OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Do we not have demon possessions and political subversion of the government by Tempter Demons to deal with?
[x]Personal Godcard
[x]Personal Godcard
Godcard
- Thread starter Birdsie
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- 1
...oh yeah I forgot about that.
[X] Outside Contact
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Career Advancement
I honestly just don't want to waste that management training's bonus (aside from permanent skill in managing, of course).
Also, a faster promotion could mean we'd be trusted enough to just visit our family and friends more often overall.
... Also we have demons to fight, and faster advancement means more power given and entrusted to us.
I honestly just don't want to waste that management training's bonus (aside from permanent skill in managing, of course).
Also, a faster promotion could mean we'd be trusted enough to just visit our family and friends more often overall.
... Also we have demons to fight, and faster advancement means more power given and entrusted to us.
Chapter 36 - A Demon's Claw
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
A Demon's Claw
After so many weeks passed by on hard work and constant revisions to his lesson plans, he finally received his ultimate dispensation - a taste of the outside.
A single phone call to any single person of his choice. After so much time laboring under the watchful stick, this was supposed to be the carrot.
Almost without value for most people - a pitiful microscopic kindness for them. However, most people were idiots.
He understood now how stupid and contrived he acted among his friends, repelling them with a barrage of sarcasm and a stream of dumb jokes, intending to keep the flickers of his own masculinity alive with the desperation typical of an adolescent. He'd always acted like that, simply because it was his nature to put on a brave face, to be the cool macho who can kick anyone's ass and wouldn't take anyone's shit. And now, deprived of them; no contact and no outings, he understood how much it actually hurt to be so dreadfully alone and to have to face tomorrow by one's own ceaseless work and skill. It was a kind of hell of its own - a torment.
It was a tough decision to pick the right person to call, but his choice was one made of his own heart, but also fortuitously frugal. He decided to call his uncle, in the vain hopes that maybe his other friends would be near enough to arrive and participate in the call.
After informing Elsa of his decision, she led him downstairs to a small private room, sat down in a chair, and handed him a phone. After staring at its screen for a length of time, Zane walked over to the only window in the room and looked outside, listening to the dial tone.
"Hello?"
A moment of cluttered motion on the other side, as the phone was readjusted. He could almost sense his uncle's palpable worry, the distress in his voice. A reaction of actual shock - unexpected. His uncle was prepared for almost anything in the world, and was rarely left speechless.
"Zane?"
"Yeah. It's me."
A moment - a hesitation. As Shen continued, his voice was measured, low, "Are you safe, nephew?"
He looked to the side, where Elsa was looking at him with a kind of curious gaze as if she were pondering what his response would be to that question. She was listening in to their conversation - one of the few stipulations of this gift. It was to make sure he didn't tattle out any company secrets or their current address.
"Yeah, I'm good, I'm safe. I- uh, I'm giving martial arts lessons to soldiers, now. Kind of funny how all of this turned out - didn't you want me to get a proper job? Although I suppose maybe you'd have preferred that I got it with a company that isn't completely overflowing with assholes."
"Zane..." He swallowed at Shen saying his name. A tense breath could be heard on the other side. "These people are responsible for unshackling the Mangler. They are responsible for all of this, all of what's happening across New York. I beg you to... to, I don't know, do something. Break off the contract."
"I don't believe that's an option," he replied. Zane closed his eyes and cursed silently, leaning against the wall with his head hanging low. "I'm sorry. I did what I had to protect Spike and the others. I didn't want anyone else to die because of me. I'll keep going like this for now. I can handle it, uncle. It won't be forever."
"It won't be forever," replied Shen, as if tasting those words. A moment passed, silent and empty; in the same way that a body without a heartbeat could be said to be silent and empty. "Are you sure? Do you... do you promise me that? Do you promise me that, in the end, I will see you here again, a free man and eating at my restaurant again?"
He didn't consider for long. He needed to say it.
"I promise."
There was a moment of muffled silence, tension dissipating into something like awkwardness - if they were physically next to each other, likely, this'd be the moment for a hug. There was no such opportunity, however, as there were pressing concerns - Elsa pointed at her watch, tapped against it. His wick burned.
There wasn't much more that could be said - he asked how the others were doing, and received a few typical responses; worried, scared, working against the other factions. Apparently, Mephistopheles had forged an alliance with the Wardens against the other gangs and was now firmly in the camp of the good guys. It seemed like the overall politics had changed somewhat. It'd be full moon again soon, although as an Olympus employee, it'd be almost impossible to slip out and attend the meeting or do anything of the sort. He'd also passed up the opportunity to receive a Godcard simply to have this phone call.
"I have to go. Work. I'll call you again later, whenever I have the time."
"Yes, Zane... I'll be waiting."
---
They were making their way across downtown New York, moving north into upper Manhattan. A lot of military checkpoints were opened on the major streets, restricting motion, so Elsa was forced to use her power on multiple opportunities in order to beguile the soldiers into letting them pass.
"So... how was it?" she asked, once they were nearing their target. "Get it out of your system?"
He opened his mouth to speak, and then promptly closed it when he realized what he was about to say. After hesitating for a moment more, he opened it again, braver.
"I hate you," he started - and the rest flowed like blood from an open wound, "And I hate this stupid company. And I hate the fucking Godcard project more than anything, I think. If not for the odious existence of you and those two other things, I would have been in school, blissfully wasting away my time and fulfilling my dreams. I'd be a mundane, sure, but I'd be happy and content - safe, at least. Instead, I am stuck here with you, as an indentured servant against my will, the souls of thousands of dead people weighing on my conscience, and working for what could be the most unprincipled company in the multiverse."
Although it hurt to admit, even internally, he was exaggerating - he wouldn't have bonded with Spike or his other compatriot ex-gangsters quite as much without the Godcards. He wouldn't have met Persephone or Constantine either. He and Shen probably would've stayed estranged. As much as it hurt to admit, Zane pretty much owed the majority of his current life to the events of that fateful night where he beat up a pair of wizards in a dark alleyway. All of the good and bad parts of it: his suffering and his friends. All of it was only a net positive in the sense that, eventually, his new mentor would arrive to save them.
He thought on all of this, and it almost escaped his notice that his entire speech had actually driven Elsa silent and uncomfortable - a feat he considered borderline impossible. Her eyes were glued to the road, steadily watching for oncoming traffic.
After driving for a couple of streets, she said, "I'm... not here by choice, either."
He frankly doubted that. She had the freedom to leave, and she apparently loved her job. He'd seen her... treating the Mangler - hard to say it was 'mistreatment,' when it was a deserved punishment - and she made a habit of teasing him. He scoffed.
She didn't seem eager to continue either. In any case, they arrived on location a few moments later.
---
Due to the relative combat usefulness of his supernatural abilities, Zane is about to participate in a confidential operation alongside Elsa and several other agents - a descent into the sewers of Manhattan, where a number of threatening entities have been detected. The goal of the mission is to discover their source and eliminate them all.
