Woman

inb4 herm

man.

man

Woman

Oh buck, I think I know this one.

Man!

woman

Oh, by the way, I hope you guys enjoy this thing.

Woman~

WOMAN IT IS.

Throughout the Sands there are many kinds of people, with many talents.

Allocate ten points among these skills.

SCIENCE: Knowledge and application thereof of advanced sciences.

SHOOTING: Marksmanship, maintenance, knowledge of guns and ammo.

MAGIC: Knowledge of spells and powers derived from drawing from the Taint.

STRENGTH: Power in the physical sense, in terms of combat and application of upper and lower body strength.

SNEAKERY: Knowledge of bypassing security, locks, and people without notice, as well as more dextrous forms of combat.

PSIONICS: Knowledge of supernatural powers that do not touch the Taint and are instead fueled by the mind.

I say we dump all our stat points into one stat.

Actually, buck that, my suggestion is 5 Magic/5 Shooting.

Any agreements? It sounds the most INTERESTING at least. o wo

>>374744
Agreed... with the exception of science and sneaking the other 4 are all different ways of doing the same thing (killing people) and it is best to specialize at once as there is no synergy (except perhaps if it is more efficient to enchant an item, like a gun, then it is to kill directly with magic/psi).
Not only that, science AND sneaking can both be replaced with magic and psionics which are the UR abilities. Actually EVERYTHING on the list can be replaced by magic and psionics.

And the difference between the two is really that magic means being tainted and psionics means not.

So I vote 10 Magic and play a "practical person who understands that morality is an illusion" who is trying to harness the taint, demons, evil etc to your own whims to conquer the world...

If you must be all moralfag though then put 10 Psionics but it is certainly a second choice here.

>>374752

Might be a LITTLE more complicated than that for all we know, at least with regards to the whole Magic vs. Psionics dilemma.

Either way pouring all our stat points into magic DOES sound hilarious and awesome. I still like shooting stuff, though. XD

I'm goin' with MAGIC 10 too. FEAR THE TAINT!

>>374754
No it is better to go with a minor and a major. If you don't expect there will be immunities and opponents for which psionics and magic will be invitations you are way too optimistic.

I'd say Science 7 and magic 3.

Switching my vote to 10 MAG, then.

Your skills are as follows:

SCIENCE: You understand basic robotic theory and how to properly dissassemble devices from pre-Calamity. (Gained Perk: Construction 1)
SHOOTING: You are proficient in the weilding and firing of small arms, but you're no sharpshooter. (Gained Perk: Lucky Shot)
MAGIC: You are highly proficient with magic and know several spells. However, past use and contact with the Taint has warped you. (More on this later, and the Perk as well.)
STRENGTH: You are physically weak, and cannot carry much. Melee combat is frightening to you. (gained Perk: Cowardly)
SNEAKERY: You are not very sneaky, in fact, your prescence practically broadcasts itself. (Gained Perk: Frightening Prescence)
PSIONICS: You were not born with Psionic power. In fact, you are bereft of psionic influence entirely. (Gained Perk: Null)

What Discipline of magic are you a part of? Keep in mind that every Discipline comes with unknown attendant mutations, no matter how careful you are with Taint.

White Magic: The magic of the Angels. Healing, ailment curing, and some Light-based spells.

Black Magic: The magic of Demons. Harm, ailment-causing, and darkness-based spells.

Fire/Heat: Harnessing the heat of the Sands. Fire, warmth, heat, fury are your domains.

Ice/Chill: Harnessing the cold of the nights. Ice, cold, quiet, and calm are your domains.

Wind/Sand: Harnessing the terrible winds of the Sands.
Sand, wind, bluster, and weight are your domains.

Water/Salt: Harnessing the power of the scant Waters.
Water, Dehydration, nimbleness, and swiftness are your domains.

Due to high skill, you may also select a subDiscipline:

Hate, Love, Anger, Betrayal, Destruction, Beauty, Mutation, and Lightning are your choices.

>>374773
Is this Magic 10?

Oh, and BLACK MUTATION MAGIC.

FOR CHAOS.

My vote goes to White Magic/Lightning.

But then I'm a Paladinfag.

>>374776
Actually, scratch that.

White/Mutation could be very, very fun.

Ice/Love.

After all the embrace of cold can be a versatile tool.

>>374783
You're missing the awesome implications of the fact that WHITE MAGIC IS TAINTED TOO.

>>374774
upvoting Black magic and mutations!
We would summon demons and upgrade our minion hordes!
Destruction remains a second choice here (go nuclear!)

So what is the actual point breakdown? It looks like 1 or 2 in science and shooting each, and everyhing else in magic; which seems like an auto compromise between the various sides

>>374780
There is an erase button at the bottom right if you change your mind
Also if we wanted a paladin we should have not gone full taint

fire, ice, wind, water and lightening are just your basic elementals and seem kind of a waste to take.
White magic seems to go against the plan of being a tainted mage to begin with, so pass.

Hate, Love, Anger, Betrayal - nice to manipulate emotions, but those are all rather specific. All, including love, would be interesting to manipulate if we go with conquest.
Beauty sounds underwhelming.
Lightning sounds like an overly focused aspect of destruction that is less likely to synergize with our black magic then destruction would.

White mutation!

you are a skilled student of Black Magic and the mechanics of Mutation. You can, with effort, summon demons to this world - but they will not be immediately obedient.

Spells:
Inflict Pain: 3 Taint, causes target to suffer pain of 4 on a 1-10 scale.

Summon Minor Demon: 10 Taint, summons a minor demon to the Material plane permanently.

Cause sickness: 5 Taint, Induce vomiting and nausea in the target.

Darkness: 6 Taint, causes a zone of darkness to appear and persist for 10 minutes. The zone cannot be penetrated by mundane light sources, but will be destroyed by sunlight in ten seconds.

Muddle Mutation: Cause (free) or reroll (3 Taint) a mutation in a target (including oneself).


HOW MAGIC WORKS:

Suggest a spell and its application.
If the spell is used, its Taint is added to current Taint.
WARNING, THERE IS NO WAY TO REMOVE TAINT.
Every 100 Taint, a new mutation will be rolled.

Be warned, each mutation will usually be highly visible, and will impact social interactions.

Current mutations:

Long Horns: A pair of horns, each a foot long, jut from your forehead like long, thick spikes. These are strong enough to hurt enemies.

Tail: A tail as thick as your fist at the base and four feet long extends from the end of your spinal cord. It affords additional balance.

Extra row of teeth: Exactly as described, an extra row of teeth juts out behind your usual one. This mutation has little use, and is disturbing.

Finally, you gain the Magic Perk: Mutation-inured.

Finally, do you hail from a pre-Calamity Vault, a bandit camp, or a shanty town?

VAULT! VAULT! VAULT!

And we totally sacrificed all those naive little bitches to Satan or something.

VAULT. And due to a flaw in the vault's Water Recycling system, everyone was MORE mutated than they would have been in the wastes.

>>374803
Okay I lol'd.

Well, that was easy.

Those were my first thoughts on emerging from my home of twenty years. The air smelled of strange new things, and the yawning, dizzying sky welcomed me. The vast, wide desert before the Vault seemed to call to me, and behind me, the mountain almost seemed to be so terrifyingly tall it would curve overhead. In the distance, I can see creatures moving about the blood-colored sand.

My jumpsuit used to be gold and white - now, it's red and black. Well, at least to my waist. The Lion over my breast has been spattered, too, and up to my elbows is dyed. The blood of a thousand men and woman covered my outfit, and I think... Yes. I like this color. They never really meant much to me, anyway. I was an orphan since the day I was born, and no one had the mind to care for me...

So I cared for myself. I worked and lived on my own merits, repairing failing systems, working on machines. Then one day, I found a book, bound in white leather. I spent day and night reading it - what secrets it contained! To this day I clutch it in one hand, its soft whispers comforting me in the worst of times, and laughing with me in the best. I used it to summon my first demon - Legion - and learned its powers of sacrifice and might.

Using the White Book, you can sacrifice individuals. The process takes ten minutes, and requires the victim to be restrained. However, every ten people you sacrifice in this way nets you a new spell, which is recorded in the Books endless pages.

Now that I am free to roam the sands...


Where should I go?
What should my objective be, or do I even have one?
Should I keep my given name, or take a new one?

Holy buck, we actually DID sacrifice them to Satan.

BUCK.

... Or.

... No, BUCK.

That's not it at all.

Sera sacrificed them all to US.

TO US.

>>374830
No, if we'd sacrificed a thousand men and women we'd have a thousand spells. We have... five.

>>374834
No, according to the spell book's properties we'd have a hundred.

... Which means she sacrificed fifty people to us, sounds like?

... Awesome.

I propose we keep our given name and look for some clothes that aren't a blood-spattered jumpsuit in gay Paladinfag colors.

(I know I'm a Paladinfag, but this obviously isn't a Paladin run, so...)

>>374840
Right you are. My mistake.

Keep your name, but don't tell it to others. Move towards whatever creatures that you see; your objective must be to find victims and gain in power. Soon, perhaps, you will learn the necessary methods to bind demons as well as call them up.

Jeeze, we make a small and ineffectual Legion.

>>374828
Current objective- get a gun. Or do we have some manner of weapon aside from horns? Current magical abilities do not lend themselves to offense, and casual use could be bad. Inventory check please.

Also consider rerolling the teeth. The taint cost is very low and we may be able to get something more useful.

>>374854
>Inventory check

You currently own:
A small 9mm handgun.
Five clips of ammunition (73 bullets total - one in the chamber, twelve in the gun, 60 in backpack)
Vault Jumpsuit [Bloody]
The White Book
10 Healing Stimulant Syringe Packs
Vault Jumpsuit
Vault Jumpsuit

Taint Check: 446

I don't see any humans nearby, just... creatures. They look like shambling mounds of flesh, covered in eyes and mouths. There's at least ten of them on the way down the mountain...

Looking in the distance, I can see a large building, however, flanked by the remains of several others. It stands starkly out compared to the piles of rubble nearby.

>>374860
Well, obviously we aren't behooved to change NOW, but since we already HAVE a change of clothes available, it may behoove us to use it at the first sign of civilization.

People tend to abhor blood-stained demonic-looking mutants.

In fact, maybe change now and start towards those buildings?

Much less foreboding than those gibberlings.

>>374860
>They look like shambling mounds of flesh, covered in eyes and mouths.
If they are made of flesh and capable of independent motion, you can likely sacrifice them. Personhood is rather relative.

Unfortunately, the time and force required to restrain them for sacrifice is not available at the moment, so head for the large building instead.

>>374854
>Reroll teeth
Upvote on the teeth

>Where should I go?
Back inside the vault, and use its sturdy doors as containment measures as we summon some minor (this is important) demons and get them to serve us with threats of pain (which we can easily cause) and offers of power (conquest and mutation). Then we could have some disposable assets.

Find some restraints such as cuffs and rope inside too for yourself and minions. nets hopefully. After that, send the demons out to scout the land and see if there are settlements or bandits around. Bandits are an excellent first conquest as they will allow you to conquer further once you mutate them.

>What should my objective be, or do I even have one?
Power is obvious, the question is really are you a destroyer or a conquerer. I say conquerer is more interesting and also the reason we chose mutation. Slaves are where its at, they breed too and thus provide a steady source of sacrifices and new minions.

A mid term goal is to sacrifice enough victims to get a spell to bind demons to serve us.

We should also be powerful enough to capture scientists and perhaps other type of mages to help us with research.

>Should I keep my given name, or take a new one?
Definitely new one (we will have to name her either way), but it has to be a really good one and I can't think of one at the moment... can anyone help?

How many people have we sacrificed since getting our last spell?

That is a LOT of taint, looking back at that level, there.

>Muddle Mutation casted.

I close my eyes and then open them, drawing on the power of the Taint. My eyes bear witness to the most horrible of things - rotting blood and seas of writhing maggots, spiders with foot-long spindly legs dancing across the muck, eyes bobbing in the maggots as they turn to look upon me, and turn into mouths, feasting on the whiteness around them -

And I return, the teeth gone. I quickly check myself over... To find a second set of ears behind my normal ones. I sigh, and turn...

