[Author apologies, yes I meant 'daughter' not 'mother'. Not a freudian slip either, just careless editing.]

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)09:41 No. 177786 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany removes the amulet, and holds it by the thread.

>"Ooh, shiny!"

Thomas gives a barely noticeable nod.

>"There's an evil moon out tonight. The very air is alive with dread. You should have little difficulty in using the Third Eye. What is it that you wish to see? A significant event from the past, perhaps?"

Tiffany isn't quite sure about that herself.

i want to see who cast the spell on tony.

that should show us if we want to fight Wolfgang or leave grandpa.

>>177786
There are several options.

The first is that you closely examine the symbol on Tony's face when he died or, more importantly, you see who or what was controlling him when he died. Can you say what that symbol means? (It was on Grandpa when he bit you, by the way.)
The second is that you look at what Gramps was doing in the 24 hours before Tony died.
The third is that you watch what your grandpa did while your grandmother died.
The fourth is the death of your grandpa.
The fifth is the last communication between your grandmother and her father.
The sixth is what your mother was doing.
The seventh is the definitive action of this person.

Suggestion 2010/05/15(Sat)09:59 No. 177792 ID: a594b9
File 127394274325.png - (211.09KB , 507x522 , symbol.png )

I found it. The symbol on Tony's forehead was the same as the one on Grampa's skull.

Which means of course, that Grampa killed Tony.

We should postcog to see what Grampa was doing that night.

>>177792
It's a bit early to make that judgement. You don't know if that symbol is common or not. You don't yet know what it stands for.

But it is suspiscous. See what more you can divine of your grandfathers actions. Start out with what he was doing that night.

I still don't trust Thomas. At all.
This seems like a very carefully crafted mind fuck.

Jakov captured Tiff without speaking. Was it really him, or something that looked like him that was summoned and dismissed, not found and dispersed? If it was Jakov at all he may have been put under the control of Rothwald to retrieve her.

The information about Tiff's safety from the Rothwalds comes from this unknown source, but a hunting Rothwald in disguise would certainly benefit from it.

Thomas speaks as if he was old, but sounds young. Youth is a pretty good disguise.

Tiff was obviously vulnerable somehow at the phone. Perhaps it was just outside the barrier.
Was that phone call to Mom even real, or was it the first seed of doubt to be planted?

Tiffany, no matter what you see stay sharp. If it's still possible lead Thomas into the trap. If he's Rothwald he wants revenge on Grampa so bad he can taste it. You would be the tool to that end. If there's anything we know about you from watching you develop as a necromancer, it's that you're not a tool.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)13:15 No. 177843 ID: 3a7b79
File 127395453247.png - (80.36KB , 800x800 , 217.png )

Tiffany focuses her mind to Grampa, and what he was doing the day Tony died. After a few moments everything goes dark.

Doesn't look like nothing much is going on.

>>177843
you should see grandpa doing nothing, not Nothing.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)13:28 No. 177851 ID: 3a7b79
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Why's everything bla- hey something's happening.

Ah so there's a door there.

I know this place. This is Grampa's cr- what? What am I doing here? I've only been in there once, and that was a couple of days ago. I don't remember this.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)13:34 No. 177853 ID: 3a7b79
File 127395567598.png - (147.38KB , 800x800 , 219.png )

W-what's going on? Why don't I remember this?

It... It looks like I'm carrying something. A scroll?... No, I know what that thing is. It's a picture Tony drew in art class. Mom had that on the fridge, but it disappeared when. Oh god.

>"What is it? What do you see?"

he made you bring him a personal item of tony's. but how did he control you in the first place?

>>177853
Tell him.

gramps used you to kill tony. problem is, you HAVE runes in your head. you must tell him of that now.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)13:58 No. 177865 ID: 3a7b79
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"I- I saw Grampa's skull at his mausoleum. There were red runes over it. Then I showed up with the same runes, carrying a picture Tony made. Oh- oh god. Did I kill Tony?"

>"Do you think you killed him?"

"I brought Grampa the picture. Did he use it to drown Tony?"

>"It seems a likely option, yes."

"Why can't I remember it?"

>"From your description, it sounds like Alexander was dominating your mind."

"How did he do that? Doesn't he need something of mine to do that, like with Tony?"

>"Not necessarily. It is likely that he has been worming his way into your mind for years. Whispering in the night. Patiently weaving his webs, like a spider."

"C-could he do that again?"

>"Possibly. I can attempt to remove the links, if you wish."

would it be an instant thing? like he looks at you and bam you are controlled, or would he need time to worm in again? if the first then yes if the second then no. tell him mom is on her way as well.

