#But one of Rat's acolytes? I suppose it's possible...

[babacontainsmultitudes]

Oh, hi baba, found your tumblr while scrolling the jmart tag. - some jackass from the daddies patreon discord

Shit this could be so many people. Fuck- I'm so bad at guessing games oh gosh oh geez. Oh and hiiiiiiiiiii 👋 hehe hiiiiiiiii!

Hm I kinda miss the patreon discord I should hang out there more like I used to do...

[witchy-lili]

What was necessary, part 1/?

So hewwooo, kinda spammed myself with Sander Sides animatic and fic AU’s so i got inspired ! The events are after POF, Roman shut himself making the others doubt their decision to accept Janus and our sassy snake boy needed a way to crawl in. If they didn’t wanna give him a place, he was gonna take it. 

Enjoy~ ---------------------------------------------- It was so crazy, it had to work. They didn’t have much more ideas or solutions did they ? Janus ran his gloved hand over his face, hissing quitely. The fire was crackling in front of him, but no warmth in this world could melt the stone cold look he had on his tired eyes. He took a deep, almost growley breath before looking at his acolyte. The Duke was sitting, legs crossed, seemingly floating in the air, but the ardent embers kinda reflected on a pitch black tentacle. He always had that same enigmatic smile. -Let’s start over, Remus, we- -Again ? Just talk to one of my zuckers and wake me up when you’re over this. I told you. This plan is absolutely perfect, unless Mister Danger Noodle isn’t qualified enough for his task~ -Don’t call me..whatever you just said. No plan is perfect, and what you’re suggesting is really risky, and actually pretty crazy. -Jany, Jany, Jany ! You just lack imagination ! It’s just a simple bait and switch. Three cards appeared in front of the snake. They flipped themselves showing three aces, heart, spades and diamonds before turning again. Janus raised an intrigued eyebrow, staring at the cursed creativity. -Don’t you think it’s not the moment for games ? -Calm your snake tits and pick one damn it ! Janus sighed loudly before putting a finger on the card in the middle. It was supposed to be the spades. He flipped it, kinda confident before being greeted by an almost mocking diamond card. His eyes went back to the satisfied Duke. -You cheated. -Nu uh Slithering Sandy, you didn’t even know what the game was ! I took your attention away and switched the cards. Bait and Switch. The snake’s eyes shimmered under the starlight. Remus seemed foolish, delusional even, this plan was so unrealistic it was impossible to not have doubts about it, but he trusted the man sitting in front of him. This whole scheme also depended on his act. He already managed to fool the other sides more than once, but now it will be for a longer period of time, he had to be perfect. -I guess it’s settled then, dear...slimy friend. Conjuring objects was always pretty easy. Effortless even. But maintaining the illusion of two different places while being shapeshifted was not as fun. Janus sighed looking at his reflection in the mirror, he looked like an almost picture perfect version of Roman. He knew which strings to pull, he had to be careful. They were dorky, not dumb. After taking a deep breath, his natural scales and slit eye disappeared. It was time. Light, cameras, action. Logan, Virgil and Patton were already in the living room, around a board game and some dice. Three pairs of eyes turned to see the newcomer and Janus could quickly see Virgil switching the dice to another number. This could have put a smile on his face, but it wasn’t the moment. Patton had a small side, kinda nervous smile. -Hello kiddo, a..are you okay ? We haven’t seen you in a very long time. Oh yeah. Roman kinda closed himself off after the sides -well, Patton and Logan primarily- accepted to give Janus a seat at the table. The prince look-alike shrugged after putting on a nonchalant demeanor. -Oh you know, a prince needs his beauty sleep. Self care and all of that ! I just needed to think for a hot second. What are you playing, you nerds ? He needed to distract them for now, and also do his best to buy the most time possible for his partner. Logan adjusted his square glasses and loosened his tie. -Well, a game about financial gain, monetary organisation, estate management and…- Virgil cut him off -Monopoly, Logan, just say Monopoly. -Well i was just being precise and-..i'm pretty sure i had a five on my roll. Logan stared at the eyeshadowed emo man who just looked away with a sly little smirk on his face. Patton just laughed, he absolutely had no idea how to play but still had fun, and was against all odds, winning, even though he was just “buying what seemed nice” and getting insanely lucky with the dice. He felt kinda bad playing them like that, but he did what needed to be done. He just hopped that Remus didn’t mess up on his part. -Actually, i came here to talk about an important matter. The small bickering between them stopped as they turned toward the fake prince again, all curious. -I..thought about it for a very long time and i think it’s time to -against all odds- accept that this slimy snake can sometimes be right. We neglected Thomas’s well being for way too long. They looked each other in the eyes. Patton stood up and walked toward Janus before taking him in a warm, kind hug. He was cold blooded. This contact made him shiver a first, but he accepted it, even closing his eyes to focus on the comfort it made him feel. The personified morality looked at him with an innocent soft smile. -I know this was probably a hard decision to make kiddo, but i'm happy that you at least took the time to think about it. Virgil crossed his arms looking at him with a rose eyebrow. -Yeah, you’re usually stubborn and stay stuck in your position. What made you change your mind ? -Well “Purple Days”, guess I am able to have critical thinking ? See ? Hey Logan, I said critical thinking ! Big words here ! I just want to do what’s best for Thommy ! Jesus, this felt like a divine punishment. Acting like the himbo himself. And without another word and the same attitude, he walked up to the board to watch them play, actually he wasn’t even following, his mind was split between thinking about Remus’s situation and if he managed to do his part, and the unceasing affection from Patton. He was so trusting and kind, he even forgave him after impersonating him, but now wasn’t the time to doubt. He knew he did, what was necessary, or at least, he believed so.. He just wanted to be listened to.  ----------------------------------------- Kinda short I know, you know why ? It’s only half of the first chap ! This is Jan’s point of view, so expect to see a garbage bastard rat very very soon~ 

[dungeonecologist]

WILD ARMS 2 - Telepath Tower

This is a really neat set piece.  It’s basically just a radio tower, but we’re told that it functions on a mineral called Empathite, which transmits thoughts and feelings via vibrations that resonate via the crystal.  The terrorist group we’ll spend all of disc 1 fighting hijacks this tower in order to transmit a declaration of war to the entire planet.  In the ensuing cinematic we even get to see glimpses of all the towns we haven’t been to yet as the message is projected onto every reflective surface within range: crystals, mirrors, windows, and even water.  It’s just a really cool fantasy magitek kind of detail, as well as a really potent means of making such a dramatic statement when the intended audience can’t turn their receiver off or tune out.  It’s not strictly speaking the first time we’ve seen some of these villains as they’ve been looming in the background of a few other missions so far, but as a formal introduction it just leaves a really solid “first” impression.

Anyhow, in the dungeon we run into another set of 3 new monsters: The Critter, the Dakleit, and the RatMonkey.

Critters are mischievous looking little metal balls on metal ribbon springs, evoking a kind of clockwork vibe.  The term is derived from Creature, which in an archaic biblical minded sense referred to animals as created by god, but now refers generally to animals.  But in the original terminology it described a thing created, which sans the creation of life implies something inanimate.  Here they fit quite nicely with the inner workings of the intricate tower mechanism.