To return to the vault and scavenge. Bodies lay everywhere, most dead from bullet wounds, some from knives. A few are missing their necks, and my fingers twitch in recollection as I gather rope, handcuffs...

I emerge somewhat heavier and feeling more safe.

> + 6 sets of handcuffs
> + 100 ft of rope
> + 24 9mm bullets


>>374863
As the combined manifestation of the White Book, you know instinctively that you must sacrifice sentient beings.

I change back into the clean jumpsuit, tossing away the bloody one. my horns annoyingly get in the way, as does my tail - this might grow to be an issue, I imagine.

Equipped as I am, shall I now head to the large building through the Gibberlings?

Time to get our asses in gear! Let's explore that building and see what the Eldritch Horror wannabes are protecting!

... Well, okay, they're probably not protecting it so much as they just happen to be nearby.

>>374901
Sounds good.

oh goody, we have the rope. now we can begin properly.

sure, the building is as good a place to start as any other.

>>374901
>dead, some from knives

There wasn't any knife in the vault? You should try to find one.

Either use the knife or a horn if you find no knife to modify a jumpsuit with a tail hole. Free moving tail gets balance bonus, stuffed tail will be a hindrance. Construction 1 should suffice for that.

Also question, if we go for cause with Muddle Mutation, can we target a body part? Similar for Cause Pain.

>>374923
Have you forgotten we SUCK at melee?

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>>374923
I quickly retrieve one of the steak knives, and cut a hole for my tail. That feels much better...

Making my way down the mountain is surprisingly easy - while the beasts seem to notice me, they don't seem to wish to attack me.

[Null Trait Utilized]

The way they stare at me is pretty creepy, though.

Time passes as I cross the sands to my next destination. The sun is halfway from noon to night by the time I arrive.

I expected more looks of shock, to be honest. Almost no one pays any mind to my appearance - a few stares from children, but that's about it. The town itself seems to be built out of a massive transit hub - husks of trains sit on the rails that split the miniature city, and out the windows, I notice the former parking lot on the other end is filled with houses built out of spare timbers and sheet metal.

A quick surveyance notes that the town has two working trains that go out in the morning and at night, respectively. Appaerently my Vault was not the only one - they litter this area, and the spoils from raids into them are plenty for commerce to flourish between three towns along the rails. There's an ammo and weaponry shop here, a medical office, a bar and... brothel, whatever that is, called the Dark Tunnel, and finally, a mercenary office.

Where should I go?

>>374937
Keep the knife. You'll probably want to use it on any sacrificial victims you find.

Go to either the bar or mercenary office. You gotta find some work or quests to get you some cash and hopefully victims.

Wewt! Gibberlings are wusses! Maybe we can go tear them apart for kicks and XP later? (Does Sera GET XP?)

Also, YAY, Mercenary office! What needs killin'?

>>374939
>[Null Trait Utilized]
We got past them because we have immunity thanks to zero psionics. We'll have to test if we can harm them with Magic or Shooting before we make plans hunting them.

>>374937
Bar first. It's best to get the lay of the land before we go to the Mercenary Office. If only to get info about the quality of the Mercenary Office.
If we need some petty cash and connections, we can try the Brothel for work making use of our Frightening Presence and the occasional Pain spell.

heh, a brothel... that gives me an idea. go there later, about half an hour before the night train departs. when you're alone with the lady in the room, bind her mouth and limbs and proceed to sacrifice her. then leave the brothel, get on the train and run away.

by the way, you should totally remuddle that ear mutation because it's not particularly useful or cool.

>>374945
Bad idea, for now. A town like this there is the brothel is a major factor. If the owner of the brothel isn't running the town, they have at least connections. You wanna start a hunt while we are practically naked?

If medical office is much better place to look for future sacrifices. They should know some people that can't be helped. We go to them offer them a wergeld for their family in exchange for making them sacrifices. Advances our magic and gets us browny points with the locals.

avoid killing anyone for now, we cannot afford to make careless mistakes.
You should visit every one of the town's major locations, from medical to brother. Your goals are information, you need information to make good decisions.
1. Ask in each business, who owns and who runs it. Starting from the largest and going smaller.
2. Ask the train station where you can travel from here and the cost for each, udner the guise of just traveling you gettting free info about local areas.
3. Find out who is in charge by asking people
4. Ask the local police if they have many bandit attacks, if there are any active bounties, and if they know of any bandits in the area.

>>374948
We're WEARING a Jumpsuit. Granted, it's entirely soaked in the blood of the innocent, but hey. We'll be fine. We can just cast Muddle Mutation 50 times on whoever attacks us, until they degenerate into sludge. That's the beauty of 0 taint spells.

>>374951
Actually, we went back into the vault and swapped it out for a clean one to reduce the chance of getting lynched.

>>374951
Oh, sure, assault our own senses with horror and mindrape while potentially giving our enemy extra weapons to hurt us with.

Nice plan there, boss.

>>374955
Then just cast it MORE until they die. We killed ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE. WITH OUR HANDS. EVERYONE WE EVER KNEW. I think we're past the point where trauma has an effect.

>>374958
We're not even sure people CAN die of mutation.

I mean, if we were, would we really want to mutate OURSELVES so badly?

>>374959
Well then. This calls for SCIENCE!

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>Learn about the place.
>Go to the bar.

I walk into the bar, which is set up in a moved passenger traincar that is attatched to another building. The place is muggy.

[Null Trait Utilized]

I sit down at the bar and the barman looks up, grey yet pallid face smiling at me as he leans a little forward.

"You new in town? I'm Johnathan Utah. Folks around here just call me Utah, or bartender. What's your poison?"

"Actually, I am new. Can you tell me about the place? And some water would be fine."

"Water'll run you five chips."

"... I'm sorry?"

"... You really are new. Chips're how we pay for things these days. If you have anything of value, I could trade you. But while you think on that, I'll fill you in on the area.

His stool creaks as he shifts a little.

"This here is my bar and forget-the-world. I keep the stocks and brew my own stuff, and I do some trade here or there. Denmark, in the back corner there, keeps tabs on the boys and girls who are in my employ." he points to a tall, thick man in the back with eyes that glow a soft blue. "Don't piss him off or he'll freeze your whatever off."

"My what?"

"He ain't choosy. Whatever presents itself." Utah drawls. "Now, across the road, we have the medical pavilion. There you can get stims and more extensive treatment. One visit is fiddy chips, so make it worth it. He can cleanse radiation, but not taint. Down the street on this side is Guns, Ammo, and Repair. Billy Buckshot runs that place with his sister Tam. They do about a good quarter of the trade here. The Vaults round here are fulla nasty, and fulla treasure. That's where Nickel comes in - across the street from Buckshot. Nickel will give you a price for anything. Good place to get started, but I'm flattered you chose me. At the end of the hall is Lion Claw Mercenary. They contract out the down'n'dirty work to folk for chip. Things like killin' raiders, trappin' gibbers, and guardin' the rails, like. Finally, Finagle runs the trains out to Tinsel Town and Jamestown, which go out mornin' and night, respectively."

"Don't go to Jamestown right now. Extended siege by the Nobles." pipes up a woman you swear has lion in her family tree - and not too far up.

"Thankee kindly." the man nods. "Might want to tell Finagle dat."

"Damn fool's armoring up. Thinks he can make the trip and assist."

"Well, it's his hide. Anyway, young lady... Anything else you'd like to know?"

>>374970
Johnny Utah? Seriously? Whatever.

Thank him politely and go see the Quest Giver Merc. Tell them you are good at DESTRUCTION. Ask if they have any jobs.

>>374970
Ask him why people do not seem surprised at your level of mutation and if there are certain aspects of magic that are frowned upon.

>>374970
Compliment the nice greyskin on his cane.

Also, guns! We should see if we can get more guns. Couldn't hurt.

People trap those weird gibbering thingers? For what possible purpose?

Also who are these Noble chaps Utah is talking about?

... Wait, we have no money.

>>374972
Actually this may be a good question to ask.

We're from a vault. Knowing how the outside work works is probably going to save our life.

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>>374972
"Uhm... Are people unnerved by..." I gesture to my horns and he laughs.

"Lady, trust me when I say most people going through here have seen worse. Much, much worse." he smiles.

>>374973
"Why do people trap the Gibbers?"

"People trap'em to stickem in tubes and hand over to Olneigh for the lockup. They're right effective at keeping Psions like me in their place." he says. "Get near one of them and they'll set your brain bubblin'."

"Oh... I didn't feel anything."

"Likely 'cause yer null. Can't hear, can't feel psionics. Good and bad thing, I suppose."

"Ohkay... Who are the Nobles?"

"Caligula and his merry men are some of the worst arseholes this side of the Salt Flats. They prance about as noblemen, but they're slavers, assholes, raiders, and rapists to the bone. Watch out for them."

"How can I tell them apart?"

"They wear fancy shit." he says. "And they ride horses. Purple, gold clothes... gold chains... Things like that."

"Well, thanks for your time, Utah."

"One other thing, piece of advice. A lot of folks round here blame the Calamity on demons and those who collude with'em. Don't make yerself a target."

"...Thanks."

"Not a problem."

I leave the bar, following the instructions to the mercenary office. It's a simple affair, with a single room and a single desk manned by a single person - who is still in combat gear.

"Hello, miss. Come to sign, or inquire?" he asked. "Last mission to Tinsel had a fatality that no-one's claimed the tags and gear of. Speaking of that, the next train that way has an opening for guard duty. Free transit and three hunnerd chip if you'd like to sign on - hundred in advance." he seems awful eager to fill that spot.

The nameplate on his desk says MARCUS PROUNE, Recruitment Specialist.

>>374983
Enquire about jobs here. We might as well get a feel for our powers first.

>>374983
Sounds like we've got a half-decent job available already. Any idea what killed the guy whose stuff is unclaimed?

Hmm, we now must become very obvious with our "pro-demon" attitude. That way, the prejudiced bastards will come to us to be sacrificed.

Wonder if we can become a demon with enough taint..

Anyway, check if he has any other jobs as well to see what all our options are.

>>374989

>That way, the prejudiced bastards will come to us to be sacrificed.

Let's at least wait until we've got the kind of power to withstand hordes of demon hunters before we take that attitude.

>>374991
Ah, yeah, I did not really mean right away, but as more of a half-way goal. A way to avoid becoming a completely evil "will sacrifice anything that moves" mage by becoming a "will sacrifice anything that tries to harm me" mage.

>>374992
We've also got to consider if people have seen worse than us out here that maybe there's other demonologists out there.

Maybe at least make it a distant goal to look into them, even if we later decide joining up isn't for us.

What should we call this quest? "I put a spell on you?" "Black Magic Woman?"

"What kind of jobs are available?"

The man sighs and puts away the papers for the train job... pulling out three others.

"We've three other jobs. This one, we got a broadcast from Jamestown a few hours ago - it needs help against the Noble siege. The pay is 500 on completion, 200 advance. Only the skilled need apply.

"This one has you trapping Gibbers out on the mountainside. Stuff them in provided receptacles and deliver them to Olniegh. No advance, hundred on completion.

"Finally, there's a small bandit camp northwest of here. Bring the head of the leader there - a man known as Greyface - and you'll get three hundred. No advance here either.

"If you want to take the job for Jamestown or to Tinsel, let me know as soon as possible so I can organize your tickets and ride."

So...

We have guarding a train, helping a town against a siege, killing a camp of raiders, and trapping harmless goo piles.

I still say we go back to the brothel.

>>375061
We were just there talking to the barkeep guy.

Anyway! I say we go kill this bandit guy, then take the train job and go see Tinsel (and hope the dead merc's gear isn't claimed), and then ask ourselves after all that if we're ready for Jamestown. This whole Siege mess sounds pretty intense to start on it.

>>375048
Hmm, while the gibber thing seems like something we could easily do, due to being a null, the bandit thing seems more fun.

The siege is a bit out of our league right now and the train can wait until we do our first job to see how good or bad we are at it.

