I'm torn between agreeing with Russ and trying to prove him wrong as both have their positives.

But we are totally yoinking the book.
 
She returned it to Xanatos offscreen. There's not a shred of deniability after the entire crowd of people, Horvath and Pandarus included, saw her take it.

Janna's good, but she's not a 'steal something in front of hundreds of people and have none of them notice' good.
 
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I think we should try to prove Russ wrong.

If we fail, then it isn't going to be because we shattered the masquerade, thus he didn't misplace his trust in us and won't give us a loyalty demerit.

If we succeed... then untold good will be done.

Edit: On the topic of stealing the book...

Honestly, I don't see much reason not to.

1. I trust ourselves more with it.
2. This very well could come in handy against Bill or Toffee in the best case scenario.
3. The rolls seem to be better to steal it vs returning it.
 
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And we just lost half of our Dissiesed lunatic trait in one quest. Damn it how can we raise it back up?
We can't, in all likelihood. But it's kind of partly offset by our Intrigue boosts, which are more general than Diseased Lunatic, in that they benefit all our Intrigue checks and not just defensive ones. The bonus is smaller but applies far more consistently.
 
She returned it to Xanatos offscreen. There's not a shred of deniability after the entire crowd of people, Horvath and Pandarus included, saw her take it.

Janna's good, but she's not a 'steal something in front of hundreds of people and have none of them notice' good.
Heres the most important question of the night. Did Janna manage to get Pucks Autograph before he had to pull his vanishing act?
 
Further question - looks like we've picked up some more attention in the form of Molly's employer. Odds that it's not Toffee?
 
We can't, in all likelihood. But it's kind of partly offset by our Intrigue boosts, which are more general than Diseased Lunatic, in that they benefit all our Intrigue checks and not just defensive ones. The bonus is smaller but applies far more consistently.

I understand that however we need all the defensive bonuses we can get.

putting aside those with only a single city we are probably among the weakest of the multi statekings.

We very much want to stay "That Idoit from Danville " for as Long as possible.
 
I understand that however we need all the defensive bonuses we can get.

putting aside those with only a single city we are probably among the weakest of the multi statekings.

We very much want to stay "That Idoit from Danville " for as Long as possible.
Kitsune might be able to help with that, if she does the "Spread Chaos" options.
 
Whatever is happening it's going to happen at Christmas.

The 12th night is a Shakespeare play and a Christmas thing

so we've got 1-2 turns.

when it hits that time we'll want all of our heroes in the DEI building for when the shit hits the fan
 
"Oh thank god." Drake Stone declares, and you can feel the mood of the remaining crowd agree with him. There's only so many square dances you can perform a jig before you tear your own feet off.
Heh. Everyone's desperate for a reprieve.
"Do not waste your time, simpletons!" Winnifred screeched mockingly. "Thine choice of funeral dirge shall not save thee. We cannot be defeat-"

Janna Occult Check: 90+12+10+55=171
Winnifred Occult Contest: 56+30+20+20+5=131

Another burst of flame incinerated the witches. The various undead stared dumbly for a few seconds until they burst out of a nearby alley.

"We cannot-"

Janna Occult Check: 64+12+10+55=141
Winnifred Occult Contest: 62+30+20+20+5=137

This time Janna electrocuted them, leaving them singed but still standing.

"I feel as though thou art not getting this."
Ah, the classics. They never cease to entertain, nor grow old.
Max Diplomacy Check
DC 100 needed: 87+13+10+14+10=134
Success!

The duck-billed skeleton stared at Max for a moment, then tilted its head. A couple of them rubbed their chins.
Holy wow, that actually worked. Looks like Max is really getting into this.
"Don't question it." Max whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Seems like he's finally learning.
FINALLY!! I was getting worried there. Seems we won't need that lecture after all.
"She just used that, uh, teleport-thingy you gave her. Dunno why she didn't use it earlier, but… oh well."
Why didn't she use that earlier?
"Are you sure you wanna do the whole 'shout name of attack to attack' focusing? I always preferred the 'glare menacingly as dark magic flows through your body and your very orifices glow with baleful light' method."

"I'm proving a point and getting some practice in! What's the use in coming up with a cool spell name if you enemies don't get to hear it before they die?"
Exactly! Everyone knows that attacks are 50% more accurate, focused, and damaging when you call out the attack name! There is science behind this!!
"A churchyard?" Russ suggests.

"'T'woud do it."

Janna Intrigue Check: Formulate a plan!
DC 100 needed:
67+20+10+38+10=145

"I may have an idea." Janna says, before sildling over to the auction block.
Ohhh, boy. I'm not sure whether to be excited or terrified.
"Sisters! Hand me the Manual. I shall find a spell within its pages to turn this entire cavalcade of trinkets to dust upon the wind!"

There is a pause.