The Dakleit is a very awkward romanization of (da-ku-ra-i-to) which I assume was meant to read as either DarkLight, or possibly as Darklyte, as a portmanteau of Dark and Acolyte.  I suggest the term acolyte because the Dakleit’s cast a number of different spells, as well as a few that elude to the secondary level of spells that get unlocked much later.  Curiously when we do get around to unlocking to those secondary spells, they are supposedly a new invention of a reclusive sorcerer, so how they came into the repertoire of the enemies here is a mystery.

Visually they appear vaguely inspired by the Cenobites of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, (although oddly the Cenobites that most closely resemble it (Bound) are from movies that came out after Wild Arms 2) with the long black leather frock and bald head.  It’s not been apparent just yet, but the Wild Arms 2 monster line up does take frequent inspiration from the western horror film scene.

Speaking of which, we also have the Ratmonkey!  Taken from the Sumatran Rat-monkeys in Peter Jackson’s 1992 cult classic horror film, BrainDead/Dead Alive, which carried the film’s central Rage Plague into England.  The Rat-monkey is native to Skull Island, referencing the origin of King Kong; it is also a reference to the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, in which a “Giant rat of Sumatra” is mentioned but not elaborated upon.  Amusingly when Jackson later got the chance to direct the 2005 remake of King Kong, he included a reference to the Rat-monkey, tying his older film officially into the broader continuity of King Kong.

I have no idea what the Ratmonkeys are doing in this magic radio tower though...

and finally we have Vagesta, written ヴァジェスタ(va-je-su-ta) which would actually indicate that it’s supposed to be Vajesta, or possibly Vajester.  It doesn’t appear to be a direct reference to anything name-wise, but there are some suggestions to be taken from its general appearance.  The rainbow orbs are likely just attempts to create some impression of refracted light, referencing its relation to the Empathite crystal central to this dungeon.  But the tentacle head and humanoid body are reminiscent of Nyarlathotep, of Lovecraftian lore.

Nyarlathotep is described by Lovecraft himself as being a tall and thin man, but still in distinctly human guise.  His other forms are alluded to as madness inducing, but not seen in Lovecraft’s own original work.  In general lore Nyarlathotep functions uniquely among old gods as he is waking, present, and very much active on Earth.  He functions as a messenger of the gods, not dissimilar to Mercury/Hermes in Greco-Roman mythos, which might be the relation here with the Telepath Tower as a communication device. 

But with all these European horror film references in this dungeon, I also can’t help but think of the monster in the 1981 French-German horror film, Posession.

So we’re back at a dungeon where I can theorize a little on some of these creative choices and their relation to the dungeon as a whole.  I like to think that the Critters are actually just byproducts of the tower’s mechanism, working parts brought to life by the resonant energy of the crystals at work; thoughts, feelings and raw life energy from countless communications seeped into the machinery itself.

If we read the Dakleit as Cenobite inspired, it places them as beings driven by feeling and inflicting pain, which aligns neatly with the theme of empathy present in the dungeon’s core conceit.  The Cenobites are also summon via a kind of mechanism, most iconic among them, the Lament Configuration, which very likely served as a basis for the Millennium Puzzle aesthetic.

Similarly Nyarlathotep is among Lovecraftian gods one less preoccupied with death than with madness, preferring inflicting feelings and experiences over ending lives.  Move over, Lovecraft also describes,

Nyarlathotep was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and discussion with his exhibitions. These exhibitions consisted of two parts—first, a horrible—possibly prophetic—cinema reel; and later some extraordinary experiments with scientific and electrical apparatus.

A characterization that has lead many to believe the character was in some way based on the scientific exhibitions of Lovecraft’s contemporary, Nikola Tesla.  But this affinity for mysterious or wondrous devices appropriately ties to the Telepath Tower, of which Vagesta is the apparent sentry of.  It makes for a fairly cohesive theme of machinery and feeling.

If I had to really go out on a limb to hazard a guess, there is the short story The Rats in the Walls, in which the narrator describes the familiar maddening sound of rats leading him down to secret catacombs of his ancient family home thus,

It was the eldritch scurrying of those fiend-born rats, always questing for new horrors, and determined to lead me on even unto those grinning caverns of earth’s centre where Nyarlathotep, the mad faceless god, howls blindly to the piping of two amorphous idiot flute-players. 

So, in some elaborate game of association the Ratmonkeys might be argued in the tower as an allusion to Vagesta’s Lovecraftian inspirations, but given that Vagesta isn’t even named such that Lovecraft can be directly referenced (only inferred from the visual elements) I find that a hell of a stretch.

Speaking of madness, I've gotten way further down the rabbit hole with this theory than I bargained for. In general this game is actually proving way meatier than I was expecting. I'd say I'll try to keep these a little briefer and more readable moving forward... but I totally won't...

[mistake-memessenger]

Hello! May i request for How would RFA+Saeran and V react to an MC saving them from being hit by a car or taking a bullet for them! hahah Can be angsty or not :3 Thank you sooo much! love your blog :)

listen…… u come into my house.. and you ask this thing of me.… (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

also i wrote these baaaasically in reverse order? and kind of definitely ran out of steam for the rest,, ha, ,,, ,, haha ha , ,,

but i figured……. some content is better than no content at all!!

WARNINGS for blood, injury, violence, near-death, possible death……… mebbe spoileroonies if u haven’t finished the secret endings.. oh and also Rika..is there for one…. briefly…

Jumin

-powerful men like Jumin Han will always have enemies-some are merely industry rivals who might bitch and moan and briefly fantasize about the assassination of such a man, but ultimately do noting but continue to compete, to vie for a presence in their fields-and some are far more criminal in nature, and willing to do anything to get what they want-and they don’t care who gets in their way-Jumin is giving a press conference about a recent acquisition of yet another company into C&R’s fold-MC is standing nearby, trying to keep from beaming, they’re so proud of their husband-and they can’t keep their eyes off of him-which is exactly why when a little red dot appears on him, on his red tie, they see it and are briefly annoyed-whICH MOTHERFRICKER BROUGHT A LASER POINTER TO THIS??????-but then as the little light moves minutely a cold dread settles in MC’s stomach-the laser point is too still, and it’s red on on red, difficult to see-MC’s heart beats a frantic rhythm and they can taste the tang of fear on the back of their tongue-they glance up away from Jumin to the high buildings opposite the stage that’s been erected specifically for this event-the moment feels like it takes an entire year-but they see a flash of light, something glinting off of shiny metal-it feels both unreal and terrifying-powerful men like Jumin Han will always have enemies-there are bodyguards around but they’re all facing the crowd of reporters, not Jumin-they don’t see it-they don’t see the light go completely still, like the shooter has finally decided on a good spot-MC shouts-and moves-Jumin’s speech cuts off mid-word and his eyes are now on MC-they both hit the ground but he hears MC take in a choked breath, he could hear and see the pain-what-what just.. happened?-he wonders-he can hear the gasps from the crowd, his security guards trying to keep the crowd back and get them to safety as others approach him and MC-MC, who can’t seem to take in a proper breath-Jumin calls their name as he sits the both of them back up-their breathing sounds…. wet, raspy-and Jumin can only get increasingly more worried as he comes to conclusions-MC coughs and flecks of blood hit his pristine white shirt, and blend on his red tie-he feels like his heart has stopped-and he notes that the back of MC’s shirt is wet, and so are his hands-he starts to shout orders-Find the shooter-Get an ambulance-Round up the reporters for statements-No one is allowed to leave-bodyguards are surrounding the two, keeping them out of view-Jumin can see that MC is fading p fast, about to pass out-so he places his hands (bloody, a terrible idea, but it’s too late now) on their face, cupping their cheeks and jaw-he implores them to stay with him-his hands shake-his voice shakes-he is so, so scared-what if he loses them?-but they smile at him, and they weakly raise their hands to touch his-“I don’t regret a thing, Jumin,” they tell him between shallow, rasping breaths-he wishes they hadn’t said that-it sounds like last words-and he is desperate to make sure they aren’t

