(AND I FORGOT MY TRIP, THAT'S A PROMISING START)

[1/2]

I retrieve an AK that's not terribly bloodsoaked, steal some ammo from its owner since he won't be needing it, and head towards the source of the gunfire as I familiarize myself with the gun. I'm trained with pistols, but an assault rifle is another beast entirely.

I switch the rifle to my left hand, keeping my pistol ready in my right; even with the reduced accuracy from one-handing it, the Glock's better in close quarters.

While I'm not exactly eager to go charging into another gunfight, I've got a job to do. So, against my better judgment, I head into the tunnel that's the source of all the gunfire.

The walls close in a bit as I squeeze into the tunnel, and I'm forced to squeeze around some irritatingly-placed shards of metal jutting out from the earth. It's only after a rough fifteen or so seconds of navigating past the scrap metal before I emerge into the room that's the source of all the gunshots.

I damn near get my head blasted off for my trouble as a salvo slams into the wall next to me, and, lacking any better options, I dive behind a fire-barrel for cover. The hound's got its teeth around one gunman's arm, but two more are maneuvering for a better shot. Several bodies are on the floor, blood pouring from their throats.

[2/2]

Situational awareness is an important part of any gunfight, so I peek out real quick to get a good look at my surroundings. This room's not too large, but there's packages and bags piled at the far corner, alongside more metal protrusions on the walls. Another passageway leads down below.

The man currently afflicted with a bad case of hellhound jaws around his arm is busy punching the dog on the nose, while one of his buddies has drawn a knife and is rushing them. The other gunman forces me back behind cover with another salvo of bullets.

This is going well!

-----

[X] I'm surrounded by dirt and metal both; let's see if I can't subdue these guys with some good old-fashioned earthcrafting. It'll give the guy shooting at me time to maneuver around for a better shot, though.

[X] Magic might make it easier, but bullets will win the day on this one.

[X] WHYNOTBOTH.jpg

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30507066
[X] Back off back up the tunnel a bit then ARMOUR UP!

Then go back in when we're BULLET PROOF!

Sweet, SHAZAM!

>>30507066
>[X] I'm surrounded by dirt and metal both; let's see if I can't subdue these guys with some good old-fashioned earthcrafting. It'll give the guy shooting at me time to maneuver around for a better shot, though.

>>30507154
But then the hellhound will be killed.

>>30507066
[X] WHYNOTBOTH.jpg
Rule of thumb, the option given in capslock is always the right one.

>>30507211
>But then the hellhound will be killed.

Do we care? It s evil and makes our skin crawl, we just summoned it because we needed its skills.

>>30507268
It's not done it's job yet. You notice how there are still things to kill and a girl to track? Finding ourselves alone down here is a lot more dangerous then saving our ally.

>>30507268
Getting our familiars killed probably won't help any future summonings.

>>30507066
>[X] Magic might make it easier, but bullets will win the day on this one.
Bullets are quicker, save the spells for when we have time to prepare.

>>30507066
>[X] Magic might make it easier, but bullets will win the day on this one.

We're trying to be quick and someone else is footing our medical bill.

>>30507285

Some creatures, like hellhounds and their ilk, will return to their own realm on death. Others, like Barry, for example, are actually based in the mortal realm, and as such would actually stay dead.

Of course, if you nail a demon with the power of Christ (COMPELS YOU) or similar holy power, that's a whole new ball game. It's also, sadly, not one Holly's well-practiced in.

Anyway, consider the vote called!

[1/2]

I lean out again, popping a few rounds at the knife-guy before he can get to shanking my hellhound. All but one miss, but the last shot buries itself in his knife-arm, and he drops the weapon with a harsh cry of pain. I duck back once again before the other shooter can perforate me, holster my pistol, and heft my AK in both hands.

When I pop around the other side of the barrel, I find myself in the unenviable position of having a gun-toting maniac charging my position. I bring my rifle up, sight in, and try for a shot at his center mass, but he dives aside just before I pull the trigger, and my shots go wide. He fires a short burst at me, and there's a sharp pain in my cheek as a bullet grazes me. I retaliate with salvo of my own, this one raking him across the chest.

His rifle slips from his hands as he clutches at the new holes in his torso, cursing in another language. With him incapacitated, I swap my aim towards knifeman and dogmeat, the latter now sprawled out on the floor and trying desperately to keep the hound off his throat, while the former has retrieved his knife and is about to make good use of it on the hound.