"Sisters? Why are you not handing me the book?"

Sarah shrugs.

"I thought you had it." Mary says.

"Where hast it gone?!?!" Winnifred screams.

"Uhhh, it didn't burn up did it?"

"Nay! Not even the fires of hell could singe it! It must be here somewhere sister! Quickly, sear-!"

"Hey fugly!" Janna yells, holding up a thick, soot-blackened tome. "Lookin' for this?"

"THE BOOK!!!" All three of them screech in unison.
Pffffft! Oh my gosh, did they really lose the book in between all of those attacks?! That's so lame!!
The portal building?!?

Wait a second. Is Janna leading you out into the streets of New York?!
Oh, crap, Masquerade's gonna break like-!!
"Uhhh, guys? Not to be a stickler, but…"

"Horvath, Pandarus! Put up the best glamours you can manage!" Russ declares. "Everyone else, just act like this is normal! It's Halloween night! This worked in '71, it'll work now!"

Intrigue check: Disguise this walking disaster area!
DC 130
21+14+38+10+5+50(glamour)=138
Bare success!

Working together, the two dark wizards manage to throw up a glamour charm before anyone on the outside can notice anything's amiss! Of course, it doesn't make the patrons of Grand Central Station ignore the mass of strangers dance-running in their midst, but it does manage to gloss over some fine details in their minds. It's Halloween night! Of course it makes sense for there to be a Thriller flash mob! Those zombie costumes are really good, and whoever set this thing up was dedicated. Okay, so one or two of the smarter people are looking at you oddly, and several children scream and run crying. You're willing to call this a success.
*relieved sigh* Thank goodness, we're not completely insane and we're surrounded by competent occult people.
"Two miles." Horvath replies impassively, using a bit of magic to join you in hovering over the street at a decent clip.

Max blanches. "Oh boy."
In the words of the immortal Gimli, son of Gloin, "Here's hoping they last the night."
Janna Intrigue Check: One last Trick with a Treat
79+20+45+20(almost perfect bait)=164
Winnifred Opposed Intrigue Contest:73+12+13+5=103

"There is nowhere left to run, child!" Winnifred cackles. "Give me the book!"

"Come and... get it." Janna panted, still getting her breath back from doing two miles in less than fourteen minutes.

Heedless and blind to the world, Winnifred soared forwards and snatched the tome out of Janna's hands.

"At last at last!" Winnifred cackled. "No more delays, I will know the recipe posthaste!" She flipped the book open. "Let me see, I remember the boil, the pox, the piece of my own tongue-"

"Dead man's toe!" Sarah supplied.

"Yes yes dead man's toe. All I need to check is-" Winnifred looked down at the page. "ONE POUND DICED PINEAPPLE?!?!?!"

"Gotcha." Janna smirked, yanking the Mad Mojo Cookbook out of Winnifred's hands and running Feldrake down the side of the witch's broom like a match. A moment later his eyes caught on fire.

"Uh oh." All three witches said together.

Janna Occult Check: Torch the rides: 92+10+12+55=169
Winnifred Occult Check: Resist 78+30+20+20+5-20(hallowed ground)=133

Sparks lept from Feldrake's eyes, and within seconds a broom, a mop and, quite inexplicably, a vacuum all burst into flame. All three witches tumbled down to ground level as you and the rest of your strange, strange cavalcade made it into the churchyard. Bereft of updated orders, the various skeletons and zombies began wandering through the gate, shuddering for a moment, and then bursting into dust.
WOO-HOO!! FINALLY!! Take that, witches~!!! *delirious laughter*
"You picked the wrong party to crash." You say, repeating something you saw in a movie once. You realize after a second you have the threatening tones of Vincent Price backing you up, which is probably helping the evil gloating a lot. "Why if I had a nickel for every time a major social event I attended turned into a fight to the death, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but still, weird that it happens twice, right?"

You pause for a moment, not sure how to swing this back to intimidating, but then you realize the song is finally ending and the perfect opportunity presents itself.

You and Vincent Price laugh in perfect synchronicity.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, ahahaha."
Wow. If we hadn't impressed anyone before, we sure did with that stunt. (Also, bravo MiH! A reference to the Sands Gala and Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension. Well done, my friend)
Winnifred scrambles up from the holy ground, and screeches as her feet begin to steam and glow beneath her. "Accursed child! Accursed apothecary! Accursed wizards and witches all!"

Winnifred Occult Check: Spit one last curse
87+30+20+20+5+30 (Dramatic Last Words)=192
Doofenshmirtz Occult Contest:
33+4+20(I do the cursing around here)+45+30 (Hallowed Ground Bonus)=132

You feel a terrible wind whip through the cemetery as the witches begin to chant. You can hear Puck try to drown them out with his own witty repartee, but for some reason he sounds like he's coming from the other end of the tunnel.