Seven

-he loves cars-so the day that MC ends up pushing him out of the way of an incoming sports car and getting hit themself. ..-to say he can’t look at his own cars, his babies, the same way again is not unfair-and to say that he’s devastated is kind of an understatement-he looks on from only yards away at where MC has landed in a crumpled heap-his ass is on the pavement and relatively unharmed while MC…… .-fuck he’s pretty sure limbs don’t bend that way-they’re not supposed to look like that-it starts out with an alarming sense of numbness, a feeling like this isn’t real-Saeyoung gets to his feet, vaguely registers that his arm is bleeding from scraping the pavement when he landed, and that the owner of the car that just hit the love of his life is already out of their car and frantically calling emergency services-“MC?” Saeyoung calls out as he approaches, but his own voice sounds distant to him-dread builds rapidly and settles uneasily in Saeyoung’s gut the closer he gets-his chest feels tighter and tighter and he can’t take deep breaths-he feels sick-but then he sees MC’s chest rise and fall-and sounds come rushing into clarity for Saeyoung once more-he can hear the driver that hit MC speaking over the phone-he can hear other people gathering and muttering and exclaiming and the sounds of car doors opening and closing-he can hear MC whimpering, saying his name-Saeyoung is in front of them in an instant, on his knees and reaching for their grasping hand, the one on the arm that, thankfully, isn’t broken-“Saeyoung.. Saeyoung… . it hurts I can't– I can’t move, S-Saeyoung”-Saeyoung’s vision blurs with tears as he shushes MC, and his voice cracks repeatedly as he tries to reassure them and himself-“Shh, shh it’s, it’ll be okay, M-MC.. aahhh, shit, fuck, it’ll be okay I s-swear. ..”-in the hospital, waiting to hear any news is the worst-Saeyoung is so used to knowing just about everything that’s going on and being able to easily find out if he doesn’t-so this-the not knowing-is a new kind of agony-he doesn’t know how MC is doing and he can’t find out without getting in the way and what if– what if their condition is too dire? what if they’re dying right now?-he can’t stop his negative thoughts from spiraling, from getting worse and worse-he works himself up into a panic attack-MC could be dead and he wouldn’t know and he’s not sure……. how, or if, he could possibly keep going without them

Saeran

-a Mint Eye acolyte managed to escape capture the night everything ended-the night Mint Eye was dismantled-the night Paradise was lost-the night their savior was taken from them-and they are out for revenge-they’re convinced that Saeran was a rat. that it’s his fault his fault his fault he has to pay-they bided their time…. looking for Saeran, waiting for their moment to strike-but Saeran is never alone-and the acolyte gets. So. Frustrated.-they just go for it.-Saeran and MC are just out on a grocery run when it happens-they haven’t even made it to the store when the acolyte blocks their path-it’s late in the evening, at a time when MC knows there won’t be crowds since Saeran is pretty.. not. about crowds.-so this is uh weird-but Saeran recognizes the person blocking their path and is immediately on guard-MC can see that Saeran is tense and it takes them a moment to see that this person’s eyes are the same color as Saeran’s-that unnatural minty green-blue-fuck-except that “fuck” doesn’t even begin to cover it-the whole thing is kind of a blur,, ,-the acolyte charges Saeran (“TRAITOR!!! THE SAVIOR IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!” they roar) and there’s a scuffle and MC tries to get this fucker off of Saeran but they pull a gun and there are no thoughts just action and MC-gets-in-the-way-and the acolyte is laughing as MC hits the ground-but it sounds more like gleeful shrieking-Saeran sees the blood blooming on the back of MC’s sweater and he sees the laughing acolyte-he fucking loses his shit-he’s yelling and crying as he takes the acolyte down and he slams their head onto the concrete once.-twice.-a third time for good measure.-they’re out.-maybe dead.-he doesn’t care-he turns frantic eyes to MC who is bleeding and groaning and crying and whimpering on the ground-fuck!-“Shit shit sHIT! MC!!” Saeran’s voice cracks in his panic-he kind of…. flutters around them, unsure-until he remembers that pressure needs to be applied to the wound to keep MC from bleeding to death-so he does that while also fumbling for his phone-he doesn’t even think to call for an ambulance his mind is so jumbled-he calls Saeyoung-the twins are panicking, though Saeyoung might be handling things a lil better-Saeyoung ends up remotely dispatching an ambulance to Saeran and MC’s location and then staying on the phone (Saeran puts him on speaker so he can use both hands and also so Saeyoung can talk to both him and MC)-while they’re waiting for the ambulance (are those sirens in the distance already??) Saeran is like-“MC why whatt he f u kc?? why did you do that why would you try to protect me like that???”-he’s so mad and scared and very very confused and his head hurts (and it’s so hard to breathe, his chest aches) and the only consolation he has right now is Saeyoung telling them that the ambulance is close-MC kind of grimaces while trying to smile (oh my god getting shot hurts so much?????? holy shit)-“must rly like u i guess?” they kind of joke but are also dead fuckin serious-MC now is not the time-Saeran stares at them in disbelief for a moment, then he’s crying just that much more earnestly-“you’re a fucking idiot”-he feels like. .. . he’s not worth MC’s time-he’s not worth their effort-he’s not worth their life-god he loathes himself already and now this?? the person he maybe possibly has a crush on (his head’s still a mess but his heart beats so fast when they’re around sometimes and every time they smile he wants to smile back and that, right there, feels like a miracle) just got fucking shot???-and it’s his fault, isn’t it?-that they’re hurt-that they’re bleeding-that they’re fucking crying too-(it should’ve been him, he thinks)

