>>4213690
>from prior thread, still waiting on votes.

Henry finished his meal and headed out, not bothering to leave any coins on the table considering William had shucked him out of half a god damned gold piece. He hoped the penny pinching bastard choked on them.

+++++++++++++++

Henry laid out all the evidence he’d acquired in front of Marko in a nicely organized pile. Morgan had immediately sent him upstairs once he’d realized the implications of what Henry had found. Marko quickly scanned over the documents, occasionally looking up at Henry while doing so. Eventually he sat the papers aside and slumped into his chair.

“I knew this would come back to bite us.” Marko said

“Yeah, you think?” Henry asked.

“The top brass figured the Church would take most of the heat which was entirely acceptable. Whoever this is must’ve realized this was our operation entirely. We pretty much convinced the Church to act.” Marko explained.

“What?” Henry asked.

“We had the church gas the cavern to remove competition and potential enemies. The necromancers there had gotten too organized, they were a threat to our control of the coast.” Marko continued. “Especially so close to Magica.”

“Do you have any idea who this could be?” Henry asked.

“We confirmed the deaths of all of the leadership in there, so it has to be either one of their family members, or a random straggler. I’m going to start figuring that mess out and I’ll be contacting the Index as well to try and see if we can figure this out. It’ll take a few days at the very least to get some names. Maybe even longer.” Marko explained. “We might even have to ally with the Church again. Won’t be the best position for us.”

“Great.” Henry said.

“However, I imagine we’ll be getting angelic support if our latest project continues to yield fruit. The Angel of Midnight has been… more receptive to our methods than the High Seraph had been.” Marko continued.

“Do tell.” Henry said.

“I assume you’re qualified to know this. But the Angel of Midnight has confided with the Index that if we can prove we’re better stewards for humanity then her flights may side with us. Seems there is going to be a power struggle soon.” Marko explained, using hushed breaths. “If we can beat the church to the punch here, stop this now before they can, then that’ll be all the proof we’d need.”

“Ah…” Henry said, finally realizing why he’d been told.”

Decisions:
1. *ask questions* (Write in) (you can also use this to make demands of Marko and the Cult to help you)
2. *head back outside*
3. (write in)

>>4213691
>2. *head back outside*
>3. (write in)
We'll go look at the patients now, see if he feels guilty about what he's done, see if he's trying to help them or some shit.

>>4213695
are you saying you want to have Marko tour the hospital and gauge his reaction?

>>4213721
...
Copied the wrong thing
We'll go see the patients, see if we can determine hoe they got infected.

>>4213739
...
How*

>>4213739
>>4213742
alright then

>>4213691
>>4213691
Henry ended the meeting at that, he had nothing that Marko could help with for the time being, though the information the man had provided had been quite interesting. The idea of a schism in the church was honestly terrifying. The Lic’toron archives had contained accounts of individual angels fighting on occasion, but there were no recent accounts, and there had never been a schism where one of the Seraphs had tried to break away, at least not written in any written records.

Henry headed back to HQ to find that Larry was cheerfully telling stories to the others while having lunch with Ophelia. Charles noticed Henry and shied away from the table. Johnny barely even bothered registering that Henry was there.

From what Henry could tell, the two had been goofing off all day, fantastic.

Decisions:
1. *say something* (write in)
2. *smack Ophelia and Larry’s heads together, then drag them with you to the hospital*
3. *bring Charles with you, at least he’s responsible*
4. *bring Johnny, he’s old faithful after all*
5. *bring Xavier, the man’s been contained in the basement all day. Now that midday is over, he might actually be able to go outside.*
6. *write in*

>>4213760
>Charles noticed Henry and shied away from the table
The fuck is going on here.
3. *bring Charles with you, and ophelia.
Have Johnny train Larry some

>>4213837
writing

>>4213760
Henry glanced over at Larry and Ophelia, then to Charles. The boy halfheartedly shrugged and shook his head. Henry would have to figure out what the heck was going on, since Larry and Ophelia seemed fairly happy.

Henry sighed.

“We’re heading over to Magica General Hospital now, I want to get a grip on how bad things are, and if we can reverse this disease now that we know it’s a curse. Not only that but getting this thing under control would ensure that the city can get back to normal more quickly.” Henry said.

“Things were fine out on the streets, real quiet.” Larry said.

“That’s actually bad, means people are too scared to come out.” Charles said.

“Only a bit more time and people start rioting.” Henry said. Only so long till people would start going hungry unless food got brought in. With the quarantine, the church had to do it.

“So you want me to come?” Larry asked.

“No I want you to get some more lessons in with Johnny.” Henry said.

Henry smiled smugly when Larry tensed up. The skeleton had put the lazy bastard through the wringer before and it seemed Larry still remembered.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

“So you went out on a fucking picnic?” Henry asked.

“We didn’t each lunch, just breakfast, and we went out into the countryside!” Ophelia said. “It was so nice to see the sunrise this morning too!”

>>4213902
“Yeah… you two sure have gotten… close.” Charles said.

“I can’t believe I can actually stand his company, its… he’s not annoying like Henry is.” Ophelia said.

“Oh jee, thanks.” Henry scoffed.

“Oh you’ll be fine. I barely even verbally wounded you.” Ophelia replied.

“So you wasted all day seeing the sights?” Charles asked, mildly annoyed.

“Well, we couldn’t see much of the city, even with that Cult Badge Larry managed to get.”

“So how’d he do that.” Henry asked.

“Well he spoke with a couple of the people inside the building, I didn’t really pay attention.” Ophelia explained. “I think he said it was for official business and that you had ordered it.”

“Oh… is that so…” Henry said, silently fuming.

He considered having a friendly chat with Larry when he got back.

The hospital loomed over the nearby buildings, the structure was a good six stories tall, and had been expanded on ever since it had originally been built. From what Henry could see, the place was buzzing with activity. As they drew closer, Henry realized why. The entire outer courtyard was a medical station of sorts. All sorts of Church personnel, healers, Cathars, even priests, buzzed about. Henry noticed that the Cathar’s were far more competent looking than the ones that had been patrolling around the city. Perhaps they were from Avignon? The standards over there were much higher.

Secondly, Henry noticed that the entire courtyard had been hooked up with Cult of Progress pylons and a whole host of metal light runes. Henry marveled at the things, wondering just how much they’d cost. Stone was preferred both due to its durability but also due to its relative low cost. While the metal was far less bulky, it was far more expensive.

Ophelia began explaining how the things could be maneuvered and broken down with ease and how overall they were actually more cost effective to deploy. Henry pretended to pay attention.

“Rosa is here, isn’t she? Didn’t she get sent out here during the first wave?” Charles asked, looking around, all the people packed so close made him nervous.

Decisions:
1. *head further into the hospital, try to find someone in administration*
2. *try to find a Cathar who seems like he’d be talkative. To get more info*
3. *try to find Rosa, you figure she’d be around here.*
4. (write in)

>>4213905
>“Rosa is here, isn’t she? Didn’t she get sent out here during the first wave?”
Did Henry know this?
If so
>3. *try to find Rosa, you figure she’d be around here.*
If not
>4. (write in)
"Rosa's here?!"
>*try to find Rosa, you figure she’d be around here.*

>>4213917
writing

>>4215724
Sorry, couldn't remember if Henry knew IC that Rosa was here.

>decided to have it so Henry just forgot that she was here with everything else going on.

>>4213905
“Isn’t Rosa here?” Charles asked, trying to get his bearings in the overwhelming throng of people. Most of whom were tending to patients who seemed to be gagged and bound, or were otherwise convulsing.

“What?” Henry asked.

“She shipped out here around a week and a half back, I think.” Charles said. “You were off on that business trip with Sophie.”

“Oh shit, that’s where she was!?” Henry asked, realization dawning on him.

“Wow, considering you love her you really did a good job keeping track of her… where are you going?” Ophelia asked.

Henry had already run off ahead, uncharacteristically concerned.

“Henry?” Charles asked, rushing after him.

“I’m fine, just… I’m fine.” Henry said, realizing panicking wouldn’t do him any good.

“I’m worried about her.” Charles said.

“Yeah.” Henry said.

“She’s probably fine, she’s highly trained isn’t she?” Ophelia asked.

The group headed inside, Henry found the front desk busy as all hell. He needed to find Rosa, she was in here somewhere.

Decisions:
1. *flash your Nail badge to get someone’s attention*
2. *try to find her yourself, in a massive six story building*
3. *try to see if you can swipe some files off the front desk without anyone noticing, you might be able to get a list of employee names if you’re lucky*
4. (write in)

>>4215765
>4. (write in)
Just fucking ask the receptionist.
If we flash the nail badge all is gonna go to shit sooner.

