Leaving a newborn alone to fend for itself."

You hold out a hand to pause her "Wait a second. You're saying that this occurred on the day of your birth? How exactly do you remember all of this, exactly?" It's an interesting story, sure. But you doubt there is anybody that can recall the day of their own birth in such vivid detail.

She looks a little irritated by your interruption "Doppelgängers have perfect memories from the day we are born. We never forget a face, so why should we forget our lives?" It does make some sort of sense you suppose. If her race have the capacity to memorize a potentially limitless number of bodies and faces to replicate in near perfect detail, it's not so unbelievable that they would also have the capability to remember their lives in great detail too. "But anyway, ten years I spent in the forests of Europe, roaming from place to place and consuming the flesh of all sorts of animals, learning to take their forms. It was at this point I discovered an... ability of my people that I don't think is well known." She seems hesitant to tell you, but your probing gaze makes her eventually decide to spill her secret. "W-we have the ability to not only copy physical forms, but also to copy memories. I learned this after I consumed the brain of a sparrow. I was suddenly infused with it's memories of years of flying around the forest. The sensory overload of just a bird's memories was enough to knock me unconscious for several hours though."

"That's... incredible." You can't help but blurt out your amazement. That ability of hers is even more terrifying than her ability to transform into others. Should she have the inclination to, she could very easily replace anybody she wished perfectly and act as if they were the exact same person she had disposed of.

"I-I don't want to hear the praise of a human!" She looks a little shocked that your reaction to her revelation wasn't disgust and revulsion, but more interest and fascination. "But, to cut a long story short, eventually I was tracked down by that monster dealer you're friend dealt with. He captured me and intended to sell me and a whole other bunch of monsters to some guy in Russia, 'Blinov' or something. After I made my escape, I saw you. I still don't know how a human like yourself had managed to get the allegiance of so many monsters though. What is it? Some sort of binding magic? Are you going to enslave me to your will now that you've captured me?"

So, she attacked you out of some hatred for humanity and distrust for you based on your inhuman allies following a human? "Well, I suppose that answers why you wanted me dead, but rest assured. I'm using no magic to compel my allies to obey me, each of my inhuman allies follow me of their own accord."

"But... why?" The look on the girl's face is completely dumbfounded.

"Allow me to answer that question, but first. Do you have a name, Doppelgänger?" Sophia cuts in, intending to answer for herself.

"I... I suppose you can call me... Effigy. Or... Effi, if that's easier." The girl quickly gives you a name for herself, though if that's her true name, a fake name, or if she was just previously unnamed before this point, you can't tell.

"Well then, Effi. The reason I'm so willing to be Arthur's ally is for his potential role in the future. You are aware of what happened in 1999, yes? The Dark Lord himself was destroyed once and for all." Effi tries to look unsurprised at this reveal, though she doesn't exactly do the best job at it. You're already getting to know her tells. For all her shape-shifting ability is powerful and faultless in appearance, it doesn't really help the girl too much if her entire interaction with humanity has been so limited. "Arthur here is one of Dracula's potential successors. A being who could turn the tide on the ever growing swarm of humanity as easily as brushing aside an insect. He is by no means a normal human."

"I... Really? I'm... Sorry?" The girl's yellow eyes seem to plead with you as she stares upwards, she looks like she's about to cry.

>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
>"I'll accept this apology of yours, but I never want to see you again, in any form."
>"I can't accept your apology, Effi. I'm afraid that this is as far as you go."
>Write-in...

>>4166003
>>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
Ah, she's half human, that makes it half bad to kill her.
Also, oh boy, Alucard and Kokoro in the OP...

>>4166003
>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."

I have to ask QM, were you expecting to reveal the Doppelganger's backstory at all? Or were we going to blindly kill it?

Also
>that OP
pls no.....

>>4166003
>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
Could be useful.

>>4166033
I figured you would at least hear it out if you got to the point of actually having a conversation with it. Though there weren't actually many paths where you ended up with her cornered and willing to talk like this.
These circumstances were brought about entirely by your write-in earlier.

>>4166040
Just according to keikaku

>>4166040
Yet another sinister QM plot derailed by Arthur being galaxy-brained.
What will he pull of next?
I wonder how many of our teammates will get killed by broody and clumsy.

>>4166003
>Apology accepted, now please die.
Hate.

>>4166003
>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
We really do need to build up as much of an organization as we can if we're to achieve our ends, and that means recruiting everyone possible.

>>4166003
>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
This Doppelgänger is so lucky Arthur is weak to tragic backstories, but since Sophia knows about her then there shouldn't be too much of a worry.
Now the question is how we're going to fix the mess they've made and how we should explain that the whole manhunt happened because of a Doppelgänger.

>>4166003
>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."
Doppelganger get!
Our faction is getting to be incredibly powerful now.
Though I just realised we're going to need a name for our group.
And a base of operations.
Wonder when we'll see Theresia again...

>>4166003
>>"Apology accepted, but only if you work for me from now on."

So what ranks should our allies hold when we actually make our organization more official?

>>4167217
Why would we develop a ranking system?

>>4167222
Because having an actual hierarchy would really help out.
Help keep things running smoothly.

>>4167237
imo ranking systems just add bloat for no reason.
not like we aren't doing just fine without em.
when we get to the point we're commanding armies though, then our friends would probably end up as generals or something like that.
til then I just don't see a point.

>>4167242
I feel like having a proper hierarchy would just be cool.

>>4167258
well I don't.

>>4167269
But we could get everyone cool uniforms!

>>4167281
You don't need an intricate hierarchy to dress fancy, just a good tailor.

>>4167237
>>4167242
There are two situations where I can see a hierarchical system as helping things work better. First, when our (presumably equal) allies have disagreements and other problems working with one another, a clear hierarchy and delineated roles would help resolve this without unnecessary conflict or the need for us to personally step in. This does require everyone to be on board with the notion, though, which I can see being difficult to get working.
Second, ranks and job titles become useful when there are enough people in our organization that we don't know them all personally. At that point, we need a way to get things done by indirect delegation, and while you can rely on an expanding circle of personal relationships in radiating connection, that's pretty inefficient. We'll definitely want to set up a proper organizational hierarchy when we get to that point, but since we're neither there nor close to that point, I think speculating about names for ranks at this point is jumping the gun a little.

You look into the wide inhuman eyes of the small girl standing quite a distance away as you approach her, the yellow of her eyes seems to faintly glow in the fairly dull light of the hallway. You pass by Sophia, who is seemingly satisfied by Effi's tale, the malicious gaze of earlier replaced by a look of contemplation as she regards the fate of the Doppelgänger.

However, you'll be the one deciding what ought to happen to her, not Sophia. You are apparently going to be the Dark Lord in the future, so such decisions will be something you alone get to make. You never really worked out the specifics of your partnership with the vampire.

You stop roughly three foot in front of the small doppelgänger, who is forced to crane her head up to look at you as she trembles. "Apology accepted, on one condition." You give the girl a moment to take the news in as you take a pause. "You'll work for me from now on, as my direct subordinate. If I'm to become the Dark Lord as my allies wish of me, I will need a force strong enough to face the ones who would stand in my way." You make your demand that the girl join you and aid you in your future endeavours, it really does seem that the revelation of your ability to potentially become the Lord of Darkness is truly helpful when it comes to recruiting allies to your cause.

Effi sighs at your proposal "I suppose being a slave is better than being treated like some exotic pet, a resource to be used and disposed of... or a monster to be slain on sight." Seems she's misunderstood your demand she join you as a demand that she become a slave and throw away her freedom. While it's true you're not exactly giving her a choice in joining you, you have no intention to treat her so poorly once she joins you.

You pinch the bridge of the nose in impatience. This doppelgänger really doesn't think much of you. "Effi. You misunderstand. By joining me, you won't be forced into slavery or anything so unsavoury as that. I merely wish for you to aid me in the same way the others who call themselves my ally do." Besides, you would have to be a true fool if you enslaved somebody like Effi, considering the scope of her abilities, escape wouldn't exactly be a difficult matter for her, should she wish it.

"So... you're not going to kill me as revenge for my attacking you, and you're not going to force me into slavery either?" Effi doesn't seem to understand the minor mercy she's being shown at all. "But why? Aren't you angry? Don't you hate me for doing what I did?"

"Hate you? Not particularly. You didn't do any lasting damage to me, and by your own admission, Grigori was also unharmed. So in total, all you've really done is been an inconvenience." It's true that Effi hasn't really been much of a threat, had things gone differently, she could've caused terrible damage, you're sure. However, there is one thing... "The same can't be said of the results of your actions towards the more mundane passengers of the ship however. Those slugs that were released and those giant wolf creatures that I'm certain are now roaming free two floors above us together have killed incredible numbers of passengers, I'm sure. But if I held those deaths against you, I would be something of a hypocrite, considering the past actions of some of the other members of my group." It's true, though Effi is possibly indirectly responsible for the most deaths of any of your allies. Well, disregarding maybe Sophia, seeing as there's really no telling just what she got up to in her life prior to joining forces with you.

The small Doppelgänger seems to breathe a sigh of relief at your pardoning of her crimes. You can't really imagine she would have had the same luck with almost anyone else on the planet. Yet here you are, sparing a girl who's machinations caused the death of hundreds just because the result of her joining you and aiding you is more desirable than seeking to enact some sort of justice for the deceased passengers. While you certainly aren't about to approve such behavior from your allies, nor do you feel the need to go out of your way to put a stop to it. As far as you're concerned, the world turned against you the moment the forces of those who consider themselves aligned with good manipulated the life of a child entirely to their whim. In some attempt to prevent him from ever discovering the truth about his own existence. Your thoughts turn back to your family. Were they complicit in this? Or were they strong-armed by the Church into giving you up after they realized what a threat you represented to their so called peace?

You were too young to really give it much thought at the time, but you don't ever recall your parents mentioning any family abroad either. You were much too angry from the indignity of being effectively disowned by your own parents for seemingly no reason. You have an inkling as to their reasoning now though, be it their own choice or by the Church or this Dorin Organization forcing them into surrendering you into their custody. It's just another aspect of your life you were unable to decide for yourself. Consequences you couldn't possibly avoid for events you had no willing part in. The life you should have lived being torn away from you thanks to somebody's paranoia. Well, for all their attempts to stop you from realizing the truth, they backfired in the end anyway.

"Uhmmm.... Lord... Arthur?" Effi hesitates as she adds a title onto the start of your name, her quiet, shaky voice is enough to lure you away from your thoughts of the past "What... are you doing?" You realise that at some point during your reminiscing, you must have reached out a hand and rested it atop Effi's head. The girl is giving you a look of utmost confusion, but there seems to be the ever so faint trace of a smile hidden behind that look of bewilderment too.

You quickly withdraw the hand. "Ah, my apologies. I find myself being lost in my own thoughts more often than usual lately. I must have accidentally reached out while I was remembering just how those bastards in the Church have manipulated my life." You wonder if it would ever have been possible for you to have lived a normal life, or if you were guaranteed to have been made to walk in the world of magic from the day of your birth. "I'm sorry if I caused you any discomfort."

"I... I didn't hate it." Effi is even more quiet than before as you take your hand from the top of her head. The two of you lapse into an awkward silence, only for a cough from behind you to put an end to the quiet.

"Another ally then? You are so very kind and merciful to those who have wronged you, Arthur. But... I likely would've done the same, at least in this case. Doppelgängers are quite useful to have as allies after all. As long as you can be guaranteed of their loyalty." Effi flinches at the cold tone in Sophia's words, even going so far as to attempt to hide behind you to avoid Sophia's piercing eyes.

"Yes, well, as much as I would love for us to continue talking with one another, we do have some things to be getting on with still. Namely resolving the whole giant wolf situation going on upstairs and also informing my other allies that Grigori isn't actually a traitor, so probably shouldn't be treated as one if they've already found him." You really can't just keep standing around and talking. As you begin to walk back the way you came in, you see that somehow, Mistral has managed to fall asleep once again, though this time she's slumped over your shoulder in a precarious position. You scoop her up and deposit her in her chosen sleeping area before...

>Sending Sophia to go and deal with the giant wolves while you look for your other allies with Effi.
>Going with Sophia to get rid of the wolves.
>Just going to look for your other allies with both Sophia and Effi, while completely disregarding the monsters terrorizing the upper floors.
>Write-in...

>>4167668
>>Sending Sophia to go and deal with the giant wolves while you look for your other allies with Effi
And have her burn the circle we left after the explosion, just in case.

>>4167668
Supporting this: >>4167682

But I'll float an idea anyway:
What if we had Effi morph into us to help gather our comrades? We could just have her morph back into her girl form when we're all reunited to explain the situation.

>>4167699
I don't want to take the risk of them discovering the jig and attacking her

>>4167718
Fair enough, I feel the chances of that happening are small, but no pressing need for unnecessary risks, so long as we prevent Grigori from getting got it's all good.

>>4167735
It's been what, fifteen-twenty minutes? Grigori should be fine...ish.

>>4167741
>Anna and Coller happen upon him in his cabin.
>Anna: Nothing personnel Grigori, traitors deserve death.
>Coller:...*pulps head*
>DEAD END

>>4167668
>Just going to look for your other allies with both Sophia and Effi, while completely disregarding the monsters terrorizing the upper floors.
We're going to end up sinking this boat anyway, right? May as well let the wolves do the work of killing off the rest of the passengers for us.

>>4167960
Wow, I didn't think anyone else supported that plan, but letting the hounds get em is just a huge waste of blood supply.

>>4167668
>>Sending Sophia to go and deal with the giant wolves while you look for your other allies with Effi.

The fuck kind of powers was Dimitri looking for in giant slugs and non-fire-breathing wargs? He truly is worst lad.

>>4168131
Does he even know he can copy powers at this point?

>>4167668
Backing >>4167682

>>4167682
Support, it's best we go to clear up the misunderstanding but having the wolves go nuts is a bit risky.
Besides if Sophia decides to adopt one of them and feeds it regularly then it's yet another bonus member.

>>4167682
Supporting this
>>4167960
Why are we back to talking about sinking the ship?
I think going ahead with it will cement our evil alignment totally.
I'm not ok with being Stupid Evil.
>>4168131
Maybe he wanted the slug poison?
Or that screech the big snail did?
Maybe he wanted claws or something from the wargs?
I'm willing to bet he really only wanted Effi though.
>>4168409
>Pet Warg
I really want this now.

>>4168563
>Stupid Evil
Sinking the ship is Smart Evil.
And most players seem fine with being evil so I don't see the problem.

>Muh ship sinking again
Oh for fuck sakes.

>>4168582
I have yet to read a convincing argument against the idea.

>>4168591
That's because you're dead set on this ridiculous idea.
Nobody wants to sink the ship

>>4168593
Well this guy doesn't seem to be against it: >>4167960
But it's still not an argument against it regardless.

