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>>5576391
For the last several months, you have been carefully manoeuvring through the faith-and-bloodline based world of Reptilian politics (no easy feat, when the powers that be know you are actually the magically-modified spawn of a half-human Degenerate). Through careful planning and concerted effort, you have begun building an empire in the mountains of the northwest. You made allies of dark elves and insects of unusual size. You brought (most of) the Dark Gods to a place of (mostly) unified purpose, and coerced their Serpent priesthood into support. You inspired the Master Race, long consigned to dark and miserable spaces, to action, and through your people’s clever subversions you have turned the humans of the North and South against one another. It was a considerable acceleration of the Great Conspiracy against the surface-dwellers and their inferior deities, but it was still slow going by a mortal timescale…

(And, well, you were young, and you were in love.)

A questionably-conceived mating with the Dark Goddess called Mother of Dragons and Protector of Eggs left you (for lack of a more accurate term) ‘spiritually pregnant’ with a half-formed demigod. Suffering pangs and pains, unable to attend to the urgings of your <appetite>, and fearful of what would happen if you WERE to consummate your love with your precious childhood companion Sseztlussth the Fleshweaver, you set out to find a mate who was physically, genealogical, and spiritually robust enough to accept the implantation of this divine gift growing within you. You settled upon an auspicious target for this significant insemination: the Princess of Hawksong, daughter of the Paladin King himself!

(Okay, so maybe your stunning successes to date had you feeling a LITTLE cocky.)

You had expected the excursion to be simple, short. You donned your disguise, excused yourself from various planning committees, and set out with two males you could rely upon: your loyal attendant Oluwadamialre the Archer, and a seasoned Hawksong-based Reptilian infiltrator who is ALSO coincidentally your biological father. I turned out one of your father’s connections—and your mother’s one-time thrall—had ascended to become Archmage of the Hawksong Mages’ Tower. Perfect! Who better to make the introduction, so you could woo (or ravish, or kidnap, or all three maybe) the princess?

(Would that it were so easy.)

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>>5576393
Now, with the benefit of hindsight, you see where you made your mistakes. You are used to dealing with isolated dwarven outposts, barbarous bugbears, isolated and impoverished elves, and naturally-subordinate kobolds. These humans may be an inferior species, but they are no push-overs. The Archmage Henzler, in particular, proved to be wily for one of her breed. She pretended to be cooperative, lured you into her laboratory with promises of bio-magical augmentation for you and your subordinate, and even got you to remove your Amulet of Disguise and to explain your purpose in her city… Only to then reveal that she was never under your control to begin with. Rather, she was still bound to your mother’s demonic minion, and that demon is now the under the ownership of another.

The Green Knight!

Now, you and Roth are staring down this traitorous witch-woman. Olu the Archer is unconscious, strapped to her table, and naked from the waist down…

(It’s a long story.)

…And the green-armoured knight who slew your mother and has long haunted your torpor is heading this way. There is only one exit—behind you, in the direction of that deadly nemesis. Archmage Henzler herself is no easy prey, either—she has demonstrated a terrifying command of the fleshweaver’s art, as well as other spellcraft. You are trapped! Doomed!

(Calm down. Take a breath. You are Theral of Bloodrise. You can do this. Think, damnit!)

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>>5576396
What will you do?
>Face the Green Knight directly—you will live in fear of this man no longer!
>Take Henzler down—if you can get the drop on her, you can hold her hostage!
>There comes a time when withdrawal is your best bet—you will attempt to rush past (or through) the Green Knight and escape before he can react!
>Wait… Is that a ventilation shaft above Henzler? You could probably squeeze through there…

But then, what of Oluwadamilare?
>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!
>Sorry, Olu—you’ll come back for him if you can, but for now, you must leave him!

[Write-ins are permitted, as always unless otherwise specified. If you have specific tactics, items, or spells you wish to use, please specify. Your <Danger Sense> will give you a notable advantage on your first roll, having been triggered last thread.]

[Previous threads are archived at https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=reptoidqm]

>>5576399
>Face the Green Knight directly—you will live in fear of this man no longer!
>Wall of Stone him into the ceiling

>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!

Well, that happened.

>>5576399
>>Take Henzler down—if you can get the drop on her, you can hold her hostage!
Better to deal with her now than both her and the GK when he arrives.

>>5576435
[There are two matters to vote on.]

>>5576435
We have no way to force compliance and she’s mostly doesn’t give a shit about actually assisting the GK, better to focus our attention on the GK.

>>5576399
>Face the Green Knight directly—you will live in fear of this man no longer!
>Order Shoggoth Armor to overtake his green armor and eat him
>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!

>>5576399
>Wait… Is that a ventilation shaft above Henzler? You could probably squeeze through there

Facing the green knight at this juncture is foolish, even if we win here we are surrounded in a human city with our cover identities blown.

We need to scram as soon as possible.

>Write-in
>To further aid your escape, use your magic ring to summon an ice elemental down the hallway and command it to attack all humans it comes across.

>>5576399
>There comes a time when withdrawal is your best bet—you will attempt to rush past (or through) the Green Knight and escape before he can react!
Door opens, stone wall into the ceiling, dont get anywhere near him, I dont know what that lizard knife can do and I dont want him to even see us before he gets smacked around like a pool ball
>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!
Im not that upset with the mage, just give her a mean look and tell her our business isnt done and we expect her to finish fixing Olu at another time, I hadnt realized what was on the table for our best friend before the last update and I know that Theral would absolutely want Olu to have a chance at true happiness with Jaz, Champion of love all the way

>>5576659
Im gonna change my wall of stone to a moon beam, if he has the succubus then the moonlight should do more damage theoretically to me being light magic plus itll blind him for a sec, might be uber wrong plus idek if we can cast it without Endymion with us, if so ignore this whole post

>>5576399
>There comes a time when withdrawal is your best bet—you will attempt to rush past (or through) the Green Knight and escape before he can react!

Start with a moonbeam to blind him, then wall of stone him (either into the ceiling or to block his access to us)

We have ample mana reserves, let’s tap into them

If these don’t work, release the ice elemental (or the lighting elemental if we brought it with us)

Make sure to reapply our amulet of disguise once we’re safely past the GK

It would probably be prudent for us to hunker down (not at Roth’s place as Henzler knows his name) for a while after this and then escape the city. Princess insemination will come post beating the GK

>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!

>>5576659
>>5576830
Ah, yes. Running away from a challenge is sure to impress our patron god. I’m sure snake daddy would be absolutely thrilled with this plan.

>>5576399
>Face the Green Knight directly—you will live in fear of this man no longer!

Don't think Henzler would have lured us down here if it was so easy to escape from. plus we have shoggy and we're in our natural form, thanks to Henzler. Nearly full combat capacity.

>>5576876
Lets say optimistically the green knight starts losing, (Even though, he is a veteran warrior and adventurer who is fully decked out in magical gear. And considering he bound a demon to his service presumably knows some magic too.)

We are still surrounded in a enemy city, with only two allies one of whom is already knocked out and we know the paladin king has stepped up patrols around the city.

We need to leave as soon as possible regardless since our cover identities will soon be worthless.

>>5576399
>There comes a time when withdrawal is your best bet—you will attempt to rush past (or through) the Green Knight and escape before he can react

>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend

>>5576399
>Face the Green Knight directly—you will live in fear of this man no longer!

>You will bring him with you—you MUST! He is your faithful friend!

Saddle Roth with Olu.

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>>5577367
>>5577359
>>5577047
>>5576943
>>5576830
>>5576735
>>5576659
>>5576632
>>5576575
>>5576435
>>5576405
[Locked and writing]

>>5577707
You consider running, fleeing, perhaps taking a hostage and negotiating your escape… But no. You did not pledge soul and service to the Serpent Ascendant, God of Dark Victory, to run and hide like a weakling. You will live in fear of this crusading cavalier no longer—you will take the fight to him! After all…

<KNIGHT ASCENDANT’S CODE>
>1. You must not turn down a direct challenge to your honour, no matter how perilous
>3. You must defeat worthy foes by strength of arm or open warfare, never by assassins or diplomacy

…It’s sort of in the job description. The last thing you can afford now is losing divine favour, with enemies on every side.

“You have made a missstake, Archmage,” you reply, as calmly as you can manage. “We are not done here.”

She says nothing, just watching you. Counting on her apathy towards the events—she is hardly an enthusiastic collaborator with the Green Knight if he must blackmail her, you instruct the Infiltrator called Roth to collect poor, unconscious, half-naked Oluwadamilare.

“And pull up his pants,” you command. “Give him his dignity.”

“You mean to tackle this creature head-on?!” Your father balks. “I told you: this is a trap1 he will have means to end s, if he is here.”

“He knows to expect Reptilian Infiltrators,” you correct your overcautious ancestor. “He does not know to expect ME.”

After all, the Serpent Ascendant does not require that you fight STUPIDLY, or to the death—merely that you do not flinch from a challenge. The inkling of a plan is percolating in your lizard-brain even now. Your self-confidence if further bolstered when Henzler steps back, assuming a defensive stance… But does not strike.

“You won’t win,” she tells you, without any evidence happiness or sadness about your fate.

Foolish human. You don’t need to win—you just need to not LOSE. The plan solidifies.

Rolled 16, 4, 1 = 21 (3d20)

>>5577724
With Roth a step behind you at our instruction, you approach the door as stealthily as you may—your organic armour and new, padded boost afford you a MITE more stealth than your adversary. Only when yoru <Danegr Sense> tells you the timing is right do you step out to face your long-anticipated foe.

The Green Knight stands before you. His appellation is no misnomer: his armour is green and silver, decorated with motifs of dragons—pained, roaring in agony, impaled or in death throes. His helm obscures his eyes in shadow. Beneath that helm, you know, he wears your mother’s mystic diadem: a source of protection for mind and spirit, plucked from your creator’s corpse just as he stole away her devilish assistant. In his hand he grips a blade, while another is sheathed upon his belt. The one in his grip does not glow, so you assume the sheathed weapon is the armament enchanted against your ilk—held in reserve.

“You should have led with your bessst,” you tell him.

Before he can reply, you add an addendum: a blast of your <Moonbeam>, projected from your open maw.

[Elementalism roll. DC normally 17 for offensive spells wielded against the Green Knight in his armour; reduced by 3 by the use of <Danger Sense> on your first strike. No moon-blade to augment your roll with sword skills.]

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Rolled 1, 14, 19 = 34 (3d20)

>>5577726
>>5577726
The Green Knight reaches behind his back to produce a silver shield. If he is startled—and you suppose he must be—you cannot see his shocked expression. His reaction time in such heavy armour is impressive, though. If you did not have the element of surprise—if you were not coiled like a cobra, waiting to strike—he would have blocked your <Moonbeam> entirely.

>16 vs. DC 14

But you were, and he doesn’t. Instead, your emerald enemy is launched back from whence he came, sent spiraling through the air. He adjusts his form as best he can, but still lands in a clatter of steel upon his back like a toppled turtle. Agile though he is, he is clearly disoriented and widned by the unanticipated attack.

“RUN!” you roar.

Roth follows your commands, your ever-argumentative sire offering no grumbling counterpoint this time. With Olu slung over one shoulder, the old Dragonborn takes off at a full sprint, rushing past the prone warrior and leaping over a haphazard swing of his sword.

Damn, he’s durable. Is it his magical equipment, or is it something else which gird and guides him?

“None of that,” you address him in his own mammalian tongue.

You shift your stance into something more solid, drawing a foot across the stone floor and focusing upon the energies below channeling them up your legs and into your gut. You clench a fist, and raise it high. In the end, it doesn’t much matter how strong this Green Knight is, or how frightening his reputation—not when he is just a man in a tin can, standing atop a rapidly-rising <Wall of Stone>, inches and seconds away from being crushed against the hall’s low ceiling.

[DC 17 Elementalism again, reduced by 1 because of your earlier success and the clever write-in combo.]

>>5577735
I’m hoping to get Mother’s diadem back right desu.

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>>5577735
>>5577744
>>5577735
>19 vs. DC 16

The Green Knight doesn’t cry out so much as grunt in pain and confusion, not even able to get a word out before the floor below him slams him into the ceiling and wedges him in place. To his credit, he is able to adjust his posture somewhat—he is not prone when he meets the roof, but in a crouch with head bowed, such that shoulders and knees brace him in place and prevent his immediate compaction from Green Knight into Peridot Pancake. It buys your subordinates precious time to make good on their escape, even as it prevents the Green Knight for absconding himself.

He is trapped. Not helpless, but at this moment, as vulnerable as he is ever likely to be. This man has massacred members of the Master Race. He killed and looted your mother. He has exposed your people’s Great Conspiracy, and turned nations against you. He has attempted to trap and exterminate your like a rat. For months—MONTHS!—he has haunted your sleep… And now here he is, before you, straining to liberate himself from your clutches… And, for the moment, failing.

Foiled. Fettered. Harmless. Helpless.

What will you do?
>Strike him down! Now! While you have the chance! [Specify a method of attempted execution]
>Follow your father (and Olu) to safety, and find somewhere safe to re-quip your Amulet of Disguise—overconfidence is folly, and he is not dead yet
>Assume <Dragonshape IV>, and draw your sword—it is time to duel!
>You have questions, and he WILL answer you! [Specify what you will confront him about—your mother? Her demon? His plans? Something else?]
>Write-in

>>5577748
>Unhelm him and take Mother’s Diadem back
Then
>Behead with sloggoth sword
or
>Walk away, lamenting the failure of the Green Knight to be a worth-while foe

>>5577748
>Strike him down! Now! While you have the chance! [Specify a method of attempted execution]

>Wield your great shoggoth-sword and lop his fool head from his shoulders

>>5577748
>>Strike him down! Now! While you have the chance! Use blunt force. End him rightly.
Let's not leave any opening. We don't want to lose our shoggoth armour protection, and a sword is not ideal against full plate.
Either earth wall until he pops or beat him to death with your pommel/guard in a mordhau grip.

>>5577748
>Strike him down! Now! While you have the chance! [Specify a method of attempted execution]
Shog off his head, regardless of the outcome grab for that fucking diadem, rip it off of his head painfully if we have to, stay away from his sword at all fucking costs

>>5577765
[I don't mean to be a cruel DM, but I must say I'm not sure how you turn your armour into a magic sword, either climb a stone wall or lower it to release him so you can decapitate him, and ALSO stay out of sword-range.]

>>5577752
>>5577754
>>5577765
Im just a tourist but are you guys sure this shoggoth sword can cut through his full plate armor? Since we're below him, a stab to the groin seems like the best possible cutting move so I'd either go with that or beat/crush him to death like >>5577764 said.

>>5577768
Reasonable, im just ravenously attacking brainwise, how bout we just scramble up grab him by the head and drop all of our weight down

>>5577769
Reasonable, I mainly just want the diadem, I don’t really care how we dispatch him afterwards.

>>5577791
Does he need to be alive for the diadem to be taken? Killing him through blunt force trauma, blood loss or compression asphyxia then taking the diadem off of his dead body seems like a better idea.

>>5577803
Whatever we choose just make sure its swift,violent and disorienting enough to kill him before he has a chance to use any magic/items. Wizard rules, basically.

>>5577803
No, but being blunt if we are executing him now the sword offers us the most dice, though I would support a particularly creative write in.

>>5577811
Well... getting hit in the head or stabbed in the balls repeatedly whilst you're running out of air from having your torso crushed sounds incapacitating enough to me.

>>5577843
See above, both methods use the sword.

>>5577850
That’s fine for me

>>5577764
>>5577769
Also support, if we can pull it off

>>5577764
Supporting.

I'm afraid his armor shield him from fire and magic, and concussion seems effective for now.

Let's be honest, I don't think we will get him out of the picture right now, maybe we can leave him with a nice scar?

>>5577764
Bludgeoning damage is best damage.

>>5577863
I’d be satisfied with the diadem and walking away lamenting that this is the best that Hawksong has to offer.

>>5577748
>Strike him down! Now! While you have the chance! [Specify a method of attempted execution]
I'm a bit against adding moving parts but
Create a second wall of stone from the ceiling and lower one while keeping him trapped under the other
Then no fancies stab him in the neck, with our sword, plate or not this is always a vulnerable spot; I'd be in for blunt but just don't want to get too close.

>>5577764
This, and also burn him with our dragon breath. Burn so bright as to leave naught but charred bones

[Not locking the vote yet, but if I'm counting correctly... Everyone is voting to execute, most want to behead, with a notable and non-exclusive group advocating for crushing him or pummeling him first, and one guy wanting to cook him with fire breath. Is that about right?]

>>5577748
hmm
why not raise more earth around him? entomb him and let him suffocate

>>5578004
Surely the knight with dragons depicted dying on his armour has it enchanted to block fire breath.

>>5577748
To consolidate the vote and because I think his head is closer to us, I'll back >>5577764

>>5578153
Unless we can completely bury him, leaving no gaps, that would take too long.