>>4215767
she' seems to be incredibly busy, you're gonna need to flash the badge or roll very well for charisma. Which will you do?

>>4215784
HMMM
Roll for charisma, otherwise we'll just go looking for her. And if someone confronts us we just say we'r a friend of Rosa, and then they'll take us to her so they can berate her for having people come to her work.

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>4215784
>>4215788

>>4215788
roll 2d100, better roll high

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>4215792

>>4215791
>>4215793
pass, writing

>>4215765
Henry strode up to the front desk, and managed to get one of the busy employee’s attention. As Charles and Ophelia watched, the man managed to wrap the woman he was speaking to around his little finger, and by the time he had finished she was giggling at his jokes and he managed to walk away with everything he needed. The woman didn’t even seem upset that Henry was there for someone else.

“Still got it.” Henry said, cheerfully.

“What?” Charles asked.

“Not his dignity.” Ophelia muttered.

“The Sister Superior is on the third floor… apparently she got field promoted.” Henry said. “I assume that things went very fucking well the first few days here.”

“Well isn’t that nice.” Ophelia said. “So she’s more important now?”

“It means that things might’ve gone bad.” Charles said.

“We’ll need to hear it from her.

+++++++

>>4215916
Henry was pointed down a long corridor, and using his tried and true method of pretending to not actually be trespassing, he managed to avoid scrutiny from any of the Cathar’s in the hallways. The screams and shrieks from inside some of the rooms did not really help with his concern for Rosa’s safety.

The third floor was about the same, but part of it had been converted into an impromptu barracks for the workers and Cathars. There were even food areas. It seemed Henry had caught Rosa on break. He continued to search around for a while, before being pointed to a small room that had at one point held a patient but now served as private quarters. With her promotion it seemed Rosa qualified for better living conditions.

Henry knocked on the door a couple of times.

“What happened?!” Rosa said, immediately opening the door in an utter panic.

Henry immediately had an idea of what the woman had gone through. She had massive bags under her eyes, eyes which were more tired than Henry had seen in a damned long time. Her hair was unkempt and filthy, even worse than some of the other staff he’d seen. It looked like she hadn’t slept in days, and her hands were shaking even though it seemed she was going to great effort to hide it. In short the woman looked like a nervous wreck, like she’d been in actual combat for a prolonged period of time.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?!” She stammered out, “You’re not supposed to be up here, it’s dangerous for civilians to –“

“I think she’s lost it Henry.” Ophelia said.

“H-henry?” Rosa asked, looking up at the man’s face.

“Hey, I think we should talk.” Henry said.

“Please come in.” Rosa said, fumbling with the door before opening it.

Henry noted that the room was about as clean as could be expected. Henry half expected to see flasks of alcohol tucked under her bed but amazingly it seemed like she was clean of that. Henry had no idea how she’d managed. He turned to tell Ophelia to stay out but Charles was already leading the woman away. Henry smiled and made a note to pick up some candy or something for Charles to thank him.

As soon as the door was closed Rosa slowly staggered into the bunk bed that she’d been sleeping in. From what Henry could tell there hadn’t been anyone sleeping above her in some time, based on how the upper bunk was still made.

Rosa sat up, her white robes somehow cleaner than her face was. She must have taken great care to keep them clean throughout all this, Henry wondered just how much blood had been split in this building over the past few days.

He noticed the woman was shivering, looking up at him occasionally. Desperately trying to hold herself together. Henry wondered if she was waiting for permission to finally break down. She must’ve had to put on a heroic face outside of this room. For at least two weeks now.

>(write in)

>>4215918
>>(write in)
Go give her a damn hug

>>4215918
>(write in)
hug
hug
hug

>>4216571
>>4215926

>>4215918
Henry slowly walked over to the woman, being careful not to move too quickly or startle her. The woman had brought her knees up to her head and was shivering slightly. Henry slowly sat down next to her and ran his fingers through her hair before pulling the woman into a warm hug. God damn he’d missed her, and she needed him right now.

Rosa let out a small squeak before slowly stretching her legs out and tightly hugging Henry back, burying her face in his chest. The woman then began to sob, quietly, so the noise wouldn’t alert anyone outside the room.

“We lost so many people Henry, not just patients.” Rosa said, sobbing. “I did what I could but we weren’t ready… it was like after the factory blew up. How did she manage Henry, oh god how did she manage?”

“Who?” Henry asked.

“My teacher… Matron Wilma, she used to run this hospital when I trained here. She t-taught me …” Rosa said, still choking back sobs.

“I’m here now Rosa, its okay.” Henry said.

“Thank god the church sent help, we… we actually stand a chance now Henry… so many people…” Rosa continued.

“Yeah, I know.” Henry said.

“Oh god, what if I could’ve saved more people!?” Rosa asked… “I had to make so many… choices… I have to live with them all Henry.” Rosa continued, still sobbing.

“I know how it feels.” Henry said.

“How could you!?” Rosa asked.

Henry sighed and just pulled the woman in tighter. This was awful.

>(write in)

>>4218326
>>(write in)
Stay there and let her cry herself out.

>>4220603
writing

>>4218326
Henry rocked back in forth with Rosa in her arms. The woman’s sobs weakened and eventually faded away over the proceeding moments. From what Henry could tell, she was close to passing out. She’d been running on adrenaline, fear, and pure momentum. The fear wasn’t even for herself, it was for the people in her care. Henry had no idea how she could do this to herself for people who’d either die or never care. He didn’t understand why she was putting herself in such risk for so little reward, but he still cared for her.

“Henry, why are you here?” Rosa finally asked.

“Because I was in town, and I realized you were here, so I came to make sure you were okay. I would’ve come sooner had I know.” Henry said.

“No, no I would’ve rather you not have come sooner, we’ve only gotten things under control these past couple of days.” Rosa said.

Decisions:
1. “How’ve you managed to get things stable?”
2. “I’m trying to stop the person who caused all this”
3. “I’m working for the Cult right now, they want this stopped as much as the church does.”
4. “I think you need a bath.”
5. (write in)

>>4220696
>5. (write in)
I've been hired to stop this, plague.
Found out it's curse based.

>>4220699
writing

>>4220696
“I’ve been hired to stop this plague.” Henry said simply. “Me and the others are all in town, except Alice and the children.” Henry said.

“The church is hiring outsiders now? Good we need the help.” Rosa said, breathing easier and noticeably relaxing. “Maybe we can finally get things under control.”

“Well I’ve determined during my investigation it was curseborne.” Henry said.

Rosa’s expression suddenly went blank, like her brain was a broken rune. She stared at the floor for a bit trying to process what Henry had just said.

“Could you repeat that please?” Rosa asked, the faux sweetness in her voice filling Henry with dread.

“Its curseborne, and we’re tracking down the person responsib-“ Henry said, wincing as Rosa’s nails dug into his arms.

“THIS WAS CAUSED BY SOMEONE?!” Rosa yelled, suddenly furious beyond all reasonable measure.

“Well yea-“

“GOD FUCKING DAMN IT I AM GOING TO STAB THEIR GOD DAMNED EYES OUT WHEN I CATCH THEM!” Rosa said, suddenly full of life once more.

Henry stood aghast at the woman’s reaction. He’d never ONCE heard the woman curse before during his months knowing here. Even when her own life had been in peril and things had been stressful she’d never gotten angry, but now she was more furious than Henry had ever seen a person.

Decisions:
1. *hug the woman again so she doesn’t’ run off*
2. “Well yeah, we do plan to kill them.” Henry said.
3. “Would you like to help us?”
4. “I… uh… got to go…”
5. (write in)

>>4220760
>5. (write in)
"Apparently, something the church and the cult wish never happened, had a survivor. And that survivor is trying to cause the church and cult to fight."

>>4220824
gonna post tomorrow, voting remains open

>>4220824
Supporting

>>4221096
>>4220824
writing, early for once

>>4220760
“Well, it seems there was a survivor of the Nirdec Caverns attack.” Henry said. “Neither the cult nor the church expected anyone to be able to survive, and I suppose neither expected any survivors would do anything about it. Now the survivor is trying to sour relations between the cult and the church, get them to fight and maybe even attack each other.” Henry explained.

“It’s a good thing that corpse market was destroyed, just wish they could’ve done a proper job.” Rosa said. “From what I heard the angels wouldn’t go near that mountain range for some reason so they had no aerial support to catch runners. I figure that’s why some slipped through the cordon.” Rosa explained.

“There were a lot of people in that cavern Rosa, not just Necromancers.”

“They still decided of their own free will to associate with them, live nearby them. You can’t blame the church when it decides to remove them all. You can’t just pick and choose the right people from a population like that, sadly.” Rosa said, sighing.

“Well we have a possibly insane survivor now stirring up shit, causing people to get sick or go insane from curses.”

