>Last time on Magus Hunter Quest: Operation Daybreak was successful, and you took down a group of magi, thugs and a single Inara vampire. Several members of the teams were wounded, but aside from Phillips, nothing too serious.

Once you get a bit of a lull in the cleanup, you call Harvey and Ridley to you. Ridley looks his serious self, but Ridley has stripped most of her combat gear and is walking around in just a tank-top and her army pants.

“First of all, thank you for lending you and your squads to me. You both performed admirably, and so did your teams. Be sure to extend those compliments to them as well.” Harvey nods, and Ridley gives you a cheerful smile.

“Well, you did good yourself too!” She says.

“Thanks. Now, second, I’d just like to have a short and informal debriefing. I have no doubts that we’ll be debriefed fully soon, but I’d just like to hear your comments first.” You tell them

“The plan was solid. I doubt I could have done anywhere near as well. Not really my thing, you know.” Harvey takes the lead. “Suppose it’s also why I was glad most of my people were held back from the actual fighting.”

“Aww, you big softie.” Ridley punches him against the shoulder softly.

“Ow!” Harvey flinches and starts rubbing where she hit him. Ok, maybe not so softly. He glares at her and she giggles. You wonder if they met at all before this, though she does seem like the type to do this to anyone.

“Anyway, the care bear is right, it was solid. Positioning and team roles well thought out, good coordination and hey, you saved my bacon so how could I complain?”

You nod, taking the compliments gracefully. “Thank you. My team helped a lot with the planning though. Anyway, anything else? If not I’ll go grab my team and get ready to leave.”

Ridley shakes her head, but Harvey seems to hesitate. He makes up his mind though though and shakes his head as well. “No, not for now. I might call you two later though.” You’re surprised by this, but he offers no explanation as he turns around and heads towards his own squad. Ridley shares a confused look with you before she does the same.

You head towards your own team, where Helena is talking to Katherine, and single out Blake for a moment. “Hey Blake, I’d just like to say it was impressive of you to take down those two magi by yourself.”

“I dunno, we took them by surprise, it was a miracle they managed to defend against Nathan’s stunners.” Blake deflects the praise, “If anything I’d say we kind of screwed up there.”

“Blake. You took down two dangerous magi on your own. That’s something you’re allowed to brag about.” You tell him. He lets out a small laugh.

“Heh, if you put it like that, yeah, I guess so.”

You move on and tell your entire team that you’re proud of them and that they performed exceptionally well. “Drinks are on me tonight!” You say.

“Sir, aren’t the drinks always on Wooster?” Katherine gives you a coy smile. You can’t help but laugh along with the rest of your team.

As they gather their gear and prepare to move out, you approach Helena, who is sitting on a picknick table on the parking around the cafe. “So, what happens near the end of the third date?” You smile at her.

“Ah yes.” She she returns the smile, but with mischief in her eyes. “After the third date, the lady is left to her own devices after a tiring day. Though she might not refuse going along with the gentleman and his friends for those drinks he promised them.”

She winks. You have trouble to keep a straight face. “I see.” You say in an overly dramatic and with fake upper class mannerism. “Then the gentleman hereby extends his offer to the lady as well.”

“Cool, I’ll see you tonight then.” She jumps off and beckons Dax to follow her. He gives one of your pant legs a dog-hug and then moves after her as she joins the rest of your team heading towards the trees.

You follow after them but keep your distance a bit as you call Milly. “First of all, good work doing overwatch. Second, I had another vision.” You quickly tell her about the vision and what the old man told you. “Specifically, he told me to look up Maelstrom psionics.”

“Maelstrom? That can’t be.” You hear surprise in her voice, that’s rare. “I mean, hmm…”

“What’s the matter Milly?”

“Maelstrom is a term used a long time ago for rare cases of psionics who had what could be called a second awakening. It was supposed to be undetectable compared to regular awakenings as it was much more gradual, but it was supposed to trigger something in them that made them grow in power indefinitely. Simply put, their power naturally increases over time without limit, unlike regular psionics who have a natural level and who can only improve up to a certain point through intense training.”

You absentmindedly nod, not realising she can’t see you do it over the call. She continues without pause. “But the whole thing was disproven in 1997 after an intense study found that it was impossible due to…” For a moment it sounds like she’s going to try and explain the entire theory, but she catches herself. “Erm, a multitude of reasons. So that means that either that study had fundamental flaws, the person who told you that is using the term differently, or the whole vision was an attempt to manipulate you. From the way he told you to look up the term, I think we can scratch nr 2 though.”

