>our end-game
Actually, let's stop and think about what you need to make that work.

-You need the power to change the past. You have that now.
-You need sufficient spiritual power to reach far enough back into the past. At least 8 years, depending on how long it takes to accumulate that power. Contracting with Eye Blossom when you're ready for a third demon may hasten this process.
-You need to survive as a demonologist in a society that hates and hunts them long enough to gather the necessary power. We'll have to play that by ear as we go, and see how much you and your friends can help one another.

All that's just the warmup. Then we get into the time-travel problems.

-What happens if you successfully change the past? Do you have to relieve your life from 8 years old, or do you snap back to the present and while history rebuilds to account for your changes?
-What happens if you travel back to before you contracted your demons? Will you still be able to draw on their powers? Or will you be an ordinary, mortal 8 year old trying to change history? (That's harder, but still doable. We should do a lot of research and prep work ahead of time- find out exactly what happened, so you can plan exactly what to do to change events).
-What happens if you travel back to before Nobody hid you? Or before Haven contracted Nobody? Will you still be cloaked? If not, that may present problems operating in the past. You might need your own contract with Nobody to work around this.
-How much evidence would this kind of change leave behind? If you successfully save your parents, we don't want inquisitors coming down on them. If Haven isn't strong enough to cover up your mess, or if you end up trapped in the past, you might need a contract with Nobody to protect them.

Out of curiosity, do inquisitors also go after people who bind to the nastier gods like Bloodbather?

>Math is the same everywhere.
Yes, you can use our otherworldly knowledge to cheat on your homework! MUAHAHAHAHA!

>More versatility with demons
Good point. Plus there're technological solutions anyway for a lot of stuff I would be doing with gods. Only reason I use a communication charm instead of a mobile phone is I can't afford the phone.

>How do gods work
Oh, yeah, I never explained that. So, you can bind gods to sacred vessels instead of your body, but you can't do that with demons because they're hard enough to use they need something more permanent and intimate. Most people use vessels, really, they mean you don't have to have the god active 24/7. You just awake the bond in the vessel when you need it and go into god mode. That means that if I bound a god of fire, I wouldn't have to fight the urge to burn things all the time since I can just awake the vessel when I want to burn something.

I've heard inquisitors're one of the few people that bind gods to their bodies. Pretty much all of them bind a god of stability that way. And sight if they need it (sometimes even if they have divine sight already). They usually carry their war gods in vessels, though. And that's just the basic kit that all of them use.

As for what gods get, they get spiritual energy and the chance to do what they like doing. They don't really need the energy, but it's nice to have. I've heard the ones that hit it off big use it to build big fancy houses, extravagant things like that.

>Cheating on schoolwork
Sounds great, but some of the demonology books I've read recommend knowing the sciences and some math. And after having seen the patterns, I think I can understand why. There's a lot I can do just by instinct, but knowing more might help with more fancy effects. Like using you guys to heat up water, I guess. And you can't exactly help me with history which I hate way more anyway.

I suppose I could always use the twins to peek at the answers in advance.

>Endgame
Okay, yeah, that's a lot of stuff to think about. I can answer already from that testing that I stay in the past, though I might be able to jump to the future if I wanted. Yesterday just now already told me that my demons should persist with me. Apparently demons don't properly exist inside time? But I'm most worried about that last problem about covering up my traces. Yesterday told me that it'll take a lot of covering up, maybe even doing it my whole life.

>Maybe the gods'll be nice about not reverting stuff
The twins said and will say in union, "Not even a remote chance. Today hates us." Fuck, I just got another headache. I need to get used to them fast.

"So, uh," Raven says, "I heard you bound two demons? Can you tell me how you did that?"

I... I'm not sure I have an answer for that. It was like my mind just snapped into the right place out of desperation. My head was so full with anger and panic I had trouble thinking, and then suddenly I realize you guys're there and I've already cut your sigil into myself.

>Nasty gods like Bloodbather
That depends on where you're and who you're. Some places use Bloodbather in their military, other ban him. He isn't exactly legal around here. But he isn't heretical the way demons're.

Sorry, we don't know either. While the effect and communication are instinctive, the specifics of the binding process were not in our hands.

Further experiments if you'd care to invest the time!

Try to remember how hard it was to heat a glass of water. What about:

a glass of water being held by somebody else

a glass of water that somebody took a sip from

a glass of water where the cup has sentimental value to one of your friends

a glass of water one of your friends has declared "their own"

I'm trying to establish whether humans can exert an "ownership" over stuff they hold/own/claim, in which case the above should be harder. If those turn out to not be the case, a cheap&nasty attack would be to heat up the fluid in somebody's brain (or eyeball if you're feeling vicious). I highly suspect that it's hugely harder or impossible to do this to another person's body though, simply because it'd be too easy. Still, interesting to know if that extends to property.

*DEFINITELY* pay attention in school, if only as a matter of self-preservation. The more you understand patterns, the more efficiently you can perceive them, the less likely you are to get overloaded. Also, if you paid attention in physics, you should now be able to calculate how much heat energy you put into that glass of water! (homework :D) It would be interesting to know if the thermodynamic entropy change is the limiting factor on power exertion (or if there's a question of skill). If this is a universal limit, and if the skill fundamentally generalizes (that is, if learning to project discord into one system also makes you better at all other systems), a glass of water would be a useful measuring bar of power improvement.

Can you pull something from the past into the present? This might present a more manageable (and less showy) avenue to rescuing people. Can you project something from the present into the future? What happens to the patterns when you do that?

>cheating at school
...well, I meant more helping than cheating. But yes, you should definitely learn math and science. Anything that increases your own understanding of the forces you're manipulating is a good thing.

>gods
...they really don't sound very different than demons. Except they're approved and we're hated. I guess that they have the option to not be bound to a body is an advantage, since you're free of a potentially dangerous influence on a mortal mind. I suppose that makes the use of demons inherently less safe.

Hey, what happens when gods and demons are bound in more than one place, anyways? Does each get a different copy/instance, or is each binding just a node or terminal in the larger consciousness or...

>a lot of covering up, maybe even doing it my whole life.
Then it's probably more than you can count on Haven providing for you, especially in the past. Add Nobody to the list of demons you're going to eventually need a contract with.

>Can you pull something from the past into the present?
I don't like that plan much. Having her parents appear out of nowhere or resurrect is a lot more suspicious and harder to cover up than just never having them die in the first place. Part of the reason I liked the Twin's approach more than Beyond's.

>powers
...a more useful power might be if you could look into the past of a place, or person, or object. You don't want to jump back eight years only to fail. Which means researching exactly what happened so you are prepared to counter it appropriately. Once you've exhausted mundane avenues (records, reports, news, etc) we turn to the supernatural.

>Raven
...aw, poor guy wishes he had some demons. Be sympathetic. You're... not exactly sure how you got the first one. It's kind of a blur. You were trapped and desperate and angry and panicked it somehow just worked. After that, letting in the second was easy. It's... setting up the frame of mind for the first one that's the hard part, you think. (Please don't get yourself attacked by whitecoats to duplicate it).

Sorry you're not being very helpful. You'll try and remember what you did, better. But hey, at least we know we can do it now, right? And we have to lay low with the demon activity anyways, with an inquisitor coming to town.

>twins cheating on tests
Just remember not to apply power on such frivolities when we run the risk of discovery (can't leave evidence with an inquisitor poking around).

You also don't want to suddenly stand out too much (prefect scores in a class you're bad at do that). Drawing attention to yourself is a bad thing. (Honestly, I wish you and your friends didn't present yourself as so obviously counter-culture, but it's a little late for that). Not that you can't make things easier on yourself (making sure you pass history, for example), but be careful with how far you take that.

The other thing you need to work on is a poker face. You're not supposed to have divine sight, remember? So have to to learn how not to show your reaction when you see something you shouldn't be able to.

Note: For anyone not already aware we've a discussion thread at >>/questdis/74934

>Not cheating, but helping
So you guys'd basically be my tutors? I could use some help with my alchemy homework. And I can ask Marco too, he gets the highest grades of us all.

>Calculate how much heat energy I put into that glass of water
...Yeah, I really need to brush up more on this stuff. Been putting most of my studying effort into demonology and trying to get a demon in the first place. My grades're mediocre. At least I scored high marks in theology and item binding.

