>>27644861
Still. You can’t really have someone wandering around your town picking off random mortals for a snack. Those are your mortals, they’re not for someone else to – wait, no, focus. These are people. You need to stop anyone else from getting hurt. You need to protect them.

You have other responsibilities too, of course. The Leavers’ Dance – the big party the school throws to give all the Year 11s a good time before they dive into GCSE revision and endless exams – is coming up at the end of the week. You’ve still got to deal with the Corrupter, Isabella’s former boss. And since it’s Tuesday, you’re meant to be helping out with a History lesson, and attending the lunchtime meeting of an increasingly dysfunctional pack of amateur monster-hunters.

You’ve dealt with worse than this. Still, it might be a good idea to focus your attention on sorting out one thing at a time. The more you split your time the less you’re going to get done overall.

[]Cassandra needs to be your priority here. Find her, get her under control, stop her from doing any more damage.
[]The Corrupter is a bigger threat overall. Talk to Isabella, talk to Ajani and his gang, work out a plan of attack.
[]Jill’s probably still feeling pretty fragile. This is a bad time to start ignoring her. Get together with Avril and work out how to make the Dance a special evening for her.
[]Shouldn’t you be attending class and doing revision and so on? They’re not going to give you a pass on your GCSEs because ‘I was busy fighting demons’.
[]Other

((Archives are located at http://archive.foolz.us/tg/search/subject/monsterhearts%20quest/type/op/order/asc/
and also at
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Monsterhearts%20Quest ))

>>27644872
>[X] shouldn't you be attending class and doing revision and so on? They're not going to give you a pass on your GCSEs because 'I was busy fighting demons'.

Cassandra, expand the harem.

>>27644872
[X]Other
Check in on Zack.
[X] Attend classes.

Maybe we can offer helping Zack study.

>>27644872
>[x]The Corrupter is a bigger threat overall. Talk to Isabella, talk to Ajani and his gang, work out a plan of attack.
We need to take it out before it can get new defenses, and Jill needs to be brought into this in order to fulfill her Geas.

>>27644954
>expand the harem.
Fuck no.

>>27644992
Zack has to learn to be able to handle things on his own for a little while. We've already gave him enough support by introducing him to the Hunters and that silver chain to restrain himself.

>>27644954
Expanding the number of people has had a correlation with expanding our Hunger, and our Hungers can and will become harder to control the stronger they become.

>>27645193
Alright, then let's just do a bit of school shit and set up a date with the hunters.

>>27644872
[ x ]Jill’s probably still feeling pretty fragile. This is a bad time to start ignoring her. Get together with Avril and work out how to make the Dance a special evening for her.

>>27644872
[X]Jill’s probably still feeling pretty fragile. This is a bad time to start ignoring her. Get together with Avril and work out how to make the Dance a special evening for her.

If there's one thing life taught me it's that you take care of your sub at all times.

>>27644954

>>27645016

>>27645269
>>27645299

>>27644936
>>27644992

((Tie between looking after Jill and focusing on school work. Five minutes, then I roll for it.))

Rolled 4

>>27645331
Odds: Jill.
Evens: School.
Nothingcouldgowrong.jpg

>>27644872
>>27645331

[X]Jill’s probably still feeling pretty fragile. This is a bad time to start ignoring her. Get together with Avril and work out how to make the Dance a special evening for her.

>>27645331

[x]school

...did we just tie AGAIN.

>>27645363

dice gods have spoken

>>27645363
Your rolls scare me.

Guys, you know that the GCSE's is after the Dance at the end of the week, right?
And that by then, the Corruptor will have relocated to a more defensible lair and bolstered its agents since by then it will know that Isabella is still alive and its current defenses are compromised.

>>27644872
[X]The Corrupter is a bigger threat overall. Talk to Isabella, talk to Ajani and his gang, work out a plan of attack.
RIP AND TEAR, RIP AND TEAR.

>>27645363
>>27645416

>>27645382

((Writing.))

>>27645467
((Chris is a good student, but you still need to do quite a lot of revision for your GCSEs. Starting earlier is always better.))

>>27644872
[X]Cassandra needs to be your priority here. Find her, get her under control, stop her from doing any more damage.

>>27644872
>[]The Corrupter is a bigger threat overall. Talk to Isabella, talk to Ajani and his gang, work out a plan of attack.

>>27645493
I just remembered a question I had:
If the Man is so great and powerful, why did he end up inside Chris, instead of, you know, still being in whatever mortal's body he had controlled before?
Either the body died and he had to leave, or he was forced out.

