>>46076475
>>Censer of Warding
>When held by a true believer, this Censer wards off both harmful supernatural effects and the blows of Lesser Spirits. Less effective against Greater Spirits, however.
It will be no good if we get process so easily.

>>46076475
>Censer of Warding

>>46076475
>censer of warding
I assume we have other ways of hurting/banishing spirits than the amulet so some protection is needed
Although the mask seems nice aswell

>>46076587
>>46076621
>>46076786

For what it's worth, you will have methods for doing what all three items provide. The relics are more of an early-game boost than anything. I'll provide some more time to think this over.

>>46076475
>mask

>>46076475
>Censer of Warding

>>46076475
>Mask of the Blind Seer

>>46076475
>Mask Of The Blind Seer.

>>46077682
>>46077419
>>46077239

You select the Mask. As you approach Grandton, you slip the cool metal over your face. Even as your own eyes are blinded by the metal, the Mask's true eyes open wide. and you are taken aback by how clear your vision is.

As you step into the town, a thick fog rolls in. Thankfully, with the mask providing vision, the fog doesn't bother you much. Three places catch the Mask's eyes, and they glow with a soft blue radiance. Spirits are definitely within.

>College Building
>Old Mansion
>Lakehouse

>>46077883
Lakehouse

Mask.

It's like you are asking to get tricked.

>>46077883
>Lakehouse

>>46077883
>College building

>>46077883
>>College Building

Waiting for a tie-breaker

>>46077883
>>College Building

There it is! Update incoming.

>>46078220
>>46078000
>>46077959

Your first stop is the college building. As you step into the building, which you now realize is the dorms, the disarrayed state of everything unnerves you. Several doors lie open, revealing rooms filled with tipped over furniture and, in a few cases, corpses. In one of the bodies, the Mask points something out. A kitchen knife sticks from the back of a dead student.

>Take it.
>Don't take it.

>>46078314
Don't take it

>>46078314
>Don't take it

>>46078314
>>Don't take it.

>>46078314
>Take it.
combo breaker

>>46078367
>>46078353
>>46078330
You decide not to take the knife. You have a bad feeling about the blade, even if the Mask is pointing it out to you.

You head down the one hallway not blocked by furniture and junk, and wind up ascending a stairwell to get to the second floor. As you enter what seems to be a common area, you hear what sounds like a wet shuffling noise from the direction of two tipped over vending machines.

>Go back downstairs and leave
>Investigate the noise
>Continue on quietly

>>46078453
>>Investigate the noise

>>46078453
>>Investigate the noise

>>46078453
>>Continue on quietly

>>46078453
>Continue on quietly

>>46078453
>Continue on quietly

It's our job to find the ghosts or survivors we should probably take a look, we need to fight ghosts with our fists like men!

Tiebreaker! Again!

Either we investigate, or we don't. Get voting, hypothetical tiebreaker person!

>>46078594
That last post was to convince others i already voted sorry for the confusion.

>>46078619
Oh, that's okay then! Well, I suppose moving on's won.

>>46078529
>>46078524
>>46078515
You're 99% certain that this thing is bad news. You'll need to face it at some point, but without a weapon you'll just move on.

As you carefully pass by, you see a hunched figure near the toppled vending machines, gnawing something, before you pass into a hallway and your view is blocked.

The first thing you notice is a torn sheet of lined paper on the ground. You pick it up, and read the note.

"Holy fuck. This shit's gotten way too real. I know that any random shmuck can have magic now, but how was I supposed to know that HE'D have it?!? The ritual wasn't even supposed to work! How did he make it work?!? I'm probably gonna die here, but if anyone finds this, my name was Keith Carlson. Tell my family what happened, if they're even still alive..."

Well, you know what happened here, at least.

You should probably keep moving, but a room ahead of you seems to be glowing slightly. And this time, it's not from the Mask...

>Investigate the room
>Peek in carefully
>Sneak past

>>46078730
>Peek in carefully
Can we punch ghosts?

>>46078730
>>Peek in carefully

>>46078730
>Peek in carefully

>>46078770
Thanks to Holy Ritual Bullshit, you can in fact punch ghosts. It's weaker than pretty much every weapon in the Quest though.

You begin to peek into the room... When suddenly, a tentacled being flies through the closed door, sending splinters of wood and chunks of flesh everywhere! The monster rears up, looking around, before a single, blood-red eye settles on you.

It prepares to lunge, but it seizes. It falls to the ground, a single sickle jutting from its back. The door it just flew through opens, and a woman dressed in ornate funeral attire steps through, wiping gore from an oversized scythe. You've seen her depicted in enough books to realize who you're seeing.