>Gods not much different than demons
Yeah, it's fucking unfair.

>Need to not stand out
Too late for that. I'll try not to any more than I already do, check. Honestly, some of the minor gods've already noticed I can see them, like that spinning wheel guy buzzing annoyingly around the room. At least I can always pass it off as a sudden awakening of latent sight under stress. It's not unheard of, and I never got tested for the ability so they don't know I didn't have it in the first place. Or I can just start trying to pretend I never had it. It's not like minor gods constantly report on everyone that sees them or anything. Mostly they just bum around and do their own things.

>Show sympathy for Raven
I can do that easily. I've wanted demons really badly, too. All of we have. Well, I dunno about Haven now. Why didn't she tell us before?

Nevermind that. I say to Raven, "I wish I could tell you. Seriously, I know how you feel. Thing is, I was in a real panic and pissed off to boot. Not thinking clearly. Next thing I know I've got a bloody sigil on me and voices in my head. Haven said it's hardest the first time and easier after. Think it's all about the right mindset. I'll try my best to recall for you, okay?"

Raven nods slowly. "Appreciate it. Maybe I'll ask Haven."

>More water glass experiments
I've never heard of anything like 'ownership' that makes it harder to affect stuff. Just to make sure, I repeat things with Raven holding his favorite cup that he just took a sip from. No difference.

There's a reason demonologists're feared. There's also a reason inquisitors permanently bind gods of stability to themselves. Makes it way harder to pull that kind of trick on them. In a lot of ways they're specialized for hunting us. The odd crook and heretic're just bonuses on the side.

Not that the local inquisitors do any heretic hunting. We aren't the Holy Country. You can get away with badmouthing the divine order here. I've made use of that plenty of times. Like the time I brought the Book of Divine Order to school and burned it. I only got detention for that and a scolding about not setting fires or doing inflammatory stunts at school.

What can I say, I was a pretty pissed off kid. Actually, that stunt's what attracted the attention of my friends. Before then, I didn't really have friends. Just sat by myself scowling. I've chilled a lot since. Still pissed off sometimes but at least I can have fun with others now. I guess Susie's taken over the pissed off slot but she uses it more productively than I did. Gets shit done like with the call to frame the whitecoats.

Marco comes into the room with his usual lineface and Susie's at the other end of the room making some calls on one of her disposable phones. And then Haven suddenly says, "Let's have a sleepover!"

Shit, that startled me. She totally came out of nowhere.

>Multiple bindings of gods/demons
They're in more than one place at once. Can focus on one at a time if they want.

Sooo in a fight between Demonologists versus Inquisitors, it's kinda a matter of who shoots first?
Might be good to know how exactly the opposition fights in case we actually get into one. Though by that point that's really really bad news and we need to be ready to run or take on a whole army of inquistors.

>I've never heard of anything like 'ownership' that makes it harder to affect stuff.
...well, then we're probably pretty deadly to anyone without some kind of explicit demonic or deific protection. A living body is a delicate mix of a thousand ordered systems ticking along all at once. You could kill someone by throwing any number of them into disarray.

Not that deadly force is really something you want to resort to. Maybe this sounds silly coming from demon of all things, but that's a hard line to cross, and all lives have value. And death will only bring more attention and investigation, especially if the cause is discerned to be demonic.

We're much better off using time manipulation to avoid situations where deadly force would be necessary. Or... maybe determining if there's a biological system we can safely throw discord at to disable people or trigger unconsciousness. Or really, using our wits to avoid such a situation entirely, if possible.

Problem for a later time. Any magic stuff that's not an intellectual exercise is gonna have to be put on hold while the inquisitor is poking around.

>Why didn't she tell us before?
She did! Sort of. She just didn't back it up with proof, or a practical demonstration, and none of you took her seriously.

>Too late not to stand out.
I know, I know. We can't ask you to plan your life in advance.

>sleep over
...another one? Why not. At least you'll be conscious for this one. Hang out with your friends, try and enjoy yourselves.

Haven probably has a good reason for suggesting that.
Maybe you could ask if she is alright with describing the demons she has?

>>533670
Eh, I wouldn't push her on it. She'll tell us what she wants to when she wants to. And we've been doing demon stuff all day.

Okay, there's an obvious future failure mode here, and it's that for some reason - fear, rage - you lose self-control and damage something you can't fix.

Do you know if anybody in town offers meditation classes? Does your world even have meditation as a purely psychological activity without mystical elements? Currently, you have to strain to project disorder. This will not always be the case. By the point where you can break systems with a misplaced thought, your self-control will have to be absolute. Not an immediate concern, but something you should look into _especially_ if you bind Eye Blossom.

>Fight between demonologists and inquisitors
Inquisitors have bound war gods on top of combat training, protection against tricks like disordering their brains, more efficient abilities, and whatever other tricks they might've bound. You have to really load for bear if you want to go after one, and then you have to deal with whole attack teams. Most demonologists just work on avoiding notice. The Samios's one of the few that got away with fighting them once they got their acts together, and that's practically a mythological monster. A thousand demons isn't really a feasible number, but if they had that many they'd be as insane and unpredictable as in the stories about them.

I can tell you about the showing off the inquisitor that visited us once did when some students asked her. She set up some targets in a circle and spun around spraying fire with a paintgun. Every shot hit. Inquisitors're scary. Weird, too. That one joked and laughed all the time.

>Didn't believe Haven
It's hard to believe someone who's claimed to have infinite numbers of demons and be a reincarnation of Ruby, the Samios, the Mad Lord, a dozen other major historical demonologists, and more. And if I asked her to describe her demons, she'd just ramble on about every demon ever and how they're all her friends. I know because she's done it before.

The competent Haven's a new and kinda scary thing.

>Loss of control
It becomes opening an door trivial, not breathing or thinking trivial. I can tell you that because I reached that point with my communication charm.

>Reasons for a slumber party
I'm pretty sure she just wants a slumber party. That was more like the regular her I knew. The one who dragged us to the zoo after school because she suddenly felt like going to the zoo. On a rainy day. She talked up how there wouldn't be any crowds, but I think she just came up with that excuse after the fact.

"I could sure use some fun," I say to her.

"I'll try to hold in the dark power trembling in my arm," she says. See, that's more like the her I know.

The slumber party gives us all a much-needed break. We watch cheesy movies and make fun of them because we don't feel like anything serious. Raven plays around with the fancy colored lighting in his room. Susie owns us in the Luigi Kart game but even she admits she got lucky with items. Marco actually says something positive. Haven shows off her ability to swallow a whole melon in one mouthful. For some reason she has a demon that lets her do that. The All-Devourer, probably.

In the morning, after being greeted by Raven's parents before they go off to work, we head off to school. In the first period, the teacher announces that an inquisitor's come to school and will be questioning students. After the class, he takes me aside and tells me the inquisitor wants to have a talk with me.

alright go with him and stay calm, adults always do that can you come with me crap just to see if they can scare you. He's probably going to ask you some questions then give you some crap lie about he knows your a diabolist or something along those lines and once he figures out he's got nothing on you move on to the next kid and try again. Just a crappy scare tactic really.

Prolly just wants to talk to you about not-conforming to society's rules and what not, due to the whitecoat incident yesterday. Which, in all honesty, is gonna be a massive waste of time but hey-you get out of your next class! And maybe the one after that, too!

Probably just a scare tactic. They're focusing on you because you and your friends are easy targets, or because you missed school (unless that was the weekend?), or because they actually have some reason to suspect you were involved.

Just go along with it, don't overreact.

Not much we could do if they know already, anyways. Although in the worst case, I do have some ideas as to how you could get through a re-eduction camp with your mind intact.

>Probably just a scare tactic
Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem. It's not like they can find anything with Haven covering up all the evidence.

>Worst case ideas for surviving rehabilitation
I hope it doesn't come to that.

I head off to the conference room the teacher points me to. When I open the door, I see a nice table with nice chairs all around it and nice decor. This's the kind of bullshit this school splurges its money on, looking impressive to visitors. Whatever. Looks like the inquisitor isn't here ye--

Suddenly I'm wrapped in a way too tight bear hug. And a familiar far too fucking cheerful voice says, "Hey! Kate was it? How's my favorite rebel? Wahahaha!"

Gods, not her. She was so irritating when she came the last time.

