> ask companions for ideas

maybe the kid has some idea what the fuck's up?

> consult our companions

Our boy is a Leg Breaker, they might have ideas as to how make the most of the situation given their fellows are close by.

> Talk to the companions

Hell if I know what to do here, and I want to know more about how this Jack kid thinks.

> Heather, watch my backpack. I'm gonna see what happens if I get close

Our companions are not at all likely to have useful info here. Both have indicated by action that this is a new and terrifying problem for them. We can’t really afford the time to turn back now, and if my guess is right these things aren’t hostile. They just react to light in an undetermined way with those mirrors..

Hokay. I did not get nearly enough sleep; I'm gonna take the day, and update tomorrow after some real rest. With Weds/Thurs being off for me my hope is more than 2 updates on those days. Votes remain open, as does discussion, questions, etc.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

> Heather, hold my beer. I'm going to make out with these bony weirdos

>get close

New friends

>>1026935
> Turn to your companions for ideas

I don't expect Heather to know anythimg about walking skeletons, but Jack may have some supporting data. Hopefully.

>get close
Field research. Nerd.

> see what happens if I get close
What's the worst thing that could happen?

ALRIGHT

Called, tallying, writing

Vox 2022/03/23(Wed)16:09 No. 1027081 ID: 3f2378
File 164807698894.png - (298.94KB , 721x832 , Traveller_Thorn by Domochevsky.png )

>>1026935
WINNER: Heather, watch my backpack. I'm gonna see what happens if I get close.

Close; by just one vote.

You check the truewatch again. Still 00. Well, your daddy didn't raise no bitch, so -

"Heather, can you watch my backpack while I get close?"

The new fish blinks at you. Her mouth opens. Her mouth shuts. You raise your eyebrows at her and finally get both a nod and a helping hand out of the damned thing. You stretch, which coaxes a series of snapping sounds from your spine that echo like gunshots towards Junction's walls, then crack your neck for an encore.

You close the face on the truewatch so its light won't potentially attract the skeletons, pet the pockets that have your rats in them, and take another look. Despite that full twenty-one gun salute from your fucking bones, the bones in front of you have not moved at all. Their empty eye sockets remain fixated on the light high above them, and they hold forth their mirror discs as if in prayer.

Now that's odd. The mirrors aren't reflecting the light right. Are they mirrors? This whole place should be splashed with eye-stabbing light if they are, but it's more or less lit how it "should" be with a fire that big.

Hrm...

You glance back. The kid is chewing their thumb in nervousness, so you flash Jack a grin and then pick your way closer.

The bones have an earthy scent, and as you get closer you can see traces of soil crusted onto them. There's gaps in the ranks, and you spend a minimal amount of time dithering before you choose one and sliiiiidde in. Past one. Past two -

You see the shadows on the bones strum, and together the mass says "Liiiiiight."

You turn and see your shadow on one of the mirrors. With more courage than sense you crouch rather than flee for your life, and instantly the strumming ceases.

Iiiiiiiiiiinter-fucking-esting. You swallow hard and tell yourself that you're a Brave Field Researcher(tm) before you continue to move forward, crouch-walking like an absolute jackass. The going is slow, and there's a lot of skeletons to move through, but eventually you get before the gates of Junction completely unmolested.

Okay. We're learning things today, Thorn.

> Go back through, then touch one of the skeletons. If they don't mind being touched you can rearrange them

> Sure Heather's been having a hard time with the backpack so far but crawling on her belly with it crushing her to death so she can make it through here won't kill her right? The wagon can wait. Or get stolen. Whatever.

> Set the flashlight up off in another direction to encourage some of the horde to leave.

> Write-in?

>Go back through, then touch one of the skeletons. If they don't mind being touched you can rearrange them

Hands-on experience!

Banner art and that pic of Thorn provided by the esteemed Domochevsky, incidentally

>>1027081

> Set the flashlight up off in another direction to encourage some of the horde to leave.
> Once the wagon is through, reclaim the flashlight and lure them back to the bonfire.

No need to potentially antagonize them by touching them, but it would be best to keep the wagon. We already know they will go to light, so as long as we can move enough of them aside to get the wagon past, we can then lure the others back with the flashlight before turning it off and leaving them back where they started in the glow of the bonfire.

> Go back through, then touch one of the skeletons. If they don't mind being touched you can rearrange them

If all they're interested in is light, we could make a wider path. Possibly. Might want to ask the Legbreakers why they're so terrified of the skeletons first. Just so we get an idea of what the consequences of screwing up would be first.

Calling and writing in an hour, hell or high water

> touch grace skelly

it's dumb but honestly they've shown no *actually hostile* actions yet?

> set the flashlight off..

It is an indirect interaction that still gains us knowledge. They don't seem nimble, but I feel this is safer than touching outright.

> touch skelly

Called, writing

Brave choice

Aight. Writing in the morning; I got axed with Mad Sleepy. My apologies.

