Remove ads

Verdict Heart (Princess the Hopeful Quest)

Reader mode
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
 
[X] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
 
Don't forget "Call of Duty" is a thing. We regain energy by doing things in line with our calling. (Mandate is a way to assume it happens off camera)

[X] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
 
[X] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
 
[x] Bite the bullet and meet the Boy in the Church. Strange but knowledgeable, you nonetheless don't really know where you stand with him. But if anyone is going to know anything, it's him.
 
So... Specs there looks very much like she's a member of the Embassy to Fortune, in between her cat eyes, the bad luck in tripping down the steps combined with the good luck of not being seen, and her noted negative feelings about cats, which is totally understandable if you know who her Boss in said embassy is. For those who don't know Princess well, Embassies are basically prestige classes that grant powers as you gain in personal power. I actually played a Seeker of Diamonds who was in the Embassy to Fortune in a game that lasted me all the way to Inner Light 10... and I can already give Specs credit for not throwing around cat puns into every sentence she speaks unlike my character did. Mind, that character ended up becoming a Twilight Queen of an court based around rampant paranoia, constant surveillance, and thought crime, so... maybe it'd be a good idea to just not use her as an example worth following.

As for the vote... as I have no idea what our current mote situation is looking like, I can't really comment on whether it'd be better to go for our duty at the hospital or hang out with our Circle, but honestly? I wanna see what's going on with this weird, probably supernatural kid in the church. It's the world of darkness, after all! There's all kinds of weirdness just behind the curtain if you're willing to look, and being aware of what's around might just save your life when one of them turns out to be a homicidal maniac or a robo-angel who wants to literally use your blood as an oil substitute for the hidden gears running the metro or something.

[x] Bite the bullet and meet the Boy in the Church. Strange but knowledgeable, you nonetheless don't really know where you stand with him. But if anyone is going to know anything, it's him.
 
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
 
Last edited:
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
 
Schielman said:
Do we have a Mandate, or is the hospital work we do an at will sort of thing? Also, how are we doing on Wisps/will this be something we need to keep track of?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No Mandate, your volunteering is at will and will be used for hooks in the future and what not. Wisps aren't something you'll need to keep track of, this is basically an incredibly stripped down version of Storyteller/whatever they're calling it now for the sake of narrative focus over rolling and what not. There's a bittiness there I don't really want to get into when I'm writing.
 
Remove ads
2: Burning Heartsink
  • Threadmarks
    • 2: Burning Heartsink​

    "...So by that point, it turned into a whole thing. I'd already been called from the security office to see this guy, and let me tell you, he looked like ass. Scraggily beard, busted shoes and clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed since I joined the forces."

    Your father has a lot of stories from his work, and today is one of the times he gets to assault you with his raw capacity for talking. He leans back in the McDonalds chair, putting on an expression you can only call 'vacant'.

    "Gave us this kind of look, bloodshot eyes." He snaps back to his normal self, a wide grin on his sunkissed features. "And then says, with absolutely no nonsense about him: 'I own one of the apartments, you dickhead.'"

    You snort, childish enough to find amusement in your dad's blunt delivery of a vulgar word in a public place.

    "So at that point we're about five seconds away from escorting him off site when Mister Helmbrook just strolls past us and says to the guy… 'Morning Clive.'"

    Your dad pauses for effect. "'Morning Francis,' he says back. So just like that, it turned out he did in fact own one of the apartments. His first time there since the Shard was built, apparently. Surprised the Qatari let a guy like that have it though… fifty-million quid, at the very least, to buy one of those things, and they're not even up for sale. Means they asked him. Bloody baffled."

    "C'mon, dad. You know what they say about books and covers," you gently remind him with a nudge of your foot beneath the table. "Maybe he just… likes the look?"

    "...What, hoboshique?" he asks with a befuddled expression.

    "It's a thing. People like the grimey look."

    He pauses in thought, eyes narrowing as he regards you. "I dunno, smelled pretty weird too. Is there a new body spray I don't know about? Didn't think Lynx Africa meant 'Seal Island'," he mused with a smirk.

    You squint. "Bring that one back. Seal Island?" you ask, unsure if you really want to know.

    "Place off a Cape Town. Smells like fish guts, seal musk and shit."

    "Dad," you intone, gesturing to the chicken nugget in your hand, eyes filled with an, admittedly put on, incensed glint. "We're eating!"

    A blur darts for your nugget, threatening to snag the crisp-encoated chicken flesh out of your grip.

    Not today.

    Of the many ongoing contests between you and your father, it is the arena of 'reaction times' where you exceed him.

    The blur, faster than anything, can't beat how you effortlessly pull your hand back, a wide grin spreading across your your face at your preemptive and correct movement as your father's hand snaps at air.

