MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102988 ID: 4591f8
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MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102989 ID: 4591f8
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MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102990 ID: 4591f8
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MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102991 ID: 4591f8
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MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102992 ID: 4591f8
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TAXES QUEST

MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102993 ID: 4591f8
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Among other things, the BONE FACTION is famous for its grueling taxes. Your city, Eastbone, is famous for something else. Mostly a lot of fucking. But you still get the taxes.

You're POPPY EAST, the Bee. You live in a comfortable single-bedroom suburban residence. You've got a nice garden in the back tended to mostly by you and a catboy that sleeps on your floor. The rest of the house is tended to by some purple alien maid thing that you found a few years ago and also sleeps on the floor. The neighbors are nice; some of them are fellow magic users.

You are a WITCH. That means you cast spells. Unfortunately, a recent escapade did some shit to the electromagnetic field and now the Bone Communications Commission is mad at you, and, much worse, the internet is out.

You like magic and your wife (who is a busy with late-night college classes so you're doing her a favor and filing the tax thingy jointly). You dislike cloudy days, and, as you're discovering, paperwork.

MIDNASTER 2025/01/28(Tue)01:45 No. 1102994 ID: 4591f8
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SSN: ________ SPOUSE SSN: ________ [...] 10 ₽12516 11 Fish 12 _________ 14 ₽8 ....15a 0kg ....15b 0 ....15c ₽0 16 ₽0 17 _________ 18 Boioioing 19 ₽12508 20 Like 29% [...]

Great news is that you're nearly done. You've basically done everything you can do sitting down, given the forms you have.
You know where to find your SSN; it's kept secure in your little witchy pocket dimension that you can access anywhere.
One of the few things you don't know about your wife is where she keeps her SSN, so you will need to contact her to figure that out.
12... you need to write the amount on your E-6 (Dungeon Explorer Benefits) form. Because in this city your gold loot is taxed. You need to meet up with your dungeon exploring associate.
17 doesn't have any description at all. It's been long enough that you've forgotten what it's for.

Now you have a couple options. You can choose one to do first:
A) Grab your SSN
B) Figure out your wife's SSN
C) Acquire Dungeon Explorer Benefits form
D) Try to figure out??? what's up with 17???

D

Easy things with known next steps can be put off, unless they're time-sensitive. Prioritize making the unknown known.

>>1102994
A!

Yeah, 17 seems like the biggest hurdle here. Once we tackle that one, things should be smoother sailing maybe?

C

and while you're out getting that maybe they'll let you use their internet so can use a search engine to figure out what 17 is.

Figuring out the parts that we have no idea of what it is will smooth things out (D). Also hi we're the voices in your head. Do all witches have voices in their heads?

D) will potentially take the longest time so get started now. And maybe we can do some of the others on the way.

Do you... even know who to ask about 17? maybe your Wife knows about 17?
B and D simultaniously??

Seekest thou number 17, lest it become a double digit of DOOM.

>>1102987
its not safe to do your taxes at work because of all the private information involved

MIDNASTER 2025/01/29(Wed)02:12 No. 1103034 ID: 4591f8
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Using your WITCH INTUITION (Intuwitchion), you decide that it's probably the ideal option to secure the task that is 17.
Unfortunately, you don't have any good leads because the internet is fucked. Phone lines are also fucked. You know for sure that 17 is something that the library would know.
It's pretty late to go to the library, which is where you're supposed to go if you don't know this stuff. Your other housemates are sleeping right now, and they probably wouldn't know the answer because you don't think they even make enough money to pay taxes. Hence why they sleep on your floor. The reason why you're even up late right now is because this form is due in two days. You'd rather not pay the penalty, but if you have to, it's not the end of your world.
By the way, this form is due in two days.

MIDNASTER 2025/01/29(Wed)02:12 No. 1103035 ID: 4591f8
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Conveniently, you know the librarian, JACKSON. He happens to be tethered to a demon--a demon whose summoning ritual you know. He's alright, but he seems like more of a "fun n' games" demon guy than a "taxes n' paperwork" demon guy, which is funny because he's the exact opposite on-the-job.
It's a long story, but the point is that you could summon Jackson here (it won't take long) and he would for-sure have the answer, then if 17's really that much of a hassle you can spend tomorrow on it. If not, you could meet him at the library in the morning. Either way, he seems like your best bet.

Your options are:
A) Summon Jackson now.
B) See Jackson in the morning.

See him in the morning. Either figure out your partner’s SSN or get some rest for now.

B. Surely it can't take more than two days?

B if Demons happen to sleep.
Either way you have your own SSN which you can do like, right now, dunno if you can do it while doing the ritual hell if I know long it takes
AND in all cases, the E-6 has to be done tomorrow, I would guess

B

just set an alarm so you don't sleep in. Also since you said that he's not very serious while off the job would he actually be likely to help you if you did summon him or more likely just mess around and waste more time?

B) treat this as non-urgent so the fates don't bring you bad luck tomorrow. It's reverse psychology see?

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:02 No. 1103101 ID: 4591f8
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Yeah, it's probably a better idea to get help from Jackson in the morning. Plus, there's no telling what kind of chicanery he'd be up to once he steps foot in your house. Come to think of it, it's a good thing you thought twice. He loves to make games of everything and there is not a doubt in your mind that he would turn field 17 into some twisted objective.
It's a better time to focus on the other stuff for now.

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:03 No. 1103102 ID: 4591f8
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*flick* The lights come on. Who's at the door?

