Mulder 2010/06/19(Sat)12:04 No. 195810 ID: 426169
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The following night, after everyone else was asleep, Mulder sat in his cage, murder in his mind.


This totally blows. Totally, totally blows. You make ONE mistake and the MAN takes you and locks you away. Fascists! Oh man, I'd totally have scored by now if it wasn't for this stupid cage.

>>195810
yea with a dude. face it you havent hit on a non-dude since you died. you gay bro. you gay.

Mulder 2010/06/19(Sat)12:15 No. 195814 ID: 426169
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No way, José. I'm a ladies man. I likes the ladies. No more guys for me.

I'd be all cool and smooth and totally have the best shineys so I'd get all the-

Whoa, what's that?

>>195810
Worry at the bars with your beak. Pace about in frustration.

Wait, what did you do, Mulder? WHAT DID YOU DO

>>195814
Huh. Someone's climbing up the walls. Squawk out an alarm, try to wake someone up!

Mulder 2010/06/19(Sat)12:28 No. 195824 ID: 426169
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I DIDN'T DO NUFFIN!

"BOSS! HEY BOSS! WAKE UP!"

>"Hmmmh Mulder? What is it?"

"There's someone at the window!"

>"Mulder, go back to sleep. There's nothing there."

>>195824
"Spirit Sight remember? There's a spirit at the window!"

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)12:45 No. 195834 ID: 426169
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>"There's a spirit at the window! And now it's climbing inside!"

"You better not be joking, Mulder, or you're not getting anything to eat tomorrow."

>"Not kidding, boss."

"What does it look like? What's it doing?"

>"Dunno. White and whispy. Got a tail and clothes with bells in em. And a chain. It's just kinda standing there, looking around, like it's lost or something."

This is just great. A spirit I can't see, in my freakin bedroom at the dead of night. Had no idea there were pedo spirits.

>>195834
Toss it something to write with, ask it who it is and what it wants.

>>195838
Might be able to just talk with it, though Mulder. Although Mulder has spirit sight, not spirit hearing... worth a shot, though. Keep apprised of what it's up to, regardless.

Attempting to somehow use our magic and see it is an option as well, although of course that's not incredibly likely to work. Still, we've had moderate luck with figuring things out blindly thus far.

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)13:21 No. 195849 ID: 426169
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Tiffany places a piece of chalk in the middle of the floor.

"We can see you. Who are you, and what do you want?"

>"He's looking a bit funny. Like he's embarrassed or somethin, boss."

After a while the chalk stick begins to move by itself, making jittery strokes across the floor.

>He is sorry. He did not mean to intrude. He is the Jester. He was just lonely. He has not been spoken to in a long time.

Yawn and ask him how he hasn't been spoken to if he keeps with this habit of waking people up at night. Not angrily, just casually. Wait for him to explain.

>>195849
Ohh. Nifty. "Oh, you must've lived here a long time ago. Why haven't you passed on?"

>>195849
You can spare the time to talk to him. Find out more about who he was, what he did, why he's bound here, what he's bound to, and somesuch.

Good thing you have something to do, because you probably won't be able to sleep since you just remembered that Thomas was the one who talked about the firstblood being the root of the Rothwald and Kinsley families, meaning that the prophesy was talking about you. You also might be the darkchild, but we can't be sure about that. Might want to tell Joyce and Duncan about that once you're done here.
Yea, don'cha just hate it when you wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly piece together something of massive importance that seizes your guts in an icy vice-like grip?

>>195849
Oh, ask the Jester to tell you a joke.

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)13:40 No. 195858 ID: 426169
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"How come people don't talk to you if you wake people up at night?"

>He does not often wake people up. People do not see or hear him.

"I guess I can spare the time. Are you a ghost or something? Why haven't you passed on?"

>He is not a ghost. He is an outsider. A phantasmal servant of the family. He is bound by old spellcraft. But master long dead. No-one remembers the Jester. Forgotten he is. But still he lingers. Poor Jester.

>>195858
Ask it what kind of stuff it did for its masters.

This guy seems pretty harmless so far...

>>195858
Ask his name, what he is bound to, and what job his master gave him.

We can look into this tomorrow.

>>195858
I'll remember you, Jester, if you want.

((We could get our very own spirit servant out of this, how fun.))

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)13:59 No. 195869 ID: 426169
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"Who was your master? What did he bind you to?"

>His master was called Benezét the Summoner. He was bound to a standing stone. It is now a fallen stone, in the woods.

"What sort of things did your master have you do?"

>He was guard. Protector to clan. Then he was replaced by other spirits, other outsider phantasms and daemons. Bigger, meaner than him. Then he helped master with experiments. Sometimes he told jokes. Then he was forgotten, left to wander the island with no master.

Alright I'll ask about you tomorrow. Sorry but the living really do need our sleep.

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)14:09 No. 195876 ID: 426169
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"Ok, I'll ask someone about you tomorrow. But hey, the living need sleep, so..."

>Do not worry. He can be very quiet.

Err...

>>195876
Oh, whatever, Tiffany. Mulder's around when you're sleeping anyway; what's one more creepy magical critter watching you all night? Thank him for being quiet, and get some sleep.

Tiffany 2010/06/19(Sat)14:25 No. 195889 ID: 426169
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Yeah.... It's no different from having Mulder around. No different at all.

>>195889
Honestly! This guy can barely lift your chalk; he's not going to do anything dangerous. You're a necromancer. If spirits creep you out, that's a bit of a problem and you should really be trying to get over it.

If nothing else, Mulder will be watching him all night, just in case. Relax. Maybe thank your bird for keeping an eye out. Sleep.

>>195889
Consider making a spirit-blocking circle around the bed.

>>195889
This can be a very nice ally to have, it's just going to take a bit of work to set up properly. You'll need to be able to see, communicate and control it, and that sounds like Summoning 101. That doesn't mean we should get that summoner for out teacher but it is a point in his favor. The bigger question is if we should tell him about out little friend or not...

>>195905
While I'm not going to say that wouldn't work, I feel compelled to point out that we're going to be dealing with this sort of thing quite often for the rest of our life. We're too old to start up a new security blanket/night light habit; we should really make an effort to become desensitized to this sort of thing.

Give the kid a break she's 12

>>195905
We don't want to block our own spirit outside of where we are, though.

>>195940
Creating an actual useful protection while we sleep would not be a bad thing to habitually do.

>>196137
True. That said, I'd be more inclined to come up with a way to be protected at all times; some sort of warding, nondetection, or warning amulet might do the trick. Then we can just wear it while we sleep.

Or perhaps we could create a deployable magical circle, on cloth or another easily transportable substance, that we could carry around with us and lay out conveniently instead of needing to constantly make new protections.

We definitely need a greater knowledge of ritualism before attempting either of those or other regular protective measures, though.

Tiffany 2010/06/21(Mon)12:58 No. 196830 ID: 426169
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... not... gonna... fall.... aslee-

Huh?

Whisper to Mulder "Is it still there?"

chances are no, it can only manifest at night, but just to be sure.

Tiffany 2010/06/21(Mon)13:05 No. 196839 ID: 426169
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"Psst... Is it still there?"

Silence.

Usually I can't get him to shut up.

Something's wrong.

>>196839
Mulder is probably hanging with the Jester. The Jester was lonely, Mulder didn't like being in the cage, and he could see him.

Tiffany 2010/06/21(Mon)13:26 No. 196854 ID: 426169
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Yeah... I'm sure he's fine. I guess dad's already up. It's like half past ten or something.

So... What should I do today?

I've got to find myself a master soonish, maybe Gareth can help with that. Although I'm pretty worried about mom. Shouldn't there be some news by now? I mean, things have been a little too quiet. Should I be worried?

There's also the whole Seer nonesense. First blood... C'mon, Tiff, think.

>>196854
Wait. Those are feathers stuck to the cage. That's not a willful escape.

>>196855

Dammit Mulder you are a zombie you don't even molt.

More importantly this "Jester" has enough power to rip open a bird cage without using its door. TIME TO GET AN ADULT RIGHT NOW

I have an idea for what first blood is. Uh... though technically it isn't blood, but... you remember in the movie theater?

Alternatively you might want to cut yourself and store the blood in a vial, just in case the first time you get wounded is something others could exploit.

The harrowing part was more obvious. The seer thinks Alexander is going to do whatever the hell he wants to do, and in doing so will break the compact and destroy the barrier between life and death. "The Harrowing" is something that creature mentioned, before the compact was made so "the dead will be harrowed" is a pretty natural conclusion if the compact is broken.

>>196854
I've said this half a dozen times.
THOMAS SAID BOTH FAMILIES HAVE A COMMON ANCESTOR.
You are the first blood, and also possibly the dark child.

>>196903
This. Remember in animals purebreds are genetically weaker, mixing the bloodlines of both sides must be what made your mom and you so powerful. As far as "dark child" that probably means you as well, but what darkness means can be lots of things... simply that you started with necromancy, or that your arrival coincides with Alexander's return. But more likely it's about your involvement whatever with the prophesied events were. Which is a damn good reason to figure out what they mean.


Also, Mulder got out of his cage. Hopefully he just really had to go get his pimp on, but it could be trouble. Ask if Jester is there, have him grab a feather a move it indicate where Mulder went.

...so anyway, go tell a powerful mage about the Jester and how it kidnapped your familiar. Or anyone, really.

Tiffany 2010/06/21(Mon)16:20 No. 196940 ID: 426169
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First blood... Maybe it's the original bloodline or something? I mean, me and mom have both Kinsley and Rothwald blood, maybe that's why we're special? No wait... Don't the haftsusha follow family lines? Shouldn't we have either a Kinsley or a Rothwald spirit? I've got to give this some more thought. Ok, where's that damn bird?

Damnit, there's no sign of Mulder. Just some feathers, broken cage, sans bird. Did Jester take him somewhere? Here's to hoping he's all right. I've got to tell someone about Jester. Who? Gareth? Duncan? Joyce? Dad?

Gareth and Dad were downstairs, Gareth was chilling, Dad was just leaving with some cleaning supplies.

"Morning."

>"Sup, Tiff."

>"Hey, sleepyhead. Me and the kid've been up for hours already. The house they're letting us live in is in a bit of a state, so I figured I'd give it a once-over before we brought our stuff over. Wanna come give me a hand?"

>"I was wondering if I could borrow Tiff for a bit, mister Blake. Give her a tour of the castle and take her to see some people, maybe show her around the island a bit."

>"Can it wait? It's a big house. If it's important, I guess I can handle it myself."

>First blood... Maybe it's the original bloodline or something? I mean, me and mom have both Kinsley and Rothwald blood, maybe that's why we're special? No wait... Don't the haftsusha follow family lines? Shouldn't we have either a Kinsley or a Rothwald spirit? I've got to give this some more thought.

You're a muthafucking Blake, the best clan in history.

>>196940

Yes, you don't want to leave Jester hanging like that. Go find Duncan he seems relatively nonviolent and knowledgeable. Ask him if he has heard of anyone named Benezét, and what he knows about the man. Depending on his reaction you can tell him about the Jester. Depending on his reaction then, you can tell him that Mulder is missing. If Duncan doesn't give any leads, at least tell Gareth that Mulder got birdnapped, though I doubt he'll know anything that specific about clan history. But quite possibly the Jester was lying about not having been active, and Gareth has heard about the miserable git.

Also awww dad's wearing a kerchief!

>>196940
Yes, they follow family lines. The family line got split, and so the haftsushas got split too. What if there was a haftsusha that didn't want to get split, and only came back when the family tree was reunited? ...meh, seems a little far-fetched.

Hey, Grampa said that if something happened to your familiar you'd know. So, Mulder is still alive, but Jester is probably still holding him against his will so I doubt he's happy. He might not be getting any food.

I'd say... Just tell them both. Mulder's missing, and some spirit called Jester was in your room last night and was probably the one responsible for breaking his cage and carting him off.

Tiffany 2010/07/02(Fri)14:19 No. 202289 ID: afa95b
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"Look, Mulder's gone missing. There was this spirit in my room last night, called himself Jester. I think he had something to do with it."

>"Spirit huh? Doesn't ring any bells, but oughta be harmless as long as it was bound. It was bound, right?"

"Had a chain on him, so... Yeah?"

>"Yeah that'd be it. Hakun's your man when it comes to dealing with this sorta stuff. Don't know much meself."

