Wait a minute- I still have my/Vince's end of the string; shouldn't I just be able to follow that to get to the banana tree? Is my string visible to others (who I don't want to see it)? I'd assume not, but I'm asking just in case.
"So they brought a stone golem to counter a pyromancer, eh? Smart. But not smart enough."
Acid worm the Stone Golem (the thing digs through earth- it should be super-effective). Burn what reagents/life force/magical stuff I can from his now-broken-into-tiny-pieces body, but keep a piece of his torso and a piece of his arm for later use (put them in a closed container and put that container in a sack, though).
Then follow the string to the banana tree and do the stuff that I outlined in my previous turn. Before doing anything at base, ask Vince to see if he can get someone to remotely sweep my golem parts for "bugs", so to speak (connections to some outside force). If he can, get that someone to do that (and scan the rest of my (and Vince's) body/gear, while he's at it).
You just have a length of the string, not connected to anything. It's long, not infinitely extensible.
1+3, vs 5+3
You summon the toad demon, just as the golem begins lumbering towards you. The ground pulses, then explodes as a many-legged creature leaps from the earth, drenching anything nearby in corrosive liquids. Acid sprays over the plants, withering them almost instantly, and eats into your assailant's grey rock features. The hell-creature grapples with the stone man for a few seconds before amassive hand grips it and hurls it to the ground. The golem stomps on it repeatedly, more infuriated than harmed, destroying the creature in less than a second. You feel an inward tearing and bile rise in your throat as your demon is banished from the human realm. Looks like you won't be summoning that one for a while.
3+1, 5 vs 5-1
Your opponent grabs hold of the side of the plant-tent and pulls, destroying the frame and bringing the fabric down around you. Sen slashes wildly with his katana at the side of the tent as it falls on him, until you create a fiery rent in the material and step through, yanking him after you. The two of you stumble away as the golem hurls a now flaming tent from his body and kicks his way out of a pile of burning acid and greenery, largely unharmed.
Yeah... nope. Sen runs. Given how slow the thing is, its a viable option.
"My fine sword friend, do you know if the soldiers would accept one of these Belial vouchers?"
If he says no, then ask him for a sample. Either way, use the ticket to get some psychogiraffe sample from him.
Then, go and buy a bottle of wine (20 pound price range), a cheap wine glass (must be glass), and pour them both into the glass. Add 1 clot to create a chalice, do this in a quiet alley. Also buy a Roman, Japanese, or Chinese coin with a hole in the middle, time period doesn't matter. (Maybe from a money changer booth? Largest denomination possible, must be genuine.) String it around a stainless steel chain, and add 1 clot. Test talisman after the summon has calmed down. If I need a target, try for inanimate objects first.
Once I am done, return to Vince. Ask him where he would like assistance and if he knows anything about human sacrifice and summonings. Mainly looking for a mentor.
The zweihander-wielder waves you on, and upon presenting Belial's scroll to a termite soldier, he stuffs it into his thorax and extracts a thermos flask-full of fresh blood from the beast's many-chambered heart. You scurry off and purchase wine and glass for £20, and in the grime and garbage behind a pizza restaurant, you summon your first demon. As you pour the blood and power into the glass of wine, the liquid froths, bubbles, and boils over, the potent mixture pouring over the sides and running over the concrete towards your feet, glowing brighter and brighter. And then it is gone.
Slowly, the angles of the buildings around you shift and glimmer. Transparent, light forms begin to take shape in the air around you. And poking from around corners, through the glass panes of windows, around manhole covers, and out of chimneys and drainpipes, come the giraffe heads.
Monstrous, imperious faces bare glinting fangs and sway unsteadily, whispering. Their manes glimmer and fade in and out of your vision, and the earth around you seems to sway with their words before you hold your will and remember that they are
your creatures. Chants of madness in unknown tongues glide forth from echoing necks of light, ghostly visitations talking of the end of days and ways and lives, encouraging, snarling, contradicting, proposing, weaseling, begging, ordering, flattering, bowing and chattering in tongues men were not meant to hear.
For an instant,
your mind is overwhelmed with alien sentences and horrific phrases, your skull reverberating with curses and lies and deadly truths. And then the beasts withdraw into whatever grim cacophany they call a home and you are left head ringing and drained, but master of terrible power.
Right, the pendant. You manage to get the coin and a good steel chain for ten quid. Genuine articles from China aren't very cheap.
The first time you try to use it, on the street, a warrior in interlinked plates of steel, Chinese design, appears from nowhere, sword gripped in both hands. She immediately runs to a man just getting into his shiny red Maserati, pulls him out of it bodily and throws him to his knees on the pavement before decapitating him in one stroke and disappearing. Sheesh.
You can only use this once per combat. Unless the combat goes on for hours.
You look around. A couple of people might have seen that, but they've all run away. Looks like there's a fancy car for the taking.