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:03 No. 1103103 ID: 4591f8
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It's LUNE, your wife! Your faces light up when you see each other. Papers fly as you launch a greeting embrace at your lover like a bolt of lightning. You exchange a shower of giggling hugs and kisses. Class was great.
[LUNE joins the party]

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:03 No. 1103104 ID: 4591f8
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Lune: "Thanks for doing the paperwork, by the way. I know it's probably super boring."
> "Probably not as boring as sitting in a quiet room with a bunch of nerds who are all at the end of their rope. You've got such a late class."
Lune: "It's fiiine... I am kinda sleepy right now."
> "Oh, by the way, where do you keep your SSN?"
Lune: "Yeah! it's uhh.. it's.... uhhhhhhh......"
> "C'mon... use that college brain!"
Lune fiddles her wing feathers around.
Lune: "I forgotttt.... You wouldn't suppose there's some kind of locating doodlebug magic thingy you could use to find it? Or some cool mind thing that could help me remember?"
> "Aghh...!!! You ought to keep track of that!"

It's alright, though. You do, indeed, have a spell for that. You lift one of Lune's feathers from the ground and use it as a component for the magic spell.
> Don't worry, I'll find it.

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:03 No. 1103105 ID: 4591f8
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[MAGNACURIA: DOWSING]
From your hand, a pale flame. You close your eyes and envision it: Lune's SSN paper slip... You allow yourself to feel a vague sense of where it is. As your stride leads the way before you, the path crosses the front door.

Outside of you and Lune's house.

MIDNASTER 2025/01/31(Fri)00:03 No. 1103106 ID: 4591f8
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> "Lune, when's the last time you saw your SSN slip thing?"
She shrugs. "I dunno? Financial aid, like, a few months ago?"
> "Right, well... this might be a problem."

As if there weren't enough stressors weighing on your spine already, identity theft is now a possibility.

You have a few options:
A) Hunt for the missing slip
B) Leave this be for now; find some other documentation that has it
C) Leave this be for now; get own SSN.
D) Leave this be for now; figure this out on the way to the library tomorrow.

(Your dungeon exploring associate is most likely asleep by now.)

Might as well go on a late night slip hunt.

Does.. this vague sense give you any sort of distance?
trying to hunt it down at night is, unfortunatly, a deeply bad idea, especially with only vague knowledge of where it is
does thou truly have no yellow/black on your form?
C: leave for now, you can hunt it down later, and should hunt it down at all, you can do your own right now

...Hell for all you know it is still AT financial aid, would be easy to find, but still something you can sleep on and do later
Later you aboutta be a Busy Bee

A for adventure!

>>1103106
It's proooobably at the financial aid office. Looks like tomorrow's gonna be busy.
C/D, we deal with it tomorrow so you can bring backup in case it's been stolen. It's been a few months, another 8 hours isn't gonna make things worse. Get your own SSN for now.

Yeah I also think C

A

Did you mention the form is due in two days? If you really need to hunt this number down from someone else, better get a move-on.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103303 ID: 4591f8
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It's dark out. A cold breeze planes and whistles against the doorframe. You're on the fence about going on an adventure or leaving this for tomorrow and getting your own SSN.
On one hand, the due date is very close. Like, within arm's reach. It's already the eleventh hour, so you have about 25 hours remaining. Tomorrow will be very busy if you don't get this done.
On the other hand, it's really dark out. Lune could have left it behind at an office or something. If you search now, you might find out it's behind closed doors, then you'd have less time to sleep, and you will have wasted a bunch of time that could have been spent during daylight.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103304 ID: 4591f8
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> "What do you think? Should we go look for your SSN? It's super dark outside."
Lune: Me? Umm uhhh... I'm kinda tired. Errghghhhhh... I'd rather not have one of those nights where a bunch of stuff happens. I got a full night's sleep for the first time in fuck knows last night, and I want to keep that ball rolling. So I don't go Dalecrazy.
> "Right. You know what? Get some rest; ily."
Lune: (YAWN) ily too. See you in the morning.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103305 ID: 4591f8
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[LUNE leaves the party]

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103306 ID: 4591f8
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...You've been holding onto that fire for a while and it's starting to burn your hands. You put it out.

You don't really want to go on an adventure without your wife. Being the 2nd-player-flight-assist is two-thirds the fun.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103307 ID: 4591f8
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Right, your own SSN... if there's anything you can find tonight, it's that.

[METAVEIA: SPACEBEND]
From the ground, an etherial red blob rises, and, from its center, a plane of passage is bored through space, to your familiar secret room. Light from the house floods into the small room through the doorway. Only you can access this space.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:01 No. 1103308 ID: 4591f8
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This is your Inventory. It is bound--that guy...? You'll get to that in a second.--It is bound to your soul; only you can open or close the entrance. This is a reserved pocket of space, completely separated from the primary plane. You use this to keep your secrets safe. Mostly personal documents, but you also keep some artifacts and trinkets you acquire at the Shadow Market, especially things too dangerous to keep around the house. You make sure all of your stuff is neutralized and inert before you keep it here.

Immediately, you see: that guy, which you'll get to in a second, your file cabinet where you keep your files, though you use some as drawers for smaller trinkets, a few extra large spell scrolls for extra large spells, and your bookcase of Forbidden Knowledge, where you keep such junk as the Book of Evil and Sexy Magic.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/05(Wed)03:02 No. 1103309 ID: 4591f8
File 173875332398.png - (7.34KB , 526x534 , 23.png )

Anyways, that guy. What the fuck. You don't know what that is. You've never seen that before. You do not know why it is here. It doesn't remotely resemble anything you've stowed here. All it's doing is prancing around in place. It's kinda getting closer to you, slowly and steadily?

> "H-hello?"
No answer. ▒▇▄ ▁▄▄ ▕█▋▋ ▃█▄

In total honesty: you don't want this here. Besides your sensitive information, there's a lot of potentially volatile stuff locked up in here.

You have a few initial options:
A) [VEIACURIA: GLEAM]--Identify with magic
C) Ignore it; continue with business.
B) [METACURIA: TELEPATHY]--Read mind with magic
D) [METAMAGNA: BULLET] Kill it.