At the moment, you have 3.7 Ambrosia. As you have insufficient Ambrosia, the choices below do not have any Ambrosia options shown.
Before you proceed, select two Improvements, acquired over the course of the previous timeskip during isolated training opportunities that Zane had when he was reasonably certain no one was observing him.
[ ] Draconic Vigor III - A passive and permanent improvement to your body's capabilities, active even when not under duress or actively channeling any mana into your body. +++Physical Statistics, +Mental Statistics, +Spiritual Statistics.
[ ] Reinforcement II - An active technique, unlike the above - its benefits are slightly greater in terms of statistical benefits, but have a per-second cost to maintain and can be exhausting or tiring to maintain outside of their allotted time span.
[ ] Dragonscale - Allows you to almost instantaneously sprout and retract a thin layer of protective scales the color of cloud from your body, granting the effective armor rating of a tank's glacis plating with further resistance at key points, as well as 20% magic resistance.
[ ] Dragon's Body - Allows you to grow razor-sharp claws on your hands and feet, each sharp enough to cleave apart stone with no issue supported by a merely peak-human physique, with compounding cutting ability relative to your own body's might. Requires Dragonscale.
[ ] Dragon's Flight - Allows you to propel yourself with bursts of sudden kinetic motion and control your own body's movement via a process that resembles moderate autokinesis, allows you to glide and maintain velocity and altitude in the air. Can be developed into wings later on.
[ ] Dragon's Breath (Basic) - A most basic form of draconic breath: a torrent of the selected element. Also pick a starting element from the below - a starting element is quite important, as the four basic elements give rise to more complex elements (Earth Breath -> Metal Breath. Metal Breath -> Iron Breath. And so on,) as do their combinations.
-[ ] Fire - Manifests as a straight downpour of almost liquid flame, neither quite a flamethrower nor a directed stream of napalm. Burns stuff.
-[ ] Water - Manifests as a high-pressure hose of water, sufficiently powerful to throw back men with superhuman balance and resistance across a room.
-[ ] Earth - Manifests as a shredding and concussive spray of small rocks, gravel, and stone flying at high speeds; sufficiently fast to abrade unprotected skin and break bone.
-[ ] Air - Manifests as a powerful gale of wind, similar in effects to a hose of water, but with none of the liquid detritus.
-[ ] Mana - Manifests as a half-tangible distortion of light in the air, occasionally popping with violet-blue sparkles. Its effects are more precise, more selective, and more versatile than with most elements, but it's also supremely costly to use, and most prone to anti-magical dispellation.
After so many weeks passed by on hard work and constant revisions to his lesson plans, he finally received his ultimate dispensation - a taste of the outside.
A single phone call to any single person of his choice. After so much time laboring under the watchful stick, this was supposed to be the carrot.
Almost without value for most people - a pitiful microscopic kindness for them. However, most people were idiots.
He understood now how stupid and contrived he acted among his friends, repelling them with a barrage of sarcasm and a stream of dumb jokes, intending to keep the flickers of his own masculinity alive with the desperation typical of an adolescent. He'd always acted like that, simply because it was his nature to put on a brave face, to be the cool macho who can kick anyone's ass and wouldn't take anyone's shit. And now, deprived of them; no contact and no outings, he understood how much it actually hurt to be so dreadfully alone and to have to face tomorrow by one's own ceaseless work and skill. It was a kind of hell of its own - a torment.
It was a tough decision to pick the right person to call, but his choice was one made of his own heart, but also fortuitously frugal. He decided to call his uncle, in the vain hopes that maybe his other friends would be near enough to arrive and participate in the call.
After informing Elsa of his decision, she led him downstairs to a small private room, sat down in a chair, and handed him a phone. After staring at its screen for a length of time, Zane walked over to the only window in the room and looked outside, listening to the dial tone.
"Hello?"
A moment of cluttered motion on the other side, as the phone was readjusted. He could almost sense his uncle's palpable worry, the distress in his voice. A reaction of actual shock - unexpected. His uncle was prepared for almost anything in the world, and was rarely left speechless.
"Zane?"
"Yeah. It's me."
A moment - a hesitation. As Shen continued, his voice was measured, low, "Are you safe, nephew?"
He looked to the side, where Elsa was looking at him with a kind of curious gaze as if she were pondering what his response would be to that question. She was listening in to their conversation - one of the few stipulations of this gift. It was to make sure he didn't tattle out any company secrets or their current address.
"Yeah, I'm good, I'm safe. I- uh, I'm giving martial arts lessons to soldiers, now. Kind of funny how all of this turned out - didn't you want me to get a proper job? Although I suppose maybe you'd have preferred that I got it with a company that isn't completely overflowing with assholes."
"Zane..." He swallowed at Shen saying his name. A tense breath could be heard on the other side. "These people are responsible for unshackling the Mangler. They are responsible for all of this, all of what's happening across New York. I beg you to... to, I don't know, do something. Break off the contract."
"I don't believe that's an option," he replied. Zane closed his eyes and cursed silently, leaning against the wall with his head hanging low. "I'm sorry. I did what I had to protect Spike and the others. I didn't want anyone else to die because of me. I'll keep going like this for now. I can handle it, uncle. It won't be forever."
"It won't be forever," replied Shen, as if tasting those words. A moment passed, silent and empty; in the same way that a body without a heartbeat could be said to be silent and empty. "Are you sure? Do you... do you promise me that? Do you promise me that, in the end, I will see you here again, a free man and eating at my restaurant again?"
He didn't consider for long. He needed to say it.
"I promise."
There was a moment of muffled silence, tension dissipating into something like awkwardness - if they were physically next to each other, likely, this'd be the moment for a hug. There was no such opportunity, however, as there were pressing concerns - Elsa pointed at her watch, tapped against it. His wick burned.
There wasn't much more that could be said - he asked how the others were doing, and received a few typical responses; worried, scared, working against the other factions. Apparently, Mephistopheles had forged an alliance with the Wardens against the other gangs and was now firmly in the camp of the good guys. It seemed like the overall politics had changed somewhat. It'd be full moon again soon, although as an Olympus employee, it'd be almost impossible to slip out and attend the meeting or do anything of the sort. He'd also passed up the opportunity to receive a Godcard simply to have this phone call.
"I have to go. Work. I'll call you again later, whenever I have the time."
"Yes, Zane... I'll be waiting."
---
They were making their way across downtown New York, moving north into upper Manhattan. A lot of military checkpoints were opened on the major streets, restricting motion, so Elsa was forced to use her power on multiple opportunities in order to beguile the soldiers into letting them pass.
"So... how was it?" she asked, once they were nearing their target. "Get it out of your system?"
He opened his mouth to speak, and then promptly closed it when he realized what he was about to say. After hesitating for a moment more, he opened it again, braver.