The Fourth Horseman, The Lady of the Forbidden Spirits...

Death Herself.

>Bow
>Ask what she's doing here
>Try not to have a heart attack because Death is right fucking here.

>>46079033
Say hi ask what brings her here be polite but respectful (scream internally) and thank her for killing the demon thing. Oh and ask if she needed something.

>>46079033
>>Bow

>>46079115
>I am guessing we are an American by setting but freedom bows to no one.

>>46079033
>>Try not to have a heart attack because Death is right fucking here.

>>46079136
You decide bowing before her would probably be a bit over the top.

>>46079089
"My lady!" You say, your voice muffled by the Mask. "What are you doing in this wretched place?"

She turns to you, and then frowns slightly before the corners of her mouth turn up in a small smile.

"Ah. You must be the Exorcist. Perfect. I've been looking for you."

She pulls an ornate tome from somewhere beneath her garments and hands it to you.

The tome's cover reads "Grimoire of Spirits".

"Now then." She says. "I'm here to make sure nothing escapes this place. I'd just sweep up all these spirits and be done with it, but as long as they're tethered strongly enough to this world, even I have trouble. That's where you come in."

You open the Grimoire, and it automatically turns to a table of contents. Only one page is currently available to you.

CHAPTER I: THE MAGICIAN

>Read Chapter
>Ask Further Questions

>>46079033
>Bow
>thank her for saving our life

>>46079259
ask why she would need our help, if there are any survivors, what the tome will do to us? Then read the chapter if all is not deadly

>>46079302
The moment has passed now it would just be kissing ass.
>>46079259
Does Death have a nice ass or is it boney?

>>46079327
She shrugs. "Well, see, the Spirits runnin around managed to get themselves ingratiated into the local spiritual energy before I could catch 'em. They've all found places they like, and now they're stuck there. What I need you to do is hunt down all the Greater Spirits, preferably taking out as many Lesser Spirits as you can while you're at it, and Weaken them. Find some physical object significant to them, use it in a way that will remind them of their lives, and then beat the shit out of them until they're weak enough for me to take them back."

She frowns. "A lot of those poor bastards got fates they didn't deserve. Hopefully I can fix that this time."

She looks down at you. "Now, there are survivors. Try to find them, if you can. If you see them, I'll see them, and then I can get someone to get them to safety. I'll figure out a reward of some sort."

She taps the grimoire in your hands. "That little beauty will tell you about the Greater Spirits running around. Apparently the book chose to name 'em in a Tarot motif this time. It'll tell ya about their pasts, what they are now, and a general idea of their Significant Item. 100% safe, I promise."

>More questions
>Read the chapter
>Thank her and move on

>>46079349
Also, it's hidden underneath her funeral garb.

(It's amazing.)

>>46079434
>Read the chapter
Time to do our job tell her we are happy to help with this sort of thing anytime
>>46079448
Can we literally flirt with death?

>>46079434
>>Read the chapter

>>46079434
Read chapter

>>46079539
You examine the chapter on The Magician.

The Magician:
A former college student, The Magician was born with a potent connection to Those Who Lurk Between, a manifestation of cultist blood thought long diluted. His death came when he attempted a false "ritual" that became all to real thanks to his abilities, slaying him instantly and filling the dorms with unholy creatures.

Now, The Magician is a hobbling creature, covered in appendages he can't fully control and "gifted" with intense, painful levels of magical potential. His existence is agony, and though he seeks death, he may never find it.

Thanks to his potential, a "Sacrificial Dagger", formery a cooking utensil, could prove useful in both his defeat and your quest as a whole.

------
Also, you COULD flirt with Death. Whether she'll reciprocate is something entirely different.

>>46079759
Whoops, forgot options!

>Ask more questions
>Investigate ahead

>>46079759
>>Investigate ahead
I would advise against flirting with Death. That never ends well.

>>46079759
>>Investigate ahead
Flirt with death nothing can go wrong!
Not many people are around right now do to st Patricks day and it's dinner time so if everyone disappears that's why. Do you intend to run this quest for awhile and in the future?

>>46079898
Yeah, I'll be running this in the future. I'm attending a musical my sister's in soon, so my posting's gonna be limited to intermission and a bathroom break or two, but other than that I'm here for a while longer.

You thank Death for the assistance and promise to do what you can, and as you head down the hall and turn the corner, you hear her voice in your head.

"Oh, almost forgot! I'm gonna be keeping contact with you like this! Telepathy is awesome, isn't it?"

You silently agree, and continue onwards.

Locations:
>Third Floor
>Second Floor
>First Floor

>>46079971
>>Third Floor

>>46079971
>First floor

>>46080119
Can we meet in the middle?

