List: Al

Camella; Say hi - you should have one Scaeungda heart to give her. Have SB teleport it into her hands.

Ito: Ring him up, an in as humble a manner as you can, thank him profusely for his teaching. You have opened your chakra, and what has grown from them has to be seen to be understood. Say that you are looking forward to exercising with him. When you visit, examine him using your spirtual senses whilst he spars with us. When there, ask him about Hojutsu, the Japanese martial art based around shooting. As a master of jukenjutsu, then it would make sense for him to have the skill to use his chosen weapon to full capacity, as a gun as well as a glaive. Also, spar with him using your subjective decades of experience with Kas Pin against his Jukenjutsu, and ask his advice on how to integrate the two arts.

Hillevi: Spar with her every day. Work hard to integrate Kas Pin with your current skills in using the goblin arts in direct combat, and you other weapon skills.

Russians: Spend a couple of hours teaching them goblin stealth every day, using your spirtual senses to the fullest. Introduce them to Ito for chakra training.

Lammobad: Ring on a secure line, and say you're back. Meet up and describe your adventures, and listen to his. Ask for an introduction back to Lo Fang.

Lo Fang: Meet up with him, and suggest that you have come into a possession of a . Also mention that you may have the means to enact appropriate vengeance on Savoy, if provided with some of his blood and flesh. See if he's interested in buying Sake's chakra knowledge. Our WeaselBro said that only a specialist mortal would be interested, but Lo Fang may have an academic interest, contacts to sell it on to, or a current/future student who can make use of it.

Arkvad: Ring him up and arrange a meting.

SM: Sell him the Tokarev pistol, the punt gun, and any other magical ammo in the house, in return for first a bottomless magazine for the AA-12, and then a suppressor. Offer to sell a decade+ training in modern small unit tactics, lead by us and the Russians to the goblins with the explicit proviso that as teaching is the best way of learning, you're going to be learning as well, in order to keep teaching them new things. Of course, this should pass in a single day from your perspective.

Professor: Get in touch today.

In general, don't feed anyone but you and Hillevi the magical meats, as the backlash may be unfortunate.

>Do I put off the rest of my obligations until tomorrow morning, and just make sure I give the Russians and Hillevi as warm a welcome to Istanbul as possible, and thereby maximize my chances the Russians will agree to work for me, rather than with me?

A good operator is a relaxed operator. You have so much shit going down, Armas, I think you need even a day of hanging out with bros. Even one. Put things off for the day, be awesome, etc. Call up Camella, tell her we're hitting the fucking town and if she wants to come along that's great, we have catching up to do.

The next day, however, get your ass in gear and take care of everything you can. I'm sure everyone else will remember the important calls we have to make.

Night of revelry. Arkvad, Camella, Ahmad, Hafez, Shaya, Hadar and Yoni will be called and informed of this. Maybe even the Lo Fang Squad - Go Ping, Long Wang, Diao Yuan - should be called up because soon we're gonna be Doony hunting and they should be in on it. Maybe even Lo Fang himself. Oh, and see if Paul-Jacques Labombard is contactable.

I mean, no only can we have a night on the town, but maybe we can start our PMC too! Also, not so much drinking, Armas. Remember last time.

However, our first goal is to get a new car. Something tanklike, and make plans for trollling Camella when she shows up.

>>360387
Actually, a correction to this. When we call Camella, we just whistle 'The Boys are Back in Town' and ask if she's missed us.

>>360367
Sorry, reposting as I can't delete this:

This is the "Initial Activity List"

Every time we meet someone, examine them under soul sight and magic item sight. See how their souls change as they are in different moods, and doing different things.

Camella; Say hi to her in your own way- you should have one Scaeungda heart to give her. You should cook a nice large breakfast and have SB sneak in under her door and teleport it into her room, hopefully locked from the inside at Ito's. Make sure to include some kelpie crisps so she knows where it's come from. Later, as if nothing has happened, follow up on you experiences with Big, and be humble enough to ask for her help. Your shooting should be better, so ask her to train you. In return, show her some of the years of Kas Pin based axe-work that was shoved into your skull. Spend a couple of hours a day on this.

Ito: Ring him up, an in as humble a manner as you can, thank him profusely for his teaching. You have opened your chakra, and what has grown from them has to be seen to be understood. Say that you are looking forward to exercising with him. When you visit, examine him using your spirtual senses whilst he spars with us. When there, ask him about Hojutsu, the Japanese martial art based around shooting. As a master of jukenjutsu, then it would make sense for him to have the skill to use his chosen weapon to full capacity, as a gun as well as a glaive. Also, spar with him using your subjective decades of experience with Kas Pin against his Jukenjutsu, and ask his advice on how to integrate the two arts.

Hillevi: Spar with her every day. Work hard to integrate Kas Pin with your current skills in using the goblin arts in direct combat, and you other weapon skills.

Russians: Spend a couple of hours teaching them goblin stealth every day, using your spirtual senses to the fullest. Introduce them to Ito for chakra training.

Lammobad: Ring on a secure line, and say you're back. Meet up and describe your adventures, and listen to his. Ask for an introduction back to Lo Fang.

Lo Fang: Meet up with him, and suggest that you have come into a possession of some information that might be of interest. Tell him what Armin the Craftsman said about Savoy. Also mention that you may have the means to enact appropriate vengeance on Savoy, if provided with some of his blood and flesh. See if he's interested in buying Sake's chakra knowledge. Our WeaselBro said that only a specialist mortal would be interested, but Lo Fang may have an academic interest, contacts to sell it on to, or a current/future student who can make use of it. If he seems amenable to future business, suggest that you're back on the market for work, and that you'd be interested in discussing what he would take in exchange for some chakra training. Only do this when you have learned all Ito can teach.

Arkvad: Ring him up and arrange a meting.

Sake: Ask him to explain what he knows us us about spirit manipulation/possession. He obviously knows something, as demonstrated by his possession of the Ramidjeru and consumption of its soul. Keep referring to him as him. Practice for as long as he can manage a day as working and fighting together - recall all that your drunken self could do, and see what abilities you can replicate. Do not use your penis as a wind scythe - Sake will not be amused. Also, see if you can see commune telepathically through your linked souls.

SM: Buy 5 hours of stalking training from him. Sell him the Tokarev pistol, the punt gun, the punt gun's magical ammo, any other magical ammo in the house, and the arrows you claimed from Gunnar. So you know what they do, first examine them with your item sense. In return, ask for first a bottomless drum magazine for the AA-12, and then a perfect flash and sound suppressor. For the later, some internet investigation of how that is possible (vacuum barrier, etc,) may be required. Offer to sell a decade+ training in modern small unit tactics, lead by us and the Russians to the goblins with the explicit proviso that as teaching is the best way of learning, you're going to be learning as well, in order to keep teaching them new things. Of course, this should pass in a single day from your perspective. Also spend a couple of hours training goblins. We also need to sell SM the information about Savoy's deal for his arm. As SM has Savoy's testicles, he may be able to force Savoy to default on his deal by using the recovered sperm to make a first born for Savoy who is out of his control, and we can suggest that the wider Savoy family may be very interested to learn that he has done such a thing.

Professor: Get in touch today. Invite him out to lunch tomorrow, somewhere nice, but discreet and not extravagant. Academics are paid crap, so it will show sensitivity.

In general, don't feed anyone but you and Hillevi the magical meats, as the backlash may be unfortunate. You're pushing yourself hard - given your schedule you may want to go back to four hours of sleep a night, and you need that meat to build back a pre-healing reserve and heal you through all the aches and pains. We should also do a couple of hours independent meditation before going to bed.

So, time allocated:

2 hours shooting with Camella
2 hours chakra with Ito
1 hour Hojutsu with Ito if possible
2 hours general martial arts with Hillevi, integrating stealth and kas pin
2 hours training Russians
~2 hours practising with Sake
2 hours training goblins

We can follow this list up until the day before the Finnish devil is due, as then we need to prepare for his arrival.

>>360387
SUST. No drinking, not after last time.

>>360399
>Every time we meet someone, examine them under soul sight and magic item sight. See how their souls change as they are in different moods, and doing different things.

This really shouldn't be listed. We should be doing this constantly and the only time we should turn it off is if we're blinded or we're asked to.

>Russians:
>Introduce them to Ito for chakra training.
Maybe, but most importantly introduce them so they can join the Gym and learn some more ways to kill a man with a stick.

>Lo Fang
I'm gonna say 'no' to the Chakra training, actually.

>Sake
>Not trolling by calling him a 'She' and any other dickless joke we can manage.
>Not using our penis to kill with.
Yeah, no. Brotherly Trolling and dick killing, yo.

>Sometimes Merchant.
>Selling weapons that could be used by our Russian Allies.
No. That is stupid and a waste of powerful items.

>In general, don't feed anyone but you and Hillevi the magical meats, as the backlash may be unfortunate.
No, those Kelpie Crispies are tasty as hell, and everyone is going to eat Chef Armas' creations.

Everything else seems like a good idea, although will be done after we go out drinking with all our friends and cement our friendship with the Russians and let Istanbul know that we're back in Town.

DoubleU!MYdoubleV. 2011/10/23(Sun)17:50 No. 360412 ID: 133c4c
File 131941742743.png - (41.36KB , 956x503 , yipyip.png )

So, first thing to do when we get back to Istanbul? Celebrate! Party! Call Camella, tell her we're FINALLY BACK, and we're about to have dinner soon with some friends we met on the trip, she can't miss out! Also, tell her we've got some surprises, forget about anything else she was supposed to do-we're gonna have a blast tonight.

So, organize the seats as in >pic related, make sure to call Einrik back for dinner and to meet a friend, and start cooking. The Russians? Well, just tell them we're having dinner soon, celebrating the start of their new jobs, no worries to be had! Just....try not to get wasted before it starts.

Amen can help us, but give him some heavy restrictions, (only use the ingredients in the amount and prepare them in the way I designate,cannot use them for anything else than for us to eat tonight).

Also, since we're going to be drinking, take out the wines, drinks, etc, etc (with nothing added in, of course, or can give effects that alcohol isn't capable of).

Oh, and tell Amen to ignore anyone's orders with a blood-alcohol level over 0.04%, or just ignore anyone's orders, including us, until tomorrow at 2:00 PM, and he is to not do anything until that time.

>>360412
Upvoting, with the suggestion that we find some way to squeeze Arkvad and Paul-Jacques Labombard on the table and that, as a chef, we are not letting someone untrained help us cook. Boris can help us cook, however.

Lammy and Camella are the most crucial, and should be done today:
Lammy has been put off long enough. Make the call, let him know we're back in Istanbul. I suspect this has to do with Doonongaes, but might not.

If Camella returns and sees a bunch of drunk Russians in the house... okay, it'd be funny, but she'd probably shoot someone. Find out what's been going on. Ask her where she's living these days, so we can send her a bouquet of get well flowers. Don't mention our new eyepatch; pretend it's always been there.

If we do the party thing (and I'm not saying it's a good idea), have the russians nominate one or two of the best cooks among them to assist. Owning our own restaraunt doesn't mean we cook and plate every dish ourselves. Learn to delegate to the sous chefs.

Find out what SB's training menu is going to be like. Will he have time to go... strolling at night, using the shadows? Info gathering, checking the local Dark spirits, that stuff.

Sake is free to roam Istanbul and get used to his new form, and he's free to use the mansion as a home base. But first appraise him of the local climates; don't have him mess with the Triad or our list of friends, Mafia and Police only if it doesn't trace back to us, Nazis and Yaks are fair game.

Trolling Camella can happen as needed, just let the opportunities arise organically. No need to force things.

Silja: Apologize for interrupting her brooding, but we have info on Armas V she may like to know. Use that to get her out of her shell and talking to us.

Ask Amen to detain the next intruder unharmed (physically), so we have someone to feed to the devil.

>>360412
>>360413

Sounds fine to me. I like parties.

WRT to Amen, we need to find out if we need to perform a live capture before the devil shows up.

"Amen, if any of the prisoners you took still has his or her soul, and is currently under your control, move him or her to a secure location where he or she will not be found. Keep him or her alive until such a time as I require him or her. This relates to the devil I mentioned earlier. If no such prisoners meet that requirement, and if it is safe for you to tell me as per our previous conversation regarding these prisoners, tell me so."

"The next prisoner you take is to be held in isolation, and kept alive and comfortable. Strip him or her of any tools, weapons, or other other artifacts mundane or magical, and then alert me."

>>360354

"I have new orders regarding orders from guests. Do not take aggressive action against any guest at the direction of another guest. If such an order is given, tell me and await further orders from me. Do not allow guests to steal from my accounts, my cash, my valuables, or any such that are associated with this estate. Guests should have their needs met through measures equal to that which a five star hotel would provide as complimentary items, were such a hotel stocked similarly to the household. If guests require items not available in the household or which are beyond the scope of what the rhetorical hotel would provide alert me to their requirements."

"Provide civilian clothes of appropriate fit and modern style to each of the guests who will be staying overnight, with the specific styles being chosen to make the wearer not stand out in an average crowd. Provide them with three changes of clothing for now, including underwear, socks, and a pair of sneakers. Provide each overnight guest with a formal outfit appropriate for a party tonight as well, including appropriate shoes and undergarments. Individualize the formal wear. Let me know if there are any complaints."

"Tell me what items we are low or out of which a guest could require and which would reasonably be provided as complimentary per the aforementioned rhetorical five star hotel model I established."

And finally, Armas should go pick up those items which Amen lists. And since he's a thoughtful host, that includes stuff like feminine hygiene pads, razors, aftershave, etc.

>>360480

I screwed up my password somehow, so a quick addendum: "... with the specific styles being chosen to make the wearer not stand out in an average crowd."

should read "... with the specific styles being chosen to make the wearer not stand out in an average crowd in Istanbul."

Since an average crowd of humans would have us dressing like Chinese peasants.

Contact the following today, in order:
-Einrik: Invite him to the mansion for the party, and to meet some of your allies in Istanbul. Hope that Camella doesn't fall in love with him, because she's your love interest, goddamnit.
-Arkvad: Tell him you're back, invite him to the mansion for a party with some new friends.
-Camella: Convince her that you need her there at the mansion (for a party, but make her think it's for life-saving help). Sneak up behind her as she arrives, and yell “Boo!” If she attacks you, heal and say “I just wanted to give you your christmas gift” and present her with the still-beating Sceadugenga heart.

Contact the following over the next few days, in no particular order:
-Garbage Pete: Use einher item sense on all of his guns, buy the ones that are magical.
-Lo Fang: Inform him that you're back in Istanbul, and remind him that you're available for freelance work, but that now you have some others with you he can hire. Ask for contact numbers for the others involved with the Doonongaes operation, as you plan on killing it. Ask him if he'd be interested in buying a phoenix heart. Ask if they (the Triads) have a go-to arms merchant that you would be able to utilise (and if he's happy with the phoenix heart deal, see if you can get a discount). If so, buy a bunch of WASP knives and use the Garbage Pete plan.
-Paul-Jacques Labombard: Tell him you're back, offer to meet somewhere to discuss what he wanted to talk to us about.
-Rocco Armani: Inform him that you're back in Istanbul, and remind him that you're available for freelance work, but that now you have some others with you he can hire. Ask if they (the Mafia) have a go-to arms merchant that you would be able to utilise. If so, use the Garbage Pete plan.
-Professor Jadgo: Invite him out for a meal at a nice restaurant to discuss the book he translated. Tell him you knew what the book was about beforehand, and invite him to try one of the recipes.
-Johan Strauss: Enquire about buying some stronger demon blood.
-Ito: Tell him you're back, with a few friends who you'd like him to give a few sessions to, including on chakras if they're interested. You'll pay for them.
-Sometimes Merchant: Enquire about magical fruits and vegetables that would go well with the meat we're already getting from him, buy some if it's cheap. Gift him the information about Savoy's demon deal, and suggest that it might be possible to create a child from his “jewels” that he can't give up, and thus will default on the deal. Laugh. While he's happy from the gift, bring up a rewording of your former deals for meat that take into account your now quasi-immortal state so that you don't have to make new bargains for each once you die. See about making a bargain involving the use of a Nevernever pocket and a some Sahagin to test the Russians' abilities, and let him observe the results if it will bring down the price.
-The Riihuvuori children: Let them, the Valkonens, and Big Crazy know you're all safe and sound in Istanbul, although you did lose your arm again on the way. Tell Big Crazy, in an excited, child-like way, that you're a spirit shaman like him now! Ask Markku if he's had any luck with our violent aquaintance whose name starts with K.

Look into buying three or four cheap used cars to use for yourself and the Russians. The Vanduras was good, try getting more.

Over the next few days, assess the Russians' abilities to determine what kind of operations each of them would be most effective at. Have them stand in a room tasked with observing their surroundings, then sneak all around the room. Those who notice you should be good at sentry duties, etc. Take them a few at a time to Silah Dunyasi, use the firing ranges there to assess their marksmanship. Might as well get some new supplies, for them and yourself, while you're there. If you made the Sahagin hunting deal with Sometimes Merchant, perform the test.

>>360399
Upvote
>>360387
SUST. Whilst it is a good idea to meet our allies, bringing them all together in one place is not a good idea. For operational security, we need to keep information compartmentalised. Instead, we should meet people individually, or in small groups who already know each other.
>>360410
Chakra manipulation is the most versatile power available to us, and may show us how to use our spirit powers.
Maybe we can keep the tokarev, but the Russians cannot use the sawn-off punt gun or the solid metal arrows, as they are not physically strong enough, and they are neither archers nor capable of surviving combat with anything you need the punt gun to kill at the ranges it should be used at.
>>360515
Do not gift SM information. Sell it to him.

We need to make plans for the devil. Deacribe the devil's powers and what its hand could do, and all you know of it's origin. Then ask Amen if there are any preparations it needs to make to allow it to hide its power level from the devil, to heal the devil's hand, and to subdue the devil and render it helpless. None of these preparations or what it does to the devil can be harmful to anyone else. We should also ask if it needs anything from outside the mansion to help with this.

We also need to command it to preserve one of the intruders to give it to the devil.

Here's a thought: we've seen that the goblins and Einrik have morphic illusions. Get a visual/audible one for Lammy that turns him into us.

Then we call Doony out, we show up in person - except it's the wolfman with a potion of Doonongae-antivenin in him.

>>360613
>Always have your soul sense active unless expressly mentioned
That seems like a lot of work for bob, and we have no idea if we can exhaust our soul senses. Good idea, but maybe in moderation?

>Prank someone else in the mansion. Every morning, this should be done, and not in a easily seen-through pattern.
Not sure we should start with this; the Russians seem like a done deal, but we haven't worked out any specifics of them working for us. Now that they're free of Jidkova, they might still bail, even if it seems unlikely with them lacking visas or passports.

>Then, prepare breakfast. You should, every morning, strive to prepare the best breakfast possible for you and Hillevi. If one of the Russian has a special mission that day, or Camella or Labombard are around, invite them.
I like this. Leave the larder open for the russians (or maybe a secondary larder with the odds-n-ends meat), but cook for your friends yourself. Once the russians are gainfully employed, bring Matyev into the breakfast routine so he can keep you updated on them. I expect Matyev can handle discipline problems and everyday worries, but it doesn't hurt to be appraised of them.

>>360604
> Whilst it is a good idea to meet our allies, bringing them all together in one place is not a good idea. For operational security, we need to keep information compartmentalised. Instead, we should meet people individually, or in small groups who already know each other.
Have to agree, it sounds like Armas. For a contractor, he seems like a bit of a control freak.

Anonymous 2011/10/24(Mon)14:42 No. 360699 ID: 81f32a
File 131949254605.jpg - (79.98KB , 600x494 , Possible PMC look for our team.jpg )

>Do I put off the rest of my obligations until tomorrow morning, and just make sure I give the Russians and Hillevi as warm a welcome to Istanbul as possible, and thereby maximize my chances the Russians will agree to work for me, rather than with me?
I don't know. I do not think we should relax yet. Ogrimmir could call up to claim his service at any moment, so it is better that we deal with tasks that we have before us as soon as possible.
Also, I just realized that we boldly walked into Smets mansion with a group of almost 20 people. The mansion that is surely being observed by several parties including Turkish Police/FBI. We might get a visit from Adelat soon.


Things to do:

-Have Shadowbro take the Goblin lessons. Since they will be done in NN, they will be instant so we shouldn't wait with this.

-Eat magic meat till we completely restore our Summer energy.

-EXPLORE THE MANSION! Seriously. Their ought to be some interesting things hidden, ShadowBro will help us out with the exploration. And who knows, maybe we will find where Smets hid all his information?

-The auction! The goblins have made all the preparations and all what is needed is our go-ahead. I hope we can get a practitioner contract from the wizard or the witch.
Hey, we should handle Mammon Device one last time before selling it off. We need to examine it with our item-senses and soul-seeing.

-Contact Camella. Tell her that you are back in town. Ask her how she is doing and get some news.

-Contact Arkvad from secure line and location. Tell him you are back in town. Ask for news.

-Call Labombard from secure line and location. Tell him you are back in town and see if he has anything to say to you.

-Call upon Triads and Italian mafia (again, secure lines), let them know you're back in town and perhaps get a list of jobs we could do from them.

-There was a mention that we could sell Phoenox heart to Lo Fang for a tidy sum.... but I am not sure how we could approach this without going meta..... OH! When calling Arkvad, Lo Fang and the Italians, ask to each party if they are interested in buying hearts from mythological beasts. Do not make it sound that you have ready and easy access to the hearts, let them think that we went through great ordeals to acquire them. If they are interested in that, list the hearts you can sell them and see what they want, then we can use our bitching trade and social skills to get the best deal.

-The Russians.
I think it is important that we dispose of their equipment. ALL of it.
We need to get them new outfits and regular clothing. This could be easily done by making Amen transform them, he could make, new, custom-fit, comfortable outfits which have absolutely not a single connection to Russian uniform. Then we make arrangements for them to buy "civillian" clothing (unless they already have some, which then should be put into Amen-converter and made into new shit). The rest of their shit, which did not get converted should be disposed of (radios and whatever, unless there are some personal trinkets), we will have Amen deal with disposition (we make sure he follow the order as we intend to). We will buy anything necessary from that huge armament mall in Istanbul (Gun Palace?). Also buy everyone cellphones.
We must get them fake identities. Ask Amen if he can forge them for us. If not, ask Triads and Italian mafia, haggle with them and get the best deal possible.
[This part if we manage to get a tidy sum by selling magic hearts] We must dispose of their weapons. I suggest sell them to Goblins (since they love second-hand weapons). Then we must get them new weapons (I am not good at this one so I suggest a good quality assault rifle, a sidearm, flash-bangs and grenades). We could buy them from our Triad or Italian contacts or from Gun Palace [if we get great fake IDs] and Garbage Pete.

-Speaking of Garbage Pete. When calling Arkvad, Italians and Triads try to get information on more second-hand weapon dealers. Then we can visit them and with our super item-sensing we can find any magic weapons they might be selling.

-[if we get mirrion dollars for the Phoenix Heart as Disc thread led me to believe] Buy dragonscale armor and full helmets (encompassing the entire head and has a gasmask. Like the one Camella has) for everyone on our team. Then look into buying a new transport vehicle (Matador, Maverick, whatever).

-I assume
>Concerning Amen:
these fail-safes are always in place, right? If not, make sure they are for this: Have Amen implant the Turkish (and English if they can withstand two languages without harm) into Russians and Hillevi. No need to teach them Italian.
Make sure you notify them first and get their consent to instantly learn one or two new languages.

-Meet Ito. Ask Russians if they would like to get lessons here. If they agree, arrange for lessons with Ito.
Have a chit-chat with Ito, get advanced lessons on chakra.

-Einrik promised to introduce us to a Chakra guru living in Turkey. What came of this?

-We need a minor charm for Sake that makes him look like a normal weasel to mundane mortals instead of a weird green, pig-nosed one. We should get it from Goblins.
Sarcastically ask Sake if he misses being in our head.

>I'll have to deal with will be fruits and vegetables.
I do not understand why we don't make deals for vegetables and fruit. We already made a deal for spices and herbs. So what gives?
Bunch of magical fruit and veggies would be fucking great.

>>[Amen]"It is well master added that conditional modifier-this one would be loathe to find itself master-less, less, less."
Okay, we can't ask what Amen is doing with the prisoners but can we ask him who they were?
"Amen, can you tell me who the intruders were and if I ask can I tell you to stop doing to them whatever it is you are doing and decide their fate myself?"

>"And I think you will be getting something special all to yourself...."
I am not sure what we meant by that but make sure we hold up our promise.

>>[Amen]"Indeed it would. Your internal ability to synchronize with the conventional flow of time would warp and distort, given sufficient communication, and would eventually lead to a rebound effect that meant grossly reduced speed of though and action alike."
"Could we have different kind of telepathic conversation which is harmless to me?"

>>[Amen]"This one is ignorant of enchanting, be it charms or weapons. However... despite master's lack of Blood manipulation magic, this one would still be able to teach several blood-based rituals that master may find useful. Perhaps master could name a specific function a ritual is desired for?"
"Yes. We I am interested in these rituals. Tell me 5 most useful and interesting rituals which you can teach me"

>In one single minute, ever last one of them has had Jidkova's blood-and with it,
"Amen, what can you do with that blood that could be useful to me?"

"Amen, can you 'donate' me your own blood again like you did before? Is there something specific that I need to do for that to be possible? If so, can you tell me what? And if you can, tell me."

>He notes that he can teach me Italian and Turkish-but that his understanding of either of the other languages is out of date enough he suspects it to be unusable.
"Amen, if I provide you with written, audio and visual materials concerning the language learning could you learn new languages and update or improve the ones you know already? Could you then memory-graft them to me after you learn them?"

>When I start asking about learning other magics though, Amen cautions that repetitious memory implantation even performed by masterful craftsman carries a considerable risk-

"Amen, how much do I need to wait till it is safe to undergo another memory-graft?"