>"Think we should go look for him?"

>"Well, I wouldn't know where to start looking. Any ideas, Tiff? or should we go see Hakun first?"

Don't uh... unless you really want to do chores with dad, take Gareth up on his offer. He's kind of cute for a pasty white English boy. When you get a moment alone try and slip his hood off.

>>202289
"Do you know anybody who has skill with scrying? They might be able to tell me where he is."

FEATHER! POSTCOG! SEE WHAT HE SAW!

>>202331
Come to think of it we *should* probably just use postcog on a feather... Then we could tell if we need to actually worry about Mulder.

>>202331
>>202337

This is a good idea, either that or the cadge itself.

>>204064
Curse you for bringing me fleeting hope that this thread was actually alive again, a513df. Curse you.

Things have been a wee bit hectic for me, haven't really had a chance to settle down with a tablet since... forever.

I finally got home today, so hopefully I'll be able to update tonight (in, say, four hours from now). Right now we're experiencing the worst heat-wave since I can't even remember, and it's killing me. Hopefully I'll be re-hydrated by the promised deadline.

Sorry for being quiet for so long, be right back.

another vote for postcog

>>206828

Good luck Tiffany I mean author.

Tiffany 2010/07/12(Mon)14:25 No. 206917 ID: 426169
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"Actually... I'm going to go and try to see what actually happened."

>"Aight. We'll wait here."

Tiffany returns to her room, picking up one the feathers. It feels smooth in her hand.

Tiffany attempts to pull back the curtains of time as she did before. Sounds. Voices. Strange smells and images flooded her mind, half-remembered conversations, people passing by, staying a night, sometimes two, quiet echoes from the past. Forgotten ghosts. Fragments of time long gone.

Tiffany feels confused and a little frightened. It wasn't like this before. It was easier, somehow. Suddenly she feels the gentle weight of the feather, and finds a trickle of memories from Mulder. So faint, so... wait. There's something else here. Something old. The smell of old parchment, of candles and brimstone, blood and incense, soil and old bones. It feels... dangerous.

Which trail should I follow?

>>206917
It was easier because of the moon phase before. It could also be due to Mulder being your familiar and thus it's almost like trying to postcog yourself.

Follow Mulder's memories. Remember the last time you tried to spy on someone... you could get detected again.

>>206917
Dangerous is a good place to start looking, but get back to Gareth and your dad first. If something goes wrong you want a more experienced mage on staff.

>>206917
Follow Mulder's trail. You can investigate the other one later, if that doesn't work; start out safe before getting dangerous.

>>206917
The other is probably the Jesters story,. It is likely important, but not urgent. Unless you feel that trail would go cold if you don't look into it now, follow Mulder's scent.

Tiffany 2010/07/12(Mon)15:22 No. 206935 ID: 426169
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Damnit, I can't afford to get sidetracked. Not now.

Tiffany ignores the older trail, focusing instead on Mulder.

Jester. Jester was there. Only... then he wasn't. And Mulder started trashing around like crazy. He broke open the cage (How'd he do that? He's a freakin bird!), and hopped out of the window, rather clumsily.

he was puppeted. luckily i doubt jester can do any true malignant actions.

>>206935
Hmm, did Jester possess Mulder? Keep tracking him. See where he went.

>>206935
Based upon Mulder's eyes, I'd definitely say that he got possessed. Having a familiar that any random spirit can possess seems rather inconvenient. You'll have to look into ways of shielding him from that... and for shielding yourself, for that matter. For all you know, you're just as vulnerable.

Anyway, keep locked onto the vision. Try and follow it long enough to get a good guess at where Mulder is now.

we should talk to dad about this. Is this thread dead?

[No I'm not dead :3c] Tiffany 2010/08/10(Tue)14:13 No. 217129 ID: 426169
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He's heading towards the forest. To Jester's stone maybe? I'll try to keep up, maybe I'll get a more accurate destin-

At that moment, Tiffany felt a hand on her shoulder.

>Dad: "You all right there Tiff?"

"Oh. Damn. Yeah I'm all right, just trying to track Mulder. Looks like he towards the woods."

>Gareth: "We'll find him, the woods ain't that big... You know, this is starting to ring a bell. I gotta check something. I'll meet you at the crossroads, near the castle. You know the place."

Before Tiffany could object, Gareth darted out the door. Dad looked after him, hands folded.

>"Well he was in a hurry. You want me to come with you?"

>>217129
May as well.

Tiffany 2010/08/10(Tue)15:30 No. 217162 ID: 426169
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"That'd be great, dad. C'mon, let's get moving."

Shortly afterwards Tiffany and Dad arrive at the crossroads. There is no sign of Gareth, only the white gravel path. A single tall stone stands nearby.

>"Let's hope Gareth doesn't make us wait too long."

"Yeah."

>"..."

"..."

>"So... Uh. How're you holding up?"

"Fine, dad."

>"S'good, s'good."

Well this is comfortable.

>"You know, it'd be all right even if you weren't, I mean, it's ok to be scared or worried or..."

"Yeah dad."

>"I mean, you don't always need to be all independent and grown up and what's this? A necromantic construct?"

Huh?

>>217162
...oh for crying out loud, is that really your dad?

>>217162
I think your dad just got possessed. From what it's saying I think it's talking about Mulder. But it doesn't know about him already and seems to never have heard of a necromantic familiar. I can't quite figure out how or who that would be though. Demand it's identity and an explanation.

Tiffany 2010/08/10(Tue)17:18 No. 217176 ID: 426169
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"You all right there, dad?"

>"Yeah, why wouldn't I Ah, so your master is listening? Well, little crow, let's see if we can flush him out."

What?

I think Mulder just died or got hurt really bad :(

if he is dead then hopefully he is easy to put back together as he was dead once before already.

>>217177
Oh, hell. Gather your will, keep yourself together, and figure out what the hell just happened. Was Mulder hurt? Did someone strike at you through him? If he's still alive, try to focus your mind and find out where the hell he is- it's clear that you won't be safe until he's back in your grasp.

Possessed or not, Mulder just ran into a person or thing that decided to mess with you instead of just asking politely. I don't know why this thing wants to flush you out though or why you're hearing your dad saying that stuff. I mean, finding a necromantic construct on a fucking magical isle isn't what I would call a huge surprise, or an emergency of any sort.

Well, flush back! Try to get the face of the guy attacking you! He's going through Mulder's connection to you, so you should be more familiar with that, and more well adapted to use it. It was designed for and by you after all.

Well shit, the bird may need repairs.

>>217176
Tell the voice you'll be there soon, just wait. Let your dad know what is up, that something is speaking and listening and to wait for her there. Don't say anything about meeting anyone, you don't want to tip it off that help may be coming. Your dad should get that he needs to let Gareth know what is happening, he'll have a better idea on what to do from there.

Dad 2010/08/25(Wed)13:47 No. 222190 ID: 426169
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Tiffany suddenly falls to her knees, clutching her chest.

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

>"I'm all right. We need to get to the forest. I don't think I can walk, you'll have to carry me."

"What about Gareth and that other guy? Shouldn't we wait for them?"

>"We don't have time. Mulder's hurt."

"What's gonna happen if he gets killed?"

>"I don't know. C'mon pick me up. I know where to go."

"But-"

>"Not now dad!"

Goddamnit.

What the fuck, man! Pick her up!

We don't know what the fuck is going on, so uh, be ready!

Dad 2010/08/25(Wed)14:52 No. 222204 ID: 426169
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Dad picked Tiffany up and ran towards the forest, urged on by his daughter. Soon they were engulfed in the green thickets, Tiffany occasionally pointing a direction.

"It's getting kinda dark in here. How can it be this dark? It's friggin midday, man. What is that, mist?"

>"We're getting close. Dad, I need you to stay out of this. Trust me."

"No way. What kinda man would I be if I-"

>"Just... Promise you won't get in the way."

You realize that if there's some gawdawful magic shit going on, you're basically a liability, right? That being said, you have to look for opportunities to help despite agreeing to stay out of the way.

>>222204
I mean, it's probably best if she's calling the shots, here.

>>222204
Tell Tiffany that she just needs to say the word and you'll do whatever you can to help.

-->

Tiffany 2010/08/25(Wed)16:37 No. 222223 ID: 426169
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>"... Ok. You take the lead, just say the word if shit hits the fan, all right?"

Tiffany nods her head as the pair reach the edge of a valley shrouded in darkness. The air is colder here, and thick with the sense of immense power. Tiffany can feel the hair in the back of her neck stand up as waves of fear and exhilaration wash over her.

There is great power here.
And great danger.

Tiffany 2010/08/25(Wed)17:19 No. 222231 ID: 426169
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Dad walks down the valley Tiffany in his arms. Pieces of bones litter the valley floor. The gut-wrenching pain seems to subside a little as they approach the centre of the valley. A large, carved stone looms above, leaning heavily to one side.

Suddenly Tiffany spots a white shape within the fog. Jester, she's sure of it. It seems to be quietly weeping.

Basically be all like "Where's my crow bitch?"

Tiffany 2010/08/25(Wed)18:22 No. 222248 ID: 426169
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"Where's my crow, bitch?"

Jester continues to sob.

>"Ah, the necromancer is here."

>"HELP ME, BOSS!"

A dark, shrouded figure rises up from behind the stone, holding Mulder in it's skeletal grip.

>[b]"A... A Kinsley necromancer? Is it true? Are you of the source? A master of the Weave?"[/i]

Ask that dickhole what the fuck is he talking about and also tell him to give you your fucking crow back.

What? no. I'm a Blake and a school girl. Now let my undead crow go.

>>222248
Maybe you can take the chain away from him. Steal Jester.

Also tell him you are the Darkchild. Use that prophecy bullshit to be really vague and intimidating.

>>222252
Do not say this. You're on the Kinsley isle; it's a damned good bet that everything here is pro-Kinsley. Do not claim any other name.

>>222249
As tempting as it is to be rude, our mage-dar says that there is great power here. We're nowhere near awesome enough to be this vulgar.

>>222254
Also tempting, but as we understand basically fuck-all about the prophecy, that might be an unwise gamble.

>>222248
I would be polite but confident and firm. Apply your excess of spine to the situation, and inform him that you are Tiffany Kinsley, indeed a necromancer, and that you would like your familiar returned to you. Immediately.

>>222259
yes.

Tiffany 2010/08/25(Wed)20:08 No. 222272 ID: 426169
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Tiffany briefly considers trying to free Jester, but success seems too improbable. She opts for honest diplomacy.

"I am Tiffany Kinsley, and yes, I am a necromancer."

>"I smell death upon you, Kinsley. You have been at the Threshold, you have touched the Weave and lived. I felt your presence then, and I have found you now. I have waited so long for one such as you, young Kinsley. Without your presence I could not have returned to this world, you have my thanks."

"Umm, you're welcome I guess. Could you return my familiar to me?"

>"Ah, you care for the petty construct? ... Before release him, I would offer you a deal."[/g]

"Shoot."

>[b]"My presence in your world is fleeting. I wish to extend my stay, and you have the means to do it. If you agree, I will be your willing slave until you see fit to release me. My powers are considerable, and my servitude is worth far more than what I would ask of you."

"What's the catch?"

>"I must consume the life and soul fragment within your construct. I would make a far more fitting servant for one such as you."

"Mulder would die?"

>"Yes. You would be unharmed."

"..."

>"C'mon boss, you can't seriously be considering this."

>"So, young necromancer, what do you say?"




The vote will run for a day or so, it's a big decision. If you want, you can have Tiffany ask additional questions, which will get answered when I have time.

Don't be a pussy. This guy seems legit.

Mulder is your familiar and as such he is a part of you. I'm gonna go with no, stick with the bird. Useless or not.

"I don't mean to offend you, but I really am rather attached to Mulder."

Who and what are you? why does my presence allow you to exist now? what sort of strengths do you offer? What is your history/

As a placeholder vote: new guy, Mulder has been somewhat useful, but hes also a moron and rather unloyal.

>>222272
Questions first, and then our decision.

As we have given this guy our name, ask for his.

Ask how we can verify that his words are true; obviously, we won't be able to verify that either, but I'd like to see what he says.

Ask what powers and knowledge he would put at our disposal, should we accept his deal.

Ask what he is, and how he came to be in his current state.

Ask him to describe his history with the Kinsley clan.