>>177865
>Did I kill Tony?"
You didn't do anything, if your grandfather was involved then it was all him and not you.

>remove the links
Will grandpa notice? If he is still distracted and not aware of all this it may be useful. But it wouldn't do to be vulnerable to domination at a critical moment.

You should also ask him if your actions so far marks you a heretic.

>>177865
im a bit worried that we sort of just mastered precog.

and tell him yes.

>>177870
Postcog, precog is seeing it before it happens

Hey. Mom was born in 1973. She killed Grampa when she was NINE YEARS OLD?!

>>177876
blogs dammit, she was under control. she didnt killed gramps, she peformed the ritual for him. thats how he "lived", playing dead in front of everyone. i dont know why mom would keep his skull anyway.

anyway, we kinda have to set things straight. for once, we may actualy need to admit gramps may be a source of corrupt magic rather that necromantic magic.

>>177879
Um, let me refer you to >>177401 Mom cut off Grampa's head. Took away his stuff. She either did this at 9 years old or decapitated him AFTER HE DIED.

But we still need to revive Tony. Especially seeing as it wasn't natural causes. We need necromantic lessons still. How in the hell do we manage that?

Ask Thomas here if there are any good-natured Necromancer's nearby that are good at teaching. You've started and you can't stop now. We have to make everything right again. It isn't exactly immoral now since Tony died by magic, reviving him by magic is just.

At least now we won't have to explain to Mom and Dad why Tony is alive again when we get him raised since by then they'll probably know the full story... at least Mom will. She can handle telling that to Dad.

Then again Mom might stop us from doing that.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)14:55 No. 177886 ID: 3a7b79
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"Am- am I a heretic too?"

>"The council of elders do not declare someone a heretic lightly. It is exceedingly uncommon. Even Alexander was given a second chance. And a third, and far too many more. You would have to do far more than be manipulated by the likes of Alexander to earn that title."

"Would he be able to dominate me instantly?"

>"Possibly. I do not know what technique he is using."

"Then please remove it."

>"Very well. This will be painless."

Thomas points the lance towards Tiffany once more, and mutters a few eldritch words. Tiffany feels a wave of relief wash over her, like a pain she never realized she felt was suddenly gone.

"Thanks, I guess."

>"You are welcome, miss Tiffany Blake. Tell me, how is your mother doing these days? We haven't heard from her since the conclave meeting."

she is on her way, i managed to call her before jakov tied me up.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)15:08 No. 177891 ID: 3a7b79
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[Reuploaded due to animation mistake]

"You can talk to her yourself. She is on her way, I managed to call her before Jakov tied me up."

>"Ah she- Wait, you prepared a trap circle, and then called her? Is she walking into a trap of Alexander's devising?"

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCKUING RUN!!! SAVE MOM!!

>>177889
Could be. Alexander either suppressed our worry about Dad until the trap was set and he went 'out', so that we would call home... or Mom isn't the intended target. On the other hand, the barrier is up and we've set it so that nobody can currently go in, right?

We should meet Mom outside or something.

>>177894
the barrier is just an anti-scry barrier if one even exists he could have lied about it because no one is really after us.

>>177889
well fuck.

You got that grimoire? Time to disarm a trap...

The problem here is that if gramps is evil, we can't stick with him anymore. He'll realize his enchantment has been removed and that you've met this guy.

On the other hand, this guy could be twisting your memories...

Well, the only way you can fix this up is to 'not believe' this guy. I mean say you'll stick with gramps and keep this man updated.

The pros are more teutalage and a bringing of justice.
The con is that Gramps may find out...

Another idea also has come upon me.
What if Gramps had made that trap for you. So that if you try to disarm it, you get your power siphoned to him.

Tell him to take you back! You have to save Mum! Do it! Tell him to call Mum, hurry. Do something. AAA!

>>177891
The trap was for Rothwald... but he clearly isn't coming. Who is the trap for, what is he doing? Ask him what he thinks he means to do, how to break out mom if she falls in to it

>>177900
We helped create it, I don't think anything was snuck in like that. But acting like we're still with him might work for a while.

We should meet our mother. Also note that I do not approve of the readiness with which we trust this stranger.

This is an easy one. You control who can get through the barrier.

Make sure your mom can't. Simple solution.

>>177906
No matter how we look at it, it was our own visions that show Grandpa killed Tony. I wouldn't trust anyone less than him.

>>177908

We don't know that for a fact. Grampa could have been trying to save Tony for all we know.