>>30507739

[2/2]

As he swings the blade, I nail him in the back with a couple shots, and he pitches onto his face with a cry of pain. Dogmeat, meanwhile, loses his struggle against the hound, as seen by how it locks its jaws around his throat.

I return my attention towards the wounded man, who's drawn a knife from his waistband. Before I can do anything, he slices it across his throat, blood gushing out. I blanch as he bleeds out, turning my attentions away.

In the short time I was distracted, the hound savaged the other wounded man, leaving us the only living beings in the room.

“Fine mess you got me into,” I say, reloading my AK. The hound merely chuffs, blood dripping from its maw.

-----

[X] Whoever these people are, they're likely already mobilizing more men. No time to armor up, we have to go deeper.

[X] I can afford to suit up and investigate this room before moving on, although I shudder to think about how long it's gonna take to clean all the dirt off afterwards.

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30507764
>[X] I can afford to suit up and investigate this room before moving on, although I shudder to think about how long it's gonna take to clean all the dirt off afterwards.
Can we barricade the entrances, at least somewhat, quickly with magic? Anyone coming would have to take the time to navigate between rocks or something leaving them exposed for the hellhound.

>>30507764
>[x] time to armor up

I would feel much better about this if we were bullet proof.

If we're worried about more coming while we're working, just retreat back down the passage a little way and have the Hound stand guard for a bit.

[X]Half and Half

With the metal that's easy to get to, it shouldn't take long to wrap our torso and possibly our arms in steel. Don't think we gave time for full armor but if our vital organs and our shooty parts are protected, that ought to suffice.

>>30507936
A small witch wearing an aproximation of modern armour, wielding a bloody AK and rocking around with a giant demonic dog..

I like that image a lot more then looking like a golem. Supporting!

>>30508026
*aproximation of modern armour made out of gravel

>>30508026
Crikes, this >>30507843 was my original vote. I'm just forgetting everything right now.

>>30508072

Well I'm glad you came out and said that, otherwise I'd have been stuck impotently fuming at a tie.

With that, I think it's time I got to writing some more!

[1/2?]

While I don't really have time to fully armor myself, there's enough assorted scrap around that I can at least cover my chest with it. I head over to the largest collection of metal, carefully place a hand on it, and, all the while hoping I don't get tetanus, start molding it to my will.

The jagged material slides down my arm, and I'm grateful I've got my coat on or this would probably see me to the hospital by itself. The metal comes to rest over my torso, with a good chunk of it remaining on my arm; it's not a perfect shield, but considering I have to thrust said arm forward every time I aim the rifle, it'll likely absorb a few hits for me. I press my hand against my chestplate, pouring will into it, and the metal thickens. To my extreme annoyance, this includes the spikes, and I wince as it pricks against my skin.

Armed and armored, I charge into the next tunnel.

After I nearly trip over the first step, thanks to the tunnel being nigh pitch-black, I grudgingly amend my pace to something more reasonable, advancing down the steps with my rifle at the ready, the hound's footsteps plodding behind me. The stairs are roughly-molded, but large enough that I can comfortably descend even with how little I can see.

The foot of the staircase is brightened by light leaking in from the room beyond it, but I'm still a dozen steps away from reaching the light when another gunman briskly trots into view. He looks up, stumbles in surprise, and starts raising his gun before I blast him down. There are shouts of alarm from further in, so I press myself against a wall and motion forward; the hound gleefully obeys, bounding down the staircase and out of sight.

The shouts and gunfire tell me he's doing a fine job.

>>30508666

[2/2]

When I reach the bottom, I peek in; there's half-a-dozen men and women in here, although one's already bleeding out on the floor thanks to the hound's deadly work. The rest are all armed with the usual AK's, and bullets are flying everywhere as they fruitlessly try to drop the black beast.

I quickly take aim, hold down the trigger, and spray the entire group with bullets. It's a solid four seconds of carnage before my gun clicks empty, and three people go down screaming. The hound leaps at the last man standing, but he proves to have remarkable reflexes, slamming his fist down into the creature's jaw hard enough I can hear the crack from here.