>>27645531
we could ask but i doubt we'll get an honest answer at the moment.

>>27645493
Okay. You're at school, you should be focusing on school work. You'll have plenty of time at lunch and after school to sort out all the complicated supernatural stuff that you also have to deal with. Cassandra has to be in school too, so it's not like she'll kill anyone else before you get a chance to talk to her. Probably.
English is quieter than you’ve come to expect. Everyone else seems to have had a similar idea to you – even James has his head in his book rather than making snide comments. You glance over at Masami and notice she’s got a small comic book of some sort hidden inside her book, but you can’t really chide her for it without the teacher noticing, not with the room so quiet, and you’d rather not get her into trouble for something so small.

You walk into History thinking mostly about wars, names, and dates, and are therefore somewhat surprised when Miss White suddenly walks up to you and hugs you. “I heard about what happened to Jill,” she says in a stage whisper. “I hope things work out okay.” In a much quieter whisper, she adds “Bring her round tonight. The three of us need to talk.”

You can feel Miranda's chest pressed against your own as she gives you another tight hug. She's not wearing any underwear again. Damn, but she can be distracting sometimes.

Jill gives you a slightly suspicious look as you take your seat, but you can only really shrug helplessly in response. You know that Maths will be as busy as English was, so if you want to take the chance to talk to Jill about anything, this may be your only opportunity until after school.

Do you have anything you want to say to Jill, or are you content to move on to Physics, and then meeting Ajani and his gang at lunchtime?

>>27646009
"How are you feeling? How is your stay in Avril's? You can come to mine anytime or i think i'll be paying a visit to you two sometime soon."

>>27646009
"Jill, how are you doing? We should meet with your aunt tonight to go over things. And also, about the Corruptor and your geas, too."

>>27646085
Something along those lines sounds right, with the addition of an 'incidentaly, your aunt wants to see us both tonight.' and another shrug.

>>27646085
>>27646149
>>27646165
((Writing now. Gremlins all over my internet connection, time scale hazy.))

>>27646255
The obvious solution is to set Ajani's group upon gremlins' trail.

>>27646255
“Sorry about that. Your aunt wanted to pass a message on - she wants to see us tonight and go over some things.”

Jill frowns. “She could have been a bit more subtle about it. Now everyone’s going to be asking me what happened.”

You glance around the room. Miss White is giving a summary of the highlights of the year’s lessons, the key dates and words to remember. You’re taking notes more or less on autopilot, but a lot of the other students have their heads down and are focusing on their workbooks.

“I don’t think anyone will be asking you anything right now. They’re more worried about failing their exams than about whatever happened to you. And you look fine, so it’ll probably slip their mind soon enough - what happened to that big bruise you had, anyway?”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one who’ll have to deal with their pointless curiosity. And Avril put something on it, a poultice or something. We got a bunch of good photos of it beforehand for evidence, but this way I don’t have to show up to school with my cheek black and blue. And the pain’s gone away too.”

“Okay, that’s good. How’s staying at Avril’s place going? You can come over to my house any time, or I can come pay a visit. Actually, I really ought to pay a visit sometime soon.”

Jill shakes her head. “It’s been pretty weird. I don’t know if I can really impose on your parents too much, since they’re not in on all the supernatural stuff, but the Fae are just... odd. Yeah, it’d be nice to see you. And maybe you could talk to Avril for me, she’s been getting a little odd herself and I’m not sure how to talk to her about it. Trouble with her dad, maybe, I’m not sure. Oh, and, um...” Jill trails off, blushing. “And maybe I could show you this thing Avril showed me, with the bed...”

((Cont.))

>>27646940
There’s a quiet tap on the front of the desk, and you realise someone’s tapping a pencil on it. Miss White has been quietly walking around the classroom, and she gives Jill a quick, indulgent smile. Jill makes a sudden squeak of embarrassment and puts her head down, scribbling rapidly in her workbook.

Miss White - Miranda - gives you a quick wink, puts the pencil down on your desk, and keeps strolling around the class, checking in on other students. After a minute or so, you nonchalantly reach forward and pick up the pencil. It doesn’t look any different from a normal pencil - no secret message carved into it, no hidden runes or Braille code or anything - but you pocket it anyway on the off chance that it’ll be important later.

Jill seems fairly spooked at having been caught talking about such topics, and doesn’t respond to your whispered queries about ‘this thing with the bed’. You think you know which bed she’s talking about, though.

