>Last time on Magus Hunter Quest: Something broke into your bedroom while you were sleeping, undetected by Wooster, finish the security room, talk to Milly/the Oculus Primus due to her getting drunk, and spend the evening comforting Milly who confesses to you, but you decline as friendly as you can.

You wake up and go through your morning routine, though with some extra steps. You first check whether any of the windows are open, and then do a quick mind scan of the room. Nothing out of the ordinary. You still feel vaguely uncomfortable though, as if being watched.

A few minutes later, you leave your room and are surprised to find Milly waiting for you right outside it. Her clothes are in a proper state again, and aside from slightly reddened eyes there’s not a sign of what happened yesterday.

“Excuse me sir, I would like to apologise for what happened yesterday. I was not myself, and did not act as is proper. I will accept any punishment you determine for this.”

“Whoa Milly, slow down! First of all, no apologies needed, and second, definitely no punishment.” This isn’t really what you were expecting.

She throws you a confused look. “But… I stepped out of line. I did something I should not have. Surely the Vindex also punishes those that do that?”

“Yes, yes they do, but that’s not applicable here. You didn’t do anything wrong.” You take a breath to create a small pause. “Look, a lot of things happened yesterday, and it might not all have gone as well as it could have, or even gone as either of us had wanted things to go, but it wasn’t wrong.”

Her puzzled look remains unchanged, but she manages to reply. “I… See. So I am not to be punished?”

“No you’re not.”

“I will get to work then. A lot has happened that requires my attention.” And with that, she turns around and heads for her observatory. You could have joined her at least until downstairs, but she’s fast enough to make you think you’d better not try to catch up to her.

Breakfast is the regular affair, though Liam mentions that now you have the new funds transferred in, you could look into buying more actual defences for the mansion.

You tell Liam and Nathan to join you for shopping, and Katherine, Blake, Raphael and Milly to try and locate the southern magical circle. Taking the car, you drive towards Grebin’s hideout.

On the way there, you quickly go over what you’d want exactly with Nathan and Liam. Grebin probably won’t be able to do too much for the mundane equipment, but he might be able to offer you some magical things for cheap. Still, it’s a bit questionable legality, but as Lilliana said, nothing had been proven. You should be able to get away with it.

>What items are you looking for in particular?
>1. Non-lethal weaponry (beanbag guns) for against the Magi
>2. Auto-turrets.
>3. Magical traps (specify what kind)
>4. Magical monitoring systems.
>5. Enchanted ammo (there’s a lot of different kinds, so feel free to go wild with the type you want).
>6. Write in.

>>40780557
>3. Magical traps (stun, detainment, alarm)
>4. Magical monitoring systems.

>>40780557
>5. Enchanted ammo (there’s a lot of different kinds, so feel free to go wild with the type you want).
I'd like to look into Stasis Rounds. Freezing somebody in time for a short duration might be a very effective way to take prisoners.

>3. Magical traps (stun, detainment, alarm)
>4. Magical monitoring systems.

aaand
>2. Auto-turrets.
In the manor istself. As lethal as possible.

>>40780557
>>40780652
this, and now timezoneanon must collapse

>>40780727
Happy collapsing, timezoneanon!

>>40780590
>>40780652
Writing.

By the time you arrive at Grebin’s hideout you’ve more or less decided what to get. Magical traps to stun, detain and alert, and magical monitoring systems seem to be the most likely for him to have. After that, Enchanted bullets to stun or otherwise detain would be useful.

For the mundane, you figure some kind of auto-turrets would be useful for when it comes to an actual attack on the manor, but you’ll sort that out after meeting with Grebin.

You park not too far from the building he was in last time, but not close enough to be suspicious, and make your way there. Something odd strikes you though. There’s no more magical security net around the building. There’s still people inside though. You signal Liam and Nathan, and they get their weapons ready as you sneak closer.

The door is slightly ajar, and you manage to peek inside. At the far end of the hangar, you see four figures, the closest one being Grebin, and the other three being huge creatures about three times as large as Grebin himself. Ogres.

You sigh. Ogres are the brute force of the magical world. While their orc cousins are strong and intelligent, ogres trade in 90% of that intelligence for more strength and a very tough and magic resistant skin. Commonly used as enforcers by crime-lords, or they can just be thugs mugging people.

You’re not exactly equipped to deal with them, but they’re notoriously feeble-minded creatures and it wouldn’t be hard to disable them with your telepathy if need be. Still, you’re not entirely sure what’s happening. Grebin seems to be shouting at them, but from what little you pick up it seems to be more authoritative than from any kind of outrage of being robbed.

>1. Go in and disable the Ogres with your telepathy. It’s really easy.
>2. Go in casually say hi to Grebin.
>3. Sneak up to them and try to learn more.
>4. Write in.

>>40780926
>2. Go in casually say hi to Grebin.
we've got distance on them so it should be easy enough to disable via telepathy/bullets in the eyes

>>40780926
>4. Write in.
Knock on the door, ask if you're disturbing something.

>>40780926
>2. Walk in casually

>>40780952
>>40780971
>>40781033
writing.

You knock on the door and casually walk in. Grebin turns around, seemingly unconcerned about the ogres. “Hmm, who’s there? Oh wait, you, I remember you. What was your name again? Leon? Solfamarius the great? Ehh, I don’t remember. Anyway kid, you caught me at a bad time. I’m moving shop, too much stuff happening around here.”