>>4168563
>I think going ahead with it will cement our evil alignment totally.
Well, that's certainly part of why I want to do it, so we've got no more messing around and flip-flopping about "maybe we could still be good, even though we're trying to become the Lord of Darkness".
Aside from that, though, it really does feel like this ship incident is snowballing out of the possibility of keeping things concealed without just wiping out the evidence completely.
For the record, I was initially against the idea. It's grown on me though.

You ship sinkers do realize we're allied with someone whose mansion is connected to one of the cabins right? At this point in time it's actively stupid.

>>4168778
Well that depends on whether or not the dimension needs to be anchored to continue existing, but what do you think was Sophia's plan for it when she disembarked?
Never disembark ever again?
Or move it somewhere else?
Or... letting it collapse when it is no longer useful?
Given that she wants to re-claim her castle I'd definitely say she's ok with letting it collapse if that's going to be the end result.

>>4168630
>evil for the sake of confirming that we're evil.
Oh! Very edgy. Very cool!
How about we don't do that and actually wait before cementing ourselves into the evil route?
I don't really want to get obliterated by Alucard when he inevitably tracks us down, thanks.
>>4168786
We should really ask how the pocket dimension thing works.
As for sinking the ship.
I highly doubt any of our team have the navigation skills neccessary to find land or create a boat that could survive stormy seas.
I'd rather we didn't start the next arc by washing up on a beach alone.

>>4168921
I don't think it's that stormy, but I have faith in the compensation our allies can make if we do end up in stormy seas.
Navigation though? Just take the ship's navigator with us.
They shouldn't have been killed just yet.

>>4168933
We're going to fucking die if we go through with this.
I can feel it.

>>4168939
But why?
No matter how many reasons I give that it's doable I get responses like this.
Can I get a reasonable argument for not sinking the ship besides not wanting to be Ebil?

>>4168921
Try
>evil for the sake of establishing a consistent arc and avoiding future morality-based 180-degree reversals of intent
We've already got people wanting to flip-flop, mess around, and turn Arthur into a conflicted mess. I just want to do something that will undeniably settle us on the path we've started down. If we'd stuck with Shirley and co I'd be rooting for some kind of hardcore paladin action for the same reason. Establishing a consistent goal and view on morality for the character is a good way of avoiding the worst kind of player conflict, I think.

>>4168946
When Alucard finds us, I don't think any number of excuses as to why we went ahead and killed thousands of people just to cover our tracks are going to stop him from stabbing us to death.

>>4168962
Like he isn't going to try to kill us when we tell him:
"You people manipulated me since I was a child! Well, no more! I'll decide my own destiny, and if that means having to become the Dark Lord to have control, then so be it!"

>>4168962
Also, we'd only kill a large amount of people if we sabotaged the lifeboats.
If we sink the ship but have Sophia remove her sep field, there should be a large number of survivors, and all the deaths make more sense than if the ship came into port with hundreds of missing people.

>>4168957
>If we'd stuck with Shirley and co I'd be rooting for some kind of hardcore paladin action for the same reason
Only evilfags call "not being an awful person" a hardcore paladin action, evilfag.
You can't fool me anon. I see right through you.
It's not a satisfactory ending to an arc at all.
And being on a tiny barely seaworthy vessel means the QM gets to use all of his aquatic monsters and Arthur will probably wind up getting eaten by a Lorelai or a Siren.
>>4168967
I mean if he does attack us after we reveal that, I can't imagine he's going to go about it with as much ferocity compared to us killing thousands.

>>4169000
Wow, you really didn't get what I was saying at all, did you? To begin with, I didn't say what the paladin action would be, so you're pulling that point right out of nowhere.
Second, I'm talking about trying to set up a consistent character arc for our protagonist to last through the quest as a whole, not talking about what would or would not be a satisfying ending to the boat arc. Refer to my earlier point about people unsatisfied with the route we're going down trying to reverse course and turning our character development into a mess.
You also seem to be assuming we'd be on a lifeboat for some reason, which is another notion you're getting from nowhere. Why do you assume we'd be on a "tiny barely seaworthy vessel" exactly?

>>4169000
>not being an awful person
Being Good in Castlevania = PURGE THE UNCLEAN!
UNCLEAN = Anything that has to prey on humanity to survive, or gets in your way.

Well, to begin with, why would those monsters be so close to charted waters? Doesn't make much sense to me personally.
But even if they did show up, we have:
A 170~ year old Vampire who can use high-tier magic spells, if unreliably.
A fledgling vampire with super-senses and strength.
A skilled assassin who specializes in freezing things, and we'd be dealing with aquatic creatures so I think this deserves a note.
A fucking terminator.
A botanist who can develop poisons.
A Doppelganger who can morph into a sea creature if they're in her memory already, and if not and we do come across any such creatures that don't or can't join us, we can just have her eat them.
An Alura Une who could just tentacle rape any problems we may come across.
A Dark Lord candidate who can make sure things die when they're killed.
A Sylph who can send blades of wind in the worst case scenario.

I don't think any random monster would get the better of us on a smaller craft.

As for ferocity... I mean isn't Alucard always serious? If he's trying to take us down he'll give it his best effort. As for us killing thousands, refer to: >>4168996

>>4169014
Why are you assuming our ship would be anything other than a small barely viable vessel?
There's a reasonable level of elevation for Arthur becoming truly evil. It's retarded if we just have him go from killing one or two people who are undeniably in his way to ordering mass deaths for the sake of convenience.
There's no catalyst for him to have developed that far.
>>4169028
Jesus our faction is already getting big.
Also I don't think Alucard is always serious at all.
His broodiness gets in the way.
I'm just hoping we get out of this with all of our allies and ourselves unstabbed.

That "Good means killing every dark being" argument only really works in the context of the games, where there generally are no redeeming factors to the monsters you fight.
It isn't even that true when it comes to a certain pair of Vampires, who you literally cure from their condition.
Even if we weren't looking at it from the meta perspective of "I don't want to be insta gibbed by the good guys" then you have to look at it from a logical perspective.
Do you seriously want to stuff such a large group on tiny lifeboats, pray that the organization hunting you down doesn't put together that a sudden ship sinking that was probably not even sailing in a area where Icebergs are common and some random group of survivors found on a lifeboat aren't connected to a missing dark lord candidate?
Having the Cruise ship get to port will give us much more time and will possibly also give them false leads from the other survivors.

>>4169051
>There's no catalyst for him to have developed that far.
Eh. That's fair. I just want to commit to a route, is all. Too many protagonists get pulled back and forth by player factions and wind up horribly indecisive.

The only thing we've decided so far is to try becoming the Dark Lord.
Doesn't mean we have to be a asshole about it is my thought on the matter, there is literally no real reason to do so.

>>4169055
If Sophia was going to use the "Gas Leak" excuse for the slugs, why can't the same excuse work for sinking the ship?
Icebergs aren't the only thing that can cause ships to sink, accidents on the ship can be just as disastrous.
I'll also re-iterate that they would connect this incident more with Sophia than Arthur, since he would have more experience in the Americas than in Europe.
As for false leads, I'd say sinking the ship and having the testimonials about what went on on the ship would be far more striking and distracting than if we sailed into port like nothing happened.
And lastly, why would we use a lifeboat?

>>4169073
It's just a ship. There doesn't have to be a huge number of deaths if we don't want there to be. If we try out the gas leak excuse, then we could make the ship sink slowly enough for the people to evacuate, and it would make sense since ships have safety features for those kinds of accidents.

>>4169055
As for their being "no redeeming factors" to any of the monsters in Castlevania games, how would you know?
Did you sit down and talk to them?

>everyone arguing about good and evil instead of just hanging out with the robot without morality
This is why thinking is overrated.

>>4169119
>This is an argument about good and evil
I thought it was an argument against stupidity, but you could've fooled me.

It might not be the right time yet, but I hope when it is time WhatIs provides us with decent motivation for actually becoming evil.

Right now Arthur kind of just feels like he's sort of going with the flow and doesn't really care.
Unfortunately, the best motivator for turning to evil is an ally dying.
So who could it be?
Holly?
Shirley?
Theresia?
Sophia?
Alura?
Anna?
Somebody Arthur cares about is going to have to die.

>>4169353
If it came to that, I'd venture Alura's death or Theresia's death would have the most impact. Shirley is pretty firmly on the traitor list in Arthur's mind atm and I think he'd feel responsible for Holly's death but it wouldn't shake him too badly. Sophia might get killed off since she's OP, and Anna's just along for the ride, but I think their deaths would effect Arthur the least of all of them.

But why can't Arthur just grow into being Evil?
You know, he makes a decision to kill a few humies here, he lets some mass murderers off there, he makes his own "necessary sacrifices", and suddenly he's pure Evil incarnate!

"Sophia, if you wouldn't mind, I would like if you could deal with the giant wolves on the upper floors while I take Effi along with me to help explain the truth behind Grigori's apparent betrayal. Is that OK with you?" Hopefully your allies haven't been overzealous in their treatment of Grigori, who was likely simply relaxing in his cabin the entire time. Thankfully, Anna and Coller are more or less guaranteed not to have done too much damage to the ice mage. If any at all. While you don't doubt Coller would have any issue with butchering the assassin if she was given the order, without Anna actually doing so, she should remain passive entirely. Well, unless Grigori attempted to attack Anna, then it's unlikely that the magician would've survived the retaliation from the dangerous robotic girl.

"If that is what you think would be best, I shall rid us of these feral beasts. But in my absence please remember that even if Effi might seem trustworthy, she's still unproven." She casts one more look upon the Doppelgänger while turning about. "I feel we could be great friends, Effi. Please don't waste that opportunity, it's not one I give lightly." The small Doppelgänger freezes up as Sophia walks away.

There is one more thing you remember as Sophia begins her journey to the upper floors. "Oh! Sophia, I was thinking..." You try to phrase it in a manner that won't offend her as she turns her head to face you. "You recall when you used that fire spell and showed the effects of that necklace of yours? Well, when the fire parted from us, won't the unscorched patch of floor there reveal a supernatural element of the... 'gas leak'?"

Her expression curls into a frown. "I... I hadn't really considered that at the time. I... I must be out of practice." She takes a moment to gather herself. "I shall meet you back at your cabin, please don't take too long to collect the rest of those followers of yours, I can't imagine these beasts will provide more than a moments entertainment." She turns away once again, but this time instead of merely walking away, her body becomes shadowy as her outline grows blurry. Eventually dispersing into a flock of bats which rapidly disappear down the hallway.

It seems that your observation actually caught Sophia off guard. You suppose she wasn't expecting you to have pointed out a failure on her part so suddenly. She seems the sort to take failure particularly hard. Especially after her last failure ended with her imprisoned in solitude for decades. You are reminded just how incredible that it is that she purposely forced herself to stay conscious throughout her entire stay within the bunker, even though she could have simply gone into a deep slumber and avoided the torment of isolation.

"S-she's kind of scary." Effi only speaks when she is certain that Sophia has gone, remarking on the powerful vampire's intimidating aura before going silent for a while, not talking again until you . "I've never had a friend before though, humans always ran away whenever I took a human form and tried to speak to them, and as much as I disliked them, they seemed far more capable of holding a conversation than those forest animals. Even when I tried talking with them one time, they were only ever focused on their primal instincts." You don't really know what Sophia meant by her offer of friendship, but Effi seems to be considering it. You can imagine the cause of Effi's lack of success in making a friend to likely be related to suddenly transforming from a woodland creature and her true human form's inhuman eyes.

"Sophia isn't that scary, Effi. I doubt that you'll ever really have a reason to be afraid of her... unless you betray us. Truth be told, I've never seen her truly upset, so I can't really talk much of how terrifying she might be if you did that." You do feel a little bad, playing on the emotions of a child like Effi to ensure she doesn't get any ideas about betraying you by ensuring she fears the repercussions from the powerful vampire that already so easily terrifies her. "But you need not worry about something like that. Sophia has offered you a chance to become a friend of hers. I'm not sure what exactly that entails, but it shows that she does consider you in a different light than my other allies."

"I... I guess I can deal with that?" Effi sounds uncertain as to how she should feel about the threat Sophia poses to her, as well as the potential offer of a friendship with the girl who clearly terrifies her.

You've been walking for a while now, and you decide it would be prudent if you took the elevator rather than waste time and energy traversing yet more stairs in order to once again reach Grigori's room.

You spend the rest of the journey with Effi giving her a brief rundown on your allies, it's possible that she had already observed it all and learned all she wished to know about you and your allies, but considering her lack of the crucial information that you were a Dark Lord Candidate, it's unlikely that she really managed to learn that much about you and your allies from whatever reconnaissance she underwent prior to luring you into that trap.

As you push open the door to Grigori's room, you are greeted to the sight of Grigori tied to a chair with thick steel cables. His arms, including his damaged one, are also similarly tied behind him, Coller is inches behind, likely to prevent him from using his magic should he attempt to turn the situation around. The most striking feature of the room however, is the fact that Sophia is standing directly in front of the poor ice magician, with a high-heel clad foot stuck into Grigori's chest, around the kidney region. Grigori has clearly been bleeding from his mouth, and his arm is still as broken as it was when you had last seen him. Well, after whatever Anna has put the hapless assassin through in the past few minutes, it might actually be in a worse way than it was when Alura had smashed it.

"Am I... interrupting something?" Still, the scene could easily be construed of something of an entirely different nature. Anna seems to have taken a little too quickly to the idea of torturing Grigori, as it seems she has resorted immediately to torture, and skipped over the questioning stage entirely. Unfortunate, considering that Grigori hadn't actually betrayed you at all. Her overenthusiasm has just caused the Russian some severe damage. Closer inspection reveals not only physical blunt trauma, but small cuts on his left shoulder, as well as some fairly horrible looking electric burns on his neck.

"Ah, boss, you've returned!" All things considered, Grigori seems fairly chipper. "I seem to have been accidentally assigned a service I did not request. If you would, could you kindly inform these two lovely ladies that I have no wish for their attentions? This betrayal thing the black haired one keeps going on about is getting quite boring to keep listening to." Coller's face remains as blank as ever while Anna simply scowls at the nonchalant attitude of the assassin.

"Coller, cover his mouth please, I've had enough of his quips." The robotic girl standing behind Grigori claps her hand tightly around Grigori's mouth, eliciting Grigori to cast an unimpressed gaze towards his torturer. "I'm glad you have returned, as you see, the traitor was in his cabin the entire time, he didn't even react in time to stop Coller from knocking him unconscious." An annoyed look crosses her face. "But he won't admit to anything!" Yes, probably because he has no idea what you're even talking about. Still, impressive that he's so nonplussed about being tortured, even if Anna is clearly quite the amateur. "But, where is Lady Sophia? And who's the girl?"

>Introduce Effi and reveal the truth behind 'Grigori's' Betrayal before you have her release her captive.
>Have Anna release Grigori from his bindings before you speak any further, then introduce Effi.
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
>Scold Anna for getting ahead of herself and torturing Grigori before you had decided what you were going to do with him. As it stands, he isn't a traitor at all!