"I hate you," he started - and the rest flowed like blood from an open wound, "And I hate this stupid company. And I hate the fucking Godcard project more than anything, I think. If not for the odious existence of you and those two other things, I would have been in school, blissfully wasting away my time and fulfilling my dreams. I'd be a mundane, sure, but I'd be happy and content - safe, at least. Instead, I am stuck here with you, as an indentured servant against my will, the souls of thousands of dead people weighing on my conscience, and working for what could be the most unprincipled company in the multiverse."
Although it hurt to admit, even internally, he was exaggerating - he wouldn't have bonded with Spike or his other compatriot ex-gangsters quite as much without the Godcards. He wouldn't have met Persephone or Constantine either. He and Shen probably would've stayed estranged. As much as it hurt to admit, Zane pretty much owed the majority of his current life to the events of that fateful night where he beat up a pair of wizards in a dark alleyway. All of the good and bad parts of it: his suffering and his friends. All of it was only a net positive in the sense that, eventually, his new mentor would arrive to save them.
He thought on all of this, and it almost escaped his notice that his entire speech had actually driven Elsa silent and uncomfortable - a feat he considered borderline impossible. Her eyes were glued to the road, steadily watching for oncoming traffic.
After driving for a couple of streets, she said, "I'm... not here by choice, either."
He frankly doubted that. She had the freedom to leave, and she apparently loved her job. He'd seen her... treating the Mangler - hard to say it was 'mistreatment,' when it was a deserved punishment - and she made a habit of teasing him. He scoffed.
She didn't seem eager to continue either. In any case, they arrived on location a few moments later.
---
Due to the relative combat usefulness of his supernatural abilities, Zane is about to participate in a confidential operation alongside Elsa and several other agents - a descent into the sewers of Manhattan, where a number of threatening entities have been detected. The goal of the mission is to discover their source and eliminate them all.
At the moment, you have 3.7 Ambrosia. As you have insufficient Ambrosia, the choices below do not have any Ambrosia options shown.
Before you proceed, select two Improvements, acquired over the course of the previous timeskip during isolated training opportunities that Zane had when he was reasonably certain no one was observing him.
[ ] Draconic Vigor III - A passive and permanent improvement to your body's capabilities, active even when not under duress or actively channeling any mana into your body. +++Physical Statistics, +Mental Statistics, +Spiritual Statistics.
[ ] Reinforcement II - An active technique, unlike the above - its benefits are slightly greater in terms of statistical benefits, but have a per-second cost to maintain and can be exhausting or tiring to maintain outside of their allotted time span.
[ ] Dragonscale - Allows you to almost instantaneously sprout and retract a thin layer of protective scales the color of cloud from your body, granting the effective armor rating of a tank's glacis plating with further resistance at key points, as well as 20% magic resistance.
[ ] Dragon's Body - Allows you to grow razor-sharp claws on your hands and feet, each sharp enough to cleave apart stone with no issue supported by a merely peak-human physique, with compounding cutting ability relative to your own body's might. Requires Dragonscale.
[ ] Dragon's Flight - Allows you to propel yourself with bursts of sudden kinetic motion and control your own body's movement via a process that resembles moderate autokinesis, allows you to glide and maintain velocity and altitude in the air. Can be developed into wings later on.
[ ] Dragon's Breath (Basic) - A most basic form of draconic breath: a torrent of the selected element. Also pick a starting element from the below - a starting element is quite important, as the four basic elements give rise to more complex elements (Earth Breath -> Metal Breath. Metal Breath -> Iron Breath. And so on,) as do their combinations.
-[ ] Fire - Manifests as a straight downpour of almost liquid flame, neither quite a flamethrower nor a directed stream of napalm. Burns stuff.
-[ ] Water - Manifests as a high-pressure hose of water, sufficiently powerful to throw back men with superhuman balance and resistance across a room.
-[ ] Earth - Manifests as a shredding and concussive spray of small rocks, gravel, and stone flying at high speeds; sufficiently fast to abrade unprotected skin and break bone.
-[ ] Air - Manifests as a powerful gale of wind, similar in effects to a hose of water, but with none of the liquid detritus.
-[ ] Mana - Manifests as a half-tangible distortion of light in the air, occasionally popping with violet-blue sparkles. Its effects are more precise, more selective, and more versatile than with most elements, but it's also supremely costly to use, and most prone to anti-magical dispellation.
SirLagginton
Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun
- Location
- Arrrghhh
In any case.
[X] Dragonscale - Allows you to almost instantaneously sprout and retract a thin layer of protective scales the color of cloud from your body, granting the effective armor rating of a tank's glacis plating with further resistance at key points, as well as 20% magic resistance.
[X] Dragon's Breath (Basic) - A most basic form of draconic breath: a torrent of the selected element. Also pick a starting element from the below - a starting element is quite important, as the four basic elements give rise to more complex elements (Earth Breath -> Metal Breath. Metal Breath -> Iron Breath. And so on,) as do their combinations.
-[X] Earth - Manifests as a shredding and concussive spray of small rocks, gravel, and stone flying at high speeds; sufficiently fast to abrade unprotected skin and break bone.
I anticipate a rematch with the Mangler one day, and if that day comes then I want to fry the bastard with silver. Also molten metal breath sounds really cool. I also appreciated the phone call, we've gained a advancement far beyond the limitations of mere managerial progress.
Indeed we have gained character development.
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- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Dragon's Flight
[X] Dragon's Breath (Basic)
-[X] Mana
The thought with this combo is to develop a more diverse toolkit that doesn't require us to come into danger directly.
So in this case, an ability to stay out of range while bombarding the enemy with esoteric effects. A perfect opposite of punching, but sometimes you really don't want to get close (see- Mangler).
[X] Dragon's Breath (Basic)
-[X] Mana
The thought with this combo is to develop a more diverse toolkit that doesn't require us to come into danger directly.
So in this case, an ability to stay out of range while bombarding the enemy with esoteric effects. A perfect opposite of punching, but sometimes you really don't want to get close (see- Mangler).
- Location
- 1
[X] Dragon's Flight
[X] Dragonic Vigor
Something of a middle path. Flight is good for running away (though probably also useful for combat by virtue of, effectively, reducing the need to ground yourself to hit things. So long as being near the ground doesn't interfere with it or something, this should let Zane preform motions without the ordinary muscle-based tells and from positions where they would be implausible, making him all the better at fighting anyone who normally fights people.), while Vigor is mostly a general thing. Mana Dragon's-Breath is interesting and I'd vote for it, but it says it's also 'supremely costly', which is a bad thing for a ranged weapon and an ability in general.
[X] Dragonic Vigor
Something of a middle path. Flight is good for running away (though probably also useful for combat by virtue of, effectively, reducing the need to ground yourself to hit things. So long as being near the ground doesn't interfere with it or something, this should let Zane preform motions without the ordinary muscle-based tells and from positions where they would be implausible, making him all the better at fighting anyone who normally fights people.), while Vigor is mostly a general thing. Mana Dragon's-Breath is interesting and I'd vote for it, but it says it's also 'supremely costly', which is a bad thing for a ranged weapon and an ability in general.