The last *woman* standing, meanwhile, whirls towards me, shouts something no doubt insulting, and takes aim as I blitz towards her. Several shots rebound off my chestplate before I'm on her, slamming the butt of my gun into her face. She drops, but not before her friend turns on me, drawing a knife and barreling my way.

I almost bring my rifle up before remembering I'm completely dry.

Well, damn.

-----

[X] I bludgeoned one of them with my gun, I can do it again.

[X] This is the kind of situation that calls for a pistol. Fortunately, I just so happen to have one.

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30508710
>[X] This is the kind of situation that calls for a pistol. Fortunately, I just so happen to have one.
Rushing her wasn't very operator, but we can make up for it.

>>30508710
No chance the woman is the one we're looking to spring, right?

If not, dodge and go for the pistol.

>>30508710
>PISTOL.

>>30508710
>[X] This is the kind of situation that calls for a pistol. Fortunately, I just so happen to have one.

Shoot him.

Also, before we move on, we got any mage-sight/night-vision we can use? Poor lighting has been mentioned several times.

>>30508797

Even with the mask stitched to her face, her hair's entirely the wrong color.

>>30508818

Yeah, but it requires the wand, which limits you to using the pistol at reduced accuracy.

>>30508858
>it requires the wand
You mean we have to keep the want in hand to keep it active?

I vote we still use it after we're finished here. Not being able to see will affect us more than holding our pistol one handed. Also, we can just put the want away and free up our hand if we need to.

>>30508968
I don't know. If it really were easier, then Holly would have done that, right? It seems like the kind of thing the character would do on their own.

But then again, the gun flashes are probably playing havoc with her natural night vision. I vote to do so if it looks like it's getting darker further in. An automtic rifle won't do us much good anyways if we can't see.

>>30508968

Yep, wand in hand or bust.

Anyway, since I doubt I'm getting five opposing votes, calling it here.

I toss the rifle aside, going for my pistol as the man sprints at me, screaming an undulating warcry with the knife held high. I've just drawn my gun when he brings the blade down at my head, but I raise my armored sleeve up to block; the strike doesn't pierce through, but I flinch as the scrap metal presses into my flesh.

His initial strike deflected, the man drops his knife into his other hand, reversing his grip, and he swipes at my face. I backpedal, but not quickly enough to avoid a fine line being cut across my forehead; I allow myself a hiss of pain as I sight in on him, and several rapid pulls of the trigger send bullets flying into his shoulder and chest. He staggers back, allowing me time to adjust my aim and blast him one last time in the forehead, causing him to pitch back stone-dead.

I'm not allowed any rest, however, before another salvo rams into my back plating. Before I can whirl around, the hound leaps past me, onto the shooter; a wet, ripping sound follows moments after. When I look back, the woman I'd knocked out lies dead, rifle clutched tight despite the animal worrying at her neck.

I take another look around, now that no one's trying to kill me. There's a small number of gun-racks set up against the wall, alongside an earthen chair and table, but this chamber is otherwise bare. There's another tunnel, once again leading further down.

“How close is she, y'think?” I ask, wiping blood out of my eyes.

The hound sniffs the air a few times. “Down.”

“Specific, aren't you.” I say, dryly, as I retrieve my rifle and reload it.

-----

[X] There were too many close calls in this fight alone. I need to armor up.

[X] The more quickly I move, the less time they have to organize. If I can keep them off balance, I should be able to avoid taking any more bullets.

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30509594
>[X] The more quickly I move, the less time they have to organize. If I can keep them off balance, I should be able to avoid taking any more bullets.
It works for the hellhound, why not us too? Waiting makes it tougher for him to help, so let's play to the better killer's strengths.

>>30509594
>[X] There were too many close calls in this fight alone. I need to armor up.

>>30509594
>Armor a helmet
Seriously, that should be part of your basic package going forward Holls.
>Grab an AK and extra clips
>get moving DOWN

>>30509594
>[X] There were too many close calls in this fight alone. I need to armor up.

The shitty metal armour isn't exactly full protection. It's dumb luck that spray of bullets hit us in the back of our torso instead of the back of our head.

[x]Armour
[x]mage-sight
[x]move out

>>30509690
>>30509709
I'm kind of torn between these two. The first makes a decent case, but we could go full operator like the second says.

I vote for iron helmet and moving quick!

>>30509769
[x]vote against iron helmet.