I just can't bring myself to believe Grampa's not on our side. We all saw him 'cry' happy tears of joy for her progress in her learning. Is that really the villain of the story?

>>177911
at first he was okay with teach us and probably was proud, but when he found out we saw tony die his plan changed.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)16:20 No. 177914 ID: 3a7b79
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"She is, but there's a barrier. She can't get through."

>"I haven't detected any barriers in the area."

"We put concealment runes on it."

>"You built this according to Alexander's instructions? It is likely that he already has full control of it."

"Oh god you gotta take me there. We gotta warn mom! Do you have a phone or something?"

>"Unfortunately, no. And I cannot recommend going near Alexander at this-"

"SCREW THAT, I gotta save mom!"

>>177913


My other problem is how much information we're giving this stranger. If we lead a disguised Rothwald safely past the traps to an in truth innocent Grampa, wouldn't that be the mother of all fuck-ups? I'm just sayin'.

you know how the trap works, smudge what you need to in order to destroy it.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)16:30 No. 177921 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany runs outside, towards the motel. The lights have gone out. A sense of dread fills her heart the closer she gets to the dark building. Her heart sinks as she spots mom's car in the driveway. She's here.

oh god. you need to do something.

>>177921
If you go to where Grandpa can see you, he'll mind control you again! And if you go into the trap circle when Grandpa has control of it, he'll have you trapped for as long as he needs to. Do not go into the room.

Actually, since you said the barrier extends beyond the room, don't go past the barrier. Hopefully you'll catch your mom before she goes into the room, but if you don't... think about the runes you know. How could you break the barrier from the outside with them? You must be able to!

>>177923
He can't mind control her, THAT LINK WAS BROKEN.

We need to get in the room, and disrupt the circle.

>>177923
also, that barrier doesn't actually exist.

>>177924
Considering that he's had years to mess with our head and Thomas had a few minutes to fix it, I'm not willing to bet that Grandpa's hold on us is entirely broken. Or that he wouldn't be able to establish it again.

If Grandpa indeed has full control of what he told us to create, then anyone who opposes him could be caught in the Labyrinth when they come into the room- they probably won't need to step in the actual circle. Better to avoid it entirely if possible... if Mom's not caught already. If she is, then, well. We'll save her somehow.

>>177921
Maybe you can try using your postcognition to see if anything has happened? It's worth a try.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)16:52 No. 177933 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany stumbles through the dark motel. The sense of dread is almost tangible in the dark. Knees shaking, she arrives to the corridor where Grampa is. She feels the floor slowly pulse under her feet.

>>177933
...Um... Yeah... Do we have a plan? 'cause I'm not sure we're going to be accomplishing anything but stumbling into gramp's clutches with mom. It's almost looking like he's got the entire damn motel under his control.

>>177938
run in and... smudge out the hook.

>>177938
Yeah, pretty sure this is a good way to get ourselves trapped along with Mom.

Two ways to play this, I guess. Either press forward, and hope that we can somehow destroy our ritual circle, or pull back and hope that Thomas will be able to help us save Mom before she gets hurt.

>>177943
i think with only one hook it can only catch one person.

>>177933
Well just don't fall in the damn trap yourself.

You need to do something besides just walk in... can you get a quick vision of what happened before you got here?

>>177942
...That's the plan? Seriously? Just waltz in and disarm the trap, no bloody problem at all? ...Well, that's... ... ...Yeah.

>>177943
What he said. We're pretty much winging it at this point, and it's a pretty damn good bet gramps has thought this through, with particular plans for our particular brand of impulsive recklessness. We -need- to go with option two and retreat, if we don't we're just throwing away our own life.

The entire hotel is covered in runes. Take a look at them. Is there anything that we could sabotage before we get into the room?

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)17:17 No. 177960 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany quickly examines the runes in the motel walls. They seem strange, completely alien compared to the ones she has used before. And they seem almost... Alive. They seem to shift and morph whenever she looks away.

Tiffany's desperate for a plan, but it seems like whatever the plan is she must at least see into the room. She carefully edges her way to the door, careful not to cross the line that marked the supposed barrier.

Inside the room is covered in bizarre writing. A figure that looks like... mom... is standing in the middle of the circle. Tiffany can hear soft whispering from the darkness around her.

SMUDGE THE HOOK!!

Smudge the hook and the circle outside of the large circle!

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)17:30 No. 177965 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany forces herself forward, her whole body shaking from fright. She hastily smudges out the hook from the circle. There's a slight change in the air, then she suddenly becomes aware piercing eyes watching her.