[X] Dragon's Flight
[X] Dragonic Vigor III
Defy gravity, fight gud = best choice
[X] Dragonic Vigor III
Defy gravity, fight gud = best choice
Chapter 37 - An Infernal Encounter
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
An Infernal Encounter
A lot of preparations were involved in this mission but its details were scarce, likely protected by the higher-ups in case of a leak. He didn't understand exactly what there was to hide from any of them but chose not to question it. According to the helpful soldier, it was healthier this way, and he'd avoid a lot of headaches.
All that Zane and Elsa knew for sure was that around 10 PM last night, a bunch of people on the street they were currently on were assaulted by a group of fearsome knights outfitted in black armor, with blatantly magical weaponry: flaming blades, glowing arrows, and other medieval implements enchanted in various manners.
After the assault, which ended in several casualties, the knights ventured down into what should've been a long-sealed access hatch into the city's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. It was also ostensibly where they originated from.
It was deemed an immediate threat, and so, Olympus decided to send in a squad of soldiers to investigate the threat more in-depth and terminate it.
A few drones and divination probes had been sent in ahead of them, in accordance with safety protocol, but after a few hours, turned up nothing.
"Alright, boys, listen up. Me, Black, Connors, Carroll, Levano, and Carson - we're Squad A. Everyone else, including Specialist Elsa, are on Squad B. Also we're clear for entry," said Sergeant Strickland, lowering a hand from his radio. "Go ahead, Specialist Black."
As the most powerful out of the entire squad, and its designated close-quarters-combat mage, Zane went in first, in order to draw enemy attention, and possibly to act as a bullet sponge for the others. He wasn't given any firearms, as those were unnecessary. He had nothing but a flashlight and his Knight Arm wrapped around his forearms.
He noticed that Morum Parabellum was oddly energetic this evening, its thorns gently digging into his old wounds with a faintly cold prickling sensation. It was almost possessive or protective, yet simultaneously vibrant like the Knight Arm was tensing up in reaction to something invisible. More invisible than Elsa, anyway. It may have been a warning sign, but Zane chose not to comment - he didn't want to make a fuss out of what could've been a natural and fully coincidental reaction for his supernatural weapon. He also didn't want to look crazy, or like his judgment was compromised by something that a bunch of thorns wrapped around his forearms were doing.
"Man, I hate this place," commented one of the soldiers walking about forty meters behind him, using the radio. "It stinks."
"A bad place to be caught in a jam," another said.
"At least Squad B is behind us to help out if we fuck up."
"If you fuck up on purpose, I'll make sure you fuck up in such a manner, you'll be smelling flowers from the other side, private," Strickland replied calmly and morosely. He paused for a moment. "Also cut the chatter and focus. Specialist, what do you see?"
At the prompt, Zane slowed down his movement and squinted at the poorly-lit tunnels to the side, frowning in the meantime. His eyesight wasn't that great in the darkness without his glasses, but it had improved somewhat ever since he became Pyldret's apprentice.
There wasn't much that he could see anyway, though. A few doors to service rooms, maybe storage compartments - a few wires running down the side, some barred-off spaces near the ends of the tunnels with doors behind them dingy orange lights spaced evenly across the tunnels, like oddly serene stars running in parallel.
"Nothing of interest ahead," he declared via the radio. "More sewer."
A few tunnels down into their exploration, Squad A encountered its first sign of trouble. Zane raised a hand to remotely inform the others to stop, without speaking.
"What do you see?" asked Strickland, very quietly.
He hesitated to answer. After a few seconds, though, Zane said, "It could be nothing, but I'm seeing a bunch of rats ahead, all of them dead. Eviscerated. Not a few of them, but a whole pile, stacked up almost to the ceiling."
"Regroup."
All of the squad members came together and moved into the larger chamber in front of them with Zane at the front where, indeed, a bunch of rats were stacked nearly to the ceiling, their chest cavities torn open and internal organs removed. A few of the walls were bloody, including bloodied handprints, but there wasn't much of note aside from that. However, there was a strange pressure in the air - a certain fiery gravitas that made Zane's eyes sting as he blinked repeatedly, feeling irritation on his skin. He started to scratch himself unconsciously, before noticing that all of the soldiers around him seemed to be extremely freaked out.
"Heh. I'd have thought you guys have more guts than this. Guts, get it?"
"This is fucked up," said one of the privates. "Who'd do something like this? Why?"
"Don't dwell on it," Strickland said, in response. He raised a hand into the air. "We're exploring further. Mark this place."
"Actually, I don't believe you'll be going anywhere; especially not any further."
A number of guns were raised immediately in the vaguely German-accented voice's direction. "Contact!"
And there, standing off to the side, leaning against the walls with a surprised smirk on its face, was an entity that could only be described as... well, a Nazi demon.
It was clear she used to be human or at least humanoid once, but she had mutated significantly past that baseline. Her skin had reddened and all of her teeth were canines, sharpened to deadly points, while her tongue was reminiscent of an adder's. She had a third eye on her forehead; a black sclera with a baleful pupil shooting out crimson veins, staring in their direction with malice, while her two remaining eyes were crinkled cheerfully and ringed by an unnatural orange glow. She wore a prim and neatly maintained WW2-era Schutz Staffel officer's uniform, including the Swastika armband that probably almost everyone in the world would be able to recognize.
Most confusingly, it was difficult to say, at a simple glance, whether the entity was physical or ethereal, as she seemed to interact with her environment normally, which he understood from Olympus research documents was not the norm for demons or other spirits - given her clearly otherworldly origin, maybe it was a mixture of factors.
A moment of thought later, Zane also noticed an odd pattern in his own thoughts - in terms of instinctively understanding this entity's nature and being. Was she somehow transmitting information regarding her nature towards them, as a subconscious influence? Building trust? Or cutting down unnecessary chatter and introductions?
He narrowed his eyes in thought, while all of the soldiers around him started shouting.
"Get down!"
"Down on the ground!"
"Prepare capture equipment."
"Now, now," said the demon, waving her wrist and promptly snatching the guns and equipment out of their hands with a telekinetic sweep, except for Zane's Knight Arm, which she curiously observed for a moment before returning her focus to the entire group, "Let's not shoot at each other with guns, we're civilized."
"Who are you?" Strickland demanded, shortly after calling in for Squad B to back them up.
"I am Klara Maximilian von Herff, I'm the sister of Oberführer Joseph Maximilian von Herff - our leader. I was assigned to... how you say, keeping watch here, to minimize exposure risk? And I kind of screwed up, ha-ha. I understand some of our men went up to New York and had some fun, yes? I apologize for that. Let's not do more violence. I am sure we can discuss something that's perfect for all sides and we all leave this sewer happy and non-exorcised and not-dead. Can you designate someone to speak with me about it, calm and nice? Maybe, uh, the boy with die Waffen der Ritter? The Knight Weapon?"
"Sure. Let's talk about it. And what are you doing down here, in general?" Zane questioned, intent on drawing her attention and finding out more.