A) learn a thing
Or
E) let it out of the pocket domain and than yeet it into your neighbor’s yard like an unwanted dog turd

>>1103309
B. It's trying to communicate, so that should allow communication. You also won't have to cast identify when you can just ask it what it is.

Wait, what happens to your inventory if you die?

E) Write a letter stating that the entity is trespassing but you're willing to work something out if it wants to work as your personal blue-collar worker.

B) Waddayawant?

Some sorta abstract space critter? pocket dimensions have the weirdest problems
well, Actual Murder seems a bit... Intense for this.
I am going the guess the static was an attempt at communication, So B: Mind Read

Agree, mind read. He’s just a little guy! No need for murder!

UNIDENTIFIED FUCKING THING
KILL IT NOW

A

Diplomacy is first on the list. B is a potential tool, but it's probably nest not to open your mind to a stranger with powers you didn't think were possible.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)06:48 No. 1103377 ID: 4591f8
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You make an attempt to communicate towards the abstract space critter.

[METACURIA: TELEPATHY]
▐▔█▂▊▋▘, ▀▒▇▘ ▁▄▄.
You use the spell, but something strange happens.
▘▎▔░ ▏░█▙▄▃ ▒▀▋▕█▅█▂ ▓▀▗▄▒.
The spell is behaving as if there is nothing there at all. Not even a wall.
▁▄ ▖▀░▘ ▓▇▄ ▉▔▃▆▄▌▄▍▓.
It's like a swing and a miss. It's like smoke and mirrors. It's like a magical sink.
Occam's razor; the most plausible explanation is that whatever this is absorbs any immaterial magic you throw at it. It's clicking and clacking on the ground, so material magic would probably do something against it. Or you could grab it and throw it outside. Y'know, you've got business to do and the thought crosses your mind.
▓▇▄ ▁▄▄ ▖█▋▋ ▃█▄

MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)06:48 No. 1103378 ID: 4591f8
File 173885332493.png - (7.60KB , 526x534 , 25.png )

[VEIACURIA: GLEAM]
▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄: █ ▂▎▌▌▀▍▃ ▓▇▄ ▕▎█▃ ▓▎ ▆█▕▄ ▌▄ ▂▋▀░█▓▘[(00000EXPRESSION.CURIOSITY,-1),(-1,-1)][(0,-1),(1,0)]
When you cast the spell to identify it, you at least got some feedback? You can't explain it, but you get a light impression that it doesn't mean harm. Probably. What you got is barely above your absolute threshold of magical sensation.

You try to recall who would know about something like this. Besides Jackson, Kay comes to mind. She is the one who is most likely to know about this sort of thing. Part of the requirement of her profession is knowing the beastiary cover-to-cover. Kay's bookshelves are lined with thoroughly-read monster encyclopedias, alongside other... monster... literature--but you digress. She's certainly asleep by now. She is a very well-put-together individual and not the kind to forgive waking her up for something like this.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)06:48 No. 1103379 ID: 4591f8
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In this uncertain situation, you wonder something you've never thought of before: what happens if you die inside of your pocket dimension? Normally, someone could cast a complex necromancy spell to bring you back. That's part of how dungeon crawling works. Practicing self-necromancy safely is part of the code, but you have a number of additional pacts that would make that trivial (and could save you in a pinch, should something go very very very wrong, even outside of a dungeon). If you Inventory's entrance is tied to your soul, then if you died here, you would disappear forever, and nobody will ever find the body.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)06:48 No. 1103380 ID: 4591f8
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Your friends would be heartbroken. "Where did Poppy go?" "Last I saw her, she was doing her taxes!" "It must have been something else. Poppy's strong! She wouldn't die doing something banal like TAXES." You'd be MIA for weeks. Your disappearance would be an enigma. Lune would be inconsolable. Kay would fund the funeral. Jackson would say something insensitive about the situation and be banished from the group for a few weeks.

Options:
A) Rationalize.
B) Keep spiraling.
C) Chill tf out.
D) Neutralize the threat.

>>1103380
A: It's not doing anything, so it's probably not a threat. Quickly get what you came for, ashy bee, then get out of the pocket dimension.

Translation!

she bee vill die (I think it's using a different alphabet for the previous update)

quickly, ashy bee.
your prized salvific taxes
be wary the judgement
the bee will die

solstice: i command the void to give me clarity

(I did use quipqiup but it was a monoalphabetic cipher anyway, not too hard to solve)

First: Chill, why are you spiraling about a creature that A: isn't trying to harm you and B: you could dissasemble with your bare hands? do you sense Doom from somewhere?
Second: let's try to think this through: There is Unidentified Fucking Thing in your Soulspace. I would imagine that trying to keep something hostile, or entering whilest hostile, to be impossible, or close to it. Maybe this Thing doesn't much care for that: there is both the possibility that it can no more effect you than you it, so is "here" more in parallel to you, or it is a soul-related creature, and you need necromantic magics in order to interact.
That or you made it on accident and so it is, according to magic, able to be here, what magicks have you done recently, was the magic that messed with electromagnatism the kind that have side effects?
>>1103384
WELL, THANK GOD FOR NECROMANCY

C) I wonder if you can list this entity as a dependent.

D) Yeet the interloper from your inventory, grab the document you came here for, and get somewhere more solid. Like your warm bed.

Bee-lete it!

[1/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:51 No. 1103406 ID: 4591f8
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[2/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:51 No. 1103407 ID: 4591f8
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Ok, calm down. You're getting all riled up over seeing a little pale shithead. Maybe it's just getting late. Maybe the stress of your taxes being late is getting to you. You should probably just get the thing done.