As you move closer, you see that there’s still a bunch of things around the floor where the ogres are. They seem to be picking stuff up and moving it towards the back and through some kind of portal. Magical movers then?

“What’d you mean, there been more gang violence?” You ask casually. Best not seem too on top of recent things, you figure, he might get suspicious.

“Oh yeah. Well, no. That drug we talked about last time? Seems the Order caught wind of it and is cracking down on it big time. Now I don’t mind them doing that, but them sniffing around the area a bit too much is bad for business, you know. Plus…”

He pulls you closer as he glares at Nathan and Liam, still faithfully acting as your ‘bodyguards’. “I heard that it’s not just some random dealers. There’s supposed to be this whole organisation behind the drugs that seems to not like the order too much. Word on the street is that they’re gathering forces and are looking to hit back.”

That’s interesting. And makes it all the more urgent for you to get your security in order. “Well, I was looking to get some more safety gear, and from the looks of things, my timing seems to be pretty good.”

“Ah, well, pretty bad actually. As I said, I’m moving shop. But you know what? You seem like a decent fellow. You haven’t really gotten the required cred, but I’m loathe to turn customers away. I’ll give you my Grebin’s Full-Automatic Magical Catalogue (TM).” He looks through the air for a moment, as if looking through some cupboards, and then reaches out and pulls a rather thick magazine out of thin air. ”You just need to fill in your address here…” He point to a space on the first page, “and then circle the items you want to buy with this ink.”

He puts his left hand down one of his suit’s pockets. And then his entire arm, and he seems to be looking for something in a place that logically has no right being that large. Eventually he pulls out a bottle of blue ink and hands it to you as well. “The first bottle’s for free, but don’t forget to buy a new bottle before you run out! Whatever you circle will be delivered to the address written on the front page within three days. If you want to cancel an order, simply wipe off the ink. On delivery, the ink will vanish by itself, and payment is accepted on delivery.”

You accept the items and thank him, and he starts talking again. “Well, you should leave now. I’ve still got some stuff to get in order. You’ll just be able to use the catalogue to order without any trouble from the moving though. Thank you for your patronage.” He smiles the incredibly sweet smile of a peddler who just sold someone a really expensive car before he waves you off and turns around, not leaving much room for more conversation. He also starts shouting at the ogres again. You don’t understand the language but recognise it as a dialect of Gnomish. The ogre’s native dialect if you’re not mistaken.

You head back to the house as you compare prices with the Order’s offer for the items you’d want. It seems most of the magical traps and surveillance are cheaper with Grebin, but for enchanted ammo the Order has him beat.

You check out the different kinds of ammo when you arrive back home. There’s some really expensive and some really cheap, of varying effects and effectiveness. You think it might be best to add ammo until you reach about a third of your entire budget, to round it out properly

>All the numbers listed assume that you buy enough to get the price nicely to 1/3rd of your total budget.
>Stasis rounds: Puts the targets hit in a complete magical stasis until the command word to disable it is written. Extremely expensive, but work even against some of the most magically resistant creatures. You’d only be able to afford 10 though.
>Freezing rounds: Shatter on impact and creates a small burst of mist that freezes after half a second. The ice is incredibly tough and hard to get off until it naturally melts after an hour. You should be able to get one magazine for everyone’s main weapon.
>Binding rounds: On impact these create a rope-like construct that binds whatever it hit. The rope is about as strong as steel and releases at the use of a command word. If it hits things like outstretched arms, it binds them to the body. You should be able to get one magazine for everyone’s main weapon.
>Constriction rounds: These grow strong vines to constrict whatever they hit. They’re not nearly as strong as the Binding rounds’ steel-like rope, but they fully constrict it and prevent all movement. Strong creatures could still rip them off without too much trouble though. You should be able to get three magazines for everyone’s main weapon.

>Sticky rounds: A magical variant of glue pellet guns, these simply make a large surface around where they hit incredibly sticky, enough to even prevent an ogre from ripping free from one. Not as useful in a straight up fight as they do not immediately incapacitate, but a bit more tactical. You should be able to get two magazines for everyone’s main weapon.

>What shall it be? You can also just ask for a mix and match and/or for more than the 1/3rd of your budget. Feel free to ask for a mix you want and I should be able to tell you around how much of the budget it should take. I apologise for not sticking on concrete numbers, but I’ve found I’m pretty bad at balancing that kind of thing.
>1. Stasis rounds
>2. Freezing Rounds
>3. Binding Rounds
>4. Constricting Rounds
>5. Sticky Rounds.
>6. Write in.

>My apologies for the awkward splits, I had just under 6k words, and that tends to not split nicely into 3 posts due to paragraphs.

>>40781553
>Stasis rounds
To catch the enemy mages and the occasional Werewolf or Dragon. Everything smaller than that we have already taken on and taken out.

>>40781570
i dont really want to go over 1/3 of the budget
so is it possible to to do it like this while keeping it at 1/3
2 stasis rounds
1 magazine of sticky rounds
split the rest between freezing and binding

>>40781570
Two questions before I vote, can we get just one kind of special ammo for the price stated (I didn't understand your description) and how well-known/used are each of the ammunition you've listed?

>>40781570
>3. Binding Rounds

>>40781570
Also, a comment. A full magazine's worth for a primary weapon are something like 15 shots for a handgun and 20-30 shots for an AR, less for a sniper. That's enough freezin, binding and glueing to incapacitate a small town when the whole team does it.