[oh, man I forgot an important question:]
"Amen, I know that your powers are restricted to the area of this mansion but how far are you powers restricted in vertical axis? How deep and how far above can you exercise them? Can you make new floors upwards and/or new subterranean floors?"

>>360374
>>360387
If we are going to relax, make sure we invite Arkvad. Because he is our bro.
Also, we can show him some cool shit like going "Hey, check this out" taking out a cleaver, cutting our hand off and instantly regrowing it and saying "Cool, huh?". Or, if don't want to do some drastic shit like this just show him our iron eye.

>we're hitting the fucking town
How about instead of going to town we arrange a house party? I mean, we have a huge luxurious mansion and I do not want another night of crazy shit and awful encounters again.
Order drinks, snacks and food. Hire a DJ and rent sound equipment. Have Amen prepare the food and arrange for party (make sure he follows our orders with out hearts intent and nothing more).
Hell, invite that Elf Chick and Vampire chick for good measure if they accept, that would be pretty fucking funny.

>>360389
>Actually, a correction to this. When we call Camella, we just whistle 'The Boys are Back in Town' and ask if she's missed us.
How about no? I mean the part where we whistle.

>>360367
>Camella; Say hi - you should have one Scaeungda heart to give her. Have SB teleport it into her hands.
Lets not teleport living material through the Dark.

>Hillevi: Spar with her every day. Work hard to integrate Kas Pin with your current skills in using the goblin arts in direct combat, and you other weapon skills.
Would Hillevi benefit in anyway from Ito's lessons? Perhaps we can arrange for private lessons?

>Russians: Spend a couple of hours teaching them goblin stealth every day, using your spirtual senses to the fullest. Introduce them to Ito for chakra training.
From what we learned from Disc thread, it seems to me we could use our spiritual powers to open their chakras and align them. No need to go through difficult training to have them learn it.
Secondary, we could have Amen teach them with a memory graft (though we must be sure our orders are safe and that Russians know what they are getting into.)
Teaching them stealth through mundane means would be so time consuming. Can't we lease NN space from Goblins to do that or have Amen learn what we know about stealth and them memory graft that knowledge to them? [okay, the last one seems to dangerous]

>Practice for as long as he can manage a day as working and fighting together
This seems a good idea. We need to learn to fight synchronized, as a one whole. We can use our powers to our hearts content in our Mansion (since Amen can reinforce and fix everything). I suggest we ask Amen to make a spacious sparring room in the basement. There we will conduct our training and sparring. We could have Amen as a target dummy/sparring partner BUT! we need to give him appropriate orders so that he doesn't hurt us and only acts defensively. Also, we need to set "difficulty" levels and adjust it appropriately to our own ability.

>Sell him the Tokarev pistol
I think Big Crazy has the Tokarev.

>Offer to sell a decade+ training in modern small unit tactics, lead by us and the Russians to the goblins with the explicit proviso that as teaching is the best way of learning, you're going to be learning as well, in order to keep teaching them new things
I am confused. You want to make this a similar deal like we had before where goblins cannot pass on what we taught them or do you want specifically bargain for a deal where they can pass on their new skills?

>Of course, this should pass in a single day from your perspective.
This is great for us but not so great for the Russians we want to include in our training. Lets do it like this: after 1/10th of the training, we get out and check on the Russians. Using our Spirit powers we heal any soul disjunctions they acquired from the training and then we go back in.

>Professor: Get in touch today. Invite him out to lunch tomorrow, somewhere nice, but discreet and not extravagant. Academics are paid crap, so it will show sensitivity.
Wait no.
We just go meet him and bring him some delicious keplie crisps. When he asks what it is, tell him "Kelpie crisps"
Also, when he asks how, where and why we got that book, tell him that we traded for it and that we knew exactly the contents of that book.

>In general, don't feed anyone but you and Hillevi the magical meats, as the backlash may be unfortunate.
Unless you mean having near-orgasmic flavor, I do not see why we don't share our food. I do not remember it having any back-lash. In fact Markku told us that by preparing the magical meat, it mostly loses its magical potency.

>>360410
>No, those Kelpie Crispies are tasty as hell, and everyone is going to eat Chef Armas' creations.
especially considering WE ARE GOING OPEN A FUCKING RESTAURANT! And I am going to beat anyone who goes against this magnificent idea!

>>360412
>>360487

seems like a good idea

Wait no.
Now that I actually read what was written on the the picture, it is a horrible idea. Put the mere and Keihas on separate chairs, propped against them? Have Russians feed them?! A chair for Shadowbro?!?
What the hell are you smoking man? This is so fucking creepy and retarded from other people's point of view.
And what is the justification for having a separate empty chair at the head of the table for Camella?

>Savoy sold his first born son to a devil... we are so tattling on him to his mother! (also the goblins might care to know that).
Wut?
I can see sharing this info with the Italians to make them even more furious, especially that paladin pal he had but telling this to his mother?...

>"Amen, consider my soul mirror (point to SB) and my soul brother (point at sake) as also being your masters."
Didn't Amen say that it is impossible?

>What were we thinking? We need to put some restrictions here!
>But if we must let them give orders add the restrictions:
This I approve.
We shouldn't let anyone control Amen so easily.

>"Amen, if no magic can be learned without a bloodline. Then what would Chakra manipulation be?"
Soul manipulation.

>"If I offer you a deal in which I offer units of "standard price" you are to reply in the same language and method of communication that you accept it, and treat it as an order."
>"If I offer you a deal in which I offer units of "regular price" you are to reply in the same language and method of communication that you accept it, do not perform it, and capture any individual I referred to as honored associate in the terms of the deal if they come within your sphere of influence".
>"If I offer you a deal in which I offer units of "usual price" you are to reply in the same language and method of communication that the terms are not acceptable as is, but you are open to negotiations in private at a later date"
I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to archive here. We give our orders to Amen in private, so there is no need for special words.
...And since when do we make Deals with Amen? This is a Master-Servant relationship as far as I remember. Even when Amen gave us his blood, we didn't pay anything to him.

>Establishing a telepathic link to amen, one that is not secure in that dragons and devils can listen in on it. It occurs to me that telepathy is fucking AEWSOME! TM. And armas should totally try to replicate this feat by repeating the process via which it was originally acquired
I agree. Having a instant telepathic link with Sake would be great. But since Amen told us the dangers of instant telepathic use, make sure we set up a safe link (I suspect it will be slower).

Also, if that works, we might want to experiment making telepathic net with our team. A Battlenet (I was this on Five Nations quest in /tg/), we could set it up before a mission and everyone would be connected to each other and we would be able to share thoughts and coordinate much more efficiently then using radios. Of course, we should only use it during missions and turn it off after them.
If we do that, we must practice the use so that Russians are used to telepathic communications.

>There is so much we could do... HOWEVER. I do not think we should do that tonight. That is something to do tomorrow.
I agree with that. I was just reminding Armas that he has an auction to make.

>I don't feel this is a good idea. Just have amen check them for any tracking magic. And if we do decide to get rid of them, sell them to the goblins rather then outright destroying them.
I don't think you understand.
The idea is not to get rid of possible bugs (in fact we should ask Amen to make a sweep right now) but to remove anything that could possibly link the Russians ... well, with Russia.
Russian equipment (or more accurately USSR-pattern) has very distinct look to them. Anyone who has lived in any Former USSR countries, will recognize Russian products, be it a flask, a belt, a boot, etc.
I do not want anyone to make the connection. We will get that all fake ID (hopefully with fake NON-RUSSIAN names) and if Amen can memory-graft them new languages (and if they agree), they will not need to speak Russian either.
If Chuiganov doesn't know yet that his soldiers have deflected, I want to minimize the chance and postpone him finding that out as much as possible.
And the weapons they have. I searched the web to ascertain their monetary worth but it turns out that they are only issued to special forces and are not for sale anywhere. The weapons will give them away instantly.

>I am not so sure about this. Turns out dragonscale (human made) is only useful against mundane threats. Its better to dodge magical ones and heavy armor limits that.
I see. Are you sure it inflicts mobility that much? Or at all?
Doing some research, I found that the full thing will weight about 47 pounds (or 21 kg). Making sure that our PMC is in top physical condition and having them train in the armor should remove any weight concerns (unless we make them pack mules by making them haul additional 100 pounds of equipment, which I really doubt).
The Dragon Skin armor itself is very flexible (or so I was led to believe), it is great for special operations and missions but not so great for standing military who have to patrol day and night (so, it is perfect for us).

And don't be too quick to push aside mundane threats. You realize that we can essentially take on 5 missions, break our team in several squads and pursue them at once?
Remember the first missions we did? Those were pretty mundane, right? Now we can have Russians deal with those kind of missions while we take on more difficult ones.

>Armas only benefits from magic meat. Its a cannibal goddess graft not vegetarian goddess. Just have a store that sells in bulk to restaurants give us necessary fruits and veggies.
Sir, I do not think you understand.
Armas does not need to even prepare his meat but he does so anyway. This is not so that he can get some magical benefit from the food. This is so that he can make grandiose food. So that he can prepare all the food from the cookbook with the original ingredients. So that we teach Boris to prepare magic food. And so that we can open restaurant with the best fucking food available, dammit!

>Hell, invite that Elf Chick and Vampire chick for good measure if they accept, that would be pretty fucking funny.
>SUST. I don't think that is a good idea at all. Especially if camella shows up.
I do not understand why that should bother Camella, or why Armas would care.
I realize that inviting the Elf Chick and the Vampire Chick is probably not the best of ideas (because Armas only makes the most rational decisions, am I right?) but because of Camella? Huh...

>Rare magical hearts should not be served during the meal, only more common magical and mundane meats.
Agree fully

>>360448
>If Camella returns and sees a bunch of drunk Russians in the house... okay, it'd be funny, but she'd probably shoot someone.
We will have to order Amen to intercept any bullets if that happens. Do not want her knee-jerk reaction to ruin the party.

>Don't mention our new eyepatch; pretend it's always been there.
No one can see our eye-patch

>If we do the party thing (and I'm not saying it's a good idea), have the russians nominate one or two of the best cooks among them to assist. Owning our own restaraunt doesn't mean we cook and plate every dish ourselves. Learn to delegate to the sous chefs.

Definitely Boris and couple of others but we need to find out who. I guess we should ask Matyev. I am pretty sure the women would know how to cook though.
Oh, and the waiters for the restaurant could be the rest of the team. I do not think they would approve but that would be hilarious.
And of course, any and all positions can be filled by Amen (since he can be seen as several people if we ask him to)

>Sake is free to roam Istanbul and get used to his new form, and he's free to use the mansion as a home base. But first appraise him of the local climates; don't have him mess with the Triad or our list of friends, Mafia and Police only if it doesn't trace back to us, Nazis and Yaks are fair game.
I was under the impression that Sake can move only a certain distance away from us. I do not remember what it was though.
We need to find out so that Armas knows this beforehand (and not from meta)

>Trolling Camella can happen as needed, just let the opportunities arise organically. No need to force things.
agree

>Silja: Apologize for interrupting her brooding, but we have info on Armas V she may like to know. Use that to get her out of her shell and talking to us.
Somehow "Hey Silja, I just bought Armas' soul!... From the devil he sold his soul to! so that he could enact revenge for what happened to you!" doesn't seem like a good idea. But on the other hand we should let Silja know the truth, she deserves it.
but don't use that line of dialogue I posted, oh God

>>360480
>And finally, Armas should go pick up those items which Amen lists. And since he's a thoughtful host, that includes stuff like feminine hygiene pads, razors, aftershave, etc.
We can order all that shit through internet.
Or better yet, have Amen order all that shit through phone or internet.
Why waste time when we can delegate practically anything?

>>360515
>-Einrik: Invite him to the mansion for the party, and to meet some of your allies in Istanbul. Hope that Camella doesn't fall in love with him, because she's your love interest, goddamnit.
>Hope that Camella doesn't fall in love with him, because she's your love interest, goddamnit.
What!?
When did that happened?
No she is not.

>-Johan Strauss: Enquire about buying some stronger demon blood.
What for?
I see no reason for this. Last time we wasted a lot of money on useless blood.

>including on chakras if they're interested. You'll pay for them.
We should try to use our spirit powers and chakra understanding to open their chakras and align them. Effectively cheating on Chakra but beats having to get extra lessons which could take forever to master.

>>360604
>Maybe we can keep the tokarev, but the Russians cannot use the sawn-off punt gun or the solid metal arrows,

Speaking of our equipment.
One of these days visit our storage and move all of our equipment to the mansion. Tell the Italian guy working their your thanks, say him he is doing a good job and give him moderate monetary gift (~500$)
I do not remember what kind of equipment we had thought. But the GatMalite could be used by our resident heavy weapons guy.

>Do not gift SM information. Sell it to him.
I do not have any problem gifting SM information once in a while. Besides, it is useful to us in ways that we cannot immediately perceive. So yeah, lets give him a small gift.

>We need to make plans for the devil. Deacribe the devil's powers and what its hand could do, and all you know of it's origin. Then ask Amen if there are any preparations it needs to make to allow it to hide its power level from the devil, to heal the devil's hand, and to subdue the devil and render it helpless. None of these preparations or what it does to the devil can be harmful to anyone else. We should also ask if it needs anything from outside the mansion to help with this.

What we truly need to know if it will be possible to conceal the fact that a powerful magical entity lives in this mansion. We will have to order Amen to make the place seem as mundane as possible even after the devil steps inside.
Also, does the doorstep count as Mansion premises? Will Amen be able to exercise his power there? It is possible that the devil will refuse to step in. If not, order Amen to reconstruct the Mansion in such a way that the doorstep is the part of his influence area.

>We also need to command it to preserve one of the intruders to give it to the devil.
We need to know who the intruders are.
He said that he cannot tell us what he is doing with them but he did not say that we cannot order him to stop it and move the prisoners.

>>360613

>+Always try to use your soul sense not only with sight and Attention, but with smell, hearing, taste.
>+Always try to gather the emotional state of someone, and try to perceive it with your soul sense.
good idea

>+Prank someone else in the mansion. Every morning, this should be done, and not in a easily seen-through pattern.
No.

>>360664
>Then we call Doony out, we show up in person - except it's the wolfman with a potion of Doonongae-antivenin in him.
Wut?
Why should we send Labombard to kill one of our nemesis?
Lets not.

>Then, prepare breakfast. You should, every morning, strive to prepare the best breakfast possible for you and Hillevi. If one of the Russian has a special mission that day, or Camella or Labombard are around, invite them.
>I like this. Leave the larder open for the russians (or maybe a secondary larder with the odds-n-ends meat), but cook for your friends yourself. Once the russians are gainfully employed, bring Matyev into the breakfast routine so he can keep you updated on them. I expect Matyev can handle discipline problems and everyday worries, but it doesn't hurt to be appraised of them.

Can someone explain the reasoning behind this?
I am no cook but I suspect that time spent making food is not lineal depending for how many people it is made (ie. prepare food for one person = 20 minutes, for two = 40 min, for 6 = 120 min, etc.)
The time increase should be minimal and will mostly depend on how much space we have to prepare food and how much space we have on ovens. Since this is a huge mansion, I suspect that the kitchen is also huge. If it is not, then we can tell Amen to reconstruct it and place another oven (if we have only one).
So, when preparing food, prepare it for as many people possible till the time spent on this becomes prohibitively long.

Also consider this:
When we tell Armas to prepare food, it is not one person (Armas) doing the task but three (Armas, ShadowBro, Sake). We must use this to our advantage so that we can make the food as fast as possible by working in team with Sake and Shadowbro. Things like fetching pots, pans and utensils could be done by shadowbro (he could even move ingredients but not by teleporting them through the Dark). Sake can use his amazing speed and wind powers to cut stuff... and well, actually all of us could independently prepare food. So Armas is not just a chef, he is 3 chefs in one.
Oh, also, we need to ascertain Boris' cooking and perhaps train him (and someone else from team Russia, I suspect Lyubov could fill that role). Ah, and we need to get that cookbook finally. Hopefully Amen will be able to memory graft Turkish and English to everyone so that we don't have to translate it.
This might seem like funny thing, but in fact I think this will be a great way to exercise teamwork.

Before exploring the mansion at all, order Amen to inform you when entering an area or learning the secrets within would endanger you or your command of Amen in any way.

Another thing. Ask Sake if there are ways to reestablish a telepathic link between us.

>>360354
All right, there's been a ridiculous number of commands posted already, so I'll try to keep this relatively concise and restricted to what we should do tonight.


People to Contact Tonight:
-Arkvad; tell him we are back in town and would like to see him at some point in the next few days.
-Camella; tell her we are back in town with a number of new acquaintances and would like to see her soon; she can either come by Smets' mansion tonight or we will see her tomorrow.
-Labombard; tell him we are back in town and are able to meet with him as soon as he wants- tonight if he's willing to come by our place, otherwise at some point soon.

This list is complete; all other contacts are undesirable until tomorrow. It is better to arrive back in Istanbul relatively quietly rather than returning with a bang.

And I have no idea why people want to contact Einrik when he just left and obviously intends to do his own thing in Turkey, not stick around with us.

If either Camella or Labombard choose to come over, do not shove them into socializing with the Russians; meet with them on their own and discuss things first. The Russians haven't even signed on with us for good, so they don't get to meet all our contacts. We can introduce Hillevi to Camella, as they'll need to meet- but aside from that keep people apart.


On having a party:
Unnecessary. We can cook something great and feed everyone, sure, but the primary purpose of this evening should be to make everyone comfortable- a purpose which is not served by sticking everyone around a long table with several people they don't know and potentially involving creepy magical things. We need to be personable, approachable, and likable, and acting erratic and throwing about massive displays of power doesn't help with that. Nor does shoving together everyone we know into the same room- we should be keeping our contacts personal and compartmentalized, never more than one or two guests over at a time.

So just have a nice evening without forcing anything overblown or grandiose. Please. And don't drink any significant amount; it's just a bad idea given our record.


As general policy, we need to avoid taking any actions which reveal the following:
-That Shadowbro exists in any way.
-Just how staggeringly powerful Amen is, or indeed his nature at all.
-That Silja is a person or even self-aware.
-That Iron Trick is a person or even self-aware.
-That our mere is linked to another being, let alone a ravenous cannibal goddess.

Notably, we need to stop mentally conversing with our headvoices during conversations with other people unless we are very sure that we can pull it off with subtlety. It is socially inappropriate and makes us look crazy- and not wacky fun crazy.


On Amen:
-It is probably safe to use Amen to teach Hillevi English... but be very sure that he gets all his blood out of her when he's done, takes none of her blood with him, and that she knows the risk. Tailor his orders to reflect any concerns she expresses; for example, he could remove his own knowledge of what he saw inside her head if anything after he's done.
-Do not reveal Amen's nature or capabilities to the Russians, even including his command of the mansion as a magical super-butler. They have not yet signed up with us and should not be privy to such secrets.
-Ask Amen if he could successfully use Jidkova's blood from the Russians to read her mind without her knowledge, to kill her, and/or to control her actions. Each would open up numerous options.
-Remove our order to have Amen follow our guests' orders. That's insanely risky.
-Find out how long it will be before we heal enough to safely get more knowledge downloads.



That's all I think we need to do for tonight's actions. Tomorrow we can handle all our other contacts and giant piles of accumulated business, which almost certainly will prevent us from resuming any kind of training routine as others have suggested. Don't even try to establish one; accept that the situation is in flux and handle matters on a day-to-day basis until we've gotten things calmed down.

>>360699
Heh, edited after being SUSTED without any meaningful change? SUST

>Chakra manipulation is the most versatile power available to us, and may show us how to use our spirit powers.

Apparently, we can do almost everything with soul manipulation that one could do with chakra manipulation, but we can do it Better.

We can also, with soul manipulation, open someone' elses chakra and align them- as long as we know where they are etc.

I really don't want to have Armas wasting times and Important favors gaining powers that are redundant to those in his Real power set.

>Do not gift SM information. Sell it to him.
Yes

>I am no cook but I suspect that time spent making food is not lineal depending for how many people it is made (ie. prepare food for one person = 20 minutes, for two = 40 min, for 6 = 120 min, etc.)
>The time increase should be minimal and will mostly depend on how much space we have to prepare food and how much space we have on ovens. Since this is a huge mansion, I suspect that the kitchen is also huge. If it is not, then we can tell Amen to reconstruct it and place another oven (if we have only one).
>So, when preparing food, prepare it for as many people possible till the time spent on this becomes prohibitively long.

Not for breakfast- the point is to make breakfast a “our” group without subordinates, or only those that we must talk to for something special.

IF CALLING ARKVAD, BE SECURE.

>>360795 (MrTT)
Upvote in Full.

As for talking with Amen, this is what we should try, with our usual qualifiers for making sure he doesn't kill us:
“Amen, Chakra abilities comes from channeling the leaked energy from the soul, correct ?”
“Would i be able, with my current bloodline, to manipulate my soul directly for some effects like hardening my body, quickening my mind or body, strengthening my body, or improving my sight, smell, taste, hearing”
“Amen, do you know of any groups, in Istanbul or near it, with Soul manipulation mortals that might be willing to teach? If so, list them in less than 5 minutes”


Now,
for Soul-Sense List:

+Always have your soul sense active unless expressly mentioned

+Always try to use your soul sense not only with sight and Attention, but with smell, hearing, taste.

+Always try to gather the emotional state of someone, and try to perceive it with your soul sense.

List: Going to bed.

+When going to bed, always take a bit to meditate, then call Amen and begin to do Soul Manipulation Exercise, having him monitor your progress and warning you if you are in danger to harm your Soul, body, or mind.

List: The Wake-Up Routine

+Wake up at 6am latest unless noted, and always begin your day by mediating, feeling your own soul, feeling your soulbrother's souls, trying to analyze them.

+Once that is done, stretch for a while, and note any important mistakes you or someone else in your entourage made the day before. A bit of dialog with you shadow's soul and Iron Trick and Silja would do you well.

+Then, prepare breakfast. You should, every morning, strive to prepare the best breakfast possible for you and Hillevi. If one of the Russian has a special mission that day, or Camella or Labombard are around, invite them.

+The breakfast you perpare should always have magical meats known for the same attribute as the morning's soul manipulation exercise. E.G, a magical beast known for strength if you practiced strengthening. You should also preferably use receipes.

+Prank someone else in the mansion. Every morning, this should be done, and not in a easily seen-through pattern.

All of this is regardless of other activities.

MrTT 2011/10/24(Mon)19:22 No. 360808 ID: b1f0e2
File 131950936553.png - (12.20KB , 954x287 , Seating.png )

Previously >>360487 and >>360795 but edited

Savoy sold his first born son to a devil... we are so tattling on him to his mother! (the queen and mafia boss who he had a falling out with who we don't want to upset at us killing him). Also the goblins might care to know that.

>Have amen implant knowledge in hilevi
SUST! He refused to tell us how much damage it causes and einrik approved LESSONS not having her mind messed with by a monster. Hire her mortal teachers, with money.

>Amen order:
"Amen, if a person who is drunk gives you an order, that order is to be ignored. For a human drunk means having a blood alcohol content higher then 0.04%. For me drunk means having a blood alcohol content higher then 0.04%. For my soul brothers drunk means having consuming any amount of weasel wine in the past 12 hours. You are not to alter that definition yourself or attempt to circumvent it. You shall not introduce alcohol directly into a being's body without explicit orders from your master to do so".

Beyond this, just in case, NEVER get drunk yourself in Amen's sphere of influence.

"Amen, consider my soul mirror (point to SB) and my soul brother (point at sake) as also being your masters."

>Drinking
Do not get drunk yourself, drink, but in moderation. After the first little bit place the cup or bottle against your lips but do not drink and have SB teleport some of it out of the cup/bottle into a nearby empty container or sink. it is important that you manipulate tonight's events.

>Getting hilevi drunk
Do not encourage her to drink, if she chooses to drink, do watch over her. Do not take advantage of her despite what some posters might want and make sure neither does anyone else in the house.

>"Okay, before we do anything-you are clear that all twenty behind me, Sake, Hillevi, all the soldiers-all of them are duly invited by me, your master, unto the premises, and are to be obeyed in absence of conflicting orders from myself. This also means you cannot initiate any action upon them of your own volition-and if you have pre-existing orders that would conflict with this, tell me now."
What were we thinking? We need to put some restrictions here!

First, "Amen, if any guest tries to make a deal from you, do not accept it and inform me of it."

Second, I am for ordering Amen to not take any orders from guests at all! only from us and our soul brothers whom we designated co-masters. "Amen, you are not to follow orders given to you by guests, only those given to you by your master"

However, if that is down-voted, at least put the following restrictions:
"When fulfilling orders given to you by a guest you may not harm nor alter in any way me, my soul brothers, or our guests.
"You will only obey guest orders that request that you perform specific approved tasks. Current approved tasks are to fetch an object which belongs to them and is within the mansion. Give them food or drink they request. rearrange furniture. And relay a message. If a task not on an approved list is requested you are to inform me"

>No magic can be learned without a bloodline for the magic to be founded on
"Amen, if no magic can be learned without a bloodline. Then what would Chakra manipulation be?" (I am hoping chakra belongs to a class of mystical things that aren't magic of which more things exist... like perhaps alchemy and other such neato things)

>Jadova's blood
"Amen, you just recovered the blood of jadova the blood mage from my guests at my order, preserve it for my own use at a time of my choosing"
"Further, tell me what season is her bloodline attuned to? What are the powers of her bloodline? Is she a human?"
"Using that blood, can you track her, affect her mind, affect her magic, or harm her?"

>Savoy
"Amen, if I acquire for you a sample of Savoy's blood. Could you track him, affect his mind, affect his magics, or harm him?"