>"Hello, little girl."

The voice is mom's. But she sounds like... Grampa.

>"Why don't you step a little closer, so I can take a look at you."

Tiffany's legs are nearly giving out. She's too scared to talk.

>"I told you to come closer."

There's a little pull inside her mind, but it slips, unable to find a hold.

>"Hrmph. Who did this to you, girl?"

>>177960
Okay. If we try to disrupt the circle... where would we do it?

I basically see three options. The hook, since that is nominally holding/catching and might be somehow maintaining the trap. That might free Mom. The circle border, since that's the base symbol and almost certainly essential for the spell to function. That might end the whole spell. Or the power transference rune, so that power is no longer being stolen; that would at least stop Mom from being hurt more.

"I cannot believe you killed my brother for this..."

RUN AWAY! RUN THE HELL AWAY! FLEE! RETREAT! EXIT! -GO-!

>>177967
Or possibly the small circle that gives Grandpa control of the spell... although that would only work if he's controlling Mom remotely instead of having already completely taken over her body.

>>177967
We just smudged out the hook. And... Grampa... Just told us to come closer. To do anything else, he'd have to inadvertantly do as he (she?) says. I really can't see a way to win this. We're way over or head. We need to retreat and regroup.

the trap attacks the haftsusha not the person. it destroys your personality.

Summon Death.

I think that if we can smudge out the small circle outside of the large one, then we can break grampa's power over mom.

>>177965
If you can put yourself inside the circle, and then somehow make a hook inside the circle maybe you could trap him. Gonna be tough to do it without noticing though.

Guys, do we have -any- idea what the hell we're doing? First you say 'Smudge the hook, that will free her!', then when that didn't work, now you're saying 'Smudge the circle, that should free her!' We have no reason to think that will work. Heck, we have no reason to think we can even do -anything- to help mom at this particular point of time. We need to -retreat-. Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, and right now, this is a losing hand, and we need to cut our losses. If we keep pressing, we're risking losing everything just because we're being stupid.

Alter the circle to reverse the power flow. Or the targets.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)17:56 No. 177985 ID: 3a7b79
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>"Not telling?"

Mom let's out a cruel laugh. It turns Tiffany's stomach to hear that coming from her lips.

>"Did you come here to rescue your dear mommy, girl? How precious and utterly pointless. A necromancer only looks after himSELF. No-one else. And nothing can save your mother now. The ritual is finally complete. After all this time. Even after thirty years it still worked. And you made it happen, Tiffany. Ah, such delicious irony. The backstabbing bitch betrayed by her own whelp. I suppose I should thank you. HA HA HA OH NO YOU DON'T."

Grandpa/Mom extends his/her hand and the door slams shut in front of Tiffany. Red tendrils surround mom's thin frame. Mom draws a sharp breath.

>"All this POWER. HOW could she NOT use this? Such waste. Oh Tiffany. Why so fearful? You did well. Your only mistake was trust. A necromancer looks after only himself. Only himself! No other. You still haven't learned that? Oh well. I have plenty of time to teach you."

>>177980
>>177982
I'm pretty sure that actually doing more ritual stuff at the moment is out of the question. For one thing, it requires words as well as symbols- and we don't really know those. Not well enough to improvise them on the fly for drastic spell alterations, anyway.

slit own throat, get death's help.

>>177985
Cuntpunt.

>>177985
Well, shit.

>>177988
I doubt that Death would or could do anything. Also, he's a dick.

Though to be honest, I really don't see any other option.

>>177988
Won't work. Death has already proven himself unable to effectively snare Grandpa.

>>177985
Well, then... it seems that we once again have two options before us.

We can continue to oppose Grandpa, in spite of his apparent overwhelming power, and attempt to disrupt the circle in some manner which will hopefully get rid of him and/or save Mom, even though he claims it's impossible- as has been pointed out, he's a liar. We'll probably lose, but it might be our last chance.

Or we can accept what he just told us as true, and declare ourselves a necromancer of his school, caring only for ourselves and trusting no one. His words imply that he's still intending to teach us... though it's likely that such will be in a much more sinister fashion, and we'll almost certainly be subjected to additional mind control. Eventually, we might gather enough power to betray him successfully... but it would be a hard and dangerous road.


If we try the first and lose, we might end up stuck with the second anyway, so I'm inclined to try it. I'm not quite cold enough to try the second right off.

Take stock of your resources. What's here in the room?

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)18:13 No. 177999 ID: 3a7b79
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Tiffany is frozen in panic, while Grampa raises her hand once more. Red tendrils shoot out towards Tiffany.