"I, uh, we, uh..." the demon stumbled with a cheerful smile plastered on her face. After that, she went silent for a long time, causing an awkward staring contest. It was especially awkward because her third eye looked as if it was trying to pop out of its socket in a fit of rage.
Her next action raised everyone's eyebrows - she lifted a hand in a very recognizable form of salute, and then, sheepishly asked, "Uh, Heil Hitler?"
"I'm done with this... affront to humanity. Specialist Black, take her out," said Strickland. After some thought, he folded his arms and added, in a miserable tone, "Non-lethally if possible. We'd like to question her, I suppose."
Although he'd have rather kept questioning her, he couldn't exactly disobey a direct order from a superior without suffering feelings of extreme pressure and likely being field executed for incompetence and non-compliance or something similar.
"As you say," he answered, pumping his fists and walking in the demon's direction with menacing footsteps.
"Uh," Klara stumbled back. "No violence, please?"
He stopped in his advance momentarily, only to sag from disbelief, on the border of laughter.
"A Nazi demon is asking me not to be violent. Actual brah moment."
He burst forward like a bullet from a gun, shockwave of his motions deafening the people in the room, and in response, Klara hissed like a cat and flung herself away from the wall as if it were scorching-hot, a pronged tail springing out of her back to add momentum. He made note of the unnatural feature and its possible use in combat.
She flew down by the mound of rat corpses, while Zane punched the air in the spot where she stood only a bit less than a tenth of a second ago, the airburst detonation of his punch collapsing the nearby bricks and sending volumes of white and gray dust into the air, laced faintly with rat blood. He started coughing as he chased after her in another rapid charge, finding the demon to be surprisingly fast as she evaded punch after punch, teeth grit and lips pressed into a thin line. She refused to fight him directly, merely running away, while the rest of Squad A got its bearings and picked up their devices.
As she noticed one of the privates picking up a containment device, her tune changed. She smacked her lips, put her hands together, and fired a ball of light at him, sufficiently powerful to knock the man to the ground and stop him from using it.
It was a sufficient opportunity for Zane to finally nail her in the abdomen, flinging her across the room with the speed of a car, with presumably more than several broken bones. She was then rapidly surrounded, guns aimed directly at her.
"Scheisse!" cursed the demon from the floor, letting herself collapse. "I'm so terrible at this."
"Indeed. Whatever, 'this' was," Zane said, before using the radio. A soldier picked up the containment device and fired it - producing a spike that dug into the demon's chest and dissolved her entire body into dust. In the aftermath, only the spike remained - now emitting a lambent glow. "Enemy contained."
After a brief interrogation - there were sorcerous methods to compel a spirit, even one as materially powerful as this, to tell the truth - they found out an entire wealth of data, shocking enough that it merited being sent back up the decision chain to Edwards.
All of Squad A returned to the surface in the aftermath, rather than venturing deeper. Learning that Earth was on the brink of transforming into a demonic hell-world was reason enough to emerge.
"There's an Essence Seed in one of the water treatment facilities near the Hudson," Strickland reported via the phone, rather than radio. It was a bit of an awkward conversation from the sound of it, but Zane chose not to interject, merely listening from afar. "It's apparently releasing infernal energy into our world, and it'll have... adverse effects. Yes. Yes, sir. It'll reach dangerous concentration levels within days, if not hours. It's, uh, guarded by a legion of demons."
"So," Elsa said - as often, appearing out of nowhere - as she came up to Zane. "Nazis and demons, hm? When you start thinking that you'd seen everything, the world does its best to prove you wrong."
"I suppose."
She sighed. "Look, I know that you don't particularly enjoy corporate shilling-"
"I don't enjoy it in the slightest, yeah."
"-but I feel like, at this point, you might as well show a little enthusiasm in the job, Zane. Accept your fate! Be happy with who you must be, and who you chose to be, even in the absence of other good choices. Or - well - bash the fash, as it were."
He was a little put off by her behavior. "Why do you care?"
In response, Elsa simply pouted. "Why shouldn't I care about my precious underling? So sad that you don't trust me, Zane."
He leaned back against the wall. She was clearly deflecting; her reasons were different, but he wasn't sure. Did she want to make sure that he liked her, because he was probably going to advance rather fast with his powers? Did she want something else from him? Or was it more personal? He immediately rejected the last idea with an internal burst of laughter, one that he didn't almost expect - but then, neither did he expect such an idiotic guess to enter his thoughts, so maybe it was normal.
He returned to thinking about the events of the mission. "I feel like, somehow... it was too easy. I mean, we captured - err, I captured a demon, and then it simply told us everything we wanted to know? And think about the set-up."
"Ooh," Elsa chuckled, "Getting into that serious tactical play, are we? Yes, I thought this was odd, too, but they are demons and possibly from another universe entirely. We lack data on such matters."
"And that's why I think we should proceed with caution."
As if calling the devil to them, it prompted Strickland to approach, "A slight change of plans. Black, are you fatigued?"
"Me?" He blinked. A stupid question - he continued before Strickland could chastise him, "No."
"Good. We have another job coming in a few hours, enough for you to grab a meal and some rest. It seems you'll be going after that Essence Seed, and you'll be doing it with probably little back-up. We don't have the authorization to deploy Asset Fenris for this, nor-"
"Hold on," Elsa stepped in. "Shouldn't we do reconnaissance first?"
"No point. They'll eat the drones, as they did in the sewers. Besides, Mr. Edwards already gave the order. We're gonna have to go through with this operation whether we like it or not." He looked at Zane for a moment. "Sorry, kid, I tried to change his mind, but you know that can be difficult."
Zane didn't answer, choosing to frown and look down instead.
---
And so approaches the moment of truth. Although I don't expect the Quest to end in the next few updates, it's likely that one of the next few updates will conclude this Arc and begin what could very likely be the last Arc or the one before the last. Consider the present moment to be the apex.
As of right now, you have 3.8 Ambrosia, insufficient to afford anything of note.
Select an interaction with a co-worker to perform before the operation.
[ ] Interact: Elsa II - Figure out why she cares!
[ ] Interact: Helpful Soldier II - Attempt to deepen bond - maybe finally learn his name.
[ ] Interact: Charlotte II - Attempt to deepen bond; maybe if you can get the secretary in your pocket, you'll learn something more about the boss-man himself?
And finally, select one of the below - this will dictate your approach to the Essence Seed operation.
[ ] Heroic - Attempt to resolve the situation as directly as possible, but protect yourself and other lives if possible
*A balanced route, taking the best of both worlds, but coyly embracing neither fully.
[ ] Aggressive - Focus on taking down the legion of demons guarding the Essence Seed.
*A dangerous route to assume, given its rather intense mono-focus of fighting an enemy force you know almost nothing about. All you know is that the demons likely have superhuman physical characteristics almost on par with your own and wield magical weaponry.
[ ] Cautious - Make steady advance into the facility - slow and steady, wins the race. And there's something fishy about this.
*A risk exists that the Essence Seed may either be relocated or, otherwise, reinforced, before you can reach it. As of right now, you have the advantage of surprise, but this approach might squander it!