So, this annoying woman's a native Virginian. Shortest full-grown woman I've ever seen, with a face like a cherub that provides there's no divine justice because if there was, an annoying git like her wouldn't have such a cute face. It's got wrinkles from ungodly amounts of laughing. She's got her hair back in a ponytail.

She's wearing the usual inquisitor jacket, a super stylish floor-length affair. White with black trims. Really, the whitecoats' coats're a pale imitation of it. Other than that, she's wearing all white and and black dress shirt and pants with a white tie. Boots just as stylish as her jacket. Supposedly the pure colors stand for purity or some such gag-worthy meaning.

I can see that her patterns're amazingly stable, which must be because of Stonesweight, a god of steadiness who's a dour sort. The other gods she's got bound to her body are a pretty serious god of vigilance and... Huh. It's not really usual for someone to bind a god of war to themselves, even a disciplined one like she's got. Most people don't like war gods' grim outlooks. As for the final one, she's got--why would someone bind a god of mirth to themselves? Gods, that'd explain a lot about her. Inquisitors really are insane.

Um. For vessels, she's got a god of truth, one of sneakiness, one of investigation, and a few convenience ones like seasonal gods, anti-pest ones, things like that. Even her gun's a vessel for a god that, well, hates demons. So much that hurting demons and demonic things are pretty much her big thing. The truth vessel's active, by the way.

Then we'll have to word things carefully then?
Compliment her jacket and boots-you DO like those, you just can't get them for yourself, due to the accident.
You're less then pleased to see her again, but you are curious about what she's going to talk about.
Quick question-can she combo investigation with truth to force you to answer a question, and force you to tell the truth? Because if she does that? We're screwed.

>I hope it doesn't come to that.
Ditto. No idea if my ideas would even work, and even assuming they did, you'd come out the other side in a worse position, cut off from your allies, and probably under scrutiny for a relapse.

>why would someone bind a god of mirth to themselves?
...maybe as a counter to some of the other gods she has bound? I mean, vigilance, stability, and war are all pretty uh, heavy concepts. Mirth may make living with them bearable or interacting with people easier. Or make it harder for the grim doom and gloom guys to influence her directly.

>The truth vessel's active, by the way.
For detecting lies/truth I assume, not compelling it? We can work around the former, but we can't really counter the later.

Try not to lie directly, when possible. Or give her lies that she expects or isn't interested in. Not sure if Nobody will shield you from truth scrying. ...or if we can. Discord means double-think. Simultaneously holding incompatible truths. We might be able to give false readings when it really matters (like if she point blank asks if you've contracted a demon). We probably shouldn't chance trying to use our abilities at all directly in front of her though, unless absolutely necessary.

>What do
The important thing is to not act like anything has changed. She knows you, right? So act the way you did before. If you were disdainful, or generally uncooperative, or grumpy, or just put up with her, whatever. Present that face again. (If you were particularly combative or confrontational before though, reign it in. Act like your opinion really hasn't changed, but you're being restrained).

Play into the self-absorbed school-kid thing too. What is she keeping you from with this meeting? A class you hate or love? Something you look forward too, or are grudging glad to have an excuse to be late to?

>Countering grimness with mirth
She's overdoing it them.

>Can she use investigation to
He's a god of investigation, not interrogation. Detectives who can bind use him and all.

>Act like before
So, sullen. Got it. Pretty easy to do with her.

"And it's my least favorite inquisitor," I mutter. "Let's get this over with so I can get back to class."

"Come on, don't be like that. There're others way worse than I. Why, there'e ones that routinely make anyone they interview cry! But, seriously. You know anything about the storeroom? I've been there, and it's one of the worst messes I've seen in my life. Actually, that's a lie, I've seen far worse messes, ones that would make you scream and toss in your bed after tossing every cookie you've eaten for the past month. The worst non-nightmarish mess, then! Hahaha! So, you know anything about this storeroom?"

Say Yes. You heard whitecoats were causing problems again.

Both very true. Can be taken as a single statement when you actually mean it as two.

>She's overdoing it them.
Well, that or she likes it. I imagine it's like an neverending high. ...or it's to combat the horrors or what she sees and/or does in this job.

>you know anything about this storeroom?
Yeah. They store stuff in it.

Look, your vigilante fanclub's been the ones running wild, lately. If someone's vandalizing the school, why don't you talk to them?

"Yeah. They use it to store things, don't they? Anyway, haven't the whitecoats been causing trouble lately? Why don't you talk to them?" I say.

Her smile just widens. Gods, why's the sudden twinkle in her eyes so frightening? She leans even closer, getting right up in my face with that abominable smile. "And what makes you think I haven't already?"

'I didn't. Just saying you kinda shoulda asked them about it since I was all panicked from them chasing after me. I wouldn't have been in there if they hadn't decided I was too suspicious looking or however they think.'

>And what makes you think I haven't already?
Dunno. Persecution complex? Something about a lifetime of seeing authority figures crack down on 'rebels' and people who don't fit in instead of their own little pets?

>>533812
No no no. That's volunteering way too much information way too early. You're cracking. We don't know what she knows, yet.

>>533812
Gonna have to ixnay that as well.

Instead simply give a sullen shrug. maybe throw in "How the hell should I know?"

For a moment, I feel tempted to tell the full story of their threats and pursuit. But instead I clam up on that. "How should I know?" I glare at her just a little. "Don't the authorities always target the rebels?"

"Ah." She leans back. "See, here's the thing. I understand how you're feeling. At that age, you see 'the authorities' as a monolithic block. All out to make your life a misery for not fitting into their precious divine order. All ignoring those who bully you for it. I understand, I really do."

Suddenly she smiles that predatory smile. "Did you think us inquisitors don't have bigger fry to fry than a few little rebels? Did you think we really like such amateur vigilantes trying to ape us and only making a mess of things? Did you really think we wouldn't take every opportunity to put pressure on them?

They spilled every detail. They didn't want to fess up to ganging up on a single girl, but they spilled it all. Every single little detail."

Holy fuck. She wasn't this scary the last time she was here.

Dang, we done fucked up. I thought we needed to cover up how you got out of there and any evidence of the ritual, but the mess is even worse.

Okay, so I'm assuming the whitecloaks chasing you got a good enough look at you to ID you. Bitch here knows you were there, that's why she called you in. We can't really get rid of that. The hard part is gonna be tricking her into not pursuing a demonic angle.

...our best angle is to make it look like she's pulled the truth out of us, but not to make it as bad as the whole truth.

>She wasn't this scary the last time she was here.
Well, she wasn't gunning for you specifically last time.

>what say
So you know they're dicks, then. And you put the fear of gods into them. Thanks for that, I guess.

Whataya want from me? Confirmation that they attacked me for no good reason? That they were arguing about killing me? A confession that I trespassed and broke a window getting away from them? Fine. You got it. That help your little vigilante crackdown?

(The key here is to act like we don't understand what she's after. To take her at what she just said at face value- that her interest here is cracking down on the imitators. Not that there's something demonic involved).

You should start to let a little anger into your responses at this point. She's trying to hard-line a victim. So you should go a little hysterical to break her momentum.

>>533824
Well, actually, we don't know how much she knows, and the oldest trick in interrogation is to lie and pretend you know more than you do to get the subject to talk. The correct stonewall response would be to not blink. We don't know that she really talked to the whitecloaks, or what details they gave her.

Unfortunately, the whole truth-god thing changes the mechanics. We're not trying to not give her anything- we're trying to give her a false positive. To convince her she got the truth out of you, while stopping short of anything truly damning.

"I don't know if you even talked to them or what they told you." The anger's beginning to show in my voice.

And... her response sounds almost bored. "Really? You're gonna play it that way? How about this. Here's the story as I heard it. They're in the middle of breaking down the door, when they suddenly break into a conveniently timed argument. In the middle of said argument, they hear some loud crashing from inside the door. They finish breaking it down and find the room in an absolute mess, one that'd be improbable for a single cornered kid to create in such a short time and still escape.

Now, I'm curious. If you're dabbling with demons (and you should drop that hobby if you're), you might be able to answer this one. Would you happen to know just what sort of demon might be cause a sudden disagreement and instantly throw a whole room into disarray? Mmhmm?"

Right now I'm wishing she'd return to her bad comedian self.