Vox 2022/03/24(Thu)12:00 No. 1027193 ID: 3f2378
File 164814841809.jpg - (29.74KB , 298x403 , Waiting-Skeleton.jpg )

>>1027081
WINNER: Go back through, then touch one of the skeletons. If they don't mind being touched you can rearrange them.

A part of Thorn has been defined.

Character sheet/reference sheet Soon

You crack your neck again, take a deep breath, and turn to the Legbreakers on the wall. You hold up a finger in the universal 'just a second' gesture, then go crouch-walking back through the skeletons, again like an absolute jackass.

"Get ready," you tell Jack and Heather. "This is either going to go very well, or very poorly."

"What are you doing?" Heather asks.

"I'm gonna see if I can make a path," you tell her, before you turn right back around. You select a skeleton in the back ranks in line with the gates of Junction and gingerly lay a finger on its skull. Nothing; the bones are the same temperature as the rest of the room, and it doesn't react. That's promising. You turn the head to the left and let go; it turns back with that twanging sound, and does the same when you turn it to the right. Interesting. Absolutely fucking fascinating.

You take a deep breath and touch a tendril of the darkne - Shimmering fucking Gods!

You yank your finger back as it hits you with cold so intense that it burns. Your finger is turning purple already, and the shock of absolute cold hits you with pain that races up your arm and ends in your lower jaw like you scraped your nail across a chalkboard. You double over from it and suck in deep, steady breaths. Oh fuck. Fuck that hurts. You hear footsteps behind you and hold out a hand to stop your companions, who obligingly stop getting close to the hordes of the living dead. You try to flex your finger and regret it immediately, but it moves, so it'll do.

The pain is good. Pain means you don't have frostbite. Yep. That's how you're gonna cope with this. Pain good. Pain goood. Okay. Fuck.

Once more into the breach.

You stand up straight again and look at the kneeling skeleton. Gingerly, you take either side of its hips into your hands, squat down, and lift from the knees and not the back. It starts twanging wildly, but no threatening voices this time, so okay.

You get to standing, holding the kneeling skeleton like a weird ball. You shuffle to the right, one column, two columns, and then equally gingerly place it on the shoulders of the one next to it. They both wobble for a bit, twanging and twanging and twanging, and then, Dark Gods be praised, they balance.

"I. Am. A fucking genius," you mutter to yourself. You turn and beckon to Heather, because Jack is busy throwing up out of sheer terror so they're not gonna be any help here. It's a long effort, but eventually the two of you manage to get a corridor opened up by stacking skeletons like logs.

>>1027193
By the time you're done Jack is even paler than usual (anyone in Tenebrous that isn't born with dark skin might as well be albino) but is steady on their feet again. They've taken up the wagon, and once you and Heather get your backpacks on again, the three of you set out into the hole you've made, moving slowly just in case the skeletons see running as some kind of threat. You pass rank after rank, saying prayers in your head that you don't want to risk saying out loud, chief among them being "please let the Legbreakers open the doors".

That prayer gets answered. As you pass the eleventh rank the gates are pushed open only wide enough to admit the wagon, and the sentries frantically beckon you onward. The three of you break into a run; the moment the wagon is clear, Junction slams the doors shut behind you.

Things are going so much less than well here. Anything that will burn has been stacked under the belltower to keep that fire going, and everyone is nervous, armed, and in the streets. The normal tasks needed to maintain day-to-day life are going half-done or, worse, un-done, as people go to the walls or leave the walls or attempt to comfort each other. Children are crying.

"Boy are we glad to see you," a familiar face - Gateboss Casey - tells you, clapping you on the shoulder. "Our prayers are answered: what the hell are those things?"

"I have no idea," you answer, honestly.

"You -"

"Have no idea," you repeat. "Maybe something in the shadowcraft archives could help us figure it out but I'm not going back out there again right now. Are you?"

Jack is trying to throw up again but there is absolutely nothing left to give there. Poor kid.

"I did bring what Shantytown owes you," you say, pointing a thumb at the backpack. "So it's not all bad news! Water, supplies, smokes, the whole shebang."

Casey chews their lip and sighs. "I was supposed to take you to the Big Bosses to hire you for a plan of action, but if you don't know anything I don't see much of a point. You just come to pay what's owing."

You close your eyes and take a deep, deep breath.

> I have somewhere else to be. I can't stay.

> We can't let this go on. Take me to the bosses anyway, we'll see what we can do about all...this

> We can't let this go on. Take me to the bosses anyway, we'll see what we can do about all...this

We go in, say hi, and if there's no clear plan of action, we bounce.

> go to the bosses

if we can help, we can help, if we can't, we got a job to do.

> We can't let this go on. Take me to the bosses anyway, we'll see what we can do about all...this

Have a gander, see if any course of action presents itself. This entire place seems a bit worse for wear, but in unclear ways. Possibly to a size that is beyond what we can provide at the moment.

Did anyone around here try to smash a skeleton? Touching the tenebrous stuff is bad, that much we know now. So that was informative. However:

> When you find someone you can ask things, bring up the question of what problems these things are actually causing.