Anyway, a phone call to Vince tells you that the people near the power source might need help. A mentor is hard to say: are you interested in devils, gods, summoning what? You could find a not-yet god with no congregation but a little power scrounged up from somewhere and go around spreading their fame. Or you could make some sort of contract with the devil. Or find an already-established god and pledge yourself to it. Many options.
"Too much. I might need to get a tow truck to actually pull the glowing thing out of the creek."
Check around the magic market for weapons that would function underwater. After that, go get a tarp large enough to wrap around the underwater object, with metal rings for a cable to be attached, and try to reserve enough cash to get a tow truck callout. (about 50 pounds, IIRC.) Then head back to the canal, to drop off the gear. Call Vince and tell him about how big the glowy thing is, how it's likely to get very hot, and ask if he can arrange for a vehicle to carry it inside.
The gunfarmers sell a £500
Amphibious Assult Rifle with armour-piercing rounds. The bullets restock upon every kill.
Or you could just get a knife or something. They work pretty well underwater. There are a
lot of blades on sale here. In fact, you can look at them as a free action, if you want one of those.
Your call. I'm keeping you at the market until you decide what you want to buy, even if its nothing. No bilocating here.
You arrange the tarp and the tow truck for £75. Vince says he'll send a vehicle over as soon as he can get it ready, a matter of an hour at most.
Well obviously just writing something's not gonna do anything, I'm not an idiot. Stick that shit on the internet, where the followers of Nanami's tale will see it! It might not really do anything, but any future power gains will be improved if people think I'm cool.
It would probably be a good idea to go steal another blade that's not brittle like my slaughter machete. I kinda doubt there's much mortals can do about someone grabbing a thing and then flying off on a level 4 broom.
Once I've got that, go steal a barrel of powerful acid from a chemical plant or something, and pour that down on the slug. I'm not super strong, but my broom is, so make sure to secure it well. If the acid works, the slug will probably start acting aggressively, and I don't know its capabilities, so I'll want to dive down quickly and cut into the part weakened by the acid with my non-slaughter blade. Hopefully the combination of acid and a dive will be enough to pierce the shell. If there's enough room to get inside and kill it from within, do so. Otherwise, flee. Can probably use that wound to poison it later.
If I can't climb inside, I'll probably want to go to the magic market to buy some strong and/or bulk poison.
Oh, and while I'm doing things, cast the bullet-making spell whenever my mana is full, on whatever is handy. Until I have one full spare magazine, not counting the organic armor and benflesh I already have.
You post it on a subreddit devoted to Nanami's stuff. Some people react to the poorly-written account with joy, taking it as an apocryphal text from some character within the franchise, and hastily archive it as an easter egg. Most people are just confused or uninterested, but some people post deep analyses and theories in the comments, giving informed accounts of the creature's nature and abilities that, ironically, you don't bother reading.
Stealing a blade, eh?
Agility: 3+3
You get a large gardening axe, and fly out the gardening centre with ease and grace. Acid is another story.
Prac:4
You get your hands on a good deal of fairly strong acid, which does very little to a creature capable of withstanding meteorite impacts. Nanami might be better at getting industrial-strength materials: barrels of acid might be a bit heavy for you.
You wonder if this creature has any orifices. There are some things most organisms do.
"I think we should kill the man."
I'm in stealth and the guy has not noticed us yet. If no one stops me, shoot from hiding with my wand using my spell 2 (invisible flesh-removing blast) four times at the guy, then wait for my puissance to recharge and shoot again. Repeat until it dies from blood loss or lack of meat.
Check around the magic market for weapons that would function underwater.
((Oooh! I know this one! See if you can find one of Russia's amphibious rifles! Yes, it's London, and that's a super-niche cutting edge gun, but hey, we see lots of crazy stuff in this game!))
NJW, since I bet Dev won't actually say anything, look at that link? Pretty please?
...Ah, Ben will head to the canal area while Nanami's away. To scout it out. He'll bring all his guns, of course, "concealing" the M249 in a duffel bag.
Steve watches as Zamenis fires at the hooded person down the street. A long shot, but a possible one.
4+2
2 vs 1
+3The deadly missile streaks through the air, striking the figure in the chest. They thrash about and try to get to cover, but Zamenis is too fast, and manages to hit him again with another volley. The person can only crawl about, and collapses after a few metres, their body likely mutilated under the leather covering. Zamenis is spent, but regains puissance quickly.
At this point, Ben arrives with the M249 in a duffel bag and appraises the situation. As far as the three warriors know, they haven't been seen, and their enemies may not have noticed the death of the leather-wearing person. They will soon though.
The Coven's three best non-magical fighters should probably work out how to approach the power source and the hostiles surrounding it. Or just charge in.Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Unnatural beauty granted by demonic contract and the adoration of mortals. Slight charisma/popularity boost.
Power from mortal media.
Can create illusions.
Conscripted into twenty-nineth legion of Amdukias.
Puissance: 2 +1 not from Amdukias
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 0
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 1
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 2
Inventory: £550
Backpack, expensive camera + memory cards
Quality sketching paper, art pens+pencils, charcoal, etc.