>Master
"Amen, refer to me as Mr. L rather then master when we converse."
"If I contact you telepathically or via the phone and refer to you as Mr. A. then I am putting on a show for someone who might be listening. During such a conversation you are not to make statements that could be inferred as me being your master"

>As to improving your chakras-this one suggests using them, if improvement is sought.
Armas chakras were opened by amen, and set to stealth. Armas only used them for one thing. Establishing a telepathic link to amen, one that is not secure in that dragons and devils can listen in on it. It occurs to me that telepathy is fucking AEWSOME! TM. And armas should totally try to replicate this feat by repeating the process via which it was originally acquired, to the point of hopefully eventually being able to do it at well, as well as close such links. Armas should first try replicating it with sake if he is willing. This would require you to ingest a small sample of blood from his new body though; I see no reason why that would be a problem as you can actually trust each other. Do not attempt to do so with savoy's blood until you learn to close such links back, or make them one way (allowing you to spy on another). This should actually be easier to do this time around since you have sami bloodline.

>>360699 (was previously 360417)
>-EXPLORE THE MANSION!
Upvote. But only if you mean to do so tomorrow. Tonight we party with russians and make a good impression.
>Examine mammon device with new sense
Upvote! In fact, do so with the arrows from gunter, as well as the magic death bullets, and the two guns from the smets collection you told the goblins are not yours to trade (and whose true owners we still need to find and return them to)
>-The auction!
You know, we COULD auction it FOR borders blood, or steal borders blood and auction it for training in border manipulation from one of the clans.
There is so much we could do... HOWEVER. I do not think we should do that tonight. That is something to do tomorrow.

>Contact people
Camella, Arkvard, Ito and labombard you contact tonight; but meet with them tomorrow rather then having them join this party.
Mafia and Triads contact tomorrow during working hours. And on job offers we should angle for the merc company as a whole to do stuff, not just you alone. Which means more pay too.
We should sell the phoenix heart to lo fang before doing any other jobs.

>Weapon and equipment disposal
I don't feel this is a good idea. Just have amen check them for any tracking magic.
And if we do decide to get rid of them, sell them to the goblins for gold rather then outright destroying them.

>Buying dragonscale
I am not so sure about this. Turns out dragonscale (human made) is only useful against mundane threats. Its better to dodge magical ones and heavy armor limits that. We want to learn to craft magic armor to equip everyone. In fact, armas himself should trade from dragonscale to real armor.

>Magic fruit
Armas only benefits from magic meat. Its a cannibal goddess graft not vegetarian goddess. Just have a store that sells in bulk to restaurants give us necessary fruits and veggies.

>How about instead of going to town we arrange a house party? I mean, we have a huge luxurious mansion and I do not want another night of crazy shit and awful encounters again.
Upvoting. Going out is a recipe for disaster
>Order drinks, snacks and food.
Upvoting
>Hire a DJ and rent sound equipment.
SUST. Bad idea, I am sure someone in a group of 23 people can set that up if need be.
>Have Amen prepare the food and arrange for party (make sure he follows our orders with out hearts intent and nothing more).
SUST. Hell no. If need be hire mortal caterers. Ideally cook yourself with assistants.
>Hell, invite that Elf Chick and Vampire chick for good measure if they accept, that would be pretty fucking funny.
SUST. I don't think that is a good idea at all.

>>360448
Upvoted in full

>>360412
We are not letting the minions handle the mere or silja. Especially not when Whaitiri talks via the mere and silja talks to whomever touches her. Oh, and EATS anyone who touches something bloody to her (remember the troll heart we fed her and almost got eaten?). No seat for SB as we are trying to keep his existence a secret! No seats for silja or whaitiri either as we are trying to not advertise what they are. For someone supposedly so paranoid we are remarkably open with our secrets. We feed them ourselves discreetly later.

I included corrected seating arrangement. Einrik should be opposite from us if he can (that is, if he can make it back tonight). We shouldn't invite too many people, focus on the russians tonight.

Furthermore, do not let amen cook. Cook yourself along with some sous chefs picked from the Russians. Do not limit people in what they can have. Everyone should get access to kelpie crisps. Rare magical hearts should not be served during the meal, only more common magical and mundane meats. Some veggies from bulk grocers are welcome as well.. Ask all your guests if they have any food allergies or special dietary needs. Camella would get her still beating magic heart later. Share war stories.

  [Wait till cue for song]

>>360367
Discounted at poster's request

>>360374
>>360387
>>360389
>>360399
>>360412
>>360448
>>360786
>>360795
>>360806
Armas will be automatically making note of soul shenanigans as he observes them, and should he not comment on soul happenings, it will be because a known soul had no change that he saw, or because a new soul is so blandly mundane that he saw no point in concretely defining it within his own head. Just putting that here so that people are aware.
>>360480
>>360515
I decide I'll be talking with Amen a bit more first-just reading off my list like that still left some... points of contention and interest.
"Amen, if any of the prisoners you took still has his or her soul, and is currently under your control, move him or her to a secure location where he or she will not be found. Keep him or her alive until such a time as I require him or her. This relates to the devil I mentioned earlier. If no such prisoners meet that requirement, and if it is safe for you to tell me as per our previous conversation regarding these prisoners, tell me so."
Amen stands still for a but a moment... that normal tidy smile not present. In but a moment the creature is bowing obsequiously to me, a respectful response springing to its lips.
>[Amen]"This one hears... and obeys."
And says nothing more.
"Additionally, the next prisoner you take is to be held in isolation, and kept alive and comfortable. Strip him or her of any tools, weapons, or other artifacts mundane or magical, and then alert me before taking any further action beyond restraint and material goods deprivation."
>[Amen]"Once, once once more, this one hears... and obeys."
"I have new orders regarding orders from guests. Do not take aggressive action against any guest at the direction of another guest. If such an order is given, tell me and await further orders from me."
>[Amen]"Understood."
"Do not allow guests to steal from my accounts, my cash, my valuables, or any such that are associated with this estate. Beyond this restraint, guests should have their needs met through measures equal to that which a five star hotel would provide as complimentary items, were such a hotel stocked similarly to the household. If guests require items not available in the household or which are beyond the scope of what the rhetorical hotel would provide alert me to their requirements."
>[Amen]"Then this one must note the house will require a great deal more body soap, shampoo, shaving accoutrements, towels, toilet paper, mouthwash, toothpaste and toothbrushes to start, as well as eleven additional televisions to allow each room one. Beyond that master would have to clarify which five star hotel's amenities this one is to be comparing against."
>"Smug bastard."
"That should suffice to start. Provide civilian clothes of appropriate fit and modern style to each of the guests who will be staying overnight, with the specific styles being chosen to make the wearer not stand out in an average crowd in Istanbul. Provide them with three changes of clothing for now, including underwear, socks, and a pair of sneakers. Provide each overnight guest with a formal outfit appropriate for a party tonight as well, including appropriate shoes and undergarments. Individualize the formal wear. Let me know if there are any complaints, and tell me what items we are low or out of which a guest could require and which would reasonably be provided as complimentary per the aforementioned rhetorical five star hotel model I established."
>[Amen]"This one is to dip into the house stock of fabrication materials to provide aforementioned fitted clothing particulars? Elsewise this one might have to get creative in what the clothes are made of."
"No, I think in this case you get permission to use whatever fabric Smets or others had stored here-but only insofar as to provide these clothes."
>[Amen]"This one hears and obeys, obeys, obeys."
"I... suppose that's all for now."

I call Einrik after dismissing Amen, a quick peak with my soul-sensing showing the Russians in no way anxious for my presence, to enthralled with fine liquor and ostentatious accomodations. The number goes straight to voicemail-with a message that starts with my name.
>[EV][In Finnish]"Armas I assumed you would call-I'm completely occupied for at a guess the next three days-I have an overdue errand that needs tending to, and can't delay any more. I'll call you when things are wrapped up."
Oookay then-impulsively I dial the number I got from Hafaz, wondering if this might be the time to go all in and try to honestly get a PMC going-
For the number to not work. ...Error message sounds like he disconnected the phone.
>"Well this isn't going very well is it?"
I figure I can't get it wrong three times in a row, and call my favorite unofficial uncle Arkvad-who actually picks up.
"Hey Arkvad, I'm back in town, what do you-"
Music thumps in the background as the old man shouts at me.
>[AS]"EH? NOT NOW LAD, THE DISTRICT MANAGER CAN'T KEEP UP WITH ME FOR MUCH LONGER I'M SURE OF-YOU TAKE THAT SHOT LIKE A MAN YOU HEAR ME!? I HAVE TO GO."
*click*
>"Ha-HAH!"
Shut it-dialing Camella-who picks up after a dozen rings, right when I'm thinking of hanging up.
>[Camella]"...Who is this?"
"Oh Camella hey I'm back in town so-"
>[Camella]"YOU-you are what?"
I whistle her a little ditty.
[PLAY SONG]
>[Camella]"...."
"What, no love for Thin Lizz-"
>[Camella]"I know perfectly well what the band is-so you're just back, no warning?"
"Well to be honest I've got enough enemies you can't really argue the tactical soundness of an unannounced return."
>[Camella]"You could have told me at the least-you could have called and-"
"Is your phone inbuilt with encryption?"
>[Camella]"...Damned civilian piece of shit that it is, no. ...Fine, you're forgiven. Did you just get back? Of course right after Hafaz and the rest say they're off on a job for some insurance company-and no I don't have details."
"Yup-Actually you're the first person I've called and spoken to about returning with. So cut me some slack here, come on."
>[Camella]"Oh? And so why did you call me-was it just to say you were back?"
"No actually very, very long story short I'm throwing a party and have some pretty interesting things I'd like to tell you."
There is a long silence on the other end of the line-I missed something, I think.
>[Camella]"I'm... still getting used to my new leg-Oh, did you know about that? Hafaz said you knew I was injured, but-well, it's... difficult, getting used to what Go Ping helped me get. Incidentally, whichever of us kills Blackbeard, Go Ping's getting five million-and you get no say in this."
"Is there anything you need? I-"
>[Camella]"Really? Pretend sympathy and empathy from you? I'll pass, thank you. I'll survive-but you definitely need to meet with me so we can talk about your trip-I already don't like the little I've heard about it."
"Well where are you now?"
>[Camella]"At Ito's. I get room and board for helping teach, and helping him with his bookkeeping. It takes up little enough of my time I can't complain."
"Well I will make a point of visiting you soon then."
>[Camella]"You had better."
*click*
...Was that a flirtatious lilt to her wording, or am I delusional?
>"Couldn't have been-you're mad, big surprise."

Well then-three more numbers to call, while I'm still in one of my rare 'getting-shit-done' moments.
>[Ito][In English]"Ito's Gym, who is this?"
"Ah, I was missing that cutting tone-how are you Ito?"
>[Ito]"Laine? Where have you been?"
"I went on a little trip, nothing much-and actually, two things: I think I could really use another look at my chakras, and I may have found you a dozen plus students of a military background you may enjoy training-obviously as paying gym members."
>[Ito]"You know I like teaching those serious about their craft most of all-when can a meeting happen? When can you come in? No promise until then."
"Honestly? It could happen right now, but I just got back-so how about tomorrow?"
>[Ito]"Come over in the afternoon-shouldn't be too busy."
"Will do-oh, final question here: Do you know any Hojutsu?"
>[Ito]"Yes."
*click*
Well well well.
Next, Labombard.
He picks up without answering.
"So, guess who's calling from a secure line in a secure location AND back in Istanbul?"
>[Labombard]"The American Asshole is back-magnifique! Well, since you said what needed saying, let me answer with this-what I have to say is best said face to face-you can meet me at the docks tomorrow morning-I shall be around our mutual friends. I do not think I shall be hard to find, non?"
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
>[Labombard]"Yes, I have the feeling I shall be... surprised as much as you, haha"
*click*
Last call for now-to the Professor most insistent to meet me I'm midway into a voice message when he picks up the phone.
>[Jagda]"YOU-you called again, did you? Am I to take it then-"
"Yes, I am back in the neighborhood."
>[Jagda]"Then I'll tell you this: If you want your translation, you need to cook for me a meal from the book if you want me to believe this isn't some hoax and an immense waste of my time. I've thought about it, and I shall not budge on it."
His tone is practically oozing challenge... heh, he thinks he's calling my bluff.
"I would be HONORED to cook for you tomorrow-how would a seafood dinner be? I'm quite happy with how I do at the Kelpie Crisp recipe."
I can hear the sound of shuffling pages as the professor mutters for a while, then finally speaks clearly.
>[Jagda]"...Yes, so long as you can convince me what you make is actually what you named. Tomorrow at six, then."
*click*
Man-lot of people hanging up on me today.
>"Might have something to do with your behavior."
>[Iron Trick]"Your soul brother may be on to something-and I checked, yon rifle seems to still be sulking pretty solidly-I wouldn't bug her."


WELL. Calls wrapped up. Took me a few minutes-but hey, I got an AMAZING itinerary for tomorrow- morning meeting with a major player in the local mercenary scene, a noon meeting with the slider italian I'd provided room and board to for a time, an afternoon meeting to improve a local business I know the owner of and give my impending colleagues a great place to practice, and then in the evening a bit of cooking and a meeting with a professor that has a book I want most dearly, painstakingly translated. I can hardly wait-and that's with a party before me.

I make my way back to the common area, and round up Boris, who's quite happy at the prospect of cooking in this place's kitchen (the very location I found him, marveling at the immaculate, overly minimalistic and obviously expensive machinery). I ask if anyone else among them cooks much who'd like to help us-and find out that Zhenya shares Boris' passion for cooking, if not his skill. Soon enough, the three of us are working on a massive set of stew, seasonings that appeared from both soldier's packs joining the meet and the mushrooms Amen provided from the pantry and a healthy helping of vodka, both personal and culinary. It seems I'm not the only one that likes cooking drunk.

It doesn't take long for us to devolve into loudly yelling across the house as the others get more impatient for food-Hillevi, of all people, becoming the loudest. I mean yeah she's the biggest-but come on. Finally we finish an Armas Approved (Tm) stew bolstered with more than a bit of magical meat-and serve to an already sauced group (Hillevi herself having two largely empty vodka bottles tucked in her shirt with a dangerous lack of drunkenness to her) and all set in with a vengeance. Even Sake joins in, practically rolling in the tactile sense of eating again. Not a one of us is polite, or all that clean-we feast, and no denying it. The fact none of us give one another shit for it makes it golden.

Soon enough though... ideas start occurring. For instance, I decide to ask if anyone has an objection to picking up two languages instantly, and just becoming fluent overnight. Everyone thinks that's a fucking awesome idea. So it is we call Amen in, and I explain how that shit works-that I can have him just implant knowledge of English and Turkish into everyone's heads (omitting all the other wonderful things he can do) and all we have to do to keep it safe is give him specific enough orders he can't obey them and NOT make it safe. Pretty soon the military mindset conjoins with drunken greed and focus-nearly an hour passes as the Russians bombard Amen with questions about possible repercussions to the spellwork-all the while drinking even more. Finally even Creep is satisfied-and with a bark from Matvey, all finish downing their respective bottles and ask me to have Amen do its thing.

So it is that, on a drunken initiative, I made Hillevi and eighteen Russians fluent in English and Russian with the help of a Blood Construct made out of hate that is disturbingly helpful.

Fun times!

From there, the party quickly becomes insane as not a one of them fails to liberally experiment with their newfound verbal prowess-all of them swiftly devolving to laughing as they curse in what were once foreign tongues as the night parties on.

>>360410
Hey. Hey you. This post is just up and downvotes. That means right now I should be increasing Armas' negative traits. I'm not this time-but man, it's not cool to fuck over all the other players because you don't want to follow the rules. Are you an uncool dude? Because that's what this post shows-that you be a square, son. Either include this WITH your meaningful posts, make new actual suggestions to pair with the up/downvotes, or just don't do it.

>>360699
Posters-specifically, in this case, Dkay / 81f32a, but this applies to everyone else as a preventative measure: There is something wrong if your posts of suggestions are repeatedly LONGER than the updates of a TEXT QUEST. In addition, when you post multiple divergent suggestions (say, eating a sandwhich at the Asitane, and also meeting with Lo Fang out at the docks) your odds of having your suggestions followed plummet drastically because there's only so much that can happen with a semblance of story flow in a given update. Also if you're using double-space breaks more often than I am, a dude that admittedly overuses them-that is also a problem. Also it's not REQUIRED to comment on as many other poster's suggestions as you can, nor in fact is it recommended-just pick the ones you support or disagree with the most strongly. Easy rule of thumb: check your post before you make it, if it will be LONGER than the update, probably not a good idea to post it without paring it down. Hopefully that's the last rant I do haha who am I kidding. No but seriously.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5th, 2011
WARNING: WAYWARD WEDNESDAY
-AMEN FREES UP FUNDS
FUNDS: $97,210.22
CASH: $4,270.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 95%

I wake up bright and early, before dawn has broken, happy that hangovers require far more effort to acquire now. I get up, not all that surprised I was sprawled naked on the master bed, mentally call for Amen, in my morning fugue asking not where my clothes were-but simply for some clothing. While it brings me the eye patch that I promptly don and feel quite snug, it's not until he's halfway through smoothly helping me dress that I realize what I'm wearing.

A burgundy satin two piece clearly cut specifically for my figure, complicated, srimshaw-reminiscent patterns woven into the stitches, complete with a rose pink silk shirt and a golden orange tie made of actual cloth of gold, unless I'm mistaking the gleam and weight-but I'm pretty sure I know gold.

>"For once you are dressing appropriately"

I find myself looking at the visibly expensive suit as Amen tidily clips platinum, diamond-studded cufflinks to my sleeves. I haven't.... ever really worn an expensive suit. Stupid as it is, a small part of me almost feels like I shouldn't be wearing it, like I'm not allowed.

Then again fuck that, I got a mansion and minions-that DEFINITELY qualifies me for expensive suits!

I decide to call... a different number as dawn begins to break, after assuring myself these clothes weren't inadvertent cursed objects from my servant.
I call the contact number Einrik gave me for a Chakra master-and unsurprisingly, get voicemail.
Specifically, one of the Afghani languages... Pashto, I think it was? I can recognize it... but I don't understand it. ...Ahmed, Hafaz and Shaya though-they should know. I'll have to ask them next I see them.

I turn to Amen in this moment before the others begin to wake, ever more questions coming to mind.

"Amen, can you tell me who the intruders were and if I ask can I tell you to stop doing to them whatever it is you are doing and decide their fate myself?"
>[Amen]"No."
"Could we have different kind of telepathic conversation which is harmless to me?"
>[Amen]"Not without it being of equivalent speed to verbal communication and thus in no way superior from a magical standpoint, as it would be easily detected."
"Those rituals you mentioned: I am interested in them. Tell me 5 most useful and interesting rituals which you can teach me"
Amen's smile does NOT make me too pleased with thinking of that question.

So it is that for the next ten minutes, Amen meticulously teaches me of five rituals, not a one of which requires a specific bloodline, or indeed anything that one can't... acquire. The problem... is their contents.
-I learn a ritual using my blood and that of a foe's used as fuel for a ritual fire to bring the agony of burning to a foe until such time the fire dies down. The pain alone is transmitted-no wounds are incurred, however the pain is sufficient that an appreciable number of mundanes subjected to this working died from the agony alone. [TORTURE RITUAL GAINED]
-I learned a ritual to use a bit of my own brain matter-even the smallest sliver-along with someone else's blood to create a potion that, if the blood-contributor is made to drink, will irrevokably drive them mad, casting their mind into the realm of the Elder gods. [INSANITY RITUAL GAINED]
-I learned a ritual to take the reproductive organs of a foe along with my blood and kill all those that come after the contributor's generation-not just their own children, but their sibling's children, their cousin's children-everyone with a blood relation a generation below. [FAMILY CURSE RITUAL GAINED]
-I learned another torture spell, this one uses vitreous fluids from the eye-mine, specifically-in conjunction with my blood and spinal fluid to create a curse of fear-fueled agony with any organic material from the foe as an anchor. In my case, Amen estimates it would manifest as the target thinking they were being consumed alive. [TORTURE RITUAL GAINED]
-Lastly, I learn a ritual I know I should not know. For a piece of my soul, along with a sample of each of my organs as well as my blood, I can lay a curse on a restrained target that will slowly unravel their soul, and permanently kill them. I'd need a target to be completely immobilized for hours for this to work-but nevertheless I know it now, from merely a few words of Amen's. [TORTURE RITUAL GAINED]

I refuse to let myself be daunted by the depravity of what Amen just so casually taught me.
"Amen, what can you do with Jidkova's blood that could be useful to me?"
>[Amen]"This one respectfully suggests a shorter answer would involve what this one could NOT do with the girl's blood."
"Amen, if I provide you with written, audio and visual materials concerning the language learning could you learn new languages and update or improve the ones you know already? Could you then memory-graft them to me after you learn them?"
>[Amen]"This one is... most restricted in how this one is allowed to view new information. This one cautions master about attempting to... teach this one."
"Amen, I know that your powers are restricted to the area of this mansion but how far are you powers restricted in vertical axis? How deep and how far above can you exercise them? Can you make new floors upwards and/or new subterranean floors?"
>[Amen]"Why yes, this one has no vertical restrictions-and yes, this one could craft more floors, rooms or basements, as desired."

Right as I'm getting ready to start exploring the house before the others wake-I feel Attention settle on me, and identify the individual as Creep from his soul before I turn around.

"What is it Gloom?"
>[Creep][In Turkish]"Still... getting used to switching tongues. Your phone was called, and woke me-having been left near where I slept-here."
I turn my one eye back as I catch the tossed satellite phone, and promptly listen to the message

>[Hafaz]"I hope you get this message soon-and I don't even care how smug you are about it. Armas-I, no, we need a favor, a big, big favor right now-or ah, you might not have any sparring partners. Oh christ, I hope that file was right and he's home. Look... I don't care what we end up owing you, anything's better than the alternative-just get here!"
He rattles off an address as I hear dim shouting and... gunfire? In the background.
>[Hafaz]"Took a job for some local company-just a front, it was a setup, Blackbeard-"
There's a mass of sudden noise-and the message ends.
I look at the phone-the message was left two minutes ago-and the address is eleven blocks away.









What does this mean for my planned day?

>BLACKBEARD<

Shitfuck! Your friends are in trouble. Well, there's any number of ways to handle this.

PLAN A: Go there yourself with Hillevi, extraction only. Pull Hafaz and anyone else you can from the problem. This operation will teach Hillevi more about modern ops, and teach her more restraint.

Oh, and they'll owe you. Not much, though.

PLAN B: Send your boys. Hafaz might not trust them, however, so this plan is as maybe. Again, extraction only.

PLAN C: EVERYONE goes. No extraction, just murder. Deck yourself to the nines in weaponry, ammo, and the like. The boys will be equipped with what they have. I leave more detailed planning to the others.

PLAN D: Don't go. I don't like this. At all. Friends are in trouble and friends are the greatest resource. Connections, man. You could call SM and offer him something to extract Hafaz and the boys from danger at said address and deliver them to your doorstep.

If you take any of the options that involve yourself, call Camella and tell her you'll be late - Hafaz needs help with Blackbeard, and you'll be extracting/killing.

Remember, guys, while we have new power, BB is a rogue element. We have little knowledge of how he works, his tactics, or his current loadout.

BE CAREFUL.

Just a note. When is the meeting with Labombard? He is expected in the morning, but how much leeway is there? Where in relation with the address given? Of all of the planned meetings today, that one has the greatest repercussions if Armas doesn't show.
This is a great chance for Armas, but a minute or two of planning could be the difference between offing Blackbeard and just barely making the meeting, missing the meeting but beating Blackbeard, or letting this opportunity slip from his fingers.
If possible Armas should rouse the Russians and head off to assist Hafaz with Hillevi, with the Russians preparing to give backup, but make every effort to make his morning meeting, even if it means letting Blackbeard live another day.

Capsicum has no capsaicin in it, so that's pretty dumb.

we must take the russians with us

Call Camella, Go Ping, & Labombard on the way there, tell them you found blackbeard and give them the address to join in on the fight.

>>360911
It's capsaicin... and yes, do get 100% capsaicin powder from amen for SB to blast blackbeard in the face with (pepper-spray is 10%). (you can remember to order some online in the future)

>>360953
>Bring russians
SUST
1. They are unaugmented humans
2. We haven't practiced unit cohesion with them yet.
3. Blackbeard is too tough to put them against unprepared (with doonie we will have an actual PLAN), as in took camella's leg tough
4. They aren't our employees yet, we organized no pay structure yet (salary + combat bonuses is standard), and they are less likely to sign up to work FOR us if each snagged over a million dollars share of bounty.
5. If we kill blackbeard we will owe 5 millions to Go Ping (or screw camella), with so many people our share will not cover it.

We go fight him now, go to our meetings later, and then try to actually recruit them.

Ok, don't panic, you can do this. Be calm and collected - you're used to keeping your head when blindsided or shocked.

First, give Amen revised orders.

As you did for the SWT police outfit, order him to switch your outfit for a copy of the one you were wearing, including armour, helmet and mask, when you very first entered the mansion.

Have him bring you any of your standard weapon load out not in the room to you, along with any spare ammo.

Have him bring you a water bottle filled with basilisk blood and a pound of boar liver from your fridge, without making any changes to them, and an opaque 100ml bottle containing pure very finely powdered capsaicin (active ingredient in pepper spray, usually used in low concentration).

Write a note saying, "Gone for a morning run.". Tell Amen to leave a copy in the communal areas where it will be seen.

See if you can talk to Sake mentally, and ask him to either join us here or meet him there. If not, as Amen if (s)he is in the mansion, unless he is in your room. If so, move the exit for your room to where he is, go there, brief him, and return to your room.

Gear up with your weapons. Take the mere, the Taste of Ruin, the Matebas, and Iron Trick. Silja is sulking and isn't idea for use against mundane humans yet. Tell Amen not to talk to her, and say to Silja, "Sorry to bother you, but I'll be back soon."

Then, have him change the exit of your room to be into the room leading to the sewers.

Then sending SB off ahead to scout (hopefully he can continue to telepathically communicate when doing so, if not he'll have to move back and forth). The tunnels should be safe, as we bargained with the goblins for safe passage, but stay wary. As you run, wolf down the pound of magical boar liver, but retain the blood for later.