>people have seen worse than us out here that maybe there's other demonologists out there.
Any mage that reasonably active with spells will look worse after a year or two. Even a healer.

>>375048
There is no guarantee the train guarding job is still open by the time we get back from hunting the bandits. How far is that bandit camp estimated to be anyway? Is it close enough we can get there, spend a few hours and get back in time for the Tinsel train?
The Bandit guy has no advance. Does that mean it also doesn't have a time limit, penalty or exclusivity? Could we get the info for it and then not do it right now without gaining a black mark with the office?

I suggest we accept the Tinsel job now and claim the tags and items for the job and get the info about the bandit Greyface if we don't have to complete the job right away.

After that visit the brothel to talk with the owner/manager. Still no on killing a brothel employee.

>>375066
>Any mage that reasonably active with spells will look worse after a year or two. Even a healer.

Which is part of why I'd hoped that we'd go White/Mutation instead of Black. That would have been cool.

>>375069
Hmm, actually curious about this. Do different spheres of magic mean different types of mutations or will everybody end up looking like a monstrosity from the deepest pit of hell, no matter what they do?

>>375076
It's a pretty decent assumption. I mean, we use Black Magic and we look like a bucking demon. Makes sense White Magic-users or Fire magic-users or whatever would look different.

I mean, White Magic was clearly stated as being the magic of Angels. Maybe we'd have started looking like one.

Which raises interesting questions about Angels if ALL magic gives you a taint score.

>Angels. Maybe we'd have started looking like one
So.. They have eyes all over their bodies and wings coming out of their head and feet, Have body parts that glow bright as molten brass, Have characteristics of eagles, lions, oxen, etc?

>>375106
We dunno yet, but maybe. I guess we'll just have to see what happens if/when we ever run into one.

Probably won't like us though.

I noticed that granting someone a mutation does not leave any taint on US. But we get a mutation every 100 taint.
Presumably we channel 100 taint and all of it to the victim without it touching us. It is then quite possible that taint is transferable to victims.
Furthermore, we might be able to weaponize it more effectively then giving someone a random mutation, by giving them a blast of injurous taint without getting any taint ourselves; this is something to investigate.

Also say:
"This train job seems to pay best, and is much less work then sneaking into a bandit camp and killing their leader. Yet there was a fatality and you seem awful eager to fill the slot... So what is the catch on that one?"

I say that unless the catch is too bad, we take the train job. But we ask for something more, knowledge. We want a map of the local area with the towns and hazards marked, hazards being the gangs, monsters, and natural dangers. As well as some info on how many mages they see, what kind of powers, what known powers and abilities the gangs have.

>>375066
"Do you know how far the bandit camp is?"

"Eh - Oh, I getcher. Don't worry, both the Jamestown and Tinsel jobs are ongoing. It'll take the better part of a day to go out to the camp, though."

Hmmmmmm.

"There's no advance... No real exclusivity, or time limit, or any of that?"

"Nawp. We have programs for the guard duty, where you can take the job for a certain number of days and get paid for each in a bundle, but the bandit camp is just in case you run into him or some shit. Plus, uh, people tend to die on that job, and that means the bandits get money, and that means they can get armed, so we stopped the advance on that."

...Ah.

"Seriously speaking, you don't want to go that one alone."

>>375076
Given what I've seen, it seems that way.


"I'd like the information on the bandits..."

"Alrighty. Just sign here."

He pushes the paper forward.

...

Should I sign my real name (Sera Heartfield) or... take something new?

We don't know if there is magic that deals with names. So a pseudonym might be wise.

Lets go with Amy Wong for now, I think.

>>375132
Personally I think trapping Gibbers would be right up our alley. We're null so their main avenue of attack doesn't do anything. Going to the bandit camp would get us killed, unless we plan on joining them.

Amy Wong sounds like a good enough pseudonym.

>>375138
Sera Heartfield doesn't seem like an asian name. I seriously doubt we're asian.

Let's try something more, uh, believable?

Maybe Molotov Cocktease?

>>375141
People can give their children a name of a "different race" you know... there is no "race police" that arrests you for that. I met a ton of people whose name was "the wrong race". And it serves as another layer of obfuscation. Furthermore, Wong is an Asian name. Amy is not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy
The assumption is that there some Asian in our family from which the last name came, while Amy is a common english name.

>>375143
I'm only suggesting that it'd be easier to guess that it's an alias if it was something that was unusual for an obvious reason like that.

>>375132
Hmm, shouldn't due the bandit thing alone, eh..
Whelp, there is our excuse to summon and befriend or coerce a demon.

On the name part, Amy Wong is fine.

An Alias should be easy to remember. And we need to be able to react to it fast. It won't work if there is a half second delay till we remember Amy Wong is us. Since our actual name isn't known anyway(everyone else who knew it is dead), we can use an Alias that's somewhat close to it. Something like Serina or Sarah for first name, Hartfall for a last name.

Sharon Stuart.

go with Jane Smith just to piss him off.

I sign the contract under Amy Wong, and he takes it, nodding, then hands me another folder.
"Your info." he says. I pick it up, and flip through it, skimming. It seems he's related to the "Jesters" whomever they are, and has a significant following - estimates put it at anywhere from ten to twenty men, all armed with at least melee weapons. Yeesh, no wonder he said not to go alone.

I make my way back to the bar and sit down heavily to speak with Utah again - when the woman with lion's blood taps my shoulder. She radiates confidence and power, though something about her intense green eyes... seems oddly familiar. her clothing is predominantly leather and denim, metal plates here and there. Brown fur coats her face, and blood-red hair frames it.

"You took the Greyface job?" she asks.

"Yeah, in case I went out in that area."

"..." she sighs, then puts down a sack on the counter, which clinks with chip. "Buy some armor." she says. "I have that job, as well - and I need some backup. I want to take him down before he becomes a real threat, and clearly, you need the money and experience. What do you say?"

Nice kitty lady~

Thank her for the chips and do what she suggests. This jumpsuit is gay even on a lady.

Also, while we're talking to her, it may be a good idea to ask if we should be worried about these Jester cats.

>>375227
Hmm, we know that most people do not take kindly to demons and presumably black magic, considering that it is theirs. It would be prudent to calmly ask what her opinion on it is before setting out so as to avoid a knife in your back due to clashing beliefs.

On the discussion on using cause mutations offensive, we cannot use ourselves as yardstick for what mutations do to people. We have 'Magic Perk: Mutation-inured', which likely gives us a bonus dealing with mutations. An example on how I think it works: a second row of teeth was purely cosmetic for us, for other it would be a serious speech impediment from constant tongue biting. Same with the tail: we get a balance bonus, others would tangle tail and feet and fall on their nose quite a lot.

>>375227
I am inclined to accept. But there are some things to clear beforehand.
First is it just us two or will there more people?
Second how do we share gains? If that sack of money and the experience is all she offers, I'd like to negotiate for an actual share of the loot.
Third our best skill is painful magic. Does she have a problem with that?

>>375265
"I, uh, have a few questions, first."

"Shoot."

I take a breath as I call to mind what I need to say - she's a little intimidating...
"Is it just us?"

"Yeah. Unless a certain someone shows up, but I've learned not to count on him."

"Do I get a share of the reward and the loot?"

"Naturally. You're just getting started - you need it more." she says, though you hear her mutter, "I'll probably regret that."

"What about my magic?"

"Use what you have to do what you need to do. I'm not a fan - but whatever works."

Finally...

"These guys are... jesters?"

"Jesters... A bunch of folks who think the world a merry joke. Don't like them. No hope in them - no... life. Makes me a little sick to see. Other than that attitude, they're like a lot of other raiders - selfish, violent, and rude. They won't hold anything back - neither should you."

Okay. Okay then.
"W-well. I'll take your offer. When do we leave?"
"As soon as you change out of that outfit and into something that can turn a sucking bullet wound into a cracked rib and a nasty bruise."

"Ah."

"I'll be waiting here with Utah."

I look inside the bag as I leave, blinking at the chips. I'm not sure if I remember what colors mean what...

>+ 300 Chips

Where should I spend these?

Armory, you need some armour to protect you

>>375273
Yes, first visit the Buckshot siblings for armor. Then visit Nickel. We don't have anything we can sell him, but we should check if he has any curiosities or shelf warmers useful for us and if he's currently looking for anything in particular.

Armor is what you need right now.

By the way, did you pay the bartender for the water you got earlier?

>By the way, did you pay the bartender for the water you got earlier?
I don't think we got one. We asked, but when Utah quoted the price, chips or trade, our cluelessness started him on the introduction.

Armor
We already have a gun, and we have magic.

Nothing to say that ain't already been said, but upvoting armor-getting.

Shot!H508X.HbJ6 2011/12/27(Tue)01:37 No. 375400 ID: 85d876
File 132497864335.jpg - (353.15KB , 900x943 , TamBuckshot.jpg )

>ARMOR

I walk the street to Buckshot Ballistics And Armor. It's a small shop - do they really think I can get what I need here? As I walk inside, I see two people arguing behind the counter.

"Damnit, Tam, I can't have you wearin' dat shit in here! People might think us one of dem arseholes!" says a young man, wearing a simple jacket, white shirt, and a baseball cap. His short brown hair is wild where it sticks out, and his brown eyes are strangely fierce and piercing.

"It's perfectly good armor, William. I need the protection." the woman, clearly Tam, replies. She's wearing... Well, it's more advanced armor than anything I've seen so far. Plates of white metal, or plastic? Or something, wrap her body, but not too snugly, and where there is joints there is tight netting that looks like it breathes well. Small pouches dot the armor in easily reached places like the breasts and the hips and the waist. "I already compromised by not wearing the helmet." you notice the mentioned item on the counter: An armored closed helm with an orange visor and what appears to be an integrated gas mask. Finally, she holds in her hand some sort of incredible white rifle. "It's bad enough you keep me here in the shop!"

"I tole yer already, Tam! We need ter protect these here weapons. First place bannits gonna hit is raght here."

... I'm not sure what to say or do here. The argument seems pretty heated!

Who gives a shit. You're here to buy armor, not make piece between a hired gun and her boss. Just announce your presence and ask what they've got. Also what the hell is this "Them"? What kind of armor is that anyway?

>dem arseholes
Okay, that doesn't look like what the Nobles are supposed to have. Also white. I guess 'them arseholes' are a religious order, probably something between Templars and Inquisition.

>hired gun and her boss
Thats the Buckshot siblings, Billy and Tam. They run this place. It looks like Tam wants to go out fighting Bandits and Billy wants to hole up in the shop.
I suggest weighing in on Tam's side. Billy can't keep Tam looked up in the shop and being proactive is better than being reactive. As it so happens the Lion-Blooded(We should get her name soonest) and we are going out hunting for Greyface. How about Tam accompanies us on this hunt. With that experience she can then really decide for herself if questing is what she wants to do.

yeah, why even bother interfering? just ask what kinds of armor they have.

>How about Tam accompanies us on this hunt. With that experience she can then really decide for herself if questing is what she wants to do.

Watch bandits or Jesters or something attack the town and kill Billy the second we leave. Just you watch.

Ask who "them arseholes" are, but aside from that it may be best not to weigh in on this. It's obviously a family matter and Tam is wearing scary armor.

Let's see what we can afford.

They may have other types of gear as well, so look through everything.

Shot!H508X.HbJ6 2011/12/27(Tue)16:39 No. 375497 ID: 85d876
File 132503277645.jpg - (1.06MB , 1237x1545 , BillyBuckshot.jpg )

"Excuse me - I'm here about armor?" I ask, raising my voice slightly over their argument. The man shakes his head and turns to me, raisiing an eyebrow.

"Damn good thing you are." he says, looking me up and down. "Tell you what, I can armor up your jumpsuit for... let's say hunnerdfifty chip, or I could give you a full set of leather for 300. After that, there's more expensive options, up to metal combat armor... though I doubt you could afford that at about 2000 chip. I can also service any guns you might have for ten chip apiece, make it shoot better'n new. Not to menton we have bullets and modifications of all sorts - magical and not - here." he smiles a little. "What can I getcher, miss?"