Y'know, besides being skeletons and standing around your lamps in silent prayer.

> talk to the bosses

We're a heroic sort, and information. is. power!

>>1027194
>>1027195

> We can't let this go on. Take me to the bosses anyway, we'll see what we can do about all...this

Seconding Boar. We check in and provide what expertise we can, and what we've learned from poking them, but unless they have an immediate plan of action which involves us, we're moving on.

>>1027194
I got a plan. Put barricades around the skeletons. Put kindling under/around them. Burn them.

>go 2 bosses

>go to bosses

If their plan takes more than a couple hours we should gtfo

Suggestion 2022/03/24(Thu)19:20 No. 1027235 ID: a681e9

> go to the bosses

Whats the worst that could happen?

This seems conclusive. Called, writing.

(Yeah...extra updates on the days off didn't happen.)

Vox 2022/03/24(Thu)21:45 No. 1027241 ID: 3f2378
File 164818352254.jpg - (71.76KB , 491x692 , main-qimg-3fe495c25661bb1e8bd8abe328281cb2-pjlq.jpg )

>>1027194
WINNER: We can't let this go on. Take me to the bosses anyway, we'll see what we can do about all...this.

"You got someone who can take these backpacks, Casey?" you ask, after a moment to think. "Once we get 'em stashed, I'm happy to see the Big Bosses. We can't let this go on."

"Yeah," Gateboss Casey answers. They whistle sharply, which gets the attention of a trio of youngbloods rightfully more afraid of Casey than of the living dead. "Get the Know-It-All's shit to the guest house, and don't touch a gods-damned thing in it, or -"

"You'll kill us, we know," one of the kids says with a sigh.

"No," Casey corrects. "I'll sit there and laugh while Thorn here kills you."

"And I'm pretty bad at killing, so it'll take a hot minute," you add, as you're shrugging out of your backpack. The youngblood looking you in the eyes does not like what they find there; their whole body shudders, and the three take your packs and the wagon without a word.

"I'll go assemble the Bosses. Meet you there soon. Bring Jack there with you."

Jack manages a weak salute and staggers towards a water barrel, presumably to attempt to rinse their mouth out.

"You sure we got time for this?" Heather asks. "This isn't our problem."

"It's in my backyard," you say with a shrug, rubbing your shoulders.

"...These people mutilate their children."

"What an amazingly hot take, new fish. And you want to leave those same children to die so the parents can feel just that much worse before they fucking croak?"

Heather's face turns red. She seems like she's getting angry for a moment, and then confusion steals across her features in its place. "You don't know what a server is, but you know about hot takes?"

You blink at her. She blinks at you. A withered old prisoner (gotta be like, thirty-nine, just die already or no one's eating any mushrooms) slumps past between the two of you. She blinks again.

"I think," you say slowly, "this might be something from Outside that changed in here."

"I'll bet."

>>1027241
You go over to Jack and put a hand on their shoulder. "You gonna be okay kid?"

"Yeah," they manage. "...Thanks. For saving my life."

You shrug. "Prison sucks enough as it is. Plus you're about to be real useful with the Bosses since I need permission to pass through and also for them to believe what we just learned about those skeletons."

"Heh," the youngblood manages. You ruffle their hair, then gesture for Heather. It's been enough time to get the old bastards up and around, let's do this.

The lanterns are still lit all over town, so at least the Legbreakers haven't completely taken leave of their senses. You make your way to the town hall, which is really just a normal house except they got one of the void priests to hollow out the inside so it can fit more chairs. The Big Bosses are already waiting inside; Big Boss Alex in their wheelchair, and Big Boss Thistle with his missing nose all wrapped up in a bandage and his hook hand resting on the table. They don't ask for your weapons, but the walls are lined with their enforcers so uh, they don't have to.

"Bosses," you greet, doffing your glasses. "I daresay you know me and Jack. The new fish is Heather, and I'll be at her service shortly. Be needing her as alive as possible if it pleases you."

"Granted," Thistle rumbles. "Welcome back to Junction, Traveler Thorn. Casey says the Know-It-Alls don't know what's beating down our doors."

"Didn't seem to be a lot of beating when I got here," you admit.

"Oh, that was after the fire." Alex drums their fingers on the handle of their wheelchair. "We've three people missing, was four before you brought Jack here back. I'm damn well hoping it's the skeletons. Worse if it ain't."

"Yeah, it sure is. And the nearest shadow priest is what, still half a mile that-a-way?"

"If they're alive," Alex agrees.

"If," you echo. "...I can tell you what I've observed. They follow light sources and hold those disks up to them. The darkness that wraps 'em up is cold as charity and it'll probably fuck up any weapons that touch it. I'm not sure how they're seeing but they don't like having their heads turned away from the light. If you get between the disks and the light they object, but if you don't you can touch 'em, move 'em, even stack 'em."

The Bosses look at Jack, who nods enthusiastically.

"I don't suppose you've got anything hot enough to burn bone?" you ask.