With this information gained, try to determine if many other clan members would immediately recognize who/what he is and potentially reject us for it. We cannot have a servant which would jeopardize our standing in the family, which is already fragile enough.

Mulder has a fragment of our soul in him. I can't recall what part of the soul, or the metaphysical details involved, at the moment. My concern is this: If this guy consumes it, will our soul be lessened permanently? Breaking off part of it and putting it in something we'll keep around is one thing; actually having it eaten is another.


With all those questions answered... really, I'd want to upgrade from Mulder, if this opportunity isn't booby-trapped. Mulder's not really doing much for us. Farewell, birdie; ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

no, taking his deal would be the start of a slippery slope. one where power maters more then kindness.

>>222292
Look... we made Mulder out of a corpse and some magic. His very soul is nothing more than an extension of ours. Sure, he talks and moves around independently, but he's really just more of us, even though we reference him as a separate entity. The portion of his personality that didn't come from us, that which was attracted to him upon his naming, is as far as I know not at stake here- my vague impression is that that part isn't what people (and hungry spirits) normally deal with.

So essentially this is like the opportunity to chop off one's hand for a more awesome hand graft. Creepy as hell, yes; most people are quite fond of their hands. (Heck, I felt a little depressed when I had a birth mole removed, just because it was familiar and had been with me all my life.) Morally objectionable or unkind, not really. And we do have a great need for power.

>>222292

Indeed. The rule of thumb for people who are not already evil is DON'T DO STUFF THAT SOUNDS EVIL.

Also, this basically amounts to giving some dude who we just met 5 SECONDS AGO part of our soul. Isn't this raising some red flags?

Find out more about him, but until then, the answer is hell no.

>>222291
>>222344
Have to agree with these guys. This ain't sounding like a good idea. Answer no.

>>222272
"Mulder is not for you. However, if you release him you'll have a chance to convince me to give you a different bit of soul - I'll not negotiate while he's held hostage."

Tiffany 2010/08/26(Thu)10:18 No. 222413 ID: 426169
File 128284313788.png - (217.00KB , 800x900 , 489.png )

"Look, I don't want to offend you, but I'm really rather attached to Mulder."

>"None taken. My offer is made without malice."

"Could I ask you a few questions first?"

>"A reasonable request. Your wish is granted, young Kinsley."

"Who are you, exactly?"

>"Who I am is a question that cannot be answered. What I am is more relevant. Your clan would call me a greater daemon of the Cimmerian Hollows, of the Outside."

"I don't really know what that means. Why's my presence significant to you? How did you come here?"

>"Your brief fight with the Hound of the Underworld disturbed the Weave, enough to draw my attention. You should really be more careful when controlling the Threshold. Not all outsiders make pleasant dinner guests."

"How did you end up here, specifically?"

>"Oh there was a certain amount of drifting involved. This Marker was conveniently left untended. I even found some old bones for a body, and a cheerful little puppet to do some legwork." The creature happily jingles the ghastly chains. "But that's neither here nor there. What's important is that you and I have reached the same place, at the same time."

"I see... What's your history with the Kinsleys?"

>"I have had the opportunity to serve a few, even before you called yourselves Kinsleys. Not so much recently, I'm afraid. Perhaps they no longer feel they have a need for my services."

"What kinda services are we talking about here? What kind of powers do you have?"

>"I have served as a soldier in your petty little wars. I have laid waste to cities, armies have fallen before my onslaught. On your orders, I would tear apart everyone who stood in your way. I would rend their defenses asunder and feast upon their flesh. Should you accept, that is."

"... Huh. That's.... interesting."

>"Isn't it?"

"Anyway, what exactly would happen to that soul fragment?"

>"Boss, you can't b-grrrk."

>"Be quiet, little crow. It would become a part of me. As long as you remained alive, I would be anchored to your world. It would not be harmed. It would enable us to share thoughts, much like you can do with your little construct here. It would not compel me to obey, but your safety would be in my self-interest."

"I gotta admit, I'm kinda concerned about what the clan would think about you. Would they object to your presence?"

>"I do not know. They have not called upon me in quite some time. If it is an issue, I am quite good at avoiding detection. I'm confident that I could assume the form of your little construct and not even the elders could tell the difference. After all, they haven't found me yet."

"Look, this is all well and good, but honestly, how could I tell if you're telling me the truth?"

>"I would not dream of underestimating you that badly, young necromancer. To lie to one who has stared down the Hound? As it happens, I have no need to attempt to deceive you. Everything I have told you is true. Where you place your trust is your business, and I will respect that. Do you wish to ask anything further, or are you ready to give your answer?"





The voting will continue for a few hours more, if you wish to change your vote just post again. Mentioning that you're changing your vote would be a plus.

Not changing my vote. You know who was a Cimmerian? Conan the barbarian. Conan the fucking barbarian. Plus this demon guy's at least 2500 years old so he'd probably have way more information than Mulder. Mulder was a good first try for a familiar, but as this guy demonstrated, Mulder's an extreme liability as anyone could just possess him send him flying off into the woods, and there have direct access to your soul without you even knowing about it.

>>222413
"You have great power against the living, but my concern is with a powerful undead threat, and freeing one possessed by it. What can you do against a lord of death, would you really help to prevent the Harrowing?"

Also, see if there isn't some other possible arrangement then him being your new overpowered familiar. Some other way to bind him to service. I don't suppose the Kinsleys have many other necromancers? Or maybe that summoner could do well by it.

I would like to know if he has any information on your grandfather and a way to rip him away from your mother's body without hurting your mother herself.

>>222413
What if... we could somehow split our soul once more into another dead thing... I dunno...

Or if Mulder could be saved (as in... he becomes part of the new construct, and can be called out at will. A fragment of the whole...)

Realistically, the decision is Power/Strength/Risk of the clan getting very pissed vs. Scouting/Old Friendship/Trust and shared experience.
As a Necromancer, you will have to take power over friendship. Your profession is death. It ain't a great thing, but you have to deal with it. Mulder is too weak for any use against Alexander. Alexander, as you can see, has a daemon on his side. You probably could use one too...

I liked Mulder, I really did... But as has been clearly demonstrated, he can easily be obtained... And therefore your own soul is exposed to meddeling

Now here's where it gets tricky.
Mulder's soul is as strong as your own. He can be quite powerful with enough training. The potential is there... I'm sure of it. We oughta look into if we can empower our current Familiar.

Let the Daemon know that you cannot take him... but if he could instruct you in his summoning, you may be able to do something about it.
All you need is his true name or something. Quite obviously, if there's a circular language and a spoken language for casting, there are true names.

Conclusion: Vote is Mulder.
See if you can obtain information on his summoning.

Good luck.

still votan mulder.

Power over friendship? Isn't that exactly what our grandfather -wants- us to believe in? When the evil heretical necromancer approves of a particular path, it's a good bet that it's -not- the right one to choose!

>>222413
Based upon this, my vote is solidly to replace Mulder.

That assumes a two-option situation, however. As a further alternative, I would support tearing off a second bit of our soul and giving it to this guy. That should suffice to keep him around without killing Mulder, should it not? And then we'd have two servants- two being, after all, better than one.

He can probably help us to facilitate that if we ask. Or we can easily call up another nasty whatsit and have it chomp our soul hand off again, then feed that to him. We know the diagrams and chants to do so.

hmmm... no, let's not. There's some reason why the Kinsleys aren't summoning this guy anymore. ALSO, we could just summon him ourselves at some point. Then there's the fact that we can just go research him a little and come back later with more information. Surely he's got at least a few hours left of time on this world.

Plus, he won't be under our full control. What if Alexander gives him a better deal? Like say, tying his existence to himself instead of vulnerable little Tiffany? This is a deal to exchange a friend for quick, unreliable power with the added stigma that the Kinsleys probably won't approve of our actions.

Let's just work on getting stronger on our own. Stand on our own merit instead of taking shortcuts by making deals with demons.

My concerns are:
a) can he beat undeads?
b) disaobey us at will.... that will have consequences. E.g. he go on a rampage and the only way to stop him is to kill ourselves. We need to ask him about his outlook on killing -- does he enjoy it? Does he find it necessary? What skill in negotiation does he have? Being a powerful being, he can use his prestige to get everything by talking alone. Can we ask him to wait for a bit? For us to consider this decision? We can go research in the library about his past.

Also. if we start giving away our friends to gain power, who would trust us?

As well, ask what daddy thinks.

Oh, and also, post-cog him when we can.

"Can I instead give you another piece of my soul?"

If yes, then my vote is to do that instead. If no, then we stick with Mulder.

I support using a second piece of our soul to get his help, if that's possible, and not terribly detrimental.

Tiffany 2010/08/26(Thu)19:11 No. 222520 ID: 426169
File 128287507233.png - (242.98KB , 800x900 , 490.png )

"Look, I'm sorry, but I really can't give Mulder up. He's a good and loyal friend. I just can't trade him away like a piece of meat."

>"*cough cough* Thanks boss."

>"I see. I am disappointed to hear that."

"Maybe we could work out some other kinda deal, though? I could definitely use your help."

The creature was silent for a moment.

>"There is indeed another way for me to continue my existence on your world. I could kill you both and devour your flesh and find more flesh to eat before my time runs out. Why not just do that instead?"

"Oh come on. If that's what you were planning, why make the first offer?"

The creature stands silent for another moment.

>"Misplaced gratitude, perhaps? True, a soul-link to a living person would be preferable to being reduced to a mere predator, but I find myself disinclined to tarry. My time grows short and the petty spiritmonger approaches."

"Spiritmonger? You mean Hakun?"

>"Yes. He would undoubtedly stick his nose where it does not belong."

"How about this: You let my familiar go, I get rid of Hakun, then come back later to do that soul-link thing. I'm pretty sure I know how to do that."

>"That is not entirely unreasonable. However, you'll forgive me for not taking your word for it. You mortals have a history of seeking to enslave and abuse my kind. You might simply run to the foolish little slavemaster and seek to force me into servitude. I still remember what happened to my kin at the hands of your ancestors. If you wish this deal, I WILL have collateral."

"Umm, what did you have in mind?"

The creature turns his pale stare towards Dad, who stands nearby eyes wild with shock.

>"If you wish this deal, that one will stay with me."

hes not legit? he hasn't exactly tried to kill us in rage yet, despite the prospect of being 'redeathed' we just thrust upon him.

He hasn't broken our trust yet, if we intend to do this, lets just be sure to keep our word. Besides, worst comes to worst... I don't see why we can't just make another familiar? im pretty sure there isn't a restriction besides the strength of the soul of the maker.

Gosh I like this guy. Stop being such a spoil sport, Mulder! You are already dead why do you have a self preservation instinct?

sounds for the best. but give him a warning that your dad had better be in perfect condition when you come back or bad things will happen.

Hm... I actually like this deal. Let's take it. Tell dad not to worry, we'll make sure he gets through this unharmed.

>>222520
First, it should be pointed out to him that for someone who is looking to avoid being enslaved and abused, wanting someone to betray her familiar and family at the first opportunity for more power is sort of illogical. The sort of person who would do that is exactly the type who'd try to enslave a demon if at all possible. But we are not that sort. We will keep our word, we will stand by our friends and family. And we will return and link our soul to his at the first opportunity we have to do so, collateral or not.

Ask him then to confirm that he requires Dad remain as a hostage, with the obvious understanding that he is setting the tone for your future relationship together with his response. Will he threaten and intimidate you into betraying friends and family, or not?

Hopefully this will get him to back down, in which case we should thank him, affirm our intent to return as soon as possible, and dash off to stop Hakun.

If he insists, then we have no choice but to leave Dad with him. Point out that it will be harder to persuade Hakun to leave without Dad with us, but we will manage. As long as Dad is being held, it will be the demon's responsibility to keep him safe, though. Turn to Dad, who at this point will likely be really shocked and feeling pretty bad about this, and give him a hug. Promise him quietly that we will see him safe, and be back soon.

Either way we quickly leave afterward, taking Mulder with us. If Hakun is coming and we're keeping him away from the demon, we'll need to move quickly.

>>222554
All very good points.

>>222554

I suppose this is the best we can do.

Who is Harkun again?

Tiffany 2010/08/27(Fri)13:40 No. 222704 ID: 426169
File 128294162364.png - (205.29KB , 800x900 , 491.png )

"All right. Dad, I need you to stay here for a little bit."