“Well I knew it was spellborne but I really hoped nobody had caused it… I guess I was being naïve, again. Agatha even told me that to my face yesterday.” Rosa said, cupping her face into her hands.

“Agatha… the inquisitor?” Henry asked.

“She was here yesterday, trying to convince me of some harebrained scheme she’d cooked up. I had no time nor want to speak with her so she left in a huff. I worry for her sometimes even if she acts like she does.” Rosa explained.

Decisions:
1. “So what was her scheme?”
2. “The angels really wouldn’t attack the caverns?”
3. “I think you need a bit of a break, you’re going to go nuts at this rate.”
4. “I’m going to make sure you rest if I have to drag you kicking and screaming out of this hospital. I’m not having you drop dead from overwork.”
5. “I’m just happy you’re okay Rosa.”
6. “I think I’m going to need your help, Rosa. You know how banged up I get when I work.”
7. (write in)

>>4221535
>5. “I’m just happy you’re okay Rosa.”
>1. “So what was her scheme?”
>2. “The angels really wouldn’t attack the caverns?”
>7. (write in)
"While I'm here working, do you want some help?"

>>4221535

>>4221694
Suppin'

>>4221694
>>4222096
writing soon

>>4221535
“I’m just happy you’re okay Rosa.” Henry said.

“Thanks.” Rosa said, softly. She was resting her head on his shoulder, and would soon be asleep from the look of things.

“So what was her scheme?” Henry asked.

“Something about getting the Cult out of the city. Driving them off somehow. I think she’s finally lost it Henry. I heard she was removed from her position a few days ago. I want to help her but I do not know how. I still consider her my sister… my actual sister, if you can believe that. She cared for me when I worked here, she cared for a lot of us. We all saw Matron Wilma as our mother but she was like my older sister.” Rosa explained.

“The sister superior?” Henry asked.

“At the time.” Rosa replied, wrapping and arm around Henry and sighing contentedly.

“Why wouldn’t the angels attack the cavern?” Henry asked.

“They don’t like confined spaces outside of their roosts. I figure that’s the reason why.” Rosa said. “They can’t fly inside of a cavern I guess?”

“Maybe it’s because they’ve been growing weaker?” Henry said, phrasing it as a question rather than a statement of fact.

“What?!” Rosa asked.

“Maybe they worried they would take losses, too many to simply cover up.” Henry said, taking a conspiratorial tone.

“Henry, you must NEVER say that in public.” Rosa said, suddenly worried. “What would people say?!”

>>4223138
“I dunno, I figure they’d respect me for being so honest!” Henry said. He winced as he felt Rosa’s nails digging into his right arm.

“Oh, lovely.” Rosa said, glaring at him.

“While I’m working here, do you want any help?” Henry asked, trying to defuse the situation.

“Oh sure, I have plenty of bedpans for you to empty, and while you’re at it we have medical waste that needs to be burned.” Rosa said.

“Uh… on second thought.” Henry said.

“Honestly, I barely have any work these days. I’m all but told to just pack up and leave already. I get the feeling that now things are calm I can take a few days off. I want to find who’s doing this and put a stop to everything. Please Henry.” Rosa said.

Decisions:
1. *allow Rosa to join the party.*
2. *do not allow her to join*
3. (write in)

>>4223139
>3. (write in)
"Look, the cult hired me to stop the plague. If you're okay with this, I don't see why not."
We'll go before she's ready and tell the others to NEVER MENTION WE'RE IN WITH THE CULT LIKE WE ARE We're just mercenaries on retainer.

>>4223205
Suppin'

>>4223451
>>4223205
writing

>>4223139
“Look, the cult hired me to stop the plague. If you’re okay with this, I don’t see why not.” Henry said, already expecting a fierce response.

“So they must’ve liked the work you did…” Rosa said, sighing. “Honestly Henry… after what happened before when we worked for them, do you really think that’s the best idea?”

“The coin is good, and the job is fairly nice. We’re getting paid more and there are a lot more jobs after this one.” Henry explained.

“Well, do they really want to put a stop to this? They didn’t cause it?” Rosa asked, suspiciously.

“No, they didn’t.” Henry said.

“Well, isn’t that a surprise.” Rosa said, sighing. “I figured it was their fault, most of the weird things in this town are their fault these days. Those damned pylons, the whale oil, the stench.” Rosa said, complaining.

“So you’re with me?” Henry asked.

“Well, as long as we can stop what’s happening here. I’m going to make sure you don’t do anything too unbelievable.” Rosa said.

“You’ll try.” Henry said, planting a kiss on Rosa’s lips.

Decisions:
1. *head to another location* (write in)
2. *talk to Rosa some more* (Write in)
3. *head somewhere else within the hospital* (will bring up additional menu)
4. (write in)

>>4224977
>4. (write in)
"Since you don't have a lot to do right now, want to grab lunch?"

>>4225014
writing

>>4224977
“Since you don’t have a lot to do right now, want to grab lunch with me and the others?” Henry asked.

“Well I don’t know anywhere that’s open, everyone’s shut down right now…” Rosa said.

“I got an idea.” Henry said.

Decisions:
1. *head back home, you can cook up some good grub with Johnny*
2. *head to the docks, all the places over there are still open*
3. (write in)

>>4225046
>2. *head to the docks, all the places over there are still open*
Find a place that isn't too stankified by the whale oil.

>>4225046
Henry poked his head outside the door and noticed that Ophelia had found a blackboard on which she was scribbling a collection of arcane symbols, about half of which Henry recognized. Charles was watching and occasionally asked questions which Ophelia half answered. The woman seemed to be working on a spell for something or other. Henry glanced around to see a nervous collection of Healers and Cathars watching the woman. Rosa muttered something about how some mages were studying things they shouldn’t. She glanced at Henry for a bit before turning her gaze away from the spectacle.

Henry quickly dragged Ophelia off, with quite a bit of protest. He and Charles apologized for the ruckus while Rosa denied knowing any of them. The group managed to get out of the building without raising any more alarm bells.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Henry glanced over the menu at the little dockside café they’d settled down in. Around them were groups of rowdy sailors and a few grizzled captains sitting in the far booth. Henry’s grandfather wouldn’t have looked too out of place here, but Henry knew the old man was sailing west to pick up processed whale parts from a nearby port and would be out of the province for a few days. The church was in need now that they were utilizing the cult’s pylons. Henry had heard they really did keep the gheists out, but were far more noisy and dirty than the angelic runes. Still they provided peace of mind.

He just wished the things could keep devils out too. He’d seen a few scurrying about on his way out of the hospital. There were more of them in the city it seemed, drawn to the unrest.

Ophelia was busy messing around with her napkin and Charles and Rosa were discussing the tenants of white mana sorcery. Henry felt like the odd man out.

>write in

>>4225135
>>write in
Lets not do this, but too bad we can't send ophelia back to base, so it's just Rosa Henry and Charles.
Welp, lets order some food, something not too greasy or mystery meaty.

>>4225258
writing

>>4225135
Henry sighed and glanced over at Ophelia again, he hadn’t quite managed to ditch her back at headquarters, for whatever reason the woman had wanted to come along, and in fact had waited until they’d sat down to talk. Ophelia put her napkin down as the food came out and began to explain what she’d cooked up.

“So I believe I’ve found a way to make a working short range teleportation spell.” Ophelia said, giddy.

“What?” Henry asked.

“Its an old spell, right?” Charles said. “I read about it once in a book, apparently it lets you instantly move from one place to another.”

“Well its quite an advanced spell but I think I can do it.” Ophelia said.

“Or turn yourself inside out.” Henry said. “Warp spells are dangerous, you might end up inside a wall.”

“Oh I’m not going to be THAT sloppy.” Ophelia protested before biting down on a piece of pork.

“Well it would be such a shame…” Rosa said, sarcastically.

Rosa glared at the other woman, but Ophelia seemed oblivious to Rosa’s disdain.

Henry checked through his notes again with Charles. They had a bunch of leads, but the big mystery was what the hell Downry Hold was. Henry tapped on the words a few more times, trying to figure out what they meant.

“That’s the name of that whaling ship they converted to an hospital barge.” Rosa said, suddenly. “I was told it was coming into port tomorrow, which is why we can even have this conversation. Once it arrives most of the problems in the city will finally be solved, not to mention its bringing in personnel from all over!” Rosa said.

“What?” Henry asked.

“I said once that ship gets into port the city will be in a much better position to tackle this plague.”

“Charles, check my notes again, what did I write down about rune shipments?” Henry asked, rhetorically.

“Uh… you wrote that you had it on good authority that there was an unusual large amount of explosive runes ordered…. Oh…” Charles said.

“Yeah I think our perp is going to bomb the fucking thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s mined the dock where its landing.”

“What!?” Rosa asked, startled.