This shitty iron armour is scratching us to bits. Having it on our face would be horrible.
It would be more debilitating than helpful.

OP? You there?

>>30509945

Unfortunately, you're still edged out by a vote. Hence, iron helmet plus GOES FAST it is.

We keep picking the middle option, we'll die because we don't commit to a strategy I bet. At least come out of it with more scratches then we'd otherwise have.

Let's try to stay one course next vote, huh?

>>30510170
I can agree with wanting to pick a solid option and stay with it, but we still don't have much information about how many people are left to shoot up, what sort of crap is guarding our target, and why she got taken to begin with.

That said I feel dumb for suggesting arm shielding over a helmet. Sorry!

[1/2?]

I'm trembling.

It takes me a moment to realize that.

Makes sense, I suppose, because if even one of those rounds had been aimed just a bit higher or lower, I'd probably be very, *very* dead.

If nothing else, a helmet should give me a little protection. I place a hand on another one of the modern art pieces, and direct it towards my head. It slides over the back of my neck and my hat easily enough, but I but it's with a bit of hesitation that I direct the rest of it down my face. I swiftly realize the mistake in that when it pokes and scrapes my skin on the way down, and swiftly retract it before I end up putting a spike into my sliced forehead.

At least with the brim of my hat tugged down, I've got a helmet that covers most of my head without obstructing my eyesight.

Before moving any further, I cast a glance at all the relatively clean AK's, then back at my dirty and bloody one. I can't help but feel vaguely stupid for going through all the effort of reloading this one when there's a bunch of perfectly good rifles over there, so after prying the magazine from its grasp, I discard my current weapon in favor of a fresh one.

Once again, I take point down the stairs, rifle raised, hound behind me. These steps are just about as dark as the previous set, but this time I descend them at a fairly rapid clip. I reach the bottom soon enough, stepping into a fairly wide room. There's torn, dirty mattresses, more fire-barrels, and the occasional messenger bag scattered around, alongside the ubiquitous scrap metal art, but these sleeping quarters are otherwise bare. There are, however, four exits this time, counting the way I came in, each hole on a different wall.

>>30510758

[2/2]

“She is on this floor,” The hound says, demonstrating an astounding grasp of the obvious.

I smile, just a little. “Well, least there's that.”

A quick investigation of the exits yields me little information; the left door leads to a sort of kitchen, judging by the pot suspended over an unlit fire-barrel, and the occasional paper bag set aside.

How they even eat with those masks on is beyond me.

Anyway, I'm digressing. The tunnel straight ahead goes further and makes a bend, and I can faintly make out more voices that way. The rightmost passage, meanwhile, is completely quiet, and also twists out of sight after a few feet.

“So can you get me anything more precise than 'this floor'?” I ask.

The hound growls. “The air here is wrong. I cannot be more precise.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Wrong? How so?”

“There is some magical energy at work here. Tread with caution.”

Oh, grand.

-----

[X] Forward! Voices mean people, which means danger, but it could also mean guards around my target.

[X] Right! No voices means there's probably less to worry about. Probably. I hope.

[strike][X] Left! She's hiding in the pot or, or something![/strike]

Ah, damn it, could've sworn I saw strikethrough text before on /tg/. Guess that'll teach me to try.

>>30510608

Hey, the arm thing worked against the knife-guy. Don't cut yourself short (aha).

>>30510829
spoilers are changed to strikethrough on suptg

also
>Left
better deal with any complications now rather than put them off

>>30510864

Oh, well, that's good to know!

Also, left is a joke option, and as such I won't actually go for it. Sorry! Should have made that clearer.

>>30510795
>[X] Forward! Voices mean people, which means danger, but it could also mean guards around my target.
Let's end this! Don't give them time to set up anymore of a reasonable defense!

>>30510904
whoops! I meant forward

>>30510795
>[X] Forward! Voices mean people, which means danger, but it could also mean guards around my target.
Everything's made of earth and metal, ya? Even if they're prepared for us, it shouldn't be overly tough of a fight.

>>30510795
[X]Forward

But let's see if we can't get a jump on the goons instead of the other way around. Get a bead on them, and sic the hellhound. Gun down whoever isn't getting their throat torn out, and be ready to do some emergency combat casting. There's probably another witch.

Aaaah, a unanimous vote, that's always nice. Anyway, calling it here for heading straight. Writing!