Wow, this April Fools thing is kind of horribly annoying in that it just swallowed my Trip.
Rest in Peace, Tripcode.
This would've been nightmarish if quests were still on an IDless board.

>>4169972
>Sophia is standing directly in front of the poor ice magician,

Damn, she really wanted to kick him even when she knows he isn't a traitor.
Was it supposed to be Anna?

>>4169974
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
Gotta take responsibility as the boss, and get him free asap.
>Scold Anna for getting ahead of herself and torturing Grigori before you had decided what you were going to do with him. As it stands, he isn't a traitor at all!

I assume the latter portion of the lower vote is explaining Effi.

Also Grigori a boss.

>>4169974
>Introduce Effi and reveal the truth behind 'Grigori's' Betrayal before you have her release her captive.

>>4170069
Huh, I would'a thought you'd support reprimanding our allies.

>>4169974
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
Man can't get a break.

>>4170072
Well, I feel like there'll be time to tell them off later; I like to prioritize explanation.
Besides, it's not as though she could've known about the doppelganger. As far as the situation runs from Anna's perspective, she was perfectly justified; and she showed great initiative, too!

>>4170103
From my point of view she jumped the gun instead of waiting for us to actually decide his fate.
Not sure we want to encourage this kind of behaviour, since it can lead to misunderstandings.

Imagine if we were having this conversation without having found Effy.

>>4169974
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.

He's been pretty cool (heh) about this whole "Getting Tortured" thing, so us taking responsibility is in order.

>>4169974
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
Huh, he's not that bothered by the torture. Maybe he's used to it? Whatever the case, he doesn't deserve this. Get the ice bro out of those cables. Did Anna get Coller to put those on anyway?

>>4170037
>Was it meant to be Anna?
Oops.
Yes, guess I was more tired than I thought when I wrote that.

>>4169974
>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
Based Grigori. This is a remarkable show of mental fortitude.
Poor show Anna.

>>4170111
>Imagine if we were having this conversation without having found Effy.
That was sort of my point. In that case, I'd be praising her initiative. I can see that the majority is against me, though, so I guess there's not much point in arguing my position more. I am pretty shocked most of you actually seem to like Grigori, though.

>>4170600
>Not liking based Grigori
You have odd tastes.
I'm just glad that between Grigori and (hopefully) Effy, we finally have some team members that don't want to fuck Arthur.
Aside from the robot, I mean.
Can't wait for Coller to achieve sentience and put an end to that.
I think Effy is an actual child so lets leave her out of the waifufaggotry. Please.

>>4169974
>>Introduce Effi and reveal the truth behind 'Grigori's' Betrayal before you have her release her captive.
Don't cut the ropes. They may be Coller's organs or some shit. Robots.

>>4169974
>>Apologize to Grigori and free him using the Power of Destruction to generate just enough energy to slice through those cables binding him.
So this is who Alura got her Dom energies from, huh.

>>4171518
Like Mother like Daughter.

You walk further into the room, leaving Effi standing at the door alone. "My apologies, Grigori. It seems that there was something of a... case of mistaken identity, so to speak." You walk over to the bound man and look at the robotic girl holding his mouth shut. "Coller, please release Grigori."

"Understood." Thankfully, Coller doesn't have some conflict between your order and Anna's own as she releases her hands and steps away from Grigori. The absolute obedience represented by Coller is quite useful. It's good that she your orders seem to be able to overrule Anna's own, otherwise dealing with her in the future might become rather bothersome, having to tiptoe around all sorts of persisting orders merely to get her to follow a new one. The same likely holds true with Anna being able to overrule your own orders to her though. You note that you haven't spent much time with Anna or Coller during this cruise, more important matters always seemed to spring up. Getting to know Anna a little better might help reinforce the loyalty she already feels, and knowing Coller's true capabilities would obviously help you better take advantage of her hard-coded loyalty to you.

"Arthur. Before you go ahead and release that man, I think you ought to have a look at this." Anna draws your attention from freeing Grigori just as you're about to bring forth the energy required to cut him loose from those dangerously thick cables. On closer inspection, they appear to have actually been welded rather than simply tied. Looks like they didn't want to take any chances of his escape, did Coller weld them? Where could those thick cables have even come from? Doesn't seem like a normal thing for anybody to just keep with them. Did they steal them from somewhere?

"What could be so important that you decided you needed to skip waiting for my approval and simply torture Grigori without my approval?" Wordlessly Anna picks up the black bag in the corner of the room and tips it's contents on the floor. Heavy paper wrapped blocks come tumbling from the bag. The writing on the blocks themselves is in Russian, however, so you can't really determine what meaning the wrapped parcels might have. "I don't really follow you here, Anna." Whatever this is though, Anna appears confirmed.

"I don't speak Russian, but thankfully, Coller informed me she has been taught over 120 distinct languages, not counting dialects." She smiles. "So, tell us Coller, what does this say?" Anna turns to her robotic servant, the expressionless look on Coller's face appearing disinterested as always, and holds out one of the blocks.

"There's really no need for all this, if you really want to know, I'll-" He doesn't get to finish speaking before the emotionless voice of Coller cuts over the top of him, completely ignoring the man.

"The text reads 'Composition C-4 High Explosive. Danger. Property of the RuAF.' Furthermore, a test on it's chemical composition confirms the contents as C4 High Explosives." For a robotic simulacrum of a human obviously made using magic, Coller sure does seem to have a vast knowledge base.

"The RuAF??" The acronym doesn't sound familiar to you at all.

"Russia's armed forces, the soldiers I took it from certainly weren't making good use of it, and I decided it might come in helpful. You never know when you might need to cause an explosion, you know? Though I have no idea why they decided to label it" Grigori finally manages to re-enter the conversation. "Now, I don't think you should be judging me based on that." The quite badly beaten man sighs as he looks up at you. "Sometimes a job needs all variety of tools in order to succeed, relying simply on my magic would be an excellent way of getting myself killed."

You suppose the presence of the explosives may have given Anna a little more reason to have attacked Grigori and tried to extract information from him the way she did. "But why would you carry it around with you like that and not simply store it in a safehouse somewhere?" Surely such items are inconvenient to simply carry around in case you might find a need of them.

"I'm on a job right now, Boss. Remember? Just because it's impossible to fulfill now doesn't mean that the equipment I prepared for it will all simply up and vanish." Ah, of course. He was after the person making some sort of deal with the monster smuggler. However, this does provide a wonderful opportunity to draw Effi into the conversation.

"It's probably about time I cut you out of those bindings, honestly, I think that you've defended yourself well enough that I don't think you're plotting to blow the ship to hell, at least." You quickly move back towards Grigori, and with a single finger on your right hand, call forth a tiny sliver of energy, just enough to cut through the thick wires binding him. He slowly gets up from his chair, testing the damage dealt to him as he does, luckily, it seems he is still capable of walking. "Anyway, speaking of the late monster dealer, allow me to introduce our latest recruit who has been brought to us thanks to him." You walk back to the door towards Effi, who is still just staring at the room apprehensively. "This is Effi. She's a Doppelgänger." Realization flashes on Anna and Grigori's face at almost the exact same moment. "Anna, as you might have guessed, the reason Grigori doesn't seem to recall betraying us is because Effi here decided to take his form in order to sow dissent among our ranks. Fortunately, she's apologized and has promised to work with us from now on."

At the mention of her name, Effi finally decides to enter the room, looking at both Anna and Grigori with a devilish glint as she crosses her arms and smirks. "Hello there, you pitiful humans. I am Effigy, and you will refer to me only as Lady Effigy, as inferior lifeforms like yourselves should." Well, that was certainly... unexpected. Despite that overly haughty introduction towards your human followers, her tattered apparel don't really help her get across any sort of nobility or elegance. It isn't helped by her current form being so short either. Because of all this the shapeshifters's introduction is more cute than it is intimidating. Though if this is how she greeted humans before, it's really no wonder she doesn't have any friends.

Anna looks unimpressed by the small girl's attempted display of superiority, while Grigori is failing to suppress a laugh. An awkward silence comes into the room as it looks as if nobody really knows what to say to keep the conversation going.

You decide to end the silence with a cough. "Anyway, introductions aside, Effi here took the form of Grigori when she attacked me with ice magic." That wipes the smug smirk Grigori is directing towards the Doppelgänger right off of his face. "Later, I managed to corner her with the help of Sophia, who is currently a few decks up, clearing out a few monsters that might have escaped from their confinement, no doubt the work of that dead monster dealer."

"Oh, so that's why she isn't with you? A pity, I was hoping to be able to speak with her." Anna frowns in disappointment. "I suppose it will simply have to wait for a later date then. It's not crucial that I speak with her, after all."

"Oh, there is one more thing that you might be interested in in particular, Grigori. It turns out Effi here overheard the name of your target, the man buying all these monsters. Though I'm not sure how much good simply the name 'Blinov' will do you, it's a lead at least." Hopefully, the news that Grigori can still fulfill his previous job ought to offset the thankfully fairly mild torture he just underwent at the hands of Anna.

Admirably, Grigori doesn't let his injuries slow him at all as he paces the room in thought "Blinov... Blinov... It feels somewhat familiar, but I'll need to do some investigation when I get to land if I actually want to find them just from that." It looks as if the lead might be of some use to Grigori after all. It's really the least you could give him after the undeserved treatment he's been given.

"Why are you ignoring me?!" Effi shouts, clearly quite angry at how quickly the two humans in the room seem to have almost entirely dismissed her. As much as you can't say that her being ignored wasn't entirely unwarranted, her reaction of confused anger does kind of make you feel bad for the small Doppelgänger. Seems that when she's in her current form, that she's less than excellent at being social despite the talent she's otherwise shown when transformed. Could she have been mimicking social skills and body language in addition to their appearance? It would explain her social ineptitude in this form, at least.

Anna expertly ignores Effi demanding attention. "Well, now that we've got that out of the way, should we return to our cabins? We might have to collect Alura and that fledgling vampire that she seems to have taken a liking to on our way.

You don't really see a reason to loiter in Grigori's cabin any longer, so there's shouldn't be any harm in following through with that. "Of course. It's been a long day, and I could do with some time to relax." Hopefully, you won't suddenly be forced into yet another crisis aboard this blasted ship. It's really just been one thing after another.

Effi seems to have given up on getting the attention of Anna and Grigori by shouting at them, and simply walks by your side as you lead the way back to your cabin. Oddly enough, she doesn't seem to have paid any notice to Coller whatsoever.

Before long, you finally find yourself back at the door to your cabin, though as you go to open the door, a low growling apparently coming from within your own cabin gives you pause. It sounds like one of those giant wolf creatures that you were trapped in that room with!

>Draw your revolver with your left and prepare to use the Power of Destruction with your right.
>Send Coller in first, physically, she's the most powerful among you right now.
>Send Grigori in first, you're sure he can handle it.
>Knock to see if there's any sort of response.
>Write-in...

>>4171839
>Draw your revolver with your left and prepare to use the Power of Destruction with your right.

>>4171839
>Knock to see if there's any sort of response.
Maybe Sophia decided to adopt one of them.
But if there's no response...
>Draw your revolver with your left and prepare to use the Power of Destruction with your right.

>>4171839
>Draw your revolver with your left and prepare to use the Power of Destruction with your right.
Preparedness is good. I'd support >>4171889, but knocking on the door to your own cabin is a bit...

>>4171889
>knock knock
>[angry doggo smashing through a door noises]

>>4171839
>>Send Coller in first, physically, she's the most powerful among you right now.
Coller, pet the humongous canine.

Somewhere in Romania
October 13th - Sunday 3:40AM

Two stone sculptures sit atop a hill, overgrown with vines and unmoving, the weather has eroded away most of the detail that once adorned the once grand looking display. The sculptures themselves appear to have once been mighty carved statues of two sphinxes staring into the others eyes. Between the statues lies a broken ring of dull golden metal, having collapsed from it's suspended position above the statues decades ago when the columns supporting it were reclaimed by the nature surrounding the portal. Aside from the center of the sculpture, the area has been completely overgrown with brambles.

Suddenly, the dull metal of the ring starts to shine a brilliant gold! In a bizarre display of power, it begins to crackle with blue electricity as it raises itself into the air, approximating where it had once been held by the now destroyed columns. The electricity grows fiercer and fiercer in intensity until it stops altogether, and a beam of white light crashes down from the sky onto the ring of gold!

The light soon fades, leaving behind two figures in it's wake. The first to step from the portal is an imposing looking black haired man wearing an expensive looking suit, easily over six foot. The second is a shorter girl with a short dress that appears to have been somewhat modified for combat, though the stylistic choice of the large ribbon on the back ought to make the ensemble highly impractical to actually fight in.

The man walks out as the girl queasily stumbles after him. "Genya-sensei...? Why- What was that?" She's almost green in the face as she forces out a question towards the older man.

"That, Kokoro. Was how it feels to be teleported, I understand that the experience is quite disorienting for most, especially if it's their first time experiencing it." The older and taller man informs the confused girl. "Of course, we normally would have taken a more conventional form of travel, but time is of the essence here, and I can't remain absent from my own duties for long."

"Ok... but why... here?" Kokoro gestures around at the area, true enough, there's nothing to be seen but the overgrowth and the occasional peak outwards from the hill, showing nothing but forest for miles all around.

"Because, Kokoro, this is our assigned meeting point where we will wait for the others, who ought to be arriving in the next few hours" The older figure says, almost chastising the younger girl's impatience.

Kokoro slumps at the reveal that the two of them will simply be standing in the middle of nowhere and waiting. Potentially for hours. Such a wait would be absolutely unbearable, especially with so little space to move about in.

"But there was a reason that this was chosen as our meeting point over our other potential rendezvous points. Now, Kokoro, if you would follow me, you'll soon see what I mean." Arikado turns towards the brambles growing behind him and puts a hand on the sword dangling from it's hilt tied about his waist.

In an almost imperceptibly fast manner, he had drawn the sword and cut away dozens of the plants blocking their path, swiftly sheathing it once again when a path had been cut. "Show-off." Kokoro grumbles at the display as the man walks into the newly uncovered center of the now destroyed bramble patch. In the center is what seems to be a destroyed piece of a church, for whatever reason lying dozens of miles from any place of worship. The man pushes aside the multiple ton of rock with practiced ease as he uncovers a set of stairs leading downwards.

Kokoro found herself somewhat envious of the man's casual display of strength. Of course, knowing the source of his quite literally inhuman strength made it sting a little less. She could probably still have pushed the stone aside with a great effort, but unlike her sister and apparently also her brother, she had never really developed the physical strength that she had expected she would. She was confident in her speed however, and was sure that she could keep up with Arikado no matter how much of his true power he brought out. "Well Kokoro? Are you coming? Or would you prefer to stay up here?" Arikado questions the girl as he heads down the stone steps.

"Oh! Right away, Genya-sensei!" The girl dashes towards the steps and soon begins her own descent as she follows her teacher.