V

-it…….. happens like this:-V doesn’t die in the Secret Ending 01-MC sees the gun in Saeran’s hand, pointed at V-V who is blind and can’t possibly evade such an attack in time on his own (can’t see it coming, he doesn’t even know the immediate danger he’s in)-so they make their decision-and then they’re in front of V, arms spread out-and Saeran has already pulled the trigger before realizing what’s happened-in this moment there is…. a lot of screaming going on-Saeyoung. Rika. Vanderwood. even Saeran and V.-MC is bleeding. profusely. V can tell that much at least as they both sink to the ground, him supporting them and calling their name-but MC doesn’t respond, having gone limp in his arms-Rika is trying to give out orders but,, her voice is a lil lost in the cacophony of Saeyoung and Saeran yelling at each other and to MC -Vanderwood manages to get the gun away from Saeran in the commotion-Saeran is……. distraught for many reasons.. one of which being that he hadn’t intended to kill MC at all-he’d just wanted to take them to Paradise-things get louder when Jumin and his security team finally arrive-arrests are made. Mint Eye disciples and Rika and Saeran are subdued-Saeyoung and V and Vanderwood are shouting about getting MC (and Saeyoung) medical attention-V’s hand are red and his clothes are damp and sticky-MC’s blood is on his hands literally and metaphorically and he is horrified-his heart is aching, his hands are shaking, and it is all too much and he hates himself he hates himself-it’s so,, visceral a feeling-it’s hard to breathe-V clutches desperately at MC’s hand the entire helicopter ride to the hospital, hoping that they’ll wake up and clutch back-they don’t.-the blood on V’s clothes is dry by the time MC finally wakes up in the hospital-the first thing they notice after getting their bearings is that the room is probably too big for one person to be staying in, but that’s how it is-the second thing they notice is V asleep in a sofa chair, the kind that’s provided in rooms where the patient is long-term-the third thing is the sound of incoming footsteps-there’s a soft knock at the door before it opens-it’s Jumin with a bundle of what looks like clean clothes in his arms-V shifts in the chair, groggy but now awake-MC watches V stand and gingerly stretch as he turns toward the door-“Jumin?” V asks softly, as if afraid to wake MC-but Jumin isn’t looking at V, and has frozen halfway to the blind man-he redirects his course toward the hospital bed “MC. You’re awake.” he doesn’t shout but it’s a very near thing-V turns so fast he almost loses his footing-he stumbles in his haste to get to MC’s side-“MC!”-he does shout-he’s not wearing his shades so MC can see how wide open his eyes are-MC’s throat is dry so when they speak it comes out as a croak-“Hey, V. Jumin.”-but they are smiling-and V can hear it-and somehow that hurts him even more

[surfacolyte]

Diary of Norelle Rhia, part XXXIX

Dear Diary,

I...I'm... at loss for words...again.

Me, Chiro, Cai and Arzali sneak into the mansion through a water pipe and bring some of our rat squad (named after Rhaban, hehe) with us. They are the stealthiest of the bunch, the apple of both my and Arzali's eye. We get in, the family and who knows who else were having a party of some sort upstairs. We let our auspexes scan the area and I notice a possible point for a room. Naturally, we started opening it as discreetly as possible.

Then I get a call from Yi.

Me!

Not the team! Me!

Sure, I am the XO and was the leader of this side of the operation, but what could be so...serious that the other team wasn't supposed to hear it. He asked how long it would take us to get inside. Chiro estimated 40 minutes. And then he tells me that we didn't have that much. Chaos. Something from Chaos was arriving to the planet.

If this planet had no idea what the Inquisition was, how well did they know the forces of the Immaterium? Regardless of that, we knew we didn't have the time to lose, so, we decided to blast the door open. We go in, Arzali stays put with the rats because of the upcoming attack of the owners of the house. Me, Cai, and Chiro go into the vault... sound familiar? This time we made sure that Chiro wasn't touching anything. There were eldar artefacts, lots of them. We took them all with us, as well as a star map. It seemed to be important. The weirdest part is that...it's not a part of the eldar stuff we were supposed to collect. We took it anyway...it seemed important.

Well, Arzali does his job with the rats and we get out of there as fast as we can...through the freakin' pipe, what else. We lost couple of Slippers there but we got out.

We found Yi, Kûrush and the rest of the Slippers. Captain Liedarto had sent guncutters to pick us up. And then Yi tells me...

It wasn't just some random Chaos ship...it was the one that took James away from us. It was James's ship! It was coming for us! Well, not for us necessarily, but for something...perhaps in the vault? But still, it was there approaching us... I almost made a scene...almost...but as the living, breathing...perhaps even sometimes sensible XO of the team I held it together. For the whole team.

Then it started: an angry mob from the mansion we raided attacked from one side while Chaos sent its greetings from the other side. I wasn't that focused on the mob, Arzali and Chiro had that covered. Me, Kûrush, Yi, and Kai faced the more dangerous one. James wasn't to be seen but there was this blonde woman, a psycher... she...she was like tailor made to face Yi. She didn't seem to flinch from his attacks. I wanted to help Yi but... there was this shot. Towards us. Dangerous, precise, would have been lethal if there wasn't this thing called dodging. I recognized it, peered into the back lines.

James. Of course it had to be him.

I...I was overcome with this... fearful anger...I kept shooting at him for a while. Didn't hit him, fucking shields.

When the witch got close enough, I woke up and started shooting at her. What's the order of elimination again, Nore?

Witches.

Heavy weapons.

All the rest.

If there are daemons, kill them...first? Second? Depends on how dangerous they are.

Remember that, girl.

And then...

There was this blast of blinding light from the sky. It hit close by, the shock wave threw us down. An orbital bombardment... and I don't think it was from the Chaos ship. It had to have come from our ship... Yi didn't order it, Captain Liedarto wouldn't shoot the big scary laser at us without an order. The only one who could have done it...

Chiro. The Captain even told us it was him.

200 Slippers gone because of him. 200 good men and women, fighting for their Emperor, fighting for their Interrogator...fighting for their lives...gone, in a flash... It hit the Enemy as well but...not as well as it hit us...

It's not how they were supposed to go. It was...a stupid move...a very, very stupid move. Chiro, why...why did you do it? I know, you wanted to hit the enemy but...why? Why did he go against Yi!? Against orders!!! Now 200 people are dead!!!! I...I have no words. How did this happen? Chiro... I can't keep you safe. Not now... you did this. You did this all by yourself: destroyed lives, put us all in great risk, made us suffer even more.

I swear if that beam would have killed any of my team mates, I would have put my pistol against Chiro's head and shot him.

I'm...I'm not an executioner. I was a sheriff, bringer of justice, after that an acolyte... and it went dark...really, really dark.... then I was healed by a holy object...and now... I can't save them. None of them.

We were teleported back to our ship and Chiro was taken into custody. Yi wanted a trial... it's going to be held in two days. I'm the defender.

Like always....

Can I help you, Chiro? I want to but...I don't know if I can.

- Norelle

[hrexandro]

OSR session 2

19th day of the first month of spring, Year of the Rat

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, ran with OSE, using the Death & Dismemberment Table from GLOG.

Player characters:

Lonya, Thief

Urpert, Thief

Valbona, Fighter

Another group of adventurers, having been sold a supposed treasure map from a mysterious old man, prepared to venture out of the town of Tor’s Field.

Having asked around town, the party learned of a previous group of miscreants who, after venturing into the same general area, returned with various cryptic items, before meeting various abrupt and violent ends. Prior to dying however, they seem to have enlisted the help of an acolyte (still living), who, in the end, did not decide to pursue the same adventuring lifestyle. They met him outside of the palisade of the decaying town, in the surrounding fields and orchards, peppered with ruins of the town’s former… mediocrity. Beside a collapsed church, in the town’s cemetery, the acolyte was busy burying the remains of two adventurers. He relayed their story and gifted the party what looked like the map of the inside of a tomb, before immersing himself in prayer for these poor souls.

They arrived there the next day, finding a set of ransacked rooms, and a smashed stone door with a stone slab lying on the floor. Upon entering further, into a large chamber filled with rotten grave goods and scattered bones they saw a clay statue of a snake-man, surrounded by fragments of clay, to his left, laid a snake-man skeleton. Lonya disturbed the remains by trying to scatter the bones with her foot, in an attempt to prevent it from being animated later on and endangering their rear. The attempt animated the skeleton, leading to a quick fight, from which the party survived unscathed, while the snake-man ended scattered.