>>5578004
Like >>5578582 said, I doubt that would be effective in burning him. It could, however, hasten his suffocation by using up the oxygen with the flames.

>>5577764
Yeah, gonna change my vote (>>5577754) to this too.

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>>5578661
>>5578596
>>5578153
>>5578004
>>5577943
>>5577863
>>5577852
>>5577765
>>5577764
[In a stunning upset, we've moved from decapitation to a huge preference for crushing and/or bashing damage.]

>>5577889
[It seems you are widely agreed-with on this matter. The vote is locked, and I'm writing.]

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Rolled 20, 7, 8 = 35 (3d20)

>>5578789
You cannot pass up this opportunity. The Green Knight is straining to free himself from where you have wedged him, and so long as he cannot move freely, he is as good as at your mercy.

“It isss a shame,” you say, as you survey his predicament. “I have heard much of you, Yosef. I had thought that you might prove a worthwhile foe.”

The Green Knight pauses in his struggle as you speak his family name, slowly lowering his head to survey you. You don’t need an empathic sense to feel the shock and fury radiating from the silent swordsman.

“You aren’t living up to the legend,” you lament.

Unfortunately for him, you have far less mercy than mana. The Red Dragon King’s reserves are truly impressive. You aren’t exactly a wizard, so focusing upon too many ongoing spells at once still strains your concentration; in contrast to your early days, however, casting spell after spell has hardly any effect upon your stamina. As you assume the stance for another use of your <Wall of Stone> and summon the strength, what was once a laborious task feels as easy as breathing.

And breathing is exactly what the Green Knight must be struggling to do now, as you pull the ceiling down and the floor up, to meet him in the middle.

[DC 16]

>>5578805
dang we shoulda beheaded

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Rolled 17, 3, 9, 16 = 45 (4d20)

>>5578805
>>5578813
>20
It takes time—an impressive amount of time, really—but the man breaks. His enchanted (?) ancestral armour, with its sacrilegious scrawlings of your fallen ancestors cracks and buckles, caving in upon its occupant. Blood begins to seep from the spaces between his plates, alluding to unseen injuries within. He shudders, trashes weakly, and goes limp.

(The ever-so-slight anxiety which still remained from your earlier instant of panic finally settles.)

You slowly lower your fist, and the stone vise which you have constructed lowers the helpless human and his hanging head to where you can better reach it. With a casual motion, you draw your elven longsword and flip it in your hand, so you are holding it by the blade, clutched in your gauntlet. As the Green Knight is brought to rest before you, you give his emerald helm a prod with the haft of your weapon. When no response comes, you lift it high, and swing it down hard, rattling the helm.

It does not cave in, so you suppose it MUST be enchanted.

Still, he cannot be in very good shape, even if he is alive at all. You are tempted to swing, and swing, and swing again until his helmet shatters and spills forth his brains… But no. His neck was surely broken by that mighty blow, right? And under that helm, he has your mother’s treasure: the diadem which can grant your big brother back home the gift of clarity, restoring his addled and underdeveloped intelligence to his rightful draconic glory!

You reach out, a seize the plume upon this knight’s helm. With a well-placed tug, you unmask your beaten adversary. He has the pale, pinkish skin of the northmen, with brownish integument and an aquiline, hawkish nose larger than the local average, and slightly hooked. His solid features and sharp jaw are striking, though you are a poor judge of humanoid beauty standards-you suspect he must be quite handsome, or rather ugly, but you don’t know which. His symmetry of features and clear skin attest to noble breeding, and good nutrition—as does his size and build, you suppose, which you would estimate as being comparable to that of Olu the Archer.

The last of the Yosef, brought low… And upon his brow, the golden circlet which is your birthright and trophy. You pluck it from his scalp and regard it. It is a strange feeling—this was your mother’s worn when she died. Now, it is yours. You have avenged her, and with hardly even any difficulty. It was almost…

><DANGER SENSE: ACTIVE>

…Too easy. You are moving before you know why, your divination-amplified senses taken autonomic control of your reflexes, hurtling you backwards from an unknown threat. Did he bring reinforcements? Is it Henzler, coming to his rescue in spite of her apparent indifference earlier?!

[Athleticism, DC 18 normally,but 15 due to your aforementioned divination spell]

>>5578825
Thank the Dark Gods for Danger Sense.

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>>5578825
>>5578846
>17 vs. DC 15
You narrowly dodge a killing blow, and with enough distance to get a good look at your assailant. It is…

A sword?

The sword hovers in the air before you—an obviously-enchanted blade, made in the northern human fashion with two cutting edges and a tapered point, of a fine white-silver metal. It is faintly glowing red, with a clean and simple blade faintly engraved with something like… True Script? You narrow your eyes, squinting to read it without drawing closer, and make out a single word:

‘KINSLAYER’

You gnash your teeth at this accursed magic weapon.

“You defend a corpse,” you hiss at it in True Speech—if it is engraved with such, perhaps the animating spirit of this sword understands the Reptilian tongue.

It does not reply, but another does:

“Do not be so sure, monster.”

Your eyes widen and your breath hitches. You look past the sword, to find the source of the oafishly-accented True Speech. You find an empty shell: the crumpled, inward-crushed chestplate and backplate of the Green Knight’s carapace has been unbuckled and abandoned. He steps out from behind the wall of stone—it doesn’t fill the entire hallways, for you had no desire to cut off your own escape route. As he does so, the sword flies to his hand, which closes around it.

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>>5578855
The Green Knight is in rough shape. You are sort of impressed the human is standing at all. His breathing is ragged, wheezing—you know the sound from when your won broken rib pierced your lung, once upon a time during your rescue of Davora. His hazel eyes are bloodshot, his grimace bloodied by upchucked blood. Without a healer’s attention, you suspect his existing injuries would mean his death, even without any further action on your part…

And yet he stands. Those eyes, bloodshot and bleary though they be, are filled with resolve, and a deep well of vengeance such as you do not think you have even seen in your most rebellious slaves or captives. It is the cultivated loathing of years—decades, a lifetime—focused to a beam of deadly intensity, and focused upon you like a bolt of smiting lightning. He takes up his shield in his other arm—a measure of defence against your own shoggoth-cuirass, in lieu of his now-useless and abandoned outer armour. In the shield, polished silver, with the faintest sheen of magic to your sixth sense, you see your mirror image.

In your reflection, you see…
>Trepidation—this man should be dead, surely?! You will draw your bow, use your magic—keep him at a distance!
>Excitement—now THIS is a duel, a PROPER challenge from a WORTHY foe! You will clash swords with this knight, and prove your superiority once and for all!
>Hatred, to match the Green Knight’s own—if he won’t stay dead, then you’ll just have to summon forth the shoggoth-sword and use the might of that dread weapon to put him down all the more painfully and brutally!

[Write-in’s permitted, tactics encouraged.]
Green Knight: 2/5 HP

>>5578857
>Love- for your Mother, for your Great Green Brother, for the whole Master Race, you will end this Kinslayer!

>Burn him alive whilst you bathe him in your Radiant Aura- with no armor left to aid him, surely your twin flames will see him brought low

>>5578857
[Oh, and adding to your 'deafult' options, there is also...]

>Curiousity—who IS this man? Maybe he can answer some lingering questions if you keep him talking while you look for an opening( and give your friends more time to flee and hide)

>>5578857
>Hatred, to match the Green Knight’s own—if he won’t stay dead, then you’ll just have to summon forth the shoggoth-sword and use the might of that dread weapon to put him down all the more painfully and brutally!

reeee revenge for mommy

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>>5578825
> You are tempted to swing, and swing, and swing again until his helmet shatters and spills forth his brains…
Then why didn't you?

> But no. His neck was surely broken by that mighty blow, right?
Is it in character for the MC to do something this retarded? He's fighting this big dick rival and, when he's got him on the ropes, doesn't make sure he's dead?

>>5578857
> Anger—you had him! You were so close to killing him but you got careless again! You will correct your mistake.
Im thinking of feigning recklessness and charging him with the sword but focusing on parrying to follow up with another crushing move or fire breath. Or feinting the crushing move and using the fire breath instead.

>>5578996
>Then why didn't you?
[It would have damaged or broken the diadem, had you not removed it first. Removing his helm and taking the diadem before landing the killing blow was the only way to ensure it didn't shatter. Theral then gazed upon the diadem for about a second before a levitating magic sword tried to slice open his throat. Sorry if I was unclear.]

>>5578999
Well, the only way to take the diadem while also killing him quickly with blunt force trauma, I should say

>>5578999
>>5579004
But a diadem doesn't cover the entire head. If damaging it is the worry, then strike him at the base of the head or on the back of the neck or stab trough the vision slits until death is certain.

>>5578857
>Curiosity—who IS this man? Maybe he can answer some lingering questions if you keep him talking while you look for an opening( and give your friends more time to flee and hide)
Best option now that we have the armour advantage - and we should keep that advantage by not using the shog sword.
That shield is likely going to still repel any ranged or magic attack and our strength is in swordplay.
Fools rush in however, so lets look for that opening, take what advantage we can, and let our allies escape.

>>5578999
>>5578996
Yeah, anons made it clear they wanted their trinket intact, and we did promise it to big bro green.

>>5579005
[Bashing in his magic helmet with such force as to cave it in and kill him doesn't mesh with careful precision to avoid damaging a circlet-crown on his head, in my opinion. Stabbing through the vision-slit (not proposed, I don't believe) isn't blunt-force trauma.]

[Regardless, it's flavour text to represent the basic outcome: you lowered his HP by 2 and stunned him long enough to get the diadem thanks to a crit, and wrecked his armour because you chose the use of the Wall of Stone/bludgeoning strat, and then he used his magic sword defence to repel you because he wasn't at 0 or -1 HP yet. The rest is narrative flourish.]

>>5579011
Don't need to cave the entire helmet in. Like I said base of the head/back of the neck area is a perfectly suitable target. And I didn't propose the stab idea because it wasn't feasible at the time, had you given us the prompt at the moment of opportunity I would've suggested it.

I know that in a meta sense it's flourish but that doesn't make it dismissable since it's not any less contrived. Like when villains throw the hero around instead of actually killing them, it reveals the man behind the curtain which takes me out of the story.

>>5579022
[Welcome to my pulpy fantasy quest based on reptoid conspiracy theories and D&D. I am certainly interested in immersion, but I am ultimately less concerned with the character behaving in a perfectly strategically optimal fashion at all times in my write-ups than I am in having a good flow to my writing and telling a fun little fantasy story. For me, that means setting up some set-pieces and moments, not necessarily pausing at every blow to hold new votes on every possible combat manoeuvre

[You had mentioned being new here (or at least a 'tourist', rather than a regular), so I will let you know: for the last nine or ten months, this is how I've been writing fight-scenes, and for a bit over a year beforehand in Reptilian Infiltrator Quest. I am open to criticism, and I always try to do my best, but I'm not interested in litigating this rules-light creative writing romp like we were playing a tabletop game.]

[I appreciate you joining us, and I hope you can enjoy your stay. If not, I understand.]

>>5578857
>Excitement—now THIS is a duel, a PROPER challenge from a WORTHY foe! You will clash swords with this knight, and prove your superiority once and for all!
Getting rid of the shog armor while he is naked feels foolish, we are sword masters in the making so might as well make use of it

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>>5579022
Life goes on anon, dont start demanding shit from QM during the 9th thread of his spinoff story from his previous super succesful series of threads that have always had constant traction, you already said youre new or at least an equivalent of such, maybe read into the story more and learn about who your playing as before making decisions during a super important fight, especially when your opinion is ignorant and shows you didnt make an effort to learn, be better man
>>5578857
>Excitement—now THIS is a duel, a PROPER challenge from a WORTHY foe! You will clash swords with this knight, and prove your superiority once and for all!
Engage the radiance as he is our sworn enemy in opposition to everything we believe so should sting pretty nasty, if we have any control over the shog armor I say we point all eyes on him again hes our sworn enemy and the aberration clinging to our scales can likely feel our urge to sink our teeth into his skull Doesnt really do anything just a nice bit of flourish put the pressure on him and show Roth why were in charge of this crusade

>>5578857
>Curiousity—who IS this man? Maybe he can answer some lingering questions if you keep him talking while you look for an opening( and give your friends more time to flee and hide)

Questions - then we >>5578861

Burn him till nothing remains

>>5578857
>Curiosity, Excitement, Hatred- all a blend of emotions.
What drives you so, broken man? Why must you fight the inevitable? I’m glad you’re a proper challenge though.

Any companions? Friends? Loved ones? I know you are the last of your line, I might as well eradicate your memory while I’m at it.

>Radiant Aura, Dazzle, Moonbeam, and duel with our shoggoth-sword

>>5578857
Also-
>Wear the diadem

>>5579028
You're adressing my points piecemeal and therefore missing what Im actually getting at. It's not about the character being strategically optimal at all times or having us micromanage every action. It's about the story and it's characters feeling coherent and natural (not contrived). That's why I asked if the MC would make this sort of mistake in these circumstances, to know if it made sense. If you find that writing contrivances aren't an issue then agree to disagree but that's what I actually have a problem with.

Im a tourist in the sense that I read the beggining of infiltrator, dropped it, and then occasionally read a bit of these antipaladin threads.

>>5579050
Must you be so disguntingly patronizing? I've demanded nothing of the QM and I see no way that anything I've said here could ever be accurately called "ignorant". Only by reading your condescending post have I become embittered. If that was your intention, congratulations.

Also, I’m honestly tempted to go full Dragonshape on his ass, just for a ‘oh fuck’ moment for the Green Knight.

>>5579074
To be fair, the behead option didn’t win, the crush one did. Also, think we can barbecue him without his armor?

>>5579077
>>5579078
Dragonshape usually takes some time I doubt we'll have, Id be down for grilling but maybe parry or break his shield arm first, dragons breath wouldnt do anything to us if reflected but it could give him an opening

>>5578855
>Excitement—now THIS is a duel, a PROPER challenge from a WORTHY foe! You will clash swords with this knight, and prove your superiority once and for all

>>5579077
>>5579117
[Taking the time to assume Dragonshape would indeed give the Green Knight an opportunity to strike or make preparations of his own, though with a successful Athletics roll you could hold him at bay long enough to complete the transformation.]

>>5579074
>That's why I asked if the MC would make this sort of mistake in these circumstances, to know if it made sense
the answer is yes, the MC would make that mistake under these circumstances, because that's literally what just happened. happy?

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[Thank you to whatever janny cleaned up the 'spirited debate'. I appreciate everyone's passion, but I suspect we will all better-appreciate this thread in the archive without an extended exchange of insults and complaints mid-fight.

>>5579074
[Feedback on how I write will be accepted at END of thread. I strongly suspect as you read through the previous threads, though, you will find that we truly must agree to disagree, and that this quest isn't the quest you want it to be.]

>>5579210
>>5579072
>>5579070
>>5579063
>>5579050
>>5579029
>>5579007
>>5578996
>>5578881
>>5578863
>>5578861
[Vote is locked, writing has commenced!]

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Rolled 12, 12, 17, 4 = 45 (4d20)

>>5579672
As you stare down this human’s unflinching antipathy, you start to feeling something new in this encounter. Your heart is pounding in your chest, but it isn’t anxiety. Your grip tightens on your sword, but you are not in the grip of terror. You feel not fear, but… Exhilaration.

“I must admit it,” you address the Green Knight (and in your native tongue, since he evidently speaks it), “I am glad you are a worthy challenge after all.”

“Spare me the pretension to honour, snake,” she spits (in his native Northern Common-tongue, you note, perhaps seeking to avoid an embarrassing accent just as you now are). “It is alien to your motherless breed.”

That comment stings a little, but you resist the urge to avenge. You instead circle slowly, the hand bearing the Ring of Protection raised in mirror of the Yosef heir’s own silver shield. You feint, he recoils and raises his blade… But instead of attempting the strike and falling into his counter-attack, you stop short, and place your mother’s diadem upon your head. Seeing his trophy upon your brow instead of his own only seems to infuriate this knight all the more.

“Not motherless,” you correct him.

He laughs, a bitter and mocking sound of disbelief.

“I know how your lot are grown. Hatched in clutches, abandoned by your parents. Don’t try to weaken me with a sob story. I have no time for crocodile tears, creature.”

“Then what of you?” you ask.

You’re admittedly a little curious, even if it’s MOSTLY just an effort to distract and occupy the human male while you look for a gap in his defences, and allow the blood-loss to take its toll.

[Diplomacy, DC 18]

Rolled 11, 5, 1, 11, 5, 3, 9, 16, 15 = 76 (9d20)

>>5579702
“What?” he demands. “Be quiet. You embarrass us both with this ploy.”

“I am quite serious,” you insist. “What drives you so, Oh Broken One? Why must you fight the inevitable?”