> "Hey, little guy. I'm just here to do my taxes. No biggie."
▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄: ▓▇▄ ▁▄▄ ▖█▋▋ ▃█▄
Still no reply. Whatever.

[3/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103408 ID: 4591f8
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You daintily remove the thing from the premises, just in case.

[4/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103409 ID: 4591f8
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You use your keys to open your file cabinet.

[5/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103410 ID: 4591f8
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You use your keys to open your file cabinet.

Whoops! Wrong drawer. That's just some vials of bee pheromones you got off the Shadow Market. No use outside sexy times. You cover your antennae. You remember one of them makes you smell dead to bees. You'll never forget the time Lune tried that last week. You cried the whole day. You really did think she died. Maybe you're still mustering yourself in the aftershock of that.

[6/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103411 ID: 4591f8
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Rummaging... rummaging... A-ha! Here!

[7/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103412 ID: 4591f8
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SSN ACQUIRED. FIELD COMPLETE (29/32). 3 REMAIN.
Confetti! Hooray! That wasn't so hard, was it? Less than ten minutes have passed since Lune came home; that's how quick it was.

[8/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103413 ID: 4591f8
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You now have 3 more fields left to fill:
* Spouse SSN. Unknown location, definitely not where it's supposed to be. Just to be sure you didn't accidentally put it with your stuff, you cast a supplementary [MAGNACURIA: DOWSING].
* 12, your E-6 form. You just need to get it from your dungeon exploring associate. It's not that far of a flight.
* 17. That damned unknown variable. You have to meet with Jackson to figure out what to do.

From here, you have a few options:
A)

[/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:52 No. 1103414 ID: 4591f8
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.

[10/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:53 No. 1103415 ID: 4591f8
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Somewhere else, a portal snaps shut.

Somewhere else, papers rustle only slightly from the closing of a passage.

Somewhere else, a home mutely slumbers in ignorance.

[11/11] MIDNASTER 2025/02/06(Thu)22:53 No. 1103416 ID: 4591f8
File 173891118806.png - (9.11KB , 526x534 , 38.png )

One moment, you're in your Inventory, holding your documents. The next, you are somewhere unfamiliar. The only feature is a thick stygian fog.

A) Explore
B) Wait
C) Cry
D) Analyze

Analyze. You seem to be lying down on something.

D) Somewhere you've been before?

>>1103407
"solstice: the bee will die"
I guess its name was Solstice.

>>1103416
You should've anchored the bookcase to the wall! Or used a lighter set of shelves, like plastic or something.

Anyway.

A.

wow you died fucking instantly
D: Did the door close with you still inside? did It close it? is this what happens when you get trapped inside yourself?
...Did one of the Pheromones knock you out?

Well, one way or another, you are definitely going to cry about the verything that managed to happen in the last hour

Stop laying in the fog like a French girl, analyse what the vapor that makes up this fog is!

oh, you know where this is. C about it

Goddamit we are supposed to do our taxes not to GET SENT TO SUPERHELL (is this normal to witches?)

I’m gonna go with B on this one. We just chill for a bit. Maybe take in our surroundings for a bit of D? Mostly chill though

Wake up now or you die for real

C

We were just starting to make progress. This is too much. Everything keeps happening all at once.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/08(Sat)02:51 No. 1103462 ID: 4591f8
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You feel at the ground. It's cold, and dusty. You're not a geologist, so you can't be completely sure what the gravel is made of, but it's light and coarse like pumice. You don't think you're under the effects of the pheromones; they've never induced hallucinations in your experience, though you can't be sure.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/08(Sat)02:51 No. 1103463 ID: 4591f8
File 173901189097.png - (10.42KB , 526x534 , 40.png )

[MAGNACURIA: ANALYZE] -> FAILED

None of your spells are working. In fact, the fabric of magic here seems to be absolutely stagnant. You haven't felt this mundane since before you learned magic.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/08(Sat)02:51 No. 1103464 ID: 4591f8
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You feel lost. You feel lonely. You wonder if you had just seen the last of Lune.

You've died before, once, in a safe environment, but that stuff requires a lot of set up to create a proverbial "save point," so that Kay could revive you without needing to recover your body. You hear tales of other witches who find thrill in mortal odds, but that's simply not your thing. In fact, it was such an unpleasant experience for you, you never killed a monster or enemy since.

You don't recall any sort of transitional period like this.

After you died the first time, Kay extended her studies on necromantic arts, just for you, and helped you through signing a bunch of pacts, the sum of which should allow you to be resurrected without consequence if your body is found.

Alas.

Your soul wanders the fog, hoping you'll find something. The world here is featureless and monotonous. The whole of you wishes that this is some hallucination or some limited in-between realm. You hold this hope close to your heart as you fly around.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/08(Sat)02:51 No. 1103465 ID: 4591f8
File 173901190706.png - (11.15KB , 526x534 , 42.png )

After nearly an hour of cainite meandering, you hear a deep, raspy, androgynous voice.

???: MISSUS EAST. I HADN'T EXPECTED TO SEE YOU SO SOON.
> "...Death?"
???: A RELATIVE.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/08(Sat)02:52 No. 1103466 ID: 4591f8
File 173901192231.png - (15.98KB , 526x534 , 43.png )

The figure steps through the foggy veil.

TAXES.
TAXES: APOLOGIES FOR THE WAIT.

A few thoughts run through your mind. You could choose a few to act on, consider the order, or suggest something else:
A) "What was that thing in my Inventory?"
B) "Where is this? Are you real?"
C) "What happened? Am I dead?"
D) "I'm not done with my form. Surely you could help me with 17."

Ask him for help with entry 17, something tells me he might know a thing or two about taxes

>>1103466
D. Also A.

A) "Because I think it murdered me. Can you move my corpse so I can be resurrected by my wife? I can't finish the taxes if I'm permanently dead."