And manipulate you? You don’t really know… It felt so real. More real than the actual world, in some ways. If it was an illusion it was one so intricately crafted that it’d take someone on the level of the Arch Magus to do. Your instincts tell you that it wasn’t an illusion.

Your train of thought is interrupted by your com buzzing. A different call. You half expect Lilliana, but you it’s your mother. “Sorry Milly, I have to take this.” You lay in the call and take the new one.

“Yes m-ma’am?” You haven’t entirely gotten used to interacting with her on official level yet. You didn’t really run into her as much when you were still an ordinary Vindicator.

“Weston, I was informed what happened. You and the other squad leaders on your team are to report to London HQ asap.” Her voice is sharp and businesslike as always.

“Yes ma’am.” Before you can even think about asking a question, she lays in the call again, and your mind is racing. This is unusual. Perhaps you were the only ones to run into a vampire? That seems odd, considering this wasn’t such a big operation. You quickly patch into your coms again and notify Ridley and Harvey of this turn of events, and have some logistics talk. Harvey’s team needs to get back to London HQ anyway, so you and Ridley can ride along.

You quickly apologise to your own team and tell them they have the rest of the day off before you join them. The ride to HQ is uneventful, but as you arrive you find your mother, some other officials and a very familiar face waiting for you. Ridley instantly recognises your old mentor as well, and you share a look.

“Follow.” Is all your mother says, and the three of you do as you’re told. You’re led to a large briefing room and find most of the senior staff of the Vindex waiting for you, the Vindex Primus himself sitting at the head of the table. He’s an older man, in his early seventies if you recall correctly, but still physically fit, and eyes like a hawk.

“Sir.” Your mother says to the Vindex Primus before she moves over and sits down besides him. Meanwhile, Edward Eddington of house Edward almost glides over, moving behind you and between you and Ridley.

“So… Inara, is it?” He whispers, though before you get the chance to reply, the Vindicator Primus takes the word. “Edward.”

Edward smiles apologetically and calmly walks to the side of the briefing room where he leans his back to the wall.

“So, I’ve been told you had an encounter with an Inara vampire? First of all, Harvey, you are absolutely sure that this has nothing to do with Mr Johnson? We’ve all read his file…”

“I’m sure sir.” Hervey replies. “I talked it over with him after the mission, and he assured me that if he had known anything about it he would have ran instead of taking the mission. He’s brutally honest about these kind of things, sir. And if it had anything to do with him, it wouldn’t have been one as powerful as this one was.”

“Hmmm… Good job on taking down an elite Inara vampire with no preparation then. Not an easy feat, though the numbers were stacked in your favour. Now, describe the vampire to me.” He looks at you, and you calmly explain what he looked like. Nothing out of the ordinary for an inara vampire, though you’re not an expert.

“No clan markings? Just a black bodysuit?” He asks. Now that he mentions it, no, you don’t recall anything of the sort. That is a bit odd. Inara is split up into smaller clans normally, and they wear their markings proudly.

“No sir. Just the suit.” You reply.

“Edward.”

Edward gets away from his wall a bit and looks at the Vindex Primus. “Mark.” The Vindex Primus’ eyes narrow after Edward says his first name. Edward continues before the silence gets uncomfortable though.

“I have mentioned the possibility of the Inara clans joining forces against you before, as you were doing your raids in eastern Europe a few decades ago. If I recall correctly, you dismissed it then. The Order has been stepping on the vampire houses’ toes a lot in the past century, and you know how we are, vampires are not hasty when it comes to plotting our enemy’s downfall.”

“So you think the Inara have unified? Are there any rumours between your kind?” The Vindex’ tone is neutral, but you can detect a it of disdain in the man’s mannerism. He clearly doesn’t like vampires, present company not excluded.

“Rumours? No. Inara knows how to silence those, but if I could make an educated guess I’d say Vostroya knows how to deal wit that even better.” You’ve never seen Edward smile this much. Then again, the man seems to thrive on other people’s annoyance, so he must be having the time of his life. You don’t doubt he’s aware of the Vindex Primus’ disdain too.

It’s at this point that the Vindex seems to realise that you, Harvey and Ridley are still in the room and he turns to you. “Leave and meet up with your Arbitrators for your debriefing.” He waits until you are out of the room before continuing, though you can’t help but catch a bit more of what he says. “So Vostroya too you think? Is Tepes involved as well?”