>>375497
What's the difference between armouring up the jump suit and a fullset of leathers? Also, let him take a look at your gun, see if it needs maintainence. It wouldn't be in your best interest if your gun jammed in the middle of combat.

Check if he is willing to purchase the vault suits you have, including the one you are wearing if you buy the leather armour. Then, if he is willing to buy them, see if you could get some robes to wear over the armour.
Mages need robes..

Armored vault suit run? Hard modo?

Either way sounds like a modified vault suit is less protective than leather armor, but will give us more options for other items before we leave. And frankly we don't seem to be built to take damage, so we might just want to get the vault suit armored for some extra survivability before getting our weapon all blinged out and stuff, and maybe buy some stimpaks while we're at it for when we can't just outright avoid taking a hit.

Plus we've got our very own fuzzy meat shi-- I mean, partner. That lion-lady seems like she knows what she's doing.

Also, we never asked who 'Them Arseholes' are. Might be a good idea?

>>375522

this. except not the bloody one.

>>375745
DEFINITELY not the bloody one. Don't let either of them SEE that if you can help it.

"Okay, here..." you pull out a folded vault jumpsuit. "Armor that, please~"

"Coitn'ly."

"If it's not an imposition... What was all that about?"

The man blushes slightly and sighs.
"Yer new here, so... That armor used to belong to the Whitewash." he says, pulling out a workshop from the wall, talking over his back as he gets to work. "They... Well, erryone's got a solution in their head for this Calamity. Some folks think that wipin' out the raider's 'n' cults will fix errything. Some folks thing we need the right super-spell, or tech. Others jus' wanna survive, ye'ken?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, Project Whitewash is... Apparently, the remains of some milit'ry institution from before the Calamity. They got an army, and a shitload of tech - and they want to clean the Wastes."

"But that's good, right? I mean... No more bandits?"

"Hah. No. When I say Clean, I mean, 'devoid of mutations and influence'. As in, kill errything 'cept Whitewash. And all of them - 'cept the ones who 'ave better? Dey wear dat damnable white armor." he sighs as he puts the armored suit on the bench.

"And, would you like to buy a few other suits? Ones a little bloody, but I have... two more."

"Oh, hey, a little blood never hurt no one. I'll take the bunch for thirty chip."

"Do you have a changing room?"

"Yeh, it's in the back. Touch anythin', yer deader'n doornails." he opened the counter and pointed to a hall that lead to a changing room.

I come out feeling heavier and more durable. "Much better. More Wastland chic, eh?" he said with a chuckle as I hand over the remaining suits. "So that leaves yer at one hunnerd twenty.

I looked into the bag and frowned. "Uhm..."

He chuckled.
"Dat's twelve white ones. Those are tenners, see how there's thirty of them?"

"Oh! Oh, okay."

"Now then... Will that be all?"

"How much to fix a gun again?"

"Jus' one of them little white ones."

I hand him my gun and he smiles. "Ah, Vault work! Good Vault work. This one's on me, hun, I can't let a worka art go tarnished." he says, getting to work. "Leastwise not without addin' mah own spin." Within a few minutes, he hands it back to me, clean, and feeling... lighter? No, more... balanced. "The firin' mechanism was a little off, too, so I fixed that. Any mods?"

"Like...?"

"Silencers, extended mags, things like that. Fiddy a pop. I suggest a laze sight. Yer don't look like a gun expert..."

((Full list of modifications:

Laser sight
Silencer
Stock attachment
Hair trigger
Bayonet
Extended magazine (3-pack, 20 shot) ))

My vote goes towards Laser Sight and Extended Mag. Being able to do our work with more efficiency will help a lot. Not ENTIRELY certain on the Laser Sight, though - in the back of my head it would lessen or kill our bonus from Lucky Shot. Not positive it would, but it strikes me as a possible setback.

I tend to overthink things, though, so feel free to ignore me.

yeah, laser sight. but also hair trigger because I'm guessing you couldn't use it one-handed as it is.

Hair trigger is for advanced gun users. For those that can really control their fingers.

Laser sight and extended magazine, provided we can afford them.
No need to get more stuff, I think, since magic is going to be your primary weapon anyway.

get a laser sight at the least.

ask if he has any other equipment recommendations

>White armor is of crazy people
"Your friend should just paint her armor. Put a flag of a local town on it and some other paint and it becomes obvious that it is captured and she isn't a member of whitewash"

You need a laser sight. Our small arms isn't the best in the world so anything taht could help you aim and hit a target is a good thing.

Extended magazine is a pretty decent choice, so if you got the cash after the laser, go for that.

>>375756
WOOO ENCLAVE!

Suggest she paint it black or something if people hate it so much.

Ponder how impressively sane we are now that we're out of the vault.

And get a laser. And maybe a stock, for stability.

>>375814
And once she's done that, put on the damn helmet. It's the most important part.

>>375821
Yes, sane..
So anybody figure out if we are lawful evil or just neutral/good with "evil" powers?

I'm pretty sure sacrificing a lot of people to gain power counts as evil.

>>375835
I think its more like we are keeping the evil/demon summoning on the down low until we get a lay of the land. You know, get to know how the wasteland works, what's the factions and how are they like. That sort of thing.

>>375857
Basically this. I prefer lawful evil (enslave all humans), but chaotic evil (kill all humans and fill world with demons) is still a possibility; what we are not is STUPID evil. Go into town and start killing is stupid evil.

>Alignment

...
I rather think myself Neutral Alive, thanks.

"I'll take a laser sight, please."

"Sure, let me show you how it works..."

He spends a little while explaining the ins and outs of using it. It seems pretty simple to me. He also helps me with my stance and posture and things like that. I feel a lot more confident about my shooting ability!

I use twenty more chips for as many loose bullets, for restocking a magazine of ammo or two, and he throws in an ammo satchel and hip holster for my purchases. All in all, I think I've done pretty well!

>Lost:
>190 Chips
>Vault Jumpsuit
>Bloody Vault Jumpsuit
>9mm pistol

>Gained:
>Armored Jumpsuit
>20 9mm bullets
>Laser-assist Balanced 9mm Pistol
>Holster
>Ammo satchel

I return to the bar, to find the woman standing there, tail flicking impatiently.

"Well, that's much better. Less a sex toy with horns and more a proper woman of the Waste."

I flush a little.

"Well then! Are you ready for your first mission on the Wastes? Or is there something you forgot, before we leave...?"

>>375924
I'm thinking maybe some water rations, since you know, wastes and desert and stuff. Ah, but who knows maybe that is not needed(as it would be too irritating to keep track of).

Otherwise I guess you are all set to go.

>Or is there something you forgot, before we leave
Her Name? We only know her as the Lion-Blooded.

Make conversation with the Lion-Blooded. Other than getting her name, wich the above stated, ask her about the settlements, the factions and things you need to know in the wastelands

muddle your ears.

Yay, she thinks we're hot or something!

Yeah, ask her name, but let's get moving. We can ask about the larger world once we've dealt with Greyface.

>>375978
Oh yeah, attempt to mess with your mutation again. Lets see if we can get rid of the second set of ears.

>>375978
Don't even try it. What would be the point?

>>376036
No. Not now. Ask again after we've dealt with Greyface. We just got one of our jumpsuits up-armored for good money. As I understand re-rolling can get us any one mutation from the lists here :
>>/tg/317807
>>/tg/317810

A lot of them won't work with our shiny new armor as is and will handicap us without modifying the armor. Oh and to make sure our up-armored jumpsuit came with a tail hole right? If not we need to add one, now.

>>375932
"Just one second." I say, dashing behind her to talk to Utah. "I need a few water canteens?"

"Sure thing. Ten apiece."

"I'll take three - if you have them?"

"Utah always has the goods." he says with a smile, three canteens the size of my head floating onto the counter in a neat stack. He smiled at my puzzled look. "I believe you have a date?"

"Thank you." I say, placing three chips onto the counter with a smile, running back to...

to...

"Uhm. What is your name?"

The Lion-blooded smiles. She has fangs. Lots of fangs. "My name is Rose Avalon. You can call me Rose."

"I'm Ser- er... Amy. Wong."

"You're a shitty liar, you know that, right?"

Mmmph.

"Sera. Sera Heartfield."

"Good to meet you. Now, we walk." she says, as we leave the town for the flat expanse of the wastes.

...What should I talk with her about...

>>376624
Umm, yeah, shouldn't you fill the water canteens?
On what to talk about.. Might as well ask her about the lion like looks.

Also ask her if she has personal history with the Jesters, or any other raiders for that matter.

Another topic should be what her skills are and what she knows about Greyface's group.

HOLY SHIT IT'S A LION GET IN THE CA-- I mean, ask her why she's backing you up?

if you ain't got nothin' to talk about, don't try and force yourself to make conversation- I hate people who do that.

>>376626
They are full! I made sure of it. The water is even filtered.
"So uhm. I grew up in a Vault, and I, uhm. I never heard of..."

"Of people like me?" she asks. There's no offense in her voice.

"Yeah, I... If you don't like to talk about it, that's fine..."

"Let's just say I was born this way, and leave it at that."

"Oh. I thought it was a mutation."

"I don't know any magic." she replies with a shrug as she looks over her boxy automatic weapon.

"Do you have any... history with the Jesters? You seemed a little vehement."

"Not beyond killing them by the dozen." she says simply - though there is a trace of bitterness in her vo-

Is that... a circus tent in the distance?! Yes. Yes it is.

"He'll have guards posted at all the entrances - and sharpshooters near the top, probably... Approach will be difficult. Any ideas, cutie?"

Uhm....

Wait, cutie?!

No, focus... How to approach the big white, red, yellow, and brown tent?

Circus tent?!

Fucking clowns.

Alright, we're not very stealthy, so sneaking in is right out. See if you can SPOT the sharpshooters? If you can, maybe flooding them with pain will be enough to get in without getting BOOMHEADSHOTted?

Considering the idea of giving the sharpshooters mutations that may end up causing their hands to form into things that can't fire guns... What do you guys think?

Considering the idea of giving the sharpshooters mutations that may end up causing their hands to form into things that can't fire guns... What do you guys think? I think it could work fine. Hopefully.

>>376805
Most of the mutations on that list looked pretty benign or beneficial to me.

By the time we actually hit a mutation that does anything beneficial to US we may have already been headshotted thanks to the sensory mind-rape from the last time we muddled our OWN mutation making us stagger around or something.

That spell honestly seems best used to bestow ALLIES with special gifts, not as a weapon.

Is it possible to sneak into a position where you would have line of sight? I presume that is needed to cast spells on a target.
Anyway, once you reach such a position, where you would still be hidden from them, you could cast Cause Sickness on one of the guards. Hopefully that would lure the rest or at least some to him. If not then it might at least serve as a distraction.
Once(if) the guards are in one area, cast Darkness on them to blind them. During this moment, you and your ally will rush closer so you can open up on them with your guns as soon as the darkness lifts(10 seconds due to the sun).

On a side note, tell her that you may be cute now, but chances are high that you will get a lot more mutations, some of them quite prominent while others are just disgusting.

>>376824

mutations are sexy you blasphemous, uh, blasphemer!

anyway, magic is the way to go, and feel free to wait for the night if your pardner is inclined to do so.

Well, if we can cast Cause sickness on anyone whose eating or something, we could ambush em at the latrines, if they have any outdoor toilets or something.

>>376844
Dude.

Sera sacrificed a thousand lives to US.

Of course he's blasphemous. We're all blasphemous.

"Can we wait until night?" I ask.

"...I'd prefer not to. Jesters can be pretty bad for any hostages."

"They might have hostages?"

"Captives is a better word. But yes, it's an outlier possibility. Does that change your plans?"

"No. Not really..."

I explain the first part of my plan to her:

"First, I need to get close enough to get line of sight on one of them - I'll cast a spell to make him sick. This should draw some attention from the other side - lightening the forces while I make my way around. If you want, you can try going in then, or I can disable one or two of the guards with darkness."

She thinks for a moment. "Go." she says. "But be careful."