"You fucking wish," Thistle growls. "And even if we did we'd just smoke ourselves out of house and home. We can keep that bonfire going maybe four more days, and then we see how peaceable these things really are."

That's...baaaad.

> Four days? I'm on my way to Mycos right now. Maybe we can get you help.

> You need to evacuate. Even if we solve this problem in the four day time limit you'll be so low on supplies that you'll just die slow instead of fast.

> How are you doing on...ammo...

> I'll go get the shadow priest. Me and the new fish can move faster than you and all your enforcers, even if Alex has us beat on the sprints on those wheels.

> we're off to see the shadowpriest, the wonderful shadowpriest of oz

> What we priest in the shadows

If anyone knows what the fuck is going on, it'll be them. Also, I want to help the Legbreakers without too much time or effort, and finding a guy (gender-neutral) who knows more about this than us seems smart.

> get the shadow priest
We are racking up plenty of favors with these guys. It's going great! There's nothing ol' Thorn can't solve!

>shadowpriest

Half a mile? Let's just fetch them and be on our way. In and out. 20 minutes, tops.

Hokay so work got Bad for a bit; update will be tonight after work, and thank you to everyone for your patience. Votes remain open in the meantime

> I'll go get the shadow priest. Me and the new fish can move faster than you and all your enforcers, even if Alex has us beat on the sprints on those wheels.

I mean, sure, why not? Solving the food problem is only going to do so much if skeletons wrapped in freezing darkness depopulates the Junction in the meantime.

Vox 2022/03/28(Mon)00:11 No. 1027498 ID: 3f2378
File 164845151143.jpg - (3.89KB , 190x266 , Guess Who Still Can't Draw.jpg )

>>1027244
WINNER: I'll go get the shadow priest. Me and the new fish can move faster than you and all your enforcers, even if Alex has us beat on the sprints on those wheels.

You point at the Big Bosses with the entirety of your both hands. "Alright, here's the deal on the table. The new fish and I will go get the shadow priest. We'll move faster than anyone else anyway, with just the two of us. You give us safe passage out of Junction, call this little run our tribute, and you're gonna be amenable to helping with my current job."

"A whatable?" Jack asks.

"It's a fancy word that means Thorn here expects us to keep our gratitude fuckin' warm," Alex explains. "What's the job?"

"Peace between Mycos and Saltwater, might need some labor from your Legbreakers, might need you to settle refugees, we'll see how it goes." You make eye contact with Alex, and they make eye contact with you. The staredown drags on like a wet handshake, but at last you both nod.

"Deal's the deal," the Big Boss says.

"Deal's the deal," you agree. "C'mon New Fish, we're burning time."

Heather gives you a long look. "Do I get a say in this?" A loud thunk interrupts her attempt at intimidation, and the two of you turn your heads to see that Alex has set their revolver down on the table.

"You don't," the Big Boss drawls. "Welcome to Tenebrous, sun-drinker. Go get our shadow priest."

Heather swallows.

The two of you leave the backpacks in town.

Praise to the Dark Gods specifically, the skeletons are only at the one gate. Well, near town, anyway. But no sooner are the doors shut behind you than Heather is failing to march in grim silence like a civilized person again.

"What'd he -"

"They," you correct, with a sigh.

"The Big Boss, call me?" Heather finishes. "...It kinda sounded like a slur or something."

"Not...exactly." Fuck it. You've reached your limit. You stop walking so you can dig out your box of smokes. Your precious, precious smokes. Heather watches with interest as you take one out along with the lighter, carefully close the box and tap the contents down, and then light up.

Blessed relief. You let the smoke trickle out of your nostrils.

"An old legend says Tenebrous was a normal world once," you murmur, not looking at the new fish. "It had a sun, and a sky, and stars. That there was a time before the Prison, before everything was made of darkness, when it was all made of stuff instead. Not a lot of us necessarily believe that, 'cause like...who the hell could turn a normal world into this? Far more likely they found it just like this, and turned it into their hellhole. But that doesn't stop the saying going around that people from Outside huddle around the stolen sun and drink its light until you all grow bloated on it, like leeches."

Heather is quiet. She starts walking again, eventually, and you join her. She's stepping more softly now, though she's got a long way to go still.

"You really think so little of us?" she murmurs, at last.

"Yeah," you answer, without much emotion.

>>1027498
Half a mile. It's not the furthest walk, but it has a lot of twists and turns. The lanterns are lit, at least, and there aren't any disc-bearing corpses to stop you up. The void shrine you're heading for is even pretty lit, not that it's much to talk about; cot for sleeping on, altar, makeshift kitchen, priest strung up in strands of shadow - wait what.

"Max, you fuckin' dead?" you call out.

"I wish!" comes the enraged answer. Max thrashes in his bonds, making the structure of the shrine creak and groan and revealing in no uncertain terms that whatever did this to him has shredded his clothes. Heather averts her eyes when she catches sight of the priest's tits.