The hallway is empty aside from the security detail around the door. You look towards your colleague Vindicator Primus.

>1. Talk to them (specify what you want to say/ask).
>2. Call someone (Milly? Your team? Include what to ask/say).
>3. Go to Lilliana for debriefing.
>4. Write in.

>>40641963
Well, as I said on twitter. Monster post. My apologies, I hope it's not too much to wrestle through.

>>40641963
>1. Talk to them (specify what you want to say/ask).
ask them if they've heard any scuttlebutt about vampires, if not then just do
>3. Go to Lilliana for debriefing.
also before we leave HQ we should find mom and give her a hug, just because why not

and seeing as its 4am, timezoneanon must get some sleep now, good to see you running again Sup, I hope the others join in soon

>>40641963
>Say goodbye to the fellow primuses, maybe ask how well their ops went (if they are the ones from other raids)
>3. Go to Liliana for debriefing

>>40641963
>1 Debriefing it is, we'll probably meet again. This isn't over
>3

>>40642128
Also maybe share a laugh with Ridley about Edward's behaviour. It's good to see that some people just won't change

>>40642122
g'night timezone-anon! Enjoy your sleep.

>>40642122
>>40642126
>>40642128
>>40642156
Writing.

And with fellow primus I just meant the two you had on your team, the ones who were with you.

“Well, that was interesting. At least Edward doesn’t seem to have changed.” You wink at Ridley.

“Well, to be honest he was smiling a lot. It kind of scared me.” She replies, an uncertain grin on her face.

“Anyway, I don’t suppose you two have heard any rumours about vampires before this?” You ask the two of them, but you’re mainly looking at Harvey.

“This is what I said I might call you about later. Johnson on my team, he has… A history with the Inara vamps. I don’t know the details but he seems to have swindled quite a large sum of money from them, but it’s stuck on some bank account or other. They can’t access it but they can trace any transactions made from it, so it’s too risky for him to use. He came to the order to seek refuge from the Inara. They have some of their hunters trying to track him though, so we once had to abort a mission as we spotted a vampire, and call in reinforcements to deal with it. That’s the incident mentioned in the file. He doesn’t have any ties with them anymore, seeing how most of his inside sources were part of the group he stole from.”

“Hmm, now I’m glad I don’t have him on my team. My job’s complicated enough already.” Ridley says. You nod. You wonder if you dodged a bullet there or if you missed out on an opportunity when you didn’t pick him.

“Well, I suppose we best get debriefed now. I’m sure we-

“Don’t go too far yet. I want to talk to you after your debriefings.” A disembodied voice tells you, and you immediately recognise it as that of your old mentor. His psychic messages used to be his favourite method of getting you out of bed at the crack of dawn. You look at Ridley. She looks at you the same way, and you don’t even have to ask, she got it too. Harvey is standing there, frowning and kind of awkward.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again some time.” You finish your rudely interrupted sentence and head off towards Lilliana’s office.

You knock and enter after you hear a voice call you in. Lilliana is standing up in front of a few large screens on the wall depicting tactical maps of several locations. You recognise the cafe you raided amongst them.

“Weston.” She turns to you and you greet her in kind. “It seems you stirred up the hive there. Inara vampires eh? Bloody hell.”

“Ma’am, were we the only group to encounter one?” you ask.

“We suspect you weren’t, but you’re the only confirmed one, and also the only confirmed kill of course. Some smaller squads were brutally murdered during the raids while they were away from the rest of their teams. Aside from a lot of screaming over the coms, we didn’t have much real evidence. Seems like every time we attack these bastards we’re surprised by something worse than we expected. At least we know their name now. They call themselves the ‘Brotherhood of the Gift’, or the Brotherhood for short. We’re not sure how deeply involved the vamps are yet, but if you ask me there’s a good chance they run the damn thing from the shadows. Anyway, let’s got on to your debriefing, shall we?”

you nod, and go through the operation step by step. The breaching, aiding Ridley, and Blake’s solo action, and finally the vampire encounter in the basement. She repeats a question the Vindex Primus asked earlier. “And no clan markings? Odd.”

“Edward seemed to think they united against us. Maybe even with more of the Houses.” You tell her.