    "Hah!" he declares, raising his other hand. One of your six nuggets is held between his fingers, snapped up while your focus was drawn by his other hand.

    Flanking. Your father cannot shake that soldier mindset.

    "You were eating, you mean," he says with childish pride, popping the nugget in his mouth. "Now I am. Delicious." With his mouth full and everything.

    You almost fume -- almost. Reason grips you at the last second, dragging you back down as you inhale through your nose. "I'm not even upset," you say with a pleasant, totally not mad smile.

    "Hi, Not-Even-Upset--"

    "DON'T!"

    ♠️♠️♠️​

    And that's how it tends to go.

    The reality is that around people your age, you tend to be just as immature as your dad. Something about him brings out the need to be the adult, because someone has to be in the house.

    Still, he's refreshing.

    "I'm heading off. What's your plans for the day? Going to work?" he asks as you both stand outside the garbage food establishment, your father something of a gorilla in a fine suit and you a girl who looks like she got lost in the middle of PE, a resemblance between the two of you outside of the raw size discrepancy.

    "I'll be going in tonight. Friday nights are busy, they can use the help," you make up on the spot, giving a good enough reason why you wouldn't be around in the evening. It's a white lie, and one you're willing to use. "I'll get someone to give me a lift home, so don't worry."

    "I'll be honest, hard not to," he said with an uncertain edge to his voice, smile fading as he shrugs. "I thought you said they weren't going to let you go in on Fridays? Something about stress and the type of crowd?"

    Drunks. He means drunks.

    "I insisted," you insist.

    He sighs, shaking his head. "You're working like they're paying you. But whatever, I won't get in your way. Just remember what I taught you…" he raises a finger, about to go into lecture mode.

    You cut him off. "'Go the for throat, and if that's not an option, the balls.'"

    "And?"

    "'If there's a knife, don't stick around or you'll get stuck,'" you recite with an impatient look. It wasn't patronizing as much as it was perfectly reasonable, but he likes to give you your space. He'll warn you, teach you how to joint-lock someone, give you advice like a doting mother-hen, but he hasn't stopped you from going out. Yet.

    Part of you can't help but feel a sort of grief over that. Someone would expect him to get more protective of his daughter after what happened to August, to try and preserve her.

    But it was the opposite. He didn't want what happened to August to happen to you. Cooped away on a hospital bed, a prisoner suffering a willing poison for his own good. He wants you to live. That's good.

    You want to think it is, at least.

    Your dad is a man in mourning, and it wasn't something…-- it didn't feel right. Doing a sparkly little dance then trying to destroy that sobbing shadow clinging to his being isn't what you need to do. You're his daughter, and that's what you need to be to help him. It's perfectly natural for people to be sad, so you just need to work through it beside him.

    He needs your help. And you can do that by just being there for him, reminding him that you're not going anywhere any time soon.

    You both part ways after a brief hug, smiles all around. You're ready to face the day.

    ♠️♠️♠️​

    Supposedly the Courts have people and friends in high places to make sure that even in a place as heavily monitored as London, the Nobility can operate with some measure of freedom in their movements.

    Good thing too, because you're flashy as all hell. Golden sparks and posing to Transform aside, dressing in white and gold isn't exactly something that lends to stealth, but you nonetheless have a bit of a knack for it. A benefit of your size is that you can hide behind things far easier than most and get into pretty tight spaces with relative ease.

    But getting across the street in the middle of the night just needs a blunt and simple sprint, something you are also pretty good at, in your own humble opinion.

    It helps that you're generally just faster when you Transform, turning you into a golden bullet without the need for any Charms or magic. That is how you'll view it until someone turns into a literal bolt of lightning to outpace you, because that does not sound too impossible these days.

    Despite the flash and fanfare you still can't fly, so getting to the top of the British Museum requires a bit of climbing amateur parkour -- jumping and tumbling -- from the buildings behind it to get there relatively unseen. London's weird enough that some people will just pass off some strange shenanigans as 'a thing that happens in central London' as opposed to 'freaky'.

    You land atop the meeting spot, doing your version of a combat roll, messy and about as graceful as a drunk swan--

    And right in front of the person you're supposed to be meeting.

    You look up at them, the height difference noticeable with you in your crouch, and it doesn't get much better when you straighten up.

    The most notable thing about Burning Heartsink is the theme of their Transformed self; cowboy, but on fire. A crimson scarf wraps around their neck and mouth, mildly torn and battlescarred, the trailing off end burning with an immortal flame in the cold January night. From what little you can see of their face, their eyes have a similar effect to yours, the lapping wisps of a suns crown flicking around the edges of their iris, but unlike you even their hair has a burning quality to it, a vein of heat running through the bang of gentle brown hair curtaining one of their eyes.

    A slender, crimson burning cowboy. Despite Specs using 'he' to describe them, you couldn't actually tell if they were a girl or a guy. There's a harmlessness to their silvery, suncrowned eyes that almost runs in contrast to the image of their Transformed self.