“Henry I think you need to repeat it slower, the words were too confusing for her.” Ophelia said, not even realizing she’d just insulted Rosa.

“I KNOW WHAT HE SAID!” Rosa said. “There are hundreds of people on board that boat, not to mention the supplies… if that boat gets sunk… we… all that work… all those deaths…” Rosa said, burying her head in her hands.

Decisions:
1. “Where is the ship docking, Rosa?”
2. “Calm down, now.”
3. “Charles, take Ophelia for a walk, please.”
4. “Fucking fantastic, even the hardline pagans wouldn’t pull shit like this.”
5. (write in)

>>4225338
>4. “Fucking fantastic, even the hardline pagans wouldn’t pull shit like this.”
"We got to go now," toss some coins at the bartender person and lets head to the fucking docks.

>>4225347
writing

>>4225338
“Fucking fantastic, even the hardline pagans wouldn’t pull shit like this.” Henry said, immediately standing up and pushing away his half finished meal.”

“But we haven’t even had desert!” Ophelia complained.

“We’ve got to go, now.” Henry said, tossing a silver coin to a startled waitress.

“Yeah, where is the dock at, Rosa?” Charles asked.

“You think I know? I was handling the hospital itself, not the logistics outside of the city!” Rosa said. “I know that they kept some records in the hospital of incoming shipments, I think on the forth floor.” She continued.

“Well we’re heading back to the hospital then.” Henry said.

He proceeded to drag Ophelia out of her seat and then flipped the waitress a silver coin.

“D-don’t you want change?” She asked.

“Keep it, I’m in a rush.” Henry explained.

“Sorry.” Rosa said, smiling awkwardly.

The trip back to the hospital was a rush of movement and various curse words. The trip through the lobby and up the stairs was mainly Henry and Charles rushing ahead, and Rosa and Ophelia following behind, with Rosa apologizing and becoming progressively more annoyed with the two men in the front.

Henry came into a large room full of papers where a couple of tired looking scribes were busy writing down… things. Henry really didn’t have time to check. He needed to find out where the boat was ging to dock.

Decisions:
1. “Ophelia, spell them!” (have Ophelia cast spells on the scribes to make them either more pliable, asleep, or dead)
2. *Start checking through the recent inbound shipping orders. All thirty of them*
3. *Have Ophelia try to figure this out, she’s good at that, right?*
4. “Rosa who are these two people?”
5. (write in)

>>4227038
>4. “Rosa who are these two people?”
While readying spells.
Look at Ophelia and point towards the papers.

>>4227053
writing.

>>4227038
“Rosa, who are these two people?” Henry asked, readying a memory scatter spell behind his back.

Charles prodded Ophelia until the woman realized what was going on, and prepared a spell of her own, behind her back, in the same way Henry had. Charles decided to casually hide behind Henry in the meantime.

“They’re scribes Rosen and… uh…” Rosa said, trying to remember the other man’s name.

“Letch.” The other scribe said, not even bothering to look up from his notes.

“Oh.” Henry said, lowering his arm and canceling his spell. A quick glance at Rosa showed she was NOT happy about the fact he almost mentally harmed a pair of innocent scribes working for the church.

“Well we’re very busy so if you need something bring it up with our assistant, he’s around here somewhere…” Letch said.

“We dispatched him to Avignon yesterday, so I’m afraid we can’t help you with anything petty.” Rosen said, not even slowing down in his work.

“We’re very sorry for bothering you but we-“ Rosa stammered.

“Yes, apology accepted, now please leave, I realize you’ve been a massive help at the hospital sister superior, but please leave the scribe work to the actual scribes. I realize you can read and write but accounting is far beyond you.” Letch said.

“Well, I won’t go that far but neither of us have the time to teach or supervise you, Rosa. Sorry. I realize you must not have as much work to do now, but we really can’t help you. Besides, you’ve done enough for a year.” Rosen explained, finally looking up and giving Rosa a sympathetic expression.

“No that wasn’t… ugh” Rosa said.

“You were trying to learn accounting?” Charles asked.

“Just a bit, but I was already rejected by these two.” Rosa said.

Decisions:
1. “Look, can we just look over some shipping manifests?”
2. “This is important Cult business, you must help.” *flash the Nail badge*
3. “I’m willing to make it worth your while…” (bribe… but Rosa is in your party)
4. “Ophelia just do something about them, I need a drink.”
5. (write in)

>>4227111
>5. (write in)
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to not accept your non acceptance of us being here, so either move or we'll move you."
We go from a nice calm voice at the beginning of this sentence to a mean and nasty one.

>>4227122
roll for intimidate

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>4227128

>>4227131
writing

>>4227111
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t have time for your bullshit, so either move or we’ll move you, probably out that window over there.” Henry said, sounding as grumpy as he could muster.

“I… uh… erm… c-carry on.” Rosen said.

Rosa looked at Henry, utterly horrified. From what Henry could tell, Letch was an asshole, Rosen was sympathetic but bound to stupid fucking rules and overworked half to death. Both were pencil necks, and this was the easiest way forwards.

“Asshole.” Letch muttered.

“You wanna say that again pal?” Henry asked, turning on a dime. “Because I’ve really got all fucking day to listen to you.”

“N-nothing, I didn’t say anything.” Letch said, trying to glare at Henry but breaking eye contact.

Rosa looked like she was about to die of embarrassment. Henry pretended not to notice, he’d probably get reamed for this later, or maybe he’d a kiss on the cheek, he could never be sure. Still, as he moved back into the records area, he managed to quickly find what he was looking for with Charles’ and Ophelia’s help. Ophelia was the one to find it, to nobody’s surprise. A shipping manifest for the Downry Hold. Apparently it was a retrofitted whaling vessel the church was using for aid missions to beleaguered towns along the coast. From what Henry had understood, the thing was massive. He realized there were only a few places the thing could even fit. From what the shipping manifest said, it’d be docking at the dryveil docks, which were located at a place the locals called the sailor’s nose, which was a place where the shore jutted out in the shape of a nose. It had the cities largest series of docks on it and would likely be swarming with members of the church. From what Henry understood, the Cult wasn’t even allowed on it, which meant they would need to think of something.

Decisions:
1. *talk to party members* (write in)
2. *head to another location* (write in optional, if no write in a menu will be brought up)
3. *cast a spell* (write in)
4. *have a party member cast a spell* (write in)

>>4227176
>2. *head to another location* (write in optional, if no write in a menu will be brought up)
Go to our base, have Rosa and Larry go look around the port, we'll inform the cult of our suspicions and rendezvous with them later.
We'll also make sure that's where it's docking at.

>>4227217
Have Xavier go to the other ports just to make sure it wasn't one of them. If he can do it.

>>4228650
>>4227217
writing

>>4227176
The group convened and decided to head back to base camp. Henry eyed up the two scribes, the pair were looking increasingly nervous. Rosa had already left the room in an embarrassed huff, but Henry managed to drag her along as they were leaving, it wasn’t like she had much else to do, Henry figured. It was nice to see her returned to a somewhat normal state after all the stress had been let out. He hoped she’d be alright over the next few days.

Back at the base, Henry found Larry lying asleep couch with Johnny sheepishly standing over him. Apparently Larry had attempted to just overpower Johnny in a mock swordfight and had ended up getting knocked unconscious by the skeleton. Henry was almost impressed by the man’s bravery, especially since he knew just how tough Johnny was. Ophelia managed to cast a spell to wake the man back up, and after applying a cold rune to his head, he was whisked off with Rosa to explore the sailor’s nose. Rosa explained that she’d been given a field promotion, so she wasn’t officially a sister superior yet, and her robes didn’t reflect the promotion either, so there was only so much she’d be able to do. Henry explained to Larry to make sure the woman stayed safe, Larry nodded and told Henry not to worry so much. Henry waved the man off and forced a smile.

Xavier on the other hand was a different matter. After Rosa and Larry had left. Ophelia and Henry went into the basement to find Xavier half asleep. Henry managed to wake the vampire up without having his throat torn out and explained the situation. Realizing the gravity of the matter, Xavier agreed to check out the other ports in the city to ensure they weren’t also mined, however slim the possibility was. Xavier asked why Johnny wasn’t coming with him, as the skeleton had quite a bit of military knowledge. Henry explained that he wanted to keep the skeleton close by to protect Charles, which the Vampire accepted. After putting on a layer of leather armor and some other pieces of clothing to protect himself from the sun, Xavier departed, Henry hoped the excursion wouldn’t prove too painful for the vampire. Although, as the man jokingly said, it was his first time outside during daytime in ages and he might not remember how things worked.