We shouldn't equip everybody with that stuff, it's just unnecessary. I'd say give Liam a few Stasis Rounds, Nathan and Blake a handgun full of Freezers or Stickies each, and be done with it.

>>40781637
The amounts listed in their descriptions are what you get if you just spend all the "available" money on them (as in, up the 1/3rd of the budget total, including the magical traps etc.).

And they're mostly used for specialised missions. Binding and Sticky see the most use in day-to-day operations.

>>40781631
Should work, though you'd only have about 1 magazine of freezing and 1 magazine of binding in total.

>>40781713
>We shouldn't equip everybody with that stuff, it's just unnecessary. I'd say give Liam a few Stasis Rounds, Nathan and Blake a handgun full of Freezers or Stickies each, and be done with it.
Of course we're not going to be walking around with it all at once, also what happens if Liam Nathan and Blake are unavailable? Micromanaging ammunition specialties on that small a scale is stupidly counter-productive.

>>40781713
And an addendum. What about mixing mags? Like putting Stickies, Binders and Freezers into the same mag. A three-round burst of that will cover a whole lot of binding mechanisms. A submachine gun loaded like that could stop pretty much everything.

>>40781772
Aside from perhaps the stasis rounds or other kinds of rounds you only buy a few of, I won't burden you with the distribution and whoever needs them will conveniently have some available.

>>40781754
>though you'd only have about 1 magazine of freezing and 1 magazine of binding in total.
Just going to throw this out there, but balancing individual numbers of ammunition (whether it be batches of ammo or mags or individual round counts) never goes smoothly or works all that wonderful when things are not a vidya rpg.

>>40781779
Thats all kinds of stupidly wasteful, thats like downloading some of your rounds to 2/3 and 1/3 powder charges then having them stacked in the same mag just so some go slower or faster, fucking stupid.

>>40781772
While I see your point, there's just nobody else in the team who could deploy that special ammo very effectively. Nathan and Liam are our ranged types, and Blake can use it to level the field when he barges into a room full of magi again, but both the MC and Katherine have either other means to restrain enemies or no business at the front lines at all.

>>40781796
It could also have unintended magical consequences. I think steel and so on is probably easier to break when frozen, same with vines.

>>40781823
This, Katherine isn't quite ++ on ranged yet, and we're almost pure-caster in our usage (not to say we can't use guns, we should at times, but with the enemies we're facing, we'll probably need the power of our Psychic abilities).

>>40781796
>Thats all kinds of stupidly wasteful, thats like downloading some of your rounds to 2/3 and 1/3 powder charges then having them stacked in the same mag just so some go slower or faster

Uhm, no. These rounds aren't about penetration. They are the delivery device for a restraining mechanism. And in this case, a burst would deliver three types of restraining mechanisms as opposed to one. Should an enemy be able to negate the effects of one of the rounds, there are still two with different effects.
It's about maximizing the chances.

I'll vote for taking at least two stasis rounds, presumably for Liam

>>40781796
>balancing individual numbers of ammunition never goes smoothly

True, I might not have thought this one through well enough. I don't want things to devolve into min-maxing ammo usage either.
Ok, sorry about this, scrap the whole thing. I'm gonna change it up a bit and turn this into "upgrades".

Aside from Stass, which are too bloody expensive, you can just pick one of the following options you can get that you'll have "enough" of to last you through the quest.

>1. Freezing.
>2. Binding.
>3. Constricting + Sticky.


>You'll be getting 2 Stasis rounds included in that.

>Sorry for the inconvenience.

>>40781924
Or if you can take 2 options and then you'll have spent half the budget. Or all three and then you'll have spent 2/3rds but you still need sentry-guns too that you haven't bought yet.

>>40781951
>still need sentry-guns too that you haven't bought yet.

Not that that would take the full 1/3rd, but still, I assume you would prefer to have some cash left over after the shopping spree.

>>40781924
>1. Freezing.
Everything without a thick fur will be fucked, and the cold fucks with the target's mental focus. I'd wager this could take psions down a notch or two while the other rounds have no effect besides the physical restraint.

>>40781924
>3. Constricting + Sticky.
And we can try to get additional amounts of others later, right?

>>40781992
Yes, you'll be able to get the others later on if you decide to spend the money on it.

>>40781924

>>40782064 here, changing my vote to
>3. Constricting + Sticky.
as I only saw >>40782050 after I posted

>>40781985
>>40781992
>>40782064
I think you'll have to cast a d3, Supes...

>>40782138
Thankfully, someone switched votes. I was dreading it though.

>>40782124
>>40781992
>>40781985
Constricting+sticky it is. Writing.

You decide on getting the Sticky and Constricting ammo. Constricting might not be very effective against stronger things like the vampires, but they should be able to take out the magi and their goons decently. And even Inara vamps should have trouble getting free from sticky rounds. Also, there was a memo that in light of recent events, every field base will be equipped with a moderate supply of silver-coated bullets and UV flashlights.

You go through Grebin’s magical catalogue and order various sets of traps and surveillance items. Most of these have some form of IFF that you have to set up before placing them, and they have various settings to ignore non-sentient creatures depending on the paranoia of the user. You think some of these are even more advanced than what the Order has on offer.