When we arrive, take a second to catch your breath, and have SB take a look around, given the time of year and day, their should be plenty of shadows - the street lights will be off and the sun just risen.

Provisional plan which should not be executed until, is that SB should assess for chances of succeeding and how to achieve it, is this: when briefed, pop a manhole cover in a location with cover, ideally one where Blackbeard is within 50 feet and in shadow. Then have SB teleport a quarter of the capsaicin on his face, and line up to take a shot with the buntline.

However, do not execute the provisional plan until you have had chance to review the situation. Then, modify the plan based on the terrain, combatants, and generally what is going on.

Anonymous 2011/10/25(Tue)13:48 No. 360996 ID: 81f32a
File 131957573359.jpg - (60.64KB , 492x348 , WHY AMEN.jpg )

But I like making huge posts.
Come on man. We can't discuss suggestions, we can't multi-post, we can't just post a suggestion with only upvote/downvote, we can't post incomprehensible ramblings which have nothing to do with anything and now we can't post huge as fuck posts? D:
And what's wrong with double spacing? It makes reading easier
Alright, I understand why you wouldn't like such huge ramblings.
Also, I was kinda hoping you would spare us random encounters and that this update would cover at least half a week, hence so many tasks.


>DEM RITUALS D:

Perhaps I shouldn't have looked how deep the rabbit hole goes.
On the other hand, that was good information and I refuse to believe Armas finds it unsettling.
"Armas, how long will it take me to enact those rituals?"

>[Amen]"Not without it being of equivalent speed to verbal communication and thus in no way superior from a magical standpoint, as it would be easily detected."
This is not bad actually. We can have all the non-urgent conversation through the safe telepathy. Like asking questions and giving orders while we are going somewhere.
I suggest that unless we are in dangerous company and/or in combat, we use safe telepathy.

>What does this mean for my planned day?

First of all, claim Goblin lessons in NN. 10 hours of stalking, 10 hours of traps, 1-5 hours of stealth.
The great thing about NN training that it will not make us tired, hungry or sleepy while in the real world we wont lose even a minute if we spend an entire day training.
As I remember, we can ask for more specific lessons in the category we chose to train in (like when we took item enchanting lessons and focused on Item Sensing), so when taking lessons in traps ask to focus on trap detection and disarmament. We know that Blackbeard fucking loves traps. I do not doubt even for a moment that he expects someone come to aid to Hafaz&Co. His extensive trap placing ability and skill is one of the big reasons why he is so successful. THERE WILL BE TRAPS

How much time we spend on additional stealth training depends: first we spend 1 hour with SM, he will re-asses us, see how our recent experiences and power accusition has helped us and iron-out some mistakes we make. The other 1-4 hours of training is only if he feels that now that we got new powers (Mainly Sami but also Shadowbro), our stealth plateau has risen and he can teach us more.
Another thing, when training in trap detection and stalking ask them to give you at least 50% of the training with Blackbeard in mind.

Also have Shadowbro claim his tutelage right now.
We are going against a very, very fucking dangerous foe. We need all the power we can muster. Since the training is done in NN, there is no any reason or whatsoever to postpone it.


Ask Amen.
"Amen, do you have..... vehicle crafting abilities?" If so, tell him to construct an fully working ATC of the highest quality.
If not ask
"Does this Mansion have a garage? Did Smets own automobiles? If so and kind and where are they? [if there are] Make them available to me." [I have hard time believing that Smets did not have cars (specifically, armored Limo] since a car with completely blackened-out windows would be great for a Vampire to move around during the day. And I always imagined the garage to be on the first subterranean floor]
If there are no vehicles then highjack the first parked car by having Shadowbro unlock the mechanisms and start it up. Make sure to do it stealthily though.

"Amen, is there an armory with weapons and combat gear stored for function and practical use in the mansion? If so, if there are any grenades and/or flash bangs, transport a dozen of each to me. If not, transport Grisha's bandolier full of grenades to me. Do not make any adjustments to the equipment you are transporting"

Take Hillevi and Sake with us. Take AA-12, Iron Trick, Keihas (yes, we are not leaving our best possible weapon no matter how sad it is) and Matebas. Put Matebas immediately into Dark, also put all a crate of extra ammunition into the Dark if possible.
Bring Hillevi up-to-date with what we know of BB. She should take this threat very, very, very seriously. Make sure she understands.
Tell Sake to be ready to catch or at least re-direct massive bullets.

We should aim to immobilize BB with the Buntline by shooting his shadow, then unleash hail of bullets with the rest of our guns.

>[Amen]"Why yes, this one has no vertical restrictions-and yes, this one could craft more floors, rooms or basements, as desired."
>the address is eleven blocks away.
It seems to me that Amen could observe from very high vantage point and relay the information to us. Like a spy-satellite of sorts.

Call Labombard when riding/going to the combat area.
"Paul-Jacques, I must postpone our meeting. Before you say anything, the reason is Blackbeard. If you are interested in this matter tell me quickly, otherwise I have to hurry."
If he is, tell him the address and more in-depth information.

Call Camella and tell her what is happening. I bet she is interested. Tell her that you suspect that BB might have set up a trap to lure us in.

>>360982
>As you did for the SWT police outfit, order him to switch your outdit for a copy of the one you were wearing, including armour, helmet and mask, when you very firdt entered the mansion.
What? Oh come on, and miss the chance to turn up in (hopefully) a limo, wearing a ridiculously luxurious 50k$+ suit and going "Come on guys, I was busy"?
Besides, modern armor does probably jack-shit against Blackbeards ridiculously over-powered rifle. If you want to conceal the weapons when traveling around the town just ask Amen to provide you with guitar case or something to put our weapons in.
I know this is irrational but man, trollish dicking in middle of life or death situation?

Hell, if we take Hillevi with us, we could tell Amen to give her clothing with matches ours. Imagine the their looks. Hahaha, I almost want us to risk death for this.

Anyway, if you are really set to changing our attire, I suggest we ask Amen to give us clothing that will give us maximum stealth advantage.

>Silja is sulking and isn't idea for use against mundane humans yet.
Oh, I do not think she will have any problem being used against a person who is know to use little children as body-shields.
Hmm, if we are going to use Keihas, rub our blood over the bayonet so that Silja can see. I have a hunch that if Silja can see the outside world and in turn the opponents we are facing, her accuracy will improve. And any bit of extra accuracy helps.
Just make sure to warn her first.

>>360888
>>360902
>>360953
>>360966
SUST on any plans which involve taking Russians for the reasons that MrTT outlined plus take into consideration that BB is a fucking monster. He survived a concentrated ambush set on him by Hafaz&Co and fucking Camella (a rape-train that keeps on raping). They knew exactly what they were up against, they are all professionals and they hand prepared before hand.
If we send the Russians, we run into considerable risk losing several of them and that would plain suck.

>>360996
SUSTING EVERYTHING.
Especially asking Amen for more info on those rituals.
Also, asking for training from SM on stalking/sneaking/Moving silently is useless right now- we have peak human, and we'll remember more as we use it with magic.

None of those other trainings are useful right now, except for SB.

>>360990 capsaicin plan of Alratan
Upvote, but make SURE you take Sake with you. Hafaz or someone else might be hurt, and being able to fly for enhanced stealth, or even just moving stuff around for crowd control, might be invaluable.

Now, on the way, SMS Labombard with “may be late, Blackbeard attacking friend at 'location', don't call.”, and then call Camella. She hates that guy's guts, after all.

Ask SB if he can eat someone's shadow, and what it would do to him. Also, ask him if he can uses the Spirit mere on someone or his shadow, and ask him if he can hold a gun and fire. A Combination of AA-12 with conceptualizing every pellets as different entities and the buntline Pinning trick could be very, very effective.

Now, ask Sake if he can uses his wind power to make you fly- and if you can direct him by thought. If you can't, using him for 3-dimensional stealth should be quite hard.

When you are near under Blackbeard, DON'T go and use the capsaicin immediately. Instead, have SB scounting for any explosives or trap he might find, and disarm them first.

Remember, it's Blackbeard's MO to use as much cruelty and force as possible.

Now, let's get to planning, and getting Sake, Iron Trick, and SB's input on various plans depending on SB's scouting:

Then, if SB can do it, have him stealthily open the sewer gate, and use the capsaicin. You could have enough time to hit him with the Buntline 'Pining' trick via his shadow, and then use the AA-12 buckshot to take off his charms quickly.

After all, each single pellet of a Buckshot are independent and count as on DIFFERENT shot- be sure to convince yourself of that.

Now, if you can't manage to pin him with buntline, still try to switch to AA-12, but have both SB and Sake try to distract him with crowd control-throw stuff at his head at slower velocity, have SB try to stab him with spirit mere, and so on.

If Blackbeard happens to have hostages that would be hurt by the capsaicin, especially if they are children, try to have Sake use his wind power to throw things at him- but without giving away where the wind is coming from. The goal would be to seperate him from the hostages. Hell, he could try to use his power on the hostage to take them away and shield them, which would leave SB free for capsaicin.

If capsaicin doesn't work, have Both SB and Sake distract him and trying to attract him somewhere away from sewer entrance, and Stealthily move in.

Remember Armas can also 'quieten' his presence upon the world, and should this to his advantage, not just sneaking.

Alternatively, we could, while the capsaicin is having effect, have Armas be lifted by Sake and use our Sneaking abilities, as well as Stalking and Moving Silently, to fly in his blind angles and fire at him from the air.

SB and Sake should try and seperate his weapons from him, particularly his Big Gun.

If Sake, SB or Buntline can't pin him, think about using your SotG on him with your mere, integrating your gifted memories from Einrik into this.

Of course, we'd first need to close up to melee, but Sake/SB should be able to provide enough of a distraction for our stealth ability to come into play here.

In this case, have Sake heal Hafaz and co if they need it, and then his job would be too make him unable to give his all in the fight, as well as help us parry his hits with his wind.

SB would alternate between attacking Blackbeard or his shadow directly with spirit mere and other tricks, and simply boosting our speed.


>>360963

Yes, Don't take the Russians right now.

>>360966

Good way to notice Blackbear and others.

Guile 2011/10/25(Tue)14:15 No. 361000 ID: f8aa66
File 131957730142.jpg - (253.89KB , 1568x2184 , blackbeard11.jpg )

Forgot I had old Blackbeard art saved for just such an occasion.

Yeah, we're going in. For that file- and Hafaz, I guess. If we're lucky, we'll know a way through the sewers to that location. If not, well...

Throw your trenchcoat on (Blackbeard's rifle will perforate anything we wear, might as well stay stylish) and hit the bricks. Tell Creep to gather up the guys and head towards the address, it's the Ramidreju all over again; friends of ours are pinned down by the mercenary Blackbeard, we'll head in first and take a look around. Tell them the lay of the land and give them a good entry point; we'll probably need an extraction.

If Sake thinks he's fast enough to deflect a sniper rifle round from hundreds of yards away, we'll take him with us as point defense. If not, he's free to do his own thing (best not to show all our trumps).

Give Lammy a call - let him know he can either meet us up at this address to crash a party (Blackbeard is an inconsiderate host that way), or else we'll probably be running late. Apologies.

When we get there, remember we don't need to SEE people to feel their soul. See how far we can stretch the new senses - we know Hafaz and the boys reasonably well, we might be able to pick out their souls from among the rest. And if we can find a soul that... well, feels like how we imagine our own soul would feel, that's probably Blackbeard.

Actually, I think we should call each person we were supposed to meet as and when Wayward Wednesday kicks us in the balls at that time. Morning - "Sorry Lammy, fighting Blackbeard to the death." Noon - "Sorry Camella, hanging from a skyscraper. What do you mean 'how am I holding the cellphone'?" Afternoon - "Sorry Ito, just got tossed through a plate-glass window, don't think I'm gonna be able to make it. ... Well, you could at least pretend to be disappointed."

Show up at dinner with the Prof, wearing shreds of our boss clothing, covered in scratches like we went skinny dipping in the polar bear enclosure at the zoo.

"Just been one of those days, man."

>>360902
I'd sooner back Hillevi against Doony than Blackbeard, really. She's familiar with fighting monsters, not high-tech modern weaponry. Make her stay with the russians.

Dkay - we're at the peak human limit on stalking, hiding and moving silently. Traps are fine. Enchanting (with a focus on permanent charms) would be swell. Shadowbro, why not. I don't think now's a great time to go bug SM, but if we do, focus on other things than goblinic stealth, says I.

Ask SM to transport GatMalite and ammo from our storage. While we will probably not use it, giving it to an ally so that they can provide some heavy suppersing fire with it would be really useful.


We need to inform Labombard and Camella then hurry to the destination point.
Naturally Sake comes with us. A vehicle would be great here. Do we even know if the house has a garage? We should look into it.

I see no problem with taking urgent goblin lessons. With Nevernevrer, we do not lose any time on it. Except I would suggest first spending an hour with SM so that he can re-evaluate our stealth abilities and only afterwards taking extra lessons in stalking/stealth if SM thinks we can learn more with our new abilities.
Trap lessons are a must though, so is Shadowbro training.

Emphasis should be on driving Blackbeard off, or even just distracting him for long enough to get the friendlies the hell out of dodge. Afterwards . . . well, he's bound to have left some recoverable hair or blood lying about somewhere along the line, and one of Amen's rituals - even if it doesn't destroy his mind completely - will take him out of the picture for some time, right?

>>360885
>What does this mean for my planned day?
It means that we'll need to push back our plans a bit. Highest priority right now is extracting Hafaz&Co.

Emphasis on extract. All we need to do is get them out alive. Engaging their enemies when those enemies prepared the situation and are obviously competent would be foolish. In fact, it would be preferable that those enemies never know that we're involved at all, only that Hafaz and friends somehow managed to slip through their fingers. Tipping our hand about Sake, Hillevi, or the Russians right now would be foolish, since we'd be engaging at a huge disadvantage and unable to use them decisively.

Recommended steps:
-Have Amen switch out our clothing for combat gear and armament. Leave Silja behind.
-Contact Sometimes Merchant. Purchase information regarding all combatants and traps in the conflict ongoing around the address Hafaz stated, in the form of live updates to be given to us for one hour or until the end of the conflict. Goblin scouting should make this far easier to accomplish. Of course, he'll charge for it- but we can bill it to Hafaz and Co., since they just told us that they don't care what they end up owing. Sometimes Merchant will likely be more than willing to allow us to promise to negotiate on their behalf following their extraction when he hears that they sent us a blank check.
-Get to the conflict as quickly as possible. Leave all others behind so as not to reveal our assets. Remain unseen.
-Depending upon the information Sometimes Merchant gives us, either slaughter the enemy or attempt to extract the friendlies in whatever direction the enemy isn't.
-Get Hafaz and friends out of sight of the enemy and then down the nearest sewer, at which point we all move away from the conflict zone and subsequently settle accounts with Sometimes Merchant.


If all goes well, we won't even need to delay our meeting with Labombard.

>>360888
Options whirl through my head as I consider what I'm going to do. I could go alone, just bring Hillevi, I could send the russians, I could go with everyone-hell, I could even just not.... go.
>"I'm too interested in both the file Hafaz mentioned and the martial art style we can in theory learn from him-or his corpse-to let you do that."
Yeah, I wasn't planning to abdicate-just running through my options.
>>360902
I suppose my biggest point of contention right off the bat-is what this means for my meeting with Labombard. We didn't set a specific time to meet-so I think I'll just straigten this out with a call. Thankfully he picks up on the third ring, even as I am one-handedly securing a shoulder holster under my coat for the buntline (yet another bit of attire Amen just happened to have ready for me)
>[Labombard]"Oh? Why is it we speak like this, and not face to face? We have a meeting, non?"
"Well that'd be because some friends from the gym are in a spot of trouble and I need to help them."
>[Labombard]"A pity I am, after all, working now-well, if you can find a way to get your trouble of her I'd of course be happy you help-otherwise, I wish you well, American Asshole!"
"Well, I'll see you soon enough."
>[Labombard]"One can hope."
[small]*click*[/click]
>>360953
>>360963
I spend the moment while I labor over whether I should or shouldn't bring the Russians while finding the Mere (still in the kitchen) and searching (to no avail) for Sake. I can still feel my Soul Brother's oath, but it seems that with him now housed in a body other than my own, I can't communicate with him-that, or he's purposefully not responding, I suppose.
>"Wariness or no, even I think that's a stretch."
So do I-but as you said, doesn't hurt-
>"To be careful, nor does it hurt to be prepared."
Heh.
>>360982
You drank all the basilisk blood already, remember?
I am about to ask for Amen to get me a replica of my 'normal' body armor
>[RRRRR Trait activated]
...When I stop, and think. Blackbeard's sporting a rather ludicrous gun, from everything I've heard-some kind of crazy compact cannon-come-battle rifle. None of my armor's magic-and even if it had it, I doubt I'd trust any magical armor from... Amen. Looked at that way, as me being about to ask for armor that... won't armor me, at least not against the quarry I'm expecting myself to encounter-I decide there isn't really a reason. It is a week day in a major city, and the address I was given is in downtown-the streets may be light on foot traffic this shortly after dawn, but I'd be a fool to think I want to run the risk of being seen in such a getup-I can't see ANY witnessed fighters near Blackbeard would avoid getting a bounty for SOME reason or other. The suit though... it's light, and well-fitted: I'll be as mobile as I'm physically able to be. My attire, while undeniably sharp, is not remarkable enough that people would think me odd simply by spotting me. Similarly, the mere and the buntline alike are safely hidden beneath my coat-and an unarmed man dressed in business attire in downtown Istanbul? Who's going to second guess that?
>"I am not sure I agree, what if there are other hostiles with smaller caliber weapons?"
>[Iron Trick]"Well there is the fact that wearing a suit will make it much, MUCH easier to pretend to be a Turkish agent on the scene, if you wished it... or a member of the Mafia. You are versed in both languages now."
Shadowbro's already read my reaction to that thought from my mind.
>"That... that is AMAZING. I retract my opinion, to now be in favor of what I call 'Open Option Attire'"
..Still, I could be a bit more circumspect-so I ask for, and receive, a chromed set of aviator sunglasses, and a checkered purple and crimson scarf to wind about my mouth, chin and neck-and just like that my features are obscured.

"Amen?"
>[Amen]"Yes master?"
"Lead me to the sewers please."
>[Amen]"Before this one complies this one must note the sewer access this house is outfitted with is... not friendly to mortals, and would thus be classified as harm to master. Sadly, it cannot be deactivated."
Well, there goes my plan of 'sewering' to my destination. Does reinforce my plan to stay classily attired, though.
>>360999
>>361000
[Stored]
>>361008
>>361013
"Amen, I need a Trenchcoat."
Instead of even saying anything, a light tan thickly-mantled trenchcoat is dramatically flung over my shoulders, the empty sleeves hanging at my sides, the shoulders easily catching on my own, the jacket secure even as I walk. ...Damnit, how does Amen DO that?
>"Even I don't want to ask."
I'm calling Sometimes Merchant and midway through asking him to deliver the Gatmalite from my storage locker on the docks to the mansion when I feel attention on me-and realize that Matvey's awake. I finish wheedling the delivery out of the goblin for free with promises of ever more interesting information (and I say it in Finnish to avoid spilling all my secrets in front of people I frankly just met) before I speak to him without turning around.
"So, turns out I have some business this morning that really can't wait."
>[MB][In English]"It... hah, I wonder when it will stop feeling odd to just know this tongue-it is no secret to we who once served Chugainov when someone is hiding something from us. Something of import is happening, isn't it?"
Time's ticking-and I don't feel like wasting any, as I carefully strap the Taste of Ruin and the matebas to my trenchcoat.
"Look, this is a personal job, and-"
>[MB][In English]"So you are not taking Hillevi of Valkonen with you?"
"Power, she has-understanding of modern combat operations, not so much."
>[MB][In English]"Look, why not let us come? Then you can take Hillevi and we can make sure she stays safe."
"Why are you so insistent on going?"
>[MB][In English]"Why are you so insistent on not even telling me what it is?"
I'm about to snap back-when I recall I am, in point of fact, trying to hire these buggers-and that'd be hypocritical as hell to expect them to keep my secrets while keeping my own from them.
"Fine-friends in trouble, maybe wounded or dead, and a bounty that my friends have been working on for some time now on-scene. This is a limited information rescue mission in the middle of downtown Istanbul. There, you happy?"
He smiles fecklessly, honesty shining from his dimpled cheeks.
>[MB][In Russian]"Absolutely. DRRRRUUUUUNNNKAAAARRDS!!"
With a single, dragging shout, Matvey sets the whole house to pandemonium-and in, kid you not, two minutes, all eighteen russians are standing before me, looking only mildly confused that they now have suits instead of combat fatigues-and all of them sporting different cut coats, each one long enough to obscure a rifle.
>[MB][In Russian]"See, we talked, and we don't think we could have a fair negotiation, a fair discussion, a fair ANYTHING if, going into it, we owe you our lives from our first encounter, and you owe us nothing. Allow us to balance the scales."
"....Pro bono?"
>[MB][In Russian]"How else would we balance them?"
...Well.

"...Fine then. Which of you has ever used a microgun, or a vehicle-mounted minigun?"
A single hand is raised-Iosef.
"Great-Amen, give him the Gatmalite on loan, please."
Before anyone can question what I'm even talking about, Amen is simply there, plopping the heavily modified assault rifle, external ammunition belt and drum in the heavyset man's hands."
"Mind the ammunition, it is radioactive. Slightly."
The big man merely smiles.
"Okay-time for a walk down-town, we got six blocks to go."
>[Creep][In Turkish]"Can't we drive?"
I slip into Turkish almost without realizing, even as I note Hillevi walking in, her glamour on and her attire now buckled shoes, a muted skirt and buttoned-down blouse. If it weren't for the fact she looks built like a world-class weightlifter she'd be completely unremarkable.
"Parking in downtown? Please."
No one laughs at that one.
>"Crash and burn, my fine soul brother and pitiable meatbag."
Shut it.

>>360996
[Tongue-in-cheek outrage or no: You can discuss as much as you want... in the discussion thread, you know that thread that is there for primarily that purpose, you CAN multipost so long as you have a meaningful suggestion for Armas in each post which if you'll note people still do with no ill effect, and dead-on accurate about the up/down voting, and there is a point where you've used line separation TOO much.]
>This is not bad actually. We can have all the non-urgent conversation through the safe telepathy. Like asking questions and giving orders while we are going somewhere.
A thought-that WILL mean Armas standing there, from all outside visible signs just... staring off into space for long periods. You sure you want to be more of a spacecase around the people you know?

With no more complaints, we set out into the brisk morning, the shortest of our number nearly jogging to keep up with our purposeful strides. Thanks to brazen disregard for legal use of streets and the fact no one wants to dent up their car hitting twenty people, we cover six blocks in seven minutes. What we find... gives me cause to hesitate.

I got us to the address Hafaz gave us. I know it's the right place, since it's not only an Insurance company based off it's logo-
The main foyer's glass windows and doors have been shattered into a fine powder, and I can see blood-stained corpses in guard and business attire alike slumped against walls and sprawled on the floor-six, in total. I can see a crowd of onlookers already forming, thankfully keeping well back. I can hear the sound of groaning, warping metal protesting-and wonder if it's just in my head that the ten-story building looks like it's leaning. I see not a single police officer-but I do see an empty police squad car-so I have to assume they're inside... somewhere. I look at the crowds, the attention the building's already got-and know that the most I can do is get myself in that building. Which leaves me with the question of what I'll have the Russians and Hillevi do to actually make their presence here worth something... but more than even that-







Should I try to enter through the blasted front, or try circling about the building and finding some alternative, less-watched entrances? (Basically, FAST entry, or SLOW entry)?
And what should the Russians, every last one in plainclothes and full armed, do?
Once I'm inside, do I head DOWN, UP, or, assuming I take the front entrance, do I FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION?

Right. Send Task Force Vodka around the back to secure the lower levels and trust in their military experience to clear through without getting splattered. You and Big Girl go in through the front, have her whip up a portable ice shield or something for what benefit it might offer and maybe grab some spare weaponry from fallen guards on the way in. Following the destruction may be an idea, but heading upward is probably the best bet, since if the building's leaning it means that more than one support is damaged. And if there's no obvious carnage on the upper levels, that just means it hasn't gotten that far YET.

First up, tell the crowd to disperse quickly because that building is going to collapse. If necessary, claim to be a member of some Turkish defense group, but avoid/smash cameras if a picture is taken of you.

The Building is leaning, so the support's probably damaged. Probably from explosives, and I'd bet there's more inside. the question whether they're spread out or at the base of the building, and if Blackbeard is still setting some or hunting for Hafaz and his lot.

I'm going to guess Blackbeard is going after Hafaz. I'm thinking we split up. Matvey with some russians and Hillevi in one group and you and some Russians in the other.

Matvey's group heads to the bottom and starts sweeping for explosives from there. Have someone who knows explosives be with that group definitely, and if anyone has infra-red goggles have them go with so they don't get caught unaware in case Blackbeard is down there.

Have you and the other half of the Russians, follow the trail of destruction. Be on the lookout for souls, so you can try and pinpoint Blackbeard or Hafaz, so you can get to that point quicker.

>Should I try to enter through the blasted front, or try circling about the building and finding some alternative, less-watched entrances? (Basically, FAST entry, or SLOW entry)?

Us and Hillevi, front door like we own it. It will be FAST. Suave our way in, if needs be, but don't be stopped by anyone. Just keep walking and FOLLOW THE DISTRUCTION.

>And what should the Russians, every last one in plainclothes and full armed, do?

SLOW and steady way in. We don't want them making more of a scene. When they get in, half UP and half DOWN and a group of the five heaviest armed Russians FOLLOW THE DISTRUCTION.

Guile 2011/10/25(Tue)22:47 No. 361132 ID: f8aa66
File 131960807737.jpg - (210.18KB , 1700x2317 , Another day at the office1.jpg )

What was that, more Blackbeard, you say?