As she walks down the steps, Arikado speaks once again "Kokoro, you don't have to keep calling me that. I already told you that Alucard is fine when I don't need to use an alias, didn't I?"

The girl makes a complicated expression as she seems to think on her answer deeply. "I think I'll stick to Genya-sensei anyway! Calling you by two names would just get confusing..." Accidentally referring to him as Alucard to the wrong person could be a disaster, after all.

Arikado sighs at the somewhat foolhardy girl "Very well, do as you wish." No more words are exchanged until the pair reach the bottom of the steps, stopping momentarily at a heavy steel door with a keypad to the side in a concrete corridor.

"What is this place, Genya-sensei?" Kokoro looks around the small concrete tunnel the stairs lead into as if to discern the truth behind it's existence from the pale grey walls.

The door swings open as the combination is correctly entered. The room it hid is a fairly comfortable looking lounge, there's even a fireplace! Though how that would work underground is anyone's guess. But the most notable aspect of the room was the giant map of the world plastered on the side of the wall, with 3 differently colored splotches of ink. One splotch, the black one, was positioned in central Japan. While a cyan splotch covered the southern coast of Italy. But the stain on the map with the most odd positioning was the red splotch of ink, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. "This, Kokoro, is a bunker that was built in secrecy in case any of those that our organization confirmed to be potential inheritors of Dracula's Powers ever disappeared from the normal methods of surveillance. That map will track them wherever they may go."

Surprise Interlude!

>>4172085
Ah, for fucks sake.
So we are the red stain, Soma is the black one and Graham is the cyan one? Unless Soma is italian, he IS an exchange student in the translation.

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>>4172085
Why the hell would they even make this thing. It's not like they knew they could kill Dracula. They'd been trying for centuries. And unless they purposefully made the place to look like a shithole it couldn't have been built within the past couple decades. Let me guess, some asshole with too many syllables in his name vomited up a prophecy.

>>4172151
If we wanna have him be an exchange student he'd probably be from Spain given his last name. Even though that makes no sense given that he is "childhood friends" with Mina. So unless her family sent her off to wherever Soma hails from when she was super young and she just followed him back to Japan it seems very unlikely.

Unless they were just pen pals. This anime shit is so convoluted. Can we just kill Soma and steal his jacket?

>>4171839
>Draw your revolver with your left and prepare to use the Power of Destruction with your right.
Please be Sophia
Please be Sophia
Please be Sophia.
>>4172083
>her sister
Sepia confirm? Yey.
Also fucking god damn it!
We're fucked!
>>4172151
>Graham is the Cyan one?
Nah. More likely Dario in Italy with a name like Bossi. Or some OC candidate.
Graham strikes me as the sort to keep himself hidden.
>>4172341
>unless they made the place look like a shithole
Broodmaster Alucard might've demanded it be sufficiently run down for peak broodiness vibes.
This is probably where he goes when he's feeling sad.
The fucking loser.
All that power and he LARPs as a Japanese Salaryman.
>can we just kill Soma and steal his jacket?
It's 2019 so isn't Soma like 2?

>>4172085
>Red
Arthur
>Cyan
Like >>4172609 said, Dario or OC DLC
>Black
Soma
The question here is why these colors specifically for these individuals? Also, Dmitrii is missing, as well as an unknown number of OC DLCs.

>>4172612
Danger levels maybe?
Soma being black and the highest due to actually being the true reincarnation of Dracula. He can turn into the Dark Lord just from getting angry enough and the Power of Dominance is bullshit.
Then Arthur might be the level below at red? He only has Destruction right now but we can get the other powers if I remember correctly.

Then cyan might be the lowest threat level.
A chump like Dario who only has fire, he's not exactly a threat compared to Dominance or Destruction.

Oh and we aren't sinking the ship now.
No way.
Not unless we want to die.
They are very likely aware of our exact whereabouts by now.
Do you think Sophia's pocket dimension could hide us?

>>4172790
I'll still support it, since if we go through with it and they still find us, Arthur would have more reason to think they have some method of knowing his location.

As for the map and pocket dimensions... That would depend on if the map has a "Last Known Location" feature.

Doesn't look like I'll be able to get an update out today.
Apologies everyone.

>>4173777
S'all good QM.
Everything all right?

>>4174186
Yeah yeah, just a horrible schedule is all.

Without a word, you draw your revolver, taking care to remain absolutely silent as you do so. You raise your right hand to your mouth, shushing your other allies in case they decided that now would be a decent time to make a noise. You have no real idea what awaits you in your own room, but there is simply no way you are allowing yourself to be ambushed by it.

Making sure the Revolver is fully loaded with a spin of the cylinder, you silently slot your key into the door, twisting it in the keyhole and pushing the door forwards as silently as you can, the noise you make is minimal, and you're certain that unless whatever has taken to your room saw you, that the attempt of a silent infiltration into your own room was a success.

The curtains are drawn despite the day having already ended and the room is absent of any sort of natural light and even the artificial light generated by the bulbs overhead, instead the room is lit only by strange glowing flower bulbs. However the glowing bulbs aren't even close to the oddest source of light in the room, strange red motes of light the color of blood flit about erratically, almost like embers. The two sources of light combining into a crimson glow that envelops the entire room, the well kept garden almost looking as if it had been drenched in blood due to the choice of lighting the room.

Immediately after taking note of the lighting you spot the source of the heavy breathing and almost jump out of your own skin, sleeping almost directly in front of the door is one of those wolf creatures that you barely managed an escape from, had it been a foot closer to the door, it would've been practically impossible to open it. Except there's only one now, so if it's the same as the ones from before you can't tell. It seems to be a fair bit bigger than any of the monsters you had been locked in the room with.

You're just about to take aim at the beast to kill it in it's sleep before the dainty click of porcelain gives you pause, causing you to look deeper in the room. Despite the lighting of the room, you can barely make out what caused the noise. A shadowed beast hunched over, the winged monstrosity would easily be over 12 foot tall if it extended to it's full height. The horrifying creature has claws that look as if they would easily rend through bone and even metal and mighty wings that would easily allow it to take to the skies. The threat this monsters represents feels so significant that you find yourself forgetting the wolf creature altogether, and just as you're about to take aim at the monster, the red motes of light floating around the room seem to gather towards the horrifying beast composed of shadows.

As the lights get closer, the terrifying visage of the beast seems to fade away like paper burning in a fire, instead leaving only a girl sitting at the table, a teacup full of red liquid sitting next to her. Despite being in the place of what could only have been a demon mere moments ago, Sophia seems completely normal, if concerned at how you were currently looking at her, apprehension in your eyes. "What's wrong, Arthur? You look awfully pale. I would offer you a cup, but I doubt we share a taste for it as you are now." Well, that confirms that she's taken to using your cabin as some sort of twisted tearoom for the consumption of human blood. "I take it you were successful in preventing that fool assassin's premature expiration?" She asks almost with disinterest at to the actual result.

You look at the woman sitting opposite you, there's not a single trace of the monster you had first taken her for in the darkness, but the memory of the terrifying beast is still fresh on your mind. "Oh, I'm... fine. I think my eyes were just playing tricks on me is all. As for Grigori, he's a little worse for wear, but he'll be fine. I don't think Anna or Coller did any lasting damage to him that can't be fixed by natural healing. I can't help but notice the giant wolf beside the door though, I thought you were going to simply kill them, not invite one of them into my home."

"Oh, you mean Fenrir? Well, it's quite the story. After I left you and dealt with that little... mistake... That had been made, I made my way up to these beasts that were apparently only moments from breaking out and causing yet more carnage aboard the vessel. Though something quite curious had happened. Fenrir here had slain all four of his siblings and devoured their corpses quite thoroughly. These creatures have quite an appetite, it seems, as by the time I had arrived, there were barely even any bones left of the weaker beasts!" You manage to rein in your disgust at the larger wolf so happily indulging in cannibalism, but you suppose it's a better result than the five prowling the corridors and slaughtering the crew and passengers indiscriminately would be. "Of course, it posed no threat to me, and I simply decided that such a creature would be better suited as a pet then as a trophy on a wall somewhere. It was quite the simple matter, twisting it's mind. It was of course more intelligent than a simple animal, but it was still an easy task nonetheless. Now he only lives to serve me. There's really no need to be so apprehensive near him, he won't attack anybody unless I wish him to." She lifts the teacup from the table and takes a minuscule sip from it, careful not to spill any of the lifeblood held within.

"I suppose that explains things well enough, but what reason could you have had for... adopting such a beast as a pet?" Sophia seems powerful enough as it is, surely her summoning skills and those bats of hers would suffice? What reason could she have had for taking control of such a savage beast?

"You already ought to know my demon summoning woes. Many of the entities I had summoned were far too intelligent to willingly submit to me as I had hoped they would, always claiming that their superior age made them superior for whatever reason." She sets the teacup down, hand lightly trembling in what you can only assume to be a quiet rage. "That I was still too 'inexperienced' to be allowed to command them. Oftentimes they even attempted possession or offering deals and upon realizing my superior power to their own they then attempted to flee from me in any manner they could. Most even chose death, as they would simply return to their place of origin when their physical body died." She stands up and walks over to the sleeping beast, which lazily raises it's eye to look at her.

"I wasn't quite so aware of just how much trouble that they had been giving you. Are they really so fickle that they would even temporarily experience death just to escape from servitude?"

"Unfortunately so, there are only a few things I'm aware of that can control demons and I'm only capable of one of them. The one I am capable of is contract magic of sufficient power, wherein the demon is magically bound to the rules of a contract, the penalty for breaking the rules would normally be death, however, with a few tweaks of the basic theory behind the spell, I altered it so instead of simple death, the penalty for breaking the terms of the contract is the complete and utter obliteration of the soul. Even a demon would die for real should their soul be destroyed or otherwise taken." It's quite a fascinating revelation about the nature of demons, but you're not sure how relevant it is to why Sophia wanted the giant wolf monster.

"So you wanted it because you were having difficulty binding demons to your will, even with that contract magic of yours?" You decide to get things back on track with a question directed at the rather talkative vampire. Her penchant for getting distracted from the matter at hand is informative, but also quite distracting.

"Well, it's quite difficult to trick demons into agreeing to contracts. Especially without them demanding to know every term they would be agreeing to first. But in truth, there's another reason I decided Fenrir would be a useful pet for me. By now, you've dealt with having to dispose of corpses have you not? I think you would agree that it is quite the time consuming task, to take care that the bodies of deceased humans are never found." For some reason, Sophia raises an arm and a few of her bats seems to flicker off of it like shadows that take the form of bats, clinging to the ceiling of the room. "While I can dispose of bodies with my bats, it's still something I would have to direct myself, and I dislike the task." She pats the huge beast lazing next to her with a hand. "Fenrir however is exceptionally useful for tasks like that disposing of bodies though! The beasts have a remarkable appetite, but even more remarkable is why that is the case. You see, I'm not familiar with monsters at all, but from what I can tell about him, Fenrir here seems to somehow convert whatever it devours into magical energy entirely!" The giant wolf appreciatively raises it's head as Sophia continues to pet it. "Of course, the energy has to go somewhere, so it skips the biological processes and directly increases his size, though there is a limit to it, I've noticed he's decreased in size slightly in the past hour or so. So it's not like he'll simply continue increasing in size without limit." She goes back to the table and to her teacup. "Still, with such an interesting magical attribute I thought that the name Fenrir was quite apt."

You aren't all too familiar with Norse mythology, but you were vaguely familiar with the story of Fenrir. The wolf that devoured Odin during Ragnarök, if you remember correctly. You wonder just how much truth there is to the old myths and legends that you had once disregarded as being mere fiction and fairytales. Though now there's an actual fairy, a powerful one, apparently, sleeping in your pocket. You don't really think even 'fairytale' isn't an appropriate word to refer to fictional stories with anymore. "I suppose it is, yes."

As you go to finally take a seat opposite Sophia instead of simply standing inside the room aimlessly, there's something of a commotion outside, confused yelling and the sound of something slamming against something with quite the force. With complete calmness, Sophia merely takes another sip from the teacup "You probably ought to go and check up on your allies before your plant decides it would prefer your assassin to be in multiple pieces." Her voice is completely calm as you quickly leave the room.

You can hear the events outside perfectly clearly as you approach the door to leave the room "Well now! What a surprise! You and your robot did quite well in capturing this pest." As you open the door you immediately spot Grigori dangling upside down, suspended in the air by a thorned vine tightly wrapped around his ankle. Blood trickles down his leg and stains his clothing further.

Grigori just looks fed up. With everything. He's not showing any signs of pain either. Just disappointment. "I really should have figured that this was going to happen." He catches your eye as you leave the room. "You don't suppose you could tell Alura that I haven't betrayed you? I've really had just about enough torture I can stomach for one day already."

Alura stands a fair distance away, Holly at her side. The thorny vine entangling the unfortunate magician having sprouted from the ceiling to ensnare him. Her voice still carries despite her distance though. "Oh I'm so glad you waited for me before disposing of him completely. It's just a pity that you seem to have started on torturing him before taking him back here." Anna shuffles nervously as she looks at Alura then to you and then to Effi, who doesn't seem to really know what to make of things. Looks like Anna has decided to leave the explanation to you.

"Let him go Alura, Grigori has yet to betray us. In truth, it was merely a Doppelgänger taking on his appearance." Alura's focused gaze quickly shifts away from the battered looking Russian. She then finally takes note of the yellow eyed girl standing and almost hiding behind Coller. "A Doppelgänger? A shapeshifter then?" She brushes some hair out of her eyes as the vine throws Grigori aside like one would discard a piece of trash.

Grigori gets off of the floor and dusts himself off, you can tell the man is getting tired of constantly being abused by your allies "I haven't had beatings like these since I had to infiltrate some Middle Eastern prison to get a target. Really takes me back. I wasn't a fan of them then, either, for the record." He then tears a scrap of white fabric off of his cloak and leans down to tend to his fresh wound.

Holly remains quiet throughout the exchange, only smiling briefly and giving a small wave when she notices you looking at her. But with her and Alura's arrival, your entire group has finally managed to get together in it's entirety. Hopefully there won't be any more nasty surprised in store aboard this ship, but you get the feeling that now you've dealt with Effi's surprise, there couldn't possibly be more in stock for you aboard the vessel.

Thankfully, this leaves you with a lot of spare time to spend, finally unburdened from having to spend all your time solving the multiple dangerous situations that popped up one after another and this accursed boat. But the question is just how you're going to spend that time...

>>(Vote for two, the two options with the highest amount of votes will be selected)
>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Choose up to three of them)
>Focus on attempting to learn magic with Sophia's guidance.
>Write-in...

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Anna, Coller, Holly)

I figure any effort put into learning magic and physical training would only be marginally more immediately useful.