There’s a tingling sensation in your stomach. You damp it down, though. You’re in the middle of class, this is no time for daydreaming.

Going to Physics helps. Without Miranda or Jill there to remind you about how delicious they taste and how warm they feel, you can focus a bit better on the facts and figures you’ll need to pass your exams. Mostly. You’re getting the notes down, anyway. You have to snap yourself out of an extremely explicit daydream more than once, though.

By lunchtime, you’re feeling really quite distracted indeed. You wonder if Ajani could get this particular meeting done without you?

[]You said you’d be there, and you will. Head to the library and get ready to discuss last night’s investigation.
[]They won’t miss you that much. Especially Gloria. Go find Jill and Avril and get something to take the edge off.
[]You could do with someone to take this stress out on. Track down Cassandra and have a little ‘chat’ with her.
[]Other

>>27646965
>You said you would be there, so you will. While we are at it.

>>27646965
As much as I wish otherwise

[]You said you'd be there, and you will. head for the library...

With any luck we can take the edge off our hunger by political domineering since it looks like funtimes with our girlfriends will have to wait.

>>27646965
>[x]You said you’d be there, and you will. Head to the library and get ready to discuss last night’s investigation.
We may need to use them to take the Corruptor, as well.

>>27646995
>>27647021
>>27647046
((Writing.))

>>27647227
The library is quite busy when you arrive. The more normal books, on revision tactics and English and Maths and so on, are strewn across the tables, with several of your classmates desperately perusing them. You look around and notice Ajani standing near the entrance to the deeper stacks, and he waves you over. The library portion of the building turns out to be larger than you thought, or maybe you’re just doubling back on yourself a bit, but Ajani quickly leads you to a small, plain door set into the wall between two bookcases. He opens it to reveal a distinctly cramped-looking room with Gloria, James, Louie and Esther crowded round a small table.

“It’s not much,” he says, “but it’s a lot more private than having this meeting out there. Welcome to our little hidey-hole, Chris. Let’s get down to business. Three missing people, Jimmy Brankovic, Quinn Williamson, and Annabelle Lowe. All vanished Sunday evening, all known to have attended a large party, none seen since. They didn’t show up for work, none of their neighbours know where they’ve gone, there was no sign that they’d packed up and left, but also no sign of a struggle. We have some areas of concern, but no direct leads as yet. We still need to work out where Zack was on Sunday evening, but there’s no actual signs that the missing people were eaten. The list of possible suspects isn’t all that long, though. Most supernatural beings would leave some evidence of their passing in physical signs or witness memories. We’re almost certainly looking at something that can pass for human.”

Gloria is glaring at you by this point, but James pipes up first. “Chris, you were helping out with that, right? What else did you find out?”

>>27647664
"I was watching the door, mostly. I'd like to point out we don't know they're dead, though. Disappeared, sure, but I don't want to rule out abducted just yet. Some things are hungry for meat, and some for minions. I've been dealing with poison spirit headaches all month, and know for a fact that thing likes to act through proxies and isn't too concerned about little things like free will. I'm not saying for sure that's what's behind these three going awol, but its a strong possibility."

Avoid giving away Cass until we've spoken to her, and begin to direct the group towards our own problems without looking needy or useless.

>>27647773
((Okay, writing now.))

>>27647980
"Well, Ajani did most of the investigating, I was just the lookout. I'd like to point out, though, that until we see a body we can't be sure they're dead. I've been having trouble lately with this poison spirit thing and I know for a fact that it loves minions and proxies, and isn't that hot on little things like free will. I'm not saying for sure what happened, but I don't think we can rule out abduction for certain."

Ajani frowns. "Okay, Chris. Thanks for raising that, it's a good point. I know there are people looking out for these missing people, and if they're spotted then my dad will be - I mean, I'll be one of the first to hear about it. We'll look into this poison spirit, too. Do you know anything more about it? Powers, strengths, weaknesses, where to find it?”

“I think it hides down in the sewers. It’s made of corruption and pollution as much as poison. It can probably poison people, it’s definitely got empowered minions, and it’s probably weak to holy water.” You notice Gloria’s head flick up and smile at her shocked expression. “Yeah, it’s not just a poison spirit, it’s also a demon.”

Gloria growls at you. “This is all very suspicious. Why would you be asking us to oppose a demon? How do you even know about a demon that I do not know of?”

“Well, it has been in hiding for the most part. I just happened to catch one of its minions. And I’m asking you to oppose it because this thing is a threat to all of us. It’s dangerous and powerful and it’s plotting to take over the town.”