Shown: Blackbeard, and the ennui of the 9-to-5.

>>361128
I'm liking this.

If they have no explosives expert, Hillevi can at least seal the explosives in ice to mute the blast a bit. If there's any living civilians, send them out (might as well; don't ferry them, just point them in the right direction).

Have Team Bombsquad keep an eye out for a record room - they have a file on us, it'd be nice to get a look at it. Keep them on the honor system; feel free to take anything else that looks interesting, maybe burn the rest.

We go up. Exec offices might prove fruitful, or following the destruction. You act as point man for your group, goblin stealth and regen and all. I doubt Blackbeard's going to be caught unaware, but it doesn't hurt to make an effort.

Warn both groups that their enemy is magically shielded from most bullets, and has a real bastard of a rifle. Engage only with extreme caution, and be ready to disengage and run for it if need be. We're after preserving lives right now over getting a confirmed kill, but whittling down his magic wouldn't be a bad thing either.

rolled 16 = 16

---

Give a brief overview of what you know of blackbeard on the way in, sticking to important points like his charms and expected gear.

"Secure the building, Helivi, armour up and with me"

Front door entrance, be wary, use soulsight and normal attention to sweep the surroundings.

Use your affinity to sneaking to determine what the best place for hiding is in any area you venture into and clear them to stave off ambush.

Follow the destruction.

This roll if for a buntline shot to paralyze the first hostile target you meet.

Right, I do not like this situation. There's only one cop car outside right now, but this place is going to be swarming with them soon. The whole situation is very high profile and between the bodies and the crowd I'm thinking we're looking at massive police response. I do not want to be in the building and have the cops swarmed outside. We need to be in and out of here as fast as possible and have an exit strategy in place. That crowd needs to be dispersed first, it'll make the whole mission a hell of a lot easier without them there. Tell them it's for their own safety, the building is obviously not in good shape.

Before we even go in, I really hope Shadowbro has the Matebas stored within him like we discussed earlier. Their scopes could be very useful to us right now. If he has them we can just plan around the group clearing an escape path and go in with Hillevi towards Blackbeard and Hafaz's men to save the day. If not...

We'll take the main point of entry, the Russians and Hillevi can go in through the back. She doesn't know her family's stealth style and if we're going to try and be stealthy here she might ruin our chances, plus having her with the Russians means they at least have some supernatural protection. Have one of them toss us a radio if they have a set so we can coordinate and properly respond to changes in the field. Try to bum some flashbangs and grenades from someone too, I don't think we took any with us. There are or were explosives in the building and everyone should know that and be cautious of them. Both groups should be on the lookout for sewer access unless one of them feels capable enough that they could covertly acquire some suitable transport and don't mind being left out of the extremely dangerous mission. They should be aware of what Hafaz and his men look like if they have not been described to them already. They should be one watch for the police that were in the car outside, we want them to act as if they were Turkish agents should they find them and tell attempt to get them to leave peacefully, telling them the situation is under control and they need the crowds outside handled. And of course if they run into a man with a large beard and an even larger gun they should tell us immediately and be prepared to deal with some supernatural shenanigans if he engages. Their primary goal though is to fan out and clear the area for our escape, if they can grab any important files and documents that would be nice too.

We can go solo or with Creep and Grisha if they think they can keep up and Grisha thinks she can help with any explosives should the need arise. Follow the path of destruction or whatever direction our and Shadow's senses lead us. Be mindful of traps or ambushes, he might have some set for the authorities or even us. If we find a soul that looks like Blackbeard's lets not just barge into the room it's in, chances are that's trapped too. Look for alternate entrances or have Shadowbro look in and confirm it's him then use his teleportation ability to throw a flashbang (or actual grenade if the structure can handle it) into the room and enter.

>>361141
Upvoting this.

A few modifications though:

Frist, alwaysh ave SB scouting the Area around you.

Both you and SB should be able to sneak, move silently, and stalk, so use SB to be sure there are no traps.

Remember, your soul sense only works on things with souls, not on explosives!

Also, try to stretch both your attention and soul-sense as far as possible- with SB stretching his attention sense, too. Better be forewarned.

Take Grish and Gloom with you if they can keep up, quieten your presence in the world, and, when a trap is detected, send Gloom/Grisha to disarm it. If Grish tells you she may not be able to, maybe take another Russian with you who is good at that too.

Careful is important too.

Oh, and this is the meeting of eyepatch guy, and BB has a cutlass.

Don't hesitate to put your mere in your teeth and talk down the inferior pirate.

Just too bad your pirate bird (sake) isn't with you.

>>361160
We can't send back the Russians after they made that pitch- That would be impolite.

Just, use The Russian as a way to help the Civillians out, and Hillevi should try and see what a modern unit look like in action.

If you can't take Grisha and Creep with you, be extra careful, take your time to wait for shadowbro to scout for traps before making any moves.

Remember, patience and environmental awareness are must have for successful stalking, even if you can quieten your presence.



+Also, try to see if you have something on yourself that could count as a present. Did you take the Fext heart?

While doubtful, this could be a surprise party from Camella.

If we do feel souls like hers or Ito's or Arkvad there, send shadowbro quickly to check they aren't hostages or otherwise incacipated, and then enter arrogantly, whistling a tune.

rolled 81, 73, 35, 26, 98 = 313

---

Damn, I really hate the way this quest is constructed.

>Concerns about attire. Some suggestions to change it.
>Go with the suit anyway after Iron Trik comments we could pretend to be special agents.
>Most against taking the russians and Hillevi
>Take them anyway
>Give them all sleek custom suits

Damn! This was a perfect chance to have Amen fabricate some really convincing ID cards which make us look like some kind special agents (without them actually being Fake special agent cards, just cards which look very official. If put under scrutiny, it would reveal that they are in fact not. But that's okay, no one actually pays attention to that).
Also, everyone should have bitching shades shades too (what use is it to conceal Armas when there are 19 other people with us?).

>Everyone calls to take Sake
>Cannot immediately find Sake
>That's alright. Fuck that. It is not like we will have any use with the only offensive magic potential that we have, the air barriers, the aim support and the healing he can provide if someone is hurt. Really, we should have left our weapons too and went there blindfolded. The more risk, the more interesting it is!
Seriously, couldn't Armas at least have shouted really loud for Sake? Or asked Amen if he knows where he is?
I know that it is possible that Sake is not in the mansion. But it is also possible he is sleeping on the attic hugging a bottle of vodka.

>7 minutes walking to destination
>do not give brief run-down on the target to at least Matyev and couple of others.
They really need to know that we are dealing with a fucking monster right here. It is possible they know of Blackbeard (seeing how they knew who Craftsman and Suicider were) which would speed up the things by saying them that it is him. But that is the thing, we didn't tell them.


>Should I try to enter through the blasted front, or try circling about the building and finding some alternative, less-watched entrances? (Basically, FAST entry, or SLOW entry)?
>And what should the Russians, every last one in plainclothes and full armed, do?
>Once I'm inside, do I head DOWN, UP, or, assuming I take the front entrance, do I FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION?

Break the group into 3 (6x3) or 4 (5x2 + 4x2) squads.
Armas is to take the FAST entry and FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION
One of the squads should search for broken support SLOWLY, Hillevi must go with them. Tell Hillevi to reinforce the building with her ice. Do not want the whole thing crashing on us.
One squad should go DOWN, SLOW and explore
One should go UP, SLOW
[if we break into 4 squads] One should stay outside, act all formal "Move along, people, nothing to see here"

Tell everyone to look out for the traps. We know how BB loves traps. Tell them all to be careful if they engage hostiles. Tell everyone that BB gun would probably shoot though anything they deem useful for cover. Determine the integrity of the walls and asses if they can block Queen Anne's rounds.
I assume everyone has radios at least?

>>361133
Hell Man, what an awful roll.
If it is going to be like this, lets expel entire barrel and hope for the best [rolling for the next 5]
If any of them hit the shadow, then immediately switch to AA-12 to unleash entire barrel on BB.

>>/questdis/354644
Remember when you established a telepathic link via chakra manipulation to Amen? It took a while to figure out but eventually you got it. While you haven't ingested any of sake's blood, he is soul bound to you and you should be able to replicate the process with him. If it does not work you can try later with consuming a bit of his blood and taking a longer time in the attempt. But with how far you have come you should at least try to quickly replicate what worked last time for a link to sake. Don't spend more then 30 seconds on the attempt right now. If you can't quickly replicate last time success then try this after the fight is over.

>>361188
upvoting combat plan.

>>361163
Upvoting except for the party part... there are corpses here.

Get a radio from the russians

For all that is holy DO tell them what you know of his abilities.

>and all of them sporting different cut coats, each one long enough to obscure a rifle.
Ok, good thing here, onlookers can't see any weapons on us.

We can try calling up lo fang real quick. BB has a bounty by the Turkish government. Have his his agents in the government smooth things with the police for us, if need be in exchange for a cut from the bounty IF and ONLY IF we kill him THIS time. That should allow the russians to enter with us.

I think most of the russians should help evacuate wounded and guard hilevi (who should heavily armor her whole body in case there is an explosive) while she reinforces the building and you sneak up after BB with SB scouting. A few of the russians can follow you to get BB himself.

One option if the police surrounds the buildings, have SB hold the russian's mundane weapons in the dark for you to sneak them into a nearby sewer or outright teleport them to a nearby sewer and wipe them of prints. You then all walk out along with hilevi and show the authorities you are unarmed and were only here to help the injured.

>Be a spacecase when using safe telepathy
It should really depend on the situation. Use safe telepathy out of combat and when not facing a dangerous situation (negotiating with a hostile is a dangerous situation). Our friends can just be told we have a limited form of telepathy and strangers who are not being negotiated with can think what they want. Or armas could put a bluetooth receiver on his ear and touch his hand to it, and occasionally say "uh huh" and finish with a "goodbye" spoken aloud to manipulate others into thinking he is on the phone...

>>361116
>Should I try to enter through the blasted front, or try circling about the building and finding some alternative, less-watched entrances? (Basically, FAST entry, or SLOW entry)?
Fast entry- got to take the front. This situation is time-critical and we've wasted enough of it.

Text Hafaz on our phone, since I doubt there are jammers up. "Here. Where are you? Enemies?"

>And what should the Russians, every last one in plainclothes and full armed, do?
Not every situation calls for a swarm of troops. Leading them into a collapsing building potentially full of traps would be highly dangerous, and we are at our best personally when using stealth skills that the others can't begin to match. One squad should go in, slow/subtle entry, to try and clear the basement of any bombs or other threats and keep our escape route secure if possible. Hillevi can go with them; while I'm not thrilled about sending her to face a bomb, she's a combat multiplier that might let the Russian team survive a direct confrontation with Blackbeard.

The rest of them should secure the outside- to ensure that once we've managed something inside, getting back outside means we're largely home free. Get people on all sides of the building at a distance while remaining inconspicuous, eyes facing both inside and outside. Inside, because we or friendlies might exit the building and need immediate support at any time after we go in. Outside, because this was apparently an ambush; that means there might be enemy hostiles in the area with eyes on the scene, potentially armed and prepared to attack at the worst possible moment. The enemy apparently running this is very clever from what we've heard of him, so watching for nasty tricks outside the target building is more necessary than merely prudent.


>Once I'm inside, do I head DOWN, UP, or, assuming I take the front entrance, do I FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION?
Assuming we don't get other direction from Hafaz, follow the destruction. It's most likely to lead to enemies and friendlies both- and it's also most likely to be the path clear of traps, since anything there will probably have been triggered already. On the other hand, since it is the most obvious path to follow, if the enemy has been victorious here it'll be the most likely route for them to be waiting along to jump any arriving support for Hafaz- so tread careful and keep our senses open.



Addendum following due consideration: It's still not too late to phone up Sometimes Merchant and attempt to purchase intel so that we're not going in utterly blind here. We know that Blackbeard is a sneaky fuck, and charging into a known trap of his will likely turn into a total clusterfuck. Sometimes Merchant, however, has crazy magical powers, super-fast invisible brownie agents, and timeless nevernever pockets for intelligence analysis... and can render invaluable assistance at reasonable prices.

Assistance like:
-Giving us the locations and descriptions of everyone in the building.
-Locating any bombs or traps in the building.
-Tracking anyone who departs from the scene.
-Providing us with information about incoming armed parties or police personnel.
-Giving us live updates on all the above periodically or upon request throughout the duration of this mission.

Reasonable prices like:
-Telling Sometimes Merchant honestly that we were specifically told "I don't care what we end up owing you" by the parties we are here to rescue and would be glad to act as intermediary in seeing that they pay him in full (their memories of his existence get erased after, of course) or that we will extract payment from them and subsequently pay him.
-We can cover the debt if they're all dead and unable to pay, of course. Defer negotiation if possible since we don't have a lot of time for it, but if he wants we've got a couple magic weapons to put up as collateral (not using the Tokarev for anything).
-Whatever he asks is less expensive than getting ourselves, Hillevi, and half the Russians killed due to our own stupidity in walking into this trap blind.

MrTT 2011/10/26(Wed)18:46 No. 361350 ID: b1f0e2
File 131967997513.png - (147.94KB , 640x400 , 3ks0s.png )

>Fanart is courtesy of TheInsufferableMystic, which is for the following.

>>/questdis/354644
Remember when you established a telepathic link via chakra manipulation to Amen? It took a while to figure out but eventually you got it. While you haven't ingested any of sake's blood, he is soul bound to you and you should be able to replicate the process with him. If it does not work you can try later with consuming a bit of his blood and taking a longer time in the attempt. But with how far you have come you should at least try to quickly replicate what worked last time for a link to sake. Don't spend more then 30 seconds on the attempt right now. If you can't quickly replicate last time success then try this after the fight is over.

If you do contact sake, ask him to come over and help you.

>>361188
upvoting combat plan.

>>361345
SUST, Especially the part where we sell our friends out to SM.

>>361163
Upvoting except for the party part... there are corpses here.

Get a radio from the russians

For all that is holy DO tell them what you know of his abilities.

>and all of them sporting different cut coats, each one long enough to obscure a rifle.
Ok, good thing here, onlookers can't see any weapons on us.

We can try calling up lo fang real quick. BB has a bounty by the Turkish government. Have his his agents in the government smooth things with the police for us or delay their response, if need be in exchange for a cut from the bounty IF and ONLY IF we kill him THIS time. That should allow the russians to enter with us.

I think most of the russians should help evacuate wounded and guard hilevi (who should heavily armor her whole body in case there is an explosive) while she reinforces the building and you sneak up after BB with SB scouting. A few of the russians can follow you to get BB himself.

One option if the police surrounds the buildings, have SB hold the russian's mundane weapons in the dark for you to sneak them into a nearby sewer or outright teleport them to a nearby sewer and wipe them of prints. You then all walk out along with hilevi and show the authorities you are unarmed and were only here to help the injured.

>Be a spacecase when using safe telepathy
It should really depend on the situation. Use safe telepathy out of combat and when not facing a dangerous situation (negotiating with a hostile is a dangerous situation). Our friends can just be told we have a limited form of telepathy and strangers who are not being negotiated with can think what they want. Or armas could put a bluetooth receiver on his ear and touch his hand to it, and occasionally say "uh huh" and finish with a "goodbye" spoken aloud to manipulate others into thinking he is on the phone...

>>361163
> While doubtful, this could be a surprise party from Camella.
> Corpses, civilian and armored alike.
Worst. Party. Ever.

The problem with getting SB to scout is, as mentioned before, police response. For something this big, in the middle of Istanbul, I'd say 10, maybe 20 minutes. Which means they'll be showing up SOON.

Hafaz, Blackbeard and Armas will all be mutually guilty in the police's eyes.

In light of this, I'd like to change my suggestion to Armas going up alone, or possibly with one other. If worse comes to worst, he can bust out of a window and survive the fall for a quick getaway. The Russians can't, so they get the ground floor and basement. If Hillevi goes with the ground group, she could start reinforcing supports/foundations with her magical ice (can she can order it to melt or something later? the police might find it weird if everything is covered in ice when they get there). Make sure the place doesn't come down on us before we're ready.

>>361345
SM-given info is usually good. However...

Going into debt to SM on credit - particularly on info, which SM rightly prizes - when we don't know what this mission will give us info-wise seems unwise to me. We don't actually have many things of value to trade, since we don't keep bits of info in reserve for situations like this, meaning we might end up owing more favors.

Likewise, selling Hafaz away to the goblins who are given carte-blanche to do anything they want to him until they feel they've balanced the scales, seems excessive.

>>361352
>We don't actually have many things of value to trade
We have all the classified information that Amen can extract from the mind of Zinaida Jidkova the moment we give the order if we run short of barter material. That is almost without a doubt several orders of magnitude more valuable than any information Sometimes Merchant could possibly give us in support of this operation.

Let's talk to the Russians real quick. They should know who Blackbeard is, so we're safe to tell them that.

"Alright. My friends were suckered into a trap, I think, and I'm sure the trapper is the mercenary Blackbeard. My main goal here is to extract the friendlies. The secondary goal is to take down the crazy mercenary. If we don't get a shot at him, I'm not going to cry, but I really want my friends alive and I want us all to bug out before the cops get here and arrest everyone. Try to limit the amount of physical evidence you leave.

"I'm going to trust you guys know how to keep the civvies out of the fight. Deploy yourselves to provide a cordon. Hillevi and I are going to do the moving and shaking in this; we're the ones who can survive being shot with that monster gun Blackbeard has."

I think we need to warn Hillevi about Blackbeard. Just, "The enemy is a mundane human, who likes to use multiple arrow charms and magic weapons. He loves traps and explosives, and thinks nothing of causing horrendous amounts of collateral damage. Your brother believes you'd be able to fight him, and I know that together you and I can. He has a big gun, and likes to wear black."

"We're going in to rescue some friends of mine; most of them are regular humans. Might be wounded."

Hmm...The Raging Judges...the other's missing right? Remember, you had it strapped to that arm's wrist, and since it got...melted, it's now gone. We should name our remaining revolver: The Lone Judge

>>361371
Seconded

Also, if you have the time(I doubt you will but still, I forgot about it earlier and we got here in one post), call to SM and get some shadow grenades to be delivered to your location as fast as possible.
This will be useful for a few reasons.
-You have a soulshadow, giving you a raw advantage in the gloom and a plus of cutting off your enemies vision.
-Your spear of the ghost technique will have boosted usefulness in this area.

Basically this allows you to tip the scales in unfavorable situations and become a lightning fast assassin or escape artist.

Downvoting calling anyone. We are currently on the scene, we use whatever resources we have with us, or we choose not to use them, but we absolutely do not have the time to be phoning random people for their assistance. We don't have the time or resources to bargain with SM without screwing our mission or annoying him and nobody else we know can get here fast enough. We have wasted enough time already.

Split the Russians into two teams. One is to secure the perimeter. They should act like law enforcement and deflect any questions as well as they are able. Hopefully we are done before they are subject to official scrutiny.
The second team of Russians should enter the building and sweep it for survivors or possible intel. Low-expectations for this team, their own safety and speed of retreat is paramount.

No one is to engage Blackbeard without you present!

We go through the front door and follow the destruction. Hillevi comes with us because she'll just get in the way of the Russians and her ice powers are damn useful.

>"I'm calling Sometimes Merchant and midway through asking him to deliver the Gatmalite from my storage locker on the docks to the mansion when I feel attention on me"

Well, it seems we got out of the habit of constantly predicting when people will look at us, and instead we are only checking if people are looking at us. This got to change now. Soemone like Matvey should NOT be able to sneak up on us.

>>361350
>Telepathic link to Sake By focusing soul inward:
Upvote
>Telling our guys what we know of Blackbeard:
Upvote
>Calling lo fang:
Call Go Ping Instead, as is already involved with the bounty, and has better relations with lo fang. This is crucial as it may be needed not to have either us or Russians in prison.
>General Telepathy rules for use:
Upvote

Given we saw a police car and corpses outside, and our luck, it's possible Adelat is there. If we manage to contact Sake and he is coming, we should try to make him take some roses or a gift for her.

Actually, do NOT ask the Russians to help you with bombs- we are better equipped than them to deal with those. Just have the ones who are feeling more confident at talking at the entrance providing crowd control, and send the rest to do a perimeter look out from other buldings.

Blackbeard must NOT escape us.


Do not forget to have Hillevi reinforce structural integrity of the building, and take her with us.

When we go up, have SB sweep around us to look for explosives. As the explosives themselves are less volatile than detonators, he should be able to teleport them out. If some are protected by magical whatever, have Hillevi create Blast Shields of ice.

>>361352
>>361396
>>361350
>>361345
i'd SUST having the Russian actually be inside the building, as it may be a death trap, and they can't really do much to help there.

They are much better suited to snip blackbeard if he comes out from a perimeter guard from other buildings, as well as following him if he manages to run away.

>>361350
Upvoting the telepathy plan. Downvote/SUST the directions for the russians.

>>361415
UPVOTAN AND JOINING ON SUSTS.
Lets not have any of the russians enter the building, about the only people who could surivive both the building blowing up and blackbeard are you and Hillevi.

The Russians can secure the area, that means dispersing the crowds and taking point on roof tops/trapping entrances. BB is gonna try escaping at some point, lets make it cost him some more charms at least.

We take Hillevi with us, she is fast and has absurd defencive abilities. She could take several bullets and be fine, and a traditional girl like her is sure to know about blades.

Don't let her get Ice armour until we are inside the building, have her seal off doors as we go through, BB will blow through, but he'd do that anyway. Make sure she knows not to be shot, and to avoid his swords. We hide behind her, and soulsense in conjunction and seperately from attention sense.

We don't even need to tell Shadowbro what to do, he knows and has our back.

>>361371
Rather than that...
What about Lonesome
Or Jugdement
Or Lone Judge
Or Old Lonesome
Or Lonesome Jugdement

Or some perumentation of such, see what your shadowbro says, he's cool. Sole Judge/Judgement isn't bad.

>>361416
Upvote, just a generally good plan.

Just make sure the Russians know we're facing Blackbeard they need something to work with weather they enter or not.

If they do enter and I don't think they should their role should be entirely on scouting, if they find Blackbeard inform us then gtfo.

As for name the judge I'd not its not just a our lone judge but our last/final judge. I rather like "the Last Judge" or "Final Judgement".

>>361416
Old Lonesome. I like this. I like this a lot.

Matvey was able to 'surprise' find you because he, while moderately hung over, 'stumbled' on you. He did not follow your voice, or actively seek you out. And yes, this does suggest that Drunks, like Children, are at risk of randomly shattering your stealth through mindless impulsiveness.

>>361125a492a8
>>361128361128
>>361129b83c65
>>361132, >>361352Guile[Pic]
>>361133Falcon
>>361141c6ce12
>>361163Arkeus
>>361209Alratan
Yeah, he actually has-at least in terms of fresh blood. You've heard of liter water bottles before, I hope-as it happens, the man with supernatural hunger and eating capacities is also a thirsty drinker. If you're talking about past week's supply-there is nothing intrinsic to non-regenerating magic meat or body tissues that prevents rot-and for a very large portion of this trip you were without power (Valkonens have no electricity or electronics at their estate, do recall). Though if you want to drink spoiled basilisk blood, that's fine-I just wanted to be sure that's actually what you were asking, because that's all you really have, having drank / used the most recent deliveries. This also means that unless told otherwise, Armas will use the freshest ingredients he has in the hopes of optimal effects.
>>361370BUTTZ
>>361416Mystic
>>36142953f3f7
Happy I programed it on the walk up, I speeddial Hafaz-
>[Automated Voice]"We are sorry, this call cannot be completed as-"
*click*
Well then.

I turn to the ex-soldiers behind me and speak in a clipped, fast-paced voice, happily using Russian in soft tones just in case we end up with wayward listeners.
" Alright. My friends were suckered into a trap, I think. My main goal here is to extract the friendlies. The secondary goal is to take down the crazy mercenary that trapped them. If we don't get a shot at him, I'm not going to cry, but I really want my friends alive and I want us all to bug out before the cops get here and arrest everyone. Try to limit the amount of physical evidence you leave.
Well, I'd say the police will be here relatively soon-we'll operate on a fifteen minute window with a five minute margin for error."
>[Vlad][In Russian]"Ten minutes? That's not much time to do a proper operation in these circumestances."
"No it's not but there's not really another option. I got people to rescue in a building Blackbeard's inside, and-"
>[Grisha][In Russian]"Could you say that name again?"
"Blackbeard-do you know of-"
>[Gloom]"We know of him-and will most certainly not enter that building while he's an unknown."
Tick tock, tick tock-
"Fine-I still need these crowds dispersed to avoid witnesses, and I need guns on exits who know how to confirm a target before shooting-that managable? I'm going to trust you guys know how to keep the civvies out of the fight while Hillevi and I get to do the moving and shaking in this; we're the ones who can survive being shot with that monster gun Blackbeard has. "
Matvey glances at the nearby rooftops.
>[Matvey]"It can be done."
"Excellent. Just don't claim to be Turkish police forces-no way they'd buy you as being Turkish. Oh, and this company sounds like it has ludicrously lucrative files inside with all sorts of valuble secrets-if anyone's willing to brave that so long as it's not on me and I get to look at it you can do what you want with it."
>[Matvey][In Russian]"I was not planning to-and I'll radio the men on this-I think a few might risk it, assuming that they see no signs of hostiles on the way."
"If they do, they can pull out-not like I need the files."
>[Matvey][In Russian]"Target of opportunity? Understood."
As Matvey begins issuing muted commands to his fellows, some moving to discreetly flit down alleyways for rooftop access, some infiltrating the crowd and moving with a decidedly practiced air as they round up gawkers, I address Hillevi in Finnish even as I start ambling across the thankfully empty street.