But then before I can reply, she suddenly smiles. "I'm not saying you're a diabolist, but if you happen to be, there's a way out of this."

...
Ok-guys, we've been caught.
Now, What, precisely IS this out? Because details of the choice infront of us is really important.
And now, here's something you should mention-depending on the details? This could very well actually be worth switching sides over.
But, she must phrase her offer VERY carefully, and now would be a great time to be as open as possible. IF she leaves something out, or a catch that she 'forgets'? It could possibly end badly. If I'm right about her offer, it basically means a Diabolist with not just civillian level, but in-depth workings and personal experience about Inquistor workings running around, and that's a massive danger.
On the flipside, her goal here is not punishment-she desires us to change our evil, rebellious path. She needs to play up whatever her offer is enough that we won't just take the punishment retreat, come back, wait a year or something, and then get back to being a demonologist.
So. Make your pitch, but do it carefully-your actions now can and will shape my future. Are you up to it?

So they specifically said it was me that they cornered did they?

Fine you want to know what happened the other day, here it is. Me and my friends all got together and had a sleep over. We heard that the whitecoats where pissed about something and when they normally get that way they give us goth kids shit so we all got together and just watched a bunch of movies till we passed out and then came to school. You don't believe me, call our parents, we all told them what we where doing last night so they can confirm this for you if my word isn't good enough.

And where not lying either so that truth thing shouldn't ping.

>I don't know if you even talked to them or what they told you.
Gah. No. That was supposed to be internal logic. Sorry, guess I wasn't clear. Problem with being discordant.

...not that it matters since she suspects Discord is involved, but.

>strategy
...you can't let her know she's right. We throw as much real information and emotion (fear and anger) as we can to throw her off.

>response
Everything is conveniently timed, in hindsight. You put a string of probabilities together and the odds are always against a specific combination of outcomes happening just so. That's just math.

Idiots argue. People panic. They judge the passage of time poorly. It happens.

I'll just wait around and let them beat the shit out of me next time, if escaping abuse is so dang suspicious. We can have our next friendly chat in my hospital room. I'll try not to bleed too much on your tidy whities.

...how much bleach do you guys go through, anyways? Or you got bulk deal with the god of laundry?

>I'm not saying you're a diabolist, but if you happen to be, there's a way out of this.
Probably true. Exorcism and rehabilitation. Honestly, the safest option, but it means giving up any hope of accomplishing what you're trying to do, and betraying your friends.

Our hail mary, if you really think you need to sell it after everything else, is to lie to her face.

Tell her you ain't no diabolist, can I go now?

Big risk, because if her truth god catches the lie, we're fucked. But nobody might be able to hide it, and we might be able to use Discord double-think to give the truth god a false reading.

"I- What do you expect from me? I was fucking panicking and all! How do you know they even judged the time right, anyway? Or that I didn't have a tempest god on me? Just what do you expect from me? Fucking lie down and get beat up?" I'm nearly shouting by this point.

She watches with a patient expression before continuing, "The out I'm offering is this. Here's what I think. Someone covered that up. I'm thinking it wasn't you. If it was, you would've had other options than trashing a storeroom. And what's more, I'm guessing you're a brand-sparkling new diabolist. That's a maybe, but I think it's a decent guess. This other person, they'd be more experienced. A far bigger threat. What I'm saying is I'm willing to release the tiny fish if it means I get the big fish. You understand what I'm saying? You wouldn't even have to go to rehabilitation, though naturally you'd have to give up your demons."

...Fuck no. I'm not selling out my friend. I'm not even going to listen if any of you say to do it. Truth god or not, I say, "I don't know what you're talking about. I trashed that place to cover my escape, I'll admit it, and I did it without any demons."

She just slowly shakes her head as I speak. Then she says, "Is that your final story? Well, it's not as I've enough to convict you for sure. But you know what?

I've no problem with people disliking the divine order. I don't even care much for it myself. But do you have any idea just how bad demons can be? I'm not kidding when I say I've seen things that'd make you sleepless. In fact, I got a call not long before you got here, about some rather bizarre and twisted deaths.

Something I've seen far too often is people thinking they can handle just one more demon and that turns out to be too much. Their judgment gets that much more erratic, more... alien. Demons're entities that live by their logic. They don't understand or play by this world's rules. Remember that.

Right now all I have for proof is my gut feeling. That's not enough to make me stay here. I'll be leaving to handle this new case. And I won't return unless I hear about another incident like the storeroom, or worse. And I'm saying I better not hear about anything like that. Especially if I hear evidence of you going loco, I won't show any mercy. You think this was bad? You haven't me in full inquisitorial mode."

...well that was a complete failure. We failed to convince her of anything, or of your own ignorance. Or even introduce doubt.

She as good as knows what you are and what you did, she just doesn't have proof.

Pretty bad start. We're under a spotlight. I mean, you can be a lot more low key with your abilities from now on, but the biggest problem is your friends getting their first demons might leave their own messes. In addition to slowly getting stronger, keeping your friends from attracting attention, or ending up with a violent or crazy demon is gonna be a concern.

>I'm not selling out my friend. I'm not even going to listen if any of you say to do it.
Of course not. That was a reason not to take the safe route. Sorry, we can't help listing all the options. Even the bad ones.

...of course, the larger problem of your friends is what you're going to do about them when you go back in time. If you successfully save your parents, that'll change a lot of the trajectory of your life, including what drew you to them. Working out how to keep them in your life after is gonna be a little tricky.

>threats
So play with demons or go crazy and the inquisition comes down. Same as it's always been.

Go catch your murderer. That shit deserves to be stopped, demon, god, or person.

Hrrrm...What she said there was...Worrisome.
Let me be honest with you- I've been wary of if there is a reason beyond the war of demons and gods that gods are the upheld norm. It sounds like this is it. The more demons, the more crazy you get-with how spacy Haven is, and how many stories she's told you...Yea. It's nice to FINALLY hear the concrete reason why. I wonder one of two things-
Why is she in particular a demonologist? We're like this because of our parents-and we aim to fix that.
Ask this Inquisitor-what's her deal with the divine order-we pretty much lost our family, and that's why. I wonder what her story is? I kinda wonder if she used to play with demons back in the day...
Secondly

Say this as she/you go out the door "order can not be with out disorder its the way of life" idk if this is giveing away to much but it sounds like some thing to say right now

>Ask this Inquisitor-what's her deal with the divine order
...theoretically interesting, but we're dancing on thin ice a single atomic latices thick, here. Not pushing it any further with her.

>>533956
Taunting her with oblique references to discord isn't smart. Again, thin ice.

She's letting us walk knowing what we are. Don't push it.

Go ahead and ask something like
"Wait, diablerists can 'give up' demons?"

She seems optimistic for us. Might as well play into that.

>>533959
Kate already knew that's possible. She said earlier the legal penalty for getting caught (alive) was reeducation and forced reform. Kind of implies giving up of demons.

...and showing interest just seems like confirming it. I mean, she as good as knows, but what's the point in that?

I think we can't really say much more without giving anything away so ask if she doesn't have any proof can you go now?

>>533956
>>533959
no, don't say anything or it could land us in deeper shit then we already are. Right now we just became a person of interest which means if shit goes down around here we'll be the first ones to have our door kicked in even if we had nothing to do with it. No need to try and give them further reason to seek us out first.

As for what we should do. Go back to class and keep a low profile for at least a month if you can so everyone will forget about this, then we can start stepping up our game.

>>533975
It's also important to tell your friends what happened when next we get the chance. Make sure they understand this.

The bitch knew exactly what happened, right down to as good as guessing what demon you used and that someone more experienced cleaned it up. The only reason you're still here is she can't prove any of it.

I'm sure some of them are going to be antsy to try and get their own demons now that you did, but you're all going to have to be extra careful and not bring down any attention for a while. Or you're done.

"Can I go now?" I say.

"Sure, buddy," the inquisitor says cheerfully as she pats me on the shoulder like I'm her old friend. What, she's back to her regular self already? "I hope not to be seeing you again."

"I don't want to see you either," I say as I leave. Questions stick in my mind but I feel like it's a bad idea to ask.

And then she says, "I was a lot like you when I was younger. Made some of the same mistakes, too. Including one I really regret."