D

C, A, D, preferably in that order. B is silly to ask. Real is relative. Though, asking where this is is actually a good question thinking about it.

>>1103469
This. But also D

D: Sinse you have somehow managed it, you might as well ask the inevitability of life how the Taxes gets done
But Also A: what even was that glitch creature

...Is this why the BONE FACTION has grueling taxes? The name already implicates a connection to Death so it makes sense their relative is here too

D

No one would know better.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/09(Sun)02:42 No. 1103526 ID: 4591f8
File 173909772988.png - (9.25KB , 532x520 , 44.png )

TAXES: YOU HAVE DIED, MISSUS EAST. I WILL BE HANDLING YOUR CHECKPOINT TO THE AFTERLIFE. ACCORDING TO YOUR DEATH CERTIFICATE, YOU WERE "CRUSHED BY [YOUR] OWN BOOKCASE." USUAL ENOUGH. HOWEVER, YOUR LOCATION IS LISTED AS "POPPY." ISN'T THAT STRANGE?

That already answers one question you had. It's hard to find your name being your location of death as funny as it should be given the circumstance. You straighten your back as you engage in conversation with Taxes itself.

> "Taxes, may I ask a few questions first?"
TAXES: ?

MIDNASTER 2025/02/09(Sun)02:42 No. 1103527 ID: 4591f8
File 173909773412.png - (12.14KB , 532x520 , 45.png )

1. Field number 17

> "What was field 17 on the tax return form? It was blank when I had it."
TAXES: DOES THIS MATTER? YOU ARE DEAD.
> "Well, I'd like to know, now that I'm here."
TAXES: IT SEEMS ABSURD OF ME TO LEAVE A FORMAL CRITEREON DEVOID OF DIRECTION.
Taxes manifests the tax form and scans it eyelessly. It cocks its head.
TAXES: THIS DOES SEEM TO BE THE CASE. I BELIEVE THIS TO BE THE ONTOLOGICAL TAMPERING OF SOME EXTERNAL FORCE. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW. I WILL HAVE THIS RECTIFIED.
> "Thank you. Rectified? How?"
TAXES: BY SUNRISE I WILL UPDATE THE FORM.
> "Would this effect the form I already have filled?"
TAXES: NAY. THAT WOULD BE TAINTED BY YOUR HAND, WERE IT NOT ALREADY LOST. THE UNTOUCHED PAGES WOULD BE ALTERED UNANIMOUSLY.

If the god of Taxes didn't know, there is no way in Bone Hell that you would find out on your own. Even though it did not tell you, you feel as though you just made immense progress on the matter.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/09(Sun)02:42 No. 1103528 ID: 4591f8
File 173909773730.png - (9.55KB , 532x520 , 46.png )

2. What was that thing?

> "When I-- hold on, can we get chairs, please?"

Two pillars of stone rise from the ground.

> "Thank you. When I opened my Inventory dimension, there was a strange creature. It was made of simple rigid geometric shapes. It resisted all of my identification magic as if I wasn't doing a thing."
TAXES: I PRESUME IT IS THE NATURAL DISLOYALTY OF THE MORTAL SENSES.
> "You're saying I made it up?"
TAXES: I SAY TELL YOUR PITEOUS HEART THERE'S NO HARM DONE.

You can tell that it's withholding information. You could press harder but you want to get your other questions in. You have priorities. Most importantly...

MIDNASTER 2025/02/09(Sun)02:42 No. 1103529 ID: 4591f8
File 173909774265.png - (10.63KB , 532x520 , 47.png )

3. Move my corpse, please.

> "Could you move my corpse out of my Inventory so that I could be resurrected? I have the Curian, Mutian and Magnan necromantic pacts. Please."
TAXES: I DO HATE TO SEE SUCH A PATHETIC DEATH UPON A TALENTED WITCH IN HER PRIME. I HOPE YOU'LL AGREE. I'M FAMILIAR WITH THESE PACTS; THIS IS MY DUTY. WITH THESE PACTS, IN YOUR STATE, I MAY BRING YOU BACK WHERE THE THRESHOLD STOOD. AS TAXES, I CAN ALSO RETURN YOUR DOCUMENTS TO YOU IN THE PARTIAL STATE THAT YOU LEFT THEM. I WILL WARN YOU, HOWEVER, THAT, ALTHOUGH YOU WILL BE SOUND AND USUAL OF LOGICAL MIND AND BODY, YOU WILL LACK A FEELING SOUL. THERE WILL BE NO PLEASURE. NO PAIN. NO HATE. NO LOVE. YOUR PRECIOUS WIFE WILL AWAKEN TO A DIFFERENT PERSON THAN THE LIVELY ONE SHE LOVED.

That's not life. That's a special hell. That's a special terrible hell to make you as miserable as possible. That last sentence--it digs into your heart like a thousand nails. You don't want this! You don't want any of this!

MIDNASTER 2025/02/09(Sun)02:42 No. 1103530 ID: 4591f8
File 173909774593.png - (16.99KB , 532x520 , 48.png )

TAXES: MAY I ADD--YOU HAD SHOWN ME AN ERROR IN MY CREATION, AND I DOUBT YOUR UNIQUENESS IN YOUR PLIGHT. I AM WILLING TO RETURN THE FAVOR, MOVE THESE OLD BONES AND PULL SOME STRINGS FOR YOU.

You lean forward.

TAXES: I COULD... EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF LINE 2 TO ENCOMPASS YOUR EMOTIONAL SOUL, AND, THEREBY, TRANSFER YOUR VEIAN LIFEFORCE ALONGSIDE YOUR TAX FORMS, RESTORING YOU TO EMOTIONAL WHOLENESS. UNDERSTAND I CANNOT GIVE THIS GRACE TO EVERYBODY. SINCE THIS PACT IS BOUND TO YOUR TAX STATUS, THE TERMS OF THIS PACT ARE SIMPLE: YOU MUST TURN IN YOUR TAXES ON TIME.