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
Big Fat Unknowns that still need to be ironed out, as much as learning how to Majyk or getting /fit/ would definitely benefit this is one of the more important things to do out of the bunch.
>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Holly, Effi, Grigori)
We still need to figure out how to help Holly control her impulses, Effi is also probably new to thing whole thing so it's best to help her ease in. Grigori is just a personal choice.

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Sophia, Anna, Effi)

>>4174569
Alright, I'll swap Coller for Effi.
Coller is probably hanging out with Anna anyway.

>>4174520
>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
Get swole.
Our physical abilities are the most important in combo with the PoD. The power to destroy anything is quite useless if you can't actually hit anyone with it.
I don't want us to be the physically weakest link among our actually useful in combat allies, and I think that we ought to have a higher potential than the human vampire hunters like Shirley and Kokoro.

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Holly, Grigori, Effi)

>>4174520
>>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Holly, Grigori, Effi)

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.
I would be interested in social contact, but given that the most popular choice includes Holly and Grigori...

>>4174520
>>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies (Mistral, Grigori, Effi)

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies(Grigori, Effi, Anna)

I feel like these are either our newest allies or ones we have otherwise spent time with. Coller is up there as well but we have known Anna longer but really haven't said much since getting on the boat. And honestly I just like Grigori, the dork.

>>4174704
You convinced me.
>>4174520
Change from >>4174606 to
>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.

>>4175151
Any physical training shouldn't be enough to get even close to whatever level Kokoro is at, and nowhere near reverse dracula.
Focusing on having better relationships will have far more immediate returns.

I'd compare it to addition and multiplication, we'd be adding +2 to our stats if we physically train, but we'd x2 our effectiveness if we have better team cohesion.

>>4175168
Keep in mind that putting off training until later will exacerbate the problem. And it is inevitable that we will be put into a scenario where we don't have allies to rely on in the moment.

>>4175185
I don't disagree, but the last 3-5 days of the cruise wont make such an overwhelming difference if we pursue that type of training, especially since all our allies will still be with us for the foreseeable future.

Probably at least until broody ganks us.

>>4175168
Focusing on strengthening our teamwork at the expense of personal power runs the risk of us ending up a weak-link puppetmaster. The DL should be stronger than any of his subordinates. Even if PT only works towards that incrementally it's worth it. Obviously things like the crimson stone and furthering our connection with Chaos are bigger jumps in power but you can't ignore the basics.

Dammit, Sophia. I hope you potty trained him.

>>4174520
>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.

>>4175185
Vote please.

>>4175192
Ok, but this is a few days, not a few weeks or months.
Happy allies that are all individually strong > Higher accuracy and maybe agility

For the short term at least.
Once we're settled somewhere I'd vote for it but this isn't the time.

>>4175191
>the last 3-5 days of the cruise wont make such an overwhelming difference if we pursue that type of training
It seems to me that this is the kind of mentality that keeps people from working out in real life. We should be training our basic physical combat ability a little bit every day in order to gradually build a strong foundation for the more effective use of our powers. Even though no individual training session will get us a huge improvement, it's the training over time that makes the biggest difference.

>>4175206
People in real life don't have to worry about getting ganked by Dracula's son with his trainee chosen-by-god-bloodline sidekick.
I simply don't believe this is the optimal time for that type of training, especially when there's a more immediately effective increase in teamwork efficiency alternative.

>>4175204
>>4175210
This is exactly the kind of thinking I'm talking about. You have to make these decisions consistently, on a day-to-day basis, knowing that it won't pay off for some time. That's where the discipline of the training comes in.
Arthur lives a dangerous life. If you want him to wait for the ideal safe time to train, he'll be waiting forever. We have to snatch every opportunity we can to train consistently no matter what kind of circumstances we're in.

>>4175191
>but the last 3-5 days of the cruise wont make such an overwhelming difference if we pursue that type of training
Newbie gains my dude. Always the biggest.

>>4175210
Man, I bet you voted against the Belmont body belt, too.

>>4175214
>>4175215
>>4175219
It's not like Arthur doesn't already exercize his body regularly, this was already gone over in like the second thread.

This vote is simply voting to be autistic about his already existing regimen. I don't think it's the most effective move in this situation.

And QM has said we can get the belt at a later date, but I'm the guy who wants to use the power of destruction as a gun for effectiveness reasons so take that as you will.

>>4175226
>doing some situps and push ups in the morning
>equivalent of actually getting down to business
Bruh. Staying in shape isn't getting strong.

>>4175226
>It's not like Arthur doesn't already exercize his body regularly
>This vote is simply voting to be autistic about his already existing regimen.
Obviously his old regimen will work perfectly well for him now. It isn't as though he's just received a major boost to his capabilities that has radically changed things for him and that he's still having trouble getting used to...
Oh, wait.
Remember the line during our fight with the slugs about how Arthur still didn't really have solid control over the wind boosts because he didn't have enough practice or expertise using them? That certainly falls under the kind of thing to be worked out in physical training as far as I can see.
Then again, as you say you're the person who thinks the Power of Destruction would be most useful as a finger-gun, so there's probably not much point in trying to get you to see the value of a hand-to-hand combat training regimen.

>>4175226
>I'm the guy who wants to use the power of destruction as a gun
Knew it. You've been trying to fuck us over all along. You're probably a church plant.

>>4175237
The Dorin organization has long arms indeed.

>>4175231
OK? My entire argument was based around it not being the most efficient use of our time in this specific situation. 3-5 days wont make such an overwhelming improvement that it would overshadow better teamwork.

In addition to that the train of thought trap that modern people follow that prevents them from exercising doesn't exist in Arthur to begin with since he already has his own schedule.

If this wasn't an exclusive vote I'd have voted for all of them cause they're all important, but the benefit for that specific vote is outweighed by the the other.

>>4175235
What are we gonna face in the immediate future? The son of the previous Dark Lord and his apprentice.
If we're going hand to hand against them we've already fucked up pretty badly.

>>4175237
>>4175239
>modeling your power to delete anything on one of the most efficient weapons ever designed.
>sabotage

>>4174520

> Focus on getting better at blowjobs.

>>4175246
>>modeling your power to delete anything on one of the most efficient weapons ever designed.
Which our finger is not. Our finger does not create a contained explosion in a tube to fling a piece of metal. The power of destruction is not a gun. It doesn't work like a gun. It won't function like a gun. It would be more efficient as a brush than a gun. It would be most efficient as a hand. So yes what you want is sabotage since it is using something in a subpar fashion intentionally. The power of destruction doesn't even rely on traditional physics to attain it's lethal properties.

Shit man the most dangerous form for the power of destruction is a thin sheet that is very wide. It just erases things it comes into contact with so the best way to use it is to maximize its surface area, not mimic something that operates under completely different rules to attain an entirely different purpose.

I hate you.

>>4175250
Isn't that a job for one of the many girls Arthur has in his party right now?

>>4175263
>flyswatter is the best
waste of energy.
note I said most efficient, not most destructive.
one point destroys anything it comes in contact with moving faster than can be perceived is the most efficient method of utilizing it. so long as you can hit weak points you'll always win.

as for propulsion... do I really have to go back into instantaneous movement that's already been observed as possible by our power?

>>4175250
what is up with the dicksucking posts in quests lately.

>>4175250
Heh. Blowjobs. Blowing up the ship is a job, right? :^)

>>4175246
>If we're going hand to hand against them we've already fucked up pretty badly.
This bullshit is why it feels like you're trying to sabotage the quest. QM sets up great dramatic hooks and people like you say "let's sink the ship in the middle of the ocean to avoid being tracked" or "make sure we avoid that boss fight or handle it in the least interesting way possible, it sounds dangerous." If we were a Belmont you'd want us to bomb Dracula's castle instead of going in. Lame as fuck, dude. It's Castlevania. Have some fun.

>>4175284
>be retarded because why not
Shit like this makes me baka. if you're gonna be an evil overlord you need to use your head, otherwise you end up like Dracula.

>If we were a Belmont you'd want us to bomb Dracula's castle instead of going in.
No? That wouldn't kill Dracula so it'd be a waste of good explosives and priceless relics.

>>4175290
>wants to blow up the ship and get no-mercy'd by Alucard and a Belmont.
>wants to turn the most devastating weapon in our arsenal into a fucking gun because "guns r effective!"
>not retarded

You know who else used a gun?
Albus.
And he loses to a close range melee spellcaster despite actual teleportation abilities.

>>4175463
>ignoring how easy it is to sink a cruise ship with minimal to no casualties
>implying near instantaneous transmission of a delet ball is in any way comparable to a slow moving piece of lead
model != exact copy

>>4175473
>sinking a ship for no reason.
Why.
It has even less purpose with survivors being left.
It just sounds like you want to derail the story at this point.

>>4175494
>removal of evidence is no reason.
>actually good reason for the ridiculous number of deaths on board is no reason.
I have a hard time taking "gas leak" deaths seriously.
A ship sink that had a panic though? Even if nobody died during the evacuation and rescue it's more believable for being the cause of deaths.

How would it derail anything? Alucard and Kokoro know exactly where we are at all times, they'll find us no matter what. This course of action would only give Arthur significant reason to believe they're surveiling him. And reaching land is the end of the Boat Arc, we've apparently discovered most of the surprises on board, which is why we're voting on how to spend the last days of the trip.

>>4175494
>>4175504
Also, where is this "stay on the rails anon, the rails anon!" coming from? If we weren't allowed to take actions we pleased, there would be no write-in option.
I seriously do no understand how acting like an intelligent person derails the story in any way.
Suddenly flipping to being a good guy would derail the story however, so I don't understand the lack of focus on those people, and the focus on me.

>>4175520
>I seriously do no understand
do not*

>>4175520
>Suddenly flipping to being a good guy would derail the story however
You mean like how we suddenly flipped to "evil" because people wanted to bang a plant, and how people want to sink a boat and kill people because "it's evil?"

>>4175525
How was it sudden? Even if we didn't tell Alura we wanted to be her companion, we still would've let a man eating plant on the loose after we played dead for her. We just sympathized with her circumstances and were like "oh you feed on people? ok."

That dude wanted to seal the deal, we're already neutral evil, he just didn't want people to swim upriver.

>>4175529
Go fucking reason the first few threads again. The entire reason people jumped into the dark lord route was because they wanted a fucking vampire waifu and an alura une waifu.
There was literally no build up to Arthur turning on his friends and running off with the monster girls.

>Neutral Evil
Arthur is Neutral Stupid, that's how he's played. It doesn't help we have retards like you who want to blow up the boat "just because" especially after the entire player base has spent two threads telling you it's a stupid idea.
Or the player base's fucking raging murderboners whenever anything mildly annoys them.

>>4175540
>The entire reason people jumped into the dark lord route was because they wanted a fucking vampire waifu and an alura une waifu.
Ok? That's deciding where you want the character to go. I fail to see how wanting the character to end up that way and the character being written to end up in a position where it's possible to achieve is a bad thing.

>There was literally no build up to Arthur turning on his friends and running off with the monster girls.
Uh? Maybe you should re-read the threads. There were plenty of times Shirley acted suspiciously towards Arthur.
He never betrayed Theresia, in fact he still wonders about her, and clock dude was more of an acquaintance.

>Neutral Stupid
He doesn't pick fights he can't win, and gets rid of enemies he can deal with. He surrounds himself with allies that are of reasonable assistance, and attempts to deal with things that interfere with his business.
Being upfront doesn't make you stupid, it's a personality choice.

>the entire player base has spent two threads telling you it's a stupid idea.
And I've yet to read a good reason not to do it besides "I'ts ebil!" Which is why I keep re-iterating it no matter how many people tell me how stupid it is. Because they can't even give me a good reason it's stupid.

>>4175540
I wouldn't go so far as to say neutral-stupid, but we definitely have some consistency problems. The motivation for most of our decisions up to this point seems to have been either metagaming or waifuism, neither of which is really conducive to a strong character arc.
This is why I've been voting to do things like killing Grigori, letting the passengers die, sinking the ship, etc: things that might solidify Arthur's perspective and motivation as someone who's sided with the monsters against humanity, because, face it, that's what we've done.
The way I see it, he could have a strong, coherent arc as someone who feels betrayed and manipulated by humanity and "the forces of good," motivating him to turn fully against them and embrace the idea of becoming the dark lord and seeing mankind as his enemies. His vampire heritage as a Bernhard could play really well with this.
We could've had an equally strong arc as a human who stays moral in the face of the temptation of a Dark Lord Candidate's power and dedicates himself to preventing the rise of another Dark Lord, but that's a chance we've already thrown away. There's no getting it back without things becoming totally nonsensical.
Now, I'm not that attached to sinking the ship in particular; there are good arguments against it. I do want to try and get people on board to vote for a consistent character arc for Arthur, though, and not waver back and forth.

>>4175553
>We could've had an equally strong arc as a human who stays moral in the face of the temptation of a Dark Lord Candidate's power and dedicates himself to preventing the rise of another Dark Lord, but that's a chance we've already thrown away.
All because we chose to kill the puppet man, despite QM warnings, ???.

>>4175553
>The way I see it, he could have a strong, coherent arc as someone who feels betrayed and manipulated by humanity and "the forces of good," motivating him to turn fully against them and embrace the idea of becoming the dark lord and seeing mankind as his enemies. His vampire heritage as a Bernhard could play really well with this.

Yeah this is the arc he's going down at the moment. It hasn't been completely solidified, since the Dorin organization and church still seem like nebulous entities to him, so right now he's just aligning himself with people who'll help him/keep him safe.
I bet he'll jump down this road full force after his confrontation with genya-sensei.

>Now, I'm not that attached to sinking the ship in particular; there are good arguments against it
Oh? There are some? I haven't read any, can you point them out for me?

>>4175570
All QM said was that it was less execution and more murderous rage.
The vote didn't change even after he said it so...

>>4175549
>Ok? That's deciding where you want the character to go. I fail to see how wanting the character to end up that way and the character being written to end up in a position where it's possible to achieve is a bad thing.
Because then every vote is determined by that Metadecision. There's no chance to build up and see where things go, it just pushes things to an end stupidly fast and is just
>Fuck off and give me my Plant/Vampire waifu already.

>There were plenty of times Shirley acted suspiciously towards Arthur.
Yes, because she was ordered by the Organization to not tell us anything. But every time she could, she tried to help us or get us information. Yet the Shirley hateboner persists because she's an easy target to focus on.
And this also doesn't negate us literally going
>Well, we've got out plant waifu now. Let's show her the implicit trust we never gave to Shirley and fuck off.

>>4175549
>Being upfront doesn't make you stupid
Doesn't pay attention unless it hurts him or involves a waifu. Constantly waffles between wanting to murder whatever drew his attention until the GM gives us a reason not to. Does not think through the consequences of ANYTHING.
Neutral Stupid is an apt descriptor.