For some reason, I feel more pissed off at that. But I do say, "Hope you catch your murderer." Then, rather than classes, I go to warn the others. But they aren't in class. Later, at lunchtime, the demonology club meets on the roof to discusses the Inquisitor and how she pulled us all over for a 'discussion'. No one said anything, though, and it looks like I got the worst grilling.

"Her name's Marlene Rhea," Susie says.

>name
File that away for later use. Once we have a secure means of conducting research, it might be worth trying to find more out about her. For example, it would be nice to know why she's showing you leniency. Or how far it goes. Or what those mistakes she made were. My first guess is she dabbled in demonology herself. Or she was close to someone who did. Until it went wrong.

And by secure, I mean, really secure. Either direct divinations, or a computer / internet connection we've encrypted and hidden with discord hacks and/or Nobody. You do not want anyone to know you're researching her.

>what do
She's good. She as good as knew exactly what had happened, right down to the fact I was brand new, what demon I'd used, and that I'd had help. If she had any proof, or if she wasn't feeling lenient for whatever reason...

I think we'll be okay though, so long as we keep a low profile. Whatever we do from here on out, we have to keep it quiet. Careful. We can't give her a reason to come back.

remember how she said she was willing to let a small fish go if it meant she could catch the bigger one? Don't be surprised if you find someone watching you from now on. If I had to guess I think she thinks you know who the murderer is and you're trying to protect the bastard because he's giving you demon powers or some bullshit like that. Either way I think you should try to lay off the more hardcore demon shit you and you gang does for a bit just incase she is following you. I mean even if she did try to arrest you or whatever it is she would have done she has nothing beyond gut feelings and guess work at this point, don't give her evidence is what I'm trying to say here. Also if your friends give you crap about how unfair it is that you got a demon and they didn't and that you're now telling them they can't have one just say if something does happen and the inquisitors come back all of you will be the first people they look at and it will not end well. We will however help them once the heat has died down, cause after all good things come to those who wait.

>>534041
That she might be waiting for us to lead her to Haven isn't impossible. Tying in the murder is kinda nuts, though. Completely different case, happening somewhere completely different.

>She's waiting for me to lead her to Haven
That's a worrisome possibility. But I haven't seen anything suspicious so far. Even the minor gods I've seen so far're just minding themselves from what I can tell. I'll just have to keep an eye out.

>Researching Marlene
Sounds like a good idea. I bring it up to Marco, who's the computer expert. He maintains his parents' computer and runs their website. I also mention the demon-backed hacking idea. "That's a cool idea. We likely can't grab the Inquisitor records--they've got a crazy secure network fortified with gods. Read that on the net, from people who failed. Many got caught. But other government records could tell us a lot."

>Previous questions about Haven
Those've been dwelling on my mind for a while. She's been awfully secretive about herself.

I speak up, "Um, you don't have to answer if you mind, but why didn't you tell us earlier about your demons? We'd protect your secrets. We're friends after all."

Her eyes refocus on me. "I enjoy hanging around with you all."

"Eh?"

"The more I tell you about myself, the more likely I'll have to leave."

...well like we said before if you don't want to tell us you don't have to, we're friends after all and that's good enough for me.

but off the record I have a strong feeling she maaaaaayy be one of those ... what the hell where they called again? The guys with way to many demons in them and are crazy strong, think it started with an m. but yeah I wouldn't be surprised to find she's one of them.

...DO you want the friendly, spacey fun Haven?
Or do you want an expert demonologist?
That's the choice before you.
One or the other, but to be both, seems to be impossible with the life we will lead.
In a simmilar manner, it may become dangerous to continue to associate with them-for their sake and for your own.

>I haven't seen anything suspicious so far.
Well, she doesn't necessarily have to have you followed to track you back to her. She can afford to play the long game here. She can let the rookie demonolgist go, wait for her to screw up again, and see if that gets her the master.

>But other government records could tell us a lot.
Well, yes. Although even the public record might be able to tell us a lot. There's a lot out there, if you're good at looking for it and putting the pieces together. I just want to be secure before we start doing research- you don't want big brother or anyone else knowing what you're researching.

>"The more I tell you about myself, the more likely I'll have to leave."
Yuuup. Either she's not entirely human, or there are complex conditions on some of her demons. Or, well, she's just trying to protect you.

*Bemused smile* I don't quiet get that, but if that's the way it works, I guess I don't want to. I'd choose friends before... other stuff. Keep what secrets you have to, I guess.

You know I'm betting she is the current incarnation of Samios. I'v been suspecting she wasn't lying when she said that for a while and people knowing something like that would drive her away.

"Alright, I'd rather not lose any of you so I'll keep that sorta question to a minimum."

>Bunch of theories about Haven
I'll pretend I didn't hear those.

"Haven, you don't have to tell me anymore."

She nods slowly, but then hesitates before saying, "If you guys ever get into trouble, really bad trouble, so bad you can't get out of it at all, just call me for help. But you won't see me again after that. I'd rather that than you being dead or gone or something, though."

"Haven, that won't happen," I say. We're all silent for a good while.

Marco speaks up. "Maybe this's a bad time, but can you help us get demons?"

Both Susie and Raven facepalm.

>I'll pretend I didn't hear those.
Probably for the best. If we're actually right about her, it's probably better if you don't know. At least if she'd like to say around. Don't collapse the wave-function.

>Maybe this's a bad time
What, with the inquisitor who has as good as found you out still nearby and waiting for the slightest whiff of trouble to come crashing down on us like a ton of bricks, and Haven hinting at horrible consequences if we draw too deeply on her resources? :V (No, don't actually mock him, please).

>can you help us get demons?
Was that directed at you or Haven? (Meaning do you pause and let her answer first). My guess is she probably could, but either doesn't want to because it's something you're supposed to find yourself the first time, or, again, it would tax her stay here. You might be able to, although recreating the stressful conditions and mental state you were in without putting people at risk is tricky.

The correct response here is understanding. You know how bad the others want this. And how frustrating it is that we have to slow down and be careful right as it seems like we're just getting started and discovering this can actually work. And when we might have real resources to draw on (Haven). But we're under a spotlight right now. We have to be cautious, let attention die down a little. We can't afford to get caught, or give the inquisitor an excuse to come back.

That said, you managed it. I'm sure we can find a way the others can, too. (Preferably cleaner than you did, and without imposing much on Haven).

yes and yes, yes we can help you and yes this is a BAD TIME. We just narrowly avoided the inquisitor wrath and I wouldn't be to surprised if we're being followed right now. We'll help you but after the heat has died down.

Doing anything demonic right now would be a catastrophically bad idea. The inquisitor has nothing on you. So try not to give her anything; that little talk you just had was a fishing expedition nothing more.

You know, based on the information presented, the main danger with demonology is the lack of unbiased data, because it's taboo/illegal. With the variety of gods available it seems like binding the wrong god could have the same disastrous results as binding the wrong demon.

Sounds like all of you think doing anything right now's a bad idea. I agree, now that I think of it.

"I understand you're eager, and I do wan to help you. But I just got out of a really hairy interview with the Inquisitor, and I think we should lay low for a bit. Make sure we aren't on their radar. And then we can try to get you your demons."

Marco nods half-heartedly. "Alright."

"Oh, don't worry! I'll tell you just what to do, and help you pick out your new friends!" Haven pipes up.

I start to say "Are you sure that's ok--" but she interrupts. "It's fine! Talking about them isn't a problem, it's just talking about myself!"

"So we avoid the dogs' attention and do it all quiet like later. Got it," Susie says.

[You can now choose between flashing forward a week or so right now, or following Marlene as she tracks down the murderer. In the latter case, you won't be playing Discord or talking to her like you talk to Katelynn--you'll just be giving suggestions for her actions. After the case, you'll rejoin Katelynn and friends.

You can also suggest things for Katelynn and her friends to be doing during that time.]

>>534399
Seeing the other side of things would be neat. Let's tack us down a murderer!

might as well see what an inquisitor does consider a threat, on to the murder

Oh and as for what Katelynn and friends can do for the week, just have them do what they normally do just lay a bit lower on the demon stuff. Want to make it look like nothings changed to keep suspension low.

Marlene! I want to hunt me some evil demonologists!
I think it's fairly obvious which side of things I'd be on if I lived in that world-Inquistor side

...see what the other side is capable of, get more useful information on the setting, and possibly out of character information we can exploit? Hell yes. And we can try and get her killed, too!