Not willing to leave any possible accursed dead undisturbed, Valbona knocked on the remaining statue, which erupted in a rain of clay fragments, unsurprisingly revealing another skeleton inside. The party escaped into the outlying corridor, hoping that the blessed light of day may have an adverse effect for the enemy. That did not seem to prove true. In the ensuing scuffle, they did, however, manage to lodge a grappling hook into his ribcage and pulled him down to the ground, leading to his demise.

Disappointed at the apparent lack of treasure, the group ventured deeper, encountering a vile statue, that they investigated thoroughly. Founding no way to interact with it, they dove into the hole at its base and entered a corridor flanked with statues of snake-men warriors. Remembering that they’ve been informed that one of these statues was moveable, they decided not to investigate it further.

They entered an octagonal chamber with exits on every side, multiple snake-men statues bearing various implements, a pool of black water in the middle, and a smashed mummified hand near the pool (unfortunately I forgot to mention the blood that must have been there, since that is where Priest bled out to death during the previous session). They carefully approached the pool, but nothing emerged from within.

Then the party started investigating the surrounding doors, starting with the wooden ones to the Southeast. Inside they found a small room with rotten beds, shelves, piles of scrolls in an unknown language and a gold and emerald icon depicting a Snakeoid figure. They quickly pocketed the icon and some of the scrolls.

Next, they investigated a stone door to the North, which they moved without much hassle using Lonya’s crowbar. Inside they found collapsed rubble, with a small hole which might have enabled them entry, if it weren’t for a furious snake-man skeleton aggressively trying to attack anything that came close. They decided to forego this route for now and sighed with relief when the skeleton stopped making noise after losing “sight” of them. They attempted to make sense of the various implements that the statues around the octagonal room are holding regarding the rooms and their contents, but they find no logic or reason connecting the two.

Opening the elaborately carved doors to the East and seeing ominous-looking stars leading down, and walls covered in reliefs of snakes “performing indeterminate movement between the sky and the ground”, they decided not to venture deeper just yet.

Then they decided to enter the room to the Northwest. Inside, on the wall, a circular shape glittered with the light of their torch. Upon noticing a raised tile on the floor, they apprehensively rolled a large stone from the collapsed corridor on the floor towards it and hid outside. With a deafening sound, a bolt of lightning shot from the room, destroying the wooden door to the Southeast. They entered the room, crawling on the floor and avoiding the pressed tile and stone. The adventurers expressed worry that the dungeon seemed to be causing them to behave like snake-men. Inside the room they stuck close to the walls, waiting for another lightning to shoot, it did not. Then they carefully took the electrum disk from the wall, being careful not to touch it with their skin, and only manipulating it through a bag. They expressed heavy disappointment that the sarcophagus in the room is empty.

Next, they entered the crudely carved room to the Northeast, and upon hearing squelching sounds from the stone coffin, prepared a plan ofaction. After a lengthy deliberation on the possibility of baiting the potential enemy to be zapped by the lightning trap from the Northwestern room, they abandoned that idea and instead poured oil around the sarcophagus, Valbona braced to push the lid off and Lonya stood with a torch prepared to burn whatever emerged. As soon as it opened a bit, a black pseudopod shot out, grabbing Valbona’s hand. She managed to break her hand out, but not without sustaining painful burns. The adventurers hastily exited the room after Lonya threw the torch on the oil. A blob of black jelly pursued them, emitting a horrific sound while passing through the flames. They did, however, have the advantage of speed, Lonya and Urpert escaped to the upper level, while Valbona remained, trying to bait in to fall into the black pool. She succeeded and rising black water washed over her boots as the creature fell. She called for the rest of the party to come back down. As they were descending to join Valbona, the monstrous jelly emerged out of the water but was promptly put down by the steel of her axe. They investigated the scorched room from which the jelly originated but found only clay jars and copies of goods.

When investigating the Southern room, they found only an unfinished chamber with various mining and masonry tools scattered around. They took the tools to the Northern room and threw them through the hole at the unruly skeleton until he stopped moving, then used the remaining tools to clear their path. Inside, they found various golden funeral trinkets, Urpert also took the axe previously wielded by the animated skeleton.

The party then entered the corridor to the Southwest and smashed one of the clay snake-men warriors standing there. Finding neither treasure nor foe, they left the rest undisturbed.

Having apparently exhausted all other routes, the party decided to venture down the stone stairs, without performing any prior investigation. Upon stepping on the third stair, Valbona activated the trap – the stairs turned into a smooth ramp, and she slided down into spikes below, somehow managing to survive with only a flesh wound. She found herself in another octagonal room, this one had a huge stone statue of a humanoid figure with a cobra-like head wielding a huge sword, the walls were covered in various old and mostly decayed shields. The thief was shocked upon seeing that the stone figure started to approach her but managed to escape it into a narrow path overlooking a dark chasm on the other side of the room. She heard a swooping sound but did not look back and managed to avoid falling off the slippery stone ledge. She heard the statue stomping away (the ledge was too arrow for it to follow) and sat down in the dark, shaking with fear.

Meanwhile her comrades tried to fix a rope to safely descend down the ramp to aid her. The ramp, however, soon turned back into stairs, so Urpert tied the rope around Lonya’s waist instead and had her walk down the stairs (avoiding the third), while she carefully prodded the stairs in front of her. No other stairs turned out to be trapped.

As soon as the cobra guardian, now also bearing a shield, noticed them, he approached, but they were able to easily avoid him, as he did not fit up the stairs. Shouting over the foe, hoping he did not understand Common, the adventurers coordinated a plan to bait him to approach the slippery stone edge of the chasm and throw him down there using ropes. Shenanigans ensued. Valbona narrowly escaped doom while running on the slippery ledge multiple times. They did not manage to do it exactly how they planned, the guardian turned out to be too heavy to push/pull him. However, when the statue leaped near the ledge to attack Valbona, who was taunting him and throwing stones, he did slip and fall into the chasm. Valbona escaped the same fate, but her ribs got cracked by the impact of the stone guardian’s leap.

The party decided to recuperate in the octagonal room formerly occupied by the cobra-golem. They dragged down the beds from one of the rooms above to start a fire and get comfortable. Before they managed to do that, they were startled by chittering sounds and creepy laughter coming from the direction of the chasm. They ruled to rest in town instead.

The travel back was uneventful, in town, they found callers roaming the streets with handbells, and people gathering at the chapels. It was the day of Resurrection.

Lonya went straight to the local wizard and, upon introducing herself as “Tulia Rostfhausen”, tried to sell him the emerald snake icon, he was interested and greedy, but suspicious. She was unwilling to name the source of the treasure, so the wizard brushed her off, openly citing fear of the local ruler as the reason for his unwillingness to make business before being aware of exactly the kind of risk he is taking. She then roamed the streets, saw wanted notices promising 500 gold pieces for the head of a local bandit leader, named as “Bloody Henry”. She inquired a bit about this figure (she learned that they call him Henry-who-does-not-close-his-eyes) and about the local ruler also.

Valbona also visited the wizard and paid him to have the scrolls translated.