>"You're gonna give away a piece of your soul? Are you nuts?"

"Dad, I really need all the help I can get to beat Alexander. That's the only chance we've got to get mom back. You want mom back, right?"

>"I... Of course I do. Just... All right. If you think this is best."

>>222704
This plan is dumb. This thing will kill your dad.

>>222705
If we completely fuck up, maybe. Otherwise no; it said it doesn't want to become a predator just to stick around for a little longer and it could've killed us any time it wanted to if it was feeling spiteful.

Find Hakun. We should tell him... uh... Oh! He doesn't know we brought dad. Probably. We need to find out how he found this place- I mean, how does he know where to go? We were following Mulder's soul signal, so to speak. Whats Hakun tracking?

>>222704
We didn't even give >>222554 a try? How disappointing. Even if it didn't work, I'd really have wanted to see what the demon would say.

>>222723
Our amulet? Our magical shine, which we are no longer suppressing? Maybe he's got a magical tracking device, or for all we know, we left a trail of some kind behind us.

>>222704
Unless we're willing to engage it in combat, we have to either lose Mulder or risk Dad. (Or try to be persuasive or clever, but the story seems to have avoided that option.) While losing Mulder would likely have been more practical, we're going for the long shot and gambling Dad in the hopes that they'll both make it out okay.

Tiffany 2010/08/27(Fri)16:59 No. 222733 ID: 426169
File 128295356111.png - (172.28KB , 800x900 , 492.png )

"Look, do you really need my dad here as collateral? I'll be back either way, I promise."

>"So you say. I have heard such promises before. And I have seen them broken time and again. Your ancestors created the immortals, did they not? Some crimes can never be forgotten. I will have a soul fragment now, or you give me collateral. Those are your options. Choose. My patience wears thin."

>>222733
Right, continue with the plan.

>>222733

God damn even my patience wears thin. What are you, a surly teenage girl? Get out of there and give Hakun what for!

...probably best to not tell dad that you already gave away a piece of your soul, for creating Mulder. <_<

>>222733
Welp, here goes.

>>222733
Way to sound not even remotely persuasive, Tiffany.

Well, whatever. You've got a job to do now; get to it.

Derp. Sorry Dad.

"Dad, it will be ok, I have a lot of soul, so to speak, I can afford to give off a little piece."

(To the daemon) "lay one finger on my dad, and I'll bring the whole clan down on your head."

How strong are you really? What level of power am I dealing with? How would you fair against...let's say a Revenant.

You know, Undying,the Immortals, those guys?

(I know he probably can't match up to one, but I need to know by how much. Let's check the reaction.)

Tiffany 2010/08/28(Sat)16:22 No. 223082 ID: 426169
File 128303777640.gif - (108.67KB , 800x900 , 493.gif )

Tiffany gives Dad's hand a quick squeeze.

"It'll be all right, I promise. Lotsa soul to go around."

Dad squeezes back without a word.

"Oh and if you lay one finger on him I'll bring the whole bloody clan down on you."

>"A fascinating threat. It might nearly be a fair fight. Your concerns are noted. Honour the agreement, and he will be unharmed. If I sense trickery or you fail to return by sundown, his entrails are mine."

Dad reluctantly approaches the creature. Mulder, now free, flies to Tiffany's shoulder.

Time to head off the the library. Of course, post cog him as soon as possible.

Tiffany 2010/08/28(Sat)17:25 No. 223115 ID: 426169
File 128304155299.png - (556.60KB , 800x900 , 494.png )

Tiffany and Mulder emerge from the gloomy glade, and head out towards the crossroads. Hopefully they'll run across Gareth and Hakun before they become overly worried.

I'll have to come up with some good excuse for why Mulder's all beaten-

>"You were really considering it. Letting that thing eat me up."

"well you haven't exactly been the most loyal familiar out there. will give you the benefit of the doubt for getting possessed though.
but yeah, your willingness to do anything for anyone offering you eyeballs is the biggest thing."

>>223115
"Dismissing his offer out of hand could have gotten us all eaten up. Or worse. I'm not just going to give you up for any reason, but saving you from sacrifice just so you can be part of our collective slaughter isn't an improvement.

Still, I'm sorry I worried you and that you got hurt. When we get out of this alive I'll see about getting you all the eyeballs you can eat. I figure butchers must just throw the things away by the ton."

"Mulder, I was maybe considering it, in about the same way one considers some new shiny toy before going to what works for them. However, your literally a part of me, and I couldn't really think of getting rid of you, even if you can annoy me sometimes and overly willing to give someone what they want if they offer an eyeball. Hey, if I really wanted ya gone, you would now be part of some horrible skeleton thing... for now, your the best familiar I have. Plus as soon as I noticed you were gone, I came right out here to find you. When this headache is through, ill see about getting ya an eyeball."

Tiffany 2010/08/28(Sat)19:11 No. 223170 ID: 426169
File 128304789734.png - (131.33KB , 355x460 , 495.png )

"Mulder, I was considering it in about the same way one considers some new shiny toy before going to what works for them. You are a part of me, and I couldn't even think of getting rid of you. Sure, sometimes you're a bit annoying and a little unreliable when it comes to eyeballs, but you're my friend. As soon as I noticed you were gone, I came right out here to find you. When this headache is through, I'll see about getting ya an eyeball."

>"Hmph. The only eyeball I believe in is one I can see."

"I bet butchers are throwing em away by the ton."

Tiffany 2010/08/28(Sat)19:12 No. 223173 ID: 426169
File 128304796934.png - (130.63KB , 355x460 , 496.png )

>"... by the ton?"

"As much as you can eat."

>"Really?"

"Really."

Tiffany 2010/08/28(Sat)19:25 No. 223175 ID: 426169
File 128304870467.png - (298.77KB , 671x519 , 497.png )

>♫"I'm gonna get an eeeye-ball~ I'm gonna get an eeeye-ball~"

...like that one? Wait Mulder don't eat it just yet, we don't know who it belongs to.

Wave merrily at the scout, and try to ask it to lead you to its master.

We'll explain Mulder's injury by saying he got ambushed by a bobcat. Those fuckers are pretty fierce.

>>223176
Err, we're in Europe now. No bobcats. Better to blame some large bird of prey.

yeah, whisper to mulder that the story is he was attacked by a hawk or something.

It's a pretty sure bet that someone else can see- and maybe even hear or speak- through that runed eyeball. Be sure to be subtle enough to avoid its detection if/when speaking to Mulder.

Tiffany 2010/08/30(Mon)07:02 No. 223566 ID: 426169
File 128317694389.png - (331.91KB , 700x800 , 498.png )

Before Mulder has a chance to snap at the floating eye, it zips out of reach and darts into the bushes. As the follow, Tiffany whispers to Mulder:
"Ok, you don't know what happened, you woke up here in the forest and was attacked by a hawk, all right?"

>"Err, but I wasn't attacked by a hawk."

"Arrrr... Just follow my lead."

>"Righto, boss."



The eye leads Tiffany towards a clearing near the edge of the forest. Two figures stand amidst the trees. One is Gareth, but Tiffany doesn't recognize the other. The pale man in purple extends his hand and pockets the floating eye, then gives Tiffany a cheerful wave.

>Gareth: "Whatto, Tiff! I was getting worried. Why didn't you wait for us? Sorry we took so long. Hakun couldn't find his shoes."

Hakun gives a nonchalant shrug.

>Hakun: "Nice to meet you, Tiffany dear!" he says while extending a hand.

Tiffany takes the offered hand and says: "Yeah, umm, nice to meet you. Sorry about running off, had to go rescue Mulder. He was getting mauled by a hawk or something."

>Hakun: "Oh I'm so sorry. Let's head out to my place and I'll fix him up."

"Okay I guess."

As they walk, Hakun prattles away happily.

>Hakun: "Oh it's a bit of a mess, this island. People've been putting up spells, taking em down, binding spirits, raising barriers, doing all kinds of mad stuff for centuries now. Trying to sort it all out is bloody impossible. There's always some spell or fragmented runes left-over from a hundred years ago, so it gets a bit trickier each year. We try to clear em out every now and again, did the last 'spring cleaning'" Oh god is he doing air-quotes? "in the eighties. There's a fair bit of half-feral spirits around, but I would've thought that Jester was still under decent spells. I guess I gotta do something about him, it's my responsibility after all. Sad case, really. His original binds are all tangled up with other spells used with that same stone, and I can't really banish him without undoing the whole bunch, and I don't dare do that by myself since I don't know what half of em do. I guess I could at least make sure he doesn't do stuff like this again for a while. Possessing a familiar? You'd think the binds would keep him from doing that. I better strengthen them today, to be on the safe side."

>>223566
Well that wouldn't be good, let's tell him that Mulder wasn't kidnapped, he just ran off with Jester because he asked him to. With Mulder and a Jester both conceivably bored enough to take off.

...Jester can't talk though, and we woulda noticed a scrawled out "hey lets go out". Nevermind if he actually goes there and sees what state the cage is in. Jester could have motioned for him to take off though.

How about this: Mulder saw some lady bird he wanted to pursue, Jester with his limited ability to touch things helped him unlatch the cage. One wild bird chase later it's early morning, Jester is not to be seen and a sleepy Mulder get attacked by a hawk of some sort.

>>223574

How about we not talk further about the subject and stick to the truth as much as possible.

>>223576
We have keep Hakun away from Jesters stone, either we make a little lie to do that, or we trust him with the whole truth. And I don't particularly trust this guy to act in our best interests over his or the clans.

But if we did... we could ask him how to safely bind this dangerous thing to our service without losing our familiar, dad, mind or life. There is no deception in any of that, binding him was the deal after all.

I guess my real suggestion is this: Ask Gareth how much he trusts Hakun. If his support is total, let's tell him. If not, we keep him away from that stone however we can.

He looks like the Joker from Batman. I don't trust him.

>>223566
Tell him that Mulder wasn't possessed by Jester. ...or you could tell him that you took care of Jester's bindings already, so he doesn't need to worry. Hmmm... maybe that would spur him to check our work immediately (which would be WORSE)

You could say "Wait, you wanted to strengthen Jester's bindings? Uhhh, whoops! I kinda... released him. He ran off and said he'd visit me again later tonight."

>>223593
WOAH WOAH WOAH

We said that Mulder was attacked by a feral hawk.

He mentioned Jester taking over Mulder.

WE MUST MAKE THAT PACT. That said, we need to push that Mulder told you he was attacked by a hawk. Also, ask who Jester is.

And get to that library and find what you can do about giving a soul fragment.

>>223604
Naw, she said this:
>"Look, Mulder's gone missing. There was this spirit in my room last night, called himself Jester. I think he had something to do with it."

Possession can explain that, so can a bored familiar and a lonely spirit just taking off and screwing around.

Tiffany 2010/08/30(Mon)13:42 No. 223621 ID: 426169
File 128320097478.png - (145.43KB , 700x800 , 499.png )

"I dunno about that possession thing, really. Mulder's been itching to cruise the town ever since we got here."

>Mulder: "Heh, yeah. Sorry for makin you guys worry. That ghost dude just let me out, 'sall."

>Hakun: "Oh? That's a relief. Still, I better fix you up a spirit ward while I'm at it. I'll check on Jester later. So how're you settling in, Tiffany dear?"

"Fine, fine. Everyone's really friendly 'nstuff..."

>Hakun: "Hehe, even old Stoneface? How is your father these days, Gareth?"

Hakun gives Gareth a playful jab, who tenses up.

>Hakun: "Ooh hey Gareth, did you hear? I'm getting a new neighbour!"

>Gareth: "I know, Hakun."

>Hakun: "I can't wait to meet him! Things are so serious and boring around here these days. We could use some new faces around here. Have you met him? Is he handsome?"

Gareth discreetly rubs his temple.

>Gareth: "Yeah so Tiff, you and your dad will be living next door to Hakun here."

>Hakun: "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. ... Welcome to the neighbourhood! Hey, we need to throw you a welcoming party! Say, tonight? Around seven?"

Gareth rolls his eyes.

>>223621
Let's delay that, we don't want to rush things today. If sundown is around or before seven that gives us less time to save dad, and we might have complications besides.

This should work:
"I was planning on doing a few more things around here, talk to some folk one on one you know? A party with all kinds of new people seems a little overwhelming still, can we do it tomorrow?"