A lot of preparations were involved in this mission but its details were scarce, likely protected by the higher-ups in case of a leak. He didn't understand exactly what there was to hide from any of them but chose not to question it. According to the helpful soldier, it was healthier this way, and he'd avoid a lot of headaches.
All that Zane and Elsa knew for sure was that around 10 PM last night, a bunch of people on the street they were currently on were assaulted by a group of fearsome knights outfitted in black armor, with blatantly magical weaponry: flaming blades, glowing arrows, and other medieval implements enchanted in various manners.
After the assault, which ended in several casualties, the knights ventured down into what should've been a long-sealed access hatch into the city's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. It was also ostensibly where they originated from.
It was deemed an immediate threat, and so, Olympus decided to send in a squad of soldiers to investigate the threat more in-depth and terminate it.
A few drones and divination probes had been sent in ahead of them, in accordance with safety protocol, but after a few hours, turned up nothing.
"Alright, boys, listen up. Me, Black, Connors, Carroll, Levano, and Carson - we're Squad A. Everyone else, including Specialist Elsa, are on Squad B. Also we're clear for entry," said Sergeant Strickland, lowering a hand from his radio. "Go ahead, Specialist Black."
As the most powerful out of the entire squad, and its designated close-quarters-combat mage, Zane went in first, in order to draw enemy attention, and possibly to act as a bullet sponge for the others. He wasn't given any firearms, as those were unnecessary. He had nothing but a flashlight and his Knight Arm wrapped around his forearms.
He noticed that Morum Parabellum was oddly energetic this evening, its thorns gently digging into his old wounds with a faintly cold prickling sensation. It was almost possessive or protective, yet simultaneously vibrant like the Knight Arm was tensing up in reaction to something invisible. More invisible than Elsa, anyway. It may have been a warning sign, but Zane chose not to comment - he didn't want to make a fuss out of what could've been a natural and fully coincidental reaction for his supernatural weapon. He also didn't want to look crazy, or like his judgment was compromised by something that a bunch of thorns wrapped around his forearms were doing.
"Man, I hate this place," commented one of the soldiers walking about forty meters behind him, using the radio. "It stinks."
"A bad place to be caught in a jam," another said.
"At least Squad B is behind us to help out if we fuck up."
"If you fuck up on purpose, I'll make sure you fuck up in such a manner, you'll be smelling flowers from the other side, private," Strickland replied calmly and morosely. He paused for a moment. "Also cut the chatter and focus. Specialist, what do you see?"
At the prompt, Zane slowed down his movement and squinted at the poorly-lit tunnels to the side, frowning in the meantime. His eyesight wasn't that great in the darkness without his glasses, but it had improved somewhat ever since he became Pyldret's apprentice.
There wasn't much that he could see anyway, though. A few doors to service rooms, maybe storage compartments - a few wires running down the side, some barred-off spaces near the ends of the tunnels with doors behind them dingy orange lights spaced evenly across the tunnels, like oddly serene stars running in parallel.
"Nothing of interest ahead," he declared via the radio. "More sewer."
A few tunnels down into their exploration, Squad A encountered its first sign of trouble. Zane raised a hand to remotely inform the others to stop, without speaking.
"What do you see?" asked Strickland, very quietly.
He hesitated to answer. After a few seconds, though, Zane said, "It could be nothing, but I'm seeing a bunch of rats ahead, all of them dead. Eviscerated. Not a few of them, but a whole pile, stacked up almost to the ceiling."
"Regroup."
All of the squad members came together and moved into the larger chamber in front of them with Zane at the front where, indeed, a bunch of rats were stacked nearly to the ceiling, their chest cavities torn open and internal organs removed. A few of the walls were bloody, including bloodied handprints, but there wasn't much of note aside from that. However, there was a strange pressure in the air - a certain fiery gravitas that made Zane's eyes sting as he blinked repeatedly, feeling irritation on his skin. He started to scratch himself unconsciously, before noticing that all of the soldiers around him seemed to be extremely freaked out.
"Heh. I'd have thought you guys have more guts than this. Guts, get it?"
"This is fucked up," said one of the privates. "Who'd do something like this? Why?"
"Don't dwell on it," Strickland said, in response. He raised a hand into the air. "We're exploring further. Mark this place."
"Actually, I don't believe you'll be going anywhere; especially not any further."
A number of guns were raised immediately in the vaguely German-accented voice's direction. "Contact!"
And there, standing off to the side, leaning against the walls with a surprised smirk on its face, was an entity that could only be described as... well, a Nazi demon.
It was clear she used to be human or at least humanoid once, but she had mutated significantly past that baseline. Her skin had reddened and all of her teeth were canines, sharpened to deadly points, while her tongue was reminiscent of an adder's. She had a third eye on her forehead; a black sclera with a baleful pupil shooting out crimson veins, staring in their direction with malice, while her two remaining eyes were crinkled cheerfully and ringed by an unnatural orange glow. She wore a prim and neatly maintained WW2-era Schutz Staffel officer's uniform, including the Swastika armband that probably almost everyone in the world would be able to recognize.
Most confusingly, it was difficult to say, at a simple glance, whether the entity was physical or ethereal, as she seemed to interact with her environment normally, which he understood from Olympus research documents was not the norm for demons or other spirits - given her clearly otherworldly origin, maybe it was a mixture of factors.
A moment of thought later, Zane also noticed an odd pattern in his own thoughts - in terms of instinctively understanding this entity's nature and being. Was she somehow transmitting information regarding her nature towards them, as a subconscious influence? Building trust? Or cutting down unnecessary chatter and introductions?
He narrowed his eyes in thought, while all of the soldiers around him started shouting.
"Get down!"
"Down on the ground!"
"Prepare capture equipment."
"Now, now," said the demon, waving her wrist and promptly snatching the guns and equipment out of their hands with a telekinetic sweep, except for Zane's Knight Arm, which she curiously observed for a moment before returning her focus to the entire group, "Let's not shoot at each other with guns, we're civilized."
"Who are you?" Strickland demanded, shortly after calling in for Squad B to back them up.
"I am Klara Maximilian von Herff, I'm the sister of Oberführer Joseph Maximilian von Herff - our leader. I was assigned to... how you say, keeping watch here, to minimize exposure risk? And I kind of screwed up, ha-ha. I understand some of our men went up to New York and had some fun, yes? I apologize for that. Let's not do more violence. I am sure we can discuss something that's perfect for all sides and we all leave this sewer happy and non-exorcised and not-dead. Can you designate someone to speak with me about it, calm and nice? Maybe, uh, the boy with die Waffen der Ritter? The Knight Weapon?"
"Sure. Let's talk about it. And what are you doing down here, in general?" Zane questioned, intent on drawing her attention and finding out more.
"I, uh, we, uh..." the demon stumbled with a cheerful smile plastered on her face. After that, she went silent for a long time, causing an awkward staring contest. It was especially awkward because her third eye looked as if it was trying to pop out of its socket in a fit of rage.