>>46080149
Hmm, good idea.

>>46079971
>>Second Floor
Changing from >>46080074

>>46080149
You continue exploring the second floor. As you pass by a large bathroom, you hear what sounds like gentle, muffled crying. Like someone who's trying not to cry but can't stop themselves.

You step inside, and notice that only one of the stalls is locked. The crying is coming from inside. Bloodstains emnate from underneath the door, but then every stall is like that.

When you stop in front of it, the crying gets quieter, though you can still hear it. You can't see who's inside.

>Assure the crying figure you're not a spirit
>Call out a challenge
>Knock on the door.

>>46080234
Take a few steps back tell the person we aren't a ghost and to step out of the stall we won't hurt them.

>>46080266

Seconding

>>46080418
You step back from the stall. "Hey!" You call. "I'm not a spirit! I won't hurt you, please come out!"

The figure goes quiet... And then the door slowly swings open to reveal what looks like a teenage boy. Tears stream down his face and he wields a broken lamp menacingly.

"Y-you better not be! I could totally kick your ass!"

Yup, seems you found your first survivor.

Death pipes up in your head. "Neat! Tell him to get back in the stall, and let him know I've got an agent on the way."

The boy doesn't hear this, and instead notices your appearance. "Oh, wow, you're an exorcist! That's so cool! I wanna be one when I graduate!"

You shake your head, and tell him to hide in the stall. It's obviously working to hide him, and someone's being sent to recover him.

As he goes back into hiding, the Grimoire glows.

GRIMOIRE SURVIVOR ENTRY
Survivor #1: Was visiting his older brother when the disaster struck. Something has caught his scent. Death has no idea. Don't abandon him.

>Leave him
>Ask him to come along
>Tell Death what the Grimoire said

>>46080603
>>Tell Death what the Grimoire said
Stick with him until death comes ambush anything coming through the door.

>>46080603
>Tell Death what the Grimoire said
Prepare some defenses. Kinda wish we had grabbed that knife now.

>>46080603
>Tell Death what the Grimoire said

>>46080634
You contact Death and tell her about the Grimoire. Death "hmms".

"Yeah, the Grimoire does that. Stick with the kid, or at least bring him with you. I'll send an agent ASAP."

She goes quiet, and it's at this point you hear a soft dripping noise from one of the sinks.

>Investigate
>Prepare for battle

>>46081824
>>Prepare for battle

>>46081861
You ready your fists, and they glow with a pale white light, a remnant of your Exorcist training. The sound of the dripping intensifies, turning to a full trickle of water... Until it overflows, and you realize the sink is quickly filling with thick, dark, metallic-scented blood.

The blood oozes towards you, and a single pale, red-streaked hand reaches up, finding purchase on the slick tile and pulling itself further up. A young woman's head emerges from the blood, followed by a thin body made entirely of coiled blood vessels. She sniffs the air, then gazes at the stall containing the teenager. Then, she turns to you, and a sharp-toothed grin spreads across her face.

Before combat begins, the Grimoire springs to life again.

LESSER SPIRIT ENTRIES
BLOODY MARY
"A former hematology student, dragged into her own reflection and flayed alive by some unknown being. She stalks the bathrooms of the Dorms she was killed in, dragging victims into reflective surfaces to share her grisly fate."

HP: 30/30
FP: 10/10

>Fight
>Run
>Attempt to escape with the survivor

Shit, forgot to mention, those are YOUR HP and FP. Not Bloody Mary's.

>>46083011
>Fight

>>46083011
>Fight

>>46083011
>Fight
Tell the survivor to get back and stay away from mirrors the beat this bitch down.

Well, fighting Mary seems unanimous. Lemme go grab my notes and we'll get right on it!

Alright, here we go! Combat start!

To put it simply, there are four main stats to work with.

HP: Your health
FP: Your Faith stat. Spent to power Skills.
Attack: How much damage you deal with attacks
Defense: How much damage you negate when attacked.

With your current equipment, you have

HP: 30/30
FP: 10/10
Attack: 3
Defense: 0

Bloody Mary, on the other hand, you'll only get to see her HP and FP, though you'll probably be able to guess her other stats.

HP: 6/6
SP: 2/2

SP, in this case, is Spirit Power. Powers enemy Special Attacks.

Actual combat coming next post!

>>46084312
As combat begins, Bloody Mary giggles, which to you sounds like someone choking to death on their own blood... which is kinda appropriate for her. Before you can act, she gets in a strike!

Mary's many veins reach toward you, and pierce your skin. You gasp in pain as your blood drains into her! Her veins seem to swell, and grow thicker as your blood fills them.