Decisions: (available party members, Charles, Ophelia, Johnny)
1. *head to a location* (write in or open menu)
2. *say something* (write in)
3. *preform an action* (write in)
4. *see if you can get the prep work done for activating Ticky*
5. (write in)

>>4228693
>5. (write in)
Welp, lets inform the cult of what we suspect.
Wait
WAAIT
If there's a giant bomb rune set up in the bakery, then he may not only try to destroy the boat but he's going to try to take out the entire city.
Well shit

>>4228795
do you want to do anything else besides this? You can perform more actions with the remaining daylight.

>>4228798
We'll look at some more abandoned buildings near important businesses. We might need to look near the church too.

>>4228822
roll 1d100 for search

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>4228845

>>4228822
>>4228851
writing

>>4228693
Henry quickly informed Marko of his findings. The branch head stayed calm but was obviously troubled and the second Henry had left the man started barking orders to a few subordinates. Henry hoped something would come of it, but with less than a day until the ship arrived he didn’t know if the warning would get through all the red tape.

“Henry.” Marko said, rushing down the stairway after him.

“Yeah?” Henry asked.

“You need to… oof I’m getting too old for this… you need to do whatever is necessary to ensure that boat gets into harbor safely. If it is destroyed the church’s ability to handle the plague will be completely destroyed. It’ll quickly get out of hand again, especially if whoever is doing this…” The man said, trying to catch his breath.

“You alright?” Henry asked.

“Just out of shape, look, do whatever is necessary to ensure that boat makes it to port, let us worry about the church, if you get in trouble I’ll do my utmost to handle it, just don’t go committing murder.” Marko explained.

“Alright…” Henry said.

“It’d be best not to get caught of course, but if you get placed into a lockup I should be able to get you out in half a day at worst.” Marko explained.

“Right, thank you.” Henry said.

“Make sure that boat gets into port, its vital that it does.” Marko continued.

Henry sighed, rubbing his head and watching Marko trudge back up the steps. He wondered if the man had been the one to have the elevator installed in the building.

Regardless, as Henry left he watched as a small swarm of cult members quickly filed into the city, likely working to try and spread the word to have an investigation performed, or perhaps to investigate sites the cult believed were suspicious. Regardless, Henry had to follow leads on his own.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Henry watched as a group of angels cleaned boiling blood of their blades. He’d stumbled upon the sight of a great number of slain devils, all gathered around in a big pile which was being made ready to be burned. From what he understood the church had found a warehouse infested with them and had quickly worked to remove them from the area, though it seems the angels had already done so. From what Henry could tell, they were utterly uninterested in whatever lay inside the warehouse. Perhaps more evidence? The two Cathar’s working on the pile were too busy to actually pay attention to anything he or his group did.

The warehouse itself was unguarded, and uninhabited from what Henry could tell, nobody had even bothered to investigate it except to remove the devils from the area. There was some kind of gaseous smoke emitting from the center which smelt of sulfur, likely from the now deceased devils.

>write in
>current party members: Ophelia, Johnny, Charles

>>4229811
waiting on votes

>>4229811
>>write in
Welp, lets go investigate the place, see if there's any explosive runes there.

>>4231054
writin

>>4229811
Henry peered into the dilapidated warehouse. The only reason they’d even come this way was that this shithole of a district was next to the church’s main cathedral in the city. This area, however, was a slum, filled with poverty and abandoned buildings. So Henry really didn’t expect to find several mutilated corpses tied to chairs in the middle of the warehouse, or a network of runes making a silence enchantment. From what he could tell, the silence enchantment had been hastily made and wouldn’t have been completely effective, anyone nearby would’ve likely heard something, although would’ve been unlikely to figure out what.

“Good lord.” Charles muttered glancing at the corpses, and taking the time to see their wounds.

Henry took a closer look. There were a total of three corpses, each wearing robes denoting them as members of the church. One had been a healer while the other two had been Cathar’s. From what Henry could tell their head’s and throats were intact so he might actually stand a chance of getting information out of them… if he could get their corpses away from here.

“They were tortured.” Johnny said, pointing out a table full of crude tools nearby. Henry noted that there was a cloth that had several teeth on it as well as a pliers. The person who’d done this didn’t care to hear the trio talk. Henry inspected the three and found that it was the healer who’d had her teeth pulled. Henry also noted that the chairs had been shoddily bolted to the floor. He sighed.

“Seems they took their time.” Ophelia said, not affected in the slightest by the macabre scene. “I don’t even think they used all the tools on that table. Although I did see some candle wax on the ground.”

“They burnt wounds closed to stop bleeding.” Henry explained. “Fire healing, although if you do it like that the wounds get infected real bad, which you can use to further torture your captive.”

“How do you even know that?” Charles asked.

“I know a lot of things Charles.” Henry said. “Just be glad I haven’t had to teach you how to torture people. Regardless, this is shoddy work befitting an amateur. Guy barely knew what he was doing, just wanted to cause as much pain as possible.” Henry explained. “I doubt these three lasted a single night. That Cathar over there is missing chunks from his gut… looks like the corpses were partially eaten by the devils…”

“Please stop the explanation.” Johnny said. “I think we all get the picture.”

Decisions:
1. *grab the corpses and try to find a back exit*
2. *grab the corpses and head out the front, make it look like you’re supposed to be there*
3. *cast a spell* (write in)
4. *ask a party member a question* (write in)

>>4233500
>4. *ask a party member a question* (write in)
"Ophelia, you see any bomb runes anywhere?"
>1. *grab the corpses and try to find a back exit*

>>4233779
Suppin'

>>4234374
>>4233779
will post in the morning

Rolled 60, 10 = 70 (2d100)

>>4233779

>>4233500
“Ophelia, do you see any bomb runes or traps nearby?” Henry asked.

“Oh, what?” Ophelia asked. “Was I supposed to be looking, I thought that was the indestructible skeleton’s job. Can’t he go and sweep mines?”

“Just do your damned job.” Henry said, handing over two of the corpses to Johnny and hauling the final one over his shoulder.

Ophelia swept for mines, finding several located around the building’s supports. Ophelia suggested that they quickly make for the exit. Henry decided that was a good idea, and the group made for the back exit. As they looked for a sewer entrance to escape through, Henry heard footsteps behind him. He flung around to see a couple of stunned looking Cathar’s looking at them. One of them fumbling around for his weapon.

Henry considered his options. There was of course running away, but he wouldn’t be able to get his group into a sewer and running through packed crowds carrying corpses didn’t exactly seem good for his health. Then there was the option to fight… with several angels nearby… He made that a plan B. Ophelia might be of some use… and Charles had that warding spell, it would save them from getting cut up if they needed it.

Still this situation was fucked. Why the fuck was the church competent when it was bad for them!?

Decisions:
1. *try to make something up, as to why you’re carrying three corpses dressed in church clothing* (write in)
2. *cast a spell* (write in)
3. *have a party member cast a spell* (list party member, say what you want them to do)
4. *make a run for it*
5. *draw weapons and fight them*
6. *use your cult badge to try and get out of this situation*
7. (write in)

>>4236229
>7. (write in)
"There's bomb runes around the supports, lets get out of here before we start our pissing match."
"Follow me."

>>4236318
roll 1d100

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>4236409

>>4236412
pass

>>4236229
“There’s bomb runes around the supports, lets get clear of the blast radius before we start our pissing match. Follow me.” Henry said.

“Look, we should head back out onto the main road.” One of the Cathar’s said.

“Are they alright?” The other one asked.

“All deceased I’m afraid, we didn’t want to leave them inside a building that might collapse.” Johnny explained. “Wouldn’t be right. They’re already mangled enough.”

“What happened?”

“Tortured from the looks of it.” Henry said. “God only knows what happened.”

“Good lord.”

The group proceeded around the alleyway, back onto the main road, where the Cathar’s started clearing the area around the warehouse where a sizeable crowd had gathered. Eventually, an older gentleman who seemed to be in his mid fifties approached the group.

“Templar Wilson Greeves at your service.” He said, shaking Henry’s hand.

“Thanks.” Henry said.

“I should be thanking you, not too many citizens willing to risk their necks like that. We’ll take the bodies off your hands now, get them proper care so they can be buried with honors.”

Decisions:
1. *Hand the bodies over* (will lose access)
2. “They’re not going into a mass grave?”
3. “How do I know they’ll be buried properly?”
4. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, this whole scene is related to Cult business.” *flash Nail badge*
5. *cast a spell* (Write in)
6. *have Ophelia cast a spell* (write in, describe effects)

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>4236798
"Do you mind if we examine the corpses? We've been hired to investigate the plague and it brought us here."

>>4236804
passed. writing

>>4236798
“Do you mind if we examine the corpses? We’ve been hired to investigate the plague and it brought us here.”

“Sure, lay the bodies out on those stretchers over there, we’d heard there were injured but it seems we’ll be needing coffins. Hell of a thing.” The Templar said.