They waited for a week, until Valbona’s ribs healed and for the wizard to translate the scrolls. They turned out to be mad ravings of dead kings, desperately calling to their descendants, describing visions of dark eternity. One name seemed to pop up throughout the texts, “Baltoplat”, described only as “the demon of the deep”.

[ciathyzareposts]

Game 344: Bandor II (1992)

That’s a lazy title graphic.

                Bandor II

United States

Magic Lemon (developer and publisher)

Released as shareware in 1992 for DOS

Date Started: 26 October 2019

Date Finished: 28 October 2019

Total Hours: 14

Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

           I was willing to give some credit to Bandor: The Search for the Storm Giant King (1992) for at least having the originality to try to clone the Gold Box instead of Ultima, Dungeon Master, Wizardry, or any other title that we’ve seen dozens of times. All that good will is gone with Bandor II, which differs so little from Bandor that it feels more like a remake than a sequel–albeit a remake in which very little is actually remade except trivial graphics and interface changes.             

And let’s not over-emphasize those graphics upgrades.

         In the original Bandor, you controlled a party of four adventurers set loose in the titular city to take quests from the council and its chief wizard, Osi. Both games draw heavily from Pool of Radiance in the nature of the plot and quests; for instance, a mysterious warlord organizing monsters in the slums, and someone poisoning a nearby river. In the first game, the city’s woes were revealed to be the machinations of the Storm Giant King, whose defeat ended the game well before I’d completed all the side quests. Here, the game begins with new ills facing the city, including word that the Storm Giant King has returned. Bandor II is subtitled “The Wrath of the Storm Giant King” on some external sites, but the subtitle is never given on a game screen or within the game files.            

Bandor is having more problems.

          I tried to import my characters from the first game but couldn’t figure it out, so I created brand new ones. Classes are warrior, thief, mage, friar, rogue (warrior/thief), and jack-of-all-trades (warrior/thief/mage). Races are human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, and half-dwarf, with only the mongrels able to be jacks-of-all-trades. Attributes are strength, magic, and luck, given as percentages from 0 to 100. Everyone begins with axes and leather armor. Spellcasters have spellbooks that (annoyingly) must be swapped into the weapon slot when you actually want to cast a spell.             

I was uninspired during character creation and chose an uninspiring name.

            The game re-uses the three 40 x 40 maps from the first title: the city of Bandor, the forest, and the underworld (slums) to the city’s east. The underworld has a teleporter to a fourth map, titled “Landthi’s Lair,” which makes no sense until you reach the final encounter. The city map is entirely wasted. The huge space has only a few shops and no special encounters.

This was a huge waste of time.

          A large city council building in the center doles out quests. There are only 5 in the game:             

Retrieve a bottle of Elixir of B’Tet from the Fortune Teller in the slums; bring it back to the wizard Osi. The Fortune Teller has you rescue her brother, the guildmaster, from a group of bandits before she hands over the elixir.

          The Fortune Teller has a sub-quest.

          Investigate unexplained deaths in the city slums near the old Temple of B’Nah. This turns out to be former acolytes of B’Nah attempting to resurrect him. One combat clears this quest.

            Getting rewarded back at the city council chambers.

            Find out who’s poisoning the River Quoth. It turns out to be a dragon.

Investigate the return of the Storm Giant King and find out who is behind his return.

             The council issues the main quest of the game.

          Only the last quest is necessary to win the game, and depending on your exploration pattern, it’s entirely possible that you’ll stumble on that quest first.

Bandor featured three major problems, none of which is fixed in Bandor II:

1. No inventory improvements. From your starting axes and leather armor, you can use your gold to buy slightly better items like long swords and plate armor. Once you have those, there’s nothing else. No upgrades are found during adventuring, or as quest rewards. This means there’s no purpose to the economy except healing and resurrections.               

There’s hardly anything worth buying here.

           2. A horrible mouse-only interface. I hated the mouse-driven interface of both games. Actions require too many clicks; there are no alternatives to clicking; and clicking even slightly away from the center of your target produces a question mark, a pause, and a noxious noise that made me want to punch a kitten. The worst part is that this game was supposed to feature a keyboard interface, and it technically does. But it’s bugged and broken, failing to read your input about half the item. Worse, you have to choose one or the other during configuration. Good games have redundant commands active at the same time.             

Graphics haven’t improved. I don’t know what this was supposed to be.

             3. Too many combats with too few tactics. Bandor tries to emulate the Gold Box combat system but only offers a handful of spells (admittedly, its “Fireball” analog is about as much fun as “Fireball” without being quite so over-powered) and eliminates useful features like backstabbing, delaying, and guarding. Worse, it often puts the party in extremely narrow corridors where only one character can fight and spellcasters can’t cast over their heads because they must have an uninterrupted line-of-sight to the enemy. Random combats are programmed to come along something like every 20 moves, and I found it less annoying to save the game, quit, and reload (which restarts the counter) than to fight all of them.              

Fighting bandits in confined conditions.

          To these inherited problems, Bandor II maddeningly introduces another:

4. No ability to level up until late in the game. If you visit the guild early in the game, you can’t get in. A message on the door indicates that the guildmaster has gone into the slums to investigate the problems there. You have to rescue him from bandits before he’ll return to the guild and train you. But the bandit encounter is so deep in the slums, you could easily do this quest last, or not at all.           

This doesn’t happen until it’s so late you hardly need it.

         The only thing to unarguably improve is the automap, which no longer forgets your progress and clearly annotates physical features like doors and uncrossable foliage.             

A growing automap of the final area looks a bit like Ultima Underworld’s.

            Of the maps, the outdoor forest is the most annoying. It is essentially linear, with trees, bushes, and water blocking any attempt to create your own exploration pattern. In short order, you find a magic staff, talk to a druid who is only able to contact you through the staff, and then fight a dragon to destroy the threat to the city’s water supply. Random battles against ogres and giant rats are more dangerous than the “boss” battle in the area.             

This time, it’s a three-headed dragon instead of a sorcerer named Yarash, but the idea is the same.

           The slums serve up more giant rats and ogres, along with bandits, fire beasts, and “black servants.” (Nothing like a message saying, “You hit the black servant” to test my liberal sensibilities.) Buildings within this area hold the encounters necessary to solve all quests except the Storm Giant himself.              

Threatened by Benson.

            The undead Storm Giant King is found through a portal. He attacks after a bit of exposition with two black servants, and again the combat is easier than some of the random ones found in the same area.          

The Storm Giant King, just like Tyranthraxus, doesn’t know when to stay dead.

            After he’s defeated, you can enter an inner sanctum and find the wizard Landthi, brother of Osi. He takes the credit for raising the Storm Giant King and then attacks with no minions, making the final battle one of the easiest.

The villain delivers his exposition.

The final battle against Landthi in a corner.

            Once you defeat Landthi, Osi apparates in and says that Landthi still lives . . . somewhere. He thanks you for your service and ends the game.            

Maybe we’d like to be heroes of some other city next time.

         I gave the original Bandor 26 points on the GIMLET. Since its sequel uses a near-identical interface, mechanics, and plot, I’m inclined to give it the same thing–minus 2 points for “character creation and development” since you can’t develop for most of the game. I guess I’d also subtract a point for “encounters,” since this game had the same unmemorable foes as the first but without the handful of non-combat encounters that I noted in my review.