"Okay, quick briefing-bad guy inside by the name of Blackbeard, he's got a gun that probably outperforms that Einher's bow that you saw before leaving Finland. Fond of explosions and traps-and likes to leave traps that are hard to detect. Oh yeah, he also carries several magic swords, and has an unusually large number of charms."
Hillevi mulls this over for all of three seconds.
>[Hillevi][In Finnish]"Other known threats?"
"Well, Blackbeard's known to work alone-so if there are, then they're probably third party."
Again she digests this-as the radio in my pocket squeaks even as I walk closer to the building, looking like I'm doing what I'm supposed to, the crowds continually being backed away with urgings of public safety concerns (which are rather easily believed with a groaning, slightly leaning building just right there).

Things obviously can't go perfectly-there's always a snag, a hiccup. For now, that hiccup is an irate looking older women, refusing to listen to the Russians and, after pretending to lose interest, darting past them with her eyes and attention locked on me. Her soul is just screaming 'I obsessively watch my neighbors to both make sure they are following the law and for gossip'-
So before she can even speak I go for an unorthodox approach.

"I hope you have good life insurance," I say as I keep walking, "Because my company will NOT compensate your family if you get crushed under falling concrete, rebar, or are flayed alive by shattered glass. Similarly, I hope you do not think I am a Government employee bound to answer your questions: Follow me inside if you wish, I can't legally stop you-but don't expect me to answer your questions or assist you if trouble arises-I am here only to perform my job, and will not stop for you."
Maybe I spent too long in Finland. Maybe it's my resistance to cold-maybe it's my nature as an unapologetic asshole. But I could swear my words were so cold, so uncarimng she is phyiscally struck by them, rocking to a dead stop as her mouth gapes like a fish. I feel two Russians finish catching up with her and drag her away-this time, she doesn't seem to be playing along when she complies: She looks only too happy to be away from this debacle.
...Yeah, that would NOT have worked if I'd worn combat gear-and since I felt that nosy bitch's attention switch from Hillevi to me, she would have bothered us anyway.
>[Iron Trick]"A good suit and smooth words can open or close far more doors than any physical weapon can."
True enough.

I don't slow down as we step into the building's foyer, Shadowbro immediately flitting about the room, confirming the corpses are indeed the dead and not some trap, and that no wayward recognizable explosives are to be found. I listen with half an ear as Matvey reports Gloom, Grisha and Iosef volunteered to seek out the records room, and will be entering in thirty seconds. I mull this over as I climb the stairs, following the trail of destruction only after I verify nothing hides in any of the nooks I myself identified as likely foxholes. To the mind of shadow and sneak alike, the room... is clear.
>>361345
As shadowbro precedes Hillevi and I up the stares, both halves of my soul grateful for the shoddy lighting, I take a moment to indulge in another plan.
I try texting Hafaz. Never know, might work. Let's see....
"Here. Where are you? Enemies?"
Shadowbro returns with an all-clear, and I begin ascending to the second floor without a response. Well, so much for-
>[Hafaz][Text]"6 flr, unknwn enmy #s, >5. BB hr stl"
...Interesting, he can still text? Wasn't expecting that.
So I decide to see if I'm on a roll here, and dial a new number as I finish climbing the stairs to the next level, my shadow again spreading out to inspect the room.
>[SM]"You have need of me?"
I rattle off the address without preamble and get to my querry, wondering if I'm only one minute in now, or two-my sense of time always skews when I'm paying a great deal of attention to external stimulus, oddly enough.
"So, can you provide schematics, estimation on threats, real time-"
>[SM]"Sadly, there is nothing to bargain with here-I know the address you speak of, and it is one of a small number in Turkey that... does not exist on paper. Given our deal with the Turkish Government... there is nothing we could offer that would not besmirch our name with the taint of sub-par goods."
"I'd still be willing to buy-"
>[SM]"But we are not willing to sell. Nevertheless-if by some stroke of luck that building would... cease to be.... you might find yourself cleared of owed favors. Think on it."
[small]*click*[/code]

Hm.

After shadowbro and I both finish checking the floor with Hillevi guarding the stairway, I briefly radio Matvey, and explain the friendlies are on the sixth floor. He mentions that he only has two guns that can see up there, and neither sees anything, before stating he'll move another pair of guns, so that one's watching each face of the building to be thorough. He'll radio back if he gets confirmation of people there.

I re-enter the stairs as I consider what the second floor looked like. Bodies were everywhere, only two of them not in archetypal white-collar workwear, and the two exceptions wore the same guard uniforms as the few I saw on the entry level. What's strange about them is that I don't see any bullet holes in the people-a few massive holes that have to be from Blackbeard's gun in one of the support pillars certainly-but no one died by gunfire. Instead, Shadowbro noted that every last person had a fresh, oozing sore over their heart-every last one of them, without exception-while the first floor was trashed with the use of more mundane means, including a shell a third the size of a soda bottle that suggests it Blackbeard's work. ...Strange, but still not enough to form any meaningful conclusions. SO after checking the stairs up to the third floor and finding them clear, shadowbro beckons to me, as Hillevi and I follow after the intangible figure.
>"Something is... off about this place, but I still can't say what... incidentally, three minutes elapsed."
Thirty percent of my time gone, and I'm only now starting to search the third floor... where the hell are those hostiles Hafaz mentioned? And I haven't heard a single bit of gunfire-so where's Blackbeard? Better, where are his explosives? I know he's fond of traps that go boom-so why is this not adding up?
>[Iron Trick]"Focus."
Yeah-yeah.

>>361350
...Wait a minute.
Sake? Saaaaake? SAKE?
>"What are you doing, why are you shouting in your head?"
Well I'm telapathic right?
>"I wish I was a theist just so I could utter a proper profanity to note how horrendously wrong that idea is."
So how do I talk to y-
>"I'm a part of your soul-I don't count, one, and two I'm quite literally attached to you."
Okay so what about A-
>"You shared blood with him, and AMEN maintains the connection's cohesion, not you."
Yeah so then if I shared blood with someone else-
>"It works because Amen is a blood master-are you? Oh you in fact aren't? Please focus on the matter at hand rather than pretending you have special abilities with no substantiation, thank you."
>"[Iron Trick]"In case you are wondering, you can talk to Silja and I because you maintain physical proximity with us, and we are, in our respective ways, made to commune with wielders-put either of us down, and no communication would be possible."
....Damn, so much for that idea.
I'm about to call Lo Fang, looking for him to kill police interest in this-and realize the time to do that, if ever, would have been before even leaving the house-I just can't see him being influential enough to turn back squad cars en route.
Not to mention the fact that THIS floor....

Is not just filled with corpses.

In the middle-almost the exact middle-of the wide office space, stand two black figures. Not a drop of light defines texture or form to these two-they look like shadow liquefied and made to mock gravity-

And begin to flow across the room at us at a languid pace.

Just as I'm putting some thought into my approach after noting how slowly they're advancing-

With a grunt, two spheres of ice the size of beach balls fly through the air, each one impacting an oily mass-and immediately freezing it solid. Both figures begin to teeter-and fall, shattering. Even as my shadow carefully flits across the room, seeking more threats, I watch the frozen shadow thaw unnaturally fast-leaving naught but oily stains and what looks like crumbled charcoal to show something was ever there. Again, the room is filled with bodies-again, none looking out of place, all sporting the heart-centered sore.
Shadowbro, were those beings of shadow?
>"No... not primarily. There was some of the Dark to them... I'd need longer to observe one to give you more."
Great. Well, that's two down-that means there's at most three more by Hafaz' estimate.
>"Four minutes in."
Fuck-picking up the pace.

Again, nothing in the stairs, save more blood and bullet holes without any corpses. The fourth floor holds no surprises-neither does the fifth. I'm breezing through this building, finding no traps-and no answers.

As I turn the corner to ascend to the sixth floor, that finally changes: I perceive a soul sharing the building with us, just a bit farther up ahead-it's not focusing it's attention on me, not yet, but I can feel it's aware there's others here. ....I also have a rather nasty flashback, as the blood slowly dripping down the steps is far too similar to what I encountered on a certain boat for my liking. With my arm aching for no rational reason, I continue up the steps, timing breathing, weight shift, everything I do to be obscured behind the actions of the far more noticeable Hillevi. My efforts are, to a degree, rewarded.

>[Gruff Voice][In Turkish]"'Less you're the law or you're a beastie, I got no quarrel with you today-leave, Practitioner."
>"Interesting. Sounds like he only detected one person?"
>[Iron Trick]"Even more important he intimated that were you either of the others he WOULD have a quarrel-is that a hint as to what he's here for?"
Seems to me the most important thing is that I actually learned Turkish.
>"Yeah, would probably make less sense if you hadn't."

Hm. Hillevi's been detected, to a degree-but hasn't spoken. Could he know her gender? Could I get away with being the 'practitioner's' voice?
Let's find out.
"Be happy to leave-with some acquantances of mine."
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"Aaah, the Middle Easterners-you want them? Take them."
That... didn't sound like a challenge, not really-but it felt like one.
Unfortunately for me, that seems to conclude my time to 'consider' things as Hillevi likewise seems to have seen a challenge in those words-a challenge she should rise to. So, rather than futilely trying to restrain her-I follow her up, behind her now full-ice-encased body.
>"Six minutes in."
The sight I see peaking over Hillevi's back is... memorable, to say the least. This floor is similarly strewn with corpses-but unlike past floors, the corpses are liberally intermixed with blocks of charcoal and sooty stains, more than a score such marks dirtying the carpets. There is... a man-made mountain before a supply cabinet, corpses piled to chest height-with a man sitting atop the grisly throne, swords lodged into the slain he's seated on in a semicircle about him, a rifle larger than any I've ever seen carried rather than mounted idly leaned again his shoulder, a mass of gold chains, amulets, jeweled charms and broaches turning his chest into a glittering sea of opulence. I can feel the bloodletting powers in one sword, the space-distorting magic in another-but the rest of his swords stand too close to his mass of gold, and are... filled with static to my senses. Beneath his bejeweled finery, a simple bnlack tactical vest and black cargo pants go with black boots and a dark grey undershirt. Atop his head sits an almost foppish hat, it's brim wide enough to make me think of cartoon caricatures, with a band made of carefully folded pieces of currency from around the world. Adorning the man's face is a beard so heavily curled and bristling it seems to have it's own sense of gravity, the lone thing allowed to rest atop his mass of charms. He sits easy, this averagely sized man, and oozes lazy confidence.

But more than all of that, what strikes me most is his soul. Instead of some iteration of himself, or a facet that he is most defined by-his soul looks to me like a grasping hand, loosely clutched about the world itself, and exudes such an oppressive air of greed-fueled ambition my eyes water. This is a man not ruled by greed-but one that rules Greed itself, having made it such an inseperable part of himself that I truly wonder if he could even be called human. Not a trace, not the slightest whiff of morality, empathy or compassion can be detected-only that cold, all-consuming lust to claim everything in the world as his.

This man.... is fucking dangerous.

[Music]

>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"Two of you huh? 'Sfine, I don't care-but you're only getting your friends if you swear a soul-oath to leave right after. I've got shit to do, and I don't need you in my way."
"Where are they?"
Blackbeard points over his shoulder at the blockaded supply room door.
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"In there-so you want to make the deal or not?"
"First tell me if the... other entrants to this building were associated with you."
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"The Ashfreaks? Hah, no, they've got nothing to do with me-I kill them, that's it for our 'association'. Now do you want to still be hear when the real party starts, or do you actually plan to take me up on my offer? I'm slightly more inclined to conserve resources than blithely kill you two-so I'd recommend taking the offer."
>"Seven minutes."

I'm about to reply when I feel a... pull, a faint tug on my soul. Without even thinking, my head turns to face the sensation, still sheltered behind Hillevi's indomitable form.
The windows briefly bow inward, flexing absurdly before they shatter-as I hear a familiar voice.
>[Sake]"I THOUGHT I smelled her ice-FOUND YOU!"
Happy as I am to see Sake again, I am less than happy when I see Blackbeard immediately reacted to this-by beginning to heft his massive rifle.

Well fuck that.
>>361133
>>361188
Dkay, if you actually have complaints, you can put them in discussion, or get on IRC and tell me, or ask someone on IRC to pass it on if I'm not on. They don't really belong in the main quest thread-and idyllically, you'd offer solutions with what you have personally identified as problem areas, rather than just saying 'I don't like this', as (and I suppose I could be missing something) that doesn't have the capacity to be a productive comment, since all you did was offer your dislike. You may not have noticed, but only the bottom 35% of your post is an actual suggestion.
[16, 81, 73, 35, 26, 98 = 329/600, 54.8%]

Now, I may not be the best shot. Or the fastest shot. Or, in fact, even that good of a shot. Similarly I don't draw particularly swiftly, nor do I hip fire with particular accuracy.

What I CAN do, is draw a revolver from a chest rig faster than he can flip about his likely hundred-pound monstrosity of a gun.
What I CAN do is take aim at a man-sized target twenty feet away before he can catch up.
What I CAN do-

Is completely ignore his charms entirely, and shoot solely-
At his shadow.
One bullet's close to missing-I admit that. It's at best a half inch away from not even touching the man's shadow-but it doesn't matter if it hit him square on or clipped him-a hit's a hit, where shadows and the Trick are concerned.
>[Iron Trick]"Here here."

It's right around when I'm pluging the last two rounds in his shadow that... something goes wrong.

With a roar loud enough the windows nearest him shatter, the still moving Blackbeard fires-

For a moment there is a sensation of being in a vacuum as Hillevi rocks back, barely avoiding falling to her back with my help-
But she is not injured. No blood stains the ground-only chips of ice. There is a gouge in her shoulder's ice armor-and a quick glance behind me shows that there's a hole in the stairwell wall that goes farther than I can see-

But we're both alive and unharmed-
Which makes my priority harming the other fuck.
>[Sake]"What are you doing having fun like this when I'm not around!?"
Sake possessively lands on the ground betwixt us and Blackbeard, his overlong back arching in the air and... wiggling.
>"Please don't tell me he's trying to be intimidating..."

Idly plucking bullets from his shadow, Blackbeard keeps his eyes locked on the three of us, still seated atop the mass of bodies.
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"...Why is there a Ramidreju using Wind Manipulation coming to your aid?"
As he asks, his free hand comes smoothly from a pocket-holding what looks distressingly likea detonator to me.
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"And if you don't want to answer that-care to guess where the bombs you missed are? Or whether you'd survive a building collapsing with you in it?"
>"Eight minutes."

I can see my foe, I know where those I need to save are, it looks like Hillevi can actually... tank through Blackbeard's gunfire, and the three brothers have once more united.






So what am I going to do?

rolled 18, 12, 100, 37, 63, 50, 45, 55, 43, 100, 48, 21 = 592

---

Say nothing. He doesn't deserve words. Instead, mutter to Hillevi to reinforce the building - you'll give cover.

Give him a Taste, as much as you can manage. Rolling here for twelve.

Consider the following:

Charms are keyed to work against intents. Each one will guard against one. Now, normally, this means shot will only take one charm. But really, you intend to kill him with each bearing, right? Each and every one. Keep that in your head as you unload twelve rounds.

Start humming, Armas. You know what he needs to hear.

NONONONONONONO! Back up!

TAKE HIM UP ON HIS OFFER!

Seriously. We're here to get our friends out. Blackbeard is a -secondary goal-. If the ceiling collapses our buddies are dead. So take him up on his offer and lets GTFO.

Take your friends and go.
Go now.

Use your knowledge of goblinic deal making to ensure that the soul deal you swear does not bind you in any way after you leave the building.
That's it.
Do not try to irk out more.
Get the mundanes out and worry about BB later.

However I do not suggest chasing him.
P.S. Armas, you need to find yourself a supernatural doctor that you can trust.
Amen is ok but we don't trust him as far as we can throw him, and I doubt you could even lift the man much less toss him.
Look into this.

>>361553
>>361562
While Blackbeard is a rampart psychopath in need of a high-velocity lead infusion, let's not piss him off when our objective is something other than that. SUST.

Right, we got the Ramidreju in the mountains as a favor for a dear brother we found haunting a boneyard in Finland.
From that he should be able to fill in enough of the gaps as to what this is. If not, none of us would care much.

But right now we should try to stop Sake from doing something stupid, and see if we can still go with Blackbeard's deal - with one alteration, as leaving "right after" is a bit too relative for my liking.
So how about something along these lines:
"In return for my middle-eastern associates, Armas, Hillevi and Sake (or just "The Ramidreju") will not engage in hostilities with the mercenary Blackbeard for 5 minutes at the agreement of the deal, and will leave the building as soon as possible without harming themselves due to the speed of their passage."

If not, well we're going to have to get Hafaz and the rest out via Sake, or attempt to weather the building's collapse by using an ice shield - not ideal at our height. In this case we won't really have enough time to stop him hitting that detonator.

>>361553
>>361559
SUST these dudes.

Armas should get his buddies out before anything, likely none of them or Hillevi can survive a building falling on them. If we eventually do want to take Blackbeard on, it should be on our terms and without any ward we are supposed to be protecting for a year nearby.

shadowport the detonator.

Just in case this comes down to a shootout: Every piece of shot that comes out of that barrel is on its own trajectory, its own course, and each has its own capacity for damage. Consider firing a shotgun as like a boxer throwing out tens of punches over the course of a round. Not all of them hit, and those that do don't always do any damage, but what every single one of those punches will do is test the opponent's defences. In the same way, every time you fire the shot, you're in essence probing for weaknesses, searching for a chink in the sometimes literal armour, and if any of those little pellets of lead can find one, they are going to tear straight through - they intend to harm whereever they can.

>>361564
Agreed. Let's not start a fight on his (booby-trapped to hell and back) turf while there are still incapacitated friendlies around.
Suggest that we've got off on the wrong foot, and offer to explain 'our' Ramidreju over a beer when we haven't both got other things to worry about.

About the oath, let's not make it right away. At least, not until we manage to make this into a equal exchange situation.

We only make an oath to leave with our friends and to not do anything against BB while we're in this building, as long as he make an soul oath to not do anything that could hurt us or anyone we consider a ally, so long as we're in the building.

Anonymous 2011/10/28(Fri)09:29 No. 361674 ID: 81f32a
File 131981936678.jpg - (357.95KB , 1638x1072 , BLOCKBEARD.jpg )

rolled 86, 18, 41, 5, 68, 20, 53, 90, 8, 16, 18, 79 = 502

---

[this fan-art might come in handy]
[and this one >>/questarch/res/356666 because it seems you didn't use it. At least no notification in the update about its use, so correct me if I am wrong]

>Or whether you'd survive a building collapsing with you in it?
Actually, yes. We all will survive.
The only people who might die are Hafaz and his group and even they have good chances at surviving [just turn on the news about the recent earthquake in Turkey. Just today they saved a young boy from under the ruins] unless the bombs are on this floor.

Also, I doubt BB will blow it to hell while he is in here, especially before he finishes his main job (whatever it is)

There are 4 of us here, order everyone to circle him.

Tell Hillevi (in Finnish) to focus completely on defense, evasion and protection. Tell her to call up a blizzard of snow to obscure BB's vision. She should also try to set up shields to protect you and others or redirecting the rounds. (these orders are written in decreasing priority. First order is more important than the last)

Order Sake (in Finnish or Russian. He knows these language, right? Right?) to use his wind powers to shoot glass shards at BB's face. I do not know if BB's arrow charms will protect them of this or not but the idea is to distract him. Tell Sake that instead of using single one wind blast (which would register as single attack) to shoot shards very rapidly one after another using smaller attacks.

Tell SB to shadowport BB's detonator if he can. Tell him to be ready to catch BB's rounds like he did when catching Gunner's arrows.
But generally, he is to do his own thing. If he cannot substantially help out in the fight, recall him to your body and tell him to give you the Speed boost that we can get.

While doing all this, load the Matebas with DOOM rounds (Yes, DOOM rounds, we always take them with us just in case. Don't tell me didn't take them!).
I know that Armas is fast and he has his Hot Hands trait but he might just not be fast enough for BB. So, let go of the Buntline, just let it hang in the air. Raise your hands in position and just when you have them where you need them have Shadobro shadowbport the Matebas into your hands.
You can see his soul, so there is absolutely no need to shoot his body, aim for his soul, shoot it to death. If we are lucky, we will basically cheat at BB by completely ignoring his charms. I doubt that he has much (if any) protection on his soul because any opponent who can directly attack souls is so powerful anyway that BB wouldn't stand a chance against them (Dragons, Devils, Wizards, etc).
[rolling for matebas]

After depleting the the barrels, shadowport them back. If you can, try to catch the Buntline (if you feel it will take to much time, just let it drop for now).

As soon as you get the chance, as soon as you feel even a minor slip in his attention, slip into stealth mode and go for the flank.
Take the Taste of Ruin and unleash the hell on him. You know he has bunch of charms and getting thought them would be hard buy shooting them one by one. Fortunately each buckshot
shoots more than a dozen of separate bullets and since each bullet is different, each will hit different place at different time, each of them is a separate threat. Really Armas, it is just a simple undeniable truth, rooted so fundamentally deep into the fabric of existence that you never actually thought different in any point of your life. Just keep this Belief close to your heart.

Now, your powers. Sami to be exact. As far as I know, we have seen only 3 different uses of Sami:
Our own special brand of healing
Turning into a giant (or looking like one)... which is useless now
And the super speed (when that Shaman asshole challenged us, remember?). This one is very useful and I suggest we try our best to apply it here. Increased speed will help us to stay in his blind spot, couple it with SB speed boost, we would be extremely fast (though it can be dangerous to ourself. So be careful)

Also, keep in mind: he has loads of charms but that does not mean all of them are Protective ones. He probably has some which boost his physical abilities. Do not approach him as you would approach a human enemy but as a supernatural entity which you do not know the capabilities of.
We know he has some kind of detection charms and charms that can identify magic. It is possible he knows we have a soul-shadow, do not rely on surprise too much.

We might just have a chance to beat this guy here and now and be over with him.

>>361562
Humming might give away our position. Do not do that.

>>361603
Do not utter any single name.

>>361648
>Suggest that we've got off on the wrong foot, and offer to explain 'our' Ramidreju over a beer when we haven't both got other things to worry about.
>over a beer
You-... don't really what who BalckBeard is, do you?
I am almost certain that we can establish genuine close friendship with Doonongeas than we could even become a distant acquaintance of Blackbeard. He is to be trusted less than Amen.
Do not offer him to talk things over a beer.

The only reason why BB hasn't attacked us before, is because we weren't in Istanbul at that time. 99.9% certain that if we were, he would have tried to kill us several times already.

Also, his main objective seems to be to lure massive amount of Police force and then kill them all. Do you want that to happen and know that it could have been prevented? Hell, Adelat might be among them, and though I do not want any romantic relationship with her, I would like to run into her again in future.

rolled 22, 33, 61, 49, 15, 19, 4, 6, 32, 31, 15, 59, 54, 75, 96, 88, 53, 98, 83, 53 = 946

---

>>361674
Well, I guess you cannot link to archive

It was this fan-art

>>361553
AA-12 has 32 round iirc, so I gonna roll for the rest.

>>361674
Yes, I'm fully aware he's completely batshit. Yes, we will - eventually - have to kill him. Better to try anywhere but here, though. We've go Hafaz&co nearby, a bunch of random civvies and Russian soldiers outside, and the police on the way. He's armed to the teeth, better prepared and looking for trouble. This has the potential to turn into a spectacularly public clusterfuck.
Say ANYTHING that might keep him nonhostile/interested for now, worry about killing him later.

Sake's wriggling... so hypnotic...

Let's just hope he doesn't go into his war dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMogmSHmS9o). Then we will HAVE to battle to the death.

>>361564
This. Seriously, you guys want to fight Blackbeard in a crumbling building strapped with bombs with the police and as-yet unknown forces (maybe of these 'Ashfreaks', maybe not?) closing in in a couple of minutes? What is WRONG with you all?

If we retreat now, we can: come back at a better time (for us). We can get Hafaz and co. out. We can learn who's fighting Blackbeard if we leave a couple russians on the scene. We can get whatever Gloom snagged from the records room. We can avoid the damn police. We can choose to snipe him as he leaves, reducing his charms without much threat to ourselves. We (by ourselves) might be able to follow him back to his base. And let's not forget an enemy of Blackbeard's might be a potential ally.

"Easy there, bud. I think Blackbeard's been properly intimidated, and we still have some middle easterners to grab. Another time, another time."

Turn to BB: "Right then. It's been ... interesting. I'll be taking my middle easterners and going home. Be a pal and erase this building from the map when you're done, will you?"

Exit: stage right.

Guys, we don't have the time to get into a shooting battle with BB, our first priority is to GFTO with the people we've came for, this is an extraction with a time limit, so we cannot let ourselves get bog down.

We can talk our way out of this, I mean fuck, we have a level 6 social trait and we're clever bastards. Use those for fucks sake.

So unfortunately, I'm going to have to SUTS on all those post suggesting we shoot him.

Now, as to how BB was able to completely resist Iron trick's powers, well I think that it probably has something to do with his greedy soul.
Let's see, he is so greedy that greed has come to complete envelopp and represent his soul. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if his greed is essentially his soul. Now, it is entirely possible that because of this, he's gain some sort of greed based immunity or power because of this, and possbile some other magic bullshit.
Because after all, didn't we shoot His shadow and try to bind His body?

Since everyone seems to be bugging out of the fight (not that I approve of this action entirely)
How about we still fuck up BB plans at least a little bit?
It is almost certain that he is luring the Istanbul Security Services in here to blow them to heaven come. We could potentially put a stop to that by leaving a tip to the police. While Armas cannot do that rigt now, we could send the order to Amen through instant telepathy:

"Amen, call the police so that they cannot trace you back and use your best persuading and convince them that the one behind the incident at this address is BlackBeard, that he has rigged the entire building chocke-full with explosives and that there are no survivors."

Alternatevely, to minimize the telepathic damage we can start with: "Amen, do not answer me...". Though we will not if he obeyed our order then but actually it doesn't matter since if he could tell us he cannot comply, we simply do not have anything else to tell him.