While I do, another plan occurs to me - I could summon a demon on the exterior of the base, or once inside, within it. It may prove hostile to me, but there'll be a lot of other targets, too...

Either way, I've circled a quarter of the way around the tent. I concentrate on the open flap there - and Cast.

I taste shit. Not just the taste, but the texture, runny and filled with half-digested maggots, rotten meals, live insects, running down my tongue and into my throat...

I vomit onto the sands, but I rise and run back to where Rose was, then after her as she raises her weapon and fires thrice, the weapon roaring like her own bloodline. The sole guard falls, gun firing into the air.

Leave the demon summoning for a desperation measure.

No need to waste good sacrificial mater-- I mean, we don't want to hurt innocents.

tell Rose of Shar- uhh, Rose Avalon to stay in cover. you're going to summon a demon in the midst of the incoming opponents.

>>376984

uh. I doubt we could sacrifice these ones without getting caught.

I take it the spells were successful, though I think we should find way to make casting less, umm, distracting.. Really, you can not afford to start retching or vomiting in the middle of a fight. A solution must be found, since at how badly it seems to affect you, I doubt you will live long enough to get used to it at this rate.

Also, summoning a demon is too risky in this situation, as it is unlikely it would differentiate between friend, foe and hostage.

>>376984
Given that our ally seems to care about innocent hostages and such, it would seem prudent that we would only sacrifice any jesters who are incapacitated. Nobody will should be bothered by that. I am also not convinced you are completely fine with indiscriminately sacrificing everybody you come across, no matter what transpired in the vault(we do not actually know what happened there, other than people are dead and she has magic now).

Yeah, admittedly I was the one hoping for a Paladinfag run.

But yeah, these Jester bitches sound like they deserve a good sacrificing. Take 'em alive if you can manage.

We may be able to get 1 sacrifice out of this, might.

I run in behind Rose as she kicks over a table and ducks behind it. I join her, drawing my pistol and turning on the laser. A few seconds later, a hideous stench assaults me.

"oh god."

"What did you think they used on the tent? Paint?"

"oh, god."

She rolls her eyes, popping up to unload four rounds into another fellow with a large rifle while several more charge towards us around tables and chairs - and I get an idea.

my ears are filled with horrid noises as darkness engulfs the four men charging through a sort of dining area, the sound of wooden furniture colliding, screams of pain, and at least one cry of death - followed by shallow laughter that slowly fades. I pump 4 more rounds into the centre of the fog-like darkness, I don't think any hit as I slide back behind cover, a bullet missing me close enough to tear a gash in the sleeve of my suit.

You have earned the Trait: Combat Caster (Rank 1)

"Stick behind cover unless you've a clear shot." Rose says. "There's three more on us, at least five after that and Greyface. And there's so little Life-damned cover here..."

The area is a huge, circular bloodbath, with several different rings. At one end sit a few squat buildings, and one very lavish-looking (By bandit standards) room overlooking the area. Other than that, the only cover is tables, chairs, and... That's it. The men from the lookout are coming down at 2 o'clock, three of them...

To be honest I'm frightened, and I don't really want to move!

>>377068
So, if I get this right, there are four bandits ahead of you, stumbling around in Darkness tripping on tables and chairs. Three bandits are coming from the right side, at the 2 o'clock position with you facing the bandits in the Darkness. You are also in the tent, I think, so darkness should last ten minutes. Giving you time to deal with the incoming three bandits.

See if you can cast Pain on one of them. Preferably the leading one, if there is such a thing. If you are lucky, he might stumble and cause them to falter for a bit, giving you a good moment to shoot them. If you are not lucky, you will have at least messed with one of them.

>>377068
Shoot 3-4 times more into the darkness. Who knows if you might get lucky. This is to make sure that your foes in the darkness get confused about where you're going to be.
Then move to some cover, an upturned table, anything really. Just make sure you get a clear shot to the sentries that are coming down. Last of all reload.

try to aim from behind cover by listening. I mean, you've got like 4 ears, sheesh.

>I taste shit.
>I vomit
>my ears are filled with horrid noises
Is this backlash from casting spells? because those are some pretty crippling backlash effects and very dangerous to you in combat.

>>377116
Hence why I keep telling people that giving our enemies mutations is not an effective offensive tactic.

(That and the fact we have no guarantee we won't just be giving our enemy a WEAPON.)

Notice we had a similar effect when we muddled our own mutation and got an extra set of ears.

Plus, it's not like you can cast the spell fifty bajillion times in a millisecond.

>>377121
well, so far all the mutations we saw were either harmless or a powerup... so granting mutations to others in combat is pretty dumb, yes.

>>377122

>>/tg/317806

>>377122
As I've said we cannot use ourselves as yardstick because we got a perk to mitigate negative effects of mutations. Other's getting them may be able to get the same benefits we get with time but initially they will have problems.

>>377121
That I agree with. Pain and Sickness are better offensive spells because there is no guarantee the problems a new mutation causes will impact the opponents ability to fight.

>>377068
You have frightening presence. Make use of it. Ask Rose to loose a giant roar. Being Lion-Blooded make sure her roars are better than yours. Then follow >>377085

>>377155
"Rose, can you Roar for me?"

She raises an eyebrow, then takes a deep breath.

Fear is a funny thing. Amorphous and wild, I've learned a lot about it back home. Mostly? People don't want to die. There's something about the sound of a lion's roar that shocks you to the core - that tells you "The King is here, and he wants to kill you."

Rose turns, grasping the lip of the table as she rises, ad her mouth opens wide to show those wonderfully sharp fangs - a rumbling, peircing sound tearing from her throat.

Even nihilists like this are shocked by shocked by it. I emerge from cover to see them stopped cold, all three, and cast my hand forward.

>[Combat Casting]
>[Frightful Presence]

I feel hundreds of spiders on my body, but I don't let it phase me as I look down upon them.
"Run, mongrels!" I add in, as one of them screams in agony, gripping his arm as his gun falls to the floor...

>[Lucky Shot]
...And discharges, blowing away the top half of his head.

The other two look at one another, and I capitalize.
"Don't wait for me to make you die next, rats."

They catch the hint and flee past us, only for Rose to take two shots, and they both fall dead just outside.

"Impressive." Rose remarks.

The bandits in the darkness have calmed after wrestling with the furniture some more, and have seemed to decide it's better to simply wait.

Me and Rose have essentially dispatched all current threats. What now?

Look for Greyface. That bastard's gotta be around here somewhere.

>>377175
It would be unwise to leave them be. Even if they are in Darkness for the maximum duration, the spell could end at an inconvenient time, allowing them to come after you and attack your rear as you deal with Greyface and his five bodyguards.
If you can convince your ally to not kill them, this might be a good opportunity to incapacitate them with Sickness, Pain and aimed shots by your ally, preparing them for sacrifice, though it would require the ability to stop the spell(not sure you have that) or wait until it ends.
Waiting could be problematic, as it is doubtful Greyface, being a bloody clown, is going to wait until you two show up to confront him.

>>377194
I gotta say this guy is right. You've only delayed Grayface's bodyguards and delayed them by ten minutes, less now. Problem is now if you take them out, Greyface may try to run for it. If you go after Greyface, he'll probably delay you until his bodyguards come and you'll be screwed.

I'd take out the bodyguards first. Try not to kill them all, incapacitating them is better. If Greyface does escape, you'll have some people to interrogate, and when I say you, I mean Rose. If not, sacrifice away.

>>377175

ahem. you mean "Rose and I", young lady. grammar is very importaint, you know. but well done, with the roar. just tell Rose to try and take some jesters alive next time... for private reasons, of course.

I think you should try and find the captives as fast as you can- their (and our) safety should be our biggest concern right now.

>>377386
To avoid further problems if you two decide to work together after this mission, I think it would be best if you do not hide what you plan to do with any prisoners.
As long as you state that you have no plan on doing so to innocents, sacrificing murderers/bandits should be fine with her. Also, I dislike the idea of hiding a persons nature. More fun with all the cards on the table, heh.

>>377388
>RE: Sacrifice.

"We have a minute - the Darkness will fade in a bit, and I want to make something clear before we continue."

"Go on." Rose says, still checking ahead and around.

"How... How do mages and the like get spells normally? Do you know?"

"I never really stopped to ask. I just assumed there were still spellbooks out there or something."

"Uhm. Well. I have a book, but... I need to sacrifice living people to get more spells."

She rankles visibly - as if smelling something terrible. "And, and I might need to do that to any living, incapacitated Jesters."

She takes a deep breath, assembling a response. "So, if you could disable them, instead of -"

"Yes, I understand. But only bandits, people like this." she interrupts. "It's bad enough as it is - if you slaughter innocents for power, you're no better than they." she checks the slide on her gun. "And you know what happens to 'they'." she adds with gruesome finality.

"I understand."

"Now then. I'm sorry about this, but we need to hurry." she says, pulling something from her bag - a small sphere - and pulls a pin from it. She lobs it into the darkness. There's a loud bang, and a soft, gurgling cry.

"The prisoners are likely in the smaller building - the better-kept one likely houses Greyface, along with whatever..." she shudders, "Entertainment he may be enjoying."

I think for a moment.

"We should face Greyface now." I say. "So that we don't have to worry about him with the prisoners."

Rose nods, and we approach the door to the well-kept building, standing on either side of the door, hearing faint, faint music, and hyenalike laughter interspersed with random gunshots.

How should we make our entrance?

Man what's he already shooting at?

Well, we're not gonna get anywhere being stealthy thanks to, well, US. My suggestion is we go in hard and use our combined terrifying presence to disable as many of the fuckers as possible.

you should enter ballsily, say something creepy like before and cast pain on their boss to scare the shit out of his mooks.

Does anyone else think we should Pot one in the back of Rose's head after Greyface is dead, and then sacrifice anyone else alive (prisoners, any incapacitated Jesters).

>>377498
You think she trusts us enough not to expect that after all of this?

No, I don't think that's a good idea.

@@ Shot!H508X.HbJ6 2012/01/04(Wed)18:43 No. 377581 ID: d14d3e
Audio Harlequin_(Piano__advanced_version).mp3 - (1.08MB , Harlequin (Piano_ advanced version).mp3 )

>>377497
>>377495
>Go in hard

"Let's make a show. They like shows, right?"

Rose smiles, nodding, and she kicks the door down, hard. One-two shots, and she steps inside as I do.

It takes a little bit for me to actually take in the scenery.

Cue music.

It's terrible. Horrific, and terrible. Intestines hang from the ceiling like streamers - some not all that recent. Heads sway back and forth on strings like balloons, torsos decorate the walls with some skinned faces stretched into manic grins and sad frowns. Blood paints the walls in wild, looping patterns, smiley faces, and caricatures drawn in horrible mimicry of various terrible acts.

And opposite the door, at the other wall, sits a man on a throne of wood, blood, bone, and skin. At his ankles rest two women, and in cages nearby, children - some not even alive. His face is painted in white, highlighting the lines of his skull, smudged in many places to reveal grey skin. A wild black tangle of hair crowns his head. His body looks weak, wiry, and oddly stretched, his eyes yellow-green, his clothes a pale leather painted green, done up like a jester's tunic.

[Null]
"Come on, I thought I told you - this is for your family! Do you want them to die?" he asks, a little pistol - like mine - hanging casually from one hand. The boys - no older than ten or eleven, naked from the waist up and clothed in tattered pants from the waist down, fight with human femurs. Both have bruises and welts. They stop, panting, having reached the limits of exhaustion, and the man stands up and walks over, to whisper in their ears. They let out cries of agonised disgust and he laughs, a terrible, hyenalike laugh, and he turns to us. "Joys and raptures abound! We have an audience!" he says, grasping one of the ladies by the neck and holding her before him.

Wondering why Rose isn't acting, I look over to her, and see her on her knees, hand gripping her head tightly, while the man laughs harder. "Unfortunately, you forgot to buy a ticket. Good thing we have one right here!" he says, pulling the knife closer, the woman - with long ears, I note, crying out in fear - and pain, I notice. In fact... looking around, the children are either curled up in pain, or unconscious.