>suggest things for Katelynn and her friends to be doing during that time
Laying low and not using powers, immediately.

Studying and planning, when possible (like what conditions we might use to demon-up the others, and what demons they might be interested in, and which Haven thinks are safe or good to get to know). When you feel safe too do so, practicing 'small' applications of discord- mixing something up without breaking stuff (fine control will be important when we try and tweak computer stuff). Getting a sense of how long the pattern trace of a given demonic action will persist is also important to develop, and will guide our choices in the future.

...avoid noticeable changes. It's one thing if your peers or teachers notice you acting out less after all getting dragged before an inquisitor. It's another if, say, you become too obviously interested in math and science after being suspected of starting into demons. Don't leave evidence she can use.

Question on using yesterday to go back in time- where is the pattern disturbance from that visible? Do you leave a shimmer in the air where you came back? Or since it's something you did to yourself, does it only show up on you? (And is therefore hidden by Nobody).

It's a quiet small suburban town. Marlene knows the type. Putting up a pleasant face but secretly full of rot. But rotten or not, those people don't deserve to die. And so she shall save them. Sailing in like a white-caped hero of justice. She laughs at that hilarious imagery.

The white-uniformed policeman looks at her strangely. "Um. Inquisitor?"

"Oh, just thinking of something funny. Now, let's look at the stiffs." Her face suddenly becomes serious. "And then I will find the one responsible."

The house's just the same as the others. Rows after rows of neat white houses, precisely trimmed lawns, and so on. Ah, Marlene thinks, this must be the kind of place that has a neighborhood association.

Inside is a gruesome scene. Blood's pooled underneath the sphere, cube, and pyramid of flesh that used to be people. Immediately, Marlene recognizes it as the work of Sphere, the demon of perfect shapes. Unless someone's faking Sphere's handiwork; she'd ran into such forgeries before. Still, this killer wasn't exactly being subtle about it.

She takes note of the lack of obvious demonic influence upon the local patterns. She actually laughs a little at the idiocy of doing something this blatant and then trying to cover it up like this. But perhaps there was some motivation at work, or something else they wished to hide.

She activates the stylized eye jewelry that acts as a vessel for Lens. Immediately, details stand out far more sharply and more clearly. One, the blood drops that'd been mostly scrubbed off off the stairs to upstairs, but faint traces still remain. Two, that there's no sign of a break-in here.

Upstairs, she finds where the faint blood trails must've started. Looks like the murders took place in the victims' bedrooms. One master bedroom, almost certainly shared by the parents. Blood trail leads to a bed with a really fresh sheet. An imprint on the carpet next to a suitcase, looks like another suitcase was there. An open jewelry box, empty. No signs of any wallets. Drawers show signs of having been hastily searched.

Two children's bedrooms. Judging by the bands featured in the posters on the walls, likely both young teenagers. Other than the blood trails leading to the also freshly changed beds, nothing else significant.

In the pictures scattered around, there're a boy of about 11 years and girl of about 13 years. Also featured in the pictures're a man and a woman in their mid-30s. All of them black. Also in the pictures's a large yellow mutt.

Returning downstairs and doing a quick inspection of the bottom floor, she finds nothing else interesting except a locked door. Still no signs of a break-in so far. No signs of the dog, and no dog house outside.

Hrm...
So magic element aside- someone came in, stole the jewelery, and killed this family. The weird part, of course, is where the magic comes in...
I think we should examine those shapes more closely-the impression I'm getting is that the lousy cover-up plus the obvious use of Sphere is meant to cover the use of a different demon for fighting-whoever did this wanted that demon as a hidden trick.
The blood cleaning probably fell under the general clean-up of that other demon's actions...suggesting the other demon might work with blood.
Now, the jewelry is something to keep an eye out for, but the main thing I think that might be for is making a special vessel for a god that perfers jewelry.

Wait, four people, three mangled flesh-shapes. Are the children sharing, or is one missing? (Can we use any of your gods to determine that without a time consuming autopsy?)

got a few theories on what happened
1) someone in the family did it, either on purpose or accident and try'd to cover there tracks and stole what they could before leaving in an attempt to run as far away as they can.
2)seeing how it seems like this place wasn't broken in to it could have been a friend of the family and something went wrong and then this happened. Could have taken one of the family hostage or this could have been premeditated and the missing family member was in on it.
3)something else
Whatever happened in here I suggest checking out the laundry room since it looks like whoever was here changed the sheets after the murders so there could be some clues in there.

Briefly, Marlene ponders the possibility of someone using blood as a weapon. But the blood's easily explained as the drip trails from the flesh shapes being moved downstairs. Which meant the culprit'd moved them for some reason.

A quick inspection of the laundry room reveals no bloodied sheets. Well, there're any number of things to make things disappear with demons. Checking the closets reveals the likely source of the fresh sheets. Everything's racked up extremely neatly except for the stacks of sheets and covers which look disturbed as if someone'd grabbed something off them hastily.

Now, the flesh-shapes. First thing Marlene does is lift them up, much to the distress of the policeman who asks what she's doing. "Trying out for the world weightlifting championships," she jokes, and then quickly clarifies that she's inspecting their weights to clear up a hypothesis. Sometimes Harlequin could be inconvenient like that, but without him she was so grim that it unnerved everyone. She still remembers the "You're so scary, like you're always about to kill someone" comment that spurred her to bind Harlequin. It was the first time anyone'd dared to speak up to her about it.

The weights of the flesh shapes... none of them were adult weight. It's entirely possible for a demon to tinker with weights, but... Acting upon a suspicion, she pulls out her Inquisition-issued saber. On top of everything else, they were sanctified vessels. She'd bound the Lady of Battles to it before she moved that binding to her body. After thinking upon a suitable god, she marks the sword with the sacred ink she keeps on hand for times like this and calls the name of Keen.

With a blade sharper than a scalpel, she neatly cuts into the flesh shapes. The policeman grimaces and looks like he wants to throw up. The pyramid and sphere have human skin along with other viscera inside them, but cutting open the cube reveals golden fur. That explains the missing dog that'd been nagging at her.

So that puts the tally at two children dead, one dog dead, and two missing parents. And there's still that locked door. Might or might not be relevant.

Theory time.

One or both of the parents went demon-mad. Probably suffers from a bit of OCD by the cleaning. Afterwords they panic and make a run for it.

I think its time to go into the locked room. You know how to pick a lock? Or is it time to kick open a door?

Two missing parents. Victims, or culprits? Or one of each? One advantage of their being adults is there will be records available. They can be looked up, their pasts and lives investigated for leads. Specifically, looking for any evidence either of them might have been a demonist, or had connections to anyone who might be. Not the priority at the moment, but something to look into if we don't find anything obvious to follow at the crime scene.

Might as well check that locked door. No way of knowing if there's anything relevant behind it until you do.

could be where the perpetrator through the sheets which could give us some clues.

Marlene says, "Hey, time to open that door. You know the usual lockpicking procedure?"

The police officer says, "What... oh, that. I'll handle it then."

"Sure. If being turned into plastic ground beef is your thing, I won't judge."

"Huh?"

"Ahaha! Was a joke. But seriously, biabolists're often full of nasty surprise. You probably want to let me go in first."

"Oh, right. Yeah, uh, I'm not used to dealing with diabolists."

"That's because it's our job. Don't worry, you should be safe enough if you hang back. You've already done your part showing me in here."

"Alright, then..."

And then Marlene applies the usual lockpicking procedure to the door. As the part around the lock splinters under her kick, she has her gun ready. But the door stops partway with a thump, like it's blocked by something. No signs of hostile response. Fully alert and ready to instantly react, she peeks in.

It quiclkly becomes clear that the room's:

1) a study, with bookcases and a desk.
2) decorated in a blatantly occult manner, with demonic glyphs painted on the walls right out in the open and oddly shaped tools scattered around on the desk.
3) whoever used this room was a maniac for solid shapes, to the point where the room's filled with them.

In fact, that last's apparently what's blocking the door. It's stopped against a metallic octagon, really heavy by the feel of it. The rest of the room's full with similar shapes, of plastic and wood and rubber and glass and more, to the point where there's barely room to move.