“It must please you to style yourself such,” he laughs. “Perhaps when your efforts are so frequently thwarted by the Children of Light, you dark-dwelling sons-of-serpents comfort yourself by reassuring yourselves ‘oh, but our victory is inevitable!’”

He grins, a mirthless smile. You are briefly at a loss for words.

“Did I hit too close to home?” he laughs. “I heard it plenty of times, while I cut bits off of your Chaplain. The Great Conspiracy stretches across the continent! The Grand Design will swallow us all, crush us in coils most mighty!”

The Green Knight takes advantage of his removed helm to spit upon the stone floor between you in a gesture of dismissive disgust.

“Your every victory is a hollow one, bastard. Your every dream is destined to be DASHED. You are NOTHING. You are a SHADOW.”

Enough! You are at last incensed to action—and, better yet, the explosive tirade has seemingly distracted your rival from his careful footwork and opened a rift in the bulwark of his defences. You take maximum advantage of it by igniting your <Radiant Aura> to life.

“Not a shadow!” you declare, your voice a roar. “I am THE SUN!”

The Green Knight cries out, moving his shield to guard his vision rather than his vitals. You grin, your own smile just as sinister as your enemy’s, and thrice as sharp. You flip your sword over in your hand, and with all your master of the Hexblade’s art, you sweep forward to seize the moment…

[5d20, DC normally 18, reduced to 17 by the destruction of his armour, reduced again to 16 by your Sword Mastery...]
But he has a counter roll

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>>5579708
>Critical failure
You charge into the apparent breach in the enemy’s defence, but when you open your mouth to roar and appropriately bloodthirsty battle-cry, you instead catch the man’s shield to the mouth. He wasn’t raising his shield to protect his eyes after all, but instead to drive it into your draconically-elongated snout! You stagger back, disoriented, your mouth full of blood, and spit out a tooth…

>DC to hit you: 15, normally
>Raised by 2 thanks to your shoggoth armour
>Lowered by 1 because of your crit-fail
>Raised by 1 because of your aura blinding and searing the Green Knight
>>16 vs. DC 17
Only your wise decision to retain the shoggoth-shard in armour form rather than converting it to its original blade-shape saves you from a lethal swing of the sword. This ‘Kinslayer’ blade cuts through the organic carapace, very nearly cutting to the core of you… But the shoggoth-armour is a living thing,a nd it does not take this assault upon it lightly or passively. Its material shifts and reshapes to better armour the area of impact, absorbing the blow and attempting to entangle the sword. Across your torso, a dozen hatefully-staring eyes open and glower at the man who struck the blow.

The Green Knight releases his sword, leaping back and staring with horrified expression upon the aberration which you wear as raiment.

“By all the Gods and Archdevils alike,” he murmurs, and then adds, “what the FUCK is that?”

His floating sword struggles by its own volition against your armour’s clutches, attempting to free itself; you suspect it will, given another instant. However, even as you consider snatching it up for yourself, you see the blade’s master skillfully kick his other, more mundane blade back into his hand from where he dropped it while being crushed by your <Wall of Stone>. He assumes a warrior’s stance, and with a war-cry he charges you anew. His skin steams and eyes water at the shining, burning light of your <Radiant Aura>, but still he comes!

What will you do?
>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…
>Release the sword and leap back to dodge—then, when his effort is wasted, you can torch this man with righteous dragonfire!
>Hold steady! Parry the blow with your sword, and deliver an impact with fist or tail to topple and daze the dastard!
>Duck, dodge, and dash—you can gain some distance if you make for the xit,a nd maybe even lay a trap for this surprisingly-tough mammal!
>Write-in

>>5579724
>"I am aTrue Scion of the Dark Gods, MANLING. That is but one of their servants."

>Hold steady! Parry the blow with your sword, and deliver an impact with fist or tail to topple and daze the dastard!

He's armorless, and we're big and beefy.

Also, damn, what a time to critfail. Shit.

>>5579724
oh god oh fuck
what an appropriately timed critfail
>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…
We've conquered the elf blade and the shogblade, we're kinda a professional with the magic swords. Plus how can we die now? His motherless comments opened him up for a great "I HAVE AVENGED YOU MOTHER" line when we win.

>>5579724
>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…
I hate it when the dice randomly job us during a boss fight…

>>5579724
>>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…
Keeping the magic sword out of his control and potentially in ours is a good option. His regular one likely will have an even tougher time getting through our armour. And like other anon said, we are kind of the authority on magic swords.

>>5579724

>>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…

>“By all the Gods and Archdevils alike,” he murmurs, and then adds, “what the FUCK is that?
> - Just one of the magical swords which will I overcame. Not the first, and not the last..."
Extremely solid update QM

>>5579880
>Snatch up Kinslayer and swing to kill—IF you can overpower the magic sword’s own adversarial nature…
New sword? Urm cheque please!

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Rolled 5, 5, 19 = 29 (3d20)

>>5579735
>>5579742
>>5579755
>>5579765
>>5579880
>>5580171
You raise your sword to parry the blow, holding the Green Knight at bay. His impact is a brutal one—his force is more than his size should allow, his technique simply to superior to yours in your state of divided attention. The elven blade is battered from your hand. You step back.

“You wish to know the nature of my armour?” you ask him, dodging another blow. “IT is one of the servants of the Dark Gods of the True Faith—the shoggoth, made a mere minion.”

You stagger back, duck your head to evade a killing stroke, and all the while you continue talking.

“It is just ONE of the magical swords which, through force of my DRAGON SOUL, I overcame!”

You spread your mouth in a wide grin, as you grab the hilt of this ‘Kinslayer’. It had very nearly cut itself free of the shoggoth-cuirass’ oozing tendrils.

“It was not the first to be dominated,” you proclaim. “Nor the last!”

You take a deep breath, exhaling smoke as you raise the temperature of your inner fire and awaken the Red Dragon King’s spirit to bolster your own. With your gods and your ancestor behind you, you turn your might will upon the animated weapon which you now hold fast.

[Spellcraft roll, DC 15/18/20]

>>5580861
yeaaa boiiiiiiii

>>5580861
>Big Red’s soul doesn’t knock down the DC by 1

>>5580893
I imagine the Dragon Soul is what netted us the potential for the bottom result at DC15.

>>5580894
Actually, the diadem probably would help, if this sword is made of what think it’s made of.

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>>5580861
>>5580868
>>5580893
>>5580861
You focus your senses upon the enchanted item, throttling its struggles as if your hands were upon the animating entity’s throat. Time seems to slow for a moment as you turn your full attention from the test of arms against the Green Knight to this new battle: the trial of will. Your meditative practice proves invaluable in this matter, and your training with your Novice –even more than your mastery of the sword. The energies which flow through Kinslayer’s glowing steel are not the most familiar, but nor are they utterly alien to you. After all, you have encountered demons before…

>19

…And you even know this one by name.

“Irinnile.”

The sword rumbles, quaking in your grasp, and then… Geos still. Your nictitating membranes slide shut, and your perceive the world through the hazy lenses, gazing as if through a crystal into the half-plane between mundane material reality and the dimension of spirit and magic. There, you see her: your mother’s minion, her greatest weapon of warfare-by-other-means, her soulbound lover now torn asunder from her long-departed spirit.

The succubus hovers in place, where the sword was a moment ago. She is not unlike the creature you glimpsed in your torpor-dream, the voluptuously-constructed creature of hellish energies, made manifest in the form of a humanoid woman with curving horns, carnivorous teeth, cloven hooves, and thin, forked tail. Her hands, fine-fingered and ending in wicked points, clasp weakly at your own hands—now, as you perceive it, truly around her throat.

But rather than red, she is green—like her master’s armour. Her form is gaunt and wasted, weakened. She faintly radiates a red aura—a cursed energy, binding her and turning her to new intent. She is the sword, made flesh; the flesh is this demoness, made steel.

“You know me?” she asks, weakly, meeting your mage-gaze with shining diamond-eyes, gleaming with golden promise but expressing confusion, hazy as if intoxicated or starved half to death.

“I do,” you acknowledge, “and you know me. As I understand it, you helped to MAKE me… And last night, you visited my sleep.”

Something seems to click. The succubus’ eyes take on a bit more light of conscious thought. She struggles weakly, not to flee or to strike, but to lean forward and to perceive you more closely. Taking a chance, you release your grip—upon her, and upon the sword in the realm of material reality.

The sword hovers close to your now,--close enough to slice your throat and end you. The succubus-spirit reaches out to touch your face, to caress your jaw and run subtly, sensuous fingers through your hair with courtesan care.

Big Red's soul doesn't generally lower DCs at all, but just makes your Dragonshape and aura more potent and give you near-infinite mana

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Rolled 13, 6, 12, 5, 18 = 54 (5d20)

>>5580894
It's actually your dream choice last thread that offered that low threshold

>>5580901
If you'd failed, the diadem would have helped protect your mind against her retaliation

>>5580902
“Lissspy,” she whispers. “You’re… You’re her kid, ain’t ya’?”

You are a little befuddled at the term but, reflecting on your own accent, you think Irinnile the Succubus refers to your mother. You nod.

“Your, ah… Nephew? Of sorts?”

After all, that was what this hell-creature called you in your dream, and your corrected account of your origins included demoniac assistance in shaping the soul of you and your fellow (truer, younger) Dragonborn siblings. At the very least, the answer seems to be the correct one, for the she-devil smiles, tears coming to her arms. She presses her naked body to yours, a gesture almost maternal until her leg curls up to wrap around your waist and she buries her face in your neck. She takes a deep inhale of you and moans softly, raising a burning fire which enflames your spiritual condition… But you endure it, even as the ‘blessing’ of the Divine Mother churns unsettlingly in your gut in response to your aroused <appetite>.

“You smell like her,” the succubus giggles gracelessly, as if drunk, and finally releases you.

You… Aren’t entirely sure how to respond, so you simply bow your head slightly in acknowledgement of what you ASSUME is a compliment.

“My nephew… Ha! Imagine me, Hot Aunty Iri… Wish your MILFy mommy could see me now…”

As she speaks the words, you sense the trance-time accelerating, the mystic connection fading and crumbling. You know the time is short. You open your mouth, wishing you could ask this strange shadow-spirit questions… But no, now is not the time.

You are still at war.

When you open your eyes to the world of blood-and-steel once more, the Green Knight is staring, dumbfounded. While you were engaged in your meeting-of-spirits, he wasn’t wasting the opportunity, he was positioning for a killing thrust, to stab you through throat and chin and to impale your brain from below. The last thing he expected—or so you assume by his dumbfounded and outraged expression—was for you to clasp his own Kinslayer blade, and to use it to deflect the blow at the last minute.

“No,” he gasps.

“Yessss,” you reply in his own tongue, grinning your wide and predatory false-smile.

He takes a step back, adjusts his stance, and thrusts again, perhaps in denial. You sidestep it as if this were merely another elven ballroom dance, twirl the Green Knight’s stolen succubus-sword with a flourish, and retaliate with a strike of your own…

>>5580907
>18

Holy shit. We actually just put this dude down in Henzler's basement, solo.

>>5580910
combat specs OP

>>5580913
>>5580910
>>5580907
Which lands true—and to brutal effect. The Green Knight cries out in agony and—yes, deliciously—fear. He stumbles back clutching at a bloody stump. His sword-arm, still clutching his blade in its death-grip, lies on the ground beneath the two of you. His sword, dropped to grip at the wound, clatters uselessly upon the blood-drenches stone.

“It is over,” you state, as a matter of fact. “You have taken my mother’s tools and sought to turn them against me, and against the Master Race but it was for naught. I am the Prophet of the Dark Gods Beyond and Below… Their instrument on this earth. You… You are just a man.”

“Your mother?” he asks, through the pain. “What… What are you…”

He goes silent, staring wide-eyed, with new understanding. That understanding then blossoms into vitriol such as to even make mockery of that earlier, iron-hard hatred he displayed for you and your kind.

“HER!”

You take a step forward. The green Knight stares up at you, from where he lays, now truly helpless. You raise the Kinslayer—Irinnile’s blade still glowing blood-red, even as it seems to rapidly absorb the shed blood of your enemy into itself.


“Any last words?” you ask him, impulsively and with no small smugness. “I know you are the last of your line, but perhaps I might one day make slaves of your friends or loved ones. Perhaps I can share your words with them?”

“None,” he snarls, and then his voice cracks slightly as he fully comprehends that Death is at hand. “Your mother killed all love in me when she killed my mother and my father, and made me the Green Knight of the House of Yosef.”

You…
>Mock the memory of this now-extinguished bloodline—he can join the rest of the Yosefs in oblivion!
>Thank him for an honourable duel, and for keeping your birthright safe, and end him
>Bring the blade down, to finally end this clash of swords and of wills—no more words need pass
>Bonk him on the head with the butt of your new demon-blade, and take him prisoner—The Priesthood will have questions for him, and he may make a worthy ritual sacrifice later
>Ask him what happened to his family, and how your mother died—this may be your best chance to hear of her last moments alive
>Write-in

>>5580907
And to think, half of you wanted to flee. Ye of little faith.

Will we capture him or is he dead?

>>5580923
>"It is a shame, then, that you were the best your bloodline had to offer."

>Thank him for an honourable duel, and for keeping your birthright safe, and end him

>>5580923
>Ask him what happened to his family, and how your mother died—this may be your best chance to hear of her last moments alive
>Mock the memory of this now-extinguished bloodline
>Bonk him on the head with the butt of your new demon-blade, and take him prisoner—The Priesthood will have questions for him, and he may make a worthy ritual sacrifice later
Well, that was exciting. I want to see Henzler’s face from this, and smirk.

>>5580937
I worry about capturing him; we have shit to do here and this is an extremely determined enemy.

>>5580923
>Ask him what happened to his family, and how your mother died—this may be your best chance to hear of her last moments alive
I need to know
his mom and dad were extra kills right? he should have been not so closely related to anyone we merced in infiltrator quest
mom went down swinging

>>5580923
>>Bring the blade down, to finally end this clash of swords and of wills—no more words need pass
End the bloodline. No monologuing, no chances.

>>5580923
>Bonk him on the head with the butt of your new demon-blade, and take him prisoner—The Priesthood will have questions for him, and he may make a worthy ritual sacrifice later
Proud last of his bloodline who didn't try to remedy being the last of his bloodline should be offered to snek and horni gods.
Albeit getting him out of the city might be complicated, perhaps we can lean on Henzler being freeish now and helping us as payback to the green knight

>>5580923
>>Thank him for an honourable duel, and for keeping your birthright safe, and end him

>>5580939
I get that- at the same time, we do have a way to gain compliance from him unwillingly. We simply need to feed Iri.

[I'm having a friend over this weekend, so I probably won't post tonight, and I may or may jot on Sunday. At least we got to the end of the fight! It was more of a curbstomp than expected when I statted the Green Knight, but so goes the dice. I hope you all had fun (or, at least, most of you except that one anon who very much didn't). See you soon!]

>>5581446
Hope you have fun RQM! I was definitely surprised as well, but man, what an introduction! From GK’s perspective, what a fucking first impression as a major antagonist! Shame we beat him in the first meeting, but I’m hoping anons decide to keep him around a bit longer, if only to give him more screentime.

>>5581446
Very fun, our critfail had me crying, pissing my pants, and even shitting and cumming.

>>5581157
>Henzler freeish
haha more like Henzler still enslaved to Iri who's rolling with us now

>>5580951
Supporting

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>>5581663
>>5581652

[I'm glad folks enjoyed the scene, at least! And thanks for the well-wishing. I had a good time!]

>>5582377
>>5581190
>>5581157
>>5581025
>>5580951
>>5580937
>>5580930
[Vote's locked, and I'll write as soon as my friend heads home today. Then, we're back to our regular schedule!]

>>5583646
As attractive a prospect as the Green Knight might make for ritual sacrifice to the Dark Gods—and a trophy for the Serpent Priesthood’s most traditional holdouts, solidifying your position—you can’t risk it. Through clever strategy, prophetic providence, and sheer luck, you scraped by with only a bloodied lip, a missing tooth, and a few light cuts and scrapes, but for al his failure this Yosef is a serious threat. You felt the impact of his blows, the sheer speed of the wind whistling by your face and throat with each swing you dodged. Even without ‘Kinslayer’, he is a fierce combatant—you suspect he is an even more skillful sword-wielder than your Duelist companion, Azonia of Wevenore. Besides that, he has political clout and symbolic value, and knowledge eh should not. Any chance you leave open for his escape and vengeance is a foolish error on your part. After all, you spared Hapo the Necromancer, and look at how THAT turned out!

Still… That doesn’t mean you’re willing to just kill him without asking any questions first.

You press the blade of the succubus-formed sword to the fallen human champion’s throat.

“I have questions,” you declare. “You will answer them.”

“Never, creature!”