“Yeah.” Henry said, laying the bodies down with Johnny.

“You can inspect them all you like, just don’t damage them, and they need to stay here until we can transport them back to the Cathedral, they’ll be given their rites and buried accordingly.” The templar said.

“They’re not going in the mass grave?” Charles asked.

“No, those who serve the church won’t be buried like that.” The Templar explained.

Decisions:
1. *argue futher* (Write in)
2. *do what investigation you can* (Write in optional)
3. *have Ophelia cast a spell* (write in, describe effects)
4. (write in)

>>4237182
Are they going to oversee us?
If they are
2. *do what investigation you can* (Write in optional)

>>4237258
correct, you chose to basically talk it out. That ain't always the most optimal choice but it was the safest.

will write tomorrow

>>4237258
writin

>>4238743
nice

>>4237182
Henry sighed and had a look at the bodies. The three had been laid out on holy cloth meant to be wrapped around bodies in transit. There were a few holy symbols engraved into the fabric, though their significance was somewhat lost on Henry. Charles explained that they were meant to symbolize crossing over into the afterlife, Henry figured that it was a bit to late to wrap dead bodies in a symbol like that. Henry sighed, it was something he probably should’ve known, although Johnny explained it wasn’t really a commonly used symbol, as it was reserved for church personnel.

The injuries given to the trio had been grave. For one their legs had been cut badly then the wounds had been closed with fire to prevent them from moving. After that… well, nothing of real importance, they were just slowly taken apart piece by piece. From what he could guess, the person doing this had enjoyed it or was under duress, as the cuts were unsteady, delivered with shaking hands. Neither of those options boded well. Henry found himself mentally noting how he would’ve done a better job, he didn’t really know what to make of THAT.

He checked the pockets and clothing of the tortured prisoners within reason, but found little except a few holy symbols, some patrol orders on one of the Cathars, and some hardtack on another. The crackers hadn’t even finished drying either so they must’ve been made within the last eight or so hours. The marching orders detailed a patrol route through a nearby slum and the warehouse district they found themselves in. It was something at least.

“Oy I think I recognize one of them.” The Templar said.

“What?” Henry asked.

“Well I don’t really know em personally, I just got a good memory for faces. Saw that Cathar there speaking with an inquisitor of all people the other day, hope he wasn’t doing something he shouldn’t have been.” The Templar said. “Fucking hell, seen so much death these past couple weeks I’m already numb to it.”

Decisions:
1. “Where did you see their meeting?”
2. “Who assigns the patrol routes?”
3. “We’ll be taking our leave, thank you for helping with our investigation”
4. “Bury em properly alright?”
5. “So where are these stiffs headed exactly?”
6. (write in)

>>4238788
>1. “Where did you see their meeting?”
Cross check the meeting with the patrol route

>>4238788
>2. “Who assigns the patrol routes?”
and this one
am curious to see why this particular route.

>>4238793
>>4238796
its around 4:30pm in universe right now

>>4238838
Aight, we better hurry.
Or get official papers stating we can go skulking about at night.

>>4238843
the Nail badge will have this effect of course.

>>4238796
>>4238793
writin

>>4238788
“Where did you see the two meet?” Henry asked.

“The district headquarters. I don’t know what they were talking about, the inquisitor lady just said to stay out of it and to be honest it was above my paygrade.” The Templar explained. “I haven’t lived this long by sticking my nose where it really doesn’t belong.”

“Aren’t they your men?” Henry asked.

“Nope, they weren’t under my command. Though I’d imagine our crusader captain won’t be too happy about all of this. So for the time being it isn’t my problem.” He explained.

“Pitiful.” Johnny muttered.

Henry turned to the skeleton but he’d already walked away in disgust.

“Who assigns the patrol routes?” Henry asked.

“That’d be Templar Alex I figure, he had this district under his purview. Can’t say I’m sure where he is but someone at the division headquarters would.” The templar explained.

Decisions:
1. *head out*
2. *ask further questions* (write in)
3. *take further actions* (write in)
4. (write in)

>>4239042
>2. *ask further questions* (write in)
last question
"Have other Cathars disappeared recently?"

>>4239048
Suppin'

>>4239279
>>4239048
writing

>>4239042
“Have other Cathars disappeared recently?” Henry asked.

“Yeah, but not to the plague oddly enough. Not even the sniffles on that front” The man said.

“I mean like this.” Henry said, sweeping his arm over the three corpses.

“Ah, well, there have been a couple that died from maulings from devils but they were both initiates from what I heard, first time in combat. Other than that… nothing’s come to my attention. City is kind of a mess right now so if someone had gone missing it’d take some time to find them. We probably won’t know who the healer is for a month. Hopefully we can find out who the other two are. They didn’t have their name plates did they?” Templar Wilson asked.

“No, are they not in the open?” Henry asked.

“No they should be right on their sleeves, and an identification number too. We just started using them for patrol Cathars, apparently it’s a move to keep the common’s happier, more accountability, whatever that means.” He explained.

Henry noted that on the man’s triangular church badge was engraved ‘Templar, ID 234’ he noted that the two dead Cathar’s no longer had theirs. Fantastic. He figured the church would conduct a sanctioned séance or just use scry mages. But that’d take a few days.

“So no other news on that front?” Henry asked.

“Look if you want to check in on how the boys are doing then you should go to city central, its behind the mayor’s office, big red building, can’t miss it. I’m sure if you’re supposed to be doing what you’re doing they’ll let you check the records. Its out of my paygrade. I just make sure these youngins don’t do anything too stupid. Now, if there is nothing else I need to get these bodies back to the Cathedral.”

Henry sighed as he watched the Templar leave, the three bodies being carried on covered stretchers by the Cathars. He wondered how good the Cathedral’s night time security was, and if he couldn’t make a distraction by smashing a rune or two, and letting some gheist’s inside. It was a stupid idea of course… but he WAS desperate for clues. He had less than a day left till the aid ship docked.

>it is now 4:45 pm


Decisions:
1. *head off to another location* (write in or bring up menu)
2. *head back to HQ, you want to get Ticky operational, just in case*
3. *talk with your group* (write in)
4. (write in)

>>4240419
>4. (write in)
"Would you mind if my associate here did a scry to see if she can see where the badges are, the one who did this might be using them to infiltrate church grounds?"

>>4240426
writin

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>4240426
instant success, rolling to see how well the scry goes

>>4240533
>28
oof

>>4240419
“Would you mind if my associate here performs a scry to see if we can find the badges? Considering that whoever took them might be using them to infiltrate church grounds.”

“He means use them for harm.” Johnny added, apparently the skeleton had crept back into view.

The fact he could move so quietly in heavy armor always did unnerve Henry. Charles seemed similarly surprised.

“Well, sure I guess. It ain’t gonna damage the bodies so I got no problems with it. Doubly so if it’ll help you track down whoever did this.” Templar Wilson replied.

“Lovely.” Henry said, motioning for Ophelia to come on over, then coughing loudly, then finally sighing and telling Charles to bring the distracted woman over.

By the time one of the bodies had been put down and the spelled had been prepared, the sun was already starting to drop from the sky. Ophelia’s eyes went funny for a moment and her head drooped a bit after she casted the spell, then just as quickly she stirred back to life and sighed.

“They’re in the station, near the mayor’s office.” She explained. “I think he forgot to put his badge on before leaving.”

“Or they didn’t put them on at all.” Henry said. “Maybe they weren’t on patrol at all…”

“Well its possible, the badges are still new and we’re only supposed to have em on when doing actual patrols. When we’re free form we don’t need to wear them. The Crusader’s around town made sure that was the case, they didn’t like us being ‘accountable’ to anyone but the church higher ups.”

“So who’re you accountable to?” Henry asked.

“Besides the commons? Well, the cult to be honest. If you piss one of those boys off and he gets your badge number there is hell to pay. Means we have to keep our damned heads down around them instead of the other way round, we all hate it, ain’t right.”

“Yeah…” Henry said, noting again the man’s badge number, though of course he wasn’t going to use it.

“So do you think that inquisitor lady told them not to wear their badges?” Charles asked.

“Maybe she was using the poor bastards as cat’s paws.” Henry said.

“What?” Charles asked.

“Poor saps who get roped into doing dirty work. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why their dead. They might not have even realized what they were doing.”

“Or they were knowing accomplices.” Johnny said. “There were three of them, not just the two Cathars.”

“You think Rosa would know the healer?” Charles asked.

“Oh, like she’d even bother remembering anyone’s face.” Ophelia scoffed.

“Well we can’t all be as grand as you Ophelia.” Johnny said dryly.