All in all, you get multiple one-use rune stones that you basically put somewhere and then activate. From that moment on their effect is permanent in that place and the rune stone is consumed. Most of those are the surveillance systems. A few others are basically mines that can go off only once, including a short duration stasis mine, but most of them are re-usable if you channel more energy into them. With Liam and Nathan’s help you draw a defence plan and decide where to put what kind of trap. Eventually, you’re confident that if they even reach the manor without being incapacitated, they’ll be so bad off that you shouldn’t have much trouble taking them down.

With that done, you go through the sentry-guns with Liam and Nathan and find a few positions to install them in. The balcony at the back was perfect for a sniper drone, as Liam mentioned at the very start when you came here, and there’s a few other places that would work to keep them out of the house. There’s even a few places that would work inside the house when they gain entrance, but Liam says that he’d need to take a second look at their software. You wouldn’t want them to accidentally shoot down guests you’re having.

With everything ordered, it’s time for dinner. well, a bit early, but that’s ok. It’s just the three of you though, and you haven’t heard anything of the away team yet. Just as you’re starting to get worried, you get a call from Katherine.

“Hey sir, just calling to keep you up to date. The line went straight under HQ. With the help of a few friends we still knew here, we’ve managed to scout most of the building. Only places we haven’t looked are places we’re not allowed to go like the offices and personal rooms of the top brass and the Arch Magus himself. Do you want us to keep looking outside of HQ, or do you think we should just head back?”

>1. Come on back.
>2. Check around HQ.
>3. tell them to try and sneak into the prohibited areas.
>4. Write in.

>>40782553
>2. Check around HQ.
If they can comfirm its within HQ's boundaries then thats significant progress and narrows the search area down, also gives us useful info that might get us help searching HQ itself if need be.

>>40782553
>2. Check around HQ.

>>40782553
>2. Check around HQ.
it's probably in a restricted section but on the off chance it's not...

>>40782604
>>40782618
>>40782635
Ok, writing.

Meanwhile, what will you be doing with Liam and Nathan. Do consider that there's only 3 of you and that you have a date set for the evening.

>1. Have some time off (specify what you’ll be doing)
>2. Go look for the northern circle. (this might take too long to be on time for your date)
>3. Start a new room (specify what kind).
>4. Talk to someone (specify whom and about what)
>5. Train together (specify stat).
>6. Write in.

>>40782734
>>4. Talk to someone (specify whom and about what)
both of them, get to know them some, see what they like to do in downtime, what their hobbies are and such

>>40782734
>5. Train together
Psychic strength
time to life heavy boulders with our mind.

>>40782734
>5. Train together (specify stat).
Psychic Strenght and Marksmanship. They shot us, we shield ourselves.

>>40782801
>>40782820
>>40782902
Writing. I'll try to throw some characterisation in the training.

>>40782734
>5. Train together
For Body.

>>40782930
Why do I keep forgetting to ask for rolls. Psychic strength wins, roll me a 1d100, best of first 4. You need to beat a DC of 75 for this.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>40783002

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>40783002

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>40783002

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>40783002

>>40783002
One more roll. you can't crit fail on the 4th roll, so who knows, you might get a 100 and get two advancements instead of just one..

>>40783073
Never mind, that one came in as I posted.>>40783067

Success, writing.

>>40783094
Didn't you say DC 75? The highest I see is a 71... but if you want to show us mercy, a graciously accept.

“Check around HQ. If you can confirm it’s actually in there, that’s valuable already and we can start thinking of ways to get access to the restricted areas.” You answer.

“Alright sir, we’ll see you later then.” And with that she lays in the call.

You finish your meal with Liam and Nathan. They’re still talking about the sentries. Liam obviously knows a lot more about the software than Nathan, so it comes down to Nathan asking questions about whether something is feasible and Liam thinking really hard and then saying yes or no.

You tell them that you’d like Liam’s help with training, and Nathan decides to join. Equipped with rubber bullets and a rifle, Liam is standing on one side of you outside, while Nathan stands about 120 degrees away from him, with multiple moderately large rocks.

“You sure about this sir? You could get hurt if you mess up.” Nathan asks.

“I’ll be fine. And if all else fails, I can still duck.” You grin. He laughs.

“Shall we get started?” Liam asks over com, and you give the OK.

>Liam rolled a 100 on his training so gets 2 advances and is now 2/3 towards ranged 4.
>Nathan failed his body training check.
>You succeed, and are now 1/4th towards Psychic 5.

Liam aims and fires bullet after bullet at you, while Nathan starts chucking stones towards you. Instead of just deflecting them, you try to block them with walls of pure force. It takes a moment to get used to, but a few near-misses later you get the hang of it. You’re in a sort of cocoon that projectiles can’t get through. Liam is on fire today, as bullet after bullet stops just inches away from your solar plexus before they drop to the ground. Nathan however, pulls a muscle not long after you start. And you hadn’t even started making it harder on their concentration by making conversation yet.

“Ah damn. Sorry sir, I’m afraid I’ll have to sit this one out.” He says.

“Don’t worry about that, Are you-“ Your sentence is cut off by a bullet impacting your shield. Whoa, looks like Liam doesn’t let up. Still, you can tell it’s aimed above you. Even if you hadn’t been keeping up the shield it wouldn’t have done any harm.

“Don’t lower your guard when you’re in combat sir, it’s a bad habit.” You can hear a trace of amusement in Liam’s voice.

“What, you’re not even concerned about a downed comrade?” Nathan asks with just a bit more mockery in his voice than Liam.

“You’re a big boy, you can take it.” Is Liam’s answer.