The Green Knight spits at your feet, and glares at you through bleary eyes. He is still defiant. And why shouldn’t he be, you suppose? He will pass out from shock and blood-loss soon. Even if you weren’t planning to execute him, he would likely die soon thereafter. He is principled in his hatred of your kind. He has every reason to avoid providing you actionable intelligence in these final moments.

“You misunderstand my intentions,” you thus clarify. “I just wish to know how you were set on this path. What happened to your family.”

The Green Knight blinks slowly, looking as if he is confused by your words—or perhaps thinks he has misheard you, delusional from his wounds and worsening condition.

“What?” he balks. “Why should you care about that?”

“Your family’s fate was also mine,” you answer. “I want to know what became of my mother.”

This last of the Yosefs stares at you for a time, then looks away.

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>>5583737
“Your mother… Yes. I remember her. I remember that night…”

The Green Knight forces himself to sit up, quiet a moment longer, and then the flodogates open and the words spill forth. he knows this is to be his last testament.

“My father was the Green Knight before me, who bore this armour and the legacy of the Yosef bloodline’s heroic sons—those who fought in wars, and slew dragons, rather than merely facilitating and supporting those who did. He had grown old, though , and suffered injuries in the field. He was ready to settle down when he met my mother, in the most southeastern province of the allied realms of Paladin King Archos. She was younger than him by decades, but he cared for her and she respected and adored him, and they were both the best parents which I could have asked for…”

He looks up at you for a moment, and you think you see the moistness of tears around his eyes.

“Then your mother arrived. One night, when the desert step was chilly with winter-wind from the north. She turned up on our doorstep. Father was a man who believed in charity, but within reasonable limits… Or maybe he knew there was something WRONG about her, even then. He was prepared to offer her a blanket, and some food, and a place to stay in the stables. But I… I was young, and foolish, and…”

He gulps, and the vulnerability and sadness in his eyes hardens into a bitterness, a loathing for your mother and for himself.

“I encouraged mother and father to let her in, to let her stay with us in the house. A beautiful stranger like that, appearing on that night… The night of my birthday… She was probably twice my age to look at her even then, given how young I was, but I’d somehow convinced myself that This woman was there for me. I was smitten.”

More likely, the succubus now trapped in his sword played a role in twisting the young Yosef’s mind to such sentiment, you suspect… But you keep silent, your thoughts unspoken as he continues.

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>>5583739
“For her part, she was obviously more interested in Father… Not for the reasons I started to enviously suspect, but because of her true purpose there. She began to try to wheedle a wedge between my parents, to… Insert herself into the relationship, while she plied Father for information on our family… To make certain there were no more of us, of course, and to catch my father off-guard. To little avail—Father was a devoted husband, and a private man with outsiders.”

The Green Knight falls silent again, and for a moment you think he’s fallen unconscious at last… But then he continues.

“Mother came to an accident. I still don’t know what sort, though I’m sure it was no accident—your mother murdered her, and hid the body, stealing even the closure of death from Father, and from me. For me, your mother became… A lifeline, someone to cling to as Father grew distant. I told her everything she might want to know… And, eager to impress her, I took her to see the familial armour and sword, most holy relics of our branch of the family which Father had astutely hidden away until I was ready to take them up, so they wouldn’t be coveted and stolen by others.

He is trembling now, from the cold of his shock or the freshness of this traumatic memory.

“The next day, returning from the market, I found them. Your mother, atop y father, in the bed he’d shared with MY mother. At first I felt betrayed, believing that… That my father, in his weakness and loneliness, had stolen ‘my’ beloved away. Only when I saw the look in his eyes, the foam at the edge of his mouth, and… The blood…”

He looks down, clenching his hands into fists.

“And the family sword… broken, on the ground, snapped by some dark power—despite its enchantments. That’s when it all clicked. Your mother had what she needed, and was finishing her job—destroying our bloodline, and our history and legacy.”

“How did she die?” you ask, simply taking in the tale.

“I took up the broken blade,” The Green Knight confesses, “and ran them both through. Whatever your mother began to transform into… It was no match for the last of the magic in that sword. She couldn’t free herself, was too weak to strike back. The Dragonslayer was made to kill your foul breed, after all.”

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>>5583740
You stare, feeling a cold pit in your stomach.

“The demon that emerged in her death was weakened, too. The sword’s magic, or the death of your mother, must have left it desperate. It pled for life with me, promising anything I could want in exchange. But I only wanted one thing…”

His gaze floats up, to his ‘Kinslayer’ sword, bound form the demon Irinnile, clutched in your talons… the form she took, you now understand, in response to his will. He and the demon had made a pact: he spared the succubus, and she became a bane-weapon designed to seek and destroy the Reptilian Master Race.

“I took up the armour—your mother hadn’t yet destroyed it—and the sword made in mockery of ours by that devil-witch. I made her my slave. She taught me of your language, your conspiracies and heresies, your methods and abilities. I rooted out your scaly bastards wherever I found you, exposed you to the scouring light of day…”

He meets your eyes then, and speaks with a dread certainty in his cracking voice:

“This isn’t over yet. I have done damage, monster. The world—Hawksong, the Paladins—they know about you. My death will not be ruled an accident, body or no, and everyone will KNOW what killed me. I have made sure of that.”

“Maybe” you shrug. “But the status quo that the demon taught you of… It I not long for this world. The Age of Conspiracy is nearing its end. A Dark Crusade is coming. If the world above knows that the Green Knight finally fell to the sons of the dragons of old… Then they will know this event as the beginning of the New Age of Darkness, when those dragons returned, reborn!”

You lift Kinslayer high, and the Green Knight takes a deep breath. You recognize his posture: he is willing himself to face death with honour and dignity. You suppose you can grant him that, since he was so forthcoming.

“You may join your mother and father now, and all your doomed kin. Your age is over.”

You bring the blade down, hard, in a decapitating stroke…

But it stops before drawing blood.

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>>5583741
You push against the countervailing force which resists your swing… But it is to no avail. You push against the grip of the sword with both hands, outing your weight into it… But the sword, the demon within it, fight you. Betrayal!

“Irinnile,” you take up the succubus’ True Name--known to you, after all, and wielding power over the demon. “Obey me, and kill this man!”

“No can do, big boy,” you hear her voice in your inner ear, reverberating through the sword so only you may hear her apologetic half-explanation. “It’s part of our deal, see? Don’t get my wrong, he’s a real wet blanket and no fuckin’ fun AT ALL, but he's… You know...”

The Green Knight smiles a bitter smile, taking spiteful pleasure in your obvious confusion and inconvenience.

“The demon’s pact,” he explains, lying back. “It can’t kill me, or allow anyone to strike a fatal blow against me. You might have overpowered it for a moment with whatever magic you have at your disposal… Or its name, by the way you spoke that word ‘Irinnile’. It’s not enough, not in the face of the pact -magic which defines the denizens of the Seven Hells. A succubus is a demon of desire, shaped by its summoner or master... or whomever it forms a pact with. It is bound to me, until the pact is broken. It can't even leave my sight without my permission."

You glare at the sword, and the shade dwelling within it. It slips from your grasp, hovering once more between you and its master, glowing red and ready to defend him to the death. Demons… Your mother obviously placed great trust in this one, and perhaps even had a measure of love for it, but you have never trusted the pact-making spirits of lesser darkness, putting your faith instead in your own Dragon Soul and in the Dark Gods Below and Beyond. This is exactly why: they are unreliable and unpredictable creatures, with their own agenda, and easily bound to others and turned against you.

>>5583744
“I don’t expect this to save me,” the Green Knight admits, watching the showdown between you and the demon-sword Kinslayer with as much focus as his flagging consciousness can muster. “But perhaps it will deny you a bit of satisfaction… Even wound you, just a little more, delay you just long enough for someone to find you here and do what I could not.”

“You are delusional with blood-loss,” you mock him.

“Maybe,” he laughs mirthlessly, leaning against the elbow of his uninjured arm.

What will you do?
>Duel the demon-sword Kinslayer, form of your late mother’s demon-lover Irinnile
>Attempt to bypass Irinnile and to kill the Green Knight with your other sword—or by other means—so as to end their pact and free the demon
>Summon your shoggoth-sword from its half-slumber as your armour—it is time to feed it another demon
>Fuck this—he’s as good as dead anyway, so you’ll just leave before reinforcements arrive, and tell Irinnile to meet you elsewhere when her master is no more
>Write-in

>>5583746
>Wall of stone the knight into the ground to make sure he can’t escape
>Duel the demon-sword Kinslayer, form of your late mother’s demon-lover Irinnile

We don’t back down from a challenge

>>5583746
>Bonk him on the head and take him prisoner
He may die of blood loss anyway, but I ain’t leaving our Aunty behind. However, I would be willing to Radiant Aura and Firebreath him in order to free Iri.

>>5583746
>It can't even leave my sight without my permission
Does that me I just have to take your eyes to keep her?
>Take his eyes, non-fatally
Now I’m just curious.

>>5583799
It ain’t a challenge if it doesn’t want to fight.

>5583746
>Write-in
>Summon fourth big red's spirit and ask him if he knows anything of necromancy or demonology that might work around this pact.

>>5583746
>Bonk him on the head and take him prisoner

We can dispose of him later and unbind Irinnile.

>>5583799
All this will do is lose us a magic sword.

>5583746
>>5583923
+1

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>>5584131
>>5584121
>>5584022
>>5583923
>>5583805
>>5583802
>>5583799
[Locking vote and writing]

>>5584158
You stared at the hovering hell-blade, The ‘Kinslayer’ created of the succubus Irinnile. You reflected again upon the inscription of the blade. Was it because it was designed to kill ‘kin’ of your mother, the demon’s former master? Or was it a reflection of her new master’s family tragedy: trusting your mother, allowing her into their family home, and thus inadvertently enabling the cascade of events which led to him to kill his own father in pursuit of avenging them? Either way, this demon… She IS kin, after a fashion, isn’t she? You aren’t fond of the shadow-spirits of the Hellish Realms, but your mother loved this thing, and she helped shape you. Maybe ‘aunt’ isn’t’ the right word for what the demon is to you, and maybe you are ultimately strangers, but you don’t want to destroy her…

(And anyway, if you’re being honest, Kinslayer is a REALLY cool sword, and you want it. Dragons ARE known for their greed.)

“I will not play your game, human,” you tell the Green Knight, who laughs wheezingly in reply.

“You have no choice!”

“I could pluck out your eyes, yes?” you ask, tilting your head. “I could leave you alive until I’m done… Then carry them with me, that she might never leave your sight.”

“What a weak bit of legalism,” the Green Knight scoffs. “You can’t be serious. I am from a family of noblemen and merchants, monster. You think I draw up a demonic pact so shoddy that you can void it by—AAH!"

The bloodied Yosef never manages to finish his critique. His eyes remain in his head (for now), but your actual goal was to get his attention on you long enough to <Dazzle> him. Before he can issue an order to turn Irinnile’s sword-form against you once more, you utilize what has thus far worked against the Green Knight: <Wall of Stone>. You lack the accuracy necessary to construct any sort stockade or entrapping device from the rockwork, but you can pin him in place. Once he is entrapped once more—and the impact has stunned him—you advance.

Irinnile moves to stop you.

“Relax,” you instruct her. “I am not killing him. He is to be my captive.”

You take another step, but still the sword moves to stop you. You sigh, and reach out with a hand. After only a moment’s hesitation, the Kinslayer’s hilt slips into your grip one more, so you may commune with the animating spirit of the weapon.

>>5584183
“I mean, I WANNA’ believe you, but, like, I also know you just tried to give him the old head-from-shoulders treatment, ya’ know?”

You nod in understanding and frustration. The demon’s pact is one of protection from lethal harm, and probably obedience. You relaxed it somewhat by sheer force of will, and the use of the demon’s true-name and your connection to her, but Irinnile is still Yosef’s creature. You consider fully awakening the consciousness of your ancestor, the Red Dragon King, and petitioning him for aid. He was a knowledgeable mage in his own right, as well as being a great and terrible demigod-king… But then, might he not attempt to take control of your body once more, or to break free of you, as he has done twice before? He is a proud and wilful creature, just as you are, and all True Dragons must be. No king takes well to being made a servant, or a passive resource.

There is one thing you could do to put Irinnile at ease, though… But it would bind you more completely than you might like. You could issue an oath to Irinnile to not kill the Green Knight—a promise given not merely as a Dragonborn, but as a Knight Ascendant of the Dark God of Pride and Glory, a great cosmic serpent whose strength and certainty is such that he and his champions never need stoop to lies or broken promises, for (legend tells) they never feel obligated to make promises out of desperation, and they never surrender from the challenge of keeping their word.

‘Altruistic promises are for the foolish. False promises are for the weak. The oath of Serpent Ascendant and his knights is unbreakable, unshakeable, unyielding, unending, and undefeatable.’ So the saying goes. Even if you broke the ties which bind the succubus to the knight, YOU would still be bound by your word.

Will you offer Irinnile your oath?
>Yes
[Recruit Irinnile without further fight or delay, cannot kill Green Knight Yosef without breaking your code]
>No
[Propose an alternate course of action, be it a duel, another strategy, or abandoning the field for now]

>>5584184

Once you leave this place, there is also the matter of where exactly you will go. The Green Knight implied reinforcements might be on the way… But they aren’t here yet. Why not? Was he bluffing—confident enough that he could kill you and the Infiltrators on his own, perhaps, and thus having never sent word of what he was here to do? Before you leave you will again don your Amulet of Disguise again either way, but what is your next course of action—returning to Roth’s?

Then again… You have liberated Archmage Henzler from blackmail and demoniac coercion (or, more accurately, are well on your way to mastering the Hellish entity which will allow YOU to blackmail and coerce the Archmage). She’s also still one of the most expedient routes to the Princess, if that still be your goal and if (BIG if) you feel she can be trusted until you can dominate her will more directly. She could also seize the first opportunity to betray and expose you… And that could also mean Roth’s home is compromised, too.

What is your next move?
>Return to the surface in disguise, and regroup at Roth’s home
>Disguise yourself and disappear into the crowds, and find somewhere to hide and plan your next move
>Return to Henzler, and demand that she help you hide and plan your next step
>Abandon Hawksong—this mission has gotten too complicated and hazardous, beyond the scope of a simple seduction or kidnapping… And you have already achieved major successes in your time here, anyway
>Write-in

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[Oh, and a reminder: see attached for Knight Ascendant's Code]

>>5584184
>Promise to consult with the Beholder about breaking the GK’s pact without harming Iri to recruit her

>>5584185
>Return to the surface in disguise, and regroup at Roth’s home
>Disguise yourself and disappear into the crowds, and find somewhere to hide and plan your next move
>Feed Iri some souls

>>5584184
Actually
>Promise to not kill the GK so long as the Iri’s deal stands
We can torture him into revoking the deal later.

>>5584265
>>5584269
Solid plan, support

>>5584269
>Return to the surface in disguise, and regroup at Roth’s home

Echoing >>5584269 this for the first part.

>>5584185
>Hold onto Iri REALLY TIGHT, and flamebreath him to charcoal.

>Return to Henzler, and demand that she help you hide and plan your next step

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>>5584892
>>5584752
>>5584274
>>5584269
>>5584265
[Locked and writing!]

>>5585053
You tighten your grip on the sword. Could you reliably restrain it long enough to stomp upon the pinned knight’s neck and break it beneath your boot? Maybe… But maybe not. And you REALLY don’t want to fight Irinnile. Aside from the desire to possess the demon-blade, Kinslayer’s radiant red aura is hot I n a burning fashion which fire USED to be, when you were younger. The succubus HAS been forged into a bane-weapon, after all, and that makes for a deadly threat indeed.

Luckily, you’re no stranger to diplomacy, then!

“Very well,” you acquiesce. “I promise you this, as a Knight Ascendant, bound by the code of—”

“A what now?” the succubus interrupts.

“—an honour-bound antipaladin of a Dark God who doesn’t let his finest warriors break promises or oaths.”

“Oh!” Irinnile giggles. “Go on, go on! I like the specifying, by the way. Very dramatic! Gets me all tingly down in my—”

“I promise,” you continue, doing the interrupting this time, “not to kill the Green Knight so long as your pact with him remains intact.”

You sense… Hesitation from Irinnile.

“Uh, that’s the, like, wording you wanna’ stick with?” she asks after a moment.

“Yes,” you say, though you are suddenly a little less confident in it. “Why?”

“Uh, well… Naw, you know what, it’s fiiiine, babycakes. Just fine. And it means I don’t gotta’ spitroast you in the not-so-fun kinda’ way, so it’s BETTER than fine!”

“…Right then,” you say, swallowing your concern. “Then come with me, demon. We are leaving.”

Kinslayer takes the liberty of sheathing itself (herself?) in its sheathe upon the fallen Green Knight’s belt, while you kick out the somewhat-brittle stone of your wall enough to extract the unconscious human and sling him over your shoulder.