Right now, discuss Jester to get him talking about summoning and familiars, and the subject of teaching. Try to learn something useful for tonight, but don't keep him jabbering till sundown!

>>223604
>WE MUST MAKE THAT PACT.
Why, exactly? The demon kidnapped our familiar, then said, "Hey, little girl, either feed me part of your soul or I'ma kill you." Sure, he said he'd work for us, but we have only his word on that- backed by his supposed respect for us, which is so great that he holds our family hostage to push us around. (Admittedly, Tiffany was about as persuasive as a rock convincing him not to, but that's neither here nor there.)

The demon seems damned powerful, but he will not be under our control and we do not fully understand the ramifications of either tearing off more of our soul, or of giving it to him. And he might be polite enough, but he's also a complete bastard who believes in using force and blackmail to force others to his will. If we're trying to take the moral path, why the FUCK would we want him?

And if we're not trying to take the moral path, the question stands- why do we trust him to do anything other than somehow stab us in the back? We were almost paralyzed with pain when he did nothing more than hurt our soul fragment's container, before. How much more of a hold will the demon gain over us if he has full control over one?


I believe that we need to get rid of Gareth, since he's far too much of his father's puppet to be trusted with this knowledge, and then get someone else to help us with this. If we take the stance that we were dragged in over our head very quickly and are desperately trying to find a safe out, we should- hopefully- be able to get a sympathetic ear. The demon can't be listening to everything we say, so we can at least try to get solid advice.

I admit that this plan isn't perfect, but compared to feeding part of our soul to a very powerful being with a hostile demeanor while knowing fuck-all about what we're getting into, I'd say that it wins hands down.

>>223696

We have to do it because he's vulnerable and hurt and sticking his neck out for us, and the reason he's in this situation is our fault, because Tiffany kicked Death in the balls. The Cimmerian is our responsibility, and we've gotten in nothing but trouble waffling on it. Even if it's dangerous, we have to do the right thing.

Lessee... If we hadn't harassed death, this demon's existance would not have been known.

The reason the demon is holding Tiff's dad is that it is afraid of loosing its existence. Also realize that most necromancers are backstabbing arses.

What the demon did, based on its former knowledge of necromancers, was probably a practical move.

If the spirit was more malignant, He may not have given back Mulder... or even have threatened to kill Tiff's dad if Tiff didn't give him a soul shard.

The demon isn't that malignant, and hasn't gone full out. It has only made some practical safeguards to keep it from essentially dying.
We must give it a chance. We can always dis-spell it.

>Your brief fight with the Hound of the Underworld disturbed the Weave, enough to draw my attention.
>Without your presence I could not have returned to this world, you have my thanks.

>>223803
>>223768
Guys, look. The demon is not vulnerable or hurt or sticking his neck out for us. Tiffany is responsible for the demon being in the world the same way that you're responsible for someone coming into your house if you turn the lights on at night, and they notice and decide to drop by. Which is to say, NOT. We did something which could draw attention, but the demon CHOSE to come here. It wants to stay. It has walked into our house and informed us that it is going to hurt us and our family if we don't let it crash on our couch until we die and it has to leave.

It's not afraid of losing its existence or being bound, because it thinks that it can take on an entire clan of mages in a roughly even fight:
>"Oh and if you lay one finger on him I'll bring the whole bloody clan down on you."
>"A fascinating threat. It might nearly be a fair fight."

And it can leave at any time if things start going poorly for it; it just wants to stay here instead, and it's pushing us to get what it wants.

>If the spirit was more malignant, He may not have given back Mulder... or even have threatened to kill Tiff's dad if Tiff didn't give him a soul shard.
The spirit HAS threatened to kill Tiffany's dad if she doesn't give him a soul shard. That is, in fact, exactly the deal that we have apparently cut with it:
>If I sense trickery or you fail to return by sundown, his entrails are mine."

This is not a good deal, and this spirit is not a good or reasonable guy. He's bullying and blackmailing a small but powerful girl for his own advantage.

>We must give it a chance. We can always dis-spell it.
No, we don't have to give it a chance, and we won't always be able to dispel it. It gets its ethereal claws on our soul, and it will have us by the jugular. Forever. No turning back.

>Even if it's dangerous, we have to do the right thing.
I agree 100%. The right thing, in this case, is trying to rescue our dad, preferably without getting ourselves soul-bound to a creature of extreme power and unknown true motives who has already shown that it is remarkably easy to take advantage of us.

There's another 'right thing' to consider, too. We have already sold out once, guys. We swore ourselves to the Kinsley clan and were accepted as a member with all rights and responsibilities pertaining. Rights like help with massively powerful supernatural creatures that are threatening us and our family. Responsibilities like not stabbing the clan in the back by hiding major potential hostile beings on their own island from them.

Let's play this one above board, guys. There's more than enough secret bullshit in our lives. If you don't like Hakun, then let's go see Duncan again and ask him for help and advice. Or hell, even the hunter lady, or that councilwoman who seemed to like us. We do not have to tackle this problem alone, and it would be foolish to try.

I just... I'd just like to have at least one super powerful being of the nether world not to hate our guts. You know, it might be nice? Besides there's something more important here going on than clan loyalties. You gave your word. Do you want people to think you go back on your word? Do you want monsters to think that?

It might be a good idea to tell Hakun, but on the other hand he might very well decide that you and your dad are acceptable casulties for bagging a blighter like that. If he does that you have to fight him to stop him from capturing the Cimmerian, because you told the monster you would protect it.

>>223946
We might not have explicitly given our word to be loyal to the clan, but it was damned well implied. Our word to the monster does not take precedence. Is our allegiance so cheap that one oath extracted under duress means that we throw it out the window?

But don't get me wrong here. I'm not against returning to the demon and keeping our word. What I am against is doing so while having told no one what's going on and what we're planning to do. We have already gotten burned very badly while trying to sneak off and secretly deal with powerful supernatural beings; why make the same mistake again? If nothing else, we need to learn exactly what a greater daemon of the Cimmerian Hollows is and if it was telling the truth about what would happen if we feed it part of our soul. We also need to know if we'd be breaking the Compact by making this deal, because we know fuck-all about the Compact. And Thomas begged us to preserve it as he lay dying, even if the seer's words make it seem unlikely that we'll be able to.

And yes, there is the risk that whomever we tell will decide that we don't know what we're doing and do something to get Dad killed... but we might get Dad killed anyway. I would gamble that Duncan would give us sound advice and not completely take matters out of our hands.

Tiffany 2010/08/31(Tue)08:40 No. 224046 ID: 426169
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"I'm a little busy today, and we're only barely settling in. How does tomorrow sound?"

>Hakun: "I suppose I could use an extra day to plan this properly. And get cake! Tomorrow it is!"

Oh man. I can't risk doing this blind. Who knows what'll happen if he gets a piece of my soul? Damnit. I'd be betraying the clan by helping an enemy right on their own damn isle... I need more info. I should tell someone, but what'll happen to dad? Would the clan care about him enough to try and save him?
... I guess I wouldn't be all that comfortable breaking my word, even to a monster. Damnit mom, why'd you drill that into my head? Argh. What if he could be trusted? He'd be a BIG help against Alexander. But... If I trust him and I'm wrong, I-

>Hakun: "So what do you think?"

"Huh?"

Tiffany realizes that they've walked all the way back to town, and are standing in front of an empty single-story detached house. She stares at it blankly.

>Hakun: "This is your new home! What do you think?"

"Coo'."

>Gareth: "Strange. Isn't your dad supposed to be cleaning the place up?"

"Ahh, I guess he's taking a break, or off to the store or something. Or the pub."

>Hakun: "A pity. I would've loved to meet him. And show you the place, but I think your father has all the keys."

>Gareth: "Yeah, I gave em to him."

>Hakun: "Oh well. I'll catch him later. So, let's go inside and patch up your familiar."

Hakun leads the group into the next house over. It's a rustic little cottage, decorated with various paintings and glassware. Once in the living room, Gareth walks over to a cabinet and retrieves some first-aid items, and begins to administer to Mulder's wounds. Hakun and Tiffany sit down nearby.

>Hakun: "So, what were you thinking so hard about out there? You were waaay to spaced out."

"Oh, umm, well... I got thinking about that whole possession thing and remembered something Alexander mentioned. Something about 'demons'" air-quotes don't fail me now "or something. Could you tell me about them?"

>Hakun: "Weeeeel, I guess... Oh that reminds me, I was asked to find out what kinda stuff Alexander taught you and correct any misinformation. Y'know, for safety's sake. But that can wait a couple of days, just don't go doing any of the ol' hocus pocus now haha."

"About the demons?"

>Hakun: "Oh right. Well the proper term is actually daemon. Well... Beyond the borders of our reality is a vast expanse of swirling chaos, filled with all manner of strange and nasty things. We call it the Outside. Now, it's not really a place, per se, a bit more like limbo actually. Now, a whole bunch of spirits live there. Well I say live but you know what I mean, they're not alive in a normal sense. Anyway, classifying spirits is a bit tricky, but we usually give a few defining features for each type. Phantasms for example are spirits that are capable of manifesting physically despite not having a corporeal form. Jester's one. Daemons are usually characterised by their insatiable urge to kill and inflict pain upon others. They're usually just mindless beasts, always extremely dangerous but manageable by the right precautions. For example, the blackguards at the castle, you know those black armour things, they're daemons bound to very specific orders. Of course, they were made before I was even born, so I couldn't say much more about them before hitting the books."

"Wait wait, you said they're dumb beasts. How dumb?"

>Hakun: "Animals, really."

>Mulder: "HEY."

>Hakun: "Oh hush. But yeah, it's rare to find one that can even form simple words. The blackguards don't actually speak, they just echo certain lines, expecting certain responses. Anyway, a young daemon is really weak and stupid. As they grow, they become stronger and smarter. I don't know if there's an actual limit to how strong and smart they can become, but they rarely make it past predatory cunning. Oh my. I'm such a poor host. Would you like some tea? Or cocoa? I think I've got some dry cake stored up somewhere. Be right back!"

Hakun dashes off to the kitchen. ... Oh man. This is bad. I've got to get help with this.

At a low voice: "Umm, Gareth... How much do you trust Hakun?"

>Gareth: "How much do you trust me?"

"Excuse me?"

>Gareth: "Look... I've seen hawk victims before. If these were made by a hawk, I'm a monkey's uncle."

>>224046
>insatiable urge to kill and inflict pain

That doesn't match very well with the one we met... it seemed like it wanted to resolve the situation peacefully.

We should attempt to find out some of the proper rituals, so we can make the demon follow some standard guidelines of behavior. Obviously it won't let us enslave it or anything like that, but being able to set rules it can't break would be something it would probably agree to.

>>224099
make him swear not to tell anyone. when he does then explain to him what happened.

It was a big... hawk that... squeezed and stuff! Shit you better tell him. He's probably just being abused by his father and not mind controlled by his father anyway. Just say that it might not have been a hawk, and it might have something to do with you giving old Azrael a boot wedgie, and your dad might be in danger of losing his entrails if this gets out of hand ogodhelppleaseIamnotgoodwithnecromancy

>>224046
You trusted him not to point out when you're lying to others. You would have told him right away, if not for Hakun being right there. Now then this is rather simple, can we trust Hakun the way we trusted Thomas? Because Mulder was hurt by a greater daemon of the Cimmerian Hollows, he wants to stay in this world so you either have to bind him to you or Dad and then probably everyone else is going to die.

...Maybe less details would be wise, if you think Hakun might pop in at any moment.

Anyways, if demons are mindless perhaps this one is being controlled by you grandpa, all in a plot to control you? Or not, maybe the "greater demons" are the sentient sorts. I'd really like if we can figure out how to properly bind this beast to us.

I still don't trust those weird little episodes Gareth was having earlier, but you're running out of options and friends fast. Confide in him and hopefully he can give you a yes on that second opinion from Hakun. He seems a good sort so far.

I wouldn't bet on the rest of the Kinsleys saving Dad. They'd more likely frag him in the process of hunting.

Tiffany 2010/08/31(Tue)15:02 No. 224145 ID: 426169
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"Look, I meant to tell you but there was this big daemon thing from Cimmeria and it took Mulder and now it has my dad and I'm supposed to go back by sunset and oh god I'm not good at this"

D:

>"I... You... What?"