With Nathan on the sidelines, you continue, and try to mix things up a bit. You have to prevent Liam from hitting three targets on the range, but he decides himself which one to shoot at every time, so you have to keep the shield up in front of all three targets.

“So, what is it you do for fun Liam? I haven’t really noticed you unwinding that much.”

“I train. Sometimes I read a bit.” You knew he was a bit short and single-minded, but still…

“How about you Nathan?”

“Me? Oh, I just call my family a lot. And I collect military regalia from the 20th century. I keep my collection at home though, but the wife did threaten to throw them out so I should go and get them soon.” Ah right, he was married. You wonder how he combines this with a marriage. You don’t exactly have days off, but maybe you should start with that? They don’t seem to mind too much, but they do have families out there, and they’re kind of isolated out here.

You make some more small talk with Liam and Nathan, and find that while Liam has opened up a bit since you’ve started working with him, he still prefers to keep his answers short. Doesn’t get along with parents, not seeing anyone, enjoys studying magical creatures and ways to take them down. Talk about married to the job…

Nathan on the other hand is more a concerned father behind the face of a trained soldier. He has quirks that seem at home in a man of 31, like forgetting anniversaries and making it up to his wife with an over-the-top date at her birthday.

Eventually, the rest of the team returns as you’re about to finish.

“You’re going to want to hear this.” Katherine has an amused look on her face as she ushers you, Nathan and Liam to the common room.

“We found the circle. And apparently Mr Tobias Patterson has an odd sense of humour. The circle was in a small shack leaning against HQ, and it was locked up with a LOT of magic and mundane means. It took us about an hour to just get through the front door. Then we got this view.” Katherine steps aside and nods to Milly, who pushes a few buttons and allows Wooster to project the image of the room.

The projected room shows an ordinary room, about five by five meters, with a trapdoor at the end. However, in the middle of the room, big friendly red letters float, reading “Welcome, Order of the Magus Hunters, or did you change that name by the time you find this? Well in any case, it took you long enough. Right here, next to the heart of your entire organisation. If only you knew the treasures you almost built your building on top of. Anyway, I suppose this is the start of a mysterious journey for you, though I hope that by the time you read this the room’s purpose has been fulfilled.”

>1. “Ok, I did not see that one coming.”
>2. Brush aside the welcoming text, ask about the circle itself.
>3. “Hah, that he does indeed. Not very helpful though.”
>4. Write in.

>>40783116
You sir, are completely correct. I dun goofed. I suppose I'll let it slide and give you this one for free.

>>40783669
>3. “Hah, that he does indeed. Not very helpful though.”
Did you inform the order on the finding?

>>40783669
>1. “Ok, I did not see that one coming.”
"Let's call my Dad on video, I want to see his face when he hears that."

>>40783669
>3. “Hah, that he does indeed. Not very helpful though.”
>1. “Ok, I did not see that one coming.”
>4. "Who do you reckon we should notify about this?"

>>40783732
>>40783738
>>40783801
Writing.

“Hah, odd sense of humour indeed, I didn’t see that one coming. Still, it’s not very helpful.” You briefly consider where to go with this. “Did you inform the order about this?”

“We thought it better to inform you first sir.” Milly answers. With that answer you suppose that also means that she hasn’t “updated” the rest of her sisters yet and that the Oculus as a whole doesn’t know yet.

“Good. I want to see the look on my father’s face when we show him this.” You grin and your team laughs. Even Milly’s showing a rare smile, though when she notices you looking at her she goes back to a neutral look and averts her face a bit.

“So, what about the circle itself?” You mostly direct your answer towards Raphael, the resident expert. As you ask this, Milly pushes a few buttons and the projection changes to that of the basement. It’s not much bigger than the room above it, and the circle covers most of the floor.

“Well, as you can see it’s a lot less complex than this one, and there’s a few things I’ve learned from that. First of all, this is the first circle. The origin of Circle Road, as it were. Second, the complexity makes an enormous jump between circles, more so than I had thought. This one is roughly seven meters in diameter, while the one below the house is around twenty. I still haven’t gone through all the calculations, and there’s still some unknown elements in there, but my estimate is that the next one would be either around forty-five meters, or closer to sixty.”

That’s… A big circle. Shouldn’t be too hard to find even. Raphael continues. “I doubt that there’d be more than three circles then. The third circle must already be complex beyond anything I’ve ever heard about, let alone a fourth circle of somewhere between sixty and a hundred eighty meters big.”

“That does mean we’re pretty close to answering this riddle.” Blake says. “We just have to follow the line up north, can’t be hard to miss.”

Raphael seems a bit annoyed at the interruption, but continues when Blake stops talking. “Yes, indeed. One particular thing bothered me though. Both circles are underground. I’m not sure if there’s meaning to it, or if it’s just a good place to hide them. I’m afraid that’s beyond my expertise, but it’s still curious to think about. We might have to look for an underground location for the third circle.”

>Any more questions or shall we move on to the date with Helena?

>>40784129
"He seems to have liked buildings as bases for his circles. Look for big, old buildings, like churches or an ancient amphitheater or something."

>>40784129
this
>>40784185
with try to find any old or significant to the order buildings along the predicted route to the third circle.
if he has a sense of humour we might be able to use it.

>>40784251
I bet he will. If we're smart enough to activate it. And at the end of the road will be another ghostly servant offering us tea and biscuits, asking us for a few minutes of patience while his master freshens up.