If I can say one good thing about Bandor II, it’s that magic and physical combat are well-balanced. You can’t win with just a melee party, but spells aren’t quite the deus ex machina that they are in the Gold Box series. There are only a few of them, and while none of them ever stop being useful (e.g., “Sleep” doesn’t stop working against higher-level foes), they also have logistical concerns that prevent the mage from wiping the floor with every enemy party. For instance, enemies have a chance of dodging spells, you have to be in a line-of-sight to cast them (no other party members blocking), and the spellcaster cannot be in melee range of an enemy.

           Blasting the Storm Giant King with a “Fireball.”

           Still, unless Bandor III (1993) offers a significantly different experience, I won’t be sad if it never surfaces. We’ll see author Don Lemons’ other work with Shadowkeep I: The Search (1993) and The Infernal Tome (1994).

We’ll check in with Camelot next, after which I’ll either take another stab at The Magic Candle III or move on to Challenge of the Five Realms. 

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-344-bandor-ii-1992/

[theophenes]

Seattle nights Byte 2: Every Chummer's crazy for a Sharp-dressed Man

Byte 1

Preparation. If there was one thing Jeeves always took pride in, it was his technique and preparation. Six hours before meeting the other two members of is crew, and he was checking his weapons. Hold-out needler pistol. Taser. Calibrated internal systems.  He smirked, calibrating his reflexes. Wired stim systems at twenty percent, standard responsiveness.

He looked in the mirror, shaving with a straight-razor. Perfect. Clean. Orderly. Not a hair out of place, as he sculpted it with gel, putting in contact lenses to mask is eye color, looking a perfect, pristine, dull blue. Wrapping a layer of synthetic skin over the one identifying mark on his neck, covering it with a bio-gel adhesive. All the cosmetology skill of a high-end corporate fashionista, and here he was, putting that talent to the mundane task of looking so bland no one could notice him. Still, it was important to play the game, even if it took an hour or so.

The fashion was as tedious and meticulous as the hair and make-up. His glasses, lenses cleaned, with a subtle AR interface. A dark red tie, in a Windsor knot. Matching pocket square. A perfectly pressed shirt, a tailored jacket. The ensemble itself was almost an hour in prep time. Then, the weapons. Holster hidden under the breast of the jacket, one at the ankle for the tazer. A few slap-patches of sedatives in the wallet. A small ceramic folding knife in the left sleeve. Chrome cuff-links, both diamond-shaped with a line from one corner to the other. Accessories made the outfit, and the suit made the man, after all. Jeeves looked up at the clock. Three hours was enough time to re-read the dossier for any important info, seeing if Mr. Fong's additional context went anywhere. If nothing else, he might get a new grasp on the security detail.

Jeeves sat on a rather plain couch, in a plain, small apartment. The whole place looked like the sort of apartment you'd show to potential renters that nobody actually lived in. The decor was simple, black leather and office furniture. Paintings of dull still life pieces hung on the walls, utterly quiet and sterile, except for one piece of life, an oasis on the glass dining room table. A small bonsai tree, sand-pit, and a bowl of water decorated with Taoist runes. The suited man thumbed through the documents, muttering to himself. “Hmmm. I should trim the bonsai this weekend.”

   In the mean-time, Hel made preparations of her own, not to herself, but to her work. Her own little hovel was a strange, cluttered affair, the smell of ozone and burnt plastic permeating the air, with small hints of Buffalo-sauce flavored soy-chik crackers and mildly stale tea and burnt soykaf.

Her main workbench, eating table, and general all purpose place to set stuff was covered with various things, primarily manuals and pieces. However, a small tarp of less than square foot, unfolded on the floor, was where the current action took place. Soldering, re-pairing, and altering circuitry. The small drone looked like a companion model, around the size of a medium dog, coming up to the average person's knee, or the Orc's boots. She tapped away at her diagnostic computer with one hand while she poked and prodded with the other. Connectivity was good, but the new installs could cause interference if they overloaded. She had to watch the charge capacity. Still, it and Harpy should've been enough to get it done.

The music in the background to her welding and cursing was a perky playlist on hop-net, alternating between newer Idol Pop out of Tokyo and some weirdly chipper Ork Rawkers from Bristol called “Da Noiz Boiz.” She smirked and stopped to check her time and wipe grease from her fingers. This new model would be up and running in time for the show.

As she finished up the drone re-working, she got ready to head out the door. Shotgun, forged mag-key, a duffel bag for the new drone, her trademark loud jacket, here less trade-mark shit-eating grin, a neon red pair of capri pants black boots, and a faded t-shirt showing a bunch of cats walking on type-writers.

She checked her pockets, then remember to grab her e-cig. After all, some essentials were bigger than others.

---------------------------------

Fong's idea of preparation was, unsurprisingly, flipping through the dossier while sitting down and eating some...unique street food. The grub was referred to as a Zog-puff, which was basically seaweed and soy-flour broiled into soft, crispy little things that were somewhere between a good crouton and a bad hush-puppy. He was dipping them in a sort of sticky thing that could pass for Teriyaki sauce if you were a  Berlin street musician who had only seen the stuff in a magazine before trying this concoction. Still, it was cheap, and that was what mattered.

Fong sighed, hanging upside down from a rafter on the ceiling as he sifted through the dossier on his pda while attempting to handle the Zog-puffs with chopsticks, while neither of those things were meant to work in concert. He grinned, juggling them slightly as he considered it. The pay-off, as per the dossier, would allow him to present his first offering. And set enough aside that he could eat for a few weeks, prep for the next job. New digs weren't part of the equation yet, but hey—it was Seattle. Opportunities were never lacking, only the luck and circumstances to survive them.

The slim adept considered this as he popped another puff into his mouth. “Soon, if I can ge--opmhrhrmrrhhmrmr,” he hummed as he ate the puff and then swallowed heroically, performing a not-quite-ab-crunch to do so, “I can develop the resources necessary for the shot at nomononph,” he said to no one in particular, although he hoped a certain spirit was listening to him, somewhere.

He sighed. “Either way, I can't meet the buyer. That'd likely cause more trouble than it's worth. Still, I need to deal with the security. Best to pack some flash-bangs on top of the usual toys. And the prayer beads, yeah, that'll do...even a bad acolyte could stand to use his prayers,” the elf smirked and laughed weakly. He enjoyed dark humor, even if it was at his own expense. Hell, he deserved it sometimes. The smiling heretical monk. The weird one. He shook his head. “Well, if that's the only punchline I've got, we're definitely in need of a rematch, then,” he rubbed the back of his head and dropped from the rafters. “Okay, quick bath at that shower farm two blocks down, then we grab our ass-whuppin' gear and get going.”

-----------------------------

Jeeves’ preferred meeting place was not the sort of place that served fallout nuclear wings with extra sauce. It was, to put it politely, a  music school practice room in Central Auburn, near a few nightclubs. Dull, uninteresting, with multiple sound-proof rooms where a bunch of people dressed tackily could have a private session with no equipment for 20 nu-yen. Plenty of runners came in, pretending to be either musicians or managers holding practice sessions. Of course, so did a few escorts and pimps, dealers and criminals. Rooms that weren't bugged and could be rented with a credstick and no real names were always an excellent commodity.