[1/2]

“We're going for the main group before they get a chance to dig in,” I say, starting towards the forward hole. “I'll scout ahead, then you go in and tear 'em to bits; I'll get anyone focused on you, all right?”

“I hear and understand.” It says, taking up position behind me.

“A 'yes' would have sufficed,” I say, giving it a wry look.

The two of us gently plod through the passageway, and I grimace at the return of the corridor spikes. They'll make retreating a real bitch if it comes to that. Still, I edge around them, and after a few more twists and turns, the way ahead grows brighter. There are several voices intermingling ahead, and I press up against the wall, the better to peek around the corner.

My breath catches at the sight of almost a dozen men and women, all standing around an earthen circle jutting several feet out of the floor. They all wield AKs, save for a man with a simple revolver. He's in clothes that are actually half-decent, and the mask on his face is painted blood-red. The way he talks to the rest of the goons only helps to solidify the image of leadership.

I can't make any sense of what they're saying, naturally, but I don't need to. Returning to cover, I motion ahead, and the hound licks its lips before charging onward. There's several shouts of surprise, a few gunshots, and a scream abruptly being cut off before I pop around the corner.

>>30512040

The hound is already on another man, although two of his friends are helping him in his struggle to pry it off. I rake them both with gunfire, and the third has his throat ripped out in short order. Several others fire wild shots at the dog, but it moves so quickly the rounds find nothing but air. The rest of the men evidently find me a more pressing issue, what with the assault rifle, and fire enough rounds my way that I'm forced back.

I pound a fist against the earthen wall, pouring will into the spell, and chance another look around the corner; several sets of dirt hands rise from the floor, firmly gripping several sets of legs with bone-cracking force. When my hand comes away from the wall, the hands freeze in place, but the confusion they've sown is perfect for me.

I spray more rounds around the corner, dropping two more that were aiming at the hound, but the entangled men are still facing me; hence, they're still able to *shoot* at me. As the hound leaps on one of the men not tangled up, the red-masked leader grabs firm hold of some scrap sticking out behind him, and wrenches it to the side. I barely hear the metal creak before I hurl myself down, narrowly avoiding a metal spike that was attempting to drive itself into the base of my neck.

When I look over my shoulder, it's with a detached sort of horror that I take note of how all the scrap metal in this tunnel is coming towards me, all the points deadly sharp.

-----

[X] Put all my focus into a counterspell. I can't get anything done with these spikes up my ass, after all.

[X] If I charge in, it'll be messy, but it's a damn sight better than staying here to be skewered.

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30512069
[X] Put all my focus into a counterspell. I can't get anything done with these spikes up my ass, after all.

>>30512069
>[X] If I charge in, it'll be messy, but it's a damn sight better than staying here to be skewered.
We have armour!

>>30512069
[X] If I charge in, it'll be messy, but it's a damn sight better than staying here to be skewered.
Why did we spend time armoring if not for something like this?

Hm, only three votes? Ah, well, it's been a little more than fifteen minutes, I'll call it for charging in.

>>30512505
I hope you get more players as you make more threads. More people around is fun, don't you think?

>>30512599

Oh, definitely, definitely! Anyway, back to work.

>>30512505
I really hope that this gets a bit more attention. I'm a sucker for modern magician shenanigans, and Holly seems like not only a sensible human being but competent in her work. Your writing is engaging as well

That said, even though it's too late to vote I agree that charging in is the better play. trying to counterspell keeps us immoble, and there are still plenty of soviet mole people with guns who could exploit that.

The choice of counterspelling long enough for one of them to come here and shoot me, versus the choice of barreling in and shooting everyone?

Well, put like that, it's not much of a choice at all.

I scramble up to my feet as the spikes close in, and hurtle into the room ahead, bringing my rifle back up and spraying indiscriminately. Of the five men left standing, one's trying to cut himself free from the earthen hands entrapping him, another is furiously punching the hound pinning him down, and two regular men have their guns trained right on me, while the leader has an iron grip on that spike. Amazingly enough, my wild fire nails one of the men waiting for me, and the other sidesteps as he shoots, the blinding flashes from his gun the prelude to several rounds slamming into my chest.