"You want to walk me through how you got fucked up there Max?" you ask, making absolutely no move to get any closer to this situation.

"I was - oh, Dark Gods is that a new fish? Are they going to ask me stupid questions?"

"Probably. Heather, this is Max, he's a void priest. Max, this is Heather, she's new." You gesture from one to the other with your smoke. "The question, Max?"

("He?" Heather murmurs to you under her breath.

"If you tell me y'all don't have gay people Outside I'm going to break through the prison walls out of sheer rage and extinguish your civilization," you murmur back.

She doesn't answer.)

"I was trying to garb myself and Tenebrous quaked on me," Max bitches, and also moans. "Now I'm fucking stuck. It's my own spell but it's all tangled, and I don't have the power to cut it straight. Unweaving's always -"

"Cut the jargon Max," you prompt.

The void priest answers by thrashing in his bonds and making a variety of sounds to express his Incoherent Fucking Rage. "I locked a key behind the door it opens, Know-It-All! I don't suppose you've got a brightknife?"

"I wish," you sigh. "Heather, you know much about shadow magic?"

The new fish taps her chin thoughtfully. "It's strengthened in the light. If it's twisted up, maybe we could overload the bad spell and let it come apart on its own."

That's a thought. "...We could extinguish the light too, and let it fade," you point out. "Hey Max, how long has it been since you've eaten or drank anything?"

Oh hey. Those are swear words you didn't know yet. Nnnneat.

> Douse the lights

> Use your flashlight on the bonds

our first taste of religion! i want more

>whichever of those is more like a "brightknife"

Okay, you've broken my immersion. I don't believe there are any swear words Thorn doesn't already know. But seriously, this is fun, and I hope we can learn a little more about shadow magic.

>Flash the lights

Clock's ticking and we don't have much time to waste. Also, I'm curious how this could go wrong.

>>1027499

> Use your flashlight on the bonds

This might get violent, but I think not having any light down here is even worse. We've got advanced darkness around here, I hear.

Worried about the flashlight attracting skeletons, but if the dark option would take long enough that we might have to worry about Max starving to death, it's probably going to take too much time for the town, too. So warn Heather to be ready for anything, maybe ask Max if there's anything of his he wants us to grab to be ready to run, and then

> Use flashlight

> Douse!

> flashlight!

we are still on another job so we should try to go quick.

> use the flashlight

"we're burning time"

>"you really think so little of us?"

These are not the words of someone thrown into SHADOWHELLJAIL for CRIMES

>>1027499
>trans = gay
So close, and yet so far.

If he's bound tightly like this, won't strengthening the spell make it too tight? Could hurt him. I'm guessing a brightknife is not a flashlight, but a special tool for cutting darkness constructs.
>douse

>>1027522
Que?

>>1027522
"gay" can be an umbrella term, tho, and often was the go-to term until relatively recently. sure, like, heterosexual trans people exist, but until quite recently, the idea of a heterosexual trans person being straight (as in, not gay or queer or w/e) was ... not exactly super common.

(also hi, switching from mobile to laptop, so if my id number thing changed, that's why. going to vote as soon as i've caught up properly!)

>>1027531
I would say its more the opposite - while we don't know much from before the 40s cause the Nazis burned all the research, in most places around the world it was considered even worse of a crime to be seeing the gender you held yourself as, as that was a seperate crime (see: the clothing laws in the US, and how you can be denied legal recognition currently in the UK if you aren't straight)

>>1027532
i should've clarified: i really have no idea what straights think of any of us these days, tho i did run afoul of the kinda homophobic gatekeeping you're referring to when first attempting transition.

i was talking from the vantage point of Anglophone gay/queer communities — when "gay" was the default umbrella term (i'm talking like, back in the days of the TV/TS distinction, before TG as a term emerged), a heterosexual trans person could still be gay rather than "straight, and trans", as "straight" connoted (and in many places, still connotes) not just heterosexuality but specifically being acceptable under heteronormative and cisnormative terms. my knowledge of the specific history there is sketchy, ofc there are many examples of heterosexual trans people being perceived and treated as "straight", as long as they were stealth and disconnected from gay/queer communities, but w/in our own communities? the specific boundaries are not necessarily super precise.

i also have some distaste for the kind of thinking that starts at "trans cannot ever be compared to gay beyond an [allegedly] extremely loose alphabet soup association that we are forced into", since a) that thinking so often leads to smug homophobia that makes trans spaces alienating and unsafe for anyone (regardless of specific gender or vector of transition) who's trans and gay, or moved in gay communities pre-transition, or still moves in gay communities post-transition b) heterosexual trans women are highly unlikely to be treated like heterosexual cis women and are far far more likely to be treated the same as (or in many cases, much worse than!) me, a v. v. typical campy gay boy, so the basis for solidarity there is sorta self-evident c) trans people who are disgusted by being associated w/ the term "gay" or w/ gay men (and those adjacent/associated) ... are probably not trans people i want to spend too much time w/.

regardless of all of that, "gay" remains a not-uncommon umbrella term even in extremely respectability-obsessed "we're nothing like those icky cis gays" online communities, so it's at best a pointless nitpick.