>And I've yet to read a good reason not to do it besides "I'ts ebil!" Which is why I keep re-iterating it no matter how many people tell me how stupid it is. Because they can't even give me a good reason it's stupid.
You've had plenty of good reasons. It's noticable, we have no reason to, all it does is fuck up the boat arc, they're probably tracking us by magic anyways. Hell, the GM confirmed the last one which doubled down why it's stupid. You just refuse to accept it, call every good reason stupid, and keep pushing it.

>>4175553
Honestly, right now the best route I see Arthur is a hard neutral. We sided with Anna because she promised to help us get information. Our best defense against Alucard is straight up telling him that we were attacked by monsters and nobody fucking told us what was going on.
But then, I expect tardrage and a prompt spanking.

>>4175574
>It's noticable, we have no reason to, all it does is fuck up the boat arc, they're probably tracking us by magic anyways
>Good reasons.
A "gas leak" killing hundreds on a cruise ship is more ridiculous than hundreds dying on a sinking ship. No reason? Erasure of the insane amount of evidence something supernatural happening. Fucking up the boat arc? How is this even an argument, the arc develops as decisions influence it. Sinking the ship sounds like a more exciting end than just leaving once docked. If you wanna talk fucking up the boat arc you should complain about Effi's existence fucking up any plans of immediate peace last thread. And so what if they're tracking us via magic? How many times do I have to re-iterate that sinking the ship gives Arthur a really good reason to believe they're doing this? If we just disembark Arthur would most likely assume they just followed his trail from the incredibly suspicious ship, rather than wondering how the fuck he got found when he ditched the ship and made land somewhere completely unexpected.

>Let's show her the implicit trust we never gave to Shirley and fuck off.
Literally what are you talking about? We trusted Shirley enough, but every time she had a chance to confess she either ignored us or focused on something completely different. Shirley was literally Arthur only friend and she was lying to him and manipulating him. Ditching her made sense after what she did. Fuck organizational influence.

>Doesn't pay attention unless it hurts him or involves a waifu. Constantly waffles between wanting to murder whatever drew his attention until the GM gives us a reason not to. Does not think through the consequences of ANYTHING.
Wat? Where does this apply to any of Arthur's actions? Indignation about being surprise attacked, then calming down and thinking about the situation is how he's consistently acted. And when he isn't harmed and just talks he ends up coming to a reasonable compromise if possible. He thinks through his decisions plenty well, he ended up achieving his goal of killing Johannes very well, and that dude was playing everybody for a fool.

>Arthur
>Hard Neutral
>When he doesn't want to be manipulated
Evil is the correct answer. Chaos likes her representative to be willful.

>>4175572
>Oh? There are some? I haven't read any, can you point them out for me?
It hides the evidence from people we now know don't need any evidence, and serves no concrete purpose outside of the metagame-y desire to let Arthur in on information we have, but he doesn't. The plan also relies on an ability of Alura's which is 100% speculation. We've never seen her make any kind of vehicle out of plants and have no idea whether she'd be able to construct a decent boat; for all we know, she and her creations die in saltwater. Many plants do.

>>4175574
>Honestly, right now the best route I see Arthur is a hard neutral. We sided with Anna because she promised to help us get information. Our best defense against Alucard is straight up telling him that we were attacked by monsters and nobody fucking told us what was going on.
Sorry, but this sounds like nonsense to me, and lying to Alucard in the cowardly hope of avoiding a fight doesn't bode well. Besides, hard neutral is peak waffle, and that's what we're trying to avoid.

>>4175592
>Shirley was literally Arthur only friend
Shirley was literally *Arthur's only friend

>>4175574
Oh and,
>Does not think through the consequences of ANYTHING.
Yeah, he doesn't think through consequences, which is why he's proactively

>>4175606
>metagamey
He was considering sinking the ship when there were only 23 people dead. and an unknown number ravaged by Holly. Now there's hundreds dead. he has far more of a reason to do it now than then, and learning about their tracking magic would end up a consequence of a sequence of rational decisions that make plenty of sense.

>saltwater
It's not like they feed on water to live. They feed on blood.
She seemed pretty confident about making transportation when she offered at the forest.

>>4175608
proactively dealing with anything that can disrupt him.

>>4175608
Look, anon. Nobody wants to sink the ship. Just let it go. You've argued about it for thread after thread, and you've never gotten majority support for it. The arc is almost over now.

>>4175613
The idea will only evolve from here. This is the birth of the "Sink anything if you don't like it. Even sinking continents isn't beyond your abilities!" anon.
You people did this.

>>4175592
>Bunch of gymnastics.
They're already using magic to track us. There is no evidence that can be hid, as Alucard can literally breathe underwater. We also have no in game reason to sink the boat, all it comes from is your attempts at pushing it.

>but every time she had a chance to confess she either ignored us or focused on something completely different
Are you a fucking retard? When we told her we needed a weapon, she ran out and got us one. When we told her we kept getting attacked, she took us to a secret bunker before finding out who did it and running off to kill them. Hell, she even tried to tell us her backstory and we went "No fuck that."
She did everything she could to help us, but we blew her off because she's the good aligned waifu and fuck that.

>Indignation about being surprise attacked, then calming down and thinking about the situation
He never thought about the situation. His first and only reaction was "Grr, Kill Grigory." He and the players didn't get off that until the doppelganger got revealed and even then, we had a number of retards who still thought it was actually Grigory and wanted to kill him.

>He thinks through his decisions plenty well
>Let's walk alone into the personal dimension of an experienced vampire because lolwaifu.
>Let's walk alone into the cabin the guy who we think tried to kill us entered and send our powerful friend off without us.
Yeah, he really thinks things through.

>Doesn't want to be manipulated
>Sides with Chaos
Good plan.

>>4175606
Hard Neutral gives us a better slide whichever direction and if I remember right, it's not a lie, Anna told us she could help us find information about what's going on. It also gives us a reason to actively oppose them if we try to talk and he starts trying to kill us. Which he will, because we made a deal with Chaos and I'm sure he can sense that shit.

>Nobody wants to sink the ship. Just let it go.
That isn't going to happen. We'll be 10 threads off the boat and I bet he'll still be whining about it.

>>4175623
Alright, I can kind of see where you're coming from with the Alucard encounter, but what do you want long term out of "Hard Neutral"?
It's not really a viewpoint that lends itself to a compelling character story. What, are we going to become the neutral dark lord, preserver of eternal balance?
When you say that "hard neutral is the best route for Arthur" what do you envision for that route in the long run? Personally, I don't really see it working as a coherent motivation for the driver of a large-scale story, more of an excuse to waffle, flip back and forth, and try to play both sides. Workable for someone like Grigori, but not someone trying to become the Dark Lord.

>>4175639
>"hard neutral is the best route for Arthur"
I said "right now hard neutral is the best route for arthur." Mostly because it gives us a firm stepping stone with going immediately into "Idiot cackling as he murders everyone on a boat for no raisin."
Honestly though, if we have a chance to get Dorin off our backs on the condition that we help them take out bigger threads, I'm all for taking it.

>>4175623
>They're already using magic to track us. There is no evidence that can be hid, as Alucard can literally breathe underwater. We also have no in game reason to sink the boat, all it comes from is your attempts at pushing it.
>literally ignoring any reason to sink the ship even if they exist: >>4175608

>Are you a fucking retard? When we told her we needed a weapon, she ran out and got us one. When we told her we kept getting attacked, she took us to a secret bunker before finding out who did it and running off to kill them. Hell, she even tried to tell us her backstory and we went "No fuck that."
wtf? We listened to her backstory and were like "so how long have you been part of this organization?" she was like "since I was born." I do not recall blowing her off about this.

>She did everything she could to help us, but we blew her off because she's the good aligned waifu and fuck that.
We blew her off because she continued to lie even when there was plenty of reason not to. She helped us while we were friends, but continued lying consistently.
I don't even hate Shirley, I wanna recruit her. But she was acting in a way that doesn't instill much benefit of the doubt.
Alura's comment that she was hiding her true power didn't help, and the revelation that she was indeed holding back when she leveled the mansion REALLY didn't help her case.

>He never thought about the situation. His first and only reaction was "Grr, Kill Grigory."
>Merc whos alliance was tenuous sneak attacked me!
>Let's go get him and interrogate him before executing him.
>not thinking things through

>Let's walk alone into the cabin the guy who we think tried to kill us entered and send our powerful friend off without us.
When did this happen?

>Good plan.
it really is. Chaos is pretty laid back towards her representatives. Even let a complete retard/The absolute arrogance be one for centuries.

>>4175646
>if we have a chance to get Dorin off our backs on the condition that we help them take out bigger threads, I'm all for taking it.
Ah, so you do want to go for a kind of low-level thug/two-faced scumbag character. That's too bad. I've never really liked that sort of gun for hire archetype.

File: 7526565675.gif (965 KB, 360x222)

965 KB GIF

>>4175276
>as for propulsion... do I really have to go back into instantaneous movement that's already been observed as possible by our power?

>this gun method is super efficient
>by using one of the most inefficient and costly uses of the power to enable its functionality
Thanks for admitting you have brain damage.

>>4175572
>All QM said was that it was less execution and more murderous rage.
The moment that QM removed the it being a mercy, even narratively, should've turned people from it but
>The vote didn't change even after he said it so...
because anons lack foresight, we've already established that.

>>4175666
>not knowing about cost efficiency.
Even if making a projectile is that expensive, I don't see why performing the same attack style using a lance instead of a projectile is untenable.

>>4175671
>anon's lack foresight
Not QM's fault in the least.
That's due to a lack of discussion.
Pretty much everyone was on board with being evil though so that's probably why the vote stood.

>>4175679
No I get it. You want to do as much as you possibly can so we can pass out mid fight and get caught so you can get us pegged by Shirley because she loves Arthur so much.

Sabotage.

>>4175647
>>literally ignoring any reason to not sink the ship even if they exist
That does go both ways.

>She helped us while we were friends, but continued lying consistently.
>She helped us out as much as she could, but obviously couldn't tell us everything so fuck her.

>Alura's comment that she was hiding her true power didn't help, and the revelation that she was indeed holding back when she leveled the mansion REALLY didn't help her case.
Maybe she had a reason why she didn't use it. Maybe she couldn't control it, or it was corrupting or would severely injure her. Her not using her full power isn't a reason to hate her.
Too bad we'll probably never get to ask her why though.

>>Let's go get him and interrogate him before executing him.
>>not thinking things through
There was minimal of that vote and mostly, let's go murder him. We had to fight to get that "Let's not kill him right away."

>When did this happen?
When he followed the fucking doppelganger into the room full of Wargs.

>it really is. Chaos is pretty laid back towards her representatives. Even let a complete retard/The absolute arrogance be one for centuries.
As long as you realize you're being manipulated by Chaos, which for someone who doesn't want to be manipulated seems counterproductive.
Fuck, I bet it took the cute girl form because it recognized that would be the one Arthur is most likely to help.

>>4175654
Not really two-faced scumbag, more I want fucking Alucard off our ass. It doesn't help us if we have him constantly starting fights every arc like some power rangers villain.
I am into making our own secret supernatural organization though.

>>4175647
>I do not recall blowing her off about this.
Found it. She was going to open up about shit and Arthur was all "That's nice. You don't need to explain it."
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3885926/#p3886870

>>4174520
Alright, lets see what we got here...

>Focus on bettering yourself physically and with your weapons.
>>4174704
>>4174902
>>4175151
>>4175193

>Focus on trying to get a better understanding of the Power of Destruction.
>>4174569
>>4174600
>>4175151
>>4174704
>>4174799
>>4174851
>>4174902
>>4174988
>>4175091
>>4175193
Wow. Unanimous.

>Focus on trying to improve your relationships with your allies
>>4174569
>>4174600
>>4174799
>>4174851
>>4174988
>>4175091

Now to tally out the subvotes...
>Anna
3
>Coller
1
>Holly
4
>Effi
5
>Grigori
4
>Sophia
1
>Mistral
1

Could somebody make sure those are right before I start writing up what will have to be a few Interludes?

>>4175717
From what you linked, I see
>Anna
2
>Coller
1
>Holly
4
>Effi
5
>Grigori
5
>Sophia
0
>Mistral
1

>>4175723
Ah, seems like I managed to count a changed vote while skipping over another somehow.
Doesn't change the results though.

>>4175696
>pass out mid fight.
I trust Arthur enough that I figure he'd veto use of it if it would completely compromise his immediate liberty.
I also figure that the power would make us berserk if we were really that desperate.
Also: if we get good enough we can mold it however we want. I'm suggesting high efficiency-effectiveness forms here while we're at our weakest.

>>4175697
>That does go both ways.
Not really since you haven't debunked any of the reasons I put forth to sink the ship, just called it mental gymnastics when everything I said has plenty of IC reasoning.

>Not using her power isn't enough to hate her.
Yeah, but that's not the only reason. Compromised trust is huge, especially when you're the only friend the guy has ever made.

>When he followed the fucking doppelganger into the room full of Wargs.
This:
>Let's walk alone into the cabin the guy who we think tried to kill us entered and send our powerful friend off without us.
is not what you say it is.
He went into the cabin because it looked like the thing that was on the wall entered the room and he wanted to talk to it without Sophia's abrasive negotiation tactics. He didn't think it was Grigori at ANY point.

>As long as you realize you're being manipulated by Chaos, which for someone who doesn't want to be manipulated seems counterproductive.
She'll even let her chosen ones fuck off if they feel like it, so long as you put up enough of a fight.

>>4175706
>"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.

How is this blowing her off? It's reaffirming trust in her and her motives. We later find out her and her organization have been manipulating our entire life since we got shipped off to the colonies, and she didn't even fess up to any of it. That's literally compromising the trust shown to her causing her to be seen as an enemy by Arthur.

>>4175717
Alright, we voted to continue being a weak link who relies on our allies to get the job done. Lamentable.

>>4175739
>Not really since you haven't debunked any of the reasons I put forth to sink the ship, just called it mental gymnastics when everything I said has plenty of IC reasoning.
Dude, you've had two threads at least of people debunking your reasoning, you just keep claiming it's not good enough. At this point it's serious mental gymnastics.

>Compromised trust is huge, especially when you're the only friend the guy has ever made.
There wasn't really compromised trust there. She told and did everything she could for us.

>How is this blowing her off? It's reaffirming trust in her and her motives. We later find out her and her organization have been manipulating our entire life since we got shipped off to the colonies, and she didn't even fess up to any of it. That's literally compromising the trust shown to her causing her to be seen as an enemy by Arthur.
Because she was literally going to spill her shit to Arthur and Arthur just went "That's nice." and then people like you continue to use the reasoning that she lied to us and compromised our trust.
Also, the manipulating our life thing is literally on the organization's head, not hers. Also, am I remembering wrong or was it Anna who told us about that? They probably have their own reasons to manipulate us too, you know.

>He went into the cabin because it looked like the thing that was on the wall entered the room and he wanted to talk to it without Sophia's abrasive negotiation tactics. He didn't think it was Grigori at ANY point.
Rereading it, you're right. Let me rephrase that then.
>Let's walk alone into the cabin following a complete and utter unknown and send our powerful friend off without us.
It's still just as stupid.