"Hear me well and hear me wise, though meet we now with our demise. To stone we turn on hallowed ground, but peace, respite will not be found! With my last breath I do intone- thine doom as well, will come through Stone! I damn my soul now unencumbered. This city's days, I say, are numbered!"

Something has been sped up.
To Be Continued in: Twelfth Night​
Ulp. I didn't see the invisitext until I highlighted all of this to quote it. Buckle your seatbelts, kids. Our one-year deadline seems to have been moved up drastically.
"Doofenshmirtz… I wanted to thank you for helping deal with the breach we almost had tonight."

"Eh?"

"The witches. And the dancing parade of zombies. And… so on."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. No problem, I guess."

Russ sighs.

"Doctor, it's becoming clearer by the day that you do have good intentions-"

"Evil." you correct him.

"Sure. The point is. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, and I hope that you recognize why, for the time being, being too brazen with magic would."

You grimace. You were half-expecting something like this. "I know, I know. But just think of everything I could accomplish! Potions in every drug store! A massive boom to the lawn gnome industry! A magical L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N! ...Okay, maybe not a magical L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

"I wish I could say the Huntsclan was unique." Russ says quietly. "They're not. I've had a lot of cases where the big bad monster ended up being the aggrieved party. Sometimes… sometimes I was too late."

You sit in silence for a moment.

"Xanatos is right." Russ admits. "Even if he was being very… manipulative. I know it's hard Doctor, but please. For their good. Keep their secrets."

What do you say?

[ ] "All right, I get it. I'll keep things on the down low for now."
[ ] "You're wrong, and I'll prove it to you."

You and Russ part ways again, still feeling uncomfortable. You guess you know what Russ does when he's not around you now. He comes up with nasty arguments for tough moral questions.
Yeesh. In-depth conversation with Russ. Jeez. Really punch us in the moral center, there. I could honestly go either way.
A shadow slipped through the bazaar, hood pulled over their head. This was not particularly unusual, nor was the simple wooden staff they carried. What might be slightly unusual is how it complained.

"Come on, you can't just glamor Lord Feldrake! I'm a magnificent magical power source, I deserve respect!

"Shhh." Janna whispered. "Hold on."

Arriving back at the still-deserted square, Janna slipped over to the set of scorched flagstones that was the site of the Sanderson Sisters' repeated incinerations.

"They said it wouldn't burn, they said it wouldn't-"

Janna smiled. There, sitting on the ground in front of her, hidden under collapsed tinder but remarkably unharmed, was the Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy.

"Janna, you're my favorite apprentice."

"And you're my favorite evil artifact."

"We should really see about figuring out how to get you to cast magic on your own one of these-"

Suddenly, the book's one grisly eye snapped open, staring at the world with bloodshot menace.

Janna poked it.

The eye blinked.

"Boop."

[ ] Yoink the Book (Moderate Intrigue Check to avoid anyone seeing you take it)
[ ] Return the Book to the dark wizard Pandarus (Hard Diplomacy Check to not take it- come on, it's Janna)
Yoink it. It'll be way too difficult to convince Janna to part with that thing without drawing unwanted attention. Besides, Monty Hall was gonna use the Crystal key for a game show from the Black Lagoon! I do not trust him or his boss with a book from Hell.
From an alcove, another figure skulked. This one popped open a small device, and Molly spoke in her angry, synthetic tones.

"Yes. He was here. That item you were worried about? He bought it." Molly paused a moment. "And he had a wizard with him. Strong. She called herself…"

"Lord Feldrake."
Woah. Allegiances. She's not working for Xanatos, they seem to hate each other's guts. And what could we have bought that concerns her? The scrolls and the amulet make sense, but so does-

The key.

With extradimensional travel capabilities.