“Oh that’d be my day. What a mess. I suppose that’s all now Weston. I suspect we’ll get new orders from the brass soon.”

>1. Say goodbye and look for Ridley and Edward.
>2. Tell her about the Maelstrom issue.
>3. Ask her something else (specify).
>4. Write in.

>FFS captcha. Hamburgers != sandwiches...

>>40642685
>1. Say goodbye and look for Ridley and Edward.
>2. Tell her about the Maelstrom issue.

>>40642685
I wouldn't tell her about the Maelstrom issue just yet. Wait for more intel, Milly already knows about it.

>1
>4 Call Helena, apologize deeply for being late in the continuation of that third date

>>40642685
>1. Say goodbye and look for Ridley and Edward.

>>40642685
>3
Might ask her as well if we won't end up on the Inara shitlist or somethingfor icing one of their elite.

>>40642685
>2. Tell her about the Maelstrom issue.

>Hamburgers != sandwiches
Let's not turn this into Re:Kobold part 2

>>40642685
Well we've been pretty open with her although I'm not sure how openly we should talk about maelstroms...

Ah, the hell.
>2
>1

Also Skynet doesn't seem to appreciate the fine art if sandwichcraft.

>>40642853
>>40642837
>>40642826
>>40642772
>>40642759
>>40642732
Was about to call, but the maelstrom issue seems to be quite divided into a 3-3 tie. 5 more minutes before I call a tiebreaker.

>>40642837
>Re:Kobold part 2
What? I haven't lurked a lot lately, so that might be why I don't know this.

>>40642925
I'll tie-break and switch votes to talking about the maelstrom... I just hope she keep's believing our weird stories

>>40642925
I'll withdraw >>40642837

In one of Re: kobold quests first threads, some anon read: I made almost that exact same comment.

The thread was then overrun with an enormous shitstorm on what exactly constitutes a sandwich.

It was rather weird.

>>40642970
>>40642925
Very well, writing.

“So, apparently we iced one of their elite. Won’t that put me and my teams on their hitlist as well?” You ask her.

“Well Weston, with the way things are I suspect the entire Order is on their hitlist right now. I’m not sure how vengeful exactly they are to individuals, but regardless of that I’d say to keep your head down and make sure your base is secure. You just got your funds transferred in today, so you should be able to afford some defensive stuff.”

“Thanks ma’am.” You’re about to leave when you hesitate. You haven’t told her about the vision, and for a moment you wonder if she’ll keep believing the weird crap you encounter, but you decide it’s important enough to tell her.

“Also, I had a vision down there in that cellar.” She quirks an eyebrow as you tell her.

“What, you’re a prophet now?” She asks jokingly.

“Nothing of the kind. I met five other people, and they told me they were Maelstrom Psionics. That… I was one of them. We might be those six the thing in my dreams spoke about.” You say.

“Maelstrom? Never heard of it. What is it?”

“I asked Milly, and apparently it’s some kind of rare form of psionic whose power keeps growing without a limit. She said their existence was disproven in a study in the 1990’s, but well…” You leave it hanging at that.

“Interesting. Also, disturbing. I don’t claim to know anything about that, it’s more the Oculus and Cerebrum’s field of work. I’ll take a look at it, but I think your best angle would be trying to learn more with Agent Hackland.

“Very well ma’am.” You take your leave and go looking for Ridley and Edward. You stretch out your mind to find them, and quickly brush against Edward, who still feels irksome as always. He’s still in the meeting, but he informs you to meet him in his study, and that Ridley will get the same message when her debriefing is done.

You head to his room as requested, and find it unlocked. You get an odd feeling as you enter. Edward was always with you when you were in here before. Your eyes wander across the room. Still the same old bookcases lining the walls. Still the same vampire skull adorning his desk, and his quill sitting in its holder to the side of the desk. If you didn’t know there was a shotgun under the desk and a few grenades in the drawers, you’d be certain his study hadn’t changed in the past three hundred years.

You calmly go over the backs of the books in the bookcases, remembering you had to read through most of them, when the door opens again. It’s Ridley.

“Well, this place never changes. It’s like stepping into a time portal. Zoof, straight back to the eighteen hundreds!” She grins at you.

>1. “Well, they didn’t have shotguns in the eighteen hundreds though.”
>2. “I wonder if he just magically moved his entire office into this building when he moved in here.”
>3. Write in.