Taxes' words fill you with waves of intermingling relief and stress. On one hand, you have been given the divine grace of Taxes to continue your life. On the other hand, its condition will make tomorrow the most important day of your entire life.

You can handle it.

You may choose multiple and their order, or suggest your own action:
A) Press for information on the Thing. (What do you ask?)
B) Press for information on "ontological tampering" (What do you ask?)
C) Thank profusely.
D) Plead for an extension.

>>1103530
A. Say that it wasn't a hallucination because you had a premonition of your own death after talking to it. It's like it was trying to warn you, but you couldn't hear it directly? Also, you didn't mishandle your bookcase, which means something pushed it onto you. That means something is trying to stop you from doing your taxes, something related to the thing you saw. So, ask... who could have killed you?

Hmm, I wonder if Poppy will hear this:
Its name was ▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄. That means "Solstice".

C) but also, it sounds like we still need to fill in 17 even though it isn't supposed to be there? Can he tell us what it is, or is this task impossible from the start?

I don’t think Taxes know what The Thing was either. If it was supposed to be there, he would have said “IT IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION” or something like that. “YOU IMAGINED IT” implies that this could be a serious problem.

That.. sounds like you are missing a pact entirely: if you have a pact for everything but your "Veian" lifeforce... but that's assuming it was ever possible
A/B: I don't think your getting any direct information on these... but you can ask: Why, why was The Thing there? At you? Why the Tampering? was it anything you did?
Will there be other things trying to stop you doing the taxes?
And C, thank him deeply, he had no need to do this. For the god of taxes to be bending the rules, even if in response to other rules being bent by- someone else, can't be emotionally easy, even if it literally is as the god of taxes.

B

I think that if there's some supernatural entity messing with our tax forms, and our continued existence as ourself depends on filing our tax forms properly, we should know what we're up against. If the Thing is an agent of this force, then we should learn about it, in turn.

(Also C, this is a terrific boon for the spirit of Taxes to grant personally. Many of His terrestrial representatives would not be so kind.)

MIDNASTER 2025/02/21(Fri)01:27 No. 1104080 ID: 4591f8
File 174013007004.png - (7.32KB , 532x520 , 49.png )

> "Thank you. That is terrific. Sounds like I missed a pact entirely. Is it alright if I ask for a couple more clarifications?"
TAXES: PERHAPS.
> "You mentioned something tampering with the taxes? What's that all about? How would that not get caught? ...Was it something I did? Why was that thing in my inventory? Also, if it wasn't the thingy, then what could have killed me?"
TAXES: THUS, ALL IT SAYS ON YOUR CERTIFICATE: A BOOKSHELF HAD TOPPLED UPON YOU AND YOUR CARAPACE CRUMPLED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF DOZENS OF TOMES.
> "I figured- but what could have knocked the shelf over?"
TAXES: IT MUST HAVE BEEN WEIGHED DOWN BY THE UNCOUNTABLE PAGES YOU OWN.
> "It was pretty stable. I doubt it."
TAXES: OTHERWISE, IT WAS AN INSTANCE OF CHAOTIC MAGIC, THEN. THOUGH, THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE, BECAUSE THAT IS PROHIBITED.
> "If... uh... hypothetically, I DID own chaotic magic stuff... I would scan everything for chaotic magic, then put it somewhere else, away from my sensitive information. I would never store anything in there if I don't know exactly what it does and how."
TAXES: PERHAPS YOU COULD TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK?
> "It might have been one of those 'thingies' that knocked it over."
TAXES: I PROMISE THAT YOU DESCRIBED THAT WHICH NEVER EXISTED. I REFUSE TO ENTERTAIN THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST.
> "Okay, then. If hypothetically, such a thing DID exist, what would I be up against?"
TAXES: ALAS, THIS IS SOMETHING I MAY DIVULGE NOT TO MORTALS. IF YOU WANT FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE MATTER, I BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE A COLLEAGUE OF A DEMONIC SPIRITUAL NATURE.

You keep a mental note of this. You're suspecting a serious problem and definitely going to bring this up in the mortal world.

> "Are there any other developments or obstacles I should know about?"
TAXES: I AM LESS INTIMATE WITH THE TRIBULATIONS OF THE MORTAL PLANE THAN MY OWN.
(All you hear is "figure it out yourself")
> "...Is that an obstacle I should know about?"
TAXES: BONE HELL IF I KNOW.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/21(Fri)01:27 No. 1104081 ID: 4591f8
File 174013007339.png - (12.58KB , 532x520 , 50.png )

> "If the empty line 17 is deprecated on my version of the form, how am I supposed to complete it?"
TAXES: LINE 17--YES. YOU CAN RETRIEVE A REVISED LEAFLET AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. SIGN OUR PACT HERE. SEE YOU SOON.
Taxes extends its bony hands to you, presenting the contract.
> "Thank you so much. I'll do my best."

MIDNASTER 2025/02/21(Fri)01:27 No. 1104082 ID: 4591f8
File 174013007701.png - (4.43KB , 496x489 , 51.png )

[MEANWHILE, A LITTLE BIT AGO]

YOU ARE NOW LUNE.

You are in a transient point of consciousness, between the waking world and the dream.

Dream of where?:
A) Academy
B) Clouds
C) Home
D) Trail

Trail. It's about the journey, not the destination.

B

It's always nice to dream of flying.

B) the puffyest. Perfect for taking a nap on

C: Where else is more worth dreaming of, but Home?

A, school dreams are interesting! I wanna know what academy is like.

A, school dreams are interesting! I wanna know what academy is like.