The leader, meanwhile, brings his revolver up as I throw myself forward, and I can hear the bullets flying overhead. Keeping my head down proves to be a great idea, as another shot cracks against my makeshift helmet. I pop off a few more rounds blindly, tagging the other rifleman in the foot, but my rifle clicks empty as he drops, swearing wildly.

I pull out my Glock, roll aside just as more spikes slam where I was laying, and fire a few shots into the man immobilized by my earlier spell. It's not a kill, but he's put out of commission as I roll again, firing a few more rounds into the guy I shot in the foot. Another revolver round cracks off my hat, and as I pull myself upright, the leader releases the control spike in favor of pulling out a speedloader. I take aim as he slams the ammunition into his revolver, pull the trigger-

And my godforsaken piece of shit gun clicks empty.

Out of the corner of my eye, I note the spikes have stopped moving.

-----

[X] Tackling the sonofabitch and beating the shit out of him is really sounding appealing right now.

[X] Grab the spikes, send that control rod straight through his neck.

[X] [WRITE-IN]

>>30513409
>[X] Grab the spikes, send that control rod straight through his neck.

MORE MAJYCK

>>30513438
Seconding this.

>>30513409
>[X] Grab the spikes, send that control rod straight through his neck.
We're a fucking mage, we don't resort to our fists when we can magic the fuck out of the sonofabitch.

>>30513409
>gun clicks empty
Don't we carry several extra mags in case this shit happens?

[X] SPIKE TO THE DOME Seriously, let's drop this guy.

ALSO, be sure to either keep our head down or something - we don't want him scoring a lucky shot on our face. Hats by comparison are replaceable.

>>30513700

Yes, extra ammo is indeed a thing you have, but let me ask you this; who would shoot first, the woman who has to reload, or the man who just finished ramming a speedloader into his revolver? He's gotcha flat-footed, comparatively speaking, so it's down to MAJYCK or fisticuffs.

Anyway, consider it called!

>>30513438
>>30513642

I like your phrasing.

[1/1]

I dive for the spikes. Now, flinging yourself at pointy metal may, on the surface, seem like a terrible idea, especially if you fuck it up.

Fortunately, I don't fuck it up.

My hand firmly grasps the jagged metal, and a quick pulse of will shows me part of the scrap network, spreading a good distance throughout this complex before it's too far for me to see. Thankfully, I don't need to see far. I focus on the specific needle behind the leader, force will into it, and wrench my spike down. The control spike erupts from the wall, on a direct course for the mage's neck.

He brings his revolver up and, rooted in place as I am if I want this to work, the best I can do is bring my head down, betting on my hat to shield me from the bullet.

Instead, I get a perfect view of my kneecap exploding.

I scream, falling over, horrible pain focused on that spot like a red-hot piece of rebar, and hit the ground on my side.

But I don't let go of the spike.

There's a gory little squelch as the control rod pierces clear through the leader's throat. The revolver slips from his fingers as he desperately clutches at the spike, gurgles horribly distorted through his mask as he tries to will the metal away. After a few moments of hopeless struggling, he goes limp, body suspended by the jagged scrap.

The hound comes up, bits of flesh in its throat, and disposes of the last man still alive. It turns to me, and cocks its head sideways as it says something, but I'm hardly paying attention as I clutch at my ruined knee.

Aaaah, fuck, is this what karma feels like?

I mean, I think I won? But it really doesn't feel like it at the moment.

It's a few minutes for the pain to die down from 'the most horrible thing' to merely 'crippling', and I pull myself back up to my feet with the help of the table. Making damn sure to keep my weight on my good leg, I limp back the way I came, destination firmly in mind.

Only one way left to go, after all.

All right, sorry to have to end it on that note, folks, but I've been trying to write more and it's just not coming out concisely enough for me at the moment. I'll try to wrap up this whole side-adventure tomorrow, starting at the same time, but I can't really make any promises.

Please take my 'tomorrow' date with a hefty dose of salt, as well, because we all know what happened last time I promised that.

Fuggit, just keep an eye on my twitter, that'll work.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this thread! I know I did.

Oh, also, Q&A is open, for anyone who's interest in questions. I'll do my best to answer 'em for ya while I'm still here. Feel free to ask about anything! Or don't, if that's your thing too.

>>30514901
Heck ya I enjoyed this thread. Thank you for running today! I hope we can get payed soon and start hunting down that jackoff who's knees we shot off.