>>40643337
>1

>>40643337
>1. “Well, they didn’t have shotguns in the eighteen hundreds though.”
>>2. “I wonder if he just magically moved his entire office into this building when he moved in here.”

>>40643337
>>2. “I wonder if he just magically moved his entire office into this building when he moved in here.”

>>40643337
>I forgot the calling Helena part, my apologies, this fits in between the two posts.

As you make your way to Edward’s office, you open up your com and write a short message to Helena.

“Sorry hun, held up at the office. Might be late for the continuation of that third date.”

You quickly get a reply. “Oh, men and their excuses! I bet you’re out there with another lady! ;)”

You laugh. Since you’ll be meeting up with Ridley, she’s technically correct. You think about sending something back about “confessing your sins” when you approach Edward’s study and bump your conversation down a few priorities.

>>40643373
>>40643375
>>40643405
Writing.

>Street signs captcha? That's a new one.

“I wonder if he just magically moved his entire office into this building when he moved in here.” You say.

“Hey, knowing him he might just have…”

“Well that’s why I said it. Still, he did modernise a bit though. I doubt they had shotguns in the eighteen hundreds.”

“Shotguns?” Ridley’s stunned look is priceless, and you can’t help but laugh. “Oh, you were joking.”

That just renews your amusement. “Haha, no. He never showed you? He’s got a shotgun strapped under the desk. It’s angled sideways but the straps allow it to be twisted forward to shoot whoever is sitting in front of him. He also has a few grenades in the drawers.”

“Whoa. I knew he was paranoid, but that beats everything I knew.”

“Tssk. It’s not paranoid when you are really being hunted.” You do your best to mimic Edward. Now it’s Ridley’s turn to laugh.

“And quite right you are, mister Weston, all mockery aside.” You spin towards the desk. Edward is sitting there, whereas a few seconds ago it was still unoccupied.

>1. ”And you still have a knack for dramatic entrances, sir.”
>2. “Erm, sorry sir, I didn’t know you were here already.”
>3. Write in.

>>40643337
>they didn’t have shotguns in the eighteen hundreds
ACKSHUALLY

>>40643679
Sir, I know I'm a lot younger than you are but heart-attacks run in the family!

>>40643738
Didn't want to say it

>>40643738
>>40643758
Shhht. I know.

Not as modern as these ones anyway.

>>40643679
>1. ”And you still have a knack for dramatic entrances, sir.”

>>40643679
>1. ”And you still have a knack for dramatic entrances, sir.”

>>40643679
>>1. ”And you still have a knack for dramatic entrances, sir.”

>>40643772
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1887/1901

From 1887, still in use today. It's not a full-auto organic matter atomizer, but still decent.

...enough nitpic/k/ing.

>>40643862
>>40643836
>>40643834
Very well, writing.

Since we got paid today, maybe we should get the security room and the Doomsday Prepper Room up asap?

>>40643902
Edward could bring this up and scold Weston for his lack of knowledge of ancient trivia

”And you still have a knack for dramatic entrances, sir.” You retort.

“I do believe I’ve missed our verbal sparring, mister Weston. And good day to you, miss Ridley.” She bows her head towards Edward to acknowledge his greeting.

“Of course it had to be two of my students who took down an Inara.” His voice sounds disappointed, as if it bothers him that you somehow dragged him into the issue, but you’re certain you saw a glint of pride in his eyes. Not that he’d ever admit it. “Even though I suppose my education on that front might have been a bit lacking. I didn’t expect you to become hunters of my… Ill tempered brethren. If I believed in it, I’d say fate has an odd sense of humour.”

You and Ridley stand there awkwardly, and it’s only after his slight rant that he gestures to the chairs in front of his desk. Ridley glances at you and then the desk before she sits down. The tidbit about the shotgun seems to have made her a bit more nervous.

“Well then, enough pleasantries, let’s get down to business. I doubt I’ll have that much time before that toddler realises I left a mirror image in the meeting room.”

You can’t help but raise your eyebrows at that, and Edward catches it before you manage to recover. “Surprised Weston? I thought you of all people would understand, he talks just like your mother. Don’t tell me you never fell asleep during one of her rants.” You did, once. Okay, maybe twice. You won’t admit it to anyone though. “All the interesting things had been said already, but they wouldn’t be humans if they didn’t like to squabble with each other about who does what instead of just doing it. And that’s why I have you two here.”

>>40644172
In the quest's setting, it's a 200-year-old design. Maybe Edward got it for his 200th birthday or something?