[Animated]









>"Miss Blake, run."

DO WHAT HE SAYS!!

>>177999
As I said before:

>>177969
Do as he says and get the hell out of there!

Fine, if Death don't help...

Summon many demons to you. You have us, with all of us we should be able to keep them under control long enough to stop Gramps, and then cast them out.

Or, more logically, fight dark magic with holy magic. Pray to GOD!

>>177999
Run. Get out of the hotel. Hide somewhere where you can see the hotel entrance but run away unseen if necessary, and wait to see who comes out.

>>178005
You haven't been reading the quest at all, have you?

I'm more inclined to say help the dude fight. Find something in the room like maybe the knife you used before. Jostle Grampa's skull. Smash it, perhaps.

Tiffany 2010/05/15(Sat)18:24 No. 178017 ID: 3a7b79
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And so Tiffany fled into the night, leaving Thomas to fend off Alexander. Spurred by Thomas' sudden scream, she ran as fast as she could, as far as she could.

And for a time, all was silent.

i don't think the dude is going to STAY and fight. he will try to distract as long as we need to get out then flee as well.

So... now we need Rothwold's help. Wonderful. how do we go about procuring that. Or another Necromancer this time, hopefully without Grandpa's philosophy...

Think the state trooper might be a Necromancer himself?

Naw, I haven't. I like giving silly suggestions then something which is plausible in my mind, or a serious idea.

I suppose I should do the second part now....
Rest for a moment and try and find safety.

>>178017
Go home, your house is still warded.

>>178017
Run off farther. Find a different public phone, and call home. Grandpa knows that you care a lot about Dad, and will be trying to get him to get a hold on you. Tell Dad to run away. Or... to come pick you up somewhere, and then get him to drive you away. Leave your house for good.

Get Mulder. He's still made of your soul, and there's no telling what Grandpa could do if he got his hands on him.

next goal is to get to the Conclave Thomas mentioned. Home may be a good start. Your dad deserves to know what's going on.

You and your dad will have to seak out the conclave. There's no where else now that you may have Alexander on your ass.

>>178025
by grampa. wait outside, cool off, crap pants in bathroom, prepare to torch the motel.

>>178017
You just left him to die. Nothing else you could do.

Next goal is to find Dad.

Get into Mom's car. She may have left the keys in the ignition, which means...

Wait are you even tall enough to reach the pedals while seeing over the wheel? Maybe the car isn't such a great idea.

Trust is a wonderful and terrible thing. You must trust the first person you meet, because you have no one else to trust, and when that person betrays you it may seem like you can trust no one. But the truth is that the betrayal itself makes you wiser about the world. He can't make you less trusting no matter what he says. Now you know who your enemy is. You still can't stop trusting those who haven't betrayed you, your father, your mother, Thomas. Don't count Thomas out just yet. (You are a necromancer after all!) The friendly bird your grandpa helped you make. Death. These are your allies. They can betray you one after the other, but eventually those left will be your true allies, the ones who will never betray you, at least not without a good goddamn excuse.

Your "grandfather" has already revealed his weakness in fact, that which will destroy him. He has no allies, allows no allies. That makes him alone and vulnerable, a foolish position to be in. You might not be able to save your mother's soul entirely, but he'll never prevail with that attitude.

A necromancer, alone, is just a powerless man, a charlatan waving puppets around, trying to make you think that he is legion. But he's only one man, and if you develop a close relationship with your allies dead and alive, if you learn who you can trust and you truly come to trust them, his powers will tear aside like the spindly spider webbing that it is.

Damn it. Now you're going to have to find another instructor in the necromantic arts.

Hmmm, you know I think it could have been grampa that made you go call your mom. Fighting him while he has your moms body is going to be such an annoyance. Hmm, I wonder if the Rothwalds would be willing to help out with that and with training. Might be a thing to consider.

But for now Tiff, I think you should find your father and tell him everything. He needs to know what's going on.

you know... did we bring the grimoire... or anything else that Gramps wanted us to get?

It might be a good thing... if we had em. If we're going to survive/avenge her mother, studying will have to become a priority...

>>178278
I don't think we did. But Gramps had another grimoire at some point.

Next chapter, we're going to have to make a pact with Death. It's the Reaper Man's JOB to bring grandpa down, after all.

Hell, if we're lucky, we could even squeeze Tony's soul out of that deal. He was killed through necromancy, after all. Illegitimate death is another thing the Reaper Man wouldn't be good with.

tell him that we are sorry and we have found out why he doesn't like grandpa and wish to kill him, again.