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2 mos ago
Current As a GM, I hate all my players in particular
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6 mos ago
joining the war on smoking, on the side of smoking
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8 mos ago
as a patreon reward I will read your least favorite person's handmade custom tabletop RPG homebrew and ask them why they didn't just run it in 5e instead
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10 mos ago
I started RP before double digit age but you couldn't have gotten an admission I was under 18 under threat of death. Kids just casually admiting it online now is wild.
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12 mos ago
the whole subway's mine for the slammin'
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Salvator Rasch


"Alice! Damn it!" Salvator cursed as the other voidhanger in the squad took a nasty hit, King reporting a suit breach. Even if the station had breathable atmosphere, he didn't trust any prolonged exposure with all of the etheric interference in the area. Probably the third worst possible situation to have a suit breach, outside of zero-G and anywhere with a confirmed toxic atmosphere.

The firefight ended soon enough, and Salvator turned to run diagnostics on Alice. Fortunately, Echo was already handling triage, so he simply let the matter be, turning his attention back to the situation at hand. King's mouthed, lip-read comment was met with a nod of understanding and battle-cant handsign in the affirmative before they resumed vocal communications.

"Harvest, Rasch. Requesting ETA on our end and yours based on projected paths. How much further do we have left to go? Over." He queryed up across the combined comms before switching back to the team's private channel. Or as private as it could be considering their support team.

"Squad, Rasch. Double check your suits and seals, report any further breaches and patch them up ASAP. In any case, agreed with Alice. I'm sensing some faint ethereal traces as well, but nothing concrete. All units, advance slowly. Scan anything out of place, and keep the rest of the squad in the loop. King, I want you on point. Echo, endoform on rear support."

Salvator caught King's gaze, signing the battle-cant for caution. Even without the construct's near-immunity to ethereal phenomena, it had proved to have a level enough head on its shoulders to not go guns blazing at the first twitch of movement. Unlike quite possibly half the squad.
Ranbu no Izayoi


"Nobody likes a heckler, child!" Ferdiad jeered right back at Rudolf's provocations as it bore down on him with its scythe, pressing harder in an attempt to break through the lock. As Rudolf wrenched the scythe aside and slammed a boot into Ferdiad's gut, the demon found itself narrowly evading the following retaliatory blows, even as its gaze honed in on its opponent.

"And yet...why does your presence feel ever so familiar?" It mused, finally bringing the haft of its scythe around to parry a pair of strikes, its gaze narrowing. "You seem a relatively dull fellow, but still..." Its eyes gleamed a predatory gold, face breaking out into a smile. "Something about you makes me want to cajole you along, ever so much-"

"Fira!"

Miina's cast blindsided Ferdiad, who found itself engulfed in a blaze of flame for a moment. A twirl of its scythe dissipated the embers as its gaze turned back towards the caster. "Ah, yes, yes! How could I forget what I'd originally dove into your ranks to do? Here, kitty, kittyyy~" It reached out, but before Ferdiad could wring Miina's neck, Galahad's halberd toss pierced into the dome of shadow, embedding itself into the artificial ceiling as cracks began to show, rays of light falling directly on Ferdiad.

"GAH! How dare-" Chisato's flaming kunai detonated on impact with its chest, followed by Esben and Eliane's pincer attack with their blades. Wounded and very likely weakened, Ferdiad staggered back, spluttering in disbelief as it started to right itself...

"Ei!" Izayoi screamed a kiai to center herself as she barreled into Ferdiad from the side, a whirling slash carving a deep gash across its chest as the samurai planted a hand into the ground to slow her slide, rejoining the rest of the party.

"Very well, then!" No longer did Ferdiad have any trace of amusement in its tone. Batlike wings erupted from its back as it waved its hand, the dome of shadow repairing itself and dislodging Galahad's polearm down to the ground. "If you so wish to hurry up the show, then who am I to deny mine audience?" The gloom within the dome intensified, the shadows growing ever more foreboding. Additional spikes emerged from Ferdiad's body as its scythe grew in length. "Welcome all, to curtain call-"

And then, all of a sudden, Ferdiad froze, the demon's head tilting as if listening to a call unheard. For a brief moment, the situation remained in deadlock, until the demon snapped its fingers, the dome dissipating as Ferdiad itself began to melt down into the shadows cast by the ruins of Lunaris, its transformation reverting in an instant.

"What luck, what joyous fortune for you!" The threatening joviality had returned to Ferdiad's tone, the jongleur giving a devil's grin as it sunk into the earth. "None among us shall be ejected from this mortal coil today, for my patron calls! Farewell, my audience, adieu! I've yet more pliant targets to terrorize!" And with a final laugh, Ferdiad sunk into the shadows completely, disappearing from anyone's senses and leaving the Warriors of Light alone in the fading afternoon sun.