He smiles. Now that IS a smile you recognise. It’s the smile he usually has when he’s about to give you some sort of impossibly hard or long task to complete, and you find you’re right on the money when he resumes speaking. “I want you to look into this yourself. I have a few contacts here and there that I’ll be bothering for info that I’ll make sure makes its way to you, but not having that is no excuse to sit around and do nothing. There’s bound to be things you can uncover yourself in the mean time.”

He leans back into his chair a bit more and stares at the ceiling as he continues. “Of course, you’ll have to report to the Vindex people officially for whatever you do, but don’t worry about getting in trouble, I still have enough pull to keep them off your back. You understand?”

He looks at you expectantly. You doubt he expects anything else than both of you just agreeing immediately. He never left you a choice when you were studying under him, but now he’s not in charge of you any more so he can’t actually order you to do anything. Not to say that him ordering this would violate a lot of regulations, and even just asking it is borderline acceptable. You mull it over for a moment. On one hand, you’d actually be doing useful things while the Vindex is still struggling to decide what to do, but on the other hand you could get into trouble by doing things without running them past Lilliana first. Then again, she doesn’t seem to be too fond of the brass either, so maybe you could involve her in this?

>1. Agree.
>2. Disagree.
>3. Ask for some time to think about it.
>4. Write in.

>>40644172
If I had seen that earlier I might have included it, but I was about to post already.

>>40644337
>4. Write in.
Agree, and that we'll be giving regular reports to our supervising officer. This'll be on the books.

>>40644337
>>4. Write in.
>you're seeing the writings on the wall, what do they say, sir?.

>>40644337
>>4. Write in.
"I think we'll stumble over more inevitably, maybe it won't draw too much attention if I sought the counsel of my OLD mentor."

>>40644337
>1
And so our quest begins!

>>40644337
>Agree

>After Ridley leaves (no point in involving her in this now I think) we could ask him about maelstrom

>>40644434
>>40644397
>>40644396
>>40644388
>>40644380
Writing.

>>40644434
Btw, any objections to asking him about maelstrom? You know him well enough that he wouldn't spread the word without your permission, and well, he is a 200 year old vampire.

>>40644817
no objections here

>>40644817
no objections

“You're seeing the writings on the wall, what do they say, sir?” You ask.

“I suppose you’re right,” he sighs, “It wouldn’t be entirely fair to make you two do this before you know the whole picture. Simply put, the other Houses are mobilising against the Order. We’re not sure which ones other than Inara, but I bet Vostroya is involved, and maybe Qing or one of the other Chinese. I doubt Tepes would join. They’ve gotten involved in the Order’s business a bit too much lately and they’d suffer some losses too if you fall. Not enough to come to your aid of course. They’d take a serious blow in standing with the other Houses if they were seen helping you out.”

You notice how he constantly refers to the order as if he’s not part of it. Technically speaking he’s not, but he’s so heavily involved in it that this does surprise you. “And now this Brotherhood thing they’ve gathered up… If you ask me they’ve been gathering some awakenings that slipped by you guys and did some research on them. Made the pills, maybe even something better to cause an actual awakening, seeing just how many of those magi they have. They’re trying to destroy the order using your own race. It keeps their hands clean and limits their own losses, and the whole thing is pretty impressive to set up so the newfound Inara unification will have enough prestige to be at the top of the vampire pecking order. Vostroya isn’t interested in such things and would simply like to remove the order so they can get their things done more easily.”

You nod, taking in everything he just said. This is a bit of a larger scale than you initially thought. Still, you’re bound to stumble over more inevitably, so maybe it won't draw too much attention if you sought the counsel of your old mentor every now and then. “I agree, but I’d like to do this properly, this’ll be on the books.”

You wait a moment to gauge his reaction, but he doesn’t move at all so you continue. “My arbitrator doesn’t really seem to like much of the brass, so I think she’ll be on board with this anyway.”

“Hmm yes, Lilliana no? The Red Death… Yes, I do suppose she will be.” You’re a bit confused about the nickname, but as Edward looks to your right, you realise Ridley hasn’t said a word for a while now. She looks like she’s having trouble deciding, but eventually she answers. “Fine. Under the same restrictions as Weston. I’ll be reporting to my Arbitrator as well, and one more thing. You don’t get to call us asking for progress. If we find anything we’ll come to you so you’ll have to be patient.”