>>40784185
>>40784251
>>40784413
Writing.

“Tobias seems to have liked buildings as bases for his circles. Look for big, old buildings, like churches or an ancient amphitheater or something. And we could use his sense of humour against him. So far both buildings have been related to the order. I’m willing to bet the last one is too.” Everyone nods.

You move to the dinner table and eat, after which you get ready for your date. Apparently you’re not the only one going out. Katherine has taken the opportunity to meet up with one of her sons in a nearby village, and he picks her up right before you leave.

At 8 o’ clock on the dot, Helena’s little would-be car appears on the driveway, and she waves you over. You get in the car. No, wait, not like that. Maybe…

“Erm, Helena, how do you fit into this thing? It’s too small.”

“Oh you crybaby. You want to take your fancy car then? Fine.” She parks the car next to yours, and you get behind the wheel as she switches. “No Dax today?” You ask.

“I’ve got a friend taking care of him. He gets too involved in movie’s stories and tends to bark at sad moments.” The more she talks about him the more you’re becoming convinced that those Wōdenshunden are just as intelligent as humans.

“So, where are we going actually? I wasn’t expecting to drive.” You tell her.

“Just drive, I’ll point out where you have to go.”

“We do have a GPS in the car, you know.” You throw her a deadpan stare.

“I don’t like those things. Too much electronics. Too much stuff that can go wrong. Just go.”

>1. You don’t like electronics, but you’re into sci-fi? How does that work?
>2. Fine, fine, I’m going.
>3. Approach some other topic as you’re driving towards the cinema (specify).
>4. Write in.

>>40784789
>1. You don’t like electronics, but you’re into sci-fi? How does that work?

>>40784789
>2. Fine, fine, I’m going.
>>1. You don’t like electronics, but you’re into sci-fi? How does that work?

>>40784789
>1. You don’t like electronics, but you’re into sci-fi? How does that work?
*start driving anyway*

I'm really hoping for a surprise vampire attack. Everytime anything remotely romantic happens just BOOM Vampires.

>>40784995
nah not every time, and we've already bested a werewolf and a vampire together with her

>>40784838
>>40784871
>>40784903
Writing.

>>40784995
What do you think this is? Twilight?
No, I have no idea if that actually happens there, I never saw/read any of it.

>>40785038
>I never saw/read any of it.
Good.

You start driving, but you can’t just let go of it just yet. “You don’t like electronics, but you’re into sci-fi? How does that work?”

“Right. No, I mean, take this right.” You quickly turn, having mistaken her indication for the start of her explanation. “It’s the ‘fi’ part. Stuff doesn’t crash and break down in books or movies, except when it’s to increase dramatic tension. Real life also has a tendency of making them break at inconvenient times, but doesn’t have the magic solution hanging around. Left here. Now just follow the road. Anyway, I’ve had multiple paycheques go down the drain due to faulty electronics. Take for instance my baby…”

“Your baby?” You’re not entirely sure what to think of that.

“Yeah, my car. She’s about as electronic free as you can get these days. EMP-proof even, if the Russians ever plan to actually use that.”

“That was a movie.”

“It was?”

“Yeah, and it got stolen if I’m not mistaken.”

“Don’t think I saw that one.”

You make some more small talk before you arrive at the cinema. You’re a bit late, having missed a turn because of your talking and having to make a bit of a detour. You quickly buy some snacks and slip into the theater. The commercials are about to finish, so all in all your timing is perfect.

You didn’t really check what the movie was about, but it turns out to be quite an entertaining movie about an illegally made AI accidentally ending up in a war veteran’s cybernetic limbs. Through the implausible hacking powers of the AI and the vet’s combat experience, they manage to thwart the evil corporation trying to get their AI back. All in all it’s more of an action flick than a deep sci-fi movie. Over the course of the movie, you find Helena being excited at the start, but slowly getting a bit disappointed with it. There’s a few points where she gets interested again, but it’s clear that the movie wasn’t as good as she was hoping. You enjoyed it though.

You exit the cinema, it’s around 10:30, and it’s getting a bit cold. “That was bullshit!” She almost yells, and you have to urge her to lower her voice. You’re slightly embarrassed as people around you turn their heads. “Totally false advertising. They made it seem like they’d explore some hard themes of AI awareness and morality. Like, in one of the trailers they showed the scene of the dude talking to that corp goon right, but they made it seem like it was a lot longer, and an entire conversation about ethics.”

She keeps ranting while you get into the car. All in all, it’s a bit adorable coming from a girl who distrusts electronics. “I didn’t think you’d know that much about the technical aspect, seeing how you mistrust it all.” You remark.

“Hah!” She smiles triumphantly. “Know thine enemy!” She winks at you.

Eventually, you arrive at the manor again. You get both out of the car and it’s time to say goodbye. It’s kind of chilly now, and she stands fairly close to you as you catch most of the wind for her. “So yeah, I had fun, even if the movie wasn’t that good.” She says, smiling at you.

>1. Kiss her.
>2. Yeah, well, next time I’ll choose the movie then.
>3. Write in.

>>40785412
>3. Write in.
Humor goes a long way with her.
"So, if we go with the traditional route, there should be a kiss right now. How would you feel about a game of minigolf instead?"

>>40785412
>>40785555 here, changing my vote to supporting >>40785559 but also go for a kiss too, say we're a little bit of a traditionalist

>>40785412
>2. Yeah, well, next time I’ll choose the movie then.
Steering this ship straight back into harbor from this waifuing.