Her next action raised everyone's eyebrows - she lifted a hand in a very recognizable form of salute, and then, sheepishly asked, "Uh, Heil Hitler?"
"I'm done with this... affront to humanity. Specialist Black, take her out," said Strickland. After some thought, he folded his arms and added, in a miserable tone, "Non-lethally if possible. We'd like to question her, I suppose."
Although he'd have rather kept questioning her, he couldn't exactly disobey a direct order from a superior without suffering feelings of extreme pressure and likely being field executed for incompetence and non-compliance or something similar.
"As you say," he answered, pumping his fists and walking in the demon's direction with menacing footsteps.
"Uh," Klara stumbled back. "No violence, please?"
He stopped in his advance momentarily, only to sag from disbelief, on the border of laughter.
"A Nazi demon is asking me not to be violent. Actual brah moment."
He burst forward like a bullet from a gun, shockwave of his motions deafening the people in the room, and in response, Klara hissed like a cat and flung herself away from the wall as if it were scorching-hot, a pronged tail springing out of her back to add momentum. He made note of the unnatural feature and its possible use in combat.
She flew down by the mound of rat corpses, while Zane punched the air in the spot where she stood only a bit less than a tenth of a second ago, the airburst detonation of his punch collapsing the nearby bricks and sending volumes of white and gray dust into the air, laced faintly with rat blood. He started coughing as he chased after her in another rapid charge, finding the demon to be surprisingly fast as she evaded punch after punch, teeth grit and lips pressed into a thin line. She refused to fight him directly, merely running away, while the rest of Squad A got its bearings and picked up their devices.
As she noticed one of the privates picking up a containment device, her tune changed. She smacked her lips, put her hands together, and fired a ball of light at him, sufficiently powerful to knock the man to the ground and stop him from using it.
It was a sufficient opportunity for Zane to finally nail her in the abdomen, flinging her across the room with the speed of a car, with presumably more than several broken bones. She was then rapidly surrounded, guns aimed directly at her.
"Scheisse!" cursed the demon from the floor, letting herself collapse. "I'm so terrible at this."
"Indeed. Whatever, 'this' was," Zane said, before using the radio. A soldier picked up the containment device and fired it - producing a spike that dug into the demon's chest and dissolved her entire body into dust. In the aftermath, only the spike remained - now emitting a lambent glow. "Enemy contained."
After a brief interrogation - there were sorcerous methods to compel a spirit, even one as materially powerful as this, to tell the truth - they found out an entire wealth of data, shocking enough that it merited being sent back up the decision chain to Edwards.
All of Squad A returned to the surface in the aftermath, rather than venturing deeper. Learning that Earth was on the brink of transforming into a demonic hell-world was reason enough to emerge.
"There's an Essence Seed in one of the water treatment facilities near the Hudson," Strickland reported via the phone, rather than radio. It was a bit of an awkward conversation from the sound of it, but Zane chose not to interject, merely listening from afar. "It's apparently releasing infernal energy into our world, and it'll have... adverse effects. Yes. Yes, sir. It'll reach dangerous concentration levels within days, if not hours. It's, uh, guarded by a legion of demons."
"So," Elsa said - as often, appearing out of nowhere - as she came up to Zane. "Nazis and demons, hm? When you start thinking that you'd seen everything, the world does its best to prove you wrong."
"I suppose."
She sighed. "Look, I know that you don't particularly enjoy corporate shilling-"
"I don't enjoy it in the slightest, yeah."
"-but I feel like, at this point, you might as well show a little enthusiasm in the job, Zane. Accept your fate! Be happy with who you must be, and who you chose to be, even in the absence of other good choices. Or - well - bash the fash, as it were."
He was a little put off by her behavior. "Why do you care?"
In response, Elsa simply pouted. "Why shouldn't I care about my precious underling? So sad that you don't trust me, Zane."
He leaned back against the wall. She was clearly deflecting; her reasons were different, but he wasn't sure. Did she want to make sure that he liked her, because he was probably going to advance rather fast with his powers? Did she want something else from him? Or was it more personal? He immediately rejected the last idea with an internal burst of laughter, one that he didn't almost expect - but then, neither did he expect such an idiotic guess to enter his thoughts, so maybe it was normal.
He returned to thinking about the events of the mission. "I feel like, somehow... it was too easy. I mean, we captured - err, I captured a demon, and then it simply told us everything we wanted to know? And think about the set-up."
"Ooh," Elsa chuckled, "Getting into that serious tactical play, are we? Yes, I thought this was odd, too, but they are demons and possibly from another universe entirely. We lack data on such matters."
"And that's why I think we should proceed with caution."
As if calling the devil to them, it prompted Strickland to approach, "A slight change of plans. Black, are you fatigued?"
"Me?" He blinked. A stupid question - he continued before Strickland could chastise him, "No."
"Good. We have another job coming in a few hours, enough for you to grab a meal and some rest. It seems you'll be going after that Essence Seed, and you'll be doing it with probably little back-up. We don't have the authorization to deploy Asset Fenris for this, nor-"
"Hold on," Elsa stepped in. "Shouldn't we do reconnaissance first?"
"No point. They'll eat the drones, as they did in the sewers. Besides, Mr. Edwards already gave the order. We're gonna have to go through with this operation whether we like it or not." He looked at Zane for a moment. "Sorry, kid, I tried to change his mind, but you know that can be difficult."
Zane didn't answer, choosing to frown and look down instead.
---
And so approaches the moment of truth. Although I don't expect the Quest to end in the next few updates, it's likely that one of the next few updates will conclude this Arc and begin what could very likely be the last Arc or the one before the last. Consider the present moment to be the apex.
As of right now, you have 3.8 Ambrosia, insufficient to afford anything of note.
Select an interaction with a co-worker to perform before the operation.
[ ] Interact: Elsa II - Figure out why she cares!
[ ] Interact: Helpful Soldier II - Attempt to deepen bond - maybe finally learn his name.
[ ] Interact: Charlotte II - Attempt to deepen bond; maybe if you can get the secretary in your pocket, you'll learn something more about the boss-man himself?
And finally, select one of the below - this will dictate your approach to the Essence Seed operation.
[ ] Heroic - Attempt to resolve the situation as directly as possible, but protect yourself and other lives if possible
*A balanced route, taking the best of both worlds, but coyly embracing neither fully.
[ ] Aggressive - Focus on taking down the legion of demons guarding the Essence Seed.
*A dangerous route to assume, given its rather intense mono-focus of fighting an enemy force you know almost nothing about. All you know is that the demons likely have superhuman physical characteristics almost on par with your own and wield magical weaponry.
[ ] Cautious - Make steady advance into the facility - slow and steady, wins the race. And there's something fishy about this.
*A risk exists that the Essence Seed may either be relocated or, otherwise, reinforced, before you can reach it. As of right now, you have the advantage of surprise, but this approach might squander it!
- Location
- Who Knows Where
[X] Interact: Elsa II - Figure out why she cares!