Way to take a stand. You hadn’t even considered Edward’s controlling nature. Of course he’d be bothering you every day to nag at your progress.

“Agreed.” He says, the same smile as before dancing around his lips again. You can even see his fangs a bit. “That will be all. I’ll contact you when I have something for you.”

Ridley stands up and heads for the door. You’re about to follow her but you hesitate. “I’ll see you around later, Ridley.” You say to her. She shoots you a confused look but leaves as you quietly shake your head. You turn around and Edward is already staring at you inquisitively.

“Well Weston, shoot. What’s on your mind?”

“Have you ever heard the term ‘maelstrom psionic’?” You ask him.

“Oh, yes, that fairy tale. I thought people stopped believing in that a century ago.” He gazes at you lazily.

“Well, sir, I’m afraid it’s not a fairy tale.” One of his eyebrows shoots up. “I think I might be one.”

Silence fills the room as he doesn’t move an inch. After a while, Edward is the one to break it. “Who filled your head with that nonsense? They don’t exist. I read that study when it was published, it was foolproof.”

“I’ve been having weird dreams…” You explain to him everything that’s been going on with the weird reality warps and visions. At first he looks at you mockingly, but the more you say the more he seems to become uncertain.

“And you’re absolutely sure they said ‘maelstrom? A hundred percent?” He asks.

“Yes sir.”

“That’s… That’s something.” It’s one of the first times you’ve seen him speechless.

“Sir, what exactly IS a maelstrom psion?” You ask him. “I’ve heard some rough descriptions so far, about a second awakening and stead increase in power, but it all seems so vague.”

“The legend dates back to around the 1400’s, though the exact origins are unknown. It was said in the magical community that there was a psion in Rome whose power was unrivalled. Many tried to challenge him to test their strength, and they were invariably beaten. And unlike most of those stories, the remarkable thing was that they said that at his old age he was even more powerful than before. A few of those stories surfaced over the years. I believe there was one with the aztecs too, that one of their mythological figures was supposed to be a maelstrom. Anyway, what you heard is correct. I’ve read some documents that distilled the information from all the legends available, and they came up with a few basic traits. First, the maelstrom goes through a sort of second awakening, but a gradual one, where they unlocks their true potential. From then on, they simply keep growing in power until they die. Invariably, they become some sort of hero figure in folklore or mythology. And you…”

His voice trails away as he stares at you.

“I’d like to be informed of new developments on this front. In return I’ll lay my head to the ground and see what I can find about that mystical dimension eater of yours.”


>1. Ask him some other question
>2. Leave for your house, it’s getting late and you haven’t eaten for almost 9 hours now
>3. Write in

>>40645275
>3 Thank you sir, looking forward to hearing from you.
>2

>>40645275
>2. Leave for your house, it’s getting late and you haven’t eaten for almost 9 hours now
I assume Weston knows vampire weaknesses and how to defend against them in-character.
Can you infodump that stuff for us so w can buy the appropriate defenses?

>>40645275
>>2. Leave for your house, it’s getting late and you haven’t eaten for almost 9 hours now
Thank you sir, I believe the matters we've talked about are to remain secrets, ALL of them.

>>40645371
>>40645345
seconding these two

>>40645345
>>40645371
>>40645470
Ok, writing. And I'll see what I can do about that info-dump.

>>40645275
Never do anything on an empty stomach. Get home and pillage the fridge, or whatever is equivalent with Wooster around.

“Thank you sir, looking forward to hearing from you.”

Edward just knocks and waves towards the door. You leave and head outside the HQ while calling a cab. You almost fall asleep on the way to your house, but you don’t. You make the driver drop you off in front of the gate and pay him. You see Helena’s little would-be car is parked on your driveway already as you head inside. You notice some commotion from the common room, but your stomach is growling so much that you ignore it in favour of the kitchen. After stuffing yourself with some delicious food, you finally head to the common room.

“So, had fun with the ladies at the office?” Blake asks you as you enter the common room, a boyish grin plastered all over his face.

“I…” You’re not entirely sure what to respond to that. Everyone is there. Well, aside from Milly, you’ll have to drag her out of her observatory soon. There’s a few bottles of champagne standing on the table in the middle, one of which is empty and another one open. Blake follows your gaze.

“Well, we couldn’t just not celebrate after today, could we? I asked Wooster too get us something fancy, and he claims it was a good year or something. I don’t know much about champagne, but it’s good.”