>>30514979
oh god
we got kneecapped
can we heal it with magic?
or will we be witch on crutches for a bit?

>>30514979
So, what would have happened if we took the punchy option?

>>30515007

Practitioners in general are more durable, and they heal a bit faster AND better than normal. If you'll forgive me for going off on a bit of a tangent, there's also no known limit to how long a magician can live: they all get killed before reaching the end of whatever natural life-cycle they have, because of supernatural beasties and accidents and good old-fashioned murders.

But basically, for the short term, witch onna crutch. She needs her other hand to shoot bitches, after all.

>>30515054

Well, Holly would now have a nice, gaping gunshot hole in one cheek, alongside a spike in her side. On the plus side, she'd have punched the man responsible until his brains were leaking all over the floor.

So she'd still be really hurting, but maybe not as much?

>>30515142
not as much? She's a gurl though. Gurls gotta protect that face.

>>30515142
I always feel when someone does a Q&A I waste the opportunity. Just bare with me here.

> What state (I'm assuming) do you live in?
> How close have we come to dying so far?
> I know you haven't run many threads yet so this question might be premature, but has there been any choices we've made that you absolutely didn't expect?
> Have you ever been hurt so bad your vision started swimming? People write something to that effect a lot, but I don't think it would be that common a sensation.
> How much can you lift?
> What do you think about having Holly carry a ShamWow? It's a lot more efficient for cleaning up blood then a handkerchief or hand towel.
> How much planning do you do for these threads?
> If you had to describe yourself in one word, what colour would that be?
> Same as above, but for Holly.

>>30515142
You forgot to archive!

>>30515162

And to that, I once again say MAGIC

>>30515202

Hoo, boy, ain't this a big chunk of questions! I'll try to go through them in order.

>Wisconsin, born and raised! fuck the cold though, seriously
>Honestly? Not too close. There haven't been any ONE SHOT KILL options so far, but that might change in the future. It helps we haven't had any really bad write-ins, though.
>Blowing off BOTH of Hendrick's kneecaps. The first one, yeah, sure, that was okay, but the second caught me off guard.
>Not really! The closest I've gotten is when some drywall dropped on my foot a few months back. Completely lost the nail there, but after the initial incident it didn't really hurt.
>Having just checked, I can comfortably lift 40 pounds. I'm not in very good shape, but that's something I'm trying to correct.
>That's actually a pretty good idea, but she's not trying to clean the stuff up so much as swipe a bit for personal use. Besides, a scrap of tissue is far more portable than a full ShamWow.
>I generally get a loose idea in my head and roll with it from there, although I try to write out the larger-scale plot that's going on and use that to influence the thread-by-thread stuff.
>Blue.
>Green.

>>30515524

Well actually I was busy answering >>30515202's wall of questions. (No offense!)

But you're right, I'll get on that right now.

Also, to add to the >UNEXPECTED CHOICES

I'll give the Flying Zelda Tile Attack idea from the warehouse fight an honorable mention. And, though it didn't get used, the air-vent snakes from the same thread, those were brilliant.

now watch as someone else uses it against you

>>30515537
I was thinking she use the ShamWow to clean her own blood. Can't really afford to leave much behind, right? I just like the sound of a ShamWow being a staple item in SHAZAM Quest.

>>30515600
D:

>>30515600

One more question! How right is this guy >>30507211 ?


>>fuck the cold though, seriously
pansy

>>30515626

FLASH OF INSIGHT BONUS: Holly will now start packing ShamWow (or a suitable generic equivalent) to wipe up her own blood, when next the opportunity presents itself. Good call!

>>30515697

On the hound getting killed thing? Correct! It'd have been a solo campaign from then on had you armored up, but then again, you'd have been armored up! That tends to negate the downsides of going solo. However the rest of the Mole People would have had time to prepare, so... it was probably a good call to charge. Probably.

On the CAPSLOCK OPTION always being the best option? Not so much!

call me a pansy if you want, but you're not living up here right now

unless you are, in which case, i am so, so sorry for you

>>30515801
Northern Ontario actually.
Pansy.

Seriously though, I envy you. I can deal with the cold, but the weather fluctuates too much up here.

Anyhow, good night OP. See you tomorrow maybe.