"Don't tell anyone or it'll kill my dad."

>"But I-"

"Promise!"

>"Oh fucking hell this is barkin mad."

>Hakun: "Language, dear."

Gareth throws Hakun a quick glance that verifies that only a few swearwords were heard. He gives Tiffany an angry look, who replies by widening her eyes, begging Gareth to keep quiet. As Hakun fusses with the tea and cakes, Tiffany mouths "We'll talk later" across the table. Gareth begrudgingly keeps his mouth shut.

At first the trio sit quietly, each nurturing his or her cup of tea. A few moments of uncomfortable silence later Hakun speaks up.

>Hakun: "So, Tiffany, Gareth here tells me that your looking for a master to guide you into the world of the arcane~" [i] and continues with a spooky 'oooooh', ending with an embarrassed cough.
>Hakun: "*cough* Yeah, so have you asked around yet? Or even better, have you given any thought to your future? A life of careful study in the libraries, or maybe the wild adventures of the hunters? Eh?"

Tell Hakun that you were thinking to use your unique talents of postcognition to right old wrongs that had been left unresolved. You probably shouldn't tell him that the specific wrong is the unnatural death of your brother and your mother's subsequent ghastly possession by your grandfather. I'm sure he can infer that himself.

>>224145
Hmmm... I think we should be a hunter, honestly. Quiet study is booooring.

>>224153
... She's not even a teenager.
Quiet study will be safe...ish
don't forget how dangerous necromancy has proven to be even without adversaries.

>>224099
>That doesn't match very well with the one we met... it seemed like it wanted to resolve the situation peacefully.
Oh, it might match. When we asked it what it could do, it immediately talked about tearing people apart and feasting on their flesh, laying waste to cities, and other fun and violent things. If we extend what Hakun said, what we have here is a daemon that's grown so old that it developed intelligence, cunning, and subtlety as well as frightening levels of power.

>>224145
On the bright side: The Kinsleys have a bunch of daemons bound in the castle, so it can't be against the Compact to bind daemons. That's one big potential problem dodged, I'd say. Unless there's some sort of power cutoff, I suppose, but that's perhaps getting more paranoid than we need to be.

Anyway, for now, try to focus on the immediate conversation. Wild adventures seem to find you on their own, so a whole life of careful study is pretty much out... but at the same time, there's so very much to learn. Spending at least some time focusing on that instead of constantly being worried about zombies or wraiths or what have you could be nice. And help you know what you're facing when things go south.

Besides, other Kinsleys have a lot of background information on the arcane world that you don't have. You need to spend at least some time learning it.

>>224153
While it would greatly benefit Tiffany to specialize in fighting monsters, since Alexander has shown a great propensity towards their use, I seriously doubt that she's going to learn to be fluent in nxtsaa'u while studying under most hunters. A particularly knowledgeable hunter, perhaps, but the hunter on the table is Joyce, who did not exactly seem a font of arcane information. And we really need to learn nxtsaa'u, so that we can read our ancient doomtome.

Well, quiet study sounds much safer. But wild adventure sounds much more useful. The only possible difference is the nxtsaa'u problem. But a language can be learned from books and whatnot, in a primarily self-guided manner, (and it's not unlikely that the demon knows it anyway) whereas the practical skills are much more greatly advantaged by a knowledgeable teacher. At least, at the fairly low levels where we now reside. I don't know how advanced we must be before apprenticeship ends and we could study in conjunction with whomever we may obligate to aid us, but I imagine it'll be at a good time. These folks have had quite a while to perfect the process.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)00:40 No. 224433 ID: 426169
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"I'm still trying to figure that out. On one hand, there's so much that I don't know, I need to study, but I suspect I'll be needing hunter training, especially with the situation with Alexander. So... I don't know yet."

>Hakun: "I guess that's true. You're pretty clear-headed for someone your age. I know Gareth didn't give a damn about any of that stuff when he was younger."

>Gareth: "Yeah, yeah."

"Actually, I was wondering about something. What's the deal with 'daemon of such-and-such'?"

>Hakun: "Oh that. Basically they're regions of the Outside. That's a little bit inaccurate though, it's more like the region only exists because that's where a particular congregation of spirits lives. So, for example, a daemon of the Barbed Scion is from the congregation called the Barbed Scion."

"Have you heard of one called 'the Cimmerian Hollows'?"

>Hakun: "Can't say that I have. I thought I knew all the ones that're in use. You know, for summoning and stuff. I guess you could check the library, they have some extensive catalogues of known spirit congregations."

"I'll do that. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

>Hakun: "Oh yes, I'll throw you SUCH a party! I hope you liked the tea!"

Once Tiffany, Gareth and Mulder are outside and away from earshot, Gareth comes to a halt and begins to tap his foot impatiently.

>>224433
Ok, tell it like you know it, from the top.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)04:45 No. 224493 ID: 426169
File 128334154919.png - (131.73KB , 800x600 , 503.png )

One large cup of truth later, Gareth sits down on a nearby rock. He's quiet for a long time.

>Gareth: "You do realize that we're up shit creek, right?"

"Sorry."

>Gareth: "We'll have to come up with a plan, or this thing could blow up in out faces. We could end up dead. Or worse."

"Look, this is my problem, you don't have to risk your neck for-"

>Gareth: "Put a cork in it, Tiff. Of course I need to. You're my friend. That's what we do. Good move trading your dad for Mulder by the way."

"Huh?"

>Gareth: "Oh don't get me wrong. Your dad seems a nice 'nuff bloke and I hate putting him in danger, but if the Cimmerian would've kept Mulder then he could've used him to eavesdrop on you. That would've been checkmate, mate. At least this way we have some breathing room to plan something out."

"... Yeah. Huh. Lucky me."

>Gareth: "Look, it's your call. We could go to the elders and say 'Ohey by the way, I hope you don't mind us parkin a greater daemon to the back garden kthxbai.' We could, theoretically, just trust it to keep it's word but if you think that's an option I'll smack you over the head. Or we could try and figure out a way to control it somehow. We hit the library, find what we need, then I can smuggle a few tomes out past the librarians. But, like I said, it's your call. It's your dad out there."

>>224493
Controlling it is good. Or at least, enough control to make it behave properly. Do we really need to smuggle tomes though?

Hit the library. Knowledge is powerful.

Since we are going in the direction of video game quotes, say out loud "power overwhelming" or "blacksheep wall".

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)08:54 No. 224536 ID: 426169
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"Controlling the thing seems like the best option all around. In any case, we need to dig up some information. Library it is."

>Gareth: "Righto. I've got a good hunch where to start looking."

A worried silence dominates the atmosphere as they walk towards the castle.

"Why'd we want to smuggle anything out?"

>Gareth: "Well, in case we find something with diagrams and stuff we need, it'll be faster than copying it down. No photocopiers, see. I don't know if they're paranoid or if they've never heard of those. The librarians need more fresh air."

"Yeah it's not like people would misuse the books if given the chance."


"I know you rolling your eyes in there."

>Gareth: "Why do I even wear this hood?"

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)08:55 No. 224537 ID: 426169
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Gareth lead Tiffany to the castle library, located in a large network of halls and tunnels under the castle. The guards gave no notice to their passing.
Inside the library proper, no flames were lit. The only sources of illumination were eerily floating globes shining with pale light. Occasionally a librarian passed them in sombre silence. Walls of books covered most of the available space. The air was thick with the smell of ancient parchment with the occasional wiff of worn leather.

>Gareth: "May I introduce, Tiffany, this is the grand library of the clan Kinsley. Library, Tiffany. Ahem. So yeah, all clansmen are permitted to view these volumes here in the main section. If you're looking for something specific the librarians can help you. However, I think I can get us started, then we'll commandeer one of the more secluded reading chambers."

Soon Gareth had a library cart with a number of books, and a suitable room was found. Gareth began laying the books onto the table one by one.

>Gareth: "All right, here we have the Summoner's Catalogue, by Acjik, fairly easy reference for well known spirits and entities. Then we have On the Nature of Sprites and Fantasms, by Lejeune D'Artagne. I'm hoping it might have something on daemons too. Nojstra Sdan Aerzia, author unknown. It's only partially translated, but has some methods for summoning and binding daemons. Then we got the "Lahushan Hankuan Tugunsa" if I'm pronouncing that right. It's in nxtsaa'u. It's got some notes in the margins, and I can read a little bit, enough to know that the title means 'binding evil spirits'. Then there's the Compendium of the Aether, a sort of guide to summoning and how that stuff generally works. So... Where do you wanna start?"

>>224537
Start with the Compendium's index, if it's got one, or table of contents if it doesn't.
Check for things relating to the situation. If there is any such thing, investigate it.

You could do a quick look-over of the catalogue, but I doubt our demon will be in there. After that, split. Tiffany reads the one in the romantic language, Gareth reads the one in nxtsaa'u.

Oh, and what we're looking for is a way to prevent him from hurting folks without our permission. That's something he's reasonably likely to agree to, and it's all we really need. Some sort of remote communication clause might be acceptable, but I think we would be able to do that anyway since we're giving him a bit of our soul.

>>224537
First off keep an eye on the time. Set a watch to an hour or some before sunset if you can.

The book of well known spirits won't likely be any good, this is Hakun's thing and he wasn't familiar with a Cimmerian anything at all. The sprites and phantasms might have something of interest, but if you can't find an informative entry quickly it may not be worth it. If you can find mention of "greater demons" thought that may be worthwhile. You flip through it for that, move on to the hard stuff.

Nojstra Sdan Aerzia and Lahushan Hankuan Tugunsa will have the most important details, Tiff should read the first and Gareth the other.

Hey, this would be a good time to bring up Dad's strange behavior before the demon hurt Mulder. What was THAT about? It was like Dad was able to channel the demon somehow.

>>224563
No, dad was talking and his words were drowned out by the demons voice in our head. Dad had nothing to do with it.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)12:41 No. 224587 ID: 426169
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Before digging in, Tiffany sets an alarm to her cell phone (no coverage, who would've thought) to about ninety minutes before sunset.

Tiffany and Gareth spent the next two hours poring over the books.

A quick glance over the catalogue just confirmed that the Cimmerian Hollows isn't in there. Greater daemons in general are largely absent from that volume.
Interestingly, the Reaper Man is in there.

The Reaper Man is the Guardian of the Underworld, the Gatekeeper of the Threshold. Bound into the service of the Lords of the Underworld, this greater daemon looms over the Compact, slaying all those found guilty of breaching it. Otherwise this creature is compelled to inaction by whatever spells the Lords placed upon it. It has been observed to take the form of a winged creature, resembling a robed man when the wings are folded. It is believed to be among the oldest daemons in existence.

The Compendium doesn't have an index or a table of contents. Just a foreword by some Librarian. However, a brief examination reveals that it deals mostly with selecting a proper spirit to summon, then opening the Weave (whatever that means) to let the spirit pass through. It goes through a good number of methods on how to bind the spirit, but they all seem to require the spell being prepared before the actual summoning takes place. Another good chunk is dedicated to severing the bind and casting the spirit back into the 'aether'. In one passage it mentions that in an emergency, it can be enough to simply sever the bind, as any spirits without an anchor will inevitably dissipate and return to the aether. It is just a matter of time. Someone's scribbled an addendum to the margins, saying: "Don't do this with malicious spirits."

On the Nature of Sprites and Fantasms describes the principles of binding in more detail. Apparently, an essential part of a spirit's residence on our side of reality is the bind. It is a complicated spell, both affixing the spirit to something in the real world and dictating the conditions and behavior of the spirit. The stricter the desired behavior, the more complicated the spell. The book mentions that spirits are subject to something called the etherial wind and without a binding spell to anchor them, they will dissipate and helplessly drift further away from our world, until they become entangled with the Weave and are pushed through to the Outside. Some types of spirits are capable of resisting this on their own accord for a time, but expulsion is always inevitable.
There's also a mention of something called a Marker. Apparently, Markers serve as a kind of beacon, attracting loose spirits and offering a temporary foothold. They're mostly used in summoning rituals, to ease the calling of spirits from the Outside.

The Nojstra Sdan Aerzia, with it's incomplete translations goes over some particular rituals for summoning daemons, shades and something translated as a 'dirge child'. It describes methods for binding spirits into objects, places and people, and turning them into mindless puppets for the wizard. The runic designs are incredibly complex, and the partial translation makes interpreting them correctly iffy at best. A basic obediance bind seems possible, if lengthy to prepare.