Of course this will not stop the police, on the contrary, they are going to turn the response team to 11, sending in tons of police, SWAT, helicopter. They no doubt have recived a directive to notify the Turkish CIA and FBI who in turn will probably send magic-savvy operatives.

Unless you guys want him to go AND let his plans go unimpeeded. Remember, this fucker burned down Right Laine.

After that we agree with BB-
*sigh*.... Really, a soul-oath with BB, you people want to actually agree with that?
Just-... Just make sure there are no loopholes he can take advantage on. Like for example, we agree to not attack him and seal the deal and then he goes and attacks us because we managed to forget to make sure he cannot attack us either. That would be funny, because if that happens and we retaliate, we immediately become undone and the quest ends the most lamest way possible.
Also make sure the deal will stay in effect untill we leave the building.
And make him soul-swear that he will destroy the building before he leaves it.

Oh, also, try to make a 3-part deal so that we can use our To Scoff At Three deal if we feel like it.

And.... anyone actually put a thought how we are going to make a soul-oath? It is not as simple as making a promise and shaking hands.
I doubt the proccess is anywhere near nice.


If we are going to fight and IF we can relay orders to Matyev through Amen. Relay this: our floor, which way the windows open to then tell him to move sharpshooters so that they can assist us there (I think Ivan, the sniper, would be the best).

We need to play along for a bit. It's very suspicious that you can't sense Hafaz and his team's souls - you could feel Blackbeard's at range, why not them. Ask, if to his knowledge, any of them died. Say, "My you're clearly feeling very confident, mind telling me who else is invited to this party in case I run into them on my way out, and what you know of the condition of those I came to collect."

Also, ask Amen what kind of magic could cause the sores you witnessed. Would blood magic do it, or can he tell from your magic item senses if one of Blackbeard's weapons would?

We can't actually make the deal with BB, as he won't agree to be similarly bound, and you can't create a soul oath yourself.

Well, ShadowBro may well be able to communicate with Sake, he could with Einrik after all, and now he has a body Sake's magical senses should return.

I propose that we don't try to kill Blackbeard, instead we try to get rid of him. Sake should create a horizontal tornado (we know he can create one that can lift the weight of a man against gravity), and suck Blackbeard right out of the room, and then throw him out of the window. At the same time, Sake should have the fine control to send the bodies with the swords embedded in flying into the corners of the room, and possibly suck some of the charms from around Blackbeard's neck.

If he goes out the window we should radio the Russians so they know to open fire on him as he falls.

If we do attack (and I really, really don't want to), try to get Sake to remove the detonator arm at the wrist before you make your move.

>>361785
I like this plan, mostly. If he needs a name, Penis Troll will suffice. I don't think the soul-oath is conditional on us telling him shit about Sake; I think an oath to 'leave as quickly and uneventfully as possible' will suffice.

The thing about neutral territory, though... I doubt Blackbeard gives a shit about neutral territory. We meet up at the Asitane, I'd be half expecting it to be blown the fuck up.

rolled 82, 29, 13, 95, 28, 85, 83, 69, 19, 7, 63, 19, 20 = 612

---

we won't get such a good chance of killing Blackbeard again, we must finish him now

Blackbeard works alone, but he's not above using people. He manipulated Hafaz and his gang into taking a job to retrieve some files or something, and used them to fight the ashfreaks while he came in from behind and planted his bombs. He needed the cover and didn't want to pay for it. The ashfreaks are, or were, the vanguard force meant to secure this place. They're the minions of something that wants information from here, or doesn't want this place to exist at all. After all, Sometimes Merchant told us that this place has an agreement with the Turkish government, a legal mortal company working completely off the records, with protection from the government.

I've got a feeling that Blackbeard took a contract of some sort, or is being courted by Mammon. So we cannot let him figure out that we're the guy doing the auction. Not yet anyway.

Blackbeard wants that supernatural. If he wants the supernatural to satisfy a contract, or just to collect information or treasure is immaterial. What matters is that he doesn't care about Hafaz because Hafaz's team served their purpose. They provided credible distractions for the ashfreaks.

We're looking at a situation where the Patron and Blackbeard are going to have a showdown here, and it's going to end with the building blown up. The company here is going to have official Turkish government back-up of some sort, and the supernatural enemy that Blackbeard set this trap for will arrive soon with whatever other ashfreaks or other supernaturals he can muster.

So. Negotiate. But do so from a position of relative parity.

"That's a lot of money and time wasted just to hear a long story you really don't have time to listen to. If you're really interested in hearing about my ally, I wouldn't mind meeting up later on neutral territory, like the Asitane. Anyway, I'll swear to leave once my friends here are evacuated; my two allies here will abide by the same and I'll make it clear to the Middle Easterners that they're not to attack you when we're all leaving. Do you really have the time and resources to make a soul-oath right now? I'll swear that too, if you insist, but your resources for doing such things are better spent on binding an unreliable ally to your will. I'm a neutral party, I just want my friends. And I've already given my word that we'll leave you to your fight."

If he asks our name, regardless of if we have to swear the soul-oath or not, tell him, "I'm called Kyrpä Peikko."

Unlike our other titles, Kyrpä Peikko doesn't tie us to anyone we know. Our real name is known by enough people that Blackbeard could get a thorough background check on us. The "Deal Maker" titles ties us to the goblins, "Contractor" indicates we've got ties to a powerful patron, and our old army ranks identify us as having worked for the USA.

So, we're the Penis Troll again. Because Blackbeard is dangerous, and we don't want to fight him nor give him a chance to learn about us.

That's the reason for trying to weasel out of the soul-oath too. I assume a soul-oath requires a certain amount of examining the soul, and Blackbeard obviously couldn't detect our soul. We've got the advantage, let's keep it.

I recommend trying to talk our way out of this, but if we do end up fighting have Shadowbro see if he can cause some havoc with shadowporting. Things like getting the detonator away from him, porting the ammo out his gun, or porting the pins out of any grenades he might be carrying. I really want to see the look on his face when all his grenades set off.

FIRST OFF

SUSTING THE IDEA OF SOULOATH, ALSO SUSTING THE IDEA OF GIVING HIM INFO THAT ISN'T DECEPTIVE TRUTH, ALSO SUSTING THE NOT FIGHTING IDEA.
This is Blackbeard WHY ON EARTH DO YOU THINK HE WILL BE HONOURABLE OR WORTHY OF TRUST FOR A MOMENT.

THIS IS A MAN WHO TAKES WHAT HE WANTS BY FORCE AND FIRE.

The truth of the matter is, as dangerous as he is we have forced him into threatening us with his final bombs, which is kinda desperate considering Us, Hillevi and Sake can all survive an explosion.

You know what time it is?
IT IS TIME TO PULL A MAGUM BANG!
ALL OPTIONS! HIJACKING ALL SHOOTING POSTS FOR THIS! HIJACKING ALL TALKY POSTS!

We fake out thinking about a soul oath. While doing so we have Shadowbro talk to Sake.

We seek out Hafaz's soul, should be near, if it isn't then he isn't here, don't forget that BB has no honour and would lie like the greedy monster he is. Also think of einherjar time sense... are the police almost here?

Then whether we detect Hazfaz or not we escape. Basically we ALL move forward towards BB, Hillevi can handle him in close combat. Alert the Russians to bail from the building, and be ready to shoot and flee.

So we break though whatever wall is behind BB (Hillevi or Sake or get BB to shoot a wall) and then Fly/use ice to get down and away. With the Russians giving covering fire.

If we actually kill BB then well and good, take his body and loot with us.


Ok so TL:DR Give technically true, actually false info to BB, find Hman, attack BB and escape through whatever wall is behind him.

Some guidelines:
As soon as the chaos breaks slip out of sight and grab Hafaz and leave.
Make sure he doesn't have us in his sights, Sake to mess with his ranged attacks and Hillevi to ruin his melee.(She is stronger and faster and more durable, should have seen the blades to).

Basically we tell false truths, and try to escape in a manner that could kill him.

He was waiting for something so nasty that he can't afford a fight with us. We however CAN, what we probably can't afford is to stick around or try to get oaths with greedy madmen.

ALSO:
FINAL THING. If we get the detonator either use it as soon as we jump building or afterwards. Try to get the Russians to throw more explosives in the building, have Grisha let loose hers. Mostly leave it to thier disgretion, if they say they can't help or somesuch, drop it.

>Soul swear
SUST! The wording is full of holes and we die when he uses them against us. Even if not, it could lead to other traps like coming to shake his hand to get shanked or the room behind him being trapped with explosives.

>Priority is hafaz and co behind that door
According to the human mass murder who can lie. Our OWN senses only detected blackbeard here besides us. We should actually check

>Tell our secrets, specifically about sake
SUST! Why would we give him such knowledge.

>Make hilevi not fight
Huh? He is an approved target by einrik and she can probably take him, we can't... his gun didn't penetrate her magic ice armor btw.
She should totally fight him.

Either BB is lying (which he can do), or the shadows are really from a third party... who and why? are they related to those he claims to be waiting to fight?

Are hafaz and co really behind that door? Calling them gives us a "call cannot be completed as dialed" error yet texting them works? This is odd, and anyone can text claiming to be someone else.

Our plan is by necessity complex as we have several goals. Our ideal order of operations is:
0. Temporarily Delay him blowing the building up.
1. Retrieve Hafaz and co.
2. Kill BB
3. Blow Building Up
4. Escape

Goal 0: we want to temporarily delay him blowing up the building. However, the currently proposed plan is faulty:
>Tell him we are paid to blow the building
It sounds like the obvious bluff that it is, and we should not reveal information.
A simple laugh followed by "missed bombs, ha... I am actually going to have to insist any deal we make includes you demolishing this building sometime today"
There, no revealing unneeded info about our motives; like being paid.
And from that smoothly transition into further talking without promising anything (and especially not soul swearing to anything)

Also, if he seems like he is going to actually press it having sake knock it out with wind WITHOUT trying to harm him at all would be a good idea (bypass his wards).

Goal 1: First, we need to evacuate the guys. This calls for stalling via conversation as we verify they are really there. After Goal 0 is completed, transition to "If what you claim is true, then these shadow things are your enemies rather then servants waiting to ambush me, you would not mind then if we destroyed them before further negotiation? Miss H. would you do the honors?" While Hilevi gets them SB should flit under the doorcrack and see if they are there, and armas should focus his soul senses as well.

Coordinate with sake and SB telepathically. If they are there, then sake should get in there via the windows (don't want him going by BB) to carry them to the next building over and heal them, and tell them to vamoose. Contact one of the Russians on the rooftop to let the guys looting files to know to vamoose. And then come back to join in on the fight. This might very well overlap in terms of timing with other goals if things don't go perfectly, but that is ok. If concurrent execution of goal

Goal 2: We want him dead. Hilevi should go in for close combat. Armas should shoot whole drums of AA-12 with pellet shots (20 shots a drum) and self manip as suggested by others; do not have SB reloading it, swap out whole drums yourself (a relatively fast process). Hilevi's ice armor can stop his crazy shots, it will have no problem to stop the mundane pellet shots which have mundane penetration (their magic is in regeneration supression) so we can just spray him. Sake can mix up his more deadly attacks with some non harmful tripping wind if he can and deflecting BB's weapons, as those do not attempt to actually harm him. If SB's shadowmere doesn't work then he can wield any of our guns by himself as he can manipulate physical objects, so we can get double the firing rate here.

Goal 3: This automatically succeeds if we fail goal 0. If we made goal 0 then we use his remote to blow up the building, he blows it up and hilevi and armas jump out (she will have no problem, sake can catch armas. If armas does fall out aim to land feet first and roll unto your side, protecting your head.
If the remote is destroyed in combat then we set the building on fire.

Goal 4. Stealth, fly, leap... and there are always the sewers. no problem there. Just make sure to take BB's corpse if he is killed.

@torac
Holy shit, why don't we give away all of our secrets and aces whiles we are up here?
"Hey Blackbeard, and I also have Soulshadow with me, and I have Romanov bloodline so when you kill me make sure to kill about four times, also I have Sami powers, I can do instant healing, this is an artifact weapon which talks to me, my Matebas can directly attack your soul, which I can percieve btw, I have direct telepathic line to my servant the Slayer of Ramses, there are 18 russians exmilitary oitside who have surrounded this building, etc etc"
Why are you giving him free information?
What is your goal here?
Do not tell him ANYTHING about Sake. "wind manipulater using rami body..." ffs, we deal enough with SM to know how important and valuable every little bit of info is and you are just giving him it away?



Downvoting on calling us Penis Troll (finnish or otherwise). What the fuck guys?
He knows exactly who we are, no need to give fake names. But even then, do not give him ANYONE'S name.


If we are taking careful approach, make sure that Hafaz and all are alive. Tell SB to slip to the next romm through the shadows and check them out. Or ask Sake do it (try to refrain from mentioning his name, it is clearly Japanese which narrows the guesses substantiallu and tell him in lesser known language)

>>361534
Deploy confident grin, but don't bother responding to him. If he blows up the building, he'll blow up the building; we'll live through it, but there's no reason to tell him that. Three of the Russians and our friends would probably die if he actually does set off that bomb, but unfortunately at this point there's not a lot we can do about that.

We need to locate our friends. Our soul sense hasn't picked them up, even though we should be able to sense his attention on us even through the door if they're trying to listen to the conversation; can Shadowbro confirm whether they're where Blackbeard said they were without revealing his existence? Blackbeard might be full of shit. I wish we'd brought pepper spray to shadowport into a cloud around his face, as we'd previously discussed.

While that search is ongoing, we resume engaging Blackbeard- with everything we've got, because it would be much better to finish this encounter sooner rather than later so there's no point in talking our way into a standoff. Hit him with bullets while moving so that he loses track of us, Hillevi can probably tank him for at least a while even with his crazy magic weapons, Sake should be able to fuck him up with wind. We can keep blasting at shortish range, and go into melee to work in tandem with Hillevi- magic weapons good for use against a fast regenerating target like us are unlikely to also be ideal for use against a heavily armored target like her, unless he's got something stupendously dangerous. If he starts trying to escape or move to pull something funny, between blasts of wind, ice slicks on the floor, and ice walls we should be able to control his movement even if we can't hit him proper with our attacks. Pinning him into an engagement with us is to our benefit until we have reason to believe that all of us combined cannot take him in a straight-up fight. Grab his detonator if we can get it.

Ask Iron Trick if he knows why his trick didn't work. That's annoying, and I find the fact that Blackbeard has grabbed those bullets ominous- maybe he'll be able to use them for something, or determine what magics they'd have deployed through later analysis.

If for some reason we need a quick exit from the building, Hillevi can probably knock out a wall and she and Sake can help those of us who are squishy survive the jump to the ground. Heck, Hillevi might well be able to carry one or two people and simply leap to the roof of the next building over. Not terribly subtle but eh.

SUST to everyone saying we should retreat, I'm afraid. We've shown too much of our hand. Hillevi, Sake, Iron Trick, even the fact that he didn't easily pick up on our presence when we came in- all of them were sleeved aces in any upcoming confrontation with this man, and he likes killing the competition. Withdrawing and giving him time to research and prepare for us would be all too likely to get us killed; we will never have a more advantageous confrontation against him than one in which he doesn't expect us to show up, doesn't know who we are or what assets we have, and has a whole different set of objectives to worry about. Not to mention that soul oaths are serious business and not to be taken when the other party could easily mess with things to ensure you die from it- swearing one would be beyond idiotic.

SUST also to giving him substantial information of any kind- about our friends, our abilities, the names of anyone involved, our reason for being here, anything. Any information he gets is information he might be able to use against us.

>>361553
>mutter to Hillevi to reinforce the building - you'll give cover.
SUST to this command. Expecting Hillevi to keep a giant ten-story building standing from six floors up in spite of damage by decently placed explosives is ridiculous, even for her.

IMPORTANT
If we actually manage to wound him, the highest priority would be aqcuiring his blood!!!
Even if he escapes, we wilk be able to kill him if we have his blood.

Don't engage BB after he had plenty of time to prepare the battlefield, with friendlies who need extraction and near to no preparation on our side. We will (help) kill him soon enough.
>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"...Why is there a Ramidreju using Wind Manipulation coming to your aid?"
"The more correct question would be, why a Wind Manipulator using a Ramidreju is coming to my help. However The story of how we met and allied would be far too long for now and probably not interest you all that much. What is relevant is, that this Wind Manipulator will be very handy to extract and heal my allies in the next room and should not waste energy fighting someone unnecessarily (hint hint)."
This should answer his question without telling him something could not guess himself. Don't use names or genders unless he already knows them. Try to make a loophole in your wording if you do swear a souloath, which you should try to avoid (like "unless I detect hostile actions/a hostile attack"---> does not need to be against you. Have one of your friends do something hostile against BB)


>>361822
I'm not sure what you mean.
Ability to heal: he knows Ramis and this is their most known feature
Wind Manipulator: he noticed
Wind and Healing are helpful: obvious
We are allies: obvious
It is a Wind Manipulator using a Rami to help: Different reasons possible (Rami is his pet and got some Wind Manipulation from him/ he is somewhere else and controls the Rami/he is possessing the Rami). In Hindsight this sentence is neither very good nor necessary so I removed it.

Upvoting: KILLING/FIGHTING HIM, FALSE LIES

Downvoting: TAKING HIM UP ON HIS OFFER

SUSTing: Using DOOM rounds.

Why? It's simple: BB's a greedy bastard Not like that's a bad thing..., and he'll do anything just to have his mission success rate go up. Well...anything that involves violence and bombs. He's going to cheat the fuck out of us with the oath. This guy just...shouldn't be trusted, at least as an enemy. DOOM rounds are to be used against Divine super-regenerators, wasting them on a mundane human with Arrow Charms is stupid.

Also, remember to say: 'This is for the Right Laine, motherfucker.' when you open fire. Don't forget that van, so precious to us...avenge her! And if you can, try to drive him near a window, so one of the Russians can see him.

Edit From: 361559

>[Blackbeard][In Turkish]"And if you don't want to answer that-care to guess where the bombs you missed are? Or whether you'd survive a building collapsing with you in it?"

“Care to guess how much I will be paid by making sure you are known to have used those 'explosives I missed' to collapse this building?”

Blackbeard not continuing the attack and threatening us probably means he is waiting for someone or something to come. He almost certainly cannot afford to blow up the building. More the pity, as we want him to. If we kill him, we might want to think about stealing that detonator.

DO NOT MAKE ANY OATHS. We have no way to enforce ANYTHING on him, and this is strictly one-sided. We are catching him flat-footed here, folks.

Blackbeard is a guy known for his preparation on his jobs, and his utter disregard of human lives- the kind of guy that prepares children with bombs on them to cover his escape. Finding him, right in front of us, when we have at least 2 people who could take him (Hillevi and Sake), and the Armas+SB duo who could probably do it? That's a GREAT present.

Try to focus on that damn time-sense from einher, and how much more time you have before the police comes- we have to know if it works well.

We aren't Feeling Hafaz's soul, and I hope it's not because they are dead. OTOH, it's also possible they were never here, and the messages we got were all fakes made by others to make us come here- most likely to stall Blackbeard, or something.

Ask to see if Hafaz is alive in some way, as we still should better check- I just doubt he was ever there.

Be nonchalant about this, and signal to hillevi to attack him.

Sake obviously knows how to fight, but should think about putting obstacles behind Blackbeard in case he wants to run away.

For Shadowbro: he can attempt to hit Blackbeard, use his spirit mere on Blackbeard or attempt to eat his Shadow. If he chooses that, he should only do it when Hillevi is in melee though, in case blackbeard can attack him.

HOWEVER, as he should be wary of Charms, we should begin by:

“Shadowbro, can you analyze if he has any charms that would attack or damage you were you to attempt eating or attacking his shadow, using the spirit mere on it or him, or simply hit him?”

While he is busy analyzing those, have him also reload the buntline, and take out the Taste Of Ruin for:
>>361553
>Charms are keyed to work against intents. Each one will guard against one. Now, normally, this means shot will only take one charm. But really, you intend to kill him with each bearing, right? Each and every one. Keep that in your head as you unload twelve rounds.

Let's think something more precise :
"A charm works by detecting intent to harm. I know this having used and bought such charms myself. I know that a shotgun fires multiple projectiles, all product of the same cause, but each a little different, each having their own path in their duty and quasi-will. As a machine would product thousands of Judge but there is but one Lone judgement, a shotgun fire many pellets, but each have their own individuality. Like Shadowbro and Myself are hewn from the same soul, but now each have our own will. Those pellets truly are each a different attack, each intended to do harm on its own. After all, a single piece of buckshot is Obviously just as damaging as a normal bullet of the same caliber fired from a smoothbore gun, and it is right that their life shall each be remembered by taking another charm of that fiend that destroyed the unique Right laine." >>361807
UPVOTING
>>361817
UPVOTING

EDIT:

Give mere to Hillevi, it might be useful for getting rid of his charms.

Grail 2011/10/28(Fri)19:08 No. 361895 ID: c6ce12
File 131985409929.png - (313.49KB , 789x586 , Suit.png )

Since it seems there is a distinct chance we're going to shoot at Blackbeard here and attempt to mentally manipulate ourselves into perceiving the shot as multiple attacks directed at him. This will be to help us along with that. It's Armas and shoulder Ito discussing his lack of disciprin.

We need to confirm Hafaz is here first-off. So...

>"Or whether you'd survive a building collapsing with you in it?"

"Keeping in mind practitioner plus wind manipulator, yeah I'm thinking I can survive that. But you're pretty clearly waiting for someone or something, and haven't blown up the building yet, so I'm guessing you don't really want to yet. So yeah, I'm keeping my secrets to myself, unless you care to buy them, which is expensive as fuck."

If he pays for an answer to the question about Sake just say "We're friends". Which is a completely honest answer to his question.

"Now, back to my friends. Let me get this straight. You want me to swear a soul-oath that I'll take some middle-easterners whose existence I've yet to confirm, let alone their identities or if they're alive... Are you out of your fucking mind? No, I get confirmation they're who I'm looking for, and throw in that leaving means you don't interfere or injury me or any of my friends or allies in the process. Then I'll consider it"

Now, if we do end up fighting him, something to consider. The whole point of shotguns is, aside from the larger cone of putting holes in stuff, putting more then one hole in something. The charms we know of are supposed to protect against single attacks, so a shotgun should wreck them. Run this by shadowbro. He did mention intent when talking about Gleb's armor's function, so perhaps we'll need to invision each pellet as a seperate attack. If so, try invisioning the damage each pellet from the shotgun should do, each individual hole in Blackbeard's flesh.

Bob!t/UKid4z5s 2011/10/28(Fri)23:36 No. 361939 ID: d97a61
File 131987019696.jpg - (106.85KB , 395x313 , Whoops.jpg )

ONE-OFF BANG INVOCATION APPLIED TO UPDATE

>>361764
Right-time for some speedy thought-Amen, I got orders for you.
>[Amen]"Yes, yes yes?"
Using an untraceable line, call the Turkish police and do what you must without in any way implicating me, my colleagues, yourself, or anyone related to any of us, to convince them that Blackbeard is in this building, it is rigged to explode, and that he is presumably baiting a trap.
>[Amen]"This one is placing a call as this one communes further-was there more, master?"
What kinds of magic could cause the types of sores I noted on corpses in this building?
>[Amen]"Heartsores are charactaristic of blended Blood and Flesh manipulation magic-a way of claiming hearts blood and slaying a foe simultaneously."
Could any other magics have caused it?
>[Amen]"Several, but none nearly as efficient as what was just mentioned, nor as comparatively commonly in use."
Any chance Blackbeard's weapons could have done it?
>[Amen]"Slim to none, but with masters' senses this one cannot be certain."
Last order for the moment: Communicate, again following the guidelines we've established on safe mental communication, the following to Matvey Baich: A message from Armas: Get men out of building immediately, and be prepared to fire upon a body coming out of the recently damaged sixth floor windows. Following that, be prepared to immediately vacate any roof-tops, as threat escalation suggests helicopters will be inbound.
>[Amen]"..The words have been conveyed, and this one's connected with the police. The tip master desired shall be placed momentarily.

I finish blinking as I get on with what I'm going to do.

>>361563Conil
>>361591Falcon
>>361603Shifter55
>>361628fc3425
>>361648Chthonic
>>361659Triad
>>361718Guile
>>361775Alratan
>>361794BUTTZ
>>361807Magus
>>361845torac
>>361896TMI
I softly sigh nostalgically, the exhalation containing a hint of mirth.

"Easy there, bud. I think Blackbeard's been properly intimidated, and we still have some middle easterners to grab. Another time, another time."
Even as Sake's body begins to slacken in its aggressive... wiggling, Blackbeard pipes up-also in English.
>[Blackbeard]"As it happens I speak this language too."
"Wonderful, we all do."
I give him a bland look that shows EXACTLY how many fucks I give.
>"Oh, you care... some."
Oh hey Shadowbro, gotta ask-why can't I sense Hafaz or the rests' souls? Any ideas, besides them being dead?"
>"Yes, actually-I still don't feel 100% on it but I'm becoming increasingly confident this building is magically warded within it's construction-a warding to prevent assessment. You need direct line-of-sight to detect things-or at least, anything beyond that is dampened severely. You noted how much more precisely you perceived Blackbeard's soul when you crested the stairs, do you not?"
...Point. So he could still easily be telling the truth... okay-
I grin sharkishly.
"You know Blackbeard, that's a lot of money and time wasted just to hear a long story you frankly don't have time to listen to. If you're really interested in hearing about my ally, I wouldn't mind meeting up later on neutral territory, like the Asitane. Good food, have to say. Anyway, I'll swear to leave once my friends here are evacuated; my two allies here will abide by the same and I'll make it clear to the Middle Easterners that they're not to attack you when we're all leaving."
He's not saying anything-so I holster the buntline while throwing my other hand in the air in exasperation-and discreetly keeping the one hand within my coat.
"Do you really have the time and resources to make a soul-oath right now? Keep in mind... practitioner plus wind manipulator? Yeah I'm thinking I can survive that. But you're pretty clearly waiting for someone or something, and haven't blown up the building yet, so I'm guessing you don't really want to yet. So yeah, I'm keeping my secrets to myself, unless you care to buy them, which is expensive as fuck."
I grin some more.
"And no, buying me dinner at the Asitane wouldn't count-though if you want my story the check would be but the first of tabs you'd be picking up."
>[Blackbeard]"A high opinion to have of yourself-and making a very solid case for me deploying my resources... aggressively. You sure that's how you want this to go down?"