>>40785612
too late for that anon, this ship set sail long ago

>>40785559
>>40785607
Writing.

Tee hee hee.

"So, if we go with the traditional route, there should be a kiss right now. How would you feel about a game of minigolf instead?" You say, as you lean in a bit closer.

Helena lets out a nervous laughter, but steps back though. “Oh, erm, right. Look, I had a great time, Michael, and you’re a great friend. But, that’s just what I think of you. A great friend. Look, I didn’t mean to lead you on, I’m always like that.” As if realising what she just said, she tries to correct herself. She’s getting flustered from the awkwardness. “Ok, that came out wrong. I mean, what you probably saw as flirting,that's just me feeling at ease with someone. I do that with all my friends. I’m sorry, I should have made things clear much earlier. I mess this stuff up all the time.”

She looks at you again. You’re not entirely sure what she’s seeing, because you’re not entirely sure what you’re feeling either. Disappointed? Yeah. Sad? Kind of. Angry? Probably a bit. Might take some time before you get a grip at this. What you see in her face is guilt and discomfort.

“Look, I’m sorry, I really am. I just want to stay friends with you, is that ok?” She asks you.

>1. Ok. Just friends.
>2. I’m sorry, I just need some time to think this through.
>3. Could we talk about this? I mean, not now, when we’re both… Just, talk things through.
>4. Write in.


>Before anyone complains, I’d like to tell you that I made the conscious decision of having Helena not be interested in the MC romantically the moment I made her. She really just was like that from the start and I'm not trying to insert forced drama.

>>40785964
>>1. Ok. Just friends.

>>40785964
>1. Ok. Just friends.
Crisis averted.
Based QM.

>>40785964
>1. Ok. Just friends.
"But don't think I'll cut back on the 'flirting' either, it's just too much fun!"

>>40786040
Suporting

>>40786003
>>40786017
>>40786040
>>40786082
Writing.

>>40786040
this

“Ok, just friends.” You smile and hold out a hand to her. She seems to be a bit surprised at you taking it this easily. Perhaps you’re surprising yourself a bit too. She takes hold of your hand and shakes it, giving you a cautious smile.

”But don't think I'll cut back on the 'flirting' either, it's just too much fun!" You grin.

“Heh. If you put it like that I’ll have to do my best to one-up you.” Her smile is a lot more natural now.

“I suppose we should leave the next date undecided for now.” You say.

“Yeah, I suppose we do. Who knows, might be vampire hunting.” She turns around and walks towards her car. Before she gets in, she turns around. “Thanks, you know. For not getting angry.”

“No problem. I’ll be seeing you.” You reply.

“Bye!” And with that, she gets into her car and drives off. You head inside, where you find Blake walking towards the common room a bit too casually.

“You do know that eavesdroppers go to hell, don’t you Blake?”

“Oh, sir, I thought it was people who whispered. Or didn’t hold their hands in front of their mouth when they yawn.”

You can’t help but laugh. Blake is his carefree self as always. “Well, I’m off to bed, good night Blake.”

“G’night guvner!” Blake smiles at you, and you head upstairs.

>That’s it for now, hope you don’t hate me too much.
>Next thread either tomorrow or saturday. I’ll keep you informed over twitter.

>Now to close off, roll me a mind check, 1d100, best of first four.

>>40786285
Night!

>>40786285

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>40786343
Stupid didn't take my roll...

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>40786285
Night.
Had fun.

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>40786285
satan guide my dice

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>40786285

>>40786424
>>40786387
>>40786361
>>40786357
Well, someone pulled your arses out of the fire there. And it wasn't satan. g'night people. I'm off to bed.

damn it! lost this one too....

just wanted to say, shame on you guys for braking milly's heart.

>>40788802
Give things time, anon.

>>40786531
Night supervisor. Thanks for running.

>>40789071

you are right, we should meet her outside of work enviroment...

we have the perfect excuse even, we did say we didn't know her enough so that's the chance to do it

>>40785964
>She really just was like that from the start and I'm not trying to insert forced drama.
So fucking what? So people can't change? This was a pathetic waste of time.

>>40785964
>>Before anyone complains, I’d like to tell you that I made the conscious decision of having Helena not be interested in the MC romantically the moment I made her. She really just was like that from the start and I'm not trying to insert forced drama.
That's just fucking retardedly stupid of your Supervisor. By making her character effectively be railroaded into this, you've made forced drama over fucking nothing, for the most retarded of reasons, she's not a fucking robot whose settings will never be able to be changed.

Fucking shame on you.

>hope you don’t hate me too much.
Too late for that, you shit the bed with this bullshit, you've a lot of work to do to repair what you've done. This makes me wonder why I bother trying to make it to threads and reading the archives.

>>40792060
Indeed it was anon, atrocious effort from the QM all around.

>>40792060
>>40792134
Kissless virgins spotted.

>>40786285
Thanks for the thread OP!

Don't get discouraged by bitter waifufags.

>>40792891
Hey literally went
>oh no I was totally joking all along ohohohoho and all that interest I showed and development we had wasjust e faking it all along lol jokes :p lets still be fwens though

Nah fuck him and his bullshit, he just destroyed her character and everything we've done with her. Even worse is that he thinks that because he decided months ago that this would happen sets it in stone and that Helena can't ever change from that that is acceptable.