At this point, Gareth slams the book on the table.

>Gareth: "Oh bloody hell."

"What?"

>Gareth: "If I'm reading this part right, and I suspect I am, we're screwed. Any binding process must begin while the spirit is travelling through the Weave. That's the only time when it can't resist the binding. Once it's here, the only way we'll ever get a bind on it is if it agrees to be bound, and that's bloody not gonna happen."

"... I dunno. Maybe we can find a way to bind it that it would agree to?"

>Gareth: "Like what?"

"Like... I guess preventing him from hurting people without permission? That's the only thing I need I guess, and that's not too bad a deal is it?"

>Gareth: "YOu kidding me? Daemons live for death and torture. That's exactly what it wants to do, it's not gonna agree to a deal like that."

"I dunno. He didn't seem that hell-bent on destruction."

>Gareth: "Or it was lying to you. It's a daemon. Can't trust it."

"Well... If we knew who he was, we could try and figure out what he's after? Like, why'd he come here voluntarily?"

>Gareth: "... So... The Cimmerian Hollows was it? That's the only lead we have. Any ideas where to start looking?"

>>224587
Well you've been looking for books on demons, let's focus on books about the spirit realm and the Outside specifically.

We need to also figure out just how to set up the binding, let's figure that out as soon as we can. As for the demon itself if it were all about destruction it would have just gone ahead and done that. It must want something. Who knows it might even be in our interests.

Time check?

>>224537
Summoner's Catalogue. This guy used to wreck ARMIES for the Kinsleys, it should be well-known.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)14:28 No. 224638 ID: 426169
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All right, five hours until D-day. Or H-hour. Whatever.

"You know any other books about the Outside?"

>"I'll fetch more in a bit. Strange, though. You said this thing's been summoned by the Kinsley's before? And that he's wrecked whole damn armies? ... He should be in here. ... Hmm. All right, so this one was compiled in nineteen twelve. Maybe there are more recent catalogues that he'd be in?"

>>224638
"Crap. Try older. Much older. Let-us-never-speak-of-this-again older."

no, if he was recent then he wouldn't be anywhere NEAR as smart as he is. you need older.

>>224638
Okay, we've learned some interesting principles... but not nearly enough. If you haven't made any progress on finding the Cimmerian Hollows or gotten a decent defense against the demon in the next hour, you need to kick this one upstairs.

Not all the way to the elders, but Duncan is a librarian so he'd almost certainly be able to find the relevant books in a matter of minutes, and he's at least a little bit on your side. I'd go tell him that you need help, if it doesn't look like you'll be able to get something solid together in time.

At the moment, the best plan I've got is showing up (without Mulder, since he's a weakness in this situation), telling Dad to leave, and then using our endless font of chutzpah to convince to daemon to agree to some weak bindings. Something like not harming us, our friends or our family, and maybe not lying to us. That still leaves the vast majority of the world open for killing. But that plan kind of sucks, frankly.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)16:30 No. 224693 ID: 426169
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"Nope. Older. Waaay older."

>"Aight. That's a lot of history to cover. I'll fetch you something on the Outside and start digging through older catalogues."

Soon Tiffany was browsing through a medieval manuscript detailing the metaphysics of the Aether, or the Outside as it's now called.

Apparently, there are three major partitions of the world. The Middle World (ours), the Underworld (where souls go when we die) and the Outside (where spirits and daemons live). All three are apparently separated by a magical barrier called the Weave. Apparently us humans are responsible for maintaining the Weave. Now, there's a section of the Weave that separates the Middle World and the Underworld. That's called the Threshold. That's apparently supposed to allow souls to pass through. This would be the, uh, 'tuaftia' part of the soul. This process is watched over by the Reaper Man. I guess this is part of an agreement we have with the lords of the Underworld, known as the Compact. So, hmm. The Weave is normally impenetrable to spirits from the Outside, but it's possible to open it just enough to allow something in. Normally that'd be part of a summoning ritual, or a consequence of me bitch-slapping Death, whatever. Now, that's about as much as I can figure out. I'm not quite sure why we're maintaining the Weave, or rather, why it needs maintaining in the first place, or how the Bone King connects to all this... And what's up with this 'Middle World' thing? So we have a middle and an under, but no top? What's up with that?

Damn these manuscripts are goddamn incomprehensible. I guess I'll need to pick more specific questions and look up the appropriate books. If only-

>"Hey Tiff! I got it!"

"Whoa, you did? Tell me already!"

>"All right, so I traced back the known history of these congregations, right, no mention of this Cimmerian thing. Like, at all. The oldest catalogue I could find was compiled sometime in 540 BC. Ish. I was about ready to give up when I bumped into one of the Librarians. Out of sheer desperation I asked him, and he told me where to find this here book."

"What is it?"

>"It's got photographs of engravings found in one of our digs in the thirties. Engravings in early nxtsaa'u. And you know what it says right near the top? 'Lahaun hankuan kantas' or 'the peoples of the evil spirits'. It's a goddamn catalogue. From before the Harrowing. They weren't indexed in with the rest of the catalogues since it wasn't verified by Librarians but how could they? Our clan didn't even exist at the time. And sure enough, one of the names mentioned there is 'unkaftuugan lunaxt'. Guess what that translates to?"

"The Cimmerian Hollows?"

>"Bingo. Pretty cool huh?"

"Nice work."

>"But wait, there's more. I checked the earliest verified catalogue for the nxtsaa'u name. Wasn't there either. That lead me to conclude that something happened to the Cimmerian Hollows between the compilation dates. Don't know what, exactly, but something relating to the Harrowing isn't a bad guess. From what the Cimmerian told you, maybe they were used as troops in the war?"

Look up books about familiars. Maybe there's something in those we can use.
Or, maybe something to use as a base to start from. We might have to improvise something.

Also... Would it be safe to postcog some of the books?

>>224693
Obviously, the Kinsley magic and bloodline goes back far further than the clan itself.

More immediately relevant, however, is that you're dealing with a creature that fought in the ages of prehistory. Since magic is one of those things that gets weaker as time goes on, it must be absurdly powerful. End-of-the-world levels of death and destruction here.

How did that prophesy crazyman told you go? Care to repeat it for us?

>>224693
To-do List:
-Learn more about the daemon
-Discover how to exert control over the demon
-Get a copy of control bindings
-Get a copy of bindings that we actually understand and can reliably use
-Discover other ways to anchor the spirit to our world
-Discover what will happen if we give the daemon part of our soul like it asked
-Come up with a decent plan

Time: Low. But there are only a couple more things to figure out here, I think. We have an obedience binding, though we don't know if it will work and we might fuck it up. That would, if I'm understanding this correctly, keep the daemon in the world even without any part of our soul. So what remains is to figure out why he wanted what he wanted, and then figure out exactly what we want to do and get whatever information to do it.

I still think that bringing in Duncan on this one would be the easiest route here. If you guys are dead set against, we don't have to and can spend our last few precious hours trying to put something solid together, but it seems smarter to bring in a relative professional here. This is a very, very large and nasty daemon; we're toying with high explosives only half-informed and with tools we can barely use.

That is all fascinating but not enough. What the hell does it want? I'm afraid we'll be reduced to just asking him, and bargaining with a devil with that kind position does not help.

We can make some guesses at least. Perhaps the Hollows were destroyed, and this demon has simply been lost since then, and trapped between existences? If it simply wants to be free of that that wouldn't be horrible. It makes his whole story and position... more believable.

Anyways I think that going more into history is going to serve us little good. Let's work on exactly how to safely give that guy a piece of our soul. Consult the demon binding texts, sketch out some runes and lets head down there while we still have time.

Tiffany 2010/09/01(Wed)19:36 No. 224800 ID: 426169
File 128339497638.png - (117.70KB , 800x800 , 509.png )

"Maybe. I guess we'll have to figure out what kind of a deal he'd accept, and figure out how to make it happen."

>"You're right, as usual. For one, I don't think he'd accept being bound to an object or place. That means we're still stuck chopping up bits of someone's soul, as that's essential for binding a daemon to a human."

"I'll be the volunteer. And I know how to do that. Got any paper? I need to draw."

A few moments later they had a working abstract for the ritual. Soul eater to disconnect a part of the soul, pump to move it, some unknown stuff to dictate the terms and a connection point for the daemon.

"Right, so we still need those terms in there somehow. Any ideas? Maybe ask Duncan?"

>"I don't see how Duncan could help. We need to know what he's after. Did he say anything else?"

Things we know it might want:
1) “On your orders, I would tear apart everyone who stood in your way. I would rend their defenses asunder and feast upon their flesh. Should you accept, that is.”- as such, it may take pride in war, and enjoy feasting upon flesh, as it seems able to live longer if it eats flesh (although it may only be human)
2) “Without your presence I could not have returned to this world, you have my thanks."- As such, it would probably feel more compelled in your service if you could secure a more permanent form into this relm. Maybe a second familiar-like creature?
3) “You mortals have a history of seeking to enslave and abuse my kind.” – Some method of warding him from future enslavement would probably be considered very good to this daemon.

yeah. give him some restrictions but leave him a measure of freewill. he would like that.

>>224800
Okay, so. We chop up a bit of Tiffany's soul, give it to the demon; apparently that's standard for bindings, if Gareth says so.

I think we could get away with binding it to
1) Do no harm to Tiffany, her family, or her friends
2) Never lie to her

Neither of those is that restrictive, so it'd probably put up with them without much of a problem. Unfortunately, I haven't the faintest idea how to express that using runes. Binding it somehow to oppose her enemies would be good as well, because this thing is probably right on level with other soldiers from the Harrowing- like that immortal, which has been described as basically death walking. If it decided to work for Alexander, it could... ah... create problems.


Anyway, spell. We obviously use sever soul piece and Al-Asmari, just like before. After that, though... well, we've got at least the spirit pump chant. Then presumably we'd use the binding for any restrictions, instead of giving a special ability to our familiar as before. This assumes that we actually have a binding chant corresponding to whatever runes we write to use.

I suspect that once we've used the soul pump to move our soul bit into the circle with the demon, it can handle actually putting the soul into itself on its own. If it could have just eaten Mulder and made that work, presumably it's got the know-how for self-binding. Assuming that's true, I suspect that we can just use a plain circle in place of the sevenfold seal- the demon will already be in the circle, assuming we draw it around it, so we shouldn't even need an entry path beyond the initial line connection.

If that is not true and we have to use a spell to stick the demon with our bindings, then we'll need... something else. The sevenfold seal's chant from before might work- that was described as being responsible for the soul bindings. That said, without a proper seal, what would we focus upon during the rite? Is that even that important?


It seems that the next task before us is to dig up the right runes for binding the daemon to any restrictions. And figuring out how to pronounce the associated words.

Also, we should ask Gareth if the daemon having our soul in it will give us any power over it. Or it any power over us. Or anyone any ability to use that for something, really. We need more background on that, just to know what we're getting into.

>>224817
Except some of Tiffany's biggest enemies ARE family, remember? Alexander, the Rothwalds (though we wish they weren't), and maybe some of the Kinsleys, too.

>>224833
Heh, I'd thought of "family" in the sense that if Tiffany disowned someone they'd be a valid target, but I suppose that's an oversight on my part. I would strongly recommend coming up with a better set of suggestions if you see holes in what I suggested, because I'm going to sleep and probably won't be around for the next batch of updates to worry about this.

>"My presence in your world is fleeting. I wish to extend my stay, and you have the means to do it. If you agree, I will be your willing slave until you see fit to release me. My powers are considerable, and my servitude is worth far more than what I would ask of you."

He said he'd be our willing slave. So let's hold him to that.

How about we just bind him to not harm people unless ordered to? That's basically all we want. He said he's easily able to avoid detection; keep in mind that would be difficult to do while going around killing people anyway.

Tiffany 2010/09/02(Thu)17:27 No. 225065 ID: 426169
File 128347367029.png - (181.72KB , 800x800 , 510.png )

"Maybe. It seems to like war all right. You think giving it a piece of my soul would give it power over me, or the other way around?"

>"I don't know. Seems like it would've been mentioned if it was a problem. I guess the bind prevents that sorta stuff from happening?"

"Hopefully. Anyway, I think I could get it to agree to not hurt people without permission. Think we could find something like that?"