Decisions:
1. *regroup back at headquarters*
2. *case the nearby cathedral, you might need to visit later tonight.*
3. *ask your party for advice* (write in)
4. (write in)

>>4240552
>4. (write in)
Lets go ask their squad leader if they were sent somewhere to investigate off the books. So we can now go investigate them

>>4240559
couple things to note:
1. its getting late and to be out any later you'll need to display your Nail badge to patrols
2. you will risk ghiests harrassing you
3. the others won't know where you are

Anywho, you wish to speak with Templar Alex to discuss his men going missing. You can ask Templar Wilson where he is (which is the district office rather than the city headquarters)

this alright?

>>4240633
Yeah ask him, then we'll reconvene at base, and hope the other's will be there shortly

>>4240640
roger, writing then sleeping

>>4240552
“So where is this Templar Alex. I’d like to question him about his missing Cathars.” Henry said.

“Ah, I figure he’ll be back at base… and probably for a hell of a lot longer when he hears the news. He’s had a rough enough week already.” Templar Wilson explained.

“Why is that?” Charles asked.

“I uh… probably shouldn’t say more.” The templar explained.

“Look, I need to know because three people are dead and any piece of information that will assist my investigation is vital.”

“His wife’s fallen ill with this plague, he’s losing sleep over it and none of us really want to step onto that bomb rune, just don’t bring it up and for the love of god don’t tell him I told you.” The Templar said. “Just let me get my work done, please.”

“Where is the district garrison?” Henry asked.

“Ah, down the road.” The templar explained, giving good enough directions that Henry could find it easily.

With that, the group departed back to the headquarters. Henry found Rosa and Larry already there. Although Xavier hadn’t quite arrived yet.

Decisions:
1. *share information*
2. *come up with a plan for the evening* (will involve having people go back out again, no group dinner to improve morale)
3. *have dinner and wait for Xavier* (will mean waiting until much later to go outside)
4. *talk to Marko to get more manpower* (will involve people outside your party and possible intel leakage, a tradeoff for the ability to get far more done)
5. (write in)

>>4240676
>3. *have dinner and wait for Xavier* (will mean waiting until much later to go outside)
Rosa, Charles, and the rest of the living can stay for tonight, we'll be taking the undead with us for max sneak and attack.

>>4240681
Writing

>>4240676
“Alright folks, lets have dinner and share information!” Henry said, clapping his hands authoritatively and shooing Charles and Ophelia out of his way. He had a meal to cook.

Or rather, Johnny did. The skeleton might have spent centuries without a sense of taste, but he could still cook surprisingly enough, with Henry’s help as a taste tester, of course. Although, to Henry’s astonishment, he was told to go procure some more tablecloths from the basement, while Charles got the coveted taster spot.

Rats.

Dinner was good. Larry gleefully bragged about how he’d managed to bluff his way past the guards and convince them that Rosa was a bigshot sent by the hospital to inspect the port the boat was going to dock at. He’d even managed to explain that it was a “surprise inspection”.

Rosa explained that they’d checked the water for runes but had found nothing, which made Henry think either the perp was going to try something in the bay, or the explosives had already been hidden on sight and the perp would personally attack the boat. He sighed, seemed the bastard was a step ahead of them. This wasn’t looking good.

By the time food had come out Xavier stumbled in, dreary and tired. Apparently he’d been attacked in an alleyway by a stray devil and some of his clothing had torn off. He’d been forced to wait out the remaining daylight in safety, being useless. But all of the other dock sites looked normal, as in, there was nobody working on them due to the plague.

“It was a very large devil, Henry.” Xavier said. “Half the size of a man and twice as fierce, I’m lucky I got away with only this much damage.”

“Seems like there are more of the damned things every day now.” Johnny said. “Whole town’s ready to go alight.”

“Are you feeling sick?” Rosa asked. Surprising Johnny.

“N-no… I just don’t feel like eating right now.” Johnny said. “Too worried about things.”

>>4242194
“Well you need to keep your strength up!” Rosa suggested.

Everyone else became moderately nervous with the exception of Ophelia who began rating the quality of the prepared meal.

“So Rosa, what do you think the best method of defending the boat will be?” Henry asked.

“Getting onsite would be the best plan I feel. The boat will have security tugs around it filled with trained Cathars and Sailors. An attack by sea isn’t feasible.” Rosa continued. “They’ve beefed security up a bit too from what I understand, some warning from the Cult which I suppose I have you to thank for. Made getting near the dock much more difficult.”

“Well that’s probably a good thing.” Henry said. “If it was easy we’d have a lot more trouble on our hands.”

“Well we need to be there tomorrow to defend the boat unless you can pull whoever is doing this out of a magic hat.” Rosa complained.

“I’m going to be tracking down a few leads tonight.” Henry said, watching as Xavier dug into his food.

He knew the Vampire didn’t really need that sort of sustenance, but he hadn’t had the time to get a waterskin full of blood prepared. Luckily Xavier had fed well before they’d left and he had a few more days before the lack of blood would start affecting him in the slightest.

“You can’t be serious.” Rosa said, stupefied.

“We have no other choice, Rosa, we need to take the risk.” Johnny said.

Henry was honestly surprised the skeleton would vouch for such a risky plan.

Decision #1: (what are you going to do, pick one for the time being)
1. *try to get to the bodies being stored in the Cathedral to try and learn who killed them*
2. *Try to track down Templar Alex to try and learn more about the Inquisitor*
3. *Try to get Ticky ready for operation, its going to be a bit of a rush job but you could use the… firepower…*

Decision #2: (who to take, pick as many as needed)
1. Johnny
2. Rosa
3. Charles
4. Larry
5. Xavier
6. Ophelia

>>4242200
>2. *Try to track down Templar Alex to try and learn more about the Inquisitor*
and what route or thing the two cathars were assigned to do before they were killed.
Decision #2: (who to take, pick as many as needed)
1. Johnny
5. Xavier

>>4242265
Suppin'

>>4242265
>>4242870
will write tomorrow, takin the night off

>>4242870
>>4242265
writing now

>>4242200
Henry headed out, holding his Nail badge at the ready. The best option of course would be to not be sighted at all, but that would be risky and could potentially lead to an awkward situation with any night patrols. Henry wasn’t sure if the angels would even care, they had fairly odd ways of looking at what constituted law. Needless to say, going off Henry’s limited interactions with them, and what he’d heard, they had their own law that they followed blindly. They treated human laws with indifference. He’d just have to hope going out at night for a ‘walk’ didn’t constitute angelic lawbreaking.

Johnny and Xavier were chosen to accompany him. He’d considered Larry but he needed someone who’d keep their mouth shut, which was one of Larry’s weak areas. The man was a fearsome swordsman but he lacked any hint of subtlety. Johnny was a known and valued factor, while Xavier had proven to be a valuable companion. Henry found it somewhat ironic that he was now trusting a vampire to protect him.

The howls of ghiests slowly drifted over rooftops, outside the reach of the angelic wards and energetic Cult pylons that were protecting the city. Occasionally a rouge ghiest drifted down, slipping past the angelic barrier. The ones that could slip through were either too weak to be stopped by it, or human in nature. The angelic runes were only able to stop inhuman foes, or soulless abominations. Johnny was a bit of an odd case, and vampires had long been known to be able to feign being human and pass through the barriers. It was one of the many reasons why the church considered them such a massive threat.

Decisions:
1. *take the sewers* (no chance of running into ghiests or patrols, but you might find that those are far preferable to what is lurking down there at night)
2. *take the main road* (the safest bet, but you’ll have to reveal your nail badge so that the Cathar patrol’s leave you alone. Otherwise they might figure out who your companions are*
3. *take side alleys* (ironically enough the biggest worry is other humans, the alleys have become less safe as the plague has erupted, and they’re full up with brigands during the nights. However, you may have to deal with unruly ghiests who have slipped through the barrier. Or, a stray vampire or two at worst.)
4. *try to utilize rooftops and your stitched wings* (Skaltiz are well known for their ability to polymorph, something the other clans view with disgust. It’s apparently an ability that Xavier is able to utilize to a limited extent, via turning into a bat. As for Johnny, you can just store him, armor and all, in your pack. Its awkward but doable. The biggest risks are rogue ghiests and potentially angelic patrols, no risk of nosy humans though)

>>4248203
>1. *take the sewers* (no chance of running into ghiests or patrols, but you might find that those are far preferable to what is lurking down there at night)
Maybe we can make our route go past the church and cult to see if someone else has been using the sewers for passage.

>>4248217
writing

Rolled 38, 69 = 107 (2d100)

>>4248217

>>4249855
>69
I'm not sure I like that roll in junction with us traversing the sewers

>>4248203
The group found a nearby manhole down an alley a short distance from the Branch office. Henry grabbed the map he’d borrowed of the cities’ sewer system and handed it off to Johnny. They’d have to rely on the skeleton’s ability to see in the dark, although Xavier’s vision wasn’t that bad either. The group plunged down into the muck and Henry immediately regretted his decision, why did he always end up back in sewers? He hoped there would still be some hot water left when he got back to the HQ. He would be needing a bath.