A. let's see what that's about

Clouds, who knows what you can see in them.

B, be the clouds!

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104140 ID: 4591f8
File 174030403453.png - (9.18KB , 503x487 , 52.png )

Flying above the clouds.

Blue-purple sky.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104141 ID: 4591f8
File 174030403786.png - (8.88KB , 503x487 , 53.png )

Eclipse. A plume of smoke rises, like a flower.

The flower wilts.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104142 ID: 4591f8
File 174030404252.png - (10.48KB , 503x487 , 54.png )

Falling.

Poppy catches you.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104143 ID: 4591f8
File 174030404656.png - (9.81KB , 503x487 , 55.png )

Extra fuzzy, like a fuzzy pillow.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104144 ID: 4591f8
File 174030405088.png - (46.32KB , 503x487 , 56.png )

Jackson appears.

Jackson: Hey, Lune. Nice dream you got here. Very creative.
> "Oh, hey Jackson."

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104145 ID: 4591f8
File 174030405371.png - (16.30KB , 503x487 , 57.png )

Jackson: Alright, serious talk. So I was jacking it, Jackson-style, you know? And then I hear a noise from the box where I keep the voodoo dolls of you guys. Remember those?
> "No? Oh, wait. Yeah."
Jackson: Anyways, I look inside to see that Poppy's voodoo doll had scrunched itself.
> "Scrunched?"
Jackson: Yeah. By, like, rows and rows of flat teeth, it looks like.
> "OH FUCK."
Jackson: Or a really heavy ladder, or something. You should wake up and check on Poppy. Please.
> "W-what do I do to wake up?"

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104146 ID: 4591f8
File 174030405706.png - (15.43KB , 503x487 , 58.png )

Jackson: Hmmm...

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104147 ID: 4591f8
File 174030406154.png - (31.50KB , 503x487 , 59.png )

BANG.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104148 ID: 4591f8
File 174030406616.png - (14.68KB , 503x487 , 60.png )

You are Lune the Chicken. You have just received a premonition, or some kind of vision, from your ambivalently friend-with-benefits Jackson the Goat, and now you are awake against your preference. As you muster yourself to reality, you begin to process the dire degree of the situation.

Poppy isn't where you last saw her. The financial documents she were occupied with last now litter the floor. Phones are down.

> "Poppyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!"

You pace anxiously. "Rows and rows of teeth," you remember. Fuck, why did he have to say it like that? You feel like retching. You knew that dealing with magic was risky, but dammit... Everything was perfect, and suddenly, to nobody's fault, it's all gone? It can't be... It's not fair.

MIDNASTER 2025/02/23(Sun)01:47 No. 1104149 ID: 4591f8
File 174030407278.png - (6.85KB , 503x487 , 61.png )

> "...H-hello?"
There's also this thing.

You have a few options:
A) Poke n prod n analyze (How?)
- You have not touched it yet. You don't remember keeping anything like this near the house, but you could have forgotten.
B) Ignore it (Then what?)
- You still don't know if Jackson's doll just Did That, and Poppy's fine. She could be outside.
C) Establish communication (How?)
- It's not responding to speech. You don't know if it even understands you.
D) Contain/restrain it (How?)
- Its "feet" are clicking and clacking around but it's not fast.

B. Ignore it, go find Poppy.

Contain it with a wastebasket, weighed down by chairs. You abstract bastard you, you shan't get away this time.

>>1104149
D: Grab its spiky head thing and drag it around behind you.

Hold it up by its top spine until you're eye to eye and demand it explain itself. It must know where Poppy is.

D) Poppy got killed by something in your territory. This strange thing has appeared in your territory. The proper course of action is to restrain the prime suspect until you can give them a fair trial and sentencing.
(Your 'fair' trial, of course)

Poke it, what's it made of anyways? Glass? Ivory? Deallocated signifiers?

Woah, woah, poke it with a pen first! What if it’s made of something that disintegrates matter?

A

Just tap it on the side near the top. That round part looks kind of like a face. Is it making any sounds?

C: Ink and Paper! you definitly have paper, but if you don't have a ink-well you will need to break things with ink in them...
Or you could be sane and give it a keyboard and computer to type something
IF not this... then A: Analyse, you have some tech laying around to see if it messes with it, and a fair bit of necromancy, which to be fair would also let you poke around for Poppy's soul so you should use it ANYWAY, but also throw some at This/That, at LEAST see if it HAS a soul or is like, some sorta dungeon creature

ah wait Luna and Kay are different people, Poppy being DEAD is a good reason to cantact Kay at approximetly ASS O CLOCK

C. Smile and wave hello! See what it does in response.

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105414 ID: 4591f8
File 174296934885.png - (8.50KB , 479x457 , 62.png )

You try to communicate before you try to restrain it.

> "Helloooo...? Where's Poppy?"
▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄: -to philosophical extensions of the "Four Kingdoms" model, but no such-
> "What? Four Kingdoms? We're in the BONE FACTION, I think, if that's what you mean. I don't remember the names of the others."
▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄: -magine every 5th unit is food for the dogs. The geometric-

...

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105415 ID: 4591f8
File 174296935177.png - (13.94KB , 479x457 , 63.png )

After countless attempts at verbal, written, semantic, etc. communication, it seems to speak in words, but only to respond in fragments and non-sequitur phrases, none of which were helpful or meaningful to you. you have confined it to a cage of iron, reinforced by the magic of a council of mages,

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105416 ID: 4591f8
File 174296935492.png - (14.89KB , 479x457 , 64.png )

...which is to say you trapped it under an overturned wastebasket and a couple of Poppy's books.