>>30516003
>Northern Ontario
oh jesus it's worse than i thought

At least it's consistently terrible down here, which is a damn strange thing to attach 'at least' to, but there you go.

Good night! Hopefully, I WILL come through for everyone tomorrow. It'll probably be a shorter thread, though.

Also, we are now archived! So, don't worry about that part. Go vote if you want, that's fine.

...I just thought of something. Hear me out.

We blew out both of Hendricks' kneecaps in one afternoon. Later that night they're both healed like it never even happened. So either he's a healer, or he knows a guy.

We also have a significant quantity of his blood. Enough to really fuck with him if we wanted.

What if, and this is mostly speculah, but what if we track him down and trade his blood (and our ability to fuck him over using it) for fixing our knee? We know whoever fixed his knows how to do it properly, we get what we need, and he dodges a major bullet.

...maybe?

>>30517505
Our knee will heal. I just really want to kill him.
Or at least have a multi-post dialogue that gets us to sympathize with him then let him off the hook, go our separate ways, and become fairweather allies maybe. Something like that.

Solid theory, I just hate him too much to let him slip so easy.

Did you post expecting someone to still be around to reply?

>>30517592
we're not killing him, Holly's harsh but she's still a kinda good person.

Ok, maybe more neutral. But she's not an evil murderer.

>>30521857
We probably are killing him. He's made it clear what his intentions are, so we'd best kill him first.

Just ignoring a problem like a Mage with a grudge is asking to be ganked.

I'm not /against/ a non-killy resolution to this. But, at the moment, no reliable non-killy method has presented itself.

>>30521991
How has he done that again? He hasn't done anything to justify us killing him. We're not gonna murder the guy.

>>30524424
Well, after we turned down his offer (and knee capped him) he went running to the fuckers that tried to murder us, warned them we were coming then joined them in trying to kill us.

He had enough of a grudge to bury the hatchet with them so he could team up on us. I seriously doubt he has LESS of a grudge now.

That means a Practitioner with a grudge, that's already tried to kill us once, is out there, probably still wanting to kill us.

If/when we encounter him again, if people vote to try and find a non-killy resolution, fine.
But until we get a viable option, or contradicting information, we have to assume he still wants us dead. And it's only sensible to make him dead first.

>>30524424
Um yes, yes we are. He declared himself our mortal enemy and has shown himself to be both stubborn and irrational. He's become a mad dog that needs putting down.

>>30524844
He never tried to kill us.

>>30524877
No he didn't, and no he hasn't. If anything it was us, we're the mad dog.

>>30526054
Yes, he did try to kill us. In fact, he shot us in the face. If we didn't have our armour on, we'd be dead.
Thread 2. Read it.

How are we a mad dog? Granted, we were a bitch when we first met, but we'd had a seriously bad day then he provoked us.

Random dudes just opened fire on us out of nowhere. Just tried to murder us in cold blood, with no warning.
It was mostly dumb luck we survived that and managed to get away. Then, when we were limping towards a doctor to get the bullet-hole in our guts patched, this fucker pulls a gun on us and starts trying to play hard ball.

Any dipshit could tell that was NOT a friendly first impression. And it was NOT a way to earn someones trust.

So, we kneecapped him and walked away.

A bit shitty? Yes.
Understandably provoked? Hell yeah.

He was the one that escalated things. He teamed up with the fuckers that tried to murder us. He warned them we were coming. Then he fought along side them, trying to kill us.

>>30526906
That was justifiable self defense, we opened fire on him first.

He didn't escalate things, we did. We kneecapped him a second time when he didn't even insult us to our face. Anyone would go and warn his previous group we were coming after that. Just like anyone would fight back in defense of their own life if someone starting shooting at them.

>>30527181
>Anyone would go and warn his previous group we were coming

They weren't his previous group. They were people that double crossed him and didn't pay.

He decided it was worth burying the hatchet with them and selling us out for a pay-day.

He joined them, gave them info on us, then agreed to help them kill us when we arrived.

First shots is irrelevant. If you sign up to kill someone, them shooting at you is fair game.

>>30527349
He never signed up to kill us, he merely told them about us in an attempt to get them to unscrew him and pay up. He wasn't fair game, we could have just waited until he left.

Also, selling us out implies some sort of betrayal. This is false, the way we shot him twice in our first encounter made it pretty clear there was no trust between us to be betrayed.