10 Damage!
Mary gains 1 Defense!

Your turn:
>Attack
>Skills
>Items
>Flee

>>46084348
>>Attack
Does prayer/ religious stuff hurt them if so start loudly praying, If not start shit talking the ghost punch and pull the veins off us if we can break the mirrors.

>>46084597
You take a swing at Mary, letting out a prayer as you do so. The prayer doesn't seem to do anything, but as your fist makes contact with the disturbingly warm and squishy blood vessels, the light surrounding your hands burns away at the spirit. It screeches in pain, and your nose fills with the rather disgusting scent of burning blood.

HP: 20/30
FP: 10/10

Mary:
HP: 4/6
SP: 0/2

Mary grimaces, and whips at you with her blood vessels! The surprisingly sharp ends slash your skin, leaving bloody streaks where they hit.

HP: 15/30
FP: 10/10

>Attack
>Skills
>Items
>Flee

>>46084712
>>Attack
Damn continue punching ghost then until said ghost is dead and keep breaking the veins.

>>46084774
You take another swing at the spirit, letting out another prayer as you do so. This blow connects with Mary's face... Which pushes inward and spews blood onto your forearm. Odd, you're not that strong.

It all makes sense when the skin sloughs away and reveals a vaguely head-shaped mass of arteries... Which are still bleeding all over you.

Mary is stunned! You go for the kill, and with a final blow the tortured Lesser Spirit bursts into holy flames!

When the burning ends, the spirit of a somewhat homely-looking girl floats above a pile of white ash.

"Oh, geeze, sorry about that!" The spirit says. "Don't know what came over me... Th-thanks for that. Uh, Death's here, right?"

"Over here, kid!" Death's voice calls. She steps forward and prods Mary gently, and the soul fades from view.

"Poor bastard." She shakes her head, and turns to the locked stall. "S'okay, kid! You're safe now!"

The teenager steps out of the stall, pale and shaking. "R-really? It's all clear?"

Death nods and extends a hand. "Cmon, I'll take you somewhere safe."

As the two of them head out, Death turns to you. "Listen, I know I promised you a reward, so here's one. Don't head to the Third Floor without finding that dagger. You'll be in for a bad time if you don't."

You thank her and she winks at you before leaving the room with the survivor.

You think your heart just fluttered a little.

You notice the Survivor entry changed.

SURVIVOR #1
Was visiting his older brother when the disaster struck. Hunted by Bloody Mary, rescued by you. Currently being protected by Conquest.

Conquest? Who the hell is that?

Locations:
>Third Floor
>First Floor

Also, I promise I'll start using dice rolls in all future fights. This entire thread is more like an introduction to the setting than anything.

>>46085295
>First Floor
The dagger/knife was down here right?

>>46085295
>>First Floor
patch our self up first if we can and go get the knife.

>>46085316
You head back down to the first floor, carefully avoiding the unknown figure again. You finally take the kitchen knife from the corpse, and notice the metal has been covered in what you assume are "magic runes". Despite the fact that these are literally just carved jumbles of lines, the blade glows slightly with a dull red light.

"There y'go, kid. That's the quote unquote sacrificial dagger Magician used. Take it up to the third floor, and shank the kid. I'll handle the rest."

You grip the knife's wooden handle, nodding. You begin your ascent to the third floor. Your journey has just begun, and the comforting coolness of the mask on your face can't keep away one recurring thought...

This is gonna be one long night.

------END OF THREAD ONE!-----

Sorry to end it on a cliffhanger, but I have real life obligations and I figured this would be a good place to cut things off for the night! With any luck, there'll be a thread up either tomorrow or Saturday, which will include the battle with The Magician!

I'll be up for a bit longer, and if you'd like to ask any questions about the setting I'll be glad to answer them! Also, I'd be stoked if someone could put this on sup/tg/, as I really can't at the moment.

>>46085503
Good shit mang.
Any spells we can heal ourselves?

>>46085578
If you'd opened the skills menu, you'd have discovered Faith Sustains, a Skill that restores HP and costs Five FP. That's not a "you're dumb, you could have healed all this time" statement, btw. It's just a thing you could have done. You can use it out of combat too, though that leaves you with less FP for your next battle.

For reference, FP is either restored at the end of combat, or through an item that hasn't been introduced yet.

>>46085624
Get a twitter to coordinate and maybe a pastebin to act as the book and our skill menu.

>>46085955
Sure! I'll get myself a tripcode too, for future use. I'm mostly keeping track of everything on a Word document, but I'll be sure to get everything into a Pastebin.

Okay, time for me to retreat into sleep. It someone could get this archived, I'd really appreciate it! Good night, fair readers!