“I’m so happy my nose doesn’t’ work or this would be rather unpleasant.” Johnny said.

“I’m so happy for your good fortune.” Xavier spat back. “Truly happy you decided to share it with us too.”

“Will you two old geezers keep it down I’m trying to think.” Henry said.

“Oh very well, I’ll try not to foul up your very deep and personal thoughts, do lead the way.” Johnny replied.

The group slowly made their way down the tunnels, losing a bit of time due to lack of familiarity. The sewers here were partially flooded by the evening tide and annoyingly cramped. Many times Henry had to duck down to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. A few more times he did. By the time he heard skittering ahead he almost welcomed it.

“I think its rats.” Xavier said, “Either that or a living conglomeration of detritus.”

“If it’s a living mound of shit I’m leaving you behind Xavier.” Henry said.

“How brave.” Johnny muttered.

Poking his head around the corner Henry happened upon a corpse that’d been dumped down from the manhole up above. From their map it lead into a backalley. He figured whoever’d dumped the body had been a lazy sod. The issue wasn’t the body, in fact it could be turned into a servant if Henry wished. It was the small swarm of rats gnawing at it.

Henry figured there were a few dozen rats, not enough to overwhelm his group but enough to injure one of them at least.

Decisions:
1. *toss one of the bomb runes you packed at the rats*
2. *use a bolt spell*
3. *use your skeleton, although he will probably protest at being rat bait*
4. *ask Xavier to use any useful spells he may have*
5. *write in*

>>4249882
>5. *write in*
Can't we just explode the corpse, or do we need to turn it into a minion first?

>>4249885
you can just explode the corpse

>>4249923
Yay, lets just splode the corpse.
Turn to johnny and say
"You got the next obstacle."

>>4249925
be more specific please.

>>4249941
Use corpse explosion to kill the rats.
Bone shard explosion?

>>4249950
roll 2d100, it won't kill all the rats unless there is a crit

you'll need to raise the corpse as an undead first before utilizing bone splinters. First roll is to see if the rats notice the raise, second is how effective the bone splinters are.

Rolled 55, 59 = 114 (2d100)

>>4249967

>>4249976
pass on both counts,

>>4249882
Henry quickly cast raise dead on the corpse while controlling his breathing, not an easy feat with the haze and fumes from the sewer. A moment later, he cast a second spell and ducked back around the corner. A massive splotching noise and the sound of bouncing bone shards filled the tunnel. Poking his head back around the corner, he found a grisly scene. The corpse’s bones had exploded out, bursting the cadaver and spearing dozens of rats. Only a handful remained uninjured, and many had already died. Johnny strode up and finished off the rest, and then the group continued onward. Henry kicked the destroyed corpse into the canal’s water flow to hide the evidence. The church didn’t take kindly to destroying bodies like that.

The rest of the trip was uninterrupted. Although Xavier began ancy as they began getting closer to where the Cathedral was. Henry didn’t blame the vampire, it would be painful to step foot inside the holy ground. Luckily they weren’t here for the Cathedral, but instead to investigate the patrol barracks where Templar Alex was supposed to be.

Henry shifted the sewer grate away and poke his head up into the alleyway. The coast was clear. The three departed and noticed a few boarded up homes, all under quarantine. Xavier whispered that they were being watched by potential criminals, although honestly they didn’t really spook Henry that bad, he was far scarier than a few muggers, not to mention his present company.

There was a single gheist being hassled by a Cathar patrol on the main road, by the time Henry and his group approached them on the road it had already been dispelled.

Decisions:
1. *head into the patrol station nearby* (who do you bring? If no write in then everyone)
2. *head towards the Cathedral instead to scope it out, its only a few blocks away*
3. *speak to the Cathars* (write in)
4. (write in)

>>4250002
>1. *head into the patrol station nearby* (who do you bring? If no write in then everyone)
johnny

>>4250073
writing

>>4250002
Henry strode into the patrol station and quickly managed to talk his way further inside. At his desk as an exhausted looking Templar who was pouring over a series of reports. Johnny stood back, allowing Henry to do the speaking bits. Xavier was across the street on a nearby roof, ready to swoop in and save them if needed. There were three Cathar’s in the station as well, one of whom was asleep in another room on a series of cots that’d had been bolted into a wall. The second Cathar was manning the front desk, while the third was digging through notes and more or less acting as the Templar’s assistant.

The station was about as well kept as one could expect, the stone floor had recently been swept. There were a series of light runes stuck into the ceiling and covered by a glass bulb to give the room some ambient lighting. A few scatter plant pots littered the ground as well, a few of which were actually alive. The windows were all barred on the outside and the inside of the station’s door was able to be bared for additional security. However due to the fact that the security situation was still gauged at low the station still allowed for people to voice grievances. There were actually a couple people waiting outside in a line, likely to speak to the Cathars about their problems. There were stacks of papers and documents lining every table and desk surface in the station as well, many of them looked to be new.

“Templar Alex?” Henry asked.

“Yes? You can speak to the person at the front desk if you need to report something” The Templar cautiously asked.

“No, we actually came to speak with you specifically.” Henry explained,

“Ah, hello then. I’m sorry but you’re going to have to keep it quick, as you can see I’ve been kept incredibly busy by this current crises and my sleeping schedule hasn’t been ideal. Regardless I’ll offer what help I can manage.”

>write in

>>4251796
>>write in
"I thank you for your tireless effort in these troubled times, but I wish to talk to you about a couple Cathars that were found tortured."
"We're investigating the origins of the plague and it brought us to their location, and having murders of Cathars at a location that is of interest in our investigation is quite worrisome. I was hoping to ask what they were doing there, were they there on patrol or were they sent there."

>>4251846
roll 1d100

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>4251922
I don't feel confident in this roll

>>4251924
pass. roll was 30 or higher after all :)

>>4251796
"I thank you for your tireless effort in these troubled times, but I wish to talk to you about a couple Cathars that were found tortured." "

“Ah, you mean Walthers and Beau.” The templar said, rubbing his forehead for a moment.

“Ah, yes… We're investigating the origins of the plague and it brought us to their location, and having found them to be murdered at alocation that is of interest in our investigation is quite worrisome. I was hoping to ask what they were doing there, were they there on patrol or were they sent there."

“I… I only got word a couple hours ago about their deaths, I actually just finished the letter’s that I’ll be handing of to their wives. What a mess.”

“Ah, well, look. We need to know what they were doing there if we’re going to clear them from our list of suspects.”

“Why would they… look-“ Templar Alex began.

“We want to know if they were there on your orders, and if so, why.”

“No they weren’t, in fact they weren’t there on anyone’s orders officially, but I figure its that damned inquisitor who got them roped into this.” The man explained.

“Inquisitor?” Henry asked.

“Look, I know I’m not supposed to tattle but two of my people are dead after speaking with some inquisitor woman. I don’t even know if she was really an inquisitor now. But she spoke to the two of them and they both got it in their heads to wander off in the middle of the day. Now they’re dead.” He continued.

“So you just let your men wander off?” Henry asked.

“When the inquisitor comes calling you don’t ask questions. I figured they had a good reason. I would’ve tried asking em when they got back…”

“We all should’ve stopped em boss, no need to just blame yerself.” The Cathar doing paperwork said.

Decisions:
1. *ask additional questions* (write in)
2. *cast a spell*
3. *write in*

>>4251995
>1. *ask additional questions* (write in)
"Could you tell us who this inquisitor is?"

>>4252037
writing

>>4251995
“Could you tell us who this inquisitor is?” Henry asked. “I’m not asking you to snitch on her but just a name, that’s all. Even if its just the one she gave you.” Henry explained.

“Ah, it was uh… amantha… no… augusta… no… it kinda sounded like the sorta name you’d think would belong to an angel.”

“Agatha?” Johnny asked.

“Yes! That’s the one. Dunno if it’s her real name but apparently, she’s been running around town recently for something or other. Dunno, I’ve heard rumors she ain’t actually working with Inquisitorial authority but well, that’s above my paycheck. Look if you’re working with the inquisition then let them know I was just doing what I’d do for any inquisitor, alright?”

Decisions:
1. *ask more questions* (Write in)
2. *silently wish you’d brought Ophelia along so she could search the man’s mind*
3. “No that’s everything, thank you”
4. (Write in)

>short post, came down with a cold so I'll be getting some sleep.

>>4253960
>1. *ask more questions* (Write in)
"I suppose you don't know where she's been 'running around' do you?"

>>4254661
new thread tomorrow