    "Hey there. You're Specs' helping hand?" they ask, voice soft and without judgement despite your entry.

    You brush off your knees, giving the taller Noble a smile. "Starlight 'Helpful' Nightingale, that's me. Burning Heartsink, I guess?"

    "Right." They nod, extending a gloved hand to you. "Pleasure to meet you. You prefer Starlight, Nightingale, or…?"

    "Star will do."

    "Uh-uh. No can do. Already know three 'Stars' in the area, and I don't think we'll be wanting any more confusion there."

    Well, figures a society of magical princes and princesses would have several people using the name 'Star'. It was a nice try.

    "We'll go with Nightingale then," you reply, not one to be dissuaded by not being able to have your first pick in nickname. "How about you?"

    "Sinker'll do. You're new to this whole deal, right?" You give an affirmative nod. "How much has Specs told you about this whole business?"

    "..."

    You pause. You think back to your interactions with the cat-eyed Sherlock caricature. Apart from introducing you to the court, and then helping you out with finding things to do…

    "...Not much."

    Sinker sighs, but it's a good natured sound. "Of course she hasn't. Girl's got the brains, but it all moves too quickly, thinks too far ahead sometimes. And your Court? Had much time to get anything out of them?"

    "Nada." You didn't spend much time with the Court when you were there, and the time you did spend was mostly just getting to know a few people, Nobility from across the world who meet in their dreams. It's unique, but… yeah, not much in the way of work education. "I've just been trying to get into the groove of setting time aside for this whole thing, you know?"

    The magical cowboy chuckles at the familiarity of your problem. "I get that. Ain't easy fitting in the hours when we barely got enough in the day as it is. But hey, we figure it out. Anywho, we can use tonight to sort of get you up to speed while we're working. Part of the reason I was open to some backup tonight was for a second opinion too, so if you could give me a hand there, it'd be much appreciated."

    You grin confidently. "Wouldn't be living up the Helpful name if I couldn't give you that, would I?"

    "Great. I'll cut the crap then. I'm a Seeker, and we've got a knack for sniffing out the bad guys. Past few weeks I've been trying to pin down the location of this group of questionable folk, but I had to put that on hold because of all the Darkspawn that've been showing up around town. Been driving my senses nuts, making it harder for me to focus," Sinker begrudgingly admitted, a hand coming to rest on their hip. You nod along.

    "You can feel when Darkspawn break through?"

    Sinker regretfully smiles behind their scarf. "Boy, can I. Hurts like hell, so I've got a vested interest in making doubly sure they stop coming over from the Dark World. But I'm going to focus on that there group tonight -- don't want to get too distracted, there are other Nobility around, and I'm trusting them to take the fight to those nasty little creatures." The senior Noble beckons you to follow her as they move to the edge of the roof, pointing past taller buildings and into the sheltered eastern distance. "But it has its benefits. I can also see places where they're most likely to be coming from, if I've passed by them or if one has recently popped through. S'one over there, part of a council estate. Another to the north-east, I think it's a night club. South, a warehouse."

    You ask the first thing on your mind. "There anyway to get rid of them?"

    Sinker stares out into the distance, quietly considering your question. "Yes, and no. Usually takes more than just one of us to purify a place that has seen some real grisly stuff. I don't think we'll be doing that tonight, but we should check one out. I'm just not sure where to start, and if I was going to go to one, I'd want back up. S'why you're here."

    Must have been short on hands to group Sinker with you. A Mender of some description you are, but you have only really had one fight in your few weeks, and as she observed you don't really know much.

    But like hell are you going to let that stop you from helping.

    "Then what's up with this group, then? Can't really give my take if I don't know what we're dealing with."

    "Ah, fair enough. My bad, should have started with that," they say with an embarrassed rub of the back of her head. "I don't have a name or anything, but it's just a pattern I noticed around a few neighborhoods. Young people, ages anywhere between sixteen to twenty-five, growing more distant, letting out more negative vibes than usual -- severely so. Another thing I can feel, and something you might be able to do in the future, who knows. I started using my other identity to start asking around, turns out a lot of younger people have been… running away from home, I suppose. Abandoning school and jobs, breaking off contact after a brief period of acting a weird and detached. Too much of it to be a coincidence."

    You squint behind your mask, an idea coming to your head immediately. "Sounds like a cult, one with a particular audience."

    "That was my thought, but I can't find any actual information. And finding these lost people is difficult -- there were eleven thousand missing people cases in London last year which didn't see the missing returned in twenty-four hours. Probably more if we take into account the unreported. People can just vanish around here." The cowboy Seeker's mood takes a turn for the frustrated, eyes shutting as they fold their arms beneath their chest. "Feels like I'm stumbling around, so I need a fresh take."