James adds, “Gloria’s marvellous dedication to paranoia aside, this is useful information. We find this thing and maybe we find those missing people, you think?”

“It’s certainly a possibility. Do you have any other plans?”

((Cont.))

>>27648566
Gloria is still frowning, but Ajani clears his throat. “Chris is right - we don’t have any other leads right now. Esther, can you sort us out a map of the sewers or something like that? James, find out where Zack was on Sunday night, just for completeness’ sake. Louie, look up anti-poison tricks. Gloria, how quickly can you get us a whole lot of holy water?”

“By tonight,” Gloria shoots back immediately.

“All right then, tonight it is. Chris, get me a more precise lead on what bit of the sewers we’re looking for, if you can, and see what else you can get out of your source. We’ll meet in the middle of town at 8. Dismissed.”

Wait, don’t you need to... damn. Well, you’ve got a bit of lunch free, anyway. Not long enough for anything really fun, but enough time for a quick conversation.

[]Go talk to Miranda and see if it’s possible for her to reschedule.
[]Ask Avril to go with Jill in your place
[]You don’t need to change anything. You’ll have a couple of hours to talk to Miranda as long as you keep track of time
[]Other

>>27648582
"I might have a little bit of trouble escaping my obligations before eight- I'm helping out the history teacher, and it will look suspicious if I slink out early. Can we call it nine? That will give me a little extra time to grill my source. As an aside, keep an eye of Jason. He's one of the thing's lackeys at school, but it might have others."

If we can get the extra time, we don't need to worry about lingering with Miranda an Jill, and if not, we just keep a close eye on the clock. I'm not expecting any hanky-panky anyway, unless Miranda works really hard to get Jill into it.

>>27648843
((Writing. Sorry for the delays, guys, I'm trying everything I can to make the systems behave.))

>>27648914
No worries, boss. I'm just surprised no one else is suggesting anything.

>>27648582
>[]Go talk to Miranda and see if it’s possible for her to reschedule.
Possibly get the dope on whats shes going to talk about.

>>27648843
Might be better to frame it as us not being able to check in with our most useful contacts before Ajani's proposed raid tonight, if he wants the info he'll have to postpone by 24hrs. Remind him that once we breach the sewers the Corruptor's going to keep its guard up, so we'd better hit the right place the first time, right?

>>27649036
Perhaps. I just worry about either Gloria or James checking up on us during the delay. If we seem to be doing something other than what we said we'd be doing it only gives them fuel for their own individual uses.

>>27649082
Oh, I meant it as us being able to contact our source directly. As in, we leave a sign somewhere (this does not need to be functional) to indicate we want a meeting, then we show up on neutral ground tomorrow, pick up a preplaced info packet or whatnot.

You know, that kind of thing.

>>27649210
Oh. Well, that's doable. The point is largely academic at this point, though, since MC has been writing for a while now.

>>27648914
“Uh, Ajani, would it be possible to push that back a little?”

Ajani pauses, holding up a hand to the others. “What’s wrong, Chris?”

“Well, I’m supposed to be helping out my History teacher tonight, and I do need some time to check in with my source too.”

“We’re saving the town from a demon, surely that’s more important than your History homework?” Ajani replies with a frown.

“Sure, but after we beat the demon, life goes on. Look, if I could just get an hour’s delay, even? Meet at 9 instead of 8? It’d look suspicious if I slunk off early.”

Ajani looks unhappy, but he glances at the other members of the group and they all shrug. “9 is fine by me,” James says, and Gloria adds “It would at least give me more time to prepare a good quantity of holy water.”

“Okay, I guess 9 it is,” he finally says with a sigh. “Everyone get on with what you’re meant to be doing. It’s nearly the end of lunch anyway.

You were right about Mathematics - it’s a books-open heads-down no-talking kind of lesson. Even Mrs Shelby, normally extremely friendly and laid back, seems to be taking your GCSEs seriously. You’re sitting between Jill and Avril as usual, but there’s really no chance to chat.

Avril yawns and stretches as the bell rings for the end of the day. “I’m exhausted,” she says, “and not in the fun way. You two are okay to make it back to mine on your own, aren’t you? I can come find you once you’re properly in the forest.”