... He is using Psionics.
Inflict Pain and Cause Sickness on Greyface. Shoot him in the face if you get a clear shot.

>>377586
Fake being in pain. He's using psionics and you're unaffected by it. Get up close to him and show him that he or his psionics can't outsmart boolet.

Why not play a joke on this man, seems like he likes a joke.
The joke is simple, you pretend to suffer, then you make him suffer, then you shoot him, then you laugh.

If he keeps moving shoot him more.

Of course, pretending to suffer is easier when your spells make you sick.

>>377596
This might work, though we do not know if people capable of using psionics notice when it has no effect. Seeing as they influence the minds of others, I fear it is rather likely.

All in all, I think Pain and Sickness are your best bet. Doubtful spells need any other form of aiming than knowing who your target is and seeing him, so you should have no problems, even if he is using a human shield.

Chances are psionics need at least some form of concentration, so this should, hopefully, snap everybody out of it. I believe you should cast the spells on him in quick succession, concentrate on not succumbing to the feelings the casting will cause, and if the effects leave him staggering, which should cause him to release the hostage, try to get a few body shots in.

Now, how long with a good sacrificing take and can it be done on a dying victim?

>>377586
yes, lucky you, you are a null and as such resistant to psionic attacks.

Use inflict pain on him, if he doesn't immediately collapse then use Cause sickness

Uh, wait a minute... how do you AIM your spells? Can you miss? does him holding a hostage between the two of you run the risk of you hitting the wrong person with the spell? do you need line of sight to target someone?

Four stars on the plan to break his psionics with Pain and Sickness.

Yes, attack with Pain and Sickness. If you can, concentrate Pain on his head. As soon as the woman isn't in the line of shooting anymore, shoot at his center of mass.

>Pretend to be in pain
It's a little late for that.

>Cast Pain at him.
I stare him in the eyes - those mad, manic eyes. A vision flashes before me, something horrid, but my intense concentration blocks it out as I feel the energies race through my body and into him -

And he grunts. There is a bare moment, a pressure on my head, but nothing more. But that moment is enough. Rose is on her feet again, rushing forth - only to let out another horrible cry and fall onto her knees, doubling over as that pressure pushes against my head again. No opening.

Guess I have to use sickness... Again, the sounds assault my ears, something I really can't ignore. But it passes in a moment, and again the energy races through me and at him.

And he roars in agony, dropping the girl. Confused at the effect but taking my chance, I open fire as the girl drops to the ground. Three shots, for the centre of his body - surely I'll hit with one, right? At this range?!

The first shot goes very wide as I overestimate the pull my trigger has, the bullet thunking into the floor near his foot. The second goes too far to the left, my arm swinging too erattically in my panic - and the third, too far to the right, as I overcorrect.

Soon the effect of my spell ceases, or at least, he grows used to it, as he sways there, eyes half-lidded. With his hands at his side, I notice what my spell did - at the side of his head, there's a massive swelling, at least the size of an apple.

"Good show. Too bad you fucked up the finale. Looks like I'll have to fill in." he says, lunging forth, knife held in a strong reverse grip - those thin legs having more strength than I expect.

[Coward]

I let out a low cry of terror as I back away, falling on my ass and scooting as he slams the knife down, gouging a deep gash in my arm, and again -

entirely severing my pinky finger.

I let out a scream of pain and he laughs even harder.

No no no this can't be happening no no please i dont want to die!

that fucking Greybutt. cast everything on him- pain and sickness and shit. twice.

PLAGUE DISEASE. FOCUS ON THE LUMP, FOCUS THE SICKNESS ON IT!!!

Panicked spell casting seems more effective than shooting now, and sickness seemed to have larger effect

Summon demon?

Well, this seems to be going to hell rather swiftly..

No matter, he has closed the distance, and Sickness seems to distract him if the effect is big enough. Also, casting does not seem to take that much time, making it a nice, quick way to lash out with. That, and you are a shitty shot.
If you have the ability to focus the Sickness spell anywhere, try to aim it at the already present swelling on his head, hopefully making it worse or the arm that has the knife.

Alternatively, as I said before, he has gotten close, which means using Pain on him again could allow Rose to make it to him.

On the demon part, I think this is actually too chaotic of a situation to summon something over which you need to assert dominance over or achieve an accord with. Perhaps it would be best to summon a demon at a later date, where you could deal with it if it does not go well. It is a permanent summon, after all.

Wait, she already has a demon. Legion. Us. Can we manifest ourselves physically?

If not just cast Sickness repeatedly.

Summon demon might be a bad idea since the demon summoned is NOT LOYAL. Also it is considered anathema and means we will probably have to do away with our newfound ally.

Before you resort to it, how about hitting him with nausea again, it worked last time didn't it?

Well, use Sickness to screw up his mind, brain and equilibrium, then use your frightening presence when he is disorientated. Hopefully, this will give you enough time so you can reach your gun and shoot him.

>>377749
>>377745
>>377739
>>377726
>>377725

I attempt to focus a spell, bringing me more pain than even before as he drops to his knees to straddle me, holding the weapon high. The nausea courses through me, but I try to bring the spell to bear -

Only to lose it, forced to jerk my head aside as the blade slams into the where it had been moments ago.

Again, I draw the spell, but this time, the blade comes down and slams through my ear, and the resultant pain courses through my body. The third time, though, I run through the whole process as he raises the weapon, and let it off - though I'm starting to feel tired and woozy, and the spell doesn't feel like it's all it could be.

Nonetheless, he pauses, the swelling on his head twitching - and that's plenty of time for Rose to slam into him from one side, knife flying and nicking my thigh's armor. Rose brings her gun to bear, and one, two shots, ruins his hands with bullets to the wrists. I rise, unsteady, and feel a sharp stab in my back.

I turn slowly. Rose?
"It'll only hurt for a moment." she says, though everything is getting very blurry. "We need to get..." and then I can't hear anymore, everything going black. The last thing I feel is my book falling from my hand.

[DISCONTINUITY]

There's a soft, persistent beeping. My everything hurts. Uuuugh... Where...

My clothes don't feel right. They open at the back, except for a series of knots, all the way down. My underwear's gone. I don't feel the familiar weight of my possessions - but the book rests on the table beside me. I pick it up, reassured by the supple binding.

beep. beep. beep. There are tubes sticking into me, a thingy is clamped on my thumb. I notice sadly that my pinky is still missing. My arms are bared, and there's a scar where I was cut...

Sitting next to my bed, head rested on it and asleep, is Rose, though she'd not wearing as much armor and she's unarmed. Thus dressed, I notice better her curves and figure, and I feel... slightly jealous? She's pretty. Her ears flick towards me, and one eye opens.

"Hey, clown-killer. You feeling okay?"

I will live.
What happened after I passed out?

don't worry, you'll give yourself succubi traits once you get better at mutation.

so. are you feeling okay?

How is you ear and which one was cut, anyway? A mutation one or a real one?

A bit disappointing that no sacrifices could be made, due to passing out, but It is good you survived. This little mission seemed to have been beyond your current abilities, so you were lucky to live.

>>377839
I agree on this point. No purpose in being jealous as your current form is transient at best.

Ah, now might also be a good time to ask what plans Rose has, to see if you two will be working further together.

lessoned learned:
1. some enemies show uncanny resistance to spells.
2. spells take time to cast and can be interrupted.
3. spells have severe backlash when cast.
4. you need to get some hand to hand training from rose so you don't get killed so easy when an enemy closes in to melee.
5. allies are good to have.
6. you are not ready to take over the world
7. powerful (magic/psi) individuals are common enough that you need to rely on cunning rather then brute force.

I say we stay with rose longer, get some training in shoot and hand to hand combat (at least dodging aspect of it). Get better armor too. And finally

>>374983
>"Why do people trap the Gibbers?"
>"People trap'em to stickem in tubes and hand over to Olneigh for the lockup. They're right effective at keeping Psions like me in their place." he says. "Get near one of them and they'll set your brain bubblin'."

Get a gibber pet!

>>377856

or craft one into a living hat.

>smudged in many places to reveal grey skin
>massive swelling, at least the size of an apple.
>the swelling on his head twitching

Looking back I think Greyface was not quite a natural Psi. One thing we desperately need is more lore of what kind of beings and animals can be found in the wastes.

Another thing, did Rose pick our pinkie? Did we get it reattached or is it really lost?
For the near fuuture we should improve our shooting and knowledge, what kind of animals, beasties and people range the wastes and what other people know about demons.
Preferable with Rose, if she intends to stay close to us. Giving she waited on our waking in the hospital, I think chances aren't bad that she stays.

>>377879
As lovely as both ideas are on paper, I don't think Gibbers can be trained to restrain the instinct to mindrape everyone around them.

>>377891
>smudged in many places to reveal grey skin

Not sure this is as relevant as anything else, though.

>>374970
>I sit down at the bar and the barman looks up, grey yet pallid face smiling at me as he leans a little forward.

>"You new in town? I'm Johnathan Utah. Folks around here just call me Utah, or bartender. What's your poison?"

Pretty sure we've seen Greyface's like before.

I feel alright. There's no pain - missing a pinky feels weird, though. Rose seems to notice me staring at the stump.

"I, uh, couldn't find it." she mutters, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry. Had no ice to pack it, anyway." there's a pause, then she speaks up again. "Uhm. The doctor is seeing to the other kids, the ones who we managed to save."

"H-how many?"

"Seven. Seven children." she says. "We saved Seven children."

It seems such a small number. I mean... There were so many cages and there was a whole building...

"Only that many...?"

"Sera, when you deal with bandits as long as I have, you learn that even saving one child from them is a miracle. We... You... did great things yesterday. Once you're discharged, we're going to celebrate." she says with a soft smile. "I'll introduce you to Buster, even."

I smile back.

"Say, uhm. You and me..."

"I'm not sure if 'we' can be a thing, Sera. But... I'll see about it. You were quite helpful, even if you did nearly get yourself killed." she smiles. "But you're stuck here until the doctor clears you, 'less you feel like running around town in that gown."

"Alright. Are you going anywhere?"

"Nowhere to go. And you're decent company anyway."

Ask who Buster is.

Also, yay, Rose is keeping us company!

So, that crazy jester leader was talking about "your family"... was he just spouting crazy gibberish or do you know him and/or any of the victims?

>>377900
He was talking to the kids that he was forcing to fight to the death on stage.

Admit to being a bit disappointed about not having had a chance to sacrifice any bandits..

Also, while you are not going anywhere ask her if she knows anything about demons and demonic magic. Couldn't hurt to see if she has more knowledge on the subject.

I'm quite curious about, uh, how to say this nicely, her nature.

>>377914
We asked already, she said she was born that way and to not ask further... so lets not ask further.

>>377915

but I really wanna.

>>377899
This is awesome of her; be very thankful.

"Thanks for sticking around." I smile.

"It's no biggie." she waves it off, sitting on the bed again.

"So... who's Buster?" I ask.

"A friend. Works in the bar - well, not in the bar exactly, but... You get the..." she looks at me and stifles a giggle. "Oh, you've not been around long. Well, you'll see when you meet him. He's a right gentleman."

I'm not sure how to respond to that...

"I should have sacrificed Greyface..."

"Eh. There's a lot of bandits." she says. "Besides, most mages I know only know a couple spells anyway - they prefer to master and apply a few rather than only know the bare workings of dozens." she shrugs. "At least, that's what he said." she adds.

"What do you know about demons?"

"Not a whole lot - other than even the smallest of them is a bitch to fight. They're almost all at least as smart as a cat, if not as intelligent as a person. And all of them love to see us hurt, if only in different ways."

It isn't long before the doctor arrives, a tall man with a hound's dark fur and snout. His eyes are severe.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that all of the orphans suffered nothing untreatable - time will only tell if their poor minds will recover."
"And the woman?" Rose asks.
"She'll be alright, but none of the children were hers, apparently. She's adopting some, and it turns out she has some talent with healing magics - so she'll be helping out around here, when people are willing to take that sorta treatment."