“Leaving so soon?” questions a voice from behind you.

You glance back, but you already know who it is: the Tower Archmage, the one called Henzler, watching you from down the hall.

“Do you mean to ssstop me?” you ask, in her surfacer speech.

“…No,” she admits. “But I had thought you wanted me to make ‘introductions’ to Princess Ekaterine?”

“You’ve proven lessss trusstworthy than I might have hoped, and I have more immediate mattersss to attend to,” you point out, shifting the burden of the knight whom she called to ambush you. “Your blackmail issssue is handled, by the way. You’re welcome.”

The Archmage sniffs and waves a sleeve, as if to dismiss the matter.

“Where will you go?” she asks.

You rummage in your pocket long enough to extract one of your two transformative amulets, and verify that it is the one which affords you human guise. You return it to its place around your neck, and the Novice’s magic reshapes your outermost layers, while the shoggoth-formed cuirass remoulds to accommodate you.

“None of your bussinessss,” you hiss. “Now return my pantsss.”

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>>5585111

Thus attired, you take your leave. True to her word—THIS time—the Archmage calls no Tower Guardians to impede you. Still, you can hardly stride through the city in open daylight with a celebrated adventurer in tow. While your ultimate destination is Roth’s base here, you must find somewhere inconspicuous to wait until nightfall. You consider a casting of <Guidance>… But then, it occurs to you that you have ANOTEHR covert operative besides your biological father whom you can ask about the navigation of this place.

“Irinnile,” you call out to the demoness again, touching your hand to her sword-form’s hilt.

“Yeah, handsome? Nice skin-suit, by the way? Taken it for a proper ‘test-drive’ yet, or…?”

You sigh. You have a high libido for one of the Master Race, but this demon is altogether something else.

“Are you ALWAYS like this?” you ask.

“Your mom loved it,” the succubus complains, so that you can almost visualize the offended pout.

“Did she?” you ask pointedly.

There is an embarrassed pause.

“Well, I mean… Like, mostly. Sometimes. Yeah!”

“Where can we hide until nightfall?” you ask, unwilling to entertain this conversation any longer.

“Ooo! I know, I know! Follow me!” she pauses. “Oh, and, uh, stop Heinrich bleeding out, huh? That’s the vengeful putz you’re wearing as arm-candy. Otherwise, you’re, like… Kinda’ killing him, ya’ know? Negligent homicide’s a thing!”

You are a little annoyed at that, and you start to speculate upon the rest of the other such easy loopholes to ending the Green Knight and his pact with Irinnile might not be as viable as you had thought when making your knightly oath. A bit of rudimentary fleshweaving staunches the flow of blood from his stump, which is all you can do; Irinnile concedes that this is good enough.

“Alright!” she cheerfully chirps. “Hot Aunt Iri will be your lovely guide to the city a’ Hawksong! Try ta’ focus on the sights in spite a’ my fine ass being so, like, stare-at-able.”

“You are a sword,” you point out.

>>5585112
Thankfully, the rather clownish Hell-creature does not unsheathe her blade and guide you as a floating sword—the only thing MORE conspicuous than your current status as a foreign ‘human’ toting around an unconscious and partly de-limbed knight. Instead, she lightly tugs at her sheath, and thus applies gentle pressure by which to guide you to your hide-out. It is a winding course she leads you on, through side-roads and backstreets… But you can’t fault her, since it keeps you away from otherwise-unavoidable humanoid traffic.

“Ta~daaaa!” the demon-sword eventually sings across the mental connection.

You survey her chosen destination. It’s hardly the most impressive construction of this civilization, but then you suppose that suits you just fine. It is big, spacious, more than a little decrepit, and has a faint and temporally-distant aura of dark magic about it when you survey it with your mystic senses.

“Some sort of storage facility?” you speculate aloud.

“Was one a’ those, and a place for storing an’ slaughtering animals an’ all that shit… Your mom and me hid out here a few times, back in the day!”

It will do. You enter through a half-rotted door which threatens to break off its hinges as you open and close the portal. Once inside, you set down the Green Knight.

While you wait, you…
>Question Irinnile about the Green Knight—this ‘Heinrich Yosef—and the exact nature of her pact with him
>Eat some rations—and maybe ask Irinnile about her dietary needs as well, you suppose? Ugh, and maybe feed the Green Knight something, to keep him alive, if starvation would count as murder-by-other-means…
>Ask Irinnile about your mother—she seems to have known her better than most, to say the least
>Awaken the spirit of the ancient Red Dragon King of Bloodrise—it’s risky, but you need his counsel
>Pray to the Dark Gods for guidance—though they’ll not give it freely, either, and you are already indebted to the Baleful Beholder
>Just rest and recuperate—it would do you some good after that stressful encounter, and you have nothing to speak with anyone about
>Write-in

>>5585114
>Question Irinnile about the Green Knight—this ‘Heinrich Yosef—and the exact nature of her pact with him

>Ask Irinnile about your mother—she seems to have known her better than most, to say the least

>Utilize <Guidance> and take a brief look around to see if you can glean the trail of any pursuers, to ensure you weren't followed

>>5585114
>Question Irinnile about the Green Knight—this ‘Heinrich Yosef—and the exact nature of her pact with him

>Eat some rations—and maybe ask Irinnile about her dietary needs as well, you suppose?

don't feed GK, it's been like a couple hours, he won't starve for at least a couple weeks.

>>5585114
>>Ask Irinnile about your mother—she seems to have known her better than most, to say the least
>Awaken the spirit of the ancient Red Dragon King of Bloodrise—it’s risky, but you need his counsel
>Utilize <Guidance> and take a brief look around to see if you can glean the trail of any pursuers, to ensure you weren't followed

>>5585114
>Question Irinnile about the Green Knight—this ‘Heinrich Yosef—and the exact nature of her pact with him
>Eat some rations—and maybe ask Irinnile about her dietary needs as well, you suppose? We’ll feed the Green Knight after he’s properly imprisoned.
>Ask Irinnile about your mother—she seems to have known her better than most, to say the least
You do know Iri, that we could simply destroy you instead as a workaround. You’re lucky that we’re creative- we can simply drug him up to his balls. Hell, didn’t Izzy make that hallucinogenic drug? Bingo’s your nameo!

Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Izzy made even more variants before she left.

>>5585119
Supporting this

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>>5585227
>>5585214
>>5585179
>>5585174
>>5585119
[One more post before bed, as recompense for missing a couple days!]

Not really recompense, I just have some spare time

>>5585329
You help yourself to some rations—you need the energy, after that exertion. You cast only the briefest glance at the knight and his possessed weapon, considering whether to feed the man. It’s only been a few hours, but he lost a great deal of blood… But no. He will likely live, with the vivacity he demonstrated in combat. And if he doesn’t… Well, if Irinnile deems it vital that you feed him to keep you oath, she’ll mention it. You’re not going out of your way to prolong the life of this racial enemy, let alone their pesky pact.

And speaking of the pact…

“Irinnile,” you speak aloud, taking up the blade once more. “Are you… Awake?”

“Babycakes, demons don’t sleep. I can be up aaaall night long~”

“Hm,” you reply. “Anyway… Tell me about your pact with this ‘Heinrich Yosef.’”

She groans in irritation at your refusal to rise to her bait, but quickly recovers.

“Well, uh, what’s there ta’ tell? You heard it all. Me and Mama Snek went down ta’ the boonies to go marry-fuck-kill his family—not necessarily in that order, and we were doing more homewrecking than marrying if I’m being honest. We got caught, your mom got GOT, and…”

“You made a deal with her killer,” you finish.

“Look,” Irinnile retorts, “A girl’s gotta’ do what a girl’s gotta’ do! She was done for, and -I- sure didn’t wanna’ be right behind her, ya’ know?!”

You nod slowly. As you understand it… Demons can’t die. Did she fear the pain? Some sort of… Consequence for a temporary slaying Something waiting for her back home in her Hell-realm?

“You were a useful tool in my mother’s arsenal,” you recognize, not willing to say much more on the subject. “I see why the Green Knight made the deal that he did. And I am sure you had your reasons to make it, also—”

“I did!”

“—but how do we break it, and free you?”

Irinnile the Succubus clams up immediately, and you feel the sword shudder.

“Look,” she says, “I can’t get into it, alright?”

“Why not?” you ask, annoyed.

“Because then you’ll kill Heinrich!”

You blink, startled and confused by the reply.

“You… Do not want me to kill Heinrich Yosef?”

“I CAN’T give you info that I KNOW will lead to his death, ya’ KNOW?” she groans. “You made a deal, right? ‘The green Knight of House Yosef shall not perish from this world so long as your pact doth remain, upon mine honour as a Rising Knight of the Dark and Supreme Special Snake Guy’ or whatever.”

“That’s not what I sound like,” you hiss.

“Baby,” the succubus replies, “I literally just mimicked your voice across our psychic communication channel. That’s your voice, big boy.”

>>5585345
You bristle a little, but then ask: “Why did you not WARN me that your protection of him was so… Liberal?”

“‘Cause that woulda’ got him fuckin’ KILLED, handsome! What’d I just SAY, huh? Come OOON, baby.”

You remember why you don’t like dealing with demons. This is such a hassle! Then again, you thought these sorts of spirits were always looking for loopholes to escape their pacts and masters… Shouldn’t she be helping you look for loopholes? Is the Green Knight’s original pact that strongly worded—a pact made by a young man in a moment of grief and rage, with the ironclad phrasing of an expert occult contract? You survey the still-unconscious Green Knight while you tie him up with some rope from your pact, but for all his ferocious hatred and determination, you still can’t see that level of strategy in the warrior you fought earlier—an ape-man from the decadent and ineffectual human upper strata, who came for you all alone, without back-up.

“Tell me more about this Green Knight,” you command Irinnile, adding: “I know, nothing I can use to break the pact or kill him. Just… What is he like?”

“You thinking of askin’ him out?” Irinnile titters. “Hot.”

You wait out the devilish laughing fit of the sex-obsessed entity, and eventually she sighs and relates what little she is willing, or able, to provide:

“Uh. Well. Like…” she pauses. “So Heinrich is a real stick in the mud. Nothin’ like my—like your mom, ya’ know? Last twenty-or-whatever years, I swear the only hard-ons he gets are for loppin’ up lizards… Like, sorry, no offence. I mean, there’ve been a couple girls… A few friends… Never lets me play with none of ‘em, though. Only likes to bring me out when he’s on a mission. I swear I’d have STAAAARVED if ‘bloodlust’ didn’t, like, count as ‘lust’ in a pinch, ya’ know?”

Rolled 9, 8, 12 = 29 (3d20)

>>5585346
“So he does NOTHING but hunt and destroy my kind?” you ask.

“Well, not NOTHIN’. A man’s gotta’ eat and, like, pay bills or whatever. Polish armour. I dunno’, I’m not a business kinda’ babe! He hunts monsters, plumbs dungeons, does some light wetwork—mercenary -type, not pay-to-play, UNFORTUNATELY.”

“Is that… All?” you press.

“Uhh… He likes listening to eastern music and watching the sun set, he doesn’t drink much, he tips his serving girls but ONLY the minimum appropriate amount, his favourite food’s applewood-smoked-sausage with fancy cheese but he likes cheap beer, he prefers his girls blonde and I THINK he’s got a a thing for blonde guys on the side but he don’t ever do nothin’ about it EVEN WHEN I ASK REAL NICE, and he’s about seven inches hard.”

You stare at the sword for a moment. It looks so damned impressive… How can the creature inside be so VAPID?

“Hey,” Irinnile says, communicating a mental shrug, “YOU asked.”

You decide to take a break from this line of questioning, and instead to meditate. You release your grip on the sword, of course—you strongly suspect meditating with that nattering demon in your head would be all-but-impossible. At first, your meditation is simply to calm yourself and to recuperate mental fortitude, but an idea enters your mind as you clear it of the day’s revelations and rumbles:

What if you were followed?

It seems unlikely, but it wouldn’t hurt to check, would it? Best to be safe, rather than later sorry… And so, hopeful that you might glean the trail of any pursuers, you cast <Guidance>.

>>5585347
>12

It’s no good—your mind is too addled from the day’s events to be properly paranoid—at least, in any way that reassures or forewarns you properly, via divination rather than mere intuition. You give up after an hour, more frustrated than before you began your meditation. At least nobody came to accost you as you meditated. That is surely a good sign, right? Better yet, the Green Knight is still unconscious—maybe he’ll die soon, after all!

For lack of anything else to do, or anyone else to talk to, you take up Kinslayer once more.

“Miss me already?” the demon within teases.

“Hardly,” you reply. “Tell me about my mother.”

“Ooo, mommy’s boy, huh?” she coos, laughing to herself.

“I assume that is an incestuous innuendo,” you infer. “Are you done?”

The succubus’ voice is sulky n its intonation when she finally replies, saying: “You know, you and Heinrich were fuckin’ made for each other. You get your dad’s sex drive, kid, or what?”

You wait.

“What do you wanna’ know?” she sighs.

“What… Was my mother like?”

Irinnile is quiet for a moment, and when she sighs again, it has a different sound to it—wistful, perhaps even sad, rather than annoyed.

“She was the best, baby. The BEST. I loved that fuckin’ snake-bitch like… Like, more than sex, maybe. Swear to all the shitty gods of whatever pantheon you want! Swear on my juiciest fuckin’ stolen soul!”

That… Is presumably high praise. And love, well, THAT is a subject you can speak upon.

“Why?” you ask, genuinely curious.

“She was fun,” Irinnile tells you. “Like, fun in all the best ways. She was a bit like you: no-nonsense, no jokes, squeezable ass, all that. But she LOVED bein’ topside from her shitty little hole-in-the-ground—uh, again, no offence. Loved Hawksong. Loved her food, and fashion, and fuckin’ OF COURSE, and fightin’ and KILLING—ooo, that got her all hot ‘n bothered! And she loved, like… Other stuff, too, ya’ know?”

“Such as?” you ask, admittedly a little nonplussed at this description of your noble creator so far.

“Learning,” she says. “Dancing—the lady LOVED to dance. She liked bein’ the BEST at stuff… Whatever she did. Learning spells, learning about ME and my kind—ya’ know, demon shit—and learning about people, and the world. She loved her job, too, and she was so… Dedicated. To everyone she cared about. She… Well, she was a ruthless killer-queen kinda’ chick, but she had this ooey gooey SOFT spot inside, and she kept so much of herself in there… And there was always like, this cozy warm spot in there for the people she loved, like me… Like you, too, even if she never, like, met you.”

You remember with a shiver the spectre of your mother, glimpsed in a vision over a year ago—and the words she spoke: “I love you.” The first time you’d ever heard those words.

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>>5585360
“I swear,” Irinnile whispers, “what I wouldn’t give to curl up in that little warm spot again, one more time… To feel all that love, and feel so safe knowin’ she was all sharp an’ pointy around that, ready to keep us safe, all a' us that your mama loved. And she always did, no matter what. She'd never hurt us, never let us get hurt, even... Even if it meant she was the one hurtin' inside. I just wish, like… I could’ve done the same for her.”

“…Working for her killer must be an especially unpleasant circumstance,” you note.

Irinnile says nothing to that. You sense a sudden hardening of her spirit, though—a deep discomfort, a withdrawal from your connection. It must be an incredibly difficult subject for her. Funny—you didn’t realize demons, lesser and ephemeral things that they are—could feel so DEEPLY. Even with her psychic retreat, you can feel a pain on par with any heartache you have ever felt—even your own loss of a dearly-departed lover.

Do you have anything else to speak with Irinnile about?
>Commiserate about lost loves—tell her of Davora the Herbalist
>Try to lift her spirits—tell her of your great love, the Novice Fleshweaver
>Ask her about Henzler—maybe she knows more of the Archmage which could be useful?
>Tell her about your plan for the princess of Hawksong—a demon of lust can surely help you on a conjugal mission, yes?
>Ask her about Roth—your father is still very much a stranger to you, but she implied she (to put it politely) knew him
>Ask why she feared destruction when (as every Reptilian tutored in the dark arts at ALL knows) demons cannot die
>Write-in
>Nothing—she is annoying, you are tired, and it will soon be dark enough to regroup with Roth and Oluwadamilare

>>5585363
>Try to lift her spirits—tell her of your great love, the Novice Fleshweaver

>Tell her about your plan for the princess of Hawksong—a demon of lust can surely help you on a conjugal mission, yes?

time to bring some fuck back to her diet

>Ask why she feared destruction when (as every Reptilian tutored in the dark arts at ALL knows) demons cannot die
guessing she'd lose her memories/personality

>>5585405
Supporting

Not sure I can ever forgive her for abandoning mum in her moment of need though

>>5585363
>Commiserate about lost loves—tell her of Davora the Herbalist
>Any GK allies, friends, people he cares deeply about?
>Ask her about Henzler—maybe she knows more of the Archmage which could be useful?
>Tell her about your plan for the princess of Hawksong—a demon of lust can surely help you on a conjugal mission, yes?
I’m sure that she’ll appreciate the mission focus- if only because it reminds her of Izzy.