___

That evening, they'd gotten well clear of Lunaris's ruins by the time they'd made camp in a clearing, a pot of vegetable soup and a pan of flatbread heating over a fire. With dinner on the way, Izayoi turned her eyes upon Rudolf, in a moment he had to have been sure was coming.

"Now that we've settled in, perhaps you'd like to begin what you were going to say during the day before we were interrupted by the bloody clown?"
Akaishi Azumi

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None


"Alright, that's enough fucking Sekiro for the day! Let's wrap up with supas~" Azumi laughed as she set her controller down, toggling the scene on her OBS recording to her usual background as she leaned back in her chair. She muted her microphone for a second as she took a swig of energy drink from the can on her desk, spinning around briefly. Another good fucking haul today: decent chunk of subs and donos to keep her bank account in the black for a good long while to come. And wasn't that what mattered? The more she took in, the more she wouldn't have to go to college, after all~

"Mmmkay, how's about we get started then? I can't wait to see which supa from you absolute freaks makes me want to commit the final yab today~" A brief, audible cackle. She was playing it up a bit: most of them weren't that bad. Just the usual crowd of other NEETs, with some in on the bit (if it was even really a bit at this point) and some taking it as permission to go all in. And even that wasn't too bad compared to some of the shit she'd looked up for funsies when she was younger.

"Pochiko, thank for the supa-" She paused, twitching as some sort of light came up in the corner of her vision. And then came the feeling of falling. And the vertigo. When Azumi opened her eyes, it was to the sight of straight out of isekai, if isekai involved demented little twisted creatures and angels like it was some sort of creature collector.

"Ah...huh...?" Azumi blinked, still rather dazed and confused from the sudden change in scenery. She took in the angel's words, what everyone else around her was saying, thought about it all for a second, and came to a conclusion:

"Ohhhh my god, people are gonna think I faked disappearing in the middle of stream for attention!" She groaned, hands clutching her head in frustration. "I'm gonna end up on the fucking hate threads! Shit, shit, shit, I'm so cooked!"

___

Vemmon


WARNING: DAMAGE CRITICAL. DEVOLUTION.BAT ENGAGED.
LOAD ERROR: FILEPATH CORRUPTED.
DEVOLUTION SEQUENCE CANNOT BE CONTINUED SAFELY.
AUTOREPAIR INITIATED.


Where was it? Who was it? The creature stirred briefly, seeing little through a haze of pain. Whatever was going on, it knew that this situation should not be.

ERROR: PROCESS HALTED.
MANUAL OVERRIDE ACTIVATED. DEVOLUTION ENGAGING.

ERROR: INCOMPATIBLE FORM SELECTED. DEVOLUTION TO GREY.MON ABORTED.
ERROR: INCOMPATIBLE FORM SELECTED. DEVOLUTION TO VEE.MON ABORTED.


It managed to lift its head only slightly as it felt something around it. Other...presences? It couldn't tell.

WARNING: FILEPATH CORRUPTED. DEVOLUTION TO...&*#!$.MON ABORTED.

"Graugh...mrgr..." It tried to open its mouth. To engage text-to-speech. What came out was a jumble of mishmash. What was it even communicating for? What was there to say?

COMPATIBLE FORM LOADED. DEVOLUTION TO VEM.MON INITIATED.

The light faded, and what emerged was a horrifically scarred purple lizard-thing, twitching and writhing on the ground as data leaked from azure gashes in its body. If something wasn't done soon, it would suffer the same fate that had just befallen the other poor wretch Dominimon had given final mercy to.
Ranbu no Izayoi


Izayoi's blade cleared its sheathe from the moment Ferdiad stopped talking, a low whirl slashing at any grasping hands around her. Rudolf and Miina's proclamations had her charging forward, bringing her blade around in whirling strikes to keep Ferdiad occupied while her much younger cousin, bordering on niece in terms of age, readied her Dispel.

Being the only one insane enough to engage the daywalking demon in melee combat from the moment it started the battle, Izayoi went toe-to-toe with Ferdiad for several strokes before the latter slammed the butt of its scythe into her gut, sending her tumbling back across the ground.

"We had best hear an explanation after this thing is banished, boy!" Izayoi called out to Rudolf, though with no true heat in her voice for him: just exasperation.

Meanwhile, Ferdiad simply laughed at Rudolf's attempt at provocation, continuing to hover in midair, so confident it was in itself.

