It's alright. At least it's not months.
Over 1.3 recurring months later, I've finally stayed in once place long enough to get an update off.
You said a lot of military and police are around? Ben is going to go out and test his new false rank, by trying to obtain smoke grenades from one of them. Whether by convincing someone to give them to him, stealing them, or by finding someone who's both well-equipped and all alone to knock unconscious and loot (Ben would prefer to not murder a loyal british soldier, but if he has to kill one for the grenades...). He'll bring Nanami's silenced pistol (which she gave him a couple updates ago), and the P90, but not the bulky Minimi, it's a bit too big to conceal.
After that, right back to base. Ben's not gonna take any risks by staying out too long or getting greedy.
Edit: Actually, assuming Ben was informed that our employers are offering armor and they're giving two items per person rather than at all, he'll go grab a set and a box of grenades, instead of the whole "decieve very dangerous people into parting with high-grade materiel" plan. If that agreement is limited to two items for the whole group... well, Ben would probably rant that a second suit of body armor is far more valuable than even a reinforced riot shield, which contrary to what videogames depict is a pretty terrible shield... but if I'm being honest there's no reason for Don to mention the deal at all before he's already ninja'd the loot. -.-
You leave Vince's house, and stride through near-empty streets until you find a group of soldiers lounging by an armoured van. Medics drag body-bags from the nearby houses, piling them in neat pyramids. The privates salute and direct you to a nearby congregation of military vehicles, helicopters buzzing through the overcast skies above it, and you waste no time in finding the good stuff.
Practicality: 1
"Evening, officer. I'll take six smoke grenades, sharpish."
"Hold on a minute mate, I'm not authorised to just give out... what do you even need them for? We're pretty much here to back up the police on crowd control and site security, what do you want tactical cover for? Can't you ask your own people? Do you have any paperwork or anything? Who even are you? You pulling my leg here? I bet Four-Two Commando put you up to this. Silly bastards, think we're stupid or something, always doing this shit. Tossers."
A crowd of amused infanty gathers to watch the spectacle. You mumble something about needing to go fetch some papers, and walk off to mild laughter and catcalls, muttering under your breath about modern military bureaucracy. Looks like no smoke grenades today. And no, you don't get anything extra from the knights, it's two items at all.
Ben pauses, then turns to ask Vince a very important question:
"The people who're hunting this thing, they got some way of tracking it, don't they? How good is it? We gonna have people coming down on us constantly, or will they only know when it's close?"
Vince nods.
"Sensible question. They're only going to know when it's nearby. Probably early enough to set an ambush though."
"I have an idea. How about we get Ben to be our champion for the bridge?"
First, ask how to contact the receiving group. If possible to do so without walking over, do so.
Get the body armor and the riot shield. Contact Ben about the bridge champion fight and ask if he would rather do that or shoot Nazis. Also ask if the knights have a box that muffles sound- if so, use that and cover the box in duct tape. If not, Don will go shopping for one. Make sure Don talks to the transportation mages if possible.
The knights give you the phone numbers of a couple of people at Uncertain Energies Inc. I'll assume you send them round to other Coven members. They then set up a skype call with Uncertain, and a boring looking woman in a white lab coat comes on and checks that you know exactly where the drop-off point is, and assures you that they have somewhere you can drive or run into at a moment's notice if you're coming in hot.
Harold staggers into the room carrying six suits of black polycarbonate body armour and six riot shields decorated with an intricate knot of white lines and circular symbols. Squinting at them, you get the idea that they afford some low-key magical protection, as well as enhanced physical capabilities. So the Hygiean knights have some runic techniques of their own, huh... You wear or carry this stuff on the streets though, you're going to look like mercenaries or street performers or something. They aren't very inconspicuous items right now.
You can call Vince and get him on the phone to Ben, but whether he replies or not is up to him. ((Conversation is a free action, in situations where it makes some kind of sense. Maybe not when in combat in separate parts of the city, but otherwise it almost always is.))