...

anyway, all that aside: let's play it safe, i think. first order of any botched rope scene is to cut the fucking ropes ASAP.

> use flashlight on the bonds

>>1027543
Oh extremely true, I assumed you were approaching it from a rather worse position - too used to randos on various social medias

>use the torch on the shadows
I don't like the sounds of how worried the priest is by the darkness option

Will be calling and writing tonight after work!

Vox 2022/03/29(Tue)23:21 No. 1027637 ID: 3f2378
File 164862128538.png - (204.81KB , 700x620 , Vox-Tan by Domochevsky.png )

Okay I lied

BUT UPDATE IN THE MORNING

So! How's everyone doing so far? Enjoying the quest? It's been a hot fucking minute since I ran one and being back in the swing feels good on my end but I do love to hear back

I'm having a fun time!! Nothing has hooked me exceptionally yet, but it's interesting and fun across the board

>>1027637
I feel like its doing well so far! It has the sense of mystery and hints towards strong cultural worldbuilding that I've come to enjoy from your stuff

I adore Thorn and the friends they are reluctantly accruing

Vox 2022/03/30(Wed)12:45 No. 1027675 ID: 3f2378
File 164866952262.png - (729.69KB , 680x627 , It's Like That.png )

>>1027499
"Alright Max," you call out, "stop swearing for a minute, the new fish has an idea and I want to run it past you before we just pull the trigger."

Max manages to hold up a finger in the universal 'wait just a second' gesture and finishes whatever impressively foul curse he's saying. You really do gotta get those lessons in his mother tongue, upgrade from speaking six languages to a nice seven.

"Okay," Max says after he heaves in a steadying breath. "What's the idea?"

You gesture to Heather, who looks a little surprised that you're giving her the credit she's due but not, y'know, displeased. The new fish straightens her prison grays. "I am not an expert in shadow magic, Dark One, but would it be reasonable to overload the tangled spell with light and let the tensions inside of it simply unravel?"

Max is quiet for a long moment; he dips his head in thought, and his white hair spills over his face. "...It's not an unsound idea," he concedes at last. "The bonds are tangible, though. It will snap. I would stand well clear."

"Uhh -" you begin.

"Obviously I personally cannot stand clear, smartass."

"Alright..."

You unclip your flashlight from your belt, check the batteries, and find somewhere to set it up. Heather does likewise with her own, and together you turn them on and back away very quickly.

>>1027675
The initial effects are sharp and immediate; the bonds, formerly hazy and flickering, become defined and contained. Max thrashes, straining the parts of his shrine they're anchored to, and you hear an unholy creaking and groaning.

"Is it working?" Heather murmurs.

"It's fucking working," Max growls in a pained voice. The inside of the shadows twang; the priest thrashes again, and the darkness that restrains him roils and shifts in response. A strand snaps away, cutting him across the cheek; Heather has to cover her mouth to stop from gasping.

Snap-twang. Snap. Snap.

You grab Heather's shoulder and back away even further, just in time for the ropes of darkness restraining Max to come undone entirely. The void priest screams more in anger than in pain, though yes, there is pain. A spray of blood catches you across the face, and you flinch from the hot impact of it; the shrine shakes, bits of its darkness calving off only to fill back in from the light that strengthens it.

Max stands up in the light, bare-ass naked and bleeding from dozens of shallow cuts. Heather averts her eyes with her face bright red, but you watch as the priest plunges his hand into the flickering shadows of his shrine.

You've never seen him garb himself.

The shadow comes racing up his arm, pulling itself like a devouring tide. It swallows Max whole, wrapping itself into a cocoon around him that pulses and tremors before your eyes. After a long moment, a claw of solid darkness tears its way free, and there stands Max, clad in his vestments all of shadows - long pants seamlessly tucked into high boots, his shirt-top spilling over his waistline, clawed gloves hiding his hands, his bird mask concealing his face and holding up a feathered cloak. The only thing still visible are his dark brown eyes.

"Thank you," the void priest says, his voice deepened by the mask. "A more proper introduction is in order, I think."

You nod, and bow respectfully; Heather turns to look and lets herself gasp this time, in surprise. "Max, this is Heather Locke, who has done a great service for my people and will command my service in turn. Heather, this is Dark Priest Max, priest and confessor to this Wing of Tenebrous, master of shadow magic, prophet of the void, and..."

> My friend

> My ex

> my ex
dramadramadramadramadramadrama

> My ex

max is too hot to waste the opportunity

Okay, before we vote, let's think. What *do* we know about this scrawny pack-bearing nerd, and what that would say about their dating experience.?

> my ex

exes can be friends.

> my ex

As is said before,they don't HAVE to be unfriendly necessarily

> My friend

For the sake of contrarianism, if nothing else.

> My ex

Gotta be.