    Young people acting weird, letting out a notable negative miasma of emotion, and then vanishing without a trace. There are three obvious options in the area to investigate:

    ♠️♠️♠️​

    Burning Heartsink needs to take a step back and let someone else make a decision, feeling that her direction with investigating this group has become unclear. She looks to you to decide where you'll be looking tonight.

    Even if it is not related to the case, each location is Tainted. A Tainted place is created when grave sin or suffering is inflicted in an area, or where acts of cruelty occur regularly -- traditionally even. Each location has a differing level of severity to the Taint, although Burning Heartsink is unsure to the extent.

    These kinds of locations are infamous for making heinous acts that much easier to commit, and are an unpleasant location for any member of the Nobility to experience, but encountering them and cleansing them is a necessary part of their task.

    [ ] Warehouse : Fairly off the grid. If the person currently renting or in ownership of it is in support of whatever this group is up to, it's likely the best spot to conduct their business in private.
    [ ] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
    [ ] Council Flat : Within a tower of relatively small, pushed together residences is one in particular that emits a concerning air of unease. Sinker's impression is that it is a newly created Tainted space, as it has yet to completely bleed out into the rest of the tower estate. If it is connected to the supposed cult, then someone or something is likely operating out of there.

    Either way, the journey to any of those locations won't be the fastest. If you so choose, during this time you can ask Burning Heartsink any number of questions about life as a Princess in London and they will try to answer. As helpful as Specs has been, she's not exactly a mentor. This is not a vote, but a prompt to see what sorts of things Anne would like to know, which will then be taken into account in the next update.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
     
    [X] Council Flat : Within a tower of relatively small, pushed together residences is one in particular that emits a concerning air of unease. Sinker's impression is that it is a newly created Tainted space, as it has yet to completely bleed out into the rest of the tower estate. If it is connected to the supposed cult, then someone or something is likely operating out of there.
     
    [x] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
     
    [x] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
    ​
     
    Pangolin said:
    Either way, the journey to any of those locations won't be the fastest. If you so choose, during this time you can ask Burning Heartsink any number of questions about life as a Princess in London and they will try to answer. As helpful as Specs has been, she's not exactly a mentor. This is not a vote, but a prompt to see what sorts of things Anne would like to know, which will then be taken into account in the next update.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    How much of a noob are we anyways for the purpose of this.

    [X] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
     
    veekie said:
    How much of a noob are we anyways for the purpose of this.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Anne finalized her Blossoming on the December 19th 2018. It's currently January 04 2019, so only slightly over a couple of weeks. You're incredibly green, as far as Nobility go. You've figure out how to get to the Dreamlands, been introduced to your court, fought one Darkspawn and healed a few people.
     
    @Pangolin, will we get the chance to purify the other locations later? I'm worried about the Darkness in the council flat bleeding into homes, but the night club is probably better for finding the missing young people.

    I have to wonder if the council flat option has something to do with Anne's dad's story.
     
    [X] Council Flat : Within a tower of relatively small, pushed together residences is one in particular that emits a concerning air of unease. Sinker's impression is that it is a newly created Tainted space, as it has yet to completely bleed out into the rest of the tower estate. If it is connected to the supposed cult, then someone or something is likely operating out of there.

    But not our mother...

    That sucks. It's the way the cookie crumbles though.

    I'd rather avoid the nightclub. It reeks of vampires.
     
    [X] Council Flat : Within a tower of relatively small, pushed together residences is one in particular that emits a concerning air of unease. Sinker's impression is that it is a newly created Tainted space, as it has yet to completely bleed out into the rest of the tower estate. If it is connected to the supposed cult, then someone or something is likely operating out of there.
     
    [x] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.
     
    [x] Night Club : Under the cover of noise, blinking lights and packed bodies, many things can occur. If you're looking for young people, then this is the place. The exact nature of the venue appears somewhat generic with the name 'Feverous', but Sinker has noticed the unmistakable stench of Darkness coming from it.

    Newbie questions... What are the Darkspawn, really? If they come from another world, can we go there in turn and take the fight to them? Are they all like the one we fought? Can the people who've been affected by their power be healed?

    And, to get to know Sinker better... Where are they from? Been around here a while, or is this a new or temporary thing? What's their preferred pronoun? Any generic tips they have for this new life of ours? Things to look out for, or ways the Hopeful connect with each other in case a trip to the Dreamlands isn't in the cards?
     
    Oh yeah, we should also be thinking of questions for Anne to ask Sinker. I have no clue about the setting, and I'm not ready to invest the time to investigate it right now, but one thing Anne might want to ask is if Sinker has any advice about how to prioritize what gets done. A Mender is never going to run out of people who need healing. Plus, I'm already torn between the council flat and the night club, and I don't know if we can come back to do whichever one we don't do this time.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top