>She'll even let her chosen ones fuck off if they feel like it, so long as you put up enough of a fight.
You can fuck off as long as you're furthering Chaos' goals in the end.

>>4175745
Honestly I don't get how people are convincing themselves "If we know them better we fight better as a cohesive unit". Practice makes people work together better. Knowing someone's life story doesn't suddenly mean you could fight back to back with them twice as well as before. But it seems like people just don't want to take the time out to git gud.

>>4175761
>no compromised trust.
>let a meat golem almost assassinate us
>almost fail to gut a demon
>struggle throughout the mansion
>plant lady tells us she's hiding her true power
>still struggling against a golem even with backup
>didn't immediately incapacitate the head alchemist the entire time they were fighting
>she later levels the mansion after we were told the people she works for are the "good guys" who go on crusades against evil, and are behind us being ignorant of ourselves.

>Also, the manipulating our life thing is literally on the organization's head, not hers.
>"I've been in this organization since I was born."
It's her responsibility too. She had YEARS to spill, but nope.

>Also, am I remembering wrong or was it Anna who told us about that? They probably have their own reasons to manipulate us too, you know.
Alura forced Anna to tell her., and Alura told us. Reasons to manipulate us? Sure, they were completely upfront about it too: they want us to be the Dark Lord so everyone here can survive the people who completely fucked all their lives up.
You can call it manipulation, but then we're splitting hairs about how much persuasion leans into manipulation, and how allying yourself with people and agreeing to anything is letting yourself get manipulated by them since they're relying on you, so it's gotta stop somewhere.

>It's still just as stupid.
So, what, now Arthur can't act like a Dark Lord and handle situations on his own? Like I said it's a personality trait.

>deciding to not become the Dark Lord furthers Chaos' goal of having you become the dark lord
que?

>>4175793
>>let a meat golem almost assassinate us
Ah yes, "let". Because she was the doorman that day at the building and just watched it waltz on up. Intentionally. With foreknowledge that it was going to happen.
>almost fail to gut a demon
Because she didn't want to blow up the lobby and potentially the people nearby.
>struggle throughout the mansion
Same boat.
>plant lady tells us she's hiding her true power
Because she is trying to avoid blowing people up.
>still struggling against a golem even with backup
Again, can't nuke the mansion with people inside she doesn't want to kill.
>didn't immediately incapacitate the head alchemist the entire time they were fighting
Well for one he was cheating really damn hard, and again because risk of collateral.

Seriously 90% of your shitty gripes are because she doesn't want to incinerate everyone around her or potentially herself. If she went to the mansion alone and knew the bad guys were there I guarantee you she would have just given the place the MOAB treatment.

But no instead Arthur insisted to come along and get half the people still in there to stick around, too. It's literally your fucking fault for voting the way you did that you are complaining about these things.

>>4175793
>>List
None of that compromises trust. It tells us she's not very strong as a hunter or she's holding back because she doesn't want to cause too much collateral, but it doesn't compromise trust.

>It's her responsibility too. She had YEARS to spill, but nope.
She's not had a reason to until Arthur started getting attacked by supernatural shit. I mean, she should have told us everything when we did, but I'm pretty sure that's Alucard's fault since that's his MO to a T.
>Que sending Soma into Dracula's castle with a fucking pocket knife and a "Good luck"

>Reasons to manipulate us? Sure, they were completely upfront about it too: they want us to be the Dark Lord so everyone here can survive the people who completely fucked all their lives up.
Still a reason to manipulate us into doing what they want. How will they react if we say "Fuck that" and do something else? We're just a means to an end to them like we were to the Dorin Organization.

>So, what, now Arthur can't act like a Dark Lord and handle situations on his own?
No. He is literally a fragile princess and until we git gud, he should have one of him allies with him at all times. Especially for situations like 5 Wargs, 1 Human.

>>deciding to not become the Dark Lord furthers Chaos' goal of having you become the dark lord
You don't have to become the dark lord, just someone's got to. If you're drawn into it because you're a candidate even if you don't want to be the dark lord, you're still furthering chaos' goals of producing a new dark lord. Chaos wins in the end.
Unless it gets stabbed in the eye with a spear.

>>4175816
>He is literally a fragile princess and until we git gud, he should have one of him allies with him at all times.
Is that why you voted against training to become a better fighter? You want to keep being a fragile princess?

>>4175840
As long as Arthur is wearing a skirt

he's a girl

>>4175808
Must I re-iterate that this is exactly how the situation would look from Arthur's pov? You're looking at this from a super-meta perspective. I can understand why she wouldn't do it, but it still doesn't excuse her for lying, which I notice you've neglected to mention. Wonder why that could be?
And:
>Ah yes, "let". Because she was the doorman that day at the building and just watched it waltz on up. Intentionally. With foreknowledge that it was going to happen.
Her job was to prevent us from ever waking up.
She failed.
Horribly.
But she can level buildings.

>>4175816
>She's not had a reason to until Arthur started getting attacked by supernatural shit. I mean, she should have told us everything when we did, but I'm pretty sure that's Alucard's fault since that's his MO to a T.
Still not a reasonable excuse. Just cus dad did it doesn't mean you get to do it for free.

>Still a reason to manipulate us into doing what they want. How will they react if we say "Fuck that" and do something else? We're just a means to an end to them like we were to the Dorin Organization.
I like how you ignored my splitting hairs comment. If we have the same goal we'll be aligned. If we don't we'll be opposed or neutral. Not like we'd stop trying to be the Dark Lord anyway, but just saying.

>No. He is literally a fragile princess and until we git gud, he should have one of him allies with him at all times. Especially for situations like 5 Wargs, 1 Human.
There was no reason to think that was gonna happen. None. And he still got out of it alive. You have absolutely no confidence in him, I am disappoint.

>the game is already rigged
Then whats the problem with taking the position and achieving your own goals? You can always leave if you don't wanna be the representative anymore.

>>4175843
Then he can rack up that BJ skill that's still dormant inside him.

>>4175840
No, I voted against it because I wanted to hang out with our friends one last time before Alucard murders everyone.

>>4175850
>Still not a reasonable excuse. Just cus dad did it doesn't mean you get to do it for free.
It's actually fairly reasonable. She also did get the courage to tell us, we just ignored her.

>If we have the same goal we'll be aligned. If we don't we'll be opposed or neutral.
This is so not true it's fucking hilarious.

>There was no reason to think that was gonna happen. None. And he still got out of it alive.
>"Hrm, this mysterious thing wants me to follow it, could it possibly be a trap? Nah, that'd never happen! Sophia, I don't need backup, nothing could ever go wrong.
This started with you claiming his thought through his actions. Walking into a room with a complete unknown while sending your ally off is not thinking it through.
Also, we got out of there because the GM was nice and gave us a post to react instead of making it a Dead End as planned and because I wrote in to cut through the floor.

>You can always leave if you don't wanna be the representative anymore.
You can't leave anymore then Dracula could. Soma had to enter the Chaos Realm and stab it in the eye before it fucked off, and even then it was still trying to turn him into it's representative.

>>4175850
>Must I re-iterate that this is exactly how the situation would look from Arthur's pov?
No it wouldn't you fucking mong. Once Arthur saw her level the mansion when he and dark friends were cruising away in the car it puts shit into perspective. Especially since Shirley admitted that the more OOMPH she used the less control she had.

Oh gee Shirley isn't omniscient nor omnipresent that means she cannot be trusted because she obviously let it happen on purpose. Shut the fuck up you soggy meatball.

>>4175884
>Shut the fuck up you soggy meatball.
Don't get your hopes up.

>>4175874
>It's actually fairly reasonable. She also did get the courage to tell us, we just ignored her.
We obviously have different levels of reasonability, so this argument is completely useless.

>This is so not true it's fucking hilarious.
nice explanation.
sure proved me wrong.

>"Hrm, this mysterious thing wants me to follow it, could it possibly be a trap? Nah, that'd never happen! Sophia, I don't need backup, nothing could ever go wrong.
>This started with you claiming his thought through his actions. Walking into a room with a complete unknown while sending your ally off is not thinking it through.
>Also, we got out of there because the GM was nice and gave us a post to react instead of making it a Dead End as planned and because I wrote in to cut through the floor.

>Hm, maybe I could recruit a new ally if I follow this anomaly. I don't want to let Grigori's trail go cold, so I'll send the shitty negotiator to deal with him while I go deal with this.
He thought it through. He just wasn't expecting the entity to be actively hostile towards him in particular. If it was a different entity that encounter probably would've gone differently. And the QM decided to let us react because there was obviously enough room for Arthur to survive the encounter, and he did.
My faith in Arthur is solid.

>drac couldn't leave
How do you know? You ask the guy about his working relationship with his patron deity?

>>4175884
>let it happen on purpose
wat r u talking about.
get ur headcanon straight.
i never implied or said that.

>>4175903
Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment. Or so they say.

>>4175943
Why would you ever set yourself up for disappointment.
Just never expect anything from anybody and you'll never be disappointed ever again.
Don't even expect anything from yourself. That's the worst kind of fuel for disappointment.

>>4175931
>We obviously have different levels of reasonability, so this argument is completely useless.
Like all arguments with you.

>nice explanation.
>sure proved me wrong.
You claim to be smart, you can figure it out.

>He just wasn't expecting the entity to be actively hostile towards him in particular.
This is why he didn't think it through and why it was a stupid action.

>And the QM decided to let us react because there was obviously enough room for Arthur to survive the encounter, and he did.
The QM is obviously a big softy, seeing as he gave in to the waifufags.

>How do you know? You ask the guy about his working relationship with his patron deity?
It was explored pretty well in Aria and Dawn.

>>4175949
Anon, people often think things through and come to incorrect conclusions. Arthur walking into that room was an example of such a thing happening. It doesn't mean he never thinks things through; just that he makes mistakes.

>>4175952
That's not what boatfag is arguing though.

>>4175952
>just that he makes mistakes.
Impossible. It's all part of Arthur's secret plan that even we anons don't know. He's going to escape from the quest and become a supreme being so that he won't even be beholden to the QM.

>>4175949
>Like all arguments with you.
No, you just have to start actually making logical arguments instead of emotional ones and I'll capitulate. If your argument doesn't explicitly shoot down anything I forward I'll just roast it.

>You claim to be smart, you can figure it out.
Now I don't think I've claimed this in this thread. I've just said that sinking the ship is an intelligent decision.
You and the other anon should get your headcanon about me straightened out before making your assertions.

>Expect everything to be an enemy
It's a learning experience. He didn't think the danger was that great. He thought it was a wall sprite or something.

>qm a softy
alright? it's good form. GJ QM, loving the quest.

>explored well
iirc alucard just said soma would end up getting possessed by dracula and that he should defeat chaos in the chaotic realm to stop that from happening.
This has literally nothing to do with Dracula deciding to leave his position that he sought out himself though.

>>4175954
What? You REALLY need to start actually reading what I post anon, it might help you in the future.

>>4175955
>we're all Arthur's puppets
wat a tweest

>>4175956
No seriously stop talking you thrice-baked and unglazed doughnut.

>>4175963
That's an interesting insult.
I don't think I'm a rock though.

>>4175956
>No, you just have to start actually making logical arguments instead of emotional ones and I'll capitulate. If your argument doesn't explicitly shoot down anything I forward I'll just roast it.
When I can call you a fucking retard and get the same or better response then actually giving you reasons, you're the problem.

>Now I don't think I've claimed this in this thread.
Plenty of threads to go back through that had people telling you that your idea was fucking stupid.

>It's a learning experience. He didn't think the danger was that great. He thought it was a wall sprite or something.
You don't need to expect everything to be an enemy, you just need to bring back up in case it is.

>iirc alucard just said soma would end up getting possessed by dracula and that he should defeat chaos in the chaotic realm to stop that from happening.
Soma had to become the dark lord, the representative of chaos to enter the chaos realm. He had to stab it, so it would stop trying to make him dracula. There is no walking away from it.
Hell, Dracula himself tried and was eventually pushed right back in.

>What? You REALLY need to start actually reading what I post anon, it might help you in the future.
I do read what you post, the inherent stupidity makes it hard to decipher.

>>4175981
>don't respond to me seriously, because you're not arguing properly.
I don't think I've gone ahead and insulted people or their intelligence during my pursuit to push my idea forth. Everything I've said has had a logical basis behind it that keeps it steady. I've yet to see much of the same from you however.

>all those people telling me the idea I stole was stupid
*sigh* Shouldn't that be evidence of my retardery rather than the opposite? And those people were horrible at attacking the idea, hell you people are still shit at attacking it.

>bring backup
Great, so he learned something. Doesn't mean he doesn't think his actions through.

>there is no walking away from being the dark lord.
>Soma walked away from it.
Just cus it tried to make him Dark Lord again doesn't cheapen this.

>Hell, Dracula himself tried and was eventually pushed right back in.
When did that happen?

>I do read what you post, the inherent stupidity makes it hard to decipher.
Is what I'm saying that hard to understand? Am I writing in English?

>>4176011
>Everything I've said has had a logical basis behind it that keeps it steady.
See. The exact same shit as trying to give you actual reasons. Also, I have yet to see this.

>Shouldn't that be evidence of my retardery rather than the opposite? And those people were horrible at attacking the idea, hell you people are still shit at attacking it.
No. Also, no use attacking the idea when you claim any reason to the opposite isn't good enough.

>Doesn't mean he doesn't think his actions through.
He didn't think his actions through.

>Just cus it tried to make him Dark Lord again doesn't cheapen this.
Okay, again. Soma had to GO TO THE CHAOS REALM AND KILL THE MANIFESTATION OF CHAOS TO WALK AWAY.
He literally had to kill anti-god just to get it to kind of, but not really leave him alone. What aren't you understanding?

>When did that happen?
Lisa.

>Is what I'm saying that hard to understand? Am I writing in English?
ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT!?

Oh my god, will you two just shut up and resolve your grievances by voting when the time comes? You have irreconcilable goals and views on the quest's past, present, and future! No amount of argument is going to resolve this!

>>4176045
How dare you come into this thread and suggest something reasonable.

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>>4176045

>>4176025
>all this walling
What a nice conversation partner you are. Able to make concessions to come to reasonable conclusions!

>He literally had to kill anti-god just to get it to kind of, but not really leave him alone. What aren't you understanding?
Chaos can't die. It let Soma win. That's literally the only explanation for that encounter.

>Lisa.
Give charity to the retard and explain.

>do I?
Do you?

>>4176045
>resolve grievances
well he started it. all you gotta do is make sense. its the bare minimum.

>>4176057
>What a nice conversation partner you are. Able to make concessions to come to reasonable conclusions!
I'm glad you understand how the entire thread has felt these past few threads concerning you and the boat thing.

>Chaos can't die. It let Soma win. That's literally the only explanation for that encounter.
If it let Soma win, then Soma didn't walk away from it. He's just playing into Chaos' shit.