Carefully stepping over it all in an almost-dance, Marlene scans the room for further clues. Books on demonology, must've been smuggled in. Maps and pictures of nearby landmarks. Shapes've been drawn over many of them, particularly Mount Willy, this lumpy little thing that's had a triangle drawn around it in the pictures, and a pointy church which's had a cube drawn over it. Huh.

(Yay, this quest isn't dead!)

Hmm. Well, this would seem to confirm Sphere's involved. That or they're very dedicated to that deception.

You divine sight pick up anything else in here? I doubt they cleaned up all their work in the workshop, especially with so many obvious signs displayed. Although things in this room might be old enough for traces to have faded.

...do any of your gods allow forensic type checking? Like... how many people have been in this room? Presumably only the demonologist used this room, it would be nice to know if only one is involved.

>mountain, church
Potential targets, or places the culprit might have gone to? Trouble is we don't know which to check next.

I was hoping maybe there would be a geometric progression we could use to guess the next target, but we don't have enough data.

could be point of interest or they could just be distractions meant to throw you off the killer's trail, You did just get done saying the killer could be trying to imitate a demon and this room could also be just that... although I do have to admit if this guy is just trying to throw you off he's going all out on this.

As for what to do I say search the room for anything that might give us more clues in here and maybe see if some of the boys in blue can check out the places marked on the map, just give them the description of the family members how have yet to be found as any of them could be the killer. If they find someone who matches the description tell them NOT to engage them and call you right away so we can deal with it.

Hrrm...What are high-end Shape Demonologists like? The impression I'm getting is that this guy might have been OCD about cleanliness and order, to the point where he got Shape's attention. Might have slowly been eaten away at, until he ended up dominated by it, and now is spinning out of control.
I'd like to say take note for the next time you're dealing with a young demonologist, so you can warn her of this danger and how out-of control one can get.

>Involve the police
Marlene would have to get them to send plain cloth officers. But time she spends waiting to hear back could be spent simply heading to one of the destinations. Maybe if there were more destinations involved.

>Culprit was OCD
Quite possibly. Often the worst diabolists are the ones who've picked demons a little too attractive to them and who listen to them far too much. It isn't always a good idea to listen to gods. Demons're even worse for that. The worst idea is letting a demon dictate ones actions.

>Check for more details/forensics stuff/a numeric pattern
A more intensive investigation yields surprisingly little dirt, dust, or other such detritus--including hair. For all the clutter, it seems like the culprit was obsessively clean. Even with a god or demon to help, that's a lot of work spent on keeping the room clean. Still, with the blatant glyphs and the demonic patterns immediately apparent, it doesn't look like they were trying to cover themselves up. Looks more like fussiness.

Speaking of patterns, the solid shapes say very loudly to Marlene's senses, "This is a completely unnatural object." It doesn't look like there were any less permanent demonic workings done recently enough for it to be apparent. Discounting a more subtle coverup, which's always a possibility, but paranoia's only reasonable up to a certain point. Not that she hadn't encountered nasty surprises, but the odds in this case would be really low in her estimates.

But not zero. That's enough for her to keep an eye out for a trick, but not enough to make her change her actions.

Thorough search does turn up more photos, including ones of the children and dog. And a whole folder of photos of other landmarks, including the famous egg-shaped Rebirth Monument. And... that's interesting. The children and dog have a single shape each drawn around them in the photos, but the other photos're considerably more cluttered with shapes. The mountain has two triangles, one around the mountain and one just drawn somewhere on the photo. The church has four squares or cubes. A local lake has eight pentagons--and if she squints, she can see that it could vaguely be taken to be have five irregular sides. Later photos have a ridiculous number of shapes Marlene's not bothering to count.

Looks like her next target's the mountain. And she's fairly certain this diabolist doesn't actually have the power to convert it into a pyramid, if that's what they'e trying to do. If they did, they'd become as legendary as the Samios or the Mad Lord. And even that would just be pretext enough to call down the resources of the entire Inquisition, including branches from other countries, as well as at least the local military, much as she doesn't like the thought of either of those. Many other Inquistorial branches're more hardass than hers, in fact she'd be considered disqualified or even heretical by them just for not being too fond of the divine order. And while the Mad Lord was brought down by an army, it was a really bloody war. But that wasn't modern weapons.

Speaking of forensics, while she didn't find anything in the study, there's one thing she can do. A quick further check of the innards of the flesh shapes exposes children sized and dog teeth, but no adult teeth.

"So, uh, just tell me when you're done." The police officer says with nervous squeamishness. Clearly he doesn't get a whole lot of grisly murders in his precinct. Marlene smiles with grim mirth at the thought.

"At this point, we can assume the victims're two children and a dog. Two adults at large. Either or both're our culprit. Next target's presumably Mount Willy," she says.

"Mt. Willy?"

"It's my next destination. Oh, say, what can you tell me about the parents?"

"Well... The mother was a really quiet one. Real career woman. The father was... He was really well regarded. Really nice, helpful, pretty much no one could say anything bad about him. Practically the perfect househusband. He's an immigrant--apparently she met him aboard?"

"You can return to make your report. I'll be going to Mt. Willy. By myself. Combat's expected."

Mount Willy turns out to be a hour's drive. She stops the car at its foot. There's a road leading up--she could keep driving or climb the thing by foot. If the culprit're really trying to alter the mountain, they'll be at it for quite a while anyway.

Now this depends on how long it would take to 'Sphere' the mountain into a perfect tetragon shape, and whether it's smarter to interrupt before the demonologist before he charges up big-time or after.
I would think before- all that energy if charged up would have to go somewhere, and a half-cast spell could be more dangerous than a full cast-no predicting what would happen, outside of just general guessing based on how much energy was released...

>The worst idea is letting a demon dictate ones actions.
...*cough*.

>parents
Hmm, neither of those descriptions mentioned the OCD we might expect. Although 'househusband' might come with a certain degree of cleanliness, and if he was the one who stayed home, it would have been easier for him to maintain a hidden demonic workshop than her.

That's all pretty lose speculation, though.

>climb, or car
I'd go on foot. We don't want them to see us coming (even if you have a god to protect you from direct attacks on your person, sphere could probably still fold your car around you). And we want to be free to look for signs that will lead us to our prey.

just hoof it for now, it will be easier for you to see any clues or signs of where this guy went

As for who it could be... maybe it was both. I mean if the father stayed at home all day yes he could have made that room but then again the mother was a very business like women and it wouldn't be to far fetched for her to claim the room for her personal office. But to live in a home for years and to rise a family without ever going into your spouse's 'private room' is just a little hard for me to believe, not impossible mind you but still a bit far fetched.

Aaaannnndd if they are both involved that could mean that either they split up and are going to hit each of the targets at once or are working together to put a little more punch into pulling off these impossible feats of magic. Just throwing that out there.

>Harmfulness of interrupting a working in progress.
Only if Marlene interrupts them right as they're firing it off. That can cause it to go astray. But if she interrupts them while they're still preparing to do it, it just doesn't go off. And there isn't really any charging up spiritual energy for this kind of thing. A person can only hold so much. If they could store enough to do this, they could just do it in one shot. But converting a whole mountain's a big deal even for the big time major diabolists. Ruby did turn a whole town into her own personal playground but then had to recover afterwards--and was sniped while still recovering. Even the Samios was never described as transforming mountains left and right willy nilly. Though Marlene'd never want to face something like it even right after it'd done a feat like that.

As for working together, it's still take a lot of diabolists or two really strong ones.

>Going on foot
Yes, stealth's best. Speed's unnecessary, with almost certainly no one up there to hurt other than the other spouse and relatively little the culprit could actually do to the mountain. Maybe transform a few rocks or outcroppings. Let them waste their energy trying. If Marlene wanted, she could just take a leisurely stroll and do some sightseeing.

Maybe afterwards. For now, she runs silently at a steady pace, leaping from cover to cover. Stonesweight gives her the steadiness to keep going indefinitely, the Lady of Battles gives her the physical prowess, and the Invisible gives her the quietness and sneakiness.

Still, it's a good long run before she finally reaches the point where the road ends. And there at the top is a car, and what looks like the man from the pictures in the house. He's sitting by the parking lot on a bench, reading what looks like a novel and now and then looking around. He looks surprisingly relaxed for someone who's either a culprit, an accomplice, or a kidnappee.

watch him for a bit and see if he does anything weird. If not at least see if he has anything that looks like a weapon and then approach him and see how he reacts. Even if he had nothing to do with what happened back at home you could still arrest him for being a suspect right, or at least bring him down to the station? Also do you have anything that lets you seance demons cause if you do use that to see if you can spot any on him.