[X] Cautious
Elsa is Zane's senior in the company, and she seems to want Zane to be happy as he is right now. She's also not working for Olympus by her own preference.
Worth looking into, and it might give clues about this oddly suspicious situation.
Heroic because best of both worlds.
Edit: Yeah, it's probably a trap.
[X] Cautious
Elsa is Zane's senior in the company, and she seems to want Zane to be happy as he is right now. She's also not working for Olympus by her own preference.
Worth looking into, and it might give clues about this oddly suspicious situation.
Heroic because best of both worlds.
Edit: Yeah, it's probably a trap.
Last edited:
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah.
She was trying to mind-control the speaker. I think. Probably using her third eye as the focus of her ability.
Not sure what else she was trying to do... Maybe she really was bad at this job.
[X] Interact: Elsa II - Figure out why she cares!
Secrets motives and not-so-secret friends.
[X] Cautious - Make steady advance into the facility - slow and steady, wins the race. And there's something fishy about this.
It's a trap. Very obviously a trap.
And again- if we die, Earth's fucked (most likely, anyway). Worth risking the neighborhood to not have another Mangler situation on our hands.
- Location
- Peterborough, NH, USA
[X] Interact: Elsa
[X] Heroic
For the first, I'm starting to wonder if there's a Trickster effect going on. To explain, in A Geek's Guide, a bunch of Gods died, and got recycled as entities known as Concepts. Thor ended up in the Hero, Artemis in the Huntress, and so on. The Trickster had a Title, which amounts to a special ability that made uee better at being a trickster as a reward for being one of the best, at the cost of an inherent penalty to trustworthiness and her ability to see people as anything but puppets on a string. This applied even if she was dealing with allies and wanted to be trusted and form meaningful relationships. It's worth noting that her powers were worsening the effect, and Loki was one of the gods responsible for her powers
I feel this resonates with Loki's mythos, as he's one of the archetypal examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trickster is treated like crap because he's supposed to end the world, and also because the culture looks down a bit on trickery over martial valor, which Odin gets away with because he's a more even mix and a blatant double standard as their leader. Thus, he decides to go along with everybody's impression.
Given Mephistopheles' Godcard, it seems safe to assume they can have negative consequences for the user under the right circumstances, and we know full well that they can accomplish weird conceptual shit.
There have been multiple instances if Zane wondering if Elsa is nicer than she lets on and immediately switching tracks as he dismisses it, apparently on reflex. It could be general resentment of his... general situation being directed at a target who won't just kill him at the drop of a hat like Strickland would, and isn't especially nice like Charlotte or the soldier, because honestly, other than a, frankly, terrible first impression that seems to have been a bluff to some degree, she hasn't done much but be sarcastic at him to justify this level of hostility since then. However, I think an aspect of the Loki Godcard may be exaggerating his mistrust.
As for Heroic, I don't think we have time to be slow and steady here, which is what the mission is being rushed like this for in the first place, unless we want some Doom Eternal Hellforming to start happening, and I'm not sure Pyldret can fix that sort of thing before billions die and get their souls stolen unless he gets here in the next day or so. Plus, there's the possibility that they'll figure put we're aligned with Heavenly forces, and the less time they have to prep countermeasures for us, which they must have in stock or they wouldn't have lasted this long, the better. Given that, I have a personal preference for Heroic. Not the least because I feel it resonates with Zane and his status as a squire of Pyldret better.
[X] Heroic
For the first, I'm starting to wonder if there's a Trickster effect going on. To explain, in A Geek's Guide, a bunch of Gods died, and got recycled as entities known as Concepts. Thor ended up in the Hero, Artemis in the Huntress, and so on. The Trickster had a Title, which amounts to a special ability that made uee better at being a trickster as a reward for being one of the best, at the cost of an inherent penalty to trustworthiness and her ability to see people as anything but puppets on a string. This applied even if she was dealing with allies and wanted to be trusted and form meaningful relationships. It's worth noting that her powers were worsening the effect, and Loki was one of the gods responsible for her powers
I feel this resonates with Loki's mythos, as he's one of the archetypal examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trickster is treated like crap because he's supposed to end the world, and also because the culture looks down a bit on trickery over martial valor, which Odin gets away with because he's a more even mix and a blatant double standard as their leader. Thus, he decides to go along with everybody's impression.
Given Mephistopheles' Godcard, it seems safe to assume they can have negative consequences for the user under the right circumstances, and we know full well that they can accomplish weird conceptual shit.
There have been multiple instances if Zane wondering if Elsa is nicer than she lets on and immediately switching tracks as he dismisses it, apparently on reflex. It could be general resentment of his... general situation being directed at a target who won't just kill him at the drop of a hat like Strickland would, and isn't especially nice like Charlotte or the soldier, because honestly, other than a, frankly, terrible first impression that seems to have been a bluff to some degree, she hasn't done much but be sarcastic at him to justify this level of hostility since then. However, I think an aspect of the Loki Godcard may be exaggerating his mistrust.
As for Heroic, I don't think we have time to be slow and steady here, which is what the mission is being rushed like this for in the first place, unless we want some Doom Eternal Hellforming to start happening, and I'm not sure Pyldret can fix that sort of thing before billions die and get their souls stolen unless he gets here in the next day or so. Plus, there's the possibility that they'll figure put we're aligned with Heavenly forces, and the less time they have to prep countermeasures for us, which they must have in stock or they wouldn't have lasted this long, the better. Given that, I have a personal preference for Heroic. Not the least because I feel it resonates with Zane and his status as a squire of Pyldret better.
- Location
- 1
[X] Cautious
I'm doubtful that the Essence Seed is even there. Why would it be in water treatment facility? It's affecting the whole world, not just the places near water. And why would this random demon need to know that? We've been idly spinning our wheels in Olympus with no training for... about a month, I think? It is highly improbable that one more hour will be the problem. And as for it being moved or reinforced... could be, If they have teleportation magic. If not, that just makes it easier to hit with ranged weapons. Reinforcement... If they can do it to a relevant extent for stopping Zane, then they already would've, no?
One thing that's not entirely clear- was the demon we fought Zane-ish physicals With UMA, or Without UMA?
I'm doubtful that the Essence Seed is even there. Why would it be in water treatment facility? It's affecting the whole world, not just the places near water. And why would this random demon need to know that? We've been idly spinning our wheels in Olympus with no training for... about a month, I think? It is highly improbable that one more hour will be the problem. And as for it being moved or reinforced... could be, If they have teleportation magic. If not, that just makes it easier to hit with ranged weapons. Reinforcement... If they can do it to a relevant extent for stopping Zane, then they already would've, no?
One thing that's not entirely clear- was the demon we fought Zane-ish physicals With UMA, or Without UMA?
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Interact: Elsa II - Figure out why she cares!
[X] Cautious
[X] Cautious
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Sure why not.
[X] Interact: Elsa
[X] Heroic
[X] Interact: Elsa
[X] Heroic