> My friend

Nothing saying that it can't be both, so let's even out those votes. :V

>>1027676
>ex
friends with Drama :3

> friend

If we even out the votes, I think their official status becomes 'it's complicated', which is far better for drama than a mere 'ex-partner' deal.

Called, tallying, writing

Vox 2022/04/01(Fri)12:09 No. 1027910 ID: 3f2378
File 164884018670.jpg - (38.61KB , 460x460 , I'm Not Apologizing.jpg )

>>1027676
WINNER: My ex

"And..."

It is now you who is making the Face. You've gotten very good at intuiting Max's emotions through eyes alone and he is eating it up, his eyes bright with amusement as you emotionally squirm in front of the new fish. He will be no help here.

You sigh. "And my ex. If anyone can handle the skeletons it'll be him."

There goes that eyes-only journey; satisfaction, confidence, and then confusion. "When you say skeletons -"

Heather, bless her, cuts in. "Junction is under siege by skeletons animated by shadow magic, which are doing something to the lights nearby. The Big Bosses sent us to get your aid, Dark One, and we need it so we can continue on our mission."

"She always this formal?" Max asks you.

"Not so far," you admit. "You religious, Heather?"

The new fish surprises you by fishing a sunstone on a necklace out of her jumpsuit; the books from Outside say it's a common holy symbol carried by the Shimmering Cults, who uh, do not live here, for obvious reasons. Max's body posture relaxes, and he claps a clawed hand on her shoulder.

"You are far from home, glittering child," he says formally. "But light shines all the brighter in darkness. Welcome to Tenebrous Prison, and my apologies for the state you find it in."

The relief that steals over Heather's face. "Thank you, Dark One. Now, the matter at hand?"

Max gives you a thoughtful look before he turns away to repair his shrine. He does this a lot when he's thinking; the act of sculpting the solid darkness by hand is soothing for him. He's shoring up a wall when he says, "What is this mission?"

"...I would rather not say," Heather admits.

"Tough shit, new fish," the priest says back. "If you want my help in Junction, you're taking me with you."

"Whoa -" you start.

"When have you known me to back down, Thorn?" Max asks, turning his masked head to give you that look of absolute confidence that still makes your heart flutter. "Exactly. Those are my terms."

> Fine, fucker! You know this is might take awhile, right? I don't even know the details

> Absolutely not

AND

> Leave an offering to the Dark Gods

> Do not. They haven't done anything for you lately.

>>1027910

> Fine, fucker! You know this is might take awhile, right? I don't even know the details

> Do not. They haven't done anything for you lately.

The path of maximum drama. No wonder they broke up with us if we can't even manage this basic level of piety in a crisis.

> Fine, fucker

If he wants to come along we could use the help, and also i love him and want him in our life

> Leave an offering

solely bc i wanna see what kind of things one offers to the dark gods

> fine fucker

oh we *gotta* bring him with. drama... *and* shadow magic.

> leave an offering.

shadow gods seem important it shadowland.

> Fine, fucker!
> Leave an offering.

A spite offering? I don't know how those work around here. "Nice shrine, you prick. Here, have an *offering*!" as Thorn carefully places a candle on said shrine.

Y'know. ALL the mixed signals in this relationship.

Also, Heather, you're a cultist? Someone who praises the sun? Down here? At this time of darkness?

Alright then.

> fine fucker

> leave an offering

Max has the energy and I'm here for it.

Best be safe, this is a magical world so it might just work.

> Fine, fucker! You know this is might take awhile, right? I don't even know the details
> Leave an offering

This will be in no way awkward.

> Fine, fucker

Because I want to hear the story.

> Leave an offering

It's good policy not to be rude to gods.

> Fine, fucker!
strong agree. max rules. he should come with

> Do not
Can't explain myself here, just a vibe

another day volunteering at the tenerous prison. everyone keeps asking me if they can know what the fuck Heather's doing here. buddy, they wont even let me know

Aight I'ma level with y'all: work is being rough. We've got inventory coming up and it is a nightmare

I will call and write on Wednesday when I've got the day off

alas, Vox's update will be delayed due to some flooding in his room.

ALRIGHT

MY ROOM IS FIXED

I AM ALIVE

I will be calling and writing near midnight EST, or, slightly less than 11.5 hours from now

For anyone who wants to vote, now is THE time

Thank you for your patience during my life unexpectedly getting fucked in half by Mother Nature.

Called, writing

Vox 2022/05/01(Sun)00:22 No. 1030906 ID: 3f2378
File 165138974552.jpg - (29.74KB , 298x403 , Waiting-Skeleton.jpg )

WINNERS: Fine, fucker! You know this is might take awhile, right? I don't even know the details & Leave an offering

You sigh and rub your temples. He always does this shit. Max makes a decision like an earthquake and there's just no fucking stopping him, the gorgeous little fucking bastard-ass priest. "Fine!" you say at last. "You do know even I don't have the details here, yeah? We could be gone for ages."

"Do I get a say in this?" Heather asks, looking somewhere between confused and offended.

"You gonna fight a priest about it?" you ask her.