The doctor turns to me.
"Miss Sera. You're alright, I just wanted to be sure I saw you on the way out. Jameson, he works the counter? He'll return your armor and weaponry. You're free to go. But one of the children wanted to see you."

He moves aside, and a small girl - no older than maybe ten - approaches. Her large blue eyes stare breifly at my horns, and I notice a jagged scar on her neck as she approaches. Tiny little wings covered in white down sprout from the sides of her temples, as well as a pair on her ankles.

She reaches out and hugs me, having to partially climb on the bed to reach.

"She can't talk." the doctor says. "Simple sounds, yes, but..." he shakes his head. "She also has some talent with healing magics - and has used it, it seems. "Anyway. Do you feel alright? You're free to go if you can stand."

I carefully get up, and while dizzy at first, make my way to the counter to get my things - changing back into my outfit in a nearby room.

I notice my backpack to be a bit heavier.

"There was some things I managed to pick up on the way out - some chip, some salvage that I sold. You got half that since I had to carry you back and pay for healing."

Where do I go now? Is there anyone in Transit I want to talk to?

>>377942

I can not help but think that this is one of those moments where we should ask the girl if she wants to come with us..

Other than that, take Rose up on her offer to go celebrate and meet this "Buster", who I think might be a mage, perhaps.

>>377950
well, why not. Adopting a child with healing talents will be SUPER useful. Plus she is adorable.
Naturally we can't take her into combat anytime soon, or while traveling with Rose though.
"Can you write dear?" if yes use writing to communicate with her.
Ask her or the doctor if she can't write:
her name, if she has any relatives.
ask the doctor where the children are going to stay, who will care for them, and whether you can visit. Goal is to build up the connection a bit more and then adopt her... and possible other children (especially any with the right talents).

Stick with rose for now, she is friendly, she accepts a lot of you (even sacrificing... as long as its bad guys) and you really need the assistance right now.

Just keep mum about demons and don't get drunk, as they say "in went the wine out went the secret"

She's got Angelic mutations? Interesting. Too bad she can't heal her own vocal chords, from the look of it. Or doesn't care to.

Adopting her might be dangerous to her health, though, if we intend to take her with us. Are we really about to go recruiting a child soldier?

In any case I suggest we go see Billy and Tammy and MAYBE Nickel before we go anywhere else?

Also ask dog-doctor if he sells medical supplies for on-the-go.

>>378013
>Doesn't heal self
He said she was working on it, but its not quite right yet. She can make sounds but not proper speech.

And we don't have to take her into combat for her to be super helpful, we can get a house in the city, have her in the house. We go out for combat while she gets a babysitter... and when we come home, magic healing!

>>378013
To be fair, I was not thinking in the child soldier kind of way. More in a traveling companion to care for. Since the world is a wasteland, I figure surviving alone is not so easy and I doubt there are THAT many people willing to adopt others.

Besides, we could either obtain a living space in this town for her to stay at when we do some missions and such or rent a room in an inn when ever we go to other towns so we are not separated, but still do not take her directly into danger.

Also, besides all of the above, the interaction provided from such a situation would be quite interesting from a plot perspective. Somebody to acquire things for, instruct, try to get to talk, etc..
Kinda hoping the next update wont be: "Ah, you want to adopt her? Well, she is one of the children the women adopted."

Thinking about the child makes me frown. One one hand, it would be nice to have a cheaper alternative to this. But on the other, caring for a child isn't exactly something you do in your spare time, either.

"Rose, about the gir-"

She fixes me with a gaze that roots me to the ground. Rose hasn't been angry with me the entire time I've known her, but now... Now I feel like a gazelle or something stalked by a lion.

I am honestly afraid of her.

"Children stay in town." she says simply, with such simple authority that I find myself nodding.

"Of course. H-how hard is it to get a home here?"

"In the station? You'd need a lotta chip. As for outside, just build a hut of your own."

Mmmf. I don't like either of those options. "Guards try to keep an eye on the shanty, but it's pretty big. You'd have more to worry about from other folk here than from outside - things taken, most often. The big R and other violent crime isn't as common, but..." she sighs. "Olneigh's needed for a reason, you know?"

The more I talk, the more it seems like adopting her would be a bad idea - she needs a real parent, not a wasteland adventuress. I'm barely 19, myself. More a big sister than a mom.

Moving from that subject...

"Doctor?"

"Yes?" he asks, looking up from a clipboard.

"Do you sell supplies?"

"... When I have spare. Unfortunately, most of my things come from Jamestown - with only Tinsel offering trade at the moment, I'm afraid I'm a little scant."

"Oh, okay."

I take a deep breath. "Well then. Shall we celebrate?"

"Sure." Rose says.

We make our way back to the bar, where Utah is standing in the centre of the room. It seems so strange to see him standing - his prescence behind the bar felt somehow permanent.

"Ah, the conquering heroes." he says. "You get a free round, on the house! Greyface was making us fellow orcs look bad, you have my thanks." he says. "What would you ladies like!"

"Morning roar, please~" Rose says, already relaxed. Her tail slowly makes a pendulum back-and-forth, not lashing, not still... more lazy. And when she walks, her hips...

"Sera?" he asks, and I'm jilted from my reverie. "Lass, Scarlet will probably talk to you in a minute, but what can Utah get you?"

I feel a blush come to my lips, and I stammer out that I just want what Rose wants. She quirks an eyebrow.

"Are... you sure? It's kinna heavy."

"I'm sure!"

He chuckles and begins to work as I sit down, noticing that my own tail is already mimicking Rose's. For the first time, I actually get a better look at the whole of the bar, or as Utah puts it, his Forget-the-world. The tables are littered with people of all sorts, and in the corner under the stairs rests the same man from before with the chilling gaze. The place feels warm, open, and somehow... soft.

And that's when I see Buster, as Rose calls to him. The first thing I notice is that he's really only wearing a very short set of cutoff jeans. ...Really short. His figure is slim, more like a runner or a swimmer, and fit. Soft brown fur covers his body, and long floppy ears droop on either side of his head, framing a slightly feminine face. His eyes, a solid green, glow softly in the dim light of the bar as he approaches, giving Rose a tight hug.

He has a little cottonball tail, but I hardly notice.

"Rose! How are you~?"

"I'm fine." she says. "This is Sera."

He turns to me, and despite myself I find color rising to my cheeks for the second time within the hour.

"Hey there~. What can I do for you?"

Oh.

Oh God.

Buster.

And he's a bunny.

(And apparently a whore.)

I get it.

Righty, first off, ask Rose if she thinks the girl will be okay or what her chances are.

Second, anybody willing to set: "acquire house in town" as a longer term objective? I am a bit undecided on that.

Thirdly, what type of STD's exist in this world and should Sera worry about that..

oh lawdy, sexy furry prostitutes. marvelous. welp, you moght as well introduce yourself to him- after all, Rose wanted you to meet him for some reason.

NO HEAVY DRINKING! Actually no drinking alcohol at all if you can help it.
Put the drink down, you have too many secrets that we KNOW will cause you be lynched to be able to afford to drink.

>(And apparently a whore.)
I don't think he is one. Just a player...
Rose was actually looking at having him as a potential ally in attacking the jesters.
>His eyes, a solid green, glow softly
I am pretty sure this means he is a powerful psychic, based on what we have seen thus far... Or maybe a mage. Do our eyes glow? Might want to ask about that.

>Thirdly, what type of STD's exist in this world and should Sera worry about that..
We are not ready to be knocked up so lets just avoid sex FOR NOW at least.
>Righty, first off, ask Rose if she thinks the girl will be okay or what her chances are.
Upvoting, we are concerned after all, we were serious in our concern for the children and we shall visit again even if we don't really care our reputation requires that we pretend to... although I must admit that I personally do care; I suck at being a villain :P
>Second, anybody willing to set: "acquire house in town" as a longer term objective? I am a bit undecided on that.
With the "conquer the world by might of force" plan on indefinite hold due to the sheer amount of POWERFUL individuals, "control it through subterfuge (at least for now)" is the remaining option and a house in town is a very good idea.

>>378131
Eh, I was just asking about the diseases in case it went that way by popular vote. I have no wish for Sera to get knocked up at this time.

Otherwise, I pretty much agree with every point you listed.

Wow, he is almost as attractive as Rose!

>>378135
Also like her is interested in us...
And we are apparently bi

>Where do I go now? Is there anyone in Transit I want to talk to?

I still want to know more about the 'Dark Tunnel'. That's the one place we haven't visited so far. And I don't mean going there to buy company. Just because it's a brothel doesn't mean it's not important. Quite the other way around in such waystation town a Transit.

>Second, anybody willing to set: "acquire house in town" as a longer term objective? I am a bit undecided on that.
I am willing to second acquiring a home as a long term goal. That may be house in town, not necessarily in Transit. On the other hand it may be a vault with a good water source or a wagon home with a nomadic tribe, perhaps of Lion-Blooded. Lets not get too specific with long term goals.

Blush furiously while mumbling incoherently. Obviously.

This would actually be a good time to know whether Sera has had sex before or not.

Best option, of course, would be a threesome.

That was the first place you visited.

>>378124
>NO DRINKING.

Spoilsport. I guess you're right, though.
"N-n-uh, I, er." Words fail me and Buster chuckles as Rose leans close to whisper to him.

"Rose, you know I'm better with... and prefer... men." he replies quietly, though he's not very good with subtle. "If you want me to get Ricky, or Scarlet..."

Rose waves it off, fixing him a look and whispering again.

"...Oh, it's like that." he says, and smiles with a little nod. He smiles back at me. "Listen, your friend rose bought you three hours of my time." he says, tapping the counter twice. When Utah looks up, Buster shows him three fingers, and is handed a red-colored shot glass.

he places this in my hand. "When you're ready to, ah, enjoy my company privately, hand that to the creepy-looking dude with the blue eyes." he says, pointing at the man under the stairs. "He'll tell you my room number and when I'll be ready for you. Don't worry." he leans close to whisper. "I'm very gentle."

Rose watches my face as Buster departs, and I find it hard to resist watching him go. A few seconds later, Rose bursts out laughing.

"Totally worth the chip for the look on your face."

"That was a prank?!"

"No, if you turn in the glass, it's the real deal. But if you're not ready for it, we can get a refund." she says softly.

I carefully set it on the counter, and look at my drink forlornly.

"Listen, Sera. You should know, a person's past don't matter all that much to me. You showed me well enough yesterday that whatever you did for your spells - you're walking the right path now."

The right path.

I still can't remember properly what happened in that vault. It feels strongly like I lost something important - but I can't place my finger on it.

You, too, feel something was lost there - though you can feel it more like a missing limb.

I nod quietly, absentmindedly sipping the drink. I almost cough it out. The taste hits me after the initial bitterness - like... coffee and cream and very, very strong liqueur. Rose giggles and downs her drink quickly, snapping the drink glass onto the counter with a refreshed look on her eyes.

"It's a little hot at first, but guzzling helps."

I stare down at the drink, the brown liquid reminding me of Buster's coat - and Rose's. I wonder if she's the same color all over...

>NO ALCOHOL

I think over the day, the horrible feelings of casting again and again, the sights I've seen, the lives I've ended - both at home (though I can't remember how) and in that tent. These will haunt me forever... Every sense it touched. The sight of those horrible, horrible paintings and gory decorations, the sounds of terrible laughter. The feeling of the gun in my hand, the book held tight in the other like a part of me. The solid earth under my back as Greyface straddled me... The smell and taste of blood in the air and in my mouth.

>NO

But...

>ALCOHOL

I could forget

>NO

For a little while

>Alcohol

It'd all go away...

>...

Fuck it.

I knock the drink back hard, swallowing it as soon as it slides past my tongue. The tastes that I barely touched before flicker into life, now - a full, hard hammer of grains, the softer but still earthy taste of coffee, the gentle coddling of cream. I feel the fire run down my throat and into my belly.

I feel warmth on my face and through my body, a soft buzzing in my head.

[Null Deactivated]
[Sensitive activated]

Something in my head clicks open, falls away. Barriers, something... strange falls.

I look up to Rose in worry at this strange sensation.