When appropriate
>Ask why she feared destruction when (as every Reptilian tutored in the dark arts at ALL knows) demons cannot die
It doesn’t have to be this conversation necessarily, or this thread, but I’d like to know at a suitable time later.

>>5585462
Supportin'

>>5585462
+1.

>>5585459
How did she abandon mom? From what we heard from her and GK, mom was dead. Trying to keep living after mom died is a betrayal? Should she have joined mom in death?

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>>5585684
>>5585589
>>5585462
>>5585459
>>5585405
[Got sent home sick from word hopefully not with the Covid AGAIN, and I'm doing some writing. Locked!]

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>>5585755

You consider what to say for a while before you finally speak. When you do, it is with maybe a bit roe empathy for this sorry being than you had previously.

“I understand,” you say, and you mean it. “I… Lost someone like that, once.”

It’s true. How can you begrudge this demon your mother’s death, or her continued existence ever since—whatever form that took, whomever she had to work for? You made much the same sacrifice, committed the same sort of compromise, with Davora the Herbalist. Irinnile has no loyalty to your race, obviously, but she is not OF your race. If she forsook the cause your mother fought for, it was only because the cause SHE fought for was the cause of your Mother. From her account, this succubus stayed by your mother’s side faithfully until she passed. What more can you ask?

And so, you share the story of Davora’s passing: of how you captured her, how you and she fell for one another, how she aided you in the conquest of her own people… And how, in the end, she died for you.

“I let her die,” you admit. “I… Did not really think she would, but I was not SURE. Her injuries didn’t SEEM so severe… But she was so weak. I suspected it was a possibility. I took the chance. I…”

To your surprise, the sword-devil shushes you softly, a soothing sound. You feel spectral hands reach out from within the weapon, stroking your hair gently, and a soft warmth like a bosom suffuses your face.

“I know, I know,” Irinnile coos gently, and you feel a burden lift. “You did what you thought was right, right?”

“…Right.”

“And her memory’s, like… Alive in you, right? She succeeded in her mission, and you’re doing what she would’ve wanted you to do or whatever?”

“…I think so.”

You brow furrows as you consider whether this is wholly true. At the very least, you think you understand Irinnile’s own reasons for making her pact, and for persisting as she does. Demons are immortal, unkillable creatures, but they are not known for the accumulated power and wisdom which other such timeless beings are—well, except for Demon Princes. Perhaps a slain or banished demon loses something… Some part of their memory, their consciousness, when it is beaten back to the Underworld. Does she fear the loss of your mother’s memory, which she so clings to?

It may well be that ‘Aunty Irinnile’ is the only being alive on the material plane who truly knew the strange and misunderstood half-human Infiltrator who gave you life and purpose. Maybe that remembrance motivates her, and direct her, as Davora's death did for you? Who would either of you be today, if not for love and loss? You begin to feel a sense of kinship with this strange being.

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>>5585787
“Hey, you ain’t letting losing your shortstack turn you inta’ some, like, weird broody incel or nothin’, right?”

You get the demon to explain this term, ‘incel’, and cringe a little when it is properly defined. You hesitate to answer.

“Oh, baby, come on,” Irinnile admonishes you.

“It’s not… I am not… There are other reasons for it!” you protest. “I have a female I love. It’s just…”

You sigh and, choosing to put your trust in the devil your mother knew best, you tell Irinnile the Succubus of your coupling with the Mother of Dragons, your ‘spiritual pregnancy’ and related difficulties, and of the mission that brought you here.

The demoness laughs, and quite loudly, to your deep embarrassment.

“You kidding me, babycakes?” she asks. “You got knocked up by some ‘goddess’ and now you’re gonna’ fuck that energy-embryo inta’ the PRINCESS of AHWKSONG? THAT’S your strat?”

“And why not?” you ask, a little defensively. “She is a worthy mate for a Dragon King!”

“Ahahah, ah, you're a WHAT?!”

She continues laughing, and you begin to feeling quite sorry you confided in this creature. Irinnile must sense your growing discomfort, though, because she forces herself to stop cackling and instead pulls you back into that place of warmth and comfort again.

“And you REALLY won’t be happy, like, stuffing your jimmy and this weird god-baby in someone else’s coochie?” she asks.

You piece together the slang, and shake your head.

“Neither mother nor child would survive that, I am told. The vessel must be physically and spiritually worthy. The Goddess was clear.”

Irinnile sighs at that, but you sense understanding—even fondness-in her voice as she speaks.

“You really are your mother’s son, ya’ know that, baby?” she asks. “Alright, alright, I’ll help ya’.”

You blink, and tilt your head sightly.

“Well,” she points out, a bit braggadociously. “I AM a lust demon, ya’ know You wanna’ pick up chicks, you came to the right hot aunt! Loos like fucking is back on the menu!”

You can’t help but feel a little gratified at this. Whatever her peculiarities, this Irinnile creature DOES have a deep history with you, and speaking with her feels… Almost natural, comfortable in a way you can’t quite place. You feel, somehow, that you can trust her.

“First things first, though,” she says, “Let’s get Heinrich to your daddy’s den!”

“Right,” you agree.

>>5585791
The Green Knight stirs slightly, groaning and grumbling as you lift him up in your arms. The Kinslayer sheathes itself within the sheathe again, and he falls silent once more. You tap the demons-word’s hilt, and receive your explanation:

“Keepin’ Ricky all sleepy, so he can recover and, like, not do anything stupid an’ get himself killed.”

“Ah,” you say.

“And you’re gonna’ make sure ta’ tell Pappy Roth and Tall Dark ‘n Handsome not ta’ kill him neither, riiiight?”

“…If I must, to keep my oath,” you hiss.

“It’s either that or I gotta’ stab ya’~!” the succubus happily half-sings.

You sigh, and nod, and you ferry the fallen knight and his succubus-sword through the cool, dark knight to Roth’s smithy. You don’t expect them to take the instruction to care for their sworn enemy well—most especially your stubborn progenitor—but it is a matter for later. Once there, though, you find your plans further stymied: there is no father nor friend to argue WITH!

“Where are they?!” you hiss to yourself, when no one comes to open the entrance for you.

To your great annoyance, it seems all the doors have been locked—and quite well, at that—and every window to the place shuttered. You band upon the door, but no one answers. You squint your eyes, lose your nictitating membranes, and allow your sixth sense to take control of your sensibilities… But no, there is no sign of magical interference, no warning-wards or mage inquisitors lurking inside and waiting to spring.

“Roth was always a real jumpy fucker,” Irinnile notes, when you see fit to consult her. “Maybe he, uh, bolted? You know… You fought Henzler, fought Heinrich, then you were just… Like, gone for hours, fuckin’ around inna’ warehouse with me. Maybe he was worried his place was gonna’ get raided by the Paladins?”

“Or we WERE tracked in some way,” you note worriedly, “and they have been captured. Did the Green Knight have allies in Hawksong?”

“Uhh, well, like… Yeah. This dwarf with an axe anna’ big, uh, blasty thing… And this elf wizard or ranger or somethin’ from the Silverwoods, and this one Paladin fucker he made friends with while he was in town—actually, I think I recognized him, from way back when, but he’s a real old asshole now.”

Either possibility is worrying, and even the best case scenario is certainly frustrating, to say the least. Then, yet ANOTHER option occurs to you, no more comforting than the others:

“What of the Archmage?” you ask. “You know her, yes?”

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>>5585792
“Henzler?” Irinnile asks. “Shit, KNOW her? I’ve been INSIDE her! Like, literally. Wormed some ectoplasm in there, like, twenty years back.”

“I had heard as much,” you concur. “Could she have tracked us? Would she have REASON to, now?”

Irinnile makes a strained, grunting sound, as if trying to lay an egg, then sighs.

“No can do, big boy. I can’t sense shit. Might be that she enema’d that shit out after Heinrich used it against it, or she’s blocking it with anti-demon charms or somethin’ else. As for what she’d do an’ why, though… Well, she could probably brew up a chimera ta’ track you, or sue one of them fancy-dancy mystic pairs a’ glasses that the Tower Inquisition used ta’ love… But she never gave two shits ‘bout anything but her creepy experiments and her personal freedom. Unelss you have something she wants, I can’t see why she’d bother.”

“Something she wants… Like my unusual biological admixture and the fleshweaving alchemy which went into making me what I am today?”

Irinnile giggles nervously, and says: “um, like… Yeah, that’d do it. Well, shit.”

‘Shit’ indeed. You are alone, stranded in hostile and still largely-unfamiliar territory, lugging around an unconscious adversary bent on your destruction, with your only friend and ally being a horny she-devil bound to his service. Your enemies are numerous, ephemeral, and their awareness of your plans and whereabouts a great unknown. You need an action plan—somewhere to stow the Green Knight, someone to watch him while you plan and execute your mission…

What will you do?
>Break in and stay here the rest of the night, using <Guidance> to seek out your missing allies
>Have Irinnile aid you in hunting down the Green Knight’s allies—they may have captured your friends and, if not, you can at least get a feel for what you might be facing
>Attempt to arrange a meeting at a neutral location with Archmage Henzler, to find out what she knows and what she wants
>Screw this—Hawksong is a death trap! Time to hear out Irinnile’s plan for how to grab the princess and then get OUT of here!
>Write-in

>>5585793
>Have Irinnile aid you in hunting down the Green Knight’s allies—they may have captured your friends and, if not, you can at least get a feel for what you might be facing

We should knock out everyone in Heinrich's inner circle- they're probably the only ones he's talked to at length about the Conspiracy; it may be salvageable yet.

>>5585793
>Find a new hiding place
>Use <Guidance> to seek out your missing allies
>Hear out Irinnile’s plan for how to grab the princess

Still gotta lay low and figure out our options

Our friends are unlikely to have been captured if Roth’s house isn’t destroyed and he was able to spend the time locking up. They’re probably lying low in a secondary safe house

>>5585793
backing >>5585798
maybe a small discreet inn or run down empty house
dick move to break in and compromise roth

>Pray to sky daddy and offer him GK in dark god ritual
>Ask nicely to cut him from the realm without killing him Just yet

>>5585793
>Have Irinnile aid you in hunting down the Green Knight’s allies—they may have captured your friends and, if not, you can at least get a feel for what you might be facing
I find it more likely that Iri needs to be fed to revive the ectoplasm- Henzler herself stated that she couldn’t get rid of the ectoplasm, so it’s still in there, dormant.
>Before leaving, get some hallucinogenic shirin to keep the GK tripping balls

>>5586013
I will only say that your theory is definitely plausible, and feeding Irinnile would be part of her plans for how to help you... But she is also a demon with a gluttunous thirst for sex, violence, cuddles, and lifeforce.

>>5586069
Honestly, that also sounds like our protagonist in a nutshell.

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>>5586111
[She mostly lacks his occasionally-voted-for temperance and higher virtues. Remember: unlike the Infiltrator/Izzy, the Dragonborn/Theral is notably less horny and much more even-handed and merciful. The Infiltrator probably never would have spared someone like Hapo (at least as she was characterized for most of the quest) and was partly under Irinnile's influence a rapist and murderer-of-convenience several items over. The Infiltrator was a hedonist who only ever restrained herself when it risked directly harming one of her few loved ones or close companions, like Iri, Roth, or Edwin. She was never really cognizant of her mission being bad, or her actions being regrettable.]

[The Dragonborn is comparatively much more moral (by modern human standards), has never had sex with anyone who wasn't into is yet, and his tortures and executions are awful, but justifiable under his military doctrine and all had a purpose outside of sadism. Hell, he hasn't even had consensual sex with anyone since Davora died, and he's had opportunities. He's MUCH more measured, at least as I'm interpreting the way people have voted. People even voted back in Thread 3 or so that he’s aware that some of the things he does aren’t GOOD, just necessary.]

>>5586013
>>5585829
>>5585815
>>5585798
>>5585794
[We have no clear winner yet, so I'll leave the vote open until bed-time, or tomorrow if I get too busy. Feel free to also weigh in on whether you think this characterization is consistent with your understanding of the character! General consensus or interesting interpretations will be taken into account in future write-ups.]

>>5585829
Support this idea.
>>5586137
I never caught up with infiltrator, just followed antipaladin from the start but I like Theral's weird mix of loving, noble dad to his allies and cruel calculating overlord to his enemies.

>>5586137
I think we're slightly more horny than that, considering we can't get our bone on since getting our bone on with the wrong partner. Otherwise yeah, pretty accurate, maybe a little too much credit on the kindness after some of the darker shit we've pulled.

>>5586137
The Dragonborn isn’t really much of an Anti-Paladin, in the moral sense. I liked playing as Izzy because of her unconventional morality (i.e. lack of morality by human standards). The Dragonborn by comparison is just watered down conventional evil, and while your characterization of him carries him, it just lacked that certain evil spice Izzy had.

Now, Izzy as an apprentice paladin of Hawksong’s Paladin King… now THAT would’ve been a true Anti-Paladin, in multiple senses of the word.

Granted, if that had happened, most of the playerbase probably would’ve turned her into a traitor for the ‘Greater Good’, which would undermine a lot about what I like of her character, even if I do think her going Reptile Hunting after she realized what Roth did to her father would’ve been a wicked storyline to play as.

>>5586170
[Feedback noted! I've been trying to write him as an Oath of Tyranny-style Antipaladin. maybe it's not coming across fully...]

>>5586160
>>5586140
[Or maybe it is? Still, all noted!]

>>5586181
Oath of Tyranny-style? Can you expand upon that?

The two things that come to my mind with those wording is the 40k God-Emperor turning into the fifth Chaos God of Order, or those Oathbound to do Evil despite their repugnance of the deeds themselves.

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>>5586186
[Something like this, though obviously not exact, with Theral's dual obsessions with draconic pride and the virtues of love taking precedence.]

Still no tie-breakers, huh? May be a tomorrow update.

>>5586205
Just put me down for hidey hole and the shop talk, I’m alright with delaying the hunt so long as we actually do hunt them later- I’m honestly having more fun returning to Hawksong as a solo operator again.

As it relates to the Oath of Tyranny, that would make more sense if our patroon god was the Lord of Laws desu, just doesn’t jive with our choices regarding citizenship and ‘freedom’ really.

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>>5586213
[Well, you went a lot lighter than if you went Prosecutor of the Weak for your patron, but that's the sort of attitude I've been writing him with mostly.] I was surprised with how ecumenical and multicultural people voted to be as we went on, admittedly

>>5586213
>>5585829
>>5585815
>>5585798
>>5585794
[But very well! With the tie broken, we'll get one more update in tonight!]

>>5586205
I'm happy if we just lie low even if we don't decide to ask for guidance. Having to lug GK around is never going to end well if we go looking for trouble. Ideally our allies return and we get them to watch him while we resume our mission.

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>>5586219
>>5586225
Your first priority is to find somewhere else to hunker down. The Green Knight is being kept inactive by Irinnile, but you recall how emaciated she looked in your communion with her back beneath the Mages’ Tower—she may not be able to keep it up indefinitely. You need somewhere to store him while you and the demoness plan—somewhere you’re SURE isn’t compromised.

“We could go back to the warehouse?” Irinnile suggests, nudging your hand with the hilt of Kinslayer to facilitate the communication.

“Hm.”

It’s an idea, but not ideal—it is far from your target, this ‘Princess Ekaterine’, and not terribly defensible in a siege. Perhaps Infiltrator agents are given to this sort of duck-and-hide, always-on-the-move approach which circumstance has forced you into, but that isn’t your usual style—you are king, damn it all! A sovereign in need of a stronghold and a force to command!

Time is limited. You have been lugging the half-clad Green Knight around for most of the night already, and you don’t want to be caught with him in broad daylight.

In the end, you opt to…
>Skulk the well-groomed manors of the lesser nobility, evading patrolmen and other staff, seeking sanctuary in a disused shed or guest-house
>Attempt to parley your way into staying in some well-heeled humans, just until your “drunk friend” here is sobered up
>Wait… Does Irinnile know any OTHER Reptilian Infiltrators in this town, from her previous life as your mother’s minion? Maybe you can seek shelter with one of them…
>Uuugh, fuck it, back to the warehouse it is—but just for tonight
>Write-in

[We'll talk shop and seek out the others with divination tomorrow!]

>>5586239
>>Wait… Does Irinnile know any OTHER Reptilian Infiltrators in this town, from her previous life as your mother’s minion? Maybe you can seek shelter with one of them…
Seems ideal, but we'll have to explain why the can't kill GK else Iri will flip out.