Deal with the video first, since it'll be a few turns for the plan to start shaking out. Take a brief phone camera video, vine length or whatever, something shorter than a minute. It'll pan from Nanami's face to a wall, that via the illusion and light projecting abilities, has a mural of something fantastic on it, such as spaceships flying between buildings. Then it'll pan further onto a small object, like a coffee mug that is made of gold and encrusted with glowing jewels, as well as containing a smoke emitting dark brew within. It'll then pan back towards Nanami. While doing so, talk about how she needs assistance with editing and scene composition, that sort of thing, but she has good access to practical abilities and effects. Send that vine to three or four local youtubers, and request a meeting to see who is interested in collaboration.
When I get the meetings, meet up with them and assess them for someone who has the best combination of skills and is either willing to become a cultist or is close to that point. Send that person the raw video with instructions to publish it where the last one went up to, when it's done editing.
Practicality: 6+3
You create a marvellous video, making it look like you already have access to professional camera workers and a highly competent special effects laboratory. You meet up with several nearby youtube vloggers, film-makers and find a film school graduate living nearby, a young woman named Alice with a questionable penchant for casual tweeds but undeniable editing abilities. Alice mainly does fashion and lifestyle videos with her unemployed or minimum-wage graduate friends, a common local resource you note as creative, broke, and bored enough to go in for almost anything. She also runs a tutorial channel on the side, giving some very professional digital editing and writing tips.
While she seems unusually self-assured even when meeting in person in a local coffee shop, your occult charisma and video easily persuade Alice to get onboard your channel. She even asks to meet Dave and the "other members" of your team, before going off to edit the video. It'll take a bit, but might do better than your previous stuff... Alice may know her way around the youtube algorithms.
((Yet his soul would still remain within the phylactery. It's just matter of finding another dead body to transfer to.))
This isn't the case. Zamenis' soul currently resides in his decomposing brain and skull. Eventually, it will go into his skeleton, unless he does something to change this. He could upload it into a computer, for example. Or incorporate a helmet of some kind into his body, and let the soul reside in that. In fact, the phylactery is one of the few places his soul
can't go. It would be like having your teeth and brain as the same organ. Humans, or in this case liches, just aren't built that way.
Ugh, need something directly smashy. Treebranch rock wand, maybe. When I get some clots.
Sneak off, stick that good smell on myself, and go visit that transworld entertainment. I'm heeded by Deep Ones, may as well go show off for my fans, right?
You opt to hop onto a bus into the tourist centre of the city, smelling delightful as always. Free public transport for the young and vulnerable. When you reach Southwark Bridge, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, except for an unusual concentration of occult beings. People with minature galaxies swirling where their heads ought to be, automata of glass and steel controlled by brains floating in transparent vats, and I don't know, treants or something. You get the picture.
Walking across the bridge, however, takes an unusually long time. Interdimensional beings have screwed around with the local topology, and as you approach the centre, the massive concrete structure expands, becoming hundreds of metres wide and immensely long. Tents and temporary constructions of all shapes and descriptions have been hastily erected across the bridge, the cars of heedless mortals insensible to the unreal environment snaking through the encampment. You head towards the centre through market stalls, food shops offering still-wriggling meals, loudspeakers blaring music not meant for human ears, and people selling those hot sugar-coated nuts.
A suited man wearing a security earpiece steps in front of you as you reach an open square fulled with queues of humanoids wearing weaponry and armour of endless variety. There's something a bit off about him. Possibly the way his face and body are completely still when he's not talking. Or the fact that he doesn't blink.
"Hello there, my dear... Jane Zisigin. Welcome to Transworld Entertainment's Duel of Champions! Please don't hesitate to ask if there's anything our team can do for you."
His face goes completely blank for a second.
"Ah, what a pity. I've just been informed that we can't let an twelve year old girl participate in bloodsports because... it would be inhuman and despicable. Also our viewers wouldn't like it. Still, if you have any older friends who wouldn't be averse to taking life for the pleasure of an infinite viewership, don't hesitate to put them in contact with us. Have my card."
As you look at the spiralling lines of hopeful combatants, snaking in between tents, performers, parked vehicles and crowds of sightseers, you glimpse a rune, a letter of the alphabet of the world that lets you rewrite reality in some small way.