>Give charity to the retard and explain.
Lisa was Alucard's mom. Dracula met her and kind of mellowed out and was regaining his humanity and shit. Then they called her a witch and burned her at the stake, causing the whole "Kill Humanity" shit.

>Do you?
DO YOU?

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>>4176057
>Give charity to the retard and explain.

>one of the two instances of dracula having a proper character arc
>doesn't know it

>>4176092
>I'm glad you understand how the entire thread has felt these past few threads concerning you and the boat thing.
Make an actual argument that addresses all my points and completely refutes them utterly.
That's all anyone has had to do.
Not one person has done this.
So it's stayed.

>chaos always has an ulterior motive, even when it makes absolutely no sense
Ok dude, you hate Chaos I get it.

>>4176098
Hold up, it was Chaos' fault Lisa got killed? How do you know he went to chaos and tried to stop being the Dark Lord but got shot down so hard it manipulated his wife into getting killed? Why would he hate humanity and continue being the representative of the being that orchestrated his love's death? I know I call Dracula a retard but as an alchemist he's actually very intelligent, I doubt he'd overlook such a possibility in his rage for justice.

>>4176111
>Make an actual argument that addresses all my points and completely refutes them utterly.
>That's all anyone has had to do.
>Not one person has done this.
>So it's stayed.
Yes, we have tried this. Multiple times over multiple threads. Your response is "It's not good enough."

>Ok dude, you hate Chaos I get it.
I like Chaos, she's adorable. I also recognize though, that the thing is anti-god and manipulating us into doing what it wants.
As long as we remember that, it's fine.

>Hold up, it was Chaos' fault Lisa got killed? How do you know he went to chaos and tried to stop being the Dark Lord but got shot down so hard it manipulated his wife into getting killed? Why would he hate humanity and continue being the representative of the being that orchestrated his love's death? I know I call Dracula a retard but as an alchemist he's actually very intelligent, I doubt he'd overlook such a possibility in his rage for justice.
I don't think it was directly, however he was started to slip away from being the representative of chaos and then circumstances happened that just happened to cause him to redouble his efforts toward chaos' goal.
Though this also starts to enter fan theory territory.

>>4176135
>Yes, we have tried this. Multiple times over multiple threads. Your response is "It's not good enough."
Because it isn't you haven't even posted anything supporting the alternative method as superior besides being able to land safely. Which my plan covers decently enough.

>even though chaos has said she doesn't like doormats, and in an alternate universe let her best bet at becoming Dark Lord walk away from the position because he passed your test, it's always manipulating everything to its own ends.
Everyone wants what they desire to come to fruition, but Chaos is a firm free will believer. That she was created as a side-effect of a universe where free will is important is huge. God didn't like it so it locked it away, then several billion years later he made the exact same mistake again. He's just a dumbass who doesn't know what he wants.

>Chaos might've manipulated him into being the dark lord.
Nah imma have to have heavy doubt to straight up denial here. If Chaos was really behind the events Dracula would've orchestrated vengeance instead of focusing his ire on god and humanity. The dude is insanely smart and has a long time to himself to think these things through.

>>4176185
>Because it isn't you haven't even posted anything supporting the alternative method as superior besides being able to land safely. Which my plan covers decently enough.
>All this walling.

>Everyone wants what they desire to come to fruition, but Chaos is a firm free will believer. That she was created as a side-effect of a universe where free will is important is huge. God didn't like it so it locked it away, then several billion years later he made the exact same mistake again. He's just a dumbass who doesn't know what he wants.
You're making alot of assumptions about the anti-god, man.

>>Chaos might've manipulated him into being the dark lord.
Chaos never manipulated him into being the Dark Lord. He chose that himself when he used the stones, took what's his face soul and became The Dracula.
Chaos may have nudged things to push him back though, when he was slipping away.

>>4176195
>All this walling.
That ain't walling. That's an invitation to prove me wrong.
That you didn't is super telling.

>assumptions
Nah, I'm just re-iterating what's already been said by QM and in quest.

>Chaos may have nudged things to push him back though, when he was slipping away.
Yeah, this is what I meant. It's just not possible. Dracula absolutely would've tried to completely obliterate Chaos if this was the case. He even has an intimate connection with the entity, giving him an easy way to destroy it.
I'm sure the master alchemist with centuries of experience could've come up with something to defeat it.
Absolutely positive.
There's no way Chaos was involved in the events that killed Lisa. Maybe tangentially by Dracula being the Dark Lord, but that's all.

>>4176185
It's almost as if that Chaos thing was a half-baked idea that needed a lot more fucking time on the drawing board before it was hamfisted into the series. You can't use it to explain things retroactively because the prior games didn't need a macguffin like that. Aria didn't even need it. Why did we need there to be some weird quasi-omnipotent force to explain Dracula's powers? Or why Soma was turning into an edgelord? If you replaced Chaos with Dracula's soul in Aria the story wouldn't change at all and it would make more sense.

>"How does the castle work? Dracula's soul is in it like a giant phylactery."
>"Why is Soma turning into a fuckboi? Dracula's soul is literally changing him mentally and physically to suit the Dark Lord."
>"Why can Soma command these monster souls after he slaps the shit out of them? They recognize Dracula's soul as he murders them and they rightfully go back to serving it."

Chaos is a total letdown in canon.

>>4176204
>That ain't walling. That's an invitation to prove me wrong.
>That you didn't is super telling.
And I'm saying we have for two threads, all you do is claim we haven't and wall. This is why I said I get the same response by calling you retarded.

>Nah, I'm just re-iterating what's already been said by QM and in quest.
The QM and Chaos may be lying. Remember, you don't have to assume everything is an enemy, but bring back up in case it is.

>Stuff
Even if it wasn't directly involved, it still furthered Chaos' goals.

>>4176232
>but we have.
I don't really feel like going over the archives but this is wrong. The only posts I remember addressing this said that docking would be more distracting than sinking (???????) and that nobody on Arthur's team knows how to drive a boat properly so he should just sail in safely. Just steal the navigator I said. *Crickets*

This whole post is covered in tinfoil. It's too shiny anon, hold back a little.

Thankfully, it seemed that you were correct in the assumption that the problems that kept arising on the ship had been resolved, after a frankly uncomfortable meeting between your entire group and some rather tense introductions everyone decided it would be better if they went their own ways and returned to their rooms to recuperate from the days events, Sophia with her new pet was more reluctant to leave, but eventually agreed to cut her solitary tea party short. You thought that the door would burst when Fenrir tried to force his way through it, but Sophia was quick to intervene, tracing a complex pattern on the wolf monster's forehead with a sort of black ink allowing it to sort of simply phase through the parts of the wall it would otherwise smash. After that though, the night was simply quiet. There were no bumps in the night and no screams of primal terror echoing through the halls.

Eventually, you were left alone in your cabin with only Alura and Effi remaining. Though you would've liked to have conversed more with your allies, you were struck by a terrible wave of exhaustion. When the excitement of the day had finally died down, it seems the adrenaline you had effectively been running off of for the entire day died down with it. It was all you could do to bid Alura a good night and to inform Effi to make herself at home before hurrying to bed. You wonder momentarily where Holly had disappeared off to, considering she apparently wasn't staying with Sophia anymore. However, before you could ask exhaustion caused you to drop the question in favour of sleep.

Unfortunately, your dream consisted merely of falling through an eternal void of darkness, with no potential to reach Dracula or Chaos presented to you in the dream world, you simply relaxed and let time pass you by. Eventually, you drifted off from the world within your dream and the rest of your time spent sleeping passed by as it normally would.

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
October 13th - Sunday 10:35AM

You had woken quite a bit later than you usually would. It speaks volumes of the sheer exhaustion you suffered from. So much had occured in just a single day that it was something of a struggle to recall all of it. You get up from bed half clothed in a pair of long johns before immediately realizing that you aren't quite alone in the room. Lounging on a large flower in the corner of the room is Alura, watching you silently.

There's an awkward exchange of stares as you silently stare back at her. "So... how long have you been there watching me sleep, Alura?" It's quite the violation of privacy, but at this point you aren't really bothered anymore. Alura has healed you once before and has likely seen you at least as unclothed as you currently are, so there's no real harm... you think?

"A little under thirteen hours. You are quite the restless sleeper, you know. I could make you some powerful anesthetic to keep you from thrashing about so much, if you like." You can't really fault her for looking over you though. Last time you slept you did end up vanishing for multiple days.

Even so, the whole situation could quickly become embarrassing "It's not that I don't appreciate your... service as a guard, but would you mind giving me some privacy for a moment? I do need to change back into my clothing." With a quick shrug, the petals around Alura curl up around her and she disappears within the large plant she's lounging on. Hopefully she's actually giving you privacy and not simply looking upon you while you can't determine if she is or not. In the end though, you shrug it off and change back into the suit that Alura created for you. As you finally finish getting dressed. "I'm going to go check on Effi and Holly, you're more than welcome to come with me, Alura." There's no response save for a light breathing within the mass of plant she buried herself in. Could she be... asleep? You aren't even sure if she really needs to sleep, but you don't feel like risking waking her just to ask a question if she truly has gone to sleep. Instead, you simply leave your bedroom and look for the other people that ought to be sleeping in this cabin

As you walk out of your room, you immediately spot Effi, curled up on one of the sofas, wrapped in all sorts of different blankets that she apparently spent time collecting from all around the room. The sofa she's sleeping on looks more like a sort of cushion and blanket nest than it does an actual bed.

Upon your entering the room, the sleeping Doppelganger almost immediately stirs from her slumber. If you had to guess, you would say that she almost sensed your entering the room. Well, or she was simply pretending to be asleep. She does rise from her slumber with an ease you wouldn't have expected from a girl so young. "H-hello, Mr. Arthur.... I mean... Lord Arthur!" The girl immediately botches her greeting, isn't she supposed to be a master at this? It seems more and more likely that her deception skills are bolstered somehow when she actually transforms, because as she currently is, she wouldn't have much luck tricking even a child. Though you don't really care about the title anyway. While Sophia might insist, you aren't about to demand your subordinates refer to you only by a formal title, especially not one so young as Effi.

"It's fine, Effi. I don't really mind whether you use that title or not. So feel free to use whatever is more natural to you." You aren't about to scold a child for making a mistake. Even one so potentially deadly as Effi is.

"Huh? Really? Why? Aren't you going to demand the worship and praise of your followers while making them kneel before you?" The girl's question is innocent, but you have absolutely no idea where she seems to have gotten these ideas about you from.

"Of course not! I'm not about to let this power inflate my ego like that!" You deny Effi's question quite vividly, and in the process of your rebuttal, she flinches and shrinks back, looking almost afraid of you. You cease your protests at her idea the moment you see her react in such a manner though. "My apologies, Effi. It wasn't my intent to scare you like that, how about we go and get some breakfast? Consider it as an apology for going over the top." As you mention breakfast, you feel some stirring in your inner pocket, though Mistral doesn't actually come out. "First though..."

You poke your head into the empty room in a bid to find Holly. Seems she hasn't simply decided to sleep the day away either. You find yourself hoping that Sophia hasn't reneged on your agreement and taken her to be put through more of her training, but you quickly discount the possibility. Sophia doesn't seem like somebody who would break her word so easily like that. You conclude it's likely that she simply needs to feed, and such a thing might be simpler were you not around for it.

"Breakfast? Like... actual human food?" Effi seems almost as enthralled by the opportunity to eat then Mistral did. "I've only ever really eaten what I could find in the woodland. At best I could burn it on the fire to cook it, I tried to stay away from the places human lived."

Well, Effi seems to be all for the idea, and it seems like Alura and Holly are busy and off doing their own things, respectively, so it looks as if you'll be visiting a café of some sort alone with your newest ally. You suppose you'll have to order for both of you, in the end you decide on

>Ordering something light, two bowls of cereal should do.
>Ordering something a little heavier, breakfast waffles for the both of you.
>Ordering something very heavy and going for a full English breakfast for the both of you.
>Forgoing ordering any sort of traditional breakfast entirely, and simply seeking out a cake shop or some other store dealing in confectionery.
>Write-in...

I was supposed to make this an Interlude without choices, but it ended up getting fairly long and there wasn't a conclusion in sight.
I also don't like taking player agency away from you guys too much.
So instead I've decided to structure the updates like this, where there will be a secondary vote determining the outcome of the choices made in the prior vote.

>>4176248
Dude, I remember posts telling you that there are logistic problems, problems with Alura actually making a workable boat, posts telling you that if we sink the boat the evidence won't be destroyed and can be recovered, that if we destroy the boat it won't prevent them from tracking us. (Which was proven right.), and other stuff I can't remember.
Your response, every time, is "That isn't good enough."
But then, no matter how much I try to explain, you'll just claim it's not good enough and continue to wall and since we're not actually talking about anything Castlevania anymore, have fun with that.

>>4176262
>>Ordering something a little heavier, breakfast waffles for the both of you.
>>Write-in...
Plus cake.

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>>4176270
>I also don't like taking player agency away from you guys too much.
I don't pay you to give me choices, dammit.

>>4176262
>Ordering something a little heavier, breakfast waffles for the both of you.
Fuck sausage and eggs and shit, waffles are supreme. But none of that basic bitch maple syrup. Gotta get some boysenberry on those motherfuckers.

>>4176262
Supporting: >>4176293

>things I've already laid bare and completely covered.
no
reasonable
response

>>4176262
>>Ordering something very heavy and going for a full English breakfast for the both of you.

>>4176318
>Still continuing to wall and claim it's not good enough
Fucking
Retard

>>4176325
Twenty bucks says he's a she and her name is Karen.

>>4176325
>he can't even trawl the archives to btfo me.
heh

>>4176328
Oh?

>>4176330
Why should I put in effort when I get the same response by calling you retarded?

>>4176262
>Ordering something very heavy and going for a full English breakfast for the both of you.

>>4176337
Because you're insane.
You've done it so far, might as well take the complete dive.

>>4176355
I've already spoonfed you once tonight. You've got to do some work yourself, boatfag.

>>4176374
>do some work yourself
>I haven't been vehemently defending my sinking ship even when it's underwater
I think you're the one with homework floatfag.

>>4176387
Saying everything isn't good enough and being a wall doesn't count as a defense and again, I'm not putting in effort just for more of that. I'll just call you a fucking retard more.

>floatfag
Goddamn, you can't even come up with an original nickname. That is fucking pathetic.

>>4176387
Corpses float. Therefore when you try to sink the boat the dead bodies will provide enough lift to float the boat. Thus we can conclude that sinking the ship is just a really convoluted plan to get a ghost ship. And as we all know ghost ships aren't cool unless populated by skeleton pirates. From this we can conclude that you want a really lame haunted cruise when it isn't even in season for Halloween decorations.

Shit taste.

>>4176408
What if we attach a magnet to the front of the boat before we sink it, that way it's attracted to the metal under the ground and will get pulled against the corpse lift?