>>5586239
>Uuugh, fuck it, back to the warehouse it is—but just for tonight
Let's broaden our horizons

>>5586239
>Wait… Does Irinnile know any OTHER Reptilian Infiltrators in this town, from her previous life as your mother’s minion? Maybe you can seek shelter with one of them…

Sounds like a decent solution

>>5586239
>>Wait… Does Irinnile know any OTHER Reptilian Infiltrators in this town, from her previous life as your mother’s minion? Maybe you can seek shelter with one of them…

>>5586239
>Attempt to parley your way into staying in some well-heeled humans, just until your “drunk friend” here is sobered up
EDWIN!
Also voted to talk shop with Iri RQM, but whatever.

>>5586239
>Wait… Does Irinnile know any OTHER Reptilian Infiltrators in this town, from her previous life as your mother’s minion? Maybe you can seek shelter with one of them…

>>5586396
Ah, so you did. Well, it's in the plan, anyway!

>>5586250
>>5586307
>>5586338
>>5586453
>>5586263
>>5586396
[Looks like we're making another new friend! Locked and writing!]

>>5587174
“You, Irinnile… You served my mother here in Hawksong, yes? Including the operation which brought the Tower low, correct?”

“Yyyeeaah?” irinnile replies, sounding uncertain. “Why?”

“Do you know any other operatives in the area?” you ask. “Another Infiltrator stationed here, besides Roth?”

“Uh, we-eeelll…” she hums and haws for a bit, but eventually the succubus exclaims: “Ooo, ooo, I do! But…”

“But?”

“Buuut, I bet that Heinrich spilled the beans to his buddies about her. She was preeeetty prominent ‘n shit, and that woulda’ made her a target. Still, I don’t remember them bringing her in.”

“No,” you say sternly, for you have no interest in placing yourself somewhere you are likely to be attacked
…Which raises another question.

“Does that mean that Roth’s own home is compromised, by the same token?” you demand, incensed at this dangerous oversight and lack of forewarning.

“Uh, shit, maybe?” Irinnile says, giggling ditzily. “Sorry, slipped my mind! But like, uh… Roth isn’t ask big a deal as this Albacete lady was, I terms of… Like, politics and access ta’ nobles ‘n shit, ya’ know? Heinrich asked me about EVERYTHING I knew, but a human mind is a lot more basic ‘n simple ‘n itty-bitty than a demon like yours truly!”

“Hm,” you say, pointedly NOT mentioning the very blatant and possibly fatal error in judgement which the succubus was literally JUST called out on.

“Look,” Irinnile says, trying to sound serious, “the thing is, there’s no way he knows about EVERY Infiltrator in this sexy noggin, because I didn’t LIST every single address. Heinrich just asked me for addresses as he needed ‘em for whatever he was workin’ on, and ANYWAY, it was JUST addresses for most a’ the ones I knew. Your mom never even MET most a’ these lizards, ya’ know? Just, like… Read a book with where they lived in it.”

“Right,” you say, still skeptical…. But then, you sigh. “Choose someone out-of-thew-way, unimportant as you see it. Someone unlikely to be a priority target for the Green Knight or his allies.”

You get a mental image of the shapely green avatar of the lust-demon saluting sharply, while wearing some form of ornate (but shiny and leathery) military attire. You’re not yet certain if it is more endearing or annoying, but it’s certainly ironic given her distinct lack of discipline. She is, however, the only guide you’ve got.

>>5587216
“Tell me of your plan,” you command her as the two of you 9and her unconscious master) travel the early-morning backstreets of Hawksong.

“You mean for scoring with the Princess?” she asks. “Ooo, for sure! So, step one, right? Is… feed me!”

You remain silent, until she finallys peaks up to justify herself.

“L-look, it’s not just me bein’, like, demony an’ shit, okay? If you get me all full of mojo again, I’ll be a lot more powerful, which means I can do a lot more ta’ help you!”

“Such as?” you ask, then add: “And help me… How? You are bound to the Green Knight’s proximity.”

“We-eeell,” she says, “that’s where the extra power comes in. See, what I figure is this: we can either take the smooth ‘n supple approach, or the ‘ram it right in’ approach. I’m down for either, as long as there’s lube!”

You say nothing.

“Blood makes good lube,” the succubus notes, her aura a bit more sinister, an unsettling and malevolent hope creeping into her voice. “If you got the balls for it…?”

“Just tell me the actual plan,” you sigh.

“Phooey,” Irinnile pouts. “Well, okay. So, you get me all juiced-up, and I can start influencing emotions across the dreamscape. I can’t leave Ricky PHYSICALLY, but I can project my, like, presence inta’ dreams… Like I did with you, I guess? I didn’t mean ta’ do that, tee-bee-haitch, but I CAN do that shit on purpose, and when I do… Well, I can get the princess all warmed up and ready for ya’ to make your move all suave-like, ya’ know?”

“And the… OTHER approach?” you ask, unwilling to signify the demoness with he name for the strategy, even if it DOES pique your interest and stir your <appetite> a little.

“Oh, that’s easy!” Irinnile shirps happily. “You get me PROPER stuffed ta’ bursting with, ya’ know… Mana, an’ whatever else… An’ I can just straight-up possess Heinrich.”

>>5587218
You stop walking for a second, stunned by this revelation.

“You can DO that?” you ask.

“Well… Yeah!” she says, as if it was obvious the whole time. “What’s rule number one of dealin’ with demons, babycakes? Keep those defences up! Ricky’s defences are WAY down, bein’ in shit health after you went all choppy-loppy on ‘im an’ stole back that little fairy crown your mommy had me make her. It’s why he’s out-like-a-lantern right now!”

You reach up to touch the diadem on your brow, surprised that this item is, itself, a product of this demon. Just how many things can this succubus DO? She may be strange and single-minded in her lascivious and ravenous way, but it seems that a demon can be QUITE the useful tool.

“Just a BIIIT more mana, a couple souls maybe, and I can walk ‘im around like my OWN little golem—that’s a callback, sorry, you wouldn’t get it, but your mom woulda’ smiled, and she had SUCH a smile!—and then just, like… Stroll right in there with ya’. Even hold her down while you do the deed, if ya’ want!”

You consider your options, settling upon…
>The subtle approach—let Irinnile work at conditioning this human princess with lurid or romantic dreams of your human guise, such that when you approach her, she is primed to respond positively to your seduction
>The direct approach—feed the demon whatever souls she needs to grow to full power, and seize her master’s body for her own, so that she may in turn help you capture the princess of Hawksong by force
>A combined approach—maybe, if she can control the Green Knight’s body, Irinnile can masquerade as the man long enough to use his clout in this realm to get you a royal meeting?
>No, no, no… This entire business reeks of ruinous recklessness! You aren’t about to supercharge a demon still bound to serve and protect your race’s most dedicated adversary! What? No!

As you are gathering your thoughts and making your deliberations, the demon again speaks up with an excited squeal:

“We’re HEEE~EEEERE!”

>>5587219
You’re glad only you, fingers brushing Kinslayer’s hilt, can hear the dark spirit’s high-pithed announcement, as well as he occasional comments on the rear ends of those occasional patrolmen, drunkards, or scantily-clad mammalian females whom you must evade on your route. She’d give you away in a heartbeat, otherwise. As it is, though, you’re glad for her guidance—without it, you’d have never thought the rather humble and mundane shanty before you was a Reptilian Infiltrator’s home.

The hovel is worn down, single-layered and crudely-constructed. Even the other lower-class residences which you passed enroute to this place were generally of newer construction, or multi-layered to accommodate the city’s overflowing overpopulation. This place looks like it’s out of a farming village, or an older era before Hawksong was properly unified and ‘civilized’ by the Paladins. It is at the edge of the realm which—by odour and succubic verification—you gather to be the ‘Smithing District’, adjacent to a series of streets which are filled with stalls and shops peddling the smithies’ goods (much more varied and sophisticated than your biological father’s, though more often apparently gadgets, ornaments, baubles, and tools than the quality handmade weapons and armour which you saw lying half-finished outside of Roth’s home). It is a few hours’ walk from the upscale area which leads into the foothills of the royal mountain-complex.

“You said you wanted outta’-the-way, low-priority-target type shit, right?” Irinnile asks.

“I know,” you say. “I did.”

You approach the roughshod cobblestone-and-mud affair and knock thrice upon the door, which rattles in place with each impact—not because you knocked especially hard, but because it is poorly set-in-place. An occupant shuffles towards the door, and a yellow-brown eye squints through one of the many gaps between door and frame.

“Who are you?” a soft voice whispers—nay, hisses—in the Northern Common-tongue.

“A friend,” you say. “A… Fellow labourer from the low country.”

It’s a code-phrase which you know to be used among Infiltrators.

“…Which country?” the voice asks, suspiciously. “Lots of countries are low. I have friends in some, enemies in others. I don’t want no trouble.”

Hm. Suspicious sort, isn’t she? Still, this Infiltrator is wise to be—after all, your race are being hunted by a man with intimate knowledge of your local operations… One you have in your custody, but still. Does he know such codes? You imagine this female Infiltrator might be wondering the same thing, with greater urgency.

>>5587221
“Let me in,” you quietly whisper in the True Speech. “I am an agent of the Serpent Priests… And I have captured the Green Knight, and have him with me. The sun is rising, and I need shelter before I am found out”

No time for subtlety here, but it at least gets a moment’s consideration, as the eye beyond the door widens in surprise at your words.

“Fuck,” the operative gasps in the local dialect, before reverting to True Speech. “And you haven’t just killed him?!”

“No,” you admit. “It’s… Complicated.”

The door opens, and you see (what appears at a glance to be) a short, pale human female with a slim frame, narrow chin and thin eyes, and a ruffled mat of black hair upon her head, clad in simple and well-worn clothing. The moment she does so, and sizes you up, a realization seems to creep into her.

“How do I know this isn’t some trick?” she demands, then produces an assassin’s blade not unlike the one you carry as a sidearm.

What will you do?
>Throw the Green Knight at her—that should stun her and, hey, maybe the Green Knight will get killed before Irinnile can interfere!
>Remove your Amulet of Disguise, and crank up the Fearsome Presence—let her understand who and what she is dealing with
>Intimidate her into obedience, and into laying down her weapon—you need the Green Knight alive, unfortunately
>Apologize for your intrusion, and beseech her in the name of the Dark Gods, with a private prayer which few would know
>Kick her in the face and barge in—you’ve waited long enough, and you need inside before the sun is fully up!
>Write-in

[Please note there are two votes to cast, for those of you who speed-read]

>>5587219
>The direct approach—feed the demon whatever souls she needs to grow to full power, and seize her master’s body for her own, so that she may in turn help you capture the princess of Hawksong by force

not sure I'm a fan of all this demon collaboration, but it does seem efficient

>Throw the Green Knight at her—that should stun her and, hey, maybe the Green Knight will get killed before Irinnile can interfere!

actually just hold him up so she can see him - he should still look pretty fucked up from the fight

dont want to set off Iri right now

>>5587219
>The subtle approach—let Irinnile work at conditioning this human princess with lurid or romantic dreams of your human guise, such that when you approach her, she is primed to respond positively to your seduction
>The direct approach—feed the demon whatever souls she needs to grow to full power, and seize her master’s body for her own, so that she may in turn help you capture the princess of Hawksong by force
Two pronged assault.

>>5587222
>Throw the Green Knight at her—that should stun her and, hey, maybe the Green Knight will get killed before Irinnile can interfere!
>Kick her in the face and barge in—you’ve waited long enough, and you need inside before the sun is fully up!
And after
>Remove your Amulet of Disguise, and crank up the Fearsome Presence—let her understand who and what she is dealing with
Just go ham on this :P

>>5587219
>>No, no, no… This entire business reeks of ruinous recklessness!
Itcs ringing alarm bells for me that the demon is going out of her way to protect GK with technicalities but then it's seemingly okay for her to possess him if we just give her the strength to do it.

>>5587222
>>Apologize for your intrusion, and beseech her in the name of the Dark Gods, with a private prayer which few would know
Do anti-paladin things.

In case Theral ever wants to follow the Serpent Ascendant to the stars, here's a handy space suit for him.
>>5586438

>>5587219
>>The direct approach—feed the demon whatever souls she needs to grow to full power, and seize her master’s body for her own, so that she may in turn help you capture the princess of Hawksong by force
>Kick her in the face and barge in—you’ve waited long enough, and you need inside before the sun is fully up!
Once inside
>Remove your Amulet of Disguise, and crank up the Fearsome Presence—let her understand who and what she is dealing with

>>5587321
[That's badass! Thank you!]

>>5587219

>No, no, no… This entire business reeks of ruinous recklessness! You aren’t about to supercharge a demon still bound to serve and protect your race’s most dedicated adversary! What? No!


>Throw the Green Knight at her—that should stun her and, hey, maybe the Green Knight will get killed before Irinnile can interfere!

File: ENOUGH SUBTLETY.png (8 KB, 428x171)

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>>5587903
>>5587325
>>5587272
>>5587256
>>5587241
[Locked!]

>>5588142
You’ve had it up to here with this indirect approach, to be frank, and ESPECIALLY with skulking around, navigating in secret and avoiding direct confrontation. You aren’t an INFILTRATOR, damnit, you are an ANTIPALADIN! And you are not the Antipaladin of just ANY Dark God, but the SERPENT ASCENDANT—God of Glorious Bloodshed and Draconic Pride!

“ENOUGH.”

Before the female Infiltrator can respond, you foist the Green Knight’s limp body upon her; you can practically here Irinnile cry ‘hey!’ from where you stand, but of course not LITERALLY since you’re no longer touching the Kinslayer. She needn’t worry, anyway—you aren’t about to let him get killed after all this hassle to drag him around this godsforsaken surface-city for practically an entire day and night. Instead, you used the startling manoeuvre to disarm and disorient. The Infiltartor stumbles back, crying out in alarm, and drops her blade. The moment she does so, she is all but doomed—your heavy boot impacts her face with enough force to thrust her across the room and into the rickety dining table which is central to the home’s sad excuse for a foyer. She JUST manages to save herself from toppling to the ground in a heap by clinging to that table, which totters dangerously as you enter her home.

“I have been stranded in this den of heathen apes for TWO DAYS now,” you explain, you voice broaching no interruption or argument. “I have BESTED our greatest threat in direct combat, so thoroughly and utterly that I even took him ALIVE. Do you REALLY think your little KNIFE could do what the Green Knight could not, Infiltrator?”

“Who do you think you ARE?” your fellow Reptilian asks, rubbing her face where a bruise looks to be forming and watching you warily. “Two days? I have been here YEARS! Who are you to speak to me like this?!”

You slam the door shut and, once safe from prying eyes, you remove your Amulet of Disguise—just long enough for your original form to assert itself once again, and for your Fearsome Presence to truly take hold.

“Oh,” the Infiltrator whispers quietly.

You replace the amulet.

“Y-you are the Dragonborn… The, uh, the copper one!”

“Copper Dragon King Theral, of Bloodrise,” you correct her.

“…What?” she asks, confused.

“Nevermind,” you sigh, and requisition one of her splintery chairs. “Bring me some water.”

“Yes, Superior One,” she agrees, though she doesn’t sound too happy to be doing it.

>>5588175
The two of you partake of this simple refreshment, while you give this Infiltrator—a Silkscale, you learn—the condensed and censored version of your escapades in Hawksong thus far. She, in turn, tells you a little of her work here: she is known locally as the human maid-servant ‘Halle’, in which capacity she is able to observe and gather information of members of Hawksong’s middle classes, insinuate ideas, and survey popular opinions and the human rumour-mill. Her eyes flit frequently to the Green Knight, who you have right and stowed in a corner.

“He will not wake,” you assure the Silkscale. “I have seen to it.”

“How?” she asks.

“Magically,” you answer, for you have not told her all the details which pertain to your new demon associate.

“They’ve been wondering where he is,” she notes, referring to the humans of this metropolis. “The general assumption is that he’s out on a mission, of course. I guess… it’s almost true, yes?”

“Yes,” you agree. “Almost.”

For your part, you have decided upon the form which YOUR mission must take. A Knight Ascendant acts directly and decisively. Gradual dream-insinuations and subtle seductions will take too long, and almost seem… Cowardly. No, you will TAKE what you want-WHO you want—by the most direct methods available. Oh, you’re not WITHOUT misgivings about Irinnile, of course. You’ve never been one to trust demons… But this is your mother’s great love, it seems, HER Sseztlussth. For well over a year now-maybe longer, if you’re being honest—you have place you faith and love with the selfish and spiteful creature you call ‘Novice’; is it such a stretch to do the same for a demon your mother deemed worthy? And if she can really take total control of the Green Knight… Well, that simplifies matters greatly.

The only question is how you will feed her the necessary mana. As you rest through the morning—briefly sleeping, then planning—Irinnile explains what she requires to make your shared ambitions a reality:

“I need, like… About a dozen god fucks, or at least some kisses with good tongue action.”