Is she alright? It's a pretty heavy drink to just throw back like that...
I hear
"Are you okay, Sera?" she asks, just after.
For the first time ever.

I blink, shake my head hard. Something rattles back into place.

[Sensitive deactivated]
[Null activated]

"Yeah. Another, please." I say. I can still stand up, the room isn't spinning - I just feel a little warmer, a little softer. A smile touches my face.

"Hey, Rose... What about, uh... Bad stuff?" I ask, tapping the red shot glass.

Rose smiles. "Everyone here is clean - but don't worry, if you don't check out with the Doc, we can clean you up." she wiggles her fingers a little to indicate the 'clean' to be done magically. "As for that other thing - Doc can handle that, too, so long's you visit the next morn." she says simply. "Don't worry, I didn't take you here to get you drunk and drag off to some spring mattress." she jokes, drinking her next serving.

"You're implying I'd mind, terribly."

Wait, what'd I just say!?

Rose chokes on her drink, nearly spitting it out, and I giggle at the normally confused lionblooded finally looking honestly flabbergasted. There's a long pause, a good one, as she raises an eyebrow.

"We'll see where the night takes us, eh? Utah, get her another - not so saucy, alright?"

"Rock and roll, coming right up."

"Hey, Rose. Is that girl gonna be alright?"

"She'll be fine. I wouldn't have left them if I thought them in rough hands. Don't worry. Tonight's for you! Enjoy yerself."

...
What sort of dialogue should I pursue with Rose?
Should I take up Buster's offer, or...?

>>378145
No idea what to ask about other than magic, demons and mutations..

Hmm, maybe ask her to tell you about the world on a more general scale? Like what the hell was the Calamity, how is exactly is the world dying, are there countries or is everything run more or less on a small scale, did tech cease working or just fell by the wayside due to the Calamity, etc..

>>378146
Not the place or the time to ask ANY of this.
That is all for tomorrow.

We are currently in a party and somewhat traumatized and need to wind down.

So obviously we should ask rose if she ever slept with buster.

This is so ending up as a rose/buster/us threesome

>>378148
Ah, right you are.

Obviously, Sera can not hold her alcohol very well, so while still coherent, tell Rose to stop you if you A) Become an embarrassing drunk, B) Become a sacrifice everybody/violent drunk or C) Become a mopey/I killed people drunk.
After that, drink until you black out or alternatively if you want to shack up with either of those two, that should probably be up to you, as opposed to the demonic voices of a book..

Either way, I am going to sit back and wait for a [DISCONTINUITY] and a more decision intensive moment, which will probably be tomorrow.

>>378145
Ah, I should have read a 'bar and brothel', not a 'bar' and a 'brothel' in >>374937. That hadn't gotten clear to me till the latest post.


Let's ask Rose to dance. I'm sure Utah can get some music going.


I think Rose figures Sera a virgin and tried to give us a good first time. You know with how little Rose wants to talk about Lion-Blooded, I figure she is a female nomad, a pride less individual.

Right now, I would say not to take up Buster's offer. Not ENTIRELY against it, but now's not the right time.

You should totally take Buster up on his offer. But you don't really know him, and though you trust Rose when she says he's a gentleman, you'd feel a lot better if she'd go with you. You know, just in case, just so that you could truly feel secure and enjoy yourself. Maybe forget how fucked up the world is for a couple hours.

>a full, hard hammer of grains, the softer but still earthy taste of coffee, the gentle coddling of cream

I never taste anything that eloquently. it's a shame everything's been destroyed, because you'd a made a pretty good gourmet back in the old world.

...I'm really confused about this whole Buster thing. is it common to order your fellow female mercs gay male escorts, or is there more to it than that?

Yaaaay

Sounds like an epic white russian right there. Except with like actual coffee in it or something.

I say take Buster up on his offer, he's adorable.

Do ask about his eyes, though.

@@ Shot!H508X.HbJ6 2012/01/07(Sat)12:21 No. 378205 ID: d14d3e
Audio Dean_Martin-_Ain't_That_A_Kick_In_The_Head.mp3 - (2.19MB , Dean Martin- Ain\'t That A Kick In The Head.mp3 )

I take the next drink offered to me, and drink it in one shot. Again, I'm assaulted by the variety of flavour - The rough strength of some brew of beer, with the hammer of grains, and the soft followup of some sort of syrupy flavouring. I noticed when he served it that the drink was layered, I guess it was on purpose. My head's really abuzz, now, as I smile dumbly at Rose.

"Hey, Utah." Rose asks. "Can we get some music?"

"Sure thing." he says, snapping his fingers. The jukebox in the corner whirrs to life.

Cue Music

"hey Rose, can... Can we dance?" I ask uncertainly. A gentle, careful question.

She smiles, setting down her drink and taking my hand with care as we move out to a clear space near the back. The closeness is surprisingly... warm. I rest my head on her shoulder, or rather, I nuzzle just below it, being careful about my horns. Time almost seems to slow. I'm surprised when she's the first to speak up.

"If you hadn't been there." she says softly. "I probably wouldn't have made it."

"No, I'm sure you could have done it. I'm... I wasn't that useful."

She laughs. "I lost it when he came at me..."

"Sera, I lost it right when we got into the room." she says softly. "If you hadn't had come along, I'd be dead - or worse. I'm stupid when it comes to kids. You kept me alive, and I'm thanking you."

"A-about that..." I say as we continue to swing around. "It's kinda... I mean, with Buster, it's my... I'm a..."

"You're scared, huh?"

"N-nervous. I'd feel safer with... you there."

I want to hide almost as soon as I say it, but her soft chuckle is something I can feel and hear, my ears nest to her chest as they are.

"I'll be there." she whispers. "Don't you worry."

I nod as the song slowly comes to an end and, before I lose my courage, pick up the shot glass. Wandering back to the man with the blue eyes, I present it to him.

He's huge. Wide and tall and covered with thick, rippling muscle, he simply nods.
"Room 3." he says, taking the glass.

I nod, and make my way up the stairs, not even stumbling. It feels like a dream as I enter the room and look around, the door creaking shut behind me. It's a nice room, honestly. It's kept clean, the bed, large enough to accommadate two people, is clean and made. It smells of strawberries. I've only had them once, but I'll never forget that smell.

Nervously, I sit heavily on the bed, and set the book aside, on the bedstand. It isn't until a few moments pass that I feel someone else sit beside me.

"Sorry if I lead you on about Buster." comes a soft murmur at my side - Rose's voice. Her hand touches my shoulder. "But... these are the best rooms in town. I wanted you to remember this - not a roll on a mattress in some hut." she says softly. "You can still get up and leave now, if you want..."


Stay or go?

I wonder if Rose licks herself clean like a cat...
Also, you should stay.

If you are fine with it, stay.

>>378206
Might be best not to ASK that question, though.

>>378205
STAY FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY.

I'm not even gonna bother voting on this one.

I wonder if the Calamity caused the ganja to go extinct. it goes way better with sex than booze. uh, I mean, that's what I hear, anyway.

>>378205
You are gonna stay. Hey, an idea. Use the time with Rose to cuddle and just say how at least Rose was brave and confident and strong while you were weak and you missed all your shots and you could have dropped Greyface but you didn't and dammit, you just feel bad.
It could be your emotions bursting after the whole getting stabbed issue or the alcohol or a mixture if both. Let's have a small breakdown up in here.

Stay... words just get in the way, use non verbal communication. A smile, reaching out ho hold hands, etc.

Stay. You've just realized you're too tipsy to get up again, after all.

>>378312

no. just don't talk.

Stay. If you aren't confident enough to pull her Rose into a hug with your arms, use your tail to pull her closer.

>Stay

"I... I'm not going anywhere." I find myself saying. I look up at her and she smiles in return, a hand rising to touch my cheek, then sliding back through my hair, gently pushing my head closer to hers. Without another moment's hesitation, she kisses me. If someone had approached me in the vault three years ago, and told me I'd be kissing a woman like this as my first, well... I'd probably call them insane.But here I am - her head tilting slightly, as she gently pushes me back onto the bed. It's... surprisingly soft, really. My heart races as she slowly pulls the zipper down on my jumpsuit. I can feel it, every inch - over my collarbone, between my breasts, over my belly, resting just below my navel. Her finger traces the line of bared skin and plain lingerie...

Is she purring?

She rises from leaning over me, knees on either side of my hips, and stretches. Her long leather duster with the armored shoulder is gone, I notice, leaving her in a sort of cross between a boiled leather cuirass and a tanktop. She smiles at me, unbuckling it and lifting it over her head before setting it aside, then undoes those slightly tight blue jeans and belt, sliding them off as well to set them aside, leaving her wearing only plaid panties. Gently, she reaches down and pulls my suit off, leaving me in my pale, white, simple undergarments.

She pauses - and I get a good look at her, while she does the same at me. Her head is crowned with a mane of red hair, truly red. Her name is apt. Green eyes seem to almost shimmer in the dim light. Her body is strong, but lean - slightly muscular, yet feminine. Her breasts...

Still small enough to have perk, but large enough to fill my hands. Her fur is dark brown all over - except for a long, bulbous line of tan that stretches from her chin to her crotch, an interesting pair of lines I trace from her neck to the sides of her breasts, stopping at the waistband of her plaid panties. Her tail lashes the air behind her.

Scars.

I almost didn't notice them - small, tiny pockmarks in her skin beneath the fur. Well-hidden. I don't even notice them until I touch them, constellations of tiny bumps and lines I find myself engrossed in. And beneath those, the skin itself, firm muscles and warmth. Each scar is a badge of a fight entered and won, or escaped. But ruminating on her nature, I don't think she's run that much. Still, I find my hands exploring her breasts again as she leans back down to kiss my neck, eliciting a gasp at the sudden novelty of feeling.She sucks softly at my neck, reaching behind me to undo my bra and pull it away, dropping it at the side of the bed with everything else as her head slides down my collarbone - anothe soft press of the lips there.

Her kisses touch the sides of my breast, her hand gently roving around its opposite, massaging me. And then her mouth latches onto my nipple, sending electricity through my body while her fingers toy with the other. I have trouble staying quiet, and I don't know what to do with my hands - opting to grip the sheets tightly. I feel a warmth in my belly, steadily building now. My breathing is more rapid and wild, my voice sometimes acting up without my consent. I can't move - The feelings running through my body paralyze me as she smirks, peeling away my last piece of clothing slowly.

...No one's seen me naked before. It feels so strange, I almost curl up, trying to hide the soft fuzz and special place. She leans close again, though she slips off her own panties as she kisses my neck again, finger teasing along my folds before finally slipping inside. And again, it's back to that wild feeling, that uncontrollability. The feeling mounts faster than before, heat rising in my body unexpectady. A tide begins to envelop me, and then my mouth opens, and -

[DISCONTINUITY]

I fall from the incredible hieghts, feeling slightly dizzy, a softness, a fuzzyness floating through my mind as I blink. Or maybe that's the alcohol? I don't even know anymore. I don't reall care.

Rose looks down at me, expectant. I kiss her again, enjoying that wonderful taste as I gently explore her. The firmness of her body is still unexpected, and so is the warmth. Even though a fuzzy sense of sleepiness invades my thoughts, I gently push it away, needing her to feel more. I get the sense I really don't understand what I'm doing. My hands feel clumsy, my fingers wonky. Even so, I work hard, slipping inside her, pushing against her, kissing, licking, my eagerness and desire making up for my lack of skill or knowledge or even talent.

It isn't long, or at least, it doesn't feel long, before she begins to shudder and shake beneath my ministrations, until she closes her eyes, her back arches, and she roars, making me blink but not pause, carrying her through it and slowing as she comes off the feeling, my own eyes fluttering as I realize how tiring it was, and curl up beside and atop her, my head resting atop her soft breasts in their warm valley, my knees pulling up, a hand resting on her belly. So warm...

The last thing I remember is the covers being pulled over us, and a gentle kiss being pressed upon my forehead.

[Thread complete!]
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>>378614

oh god why is Sera so damn adorable I thought the taint was evil and shit