Sketches of self as main character, Amdukias, the non-mortal world, etc.
[Glass Rod Crystal Wand] - Enhanced slightly through media
Mediocre Pistol (4/6)
Large, fist-sized mind-controlling spacerock fragments.
Painting supplies, a glass cutter, battery powdered soldering iron, eighty feet of red cloth, white rag and thread
Diving gear: masks, suits and some scuba tanks.
Puissance: 13/13
Puissant Clots: 2
Goethe T. Helle
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 2
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 2
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £20, clockface minus one hand, highlighter pens, two kitchen knives, half-empty cologne bottle
From the beast: one bone,
Italian Dinner suit, stored at Vince's place.
[Dog Collar Pendant][Molasses Clockhand Wand]
[Icecream Beast Blood Fur Chalice][Beast Remains Wand]
Runes:
Isolation: you never had many friends or allies, so are used to poor odds. +1 to rolls when outnumbered and alone.
Stoicism: a rune that calms those dealing with shock, tragedy or injury.
Perseverance: despite all the odds, you managed to kill a huge beast using nothing but hot syrup. Bonus to attack and extra damage to powerful or resistant enemies after several turns of combat or aggression.
Dwarven Weapon Storage: learned from a dwarf carrying a small armoury on his back. Increases load of weapons and tools that can be borne without being hampered or slowed down, or collapsing outright.
Ruination: when written, it makes a bad situation worse, and an irretrievable one more so. Learned after the second mission.
Puissant clots: 1
Puissance: 5/6
Name: Sir Worthington the Fourth
Has a demonic leg. Old leg is in possession of monarchs of hell.
Enslaved young man under demonic contract, wields katana, wears combat pants + green sweatshirt.
Stats: Ritual Potency: 3
Practicality 3
Horrific burns
Inventory: £22, Pint of royal blood (stored at Vince's), blood covered knife, Cursed String
Stored at Vince's place: mortal's tendons, skull and leg bones.
[Glass Eye Pendant] [Paintbrush Wand]
[Toad Demon Battery Acid Tupperware Chalice]
Competent's Pyromancy Flame - Heal Burn (1P), Create Flame (1P), Flame Claw (3P), Mesmerising Flame (2P)
One shot, recharging: Chaos Insect Swarm
Wears tinfoil hat.
Puissant Clots: 0
Puissance: 2/5
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 5
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 2
Practicality - 0
Inventory: knife, 2xtaser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag.
Also a bag of athames, 2.5 legs War Bacon (Vince's Fridge), a worn face-concealing hooded coat, bin bags.
Concealed: knife in one boot, knife on a leg, and one on his torso.
Two generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
Two bin bags of assorted pills from pharmacy.
£20
Set of keys and passcard
Gunfarmer P90 (2/50) (in bag)
FN Minimi light machine gun, 2 magazines
Puissant clots: 4
Puissance:5/5
Steve
Banal combat - 3
Agility - 3
Inventory: £50
Rusty, shard curved sword
Puissance: 5/5,
Clots:3
Name: Bella, the Speed Witch
Runic sight: 2
Banal Combat: 2
Melee 1
Agility 2
Inventory: £0,
Delicate Rune-engraved Machete: heavy bonus when facing multiple weaker victims. Likely to break on misshits/heavy armour.
Benflesh Bullet, Concrete bullet x3, Cloud bullet x2, organic armour x1
Large gardening axe
[Tier Four Racing Broom]
Runes:
Speed lover: +1 to doing anything while moving faster than you need to. Does not prevent (but can negate) maluses from trying to do things while moving faster than is sensible.
Slaughter: enhances speed and efficiency of murder when facing many opponents/victims. Passive boost, but can be written on things.
Broom Dodging: makes you better at dodging things while on a broom.
[Sub Nosed Glock Wand] 9/9
1 Organic Armour Bullet
Nascent Pyromancy Flame: Create Flame 1P
Puissance: 5/5
Clots:0
Name: Zamenis Paean
Puissant fettle: 2
Agility: 2
Aim: 2
LICH: feeds on the bleeding hearts of his enemies.
Undead. Necromancy bonus.
Inventory: £5, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Duct tape, Large Knife, knife.
Surgical tools: scalpel, a first aid kit, a saw, and tweezers.
Tier 1 Broom, Dragon Tooth Phylactery on End
[Human Leg Wand]
Puissant Clots: 0
Puissance: 1/9
Name: Don Joe
Ritual Strength - 2
Runic Sight - 1
Aim - 1
Agility - 1
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £30
Card of Mortal-mind cleanup guy
[Chain Coin Pendant]
[Giraffe Wine Chalice]
Runes
Market Savvy: You know what things are worth, and who will pay for or try to get them. From your time spent as a banker, a passive rune.
Acid: a rune that eats into whatever it touches.
Puissance: 5/5
Puissant Clots: 0
Author
Topic: COVEN: Gulled Goldsmiths and Lost Locomotives (Read 153932 times)