You're not sure how this works or what's really possible when Poppy's magic is involved. Poppy shows you magic all the time but your memory has been spotty lately. Anything could happen. You don't know. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what "Scrunched" really means. Just looking at this thing sends inexplicable unnerving shivers up your spine.
You would call Jackson but Poppy would be the magical means and your phone would be the non-magical means, and neither are available to you right now.

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105417 ID: 4591f8
File 174296935732.png - (17.83KB , 479x457 , 65.png )

You don't believe it. It would be too sudden. It's simply not true. Poppy's strong! She wouldn't die doing something banal like TAXES. Maybe the voodoo doll just did that? Whatever happened, this thing was involved, somehow. You don't know how but it was.

It needs to pay.

IT NEEDS TO PAY.

▒▎▋▒▓█▂▄: -immortal? It dies." The intended joke was th-

Shed sledgehammer in hand, you muster all of your strength to lift its head above yours.

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105418 ID: 4591f8
File 174296936027.png - (16.78KB , 479x457 , 66.png )

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MIDNASTER 2025/03/25(Tue)23:09 No. 1105419 ID: 4591f8
File 174296936682.png - (9.88KB , 479x457 , 67.png )

POPPY: "Hey Lune."

Choose any, combine, or none:
AS POPPY:
A) "I died and saw Taxes itself."
B) "I am going to die in 24 hours. Conditionally."
AS LUNE:
C) Hug wife.
D) Finish swing; smash it.

BD

Super C, and then B

C: you can smash it in like, 3 minutes when your done hugging your wife
A: maybe *don't* start off by telling your wife who, given the situation, thinks you died (you did) that you are going to die, that'll fuck her up SO bad!

>>1105419
B, C.
Please don't kill Solstice, it's innocent! Also, I think it read a bunch of books and is trying to communicate using sentence fragments. I'm not sure what method it's using, maybe it's like metaphors? Or we need to pick out only the bits that are relevant?
It was asked "where's poppy", and it started talking about *extensions* of the Four Kingdoms model, and then when asked for clarification it said something that seemed to make no sense but included "5th", so I think it was trying to say Poppy was in the Fifth Kingdom.

Well, now that it can give any communication at all, we should be able to ask yes/no questions, surely. Even if it can't use consistently chosen fragments, it should be reasonably clear from the contents if it's meant to mean yes or no. At the very least, we can tell it to stay silent if the answer to a question is "no".

Open with B, proceed to C. Lune needs to be a part of our plan.

MIDNASTER 2025/03/27(Thu)00:21 No. 1105478 ID: 4591f8
File 174306011685.png - (16.83KB , 481x457 , 68.png )

> "POPPY!"

You lunge at the bee, dropping the sledge to the wooden floor.

BONK!

MIDNASTER 2025/03/27(Thu)00:22 No. 1105479 ID: 4591f8
File 174306012215.png - (10.37KB , 481x457 , 69.png )

Poppy squeezes you hard.
> "Ah! Ahh! Chicken bones! Chicken bones!
Poppy: Oh-. Sorry.
> "Don't apologize! *Sniff* You're back!
Poppy: About that... I--uh might die in 24 hours.
> "HUH"

MIDNASTER 2025/03/27(Thu)00:22 No. 1105480 ID: 4591f8
File 174306012530.png - (10.56KB , 481x457 , 70.png )

A slew of turbulent emotions toss and tug inside you. You feel sick.
> "Wait, h-hold on! Don't say that! Nononononononononono-nooooooo!!!"
Poppy: It's okay! It's okay! Don't worry, we can handle this!

MIDNASTER 2025/03/27(Thu)00:22 No. 1105481 ID: 4591f8
File 174306013063.png - (16.10KB , 481x457 , 71.png )

Your vision is blurry but you feel Poppy's chitinous caress.
Poppy: Oh, dear. You've got the scent of stress all over you, honey.
> "What's gonna happen?..."
Poppy: Well, I died and met Taxes itself. It was gracious enough to give me a second chance at life, but it involved tying my life force to my taxes, which are due tomorrow night.
She glances at the clock. 12:05 AM.
Poppy: Oh. Tonight. Yeah; 24 hours. What did you do while I was gone?

Choose or order:
A) Discuss the thingy. Four kingdoms or something? Does that have to do with BONE FACTION?
B) Discuss [Poppy:Inventory] status. Surely, nothing important was lost...
C) Discuss taxes completion. What happens when it's completed on time?
D) "Your clothes are gone." (observation/...suggestion(?))

honestly Poppy probably got the scent of dead to wash off
A, I would assume Lune would like to know whether or not to smash the thing, and Poppy would probably like to know about it communicating
B: I also assume Lune would like to know why her Poppy, her grey flower, Died, so lets see the bookshelf and whatever damages it caused, if it smashed the file cabinet of more than files you would very much so like to not be surprised with this
...and if we are thinking about it, C: is it really too much to assume that the pact wont screw you over? What is Line 2? important to know since that is what the pact is attached too

B, then D.

come to think of it, the clothes are under the bookshelf, they are hadly a part of your body/soul after all

>>1105481
B. Your taxes are the first priority, so let's make progress on that, or at least take stock of what progress is left.
Then A. Something killed you, and it wasn't this thing because you put it outside before you died, BUT it's obviously related somehow to what happened. If something's trying to stop you from completing your taxes, you should try to figure out what it is so you have a better chance of defending yourself.

If you can't currently do anything important, then we can see about some D.

B) Okay Poppy, let's not check hammerspace until you figure out how to die in there without sealing yourself. Let Lune do it.

A and C.

C, a, b.

Taxes come first, because they're how we stay alive and happy. The thingy is weird and must be related to all this, so important to figure that out as a piece of the puzzle. The inventory situation is also probably related, especially to the thingy, given that that's where it first appeared, so I'd expect that to come up as a matter of course.

D is an incidental observation, which can be made at any point, but there's no point in dwelling on it right now.