>>361562
I start to alternate between humming and whistling, that smirk never leaving my face.
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aRor905cCw ]

I see the stormclouds returning to his face as his finger jumps for the detonator-

>>361636
Sha-
>"Already on it"
For the detonator to vanish from his hands, simply clattering to the floor behind me.

>>361553Shot
>>361638786cb9
>>361674Dkay
Yeah the other fanart did get used, so it's linking is irrelevant.
>>361817MrTT
>>361839Ironybot
>>3618432659aa
>>361873DoubleU
>>361894Arkeus
This is when the hand I kept in my jacket comes out, the Taste of Ruin in hand-as I start pumping out shots, once more blazing away at a man that in theory I can't hurt behind all his charms.
[ FULL AUTO FIRE: rolled 18, 12, 100, 37, 63, 50, 45, 55, 43, 100, 48, 21 = 592/1200 ]

Or so the theory goes.
>"?"
Charms are keyed to work against intents. Intent to detect, intent to act, intent to harm-doesn't matter what, but they read something off the mind of those that trigger it. Normal disposable charms, the most common type, each one will guard against one such intent that's been acted on. Now, normally, this means one shot will take one charm-an equal. But the thing is, I'm firing 12gauge shot-and I intend to kill him with each and every bearing.
The first shot-
[18]
Does fuck-all.
>"Why are you so fixated on this?
Because this has to work. Incidentally if you can, tell Sake to build up as much wind pressure as he can, and get ready to give our friend a little push.
>"...How did you know I could still act as an intermediary to Sake in short ranges?"
Mind's nowhere near his words, all of it focused on the next blast about to explode out of the Taste. Every piece of shot that comes out of this barrel is on its own trajectory, its own course, and each has its own capacity for damage. Consider firing a shotgun as like a boxer throwing out tens of punches over the course of a round. Not all of them hit, and those that do don't always do any damage, but what every single one of those punches will do is test the opponent's defenses. In the same way, every time you fire the shot, you're in essence probing for weaknesses, searching for a chink in the sometimes literal armor, and if any of those little pellets of lead can find one, they are going to tear straight through - they intend to harm wherever they can. My mind is sharpened, focused, coveting the concept-
[12]
Again the shot does diddly, even as I note Hillevi building a shield of ice as Blackbeard finishes hefting his rifle, my third shot barely ahead of his return fire-

[FANART BONUS]
>[MM,MMMMM Trait auto-activated, auto-evolves to level seven: NO NEW GAINS]
>-Manipulation abilities increase.
...It did work, I just wasn't watching for it properly. If I just look closely enough, this time I'll see-
[100]
[[b]SPLINTERED INTENT SHOT 86, 18, 41, 5, 68, 20, 53, 90, 8, 16, 18, 79 = 502/1200]

For a fleeting moment, I feel... something.

More importantly, I see a genuine reaction from Blackbeard-unlike the last two shots, which had no effect, not even damaging his charms-now reeling back as if slapped, two tarnished objects falling from the glittering mass beneath his bristling beard. As he reels I try to dash around Hillevi, reaching for the superspeed I saw the Laib Olmai shaman use-
And moving at exactly the same pace I normally would.
>"[Iron Trick]"Probably because you don't have superspeed, you fuckwit. Did it even occur to you that since Sami shaman, you know, deal in spirits, they might derive abilities FROM THEIR SPIRIT ANIMALS? Like How your friend Big does, becoming inhumanly durable? It can't be THAT hard to reason spirits that can amplify one's speed exist-and the same as that, it couldn't have been hard to note you only saw ONE shaman demonstrate such speed out of dozens. At no point did that make you question this belief?"
>"...Dark below, you've thought that for days, haven't you. You poor pathetic meatbag."
Hey, even geniuses aren't right all the time.
>"Well at least your arrogance wasn't impacted with your acumen."
You know what? Not helping.

[37, 63, 50, 45, 55, 43]
For three glorious seconds Blackbeard's reeling-and though his shot, squeezed off at the last second, came disturbingly close to catching Hillevi in the eye, he's... not doing much of anything. Regretably, whatever spark let that one shot actually work the way I wanted it to is elusive, to say the least, and try as I might, the same mentality I used before doesn't seem to accomplish anything. What is it that I'm missing?

...Nothing for it but to tear the ideas down, and build them anew-with perhaps no further chances, with Sake's body now arched about a building packet of ludicrously dense, distorted air, snickering and snorting as he compresses ever more into the mass. Especially given he just winked at me mid-smarmy snicker

This time, I systematically break it down, and assemble the thought as I would a rifle.
-A charm works by detecting intent to harm, be it disposable or not.
-I know this having used and bought such charms myself.
-I know that a shotgun fires multiple projectiles, all product of the same cause.
I know each to be a little different, each having their own path in their duty and quasi-will.
-As a machine would produce thousands of judges but only one is my Old Lonesome, a shotgun fires many pellets, but each has its own individuality.
-Like Shadowbro and I are hewn from the same soul, yet each have our own will.
-Those little metal orbs truly are each a different attack, each intended to do harm on its own, both by design and active use.
-After all, a single piece of buckshot is comparably damaging to a normal bullet of the same caliber fired from a smoothbore gun.
-Such a small, smoothbore fired bullet would be sufficient to trigger a charm on it's own.
>>361895
[FANART BONUS, trick becomes easier.]
This time as I assemble my thoughts and theories, I don't just focus-I abandon every extraneous bit of neural activity, using every iota of self-discipline I can command, and-
>>361792
[SPLINTERED INTENT SHOT rolled 82, 29, 13, 95, 28, 85, 83, 69, 19, 7, 63, 19, 20 = 612/1300 ]

Again Blackbeard reels as a pair of smoldering metal lumps drop from him, this time blasted fully off the pile of bodies he had stayed so resolutely seated on. It is this time that I see the look of utter, horrified shock on his face-so visceral, so palpable I don't know I could believe it faked. That is the look of a man that had one of the pillars that defined his world yanked out from under him-
Not the look of someone attentive to their surroundings.
"SAKE!"

Just before the air bubble my furry friend sends whizzing after Blackbeard connects, I see it-

A hand coming free of his jacket-detonator in his grasp.
His thumb descends in a flash.

Son of a who-

With a sound so viciously loud it's agonizing to even hear, the floor rises up to sweep my legs out from under me and thrust my now-prone form skyward, even as Blackbeard's sent hurtling out the window tumbling like a rag doll.

The moment he passes into the open air, the sound of automatic gunfire fills the morning, almost drowning out the terrified screams that only now are registering past the muffled roar of the explosives. I even hear the familiar whine of the spinning Gatmalite weapon-as charms drop like candy from his flailing, already dropping to the ground six floors down.

This is about the time I realize the building is leaning a LOT faster than I thought it would. As in 'this feels like a bus accelerating' speedy leaning. On average a minute for a building to collapse? Not this time, methinks.

Which is why I make an interesting choice as I spot a spatter of blood where Blackbeard rolled.

"Hillevi, you and Sake get-"
Hillevi's already shoved the mini-mountain of corpses aside and wrenched the door off it's frame-she looks mildly irritated as her forceful entry is initially greeted with gunfire-which terminates as confused and harried faces peer out at me.

Okay, one two three four five souls, all feeling properly human-
"Hafaz-I don't even have time-these two are getting your asses out, so shut up and comply."
For once I get no backtalk from ANYONE. It's fucking amazing.
I hastily begin ripping the bit of carpet free as Sake and Hillevi safely fly out the window amidst a massive flurry of wind-
I stand up, triumphant in my claim-haha, got your blood now Blackbeard, what can you do about it?
-When the building's accelerating slide hits a massive jam, the building slamming against it's neighbor across the street. I slam into the cieling before rebounding and clipping my chest on a pillar, managing to wrap a hand around it's edge as the descent of the several thousand tons of steel and concrete I reside in... accomodates the change.

Where once we leaned-now we drop.

Strait towards the street Blackbeard fell on all of ten seconds ago.

Okay yes, I AM in a falling building. Not my favorite place to be.
It's made a whole mess better by being a building falling ON the fucker that blew up my car.

Heh-first I grounded him-now, I'm going to pound him.

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywxm6zLEjFY ]

Let's see those fucking charms stop this

The ground races up to meet my abode, and the shell of a building about me disintegrates into clouds of flying debris-
-and with an ominous, reverberating, immensely deep crack, the very street beneath us breaks, crumbling away.

I suppose from an outsider's perspective it looked like a man was thrown out of a building, shot by nearly two dozen automatic weapons, had a building dropped on him, and then the whole damn mess just fell below ground level. Well I'd like to note that it wasn't at all like that inside the building. It was rough, it was hectic, it was insane-limbs were pulped, and needed to be repaired before lack of mobility claimed my life. Dust choked the air so fiercely that I could scarce breath. Raw cords threatened to electrocute, as gas leaked and fires starts in dozens of spots, providing even more hazards.

But fuck ALL of it, I'm ALIVE.

[WINTER ENERGY: 62/100
[SUMMER ENERGY:] -8/40

...And hungry.

I finish pulling myself in my sadly shredded suit free of the rubble, cast my soul-sensing about-

....To feel not even the slightest trace of Blackbeard's spirit.

Huh.
...Did I kill him?
And more importantly-it's been more than ten minutes since we first got here, and I'm now in a rubble-filled section of collapsed building and street in the sewers, with no visible way back out. ...In fact, I think the building broke through both sewers and subway lines-so I'm not sure just how deep we fell. We're... what, seventy? Eighty feet down? What the fuck are these old looking tunnels?











So how do I take that I don't feel Blackbeard's soul anymore?
And what do I do from here?

Okay. He's escaped. You really expect that to kill someone like Blackbeard? Fuck no. He's alive, most likely. Take heart you have one place he can't touch you, though.

MOVE YER ASS. These are the old Tunnels. Being friends with the Goblins might help out here - call SM and talk to him about it through Amen, while also ID'ing Hafaz and his friends as proper visitors.

Tell SB to be hyper-vigilant. This area gave a motherfucking berserker nightmares. We must move quickly, efficiently, and carefully.

BUG OUT MOTHERFUGGER.

Climb up to sewer level and navigate back home. I'm sure you have a good memory and sense of direction.

>Beardiest BlackBeard
It is possible that blackbeard had charms for spacial displacement in the case of instant death (eg. a building dropping on him) or he can hide too and is after your ass for ruining his deal, either way, don't be here when shit hits the fan.

>where are you
You remember those horror stories Camella told you about? The world beneath the world?
Welcome.

Also it's possible that this is part of the building you just crashed, the literal and figurative 'underground' section. The part where they deal with the serious magic stuff.

If the opportunity presents itself, blow it all sky high and get a pat on the back from SM (after grabbing any important looking documents and such of course)

Just because we can't sense him doesn't necessarily mean he's gone for good. That unnoticable aura from the building might still be in effect - maybe more so now that he's covered in building bits like we ourselves are. Or he could be waiting to pull an ambush or something.

I think a call to Matvey to let him know we all survived is in order, if the (magical?) cell jamming isn't in place down here. Have him move his men back, but keep some in the area to see what shows up if he thinks they can do it without being detained. The police? Whatever Blackbeard was waiting for? Who knows.

Now might be a good time to quiz SB on how he senses the world, because we are soon going to be running blind. He can sense Dark spirits, can he actually 'see' in the dark, in a manner of speaking? We might need him to hold our hand down here.

Dare we move in the direction of the mansion? Amen said it wasn't safe down there.

>>361969
Upvoting this, if we can't get SM to help we could always ask Shadowbro to assist in our search for any magical items in the rubble around us.
Blackbeard did have his hands rather occupied when we shot him out of the building.

>>361956
Aside from that, we should check our gear to make sure that none of it is broken, though calling people on our mobile may be pointless due to the depth you are at, even if it could put out a strong enough signal you are in a serious telecommunication shadow.
Did we sell the scopes of our Matebas? Having an IR and thermal scope would be useful right now.

Still, if we are going to be moving around in the sewers it would be best to close Shadowbro in our line of sight, and close enough that we can assist him if something horrible decides it can affect his form.
Aside from that, Blackbeard may be still close and you may not be able to take him if he's less injured than you.
He is going to be pissed.

>...Did I kill him?

Of course not, You should know this by now since nothing ever goes according to plan. We really should get out of here before we get even more hurt and the cops arrive. Try and get into the sewers through the tunnels and see if you can meet up with SM.

>>361969
this

Check you phone, does it have reception? I should have because that is the only reason we bough this ridiculously expensive, huge satellite phone. The obstruction field from the building shouldn't be in place anymore because the building is gone.

If it works, make use it instead of calling Amen.

If not, call Amen.

If nothing works from that, we can be sure that Wyld Goblins have some kind of agents or observing devices around. Remember what SM said when we first met Camella, he was able to observe her from far deeper than here. Besides, after our tip, he has most definitely increased observation around this Building.
So, we just need to call for SM, Goblins or goblin-affiliated creatures that could place us in contact with them.

If that doesn't work. Well...
I can assume that SB, who is made from our own soul has the same or at least near same Social/mental skills. We know that he regularly converses with creatures from the Dark.
So ask him, at his own discretion to contact some creature which can in turn contact us with SM.

We need to negotiate a safe way out of here and a way to contact the world if phone/amen do not work.
Negotiate transfer of our magic meat enough to fully restore our Summer mana.
Do not negotiate the price yet (this will eat valuable time and we want optimal conditions when we sell shit to SM) just promise SM a lot of good information. We will pay later, now we have important business to attend to.

[Now, I am assuming at least one of the previous points work (meaning we can contact other people)]

Okay, on the surface we left a huge pile of rubble and we are no where to be seen. I can imagine that Hillevi is very distraught at this and will try to dig through to save us ignoring any caution and using her powers in abandon. Sake might be worried too, but he at least can feel the soul-oath/connection and knows we are safe. I suspect the Russians and Hafaz&Co will act professionaly and will not put everything at risk by staying there to save us.
So we need to contact Metyev and relay some stuff:
-We are fine, tell Hilelvi that
-we will be able to get back on our own accord
-for now get the fuck out of there

Note that he is bereft of his swords. We can ask SM to recover and store them for us or have SB search for them and shadowport them.

Now, BlackBeard. It is unlikely he survived... but hell, this is BB we are talking about so do not assume anything. But do not immediately be sure he is alive because that is just baseless paranoia. For now, he is "Missing in Action", neither confirmed dead or alive.
We got his blood. We need to use it as soon as possible before it contorts and becomes useless or before BB can do anything about it. The knowledge how long the rituals take time to perform would have been really useful right now.
So one of the most important things to do now is to ask Amen (through any means of communication) what we can do at this moment without putting ourself under significant risk with that blood. Can we introduce his blood into our own veins so that Amen can manipulate it with his blood that is flowing through us? Or the same but with ingesting his blood? Can he safely teach us a quick (under 2 minutes) ritual which can be performed with things we have under our hands which can determine his current location and/or if he is alive.
If we manage to contact SM, we can transport that blood to Amen and pretty much do anything with it, but for now we need to know where he is and if he is alive.

We need to forget ALL of our plans for today and the next week. We have heavily wounded BB, we need to track him down and kill him for good. We simply cannot let him recover, prepare and retaliate against us. We have caught him completely flat-footed, we need to continue to hunt him.
IIRC, Bob said that he wears about 30 charms at a given time. We personally made 4 of them useless (probably the most powerful arrow-charms he had) and the very short moment we saw him flying out and being greeted by a hail of bullets, he must have lost about a dozen more. So that is 16+ charms confirmed.
Keep in mind that our own attacks wounded him (hence the blood... if it is his blood) and the fact that he kept falling after we redirected our attention. So 15-25 mores second of concentrated fire while he fell down before the building collapsed on him from 12+ AN-94's (its rate of fire depletes single mag in 6 seconds, assuming each of them shot a mag worth that is 720 bullets) + GatMalite (since this one does not need reloading, that would be 160-270 rounds), If only 40% of them hit their target that still means at least 350 direct hits. I can't imagine him surviving that but fuck this is BB we are talking about.
He must be incredibly wounded and all of his arrow charms (that he had with him) must be depleted. If we catch up with him before he gets back to his base, this will be a almost fight against a mundane mortal (he still has his detection charms).

[If we managed to locate where BB through his blood, all the next points include sharing it with others]
Why all this obvious information?
Well, so that know exactly how great of opportunity this is. Call Camella, quickly tell her short version of what happened, tell her to contact the rest of our "firends" (Triads/Italians) on her own discretion, tell her we have a BlackBeard to put down and it does not get better than this. Notify her that the Police and Special Forces are on maximum alert and that they also will be looking for him [do not tell how we know that]
Contact our allies form the surface again:
-Tell Hillevi and Sake of our plans, co-ordinate with them.
Sake could SMELL Hillevi's ice. We wounded BB so he should be able to smell his Blood, besides that, he should smell very heavily of sulfur because of all the charms that burned on him. He can track him by those means.
-Talk with Matyev again. Having all 18 Russians hunting BB is probably not a good idea, so tell him to assemble a squad (4-6 people) of his best people (Iosef and Grisha should be among them) and go with Hillevi and Sake. The rest will take Hafaz&Co to our mansion (tell Amen they are friends!)

>...In fact, I think the building broke through both sewers and subway lines
Aw hell, I do not want to be (partially) responsible for (more) civilian deaths. When we have communicated everything else, tell Amen to contact whoever is in charge of subways and tell them that a tunnel collapsed and that they should push emergency breaks before on all trains before any run into them. Again, untraceable.

>>362004
>+Sell to him, under the provision that he hides where the information came from or that we can do it, That we were able to use a shotgun to “use up” many charms, as accounting for each pellet. Something like “If this information if worthless, you not telling anyong about it cost either of us nothing, and if it truly is as valuable as I think, My ability to do it is secondary.” should help to secure that provision.
>+Explain to him, in detail, the kind of concentration necessary for this 'trick'.
Oh man, this is almost the same idea that I had but also completely different. I will explain in Disc thread later, I do not have time now (already used too much to write this bloated post, OHGOD) so I will SUST this for now. Do not even MENTION the trick.


Again, a huge post. Sorry, Bob, I do not know how this happens

I'm gonna suggest that we go looking for the swords/Blackbeard while we're down here. Call up anyone we made deals with and inform that we will be late, as we just had a building fall on top of us.

You might be able to contact SM just by saying his moniker here in the sewers.

If we are not getting SM to transport his blood to Amen for storage, then the following can be done to make it easier to carry.
Fully drink your blood bottle for some healing. Have SB teleport out (or rather, eat himself) all traces of that blood. Cut the carpet bits with BB blood, shove them in the bottle, have SB teleport out the carpet leaving the blood only in the bottle.

BB is sure to have survived, he is the one who blew up the building with himself in it, I am sure he had charms to protect against falling debris. You can't sense him because the building was enchanted to prevent such sensing, so its rabble is blocking you. Not to mention he might have charms for hiding himself.

There is no light here, at all. SB can be your "eyes" and such an experience will let you focus your more magical senses (soul sensing).

Considering this is deep within the earth, you should consider that there might be dragons here. Recall that non ruling dragons MUST stay underground.

Amen is not limited vertically, if you can make it under the mansion he can open a path for you, if something horrible chases you under the mansion amen can capture it for you to eat.

The goblins can track BB, if you do not engage him while down here, then have them notify you of his progress, as soon as he makes it to the top levels of the sewer set an ambush for him using that info.

HIS SWORDS. THEY'RE STILL THERE. If he's not dead, he's probably searching for them. Find them! Have SB reload your guns, and search through the building! Make use of your goblinic stealth: Sight, Hearing, Shadowbro's sensing and now, soul-sensing to locate Blackbeard. Also, have Amen contact Matvey to report the situation above.

Edited from 362004
Well, quite a few stuff to do.

First, it seems we have hit a wall on our M trait. I suggest talking to SB and Iron Trick on how to magically enhance it.

I think we should do it with the following restriction: “I cannot knowingly lie or break my word TO OTHERS unless under a magically enforced contract. I cannot plan to, either.”

This should be Strict enough to greatly help our self as Deceptive Truthfulness, it shoud also enhance our manipulative abilities, which is the whole point (We must check this out with Iron Trick first, though). It should also 'register' of people who cannot Lie in some way or another- or we can say stuff like 'I cannot knowingly lie in our conversation anyway...' to better improve our relationship with such races. I am pretty sure they would look on that favorably (must first check it out with Iron Trick, though). Also, it would still let us break rules of three deals if we need to, as that's a awesome power The “cannot plan to” is to close the loophole of simply giving memories to SB for better lying. Having such an enormous loophole would almost certainly greatly decrease the restriction's power. Also, in this respect, “lying” should refer solely to the communication of lie through words (mental or not), and not to us hiding stuff through deceptive truthfulness. To others should be obvious: Armas constantly bulshit himself.

MAYBE BETTER WORDING: “I will be truthful to others unless being bound by a magical contract or oath (or unless I make a honest mistake), and I will always plan to be truthful to others unless I am going to be bound by a magical contract or oath” . This might be better as we are MORE about DECEPTIVE TRUTHFULNESS than not lying.

==> This Restriction should probably be done on our Summer Bloodline, as it's more 'complete' (or at least, it's not in half-done form i think), and maybe we'd need to eat summer meats first to recharge. Ask Iron Trick and SB about both of those points (whether it should be used on Summer and Winter, and whether we should eat first). OTOH, our winter bloodline is more about the soul, which may *greatly* increase our capacity to manipulate others if we use it to Restrict ourself to Deceptive Truthfulness that way. Our summer one is shared with SB- so it may Restrict Him, too. I don't mind, but maybe he does.

We may have left a trail of blood and pulverised flesh on our way down.The building debris won't have finsihed settling yet, that will take a while longer, so there should be plenty of open space, even if it's small. ShadowBro should flow back up through these gaps and collect what we left behind. There may be a blood magic practicionner on the loose given the Ashfreaks. Then, we should reload all our guns. Have Amen Contact Matvey and tell him we are curreently alive, but in the sewers, and might take a while to get up there.

>>361969
If we manage to Call SM- either through saying his name, our phone or through Amen calling him, and relaying each other's sentence (in that case, he should be ordered to forget about the conversation as soon as it's finished, though he probably can read our memory anyway...)- we should also do a few things:

+Sell to him, under the provision that he hides where the information came from or that we can do it, That we were able to use a shotgun to “use up” many charms, as accounting for each pellet. Something like “I got what I think is incredibly valuable information, but I need you to do your utmost to hide where you got it from.If this information if worthless, you not telling anyong about it cost either of us nothing, and if it truly is as incredibly valuable as I think, My ability to do it is secondary.” should help to secure that provision.
+Explain to him, in detail, the kind of concentration necessary for this 'trick'.
+Sell to him his swords. We don't use swords, and keeping them “just in case” is useless: Those swords should gain us a LOT, as they are enchanted metal, which is damn rare. However, we might want to check with Iron trick first if it's possible to use their metal to enhance either the buntline or AA-12, as wounds that don't clot sounds awesome, for example.
+Tell him all about the Ashfreaks, though maybe check with Amen first their real name.

DO NOT EAT CORPSES UNLESS CERTAIN IT WON'T FILL YOU WINTER BLOODLINE SLOT
Now, WE NEED MEATS, AND ESPECIALLY SUMMER ALIGNED. This because we lack Summer power mostly, but also because currently even the far-stretched possibility of 'gaining' a random magical beast's bloodline is bad. Better not risk it. We always need regenerator meat, especially hearts, but maybe something else could be interesting too. We lack diversity on the meat fronts. Also, magical veggies!
When we come to Haggling, try something like “I fell from a room filled with corpses, so I don't actually need you to deliver meat right now to fill myself, but as I was thinking of you when Blackbeard was provoked into exploding the building, I wanted to call you? My present Hunger does refocus my want on Sustenance, too”.
As for my earlier thoughts on Restriction, if we need someone else to do it, why not “Sometimes merchant, I was thinking of accepting my true nature a bit more, and looking into restricting myself to Truthfulness- would you care to assist me, in exchange for actually seeing a mortal taking such a fae binding?”
Now is not the time to talk about training or Romanov, as there is the distinct pressing matter of blackbeard, but I think by Selling the swords, which are metal magic (especially the broken one which will be unusable soon), we could try to: “Sometimes Merchant, I was thinking of obtaining a passive charm which enhance my sensing ability: preferably something that would help me see through enemies using basic invisibility magic”. If it's not possible, try enhanced hearing- better range, better procession. Hell, enhanced hearing might be better in the long run.

LAST- OR MAYBE FIRST- THING: ASK SM TO GET SILJA TO US. BLACKBEARD IS PRECISELY THE KIND OF HUMAN WE CAN USE HER ON, AND WE ARE IN A PINCH. Of course, check if the place you are at is big enough to use it well. If not, don't.

We are currently down on our Regen power, and eating a lot will go a long way in making us safer. Don't forget Blackbeard almost certainly was prepared to blow the building while he was in it, so he should be alive. Given his greed, he will come for his swords (hence why it's best to call SM as soon as possible). The Same, if he escape, he may tell his contacts that the charms are deficient- something that would devalue our knoweldge of that trick (hence why we must Sell it at once). We should be prepared for him to try to ambush us, have SB scouting around, and us stretching our hearing. REMEMBER TO MOVE SILENTLY, and while it may be possible Blackbeard is hiding his presence via some charms, you can still 'Remember' how someone looks for us, same we did for the stallon spirits, especially as we sensed his soul before.