The new fish transitions solely to confused, then to horrified: "People draw iron on priests here?" she asks, in sheer disbelief.

"Gods Dark and Shimmering," Max breathes, in uncharacteristic blasphemy. "She really is a new fish."

"THEY DRAW IRON ON YOU HERE?" Heather repeats, aghast.

"Do they not Outside?" you prompt, gently, knowing damn well what the answer is. Heather makes a series of frustrated hand motions before she storms away rather than falling into your conversational trap. Smart move.

Max sighs and needlessly brushes off his penumbral vestments. He gives you a questioning look, and you nod after Heather. He takes the gesture for what it is, leaving you alone with what's left of his shrine. Max should - it's - you sigh, aloud. There's no time to pack this place up and ensure its sanctity. Like everything else in this forsaken hole, it will have to be left to rot.

You don't always get on with the gods but that's no way to treat a holy place, and you're going to be involved in that treatment. At the very least you can go and say hello, and maybe even pay some unironic respects.

Maybe.

You approach the altar and try to think of something to say. Ten thousand sarcastic remarks come to mind and you spend - well, awhile, squashing them down. How fucking long has it been since you prayed on purpose and not out of desperation? How -

- How long -

You wipe your eyes with the back of your hand. You're not crying, like some new fish on their first day. You're not. You're not.

Eventually, with very little ceremony, you open your box of smokes and tip half of them onto the altar. It takes awhile to get them arranged neatly, which involves a lot of picking up the ones that roll off, but eventually it's something like presentable. You stare at them, trying to find words, and when you fail again you finally say something out loud.

"I'm sorry," you murmur. "I know you don't expect me to be better, but...I'm sorry I'm not. I'll try to be less of an ass."

Suck-ass prayer, but it's the one in your heart.

You're almost ready to turn away when the darkwood of the altar starts to churn. A shadow wraps around the smokes like a fog, and when it recedes a single black cigarette is left. You blink and stare at it, not sure what to make of this gesture, when it helpfully hucks itself into your still-open box; a tendril of shadow closes the box behind it.

Hhhhhhhhhuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

You need to rejoin the others.

> Grill Max for more information. The skeletons were a surprise to him, sure, but the void-priests know Tenebrous like no one else can

> Ask Heather about this mission of hers

> March in grim silence like civilized people (advance back to Junction)

> Grill Max

the most pressing thing on our agenda at the moment, I'm sure. There will be other opportunities to pester Heather. Unless she dies immediately, in which case I guess it'll have been a moot point?

Welcome back, Vox!
I vote we
> grill Max

> Grill Max

priest of shadows gotta know something about skeletons. surely.

>>1030906
WELL THEN
> grill Max

I'm sure he tastes-

>>1030910
Grilling Max is a pretty basic concept. It’s grilling Max well that gets more complicated — but not much, once you commit these Max commandments to memory.

1: Pat the Max Dry
Who doesn’t love the seared crust on a shadow priest? These caramelized bits form once Max comes into contact with the hot grill grates. Pat Max dry first, using paper towels or any clean, lint-free kitchen towel — this removes any excess moisture that would otherwise steam-cook the Max, which would inhibit caramelization.

2: Season with Salt and Pepper Just Before Grilling
Salt pulls moisture to the surface, so save the seasoning for the very last moment to keep that process from kicking off and thus rendering patting the Max dry useless!

3: Leave It Alone on the Grill
Once the Max is on the grill, resist all urges to touch or lift it until it releases from the grill naturally. This will aid in solid grill marks (read: flavor) and keep the Max from tearing. Once the browning (or fond) forms and the Max releases, turn it often as you finish grilling, to allow even cooking.

4: Let it Rest
Once Max is removed from the grill, two things begin to happen:
1) A process called “carryover cooking” begins, where the temperature of the Max continues to rise, resulting in a difference in temperature upward of 10 degrees F.
2) When Max is hot, its physical structure loosens and weakens, making it less able to retain juices (flavor alert!); once removed from the grill, Max cools and returns to a stable physical structure that is able to retain its flavorful juices.
So, in a nutshell, let shadow priests rest for about 10 minutes, and give bigger cuts upward of 20 minutes for juices to settle down.

5: Slice It Against the Grain
If you study a large cut of Max, you’ll notice that the Max fibers run in a parallel direction, much like the grain found in a piece of wood. Make cuts in the Max perpendicular to the grain, so that it results in short Max fibers, and thus a tender bite of Max. (Try chewing a piece of Max that’s been sliced along the grain, for experimental purposes only.)

>>1030906
Can’t we just be civilized for once?

> mission...

We could perhaps do 1 & 2?

>Grill Max

I think everyone's already made the jokes even better than I have, so we'll just leave it there for now.

Huh. Well this is familiar. Very familiar. Alright, let's see how things play out.

>>1030906
> Grill Max for more information. The skeletons were a surprise to him, sure, but the void-priests know Tenebrous like no one else can.

Well, that's pretty clear. Called, writing.