Jeeves was the earliest, booking the room and waiting for the other two to arrive as he set up a small digital map on the lone table in the room, sitting at one of the five chairs. He'd asked for a furnished study room, and this was sufficient. Fong and Hel arrived on time, both smiling and walking in, Hel with earbuds in, Fong whistling as he entered.

The elf waved at the man in the perfect suit. “Jeeves, buddy. Nice spot to hang, I dig it. Privacy's a plus. Could use some catering, though,” he rolled his shoulders as if stretching.

“At least no one will try to murder you the  way out of the building. Don’t go two blocks north, though. Humanis goons like that area,” he said calmly as Hel shut the door behind her, removing her earbuds.

She coughed and looked at them. “Alright, so let's go over the final details. I've gotten us a nice little van—old exterminator's wagon. Hardly economic, but easy to fit a group and some cargo in. We park two blocks south,” she said as she pointed to the map. “I show up in uniform, and start using my drones to do a work-through of the building, ‘finding’ a plague rat corpse. Should be enough to scare everyone, then you two come in after I've 'called for back-up' which should take, like ten minutes, or so,” she nodded, releasing the air quotes she had made.  “Then, you guys come in, ask the maintenance guys for secondary keys so you can find the nest, then order a building evac for people's safety.”

Fong smirked. “Even if you've got a uniform in my size, can I hide the armor under it somehow?”

She shook her head. “You can put all your shit in a duffel bag, skinny. We can change after I accidentally break the security camera networks chasing an imaginary rat in with one of my drones. Didn't think the illustrious kung-fu master needed a lot of kit.”

Fong stroked his beard as mystically as possible. “Prepare for ten different battles, so you may win the one that occurs,” he said with a wink. “Or, barring that, bring a bug-out bag, an assistant with great legs, and enough nuyen to bribe your way out of hell. Although, if we had that last one, I suppose we wouldn't be doing this...” he trailed off, shaking his head.

Jeeves nodded. “Zen routine aside, I appreciate the idea of preparation. I'll keep my kit in a bag as well. I'm assuming we'll need a second car, to arrive in?”

Hel put a hand behind her head. “Yeah, but I could only get the one. Showing up in a beat-up truck should be fine, as long as everyone thinks you came when I called to help out.”

Fong nodded. “Yeah, we came in on our day off because you needed the extra manpower,” Fong said, flexing his muscles and snickering.

Hel thumped him in the shoulder. “Yeah, you can carry my lunch money, slim” she sniggered. “Sorry, Mr. Fong. You just look more like a reed than a pillar, you know?”

Fong winked. “When standing erect, I can hold up a roof. And when I start swinging, I can bring down the house!” He laughed.

“Focus,” Jeeves said sternly. “So, after we've shut down the security, we move in to seize the box. Are you prepared to assense the area, Mr. Fong?”

Fong steepled his fingers together in the sort of pyramid formation used by vague mystics and Sorcerous Trideo villains. “I can attune my third eye in due time. As Hel's drones map out the building, I can allow my spirit to hit the astral. Even if the box isn't magic, it should have enough emotion tied to it to stand out like a bonfire in a place as....well, shallow as a Horizon storage facility.”

Jeeves nodded. “I suppose that makes sense, as much as any magic does,” he mused dryly.

“Was that a joke, Jeeves? Glad to see you've got it in you,” Hel said as she took a drag from her e-cig. She blew out a small orange smoke ring.

Jeeves just adjusted his glasses. “I have my moments, after all,” he said with the tiniest of smirks. “So, are there other questions?”

Fong raised a hand. “Yeah, one thing's bugging me. You said you cased the joint, and the mundane security seemed pretty minimal. But knowing what's in that box—it's gotta be more than that. This isn't a question, I guess. Just a word of caution. If the Brotherhood of Wu is hiring us, they're expecting something they haven't got the man-power to deal with. Or, they tried already and failed. Either way we should gird ourselves with wisdom as much as stolen uniforms.”

Hel frowned. “Were you part of this Wu thing? You seem to know their methods by heart.”

Fong waved dismissively. “If I said yes, would you simply nod and let it go?”

“That is definitely not an answer,” Hel said with a rolling of her eyes. “The truth is that you don't want to meet them, but you're okay with helping them with their drekshow. Why?”

Fong grinned. “A wise man controls the pieces, a genius controls the board.”

Jeeves shook his head. “Fong's relationship with our employer is unimportant, provided we complete the mission and receive payment.”

Fong shrugged. “I assure you, if anyone tries to kill us in a way that makes my tragic history matter, I will happily address it.”

Hel grimaced. “I don't like flying that fucking blind, Mr. Fong. Why can't you give a little here?”

Fong nodded. “Hel, I don't know anything about either of you two—I only volunteered what I thought would help. I don't even know what Jeeves is actually capable of. The crappy part of the shadows is that we've all got secrets. And some of them are risky to share with other professional criminals you just met. You done now? Or do you wanna push out your only Mystic back-up because he's hiding something under his glorious beard?”

Jeeves stood up, his voice sharp and pronounced before Hel could retort. “That's enough. Mr. Fong's made his point. We don't trust each other, not yet. That's fine. Tonight, we work. If we still don't trust each other tomorrow, we'll address it. Or, we'll avoid working together again.”

Hel gritted her teeth. “Fine, keep up the cryptic bullshit. Just make sure we don't get geeked because you're feeling tight-lipped.”

Fong shook his head. “If anyone knows who I am during this mission, then our employer has severely misrepresented the truth, and we should bug right the hell out, likely after I hurt a few people,” the elf rose slowly from his seat.“But, I'm not expecting any old friends to show up to this one. That being said, I've brought some party favors and talismans in case. It never hurts to be prepared for a betrayal, or a sudden reversal of fortunes.”

Hel nodded. “Yeah, I'm bringing a full kit in, just in case things go weird.”

Mr. Fong nodded to Jeeves. “And what about you, our well-dressed leader? I'm assuming you've got more than just style up your sleeve?”

Jeeves shrugged. “I'm prepared for the worst. Like you, I'll demonstrate when it becomes necessary. However, if we're lucky, I won't need to go all out,” he said with a nod.

Mr. Fong nodded. “Yeah,we go in quiet, and only go loud if this all goes to hell. Which it might, but hopefully not. Still, we should all pack heat, and like I said, I'll let you know if anything hokey, magic or otherwise, is gunning for us. So any other important steps? Aside from saying our prayers and eating some lunch?”

Hel snorted. “Do we look like the praying type, Mr. Fong?”

The strange elf stroked his beard. “This world has a million spirits, at the very least. How am I to know from whom you seek succor? At least, not until we've gotten some drinks.”

Hel shook her head. “You full of this much bullshit naturally, or did you have to learn it?”

Fong smiled warmly. “I have a quote-a-day calendar. 'Zen for guys with fancy beards.' I think it's on the Morinobu app store....” He laughed a little.

Hel simply nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Jeeves, you can drive a stick? I've got a idea on who we can get a truck from.”

“I'll manage,” the man in the suit said, checking his lapels in a mirror absentmindedly. They were perfectly straight, but some habits were a constant, even in the shadows, where chaos was a state of being.

“Then it appears we have a plan, with a few contingencies if it goes poorly,” Fong grinned. “That's definitely an excellent start.”