Huh. Anything about him or in the car ping divine sight?

>He looks surprisingly relaxed for someone who's either the culprit, an accomplice, or a kidnappee.
...it's possible he's entirely ignorant of what's occurred, I suppose. (Either his wife is the guilty party, or there's someone we didn't know about living in the house?). That, or he's just nuts.

I'd watch him for a few moments, see if we learn anything. Then we can try approaching him, and see if that gets a reaction. If not, we can try questioning him, see if that gets a reaction. Start light- what's he doing here? Work up to where's your wife, and later, where's your kids. See how long the story holds up or he can keep his cool. Bring down the hammer and report the death of his children when it's time.

The important thing we're trying to do here is either provoke him into revealing himself as a diabolist, or verifying he's not, and then trying to figure out where his wife is, or if there was someone else in the house.

Oh and comes to think of it? He's not alone, his wife is probably helping him, might be why he's so relaxed-she's the one on gaurd duty. You didn't find any signs that an adult died- only the children.

He might be relaxed because what he's up to is trying to figure out how he can appropriately transform the mountain, and right now the demon is nonplussed by the question of how to get it right.

Awful hypothesis time: Can demons manifest human bodies? Could either of these parents be either a conjured servant or someone whose mind was being ridden hard by a demon? The story you heard about this husband guy being, "A perfect husband," and also an immigrant suggests to me that he was gathered or even created/twisted by demonic powers. If so this husband may be a servitor set up at this park bench to provide early warning while the wife does crazy shit.

>Controlled or created human beings
This thought crosses Marlene's mind. It isn't unheard of. The minimal profile she got for him does match up with that possibility, but it's just that. Minimal. She'd need more information to judge better.

She decides to observe the situation. The man doesn't show anything to the divine sight, but that doesn't mean anything with the diabolist knowing how to cover up their traces. The car, on the other hand, there're faint traces. Heh, looks like she're dealing with one of tho cheapsake diabolists that like making their cars run without fuel. Of course, one could just get a car that runs on spiritual energy, but those cost more and the diabolist might not want to advertise they have that much spiritual energy. Still, Marlene owns one of those herself. Handy things.

It turns out to be a boring observation. The only thing that changes is the man gets further into the book. Finally, Marlene steps out and grabs his attention with a friendly wave just as he's looking up. He looks slightly surprised but not alarmed. "Oh, didn't think this got many visitors this time of year," he says.

Marlene nods. "Oh, yeah, it isn't really tourist season, is it?"

"No, ma'am. Is there anything I can help you with?" he inquires with a friendly tone.

"Not particularly. Well, at least the weather's pretty good for this season."

"It's a nice enough day for this month, yes."

"Hey, I see by your ring that you're married. How's the spouse?"

"Oh, well enough. She's doing pretty well."

"No worries?"

"She does get a little too into her work. But she's doing what she loves even right now."

"Ah. And that would be?"

"You know, bringing a little more regularity to things. She's like that. Likes things tidy and in order."

Marlene pauses. Just from that alone, it's hard to tell if he realizes or not. The way he said it just as pleasantly as everything else, it's hard to get a good read off him.

"Ah, I see. How about children? Any of those?"

"Oh, two. They're quite picturesque and lovely."

"I see! How're they doing?"

"Well, you know. Children, they can be a little troublesome sometimes. But children'e like that. Perhaps if I'd raised them a little better..."

Okay, this guy? She's having a really hard time reading him. She decides on a little more direct probing. "Oh, yeah, I know how children can be. But that doesn't warrant turning them into flesh balls, does it?"

"Perfect shapes," he corrects. His pleasant demeanor doesn't change. "You know, I did try to talk her out of it, but in the end she did have her reasons. I can only support her."

Well. Okay. He's either kind of nuts or brainwashed, here. At best that means he belongs in a deprogramming camp, or a psych ward, at worst charged as an accessory to murder and diabolism...ing. That's a problem for the shrinks and district attorney or whatever the inquisitor equivalents are, though. You just bring 'em in, and put down the ones you can't.

At least I doubt he's much of a threat to you. And if he were to try anything, disabling him would be a simple matter.

>I can only support her.
Where is she?

...you probably want to make it so he can't escape or interfere before you move on. And disable the car too- it would be really annoying if she were to double back around you and drive away while you're stuck on foot.

well it's always nice to support the one you love but I don't think killing others you love to support the one is the best way to go about doing that, so is the misses around here as well or did she decide to head to the church for ... reasons?

How quick can you draw your weapon? cause if this guy tries something I want to know how quickly you could put him down but I don't want you to draw your weapon yet incase we can get him to tell us what's the game plan he and his lover have cooked up.

Call me crazy, but I'm thinking that this situation is creepy enough we should decapitate and bisect first and ask further questions never. When the provably insane are given the chance to babble on once their masquerade has fallen that tends to be when the most terrifying spells and headfuckery comes out in my experience. End it before he has the chance and then hope that the disruption in his wife's perfect loving relationship unbalances her perfect order enough that she makes a mistake.

I also really don't like how this guy went from perfectly harmless looking to perfectly creepy in an instant, is this shades of Sphere's perfection at work? Might need a trick to sabotage that: A 'perfect' strategy for this situation could have meant that this couple perfectly anticipated your arrival, perfectly lulled you into a non-combat posture, then perfectly fucked with your head to throw you off your game, in preparation for a perfect ambush from behind.

...jeeze. We're a souped up inquisitor with a war god and a durability god bound to our body. I'm pretty sure we could render him unconscious without drawing a weapon. I'm pretty sure we could kill him without drawing a weapon.

Unless he actually tries to attack us, and in a manner than might actually have a chance of being at all effective, lethal force seems rather like overkill.

Do you have a god that can watch your back while you talk? We can probably get more information out of this guy if we talk to him longer, but this situation looks very muck like the husband is placed here to distract you while the wife tries to stab you in the back with a line segment or something.

Also, while basically anything here could be a magical trap or bomb, I find myself suspicious of that car in particular. Shape-lady seems quite capable of concealing her traces (even when seemingly unnecessary), so an object with traces that we can see seems out of place, possibly a cover for something else.

"So. The wife. You wouldn't happen to know where she is?" Marelene asks.

"She's busy right now and wouldn't appreciate any interruptions. Why don't you wait here and talk to her when she gets back?"

Marlene begins feeling like she's only wasting her time here. There's a very simple way to test if someone's a construct or just brainwashed. And quick pre-emptive action's best. In a swift, smooth motion, her gun's out and pointed at his leg, barking with gunfire.

The husband's reaction is immediate and perfect, twitching neatly out of the way with a speed that can't be human. But the concentrated hatred for all things demonic within the bullet ripples out as it whizzes by, tearing into the man's leg. A small chunk of the leg dissolves into nothingness. Construct confirmed.

"Oh dear! Now why did you go and do that? Unwarranted violence isn't good!" the man says. Fucking constructs. Lunatics, all of them.

Nothing to do but finish the job: Prevent the construct from helping the demonist or slowing you down, and then proceed.
Bonus if you can use the construct to track her but speed and safety are more important than being cute: This crazy already has been summoning constructs and transforming children into geometric dead lumps. My guess is that she's not planning on being particularly subtle today.

So, I assume if he's a construct, the real husband is long since dead?

If he's not human, and simply a demonic creation, and not providing you with useful information, you have no further use for him. Finish him with some warranted violence.

Then we need to pick up his wife and murderer's trail before she commits her next atrocity.

great, a scarecrow. We aren't getting anything from this thing so might as well finish it off and track down the puppeteer pulling the strings.

So in other words he is probably eternally loyal to the killer, so there is not much to be gained from capturing him alive. (I wonder if constructs dream of demonic sheep.)

>So, I assume if he's a construct, the real husband is long since dead?
I suspect the original husband was a construct all along.

>>552460
I'd think not. They had real kids, after all. I'd suspect creating people would be a big investment of demonic power.

>>552461
That depends on how 'functional' you can make a construct. (If that is how things went, I would be curious what the kids' DNA, but we probably can't find out by now.)