"Trying to interrupt the pierrot upon its own stage? How rude of you! Perhaps I ought to-" Whatever Ferdiad had left to say was cut off by the dual explosions originating from Eliane and Chisato (with Esben's support), bathing it in a wave of shrapnel and flame. When the dust cleared, the jester emerged, rattled, but not unbroken. At least until Miina got her hands upon it. Her Dispel did much to eradicate Ferdiad's component aether, forcing it to retreat into the light, where it screeched in agony for a moment until composing itself.

"Oh, ho ho! Not mere pawns and vermin, you lot! Perhaps fit to sup at the table, even!" The clown cackled, slashing repeatedly with its scythe to form waves of darkened aether that flew towards the Kirins. Izayoi leapt over the ones targeted at her, closing the distance with Ferdiad once more to lock her katana against the blade of its scythe.

"Begone, clown! Are you so arrogant to believe you can defeat us, so obviously weakened as you are?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not~" Ferdiad tutted, backstepping away from a series of cleaves that left cuts upon its arms. "But I see I shall have to try ever so much more against the likes of you! How about it, then?" It spread its arms out wide, demonic madness emanating from its gaze. "Stay around for the show, for it's only just begun!"

A dome of shadow erupted around the battlefield, engulfing every combatant within it. No longer hampered by light, Ferdiad surged forward, disappearing in the blink of an eye and reappearing to rip at Miina with its scythe and tear Chisato with its claws, having identified them as having done the most damage to it previously.
Kayliss Lambert


"Take that up with your father." Kayliss waved off Rudolf's attempt at a biting comment. "Anything he's told you is on him alone. Though it's nice to see you've grown up well enough. As for the crystal, you'd be correct. I've already been informed of your goals, and there's been no chance to confirm the Wind Crystal's status ever since we've known. For what it's worth, the last inspection was about six months ago, and there seemed to have been no issues."

She turned to Eliane next, her expression falling into a slightly sympathetic look. "Fortunately for everyone involved, Lord Silvain is outside of Solitude and active, yes. By now, he'll be on his way to Falcon's Nest as well. I'll try to arrange matters so that everyone we need will be within the walls by the time you arrive, but you know how weather and poor luck can delay things."

Once everyone was finished and questions concluded, Kayliss rose from her seat.

"Regardless, it was good to put faces to all the names finally. Try to stay intact and combat-capable. And keep an eye out for Loki. If at all possible, I'll handle that matter. But who knows? Cadmon, take better care of yourself. You're looking almost as decrepit as Istvan these days." Without any further ado, she drew her hood up and took her leave, leaving the Kirins to adjourn for the night and finish their preparations.

___

The next day, they were well on their way to leaving Demet territory, having been seen off by Cadmon at the castle gates. It was nearly noon by the time the Kirins and their caravan reached the ruins of Lunaris. Ancient, dilapidated stone buildings littered the landscape before them, with a single main structure in the center.

Rudolf felt it. His passenger knew the familiar, frenetic buzz of umbral aether, shadows coalescing in front of the party. A wicked scythe,, emerged from the gloom first, followed by what appeared to be a twisted, demonic jongleur, taller than even the most prodigious of Skaellers, its head adorned with curved horns.

"My, my. What have we here? I thought I sensed something familiar, but all I see before me are uninvited guests. And yet..." Its gaze passed over the group in an instant, searching. It swept back and forth, before its shoulders came up in an exaggerated shrug. "Oh, no matter. Perhaps I was wrong. But...shall I simply apologize for startling you and let you pass?" The abyssal jester laughed, lazily twirling its scythe. "Nay, I will have my amusement before retreating to the dark below. Blood and aether are the least you can repay me in for drawing me out into accursed light! Come, my audience! Know that you face Ferdiad, for the performance begins!"

And with a cackle, it slammed the butt of its scythe into the dirt, grasping hands of black aether clawing up from the ground at lightning speed to grapple and slash at the Kirins.

Ranbu no Izayoi


Not two days in Edren once more, and already a local lord proved more helpful without prompting than Drana Asnaeu's highest authorities. Gods help her, Izayoi may actually have to think rather charitably of an Edreni noble of all things. At least, of one that wasn't directly affiliated with them, so Galahad and Rudolf excepted.

As the conversation continued on, Izayoi tuned it out in favor of shifting her foot to press down hard on Chisato's after seeing the small viera on the verge of exploding, giving the shinobi a brief raise of her eyebrow. Her attention was piqued, however, when Chisato seemed more focused on...something else in the room? Izayoi followed her countryman's gaze to a blonde woman in traveling gear, suddenly sitting at the table and filling a plate as if she belonged.

By the time the woman met Izayoi's eyes, the samurai had her short blade drawn, halfway up to lunging across the table.