You can only stare at the sword which hosues this unclean spirit.

“I’m serious!” she whines. “I’m a fuckin’ SUCCUBUS, baby! This is how it works!”

“How,” you are forced to ask, “does a sword ‘fuck’?”

“We-eeelll,” she begins. “Uh. I guess, like… That’s true.”

You wait for an elaboration that never comes.

“What if,” you ask, restraining your irritation to a dull roar, “we simply killed mammals using Kinslayer?”

“That’d work, too,” she says,s ounding a little disappointed, but then brightens up and adds: “Even better if you’re really into it, or they’re REAALLY not.”

“I imagine thy will not be enthusiastic about their deaths, no,” you agree dryly. “You mean torture, though, yes?”

“Mmmmyup!” the succubus agrees thirstily.

>>5588176
Capturing, torturing, and killing a number of humanoids around Hawksong while avoiding detection or interference will be no mean feat, of course. The demon within Kinslayer estimates she will require about a half-dozen such gruesome executions to reach the power-level needed to subjugate her master’s will for an entire day and night, or half as many if you are ‘okay, with, like, Heinrich wakin up while you’re doing the do, ya know?’ It will take time and effort, all while the Green Knight’s cohorts grow more suspicious and likely begin to search for their lost ally.

There’s also the matter of who will watch him. the Silkscale Infiltrator called Halle can do so, but you aren’t yet certain how much you trust her competence and diligence; she DOES live in a shack and perform low-tier Infiltration tasks. You could watch him, of course, but then it would be HALLE tasked with subduing or luring your sacrificial victims to her home.

“Can you not just keep the Green Knight asleep until we are done?” you ask.

“Uh, well… Naw. Sorry, big boy, but Ricky’s a rough sleeper. If you don’t feed him and care for him and let him wake up sometimes, he’ll die, which is a big no-no. But you got him tied up, an’ we can gag him, so what’s the big deal?”

“We should just kill the bloody bastard and be done with it,” the Silkscale grumbels, when you tell her of the need to feed and water the human champion.

“I do not REMEMBER asking you your opinion on the matter,” you note, even if you privately agree on some level.

What will you do?
>Leave Halle to watch the Green Knight, while you go about collecting victims…
>>By violent ambush at night
>>By exploring the city’s social circles and utilizing your charm
>Watch the Green Knight and trust Halle the Infiltrator to obtain victims for your dread rite
>Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power—something that will take longer, but be less risky
> Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power—something that will be faster, but even higher risk
>Write-in

>>5588178
>Leave Halle to watch the Green Knight, while you go about collecting victims…
>>By violent ambush at night
I'd also be open to
> Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power—something that will be faster, but even higher risk

>>5588178
>Leave Halle to watch the Green Knight, while you go about collecting victims…
>>By exploring the city’s social circles and utilizing your charm
>Also, acquire the shirin variants
There were some kinky motherfuckers back in the day, and the drugs would help fuel the desire/enjoyment factor (as well as keep the GK tripping balls). Plus, we could hunt down his comrades easier.
> Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power—something that will be faster, but even higher risk
I’m also fine with trying this, depending on what exactly it is.
>Tell Halle that’s she’s free to torture him if he gets uppity.
With any luck, maybe he’ll die from infection or other natural causes.

Could we scout out the Princess in the dreamscape later at night? I think priming her for seduction is a good fallback plan.

>>5588218
>Could we scout out the Princess in the dreamscape later at night? I think priming her for seduction is a good fallback plan.
[If enough people vote for it, but it will sue up some of Irinnile's power and necessitate more sacrifices before she can possesses Heinrich Yosef... OR require you to make other allowances, like less reliable possession, a shorter timeframe of reliable possession, etcetera.]

>>5588178
>>Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power
Maybe a visit to the red light district?
Surely if we visit some professionals they can work out how to show even a sword some...love.

>>5588178
>>By violent ambush at night
Reminds me of constant muggin' suggestion in Ismena's story.
> Try to find another way to bolster Irinnile’s power—something that will be faster, but even higher risk

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>>5588394
>>5588218
>>5588185
>>5588367
[Locked and writing!]

>>5589309

“I will done what needs to be done,” you tell Halle, with Kinslayer laid across your lap so that Irinnile will also hear. “Infiltrator, you will watch the Green Knight, and keep him alive on pain of you OWN life. I will go forth and find the necessary energy to empower this devil-blade, so it can possess his body and we can bring ruin to the House of the Paladin Kings.”

“This is dumb,” your Reptilian subordinate murmurs in the local human-speak; when you glare her way, though, she snaps to attention and bows submissively.

“Yesss,” Irinnile salivates.

“There MUST be a more efficient way to achieve this, though,” you insist. “It will take days, even WEEKS, to capture and torture-to-death a half-dozen surface-dwellers, and every time I set out to seize one I risk my discovery—all of ours, in fact.”

The three of you silently contemplate other options, wracking your brains for some alternative. Anything is acceptable, even a plan which is a great risk, if it can save you time and accomplish your goal of empowering the succubus. To your surprise, it is the one called Halle who comes up with a possible solution first.

“What about a slaughter?” she asks, hesitant and tentative. “We would need more sacrifices if we do not kill them slowly and painfully, as I understand it… But could volume make up the difference? We could go together to a place where humans gather—me, watching over the human knight, you wielding this hell-sword, and you could use it to kill a dozen or more humans at once, collecting their souls to fuel it.”

You stare.

“…Unless there is a problem with my plan?” she asks, a little sheepishly.

Well, it would certainly attract a lot of attention. You can’t imagine you could affect such a massacre in a city this large without some humanoids escaping to alert the rest of the mammalian herd, or neighbours hearing the screams and doing the same. Guards, maybe even Paladins or the Green Knight’s inner circle, would likely come for you.

“There’s a few places like that I can think of,” Irinnile chirps chipperly. “Like, there’s this old bar-an’-brothel where Lisspy used ta’ dance that always had a good crowd… Lotsa’ lust in the air from all the oglin’ nd whorin’, too, so I’d get EXTRA-special charged-up, ya’ know?”

“There are other options,” Halle hurriedly adds, to fill what she perceives as awkward silence—you didn’t say anything, after all, and she can’t hear Irinnile.

>>5589336
“Such as?” you ask.

“Well… There is a demonic cabal active in the city, apparently controlled by a powerful devil of some sort. One demon’s essence can be used to fuel another’s, yes?”

“Oh fuck, INKY?” Irinnile asks, sounding genuinely frightened at the prospect, and more than a little disgusted—peculiar, coming from such a shameless beast. “No, NOOOO no no, we don’t NONE a’ what HE’S got. I hate that fuckin’ incubus, an’ he was NOTHIN’ but trouble.”

“This demon was working with our Operational Chaplain for a time,” Halle continues none-the-wiser to the succubus’ tantrum. “When the Chaplain was captured by… This knight… Cooperation rapidly gave way. The demon is a likely liability. It could be a ‘two bird with one stone’ situation, as the local halfling aphorism puts it.”

“I’m tellin’ ya’, you don’t want ANYTHING to do with that asshole,” Irinnile insists with frantic forcefulness. “Look, if we aren’t gonna’ butcher bushel of humies in one go, I say we just trick Henzler into meeting us and sap her mana. Always wondered what would get that frigid bitch all moist, or make that haughty fuckin’ face crack up an’ cry… An’ I bet if we can do it, she has, like, six regular peeps’ worth of mana!”

What will you do?
>Pay a visit to this brothel, to perform a mass sacrifice
>Make war against this Hawksong demon-cult, let by this ‘Inky’
>Attempt to ensnare and sacrifice Archmage Henzler
>Something else [write-in]

>>5589340
>>Pay a visit to this brothel, to perform a mass sacrifice
At least screams would be somewhat common in such a location. Just got to make sure there's no super important clientele that people may go looking for...or potentially have bodyguards.

>>5589340
>Pay a visit to this brothel, to perform a mass sacrifice.

Henzler's kinda a future minion and by the power of metagaming I know inky is bound by pacts designed to persist even after mom's death

which iri was there for and should have mentioned so I don't feel too guilty about it

>>5589340
>Make war against this Hawksong demon-cult, let by this ‘Inky’
I ain’t killing Mina and the gals, and it’s about time we’ve dealt with this bastard permanently.

>>5589340
>Make war against this Hawksong demon-cult, let by this ‘Inky
Most dofficult combat wise but easiest tl cover up by far

>>5589340
>>Make war against this Hawksong demon-cult, let by this ‘Inky
>Working with our mom
>Stop cooperated the second he had an opportunity
Yeah, Incubus gonna be turned into cubus. Cause we are chopping him up in a nice square block.

>>5589340
>Pay a visit to this brothel, to perform a mass sacrifice
Nobody cares about whores

>>5589340
>Make war against this Hawksong demon-cult, let by this ‘Inky’

Not gonna leave future threats to our sons lying around if we can help it.

>>5589857
>>5589779
>>5589717
>>5589666
>>5589564
>>5589415
>>5589351
[Locked and writing!]

>>5590524
“Tell me more about this demon,” you command, releasing your grip on the Kinslayer to spare yourself Irinnile’s protestations.

“I do not know THAT much about it,” Infiltrator Halle cautions you. “I know that it is capable of possessing multiple bodies, one after another or perhaps even at once, and that it can shift and modify those bodies, and see through their eyes. Its cults is embedded in the city’s poorer districts, and is primarily composed of humans and half-humans. The cult lives communally, for the most part, centred on a few buildings which are all owned by a single merchant—a human male.”

“Who is this male?” you demand.

“Terenzo Battista.”

“The demon’s summoner and controller?”

Halle shakes her head, answering: “It doesn’t seem to have one. The demon forms pacts, but nothing so singular. As I said, it can occupy many bodies, and goes where it wants as WHO it wants.”

“What is its goal?” you ask, tilting your head at the peculiarity of it all.

“Unknown, at least to me,” Halle admits. “The Chaplain likely knew.. KNOWS… more.”

“What does the cult do, then?” you ask. “What are their primary activities? Do they have a doctrine?”

“I don’t know what beliefs they might attest to among their own,” Halle says, increasingly embarrassed by her lack of knowledge. “They were aiding us in the subversion of the city through contraband-trading, though. “Before it was shut down and its population dispersed, ‘Goblintown’ on the edge of the city was useful for smuggling in contraband—drugs for subverting the humans and ‘demihumans’ of Hawksong, occult implements, tools of Infiltraton from the South or our forward bases. They also assisted in our other purpose here: smuggling humans OUT, to serve as materials for the priesthood’s researches and rites. After Goblintown’s collapse, the demons took up the goblins’ role, seemingly being connected to several trading companies. They also seem very active in buying up land in and around the city, and nearby farmland, especially the most undesirable and impoverished.”

“To what end?”

“I do not know, Superior One,” Halle sighs. “I am sorry. It was not necessary to know during my few interactions, where I served as a go-between on a transactional basis. Compartmentalization of information meant it was better if I knew as little as possible.”

>>5590571
“But they have become a liability now?” you ask. “How so?”

“They have stopped supplying us with human materials, and no longer bring us materials from the outside. Their efforts have lately been focused instead on taking those same sorts of humans we exported—gutter trash, itinerant travelers, the mad and sick, unaffiliated prostitutes, unattended children—and housing them on their acquired land, which they have developed and set their recruits to repairing or growing food upon.”

“…But to an unknown end?”

“Yes, Sueprior One.”

Curious… And troubling. This is a growing operation, and already one of some scale, within Hawksong itself. It’s the sort of large and organized subversive activity which your own Master Race has achieved in the South and East of the continent, but in this shining city which your kind have always struggled to compromise to such a degree. This demon is formidable indeed… And it has cut diplomatic contact with your race, and is operating entirely independent. A clash is inevitable. If you can hurry it along—and empower your OWN demonic ally in the process—then it behooves you to do so. ‘Two birds with one stone’ indeed.

“Watch the Green Knight,” you command the Infiltrator called Halle.

You hand her Kinslayer—a sword she accepts only with extreme awkwardness, and immediately sets down as if the sword or its occupant make her instantly uncomfortable. Kinslayer immediately sheathes itself in response, rather than lay upon the table unattended, and you’d swear you see it adjust as if snuggling up to the unconscious Heinrich Yosef.

“What is your plan, Superior One?” Halle asks.

How will you approach this urban war?
>Bring Halle and the Green Knight with you, and wield Kinslayer in battle
>Leave Halle and the Green Knight (and thus Irinnile’s sword-form) here, and bring the Incubus back once beaten and bound

What is to be your opening move?
>Make contact under a banner of peace and reconciliation, purporting to be the Operational Chaplain’s successor, then strike at the heart of this darkness once you have been led to the incubus or its representative
>Stage an attack on once of the demon’s properties, killing or capturing its acolytes and setting fire to the building—draw it to you with chaos and bloodshed
>Go right for this "Terenzo Battista" at his residence, since he seems key to the whole operation as its financier, and take him hostage
>Attempt to arrange a meeting with one of the city’s (in)famous Paladins, to report a demon infestation—shouldn’t they be doing something about this? Why aren’t they?
>Ask Irinnile for advice… You’re doing this, no matter what she says, but she can at least advise you on how best to tackle her old enemy
>Write-in

>>5590574
>Bring Halle and the Green Knight with you, and wield Kinslayer in battle
More difficult but also more worth it, who better to help kill a demon than another demon?

>Ask Irinnile for advice… You’re doing this, no matter what she says, but she can at least advise you on how best to tackle her old enemy

favoring
>Go right for this "Terenzo Battista" at his residence, since he seems key to the whole operation as its financier, and take him hostage

>>5590574
>>Bring Halle and the Green Knight with you, and wield Kinslayer in battle
Don't we need Iri to be there so she can power up?

>Stage an attack on once of the demon’s properties, killing or capturing its acolytes and setting fire to the building—draw it to you with chaos and bloodshed
If it doesn't show we can at least get some power this way.

>Ask Irinnile for advice
No harm in this either.

[I'm a bit tuckered today, and we only have a couple votes in, so I'm afraid today will be a one-update kind of day. I'll try to do two tomorrow!]

>>5590574
>>Bring Halle and the Green Knight with you, and wield Kinslayer in battle
>Ask Irinnile for advice… You’re doing this, no matter what she says, but she can at least advise you on how best to tackle her old enemy

>>5590574
>Bring Halle and the Green Knight with you, and wield Kinslayer in battle

>Ask Irinnile for advice… You’re doing this, no matter what she says, but she can at least advise you on how best to tackle her old enemy

>>5590605
>>5590677
>>5590870
>>5590875
[Locked and writing ASAP!]

>>5591032
“You will need to come with me,” you tell your new subordinate, this Halle. “The Kinslayer sword cannot leave the green Knight’s proximity, and I will need it.”

A demon to kill a demon—fighting hellfire with hellfire. Appropriate. Your eyes settle on the sword in question, and with sigh you reach out to gently grip the handle.

“Succubus,” you reach out mentally. “I seek your counsel.”

“Oh, so NOW ya’ want my counsel?” Irinnile sullenly replies. “After NOT takin’ my advice ta’ NOT to what you’re doing, ya’ mean?”

You sigh, and nod.

“This course of action is set,” you affirm. “And anyway, it seems as if you might have a score to settle, too, yes?”

“…Yeah, well, maybe ending that smug turd of a ‘greater demon’ WOULD be, like… Cathartic.”

That’s more like it.

“How would we best go about it, then?” you ask her. “Since we ARE to make war upon this ‘Inky’, how can we inflict maximum pain to the demon? I am presently torn between two courses of action: an all-out raid upon one of the more populated complexes in this creature’s little empire… Or capturing this ‘Terenzo Battista’ to hold him hostage, and thus draw out the devil.”

“Well,” Irinnile muses, “when Lisspy first met Inky, it was ‘cause your momma an’ Roth fucked up Inky’s, like… Main-type thrall, if ya’ know what I mean? This rich bitch called Zivic. Inky didn’t take too kindly ta’ that, I guess, and declared, like… This whole blood feud thing for a long time. So if Battista’s the new Zivic, that might have a similar-type effect.”

“But killing this ‘Zivic’ didn’t end the demon’s reign,” you note. “This would upset the demon, and weaken its enterprise here in Hawksong, but it would not allow you to consume the incubus’ essence and grow more powerful.”

“Yeah, right,” Irinnile agrees, becoming more enthusiastic. “I say we do your, like, other plan! If we go to town on the cult, I’ll get all wet ‘n bloody,! We can even hang around, maybe do some raping and torturing, right? That’ll piss Inky off something fierce, fi that’s REALLY what you want,a n’ I’ll already be stronger going inta’ the fight!”

The demoness seems to realize only belatedly the showdown she has proposed, and quails slightly at this sudden understanding.

“W-well, I mean, if I gotta’ fight ‘im… At least it’s, like, LESS scary this way.”