“Ok, wait a moment, I’m getting Milly. No point in toasting without the whole crew.” You leave to get her, and you hear Helena say something like “maybe she’ll listen to him”. Sounds like she was stubborn again.

It doesn’t take you much coaxing to get her out though, and while she’s still uncomfortable, she joins you in the toast.

“To the success of a dangerous mission, and the great team that did it all.” You say. Instead of joining you, the team waits for a moment until Katherine jumps up. This looks rehearsed. “To our Primus who got us all out of there alive.” She winks at you as the rest of the team joins in.

As you drink you hear coughing from where Milly is sitting. Doesn’t look like she’s had much alcoholic before. Liam of all people confronts her about this and tells her that they’ll make sure she’ll get used to it.

Helena sits down next to you. “So, what did you expect happens after the third date?” Her wolfish smile kind of intimidates you.

>1. “Third date equals third base, right?” Grin.
>2. get flustered.
>3. “I don’t know, do you?”
>4. Write in.

>>40645868
oh, I'm tired, it seems i've forgotten. Care to remind me miss Sanders?

>>40645868
>>3. “I don’t know, do you?”
Where's that eyebrow gif when you need it

>>40645868
>1

>>40645868
>>4. Write in.
A fourth.

>>40645868
>I dunno, personally I was thinking of a movie.
>Who wants to watch some horror movies!

So, everyone seems to have came up with something different, though I suppose I could consider >>40645958 to be a >3 as well...

Gonna wait 5 more minutes in case more votes come in before I call it there.

>>40646063
supporting a movie. avoid waifus acquire quality.

>>40645999
>>40646063
>>40646105
4th (movie) date it is then.

“A fourth.” You reply instantly, catching her off guard.

“A… Hah!” She smiles. “Right.”

“How about a movie? I was thinking something scary.”

“Not really my tastes, I’m more of a sci-fi girl. There’s one showing I’d like to see anyway though, so why not?”

“Fair enough. Tomorrow evening?”

“It’s a deal.” She grins and holds her glass up towards you. You softly tap your own against it and you both drink.

“I must say, I doubt the movie’s gonna be much better than the ops we’ve done so far. I mean, when’s the last time you found any film that caught the reality of werewolves properly? They all don’t have a clue.” She laughs.

“Well, that’s what we’re here for.” You reply.

The evening goes on, and while you talk about movies with Helena, Liam successfully manages to get Milly drunk. You can’t help but wonder what effect that has on the rest of her sisters. Do they feel it too? Did Liam just short out an entire psionic information network by getting one drunk? That seems like a bit of a design flaw.

Eventually, Helena gets up, says goodbye to everyone and leaves for her own house. Slowly, everyone gets up and starts going to bed. Liam is one of the last, though Milly is sitting in the sofa next to him snoring loudly. You never figured she was capable of being this loud.

“Erm, sir, I think you’re a bit closer to her, would you mind getting her to bed? I’m not sure if it’d be appreciated if I did it.”

You silently nod and Liam leaves. You pick up Milly, aided with by your psionics since you’re not really strong enough to carry her all the way physically. You enter her room for the first time. There’s nothing there. Only a wardrobe and a bed. No personal items, not even an alarm clock or anything. You put her in bed and pull the blankets over her and leave for your own bed. Once there, you don’t even bother undressing and you fall asleep fully clothed and above your blankets.

>That’s it for now, thanks for attending. I’ll be running again thursday or friday.
>I would like a perception roll before you leave for tomorrow morning though. 1d100, best of first 4.

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>40646432

>>40646432

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>40646432
goodnight supervisor!

>>40646467
First roll of the evening... I won't sleep that well tonight...

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>40646432
also
>>40646467
we're blind as a bat.

Well, one more roll. If that's a 100 you still pass, otherwise it'd be a regular fail thanks to >>40646487 passing the DC

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>40646432

>>40646534
Well, regular failure it is. Thank you for rolling, and playing. I'll stick around if there's some more questions and work on the vampire weakness stuff some more. There was already some info on sunlight in the setting pastebin if you're really curious

>>40646432
Goodnight OP, and thanks for the thread!

>>40646578
Thanks for running, good to have you back.

>>40646578
And setting pastebin updated with a tidbit of combat info on vampires. I might add some more if I think of anything. Otherwise asking me whether specific stuff would work could help in that aspect.