[]Take a moment to hunt down Cassandra before you leave
[]Take a moment to hunt down Isabella before you leave
[]Just head straight to Miss White’s house, with Jill in tow
[]Other

>>27649280
>[]Take a moment to hunt down Cassandra before you leave

>>27649280
> []Take a moment to hunt down Cassandra before you leave

>>27649280
Hunt down Cassandra. Isabella has already told us what she knows about the sewer, and if we're protecting Cass from Ajani and Co. we ought to figure out what she's up to.

>>27649306
>>27649327
>>27649342
((Writing.))

Yay, I'm not too late!

>>27649560
Finding Cassandra turns out to be quite easy - there’s a group of people blocking one of the main corridors. You recognise some of the faces in the crowd. Hangers-on and wannabes of Isabella’s group, the dregs of the popular crowd. Cassandra is holding court in the middle, with a calm smile. When she sees you approach she nods, and raises a hand. Her crowd falls silent immediately.

“Leave me for today,” she declares. “I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow.” The crowd slowly disperses, and Cassandra stalks towards you with a glowing smile.

“Hello, Chris. I take it you’re not here to join my little group of assistants, so what are you after?”

“Three people went missing on Sunday evening. You mentioned making some new friends. I assume the two are connected?”

Cassandra looks mildly put out. “They’ve been declared missing already? Damn. Well, that’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. You killed three people. Don’t you see any issues with that?”

“I only killed one person, actually, the girl. The other two are hypnotised. And I just couldn’t help myself, all right? Isabella kept me half-starved, especially after she signed on with the demon. I had to drink her dry. Got rid of the body, anyway, and if things get too hot I can always have one of the thralls collect his stuff from his flat and vanish again. That’ll put suspicion on him as far as the police are concerned.”

“It’s not just the police we have to worry about. You know Ajani? He’s gotten mixed up in the disappearances. I’ve got him hunting the Corrupter right now, but he’ll be expecting to find your thralls down there too. Can you turn them loose in the sewers?”

Cassandra frowns. “I went to a lot of effort to get these guys. I can’t replace them easily. Still, if it’ll keep Ajani and his band of thugs off my back, I can part with one. Just tell them the demon ate the other two. He won’t remember enough to contradict you.”

((Cont.))

>>27650153
“I guess that’ll have to do. He’ll be down in the sewers somewhere?”

“I remember vaguely where the arsehole’s base is. North part of town, off one of the major tunnels. I’ll leave him wandering in roughly that area.”

Cassandra nods brusquely to you and takes her leave. Jill is still hanging around outside the school building, waiting for you.


Miranda is already frowning when she opens the door, and her expression doesn’t lighten when she sees the two of you, it only becomes more fixed and serious.

“Come in and sit down,” she tells you both. “We have a bit of an issue.”

“What’s wrong?” Jill asks as she takes a seat on the sofa. “Is this about my mother?”

Miranda nods. “I went round to her house before school this morning. She’s vanished. I don’t know where she’s gone or what she’s up to, but either she’s in real trouble, or we are.”

>>27650237
((Ok, my computer troubles are getting worse, not better, it's 3am, and that's a suitably dramatic pause. Next thread on Thursday the 10th. Questions, comments, etc below. ))

>>27650275
'Night boss.

I'd always figured Adonis was the vampire. As it is, in fact, Cassandra, I have no clue what to make of Adonis.

>>27650342
((I presume you mean Apollo? Assuming you have access to all the Skins, you have all the information you need to figure out what's up with him. ))

>>27650493
Right. Hrm. Research time. Assuming you aren't reusing skins, at least for teenage characters, and assuming Masami is the only custom skin, we've got to be running low on possibilities by now.

Actually, who do we know so far?

Chris: Ghoul
Avril: Fae
Jill: Fury
Masami: Deep One
Zack: Werewolf
Louie: Selkie
Gloria: Angel
Cassandra: Vampire
Isabella: Queen
Jason: Infernal

Ajani: Unknown, almost certainly Chosen
Esther: Unknown, probably Serpentine
James: Unknown, possibly Mortal

Apollo: Unkown
Social-worker girl: Not even sure she's a skin, but likely.

So, possiblites:

Ghost
Hollow
Witch
Anansi
Succubus
Incubus

Along with Chosen, Serpentine and Mortal, if above guesses are wrong. I'll be digging before thursday, alright.

>>27650793
Incubus might be fitting for Apollo

>>27650793
Who was Apollo again?

>>27652263
Apollo was one of Isabella's minions. Presumably powerful but she couldn't figure out what his deal was; he didn't seem interested in sex at all, or getting power.

>>27652309
Sounds more like a hollow.