Muster: a rune that aids you in hiring or recruiting people to your cause, especially combatants.
"I do not believe he's... Uh, sane enough for that. He might just end aggravating them or causing trouble. Although, he IS a very good fighter. Yes, I think he could be our fighter."
"Are you okay if I carry the box instead? I have extra mobility because of my fast flying mop."
I'd like to see that necromancer church, but it's sadly not in the way we have to go.
Let's avoid those sphinx mating grounds and the London bridge and go through the Warwick bridge. It's the fastest route.
I would like to be the one that carries the box, if no one wants to. I can use my broom to stay in the air and away from anyone that could steal it.
Given that people replied to you, I'm going to assume you don't just fly off with the artifact. So no action for you.
But if you were to hang around the room the box was in, you'd hear whispers coming from it. As if it were trying to get your attention.
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: 1
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 1
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 3
Inventory: £10
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.
[Tier Two Glass Rod Crystal Wand] - Enhanced slightly through media
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. (dumped)
Knife
Gunfarmer's Silenced MK-23 Pistol 12/12
Runes
Pestilence: all living things will someday die. This rune accelerates the processes of death with the energies of life - a draining and a consumption at once.
Puissance: 11/13
Puissant Clots: 2
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 6
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 3
Practicality - 0
Inventory: 2xtaser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag.
4 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 (Vince's fridge).
£20
Set of keys and passcard
Gunfarmer P90 (50/50) (in bag)
FN Minimi light machine gun, 200-round belt, (59/200) round belt
Puissant clots: 7
Puissance:5/5
Name: Zamenis Paean
Puissant fettle: 3
Agility: 3
Aim: 3
LICH: feeds on the bleeding hearts of his enemies.
Undead. Necromancy bonus.
Heavily Charred, not that it matters to you. But you look like you've spent the night on a live barbecue grill.
Respined and very slightly shorter.
Inventory: £1, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Large Knife, knife.
Surgical tools: scalpel, a saw, and tweezers.
A length of shimmering, crystalline rope,
{Extremely Strong Sleep Potion}
Dragon Tooth Phylactery on [Tier Three Steel Mop Broom]
[Human Leg Wand]
[Ulna and Hand Wand]
Lightning Longsword
Human spine caduceus
Puissant Clots: 0
Puissance: 14/14
Name: Don Joe
Back covered in bone casing, small spikes
Ritual Strength - 2
Runic Sight - 1
Puissance - 1
Aim - 2
Agility - 1
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £890
Card of Mortal-mind cleanup guy
[Chain Coin Pendant]
[Giraffe Wine Chalice]
[Venom Blood Syringe Chalice]
Simple Knife
Five bone spikes
Gunfarmer's Browning 9-mm 13/13
6x Polycarbon Body Armour
6x Divinely Enhanced Riot Shield
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.
Nebula: a rune that glows brilliantly, written in brilliant points of light. Can be written on the sky itself to send messages through the stars.
Carnage: paint this on something, and increase the likelihood of large numbers of people being killed or maimed near it. How on earth could you have picked up such a rune?
Puissance: 6/6
Puissant Clots: 1
[spoiler=it's the cycle of life]
Name: Jane Zisigin
[Heeded by Deep Ones]
Puissant fettle: 2
Runic Sight: 1
Aim: 3
Inventory: [Tier Two Deodorant Stick Wand]
£50
Bag of living scrap metal
Samples of: Human blood, Roses, Rotten Food
Transworld Entertainment Card
Runes
Megafauna: the first magical creature Jane really saw was a demonic rhinoceros trampling the broken bodies of her parents. This rune gives a passive awareness of nearby massive beasts, and will attract them when written.
Waif: boost to stealth when alone.
Muster: a rune that aids you in hiring or recruiting people to your cause, especially combatants.
Clots:0
Puissance: 9/9
By the way, if anyone wants more information, or wants a list of what their wands, demons, etc do, I'd be happy to post that. I know it's been a while, thanks for bearing with me.
Author
Topic: COVEN: Gulled Goldsmiths and Lost Locomotives (Read 153538 times)