"Easy, General. I'm an ally."

Upon realizing exactly who infiltrated her way to his dinner table of all things, Cadmon could only give a long-suffering sigh and a reluctant nod.

"Kayliss Lambert, Deputy Director of SEED Operations in Falcon's Nest. Consider me Mathiassen's superior officer and the Dame Commander's temporary minder."

"Then well met, spymaster." Izayoi ground out, her wakizashi sliding back into its sheath with reluctance. "Tell me, what exactly possessed you to introduce yourself as you have?"

"Expediency. I'll keep things brief. What I'm about to tell you is a Skaellan state secret, above the clearance of anyone in this room. I hardly know exact details. In summation, you know nothing of this until you coincidentally stumble across it, with my name completely forgotten. But, to sum it up, we've lost Solitude."

"...Kayliss, that's hardly news. We've heard even as far up as here that Solitude has been completely silent for two months-"

"That was a convenient state-sanctioned lie. Overseer Baramoux placed Solitude on complete lockdown to root out Valheimr infiltrators. By all accounts, reports out of Solitude indicate it was going well, until one week ago. All contact stopped, and all agents sent to investigate haven't returned. Something happened. With Baramoux and over half the Seven still in the city, Skael's in full crisis, albeit a silent one."

"And I suppose you wish for us to be the vanguard for the next attempt at investigating, then?"

"You and yours have worked miracles already, even as of a week ago. To sweeten the pot, I'll even offer up the location of the Crystal of Wind right now: in a temple at the furthest tip of the continent's southern reaches, past Solitude's gates, walls, and wards. Even if you wanted to ignore the situation, there's no way to reach it without passing through the capital." Kayliss managed to say all this in between quick bites of food, somehow managing to polish her plate off while giving the briefing. She reached to fill up with seconds.

"When we're finished here, I'm returning to Skael effective immediately to help organize our response. The time for subtlety in our dealings with you has passed. You'll find your passage at the border completely expedited and given free rein of the country. I move faster on my own, but when you do cross the border, make for Falcon's Nest. Now, I'll be fielding questions, if anyone has any."

Charles Ackerman


An intake of breath as Fiona and Leander started to float the possibility of having a go at it. A vein popped in Charles's forehead at the thought.

"Twenty years, I've been running this bar. Twenty years, I've hosted the annual gathering on Peyton's request. And without fail, once a generation, someone thinks it a grand idea to have a battle on this night." He groaned, grabbing a glass before pouring himself a dram of single malt. "By all means, demonstrate why this is a poor idea. I could use the renovation funds from the Chairman once he finds out exactly how the Cliffside burnt down for the fourth time in two decades."

Charles finished his rant by pouring a second glass of whiskey, handing it over towards Briar before proceeding to refill Beryl's drink as well.

"Aww, c'monnn!" Fiona jeered as she swigged down more booze, arms stretched out wide.
"We'll be...well, I ain't gonna say careful, but we won't tag tha Cliffside?" She looked around the bar, as if asking for support. "Back me up here, aye? Me an' Leander'll be totally capable of not hittin' th' bar, nae shite?"

Before Charles could respond with what exactly he thought of that sentiment, the conversation was interrupted by an utterly bedraggled Ryker finally entering the bar. The old trainer refrained from expressing his dismay at the amount of water the Champion was tracking in, settling for giving him an exasperated stare before mixing up his requested rum and coke.

"Peyton's not arrived, no. Though now I hope he does soon. The state you're in would give that tosser conniptions." Was the ability to speak so casually of their collective superior a product of nepotism? Absolutely. Did he care? Not particularly.
Ranbu no Izayoi


Izayoi endured the indignity of being hosted by Edrenians once more with a long-suffering sigh, sharing a look of exasperation with Chisato. Especially considering the lord's son was the mouthy sort. His explanation for the service was met with a disinterested nod from her end, with the samurai choosing to say as little as possible on that matter to remain polite.

The lord himself mentioning the subject of room pairings brought a snort from Izayoi and a shake of her head. "There would be no pairings that I am aware of." Yet. She slipped Esben and Eliane a brief sideeye at that. Perhaps Rudolf would have noticed. Regardless, her piece on the matter was said, and she would return to stony silence, no matter how often the mention of "northern barbarians" caused a vein to pop.

___

Some time later, supper was served, and the Kirins were gathered around the table, the lord of the estate at the head. An ironically familiar situation for some of their number.

As the first course was served, Izayoi chose to preempt Lord Demet, and spoke.

"Shall we be about this, then? I take it you wish to take our measure, as it were?" She sighed. Hopefully, it wouldn't go as poorly as it did with Artorias.




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