>"Hmm. Yeah, hang on."

Gareth spends a good while going through the Lahushan. Finally he lays the book down on the table, and taps the open page.

>"I think this might work. It's called the Curse of Earth. The translation's a little sketchy, but it forces the daemon to take a physical form that limits the amount of power at it's disposal. You could temporarily release it from that form if you wanted, but even then it'd be unable to harm a human without orders. I mean, even with orders it could still refuse, it's not compelled to obey in any other way. You think he'd take a deal like that?"

sounds like a good one. would leave him free will but stop him from going ape shit on people.

Tiffany 2010/09/02(Thu)17:58 No. 225076 ID: 426169
File 128347550164.png - (136.84KB , 800x800 , 511.png )

"Sounds like a good one. Would leave him free will, stop him from going on a rampage. What's the deal with the body, though?"

>"Not sure. As I understand it, spirits normally remain incorporeal and just possess stuff on occasion. Or get semi-permanently locked inside objects or whatnot. Like that skeleton thing the daemon is currently possessing. Hakun might know. Anyway, I've got the proper chants for the Curse, how's that ritual coming?"

"You know... I think we're about done. Sever, pump, banish, bind, transfer to daemon. I'm hoping the daemon can take care of grabbing a hold of that soul piece by himself, I don't really know how to do that."

>"Well we've still got two hours. What do you wanna do?"

Make sure our demon friend does not violate the compact. We don't need a Tiffany vs Reaper man round 2 so soon.

>>225076
Why would the sevenfold seal be overkill? Do it anyway! THERE IS NO ENGINEERING LIKE OVER-ENGINEERING!
Also, does the Kinsley clan keep a supply of blood around for these kinds of things? Human blood would, obviously, work best, but animal blood would do in a pinch. At the very least head into town and pick up some bloodmeal from the garden shop.

>>225076
We trust one other person here: Duncan. He should at least know what's going on in case it all goes to shit. He might know something useful too. Don't cut it at all close, head down there even before our 90 minute timer if there's nothing else needed to do.

Other than that, some redundancy in our design and knowing other runes in case we need to edit something at the last minute. >>225088 has kind of the right idea, but I'm not sure we need a bunch of blood. Unless I'm missing something the only blood we would need is our own... grab some water to keep hydrated.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)00:39 No. 225222 ID: 426169
File 128349959170.png - (153.01KB , 800x800 , 512.png )

"I'll need to gather some stuff for the ritual. You think we should tell Duncan?"

>"Not sure. He's a good man and all, but he's... I dunno. He'd be obligated to tell the elders about something like this. And who could blame him? But it's your call, I guess."

Damnit. And then the clan would move in against the daemon, and dad'd be dead and it'd be my fault.
But I do need someone to warn the clan if things go to shit. That leaves Mulder or Gareth. ... If I'm dead, Mulder's likely to be down for the count. So... Gareth. Besides, bringing him might piss off the daemon. Dunno how I'd get him to stay behind, though. It's like he's looking forward to this.

if gareth comes he needs to look as non-threatening as he can, take off his claok so he he can't be claimed to be concealing something and have both hands up in the air open, so it can see he has nothing in them. then draw out and explain exactly what your bindings will be. and how you will do it.

>>225222
It's not a matter of getting him to. You tell him to. You can explain why, in the likely even that he whines. It's not like he's some insane nincompoop that can't see reason.

Well... there's also Joyce, if she's still around. She certainly likes you, your dad and of course Gareth. As a hunter she'd have a tough time going along with something so dangerous, but she is also more likely to know something useful than Duncan. She doesn't have much love for the doddering ways of much of the clan either so that makes it less likely she'll sounds the alarm.

If we chose not to inform her, we should at least have her be the first one Gareth talks to if things go wrong. He knows her best anyway, ask him if talking to her beforehand is wise and how to go about it.

No, let's not tell anyone. We don't need any more help... Gareth has allowed us to get the information we need. Everything else we have to do by ourselves.

Solo ritual. If Gareth comes, and we hide him, then the demon finds out? Death. If Gareth comes and is in full view? Useless; if something goes wrong he dies too. Just leave him out, or at most have him watch at the edge of the forest.

>>225254
ah yes. tell him "if i'm not back by morning nuke the forest."

Oh... since we have all these books, how about we look up the exact terms of the Compact?

We might want to check and see just how many bits of soul we can safely lose and what the long term effects will be of doing so. Does soul grow back over time? Can you spread yourself to thin?

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)05:54 No. 225294 ID: 426169
File 12835184779.png - (94.94KB , 800x800 , 513.png )

"Look... When I go back there, I can't take you with me."

>"What? That's total bullshit and you know it!"

"It's not bullshit, man. If you come and the daemon gets pissed, we're dead. If you come and I mess something up, you die needlessly. But if you stay here you can raise the alarm if I don't come back by... morning I guess."

>"This is nuts. You're nuts."

"Look, it's the best way. If I don't come back, go tell Joyce. She'll know what to do."

>"You're seriously gonna go there alone, unarmed with nothing but a few two-penny rituals and a piece of chalk? Can we at least get you a weapon?"

"what weapon could a little girl carry that could kill a greater daemon in one hit? in fact, what weapon could you carry that could kill him in one hit? anything less then instant would leave us vulnerable and we would die."

>>225294
"Sure. Have anything that's powerful enough to destroy an ancient demon whose name has been lost to myths and legends, but won't cause it to leap into a fury on-sight?

Yes, this is bullshit. The entire damn situation is bullshit. But I'm short on options and time, so unless you know some way to get Dad out of this safely then I'm going to do the best I can with what I have."

I don't have the time to do so now, so could somebody else go review that prophesy to see if this is mentioned anywhere in it? If so then we should probably just go get help - one person isn't worth the fate of the world.

>>225294
That spear worked pretty good. Is it done yet?

>>225294
Can we leave Mulder with Gareth, and have him use our familiar link with Mulder to spy on us like the daemon could? Then he'd be informed but relatively safe. Of course, if the daemon could detect that, then that wouldn't be the best idea, either.

Something to put the ritual markings on that's better than chalk-on-nothing might be a good idea, too. Last time you conducted a ritual this size it was indoors on a sheet. You don't want uneven terrain to fuck up the spell.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)06:29 No. 225308 ID: 426169
File 12835205557.png - (84.20KB , 800x800 , 514.png )

"You got a weapon that would help?"

>"... Point."

Gareth sits back down, obviously deflated.

>"You've got balls, I grant you that. If you live through this I'm pretty sure you qualify as the ballsiest person I know. Pretty good for a girl."

"Hey!"

>"Yeah whatever. So you need anything else done before you head out?"

"Well... I'm a little worried that I'd wind up breaking the compact by mistake. Do you know anything about that?"

>"A little. They've got some translations of it around here. Some parts are for the Weavers only, but the even the publicly accessible volumes take up like fifteen meters of shelf-space. Even the original is long, the translations maybe twice that. I hear nxtsaa'u is a real bitch to translate, and it's mostly legalese anyway. If you think real lawyers are bastards, boy I've got something to tell you. Anyway, I don't think it'd be a problem, since you wouldn't be disturbing the Weave, or trying to pass through the Threshold, or attempting to extend someone's life, or raise someone from the dead. Even if it did something to break the compact, it would be in trouble, not you. Well, unless you ordered it to do something to break the compact, I guess."

"That's not as reassuring as I'd like. Do you know anything about separating soul fragments? Is there a limit? Any long-term consequences?"

>"I honestly don't know. I've never heard of anyone doing it more than once, but I've never heard any cautionary tales or warnings about it either. I'm not even too sure who to ask about something like that. You, uh, ready to head out?"

>>225308
...did we disturb the Weave by attacking the Reaper last time? Oops! Let's avoid that in the future!

Also seems like bringing back our brother will be impossible. It is a clear violation of the Compact. Alexander was stringing us along with that promise...

yeah, we can't bring him back. but we can probably just see him again, just to tell him we are sorry and that we still love him. it's all we really need.
anyway, problem at hand, think we are ready.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)07:38 No. 225314 ID: 426169
File 128352470539.png - (85.05KB , 800x300 , 515.png )

Half an hour later Tiffany had gathered the equipment she needed for the ritual, and Gareth was escorting her to the gates.

"You better keep Mulder. If something happens to me, he'll know."

>"Right. When he croaks I raise hell. ... Look, be careful out there."

"I try."

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)08:00 No. 225317 ID: 426169
File 128352600158.png - (54.46KB , 300x900 , 516.png )

The road back seems to last forever. The forest, now filled with shadows and strange noises, bears down on Tiffany, whose heart is already filled with dread. Only a small flicker of hope remains, hope that both she and her father will live until the morning. A pact with a daemon of untold power, a great prize for a great risk.

At long last, she reaches the edge of the darkened valley, now filled with an unearthly glow. She can see her father standing near the dark shape dominating the entire valley. Jester is nowhere to be seen.

>"So the young necromancer returns. Are you ready to perform the soul-link?"

Suddenly the words escape her. How should she explain to the daemon that the deal has been changed? Oh god was it this big before?

>>225317
"I'm ready to help us both get what we want. You want to stay here, and not as a mindless slave. I want to not end up controlled or dead and for you to not to be an endless killing machine. I think we can manage both, if you agree to it."

"But just to be sure we're both getting a good deal, tell me more about what you want and your story. What happened to the Hallows during the harrowing?"

>>225324
That sounds about right.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)10:03 No. 225355 ID: 426169
File 128353338420.png - (39.31KB , 200x800 , 517.png )

"Umm, not exactly."

>"What?"

"Pleasedontkillme, lemme explain."

>"Speak your words, mortal. I will judge the value of your life accordingly, so be prudent."

"I'm ready to help us both get what we want. You want to stay here, and not as a mindless slave. I want to not end up controlled or dead and for you to not to be an endless killing machine. I think we can manage both, if you agree to it. But just to be sure we're both getting a good deal, tell me more about what you want and your story. What happened to the Hallows during the harrowing?"

>"It sickens me how quickly you mortals forget the atrocities you commit. I am in no mood to give history lessons to the descendants of traitors."

"Could you at least tell me how did they betray you?"

>"No. This discussion bores me. Speak your proposal."

Well, speak the proposal.

>>225355
Just come out with it. The Curse of Earth. Dampen his power unless we need him to kill something. He gets to live with free will, and we don't have to worry about him killing everyone.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)11:48 No. 225375 ID: 426169
File 128353972751.png - (30.45KB , 300x900 , 518.png )

"I want to put the Curse of Earth on you. It'll prevent you ... from hurting people without..."

Tiffany trails off.

>>225375
The next word should be "permission".

But what are we seeing? Did he go invisible? I don't get it.

>>225375
Without reason?

>>225375

Tiffany? Tiffany?? TIFFANYYYYYYYYYYYY

Tiffany, get ahold of yourself. He's trying to intimidate you. He's trying to get you to just hand over the soul fragment without any restrictions. We're just haggling right now. Don't back down! There's no reason for the demon to straight up kill you for simply researching different ways to do the procedure and discussing it with him.

>>225387
He does sort of have the upper hand, though.

But getting intimidated is not really wise. Be strong, Tiffany! Manifest your gigantic balls!

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)12:54 No. 225396 ID: 426169
File 128354364380.png - (26.95KB , 200x800 , 519.png )

>"He he he. Ha ha ha ha HA HA ha HA Ha HA ha ha HA"

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)12:58 No. 225397 ID: 426169
File 128354392975.png - (26.50KB , 200x800 , 520.png )

>"HAHAHAHAHAHAAA! I ACCEPT! Do your magic, mortal. And do it quickly!"

Wait one second, where is dad? Shouldn't he have greeted us when we came in?

He's running out of time on this world. Get the runes written out. Work quickly but carefully.

>>225398

Enough waiting. Let's bind this guy and get him set up. He sure seems pretty cheerful for a person about to get cursed.

Tiffany 2010/09/03(Fri)14:04 No. 225408 ID: 426169
File 128354788614.png - (152.38KB , 800x800 , 521.png )

Tiffany lays out the white sheet she brought over the large stone. With shaky hands she lights a few candles, and gets the knife and chalk ready. The daemons presence is pressing down on her, making it hard to concentrate. Meaningless runes dance in her head, as she struggles to remember the correct symbols.

Oh man what was I supposed to do first?