Which would put us on equal footing in manuverability with-

HOLY SHIT, DOES MOLLY WORK FOR TOFFEE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Quest: Moolah and Magic completed!
Janna has met up with Brocamas! She can do jobs for the leprechaun and possibly obtain magical items in return! 'Work for Brocamas' Personal Action unlocked!
Multiverse's Best Sandwich, Scrolls of Jo-Lan, Crystal Key, and Yáng Talisman obtained!
You have made a reasonable first impression on the Glooms! This warlock duo is of… questionable competence, to say the least, but they do seem to know quite a bit about the interdimensional scene, and they also have a couple magical artifacts on hand. They have been added to your Rolodex!
You have made a decent first impression on Magica De Spell! The witch will be open to buying unwanted magical artifacts off of you in the future.
You (well, Janna, but close enough) have made a favorable first impression on Eli Pandarus, who has suggested he would be open to a collaboration in the future!
Janna has made a favorable first impression on Maxim Horvath! He suggested that he might be willing to part with an Encantus at a future date, but not for money!
Open Ties to Magical New York Diplomacy action unlocked!
Networking in public among prominent movers and shakers has let people see you for what you truly are. Most people in the know now think that you're a moron, but one who gets things done regardless, and the people you surround yourself with are clearly formidable. 'Diseased Lunatic of Danville' now only provides an increase of 7 to any Intrigue actions made against DEI.
Doof's Intrigue has increased by 3! Janna's Intrigue has increased by 2! Janna's Occult has increased by 3!
Agent Russ' Occult score revealed to be 15! Agent Russ is not a spell slinger, but he has spent decades dealing with them.
Sa-weet! Shame about the Diseased Lunatic, but we've opened so many diplomatic channels and got some stat boosts! I also want to know about Max's Tooned Out trait, it doesn't say anything about that here. Do we have to talk to Max about it?
'Doof Troop' has been removed from Janna, Max, and Vanessa. This trait was a bit more problematic than we initially planned. We were hasty in handing it out after the company retreat and realized too late that the three of them have very little in common. This makes it a bit complicated to write as they don't play off of each other very well, and it's also unfair for you to use. The quests Janna is in highest demand on are the ones Max hates and Vanessa is forbidden from attending. If we're going to develop them properly, we need to start putting them in positions where they can actually develop.

Don't worry about the loss of a quest team, though. Barring catastrophe, you'll be getting a new trait in the near future.

The Marcnificent Few.
Oh. That's a shame. Still though, opens up a bunch of avenues we didn't have before! And I'm really hoping if we continue the way we are now, we get that mentioned trait!

Overall, pretty good ending! Bit nervous about that curse, of course, but this could have turned out a lot worse. I, for one, am happy with the results.
 
What I'd like to know is how our actions will be limited if we do end up agreeing to stay on the 'down low', honestly.
Your actions will never be limited by promises you make. They will just lead to new consequences.

Specifically, Russ would be even more annoyed than he already would have been if you do anything that recklessly endagers the masquerade, whether thats casting spells in a public place, marketing magic potions as Magic Potions to the public, or just outright going *Hey magics real!* to the world.
 
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Figured out how to up Diseased Lunatic again.

Martial Write in - Order something at Bueno Nacho:
Not a personal action due to how much effort it will take.​
 
also what object did we get the scares them? The key?
Yup, Banshee was probably working for Toffee, and us getting the key is as good as a declaration of intent. Not of war, yet, but we're probably not going to sneak up on Toffee. The only godsend is that Janna passed that roll to remain anonymous for now, because if Banshee had said "she calls herself Janna"...

Further question - looks like we've picked up some more attention in the form of Molly's employer. Odds that it's not Toffee?
Probably pretty low. There's not a lot of movers and shakers unaccounted for.
 
In regards to Russ, we need to prove him wrong

Out of all the things we know about him, this request is the one that most goes against his goals. I'm all right if he was a pragmatic person, but he loves the ideals of America and to see him chain his ideals down is disgusting to my sensibilities.

Russ problem is that there delay followed by delay followed by delay will only ever result in a world that never change. One that will squash down all magicals no matter what because the excuse would forever be "Just delay for now"
 
BILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

No one can't say its NOT Bill's fault. He's a reality warper.

Nope. I don't think "the cities doom will come through stone" could be any clearer a hint.

I mean I could be completely wrong but I think then it would be a deliberate red herring or misdirect.

Further question - looks like we've picked up some more attention in the form of Molly's employer. Odds that it's not Toffee?
Oh hell...

I didn't even think of that.
 
I understand that however we need all the defensive bonuses we can get.

putting aside those with only a single city we are probably among the weakest of the multi statekings.

We very much want to stay "That Idoit from Danville " for as Long as possible.
Much like the trait "I have my finger in a bowl of mints?", "Diseased Lunatic from Danville" was never going to last forever. Rather than try to improve it, let's just try to improve our defenses in a more general sense.
 
Well that ended happily enough! Too bad Winnie got off that curse, though. As for Molly and her employer...interesting. We wound up.getting a perfect sandwich, the martial art scrolls, the Crystal Key, and the Talisman. Which of those four do you think her mysterious employer is worried about? It sounds like her boss was only worried about a single item.

Also, thank goodness Janna managed to conceal her identity, though we might want to hurry up on the Feldrake world tour quest line.
 
Nope. I don't think "the cities doom will come through stone" could be any clearer a hint.

I mean I could be completely wrong but I think then it would be a deliberate red herring or misdirect.
Oh, come on! We are nowhere near ready to start getting on the same stage as Bill F*cking Cipher! The QM wouldn't just throw us off that ledge for shits and giggles!
 
Guys, while I fully admit that I would love to hear off the magic veil, the thing is we sorry have a ton on our plates at the moment. I'm not sure taking on the burden of making sure the world is ready for magic is wise.
 
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