It's fucking atrocious railroading, fucking unacceptable QM'ing worthy of a retcon of this bullshit and a serious change in how he handles his characters are if this is indicative of how he runs things.

I'm not going to waste time and effort trying toake it to threads if he's going to pull this shit and think its fine because he decided to railroad it months ago.

Fuck you Supervisor, I expected better of you.

>>40792985
I'm not a waifufag you retard, I'd be reacting exactly the same if it was over a character back flipping on their personality this hard if it was over a different matter.

This was just complete railroaded horseshit from someone who should know better, and evidently I'm not alone in these thoughts.

Sup just lost and faith, credibility and trust I had in him. He's got a lot of work to do to fix this bullshit if he doesn't retcon it, fuck even just taking things slowly would be fine, but nope, complete reversal and destruction of her character.

>>40793266
Not the words I would use but similar sentiment here, it broke my bullshit meter and suspension of disbelief entirely, also completely out of left field and makes me completely apathetic to Helena's character now.

Safe to say I won't be following this live anymore for a long while unless OP changes his act.

>>40793266
>>40793316
You two DO realize that there are women and also men like Helena in real life, do you? I'm friends with some, and I am a male example of this behavior.

Whenever the MC interacted with Helena, she kept a joking undertone and not-so-serious behavior which the MC mirrored at our vote. The signs were there, but you were either too inexperienced to see or you willfully ignored them. Taking it hard is your choice.

>no waifu-fagging
>ragequit when the first girl the MC dates doesn't becone a waifu
You don't even believe your own words, do you? Pathetic.

Do not blame the QM for your mistakes.

Supes, if you catch up on this, please continue this quest. Thete's a lot more good to it than these people are whining about.

>>40793266
>>40793316
Thank god you were not here when this happened. You sound pathetic whining over the rejection by a fictional character.

>>40793713
>she kept a joking undertone and not-so-serious behavior which the MC mirrored at our vote. The signs were there,
What signs were also there was serious reactions and emotional development between them amidst the joking and you would have to be blind to not see them. It's am entirely unrealistic switch of personality that breaks her character completely.

Supervisor is free to continue this quest, and i made no words to the contrary of that, but if he thinks this is acceptable to his players he'll end up running without any players.

>>40793266
You do realize that women in real life work exactly that way? They decide whether a guy is designated for friendzone within first few seconds of seeing him.

And you do sound really pathetic in trying to coerce OP into "retconning"

anyway, if you want to discuss this non-issue, at least use sage.

>>40793922
Serious reactions and emotional development also happens between friends or people who work closely together. You just don't see it as much in the team since we rarely interact with them on such personal and equal terms as the MC did with Helena.

Her blowing us off is not a switch of personsality. It is us forcing her out of her comfort zone, triggering defensive behavior.

You should accept that things went not as you expected and cope with it.

>>40794054
>It is us forcing her out of her comfort zone, triggering defensive behavior.
It is nothing like that, she led us along and was in her comfort zone treating this as a romantic relationship with no problems until the QM decided he was going to railroad this for entirely out of character meta bullshit. Notice how he had to try to justify it in meta, and even that justification is a admission of railroading, he didn't even try to hide that it's railroaded for entirely OOC reasons.

Treat this like /r9k/ all you want, but don't for a second try to defend the QMs blatant bullshit with this.

>>40794730
Ah well, then just pout.

You didn't get what you wanted and now you're rolling on the floor in aisle three crying for sweets. Have fun.

>>40794730

What makes your think she was treating it as romantic relationship? You (we, the MC) just misinterpreted the signals.

As for railroading, the NPC having no interest in MC is perfectly believable and IC and MC himself was certainly not railroaded into going out with her. If anything, the one railroady moment I've resented earlier was not being able to extract more information out of the leprechaun trader.

>>40794912
>You (we, the MC) just misinterpreted the signals.
That's a load of horseshit and you, me and the QM know it, otherwise he wouldn't have to admit railroading it as an excuse

>>40795250
>Before anyone complains, I’d like to tell you that I made the conscious decision of having Helena not be interested in the MC romantically the moment I made her. She really just was like that from the start and I'm not trying to insert forced drama.

He created a character. He played the character as it should be.

Yes, Helena is a tease, but nobody forced us on her or the other way around. We could have chosen to be all business in our interactions with her, but we did not.

And now you're butthurt because there is more to the character than you could have imagined, and not in the way you would like. It's called "getting to know someone better".

What did you expect, that Supes would hand out a complete Waifu Guide for this quest so you could focus your efforts on getting one? You won't get happy here.

On a less cancerous topic than waifus, we need to set up some arrangement to allow our team members to have day off every once in a while, but in light of recent developments we also need to make sure they are never quite alone. And some automated surveillance on their families might be in order as well. We don't know how much Order is infiltrated and how much of our personal info is in vampire hands.

>>40795718
You speak sense.
Family protection might be something another team should handle, I think; our own team will be pretty much in the thick of whatever is coming our way.

With the current crisis, I can't see many days off in the close future, though. But what about throwing a picknick or a game of golf in as a group activity on slow days? That's also something that interested family members could join in. If that's smart is a related question.

You make me sad, anon. Fap before participating in quests next time and maybe you'll stop thinking with your dick and avoid the butthurt.

>>40795718
This is reasonable once the crisis with the vampire clans is resolved, as we are technically at alert 2 (all order members on active duty).